Without Fail

Child, Lee.  Without Fail.

Another Jack Reacher novel, and I enjoyed this one even more than the previous one.   Reacher is recruited by M. E. Froelich (who knew his brother) to test the security around the Vice President elect, when the Secret Service discovers a threat.  Reacher contacts his former colleague, Frances Neagley, and together they find several holes in the security. 

When they present their analysis, Reacher and Neagley also assure Froelich that because of political considerations and the required public exposure of political figures, there are always going to be opportunities for assassination.  There are plenty  of plot twists that keep this novel a page-turner, and I liked the fact that the characters got a little better development than in Gone Tomorrow. 

Fiction.  Suspense/Action Thriller.  2002.  374 pages.

Sun Storm

Larsson, Asa.  Sun Storm.

This is the first in a Swedish series featuring Rebecka Martinsson.  I'll be looking for the others in the series as I found Rebecka an intriguing character.

When the brutally murdered body of charismatic Viktor Strandgard is discovered by his sister in a fundamentalist church in northern Sweden, Sanna Strandgard calls her old friend, Rebecka Martinsson, a tax attorney in Stockholm.  Although the friendship has, for good reasons, languished, Rebecka responds by returning to their provincial village to support Sanna and her children.

The novel has some interesting characters and becomes as much a psychological thriller as a police procedural.  While not everything held together for me, I found myself quite in engrossed in the characters and the atmosphere.  Northern Sweden is really, really cold!  I needed my comforter even in my nice warm house because the descriptions were so much colder than any idea of cold experienced here in the South.

The suspense builds as the narrative gives more information about the church itself and Rebecka's initial involvement.  As Rebecka grudgingly revisits and reviews the past in order to understand the present, the threat to her own life increases.

The conclusion leaves an ambivalent feeling in one narrative line which, while realistic, leaves the reader uneasy.

I hope the library has more by this author, otherwise I'll have to order them.

Fiction.  Mystery/ Police Procedural.  2003/translation 2006.  307 pages.

The Armada Boy

Ellis, Kate.  The Armada Boy.

An American veteran of the D day landings, returns with fellow survivors to the village where the landings were rehearsed prior to the operation.  When the elderly man is murdered,  Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson receives a call from his friend Neil, an archaeologist who is about to begin a dig at the old chapel where the body is discovered. 

The novel ties together the current murder mystery with the archaeological  dig that is delving into events that occurred when a Spanish ship was separated from the Spanish Armada and foundered on the coast of the village in 1588.

The novel is billed as a Wesley Peterson mystery, but I found his boss Detective Inspector Hefferson much more interesting and well-rounded.  The story develops several plot lines and is a short and easy read.

The most interesting part for me was the D day rehearsal that resulted in the loss of more men than were killed in the actual landing on Utah Beach, and the evacuation of the village for the purpose of the rehearsal.

Fiction.  Police Procedural/Historical Mystery.  1999.  217 pages.

The Innocent Spy

Wilson, Laura.  The Innocent Spy.

I found this novel interesting  for several reasons:  part of the storyline is based on true events, and one of the characters is based on Charles Maxwell Knight (head of the counter-subversion department of MI5 during WWII and thought to be the model for James Bond's boss, M); other characters are also based on real people.  The novel also presents  a slightly different view of the blitz than I've encountered before, as well as the emotional stress suffered by  parents who sent their children away from London during the nightly bombings.

Detective Ted Stratton becomes involved with the murder of a silent film star that has officially been designated suicide or accident.  His investigation eventually brings him into contact with Diana Colthorp who is participating in a covert operation for MI5.

While parts of the novel are a bit slow, the storyline concerning MI5 and espionage is informative.  Detective  Stratton is likable and believable, concerned about things being swept under the rug for "security" reasons, aware of how the game is played, but not necessarily happy about it.  Diana Colthorpe, realizing that she has made a mistake in her marriage, takes the job in MI5 to escape an oppressive mother-in-law after her husband's enlistment.  She finds her new independence and job exciting, but eventually realizes that the complex layers involved are darker than she imagined.

Originally published as Stratton's War.

Fiction.  Historical Mystery.  2008.  447 pages.

A Reliable Wife

Goolrick, Robert.  A Reliable Wife.

I've really wondered about how to review this ARC from Algonquin Books.  The beginning is slow as we are made privy to the thoughts of Ralph Truitt, a wealthy and lonely man, waiting at a Wisconsin train station in 1907 for the woman who has answered his add for a "reliable wife," a "simple honest woman."

The fifty-four year old Truitt's thoughts wander from his concern about what the townspeople think of him, to stories of madness and disaster that he reads in the newspapers, to thoughts of his younger, highly-sexualized self, and to shame combined with hope as he waits for the arrival of his prospective bride.

When Catherine Land arrives, however, the first deception is uncovered.  The photograph she sent him was of a plain young woman, and Catherine Land is beautiful.  As the Wisconsin snows cover the landscape hiding most of the features of the land, the characters in this novel reside under many layers of protective coloration.  In the West we associate white with weddings; in the East white symbolizes death. 

The novel is as cold as the snow...and yet full of lustful passion that provides little heat.  Not that there are graphic sex scenes, but that sex and thoughts of sex hold many of the relationships together.  The characters are not people you warm to, but you can sympathize with them at times.  They are complex, deceptive, despairing, and obsessive.  No one is exactly as they seem in this dark novel.

This is also the story of fathers and sons, guilt, remorse, and hope.  It is not a novel that I enjoyed, but after the first chapter, I was determined to make my way through all of the twists and turns the novel takes.

Fiction.  Drama.  2009.  291 pages.

Great Video

This is a fascinating video from the New Zealand Book Council:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Bradley, Alan.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

What fun!  A charming, funny, eccentric mystery featuring the precocious Flavia  DeLuce, an eleven-year-old chemist with a passion for poisons.

The book has a sweetness of its own, a murder mystery without graphic violence or sex, set in a rural English village in 1950.  Flavia is a captivating character, a combination of superior intelligence and childlike innocence--full of curiosity, concern for those she cares about, and mischief-making.

