I hope you had some nice weather in the last week. I know I enjoyed opening up the house. Here we are with 90s and humid, then 80s and delightful, and this morning we were two degrees above a record low! It was still nice out. I can’t complain about the last week. We even had a little rain, which we needed.
Because Friday is normally a contest day, my Treasures in My Closet for August post will run on Saturday, July 2. I’m still working on that. There are tons of new books coming out in August.
In the meantime, I’m also reading Victoria Gilbert’s third Booklover’s B&B mystery, A Fatal Booking. Charlotte Reed, owner of Chapters Bed and Breakfast is happy to welcome an eclectic group of guests for a book club retreat. But, when one of the guests is poisoned at a Mad Hatter tea party, Charlotte has to team up with her neighbor, Ellen, a former spy, to find a tea-party poisoner.
What about you? What are you reading this week?
It’s been brutally hot all week, with highs in the triple digits every single day. Hopefully it cools down a bit for Independence Day. Unfortunately, idiots are already shooting off fireworks during a drought.
This week I read:
Killing Karma by Michael Poetle; A vet suffering from PTSD goes to past life therapy while a serial killer roams Detroit. It seems like the auhor made a lot of…not bad, but not great creative choices that might have made this book memorable.
Need A Ride by Omar Farhad; A lazy loser tries to be an Uber/Lyft driver, and has a tough time at that, too. Maybe he should have gone for Grubhub.
Dark Sky by CJ Box; Joe Pickett has to take a software billionaire out into the wilderness so he can shoot an elk. Somebody is hunting them. Joe had every opportnity to leave the billionaire out in the wilderness, but didn’t take them, dangit.
Fallen King by Wayne Stinnett; a Haitan street gang is blowing up coral reefs with hand grenades. Of course, ex-marine Jesse McDermott has to get involved. Good thing he owns his own island.
So many people dealing with those brutal temperatures, and too many fireworks.
Glen, I just love your comment that Joe Picket should have left the billionaire in the wilderness.
We’ve been having gorgeous weather in these mountains – 60s and 70s. Even a dip or two into the 50s. I love it.
And i loved The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green, a past Edgar winner.
From Amazon:
“Savannah may appear to be “some town out of a fable,” with its vine flowers, turreted mansions, and ghost tours that romanticize the city’s history. But look deeper and you’ll uncover secrets, past and present, that tell a more sinister tale. It’s the story at the heart of George Dawes Green’s chilling new novel, The Kingdoms of Savannah.
It begins quietly on a balmy Southern night as some locals gather at Bo Peep’s, one of the town’s favorite watering holes. Within an hour, however, a man will be murdered and his companion will be “disappeared.” An unlikely detective, Morgana Musgrove, doyenne of Savannah society, is called upon to unravel the mystery of these crimes. Morgana is an imperious, demanding, and conniving woman, whose four grown children are weary of her schemes. But one by one she inveigles them into helping with her investigation, and soon the family uncovers some terrifying truths—truths that will rock Savannah’s power structure to its core.
Moving from the homeless encampments that ring the city to the stately homes of Savannah’s elite, Green’s novel brilliantly depicts the underbelly of a city with a dark history and the strangely mesmerizing dysfunction of a complex family.”
I have spent a lot of time in Savannah, and it’s truly one of the most beautiful cities ever. But there’s a lot of ugly to be reckoned with.
The author does a great job giving readers an honest assessment of a city he obviously knows well – the good and the bad – along with some of the eccentric characters you expect to find in a book about Savannah, GA.
I’m looking forward to The Kingdoms of Savannah, Kaye.
Enjoy that weather. We’ve even had 50s in the mornings!
It was 100 over the weekend and it’s been upper 90’s so far this week. It’s supposed to cool down to the upper 80’s for the weekend, which is just odd. I mean, it’s 4th of July. It’s always beastly hot for that here in Southern California.
