Before we jump into today’s post, I just want to congratulate the last contest winners of the year. Virginia D. from Tempe, AZ won Observations By Gaslight, and Tom M. from Laurel, MD won The Return of the Pharaoh. I mailed the books on Wednesday.
I hope you all had just the type of Thanksgiving you wanted, a quiet one, or one filled with time with friends and family. Did you find some reading time yesterday?
I’m reading a book from The British Crime Classics series, Margot Bennett’s The Man Who Didn’t Fly. For me, part of the enjoyment of these books comes from Martin Edwards’ introductions. In this case, he didn’t mention too much about the book itself because he didn’t want to reveal spoilers. The story is about a small plane that crashed. The pilot and three men died. But, there was supposed to be a fourth passenger on the plane, and he didn’t come forward. The story was published in 1955, so there was no DNA identification. No one wanted to issue death certificates for the passengers until they were able to identify the three dead passengers. Edwards’ introduction says this book was nominated for two awards, but it’s been out of print for twenty-five years.
I’m halfway through The Man Who Didn’t Fly. What about you? What are you reading this week? Let’s catch up!
I’ll be in and out today. We’re going to the Columbus Art Museum to see the Van Gogh exhibit, https://bit.ly/3p68FT0, so I’ll catch up whenever I’m here.
The new Bosch/Ballard book.
Oh, I hope you’re enjoying it, Kevin!
Around the halfway point and it is a good read.
Finished and enjoyed.
I had a very nice Thanksgiving!
This week I read:
Trials of the Serpent God by CL Simchik; A fantasy about a guy who becomes champion of serpent swamp god to vanquish the evil Eagle Sky god, but you never really know who is the good guy, because these gods are more capricious than even the Greek gods.
Serpent At The Well by Dick Franklin; Sort of a paranormal legal thriller, as LA wants to continue stealing water from a lake, and a local boy done good and Indian spirits want them to stop.
The Gun Slipped by Ernest McQueen; British detectives between the wars try to find who has been embezzling from a giant corporation. There’s a lot of harrumphing in the British manner.
Hawke’s Fury by Reavis Z. Wortham; A cartel novel. This cartel is headed by a Latino woman who is an American citizen, but that’s the only slight difference from every other cartel novel.
Danger Noted by Teresa LaBella; Platonic friends start a detective agency with the mission of doing background checks on prospective marriage partners. Their first case pits them against a megalomaniacal classical conductor, who just happens to have an assassin on his payroll. Yeah, lot of suspension of disbelief in this one.
Bad Scene by Max Tomlinson; A female detective in 1970’s Frisco tries to foil an assassination plot against the mayor, and extract her daughter from a chiliastic cult. Not quite ’70s enough.
Headshot by Otho Eskin; A police detective finds himself the prime suspect in the murder of a theatre actress, while assigned bodyguard duty for the beautiful PM of Montenegro. So much going on, it’s tough to keep track.
Stolen Away by Max Allan Collins; Heller finds himself in middle of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. It’s enough to give you a headache. Even in real life, nobody involved acted rationally. The whole thing will give you a headache worse than a time travel novel.
Oh, I read Stolen Away a long time ago, Glen. It was confusing, but I always liked to read about the Lindbergh kidnapping. You’re right. Nothing about that was rational.
I’m glad you had a good Thanksgiving, and still found time to keep reading!
Lesa, I first learned of the kidnapping from an old episode of In Search Of…hosted by Leonard Nimoy. I must have in grade 3 or 4, and I remember not being able to follow it at all. I’ve read a number of books about it since then, and I think I just got more confused.
Glen, I don’t think anyone understands what really happened.
Hello Thursday people – I hope everyone who celebrates it had a good Thanksgiving.
I haven’t seen that particular British Library Crime Classic Lesa; I have had mixed experiences with the BLCC series, and I can’t say I’ve yet read one that I’d recommend, but I keep trying! (It’s those beautiful covers.) And I agree, Martin Edwards is always brilliant.
Here in Scotland the temperatures have plummeted at last and it is very cold, with sleet and snow forecast for later today. On my walk this morning – beautiful bare trees under a low sun – I saw the first ice on the puddles. I definitely need to dig out my winter gloves and the grippers for my boots before things get any worse!