Flavia is the narrator and presents her father as a gentle soul, but a reclusive one. There are two older sisters, and sibling pranks mark their days...although for Daphne and Ophelia, the pranks are probably often revenge for Flavia's high jinks.  Dogger, a veteran suffering from shell-shock, is both friend and gardener.  The villagers are also charmingly depicted from Flavia's point of view.

Detective Flavia is successful in the end.

I found The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie to be an engaging read that made me smile often.  It is the first in a series of five books planned by the author.  Bring them on!

Fiction.  YA/Mystery.  2009.  370 pages.

I Can See You

Rose, Karen.  I Can See You.

Eve Wilson survived a brutal attack six years before the novel begins that left her scarred mentally and physically.  Plastic surgery and the internet helped her gain enough confidence to come out of her self-imposed isolation.

She is now a graduate student whose  thesis is based on researching the effect of an online community, Shadowland, in building self-esteem.  Then someone begins killing her test subjects in bizarre and very personal ways, capitalizing on the victim's worst fears.

Although fast-paced, the scenarios often seemed contrived and a bit over the top.  I quickly identified the murderer, but Ms. Rose put in plenty of twists that kept me wondering.  That's a good thing.  However, the love story between Eve and Noah Webster, a detective investigating the murders, didn't quite ring true for me, either.  Nevertheless, I wasn't willing to abandon the book.  Hmmm, maybe 3 out of 5 stars.

Fiction. Mystery/Suspense.  2009.  480 pages.

On Reviewing and New Authors

I'm almost caught up on my reviews!  A visit to the library yesterday, however, will make sure that by the time I've finished reviewing the last batch of books, I'll have more to review.

One of the features of Amazon.com that I enjoy is "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" -- great place to discover new authors similar to the one you've read.  I've just finished jotting down a couple of new-to-me authors. 

Novels by Edmund Crispin (from the lovely, lovely Felony and Mayhem Press) were listed under the "Customers Who Bought" feature.  Crispin (pseudonym of Bruce Montgomery) wrote The Gilded Fly in 1944, and his Professor Gervase Fen, "scholar, wit, and fop extraordinaire," is influenced by Lord Peter Wimsey. Sounds great to me!
 
The Broken Tea Glass by Emily Arsenault also sounds good.  I do love good mysteries!

As soon as I finish reviewing I Can See You by Karen Rose,  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, and A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick, I'll be caught up on my reviews. 

That Old Cape Magic

Russo, Richard.  That Old Cape Magic.

Oh, I loved this book!   Russo's Bridge of Sighs was one of my favorite books read in 2007, and although this one is shorter, less dense, and much funnier, That Old Cape Magic will probably be on my list of favorites for 2010.

The author explores marriages and family relationships, mid-life crisis, the emotional inheritance we carry all our lives, and the biases of memory.

Jack Griffin has an attachment to Cape Cod because the happiest moments of his childhood occurred during family vacations to the Cape.  The current visit to Cape is to attend the wedding of his daughter's childhood friend, and memories resurface as he looks for a place to scatter the ashes of his father.

Russo's comedic touch is pitch perfect, but the humor is balanced with regrets, sadness, and loneliness as Jack struggles to escape the voices of his parents and their influence on his behavior.
 

Fiction.  Family drama.  2009.  261 pages.

The Brutal Telling

Penny, Louise.  The Brutal Telling.

This is my second novel about Inspector Gamache novel, and I enjoyed it even more than the first one.

When a man is found murdered in the bistro of the small Canadian village Three Pines, the inhabitants are stunned, unnerved, and distressed by the thought that the murderer may be one of their own. 

My favorite part was the development of some the villagers.  Although Inspector Gamache and his able assistants are busy following clues and certainly at the center of the story, the villagers and their personalities begin to emerge more fully than in the previous novel that was set elsewhere.  Although they were mentioned in A Rule Against Murder, only two had direct involvement in that novel.  Here we see more of Gabri, Olivier, Peter, Clara, and Ruth Zardo.  Ruth Zardo--the elderly, somewhat demented, but celebrated poet--and her duck Rosa are my very favorite characters.

One of her poems was about greed:

Nothing I ever gave was good for you,
It was like white bread to a goldfish.  
They cram and cram and it kills them,
and they drift in the pool, belly up,
making stunned faces
and playing on our guilt
as if their own toxic gluttony
was not their fault.

Her eccentric dinner party is bizarre and entertaining, but as strange, cryptic, and possibly demented as Ruth is, she has a greater understanding of events than anyone else.

There are also new characters introduced that weren't mention in A Rule Against Murder, although some of them may have been in previous novels.

Penny's flawed characters--sometimes funny and touching, at other times selfish and jealous--provide an entertaining mystery and a little insight into human nature.  For me, the success of this book is more in the characters than in the plot.

Fiction.  Mystery.  2009.  372 pages.

Gone Tomorrow

Child, Lee.  Gone Tomorrow.

This is Child's 13th Jack Reacher novel, but the first I've read.  Reacher, a retired army MP, is sitting in a subway car when the novel opens.  A relic of his past life is vigilance and observation of his surroundings, and he scans the other passengers in the car.  The fifth passenger sends warning bells that he attempts to resist, but he continues to run through the mental list of how to identify a suicide bomber.  Although logic tells him "no," Reacher eventually decides to act.

The list is interesting in its own right, and Reacher's handling of the situation is also informative.  Although there are an awful lot of details about the subway car itself, the suspense is palpable as we follow Reacher's thought processes.
 
After the subway incident reaches its conclusion, the suspense continues as all manner of government agencies and one private agency question Reacher.  Unable to get any answers to his own questions, Reacher begins a personal investigation that leads to several events in the past, the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and to the possible future of an American politician.

I'll be looking for other Jack Reacher novels, although I do think the character is a bit over the top (he single-handedly outsmarts everyone).  The twisty plot kept me interested from beginning to end...and I learned a few things.


