The Final Cut and my Final Book of 2019 ( 78 books read in my self-challenge of 75 in 2019 ! )

The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Fox has stolen the main jewel out of the Queen Mother's Crown. Bad enough for the Brits but not so good for the Yanks either, since it and the rest of the Crown Jewels were on loan to NYC's Met and one of the British MI6 operatives, sent to protect them, has been murdered and seems to be involved in the theft. The FBI moves in immediately to investigate, with Special Agent Michaela Caine prominent on the team. Hot shot nobleman, DCI Nicholas Hammond from MI 6 impetuously flies immediately to NYC where his Uncle is a former FBI SAC. Hammond's mother is American and he was born in the States. With these connections and his former service in the Foreign Service as a spy, Nicholas has no problem getting involved in the investigation. He also is a top class hacker--some good talents--and isn't as strictly bound by FBI protocols,which gives him a bit more leeway in his methods. As he and Mike travel around the globe trying to pinpoint the Fox and her client the car chases, physical brawls and gunfights abound and the tension builds until the final confrontation and solution. A page turner read over two days--exciting and looking forward to more crime solving as Nick trains in Quantico and joins the FBI as the first Brit Agent.

View all my reviews

A Poor Sequel to a Good Book--The Paris Diversion

The Paris Diversion by Chris Pavone
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Confusing unless you've read Kate Moore #1 recently, which I had not. I read it awhile back and so the whole premise was hazy and the resulting plot development caused the story to be less exciting than it may have been. If I still had the first one I would have reread it and then started this one anew. Kate's irritation with her husband, Dexter and his very weak showing were very off-putting. The outcome for the sniper was gratuitous--mercy for him?, a political statement about the treatment of immigrants by law enforcement?, a justified punishment?, all of the above? In addition, a catchall for the perceived problems of the day as throwaway scenarios: Kate: hand guns are only for killing people. Really? I use it for target practice. Forsyte's leering after Collette and her toleration and behavior in which she does not appear to notice it. To keep her job, one imagines, though at the end she finds that on second thought she doesn't need it. But does she confront him? No! And, of course, the off-handed shot at the unnamed President. All in all, the book seemed slapped together and disjointed rather than pulse raising exciting and threatening. Bookbrowse provided this copy for discussion later in the week.

View all my reviews

Love Lettering--Math and Calligraphy Make an Interesting Pair!

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a clever premise--Meg, a talented calligrapher creates stationery, planners and all the written pieces for weddings. She attempts to find the font and design that reflects the personalities of her clients. When Avery and Reid ( who comes only once to a preprinting conference ) hire her for their wedding invitations etal, Meg is quite taken with the stiff but exceedingly handsome Reid. Several months later, Reid shows up alone at her business with the program from his wedding in hand. He, however, is not wearing a wedding band and appears quite annoyed. He has discovered that Meg has coded the word M-I-S-T-A-K-E into the program and he wants to know how she was aware of the mistake it would have been.
After creating this encoded program, Meg has forsworn any further wedding work and is amazed that Reid even decoded her message. With this awkward and trust breaking incident at the basis of their ensuing involvement, Reid and Meg embark on a journey toward companionship, friendship and, ultimately, love. The twists and turns of this fraught discovery is based on games that the two of them design based not on a love of words but rather on a love of letters and numbers---Reid is a mathematician in Wall Street. How interesting to look at signs and the shape, size and color of the letters that make them up. How interesting to imagine a person or his/her voice and words in a sequence of specific letters with various shadings and colors. Just a unique and fun theme on which to base this not run-of-the - mill rom-com. This is a review of an ARC provided by Goodreads.

View all my reviews

Meet Me in Monaco--Go, You'll Love It!

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a delightful light romance with the backdrop of Monaco and the excitement of Grace Kelley's marriage playing like music softly in the background. A young French woman, trying to keep her parfum business afloat meets a divorced British photographer in Cannes, trying to get " the shot " of the American beauty to keep his job. He chases Kelly into the perfume boutique where she is sheltered from his harassment by the owner, Sophie Duval. Jim Henderson and Sophie don't know it , but this chance encounter with each other and with Grace Kelly will impact their careers and the rest of their lives. This is such a better book than the Girl In White Gloves, which has come out recently, too!

View all my reviews

The House of Falconer Book 2

In the Lion's Den by Barbara Taylor Bradford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second book in the House of Falconer series. Haven't read the first one but should, although this books stands well alone. It is just that a prior romantic involvement probably needs a bit more clarification and Lionel's early relationship with Alex might be helpful,too. Still, even with that bit of mystery due to starting with book 2, Falconer's work for the Malvern Shipping Company is very interesting--his attitude toward his subordinates and toward working women is very reassuring. The book takes place at the end of the 19th century and it is evident that a wealthy merchant class has firmly established itself and Falconer has every intention of starting his own business. He is loyal, ambitious, intelligent, kind and fair in his dealings and has the makings of a successful businessman. He is surrounded by strong family ties and a circle of congenial friends, what his female co-worker calls his posse. Interesting term in this setting, since I thought it was fairly recent slang for friends.
Although I like his character there were a couple of alarms that may foreshadow a change in his character going forward --as he becomes successful and more competitive in business. His refusal to allow his sister to use her name on her shop was particularly jarring. Also, his adamant refusal to allow a sister of a shopkeeper to take over the store when the original owner becomes ill was off-putting as well. The lease on the store is clear that such a take-over is not allowed but his refusal to offer a new lease is based on his desire to have the shop for his own as much as his desire to follow the letter of the agreement.
Both of these events seem a warning of the hardness he may develop in business dealings over time--good for business but uncaring about the other person involved. His sister, a successful designer of shawls and scarves with her own shop is quite distressed to learn that her name on the shop will be replaced by the family surname, thereby erasing her personal standing. He is very supportive of women working but is strangely unaware of the impact his decision --made with no room for discussion--has had on her ambition and pride.

View all my reviews

Labyrinth--FBI Thrller

Labyrinth by Catherine Coulter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Don't know how I've missed this series but this episode was a page turner! Two mysteries--one a conspiracy to sell spy technology to the highest bidder--but what is it, who are the conspirators? The second mystery the kidnapping of 16 year old girls in the hills of Virginia. Apparently, Coulter's fictional FBI agents are a married couple--Sherlock and Savige. Sherlock has been in an auto accident and has amnesia but her exceptional powers of observation appear to be unaffected. Savige is slightly psychic which allows him to assist Agent Hammersmith, also psychic, both in Virginia and from afar in the kidnapping case. The narrative moves back and forth between the cases which are not related but the transitions are smooth and easy to follow. Now, I think I may have to start at the beginning of this series.
I like Coulter's easy and fast reading prose, her use of short chapters which aid in moving through the almost 500 pages at a quick clip. Plus she's named her cats Peyton and Eli--so for sure I'm a fan!