Today I finally finished THE CITADEL by AJ Cronin. I hadn’t realised before that the author also wrote the original Dr Findlay books – Dr Findlay’s Casebook was a very long running TV serial in my childhood, from which the only character that most people remember now is Janet, the very Highland housekeeper.
I found The Citadel a bit of a trudge, and the main character, Dr Andrew Manson (possibly based on Cronin himself) very annoying, at times. He is so volatile, so self-righteous, and sometimes just so downright stupid in the ways he handles people, that you want to shake him. And he’s also horrible (sometimes) to his caring and intelligent wife Christine, who puts up with such a lot. (She has to give up her teaching job on marriage, as in the first part of the 20th century only single women were allowed to be teachers.)
But by the end of the book I could certainly see why it had had such an impact when it was published in 1937. In those days there was no NHS in this country. Doctors ran informal and sometimes very lucrative cartels – each recommending one another to their affluent, often hypochondriac, patients, and dishing out completely ineffective medications just to increase their incomes still further. Some (though not all) had no idea what they were doing (hence there is a terrible scene during one operation) but talked themselves up to make sure they got all the highest-paying clients.
Although there were of course hospitals in London and indeed elsewhere, these were often in ancient, dilapidated buildings and unfit for purpose. The rich would not use them (this was partly out of pure snobbery), and instead went to stay in one of the numerous ‘nursing homes’ that had been set up in old houses in the smarter parts of the city. Again these were not fit for purpose, but some people languished there for weeks, lapping up the attentions of their devoted physicians and paying them vast sums, which is of course exactly what those doctors wanted to fund their lavish lifestyles. Even anaesthetics and surgery were carried out in these places.
Meanwhile other doctors were slaving away in the poorest, sickest, areas with little money and hardly any equipment. (eg where Manson begins his career, in the fictitious old Welsh mining town of Drineffy. It is here that he begins his investigations into work-related lung diseases.)
The comfortably established doctors in the cities formed a kind of closed shop, protecting their own and refusing to consider any new treatments or medications. Many were hopelessly, and more to the point, dangerously out of date.
The Citadel was one of the inspirations behind the creation of the NHS. Now, of course, the Westminster government is doing all it can to sell it off.
So that’s been my main reading this week, and I am now moving on to LOLLY WILLOWS (Sylvia Townsend Warner) in book form, having recently heard it on BBC Sounds.
While Madeleine was staying we had a day out visiting the Aberdeen Art Gallery (we agreed the new makeover had for some reason been accompanied by a less than desirable dumbing -down. Now it Is all ‘trails’ and ‘stories’ and almost no proper information. Also an awful lot of empty rooms and white space. The ceramics were the best part, they included a beautiful tea service made for the Suffragette movement.)
Obviously we couldn’t go home from the city without dropping in to a few charity shops – I was actually quite restrained by my standards, but I did get A CALENDAR OF LOVE by George Mackay Brown – short stories set on Orkney, where the author was born and spent most of his life. The book jacket says; ‘he explores “the small green world” through the lives of fishermen, crofters, tinkers and drinkers, interweaving Norse and Scottish legend, past and present, into a vivid, refreshing, and starkly beautiful whole.’
M & I also watched the final of this year’s BAKE OFF. Unfortunately our recorder had failed to start recording, so we watched it on Channel 4+1, ie an hour later than on the main channel. Halfway through, my other daughter Anna messaged me. She had been stuck on a train for an hour owing to a signal failure, but, thinking that we would already have watched the entire programme, said ‘I’ve heard X won – I think that was fair’ !!!!! I nobly didn’t tell Madeleine so she at least was in suspense until the end.
Last night I also watched the final episode of the latest series of SHETLAND. I think I just about understood it! It was well done, the core mystery was solved – but at least two other threads were left hanging to keep us wondering until the new series, which we were told will air next year.
Madeleine brought with her the book GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER by Bernadine Evaristo. As she finished it she has left it for me. Has anyone read it? I’m not sure if it looks like hard work.