Fiction.  Suspense/thriller.  2009.  421 pages.

Borderline

Barr, Nevada. Borderline.

An Anna Pidgeon mystery, Borderline follows Anna and her new husband Paul on a delayed honeymoon intended to help Anna recover from some of the terrible events that occurred in the previous novel Winter Study.  The novel opens as the couple, along with their guide and several college students, are rafting the Rio Grande in Texas's Big Bend National Park.

First, they encounter a cow stranded on a ledge and attempt a rescue.  This incident reveals the dynamics of the group of rafters.  Shortly thereafter, an accident causes the loss of the raft and most of their provisions.  When they then discover a woman tangled in debris, things become much more desperate (I'm avoiding some spoilers here).

The mystery has several intertwining threads concerning  Anna's recovery, the environment, politics, and issues involved in closing the border between Mexico and the U.S. after 9/11.

I have enjoyed most of the Nevada Barr mysteries I've read and this one kept me eagerly turning the pages.

Fiction.  Mystery.  2009.  399 pages.

A Proper Education for Girls

Di Rollo, Elaine.  A Proper Education for Girls.  

The Talbot twins, Alice and Lillian, are raised by their domineering, but easily distracted father.  The girls are educated by reading and writing (at their father's insistence) about items in his bizarre and varied Collection which includes suits of armor, modern farming equipment, synchronized grandfather clocks, fossilized sea creatures, a stuffed grizzly bear, Napoleonic swords, mechanical inventions, butterfly collections, bronze statues, a machine that peels 60 apples simultaneously, Greek pottery, and much, more more. 

The huge estate is overcrowded with items of archaeological, natural history, geologic, botanic, artistic, or cultural interest.  Not a simple Cabinet of Curiosities (which was really a room), but an entire huge house has turned into an uncategorized museum, and this museum provides the basic education of Alice and Lillian.

When the books opens, however, a disgraced Lillian has been forced to marry a missionary and accompany him to India.  Alice misses her sister terribly, but her father refuses to let Alice's letters leave the house and allows little mail from Lillian to enter (and only after he has read it).  He also begins to question the girls' education, and prodded by the advice of the loathsome Dr. Cattermole, ponders an unthinkable solution that would change Alice's independent personality into a more submissive one.

Lillian, who is grateful to have escaped in spite of the circumstances, loves India and begins to thrive.  When Alice finally manages to interpret a coded message from Lillian, she, too, begins to hope for escape.

Set in 1857, the chapters alternate between Alice's adventures in England and Lillian's adventures in India.  The book provides some interesting takes on the life of women in Victorian England, scientific advances, Colonial life in India, and the Indian rebellion.

I enjoyed the book, eagerly returning to it, but found the conclusion hurried and not fully satisfying.

(I particularly enjoyed the Aunts!)

Fiction.  Adventure/Women's Rights/Historical.  2009.  354 pages.

December Reading

 I've been away from the computer for quite a while for various reasons.  We decided to move at the beginning of December, found a house very quickly, packed up, moved on December 15th, managed to get Christmas stuff up, had children and grandchildren for the Christmas weekend, baby sat Bryce Eleanor for an additional 5 or 6 days while her parents took their first trip alone in two years, did without any computer for a couple of weeks, and since then, have both gotten out of the computer habit and been overwhelmed by the number of emails to be read, blogs to read, etc.

Here is a list of the December books that never got reviewed, and I'm not going to give them separate reviews. Stars indicate level of enjoyment--3 stars are the ones that I enjoyed most. 

Slightly Abridged by Ellen Pall *
A False Mirror by Charles Todd ***
Dust by Martha Grimes **
Act of Will by A.J. Hartley **
The Joys of My Life by Alys Clare **
Coyote Horizon by Allen Steele ***
Taos Chill by Linda Lea Castle *
Bitter Tide by Ann Stamos ***

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale ***
Enna Burning by Shannon Hale **
River Secrets by Shannon Hale ***
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale ***

I won a copy of The Goose Girl from Kate at Kate's Book Club, and as expected, loved it.  Thanks so much, Kate! I've been meaning to read it for a long time based on Booklogged's original enthusiasm and subsequent comments over the last couple of years.  As you can see, I wanted more about the kingdom of Bayern, and read the next two in the series as well as Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.  These are all YA novels, but great fun!

When I finished reading all that the library had, I went to the book store and bought several books for my niece for Christmas, first and foremost was The Goose Girl!  I wasn't about to give away my copy.  :)


I now have 6 more books to review and one in progress that will probably be finished tonight; I hope I get around to writing actual reviews...


Hope everyone had wonderful Christmas and New Year Celebrations!

Knock Out

Coulter, Catherine.  Knock Out.

An FBI/paranormal adventure that began well, but deteriorated quickly.  FBI agent Dillon Savitch is in his local bank during a bank robbery; the bad guys/gals are really bad, but Savitch manages to save the day.  This story line then becomes a bit superfluous as the novel progresses.  It crops up intermittently and is eventually solved, but has nothing to do with the other story line. 

The paranormal thread was initially intriguing; Autumn, a seven-year-old little girl, begins communicating telepathically with Agent Savitch, but as her Uncles Blessed and Grace enter the scene, the story begins to feel like a parody of evil.  If a family as perverted, powerful, and insane as the Backman's existed, it is doubtful that they would limit themselves to their tiny kingdom of Bricker's Bowl; with their powers, they could have taken over the world.  Of course, they were all crazy, and well, not too bright.

Fiction.  Mystery/Paranormal.  2009.  417 pages.

Out of Nowhere

Mortman, Doris.  Out of Nowhere.

Cynthia Baird discovers a money laundering scheme which results in the murder of her brother by a drug cartel.  Nevertheless, Cynthia agrees to testify at the trial.  The drug cartel is vengeful, however, and both Cynthia and her daughter Ricki must go into the witness protection program, WitSec.  All ties to to family, including those to Cynthia's ex-husband Lionel Baird, Ricki's father, are severed, and Baird believes that his former wife and his daughter were killed in an explosion.