As to my reading, I just finished DEATH BY BUBBLE TEA by Jennifer J. Chow. It’s the first in a new series from her. I enjoyed it. I felt like the characters occasionally did some things that only made sense to advance the plot (and I’m not just talking about the main character doing something stupid to get a clue), but overall, I enjoyed it.
Next up with another first in series – THE DRINKING GOURD by Katherine Fast. I’ve heard good things about it, so I’m looking forward to diving in.
And, we’re supposed to have rain this weekend, Mark, which will make some people unhappy.
I always give those first in a new series a slight break. I know they have to introduce characters as well as advancing the plot. Not always easy.
Just finished the Inugami Curse (Pushkin Vertigo translation) and loved it—definitely the best I’ve read so far of the Japanese Traditional mysteries. Eighty pages into the Satapur Moonstone!
That’s always great, Becky when I hear someone enjoyed a translation. That doesn’t always happen.
Our weather here in the Hill Country of Central Texas has been better. We actually got about an inch of rain and since we are in what’s called an ‘exceptional drought’, it was much appreciated. We are very grateful and hope more will come. It’s been a very hot, dry summer so far.
As to my reading, I’m halfway through Sarah Stewart Taylor’s second Maggie D’arcy book, A Distant Grave. Liking it a lot and the Ireland setting is great. I’ve got #3 checked out from the library and hope to get to it soon. I do need to read Lilac Girls for a book group next week before though. So many books – ha! Hope everyone has a nice weekend!
Thank you, Kay! Enjoy your weekend, and your weather. I hope you get more rain.
And, you’re right about so many books!
We’re not home again this week. Back later this morning. And next week we’ll be gone again on Thursday. Weather has been pretty good for New York at the end of June – a couple of days around 90 but mostly cooler, as low as 70 for a high.
Not a lot of reading time this week. I read Dan Chaon’s (slightly futuristic) paranoid thriller SLEEPWALK. The hero – or protagonist, at least – travels the country in a van with his dog, delivering people or things (there is a reference to a severed head) for his mysterious employers. Then he gets a strange phone call from a young woman who claims that he is her biological father, based on sperm donations he made when he was young. For whatever reason, he wants to believe her and help her out of the trouble she’s in. It moves right along and I guess it is a book for our times, though I would highly recommend you read Chaon’s earlier AWAIT YOUR REPLY.
After reading Ann Hood’s FLY GIRL, about her career as a flight attendant, I bought and read her collection of stories, AN ORNITHOLOGIST’S GUIDE TO LIFE. I like her writing and will probably read more of it.
We saw and met Sulari Gentill with a couple of other Aussie writers at Bouchercon in Dallas and I’ve been meaning to read one of her books since. Her new stand alone appealed to me so I borrowed THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. It’s a book within a book. Four people in their 20s meet by accident in the Boston Public Library on the day when they hear a woman scream. They get along and seem to bond when it turns out that the screamer was murdered. One of the four is a writer from Australia who is trying to turn the others into a book. But at the end of each chapter the book pulls back to reveal that it is in fact a book being written by a woman in Australia. An American friend is commenting on the book’s progress and offering her help in American vs. Australian usage, etc. It’s a fast, fun read.
Other short stories I am reading now are collections by David Alexander (who wrote about new York in the ’60s including Broadway and the Bowery) and Jean Rhys.
After the Gentill, I have the new Lee Goldberg book up next. Jackie is really enjoying the Kelley Armstrong book she is reading.
Have a safe Fourth of July, everyone.
Enjoy your short trips, Jeff! I’m glad Jackie is enjoying her books. And, I’m really happy to hear you’re enjoying The Woman in the Library. I’m glad she reminds us that the book is being written by someone else, or I’d tend to forget. Enjoy it!
Good afternoon everyone,
We had rain here this morning, though the sun has now made an appearance. I let Charlie out onto the upstairs balcony earlier. He shook all four paws in horror and retreated inside – but not without first throwing me a look of indignant reproach – ‘What IS this stuff and what are you planning to do about it?’
