I put the author's name in quotes here because it's a pseudonym, used by several people. Judging by comparison with the Betty Gordon book I read recently, written under the same alias, I concluded that this one was written by a different, rather better author and Wikipedia says I'm right - this one is by W. Bert Foster and the Betty Gordon by Josephine Lawrence.
The starting points for the two stories are broadly similar - a recently orphaned girl sent to live in the country at an establishment run by a miser - but while Betty has rather more resources than Ruth, being only a temporary visitor, Ruth's miser is less flint of skin than Betty's so it all rather balances out :)
There are even more of these available as free ebooks than the Betty Gordon series, so i shall probably be delving further into Ruth's adventures.
84. End of Term by Antonia Forest. 252 pages.
Another of Antonia Forest's books about the Marlow family, kindly lent to my by hooloovoo42.
I was surprised to find that there's a fairly deep (for a children's book) look at religion incorporated in the story here. But it's done with conversations between the characters which seem quite natural for the people they are and not something the author has crowbarred in to suit a particular hobbyhorse of her own.
I liked this one rather better than Autumn term, possibly because of being better acquainted with the characters after reading that one.
85. D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. 193 pages.
Book 4 of the Kinsey Milhone series. Kinsey is hired to find someone and deliver a cheque to them. But her client's cheque to her bounces and before she can track him down and question him about it, he's found dead.
I liked this one rather better than the previous ones as Kinsey seems to open up rather more and seems a bit more human and likeable, although the ending seemed rather abrupt.
86. The Ready-Made Family by Antonia Forest. 194 pages
Another of the Marlow books, this time set at their home in the countryside rather than at Kingscote school.
Karen Marlow comes home to tell her family that she's getting married to a much older widower with three children. Hilarity ensues. Or not.
The more I read of these the more I like them.
87. The Attic Murder by S. Fowler Wright. 142 pages
Oddly constructed tale of a man falsely convicted of fraud, who goes on the run and finds himself on the scene of a gruesome murder which brings him back into the clutches of the police.
The author wavers between points of view rather more than I find helpful - the plot could have been quite decent had it been written better.