Yesterday I read about a new reading challenge for 2022 – ‘Cruisin’ Through the Cozies.’ This is how it works:
You can participate in one of two ways – either (a) read only cozy mysteries of your choice, or (b) read one book from each of the following sub-genres (in both cases the books can be in any format):
– Culinary
– Animal-related
– Craft-related
– Paranormal (including witches and vampires)
– Based outside the USA
– Career-based
– Holiday-based
– Travel-based
– Historical mystery
– One of your choice
There are various levels you can try to attain (by reading more and more) but I’m not bothered about that – I think it might be fun just to do the basic genres though. You can do this anytime between January and December next year.
In the meantime I am trying to take part in Nonfiction November, but the fourth week, ‘Stranger than Fiction’ has me stumped. It is supposed to be about nonfiction books that the reader almost can’t believe to be factual. I think I’ll have to try to find time to see what other people have chosen and get some pointers.
I think the main thing this Nonfiction November thing has told me is that I don’t read enough nonfiction to take part again!
My husband is in France till next week, so Mr Charlie Parker and I are on our own, under a blanket, keeping warm and watching too much television…. Nancy and I were supposed to be walking this morning, but she has just called to say it’s already snowing and blowing a hooly where she lives (just 5 miles north of here, where it is currrently dry and still) and as she doesn’t have a 4 x 4 car she’s nervous about coming out. So I will trundle forth by myself now, before that weather gets down here.
I’ve jusyt looked out of the window. The heron is standing in the burn at the end of the garden. So I will be thankful again, the day after your Thanksgiving..
Have a good week all.
You’re right, Rosemary. We had a television adaptation of Cronin’s stories called DOCTOR FINLAY on PBS Masterpiece, and the one character I remember was Annette Crosbie as Janet. David Rintoul played Finlay and Ian Bannen his mentor. Of course, Crosbie played the long-suffering wife of Victor Meldrew in ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE with Richard Wilson. Of course, both Crosbie an Wilson are Scottish.
We finished MANHUNT with Martin Clunes and THE LONG CALL (the latest Ann Cleeves series), and will watch the last DALGLEISH tomorrow night, as well as starting the new SHETLAND series.
Jeff, I think the version of Dr Finlay I remember was older than that – it was made from 1962 to 1971, with Andrew Cruickshank as Dr Cameron, Bill Simpson as Dr Finlay, and Barbara Mullen as Janet. It was so old it was only in black and white. But I can imagine that Annette Crosby would have made a good Janet!
What did you think of The Long Call? I had mixed feelings about it. I’m enjoying Dalgleish, and it seems very popular here so I hope they make some more.
I wouldn’t say I loved it, but it wasn’t bad. Great scenery It wasn’t really hard to guess who the “bad guy” would turn out to be. Some of the actors fit my idea pretty well after reading the books, but not all.
I guess it would be unfair to compare it to VERA or SHETLAND.
Rosemary – Enjoyed your visit here as usual, especially your “reading challenge” notes. I have a suggestion for the “Stranger Than Fiction” entry. The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson. (2018) True story of the theft of hundreds of rare bird specimens and the black market sale of the feathers. Bizarre crime story written with amazing detail, might be tough to squeeze it into November though.
Thank you very much for the suggestion, I have never heard of that book and it sounds fascinating. As you say, I’d never get it read in time now, but it might be an idea for next year (if I put myself through this again!)
I hope CP has found some manners and isn’t still shredding you.
Rosemary, I’m glad you have Mr Charlie Parker to keep you company, and to cuddle with so you both stay warm. I always enjoy the background you provide. This time, it was about medical conditions, and what led to the NHS.
But, I have to admit my favorite part of the entire post was Nancy’s comment that “it’s already snowing and blowing a hooly”.
The cozy challenge sounds fun, but then I tend to read a number of cozies.
I participated in the Crusin’ Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge this year and just signed up to participate again next year. There is also a Goodreads group for the challenge that you can join if you want. There you can post the books you have read and see what others in the group have read. It’s a fun challenge.
I always find it fascinating to read about the history of the medical field. It sure has come a long way and I am thankful for that!