View all my reviews

The Real Victoria and Her Five Daughterss

Victoria's Daughters by Jerrold M. Packard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Took a longer than usual time for me to read this book, primarily because it was difficult to keep the characters straight there were so many of them. Needed to take a break periodically to pull what I'd read into a semblance of order before continuing. Fascinating time period historically, strangely controlling Queen who was determined to keep at least one of her daughters by her side throughout her long life, daughters of distinctly different personalities whose destinies were also very diverse. All in all a more realistic portrayal of Victoria and her reign than the highly romantic TV series based on diaries that her daughter Beatrice heavily edited once her mother died. This was at Victoria's direction but not only did Beatrice edit them, she destroyed the originals so there could be no retrospective study of them. Sad.

View all my reviews

Evening in Paradise

Evening in Paradise: More Stories by Lucia Berlin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Okay, I know alcoholism is a disease BUT it is not an excuse for poor choices, self-indulgence and lack of responsibility. Nor, in my estimation, does it make meandering autobiographical stories written while drunk, stoned or both literature. One of the blurbs says the subject matter is " harrowing for women". Well, only if you've made the choices this woman makes.
Sure there are several stories that I liked but by and large I was impatient with the mindless literal bed-hopping ( sometimes with minors other times with friends of a husband who then become new husbands) and geographical meanderings of an irresponsible mother of four boys. Irresponsible in conceiving them and irresponsible in "rearing" them. Nice to know that by the time they had grown up she got sober and through some strange happenstance became a college professor of creative writing. Guess someone thought her writings were good, though they didn't get published until after she died.
Received a copy of this book from BookBrowse to discuss starting Dec 2.

View all my reviews

We Met in December--But I'm Not Saying What Year!

We Met in December by Rosie Curtis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An easy read about a group of single young people sharing a house in London. Just warmth and friendships, the years of starting out in life, finally being grown-up and kind of amazed at it all. Learning the ropes of living in a big city for some, starting a new career after deciding the path chosen at first is not a good fit, navigating the ins and outs of relationships and what one really wants in a partner. For some this read will fit into their lives they are living now with recognition of the situations. For other readers, like me, a trip back in time with memories and chuckles at how it was to be starting out. Also, like me, a reminder of what is happening in my own kids' lives and what, as their mother, I mean to them even though they are on their own. All in all a nice book to cuddle up with on a rainy day with tea and bisquits. Book provided by Goodreads for review

View all my reviews

Bernadette is Severely Depressed and Needs Help--Not Funny!

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

" Funiesunnyt Novel..." "Divinely Funny".. ..." family dramedy".. " you'll laugh your pants off".. Just a few of the blurbs on the back and front of this book. I never even chuckled. A woman is so depressed she lives in a house with holes in the floor, roots growing into the rooms, some of which are shut off they are so decrepit, the stench is unbelieveabe. Her child, who was born with a congenitive heart defect has been ridiculed and mocked by her peers since she has been able to venture into the world after years of surgery. He husband is so busy working for Microsoft that he ignores his surroundings and hardly notices what is going on in his home. Eventually, he starts to notice what appear to be problems with his reclusive and negative wife and decides the best thing he can do for her is commit her to an asylum for psychotherapy and take their teenage daughter on the trip to Antarctica they've promised her will be a family trip so that Bernadette has time to heal. Hilarious.
What this is is a study of a modern day family who reside in the upper classes of our society. The wives stay home and compete with each other to host the most parties, get their kids into the " best schools" and gossip about anyone who makes a choice to avoid their company. The men, those that are even mentioned in the book, basically go to work as high paid executives who drink and hang out at the golf course or country club and pay very little attention to the operating of their homes--they provide the money, isn't that enough? And the kids, well, depends --some like Bee are amazingly level-headed with interests and activities that don't rely on the parents very much or like Kyle, steal their mothers' drugs and use them and what they can get elsewhere to create entertainment of a different sort. Hilarious!
But, all that aside, Bee is interesting and this is her book. She very much loves her parents and they do her, as well. The fact they are off the rails is at first not clear to her and she blithely asks for a trip to Antarctica since she has been studying it and is curious. Both parents are supportive of her and so they agree to the trip. What ensues is a journey of discovery and eventually of healing for this family. That part of the book, while not at all funny, is at least what might keep a reader going, despite the sadness. The hope that things will turn around and finally Bee will have a somewhat normal family in this sea of entitlement and ennui.

View all my reviews

Poorly Researched Novel of Grace Kelly Falls Flat

The Girl in White Gloves by Kerri Maher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Wanted to like this book but there was no depth to the plot or the characters. Every aspect, including the totally fictional voice of Grace Kelly was superficial. It was like reading the old tabloid exposes of her comings and goings with none of the breathless, lively writing of the gossips. Sad to think this book will probably sell because of its purported basis on Kelly's life. Its an average novel about a skeleton of a main character that would probably not grab much attention without that connection. Perhaps her affairs should have been more exploited in these days of Shades of Gray. Might have made it more interesting. Readers would be better served to read one of the biographies that are out there.

View all my reviews

I Remember Ike

At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends by Dwight D. Eisenhower
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I remember Ike but that seems strange to say in a way, because for so many people to whom I speak, he is an historical figure, someone distant and dusty, of another time. And so he is, yet I remember posters above the seats of the bus on which I traveled to school in NYC that were full head shots of the man running for President. That is my first real recollection of him as a person. Being a kid, I really didn't pay very much attention to him as President but I remember he had a cute grand-son about my age. And then, on our visits to Gettysburg, I'd always look over from Cemetery Ridge to see if the flag was flying over that house beyond the white picket fence. If it was then he and maybe Mamie and the grandkids were in residence. I remember, too, my Dad speaking of Ike during WW II, as well as other Generals who played roles in that conflict and how he felt about them. He liked Ike, thought Montgomery was an ass, wasn't too fond of Marshall. All of it went over my head. I didn't like history and it bored me to hear these things. How I wish I'd listened more closely.

Last year, on our cross country trip, my husband and I stopped in Abilene, Kansas at Eisenhower's boyhood home, Presidential library, museum and burial site. As we left I stopped in the gift shop, as I always do, to purchase a book or two about the subject and this was one I chose. The picture on the front was the Eisenhower of my memory--the old man, past all the years of military service and the uniforms and the jacket bearing his name. The title AT EASE was perfect and the Stories I Tell to Friends, an invitation to an inside look at who this man was.

The book did not disappoint. I had already read the biography chosen on the same trip but reading these scattered memories written by the man himself were so much more lively. It is easy to read and one can almost hear his voice speaking the words. Having walked through his home the early days in Abilene were particularly appealing. I, too, went to college on the Hudson and, in the days before 9/11, had been to the Point several times and knew several cadets so the scenes of his education were also vivid.

The life of a career military man was less familiar to me but as he described his career from young Point graduate through various stints as staff officer to many other famous names, in particular, MacArthur, the evolution of the man and his experiences was fascinating. Last year I'd been to General Pershing's home and bought his biography. Now, in the twilight of his career, young Eisenhower encounters him and describes the old Cavalry officer from a totally different slant.

Obviously, much of the book takes place before World War II even though to the rest of the world it is his position as Commander of the ETO--European Theatre of Operations--and later as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe that he is best remembered. These positions came when he was 52 years old and had spent 30 + years in the Army without actually getting very many promotions and having never served in combat. As a result there is much to tell about those early years and they are as interesting, because of the lack of notoriety if nothing else, as the years of action and danger of a World War. Stories about the young George Patton and Mark Clark among others is more revealing about the men they were than the heroes and icons they became.

