The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris - Mysterious and Magical

Returning to Lasquenet-sous-Tannes is like returning to a favourite French village after many  years. Vianne Rocher's chocolaterie is still there in the village square, along with Narcisse's flower shop and Francis Reynaud's church, but a chill wind is blowing and snow is falling from the clear blue sky. Someone will be dead before dawn. This is how Joanne Harris starts her fourth novel in the series, The Strawberry Thief, which began with Chocolat twenty years ago.
It is Narcisse who has died, leaving his valuable woodland to Rosette, Vianne's strange youngest daughter who is only sixteen years old, much to the disgust of Narcisse's daughter, Michèle.
He used to call Rosette his Strawberry Thief because she would eat his wild strawberries, but Michèle can't understand why he should leave her the land.
This story is told from the points of view of Vianne, Rosette, and Reynaud, and also through a confession that Narcisse has written to him before his death, whilst Morgane Dubois arrives to open a new business in Narcisse's empty shop. But who is she and what does she want?
Mysteries abound as the wind changes, forcing changes in the lives of those living in Lasquenet, and revealing many parallels between them.
This another wonderful mysterious, magical novel about this entrancing place and its people and I really enjoyed it so much that I think I will go back and, starting with Chocolat, read the series all over again.

A Great Summer Scottish Read - The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan

I've just been lucky enough to visit Scotland for the very first time, and a friend, knowing how much I love to read a book set in the country I'm visiting, recommended The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan, and I really enjoyed it!
This photo is of Loch Ard in The Trossachs, but the story is actually set further north which I think maybe the destination for another trip for me over the Border!
It's a wonderful, magical tale of Nina who's made redundant from her safe job in a Birmingham library, and ends up, after a team-building exercise she and her colleague, Griffin, are sent on, deciding that the thing she really wants to do is buy a van and open a travelling bookshop.
However, the only van she can afford with her redundancy money is in Kirrinfief in the Highlands of Scotland! Her housemate and good friend, Surinder, thinks she is mad, but can't wait for Nina to take away all the unwanted library books she's been hoarding.
Having bought the van, she tries to drive back to Birmingham to pick up her stock of books, but ends up getting stuck on the rails in front of an approaching goods train. This results in a tender sweet romance with Marek, one of the drivers.
Nina finds a restored barn to live in, owned by a grumpy farmer, called Lennox. His soon-to-be ex-wife has done it up, but he only charges Nina a low rent because he can't stand the sight of it. However, when Nina helps him to deliver twin lambs, she discovers his kinder side, and maybe begins to see their relationship in a different light.
The whole story is played out in the clean air and fresh green Scottish hillsides with the sea twinkling in the distance and entertaining characters. It's magical, too, because Nina builds ups her business by recommending the perfect books for her customers in the way that Vivienne does in Chocolat by Joanne Harris, which helps them come to terms with their problems.
I can certainly recommend this summer read!