Oh that’s interesting Gretchen, thanks for letting me know about the Goodreads group, I will have a look for it. I don’t have many cozies so I will need to borrow them from the library.
Certainly agree about medicine!
Good morning, all. Hope your Thanksgiving went well. This has been a busy week, what with Thanksgiving, getting prepared, plus my birthday and the trip to the theater. I’ve had a hard time concentrating on reading, other than short stories, which I’m still reading at a furious pace. I did finish Patricia Highsmith’s collection SLOWLY, SLOWLY IN THE WIND and the Otto Penzler edited BIG BOOK OF GHOST STORIES (which range from the 19th Century – W. W> Jacobs, M. R. James) to near the present (David Morrell). I’m finishing up 91 year old Hilma Wolitzer’s nicely titled TODAY A WOMAN WENT MAD IN THE SUPERRMARKET (most stories from the ’60s and ’70s). Also read Vivian Gornick’s non fiction UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NOTES OF A CHRONIC RE-READER. Currently, besides the Wolitzer, I am reading a collection of Montalbano cases by Andrea Camilleri, DEATH AT SEA. And I am ensconced in David Sedaris’s diaries ,A CARNIVAL OF SNACKERY: Diaries 2003-2020.
I still haven’t decided for sure wht I want to read after the Tuesday Book Club book (which Jackie is reading now). I started a book from a friend which was amusing, but put it down and haven’t picked it back up yet – Elinor Lipman, RACHEL TO THE RESCUE. I have three library books, and started 1979 by Val McDerrmid, the first in a new series about young journalist Allie Burns, working at a Glasgow newspaper in the title year. From what I’ve read, each book in the series is going to jump 10 years, so 1989, 1999, 2009 and, lastly, 2019. There are a lot of specifics about the year – what was going on in the country and the world, the music, etc. You generally can’t go wrong with McDermid. I think she put a lot of her younger self in this one, even giving Allie her own home town (Kirkcaldy).
Jeff, Someone else mentioned Val McDermid’s 1979 to me just the other day. I want to read that one, but I think I’ll need to be in the mood.
I’ve read some of Elinor Lipman’s books. They can be amusing.
And, I hope you and Jackie enjoyed Company! I can’t wait to get back to the theater. Today, we’re heading to the Columbus Art Museum for a Van Gogh exhibit. It feels like forever since I’ve been to a museum. Well, I guess it has been over 2 years, so I’m looking forward to this.
We did enjoy it very much. It was updated somewhat – Bobby is now the female “Bobbie” and the three women (flight attendant, etc.) are now men. Three of the married couples are now interracial and one couple (the one getting married) is two gay men. Most of it worked very well. My biggest surprise was that the show – in previews and not opening until December 9 – was totally sold out for a Wednesday matinee the day before Thanksgiving. The people around us, at least (front mezzanine) seemed to be mostly New Yorkers who were familiar with the show. Katrina Lenk, who won the Tony for THE BAND’S VISIT, plays Bobbie.
Jeff, I’m so happy to hear Broadway did well the day before Thanksgiving, and that so many New Yorkers showed up!
Barbara finished 1979 yesterday, liked it a lot.
Thanks Lesa for hosting the weekly event in the midst of your Thanksgiving weekend.
Also thanks to Margie Bunting’s sterling recommendation a few weeks ago as I started Ann Parker’s historical mystery series with the first book Silver Lies (2003). A murder mystery featuring greed, lust and deception in the mining town of Leadville, CO in 1873. The historical detail adds much to the story. I did find the main character, Inez, stretched the imagination simply by having the time to run a saloon, while solving a crime, taking care of friends and leading a busy social life in the mountains of Colorado in the winter.
Then on to a couple new, much lauded books:
Harlem Shuffle (2021) is Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead’s ninth book, but the first one I’ve read. The story is a homage to 1960’s Harlem community. It’s a family saga, a crime novel and a love story. Ray Carney is just trying to get ahead and doesn’t ask too many questions. “The way he saw it, living taught you that you didn’t have to live the way you’d been taught to live.”