Once the War ended, Eisenhower continued for awhile in the military--serving as Army Chief of Staff in the new Pentagon building. My Dad was an electrician on that construction job and his descriptions of the building and its many corridors and security features made Ike's recounting of his getting lost all that more amusing.

He finishes his stories with his stint as president of Columbia University and his new hobby of oil painting. I found this section a bit anticlimactic although interesting. Finally, he relates his efforts in getting NATO off the ground. Until I read this section I'm not sure I realized when studying about the organization in 1959 I realized how recently the pact had been formed.

Disappointingly, although written in 1967, two years before his death and six years after leaving the Presidency, he tells no stories about that period of his life. From the '40's onward members of both parties had tried to convince him to run for President ( as many were also encouraging MacArthur ) but he steadfastly refused to even consider such a thing. He implies that through his efforts in getting NATO established that he realized there was a real need for change in government and that the people seemed to be wanting that change. He, therefore, entertained the possibility of running on the Republican ticket and that is where he ends his stories--though there certainly was more he could have told.

All in all, if you are my vintage, I think you'd enjoy hearing your childhood memories in more detail. If you are a younger student of history this is a good place to start this period--it is far from a complete telling but it is fascinating reading and begs the reader to go to other sources to fill in the blanks.

View all my reviews

The Only Street in Paris

The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having read the forthcoming The Seine by Sciolino and loving it, it was natural to follow up with an earlier book she wrote about life in Paris. Not surprisingly, loved this one, too. Having grown up in Manhattan when the neighborhoods still existed and little stores were on every street and avenue and the customers knew the owners and a real relationship existed between the two, it was easy to relate to this book. By the time one finishes reading it, one knows which store to buy the freshest produce, the best cheese, the finest wine, the newspaper, the morning coffee and croissant and where to go for books, music and entertainment. In addition, the history of the street and its buildings and its decrepit Church are as familiar as though you, too, lived on the Rue des Martyrs. I'd love to visit and see it for myself.

View all my reviews

Hamlet Comes to Nuala--Episode 3

Offstage in Nuala by Harriet Steel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once more Inspector di Silva finds himself in the midst of a perplexing murder mystery. Hamlet, as acted by Alexander Danforth, has come to little Nuala. The cast includes his wife, Kathleen and several actors, several of whom were friends of his from their service with him in the First World War. Also in the cast is the young ingenue, Emerald Watson, who it seems is romantically involved with Danforth. When several days after the performance attended by the diSilvas, the body of Danforth is found stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors, the Inspector has many suspects to consider. Yet, on the surface none of them had any motive for killing a man who seems to have been, not only charming and talented, but also generous in helping his friends. To compound the complexity of the situation, Archie Clutterbuck, the British government agent appears to be interfering with the investigation. His primary concern seems to be to keep Kathleen and Emerald from being interviewed about the evening of the murder.
With the insights of his wife, Jane, di Silva twists and turns with the convoluted lines of inquiry that seem to lead nowhere until finally, the culprit is uncovered and arrested. I knew upon the introduction of the guilty character their culpability but the motive and method of carrying out the deed escaped me and kept me interested to the very end. Another satisfying installment of a delightful series set in India. The differences between the Buddhist Sinhalese Inspector and his British Anglican wife are fun to explore. Their similarities and love for each other is comfortable and warm.



View all my reviews

Invisible--Black - Ops Guy is Back in Civvies

Invisible by Andrew Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paul McGrath is used to being invisible, having spent most of his young life as a Black Ops guy in all the hot spots of the world. But now, he is out of the service with a letter of reconciliation from his estranged father is his pocket. Unfortunately, the service being what it is--convoluted at best--the letter reached him two years after it was written. When he arrives home, ready to see his father once more and perhaps ready to mend the rift between them, he finds his father is dead and the death is a possible homicide. The father's business partner is suspected but though he was brought to court, the case was thrown out when some evidential material mysteriously disappeared.
With the subtle suggestion, from the lead detective, that he somehow find this folder, McGrath takes a janitorial job in the courthouse where the file is probably hidden. As his search progresses, Paul uncovers many situations, totally unconnected to the missing material and, yet, problematic. He shares the info with Atkinson, the detective, but when it is shelved as being out of his juristiction etc, Paul finds ways to rectify things himself, all the while continuing his own search.
Being a NYC gal it was a joy to follow him on the streets I so vividly remember as he covers Manhattan, on foot, on subway, etc and enjoys the beauty of its architecture and skyscrapers. The only thing that keeps me from a 5 star review is the cliffhanger ending. It would be fine if there were any indication that a subsequent book will carry on the story but the short preview of the next book does not provide one. This review is of a copy provided by GoodReads for review.

View all my reviews

A New Take on Jane Austen--The Jane Austen Society

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Delightful just like Austen's books. The beginning of the book takes awhile to get going and almost caused me to toss it aside. Each of the characters were introduced at length and their love of Austen and its origins revealed but, though several of them lived in the same small village and knew each other the idea of a cohesive society wasn't evident. Thinking the story would continue in this disjointed vein made the book less than inviting. Still, I stuck with it, fascinated by the dissection of characters these readers made of Austen's creations. Having read several of them and seen innumerable movie or TV interpretations, I'd never thought that deeply about the individuals. Some of the men and women I liked and others, did not, but didn't linger with deep contemplation as to why. To do so or reread the books never occurred to me.
Yet, this book makes me think I might for the author not only has her characters do that but also in telling the story of the Jane Austen Society and its original eight members she shows the villagers and two outsiders not only love Austen and her people but actually in their own lives aren't too different from them. In describing the Austen characters loved or disliked by these folks, she shows their personalites and characteristics as well. An intriguing approach. Perhaps I should seek out an Austen Society and see if that correlation holds true in real life?

View all my reviews

The Seine--(sen not sane!)

The Seine: The River that Made Paris by Elaine Sciolino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this book, an ARC, from BookBrowse to review. Although it took me quite awhile, for me, to read it the snail's pace was not due to disinterest. Quite the contrary, I loved the book from the first chapter. Sciolino's interest in the River and its surroundings, its history, its people, its place in movies, music, art is so thorough that it is most rewarding to take it in by small mouthfuls, so as to prolong the enjoyment and also to digest the information. She starts at the very source of the river, a wide area of marshland fed my many underground springs until at last the water consolidates into one defined stream that begins its journey toward Paris. It is here that she spends most of her time--there is so much that connects the Seine ( sen NOT sane--it always drives me crazy to hear it mispronounced ) to Paris in reality and in people's minds. Yet, in time, like the river she moves on to Rouen, through the Normandy countryside and to Honfleur ( my favorite of all the towns I visited ) and even to Le Havre, literally the harbor. Here, though the Seine touches its western boundary, the focus of its inhabitants is not on the river but the sea.
I've not been back to the Seine in 30 years and from this book I can see that much has changed but even so, much is the same. I'm glad those locks were not on the bridges when I was there and happy that they are disappearing. If ever I return I hope that I can explore the part of the River before it reaches Paris from its source. And, naturally, to continue toward the sea through Rouen and Honfleur once more. Until then, I have Sciolino's book to keep me dreaming.
If you've been the return through her eyes is not perfect, being only vicarious, but enjoyable If you haven't been, she'll entice you to try to make the trip at least once.