The story picks up again years later with a young forensic photographer, Max (Amanda Maxwell, formerly Ricki Baird).  Max is a very private person in many ways; her life in WitSec has taught her to be less than forthcoming about many things and the threat of violence from the drug cartel keeps her ability to trust at a minimum.

In spite of the possible consequences, Max develops a relationship with her father, a wealthy and powerful man who has mourned the deaths of his former wife and daughter over the years.  She has also developed relationships with two attractive men, and when the money laundering/drug cartel story once again makes the news, Max has a lot to worry about.  And then her father is murdered....

I enjoyed this one.

Fiction.  Mystery/Suspense.  1998.  455 pages.

A Killing Kindness

Hill, Reginald.  A Killing Kindness.

Reprinted by Felony and Mayhem Press, this is #5 in the Dalziel & Pascoe series.  As usual, with Hill's earlier novels in this series, I find it most interesting to observe the development of Hill's style and the evolution of his most familiar characters.  Detective Sergeant Edgar Wield, the third wheel in the triple threat of the Yorkshire Constabulary, is both shockingly ugly and surprisingly lovable.  His character development in this fifth novel is noteworthy as we get a little more insight into his love life.  Wieldy is second only to Fat Andy in my book.

A serial killer, nicknamed The Choker, is targeting women.  To Fat Andy's disgust, the case involves a clairvoyant, a psychologist, and a couple of linguists.  Pascoe, on the other hand, the more modern and liberal half of the team, tries to keep an open mind.

Truthfully, the motivation for the murders wasn't convincing to me, but I enjoyed the novel anyway.

Fiction.  Mystery/Police Procedural.  1980/2009.  277 pages.

Alexandria

 Davis, Lindsey.  Alexandria:  A Marcus Didius Falco Novel.

While not one of my favorite Falco mysteries, the information about Alexandria and the great Library was fascinating.

Falco and Helena, along with their children and Falco's brother-in-law, are visiting Falco's uncle in Alexandria, Egypt.  On their first evening, their hosts have a dinner party and Theon, the Head Librarian is an honored guest.  The next morning, Theon is found dead in a locked room at the Library.

While I found the mystery itself adequate, not enthralling, the historical tidbits were fascinating.  The dissection of Theon by the Alexandria Zoo Keeper is particulary interesting because of the historical data included concerning Eristratus of Chios and Herophilus of Chalcedon who were physicians and anatomists at the Alexandria medical school.  They are both considered founders of modern medicine and performed dissections (and possibly vivisections!) that provided significant information about the workings of the human body.

Hero/Heron was a Greek mathematician and engineer who invented the first steam engine, a windwheel to harness wind power, devices for the theater, a force pump widely used by Romans, and more. 

The relationship between Falco and Helena Justinua remains one of the charming aspects of this series, but the plot was sometimes a bit tedious.


The following links show the importance of Alexandria and its scholars:

Erasistratus of Chios
Herophilus of Chalcedon
Hero (or Heron) of Alexandria

Fiction. Mystery/Historical Fiction. 2009.  338 pages.

The Alexander Cipher

Adams, Will.  The Alexander Cipher.

Contrived.  Thought I'd like it because it was an archaeological mystery, but didn't find the characters particularly interesting or the plot involving. 

Fiction.  Mystery.  2009.  336 pages.

“Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.”  Ben Okri


Love this quote...

The Blue Last

Grimes, Martha.  The Blue Last.

I picked this one up at the library because I felt like a reunion with Richard Jury, Melrose Plant, and the other eccentric characters that Grimes has created.

Inspector Jury is approached by an old friend and colleague, Micky Haggerty, who is dying of cancer.  Haggerty wants Jury to prove that during the WWII bombing of London, a baby was switched.  Two young mothers, two babies of the same age.  One mother and child killed by a bomb, one young mother and child survive.  The surviving mother was the Nanny, the surviving baby is supposed to be the child of a wealthy family. 

Despite the difficulties of a case this old, Jury wants desperately to help his old friend.  With the help of his friend Melrose Plant, Jury begins the investigation, which involves two charming children and a dog.  Children and dogs always play a part in Grimes' mysteries, and while they may not be absolutely believable,  the children (and dogs) are filled with personality.

Unfortunately, the mystery itself has a number of flaws, not least of which is Jury's age and preoccupation with his past.  By no means is The Blue Last one of Grimes' better novels.

Fiction.  Mystery/Police Procedural.  2001.  415 pages.

The Girl on Legare Street

White, Karen.  The Girl on Legare Street.

A sequel to The House on Tradd Street (which I haven't read), this review copy arrived last week. Melanie Middleton is a realtor in Charleston who is busy restoring the historic house she inherited on Tradd Street when the mother who abandoned her when she was 7 appears on the scene.  Both mother and daughter share psychic abilities, but Melanie's resentment and sense of betrayal keeps her from welcoming the mother who left her over 30 years ago.

Jack Trenholme from The House on Tradd Street provides the romantic angle, and he and Melanie spar repeatedly as she denies her attraction to him.  There is a protective ghost and a vengeful ghost, some curious paintings from the late 19th century depicting young girls wearing identical lockets, a female reporter who has an odd sense of familiarity and an intense interest in the house on Legare Street and its occupants present and past.

Characterization is either lacking or stereotypical and the supernatural plot requires a great deal of "suspension of disbelief."  The book seems to fall in the chic lit/romance/paranormal realm with plenty of elements from each sub-genre. The author believes in "tell don't show" and is afraid you might miss her intentions, so repeats them frequently.

I did like it better White's The Lost Hours, but once again hoped for more.  On the other hand, it is a fast read and all the other blog reviews I read were highly enthusiastic.

Fiction.  Supernatural/Romance.  2009.  335 pages

All the Colors of Darkness

Robinson, Peter.  All the Colors of Darkness.

Robinson is usually one of my favorites, but this Inspector Banks novel was a disappointment. The entire novel seems a departure from Robinson's usual style.

