Happy spring!
1. THE DRAGON MAN by Garry Disher (KINDLE) (#1 Inspector Hal Challis mystery) Grade: B+ First book in a series featuring Detective Inspector Hal Challis in the peninsula region southeast of Melbourne, Australia. A series of killings of teenaged girls first raped and then brutally killed, their bodies dumped in various locales near the Old Peninsula Highway has police baffled, and it's Challis's job to work with the local force to see the killer behind bars. The killer is also taunting them, sending letters to a local journalist denigrating the police. A good first entry in a promising-looking series, although I did find it a bit draggy in the middle with a rather abrupt ending. Too many different problems/issues with too many of the local cops were addressed, I think, making the midsection have a sort of scattered feel to it--and then some of those issues were sort of left hanging. I did figure out the killer well in advance so that wasn't a surprise. Still, it was a good story with some characters I liked very much and also very atmospheric--you definitely knew you were in Australia!
The one issue I have with this Kindle version of the book was the horrible formatting. Often there were missing quotation marks around dialogue, words misspelled, lack of spacing between point of view changes--sometimes occuring without even a new paragraph! Lots of lack of spacing issues. VERY annoying, and if I had paid for this book rather than checking it out from the library, I would have complained loud and long to Amazon. It was really REALLY distracting! I've seen other books with an occasional formatting problem with the Kindle version, but this one takes the cake!
2. SCARLET by Stephen R. Lawhead (#2 King Raven historical fantasy trilogy) Grade: A+ Second in this historical fantasy trilogy with the author's spin on the Robin Hood legend. This book focuses on Will Scatlock, aka Scarlet, who actually seeks to become a member of Rhy Bran's group. Told primarily from his point of view as he sits in prison awaiting execution dictating his memoirs and the tale of how he came to join the group of supposed outlaws to Odo, a monk-scribe who is writing them down. While telling this story to Odo, Will has a lightbulb moment when he realizes the significance of a chest with some pricey items--a jeweled gold ring, a pair of white leather gloves and a letter--that was in with other things that the group stole. Odo has been talking to him as well, and at the mention of the fact that there are two Popes at present, both vying for the recognized Papacy, Will's brain lights up. Now he must figure out a way to get this very useful information to Bran and the group--he figures even if he must swing from a rope, some good should come out of it. Excellent as was the first, this bears re-reading at some point and will stay on my Keeper shelf.
3. BLOOD OF THE WICKED by LEIGHTON GAGE (KINDLE) (#1 Chief Inspector Mario Silva mystery) Grade: C- First of a series set in Brazil and featuring Mario Silva, a chief inspector with the Federal police. He is sent into a remote area to investigate the assassination of a Catholic bishop and gets tangled up in several other investigations dealing with long-lived strife between the rich landowners and the Landless Majority. A violent, brutal book which doesn't bother me per se, but it felt like some of the violence was placed just for shock value. I wanted to like this book--I have heard good things about the series and South America is one of the world's areas that I haven't visited much so was hoping for a series based there that I could latch onto. Alas, it has taken me almost 2 weeks to read this book which is usually a good indicator of how much I like--or dislike--a book. I can't actually say I didn't like it...I can't think of anything really bad to say about it. It was okay, I guess. I just could not get interested in it. At all. I don't think I will be continuing the series.
4. NANNY OGG'S COOKBOOK by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. Grade: A A hilarious compilation of recipes, Discworld gossip and folklore featuring Nanny Ogg, one of the Discworld's most notable witches. Most of the recipes actually look quite good, although I will need to do some conversions as they're written in UK measurements--which is only to be expected, and I will have to pick up some frogs so I can not add them to the Frog Pills. From the delectable sounding "Sticky Toffee Rat Onna Stick" to the "Knuckle Sandwich" and "Mrs. Gogol's Clairvoyant Gumbo," there's a good variety of sweet, savory, meat and meatless dishes, including my favorite simple recipes "Bread and Water" and "The Librarian's Recipe For Banana." This will be staying on my Keeper shelf with the rest of my Discworld collection--and I do intend to open it again and actually try some of this stuff. :)
5. THE DIVINE CIRCLE OF LADIES PLAYING WITH FIRE by Dolores Stewart Riccio (#5 Cass Shipton "Circle" mystery) Grade: A+ Fifth in a series featuring Cassandra Shipton and four of her friends who loosely form a Wiccan coven and get up to all sorts of adventures in Plymouth, Massachussetts. In this book, an arsonist is setting fires where animals are present--a stable, an animal shelter, etc.--and Heather, the rampant animal rights activist among them is on the brink of getting out her black candles if the firebug isn't found. Cass has some visions/dreams of the arsonist but not clear enough to narrow it down to one person, so the women set out to mundanely investigate two men whom Cass thinks are definite possibilities. When one of the circle members' husbands dies as a result of another fire, their mission turns hugely personal. I love this series and was dismayed when the author lost her publisher (I think that was the reason it stopped) after the first four books. I thought it was over. After an absence of several years, lo and behold, early last year I discovered that there were now three more, and another published since. I was ecstatic! Except that I was early on in my year-long "book buying ban" of 2011, so I had to wait til this year to buy this book--and it was the first one I purchased, too! These women--quite different in age, personality, the type of life they have, etc--have become my friends and it was wonderful to visit with them again, despite the pall of tragedy hanging over them. These are the most accurately depicted "real life Wiccan/Pagan" books I've read, not treating it as a 'paranormal' that also includes vampires or faeries and the ability of witches to twitch ones nose and have stuff happen. LOL Anyway, welcome back Cass, Fiona, Heather, Deirdre and Phillipa and their extended families.
6. THE END OF THE WASP SEASON by Denise Mina (AUDIO) (#2 Alex Morrow mystery.) Grade: A Second
book in Mina's trilogy featuring Alex Morrow, a DS with Strathclyde
police. Now five months pregnant with twins, Morrow struggles with
trying to keep an even keel at work lest anything she say or do be
written off as 'hormones talking.' A young woman is brutally murdered in
her home, found at the bottom of her stairs with her face stomped in
such that she's barely recognizable. In her kitchen, hundreds of
thousands of euros are found under a false bottom in the kitchen table
and Morrow and her team must not only solve her murder, but also figure
out where the money came from. During the initial
investigation, Morrow runs across a childhood friend, Kay Murray, who
was a caregiver for the young woman's mother in the home, and she and
her family come under suspicion, although Morrow herself doesn't believe
Kay had anything to do with it--it's her boss, DI Bannerman, who seems
anxious to wrap up the case in the most convenient way. Morrow also
struggles with her relationship with her brother Danny, a local tough
who followed in their father's footsteps as a gang boss. Another
excellent entry in this series, with lots of subplots and twists and
turns, and an ending that leaves you feeling unsettled and wondering
just what it was that really happened. Expertly read by Jane MacFarlane.
Looking forward to the next one!
7. THIS NIGHT'S FOUL WORK by Fred Vargas. (#4 Commissaire Adamsberg mystery.) Grade: A
Another excellent entry in this cerebral mystery series featuring Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg of the Serious Crimes Unit in Paris. Adamsberg is so far beyond the norm when it comes to policeman, I suspect he would resemble the bumbling Colombo of American TV fame. His mind is always wandering, off in the clouds, and yet his methods always get a result in the end. Half his crew worship and adore him and allow him free rein and obey his orders to the letter. The other half are just waiting for him to make a big mistake and they scoff at his preposterous suppositions. As per usual, two cases tie together--Adamsberg is called incidentally to a rural area where stags are being killed and their hearts cut out, meat left to rot. Meanwhile, murders are being done that make Adamsberg suspect an 'Angel of Mercy' serial killer, a visiting nurse who dispatched her patients so they would no longer suffer. Everyone thinks she's in prison, but Adamsberg drops the bombshell to his crew that she escaped a few months ago. Meanwhile, a New Recruit has joined the team, a young man who lived one village over from Adamsberg's birthplace in the Pyrenees. And Adamsberg is learning now to distance himself from Camille, the previous love of his life and who bore Adamsberg's son Tom. I thoroughly enjoy these very "different" sort of mysteries, although some of the things that happen in them are really unbelievable. As long as you can suspend your disbelief, they work fine. Very much looking forward to the next one!
8. CRUEL SISTER by Deborah Grabien. (#4 Haunted Ballad mystery) Grade: B+ The
origins of another folk ballad (Cruel Sister) come to light when Ringan
Laine and his girlfriend Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes greet Penny's long
absent brother Stephen and his wife, who are building a home on the Isle
of Dogs. Stephen wants Ringan to 'authenticate' the historical feeling
they want the home to have (besides being in a folk band, Ringan also
does period restorations on the side.) Ringan almost
immediately has a strange feeling at the property and sees and hears
things that apparently happened centuries earlier involving a brutal
murder--and it appears to be one twin killing her sister over the love
of a man. Getting the research team on the case, they discover that
these teenage girls were from Scotland, in London in advance of Henry
VIII's marriage to Ann of Cleves, and one of them was a goddaughter to
King Henry as well. As the mystery unfolds, Ringan gets drawn deeper and
deeper into the events of 1540 until Penny fears he is going to
disappear altogether. I really enjoy this series and find
Ringan, Penny and their circle to now be old friends. I will say that
this being the fourth one in the series, I've marked the grade a bit
lower as I'm finding the premise to be a bit formulaic with very similar
happenings in each book, lots of repeat descriptions of various
trance-like states that either Penny or Ringan go through which are
accompanied by much hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth until the ghosts
are dispatched. That said, I find the historical detail and the way
folk songs originate to be very interesting, and will happily read the
fifth and last in the series.
9. SACRILEGE by S.J. Parris (AUDIO) (#3 Giordano Bruno historical mystery) Grade: B-/C+
Third in this series
featuring Giordano Bruno, an ex-monk with radical ideas who has been
pursued for heresy, he now works for the French ambassador and is
secretly an agent of Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster Sir Francis
Walsingham. Sophia Underhill, the young woman Bruno protected in the
last book and whom he was in love with, finds him and implores him to
clear her name, as she is accused of killing her magistrate husband. With
Sophia disguised as a boy, they are soon are off to Canterbury with
Walsingham's blessing--since he's going to have Bruno doing his own
investigation into a possible plot against the Queen, which leads to him
investigating a possible revival of the cult of Saint Thomas A. Becket,
who was himself murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral in the 12th
century. This book was probably better than I gave it credit
for...it's just that I seem to have stumbled upon a large number of
Elizabethan books lately, and everyone and his brother seem to be spies
for Walsingham, so I was not as enthralled as I might have been. It was
not really a "thrilling" book as advertised--the culprit was rather easy
to deduce, and I found Bruno's constant mooning romantically over
Sophia to be rather tiresome and a convenient excuse for his not picking
up on the rather obvious clues left by the author. The reader (John
Lee) was good though, and he did a variety of accents very well.
10. NO GOOD DEEDS by Laura Lippman. (KINDLE) (#9 Tess Monaghan mystery series) Grade: A Ninth
book in Lippmann's wonderful Tess Monaghan series in which we get to
know her boyfriend Crow a little better. Crow brings home a homeless
black teenager for dinner and invites him to stay the night and help him
find shelter the next day. Lloyd Jupiter thinks he's hit a gold mine
with the crazy white people who would let a common thief and scam artist
like him into their home. During dinner, Tess ascertains that Lloyd
seems to know something about the death of a prominent district attorney
a few weeks previously, but before she can get more information, Lloyd
tries to steal Tess's car and crashes it, running off into the night.Meanwhile,
Tess digs up some new information that leads her to believe Lloyd is in
danger and Crow, feeling guilty, tries to find him and help him. After
an interview Lloyd gives to one of Tess's journalist contacts, she is
visited by an odd mix of agents--FBI, DEA and one of the murdered
attorney's colleagues--who try to bully Tess into giving up her
'anonymous source' or face ruin.Another fast-paced ride
through Baltimore and environs as the author once again explores an
interesting side of life in that city, this time the disparity between
the mostly white "haves" and the mostly black "have nots." Only two more
to catch up to the most recent book--I shall be sad if there isn't
another waiting by the time I get there!
11. THE CHESHIRE CAT'S EYE by Marcia Muller (AUDIO) (#3 Sharon McCone mystery) Grade: B+ Third
in this series featuring San Francisco PI Sharon McCone. Sharon
discovers the body of a client and old friend who had asked to meet her
in a house he was in the process of restoring. She is then hired by the
man who owns the house in the hope that she can solve the crime and
clear the name of his business. The investigation then leads back to
another murder three years previously in the same house, and a missing
Tiffany lamp, a valuable stained glass featuring characters from Alice
in Wonderland. As Sharon starts digging up dirt on the people
involved with the Victorian preservation business, she discovers that
many people had a motive for one or another of the murders, and that she
likes a lot of the people and doesn't want to believe they had anything
to do with it. On a personal note, her relationship with Lt. Greg
Marcus also deepens, although as always during the investigation they
rankle each other mightily. Considering the age of this book,
it has stood the test of time surprisingly well and I look forward to
getting to know Sharon even better as I continue the series. The reader
(Laura Hicks) had a calming voice and read the book competently,
although her male voices all tend to sound somewhat the same.
12. HUNTING THE WITCH by Ellen Hart (#9 Jane Lawless mystery) Grade: C+ #9
in this series featuring Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless. Jane,
still injured both physically and psychologically from the attack she
suffered in the last book, is trying to recover and make some decisions
about her relationship with Julia, who is still encouraging Jane to give
her another chance, despite the lies and secrets between them. Even
now, Julia speaks of "having a talk to clear the air" but it never seems
to happen--and when Jane is attacked by a man with a gun at Julia's
cabin, she's even less inclined to be forgiving. Meanwhile,
Patricia Kastner, a young woman who has shown an interest in Jane, gets
tangled up in a murder that happened at the Winter Garden, a hotel she
has purchased and is hoping to renovate. The murdered man also has ties
back to Julia, as Jane discovers when his wife (who had her husband
followed by a PI) seeks Julia out demanding answers. Jane begins turning
to alcohol more and more to help her sleep and also deal with the pain
from her injuries, and her friends are all concerned about her. This
was another book that I did not particularly like--another with too much stress on the "relationship drama"--it was okay, and I
know that in real life, people go through rough times, but seeing Jane
in this state is somewhat distressing, perhaps because I do think of her
as a friend. I hope she is on the mend soon and back to her old self.
DNF: MURDER OFF THE BOOKS by Evelyn David (boring!) and MURDER PASSES THE BUCK by Deb Baker. Just...ugh.
CURRENT READS:
AUDIO:THE VOWS OF SILENCE by Susan Hill (#4 Simon Serrailler mystery)
KINDLE:THE JANUS STONE by Elly Griffiths (#2 Ruth Galloway mystery)
PRINT: THE KILL CALL by Stephen Booth (#9 Ben Cooper/Diane Fry mystery)
Cheryl
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
March 2012
1. EYE OF THE RED TSAR by Sam Eastland. (AUDIO) (#1 Inspector Pekkala historical mystery) Grade: A Review pending at the Paperbackswap Blog.
2. NO MARK UPON HER by Deborah Crombie. (#14 Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery). Grade: A Fourteenth entry in this outstanding series featuring Scotland Yard detective Duncan Kincaid and DI Gemma James. With their lives officially blended now, Duncan had planned to take some family leave time to aid in assisting their new foster daughter Charlotte's adjustment. But when a major case involving the death of a ranking Metropolitan Police inspector comes up, his boss wants him on it. Rebecca Meredith was an Olympic calibre rower and her body is found in the Thames near her boat a few hours after she's reported missing by her ex-husband. Once it's determined to be murder, Duncan and Gemma both fear his leave may need to be put on the back burner. Teeming with potential suspects from Becca's personal, athletic and work life, Kincaid and his Sergeant, Doug Cullen, must first try to sort the massive amount of information. One piece of information from her work life leads to a secondary investigation conducted somewhat on the sly by Gemma with help from her former co-worker Melody, now an investigator with Project Sapphire, dealing with rape cases. This part of the investigation has the potential to get both Duncan and Gemma in their usual vat of hot water with their bosses. I hate when this happens, but as soon as the killer was introduced, I knew him for what he was. I had no idea why he had killed Becca Meredith, but I knew it was him. There were a few interesting plot twists that made me think for awhile that I might be wrong, but no. I love this series for its seamless blend of Duncan and Gemma's family and personal lives with their work and investigations. I also inevitably learn something from the books as the author picks a somewhat offbeat topic and researches it well--in this case, it's rowing, of course. The characters, even the secondary ones, are by now old friends and I look forward very eagerly to each new entry in the series, putting off the reading of it as long as I can, which usually isn't very long after release. And now I'm moaning that I have to wait for the next one to enjoy another visit. I can't recommend a series more highly than I do this one.
3. BURIED by Mark Billingham (KINDLE) (#6 DI Tom Thorne mystery) Grade: B Sixth in the DI Tom Thorne mystery series. The teenage son of a former cop is kidnapped, but oddly enough there's no ransom note and some question as to whether it was a true kidnapping or whether Luke Mullen voluntarily went off. Thorne, still in trouble with his boss and recovering from events in the last book, is seconded to a small team working with the kidnapping squad working on the case. As Thorne investigates and looks into the whereabouts of the list of people with grudges against Tony Mullen, Luke's father, he notices the conspicuous absence of a name mentioned by his old friend who works the cold case squad, and investigation into that person starts touching off some red flags. Why hadn't Mullen included the name on his list, and why hadn't his boss added the name when shown Mullen's list? Thorne thinks something is being covered up and is aiming to find out what. It has been a couple of years at least since I read the previous book in this series, mostly because I'd found Thorne's "bad boy rebel cop" persona to become mildly boring and predictable regardless of what stupid, outrageous things he did. He hasn't changed! LOL The book is well-written, well-plotted with some interesting twists that I didn't see coming at all, and while I actually like some of Thorne's secondary characters, I find Thorne hasn't changed much from his irritating old self. I absolutely loved the first couple of books in this series, but while I liked the rest of them, I think I will have to continue to leave months/years between reading each one.