View all my reviews

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory--Beginning of a Series but I'm NOT Going to Follow It!

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It is rare that I give a book a one star rating but, though at times the descriptive passages of the place and detail of the lives of the characters is quite good, it was not enough to engross me. In the beginning James' mission was confusing and the relationship with Alinor so improbable that I was bored and kept putting the book down. Though tempted to leave it unread, having not received the book at first and contacting the publisher to send it on to me,which they did, I felt obligated to finish it. At times it picked up but the writing is so uneven, the characters so poorly developed, the relationship between the two main characters so out of the question, and the ending, considering the fact James is a priest, unbelievable. All in all, do not recommend it to anyone, even for the few glimmers of light like sunshine on a hardly moving water surface.

View all my reviews tideland

Continuation of the Zantop Murder Case--includng the Conclusion

Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders by Dick Lehr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The horrifying tale of two teenagers bored with life in a very small town, with attitudes of superiority, who decided to kill to obtain the money to escape to Australia. One, 16 at the time and the follower who cracked when finally caught was sentenced to 25 years. Now eligible for parole, he recently withdrew his request when the outpouring of the community was totally against it and his victims' daughters opposed it. He will be released sometime in 2027 at the age of 41. He has a construction job lined up, I suppose with his father's company. Ironic, considering construction jobs were once beneath him, an artistic musician. The other, 17 at the time, the instigator, the more brutal knife wielder was given life without parole. In light of a recent law forbidding such a sentence for a minor, no matter the severity or horror of the crime, he is due a sentence hearing this month. So far there has been nothing in the local paper. The hearing is not to reduce the sentence from life but rather to consider whether he should have the possibility of parole. One could hope not, especially since his initial behavior, all that has been publicized, indicates no remorse and continued arrogance.
While the tale is horrifying, the book is well written and is as engrossing as any fictional mystery story.

View all my reviews

The Dartmouth Murders--Murder in Our Backyard

The Dartmouth Murders by Eric Francis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On January 27, 2001 an expected dinner guest walked into the eerily quiet home of Dartmouth professors Half and Suzanne Zantop. To her horror she discovered their bodies lying in pools of blood in their study, which was torn apart as though a storm had ripped through it. This book describes the crime from this step forward. The investigation that for more than two weeks went nowhere, but covered a great number of leads and avenues. The backgrounds of the Zantops, the Dartmouth community, the Etna community in which the murders occurred are thoroughly exposed and studied.

Then, a break, the knives used to brutally savage their bodies were no where to be found but the two sheaths that came with them were left at the scene. With the dogged pursuit of sales records, at last the investigation narrowed to two teen-aged boys in the nearby town of Chelsea, Vt. Upon interviewing them and taking boots and fingerprints it was determined that they were prime suspects. Realizing police were closing in on them the boys made a run for it--but returned home within days. But still feeling threatened they once more ran off, this time making it all the way to Indiana, hoping to reach California. The remainder of the book covers the investigation into the boys, their backgrounds and the police tracking that led to their arrest and incarceration. The book ends at that point--with the trial of one of them in the offing and the testimony of the other against him and a plea deal as a result.

Living between the two locations, having taught in Chelsea, though not at the time of the murders, this book was of particular interest to me. It did not fail to detail exactly what happened at the time, at least so far as the public was informed as these things progressed. As good as any novel about murder and its solution. If you like mystery you will like this, though the fact that it is not fiction will be horrifying.

View all my reviews

Ongoing Battle of the Bulge

After losing 40 pounds on Weight Watchers and then plateauing for a year, have decided to give Atkins a try until Thanksgiving. Not convinced it is the best diet in the world, I'm hoping to get a kick off the plateau. Must admit it is nice to eat bacon and sausage again. It was certainly nice to go out to the porch early this morning and pick a fresh red pepper and a fresh green pepper for this lovely breakfast. My puzzle, my French bowl filled with strong heavy cream filled coffee made for a nice beginning to a beautiful day!

The Chamber by john Grisham

The Chamber by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A second reading of this book--still incredibly long--still chilling and thought provoking. Still in favor of the death penalty in certain cases. If I knew all of them would remain on death row never knowing if and when they'd die, I'd be content. Or, if those who got life without parole were locked up in a cell with conditions like that described at Parchman maybe I'd be content. But, since neither of these are the actuality then death is fine with fewer conditions with which to appeal. Their victims are dead or severely traumatized, they don't deserve to continue living

Here the grandson who is his lawyer, wants his grandfather, a former Klansman to receive clemancy because he's old ( 70 is old?), because he's been on death row of 9 1/2 years and because his murders occurred over 20 years earlier. Right, those little boys, toddlers might have lived and become lawyers themselves, but they never had the chance. The ending was perfect. And perhaps God did forgive him.

I can understand why none of the families he harmed would. I'm not sure how his daughter or his grandchildren could or his brother. I guess they did but all of them suffer still at the end of this book.

View all my reviews

Women Driving Alone at Night, Car Trouble, The Samaritan Will Help--Maybe

The Samaritan by Mason Cross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Former Black Ops member, Carter Blake is now a freelance people finder. Having just finished a job in Florida his attention is grabbed by the report of the slayings of three women in LA. The description of the slash across the victims' throats is familiar. If his gut is right, the LAPD will need help tracking down this killer. He is a former Black Ops member, too and he is good at his job. Forgoing his well earned R&R Blake hops a plane and offers his services to Jessica Allen, the lead detective on the case.
Jess is new to LAPD having left her job in DC under a dark cloud. She isn't terribly well liked by the guys but her partner has her back and she's a good cop. The three of them eventually join forces and work the crime despite the intrusion of the FBI--though, when it appears this killer has been slashing throats for at least five years, throughout the country, it's all hands on deck.
Fascinating, fast paced race to catch the killer before his next victim takes time and several more before he is finally stopped.

