The big news this week is that Kim Hays was nominated for a Barry Award for Splintered Justice, in case you missed the blog on Tuesday. Congratulations again, Kim!
As for me, it’s been a quiet week again. Linda and I went to see the Tony Award-winning musical, “The Outsiders”, last night. Yes, it’s based on S.E. Hinton’s book that came out when some of us were in grade school. It’s that old, and so are we. What a powerful production! The staging and entire cast were great. We were a little doubtful. I didn’t really remember the book since I read it years ago. And, the ending at intermission didn’t leave us optimistic. But, the ending was appropriate. The entire production was excellent. Earlier in the week, II woke up Tuesday morning to find we were having that awful four-letter word that begins with s and ends with w. I know. It’s March, but I’m over with winter, and ready for spring.
I may be one of the few mystery lovers who never really got into the TV show “Only Murders in the Building”. According to some of the blurbs, the book I’m reading right now has traces of it. I’m reading The Primrose Murder Society by Stacy Hackney. I’m liking Lila Shaw and her ten-year-old daughter, Bea. Lila Shaw stopped trusting anyone the minute her husband went to jail for white-collar crime, taking their country club lifestyle with him. Now Lila is broke, friendless, and losing her house—and to make things worse, her true-crime-obsessed daughter, Bea, was just expelled from fourth grade. Desperate for a fresh start, Lila agrees to temporarily move in and clean out an abandoned junk-filled apartment in Richmond’s palatial Primrose building. The luxurious Virginia landmark is filled with retirees who start their days early drinking bourbon and gossiping, in that order.
Soon after Lila’s arrival, the Primrose is thrown into chaos. The owner of the building’s splendid penthouse has died and in his final days he set up a two-million-dollar reward for any resident who helps to solve the 21-year-old murder of his granddaughter at the Primrose. A fan of all detective stories and true-crime podcasts, Bea is inspired to investigate. They really could use the reward money, so Lila reluctantly agrees, in a questionable attempt at family bonding. She’s certain the killer is long-gone after all these years anyway. That is, until another resident is murdered… and Lila becomes the prime suspect.
I’m enjoying the humor. Seniors and a ten-year-old don’t seem to have filters in this book. We’ll see if I’m still happy with that aspect by the time I finish.
What about you? What have you been doing this week? What are you reading?
Lesa, I didn’t really like ‘Only Murders in the Building’ either. But I do like the sound of The Primrose Murder Society. Yet another book for my list.
Weather-wise we are in the middle of a ‘prolonged atmospheric river event’. Started Monday and is expected to continue through Friday. Relentless rain, dreariness, and blocked walking trails due to flooding. I do not like slogging through the rain for an early morning walk, but I go anyway and wade through all the lake-sized puddles. I’ve only missed one day of walking in the last fifteen months and that was three weeks ago because I was coughing so hard.
Also to deal with has been the filming nearby for the TV series ‘Yellowjackets’ for four days. This means not being allowed to park on our street due to the dozen or so large trucks; two of which arrived at midnight yesterday and were extremely loud, and then the drivers had the nerve to just idle them Rumble Rumble Rumble for a solid 45 minutes right out front. Woke us up and I was highly annoyed. My annoyance intensified during the day when the crews transported carts of equipment back and forth over the grass verge all day and made even more of mud pit out of it than it already was.
Enough complaining. On to books!
BLOOM by Robbie Couch
Lesa reviewed this book recently, the author’s first foray into adult fiction.
Morris, in his 70s, is unsuccessfully working his way through his grief after his husband Fred died. He can’t summon the will to do anything; he neglects his house, his friends, all his former interests, and of surprising import to the book – the three remaining houseplants that were Fred’s.
Sloan is the daughter of the deceased Fred. She’s supposed to be happy since she’s getting married soon but she’s desperately missing her father, and her mom is still angry at Sloan’s father for leaving her for Morris. She and Sloan’s aunt are planning the wedding but none of their ideas are anything that Sloan likes and she is feeling a little adrift and unsettled.
Since Morris ruined Sloan’s mom’s life by having an affair with Fred that resulted in Fred leaving her and marrying Morris, no one in the family acknowledged Morris at the funeral, never mind talked to him since then.
And we can’t forget about Jade, the houseplant that’s very near death’s door due to Morris’s total neglect. Charmingly yet heart-wrenchingly, several chapters are ‘narrated’ by Jade so throughout the book we are privy to her every thought as she inches closer and closer to death.
Clearly no one is happy, no one is thriving. But the road to healing begins with Sloan’s impulsive decision to visit Morris to potentially build a relationship with this man her father had loved. She doesn’t tell her family, rightly believing they would be incensed if they knew, but of course they find out eventually.
But slowly and tentatively, because of Sloan’s generosity and kindness towards Morris which is followed by his gradual awakening from grief, the characters we’re rooting for each learn to deal with their emotions, get out of their comfort zones, and only then does life, forgiveness, and goodness begin to bloom.
A short, gentle, light yet affecting story of a family torn apart then beginning to come together again.
THE RED SHORE by William Shaw
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and it’s the first of a new series.
Eden Driscoll – DS with the Metropolitan Police in London, married to his job, estranged from his family since the age of 15.