My Sweet Girl (2021) by Sri Lankan author Amanda Jayatissa. Paloma, adopted at twelve from a Sri Lankan orphanage by a wealthy San Francisco couple, is now 30 and on her own. A suspense novel to illustrate that no matter how far you run, your past catches up with you. The very creative plot was offset by the unlikable, unreliable narrator(s).
Unfortunately, while these two new books are memorable, I struggled through both. Admired the skill, but not the story.
And since we aren’t sharing until Friday this week, I had time to cook Thanksgiving dinner and read one more (small) book. Ghost Forest, a debut by Canadian author Pik-Shuen Fung. A witty and beautiful meditation on love and family, with the minimalism of a Chinese ink painting. Wonderful!
MM, I’m glad we waited until Friday. I think I’ll plan that ahead of time for next year so everyone knows when we’re going to “gather”. I think today worked better for many of us.
Interesting that you say that you struggled with Harlem Shuffle. A friend who has read all of his books was disappointed in that one, and finally gave up. She said the same thing, that she struggled with it.
Good morning. We had a quiet Thanksgiving.
This week I read:
CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Catherine Kean. A paranormal romance that dragged a bit.
A BEE IN HER BONNET by Sharon Buchbinder. Another paranormal romance, this one features magical cats and a home for retired supernaturals. It was a much better read.
ALONG THE SALTWISE SEA by Seanan McGuire writing as A Deborah Baker. It’s the second book of the adventures of two children who climb over a wall and wind up in a fantasy world. Although I’m enjoying the story, these books are so short that I’m finding it sort of annoying. I wish she’d just written the whole story as one longer book.
WAIT FOR IT by Jenn McKinlay. A romance so the ending was predictable but I liked the characters and there were some funny moments.
MURDER ON DISPLAY by Thea Cambert. A short mystery, two people blogging about living in a tiny house in the wilderness for Christmas get involved in solving a murder.
You’re right, Sandy. Wait for It was predictable, but it was fun. Murder on Display sounds as if it could be good.
Good morning!
We had a nice Thanksgiving! Hope you all did, too.
I was able to get a little reading in last night. I am currently reading:
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker – the second in the Bruno, Chief of Police series. This series takes place in the French countryside, which is enough to make it a worthwhile read. I am only a couple of chapters in, but there has been a fire in a remote building on the outskirts of St. Denis. It appears to have been set deliberately. As Bruno begins looking into into the fire, he realizes the building was never registered with the commune and is not paying taxes. Also, they appeared to be growing some type of experimental crop. It sounds like there will be plenty to sort out.
Lesa, enjoy your time with family!
Thank you, Gretchen! I’m going to enjoy every bit of my visit, except for the snow! That’s a four-letter pejorative in my vocabulary, and there’s snow on the ground here. It should be fine when I go home on Sunday, though.
Good morning. My older son came yesterday to stay with me, and today we will enjoy our Thanksgiving meal at my house with my younger son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren (they attended a 30-person family meal at my daughter-in-law’s sister’s house yesterday). It was, for the most part, a good reading week.
Who knew a novel about a 9-month search for the perfect minister could be so engrossing? The story in SEARCH by Michele Huneven is narrated by Dana, a member of the search committee tasked with finding a new minister for their Southern California Unitarian Universalist congregation. Having once attended divinity school and more recently worked as a food writer and restaurant critic, Dana is ready for a new challenge. But the committee includes a wide variety of church members, each with (not-so-) secret prejudices and preferences and eager to convince others in the group to agree with them. I was fascinated by the details about each person on the committee, the search process and procedure, the wildly different prospective candidates for the job, and the politics within the group. As I read, I became more and more invested in the end result–would Dana and her closest cohorts prevail, or would the younger faction be triumphant–to the point where I agonized along with the characters and was emotionally affected by the conclusion. It felt like the book was a memoir, when actually it is the fictional memoir written by the main character, who kept her intentions secret from her fellow members (but not from the reader). It also made me want to learn more about Unitarian Universalists, an interesting religion about which I knew nothing. Adding to the authenticity of the book, the author, like the protagonist, has a background in theology education and food writing. (April)
I never fail to enjoy David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series, even though BEST I SNOW is book #24. It’s primarily because defense attorney Andy, the first-person narrator, has such a specific voice, filled with dry humor and often hilarious snarkiness. He’s independently wealthy and doesn’t have to work but keeps getting sucked in when it’s a particularly interesting case or he is honoring a personal request. It’s also because Andy’s “extended family” of wife, son, friends, dogs, and colleagues have already established themselves in previous stories and feel like family to me as well. And it’s because I love a good legal mystery with a convincing trial and just enough suspense and action. This book starts with Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, finding the body of the local mayor in a snow bank while Andy is taking the three family dogs on a a walk. Another murder follows, and we’re off and running. Oh, and it’s Christmas time.