4. ASK THE CARDS A QUESTION by Marcia Muller (AUDIO) #2 Sharon McCone mystery) Grade: B Second in the series featuring San Francisco private investigator Sharon McCone. Sharon ends up investigating a killing that happens in her own building when her upstairs neighbor, elderly Mollie Antonio, is brutally strangled. Detective Greg Marcus asks her to identify the body since it seems everyone else in the building he's tried to question is either "drunk or crazy" and Sharon is horrified to note that a piece of drapery cord that possibly came from her own apartment is likely the murder weapon. As PI's are wont to do, she keeps mum about that tidbit of information and heads off into the neighborhood to question people close to Mollie, and as usual doesn't share her gleaned information with the police, putting herself and others in mortal danger. I guess since she ultimately solves the crime, that stuff doesn't matter though. Don't get me wrong, I like Sharon...it's just that I can't figure out how she's going to keep her PI license through umpteen books in the series if she keeps up that kind of behavior. LOL The reader was okay, but I have to admit that while she did okay with varying the female voices, most of the male voices sounded very similar.
5. DANCING WITH DEMONS by Peter Tremayne. (#18 Sister Fidelma historical mystery) Grade: B The High King of Eirann (Ireland) has been murdered, and while the killer isn't in question, his motives are--and since he killed himself after committing the crime, no one can ask him. The Assembly calls in Sister Fidelma to investigate as an impartial party, since they want no questions in the people's minds when the new High King is installed. So Fidelma and her husband, Brother Eadulf are once again off on a long journey to Tara, leaving their son Alchu behind in Cashel. These books are fairly formulaic, with the questioning of witnesses, the gleaning of interesting information and then the gathering at the end so Fidelma can do the big reveal. Obviously, the real killer was not who everyone asserted it was, and I didn't guess who until the end, but I had narrowed it down to one of three people. While I do enjoy these books, love the setting and the characters and the historical presence the author creates, one thing I am finding increasingly annoying is how the ancient language is incorporated into the books--a word from the ancient Irish (or Gaelic or whatever it is) is used and then it's briefly explained or defined. It's educational, but it detracts from the story and I seem to notice it more each time, which is probably why I leave so much time between them now.
6. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE NORTH by Philip Pullman. (AUDIO) Grade: A A quick prequel to Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, this features aeronaut Lee Scoresby as a much younger man on one of his first journeys in his hot air balloon. He puts down in a far arctic region to the island of Novy Odense where he meets two unexpected characters--the first an old enemy named Pierre McConville--a hired killer currently using a different name--and the second Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear who figures so prominently in Lyra's life in the later books. A very quick and easy listen--narration skillfully done by the author himself with a cast of other readers doing the character parts. Gives a little more insight into Scoresby's character as well as Iorek Byrnison's. Delightful!
7. SEASON OF DARKNESS by Maureen Jennings. (KINDLE) (#1 Inspector Tom Tyler historical mystery) Grade: C- First of a planned trilogy set in Shropshire, England in 1940. Inspector Tom Tyler is roused from his usual rather boring job in the small town of Whitchurch when one of the Land Army girls is found brutally murdered and posed. England is at war, and these girls are trucked in from the cities to help farmers with crops while most of the men are serving their country. The killing rouses suspicion that there may be a "Jerry" on the loose who possibly parachuted in, but Tyler believes the killer is much closer to home. When the post-mortem reveals that the girl was struck by a vehicle first and shot afterwards, he's almost certain of it. The question is whether it was a crime of chance or whether someone deliberately targeted the girl and why. Suspicion naturally falls first to the people of German descent interred at a local camp, although he's been assured that they are mostly harmless Jews who were also enemies of Hitler, having fled Germany for safer environs. Security also seems tight there, so it's unlikely that any of the men could have escaped--especially with use of a vehicle to have hit the girl with. The second death of another of the girls complicates the investigation even more. Tyler's investigation is further complicated by the return of his former lover, Clare, now married to a wealthy Swiss businessman. She is working as an interpreter and censor in the camp and seems interested in renewing their affair, even though Tyler is married too, albeit unhappily. Tyler is also worried about his son Jimmy, recently returned from the battle at Dunkirk with a bad case of shell shock, and with other family problems. I wanted to like this book more than I did, and I can't actually pinpoint exactly what it was that made me want to just get it finished by the time I got to the middle part. It seemed a bit put on if that makes any sense...like the author was trying TOO hard to make you think it was 1940, but you could still see the modern-day interpretation of things on the surface of it all. It didn't have the atmosphere of immersing you in the time and place like any good historical fiction or mystery book does, and I'm not sure just what the magic ingredient is but it was missing here. I won't be continuing this series if it does turn into a series.
8. GREY MASK by Patricia Wentworth (KINDLE) (#1 Miss Silver mystery) Grade: C This is the first in a long series of mysteries featuring an older woman named Miss Silver as the detective. It's a very old series, this book being written in 1928 and it did seem rather dated. Written in a rather different style from most modern detective stories, you really don't find out much of anything about Miss Silver nor get to read about her detecting techniques or anything. The story is told from the POV of several different characters involved. I was not overly crazy about the book. One of the main characters was a silly eighteen-year-old girl, recently left orphaned and she's just found out there is no legal paperwork showing that she is indeed her father's daughter, so she stands to lose a fortune. She's being protected from harm by several adults connected with the case, although she doesn't realize she's in danger. She is just...silly, giggly and I wanted to slap her into next week. I'm not sure yet if I am going to continue reading this series--others have said that some of the series books are much better than others, and I just don't think this was a good way to start. I want to know more about Miss Silver herself, otherwise why call them the "Miss Silver" mysteries?
9. THE PALE CRIMINAL by Philip Kerr (AUDIO) (#2 Bernie Gunther historical mystery) Grade: A- Second in this "Berlin noir" series set in 1930's Germany during the rise of Hitler. Bernie Gunther is a former cop, now private detective, who is approached by one of the higher-ups in the current police asking for help with a serial killer who is murdering young Aryan girls. Bernie is loathe to return to formal police work, but when the partner in his private detective agency is brutally murdered while on stakeout, he is a bit at loose ends and agrees to a short term reinstatement with a promotion to Commissar and control over the investigation. Of course, this gets up the noses of quite a few people and Bernie has never been good at toeing the Party line, so he's bound to get himself in hot water at least a few times before he figures out who the bad guy is. Fraught with political scheming and peril, Bernie knows that one wrong step could cause him to permanently disappear. Edgy and graphic, plenty of sax and violins (and I don't mean music! LOL) and much political incorrectness (as per the authenticity of the time) this would not be for the weak of stomach or lover of cozy mysteries. Definitely noir, and wonderfully read by John Lee. My only complaint is that some of the sex and violence seems to be there simply because it is expected and required and designed to shock...none of it was particularly inventive or interesting.
10. WORLD'S GREATEST SLEUTH! by Steve Hockensmith (#5 "Holmes on the Range" mystery.) Grade: A Another excellent entry in this series featuring the Amlingmeyer brothers, Big Red (Otto) and Old Red (Gustav) as they are off to Chicago to the World's Fair of 1893 to participate in a contest to determine (you guessed it!) the World's Greatest Sleuth. This is not something they volunteered for--Otto's publisher enrolled them to get publicity for his series of books and Old Red, still recovering from an incident that left him blinded for weeks, is NOT happy. Arriving at the last minute, they aren't sure exactly how the contest works, and they find themselves up against some awfully strange characters, the only friendly face being their old friend Diana Corvus. Both the brothers are hoping to impress her, but it's not exactly turning out that way...and when the man who was writing the contest clues ends up dead--smothered in a Mammoth Cheese--there are actually two contests going on...the sanctioned one, and the unofficial one to find who killed him. Hilarious and full of wry humor as well as some wonderful information and detail about the Chicago World's Fair, this was a great story and a well-plotted mystery with a bad guy that I didn't figure out nearly til the end. I do hope there will be more of these books forthcoming, although this is currently the last one.
11. MARTYR by Rory Clements (KINDLE) (#1 John Shakespeare historical mystery) Grade: C+ Did you know that William Shakespeare, the infamous playwright, had an older brother called John who was an intelligencer for Secretary Walsingham? Neither did I. LOL John begins investigating the death of a woman, a noblewoman distantly related to Queen Elizabeth. Her body is found in a burned out house, carved with profane religious symbols--and she was with child, the fetus having been sliced from her body before the fire, which only partly consumed her body. While he's investigating, he uncovers a plot to murder Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral of England's Royal Navy and their only hope to stave off a Spanish invasion, and must also try to foil that plot while still looking for the killer of Lady Blanche Howard. All the while, he's working at cross-purposes to one Richard Topcliffe, a trusted advisor to the Queen, who has it in for Shakespeare and always seems to be one step ahead of John's efforts. Walsingham, not wanting to incur the Queen's ire, tells Shakespeare he'll just have to put up with Topcliffe. Set during 1587 with the backdrop of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots and the attempt by the government to hunt down and kill Catholic priests and arrest those found practicing Catholicism, this book was gripping at the same time as it felt tired and rehashed. The author used a lot of well-documented details to flesh out and authenticate parts of the story, but anyone who's read a bit of Elizabethan history will have heard most of it before. The story had an interesting beginning, but I found the intrigue to peter out a bit towards the middle and became rather predictable, even down to the romantic twist for Shakespeare. I'll probably read the next one in the series, although it won't be anytime soon.
12. THREE-DAY TOWN by Margaret Maron (AUDIO) (#17 Judge Deborah Knott mystery, also featuring the main character from her other series, Sigrid Harald.) Grade: B Deborah and Dwight are off to New York for a week for a much-postponed honeymoon with keys to their sister-in-law Kate's apartment where they'll stay. Deborah also totes a package for the daughter of a local woman, but discovers on arriving that she is out of the country on an extended holiday, so informed by Sigrid Harald, the woman's daughter. She asks Deborah to open the package--it's a rather obscene statuette--and makes arrangements to pick it up. But by the time she arrives, there's a dead body in the apartment (Deborah and Dwight being at a party down the hall) and the figurine is missing. I love the Judge Deborah books and the characters so much, I'm not sure I can write a really objective review as these are always like visits with old friends. But this one seemed a bit "off" to me, and perhaps it was the incorporation of Sigrid Harald--the main character in Maron's other series--that does it. I was disappointed at this on a personal level as I've not yet started reading that series and felt there were some things shared that will be spoilers for me when I do go back and start them. But the whole story seemed too scattered with an extra person's point of view in there. Possibly also the moving of the book from Deborah's home base of Colleton County. Whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy this production (although CJ Critt was fabulous as usual!) as much as previous ones. Still good, though!
13. SKIN DEEP by Timothy Hallinan (KINDLE) (#1 Simeon Grist mystery--although it was actually published third) Grade: C Simeon Grist is a private investigator in Hollywood, and one day while consuming beverages at a local tavern has the unfortunate experience of meeting Toby Vane, famous TV personality--although Simeon doesn't know at the time who he is. He starts knocking his date about in the pub, and Simeon intervenes--and quick as you can blink, he ends up hired by the star's manager with a job babysitting Toby and keeping him out of trouble. Not an easy task by anyone's estimation! And when the brutally murdered body of one of the nude dancers Toby was seen leaving her club with is found on the stage at the club, Simeon realizes his client could be in real hot water unless he takes the time to investigate. This book was...well, let me be honest. If I had not already read Timothy Hallinan's other series featuring Poke Rafferty, I would most likely have stopped reading this book well before my 50-page rule. It starts out...well, it's cheesy, rather amateurish and cliched, and I actually laughed in places I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to. However, I persevered, and it does actually get better by about mid-book although it is nowhere near the quality and calibre of the author's later writing. The author has said that this was the first book in the series, but it was passed over in favor of two other books in the series that ended up being published before this one. I can understand why, given my initial reaction to the book. I can only assume they get better, and I think Mr. Hallinan can certainly be very proud of how much his writing has improved and matured over time, as Poke Rafferty is one of my top ten favorite mystery series ever. I will look forward to watching Simeon develop!
14. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by John Le Carre. (AUDIO) Grade: A+ This audio version of the classic spy novel was a full-cast production with sound effects and it was wonderful! It features George Smiley (of Le Carre's spy series) but only peripherally and is primarily about Alec Leamas, one of Smiley's contemporaries, who goes in deep cover without support in another attempt to bring down Mundt, the notorious German spy. Excellent!!
DNF: THE ANATOMIST'S APPRENTICE by Tessa Harris. Read about 20% of it on my Kindle and just couldn't get interested in it. Also SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD by Robert McCammon--his minutely detailed descriptions of people and their clothing was so distracting from the story, I couldn't read more than 80 pages before wanting to hurl the book across the room.
Cheryl
2. NO MARK UPON HER by Deborah Crombie. (#14 Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery). Grade: A Fourteenth entry in this outstanding series featuring Scotland Yard detective Duncan Kincaid and DI Gemma James. With their lives officially blended now, Duncan had planned to take some family leave time to aid in assisting their new foster daughter Charlotte's adjustment. But when a major case involving the death of a ranking Metropolitan Police inspector comes up, his boss wants him on it. Rebecca Meredith was an Olympic calibre rower and her body is found in the Thames near her boat a few hours after she's reported missing by her ex-husband. Once it's determined to be murder, Duncan and Gemma both fear his leave may need to be put on the back burner. Teeming with potential suspects from Becca's personal, athletic and work life, Kincaid and his Sergeant, Doug Cullen, must first try to sort the massive amount of information. One piece of information from her work life leads to a secondary investigation conducted somewhat on the sly by Gemma with help from her former co-worker Melody, now an investigator with Project Sapphire, dealing with rape cases. This part of the investigation has the potential to get both Duncan and Gemma in their usual vat of hot water with their bosses. I hate when this happens, but as soon as the killer was introduced, I knew him for what he was. I had no idea why he had killed Becca Meredith, but I knew it was him. There were a few interesting plot twists that made me think for awhile that I might be wrong, but no. I love this series for its seamless blend of Duncan and Gemma's family and personal lives with their work and investigations. I also inevitably learn something from the books as the author picks a somewhat offbeat topic and researches it well--in this case, it's rowing, of course. The characters, even the secondary ones, are by now old friends and I look forward very eagerly to each new entry in the series, putting off the reading of it as long as I can, which usually isn't very long after release. And now I'm moaning that I have to wait for the next one to enjoy another visit. I can't recommend a series more highly than I do this one.
3. BURIED by Mark Billingham (KINDLE) (#6 DI Tom Thorne mystery) Grade: B Sixth in the DI Tom Thorne mystery series. The teenage son of a former cop is kidnapped, but oddly enough there's no ransom note and some question as to whether it was a true kidnapping or whether Luke Mullen voluntarily went off. Thorne, still in trouble with his boss and recovering from events in the last book, is seconded to a small team working with the kidnapping squad working on the case. As Thorne investigates and looks into the whereabouts of the list of people with grudges against Tony Mullen, Luke's father, he notices the conspicuous absence of a name mentioned by his old friend who works the cold case squad, and investigation into that person starts touching off some red flags. Why hadn't Mullen included the name on his list, and why hadn't his boss added the name when shown Mullen's list? Thorne thinks something is being covered up and is aiming to find out what. It has been a couple of years at least since I read the previous book in this series, mostly because I'd found Thorne's "bad boy rebel cop" persona to become mildly boring and predictable regardless of what stupid, outrageous things he did. He hasn't changed! LOL The book is well-written, well-plotted with some interesting twists that I didn't see coming at all, and while I actually like some of Thorne's secondary characters, I find Thorne hasn't changed much from his irritating old self. I absolutely loved the first couple of books in this series, but while I liked the rest of them, I think I will have to continue to leave months/years between reading each one.
4. ASK THE CARDS A QUESTION by Marcia Muller (AUDIO) #2 Sharon McCone mystery) Grade: B Second in the series featuring San Francisco private investigator Sharon McCone. Sharon ends up investigating a killing that happens in her own building when her upstairs neighbor, elderly Mollie Antonio, is brutally strangled. Detective Greg Marcus asks her to identify the body since it seems everyone else in the building he's tried to question is either "drunk or crazy" and Sharon is horrified to note that a piece of drapery cord that possibly came from her own apartment is likely the murder weapon. As PI's are wont to do, she keeps mum about that tidbit of information and heads off into the neighborhood to question people close to Mollie, and as usual doesn't share her gleaned information with the police, putting herself and others in mortal danger. I guess since she ultimately solves the crime, that stuff doesn't matter though. Don't get me wrong, I like Sharon...it's just that I can't figure out how she's going to keep her PI license through umpteen books in the series if she keeps up that kind of behavior. LOL The reader was okay, but I have to admit that while she did okay with varying the female voices, most of the male voices sounded very similar.