But I’m so glad we don’t have your temperatures. A friend in Texas told me they had 45C recently (with ‘feels like’ 49C owing to the humidity.) Their house is beside a lake and she says the water level has dropped by 3.5 feet and going down about a foot per month.
I finally saw a friend for a walk on Monday, which was lovely. She is the one I might have mentioned, whose daughter and son-in-law are expecting twins – having only had the first set of twins about 15 months ago. Four babies in the space of less than two years. They live in an upstairs tenement flat in Edinburgh and the husband works away on alternate weeks. My friend is, I think, more worried than they are.
I was supposed to see my friend Nancy on Tuesday – we had not met for a month owing to all her visiting family commitments. On Tuesday morning – which was her birthday too – she tested positive for Covid. She thinks she must have caught it at Bristol airport, where she was putting her sister on the plane back to her home in France. She said the whole place was packed and not a mask in sight. Thankfully she isn’t feeling too bad so far. Her husband now has it too, but as he is currently outside building a compost bin I presume he’s also only got a mild dose.
On Sunday David and I went to the Lemon Tree, a longstanding venue in Aberdeen, to see a jazz trio led by the pianist Fergus McCreadie.He is brilliant, one of several jazz musicians who graduated from the Conservatoire in Glasgow a few years ago. The bass player and drummer were in the same year I think.
I was, however, a bit miffed when I got home to find that I had missed seeing the Pet Shop Boys at Glastonbury – especially as The Guardian reviewer said that it was the best set that had ever been seen at the festival. I don’t know if Glastonbury is broadcast in the US, but it is absolutely huge here, and of course it’s been cancelled for the last two years, so this was a mega-celebration. Thank goodness the top acts are all recorded for BBC I-Player. David doesn’t appreciate my kind of pop music (!) so I saved this as a treat for when he went away (he’s now in France for the next 10 days). Last night Charlie and I watched the whole set in uninterrupted peace. It was fabulous. Neil Tennant is now 67 and still has a wonderful voice and such a sense of drama. The PSBs have been together for 41 years. I almost cried at the end, thinking about where all those years have gone. But at least these guys are still there – I so miss people like George Michael, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury.
Anyway, to the books!
I finished THE SNOW AND THE WORKS ON THE NORTHERN LINE by Ruth Thomas. It was perfect, one of my favourite books this year. in some ways Ruth is like Barbara Pym, in that she finds so much in the little things that make up our everyday lives. But she digs much deeper than Pym, and carries themes through very well. The haikus that the main character, Sibyl, tries to write for the awful poetry class that a colleague has persuaded her to join (to get over a cataclysmic break up) are sometimes funny but often quietly tragic, as Sibyl tries and fails to move forward. And in the end she does, though not in the ways one might expect, and certainly not by finding another partner – the resolution, such as it is, is much more satisfying than that.
Now I am reading ARTISTIC LICENCE by Katie Fforde, and predictably wondering why I chose it for one of my 20 Books of Summer, as really it is utter twaddle. Maybe I shouldn’t have picked it up right after Ruth’s book. 30-something impecunious Thea, who just by magic managed to buy a house in Cheltenham (ie a v desirable and expensive place) – is dragged on an art appreciation holiday in France by her wealthy older friend Molly (who, need I tell you, foots the bills.) There she meets Rory, an irish painter with no morals but plenty of what it takes. He invites her back to Ireland, she refuses. When she and Molly land back in the UK, Molly’s husband informs them that Thea’s house has been ‘wrecked’ by her student lodgers having had a wild party in her absence.