We’ve all heard of Helen Keller, but what is it like to be DeafBlind in modern times? In THE SIGN FOR HOME by Blair Fell, Arlo is an attractive 23-year-old man who has been deaf since birth and has lost almost all of his sight. He has an intelligent mind and a healthy body but is totally dependent on his aging guide dog, his antiquated translation equipment, his long-time interpreter, and his domineering uncle, the most respected elder in his Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall. Brother Birch became his guardian when Arlo’s mother died. Arlo has been denied access to programs and devices that would make his life easier because a restricted future has been mapped out by his uncle, and his religious training has forbidden him to do many of the things he would like to do. When Arlo enrolls in a community college writing class, a second interpreter is engaged. Cyril has issues of his own, and his experience doesn’t include much two-hand Tactile interpreting, but he needs the money. As Cyril and a close female friend, along with Arlo’s intimidating professor, slowly get to know Arlo as an aspiring writer with horrible grammar (a common result of having ASL as a first language) and a beautiful spirit, they have to decide whether they can help him access the additional resources he desperately needs without alienating Brother Birch into limiting Arlo’s life even further. An experienced interpreter himself, the author makes Arlo’s struggle feel authentic for the most part. A riotous adventure toward the end of the book strains credulity but adds excitement, as the reader can’t help but root for both Arlo and Cyril. I savored this in-depth look into the life of one particular DeafBlind character, the way ASL signs are sometimes lyrically created, and the advances in DeafBlind interpreting. (April)
I know I’ve said it many times, but Jenny Colgan is my number-one comfort-read author. Her characters are engaging, a bit quirky, and unique enough to keep me interested, no matter how many of her books I read (since 2006, when I started recording, at least one a year). There are, of course, elements that are similar, but they don’t seem formulaic or repetitive. This book features Carmen, who travels to her sister’s home in Edinburgh after being laid off from her department store job. Sofia, a lawyer with three children and one on the way, has always made Carmen feel inferior by comparison, although their mother would like them to be closer. Sofia has identified a temporary job for Carmen in a sad-looking bookshop owned by an older man who would like to sell it and retire, but the shop needs to earn more money before it can be considered a “going concern.” Carmen resists at first but soon finds she is surprisingly successful at sprucing up the store and bolstering its sales, not to mention developing a positive relationship with her nieces and nephew. Along the way, she meets an exciting man, a popular author, and is tempted to have a meaningless relationship with him. Or would she prefer an intriguing customer who works at a nearby university? Charming, heart-warming, and Christmas related–what’s not to like.
Katherine Center’s novels are hit or miss for me, and THE BODYGUARD was a miss. A female bodyguard is assigned to a wildly attractive male movie star when his stalker becomes more active and starts making threats. Of course, both protagonists are dealing with issues in their past and, of course, the faux romance trope ensures a happy ending. But I found both characters to be unrealistic and the plot to be slapdash, lacking in nuance and depth. And the same goes for a few of the secondary characters. Too bad. (July)
Margie, I’ve read some Jenny Colgan, and enjoyed the ones I read, but never really make them a priority. Search really does sound fascinating, though.
I’m glad you got to spend time with your family for Thanksgiving.
BEST IN SNOW, that is (not BEST I SNOW, which wouldn’t make sense).
I just started Debra Bokur’s The Fire Thief, the first book in her Dark Paradise series set in Hawaii. And on the side, I’m reading Mollie Hemingway’s Rigged (about the way our country’s elections are run). Fiction is more fun, that’s for sure.
I have to admit, Patricia, that anything to do with politics just sounds depressing to me right now.