Eden and his team are out celebrating the wrap up of a tricky case, when he gets a call from the Devon and Cornwall police. His sister has vanished from her sailboat, presumed to have drowned, and her 9-year-old son Finn (whose existence Eden was completely unaware of) was found traumatized and locked in a cabin on the same sailboat. Eden heads to Devon where he finds that the social worker is expecting him – as sole remaining relative – to assume the care of Finn. Eden agrees to stay for a week and see Finn settled somewhere. His inner confliction is entirely believable.
The sister’s body eventually turns up and the local police deem her death an accident. Eden thinks there might be more to it than that, seeing as how certain things don’t add up – so he does some digging despite the local police accusing him of not believing they’re up to the job, and things become much more dangerous than he expected.
This combination of emotional family drama/suspenseful mystery with lots of action and twists and turns made for a very satisfying read. It was as much about the characters as it was about the mystery. Finn and Molly were both wonderfully drawn. Eden’s backstory was revealed bit by bit, cleverly incorporated into the story in a believable way. I also liked how, even though he didn’t set out to, Eden tried his very best to do the right thing by Finn. And the setting felt like a character in its own right. This book has earned one of my coveted stars. (only books I loved earn a star).
Lindy, When outside events interfere with your life, they arrive with a rumble, don’t they? That would have driven me nuts, too. I like my Mom’s home because it’s quiet. I can hear trains, and enjoy them. But, I don’t have diesel pick ups and loud music blaring when I visit her, as I do here. I’m sorry you have to deal with that for four days.
I enjoy the rain, but not day after day. Kudos to you for getting out and walking in it.
Sounds as if you had two good, but very different, books this week.
Diesel pick-ups are the worst! It’s amazing how loud they can be. Especially annoying in the summer when all my windows are wide open.
Lindy, I’m a big fan of William Shaw, especially the DS Alex Cupidi series set in Kent. Will look for this if the library gets it, or if I more reasonably priced edition is published in the US.
Both of your books sound excellent Lindy – and saints be praised, The Red Shore is actually in the Aberdeen City library catalogue.
I sympathise hugely with your noise problems. When the tram lines were being laid outside our house in Edinburgh the drilling was awful. And in order not to incur penalties the contractors started to work all night by the light of massive floodlights. They also had to cordon off different parts of the streets at different times, so you’d go to work, come back and find your morning route fenced off and a tortuous new one (vaguely) signposted.
Now that the trams have been up and running for some time I really appreciate them, but back then we were all losing our minds (& our sleep.)
I hope your film crew has now gone away, and that they repaired the damage they did to the verges (though somehow I doubt it…)
I can’t even imagine having tracks laid near my house. It must have been awful, Rosemary.
Stay Gold, Lesa!
I didn’t like Only Murders In the Building either. It’s like we’re starting a club!
It’s warmer than usual, and my allergies are killing me.
This weekend I accomplished a mission by finally eating at the last Korean BBQ place in town, Bullta. I’d rank it about #5, I think.
This week I read:
The Blind Split by LLyn Farrell; A PI firm is hired to find a long lost heir. Of course, he owes gambling debts. Never quite makes it to hard boiled territory.
The Assassination Game by Kirsten McKay; It’s like a low octane slasher from an 80’s movie set at an elite boarding school. Personally, I think all of these types of schools should be banned. If the rich kids went to public schools, maybe education would be better in this country. I must be becoming a Jacobin in my old age, maybe a Jacobite?
Dear Mad’m by Stella Walthall Patterson; An octagenarian decides she stil has alot of living to do in the Siskiyous. I used to know old women like this, but they’ve largely faded away.
Suhwa by S Jae-Jones; I won this book in a goodreads drawing, It’s the fourth book in a series. It’s a Korean fantasy, but seems way too similar to the usual stuff.
Glen, I don’t know what I’d do without your comments on Thursdays. You always make me look things up, and I love it. I started down a rabbit hole with Jacobites and the House of Stuart.
Ah, yes. At times, I probably am a little like Ponyboy. I consider it a compliment.
I’m sorry about your allergies. I can only imagine how miserable you are at times. I had them when I was in northern Florida for a couple days, and couldn’t stop sneezing and blowing my nose. Miserable.
And I learned about Siskiyous! Always fun to read your reviews!
I also looked up Siskiyous!
I too always look forward to your reviews Glen, and surprisingly often I find some books I’m interested in reading.
Sympathy for the allergies; that must be just awful. Not something you can get away from for even a minute.
First, Congrats to Kim!!! That’s huge.
Second, I guess I’m the oddball in this group, but I love Only Murders. The mysteries could be stronger, but part of that is TV production. They can’t have every suspect in every episode. Still, I enjoy it and really enjoy the bond between the three leads. But I’ve talked to plenty of others who didn’t enjoy it. I’ll definitely have to check out the book.
I’m sorry you have having that NO weather, especially in March. We’re having a heat wave in So Cal. Summer temps. I might not have been fully ready for it, but here we are. Got to enjoy it this weekend before we cool off to more traditional spring weather.
On the reading front, I’m working on an ARC of MURDER, LOCAL STYLE, the third Orchid Isle Mystery from Leslie Karst. I’m enjoying it. These books are set on the Big Island of Hawaii. In this book, Valerie decides to join her neighborhood orchid club, hoping to make some new friends. But when the president of the club dies at a fundraiser, Valerie starts investigating. I should finish it up on Thursday.
