A good mystery series with a science hook

I've been working my way through Camille Minchino's mystery series with a physicist detective. The first in the series is The Hydrogen Murder. The main character is Dr. Gloria Lamerino, a recently retired physicist who has moved back to her old home town near Boston. She's a very enjoyable character - reminded me of an older Miss Zukas (Jo Dereske's mystery series with a librarian detective which started with Miss Zukas and the Library Murders) or Christine Bennett (Lee Harris' series with a former nun detective which began with The Good Friday Murder). All of these protagonists have had restricted social lives (for various reasons) and develop over time. While some of the books in this series are weak, I've enjoyed all of them so far. My favorite of the Lamerino mysteries so far was The Carbon Murder, with the nanotubes and buckyballs providing the background for the mystery.

Supercozy comfort read

I just finished Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin, part of the cozy mystery series by Nancy Atherton. I found it delightful, a definite comfort read. If you like cozy mysteries, the kind that create a need for a pot of Earl Grey tea and a scone, this is my favorite series in that genre. It is the supercozy of cozy mysteries. The first book in the series, Aunt Dimity's Dead is still my favorite in the series and the one to read first. It introduces the main characters, Lori, Bill & Aunt Dimity (who may be dead but is still an active force in their lives).

Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin, like most of the books in the Aunt Dimity series, does not include murder, bloodshed or extensive mayhem. The mysteries are more domestic. In this case, Lori is looking for the brother of a woman she befriended in the hospital. Lori is upset when the woman dies, and her research into the woman's life and why her brother wasn't there is a fascinating look at human nature.

Not for those who like gritty realism in their mysteries; more for readers who like the lighter Agatha Christie mysteries (like The Secret of Chimneys).