What would you do in this situation? Go home, read the riot act, and get your house sorted out? But that would make us terribly boring. Apparently. You can no doubt guess what Thea does…she’s soon on the next flight to Knock, taking Rory up on his ‘invitation.’ When she arrives we are treated to just about every Irish/romantic cliche there is. And within days Molly, Petal (one of the misbehaving lodgers), and Petal’s Handsome but Burdened uncle Ben appear on the doorstep. Ben has with him his adorable little son. Of course. And no sooner have this lot rocked up (for no obvious reason) than Rory’s dog decides to produce puppies. Of which the last one is a runt ‘unlikely’ to survive (but somehow…) If you can’t see where all this is heading you clearly haven’t read a Katie Fforde before.
I’ve also started to reread Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES. I first read this one maybe 30 years ago so i did wonder if it would seem dated, but so far I am enjoying it a lot (very short chapters always help…) Goldberg bases her writing advice on the teachings of Zen Buddhist meditation, which she has studied for many years. That may sound a bit wacky, but I find her thoughts refreshingly different from the average writing manual.
On the radio I am listening to another Paul Temple mystery – PAUL TEMPLE AND THE SPENCER AFFAIR; this one is from 1957. So far we’ve had the usual bomb, murders, attempted hit-and-runs, night club scenes and visits to lonely, deserted houses. You really would think Mr I’m So Clever Temple would have noticed a pattern by now. Total rubbish of course, but I quite enjoy these – though I do lose patience with Temple’s patronising treatment of Steve (his wife). I suppose in 1957 people maybe found his comments amusing. He wouldn’t get far with them now!
Also struggling on with NORTHANGER ABBEY. Enough said…
My friend Sara Hunt of Saraband books has just sent me two new books to review: the latest Claire MacLeary Harcus and Laird detective story DEATH DROP, and another book about which I know nothing, ONE BODY by Catherine Simpson. I still have one book left to read/review from Scotland Street Press too, so I had better get a move on. I don’t know how you do so many reviews Lesa!
Tomorrow I am going on a guided walk about Aberdeen’s gypsy and traveller heritage, and I’m also hoping to catch an art exhibition that is about to end. That will be my outing for the week!
Have a good week all,
Rosemary
Oh, Rosemary. I can just picture Charlie’s face when he encountered that rain. I don’t blame him one bit.
It sounds as if you’ve been out and about a little. I’m sorry about Nancy’s COVID. A friend of mine has COVID as well, his first bout with it. He’s miserable. I haven’t had it yet, but I’m thinking we’ll all get it sooner or later. One of my co-workers just came back from a library conference in Washington, D.C., and received a text saying she’d been exposed while she was there. She’s had it twice already.
I’m up and down with Katie Fforde. Big fan of Love Letters. I’ve given up on some of her other books at times. And, you’re right. Probably not such a good idea to read her after Ruth Thomas.
You’re guided walk sounds fascinating. My mother did two of them this week in our hometown. One was about all the historic (U.S. historic, certainly not what Europe would call historic) houses in an area of town, and some of the owners came out and talked about their houses. The other was a walking tour down at the lake with the lighthouse there.
Enjoy your time with just you and Charlie!
Good morning.
I may not check in every week but I do read what others have posted. As a matter of fact, each week I look forward to Thursdays with Lesa. I have received so many wonderful book suggestions.
In the past few weeks, I have read many four star reads that I would like to recommend:
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
Meant to Be by Emily Giffin
A Shocking Assassination by Cora Harrison
Five Decembers by James Kestrel
The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery
Sea Swept by Nora Roberts
Have a wonderful Fourth of July!
Good morning, Kathleen! Even if you don’t always comment, I’m glad you stop by. I love Cora Harrison’s Reverend Mother series! There’s a new one coming out in September, Murder in the Cathedral. I love the setting and the history.
You have an excellent list of books there! Enjoy your future reading. I hope you have more four star reads!
Good morning! Last Friday my older son, who has been living with me since his long hospital stay, started back to work at Google after a 5-month medical leave. We weren’t at all sure he would still have a job that would accommodate his dialysis schedule and his need for full-time remote work, so this was great news for both of us. Soon we will pick up his car and start the process of closing out his apartment, which is two hours away. Eventually he will get an apartment close to me. Here’s what I have been reading.