5. DANCING WITH DEMONS by Peter Tremayne. (#18 Sister Fidelma historical mystery) Grade: B The High King of Eirann (Ireland) has been murdered, and while the killer isn't in question, his motives are--and since he killed himself after committing the crime, no one can ask him. The Assembly calls in Sister Fidelma to investigate as an impartial party, since they want no questions in the people's minds when the new High King is installed. So Fidelma and her husband, Brother Eadulf are once again off on a long journey to Tara, leaving their son Alchu behind in Cashel. These books are fairly formulaic, with the questioning of witnesses, the gleaning of interesting information and then the gathering at the end so Fidelma can do the big reveal. Obviously, the real killer was not who everyone asserted it was, and I didn't guess who until the end, but I had narrowed it down to one of three people. While I do enjoy these books, love the setting and the characters and the historical presence the author creates, one thing I am finding increasingly annoying is how the ancient language is incorporated into the books--a word from the ancient Irish (or Gaelic or whatever it is) is used and then it's briefly explained or defined. It's educational, but it detracts from the story and I seem to notice it more each time, which is probably why I leave so much time between them now.
6. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE NORTH by Philip Pullman. (AUDIO) Grade: A A quick prequel to Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, this features aeronaut Lee Scoresby as a much younger man on one of his first journeys in his hot air balloon. He puts down in a far arctic region to the island of Novy Odense where he meets two unexpected characters--the first an old enemy named Pierre McConville--a hired killer currently using a different name--and the second Iorek Byrnison, the armored bear who figures so prominently in Lyra's life in the later books. A very quick and easy listen--narration skillfully done by the author himself with a cast of other readers doing the character parts. Gives a little more insight into Scoresby's character as well as Iorek Byrnison's. Delightful!
7. SEASON OF DARKNESS by Maureen Jennings. (KINDLE) (#1 Inspector Tom Tyler historical mystery) Grade: C- First of a planned trilogy set in Shropshire, England in 1940. Inspector Tom Tyler is roused from his usual rather boring job in the small town of Whitchurch when one of the Land Army girls is found brutally murdered and posed. England is at war, and these girls are trucked in from the cities to help farmers with crops while most of the men are serving their country. The killing rouses suspicion that there may be a "Jerry" on the loose who possibly parachuted in, but Tyler believes the killer is much closer to home. When the post-mortem reveals that the girl was struck by a vehicle first and shot afterwards, he's almost certain of it. The question is whether it was a crime of chance or whether someone deliberately targeted the girl and why. Suspicion naturally falls first to the people of German descent interred at a local camp, although he's been assured that they are mostly harmless Jews who were also enemies of Hitler, having fled Germany for safer environs. Security also seems tight there, so it's unlikely that any of the men could have escaped--especially with use of a vehicle to have hit the girl with. The second death of another of the girls complicates the investigation even more. Tyler's investigation is further complicated by the return of his former lover, Clare, now married to a wealthy Swiss businessman. She is working as an interpreter and censor in the camp and seems interested in renewing their affair, even though Tyler is married too, albeit unhappily. Tyler is also worried about his son Jimmy, recently returned from the battle at Dunkirk with a bad case of shell shock, and with other family problems. I wanted to like this book more than I did, and I can't actually pinpoint exactly what it was that made me want to just get it finished by the time I got to the middle part. It seemed a bit put on if that makes any sense...like the author was trying TOO hard to make you think it was 1940, but you could still see the modern-day interpretation of things on the surface of it all. It didn't have the atmosphere of immersing you in the time and place like any good historical fiction or mystery book does, and I'm not sure just what the magic ingredient is but it was missing here. I won't be continuing this series if it does turn into a series.
8. GREY MASK by Patricia Wentworth (KINDLE) (#1 Miss Silver mystery) Grade: C This is the first in a long series of mysteries featuring an older woman named Miss Silver as the detective. It's a very old series, this book being written in 1928 and it did seem rather dated. Written in a rather different style from most modern detective stories, you really don't find out much of anything about Miss Silver nor get to read about her detecting techniques or anything. The story is told from the POV of several different characters involved. I was not overly crazy about the book. One of the main characters was a silly eighteen-year-old girl, recently left orphaned and she's just found out there is no legal paperwork showing that she is indeed her father's daughter, so she stands to lose a fortune. She's being protected from harm by several adults connected with the case, although she doesn't realize she's in danger. She is just...silly, giggly and I wanted to slap her into next week. I'm not sure yet if I am going to continue reading this series--others have said that some of the series books are much better than others, and I just don't think this was a good way to start. I want to know more about Miss Silver herself, otherwise why call them the "Miss Silver" mysteries?
9. THE PALE CRIMINAL by Philip Kerr (AUDIO) (#2 Bernie Gunther historical mystery) Grade: A- Second in this "Berlin noir" series set in 1930's Germany during the rise of Hitler. Bernie Gunther is a former cop, now private detective, who is approached by one of the higher-ups in the current police asking for help with a serial killer who is murdering young Aryan girls. Bernie is loathe to return to formal police work, but when the partner in his private detective agency is brutally murdered while on stakeout, he is a bit at loose ends and agrees to a short term reinstatement with a promotion to Commissar and control over the investigation. Of course, this gets up the noses of quite a few people and Bernie has never been good at toeing the Party line, so he's bound to get himself in hot water at least a few times before he figures out who the bad guy is. Fraught with political scheming and peril, Bernie knows that one wrong step could cause him to permanently disappear. Edgy and graphic, plenty of sax and violins (and I don't mean music! LOL) and much political incorrectness (as per the authenticity of the time) this would not be for the weak of stomach or lover of cozy mysteries. Definitely noir, and wonderfully read by John Lee. My only complaint is that some of the sex and violence seems to be there simply because it is expected and required and designed to shock...none of it was particularly inventive or interesting.
10. WORLD'S GREATEST SLEUTH! by Steve Hockensmith (#5 "Holmes on the Range" mystery.) Grade: A Another excellent entry in this series featuring the Amlingmeyer brothers, Big Red (Otto) and Old Red (Gustav) as they are off to Chicago to the World's Fair of 1893 to participate in a contest to determine (you guessed it!) the World's Greatest Sleuth. This is not something they volunteered for--Otto's publisher enrolled them to get publicity for his series of books and Old Red, still recovering from an incident that left him blinded for weeks, is NOT happy. Arriving at the last minute, they aren't sure exactly how the contest works, and they find themselves up against some awfully strange characters, the only friendly face being their old friend Diana Corvus. Both the brothers are hoping to impress her, but it's not exactly turning out that way...and when the man who was writing the contest clues ends up dead--smothered in a Mammoth Cheese--there are actually two contests going on...the sanctioned one, and the unofficial one to find who killed him. Hilarious and full of wry humor as well as some wonderful information and detail about the Chicago World's Fair, this was a great story and a well-plotted mystery with a bad guy that I didn't figure out nearly til the end. I do hope there will be more of these books forthcoming, although this is currently the last one.
11. MARTYR by Rory Clements (KINDLE) (#1 John Shakespeare historical mystery) Grade: C+ Did you know that William Shakespeare, the infamous playwright, had an older brother called John who was an intelligencer for Secretary Walsingham? Neither did I. LOL John begins investigating the death of a woman, a noblewoman distantly related to Queen Elizabeth. Her body is found in a burned out house, carved with profane religious symbols--and she was with child, the fetus having been sliced from her body before the fire, which only partly consumed her body. While he's investigating, he uncovers a plot to murder Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral of England's Royal Navy and their only hope to stave off a Spanish invasion, and must also try to foil that plot while still looking for the killer of Lady Blanche Howard. All the while, he's working at cross-purposes to one Richard Topcliffe, a trusted advisor to the Queen, who has it in for Shakespeare and always seems to be one step ahead of John's efforts. Walsingham, not wanting to incur the Queen's ire, tells Shakespeare he'll just have to put up with Topcliffe. Set during 1587 with the backdrop of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots and the attempt by the government to hunt down and kill Catholic priests and arrest those found practicing Catholicism, this book was gripping at the same time as it felt tired and rehashed. The author used a lot of well-documented details to flesh out and authenticate parts of the story, but anyone who's read a bit of Elizabethan history will have heard most of it before. The story had an interesting beginning, but I found the intrigue to peter out a bit towards the middle and became rather predictable, even down to the romantic twist for Shakespeare. I'll probably read the next one in the series, although it won't be anytime soon.
12. THREE-DAY TOWN by Margaret Maron (AUDIO) (#17 Judge Deborah Knott mystery, also featuring the main character from her other series, Sigrid Harald.) Grade: B Deborah and Dwight are off to New York for a week for a much-postponed honeymoon with keys to their sister-in-law Kate's apartment where they'll stay. Deborah also totes a package for the daughter of a local woman, but discovers on arriving that she is out of the country on an extended holiday, so informed by Sigrid Harald, the woman's daughter. She asks Deborah to open the package--it's a rather obscene statuette--and makes arrangements to pick it up. But by the time she arrives, there's a dead body in the apartment (Deborah and Dwight being at a party down the hall) and the figurine is missing. I love the Judge Deborah books and the characters so much, I'm not sure I can write a really objective review as these are always like visits with old friends. But this one seemed a bit "off" to me, and perhaps it was the incorporation of Sigrid Harald--the main character in Maron's other series--that does it. I was disappointed at this on a personal level as I've not yet started reading that series and felt there were some things shared that will be spoilers for me when I do go back and start them. But the whole story seemed too scattered with an extra person's point of view in there. Possibly also the moving of the book from Deborah's home base of Colleton County. Whatever the reason, I didn't enjoy this production (although CJ Critt was fabulous as usual!) as much as previous ones. Still good, though!
13. SKIN DEEP by Timothy Hallinan (KINDLE) (#1 Simeon Grist mystery--although it was actually published third) Grade: C Simeon Grist is a private investigator in Hollywood, and one day while consuming beverages at a local tavern has the unfortunate experience of meeting Toby Vane, famous TV personality--although Simeon doesn't know at the time who he is. He starts knocking his date about in the pub, and Simeon intervenes--and quick as you can blink, he ends up hired by the star's manager with a job babysitting Toby and keeping him out of trouble. Not an easy task by anyone's estimation! And when the brutally murdered body of one of the nude dancers Toby was seen leaving her club with is found on the stage at the club, Simeon realizes his client could be in real hot water unless he takes the time to investigate. This book was...well, let me be honest. If I had not already read Timothy Hallinan's other series featuring Poke Rafferty, I would most likely have stopped reading this book well before my 50-page rule. It starts out...well, it's cheesy, rather amateurish and cliched, and I actually laughed in places I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to. However, I persevered, and it does actually get better by about mid-book although it is nowhere near the quality and calibre of the author's later writing. The author has said that this was the first book in the series, but it was passed over in favor of two other books in the series that ended up being published before this one. I can understand why, given my initial reaction to the book. I can only assume they get better, and I think Mr. Hallinan can certainly be very proud of how much his writing has improved and matured over time, as Poke Rafferty is one of my top ten favorite mystery series ever. I will look forward to watching Simeon develop!
14. THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD by John Le Carre. (AUDIO) Grade: A+ This audio version of the classic spy novel was a full-cast production with sound effects and it was wonderful! It features George Smiley (of Le Carre's spy series) but only peripherally and is primarily about Alec Leamas, one of Smiley's contemporaries, who goes in deep cover without support in another attempt to bring down Mundt, the notorious German spy. Excellent!!
DNF: THE ANATOMIST'S APPRENTICE by Tessa Harris. Read about 20% of it on my Kindle and just couldn't get interested in it. Also SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD by Robert McCammon--his minutely detailed descriptions of people and their clothing was so distracting from the story, I couldn't read more than 80 pages before wanting to hurl the book across the room.
Cheryl
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
FEBRUARY 2012
A new month, and moved in to the new apartment, but still with lots to do to get really settled in. Hope to get a bit more reading done this month than last, though!
Oh...I wanted to add that I finally actually *bought* a book, the first since Dec. 30, 2010! There is a wonderful series by Dolores Stewart Riccio about a small group of Wiccan women, the lead character being Cass Shipton. I read what was then the "last" one a few years ago, but last year, discovered that since then she got a new publisher and there are now FOUR more for me to read! I had them all on my wishlist and if I was ever tempted to stray off my resolution for 2011 and buy, it was this book. But I held out til now. I ordered the fifth in the series (The Divine Circle of Ladies Playing With Fire) from Amazon and hope to be enjoying it very soon! :)
1. COOKING UP MURDER by Miranda Bliss (Kindle) (#1 Cooking Class Mystery) Grade: C-/D+ Trying to find a lighter, cozier series to read at bedtime so thought I would give this, the first "Cooking Class Mystery" a try. *sigh* Like so many cozy series, it ended up being mostly a romance with the main female character doing lots of fantasizing and drooling over the main male character. Very stereotypical characters--Annie (main character) has less-than-perfect looks and low self-esteem due to cheating hubby and recent divorce. Her best friend Eve is a vivacious drop dead gorgeous blonde, and the cooking instructor is a hot guy complete with a sexy Scottish accent. (Can you hear my eyes rolling? LOL) The plot and story just didn't have much depth, a cookie-cutter mystery, just boring and predictable...I didn't hate it or the main character, she was so devoid of character that I just didn't care one way or another what happened. I finished it, but I won't be continuing on in the series.
2. THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville (also published as "The Ghosts of Belfast" in the UK) Grade: A While this book is listed as the first in a series featuring Belfast cop Jack Lennon, he is really only introduced minimally here, and former enforcer for the IRA, Gerry Fegan, is the lead character. Haunted by the ghosts of those he killed during his "career," he has been drowning his sorrows in drink since being released from prison nine years previously. Now the twelve ghosts follow him, imploring him to seek justice for them on those who engineered their deaths, even if Gerry is the one who did the deed. As the Irish factions strive to (at least outwardly) settle things politically rather than with the violence of old, Gerry's destruction of some of the former IRA movers and shakers is very ill-timed, and Davy Campbell, an intelligence agent in deep cover close to the current top man, is tasked with finding and silencing Gerry--permanently. Who will find whom first? Stark, haunting and brutally violent, this is not a book for the weak of heart or stomach. But it is a very good book, sucking you into the story from the first paragraph until the surprising ending.
3. THE STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy (Kindle) (#1 White House Chef mystery) Grade: B In this first "White House Chef" mystery featuring Olivia "Ollie" Paras, assistant executive chef in the presidential residence, we're introduced to the world of not only cooking but also to the behind the scenes world of working at the White House in a normally lower profile job. Ollie, however, seems to have a knack for getting in trouble and begins the story by clobbering an intruder who got by the Secret Service and guards onto the White House grounds--with a silver frying pan she'd had engraved for her boss Henry, the executive chef who will soon be retiring. Things sort of skyrocket and go downhill for Ollie from there as it turns out the man she clobbered wasn't a real bad guy, but someone trying to warn the President of a plot against his life. Against the backdrop of diplomacy and trade/peace negotiations, Henry, Ollie and the rest of the small permanent staff are trying to plan an important state dinner as well as hosting Ollie's rival for the position of executive chef for her audition day. As usual when I start a new cozy series, I start out with a bit of trepidation, because I simply don't like so many of them. This was not bad--a little too much of Ollie's lamenting her rocky relationship with her sometime-boyfriend because I'm never impressed when a main character's mood or self-esteem is tied to a love interest. But the setting I think was unique enough that I quite enjoyed the story and learning about all the things that go into considering cooking for functions at the White House that you normally wouldn't think about. I will definitely read on in the series, and unless it gets to be too formulaic or too romance-bound, it sounds like a pretty good one.
4. A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny (AUDIO) #7 Armand Gamache "Three Pines" mystery) Grade: A+ Another wonderful visit to Three Pines, although there is much hurt and internal strife among Armand Gamache's homicide team with the Surete du Quebec as they all are still attempting to recover from the devastating attack that left both Armand and his second, Jean-Guy Beauvior, seriously injured. And another body found in Three Pines, in the garden of Clara and Peter Morrow the morning after a party celebrating Clara's solo art show in Montreal dampens things even further. Though not recognized immediately, it's later determined that the victim was a childhood friend of Clara's, which leaves her at the top of the suspect list, at least theoretically. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio production of the book which was well-read, and the story itself was interesting too. Most of all though, I love this series for the village of Three Pines itself and for the eccentric, well-defined characters, and for the ongoing development in the main characters' lives. Definitely among my top ten favorite series.
5. WHAT REMAINS OF HEAVEN by C.S. Harris #5 Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery. Grade: A+ Another excellent entry in this historical series set in the 1810's in London. A bishop is murdered, struck down in a crypt that had been blocked up 30 years previously--and when the bishop's body is discovered, another body--also murdered--is found nearby. The Archbishop of London, well aware of Viscount Devlin (Sebastian St. Cyr) and his knack for solving difficult murders, implores him (with the help of his aunt, whom he dotes on) to find the killer. Sebastian is intrigued by the case, given the older dead body too. As he investigates, he discovers some troubling things about his own past and also again encounters Miss Hero Jarvis nosing around the case too--she even had a meeting with the Bishop shortly before he went off to the village where he was killed. This series is well-written, well-plotted, and has engaging characters, as well as a real sense of place and time in history. It's fast becoming one of my favorite historical series although it falls much later in time than my main interest. Highly recommended!
