So, I got to tour the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Massachusetts a few weeks ago when I was in New England. I've always been fascinated by that crime, and read everything I can get my hands on about it. I'll have a few more to write about in the upcoming weeks, but for now "Lizzie Didn't Do It!" by William Masterton was very interesting. He pointed out that even modern day forensics cannot pinpoint time of death any closer than three hours, based on temperature of the body and the stomach contents, yet for 100 years everyone has assumed that Abby Borden was murdered 1 1/2 to 2 hours before her husband, simply because that's what they decided at the time. What if, Masterton posits, Abby and Andrew were killed within a few minutes of each other, by an intruder? Andrew's body was discovered just a few minutes after he was killed by Lizzie, returning from the barn. She raises the cry of murder and no one thinks to look for Abigail for almost an hour, and when they do discover her in the guest bedroom she is colder, her blood is more congealed, than Andrew's because it took longer for them to discover her. It's not all that strange a theory, when you consider all the other possibilities that have been put forth in this fascinating unsolved murder case.
"Artemis Fowl: the Time Paradox" by Eoin Colfer is book 6 in the series, and Angelina Fowl is dying rapidly of a mysterious disease. Artemis calls in Holly and Demon No 1 to help, and they determine she has a deadly fairly disease that one gets from having magic used on them. The only known cure is brain fluid from a now extinct lemur. Artemis and Holly must travel back in time 8 years, to a time when a ten year old Artemis was capturing the last lemur to sell to raise funds to search for his missing father. The whole time travel thing was confusing, but it was fun to see older Artemis trying to outwit younger Artemis.
"Real Murders" by Charlaine Harris was a quick, fluffy read, one of those books you don't really need to devote your full attention to. Aurora Teagarden is a librarian in a small town and a member of the real murders club, a group that gets together to discuss true crime and historical murders. Then murders start happening in their own town, mimicking historical crimes, and members of the group are implicated when evidence is planted against them. Everyone is acting suspicious and no one knows who can be trusted any longer.
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