In SO LONG, CHESTER WHEELER, the prolific Catherine Ryan Hyde has once again given us a poignant, emotional book to relish. Chester Wheeler is an elderly curmudgeon with a terminal disease who has sent many a caregiver away in tears. When the latest one leaves, Chester’s daughter begs her father’s next-door neighbor to take on the job, at least until her own daughter delivers her first baby. But 24-year-old Lewis is tired of being the target of Chester’s homophobic slurs and nasty comments. To make things worse, he’s just been laid off from his software developer job and he’s come home to find his boyfriend moving out. Nevertheless, he needs money to pay his rent, so he reluctantly agrees to a temporary stint in the caretaker job. Little does he know that it will involve learning to drive an old Winnebago to ferry his client from Buffalo to Arizona for a reunion with Chester’s ex-wife. The ever-changing relationship between Lewis and Chester is the highlight of the book for me. Their no-holds-barred repartee, as they both feel free to express their true feelings, is riveting, sometimes surprising, and includes just the right amount of humor to lighten the dark undertone. You can probably guess that both men learn and grow during their time together, while never losing their distinct personalities, and–especially for Lewis–it is truly a life-changing experience. I raced through the book, savoring every word, feeling the pain and the joy of the main characters, and wishing it would never end. (December)
In Susan Mallery’s THE BOARDWALK BOOKSHOP, three women buy a prime retail location on the beach, and they become friends. Bree runs the bookshop previously owned by her ex-husband, Mikki has a muffin shop, and Ashley a gift shop, and each of the three has relationship issues which drive the plot. Bree is the most damaged, by parents who largely ignored her and a husband who decided he no longer loved her. She is beautiful and accomplished and attracts men easily but has vowed never to lose her heart to another man. So it’s a struggle when she meets the man who is perfect for her. I so wanted to smack her and tell her to lose the tough act because it is so unnecessary, but she drew me in as the story progressed. Mikki, who has an amicable relationship with her ex-husband and is finally ready to try an online dating service, is confused when a dating match turns out better than she expected and her ex seems to be interested as well. Ashley and her boyfriend are deeply in love, and she expects him to propose any day, but it turns out she doesn’t know her boyfriend as well as she thought. The book had a slow start for me and is probably longer than it needs to be (just over 400 pages), but it turned out to be fast-moving as I had to know what happened to each of the women, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Sharon, I stuck with THE MESSY LIVES OF BOOK PEOPLE because I liked all of Phaedra Patrick’s previous four books (and because I already had it out of the library when I read your comments). And although I thought the premise was far-fetched, I found it a quick and rewarding read. Liv is 42, has a husband and two teenage sons, and cleans for a living. She puts up with ridiculous demands from more than one client, but she enjoys working for Essie Starling, the reclusive author of a long-running series Liv has enjoyed. Liv had never followed up on her own dream of becoming on author and had never had the opportunity to go to university. When Essie dies following surgery, her attorney tells Liv that Essie wrote in her will that she wanted Liv to finish writing her current work-in-progress and that her death was to be kept secret until a date in the future that would turn out to be significant in her life. The book is largely about how Liv tackles this new assignment, learns so much about Essie–and herself–in the process, and changes her life and those around her forever. One heads-up: more editing needed. Twice I found a character with the wrong name!
