Although we’re expecting icy rain overnight, I have no weather complaints for this past week, other than it was cold. And, I did nothing exciting this week, except read. So, I can move on right to books.
Don’t forget tomorrow is Favorites Friday. Lindy will have a list of her Favorites of 2024 up on the blog. Please stop by if you get a chance.
I’m caught up on current books for now, so I picked up the next Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery by Bill Crider. Red, White & Blue Murder was released in 2003. There’s been a long drought in Blacklin County, Ohio, and Sheriff Rhodes worries about fire on the Fourth of July since the county hasn’t banned fireworks. The county makes it through, but a shack does go up in flames with the owner’s body inside. Sheriff Dan witnesses a second fire when an angry woman shoots into a fireworks stand.
What about you? What have you been doing this week? And, what are you reading?
Last Monday Glen and I started reporting for jury duty. We both got summons about a month apart, but we requested delays to the same day and so we were going in together for the same trial. We were there all day Monday, and I made it to the jury box but was released by one of the attorneys, so I am done. Glen still has to go back tomorrow (Thursday) to continue the jury selection process. We are hoping that they will finish the jury selection on Thursday and he won’t get selected.
We got rain last night and today, and are expecting more tomorrow. Which we need badly. I just hope Glen doesn’t get soaked getting to the courthouse. Lesa, you are getting well ahead of me in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series; I will be reading DEATH BY ACCIDENT by Bill Crider in the next few months.
I am reading SILENT PARADE, the fourth book in Keigo Higashino’s Detective Galileo series. This is my third book for the Japanese Literary Challenge. I like the series and I think the books get better and better. I don’t see these books as traditional mysteries like those written by Agatha Christie, but the author sprinkles references to Christie’s books throughout the story.
Glen is reading HOME: AMERICAN WRITERS REMEMBER ROOMS OF THEIR OWN, an anthology of essays edited by Sharon Sloan Fiffer and Steve Fiffer. He is really enjoying this book.
Tracy, unless Glen would find being on a jury very interesting I hope he won’t be selected. Or that at least it’s a civil trial and not a criminal trial – those can go on for months.
I own a book that sounds very similar to the one Glen is currently reading. It’s called Home: A Celebration – Notable Voices Reflect on the Meaning of Home. Lots of lovely photos too.
It’s been delightfully colder than normal here this past week. I’ve so enjoyed my early morning walks in the snow, with the temperature at -9C (which I think is 15.8F). Blissful.
Last week Rosemary wrote of a book about James Beard and I told her I would post his recipe for squares which I have been baking regularly for decades.
‘JAMES BEARD SQUARES’
Mix: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt
Blend into: ½ cup milk and 1 egg, slightly beaten
Work in: ¼ cup melted butter
Bake in a greased and floured 8″x 8″ pan: at 400F for approx. 30 minutes till top is browned and coming away from the sides of the pan.
VARIATIONS
1. Omit cinnamon.Add 1 tsp vanilla extract to milk. Add ½ cup raisins.
2. Omit cinnamon. Add 1 tsp almond extract to milk.
3. Omit cinnamon. Reduce sugar to ¾ cup. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract to milk. Top with 2 thinly sliced apples, and sprinkle a bit of sugar and cinnamon and lemon juice over the top. Dot with butter.
On to the two books I read this week.
THE BELLS OF WESTMINSTER by Leonora Nattrass
An amusing historical mystery set in the late 1700s, loosely based on some actual events, and ‘narrated’ by Susan Bell – daughter of the Dean of Westminster. Being 23 years old she is already considered a spinster but is happy enough with her life in the abbey even though it lacks excitement of any kind. The Dean would like her to marry her cousin Lindley, a scientist, but she has no desire to get married.
Then one day a group of antiquarians arrives at the abbey with a letter from the king no less, which authorizes them to open the tomb of Edward the 1st to ascertain whether he had indeed been embalmed and to see if any treasures had been buried with him. Normal life at the abbey is upended and the story starts to take shape. Someone is murdered, Edward’s remains go missing, valuable items are stolen, Edward’s ghostly apparition is seen, Lindley experiments with electricity, and Susan tries to get to the bottom of all that has taken place.
There are many characters, many clues to follow, lots of mis-direction (I did not figure out who the perpetrator was before it was revealed), a little bit complicated at the beginning until I began to make sense of the characters and of the 1700s. I came to like the narration style which succeeded in making me feel I was experiencing what the abbey might have been like at the time with all its passages, tombs, vaults, architectural details, and a bit of understanding of what it must have been like to keep such a massive institution running.
Until about a quarter of the way through the book I wasn’t sure how I felt about it because it hadn’t really grabbed my attention yet, but the story got stronger as it progressed – with a light hand – and in the end I enjoyed and appreciated it, and was happy to have read it.
THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA by Patti Callahan Henry
This was the first book I’ve read by this author and it certainly won’t be the last. What a gorgeous, heart touching book. It’s told in the dual timelines of 1940 and 1960. Normally this style of story-telling isn’t my favourite but for this book it is absolutely perfect, and all the better for it.
Two sisters, 14-year-old Hazel and 5-year-old Flora are evacuated to the British countryside to keep them safe from bombings during the Blitz. To distract her little sister from the frightening uncertainty of being evacuees, Hazel spins a magical tale of a secret land that’s just for the two of them, where they will always be safe. Then the unthinkable happens and in a moment of inattention on Hazel’s part, little Flora disappears and her constant stuffed-animal companion is discovered on the bank of the River Thames. Guilt and torment follow Hazel, and twenty years on, her entire life and the choices she makes are still being defined by these feelings. She never ceases to look for and to hope that, somehow, Flora might still be alive however unlikely that is.
I don’t want to give away anything more because if you haven’t already read the book, I wouldn’t want to spoil any of it for you – the clues, the hope, the despair, the emotions, the characters, the wonderful storytelling; they should all be yours to discover and savour. Which I hope you will.
We had a little rain Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. We’re supposed to get more rain on Thursday. I don’t know if it is enough to be worrying about mudslides yet, but we’ve got a larger storm coming next week. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, right?
On the reading front, I’m working on Chocolate Can Be Deadly by Kim Davis. This is in her Cupcake Catering series. I’m enjoying catching up with the characters and wondering exactly what is going on. I should be finishing it up on Thursday. The book just came out, and it’s set around Valentine’s Day. Perfect timing, right?