The MI6 angle grated on me for some reason; the murder-suicide plot was convaluted on its own and didn't need the additional complications.  The Banks/Sophia relationship was uncomfortable from the beginning and becomes more uncomfortable as the story evolves.  The musical references have become stale, and yet there are even more in this novel.

I found this novel darker and somehow less authentic in regard to characters and plot.  There seems to be a personal bitterness involved, but nothing rang true for me.

Fiction.  Mystery/Police Procedural.  2009.  356 pages.

The Price of Butcher's Meat

Hill, Reginald.  The Price of Butcher's Meat.

This is the installment I missed between Death Comes for the Fat Man and Midnight Fugue.

Although I always enjoy Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe series, this is one of my favorites so far.  After Superintendent Andy Dalziel has come through his coma and been released from the hospital, he bows to pressure and goes to a convalescent home to continue his recovery.

Fat Andy is such a larger-than-life character, and not only in physical girth.  His crude and politically incorrect observations are often intentionally startling and usually hilarious.  I adore him in literature, even knowing that I would probably be unable to tolerate him in real life.  He is a modern Falstaff, but one less likely to meet the same fate.

The novel is presented in a different format that includes the emails of an amusingly insightful and satiric young woman and the recordings of the big man himself. Franny Roote makes another appearance which certainly surprised me, but Franny has played a part in quite a few of the D & P novels.

Good characterization as usual, interesting plot, and wonderful use of language.  Even more literary allusions than usual.  I'm not sure how Hill manages to do this without sound pedantic, but he does.

As I mentioned, I enjoyed this book even more than usual.  Hill remains one of the best and most literate authors in the genre of crime fiction/police procedural/mystery.


Fiction.  Mystery.  2008.  519 pages.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Watson, Winifred.  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

Thoroughly charming, this little book is has the whimsy of a delightful fairy tale.  Miss Pettigrew is sent to interview as a governess, but inadvertently becomes a life-saver when her future employer opens the door and begs for her help.  The lovely Miss LaFosse draws the middle-aged spinster into the glamorous and somewhat dissolute life of the "bright young things" of the 1930's.

Miss Pettigrew puts aside her niggling moral judgments when Miss LaFosse and her friends not only happily include her, but find her wise and clever and capable of helping solve their various difficulties.  Miss Pettigrew receives a make-over in all senses of the phrase.  Surprised and happy to be seen in such a new light, Miss Pettigrew gives herself over to the enjoyment of the day, feeling much like a modern Cinderella.

I've read many positive reviews of this book and join the ranks of its many fans.  Light-hearted and amusing, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is definitely a feel-good read.

A Persephone Classic--I know that Danielle and Iliana are collectors of these "reprints of neglected classic by C20th (mostly women) writers."


Fiction.  1938/2008.  234 pages.

Now & Then

Sheehan, Jacqueline.  Now & Then.

A review copy of a time travel novel.  I love the idea of time travel, but find it a difficult premise to pull off.  The Time Traveler's Wife, which I read right after it was published, kept me interested, but ultimately left me disappointed.   Outlander by Gabaldon enthralled me after a few chapters, mainly because there was a complete story in the past and the characters were much more than a device.  The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers comes highly recommended, and I think I'll look for a library copy.

Back to Now & Then -- nothing really engaged me, and I was put off by the means of time travel and the back stories of the characters... and I suppose, by the characters themselves.  The conclusion may not have been a conclusion, but if there does happen to be a sequel, I don't think I'll bother.

Oh, and the dog on the front?  Could have been a great asset to the story, but Madigan's role was inconsequential and the cover misleading.

Other Reviews:  Booking It and Dear Author

Fiction.  Time Travel/Fantasy.  2009.  384 pages.

The Magician's Apprentice

Canavan, Trudi.  The Magician's Apprentice.

This novel is a stand-alone prequel to Canavan's Black Magician trilogy (which I haven't read).  The novel kept me occupied, but not fully engaged.  The world Canavan has created is adequate in some ways, but for some reason fails to create the involvement one hopes for in fantasy.

The characters never quite come off the page and the plot builds tension that isn't sustained.  The "war" and the tactics/strategy are a large portion of the book and  strangely insipid.  However, when your armies consist of 100 or so magicians on either side, it is a bit difficult to muster a sense of two countries at war.

Tessia, daughter of a Healer, discovers that she also has magical abilities.  Lord Dakon takes her on as his second apprentice.  Magicians draw magical abilities from their apprentices in exchange for teaching them.  The "good" guys are conscientious about this magical draw; the "bad" guys are not.   Magical powers seem remarkably dull and frequently useless in this book.

In the last 100 or so pages, there is a definite change in direction as the author (evidently) prepares the ground for the trilogy already published.  I didn't find this switch a comfortable one; it seemed contradictory to original characterization and to previous goals.

Fiction.  Fantasy.  2009.  588 pages.

Midnight Fugue

Hill, Reginald.  Midnight Fugue.

  Midnight Fugue is Fat Andy's journey to regain his rightful place in the police hierarchy after his injury and coma in Death Comes for Fat Andy.  Dalziel has cut his convalescence a little short, and even he has some questions about his abilities, but he is determined to re-establish his prominence in the Mid-Yorkshire Constabulary.

In an attempt to do a favor for an old acquaintance, Andy sees a way to provide aid to another policeman and to get back in the game unofficially.  Events, however, take some unpleasant twists when Shirley Novello is seriously injured and a young journalist murdered.  Andy discovers that the roots lead back into the past as the branches reach toward future political ramifications.

As usual, Hill can be counted on for great characterization and a tight plot (with some satisfying subplots) as well as his customary literate and literary allusions.  I had to check on the allusion to Vicar Bray as I'd never heard of him before, but a couple of allusions to Hamlet, one to Joseph Conrad, one to a character in a nursery rhyme (one of my favorites for some odd reason, Dr. Fell), one to William Blake, more than one to Edwin Muir, and who knows how many I may have missed.  All allusions are perfectly incorporated, an addition to your pleasure if you catch them, no loss to the story if not.  There is also a musical motif running through the chapters headings -- from the prelude to con fuoco poi smorzando.