UNNATURAL ENDS by Christopher Huang harkens back to Golden Age mysteries. Alan, Roger, and Caroline are the adopted children of Sir Lawrence Linwood and his wife, Rebecca. Now adults in early 1920s Yorkshire, theirs hasn’t been an easy life. Sir Lawrence was a harsh father and their mother, a former physician, was totally committed to carrying out his every whim, especially where the children were concerned. But now Sir Lawrence lies dead, murdered with what appears to be a medieval mace. And his will stipulates that in the event of his murder, his substantial estate will go to whichever of his children first identifies his killer. It’s a dark story, played out in alternating chapters devoted to each of his children and a few other supporting characters. And it is an intricately-laid-out mystery, sometimes playing the siblings against each other, sometimes compelling them to work together. All have rejected their father’s lifestyle and rigid expectations. but they know it is important to solve the mystery while hopefully finding out more about each of their origin stories. After the first few (slow) chapters, the suspense begins to mount, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey with the three main characters, even though I guessed one of the twists. References to secret passages, eugenics, World War I, early aviation, London theater, Asian culture, archaeology, and Shakespeare keep the plot interesting. (January)
I finished Jenny Colgan’s AN ISLAND WEDDING last night–more on that next week.
I liked Unnatural Ends, Margie. It was a little different. And, you’re right. It very much reminded me of the Golden Age mysteries.
I’m skipping the Susan Mallery and The Messy Lives of Book People. My best friend was not impressed with Book People, and the Susan Mallery just doesn’t catch my attention. I was interested in the Bookshop part, but my sister said that was minor. So Long, Chester Wheeler does sound interesting.
I’m glad your son was able to get back to work. I’m sure that’s a relief for him. I hope things take a turn for the positive for him.
Only 2 books this week mostly read on airplanes. We flew into Houston Friday (hot) and into Fullerton, CA Sunday (even hotter). We came home to cooler weather in Cincinnati Tuesday but it is going to climb again today.
I finished No Good Tea Goes Unpunished by Bree Baker. Not as good as the first book but I love the setting and characters.
I cannot say enough good things about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. It was delightful. I loved the Marcellus the octopus, Tova, Ethan, and Cameron. I figured it out early but it was told with such care. Tova’s stoic Swedish character dealing with the loss of a son and later a husband. Cameron finding his place after a dysfunctional childhood. And big hearted Scotsman, Ethan it together. Then Marcellus narrating the whole story while at the end of his life span. It was unique and wonderful.
Happy Fourth and Happy Reading!
Sharon, I haven’t yet heard anyone say they didn’t like Remarkably Bright Creatures.
My sister just read the last in Bree Baker’s series, and she said she was satisfied with the way it wrapped up. Good to know!
Sharon, I so loved Remarkably Bright Creatures! It’s one of those books I want everyone to read. Like you, I figured things out early, but that in no way interfered with my enjoyment of the story.
Good morning! I’m about to finish book two of Linda Castillo’s series, which is another excellent thriller (but deals with some pretty brutal crimes so not a book for everyone). Then I’ll start the anthology Denver Noir which looks like a good combination of stories. Somewhere in there, however, I need to reread my own The Desert Hedge Murders, originally published in 2009, because my Sister in Crime Colorado book club invited me to talk about the book and writing for the July meeting. It’s been so long that I need to refresh my memory — I remember the characters very well, but some of the plot details have escaped. 😀
You’re right, Patricia. Linda Castillo definitely isn’t for everyone. One of my sisters finds the series a little too brutal for her, but her husband reads all the books. I hope you enjoy The Desert Hedge Murders. (smile)
I’m going non-fiction right now, still reading Madeleine Albright’s HELL AND OTHER DESTINATIONS. It’s primarily about the first two decades of the 21st century, when, I’m finding out, I was too busy working to pay attention to a lot of world affairs.
I’m guessing, Ana, that I would be surprised by some of the events I didn’t remember from those two decades, too. Non-fiction takes longer. Enjoy the book!
Good Morning We are having a cooler week, the highs in the 90s thank goodness! Our electric company has told us that our electric bill will be hiking, hiking and hiking up!