It’s just a matter of preference, Mark. That’s why I thought I was odd because so many people seem to love the show. I wanted to like it, but I’m just not good at network television anyways. I drift away after a couple episodes.
Enjoy that gorgeous weather!
Thanks, Mark. I’m delighted with the nomination!
Hi everyone,
I am once again writing this on Wednesday evening, as I will be in Edinburgh from Thursday to Saturday. My middle daughter Anna and I are taking one of the elderly ladies from my mother’s sheltered housing out for coffee. Vicky is such a wonderful person and was so kind to my mother. She’s also had a very interesting life; I will maybe tell you more about her next time.
I’m also fitting in a meeting with one of my best Edinburgh friends. Judith and I worked together at St Mary’s Cathedral for some time; she is still nobly volunteering there, and I am really looking forward to seeing her and hearing her news.
Before I say anything else, many, many congratulations to Kim! What an amazing achievement.
This week I finally finished AT HOME IN MITFORD, which I loved. I know it’s somewhat cosy, but it still addresses many modern day issues, and I, who have no experience whatsoever of life in the American South, enjoyed all the references to things like grits and collard greens (I had to look the latter up and I’m still not entirely sure what they are. We have ‘spring greens’ – are they the same?)
I’m reading A MURDER OF QUALITY by John Le Carre. It was his second Smiley book and predates the much better known TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER SPY and SMILEY’S PEOPLE. It’s all set in a very traditional all-boys’ boarding school. The wife of one of the masters is brutally murdered. Just before her death she wrote to the ‘Christian Voice’, saying that her husband was going to kill her. The editor of the magazine is an old wartime spy colleague of George Smiley’s. Miss Brimley asks Smiley to go to Carne to visit Mrs Rode and find out why she harbours these fears – but before he can do so, the poor woman is found dead.
it’s a classic closed community mystery. Who among the staff or boys at this prestigious, exclusive school wanted Stella Rode dead, and why? She clearly didn’t fit in in this upper class, snobbish, elitist establishment – she was chapel rather than High Anglican, she wore the wrong clothes, mixed with town rather than gown, and her father’s money was made in trade rather than inherited wealth. Smiley, working with Inspector Rigby of the local police force, investigates.
As in all Le Carre’s books, the writing is excellent; his spare, incisive descriptions perfectly evoke the wintry, snow covered fields, the enclosed nature of the school, and the characters of the various suspects. It’s a very short book, only 150 pages or so, and I am enjoying it very much. I need, however, to finish it tonight, as I am too near the end to take it with me to Leith. I will have to find something similarly short, as I don’t want to be lugging a big book onto the bus.
A Murder of Quality also gave rise to a most enjoyable conversation today. I was sitting at the back of the bus on my way back from town; beside me were two adolescent schoolboys. One got off, and a short time later the other said ‘excuse me – what is the book you’re reading?’ I showed him, and asked him about his own reading preferences. He asked me when the book had been written – I was shocked to find that it had been published in 1961 – ancient history for him, and almost history for me! But he had seen the film starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, and said that he often struggled to find a book he wanted to read, but was very interested in film.
It was so lovely to chat with him. So many people in my generation are afraid of young people, but in my experience most of them are wonderful, and this boy was no exception.
I was on my way back from a very interesting talk, given by Dr Frances Wilkins, a lecturer at the Elphinstone Institute, which is part of the University of Aberdeen. It was set up to research and promote Scottish culture, and offers a taught masters and PhD opportunities, plus a big public engagement programme.
Today’s talk was about ‘Musical Traditions of North East Sailors’. I wasn’t really sure whether this would be my thing, but I am so glad I went along as it was absolutely fascinating. Dr Wilkins told us about the musical traditions that grew from the whaling and fur industries – traditions originating in Shetland, Orkney and in the Inuit populations of Northern Canada.
The trading operations of the Hudson Bay Company also led to the exchange not only of goods but also of songs, tunes and even musical instruments. Apparently the Orkney museum has a fiddle made of tin, as the maker knew that a wooden instrument would simply rot in the very damp atmosphere. The loading lists for whaling ships included, in amongst such things as flour and brandy, ‘fiddle strings’, as every ship had a fiddle player to keep the men’s spirits up.
Dr Wilkins also played tunes on the squeeze box. She learned to play this when she was working in a fish factory on Shetland! She also lived in Aberdeen for some years, but now resides on Skye and commutes to the university when she needs to. She has travelled extensively in Shetland, Orkney and Canada (especially James Bay) researching their traditional music scenes and talking to (and recording) some of their key musicians.
It was such an interesting afternoon (and I also had coffee and a delicious scone with jam in Michies’ excellent café, a very traditional Aberdonian establishment and one of the very best places for people watching.)
This week Nancy and I walked at the Blackhall Fisheries, which is a good place for when it’s windy as it’s a sheltered path beside the river, with some beautiful scenery. The fishing season is in full swing, and there were several fishermen standing in the river, something I can’t imagine to be pleasurable, but they seem to enjoy it.
On television I am about to watch the final episode of Season 2 of THE CAPTURE, so that I can move on to the new season currently being aired on the BBC.
We’ve also been watching more episodes of Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse’s Gone Fishing series. It’s such a gentle, entertaining programme, with some beautiful scenery – you really don’t need to know the first thing about fishing to enjoy it (and they always put the fish straight back.) Just two aging men chatting about life, family, food and anything that comes into their minds. They are both such kind people.