6. THE BODY ON THE BEACH by Simon Brett (AUDIO) #1 "Fethering" mystery. Grade A- First in a series set in Fethering on the south coast of England, featuring Carole Seddon, a fifty-something retired woman. I wasn't sure I was going to finish this when I first started it--Carole started out as an insufferable prig, concerned only with 'what the neighbors think' but after a bit she started loosening up and by the end was almost human. Walking her dog along the beach early one morning, Carole discovers a dead body washed up on shore. She reports this to the police but when they go to check it out, it's disappeared and they obviously think her some hysterical menopausal freak. Together with her new neighbor Jude, a much more relaxed and easy-going person, they begin to investigate where the body might have gone--as well as who it was and whodunit, of course. As mentioned, at first I was dubious about this main character, but by about a third of the way through I actually started to enjoy the story and finished it up in one day. The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out ahead, but that is often the case for me, so not really an issue. The reader was excellent, which helped too. Definitely going to move forward in the series.
7. A DEADLY PENANCE by Maureen Ash (KINDLE) (#6 Bascot de Marins "Templar Knight" mystery) Grade: A Sir Bascot de Marins, Templar Knight, is back in the service of the Templars but not on fighting duty per se--he is the second in command at the Lincoln encampment, and works keeping books and stores in order. It's the slow time after Christ's Mass, when not much trade is occurring due to the weather, so when he is summoned by his former retainer, Nicolaa de la Haye, castellan of Lincoln Castle, to help with a murder investigation, he is happy for the distraction. A young servant of Nicolaa's sister, who has been visiting for some weeks, is shot with a crossbow bolt from a miniature crossbow gifted to Nicolaa by her father when she was a child. The man was quite a philanderer, so it's suspected that perhaps the husband of one of his conquests has murdered him, but further investigation opens up several other possibilities, even including possible suspects in Nicolaa or his sister's retinue. Another well-done entry in this series--it's odd, when I'm reading the book, I find the writing style a little dry at times, and Bascot himself not a very memorable or strong character, but when I'm done, I find I've enjoyed the book very much, loved the historical details, and am ready and eager to read the next in series.
8. OTHER GODS by Barbara Reichmuth Geisler. #1 Averillan Chronicles historical mystery. Grade: C- This is the first of a 2-book series set in mid 1100's England near Shaftesbury and features a convent with the main character being one Dame Averilla, the herbalist/healer for the convent and town. I don't know if she was meant to be the female counterpart of Brother Cadfael, but it certainly didn't come off that way. One of the nuns, Dame Agnes, has recently been having 'fits' where she seems to hear voices and respond to them, she screams, tears her clothing off, etc. and is believed by the sub-prioress, the self-righteous Dame Joan, to be possessed. Averilla believes there may be another explanation but before they can come to a conclusion, Dame Agnes disappears and is gone for several days before the Abbess gives Averilla leave to go searching, since the town bailiff has had no success. I really liked the author's writing style, the historical detail and ambiance...it was very easy to imagine yourself right "there" where the author put you...however, the whole undertone of the book ruined the story for me. It was preachy and churchy and had far too much of the mental self-flagellation and self-blame which Christians indulge in as an undertone....it felt a bit 'off' and despite the fact that I had this and the second in series on my wishlist for several years before acquiring it, I won't be bothering with the second one.
9. THE MIND'S EYE by Hakan Nesser. (#1 Inspector Van Veeteren mystery) (AUDIO) Grade: B.Another of those very oddly-written Scandinavian mysteries, this one featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, a toothpick-chewing, somewhat plodding man ten years from retirement and wishing it were sooner. When teacher Ava Ringmar is found drowned in her bathtub, her husband becomes the prime suspect--he found her when he woke from a drunken stupor in the morning and doesn't recall a thing, although he protests his innocence. Months go by, the jury finds him guilty of manslaughter by reason of insanity...and then he is murdered in the mental hospital where he's incarcerated. Van Veeteren, who had doubts in the first place about the man's guilt, must now go back and revisit the original crime. While I really enjoyed the reading of this book, I got the impression the author thought he was going to surprise everyone with the plot twist that revealed the killer. I had figured out who the bad guy was, why he killed Ava and the whole thing by about 1/3 of the way through. The only thing I didn't see coming was the killer getting into the hospital to kill Ava's husband. As many of the Scandinavian mysteries are, this one was a bit dark and gloomy, but I still liked it and I think as long as I don't read or listen to them too close together, I'll continue to enjoy them.
10. KISSING THE DEMONS by Kate Ellis (#3 Joe Plantagenet mystery) (KINDLE) Grade: B- A fast-paced mystery, the third featuring DI Joe Plantagenet and DCI Emily Thwaite in fictional Eborby, UK. When new DNA evidence comes to light, Joe and Emily are asked to look discreetly into a prominent politician's possible involvement in the disappearance of two girls a dozen years previously. The fresh murder of a college student keeps them headed in another direction until they realize the old case has ties to their current one--and possibly an even older murder committed decades ago in the house where the college girl lived. I like this series and the writing style is very easy to read, and I like the way the author generally ties an old historical case to something currently going on. But I am a lover of strong, interesting characters and the characters here seem a bit "stuck" at the moment, without much real development in their lives...they're sort of bland, and there really aren't any recurring secondary characters who get more than a passing mention either. The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out, and a bit of warning--there is a bit of the ghostly supernatural present here too, so if you're not a fan of that woo-woo, beware. I'll continue reading the series, but it's not what I would call a favorite.
11. HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne (#1 Iron Druid Chronicles urban fantasy) (AUDIO) Grade: A+ I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was just excellent! Modern urban fantasy full of lots of old Celtic and Norse gods and legends, this opening entry introduces us to Atticus O'Sullivan (not his real name, ha ha!) a Druid who is more than 2100 years old. Living as a twenty-something occult bookstore owner and mixer of herbal teas and potions, Atticus lives in an Arizona college town, trying to blend in while more or less hiding out from an old Celtic God who wants his magical sword and to finally kick his butt to the next world, preferably Hell. He has some strange allies from the pages of myth and legend, as well as some pretty cool real-life characters, including his Irish Wolfhound Oberon, whom Atticus can communicate with telepathically. I really loved this book--the tone is similar to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, so yeah--smart alecky and wise cracking and decidedly irreverent, which means I'm probably going to like it. LOL Very smoothly written, easy to listen to with engaging and well-developed characters...definitely a winner and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series. Also very well-read with Luke Daniels at the microphone.
12. HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens (classic) Grade: B Classic tale of Victorian England with all the social injustices occurring as the Industrial Revolution geared up and the class struggles between the haves and have-nots. It's told from the point of view of several people, some the factory owners and others the downtrodden workers and other inhabitants of Coketown, the fictional city Dickens bases his characters in. It took me about 30 pages or so to warm up to the book--once I realized it was meant to be sarcastic and humorous I did better with it, and actually quite enjoyed it in retrospect even though I "assigned" it to myself as sort of a have-to-read book--I'm trying to read more classic literature this year. There were some difficulties with the language at first but again, once reading it for awhile I got used to it and it was easier to understand.
13. SKINWALKERS by Tony Hillerman (#7 Leaphorn/Chee mysteries) (KINDLE) Grade: A I'm pretty sure I read most of these early books in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries, but it's been many years and I don't remember much for details. I enjoyed this one a lot! Leaphorn and Chee are just getting to know one another as they investigate several deaths that are somehow connected, but they can't quite get a handle on how or why. Leaphorn also believes the attempt on Chee's life--someone pumped three shotgun blasts into his trailer where he should have been sleeping--is tied in as well. As the pieces begin falling into place, Leaphorn realizes that he must track Chee down before he heads into a seemingly unrelated meeting about a Blessing Way sing that could end Chee's life. Great characters, wonderful sense of place and interesting mystery.
Currently reading:
NO MARK UPON HER by Deborah Crombie
BURIED by Mark Billingham
EYE OF THE RED TSAR by Sam Eastland
Cheryl
Oh...I wanted to add that I finally actually *bought* a book, the first since Dec. 30, 2010! There is a wonderful series by Dolores Stewart Riccio about a small group of Wiccan women, the lead character being Cass Shipton. I read what was then the "last" one a few years ago, but last year, discovered that since then she got a new publisher and there are now FOUR more for me to read! I had them all on my wishlist and if I was ever tempted to stray off my resolution for 2011 and buy, it was this book. But I held out til now. I ordered the fifth in the series (The Divine Circle of Ladies Playing With Fire) from Amazon and hope to be enjoying it very soon! :)
1. COOKING UP MURDER by Miranda Bliss (Kindle) (#1 Cooking Class Mystery) Grade: C-/D+ Trying to find a lighter, cozier series to read at bedtime so thought I would give this, the first "Cooking Class Mystery" a try. *sigh* Like so many cozy series, it ended up being mostly a romance with the main female character doing lots of fantasizing and drooling over the main male character. Very stereotypical characters--Annie (main character) has less-than-perfect looks and low self-esteem due to cheating hubby and recent divorce. Her best friend Eve is a vivacious drop dead gorgeous blonde, and the cooking instructor is a hot guy complete with a sexy Scottish accent. (Can you hear my eyes rolling? LOL) The plot and story just didn't have much depth, a cookie-cutter mystery, just boring and predictable...I didn't hate it or the main character, she was so devoid of character that I just didn't care one way or another what happened. I finished it, but I won't be continuing on in the series.
2. THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville (also published as "The Ghosts of Belfast" in the UK) Grade: A While this book is listed as the first in a series featuring Belfast cop Jack Lennon, he is really only introduced minimally here, and former enforcer for the IRA, Gerry Fegan, is the lead character. Haunted by the ghosts of those he killed during his "career," he has been drowning his sorrows in drink since being released from prison nine years previously. Now the twelve ghosts follow him, imploring him to seek justice for them on those who engineered their deaths, even if Gerry is the one who did the deed. As the Irish factions strive to (at least outwardly) settle things politically rather than with the violence of old, Gerry's destruction of some of the former IRA movers and shakers is very ill-timed, and Davy Campbell, an intelligence agent in deep cover close to the current top man, is tasked with finding and silencing Gerry--permanently. Who will find whom first? Stark, haunting and brutally violent, this is not a book for the weak of heart or stomach. But it is a very good book, sucking you into the story from the first paragraph until the surprising ending.
3. THE STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy (Kindle) (#1 White House Chef mystery) Grade: B In this first "White House Chef" mystery featuring Olivia "Ollie" Paras, assistant executive chef in the presidential residence, we're introduced to the world of not only cooking but also to the behind the scenes world of working at the White House in a normally lower profile job. Ollie, however, seems to have a knack for getting in trouble and begins the story by clobbering an intruder who got by the Secret Service and guards onto the White House grounds--with a silver frying pan she'd had engraved for her boss Henry, the executive chef who will soon be retiring. Things sort of skyrocket and go downhill for Ollie from there as it turns out the man she clobbered wasn't a real bad guy, but someone trying to warn the President of a plot against his life. Against the backdrop of diplomacy and trade/peace negotiations, Henry, Ollie and the rest of the small permanent staff are trying to plan an important state dinner as well as hosting Ollie's rival for the position of executive chef for her audition day. As usual when I start a new cozy series, I start out with a bit of trepidation, because I simply don't like so many of them. This was not bad--a little too much of Ollie's lamenting her rocky relationship with her sometime-boyfriend because I'm never impressed when a main character's mood or self-esteem is tied to a love interest. But the setting I think was unique enough that I quite enjoyed the story and learning about all the things that go into considering cooking for functions at the White House that you normally wouldn't think about. I will definitely read on in the series, and unless it gets to be too formulaic or too romance-bound, it sounds like a pretty good one.
4. A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny (AUDIO) #7 Armand Gamache "Three Pines" mystery) Grade: A+ Another wonderful visit to Three Pines, although there is much hurt and internal strife among Armand Gamache's homicide team with the Surete du Quebec as they all are still attempting to recover from the devastating attack that left both Armand and his second, Jean-Guy Beauvior, seriously injured. And another body found in Three Pines, in the garden of Clara and Peter Morrow the morning after a party celebrating Clara's solo art show in Montreal dampens things even further. Though not recognized immediately, it's later determined that the victim was a childhood friend of Clara's, which leaves her at the top of the suspect list, at least theoretically. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio production of the book which was well-read, and the story itself was interesting too. Most of all though, I love this series for the village of Three Pines itself and for the eccentric, well-defined characters, and for the ongoing development in the main characters' lives. Definitely among my top ten favorite series.
5. WHAT REMAINS OF HEAVEN by C.S. Harris #5 Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery. Grade: A+ Another excellent entry in this historical series set in the 1810's in London. A bishop is murdered, struck down in a crypt that had been blocked up 30 years previously--and when the bishop's body is discovered, another body--also murdered--is found nearby. The Archbishop of London, well aware of Viscount Devlin (Sebastian St. Cyr) and his knack for solving difficult murders, implores him (with the help of his aunt, whom he dotes on) to find the killer. Sebastian is intrigued by the case, given the older dead body too. As he investigates, he discovers some troubling things about his own past and also again encounters Miss Hero Jarvis nosing around the case too--she even had a meeting with the Bishop shortly before he went off to the village where he was killed. This series is well-written, well-plotted, and has engaging characters, as well as a real sense of place and time in history. It's fast becoming one of my favorite historical series although it falls much later in time than my main interest. Highly recommended!
6. THE BODY ON THE BEACH by Simon Brett (AUDIO) #1 "Fethering" mystery. Grade A- First in a series set in Fethering on the south coast of England, featuring Carole Seddon, a fifty-something retired woman. I wasn't sure I was going to finish this when I first started it--Carole started out as an insufferable prig, concerned only with 'what the neighbors think' but after a bit she started loosening up and by the end was almost human. Walking her dog along the beach early one morning, Carole discovers a dead body washed up on shore. She reports this to the police but when they go to check it out, it's disappeared and they obviously think her some hysterical menopausal freak. Together with her new neighbor Jude, a much more relaxed and easy-going person, they begin to investigate where the body might have gone--as well as who it was and whodunit, of course. As mentioned, at first I was dubious about this main character, but by about a third of the way through I actually started to enjoy the story and finished it up in one day. The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out ahead, but that is often the case for me, so not really an issue. The reader was excellent, which helped too. Definitely going to move forward in the series.
7. A DEADLY PENANCE by Maureen Ash (KINDLE) (#6 Bascot de Marins "Templar Knight" mystery) Grade: A Sir Bascot de Marins, Templar Knight, is back in the service of the Templars but not on fighting duty per se--he is the second in command at the Lincoln encampment, and works keeping books and stores in order. It's the slow time after Christ's Mass, when not much trade is occurring due to the weather, so when he is summoned by his former retainer, Nicolaa de la Haye, castellan of Lincoln Castle, to help with a murder investigation, he is happy for the distraction. A young servant of Nicolaa's sister, who has been visiting for some weeks, is shot with a crossbow bolt from a miniature crossbow gifted to Nicolaa by her father when she was a child. The man was quite a philanderer, so it's suspected that perhaps the husband of one of his conquests has murdered him, but further investigation opens up several other possibilities, even including possible suspects in Nicolaa or his sister's retinue. Another well-done entry in this series--it's odd, when I'm reading the book, I find the writing style a little dry at times, and Bascot himself not a very memorable or strong character, but when I'm done, I find I've enjoyed the book very much, loved the historical details, and am ready and eager to read the next in series.
8. OTHER GODS by Barbara Reichmuth Geisler. #1 Averillan Chronicles historical mystery. Grade: C- This is the first of a 2-book series set in mid 1100's England near Shaftesbury and features a convent with the main character being one Dame Averilla, the herbalist/healer for the convent and town. I don't know if she was meant to be the female counterpart of Brother Cadfael, but it certainly didn't come off that way. One of the nuns, Dame Agnes, has recently been having 'fits' where she seems to hear voices and respond to them, she screams, tears her clothing off, etc. and is believed by the sub-prioress, the self-righteous Dame Joan, to be possessed. Averilla believes there may be another explanation but before they can come to a conclusion, Dame Agnes disappears and is gone for several days before the Abbess gives Averilla leave to go searching, since the town bailiff has had no success. I really liked the author's writing style, the historical detail and ambiance...it was very easy to imagine yourself right "there" where the author put you...however, the whole undertone of the book ruined the story for me. It was preachy and churchy and had far too much of the mental self-flagellation and self-blame which Christians indulge in as an undertone....it felt a bit 'off' and despite the fact that I had this and the second in series on my wishlist for several years before acquiring it, I won't be bothering with the second one.
9. THE MIND'S EYE by Hakan Nesser. (#1 Inspector Van Veeteren mystery) (AUDIO) Grade: B.Another of those very oddly-written Scandinavian mysteries, this one featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, a toothpick-chewing, somewhat plodding man ten years from retirement and wishing it were sooner. When teacher Ava Ringmar is found drowned in her bathtub, her husband becomes the prime suspect--he found her when he woke from a drunken stupor in the morning and doesn't recall a thing, although he protests his innocence. Months go by, the jury finds him guilty of manslaughter by reason of insanity...and then he is murdered in the mental hospital where he's incarcerated. Van Veeteren, who had doubts in the first place about the man's guilt, must now go back and revisit the original crime. While I really enjoyed the reading of this book, I got the impression the author thought he was going to surprise everyone with the plot twist that revealed the killer. I had figured out who the bad guy was, why he killed Ava and the whole thing by about 1/3 of the way through. The only thing I didn't see coming was the killer getting into the hospital to kill Ava's husband. As many of the Scandinavian mysteries are, this one was a bit dark and gloomy, but I still liked it and I think as long as I don't read or listen to them too close together, I'll continue to enjoy them.