I finised Wanderlost by Natalie Toon Pattron. It was a coming of age, travel, spiritual memoir! She grew up in rural Arkansas and lefr early to get away from it. Usually I eat up memoirs but not this one. It is a fast read though. It is also very honest. Her family was evangeliical with a lot of emphasis on shane and guilt. The author tried to be perfect but she always failed. Not the kind of family that I would be comfortable in. Married too young, she was searching for her true self. Her first husband was what my aunts would call “a no account”. Naltalie met her husband in high school, a handsome exchange student from Brazil. After thy married, he wanted her to do everything his way, including not blow drying her hair! She worked at a Fox affilate TV station and he was always looking for a job and drinking beer. They went to a big Evangelical church and by the time that she could not take any more verabla and physical abuse, she quit her job and moved away to an apartment. Under the door, a letter from the church said that she could no longer be a member of the church because she had no grounds for leaving her husband.
Later she took a job that would take her to the Middle East First she was in Jordan and had to make the adjustment from the rural Arkansas evangelical culture to try to do her job there, she learned about the the culture through her eyes while she grappled with many different religious question, a few that I care about deeply like what Love Thy Neighbor to a lot that I never wanted to bother with. Her job took her to Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries. I dsagreed with her religiouis conclusions but then I have had a very different life experience.
Started three books! Enough fot now
Carolee, I like your comment, “what my aunts would call “a no account”. Good for your aunts!
You’re right. I suspect everyone’s electric bills are coming to be climbing.
Enjoy whichever book you settle on reading!
I hope everyone has had a good week and the weather has treated you well.
In the last week I finished A QUIET LIFE IN THE COUNTRY (a Lady Hardcastle mystery) by T. E. Kinsey. This was the first book in a light and humorous historical mystery series. I was attracted by the premise of a lady and her maid solving mysteries, but I was sure how that would work. Set in 1908, and that is a time I haven’t read much about (in fiction or nonfiction). I like the time setting. The narrator, Lady Hardcastle’s maid, is delightful. Maybe not too realistic, but since I like the characters, I don’t really care. I have already started reading the second one in the series.
The other book I finished this week was THE ASSAULT by Harry Mulisch, published in 1982. I have actually reviewed that one so I will grab some excerpts from my review…
Set in the Netherlands, it starts with a horrendous event during World War II. Near the end of the war, a policeman in the city of Haarlem, who was collaborating with the Germans, was shot down in a small neighborhood. Reprisals are taken and many people are killed. This novel takes that one event and shows how it affected many of the people who were involved. It continues up to 1980. The focus of the novel is on Anton Steenwijk, who is only 12 years old when the event happens. A wonderful book and very different from most historical fiction I have read.
I am now reading MURDER ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS by Stuart Kaminsky. The 14th in a series of 16 books set in Russia published between 1981 and 2009. The series starts when Russia was still part of the Soviet Union and its protagonist is Porfiry Rostnikov, police inspector in Moscow, Russia. I have nearly completed this series but I haven’t read much of Kaminsky’s other series.
I read the Lew Fonesca series by Kaminsky, Tracy. That one takes place in Sarasota, Florida, and I lived on the Gulf Coast for 17 years, so I knew the area. Those were the years when I read a lot of Florida mysteries.
The Assault does sound interesting.
Have a good weekend!
Lesa, I have read one of the Abe Lieberman series (liked it but that was a long time ago) and several of the early books in the Toby Peters series, but none of the Lew Fonesca series. However since I am a fan of Kaminsky, I have at least five in that series and I will pull the first one out and give it a try soon.
I have never lived on the Gulf Coast but I have had several relatives who lived there and have visited them over the years (Pensacola, Panama City). My brother lives near Panama City.
Lesa, you and I are having the same weather, and I have appreciated the occasional cooler and lovely day, but I am not a fan of these 90 degree days. My husband and I went out to eat last night, and it was really nice to feel a little normal. However, I’ve heard of people I know in other places being diagnosed with Covid, so I’m still being careful. I’ve decided not to go to Bouchercon this year, which is so disappointing. I’m also not attending a nephew’s wedding, since it’s two days after my daughter has surgery, and I’m going to be helping my daughter. I’m still hopeful to go somewhere this fall for husband’s 70th birthday treat. We’ll see.