Yesterday, on my solitary walk by the river here in Culter, I listened on BBC Sounds to two episodes of THIS CULTURAL LIFE, a series in which John Wilson talks with ‘leading creatives’ about their artistic influences.
I’m not always too sure about RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, but he was really good, not at all full of himself this time, and more than willing to share the disadvantages, as well as the benefits, of being born into a major musical dynasty. He was also clearly having issues with his teenage daughter, and seemed genuinely glad of John Wilson’s assurance that ‘it does get better’!
The other programme featured MARK RONSON, who was equally interesting. He too came from a very privileged but somewhat dysfunctional background; he started DJ-ing from an early age, and talked about his work with, among others, Amy Winehouse. I enjoyed both episodes; Wilson is such a good interviewer and always gets the best from his guests.
It’s well past 9pm here in Scotland, so I am off to watch TV before falling into bed.
I’ll be reading all the posts while I’m on the bus tomorrow, looking forward to hearing everyone’s news and recommendations.
Have a good week all.
Rosemary, loved your conversation with the schoolboy on the bus! True, these days it seems so rare to see someone reading an actual book that you almost want to start a discussion about it. I read those early Le Carre books a long time ago. I think Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was my favorite of his.
Speaking (as you were) of Gary Oldman, we started series three of SLOW HORSES last night. He really made himself look awful as the slovenly Jackson Lamb. We’ve been watching WHERE THE HEART IS, set in a Yorkshire village in the late 1990s, because it starred Pam Ferris and Sarah Lancashire, though it is soapier than my usual fare. The second LYNLEY episode was better than the first, and Havers was not as offensive. Still one more two part BOOKISH to watch.
Jackie read that there will be a new LINE OF DUTY series after all, so we may re-watch the earlier series.
Hi Jeff – yes, it really made my day to have that conversation. The bus is such a great place for these unexpected interactions with people I’d probably never otherwise meet.
I can’t watch any more Slow Horses episodes until we have a new tv, which we intend to buy once we’ve moved house. I’m looking forward to catching up with the later series.
And yes, I’ve read that there’s definitely going to be a new Line of Duty series. I hope it lives up to the last ones! Good idea to rewatch the earlier programmes, I’m sure I’ve forgotten them by now and they were *so* well written and acted.
This talk about Le Carre reminds: I read that spy novelist Len Deighton passed away recenlty. He was very popular for a long time, and created Harry Palmer, famously played by Michael Caine.
Thank you for your congratulations, Rosemary. It’s exciting to be on the list.
That talk about musical traditions of the sailors sounds so interesting! David would have loved it; I wish we’d been there to hear it. Not the same thing at all, but going to several music concerts while visiting Prince Edward Island for three weeks several years ago was one of the things we enjoyed the most while there- fiddles everywhere, wonderful lyrics. We came home with so many CDs and listening to them instantly brings back wonderful memories of that trip.
Oh I wish you could’ve been there too Lindy! None of my friends can be persuaded to come to these talks (which are completely free). Having said that, the sessions are increasingly well supported now. Rosemary Michie puts them on as part of her efforts to get people back into the city centre.
I’d love to visit Prince Edward Island! It looks so pretty.
Aberdeen university is hosting the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention this year – I must remember to look for the details when they become available.
PS Lesa, could you remind me when we are talking about childhood books? I hope it’s not tomorrow?!
No, Rosemary. It’s Friday, April 3 for childhood books. I hope you’re not on a bus somewhere that day. I think most of us will be around. I know it’s Good Friday, but I don’t think most of us are too religious that we can’t find time to talk books that day.
I love the conversation you had with that boy on the bus. And, I admire him for speaking up and asking you what you were reading. I’ve had good and bad experiences with adolescents in my library life, but overall most were good. And, I often employed teens as library pages and computer aides. Some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet, and so kind in working with older people – probably people now my own age, when I say older. (grin)
I love it that you have the opportunity to hear such interesting speakers on such diverse topics.
Enjoy your time in Edinburgh. I hope you do tell us about that next week!
Thanks Lesa – I should be at home over Easter, and I’m looking forward to hearing about everyone’s childhood books. I imagine many will be very different from mine.
Our weather can’t make up its mind. It was 80 last week and in the 30s yesterday. It’s supposed to start warming up today which is good because I want to finish filling my raised beds so I can get the spring vegetables planted in the next week or so.
This week I read The Wolves Are Watching by Victoria Houston.
Loon Lake Sheriff Lew Ferris has her hands full with a couple of missing wolf watchers, illegal sports betting, and a cache of illegal guns.
I liked this better than the last several books. It felt more like one of the older Loon Lake books.
Pendergast: The Beginning by Preston & Child. It’s the story of Pendergast’s first case with the FBI.
I want the two days of my life that I spent reading this back.
An ARC of The Museum of Unusual Occurrence by Erica Wright.
It’s makes perfect sense that a small Florida town that was founded by a group of spiritualists would have a museum of occult oddities. It’s the quiet type of place that mostly tourists visit when they’re passing through. Until a body turns up in one of the exhibits.
I liked the idea behind the story more than the execution but it did have an unexpected ending. I just didn’t really care for the main character.
Knight Life by Peter David. This is an old fantasy book from the 1980s. There’s also a later expanded version which I haven’t read.