View all my reviews

Ship of Dreams and Its Tragic End

The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era by Gareth Russell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Much as people have been recently captivated by Downton Abbey, generations before us and since have been captivated by the unthinkable sinking of the luxury liner, The Titanic, she who was thought unsinkable. In 1912, before the world was shaken by WW I life was slow and simple. The world was dominated by England, whose empire was the one on which the sun never set. Industry was booming on both sides of the Atlantic and the hereditary nobility of Europe with its societal rules and great wealth was being joined more and more by a new level of society, the rich industrialists and business barons of the world. The pathway through which these people intermingled and intermarried was the wide Atlantic Ocean and plying that pathway were ever larger and more elegant ships, almost palaces emulating in their splendor the opulence of those of the past, the Louis of France, the villas of Rome, the palaces of the Tudors and Stuarts.
The most ballyhooed of all, the most splendid, the fastest and largest --Titanic. She never finished her maiden voyage and the loss of her in an ice field of the North Atlantic on a calm, starry night in 1912 made her, if not, unsinkable, then, unforgettable. Her discovery at the bottom of the sea in 1985 renewed her story which at the time, after great mourning on both sides of the Atlantic, had been eclipsed by the outbreak of WW I.
Here her story is told once more. And while there is a great deal of time spent on the history of the great ships, the competition among the countries of Europe and the US to outdo each other in their construction, an equal amount of time is spent on us getting to know several of her passengers in First and Second Class. Sadly, there is no member of Third Class given this insight but perhaps there were no records of these immigrants detailed enough to share. Certainly, we come to know many of the crew as well as the valets and ladies' maids of the others. By the time the ship encounters the ice berg that sank her so many of these people were so well described that as a reader you felt as though you at least knew them as acquaintance and as the time of the berg grew nearer ones heart began to ache, wondering which of them would survive and which die. The actual time of moving people into the lifeboats and the sacrifices made by many for the sake of others is anguishing.
The aftermath is also discussed-the false stories that arose and became almost fact, the distain shown the men who survived the sinking, the heartbreak of those who lost friends and family.
As much as any movie ever made about the wreck, this book brings the tragedy to life because these people are real and the story is gleaned from the memories of those who lived through it. Even after more than a hundred years, when all of the survivors are gone, the story of them and those who perished is still able to fascinate and horrify the reader. This is a review of an Uncorrected Proof provided by Goodreads for that purpose.

View all my reviews

To The Lions by Holly Watt

To the Lions by Holly Watt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Human hunting--not a new concept in literature or movies. In 1924 Richard Cornell wrote a short story called The Most Dangerous Game upon which many movies such as The Naked Man, The Running Man and, even to some extent, The Hunger Games are based. In 2016, a leading tourism expert predicted in a UK newspaper that hunting humans may well be big business in about 100years. It could be used at stag dos, tourist offerings, professional community building or even as a televised reality program!

In this book, Watt combines these concepts with the story of the lives of people such as Marie Colvin, an American war correspondent killed in Syria, about whom a documentary has recently been made. Here are two women journalists working for the London Post who lie and manipulate others to track down big stories about world issues. One, I'd say the main character of the piece, Casey, is incognito as a glitzy playgirl, tracking down a tale, when she overhears from the neighboring booth, an American, quite drunkenly regaling his fellow high rollers with a story of picking off a human with a sniper rifle for kicks. Although she cannot believe it possible she takes the tidbit to her editor and she and fellow journalistic detective, Miranda, decide to pursue the story.
They are, at first, pounding the pavement, hitting the phones and internet only in England but soon the trail leads to the deserts of Libya and the refugee camps there. The women head to Northern Africa in the company of Casey's former love, a retired soldier who seems to have PTSD though it is never quite spelled out.
Unlike the movies and stories that began this review, the prey here is a single person residing in a fenced in camp miles into the desert. Unsuspecting, so not running, like a fish in a bowl, with no place to run if they knew of the danger. Sort of like those ritzy nature preserves in which animals are kept safe and fed for the sole purchase of being shot by a rich " hunter ". Only here the game is human, but the " hunter " is still rich and seeking to mark off the thrill of the kill on the bucket list.
Unlike Marie Colvin, Miranda and Casey are not heavy smokers, drinkers or involved in serial, short lived sexual relations. Miranda is married, but we never meet her husband and he certainly isn't of any importance to either her or the story or the reader. Casey, on the other hand, is portrayed as being hopelessly in love with Ed, the retired soldier, although he uses and manipulates him despite his obvious fragility. She pushes him on and on, even though she knows one of the hunters became so despondent after a kill that he committed suicide. To be honest, Ed was the only human and humane character in the entire book. Miranda wanted the story, Casey proclaims she wanted to end the business of human killing through the story. Miranda is the most honest but both are relentless and uncaring in their pursuit of it and in the revelations once the whole is known, without any consideration at all about what is now carelessly referred to as Collateral Damage.
Callous, empty, unfeeling, arrogant, manipulative, not worthy of admiration--Casey and Miranda.

View all my reviews

Norwegian Murder--Dark and Deep : Knife by Jo Nesbo

Knife by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My first encounter with Harry Hole ! Not my first Scandinavian mystery books, however. There are certainly many alcoholic, tortured, mixed -up cops running around that part of the world . It must be the long, cold, dark winters. But, for as many defective policemen there are an equal number of warped, murderous rapists to keep them busy. In this permutation of the genre, Harry's wife has been brutally murdered in her home by an unknown assailant who used one of her kitchen knives to kill her. She and Harry have parted ways, she having asked him to leave for some reason, as yet unrevealed. Harry appears to have an alibi--drunk as a skunk and taken home to sleep it off by a fellow lawman and good friend. Nevertheless, the only thing Harry remembers about the night in question is that he was drinking, got into a fight with the bar owner and was tossed out of the place and barred for life. The owner called his buddy to take him away.
In the meantime, roaming the countryside is a despicable old man, filthy and lecherous, who enjoys raping young women in order to impregnate them. He then stalks them and protects them, threatening to kill them if they abort the child or if they haven't conceived. His weapon of choice? A knife. His name is Svein Finne and he hates Harry since Harry, in the line of duty, killed Finne's son.
Did Finne kill Hole's wife in retribution? Being the husband of the victim, Harry is suspended and forbidden to work the case. In short order, his alibi is verified and he is no longer a suspect. Still, he is not allowed to formally investigate, but being a long time crack detective, well respected for his skills, he has many friends who will help him search for answers subrosa. The tale is long and convoluted, involves characters , fighting PTSD,forensic scientists, fellow detectives both local and governmental and the evidence swings in many directions. It is a book that requires thought and delves into the psychology of the killing of another human being, motivations for murder, permutations of relationships, It is not an easy, breezy read but, like its very human characters it is somehow gratifying with enough twists to keep the reader returning for more.
Like most of the Scandinavian TV murder series and the various authors from Scandinavia, the subject matter is dark and deep and not something I could binge on but definitely something to read in between lighter fare.
Harry and I will meet again. This is review of an uncorrected proof provided by goodreads in exchange for a review.


View all my reviews

Heart Racing ,Pulse Driving Chase to the Death

The Time to Kill by Mason Cross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Darn--thought this was the second book in the series but it is the third!! Doesn't matter, read the first and just had the read the rest. Will read the second one next, even though I will know the final chapter in Carter Blake's story. In this one, he is being run to ground by his former employers, a super deep black ops group call Winterlong. He'd gone AWOL but struck a deal with the former director--let him alone and he wouldn't release the secret info he'd stolen on a thumb drive and hidden.

Now, the old boss is dead and former colleagues not only want the incriminating thumb drive, they also want him silenced forever. An edge of the seat chase so real at times your heartbeat races. Terrific series of books.

