To Fetch a Thief, by Spencer Quinn (on CD)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, so Chet is now an elephant whisperer. Man, that dog is brilliant, in a purely doggy sort of way. I want to read more in this series, but probably not all at once. A little too much sweetness.

Midnight Cactus, by Bella Pollen

This is one of those books that involves the landscape as a character in the story. Alice brings her two children from London to Temerosa, Arizona, ostensibly to start rehabbing the ghost town her husband has been saddled with. The plan is to turn it into a retreat or a spa-town.

Within days, she finds herself adjusting to life on her own. The contractor she hires on the advice of the town's caretaker seems to hate her very presence and his employees, she discovers, change daily. They also don't speak English, and she quickly comes to suspect him of trafficking in illegal Mexican workers.

As the story unwinds, the real story becomes more complicated on just about every level: personal, political, emotional, and physical. Alice comes to see how very challenging the geography and interpersonal contacts are, and things certainly don't turn out well. This is a story about the difference between people who have plans and those who don't plan at all.