King Arthur returns and, since there’s already a monarch in Britain, with Merlin’s help he runs for Mayor of New York City. Morgan Le Fey and Mordred of course try to stop him.
I hope we get some warming trends soon, but since I’m inside watching basketball for the next few days, I guess I really don’t care, Sandy. Good luck with your vegetable beds.
Knight Life sounds good, but I’m glad I didn’t pick up your other books. Good to hear the Loon Lake book was better. That one on pickleball was just ridiculous. I just didn’t care.
SandyG,
One thinks with all the stuff with Charles, Andrew, Fergie, Harry, and Meghan, King Arthur could take the monarchy back with few problems.
Did you know that Old King Cole from the nursery rhyme is reputed to be Arthur’s granson?
I had no idea about Old King Cole.
As much as I like Steve Martin and Martin Short, Only Murders In the Building left me cold. We watched the first series and that was enough.
No snow here, obviously, but it has gotten noticeably colder the last few days in South Florida, sweatshirt and light jacket cold. But it will be warming up again, and we don’t mind the occasional cool day. We had one day of torrential thunderstorms, and light rain yesterday, so no need to wash the car.
Books. Jackie read BIA’S BLADE by Keri Arthur in between the last (HID FROM OUR EYES) and current (AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY) book in the Claire Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series, which she is currently reading.
I think I mentioned Allegra Goodman’s latest story collection (though some, like her publisher, are trying to sell it as a “connected novel” since short story collections don’t sell as well), This Is Not About Us. I liked it quite a bit. This one is mostly about the members of an extended family in the Northeast, mostly the Boston area and suburban New Jersey. Good writer. Currently reading Lauren Groff’s new collection, BRAWLER, which is good so far, as well as a collection of Jack Ritchie stories published in Manhunt in the 1950s. Ritchie is most commonly associated with the old Alfred Hitchcock show, but he was also behind the great Elaine May movie A NEW LEAF.
I discussed Judi Dench (& Brendan O’Hea)’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays The Rent last week, and I finished the book. If you have any interest in Shakespeare’s plays or theater in general, I definitely recommend it. Your appreciation for this great 90 year old actress will only increase. Great stuff.
There has definitely been a thing about older protagonists – detectives, killers, etc. – in the mystery field since Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series first came out. I mentioned I AM NOT THE ONLY MURDERER IN MY RETIREMENT HOME a couple of weeks ago, and now I found another that – superficially at least – looked to be in the same category, but wait… Too Old For This by Samantha Downing is a very different kettle of fish. First, despite what a couple of reviewers claimed, this is NOT humorous at all. Lottie Jones (the name she changed too) was never charged with the murders she committed (she does not deny them) years ago in Spokane, though she was the prime (only?) suspect of the police at the time. Twenty plus years have gone by – she is now in Oregon – and the 75 year old is not happy when a young woman comes to see her about a “docuseries” she is planning, which will review the case and “prove” Lottie was an innocent woman unfairly accused. But she wasn’t innocent, and there seems only one way for Lottie to stop here – with a claw hammer. Everything stems from that moment, as every time you think it’s over, someone else knocks on the door. On the one hand, she’s a killer and not all that sympathetic. On the other, you can’t help but root for her to get away with this. Downing does an excellent job juggling this and you don’t know until the very end which way it will go. Will she get away with it all, or will she get caught at the last minute. Nice job, and I recommend it, as long as you are not expecting humor. And there is a great cover that says it all.
For fans of Jack Reacher or Dez Limerick action thrillers, you should definitely be reading Nick Petrie’s fast moving Peter Ash books, starting (as you must) with the first, THE DRIFTER. Peter is ex-Marine, a man whose past actions at war made it almost impossible for him to sleep indoors when we met him in the first book. But the love of June, a very tough journalist, plus therapy, has given him coping skills that generally work, though being in a police interrogation room is still torture. It’s hard for me to believe we’re up to book nine already, but we are, with the current THE DARK TIME, a book I raced halfway through yesterday. June asks Peter to look out for her friend KT in Seattle, where she has received a serious death threat, for a story she is working on, though she doesn’t know which one. Peter arrives in time to save her, but things kick off from there with almost non-stop action, and I don’t want to say more before I finish, other than to say it is very ‘today’ with where we are in the world, and to encourage anyone who hasn’t done so to pick up THE DRIFTER and go from there.
Jeff, It sounds as if you found time to enjoy some books this week. I know my brother-in-law has read Petrie’s books, but I haven’t picked them up yet. Time! I need more time in my life! And, that’s even in retirement when I don’t go a lot of places.
At least you gave Only Murders in the Building an entire season. Maybe I should have done that. Oh, well.
Good morning everyone – I like the sound of the book, Lesa. And I do like Only Murders in the Building – even when it isn’t very good – simply because I’ve been a big Steve Martin fan since I was young and just looking at him and Martin Short makes me laugh. They are just so irrepressible together.
Speaking of SNOW – we had 20” fall between Friday and Tuesday. Everything was shut down, the snow plows couldn’t keep up and they quite often got stuck. Front loaders were brought in to move snow around because there was no place left to put it! Most everyone was finally able to get out of their driveways yesterday. I went into town to get groceries and felt the pull of the donut shop. When I got there, their shelves were emptier than I’ve ever seen them. I guess being cooped up had everyone craving sweets!