Patricia, re: Rigged, read the review in The Guardian, or the NYT.
I have read 95 of my 100 for the GoodReads for this year.
Reading Millicent Glenn’ s Last Wish by Tori Whitaker. I am enjoying that, I know her secret and I am wondering when she will tell her daughter and her granddaughter. It goes back and forth in time, 1944 to 2015 and centers on the relationships and childbirth. Age wise, i am wedged between Millicent and her daughter Jane. I like all the women main character s,
Also reading Tornado Brain, a middle grade book with a mystery and the solver, will be a girl named Frankie who has ADD and is on the autism spectrum.
I can see why Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish might appeal, Carolee, with your age in between.
Good for you with your GoodReads list this year.
My daughter and her family are here from Chicagoland for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful having a full table filled with laughter and a weekend full of conversation, puzzles, and games.
Only one book because I was so busy getting ready. I was not sure starting it but I ending up really enjoying JUST LAST NIGHT by Mhairi McFarlane. Unexpected tragedy strikes 4 close friends in their 30’s. Secrets are uncovered. The author summed it up as romance through grief.
Now I am reading A LEGACY OF MURDER by Connie Berry. Thanks to Margie for introducing me to this series.
We finished the second season of Manhunt on Acorn and are 3 episodes into Madam Blanc which we are enjoying very much. Daglish is next up once the company leaves.
Happy Reading!
Hello Thursday People, I hope everyone has delicious Thanksgiving leftovers to enjoy today. 😊
The one book I really enjoyed this past week is an ARC from Edwin Hill. A stand-alone from his Hester Thereby novels, which I LOVE. (Hester does appear, however).
If you like quirky characters, Hester is your gal.
If you like books featuring strangers coming together who, over time, become a family of their choosing, Edwin Hill is an author for you to look at.
“Edwin Hill’s critically-acclaimed crime novels include the standalone thriller, The Secrets We Share, and three novels featuring Hester Thursby: Watch Her, The Missing Ones, and Little Comfort. He has been nominated for Edgar and Agatha Awards, featured in Us Magazine, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, and was recognized as one of “Six Crime Writers to Watch” in Mystery Scene magazine. He lives in Roslindale, Massachusetts with his partner Michael and his favorite reviewer, their lab Edith Ann, who likes his first drafts enough to eat them. “
Hello, Birthday girl! I’m glad you dropped in our your birthday to tell us about Edwin Hill’s book. I hope you have a great week ahead, with some terrific leftovers!
Lord a Mercy. I can’t even spell my own name correctly. Maybe I have already eaten waaay too much
Hi Kate, thanks so much for the shout out! I am glad you liked THE SECRETS WE SHARE!
Happy Reading, Sharon! And, enjoy that family visit. There’s nothing like family.
Happy day after Thanksgiving. Reports are people were lined up outside stores at 4:30 this morning. I call it mob madness. Our day yesterday was calm, though I got no reading done, which is unusual. I’ve been reading short stories and a novel.
Death Threats and Other Stories by Georges Simenon contains five Maigret stories, I’m on the last one and will finish it today. So far, all very good.
Death At Sea by Andrea Camilleri, has eight Inspector Montalbano stories. I’m halfway through, having paused to read another book.
The Animal-Lovers Book of Beastly Murder by Patricia Highsmith was a dnf for me. Way too dark, cruel, gory, mean. I know Highsmith writes dark fiction, but when innocent animals are maliciously harmed I draw the line. I quit after 7 of 13 stories, and won’t read Highsmith again.
Death Stalks Door County by Patricia Skalka was reviewed here by Kevin Tipple, I got it from the library and will finish it today. First in a series featuring ex-Chicago cop, now Forest Ranger Dave Cubiak, in a new job and trying to solved several murders. Enjoyable.
I’m glad you had a good, quiet Thanksgiving, Rick. And, I’m glad you enjoyed Death Stalks Door County. Kevin’s done a good job encouraging people to read the books he’s reviewed.
Lesa, that Van Gogh exhibit sounds wonderful. I wish I could have gone with you, and my husband would love it too. We had a lovely Thanksgiving day, ham instead of turkey, and my husband and son did the cooking, and we watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and a Bond movie, From Russia with Love.
