The weekend was busy, and this coming weekend will be as well. I needed the down time in the middle. Saturday, I had the library’s book tasting, and then went to Linda’s. Linda and Kevin’s oldest son was in town with his daughter, so Mom and Christie came down to see them. I lost multiple games of Hungry, Hungry Hippo to a four-year-old. But, I also had the chance to read to her. Sunday was dinner at their place, and a very long game of UNO. Today, I’m on the road to Mom’s, so I probably won’t be around until afternoon. We’re all going to be there at one time or another so we can finalize plans for Mom’s 90th birthday party. On Sunday, before we return home, we have the baptism and follow-up lunch for Christie’s youngest grandson. So, lots of family time this week, which is wonderful. What about you? What have you been doing?
I just started Jennifer N. Brown’s historical mystery, The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton. Since I just started it, here’s the summary. A dual-timeline murder mystery set in an English country manor, when an ambitious professor discovers the long-lost manuscript of a Reformation-era prophetess
Historian Alison Sage has made a groundbreaking archival discovery―she found a manuscript containing the prophecies of a 16th century nun, Elizabeth Barton. Barton’s prophecy condemning Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn led to her execution and the destruction of all copies of her prophecies―or so the world believed.
With Alison’s discovery, she is catapulted to academic superstardom and scores an invitation to the exclusive Codex Consortium, a week of research among a select handful of fellow historians at a crumbling manor in England, located next to the ruins of the priory where Elizabeth herself once lived.
What begins as a promising conference turns into a nightmare as the eerie house becomes the site of a murder. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect, and it seems that answers lie at the root of a local legend about centuries-old hidden treasure. Alison’s research makes her best-suited to solve the mystery―but when old feelings resurface for a former colleague, and the stakes of the search skyrocket, everyone’s motives become murky.
I’ll catch up with you later today. In the meantime, what did you do this week. Most important, what are you reading?
I like that all the family will have a hand in planning your Mom’s 90(!) birthday party Lesa, and I can tell she’s a much loved lady.
I don’t have much to report from this week. David and I had fun on our little getaway to Victoria earlier in the week and between then and today it’s been fairly quiet. We went out to our favourite breakfast place this morning (we’ve been going there a time or two every month since they opened eight years ago) and the owners happened to come in today to do some ordering of supplies and such, but took the time to sit with us and have their breakfast together with us. We’ve become friends over the years. They left before we did and when it came time to pay we were told the cost of our breakfast had already been taken care of. Such a nice surprise!
Books this week:
A WIDOW’S CHARM by Caitlyn Paxson
A fun historical-ish romance with a smidge of a fantasy element.
Hilde’s (Lady Croft) husband Thorgoode has recently died which leaves not just her own security at stake (she was a maid before marrying him), but that of the wellbeing of all the tenants of Eldmere. All of them and Eldmere itself will now be at the mercy of Thorgoode’s brother, known as The Western Harrier. He is a nasty individual and intent on keeping alive the long war between Eldmere and Relance, thereby putting the lives of all the young men at risk as he orders them to war.
Lord Elmwood, a lord but also a soldier, has been banished from Eldmere because of something that happened during the unending war. He suffers from what must be PTSD as it would be known today, and seems to care for nothing and no one. He is on the run and hides out at the Merewyth estate, the only piece of land not controlled by the Harrier.
Back to Hilde who has decided that the only way to save Croftholde and its citizens is to blackmail Lord Elmwood into resurrecting her dead husband, although he unequivocally refuses to do so as he has vowed to never again use this ability; or ‘charm’.
Both Hilde and Elmwood are flawed and broken to some degree, yet likeable even though they use people to get what they want/need, but deep down are both kind and good at heart.
The side characters are well-depicted –Winthrop, Elmwood’s best friend. Han, Hilde’s prickly sister. And Lady Isobel, who we don’t want to like but who we can’t exactly dislike either.
This was not quite as cozy as the pretty blue cover suggests, due to some deeper issues, and a couple of ‘spicy’ scenes, but was an entertaining story from start to finish (well maybe from around page 30 to the finish), full of banter, misunderstandings, drama, and heart. And a delightful dog named Rollo. I enjoyed the book!