Andy takes the lead in this novel with Pascoe, Ellie, Wieldie, Novello, and Hat just along for the ride, but that is as it should be as the Fat Man returns after his long coma and recovery.  The novel is shorter than many of Hill's more recent Dalziel & Pascoe novels, but in my admittedly prejudiced opinion, another good'un!

Fiction.  Mystery/Crime/Police Procedural.  2009.  361 pages.

By Heresies Distressed

Weber, David.  By Heresies Distressed.

The third in Weber's Safehold series, By Heresies Distressed allowed me to return to that world  I first visited in Armageddon Reef.  I loved it, but I am a huge Weber fan.

I don't advise reading this series out of order.  I've reviewed Armageddon Reef here and By Schism Rent Asunder here, and they give a bit of the background, but this just isn't a series that would work well without a chronological reading.

This installment deals with several battles as Caleb moves against the enemies who attacked his kingdom, and as usual, Weber is a dab hand at making battle strategy and tactics fascinating.  Sharleyan is busy trying to manage the kingdom of Charis in Caleb's absence.

The Church and State political component continues to interest me as well, but Weber's ability to bring each character (and their are so many) to life is the major factor in making his newest world a real one.

I couldn't decide whether to be disappointed that the story is still not complete or delighted that there is at least one more novel to look forward to.

Fiction.  Science Fiction.  2009.  475 pages.

Dante's Numbers

Hewson, David.  Dante's Numbers.

Nic Costa, Leo Falcone, Gianni Peroni, and Teresa Lupo return in this novel, to the delight of many fans of the series.  Hewson seems to have a little difficulty in the opening of the novel (I had a similar feeling in The Lizard's Bite), but once he settles in, the story becomes involving and intriguing.

Falcone's team, originally designated to guard artifacts on the set of a movie about Dante's Inferno, come into conflict with the Carabinierre, who have been assigned protection for the actors.   When the first death occurs right before the movie's premiere, Falcone is frustrated by his team's exclusion from the investigation.  Official exclusion, actually, because his team is making their own inquiries.

Then, when the actor who plays Dante is murdered in a gruesome and voyeuristic manner, the Roman Premiere is canceled and re-scheduled to appear in Los Angeles.  In the meantime, Maggie Flavier who plays Beatrice (evidently there was some license in the movie because it is Virgil who guides Dante through the Inferno, not Beatrice) and Nic Costa have become friends.  When Falcone's team travels to L.A. with the artifacts, Nic and Maggie's relationship continues to develop, and Maggie herself may be the next target.

My favorite parts were not those with Nic and Maggie, however, but with Teresa Lupo and her friendship with twins Hank and Frank, retired firemen.

Lots of cinematic allusions particularly to Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Fiction.  Mystery.  2009.  386 pages

WWI Reading

Trench Literature -- Reading in WWI from ABE Books.  What were the ordinary soldiers reading during the first World War?  Trench Literature is an interesting article that gives some of the titles that the men in the trenches read.

How to Buy a Love of Reading

Gibson, Tanya Egan.  How to Buy a Love of Reading.

 From Publishers Weekly: 

Egan's debut, an odd blend of young adult melodrama and unsuccessful metafiction, winds itself into knots of empty story lines. Recognizing that their dullard daughter, Carley, needs an academic boost, Gretchen and Francis Wells hire author Bree McEnroy to write a book to Carley's specifications. Though Carley's love for reality television and Bree's fondness for self-conscious literary tropes should, in theory, unite to make a delightful story-within-a-story, it is often neglected or underwritten. Meanwhile, the cardboard secondary cast floats around Bree and Carley: there's Hunter, Carley's crush, whose alcoholic rakishness, we are assured, masks a poet's interior; Carley's social-climbing mother and philandering father; and Justin, Bree's college chum, who has become, on dubious merit, a literary star. Carley and Hunter's friendship is jeopardized by both his addictions and her unrequited adoration, and Bree and Justin reconcile. Plagued by thin, when not wildly inconsistent, characterization from the start, the narrative's tendency to flit from character to character without revealing anything memorable or insightful further blurs the point. Unfortunately, there isn't enough heart to redeem the dopiness.

I do agree with the above excerpt and didn't really want to bother with thinking about how to review this long indulgence myself.

I read it all...with my inner-critic on high volume the entire time.  Rich people are all shallow and/or mean-spirited?  May be...I don't know anyone who is the category of rich that these characters dwell in.  I hope there are those who live in that world who retain some common sense and a remnant of humanity.

The book is too, too clever and pretty empty.

Fiction. ? 2009.  389 pages.

Haunting Bombay

Agarwal, Shilpa.  Haunting Bombay.

The story of the Mittal family is a ghost story, but not a Western ghost story.  Thoroughly grounded in the atmosphere of Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hindu myth and religion, the ghost is both a supernatural and psychological phenomenon.

I found myself intrigued for a while, but as the story began to spin wider, I was less enchanted.  I've tried to figure out why that was so, but haven't successfully determined just what went wrong for me.

Essentially, it may be that my idea of a ghost story and of myth are so Westernized that the differences made it difficult to suspend disbelief.  As I've mentioned before, I'm not a great fan of magical realism and some of that quality is present in the book.

The writing and characterization are quite good, but the consequences of the original death spread so wide, with so many ripples, that Pinky's story is drastically diminished.  She becomes a device rather than a character.  Maji, the grandmother, has a role that rises and falls and ultimately offers the explanation.  She might deserve a book of her own.

I did enjoy the novel, and there was no way that I'd have abandoned it, but in the end, I didn't love it.

Fiction.  Supernatural/Psychological.  2009.  359 pages.

To Serve Them All My Days

Delderfield, R. F.  To Serve Them All My Days.

OK -- I loved this one.  I liked it much better than God Is an Englishman because this is about a teacher, and I have some experience in this area.