I mentioned last week that I had started Scarpetta on Prime. Since I was stuck inside, I started watching more and now I”m hooked. I’ve been binge watching, which I rarely do. It has elements of a soap opera to it, so be warned.
I finished two books:
-Jigsaw by Jonthan Kellerman. It’s always great to have another Alex Delaware novel to read. Alex and Milo are trying to identify the murderer of an ex-detective and her retarded daughter, and a younger girl who has no connection to the these other women, yet the mode of death has Alex thinking they are related. Some graphic descriptions has me not liking this novel quite as much as some others, so I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.
-Murder at the Breakers (A Gilded Newport Mystery) by Alyssa Maxwell. I think this was on someone’s favorites list. Emmaline is a 21 year old cousin of the Vanderbilt’s, living in her inherited house, left to her by Aunt Sadie, in Newport, RI. Her older brother, Brady, is constantly getting into minor scrapes with the law, and since their bohemian artist parents are in Paris, it falls on Emma to rescue and mother Brady. But this Brady appears to have murdered Cousin Cornelius’s accountant, Mr. Goddard. Emma sets out to prove that Brady was framed. Emma turns out to be a bit of a busy body in her investigations, which has caused the real killer to take numerous attempts on Emma’s life. Her suspects include her cousin Neilie, her father’s best friend from college Jack Parson’s, the Vanderbilt’s fired butler, and her best friend Adelaide’s husband. Set in 1895, this cozy mystery held my interest because of its historical fiction related to the Vanderbilt’s. Emma’s disregard on the attempts on her life did seem a bit over the top though.
Oh, my gosh, Mary. Way too much snow for me. I do find it kind of funny, though, that everyone headed to the doughnut shop when they could get out.
I’m not sure, but Mark might have had Alyssa Maxwell on his Favorites list. I enjoy historical connections in my mysteries, too.
Good morning, all! Count me in as one of the club–I couldn’t warm to Only Murders in the Building either, and I thought it was just me. I kept feeling like I SHOULD like it, so I watched a few episodes, but nope! I should have listened to myself.
Today I’m in a low mood from a conversation I had at my card game yesterday. I don’t like anything to affect the fun of the game, but for some reason this one has had a negative impact on me. I’m also having some unpleasant interactions with a difficult author who insists on having her article published in our newsletter exactly as she wrote it, with concessions that I don’t make for anyone else (formatting, photo size, promotion, etc.) I should have known–she once insisted to the chapter president that her short story be included in the chapter’s anthology after it had been rejected by the team (blind judging), but fortunately the president stood firm. She has resisted any very minor editing I have suggested to make the article flow better. I’ll snap out of it, but not until I get to have breakfast after I get some labs done at 9:40, which required fasting. Sorry–thank you for letting me vent!
It’s been highs in the 80s here, which is kind of pleasant, but way too soon (I know you disagree, Lesa). I think it will be in the 70s for the upcoming week, which I like better.
Lesa, thank you for your review of The Outsiders. I see that it’s coming to my area in the fall, and I was wondering if I should buy a ticket.
Here’s what I finished this week:
CAT ON A HOT TIN WOOF, 16th in Spencer Quinn’s Chet & Bernie Mysteries, is all about finding an adorable missing cat, Miss Kitty, who has gone viral on social media and is providing a much-needed steady stream of income for her teenage owner, Bitty, and her mother. But it leads to some unexpected mayhem that presents multiple challenges for PI Bernie and his intrepid sidekick, super-sized mutt Chet. Let’s be serious–the lure of these books is the relationship between the two. Bernie adopted Chet after the dog was ousted from K-9 training after an unfortunate incident with a cat, and they have become a very effective and close-knit team. Chet, who idolizes idolizes Bernie, narrates each of the books in the most charming way–he understands what Bernie is saying, but he interprets it literally, leading to some hilarious misunderstandings. And, of course, he is frustrated that he can’t communicate his thoughts and discoveries in words to Bernie. But Chet has a heightened sense of smell, which often comes in handy in investigations, and he can always be counted on to get Bernie out of scrapes and threatened (or real) violence. I love this series, which is comfort reading for me because I enjoy spending time with this pair, and this book cover is one of the most delightful. Unfortunately, part of the plot here involves rare earth investments, which I don’t know anything about, or care about. Happily, this theme gets short shrift in the story, but I would have appreciated something more interesting. On a more positive note, I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Senior Piggy, a large pig who plays a role in the mystery. I will definitely keep looking for the next Bernie and Chet mystery. (April)
In GOOD JOY, BAD JOY, Joy is 89 years old and has led a mostly quiet life in small-town New York, serving as a homemaker for her husband and daughter and giving free piano lessons to local children whose parents can’t afford to pay. She gives some of the neediest and hungriest children new clothes and shoes and makes sure they have a home-baked treat when their lesson is over. Some of her happiest hours have been with her best friend Hazel, who has led a much bolder, more colorful life in the big city and around the world. When Joy learns that Hazel has a terminal illness, she can’t imagine who she will be without her closest friend since childhood, despite the many differences between them. As she does her best to make Hazel’s final days comfortable and upbeat, she can’t resist breaking out of her comfort zone to try some things she has always avoided. That’s where the story broke down a bit for me. Watching Joy acting out like a teenager with stunts that could come back to haunt her, including some that are potentially dangerous, I felt there were other things that she could have done to make her life more fulfilling and satisfying that would be more in keeping with the theme of the story: understanding and accepting oneself and living life to the fullest, even at an advanced age. I did, however, enjoy Joy’s wonderful relationship with her grandson and her platonic friendship with a new neighbor who had spent some time in prison, as well as her finally having the gumption to confront the town gossip and a former friend who had betrayed her. Brammer’s debut novel, The Collected Regrets of Clover, which has a similar theme, although with a 36-year-old death doula protagonist, was a 5-star read, whereas this one missed the mark by a bit. (May)
IU forgot to mention that the author of Good Joy, Bad Joy is Mikki Brammer.