THE CHAMBERMAID’S KEY by Genevieve Graham
I always learn a little bit of Canadian history when I read one of Genevieve Graham’s novels – and she’s so good at bringing it to life because we experience it right along with the characters.
Told in dual timelines, 1929 and 2024, this one is set in Toronto at the newly-built luxurious Dominion Hotel.
In 1929 Rosie Ryan is 17 years old and lives in ‘The Ward’, an overcrowded and poor area of Toronto filled with a melting pot of nationalities of all the immigrants who’ve settled there. Ever since she first saw the beginnings of the hotel’s construction, Rosie was determined to get herself a job there as a chambermaid and build a better life for herself. What a fine thing it would be to work in such a magnificent building. She will allow herself no distractions and do the best job humanly possible to prove herself to Mrs. Evans, the head maid. Despite her best intentions distraction arrives anyway in the form of Damien, a charismatic handsome young waiter. The pair of them get caught up in a dangerous situation involving a murder and a high-level gangster staying at the hotel, the repercussions of which carry right on through to the present day.
In 2024 Bridget Kelly is a City Building Inspector who is overseeing some renovations recently undertaken at the Dominion Hotel to restore it to its original elegance and glory. As she undertakes her inspections she becomes across a number of things that cause her concern, but the more she tries to find out what’s going on the more strongly she’s warned off. She gets some unexpected help from Matthew, an archivist at the City of Toronto Archives.
Through the dual timelines we learn how the events of 1929 and 2024 are connected. Although I didn’t like this book quite as much as the author’s The Secret Keeper, this entertaining novel has history, secrets, a mystery, suspense, and emotional heft, and you can’t help getting attached to the characters and their lives.
This week, we’ve had weather around 90 degrees, high winds, and thunderstorms.
Went to the Sacramento Book Festival. I used to go to the Antiquarian Book Fair at the same site, and it was pretty easy. This was a madhouse. Despite the huge parking lot, I had to park on the street about half a mile away, dodging cars the whole way in. The place was crammed. There was the book festival AND a Psychic Convention at the same spot, and it was tough telling who was who. It was a crush, and you could hardly get anywhere. Still, I was able to attend a panel, see some authors I knew, and get a couple of books to put on the stack. It seemed like there were way too many “Dark Gothic Fantasy” authors for what the market could support, but maybe there’s more Goths around than I thought.
This week I read:
Cold Zero by Brad Thor and Ward Larsen; When the CIA smuggles an AI expert out of China, the CCP is able to crash the plane in the Arctic. From there, we get a survival novel AND a submarine novel as the passenger try to survive, and the Chinese, the Russians, and the US try to find the plane. At least they kept the character development subplots so common in the disaster genre to a minimum. Might be the first in a series.
The Cliffs of Palos Verdes by David Bueche; A PI is hired to learn whether an obvious suicide is a murder. Of course it is, and of course, there’s a cult, but at least there’s a science fictional plot device to keep things interesting.
The Hard Line by Mark Greaney; This is really a placeholder novel, but at least it’s got a lot of action. The CCP is executing a plan to kill off a tier of the American government. The Gray Man doesn’t have much of a plan but to kill off the assassins. Meanwhile, a couple of the assassins are more interested in killing The Gray Man than anything else.
Without Fail by Lee Child; It’s the old saw about a sniper being recruited by a government agent to pretend to kill the Vice President. It hits a bit different after recent events, especially when you read about all the people supporting assassination.
Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aron Ralston; The guy who went out in the wilderness and got his arm caught by a boulder and had to cut if off tells his story. Very unpleasant in parts.
It’s been an unusual week. My remote co-workers are in the office, so I haven’t been eating lunch like usual, and my reading is behind where it would normally be. But it’s been good to have them there. Fun if a little stressful as I try to cram everything in.
All this to say I’m not quite half way through STAKEOUTS AND STROLLERS by Rob Phillips. I’m really enjoying the book; I just need more reading time. The story follows a new dad and new PI as he gets pulled into a case involving a missing man.
Everyone leaves Thursday at noon, so I’m sure I’ll get more time to read soon.