It’s been a while since I’ve done a post like this, so I’ve accumulated quite a few questions… unfortunately many of them are quite vague… still, hopefully we can come up with a few answers at least!

From Simon:

Hello – I am trying to locate an Author or Title of a book that had a young lady who was running a Scottish shop for a relative. If you can think of the book I would really appreciate it.

EDIT: Laura, Paige, Beverly, Rebecca, and r all suggested this could be the Scottish Emporium Series/Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series by Kaitlyn Dunnett. Cindy thinks it might be the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries by Vicki Delany. BG thinks it could be the Magic Garden Mysteries by Amanda Flower. Laner and Jill both think it could be the Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series by Paige Shelton.

From Yvonne:

I am looking for an author? In a Historical Book, a woman’s husband dies and she takes in two boys. They become friends with a Duke they all solves mysteries together.

EDIT: Jane, Cheryl, Nancy, SuzyF, Andrea, Deb, and Marjo all think this could be the Wrexford and Sloan Mystery Series by Andrea Penrose  – as Jane points out, it’s an earl, not a duke, but otherwise the details provided fit.

From Maria:

I am looking for a murder mystery series that features a male pi who is a former cop. He inherits half of a mansion that he shares with the son of the deceased who is a lawyer.

EDIT: Linda, Rebecca, and Sandy all suggested this could be the Milo Rathkey Series by D. B. Elrogg.

From Maisha:

Hi I am looking for an author or book where the main character is a landscaper or gardener and she is working on a garden project with her friend who turns out to be the killer. The end has a plot twist where her friend was manipulated to kill by someone else, but I cannot for the life of me remember the author or title of the book. If anyone knows what I’m talking about I would really appreciate being reminded.

(This is a hard one to search for as so many of the ‘clues’ are in the solution, which isn’t as written about for ‘spoiler’ reasons…)

EDIT: Ellen thinks this one could be Julia Henry‘s Garden Squad Series, Marty Wingate‘s Potting Shed Mystery Series, or Naomi Hirahara‘s Mas Arai Mystery Series.

And finally, from Janet:

I am looking for an author who is an antique dealer who has met a man and moved to either England or Scotland. I have read several of her books and have really enjoyed them.

EDIT: Roni thinks this could be the Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series by Paige Shelton. Kitty, Sprite, Jill, SuzyF, and r all think it might be the Kate Hamilton Mystery Series by Connie Berry.

(Obviously a rather vague one with many ‘maybe this is the answer!’ sort of guesses.)

PS: I don’t give individual responses to comments on this particular type of post since it would usually boil down to ‘that’s a good possible suggestion!’ or some variant of that.

EDIT: Lots of great suggestions so far! Thanks for everyone who has contributed so far!

It’s been some time since I put up a post like this, so I’ve gotten a number of questions that have come up that I don’t have a quick answer for…

From Tina:

I am looking for a book that is about a man who passes away and comes back as a ghost and haunts his wife. All I can remember about it is that the man is an architect and their house is built around trees. The family names the trees names like Longfellow and their Gardner, I think, puts little balls of herbs maybe around the house to keep the ghost out. Any help in finding this book would be appreciated. I’ve been trying to find it for years and can’t.

EDIT: Aunty suggested this could be The Overstory by Richard Powers…

From Anita:

There is a series, rich widow, finds out her husband had an illegitimate son, feels sorry for mistress, has a black housekeeper who helps her, she winds up taking the boy and his mother in. Maybe takes place in Birmingham.

EDIT: Many readers have suggested that this is likely the Miss Julia Series by Ann B. Ross. Thanks everyone!

From AC:

Hello! I am looking for a book I read as a kid. It has a leading female character, young, and she is an archaeologist or an egyptologist. She travels to Egypt for a reason I do not recall, and she gets herself in a lot of problems, deadly ones (people trying to kill her, she gets locked up inside a chamber in a pyramid). I believe that the novel is set in the 1980s, or maybe the 1970s. Do you have any information that can help my research?
PS: it is not the Amelia Peabody series.
Thank you so much.

EDIT: I have had several suggestions for this one… Nancy and Aunty suggested it could be the Vicky Bliss series, by Elizabeth Peters…  JC suggested The Jackal’s Head, also by Elizabeth Peters… Teresa and V thought it could be The Sphinx, by Robin Cook…

Thank you in advance for any possible answers! As I get potential answers, I’ll update the post with them…

Well, as I said last month, I had let quite a few of these accumulate over time… I’m trying to keep the number a bit lower, so I might try to do this more often, possibly as often as once a month if I have enough questions.

From Lelia:

I recently listened to an audiobook cozy mystery about a witch who worked as a wedding/events planner, but I can’t remember the name of the series or the author!

EDIT: Well, Lelia already found this one – it was the A Touch of Magic Series by Danielle Garrett.

From John:

I am looking for a mystery series set in Seattle. I read these in the late 1980’s and really enjoyed them. Protagonist is a former Seattle policeman who is on medical retirement. He rides a bicycle for fitness and local competitions. He rents a basement apartment in his house to a female law student. Anyone know the author?

EDIT: A number of readers (Elizabeth, Debbie, Laura, SL, Sharon, J, Kate, and Becky) have all suggested that this could be Earl Emerson‘s Thomas Black Series.

From Glen:

While everyone is looking, remembering, and suggesting authors, maybe someone can come up with a series I’ve been trying to find. About a woman in Northern California, I think, who works for a phone company(?) and who left a prior job to move to this small community.

EDIT: Debbie suggested that this might be the Vejay Haskell Mystery Series by Susan Dunlap.

From Megan:

I read this mystery book maybe 10 years ago and loved it but have no idea who wrote it. It’s about an old lady in who owns an inn or hotel and she is a bit eccentric. She lives here with her son. The main character goes to visit this place and finds a diary from a maid who used to work there who disappeared somehow but had had a baby prior. In the end, the old, eccentric lady ends up being a man and her son ends up being the missing maids son.

From Mark:

There’s a book series that I’ve been trying to figure out too. I don’t remember very much about it but it had an older man in it and I wanna say his nephew or younger friend? There was a murder in it (I think in mississippi or in the bayou?) and the old man is like brilliant or extremely smart. It was an old book That I found at my nanas house and I think it was my dads book. I think the main character has 2 initials as his first name. I think it was a series and could be from the 40s or 50s