Margie, Sending hugs. That won’t help a lot, but maybe coffee or tea after your bloodwork will help. I’m sorry about the difficult author. I dealt with a few when I did programming, but yours sounds like trouble. I’m sorry you have to deal with her.
Oh, I agree. Love 80s. /Those are my temperatures, but it is too early for them. I like a gradual warm up and then just stay there so I have time to enjoy them!
Margie, Linda almost wanted to leave at intermission, but she had no idea what was happening since she never read the book, and I was no help since I read it when I was in my teens. However, there was resolution in the second half, and we were both satisfied. I think you might want to get a ticket. I was totally absorbed in the show. The actors were spot on, although most of them were very young. It was the first professional show for many of them, and they did a great job. I can’t rave enough about the choreography and staging. So well done!
Lesa, your virtual hugs always help. Thank you. When I got back from the bloodwork, I went for a walk in the neighborhood, and I met a woman on her own walk who recently moved into our community and lives very close We had a great conversation, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Also, Im pretty sure I will buy a ticket for The Outsiders, as I think you and I are often on the same wavelength when it comes to musicals. Thank you for the recommendation.
Now, you know what to expect from The Outsiders, Margie.
I completely empathize with you feeling unsettled after those two incidents Margie. But I do like your phrase ‘low mood’. I will use it myself from now on. Perfectly captures the feeling when things like that happen! Hoping next week will be a much better one for you.
Thank you, Lindy! I’m feeling happier after a walk ajd some food.
Margie,
I hope the author is nobody I know!
My lips are sealed!
Hello Lesa. It’s sweet of you to mention my nomination again–thank you! Sunny weather in the low fifties here with a chilly breeze–but still very pleasant. However, snow is expected on Sunday. Well, what can you expect from March?
This past Monday, I had my (more-or-less) once-a-month lunch with our son in Zürich, where he has lived for the past six years. This is always a treat. (I’ve probably mentioned that Zürich’s only an hour from Bern by train, and he works a fifteen-minute walk from the train station.) So that made my week.
I’m not going to be at all helpful on the subject of books this week, but I thought I’d report in anyway. I’m three-quarters of the way through ALCHEMIZED by Sen Lin Yu. It’s so violent and full of descriptions of the heroine either observing torture, healing people in terrible pain, or experiencing agony herself that when I get into bed at night, I switch to reading one of the books on several people’s comfort lists, SEPTEMBER, by Rosamunde Pilcher. You may wonder why I’m still reading a book that is so disturbing and strange, and I wonder myself, but I want to know what happens! So I carry on reading it when I have time during the day (like on my train rides to Zürich and back on Monday!), but not in the evening. It’s just under 1000 pages, but I should be able to report on the ending by next Thursday!
Some of you may be familiar with the MURDERBOT novellas by Martha Wells. I read perhaps the first three or four, enjoyed them, and then got distracted. This week, I decided to try another one (novel-length) as an audiobook. I’m enjoying, as I always have, the voice and persona of the hero, a security robot who has freed himself from human command and is learning to become an emotional being with “friends.” But the plot isn’t working too well, at least not for me. Oh, forgot to say that this one (#5) is called NETWORK EFFECT. It has received a huge amount of praise and great reviews, so my finding the action boring is clearly my problem.
Kim, how wonderful that SPLINTERED JUSTICE was nominated for the Barry Award! That is quite an honor. I enjoyed reading PESTICIDE very much, and I have a copy of book 2 in the series, SONS & BROTHERS, to read soon so that I can move on to the next two books in the series.
Thanks for the congratulations, Tracy, and for letting me know that you enjoyed Pesticide–I’m so glad. Hope you like Sons and Brothers, too–it’s my favorite.
You’re right, Kim. It’s March so up-down- weather is expected. It’s so nice that you can have monthly lunches with your son.
Your dark fantasy isn’t my kind, but sometimes you have to find out how a book ends.
Congratulations on your award, Kim!
We gave up on Only Murders in the Building too. I think we made it through 3 seasons but then we canceled HULU so it’s a moot point. We mostly watch PBS, Acorn TV and Britbox. Right now, we are settled into the new season of Canal Boat Diaries with Robbie Cumming. I don’t think the narrowboat lifestyle would be for me, but Robbie has been living on the Naughty Lass for 8-10 years now. We do enjoy traveling the canal network via our armchairs.
I finished 3 books this week. The Sister of Book Row by Shelley Noble taught me about something I did not know-the reign of censor Anthony Comstock on Manhattan’s Book Row, 40 shops along Fourth Avenue in 1915. The story was about the three Applebaum sisters who ran their late father’s antiquarian bookstore. The youngest sister is involved with Margaret Sanger and the birth control movement. The middle sister, Daphne wants a husband and children and an escape from the musty book shop. Oldest sister, Olivia deals with the restoring and selling of rare manuscripts. But they all live in fear of the raids from the Society for the Suppression Vice. It was difficult to not draw parallels to our current political situation with the banning of books and women’s health. I learned a lot and enjoyed this one.