10. KISSING THE DEMONS by Kate Ellis (#3 Joe Plantagenet mystery) (KINDLE) Grade: B- A fast-paced mystery, the third featuring DI Joe Plantagenet and DCI Emily Thwaite in fictional Eborby, UK. When new DNA evidence comes to light, Joe and Emily are asked to look discreetly into a prominent politician's possible involvement in the disappearance of two girls a dozen years previously. The fresh murder of a college student keeps them headed in another direction until they realize the old case has ties to their current one--and possibly an even older murder committed decades ago in the house where the college girl lived. I like this series and the writing style is very easy to read, and I like the way the author generally ties an old historical case to something currently going on. But I am a lover of strong, interesting characters and the characters here seem a bit "stuck" at the moment, without much real development in their lives...they're sort of bland, and there really aren't any recurring secondary characters who get more than a passing mention either. The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out, and a bit of warning--there is a bit of the ghostly supernatural present here too, so if you're not a fan of that woo-woo, beware. I'll continue reading the series, but it's not what I would call a favorite.
11. HOUNDED by Kevin Hearne (#1 Iron Druid Chronicles urban fantasy) (AUDIO) Grade: A+ I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was just excellent! Modern urban fantasy full of lots of old Celtic and Norse gods and legends, this opening entry introduces us to Atticus O'Sullivan (not his real name, ha ha!) a Druid who is more than 2100 years old. Living as a twenty-something occult bookstore owner and mixer of herbal teas and potions, Atticus lives in an Arizona college town, trying to blend in while more or less hiding out from an old Celtic God who wants his magical sword and to finally kick his butt to the next world, preferably Hell. He has some strange allies from the pages of myth and legend, as well as some pretty cool real-life characters, including his Irish Wolfhound Oberon, whom Atticus can communicate with telepathically. I really loved this book--the tone is similar to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, so yeah--smart alecky and wise cracking and decidedly irreverent, which means I'm probably going to like it. LOL Very smoothly written, easy to listen to with engaging and well-developed characters...definitely a winner and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series. Also very well-read with Luke Daniels at the microphone.
12. HARD TIMES by Charles Dickens (classic) Grade: B Classic tale of Victorian England with all the social injustices occurring as the Industrial Revolution geared up and the class struggles between the haves and have-nots. It's told from the point of view of several people, some the factory owners and others the downtrodden workers and other inhabitants of Coketown, the fictional city Dickens bases his characters in. It took me about 30 pages or so to warm up to the book--once I realized it was meant to be sarcastic and humorous I did better with it, and actually quite enjoyed it in retrospect even though I "assigned" it to myself as sort of a have-to-read book--I'm trying to read more classic literature this year. There were some difficulties with the language at first but again, once reading it for awhile I got used to it and it was easier to understand.
13. SKINWALKERS by Tony Hillerman (#7 Leaphorn/Chee mysteries) (KINDLE) Grade: A I'm pretty sure I read most of these early books in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mysteries, but it's been many years and I don't remember much for details. I enjoyed this one a lot! Leaphorn and Chee are just getting to know one another as they investigate several deaths that are somehow connected, but they can't quite get a handle on how or why. Leaphorn also believes the attempt on Chee's life--someone pumped three shotgun blasts into his trailer where he should have been sleeping--is tied in as well. As the pieces begin falling into place, Leaphorn realizes that he must track Chee down before he heads into a seemingly unrelated meeting about a Blessing Way sing that could end Chee's life. Great characters, wonderful sense of place and interesting mystery.
Currently reading:
NO MARK UPON HER by Deborah Crombie
BURIED by Mark Billingham
EYE OF THE RED TSAR by Sam Eastland
Cheryl
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
January 2012
My gosh, it's the second week of January and I haven't updated yet! I have read a few books, but am packing to move at the end of the month, so reviews are going to be very sketchy if they are forthcoming at all.
Top news: I met my 2011 Book Resolution--not to purchase for money ANY books during the year! Yay me! And right now I'm so broke, I haven't bought any yet this year either. LOL My 2012 Book Resolution is to read one "classic" a month. Some are more recent classics, others older, but I'm just trying to expand my horizons a bit. I read mostly mysteries and sometimes get tired of the same old, same old...have gotten pickier in my dotage, too.
1. MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE by Victoria Thompson. (#12 "Gaslight" historical mystery) B+
2. A GAME OF LIES by Rebecca Cantrell (#3 Hannah Vogel historical mystery) A+
3. THE RISK OF DARKNESS by Susan Hill (#3 Simon Serrailler mystery) (AUDIO) A+
4. DEVIL'S PEAK by Deon Meyer (#1 Benny Griessel mystery) (KINDLE) A+
5. THE STRANGER by Albert Camus (my classic for the month) B+
6. ABOUT FACE by Donna Leon (#18 Commissario Guido Brunetti) (AUDIO) B
7. BLOODY MARY by J.A. Konrath #2 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) B+
8. BRYANT & MAY ON THE LOOSE by Christopher Fowler (#7 Bryant & May mystery) A+
9. I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett (#38 Discworld, #4 Tiffany Aching sub-series) A+
10. DRAGONSEYE by Anne McCaffrey (#4 Dragonriders of Pern fantasy) (KINDLE) A
DNF: THE MERLOT MURDERS by Ellen Crosby (#1 Wine Country mystery) (AUDIO)
Cheryl
Top news: I met my 2011 Book Resolution--not to purchase for money ANY books during the year! Yay me! And right now I'm so broke, I haven't bought any yet this year either. LOL My 2012 Book Resolution is to read one "classic" a month. Some are more recent classics, others older, but I'm just trying to expand my horizons a bit. I read mostly mysteries and sometimes get tired of the same old, same old...have gotten pickier in my dotage, too.
1. MURDER ON LEXINGTON AVENUE by Victoria Thompson. (#12 "Gaslight" historical mystery) B+
2. A GAME OF LIES by Rebecca Cantrell (#3 Hannah Vogel historical mystery) A+
3. THE RISK OF DARKNESS by Susan Hill (#3 Simon Serrailler mystery) (AUDIO) A+
4. DEVIL'S PEAK by Deon Meyer (#1 Benny Griessel mystery) (KINDLE) A+
5. THE STRANGER by Albert Camus (my classic for the month) B+
6. ABOUT FACE by Donna Leon (#18 Commissario Guido Brunetti) (AUDIO) B
7. BLOODY MARY by J.A. Konrath #2 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) B+
8. BRYANT & MAY ON THE LOOSE by Christopher Fowler (#7 Bryant & May mystery) A+
9. I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett (#38 Discworld, #4 Tiffany Aching sub-series) A+
10. DRAGONSEYE by Anne McCaffrey (#4 Dragonriders of Pern fantasy) (KINDLE) A
DNF: THE MERLOT MURDERS by Ellen Crosby (#1 Wine Country mystery) (AUDIO)
Cheryl
Friday, December 23, 2011
TOPS n BOTTOMS 2011
END OF YEAR SUMMARY
Total Books Read: 214
DNFs: 6
Books in/books out (note that this is since Feb. 1, 2011 so is actually only 11 months worth:
Books Acquired (all from Paperbackswap and Amazon Vine): 92
Books Lost (traded, sold, donated) from physical TBR shelves: 543
Net loss: 451 books
Total left on TBR: To be announced--still compiling...
TOPS n BOTTOMS:
This was VERY difficult...but this is what I eventually settled on. Even with the honorable mentions listed, there were a LOT of excellent books that didn't make the list!
TOP TEN MYSTERIES (in no particular order...but I did cheat a little, counting series books that I read this year in the same series as one entry)
1. A TRACE OF SMOKE/A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES by Rebecca Cantrell (#1 & 2 Hannah Vogel series)
2. BREATHING WATER/THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan (#3 & 4 Poke Rafferty series)
3. AMONG THE MAD/THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH/A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (#6, 7 & 8 Maisie Dobbs series)
4. THE VICTORIA VANISHES by Christopher Fowler (#6 Bryant & May mysteries)
5. A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD/I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley (audio) (#3/4 Flavia de Luce series)
6. SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN/BLOOD HINA by Naomi Hirahara (#3/4 Mas Arai series)
7. LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE/SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill (#7/8 Dr. Siri Paiboun series)
8. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery)
9. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines mystery)
10. THE WEAVER AND THE FACTORY MAID/FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN/MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#1/2/3 "Haunted Ballad" mysteries)
Honorable mention:
A FIELD OF DARKNESS by Cornelia Read (#1 Madeline Dare mystery)
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (#1 Leo Demidov mystery--note: I didn't like the second one nearly as well)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (#1 Simon Ziele historical mystery)
THE LIONS OF THE NORTH by Edward Marston (#4 Domesday medieval mysteries)
THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery)
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT/THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#1/2 Vish Puri mysteries)
FROM THE GROUNDS UP/A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#5/6 Maggy Thorsen mystery)
TO FETCH A THIEF/THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (audio) (#3/4 Chet & Bernie)
TOP "OTHER" GENRES
1. THE WEE FREE MEN/A HAT FULL OF SKY/WINTERSMITH by Terry Pratchett (Discworld fantasy series, Tiffany Aching sub-series)
2. THE LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell (#1 Saxon historical fiction series)
3. THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS by Joe Abercrombie (#3 First Law fantasy trilogy)
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon Cycle trilogy, fantasy)
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (audio)
6. THE EAGLE'S BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy)
7. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery)
8. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest (#1 Cheshire Red paranormal)
BOTTOMS--WORST MYSTERIES (that I actually finished...DNF's not counted)
MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN by Deborah Sharp
CAT OF THE CENTURY by Rita Mae Brown
CUT SHORT by Leigh Russell
DEAD CONNECTION by Alafair Burke (audio)
PRETTY GIRL GONE by David Housewright
THE INDIAN BRIDE by Karin Fossum
I will amend this post later to do a summary of my year's reading--# of books, the status of my TBR pile, etc. Roll on 2012...it's going to be a GREAT year! :)
Cheryl
Total Books Read: 214
DNFs: 6
Books in/books out (note that this is since Feb. 1, 2011 so is actually only 11 months worth:
Books Acquired (all from Paperbackswap and Amazon Vine): 92
Books Lost (traded, sold, donated) from physical TBR shelves: 543
Net loss: 451 books
Total left on TBR: To be announced--still compiling...
TOPS n BOTTOMS:
This was VERY difficult...but this is what I eventually settled on. Even with the honorable mentions listed, there were a LOT of excellent books that didn't make the list!
TOP TEN MYSTERIES (in no particular order...but I did cheat a little, counting series books that I read this year in the same series as one entry)
1. A TRACE OF SMOKE/A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES by Rebecca Cantrell (#1 & 2 Hannah Vogel series)
2. BREATHING WATER/THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan (#3 & 4 Poke Rafferty series)
3. AMONG THE MAD/THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH/A LESSON IN SECRETS by Jacqueline Winspear (#6, 7 & 8 Maisie Dobbs series)
4. THE VICTORIA VANISHES by Christopher Fowler (#6 Bryant & May mysteries)
5. A RED HERRING WITHOUT MUSTARD/I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley (audio) (#3/4 Flavia de Luce series)
6. SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN/BLOOD HINA by Naomi Hirahara (#3/4 Mas Arai series)
7. LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE/SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill (#7/8 Dr. Siri Paiboun series)
8. GUNSHOT ROAD by Adrian Hyland (#2 Emily Tempest mystery)
9. BURY YOUR DEAD by Louise Penny (#6 Three Pines mystery)
10. THE WEAVER AND THE FACTORY MAID/FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN/MATTY GROVES by Deborah Grabien (#1/2/3 "Haunted Ballad" mysteries)
Honorable mention:
A FIELD OF DARKNESS by Cornelia Read (#1 Madeline Dare mystery)
CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith (#1 Leo Demidov mystery--note: I didn't like the second one nearly as well)
IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM by Stefanie Pintoff (#1 Simon Ziele historical mystery)
THE LIONS OF THE NORTH by Edward Marston (#4 Domesday medieval mysteries)
THE PURE IN HEART by Susan Hill (#2 Simon Serrailler mystery)
THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT/THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall (audio) (#1/2 Vish Puri mysteries)
FROM THE GROUNDS UP/A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#5/6 Maggy Thorsen mystery)
TO FETCH A THIEF/THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (audio) (#3/4 Chet & Bernie)
TOP "OTHER" GENRES
1. THE WEE FREE MEN/A HAT FULL OF SKY/WINTERSMITH by Terry Pratchett (Discworld fantasy series, Tiffany Aching sub-series)
2. THE LAST KINGDOM by Bernard Cornwell (#1 Saxon historical fiction series)
3. THE LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS by Joe Abercrombie (#3 First Law fantasy trilogy)
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon Cycle trilogy, fantasy)
5. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (audio)
6. THE EAGLE'S BROOD by Jack Whyte (#3 Camulod Chronicles historical fantasy)
7. DOWNPOUR by Kat Richardson (#6 Greywalker paranormal mystery)
8. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest (#1 Cheshire Red paranormal)
BOTTOMS--WORST MYSTERIES (that I actually finished...DNF's not counted)
MAMA RIDES SHOTGUN by Deborah Sharp
CAT OF THE CENTURY by Rita Mae Brown
CUT SHORT by Leigh Russell
DEAD CONNECTION by Alafair Burke (audio)
PRETTY GIRL GONE by David Housewright
THE INDIAN BRIDE by Karin Fossum
I will amend this post later to do a summary of my year's reading--# of books, the status of my TBR pile, etc. Roll on 2012...it's going to be a GREAT year! :)
Cheryl
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
December 2011
Well, here it is, the last month of my self-imposed book-buying ban. I can't say I've really suffered much--the Hennepin County Library System is wonderful, and I've still allowed myself books from Paperbackswap, so it's not like I've been totally bereft. There are lots of great books to read for Kindle that are free from the library and the Kindle Lending Library (free with my Prime account) so haven't needed to buy any even for that. I am going to do one last big TBR culling this month and then consolidate what's left on the bookshelves to see how I'm doing space-wise. I'll issue a final report after the first of the year on how I did with paring those TBR shelves down. AND to let you know the first books I actually buy in 2012. :)
Now, on to the reading list for December!
1. CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey. (Kindle) B+ Second in the Darko Dawson series, with Darko being a police detective with CID in Accra, Ghana. A series of brutal murders of street children in Accra has Dawson chasing down an invisible killer, while he also has to deal with the deteriorating health of his seven-year-old son who has an atrial-septal defect. Very good second in series--I liked it better than the first, am finding Dawson's character more fleshed out in this book and getting to know the secondary characters better as well. I also did not figure out whodunit til nearly the end. Excellent immersion into a culture which is totally foreign to me, something I always enjoy.
2. THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker. B+ #4 Company fantasy series. It's really hard to describe this series, about an all-powerful Company from the future who makes orphaned children immortals and sends them into the past to save various relics, artifacts, works of art and the like. Sounds noble, but it's more for the financial benefit of the Company, run by Dr. Zeus. In this book, one of the characters we've met in the first three books, the Botanist Mendoza, has disappeared, and her recruiter, the Facilitator Joseph, as well as her dear friend Lewis (who is secretly in love with her) are determined to find her. Fearing that the Company has sent Mendoza to some unknown facility and deactivated her somehow, they must covertly search, as their actions and speech are monitored by The Company. Sometimes confusing with the forward and backward time frames, the series is otherwise brilliant--you just have to be sure to focus totally while you're reading as small bits of information end up being important later on.
3. THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn. (AUDIO) A #4 Chet & Bernie mystery. Another great entry in this series set in Arizona, told from the point of view of Chet, a failed police academy dog and his partner Bernie Little. Together they are the sum total of the Little Detective Agency, which is always on precarious ground--not because of any failing in the private detection part, but because Bernie's a bit less than a stellar business manager and often too kind-hearted and generous with his time. So when big-time PI company owner Georgie Malouf offers Bernie a permanent job with a substantial increase in pay and benefits, it stands to reason that he'll accept. Right? Wrong. Bernie likes his independence and shows it by accepting a case to essentially bodyguard a woman who is picking up her son from a mountain camp and expects trouble from her ex-husband. And trouble there is, although not the kind they expected. Devon, her son, has disappeared, wandered off the trail, and Chet & Bernie are off to search, only to find the murdered body of the camp counselor who was on the hike with Devon's group. Crooked cops with something to hide end up shanghi-ing Bernie into jail where he finds himself accused of the murder.Meanwhile, Chet finds his way back home, hooks up with Bernie's girlfriend Suzie and...well, you'll have to read it. Or listen. I have listened to all this series in audio format and as long as they continue to be available, will continue to do so. The reader is absolutely brilliant in depicting Chet's "voice" and the tone of the books. I always enjoy these immensely--and then am sorry that I now have to wait so long for the next one.
4. BY A SPIDER'S THREAD by Laura Lippman (Kindle) A #8 Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. An Orthodox Jewish man seeks Tess on the recommendation of her uncle (Tess is, despite the name, half-Jewish herself) when his wife disappears without trace with their three children. Mark Rubin can think of no good reason for this, insisting that their marriage was happy, but the police refuse to investigate, finding no evidence of any foul play. Tess finds the going slow at first--Natalie Rubin used no credit cards to make her escape and she seems to have faded into the woodwork. Until the elder Rubin son, Isaac, aged nine, manages to phone Mark briefly leaving a caller ID of a pay phone at a McDonalds in a small town in Indiana. Then Tess's newfound online circle of female PI's known as SnoopSisters swings into action and Tess's digging begins to pay off. Another great entry in the series, which I like because there's just the right balance of personal and professional details and of action and introspection.
5. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND by Fred Vargas. A #4 Chief Inspector Adamsberg mystery set in France, although this one takes place partially in Quebec as Adamsberg and his close associates go there for a two-week training seminar on forensic advancements. Adamsberg is on the trail of a serial killer who has killed over decades, often spacing his kills by years and then vanishing from the area such that suspicion is not aroused. It's personal for Jean-Baptiste though, as one of the people whom this killer--also a powerful Judge--framed was his brother Raphael, when the boy was barely out of his teens. Now, after a long hiatus, he seems to have struck again--despite having died sixteen years ago! But the Judge knows Adamsberg is on his trail and sets him up for a fall much like his brother's and it will take every bit of the wily detective's cunning--and a little help from his friends--to nab the crafty killer. While this whole scenario seemed to me wholly implausible in many ways, it still sucked me in and kept me interested right through til the end, and I very much look forward to the next book in the series.
6. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest. (AUDIO) A #1 in the Cheshire Red series, featuring vampire Raylene Pendle whose alias is Cheshire Red, a notorious thief who's been stealing valuables for decades and is presumed to be a man. Raylene is a lone vampire, not affiliated with any House, and seldom interacts with other vamps. Paranoid almost to a fault, she has several safe houses, multiple identities and almost no one except a couple of very discreet clients have her cell phone number, much less know where she lives. So when she is contacted at her home by Ian Stott, who wants to hire her to steal papers and medical records from a study he was involved in, she is intrigued--and horrified--because the experiments, which were done against his will, left Ian blind, and physical deformities are just not something that happen to vampires. To top it off, the studies were conducted by the U.S. Government which shocks Raylene, as she had no idea Uncle Sam was even aware of the existence of vampires. Raylene goes against all her usual tendencies--which include running and hiding at the first sign of trouble--and heads right into danger to find out what horrible things the government might be intending for vampires--including herself. If she's caught, that is--something Raylene is not going to allow to happen. Excellent first book in this paranormal series, not a cozy "but I'm a GOOD Vampire!" type series at all with plenty of off-color language, adult situations and...well, Raylene isn't exactly a good vampire. Audio version read perfectly by Natalie Ross. Looking forward to the next in series.
7. DEAD CONNECTIONS by Alafair Burke (AUDIO) C- #1 Ellie Hatcher mystery. Singularly uninspired first in series about a NYC detective, pulled from general duty to the murder squad to help with a serial killer who's using an online dating site to choose victims. Ellie Hatcher has a haunted past herself, trying to convince the world that her father did not commit suicide but was the victim of the serial killer he was after and never could catch. While this book was competently written, and wasn't horrible, it felt sort of like an "instant mystery" where you add boiling water to a cup o'noodles and wait for 3 minutes. It is a story, but there's not much meat, the flavor's less than savory and the overall impression is one of "I'll only eat this stuff (read this series) again if there's nothing better." The characters were more like caricatures without any real substance, and I was never very interested in the case, finding it and the characters just blah--including Ellie herself. I believe I will pass on the rest of the series.
8. THE LONE TRAVELLER by Susan Kelly. A #1 Supt. Gregory Summers mystery set in the Thames Valley. It's the summer solstice and the gypsies and New Age enthusiasts have come into town for the faire and celebration at a nearby stone circle. Tensions heat up between the two groups, and between the townsfolk and the travellers, and when a six-year-old girl goes missing, those tensions mount high, and explode once the inevitable happens and the girl's body is found. Summers has all he can do to try to keep the town under control and precious little time to actually work on investigating young Jordan's death. This book captured me right from the beginning, although at first, one aspect of the main character's personal life was a little off-putting--those of you who have read it will know what I mean. But by the end of the book, I felt I knew Greg Summers much better and although I figured out his mystery for him before he did, I am definitely going to be reading on in this series.
9. THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan. A+ #4 Poke Rafferty mystery set in Bangkok, Thailand. In this fourth Poke Rafferty mystery, the story is all about Rose, Poke's wife. A man from her past recognizes her in a restaurant as Poke, Rose and their daughter Miaow are dining and threatens her. The usually unflappable Rose turns into an instant basket case, claiming she thought he was dead--and that she had killed him! Eventually she tells her story from the beginning to her family--from when she was Kwan, a seventeen-year-old village girl until she became Rose, a dancer, bar girl and prostitute. This is a very typical story for Thai girls from outlying villages who come to Bangkok and become workers in the booming sex trade industry. Poke knew of Rose's former occupation of course, but nothing about Howard Horner, whom Rose took up with years previously, thinking they were going to marry. There is not much to be said about this book that "WOW!" won't cover. This has quickly become one of my very favorite series for a whole lot of reasons and I had been hoarding this book for months before I couldn't take it any more and had to read it. Now I just hope the author has the next one in the wings for publication SOON...so I can hoard that one for awhile. LOL
10. INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Imogen Robertson. (Kindle) B+ First of a series set in 1780's Sussex, UK and featuring Gabriel Crowther, a gentleman who relinquished his title and is now mostly a recluse and a 'man of science' and Harriet Westerman, who runs the manor next door while her sea captain husband is away. Mrs. Westerman finds a murdered body on her land and having read a paper Mr. Crowther wrote about evidence at murder scenes, seeks him out immediately. This leads to an extensive investigation which is tied to the missing heir of Thornleigh Hall (another neighbor of theirs). Eventually a couple of other murders yield more clues as the pair investigate, since the local squire seems to be in Thornleigh Hall's pocket and isn't much interested in the truth. I freely admit that this is not my favorite historical time period, so I started the book with a bit of a jaundiced eye. The characters and the story were interesting enough to get me into it right away though, and the writing style is easy to read and well-constructed. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that it did bog down a bit in the middle and was a bit overlong--I'm not sure all the detail about Captain Thornleigh's past and flashbacks to years previous were really necessary. The mystery itself was fairly easy to figure out but I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely read on.
11.EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES by Marcia Muller. (AUDIO) B+ First of the Sharon McCone series in San Francisco, this was published in 1977, which is the year I graduated from high school, so it's OLD. LOL The book has Sharon, a P.I. working for a law cooperative, looking into first a series of vandalism and property attacks in a small neighborhood to the murder of one of the proprietors, an older woman who ran an antique shop. Because Sharon had inside information about the locals from her investigation, she 'independently assists' the police with their inquiries. A little bit dated, which is only to be expected from a 35 year old book, but I enjoyed it anyway...in a time when detection meant going to the library for research, not turning on a computer, and when you didn't have a cell phone to ring the police when you were in trouble. This is the first time I've read this author and I will definitely be continuing on with the series--I like Sharon already and the tone of the writing is middle of the road--neither dark and gory nor sweetness-and-light cozy. It will be a LONG time until I can catch up, too...there are many many books in this series, so obviously a few other people liked it too. :)
12.DEATH OF THE MANTIS by Michael Stanley (Kindle) B. In this third mystery set in Botswana, Assistant Supt. David "Kubu" Bengu is settling into life as a new father when an old friend of his, a Bushman that he knew in childhood, calls him about a murder case in the Kalahari which has resulted in the arrest of three Bushmen for the crime. Bushmen are by nature non-violent and although Kubu is loathe to get involved, he feels that he owes his friend at least a look-see, so he leaves his struggling wife Joy and baby daughter for a trip to the desert country. He begins to see immediately that his friend is right--the detective in charge of the case has made up his mind that the Bushmen are responsible, and thus remains closed against other possible suspects. Kubu points out several inconsistencies and a lack of hard evidence results in the Bushmen being released--followed, of course, by more deaths. I love the characters in this series--it's more realistic and true-to-life than the super-cozy Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series, set in the same general locale. The immersion into the culture is very interesting, and the perspective changes generally enhance the storyline too. But this book was not quite up to par with the others, I didn't think. The bad guy was very obvious to me early on (those clues seemed almost circled in red!) and there was a lot of extraneous and repetitious prose; I really felt that a hundred pages could have been lopped off without losing the story at all.
13.THE ROUGH COLLIER by Pat McIntosh. B+ #5 Gil Cunningham mystery set in 15th century Glasgow and environs. Gil and his bride Alys are off to visit his mother in the country and while there his expertise is sought when a corpse is found in a peat bog by peat cutters. At first they think it's a local who's been missing for a few weeks, but later it's determined that the body has been there much longer. However, Gil is curious as to why the hue and cry hasn't been officially raised about the man who's been missing some five weeks, and further investigation uncovers a lot of different reasons why he may have disappeared. I really enjoy this series and the immersion into the culture of the place and time, the only drawback continuing to be the repeated use of the vernacular in the dialogue, which at times makes it difficult to understand since there isn't even much resemblance to modern-day Scots slang. I've had to stop and look up words that I'm not able to sort out even with context--which is distracting from the story itself. I don't mind learning new things, but most of the words I'll never have need of again so it seems a bit pointless. I complain about this every time and still I read on though--I do like the the characters and series otherwise and would give it 5 stars if it weren't for this one issue.
14. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by Agatha Christie. (AUDIO) A The very first Hercule Poirot mystery, narrated by the actor who does the TV character of Poirot, David Suchet. Reading Agatha Christie is always a treat for me--I love her characters, and she was a master at plotting, as I never can figure out whodunit. Well, rarely--and usually if I do, it's a guess at best. This one was no exception, even though I did read this book years ago. There are so many of them, the plots get mixed up in my head. Anyway, if you've never indulged in an audio version of one of these books, I would highly recommend them!
15. MOM, WILL THIS CHICKEN GIVE ME MAN BOOBS? by Robyn Harding. C- Autobiographical account of the struggles of a whiny Canadian woman with trying to be "green" and live an eco-friendly life. I guess I was just expecting more hints and tips--or even some real INFORMATION about living a green life rather than just a long-winded justification as to why she didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do certain 'green' things. She tried to be funny, but the humor was forced and most of the time didn't even elicit a smile from me. She mostly sounded like a spoiled brat whose sole purpose was to appear to be a certain way to people around her. It was guilt trip after guilt trip as she showed how she didn't keep up with the Greens in her efforts, followed by a big shrug and "Oh well, I did try, and at least I'm not a crazy nutball like the real tree huggers." Whatever. If this hadn't been my bathroom book, read in small chunks over many weeks, I doubt I would have finished it.
16.SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill. A+ #7 Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery set in 1970's Laos. Dr. Siri really wants to retire from his post as the national coroner of Laos. He's only just recovered from near-death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge and since he's over seventy, he figures he deserves to spend a few years relaxing with his wife. But he gets roped into one last job on a junket to northern Laos looking for the remains of a missing American pilot. Accompanying Siri--at his insistence, via a little blackmail of Judge Haeng, his nemesis--will be his wife Madame Daeng, his nurse Dtui and her policeman husband Phosy, his morgue assistant Mr. Geung, his good friend Civiali, a few Lao officials and a bunch of American officials, including a delightful American girl who was raised in Laos by missionary parents who serves as their interpreter--since the Judge's nephew who is the 'official' interpreter doesn't actually speak English. When one of the American contingent ends up dead--a supposed accidental suicide--the niggling thought Siri's been having that the whole trip is a set-up comes to the fore as the pieces fall into place and he begins to sort things out. Another wonderful adventure filled with wry humor, outstanding characters and a unique perspective on life. Can't wait til the next one!
And here I am...3 hours and 10 minutes from the end of my self-imposed book buying moratorium. Happy New Year and roll on 2012!
Cheryl
Now, on to the reading list for December!
1. CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey. (Kindle) B+ Second in the Darko Dawson series, with Darko being a police detective with CID in Accra, Ghana. A series of brutal murders of street children in Accra has Dawson chasing down an invisible killer, while he also has to deal with the deteriorating health of his seven-year-old son who has an atrial-septal defect. Very good second in series--I liked it better than the first, am finding Dawson's character more fleshed out in this book and getting to know the secondary characters better as well. I also did not figure out whodunit til nearly the end. Excellent immersion into a culture which is totally foreign to me, something I always enjoy.
2. THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker. B+ #4 Company fantasy series. It's really hard to describe this series, about an all-powerful Company from the future who makes orphaned children immortals and sends them into the past to save various relics, artifacts, works of art and the like. Sounds noble, but it's more for the financial benefit of the Company, run by Dr. Zeus. In this book, one of the characters we've met in the first three books, the Botanist Mendoza, has disappeared, and her recruiter, the Facilitator Joseph, as well as her dear friend Lewis (who is secretly in love with her) are determined to find her. Fearing that the Company has sent Mendoza to some unknown facility and deactivated her somehow, they must covertly search, as their actions and speech are monitored by The Company. Sometimes confusing with the forward and backward time frames, the series is otherwise brilliant--you just have to be sure to focus totally while you're reading as small bits of information end up being important later on.
3. THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn. (AUDIO) A #4 Chet & Bernie mystery. Another great entry in this series set in Arizona, told from the point of view of Chet, a failed police academy dog and his partner Bernie Little. Together they are the sum total of the Little Detective Agency, which is always on precarious ground--not because of any failing in the private detection part, but because Bernie's a bit less than a stellar business manager and often too kind-hearted and generous with his time. So when big-time PI company owner Georgie Malouf offers Bernie a permanent job with a substantial increase in pay and benefits, it stands to reason that he'll accept. Right? Wrong. Bernie likes his independence and shows it by accepting a case to essentially bodyguard a woman who is picking up her son from a mountain camp and expects trouble from her ex-husband. And trouble there is, although not the kind they expected. Devon, her son, has disappeared, wandered off the trail, and Chet & Bernie are off to search, only to find the murdered body of the camp counselor who was on the hike with Devon's group. Crooked cops with something to hide end up shanghi-ing Bernie into jail where he finds himself accused of the murder.Meanwhile, Chet finds his way back home, hooks up with Bernie's girlfriend Suzie and...well, you'll have to read it. Or listen. I have listened to all this series in audio format and as long as they continue to be available, will continue to do so. The reader is absolutely brilliant in depicting Chet's "voice" and the tone of the books. I always enjoy these immensely--and then am sorry that I now have to wait so long for the next one.
4. BY A SPIDER'S THREAD by Laura Lippman (Kindle) A #8 Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. An Orthodox Jewish man seeks Tess on the recommendation of her uncle (Tess is, despite the name, half-Jewish herself) when his wife disappears without trace with their three children. Mark Rubin can think of no good reason for this, insisting that their marriage was happy, but the police refuse to investigate, finding no evidence of any foul play. Tess finds the going slow at first--Natalie Rubin used no credit cards to make her escape and she seems to have faded into the woodwork. Until the elder Rubin son, Isaac, aged nine, manages to phone Mark briefly leaving a caller ID of a pay phone at a McDonalds in a small town in Indiana. Then Tess's newfound online circle of female PI's known as SnoopSisters swings into action and Tess's digging begins to pay off. Another great entry in the series, which I like because there's just the right balance of personal and professional details and of action and introspection.
5. WASH THIS BLOOD CLEAN FROM MY HAND by Fred Vargas. A #4 Chief Inspector Adamsberg mystery set in France, although this one takes place partially in Quebec as Adamsberg and his close associates go there for a two-week training seminar on forensic advancements. Adamsberg is on the trail of a serial killer who has killed over decades, often spacing his kills by years and then vanishing from the area such that suspicion is not aroused. It's personal for Jean-Baptiste though, as one of the people whom this killer--also a powerful Judge--framed was his brother Raphael, when the boy was barely out of his teens. Now, after a long hiatus, he seems to have struck again--despite having died sixteen years ago! But the Judge knows Adamsberg is on his trail and sets him up for a fall much like his brother's and it will take every bit of the wily detective's cunning--and a little help from his friends--to nab the crafty killer. While this whole scenario seemed to me wholly implausible in many ways, it still sucked me in and kept me interested right through til the end, and I very much look forward to the next book in the series.
6. BLOODSHOT: CHESHIRE RED REPORTS by Cherie Priest. (AUDIO) A #1 in the Cheshire Red series, featuring vampire Raylene Pendle whose alias is Cheshire Red, a notorious thief who's been stealing valuables for decades and is presumed to be a man. Raylene is a lone vampire, not affiliated with any House, and seldom interacts with other vamps. Paranoid almost to a fault, she has several safe houses, multiple identities and almost no one except a couple of very discreet clients have her cell phone number, much less know where she lives. So when she is contacted at her home by Ian Stott, who wants to hire her to steal papers and medical records from a study he was involved in, she is intrigued--and horrified--because the experiments, which were done against his will, left Ian blind, and physical deformities are just not something that happen to vampires. To top it off, the studies were conducted by the U.S. Government which shocks Raylene, as she had no idea Uncle Sam was even aware of the existence of vampires. Raylene goes against all her usual tendencies--which include running and hiding at the first sign of trouble--and heads right into danger to find out what horrible things the government might be intending for vampires--including herself. If she's caught, that is--something Raylene is not going to allow to happen. Excellent first book in this paranormal series, not a cozy "but I'm a GOOD Vampire!" type series at all with plenty of off-color language, adult situations and...well, Raylene isn't exactly a good vampire. Audio version read perfectly by Natalie Ross. Looking forward to the next in series.
