I had an enjoyable read through Connie Shelton's
Deadly Gamble, the first in her Charlie Parker mystery series. Charlie is a female amateur investigator (her brother has the agency, she's "just" the bookkeeper) who gets involved in a minor mystery handed to her by an old school chum. Turns out, the chum has had an expensive watch stolen and her husband in very jealous ... the man who jilted Charlie and ran off with the "best friend". By the end of the first chapter we learn the man who stole the watch has been murdered. Ok, I was hooked.
This is a basic who dun it tale with clues and revelations in fairly neat order; it wasn't much of a surprise who dun it in the end, but the characters are sympathetic and it's a breezy diversion. Don't expect Christie or Rankin and you'll be perfectly content. There are another ten in the series and probably more on the away. Available at Smashwords, Amazon, Kobobooks and probably elsewhere.
And speaking of Agatha Christie, I tackled
Murder on the Links, the second Hercule Poirot tale, with Hastings and Poirot investigating the murder of a client in France. Told from Hasting's perspective, we are constantly bombarded by Hasting's solutions and Poirot's continual admonishments and course corrections. There's an amusing second detective, M Giraud, who is made out to be a buffoon and is the spitting image someone embracing the methods of Sherlock Holmes ... only Watson is missing. A little author's rivalry perhaps? This, and other Christie works, can be had for the sensible price of under $5 at Kobobooks in Canada and Amazon in the US.