David Powlett-Jones is invalided out of WWI, injured and suffering from shell-shock.  Despairing over the cost of the war in human lives, unable to control his shaking hands, he nevertheless accepts a job teaching history at Bamfylde School.  At Bamfylde, Davy eventually finds the healing his wounded spirit needs and a sense of being useful and of belonging to something important.  He also discovers that he is a born teacher.

The novel, with all of its wonderful detail, begins at the tag-end of the first World War and continues through the second.  Delderfield manages to involve the reader with all of his wonderful characters and give an overview of those years that includes the very personal effects on individuals and a wider historical and political perspective.

The book is comforting with its view of human nature--flawed, but with hope for improvement.  Delderfield doesn't avoid all of the tragedies of life, and there are many in the novel, but he has an optimism, a faith in mankind that buoys the reader.

I loved it.  Repeating myself, I know, but it's true.  I will re-visit Bamfylde, Davy, Algy, Howarth, and all of the men, women, and boys that populate these pages.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me this review copy!

Fiction.  Historical.  First publ. 1972.  Republ. 2008.  594 pages.

Reviews Done and Scheduled

:) I've finished all my reviews and have 5 scheduled for the next several days.  By then, of course, I will have finished more books.  Well, I will if I stay in this reading mode. 

Still in post-tornado clean up, but it gets dark early, and I'm reading for hours every night. 

More on University Presses

As both a student and a former teacher, I relied on the University Press for research in any number of areas. No matter how specialized the topic, somewhere a UP had books on the subject. When I was in Austin this summer to get my yoga teacher training, one of my classmates was an editor for the University of Texas Press.

Naturally, we discussed books! Everything from our interest in Reginald Hill mysteries, to the more scholarly publications she was responsible for editing, to the future of books in general. We talked about E books and Kindle--of course, both of us want the feel of the book in hand and find it difficult to believe that "actual" books will ever disappear.

One thing she mentioned, however, made an impression on me. University Presses are having many of the difficulties of small book stores--competition. Amazon and B & N provide such easy access and low prices, which is wonderful in a way; but they have also contributed to the demise of many small, locally owned book stores. According to Allison, they are a bit of a threat to the UP system as well. I wish we had discussed this more fully, but we could only talk during our short breaks and often picked up on a new conversational thread after interruption.

Publishing books for specialized interests is not a profitable enterprise. For example, including all those lovely photographs for art books that are not going to be best sellers is an expensive undertaking, but publishing books on lit crit is also expensive and the audience is relatively small.

After my last post about University Presses, I did a little research on the topic. Here is a little information from the Association of American University Presses:

University presses are publishers. At the most basic level that means they perform the same tasks as any other publisher -- university presses acquire, develop, design, produce, market and sell books and journals, just like Random House or Condé Nast. But while commercial publishers focus on making money by publishing for popular audiences, the university press's mission is to publish work of scholarly, intellectual, or creative merit, often for a small audience of specialists.

University presses also differ from commercial publishers because of their place in the academic landscape. A university press is an extension of its parent institution, and it's also a key player in a more general network -- including learned societies, scholarly associations, and research libraries -- that makes scholarly endeavor possible. Like the other nodes in this network, university presses are charged with serving the public good by generating and disseminating knowledge. That's why the government has recognized our common interest in the work of university presses by granting them not-for-profit status.

Many of the books university presses publish, then, are meant primarily for scholars or other people interested in certain concentrated fields of research. Thousands of these books (generally termed monographs) have been published, on topics ranging from the meaning of gambling in nineteenth-century America to the changing nature of Balinese gamelan music. Monographs are generally sold in hardcover editions to libraries, and increasingly in paperback editions so that they may be used as supplemental reading in college courses.

Though scholarship is central to the mission of university presses, most also publish books of more general interest. That might mean narrative history, or poetry, or fiction translated from other languages. As commercial publishers increasingly turn away from books that are deemed unlikely to make a lot of money, university presses have found new fields to publish in -- and new audiences for their books. Because university presses are located all over the country, they also specialize in publishing books about the culture and history of different parts of America that attract less attention from commercial houses. You'll find general interest titles from university presses alongside the bestsellers at your local bookstore.
If you are interested in what your local UP might offer, check this link to the AAUP, and click on your closest UP.

Previous posts: In Support of University Presses and Sky Train (from the University of Washington Press)

The Baker Street Letters

Robertson, Michael.  The Baker Street Letters.

I've enjoyed a lot of Sherlock Holme's take-offs, so the title interested me.  Reggie Heath, a London solicitor, leases office space at 221B Baker Street only to discover that written into the lease is the obligation to manage and respond (by form letter) to all correspondence addressed to Sherlock Holmes.

Reggie's brother Nigel, in charge of this chore,  comes across some recent letters relating to a letter written 20 years earlier from an eight-year-old girl.  A theft, a murder, and Nigel's unplanned flight to Los Angeles, all lead to Reggie's following his brother to find out what is going on.

This novel is the first in a planned series, but has a way to go before being able to sufficiently capture faithful readers.  An interesting premise, but ... the mystery has several scenes that feel repetitious and is average in characterization and narrative.

Will I try the next one?  Yes, many series take some time to warm up, and I'm hoping that will be the case here.

Fiction.  Mystery.  2009.  277 pages.

Aftermath

Thanks for all the encouragement!   It is much appreciated.  Clean up is on-going.  Yesterday, I kind of ran out of steam and read most of the day.  Ahh, the escape offered by a good book!  Several reviews to get caught up on, but much more clean-up to do first.

Tree through the bedroom window.

The following pictures were taken Friday morning.  The water had begun to go down, but we were still cut off except for trucks and vehicles with a high wheel base.  Although the tornado tried to lift our roof...3 brick walls leaning one way or another and gaps between roof and wall, you can see that a few houses down, they lost their roof completely.

We Were in the Way

Tornado...Thursday afternoon
Opened the front door to this...

We were very lucky, although there is serious structural damage to the house.  More pictures on Bayou Quilts.