My reading is still snail slow these days, although I can’t blame my knee surgery. That recovery seems to be going well. I’ve just been off in my reading, but I think it’s coming back to me now. I will finish an excellent book today, entitle The Companion by Lesley Thomson. Lesley is a British author and close friend of Elly Griffiths. I met Lesley at the St. Pete Bouchercon when she came over the pond with Elly/Dom, and she is a delight. Lesley and Elly and William Shaw (another British author) do lots of events together over in Jolly Old England. I’ve read a couple of William Shaw’s books and intend to read more. These authors are a trio of talent for sure. Anyway, Lesley is best known for her Detective’s Daughter series in which Stella Darnell is a Cleaner turned Detective. She has a cleaning company, which often involves criminal scenes, and her father was a detective with the Met. Stella has inherited her father’s detecting abilities and finds herself being involved in murder cases. The first book in the series is The Detective’s Daughter and the most recent is The Distant Dead, book #8. I highly recommend the series, even though I have only read half so far and need to go back and pick up four, which I will.
So, Lesley Thomson’s Detective’s Daughter series is fantastic, but the book I’m finishing is part of a new series, of which there are currently two. I’m don’t think the two books are listed as a series yet, but they are the same lead characters and setting. The first book is Death of a Mermaid, in which Freddy Power returns home to Newhaven in Sussex, England after being absent for 22 years. She’s there for her mother’s funeral and doesn’t plan on staying long, but she hooks back up with her two best friends and a murder occurs and, well, stay she does. One of her friends since childhood is DI Toni Kemp, an excellent detective with a bit of a shoplifting problem. In The Companion, the setting focuses around a large old country house where the residents are older and full of secrets. Freddy and Toni are back, and it would seem Freddy is in Newhaven to stay. The atmosphere is deliciously creepy in The Companion, and I can’t wait to discover the murderer today. Both books are outstanding.
I think my next book will be Catriona McPherson’s In Place of Fear.
Fortunately, I’m at work for most of those 90 degree days, Kathy. Would you believe by the afternoon I have to turn on the space heater because it’s so cold in the offices?
You’re right about COVID. I know people who have it or have been exposed. A lot of our staff went to ALA, and one who reports to me was told she’d been exposed to someone who has it. I was lucky that I went to NYC three times, and wasn’t exposed, but all of the theaters were still mandating masks when I was there.
I’m glad the recovery from your knee surgery is going well! Keep up that rehab. Easy for me to say, right?
Hmm, a police inspector with “a bit of a shoplifting problem”. Hmmm.
Kathy, good luck with the knee. My wife had a knee replacement 9 years ago. She is determined not to have to go though it again with the other knee.
Another William Shaw fan here. I’ve had to buy his last two books (in trade paperback) and just got the newest one (THE TRAWLERMAN) as my library seems to have stopped buying them.
Kathy, the Detective’s Daughter series sounds very interesting, I am going to look for the first one and try it out.
I am looking to forward to A Fatal Booking. I am currently reading The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill and for a little light reading Nora Off Script by Annabel Monaghan .
I can’t wait to hear what you think of Nora Off Script, Katherine. I had it at home, but didn’t get to it, and people were waiting at the library, so I took it back unread.
Just finished two wonderful mysteries in a row: Jane Pek’s The Verifiers and Karen Dionne’s The Marsh King’s Daughter. I loved spending time in both their worlds. I’m about 100 pages in to Mick Herron’s Dead Lions and am enjoying entering this world of pessimism and intrigue.
Peg, Don’t you love it when you read two excellent mysteries in a row? It happens so seldom!
I’m going non-fiction right now, I am from India and enjoy reading… AFTER reading this post I am planning to read this one.. I was too busy working to pay attention to a lot of world affairs.
Good for you. Keep reading!