View all my reviews

The Linen Queen

The Linen Queen by Patricia Falvey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life has not been kind to Sheila McGee in her Northern Irish home which overlooks The Irish State across the Lough. Her father left her and her mother forcing them to move in with a sour minded aunt and her drunken husband. Sheila is a mill girl and she dreams of leaving all of this behind and escaping to England. When she wins the contest that makes her the Linen Queen, picked from a gaggle of girls from linen mills across the land, she sees the prize money as the first step to freedom. But one needs papers to leave the country and she has none. It is the first days of WW II and her second chance at freedom arrives in the influx of Yank troops from America.
Despite her close friend, Gavin a resident of the free State and his obvious love for her, Sheila decides that an attachment to a Yank officer might be her ticket to America. She finds him in Joel Solomon, a Jewish captain. Through Joel and the involvement of Gavin with the IRA --a association he made to help her and a placement child from the slums of Belfast--Sheila begins to grow and mature from a flighty, self-centered teen to a mature, caring woman.
Her transition and the story of the Neutral Irish State and the British Northern Island in the face of Hitler's assault on the world, the story of the Catholic Church's reign over its faithful, the involvement of the Yanks and the young women whose town they now occupy intertwine to produce an engrossing historical novel. One in which the characters and the place come to life and draw in the reader who, with Sheila, learns that wherever you go and with whomever you find yourself, the person you always bring along is yourself. Sometimes when you change, the place and people you've always known, somehow are the things you most cherish.

View all my reviews

The Wily O'Reilly in Short Bursts--humorous short stories from the local newspaper

The Wily O'Reilly: Irish Country Stories by Patrick Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before he started to write the Irish Country novels starring Dr Final O'Reilly, the town of Ballybucklebo and its various denizens, Patrick Taylor wrote monthly articles about them in his local newspaper. This book contains those monthly columns--each about two and a half pages long and each short story told focuses on an event or character in the town. Most are laugh out loud amusing, all of them reek of human warmth and folly. I took my time getting through the book, reading one or two whenever I needed a laugh or chuckle or just wanted to take a break and go to Ireland for a bit.
Included, also, is an ebook Taylor wrote about O'Reilly's return home from duty in the Royal Navy, called Home is the Sailor.

Now, to move on to the next novel which follows O'Reilly's life as a small town doctor.

View all my reviews

To Be a Family Requires More Than Blood

The Sometimes Sisters by Carolyn Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It Takes Work To Be Family

Blood makes people family but sometimes it is not enough. Dana, Harper and Tawney are half sisters whose lives diverged ten years ago. The death of their grandmother brings them back together physically. It takes Granny Annie's will and Uncle Zed to reconnect them emotionally. While not a very deep book, the characters are likeable, the interactions sometimes warm, sometimes funny,the relationships realistic. A good beach book--a couple of lazy summer day's worth of reading.

View all my reviews

Retrun to Clanton, Ms and Jake Brignance--Sycamore Row

Sycamore Row by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Skipped ahead to this one, since I recently reread A Time to Kill and Grisham revisited the main character in that book. While the story was intriguing, 600 pages to determine why the client committed suicide and left behind a hand-written will in which the chief heir is his black care-giver was a bit extreme. Particularly, since there were so many clues as to why he made this decision. Still, Grisham does a good job of character development and makes the ins and outs of the legal system interesting, and so keeps this reader involved. Now, back to the order of the books--next up, The Chamber.

View all my reviews

The Pelican Brief-- A re-read as good as the first time around.

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of Grisham's earlier books and one of my favorites. Two Supreme Court justices, seeminly different in every way, are murdered within hours of each other. A Tulane law student decides to do some background on them to see if there are connections not immediately evident. She and her law school professor and lover think there may be a reason someone might want the President, now up for reelection though not a shoo-in, to be the one to add two new justices to the court. After four days of obsessive research Darcy Shaw comes up with a brief that she shows her lover, Callahan. He is so taken with the premise she proposes that he shares the brief with his old college buddy, now an FBI lawyer. He in turn shares it around Washington and it reaches the President and his advisor and almost president, Coal. Within days, Callahan is blown up in his Porche, after a drunken dinner with Darcy. She doesn't die with him because they had an arguement and she refused to get in the car that he intends to drive, though quite drunk.
And so begins her new life, one in which she doesn't know who to trust but knows that Callahan's death is connected to what is now known as the Pelican Brief. She also knows she was intended to die with him and that there are people actively searching for her to complete the task. Her methods of avoidance and the people who are chasing her keep the action going and the heart racing. Right until the very end of the book the tension never lets up.
As is often the case, the book is so much better than the movie. Especially since Darcy and her rescuer are allowed to at least begin a relationship, unlike the let down of Julia Roberts kissing Denzel Washington and the cheek and flying off into the sunset.

View all my reviews

Queen Anne's Lace is More Than Just a Weed

Queen Anne's Lace by Susan Wittig Albert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has been awhile since I've given the books in this series a 5 star rating. Not that the others are not excellent and usually receive a 4 star response. It is just that, while the characters and their stories are as comfortable as old friends, the mysteries in which they have been involved were, just that--comfortable but not particularly challenging or different. In this installment, however, China Bayles, the protagonist and herbalist, who stands in for the author, had to have a story that would allow her to speak of those herbs women have used through the ages either to prevent pregnancy or terminate it.
Since in these modern times herbs are not the first line in a woman's collection of bodily defense there needed to be a storyline in which they were pretty much the only things to which one could resort. As a result, China finds herself in possession of photos taken of the woman for whom China's place of business was built as her home when a newly wed. Not only has China found these photos but there were also newspaper clippings and pieces of old home made lace. In the event these items didn't stimulate China's curiosity about this woman, Annie Laurie Duncan, Annie herself haunts the shop and communicates in various eerie ways to stimulate China's interest. So as not to leave the reader totally in the dark, the story alternates chapters between China's research and Annie's day and her life. Truth be told, I often wanted to skip China's story and jump right back to Annie's story.
If the book is weak at all, it is in the motivation for Annie's haunting and its revelation at the end. There was more I wanted to know about Annie and the ending was too soon and too abrupt leaving me slightly disappointed in it. Still, as always I've learned more about herbs and their usage as well as the history of womens' efforts to control their reproductive lives.

View all my reviews

Malloy and Sarah Find Adopting Catherine Is Not As Simple As Expected

Murder on Union Square by Victoria Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Theatre District murder in this installment. A quirk in the laws of parenthood leave Sarah and Malloy in the position of having to get a written waiver from Catherine's non-biological father in order to adopt her. That is to say, that though Parnell Vaughn is not her biological father he was married to her mother and legally he is her father. Parnell has agreed to sign the papers although his young, greedy " fiance" has demanded a $1000 payment, which is totally illegal. Nevertheless, Malloy goes to the theatre with the money, just in case, only to discover Parnell's bloody dead body in his dressing room. Eliza, the " fiance " follows on his heels and immediately accuses Malloy of the murder. His hands are covered in blood, having tried to determine Parnell's condition.

Within a short time, the police arrive, take Malloy into custody and deposit him in the Tombs. Sarah bails him out and while on bail they, along with Maeve and Gino, start the investigation to discover the true murderer. Dealing with actors and their various romantic attachments makes it difficult to tell when the stories told are true or if they are performances. Before the true culprit is uncovered yet another man is murdered.

Just as in the previous Gaslight Mysteries it all comes clear in the end and the criminal is revealed. Engrossing and fun, with so many characters having motives and little in the way of alibis, this is a real puzzler.