Reading and on the Shelf

I'm still working on To Serve Them All Their Days (and loving it) and Haunted Bombay (and half a dozen others, that are on hold), but I have finished The Baker Street Letters and need to review it.

Between sewing and crafting and occasional blogging at Bayou Quilts, yoga classes (I've just begun teaching a class on Mon. & Wed., and I'm taking classes, too), and all the other details of life, keeping up with my reading has become difficult. Since I can't seem to live without books, I continue to persevere. :)

When I returned my last batch of books to the library, I told myself I wouldn't check out any more. Somehow, I still ended up coming home with these.Finished The Baker Street Letters and Haunted Bombay is in progress; the rest are on deck.

Dante's Numbers by David Hewson; a mystery about a film version of Dante's Inferno.

How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson; adolescent girl doesn't like to read...how to her parents persuade her to change her attitude...

By Heresies Distressed by David Weber; third book in Weber's Safehold series.

Weather here is awful so it is a perfect day to catch up on blogging and reading.

In Support of University Presses

This link to the University of Washington Press has a list of some wonderful nonfiction books. The following are some that interested me:




Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country by Marsha L. Weisiger

In Love with a Hillside Garden by Ann, Daniel, and Benjamin Streissguth

Greening Cities, Growing Communities: Learning from Seattle's Urban Community Gardens by Jeffrey Hou, Julie M. Johnson, and Laura J. Lawson.

They are currently offering 20% or more off on books--through Dec. 31, if you use the discount code mentioned at the bottom of this page.

Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History

Sam, Canyon. Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History.

The book opens with a foreword by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama which lends a certain gravitas to Ms. Sam's collection of oral histories. One of the Dalai Lama's statements enjoins those concerned with the fate of Tibet "neither to give up nor to give in to destructive emotions like anger and hatred." A difficult concept for most of us, but the four women whose stories are told here found their religion to be a sustaining factor despite the Chinese attempts to obliterate Tibetan Buddhism and severely punish those who practiced it.

In 1986, Canyon Sam, a third-generation Chinese American, decided to spend a year in Asia, concentrating on China. It didn't turn out that way; Ms. Sam did not enjoy China and ended up spending most of her time in Tibet after falling in love with the Tibetan people and landscape.

In 1990, the author returned to Tibet and began gathering oral histories from the women who survived the Chinese take over in 1959. We should all be grateful to Ms. Sam for caring enough to gather these stories and to preserve and publish them before they were lost. They may well be the only real overview of those decades that detail the experiences of women from their own perspectives.

Although the final version of her book has been limited to the stories of only four of the women interviewed, they are broadly representative of the situations of all Tibetan women who endured the horrors of the Chinese invasion and occupation of their country.

In 2007, Ms. Sam returned to Tibet and interviewed some of the women she had met and recorded in 1990. The author's own journeys to Tibet, her reception by the Tibetan people, her first-hand views of the Chinese presence and purpose are woven into this work, although the stories of the women whose stories she relates take precedence.

Moving and informative, Sky Train leaves the reader with much to think about, with new insights, and with new appreciation for the freedoms and privileges people in free countries take for granted. The tragedy of Tibet seems to be an almost hidden part of history.

The last 50 years of Tibetan history is heart-breaking in many ways, but the resilience and courage of the Tibetan people who have survived half a century of oppression is a fantastic and inspirational story in itself.

I read this book because of an email I received from Shaila Abdullah, author of Saffron Dreams, recommending it. The University of Washington Press sent me the book for review; I'm grateful to them for sending me a copy and to Shaila Abdullah for her recommendation and the suggestion that I read Sky Train.

Also of interest are the following documentaries, I watched earlier this year: 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama and Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion.

Nonfiction. Memoir/Oral History. 2009. 246 pages + notes.

The Little Stranger

Waters, Sarah. The Little Stranger.

Put The Fall of the House of Usher, The Turn of the Screw, and Wuthering Heights into a pot and stir. Add the author's particular point of view and personal intentions, bake at 463 pages and out comes The Little Stranger.

If you've read any of the above, you will immediately feel the connection with Poe, James, and Bronte: a huge old house in decline; a narrator who is both unreliable and somewhat removed--distanced in some way from the other characters; a brother and sister; a ghost and/or curse and/or anthropomorphism and/or psychological disturbances; and definitely ambiguity, doubt, and uncertainty.

Who is "the little stranger"? What caused the fires, noises, and other mysterious and tragic occurrences? Even after finishing the novel, you aren't sure. Waters has carefully avoided a solution, and almost everyone and everything is suspect. Do the events indicate the supernatural, human projection, a combination of both? Echoes of The Turn of the Screw...

Set in rural post-war England, the story also delineates the social changes that have been in play since World Wars I and II. Grand old families and estates are no longer so grand or financially secure and many find themselves struggling to keep things together. The Ayres family is one of these; with insufficient funds to maintain house, grounds, and servants in the manner of pre-war times, they make every effort to save what they can.

The changes in social relationships are also difficult. The working classes are still burdened with traditional attitudes toward the upper classes, but are finding themselves less dependent. Attitudes of superiority and inferiority are still there, of course, but there is a burgeoning recognition of the changes that are occurring.

The author avoids letting the reader feel strongly about the characters; the reader becomes an observer, but doesn't necessarily feel attachment to any of the characters. The novel evokes curiosity and suspense, while somehow discouraging personal involvement. The many inconsistencies and uncertainties keep the reader from committing whole-heartedly to Dr. Farraday or any of the Ayres family. Unsure of where things are heading, the reader tends to reserve judgment.

Shortlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize, the novel is worth the read, but will be enjoyed more by those who can tolerate ambiguity because Waters, like Henry James, leaves things open.

Although I have a feeling about what caused most of the problems, there are a few events that just can't be explained and appear to contradict my opinion. This is a slight difference from The Turn of the Screw where nothing appears to directly contradict and all avenues are of interpretation are possible. Unless our narrator was even more unreliable than I thought...

I enjoyed the novel, but liked Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale more.

Fiction. Supernatural? Mystery? Suspense. 2009. 463 pages.