7. DEAD CONNECTIONS by Alafair Burke (AUDIO) C- #1 Ellie Hatcher mystery. Singularly uninspired first in series about a NYC detective, pulled from general duty to the murder squad to help with a serial killer who's using an online dating site to choose victims. Ellie Hatcher has a haunted past herself, trying to convince the world that her father did not commit suicide but was the victim of the serial killer he was after and never could catch. While this book was competently written, and wasn't horrible, it felt sort of like an "instant mystery" where you add boiling water to a cup o'noodles and wait for 3 minutes. It is a story, but there's not much meat, the flavor's less than savory and the overall impression is one of "I'll only eat this stuff (read this series) again if there's nothing better." The characters were more like caricatures without any real substance, and I was never very interested in the case, finding it and the characters just blah--including Ellie herself. I believe I will pass on the rest of the series.
8. THE LONE TRAVELLER by Susan Kelly. A #1 Supt. Gregory Summers mystery set in the Thames Valley. It's the summer solstice and the gypsies and New Age enthusiasts have come into town for the faire and celebration at a nearby stone circle. Tensions heat up between the two groups, and between the townsfolk and the travellers, and when a six-year-old girl goes missing, those tensions mount high, and explode once the inevitable happens and the girl's body is found. Summers has all he can do to try to keep the town under control and precious little time to actually work on investigating young Jordan's death. This book captured me right from the beginning, although at first, one aspect of the main character's personal life was a little off-putting--those of you who have read it will know what I mean. But by the end of the book, I felt I knew Greg Summers much better and although I figured out his mystery for him before he did, I am definitely going to be reading on in this series.
9. THE QUEEN OF PATPONG by Timothy Hallinan. A+ #4 Poke Rafferty mystery set in Bangkok, Thailand. In this fourth Poke Rafferty mystery, the story is all about Rose, Poke's wife. A man from her past recognizes her in a restaurant as Poke, Rose and their daughter Miaow are dining and threatens her. The usually unflappable Rose turns into an instant basket case, claiming she thought he was dead--and that she had killed him! Eventually she tells her story from the beginning to her family--from when she was Kwan, a seventeen-year-old village girl until she became Rose, a dancer, bar girl and prostitute. This is a very typical story for Thai girls from outlying villages who come to Bangkok and become workers in the booming sex trade industry. Poke knew of Rose's former occupation of course, but nothing about Howard Horner, whom Rose took up with years previously, thinking they were going to marry. There is not much to be said about this book that "WOW!" won't cover. This has quickly become one of my very favorite series for a whole lot of reasons and I had been hoarding this book for months before I couldn't take it any more and had to read it. Now I just hope the author has the next one in the wings for publication SOON...so I can hoard that one for awhile. LOL
10. INSTRUMENTS OF DARKNESS by Imogen Robertson. (Kindle) B+ First of a series set in 1780's Sussex, UK and featuring Gabriel Crowther, a gentleman who relinquished his title and is now mostly a recluse and a 'man of science' and Harriet Westerman, who runs the manor next door while her sea captain husband is away. Mrs. Westerman finds a murdered body on her land and having read a paper Mr. Crowther wrote about evidence at murder scenes, seeks him out immediately. This leads to an extensive investigation which is tied to the missing heir of Thornleigh Hall (another neighbor of theirs). Eventually a couple of other murders yield more clues as the pair investigate, since the local squire seems to be in Thornleigh Hall's pocket and isn't much interested in the truth. I freely admit that this is not my favorite historical time period, so I started the book with a bit of a jaundiced eye. The characters and the story were interesting enough to get me into it right away though, and the writing style is easy to read and well-constructed. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that it did bog down a bit in the middle and was a bit overlong--I'm not sure all the detail about Captain Thornleigh's past and flashbacks to years previous were really necessary. The mystery itself was fairly easy to figure out but I still really enjoyed the story and will definitely read on.
11.EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES by Marcia Muller. (AUDIO) B+ First of the Sharon McCone series in San Francisco, this was published in 1977, which is the year I graduated from high school, so it's OLD. LOL The book has Sharon, a P.I. working for a law cooperative, looking into first a series of vandalism and property attacks in a small neighborhood to the murder of one of the proprietors, an older woman who ran an antique shop. Because Sharon had inside information about the locals from her investigation, she 'independently assists' the police with their inquiries. A little bit dated, which is only to be expected from a 35 year old book, but I enjoyed it anyway...in a time when detection meant going to the library for research, not turning on a computer, and when you didn't have a cell phone to ring the police when you were in trouble. This is the first time I've read this author and I will definitely be continuing on with the series--I like Sharon already and the tone of the writing is middle of the road--neither dark and gory nor sweetness-and-light cozy. It will be a LONG time until I can catch up, too...there are many many books in this series, so obviously a few other people liked it too. :)
12.DEATH OF THE MANTIS by Michael Stanley (Kindle) B. In this third mystery set in Botswana, Assistant Supt. David "Kubu" Bengu is settling into life as a new father when an old friend of his, a Bushman that he knew in childhood, calls him about a murder case in the Kalahari which has resulted in the arrest of three Bushmen for the crime. Bushmen are by nature non-violent and although Kubu is loathe to get involved, he feels that he owes his friend at least a look-see, so he leaves his struggling wife Joy and baby daughter for a trip to the desert country. He begins to see immediately that his friend is right--the detective in charge of the case has made up his mind that the Bushmen are responsible, and thus remains closed against other possible suspects. Kubu points out several inconsistencies and a lack of hard evidence results in the Bushmen being released--followed, of course, by more deaths. I love the characters in this series--it's more realistic and true-to-life than the super-cozy Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series, set in the same general locale. The immersion into the culture is very interesting, and the perspective changes generally enhance the storyline too. But this book was not quite up to par with the others, I didn't think. The bad guy was very obvious to me early on (those clues seemed almost circled in red!) and there was a lot of extraneous and repetitious prose; I really felt that a hundred pages could have been lopped off without losing the story at all.
13.THE ROUGH COLLIER by Pat McIntosh. B+ #5 Gil Cunningham mystery set in 15th century Glasgow and environs. Gil and his bride Alys are off to visit his mother in the country and while there his expertise is sought when a corpse is found in a peat bog by peat cutters. At first they think it's a local who's been missing for a few weeks, but later it's determined that the body has been there much longer. However, Gil is curious as to why the hue and cry hasn't been officially raised about the man who's been missing some five weeks, and further investigation uncovers a lot of different reasons why he may have disappeared. I really enjoy this series and the immersion into the culture of the place and time, the only drawback continuing to be the repeated use of the vernacular in the dialogue, which at times makes it difficult to understand since there isn't even much resemblance to modern-day Scots slang. I've had to stop and look up words that I'm not able to sort out even with context--which is distracting from the story itself. I don't mind learning new things, but most of the words I'll never have need of again so it seems a bit pointless. I complain about this every time and still I read on though--I do like the the characters and series otherwise and would give it 5 stars if it weren't for this one issue.
14. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES by Agatha Christie. (AUDIO) A The very first Hercule Poirot mystery, narrated by the actor who does the TV character of Poirot, David Suchet. Reading Agatha Christie is always a treat for me--I love her characters, and she was a master at plotting, as I never can figure out whodunit. Well, rarely--and usually if I do, it's a guess at best. This one was no exception, even though I did read this book years ago. There are so many of them, the plots get mixed up in my head. Anyway, if you've never indulged in an audio version of one of these books, I would highly recommend them!
15. MOM, WILL THIS CHICKEN GIVE ME MAN BOOBS? by Robyn Harding. C- Autobiographical account of the struggles of a whiny Canadian woman with trying to be "green" and live an eco-friendly life. I guess I was just expecting more hints and tips--or even some real INFORMATION about living a green life rather than just a long-winded justification as to why she didn't/couldn't/wouldn't do certain 'green' things. She tried to be funny, but the humor was forced and most of the time didn't even elicit a smile from me. She mostly sounded like a spoiled brat whose sole purpose was to appear to be a certain way to people around her. It was guilt trip after guilt trip as she showed how she didn't keep up with the Greens in her efforts, followed by a big shrug and "Oh well, I did try, and at least I'm not a crazy nutball like the real tree huggers." Whatever. If this hadn't been my bathroom book, read in small chunks over many weeks, I doubt I would have finished it.
16.SLASH AND BURN by Colin Cotterill. A+ #7 Dr. Siri Paiboun mystery set in 1970's Laos. Dr. Siri really wants to retire from his post as the national coroner of Laos. He's only just recovered from near-death at the hands of the Khmer Rouge and since he's over seventy, he figures he deserves to spend a few years relaxing with his wife. But he gets roped into one last job on a junket to northern Laos looking for the remains of a missing American pilot. Accompanying Siri--at his insistence, via a little blackmail of Judge Haeng, his nemesis--will be his wife Madame Daeng, his nurse Dtui and her policeman husband Phosy, his morgue assistant Mr. Geung, his good friend Civiali, a few Lao officials and a bunch of American officials, including a delightful American girl who was raised in Laos by missionary parents who serves as their interpreter--since the Judge's nephew who is the 'official' interpreter doesn't actually speak English. When one of the American contingent ends up dead--a supposed accidental suicide--the niggling thought Siri's been having that the whole trip is a set-up comes to the fore as the pieces fall into place and he begins to sort things out. Another wonderful adventure filled with wry humor, outstanding characters and a unique perspective on life. Can't wait til the next one!
And here I am...3 hours and 10 minutes from the end of my self-imposed book buying moratorium. Happy New Year and roll on 2012!
Cheryl
Sunday, November 6, 2011
November 2011
The year is fast drawing to a close--I'm still hanging in there and have not purchased any books this year. Still doing the occasional cull from my TBR stacks, and planning to do a bunch more this month in a last-ditch effort to close down a few of my bookshelves before we move in February.
BUT...I've just ordered a Kindle Fire! Never thought I'd do it, as I really love "real" books, but I think it's almost a necessity with the limited space I'll have at the new place. Still not going to order any books for it til 2012, but I'll have to borrow a couple to try it out. :) Addendum: so far, so good! I think the Kindle Fire will be great! I am still fiddling with it and playing around...have read a few chapters in my borrowed book and it reads easy, I have to say.
On to the reading list!
1. DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin (#2 Bruce Kohler mystery) C+ Second (and so far last) book in the Bruce Kohler mystery series. Bruce is a recovering alcohol/drug addict living in New York and the story centers around him and his two best friends, Jimmy (also in recovery) and Barbara (Jimmy's girlfriend, and a counselor.) A friend of Barbara's is suspected of killing her drug-dealer boyfriend and the trio get involved with trying to figure out who else might have killed him so as to clear Luz's name. While I like these characters well enough, for me the book was just a little too heavy on recovery/addict jargon, and the whole recovery process was focused on much more than the mystery itself IMO. The first book was more interesting because it was different--Bruce woke up hungover in a detox unit in the Bowery, so was newly sober. Now he is 10 months out and his whole life centers around AA and staying sober. Perhaps for someone with addiction issues it would be more interesting, but it was just too much for me.
2. A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (#7 Cmdr. Adam Dalgliesh mystery) (AUDIO) C+ I normally enjoy the Adam Dalgliesh series very much, but this one seemed to drag on and on as the mystery into the murder of Sir Paul Barrone, a Minister of Parliament, and a tramp in the vestry of a church went onwards. There just seemed to be too much extraneous detail, too much wandering off into the lives of minor characters which left me often thinking, "Get ON with the story already!" It's also one of the few where I knew the bad guy almost straight away. I guess every author is allowed an 'off' book--it's certainly not enough to put me off reading more. Another consideration is that this book is the first audio production of a P.D. James book I've listened to rather than read in print, so perhaps that impacted my feeling about the book too. Although the reader was perfectly skillful, the excess of posh, snooty voices grew rather tiresome after awhile.
3. TERRA INCOGNITA by Ruth Downie (#2 Ruso the Medicus historical mystery) C+ This second book in the series sees Ruso, a medicus with the Twentieth legion, on the way north from Deva (modern-day Chester) to the border with the 'wild barbarians' of which his housekeeper Tilla is one. A near-fatal cart accident along the way necessitates an amputation and Ruso is conscripted to fill in for the local medic who's gone mad, and also to investigate the death of the trumpeter, who had an interesting sideline. I enjoyed the story, I really like Ruso and the other main characters, the humor, the period detail. BUT. It was just too long and convoluted, with too many characters to keep straight and too many little side plots distracting from the main mystery. I found myself skimming through the midsection of the book.
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon trilogy) A WOW! An excellent first book of a planned trilogy set in a world 300 years after a great war left mankind struggling to stay alive against demons, which come out at sunset and fade with the dawn. The corelings as the demons are called, take various shapes and have different qualities but very few humans survive interaction with them, staying inside their heavily warded homes after dusk. Magic symbols make up the wardings that keep the demons from attacking, and only brave men like the Messengers who carry powerful portable warding circles, would be outdoors after dark. This story tells of three children--Arlen, Leesha and Rojer--who grow up in different isolated villages and have dreams of seeing the world one day. They all have different talents and the story takes place over several years as they grow into adulthood and their talents become more readily apparent. Excellent storytelling, great characters, looks like another wonderful series in the 'dark fantasy' subgenre. Yay!
5. A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#6 Maggy Thorsen mystery) See review on the Paperbackswap Mystery Monday blog here: http://blog.paperbackswap.com/mystery-monday-a-cup-of-jo/2011/11/
6. RIVER MARKED by Patricia Briggs (#6 Mercy Thompson paranormal) (AUDIO) C+ Sixth in this series about 'walker' Mercy Thompson (she shapeshifts to Coyote) and her mate, werewolf pack leader Adam Hauptmann. They are off on their honeymoon and get tangled in a web of Native American myths and legends as they are asked to help kill a vicious river monster. First one of these I've listened to rather than read, and I liked the reader's voice and reading style. However, the story itself was somewhat lacking for me. Okay, but not as good as the others.
7. WICKED GAMES by Ellen Hart (#8 Jane Lawless mystery) B- I like this series, and have liked recent ones more than early ones, but this book took a step backwards with Jane turning into a jellyfish, insecure and wibbling about her new love and seeming almost desperate when she suspects Julia is lying to her and is evasive about her life. This is not the Jane I have come to know and enjoy spending time with. On the mystery end of things, Jane gets involved in the family dynamics of the wealthy Kastner family when their son rents Jane's third-floor apartment and the daughter moves down the street and shows an inordinate amount of interest in Jane. Then a private detective contacts Jane to inform her of some of the family's colored past.
8. THE CROSSING PLACES by Elly Griffiths (#1 Ruth Galloway/Harry Nelson mystery) (AUDIO) B+ This first book in series featuring forensic archaeologist and professor Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson started off with a real bang and sucked me into the story right away. Bones have been found in the salt marsh near King's Lynn and Nelson has been led to Ruth to check them out. He believes they might be the bones of a young girl who went missing 10 years previously. They end up being about 2000 years old, but when another girl goes missing in similar circumstances, and Ruth's cat is brutally killed and left on her doorstep, Harry and Ruth's paths keep crossing. I have some serious plausibility issues with the thread dealing with Lucy, the missing girl from 10 years previously which is the only reason I marked the grade down a notch--can't say much without giving things away, but suffice it to say it just didn't seem very likely as written by the author. Other than that though--it was a great book! I have the second one on my library list already.
9. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs B+ An interesting book about a strange boy who finds out the hard way why he's strange. All his life, he believed his grandfather's fanciful stories were just that--made-up stories about monsters and peculiar children living in a home where they were loved and accepted. Even the old photographs Jake suspected were altered--surely there is no girl who can levitate off the ground or another who can lift boulders with one hand?! When his grandfather dies, Jake finds things in his grandfather's belongings that lead him to ask for a trip to a small island off the Welsh coast, and his father, an avid ornithologist, agrees to accompany him to study birds. What Jake finds there astonishes him. A very interesting story, although I am not sure what I thought about the ending. It does seem to leave an opening for a possible sequel.
10. ANGELS PASSING by Graham Hurley (#3 Joe Faraday mystery) B+ Another interesting entry in this British police procedural series set in and around Portsmouth. DI Joe Faraday, once again being sought for promotion, is too busy investigating the death of a teenage girl who may or may not have thrown herself off the roof to even consider it. Meanwhile some of his team are seconded to Major Crimes to work on a hanging death. Faraday's personal life is also in an uproar and he tries to deal with that as well. As usual, quite a page turner, with a good balance of the police cases and personal details of the various characters.
11. THE POACHER'S SON by Paul Doiron (#1 Mike Bowditch mystery) B- Mike Bowditch, 24-year-old Maine Wildlife Ranger finds himself distracted from his job duties when a state-wide manhunt for the killer of two men takes over the whole north woods of Maine. The distraction comes because the man they are hunting is none other than his father, Jack Bowditch, an alcoholic tracker, woodsman and poacher, who is believed to have shot a deputy and the head of a land-development company in cold blood. Mike has never been close to his father, since he and his mother left when Mike was 9 years old--and in fact hadn't spoken to him at all for two years. But while Mike agrees that his dad is a first-class prick, he can't see a motive for his father behind this killing--'he's a bar-brawler, not a cold-blooded killer.' Intent on clearing his father's name, he risks his job, friendships and his life, often wondering why he's doing so. This was a decent first book in series, but I was rather surprised at the award nomination...although I often am, so that's nothing new. LOL For me it had one major flaw that permeated the whole book and undermined the believability of it and it was primarily this than sunk my opinion of it: unless Mike Bowditch was an alien with a vastly different lifespan, there is no way in hell he was 24 years old. It may have been partly the 'voice' the reader on the audio version gave him, but it was more than that--his attitudes, actions and his world-weary demeanor made him seem to be a man in (at the very least) his late 30's, more like someone in their 40's. To me, if you can't believe the character is who he is supposed to be, how can you believe the rest of the story?