My second book is the Modern Mrs. Darcy’s book selection for April. In Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Nina leaves her husband for her neighbor across the street in 1977. The book then follows the repercussions with both families and then jumps to the 1990’s where the effects are still felt. I enjoyed this one very much too.
My last book was a comfort read for me. In The Memory Gardener by Meg Donohue, Lucy Barnes has the uncanny ability to know which scent from her flowers will awaken a memory to a person and remind them of something from the past which just might change their future. The book takes place at the Oceanview Home, a senior living residence in the San Francisco area. Lucy is hired to bring the neglected gardens back to life. She becomes attached to the residents and brings changes to their lives as well as her own. This was very sweet and endearing. I also learned about the flowers grown in the gardens.
I don’t follow much basketball, Lesa but we are following the Cinderella story of the Miami University team after their undefeated season. We are mostly excited for the beginning of The Baseball!
Happy Reading!
Thanks, Sharon!
I have The Sisters of Book Row on my TBR pile, Sharon, so I’m happy to hear you liked it. The Memory Garden sounds good.
I used to watch baseball when my husband was alive, and we went to a lot of games. Not much anymore, but I do know how to score a game.
I am a mess this week, tangling with “We will call you back and they don’t”., a denand for a payment for the remaining 20 % after Medicare pays BEFORE my appointment. I checked their records. They made a mistake on the name of my secondary insurance!
Also have a PFO or a hole in a certain part of my heart. It can allow a blood clot goes to my brain, cause low oxygen levels and migraines, you name. So my new primary told me to get an earlier appointment. with my cardiologist. I will see him on Monday., There is a test to measure how big the hole is and I need to convince him to let me take the test. I printed the results that found the PFO but it is usually ignored in women and older people. I have struggled all my life with low blood oxygen levels, I have been scolded for them! Anyway, that is on the agenda for next week.
I read The First Mountain Man #32
Preacher’s Hell by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone, a western. It was written with a folksy sense of humor but it was too much violence for me. Tomahawks flying, gunshots and acrobatic fighrs, too much action for me but there were good hearted people. But not for my taste,
Also started On Both Sides of the Wall: A Resistance Fighter’s Firsthand Account of the Warsaw Ghetto by Vladka Meed and Steven D. Meed (her son). She wrote in serial form in Yiddish, published in a Jewish paper, and later her son translated it from Yiddish and added an interview with her. It is an amazing book. She was picked to act as a courier because her facial features looked more like Polish than Jewish. Her father died of pneumonia, her mother, sister, and brother all died at a concentration camp.
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Oh, Carol. It’s awful that we’re secondary patients.I¡m sorry. I hope things go better for you next week. I’ll be thinking of you. Sending hugs.
You read some tough subjects.
Bad enough to have to get tests at the cardiologist for a serious condition–and then trouble with your medical insurance. I feel for you, Carol. Sending hopeful thoughts!
Carol, will be keeping you in my thoughts. I sure hope you can get the test you need.
Was it you who recommended the book Coal River? I am just starting it.
Take good care!
Yes, I loved that book!
Lesa, our weather has been the opposite of yours. We have a heat advisory for temperatures into the 80s. We have been getting out and doing a lot of yard work out in the front due to overgrown plants and weeds we need to clean up. We have a condo, so the area is small but there is plenty to work on. We can only really work about an hour in the morning before it gets too hot.
Glen is reading a nonfiction book: GERMANY 1923: HYPERINFLATION, HITLER’S PUTSCH, AND DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS by Volker Ullrich. He is 60 pages in and so far it is kind of dry. He and I both read an earlier book by Ullrich (EIGHT DAYS IN MAY) that we liked.
He is also reading THE UNSETTLED DUST, eight longish short stories by Robert Aickman. He has read other books by Aickman, and likes his writing. Glen says that these stories are mostly mood pieces and the writing is beautiful.
I recently finished reading the third Irish Gardening mystery by Sheila Pim, A BRUSH WITH DEATH. At first it did not seem to live up to my expectations based on the first book, COMMON OR GARDEN CRIME, but after about 50 pages it picked up and got more interesting (and humorous). It is a very short book, around 150 pages. (Lesa read and reviewed the second book, CREEPING VENOM.)
Now I am reading THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans. I am not far enough into the book to know how I feel about it, but so far I am finding it a very interesting read. It is a fiction book made up of the correspondence in letters and emails, etc. of an older retired woman. And lots of mentions of books she is reading … so far. Lesa reviewed this in April this year. I cannot remember if anyone else here has read it.
Lots of people here read The Correspondent, Tracy. In fact, it made several Favorites lists. I hope you enjoy it.
Too early for that kind of heat, Tracy!
Yay for Kim!
I’m reading Vladimir by Julia May Jonas and listening to The Hippie Trail by Rick Steeves! Both are pretty good! I find listening to non fiction a lot easier than reading it.
I bet you’re right, Melissa. I do don’t audiobooks, but I bet it is easier to listen to nonfiction. And, I could listen to Rick Steves.