View all my reviews A

Nigerian Oil and Nigerian Scams--Margaret Truman's Brixton Investigates

Allied in Danger by Donald Bain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Robert, don't call me Bobby, Brixton joins his close friend, David Portland, in investigating the large oil company,XCAL, and its security outfit, SureSafe. Portland's son died mysteriously in Nigeria while working for XCAL, though the official story is that he was killed by Nigerian rebels, MEND, out on the Nigerian Delta. It happens that Brixton is also involved in trying to piece together SureSafe's relationship to a charity, Bright Horizons, also based in Nigeria. It appears to have bilked an American out of his savings and he then committed suicide. His son has hired MacKenzie Smith to investigate the possibility of recovering any of the money or at least to bring the bilkers to justice.

As David's investigation continues in London and Brixton's continues in Virginia their discoveries begin to focus on two men in the Nigerian Delta, one a warlord and the other the head of SureSafe's operations in the Delta. To settle the mystery they decide to travel to Nigeria, though without a solidly formulated plan of action.

Convoluted, exciting and disturbing all at the same time, the manipulation and corruption rampant in the oil rich delta is also fascinating. A good tale that probably has more truth to it than fiction,

View all my reviews

The American Spirit by David McCullough

The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For by David McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A collection of speeches given my McCullough through the years at various organizations, college graduations, in Congress etc. He focuses on the importance of education, knowledge of our history and important people and their influence on the course of our history. He, throughout, extols the values of those who came before and how those values have become the threads of the fabric that is American.

As always, he is easy to read--he speaks in a voice of one on one conversation--and thought provoking. He is uplifting and provides hope and encouragement for our continued strength and success in a world that is still amazed at our story.

One statement he made that resonated with me: We are the only country in the world that knows exactly when we were formed, why we were formed and how we were formed, that is, who did it. Isn't that the most amazing thing???

View all my reviews

Rereading Grisham One Book at a Time--The Client

The Client by John Grisham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Continuing to read Grisham's legal thrillers in order, though this one follows The Pelican Brief, which is the next to be read. Wish the movie of this one was available to watch again, now that I've reread the book. An eleven year old boy, Mark Sway and his little brother, Ricky, witness the suicide of a New Orleans attorney for the mob. Before he shoots himself to death he tells Mark where the body of a Mafia murdered Senator is buried. Terrified with this knowledge, Mark seeks out the assistance of Reggie Love, a fifty something attorney with a soft heart for kids. The two of them find themselves beleagured by DA's and FBI agents wanting the information while trying to avoid the wrath of the Mafia which wants the info buried as deep as the corpse.

The entire book is a trip but the character of Mark is unbelievably captivating--a street smart kid, being brave for his traumatized little brother and his single mother, while being terrorized by adults on both sides of the law. Terrific.

View all my reviews

The Take by Christopher Reich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Action packed political thriller. Marseilles gangs, Saudi Princes, KGB and CIA all pitted against each other trying to get their hands on a mysterious letter. Who sent it? Who received it? Why does it matter? Millions of euros floating around for its recovery.

Simon Riske, who is hard to describe---former thug, former con, current high end auto body guy, available to recover lost things. He's been hired by the CIA to simply retrieve the letter from the Prince. When the Prince's cavalcade of cars is high-jacked and his money stolen, along went the letter in his briefcase. So, who has it NOW?

Page turning excitement, car chases, train brawls and airplane causing car accidents--never know where the next surprise will occur. Fun! This review is of the paperback edition provided by GoodReads for review.

View all my reviews

Who Slays the Wicked--Sebastian St Cyr Mystery

Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Strange to start an author's series with its last installment, but that in no way made the plot difficult to follow nor the hero and his associates lacking in depth. As a matter of fact, unlike other series in which each subsequent book is taken up with a repetition of the history of the characters and their relationship, this one moves right into the mystery at hand with sure-footed ease. The reader doesn't need lots of personal backstory to see that the possibility that Sebastian's niece may have murdered her debauched husband gives him added impetus to find the murderer, whom he hopes is not she.

The victim, a nobleman who is infamous for his sexual tastes and lack of loyalty or regard to paying his debts, has racked up a goodly list of enemies. Among them, of course, his wife, recently delivered of twin boys and with whom he does not live. There is the cabinet maker whose bills have not been paid and who makes a public spectacle of accosting the victim and loudly berating him in public. This man's business has all but been destroyed. And there is the fortune teller, whose young, beautiful daughter was raped by the rogue and who, when discovering herself pregnant, commits suicide. These are just the suspects Sebastian has been able to unearth.

But, why would any of them kill the valet, too? And leave him naked in an alley. What does the parcel of blood-stained woman's clothing retrieved from the Thames have to do with the case? How is the lady-in-waiting to the sister of the Tsar of Russia involved? The more pieces that come to light in this puzzle the more puzzling it all becomes. Unfortunately, it also seems to look more and more as though the wife did it--at least the husband--she would have needed someone helping her, however, to manage the murder of the valet and the next victims that appear as Sebastian struggles to make sense of it all.

A frustrating page turner that has convinced this reader it is time to move to episode 1 and get to know Sebastian St Cyr a bit better. This review is of a Goodreads ARC provided for review.

View all my reviews

The Last Collection

The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne Mackin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes There is Too Much Color
At one point the author in discussing a painting mentions that a thin wash of gray can make the background recede more from the foreground. It was as though a thin wash of gray lay between the story and the reader. It felt as though everything was being told through the heavy grief of this guilt ridden widow. Yet, though unable to paint because of it, she sees vibrant color everywhere and mentions it endlessly, as though to show the reader just how many colors she can recite. For all the vibrancy and emotions this should have evoked it all remained bland--the words said there was excitement or foreboding or passion or anger and yet those things were not evoked in the reader. The most arousing moment was the one in which Coco sets the tree afire. It was hard to get through this book. The Women of Paris is much better if you want an idea of Paris before and during German Occupation.
This is a review of an ARC provided by BookBrowse for that purpose.

View all my reviews

The Ripper, The Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy--One Serial Killer Imitates Them All in Imitation In Death

Imitation in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A serial killer is murdering women by imitation--a prostitute in an alley, a la the Ripper; a older widow living alone by strangulation, a la the Boston Strangler. Who is he? There are several possibles , all with strong indications they could be the one. Dallas likes first one but Peabody likes another for the crime. Then Peabody changes her mind when new information is revealed. One of the most frustrating of the In Death series for me. That is until I listened to the spewing language of the enranged killer as he tried a Ted Bundy on her and didn't succeed. He had to scurry off, defeated and blinded by the spray she managed, despite her beating, to apply to his eyes.

I knew then who it was but Dallas, who tells Roarke she knows , too, doesn't have anything that will stick. They will have to set a trap. And, as always, Eve Dallas gets the perp with a little help from her friends and that sexy husband of hers. PS--I missed Somerset--really needs to be more of him, he's such a delight.