12.INK FLAMINGOS by Karen E. Olson (#4 Tattoo Shop mystery) B- This is apparently the last book in the tattoo shop series featuring tattooist Brett Kavanaugh, and I for one am relieved. It sort of ended with a fizzle in my opinion. I like the author's writing style and really enjoyed her other series (which I wish she would have continued) but this one just never worked for me as well...but then, I am no fan of typical cozy mysteries, of which this is one. The tattoo shop setting is what made it unique and interesting for me. I did like the ending, though.
13. SERPENT IN THE THORNS by Jeri Westerson (#2 Crispin Guest medieval mystery) C+ Second in this medieval mystery series featuring Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of lands, title and wealth but spared his life when caught in a treasonous plot seven years previously against young King Richard. Now he lives in the London slums and works as a Tracker, basically a private detective. In this book, he is hired by a scullion in an inn, whose mentally challenged sister keeps confessing to the killing of a French courier--who was carrying a relic that may be the genuine Crown of Thorns. When Crispin comes across the man who betrayed him--and who now happens to be Richard's Captain of the Archers--and he is tied to the case, he tries to find a way to solve the mystery as well as have his revenge. This book was somewhat disappointing, though I can't quite put my finger on exactly why. I know I was somewhat distracted by several typos I found--well, not typos that would have been found on spell check, but things like "that" instead of "than" or the wrong spelling of a word, for example, "make due with..." instead of "make do." So the proofreading/editing was somewhat less than professional. It's dubbed as "medieval noir" but I didn't find it particularly noir-ish. Certainly not a cozy, but noir? Not really. It also gets somewhat repetitious with frequent descriptions of the stink and dirtiness of medieval London. A good story, and I do like Crispin and Jack, but...a bit off the mark this time.
14. WHISKEY SOUR by J.A. Konrath (#1 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) A This book has the distinction of being the first book I read on my new Kindle Fire. It was easy to read, pages easy to turn, and on top of all that, it was actually a great story! It features Chicago police Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, who is in hot pursuit of a brutal, sadistic serial killer--who tortures women and dismembers them, then dumps them in garbage cans, leaving a shellacked Gingerbread cookie as his calling card. The Gingerbread Man sees Jack as a worthy foe and targets her personally to be one of his victims. Great introduction to this tough Chicago cop and looking forward to reading more in the series!
15. CROWNER ROYAL by Bernard Knight (#13 Crowner John medieval mystery) (AUDIO) B- Crowner John has moved from the Devon west country where he was the Coroner for the county of Devon, but now at the behest of his king has become Coroner of the Verge, dealing with cases within a 12-mile radius of the King's Court, wherever it might be. He's homesick (as is his assistant Gwyn) and bored, as there seems to be very little activity--and when a dead body or two do show up, his jurisdiction is questioned at every turn by the local sheriff.
I wasn't as fond of this book as previous ones in the series...I liked the Devon setting as it's where my husband sister lives, so it was interesting reading about local history there. London and Winchester have been done to death, so to speak. LOL This book was also more fraught with political intrigue on the Royal level (as opposed to local political infighting as in previous books) which has never been a huge interest of mine. So far there's only one more book in this series, so perhaps the author also realizes that the series is growing a little lackluster and is stopping it. I'll certainly finish it off, but if Plague of Heretics is indeed the last, I think it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
16. A LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King. #3 Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell historical mystery. A It seems to me that each book in this series gets better--after the first one, which I thought was too long and convoluted, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the series, but the second and this, the third, were absolutely brilliant! Sherlock Holmes and his new wife, Mary Russell, work again to solve the suspicious death of an old acquaintance, an archaeologist who comes back to England from Palestine with a peculiar gift for Mary. A day later, Dorothy Ruskin is struck down in a London street by an unmarked black motorcar, and only a fool would not make a connection between the two--especially when the Holmes' home is ransacked a day later.Wonderful, multi-faceted mystery with red herrings all over the place and the deeply-layered characters becoming better known to the reader too. Very much looking forward to the next one!
17. I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley #4 Flavia de Luce historical mystery. (AUDIO) A. (Review pending)
Current reads:
Kindle: CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey (#2 Darko Dawson mystery set in Ghana)
Audio: THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (#4 Chet and Bernie mystery)
Print: THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker (#4 in The Company Sci-fi/fantasy series)
Cheryl
Cheryl
BUT...I've just ordered a Kindle Fire! Never thought I'd do it, as I really love "real" books, but I think it's almost a necessity with the limited space I'll have at the new place. Still not going to order any books for it til 2012, but I'll have to borrow a couple to try it out. :) Addendum: so far, so good! I think the Kindle Fire will be great! I am still fiddling with it and playing around...have read a few chapters in my borrowed book and it reads easy, I have to say.
On to the reading list!
1. DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM by Elizabeth Zelvin (#2 Bruce Kohler mystery) C+ Second (and so far last) book in the Bruce Kohler mystery series. Bruce is a recovering alcohol/drug addict living in New York and the story centers around him and his two best friends, Jimmy (also in recovery) and Barbara (Jimmy's girlfriend, and a counselor.) A friend of Barbara's is suspected of killing her drug-dealer boyfriend and the trio get involved with trying to figure out who else might have killed him so as to clear Luz's name. While I like these characters well enough, for me the book was just a little too heavy on recovery/addict jargon, and the whole recovery process was focused on much more than the mystery itself IMO. The first book was more interesting because it was different--Bruce woke up hungover in a detox unit in the Bowery, so was newly sober. Now he is 10 months out and his whole life centers around AA and staying sober. Perhaps for someone with addiction issues it would be more interesting, but it was just too much for me.
2. A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James (#7 Cmdr. Adam Dalgliesh mystery) (AUDIO) C+ I normally enjoy the Adam Dalgliesh series very much, but this one seemed to drag on and on as the mystery into the murder of Sir Paul Barrone, a Minister of Parliament, and a tramp in the vestry of a church went onwards. There just seemed to be too much extraneous detail, too much wandering off into the lives of minor characters which left me often thinking, "Get ON with the story already!" It's also one of the few where I knew the bad guy almost straight away. I guess every author is allowed an 'off' book--it's certainly not enough to put me off reading more. Another consideration is that this book is the first audio production of a P.D. James book I've listened to rather than read in print, so perhaps that impacted my feeling about the book too. Although the reader was perfectly skillful, the excess of posh, snooty voices grew rather tiresome after awhile.
3. TERRA INCOGNITA by Ruth Downie (#2 Ruso the Medicus historical mystery) C+ This second book in the series sees Ruso, a medicus with the Twentieth legion, on the way north from Deva (modern-day Chester) to the border with the 'wild barbarians' of which his housekeeper Tilla is one. A near-fatal cart accident along the way necessitates an amputation and Ruso is conscripted to fill in for the local medic who's gone mad, and also to investigate the death of the trumpeter, who had an interesting sideline. I enjoyed the story, I really like Ruso and the other main characters, the humor, the period detail. BUT. It was just too long and convoluted, with too many characters to keep straight and too many little side plots distracting from the main mystery. I found myself skimming through the midsection of the book.
4. THE WARDED MAN by Peter V. Brett (#1 Demon trilogy) A WOW! An excellent first book of a planned trilogy set in a world 300 years after a great war left mankind struggling to stay alive against demons, which come out at sunset and fade with the dawn. The corelings as the demons are called, take various shapes and have different qualities but very few humans survive interaction with them, staying inside their heavily warded homes after dusk. Magic symbols make up the wardings that keep the demons from attacking, and only brave men like the Messengers who carry powerful portable warding circles, would be outdoors after dark. This story tells of three children--Arlen, Leesha and Rojer--who grow up in different isolated villages and have dreams of seeing the world one day. They all have different talents and the story takes place over several years as they grow into adulthood and their talents become more readily apparent. Excellent storytelling, great characters, looks like another wonderful series in the 'dark fantasy' subgenre. Yay!
5. A CUP OF JO by Sandra Balzo (#6 Maggy Thorsen mystery) See review on the Paperbackswap Mystery Monday blog here: http://blog.paperbackswap.com/mystery-monday-a-cup-of-jo/2011/11/
6. RIVER MARKED by Patricia Briggs (#6 Mercy Thompson paranormal) (AUDIO) C+ Sixth in this series about 'walker' Mercy Thompson (she shapeshifts to Coyote) and her mate, werewolf pack leader Adam Hauptmann. They are off on their honeymoon and get tangled in a web of Native American myths and legends as they are asked to help kill a vicious river monster. First one of these I've listened to rather than read, and I liked the reader's voice and reading style. However, the story itself was somewhat lacking for me. Okay, but not as good as the others.
7. WICKED GAMES by Ellen Hart (#8 Jane Lawless mystery) B- I like this series, and have liked recent ones more than early ones, but this book took a step backwards with Jane turning into a jellyfish, insecure and wibbling about her new love and seeming almost desperate when she suspects Julia is lying to her and is evasive about her life. This is not the Jane I have come to know and enjoy spending time with. On the mystery end of things, Jane gets involved in the family dynamics of the wealthy Kastner family when their son rents Jane's third-floor apartment and the daughter moves down the street and shows an inordinate amount of interest in Jane. Then a private detective contacts Jane to inform her of some of the family's colored past.
8. THE CROSSING PLACES by Elly Griffiths (#1 Ruth Galloway/Harry Nelson mystery) (AUDIO) B+ This first book in series featuring forensic archaeologist and professor Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson started off with a real bang and sucked me into the story right away. Bones have been found in the salt marsh near King's Lynn and Nelson has been led to Ruth to check them out. He believes they might be the bones of a young girl who went missing 10 years previously. They end up being about 2000 years old, but when another girl goes missing in similar circumstances, and Ruth's cat is brutally killed and left on her doorstep, Harry and Ruth's paths keep crossing. I have some serious plausibility issues with the thread dealing with Lucy, the missing girl from 10 years previously which is the only reason I marked the grade down a notch--can't say much without giving things away, but suffice it to say it just didn't seem very likely as written by the author. Other than that though--it was a great book! I have the second one on my library list already.
9. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs B+ An interesting book about a strange boy who finds out the hard way why he's strange. All his life, he believed his grandfather's fanciful stories were just that--made-up stories about monsters and peculiar children living in a home where they were loved and accepted. Even the old photographs Jake suspected were altered--surely there is no girl who can levitate off the ground or another who can lift boulders with one hand?! When his grandfather dies, Jake finds things in his grandfather's belongings that lead him to ask for a trip to a small island off the Welsh coast, and his father, an avid ornithologist, agrees to accompany him to study birds. What Jake finds there astonishes him. A very interesting story, although I am not sure what I thought about the ending. It does seem to leave an opening for a possible sequel.
10. ANGELS PASSING by Graham Hurley (#3 Joe Faraday mystery) B+ Another interesting entry in this British police procedural series set in and around Portsmouth. DI Joe Faraday, once again being sought for promotion, is too busy investigating the death of a teenage girl who may or may not have thrown herself off the roof to even consider it. Meanwhile some of his team are seconded to Major Crimes to work on a hanging death. Faraday's personal life is also in an uproar and he tries to deal with that as well. As usual, quite a page turner, with a good balance of the police cases and personal details of the various characters.
11. THE POACHER'S SON by Paul Doiron (#1 Mike Bowditch mystery) B- Mike Bowditch, 24-year-old Maine Wildlife Ranger finds himself distracted from his job duties when a state-wide manhunt for the killer of two men takes over the whole north woods of Maine. The distraction comes because the man they are hunting is none other than his father, Jack Bowditch, an alcoholic tracker, woodsman and poacher, who is believed to have shot a deputy and the head of a land-development company in cold blood. Mike has never been close to his father, since he and his mother left when Mike was 9 years old--and in fact hadn't spoken to him at all for two years. But while Mike agrees that his dad is a first-class prick, he can't see a motive for his father behind this killing--'he's a bar-brawler, not a cold-blooded killer.' Intent on clearing his father's name, he risks his job, friendships and his life, often wondering why he's doing so. This was a decent first book in series, but I was rather surprised at the award nomination...although I often am, so that's nothing new. LOL For me it had one major flaw that permeated the whole book and undermined the believability of it and it was primarily this than sunk my opinion of it: unless Mike Bowditch was an alien with a vastly different lifespan, there is no way in hell he was 24 years old. It may have been partly the 'voice' the reader on the audio version gave him, but it was more than that--his attitudes, actions and his world-weary demeanor made him seem to be a man in (at the very least) his late 30's, more like someone in their 40's. To me, if you can't believe the character is who he is supposed to be, how can you believe the rest of the story?
12.INK FLAMINGOS by Karen E. Olson (#4 Tattoo Shop mystery) B- This is apparently the last book in the tattoo shop series featuring tattooist Brett Kavanaugh, and I for one am relieved. It sort of ended with a fizzle in my opinion. I like the author's writing style and really enjoyed her other series (which I wish she would have continued) but this one just never worked for me as well...but then, I am no fan of typical cozy mysteries, of which this is one. The tattoo shop setting is what made it unique and interesting for me. I did like the ending, though.
13. SERPENT IN THE THORNS by Jeri Westerson (#2 Crispin Guest medieval mystery) C+ Second in this medieval mystery series featuring Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of lands, title and wealth but spared his life when caught in a treasonous plot seven years previously against young King Richard. Now he lives in the London slums and works as a Tracker, basically a private detective. In this book, he is hired by a scullion in an inn, whose mentally challenged sister keeps confessing to the killing of a French courier--who was carrying a relic that may be the genuine Crown of Thorns. When Crispin comes across the man who betrayed him--and who now happens to be Richard's Captain of the Archers--and he is tied to the case, he tries to find a way to solve the mystery as well as have his revenge. This book was somewhat disappointing, though I can't quite put my finger on exactly why. I know I was somewhat distracted by several typos I found--well, not typos that would have been found on spell check, but things like "that" instead of "than" or the wrong spelling of a word, for example, "make due with..." instead of "make do." So the proofreading/editing was somewhat less than professional. It's dubbed as "medieval noir" but I didn't find it particularly noir-ish. Certainly not a cozy, but noir? Not really. It also gets somewhat repetitious with frequent descriptions of the stink and dirtiness of medieval London. A good story, and I do like Crispin and Jack, but...a bit off the mark this time.
14. WHISKEY SOUR by J.A. Konrath (#1 Jack Daniels mystery) (KINDLE) A This book has the distinction of being the first book I read on my new Kindle Fire. It was easy to read, pages easy to turn, and on top of all that, it was actually a great story! It features Chicago police Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels, who is in hot pursuit of a brutal, sadistic serial killer--who tortures women and dismembers them, then dumps them in garbage cans, leaving a shellacked Gingerbread cookie as his calling card. The Gingerbread Man sees Jack as a worthy foe and targets her personally to be one of his victims. Great introduction to this tough Chicago cop and looking forward to reading more in the series!
15. CROWNER ROYAL by Bernard Knight (#13 Crowner John medieval mystery) (AUDIO) B- Crowner John has moved from the Devon west country where he was the Coroner for the county of Devon, but now at the behest of his king has become Coroner of the Verge, dealing with cases within a 12-mile radius of the King's Court, wherever it might be. He's homesick (as is his assistant Gwyn) and bored, as there seems to be very little activity--and when a dead body or two do show up, his jurisdiction is questioned at every turn by the local sheriff.
I wasn't as fond of this book as previous ones in the series...I liked the Devon setting as it's where my husband sister lives, so it was interesting reading about local history there. London and Winchester have been done to death, so to speak. LOL This book was also more fraught with political intrigue on the Royal level (as opposed to local political infighting as in previous books) which has never been a huge interest of mine. So far there's only one more book in this series, so perhaps the author also realizes that the series is growing a little lackluster and is stopping it. I'll certainly finish it off, but if Plague of Heretics is indeed the last, I think it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
16. A LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King. #3 Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell historical mystery. A It seems to me that each book in this series gets better--after the first one, which I thought was too long and convoluted, I wasn't sure if I would continue reading the series, but the second and this, the third, were absolutely brilliant! Sherlock Holmes and his new wife, Mary Russell, work again to solve the suspicious death of an old acquaintance, an archaeologist who comes back to England from Palestine with a peculiar gift for Mary. A day later, Dorothy Ruskin is struck down in a London street by an unmarked black motorcar, and only a fool would not make a connection between the two--especially when the Holmes' home is ransacked a day later.Wonderful, multi-faceted mystery with red herrings all over the place and the deeply-layered characters becoming better known to the reader too. Very much looking forward to the next one!
17. I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS by Alan Bradley #4 Flavia de Luce historical mystery. (AUDIO) A. (Review pending)
Current reads:
Kindle: CHILDREN OF THE STREET by Kwei Quartey (#2 Darko Dawson mystery set in Ghana)
Audio: THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (#4 Chet and Bernie mystery)
Print: THE GRAVEYARD GAME by Kage Baker (#4 in The Company Sci-fi/fantasy series)
Cheryl
Cheryl
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