Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That pretty much sums up Julia Stuart right there, folks.  I finished The Pigeon Pie Mystery on Sunday, and I possibly enjoyed it as much as The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise.  Pigeon Pie is perhaps easier to summarize–Mink (an actual Indian princess, albeit one born and raised in England) loses her father, moves into a grace-and-favour residence (just google it, really), finds her maid accused of murdering a neighbor, and sets out to clear her name by investigating her quirky, suddenly all-very-suspicious neighbors–but from Mink’s adventures buying mourning clothes to her eventual discovery of the truth, Stuart’s wit and writing style are a continual delight.  Possibly if you mixed one of Agatha Christie’s lighter novels with “My Cousin Vinny” or “Legally Blonde,” threw in a touch of Jane Austen and Tolkien…I don’t know.  Some styles defy description; all I can tell you is that at this point, I would read an instruction manual if Julia Stuart wrote it.  Go get something by her–anything, really–and read it today!