Bring on the next case

View all my reviews

Amelia Earhart Wasn't the Only Female Pilot of Note--Fly Girls

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If the only early woman pilot you've ever heard of is Amelia Earhart then you need to read this book. There were many, many others : some who set records, some who died horribly trying, all who fought to be recognized by the likes of Lindbergh and other male pilots. Their lives and struggles made for fast and interesting reading. Meet the two Ruths, Ruth Elder and Ruth Nichols from diametrically different backgrounds who flew the same competitions. Meet Louise Thaden who tried and succeeded in having it all--fame as a pilot and happiness as a wife and mother. Meet airplane developers like Beech of Beechcraft and his fiesty wife. Get to know the kid known as Granny who built the GeeBee in Springfield Mass. Fly with the men and women in competitions for money and prizes promoted by Cliff Henderson. So much history and Earhart was just a very small and not even very good part of it all. Were it not for her marriage to CP Putnam of the publishing house and his connections her name would probably be lost as much as she was and as much as the names of these other ambitious, dedicated women who wanted to make aviation the transportation of the future. This edition was a free copy provided by Book Browse for discussion

View all my reviews

Alifair is All Grown Up and Dave is Obsessed with His Own Mortality

The Glass Rainbow: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Usually, Burke's books are pretty exciting and involved but this one was more disturbing in a strange way. The crimes and the perpetrators are always upsetting--especially since I love the time we spend in New Iberia and it just doesn't seem possible these things could be true, even at a lesser intensity than the fictional town and its people. But in this book, Robicheaux is really obsessed with his own mortality, even to the point of hallucinating the arrival of a Showboat on the Teche coming to take him to the next plane. Not sure if Burke feels this way or if he has had a health issue but considering I'm of the same vintage or pretty close, and do not feel the weight of impending death, it was distracting from the main story.

Also, though I am proud of my daughter just as Burke should be proud of his lawyer/novelist daughter in real life, his constant praise of her literary prowess was rather heavy handed. Especially since I've read her first trilogy ( Kinkaid ) and found it less than gripping or stimulating. I hope her association with the more experienced Mary Higgins Clark will help her improve her skills. Until the last couple of his books, I didn't realize how much of his own life is included in his writing.

Basically, the added biographical information in this book tended to make it and the previous one less satisfying than his earlier entries in the saga of Dave Robicheaux, his friend, Clete Purcell and New Iberia.

View all my reviews

Robicheaux and Purcell Head to Montana for a Summer of High Peaks Fishing!

Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

JLB has moved to Missoula, Mt permanently but used to move to New Iberia in the winter. This is the first book in the series in which the setting is the high mountains near the Montana-Idaho border. The descriptions of Montana are as detailed as his Louisiana details and the characters are as well drawn, though they lack the familiarity with which he is able to speak of the New Iberian natives. Still, these characters are three dimensional and his chief baddie is a Louisiana transplant.

No matter where he and Clete Purcell go there are always jams for them to get into and it is no different here in the Swan Valley. They are spending the summer at a friend's ranch with Molly and intending to fish all vacation. The murder of a young college boy on the mountain overlooking the ranch manages to throw a monkey wrench into their copacetic plans. Purcell, as usual, finds himself involved with not one but two women, whom he'd be better off ignoring. His relationships as always get him and Dave in trouble and mess up the investigation of this and several other seemingly unrelated murders

With all kinds of miscreants interacting with each other or trying to avoid each other the plot thickens and ends with a open pit, several armed men and several others on the edge without weapons or escape. Or so it would seem.

View all my reviews

Robicheaux and Purcel Find Trouble in Post-Katrina New Iberia

The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haven't been back to NOLA since Katrina, until reading this installment of Robicheaux and Purcel on the case of the murder of two young black looters. New Iberia law enforcement has been called in to help with the various crimes committed during the chaotic aftermath of the storms, Katrina and Rita. As usual, nothing is simple--blood diamonds, a made guy and his wife, a couple whose daughter was traumatized by a gang rape, a strange guy who doesn't seem to have a past but keeps turning up to threaten Dave and his family. All this amidst the devastation of a large swath of the Louisiana Gulf Coast. It is interesting to see how the fictional Alafair's novel writing develops, since the real Alafair, Burke's daughter, became a novelist.

View all my reviews

A Time to Kill Read When the Opening Was Not as Personal

A Time to Kill by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When this book first was published our daughter was about 5 or 6 years old and, within a couple of pages, I simply had to stop reading. I could not handle the gruesome details of the rape of Tonya. My husband kept assuring me that beyond that part the book would be fine. Well, since I decided I wanted to read all of Grisham this year, I felt I had to start with the first book. It is true, once past the rape scene, the book is amazing if over long. I think I could have cut about 200 pages with no serious damage to the story. Still, the suspense of knowing whether a father who takes the law into his own hands will be found guilty of murder and sent to the death chamber or acquitted is exciting. The background workings of lawyers and judges in deciding venue and selecting jury members is interesting. And the details of the racial conditions of the south and how factions are stirred up and bolstered by outsiders is educational. The role played by religious leaders and their self-interest is deplorable. All in all, lots to keep the reader involved and a conclusion that is thought provoking and as divisive between mind and heart as it was for the characters involved in the book.

View all my reviews

Malin Fors Finds Herself in the Middle of An Earth Storm

Earth Storm by Mons Kallentoft
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Malin Fors' relationship with Daniel is getting stronger, her battle with alcoholism continues but she is winning, her daughter is working in the Congo which is stressful and she has a new boss, who doesn't seem particularly adept but who is supportive. The core group of detectives are working on the latest crime to hit Linkoping, Sweden. In his usual fashion, Mons Kallentoft allows the reader to hear the mind of the criminal and at least one victim as well as the workings of Malin's mind as she" listens" to the victims voices. In this case, the first victim is a vocal racist who appears to have seen the fault in his convictions and turned his views around. He is found naked in a ditch along a country road, with no apparent marks on his body to indicate the cause of death. As the victims increase and the killer sends emails and leaves cryptic notes at the crime scenes, the investigation takes on more urgency when it appears that the second victim is a 16 year old girl. She has been abducted and may be buried alive. Malin is convinced she is still alive and that they can find her in time, if only they can get at least one clue as to who this madman is. Clues, leads are extremely elusive, however, and as the investigation leads further and further into the realms of anti-immigration activists, it becomes even more convoluted. The short chapters add to the increased rhythm of the hunt.

View all my reviews

Eve Dallas and Crew Are on The Trail of The Photographer Who Takes A Portrait in Death

Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How this author manages to write such engrossing mysteries with incredibly different plots is amazing to me. They just get better and better--each new book introduces more of the background of Rourke and Eve, two of the most neglected and abused children to grow into such strong successful adults, with emotional scars so deep one wonders how they go on. Their relationship is a character in itself. Add to them their supporting cast of Feeney, Eve's mentor and friend in the PD, Peabody her loyal and increasingly able uniformed aide and friend, McNab the loveable comp geek who has finally succumbed to his love of Peabody and she for his, and, of course, Summerset, Roarke's surrogate father and major domo and you have a cast indelible characters. There are others, too, just as important to them professionally and personally but too many to mention. Everyone of them is three dimensional and as a reader, you come to know and appreciate them as much as the main characters.
Even without the gruesome murders Eve and the others find themselves racing to solve, the lives of those " people" are enough to keep you coming back for more.
In this episode, physically beautiful, artistic, morally impecible young people are being murdered. The killer does his/her best to not mar the bodies in any way and once entrapped and killed, they are posed using piano wire in such a way as to spotlight their beauty and purity, and then professionally photographed. Once done, the body is literally dumped somewhere to be found. Who is this meticulous photographer and what is the motive for cutting short such promising lives?

View all my reviews