More novellas to report on…
I read three translated novellas by French authors. All very good.
THREE TO KILL by Jean-Patrick Manchette was very strange. A corporate salesman is attacked by two hit men, but they do not succeed in killing him. He goes into hiding and plots his revenge on the men and their boss. This sounds like a simple story but is actually very complex. Published in 1976.
THE FRONT SEAT PASSENGER by Pascal Garnier. Another very strange, very different story. One night, after returning from a visit with his father, Fabien discovers that his wife has been killed in a car crash. She was the front seat passenger, in a car with another man, who also died in the crash. Fabien becomes obsessed with the wife of the man who died with his wife, and begins stalking her. The plot goes in directions I never expected. Published in 1997.
MAIGRET IN RETIREMENT (also published as MAIGRET GETS ANGRY) by Georges Simenon. I enjoyed this one very much. Two years after Maigret’s retirement, a wealthy widow requests that Maigret come to her village to investigate the death of her granddaughter, which has been assumed to be suicide. Reluctantly, Maigret does this and discovers a dysfunctional family, full of people who dislike each other.
I also read HEARTSTONES, a novella by Ruth Rendell. I have read all of the Inspector Wexford books (except the very last one) but I have had bad experiences reading her standalone books. Too tense for me. This one was different, and I enjoyed it. It is the story of a sixteen year old girl living with her father and her younger sister. She is telling the story, and we learn that she is obsessed with her father and is convinced that she will live with him all her life. The ending was a surprise, sort of, and very well done.
I have just started THE SNACK THIEF by Andrea Camilleri, #3 in the Montalbano series. After reading MONTALBANO’S FIRST CASE, a prequel to the Inspector Montalbano series earlier this month, I was eager to get back to the series.
Good stuff, Tracy. I consider the Maigret you read a novel, but I know your doing a novella reading thing, so, whatever. I liked The Snack Thief when I read it three years ago.
Rick, to be honest, I agree with you about the Maigret novel I read. I read it in MAIGRET’S CHRISTMAS: NINE STORIES, and it was 105 pages in that book. Then I found it as MAIGRET GETS ANGRY on Goodreads and in various editions it was as long as his other novels. But for this reading event several people have included Maigret novels, so I guess it is a looser definition. I was glad I read it because it encourages me to read more of them.
I am enjoying THE SNACK THIEF, although I was too sleepy when I was reading last night to really get into it. But already I see the parts I like, all the interesting characters and Montalbano’s love of food.
Your Thanksgiving sounds great, Tracy. My brother-in-law did the cooking for ours.
I went to the exhibit with my sister, her husband, and her son. I was pleased to see so many people at the art museum the day after Thanksgiving. It was just a nice place to be today.
Tracy, interesting that you read the Manchette. Years ago I saw Lee Child talk about him at a Bouchercon and have since read most of his stuff that has been translated into English. Some didn’t appeal much, but I liked a couple of them very much, including THREE TO KILL (which sounds like I liked it more than you did). I’ve also read the Simenon, Rendell and Camilleri titles. And like Rick, I am reading the Camilleri short story collection now.
Jeff, I did like THREE TO KILL a lot. I will have to do a better job of describing it if I cover it on my blog. I liked that it was different and unexpected and I had no clue how it would end. I could not identify with anyone, I would make different choices, but that was fine. I would definitely read more by Manchette.
Lesa, The Man Who Didn’t Fly was one of the very few, maybe the only, British Library Crime Classic books I didn’t finish. It might, probably would, have worked as a short story, but the novel was too slow to reveal much of anything of interest to me.
I’m going to finish it, Rick, although, I am so sick of some of the characters that I really don’t care who died and who didn’t. I liked the police detectives, but I’m tired of some of the others.
Finished DEATH STALKS DOOR COUNTY and liked it. A lot of summing up at the end. I’ll give the next a try, but probably not until next year. Today I’m starting WHITE CORRIDOR by Christopher Fowler. It’s the 5th book in the series. His new (and final) Bryant and May is coming December 7. I’m way behind but love the books.