A Nice Class of Corpse / Simon Brett

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Melita Pargeter belongs in the “older woman sleuth" category somewhere between Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club. Published in 1986, Brett created her before the current torrent of what one of my friends refers to as Old Fart Fiction. Unlike Miss Marple, who is very moral (and judgmental truly), Mrs. Pargeter has lived with a husband who we infer was a charming criminal. She has picked up certain skills and contacts from her partner before his death.

Thinking of Miss Marple and Agatha Christie, I've been reading Christie's novels in publication order, one per month, for a couple of years now. One of the interesting aspects of this reading is watching the evolution of England's class system over the decades. Simon Brett picks up where Christie left off. He presents us with a boarding house for the elderly. But, heavens, we mustn't call it that! It's a hotel and its penny pinching manager, Miss Naismith, bullies the inmates into “suitable" behaviour. She carefully curates her clientele and judiciously raises the rent whenever possible. Mrs. Pargeter rather enjoys tweaking Miss Naismith, whose imagined gentility in public is followed by gin and soft porn in private. Neither habit is disgraceful unless you're pretending to be above such failings. Brett has fun peopling the hotel with an assortment of characters of varying backgrounds and allowing them to bump into each other's prejudices in amusing ways.

Who better to solve a crime than the attentive spouse of a successful criminal? Mrs. Pargeter is an interesting main character and I am glad to see that Brett has penned more adventures for her.

Atonement Sky / Nalini Singh

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

I know I can count on Nalini Singh for a consistent product. With my reading energy low as I continue to recover from Influenza A, I needed something easy to read. With this book, I could enjoy a new story while knowing exactly how things would end. Comfort reading without rereading.

Singh has obviously decided to expand her Changeling world in the Trinity series. In this installment, we are introduced to the Falcon shifters. Previously, they had been referenced as allies of the leopard and wolf shifters, but were very much peripheral characters. Now we meet Adam Garrett, wingleader of the falcons. Of course there is a Psy character involved as well (I think they are Singh's favourite characters, just as they are mine). Eleri is a Justice Psy, able to record memories of criminals and share them with law enforcement. This is a heavy burden for Js to bear, memories of horrible events. Eleri has been sent for “reconditioning“ so often that she is unsure how much of herself is truly left. But until her death, she intends to hunt serial killers.

Adam and Eleri have a past history which they must overcome for their HEA. This is Singh, so I knew that they would be successful. The question is how and she writes interesting problem solutions. I am now caught up on this series which is both satisfying and sad, as I have no more quick reads to look forward to. But there are still plenty of unresolved issues, so I expect a new installment soon.

Elephants Can Remember / Agatha Christie

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

Almost done reading all of Dame Agatha's novels. Only three remain now. This one was pleasurable in that it featured one of my favourite characters, Ariadne Oliver, who is being her usual scatty, bewildered self. Against her better judgment, Mrs. Oliver attends a literary luncheon. After the meal, she gets cornered by one of the bossy, pushy women that she loathes, Mrs. Buxton-Cox. This person proceeds to question Mrs. Oliver about the family history of one of her god-daughters, Celia. Apparently Celia's parents were found shot in a likely murder-suicide and Mrs. B-C wants to know who killed who, as her son is planning to marry Celia.

After escaping this harrowing situation, Ariadne goes directly to her good friend Hercule Poirot. Can the two of them determine the circumstances of Celia's parents deaths? Ariadne goes in search of people who have memories of that period of time and the principals involved—she refers to these folk as “elephants,” those who don't forget. I loved her metaphor of going elephant hunting.

I enjoyed the novel despite the fact that I easily divined the solution to the mystery. This is highly unusual, as Dame Agatha bamboozles me regularly. I will be interested to see what the final novels are like.

Miss Winter in the Library With a Knife / Martin Edwards

 

3 out of 5 stars 

This book was not at all what I expected. The title suggested the game of Clue, which I enjoyed playing as a tween. I'm unsure how that would translate into fiction, but this didn't appeal to me at all. I would never have persevered with it, but it was one of only two books that I had with on a hospital isolation ward, recovering from Influenza A. The TV was dreadful, they were deadly serious about the isolation, and I had neglected to throw my tablet charger into my bag. In my defense, I was mostly trying to breathe and stay upright.

I am not a puzzle solver, generally speaking, so the proffered brain teasers didn't excite me at all (and while you wrestle with the flu virus, your brain isn't up to snuff any way.) I also have to say that I really didn't like ANY of the characters. Especially our main narrator, Harry Crystal. He just seemed like such a sad sack. His own estimation of his talent was low and that opinion rubbed off on me.

I finished up a couple of days after getting home. It felt like putting my hospital stay in the rearview mirror. I am sure there is an audience for this, but it somehow failed to charm me. I hope others enjoy it more.

The Moon and the Sun / Vonda N. McIntyre

 

3.25 out of 5 stars 

Book 25 of the 2025 Read Your Hoard Challenge

I like Vonda McIntyre’s writing and I could see why this novel won a Nebula award. It was crowded with ideas, many of which could be boiled down to who is recognized as fully human. The main character, Marie-Josephe de la Croix, is a woman from the Indies in the court of the Sun King Louis XIV. The stratigraphy of society could not be more clearer. His Highness is the ultimate authority—what he says goes, even if you are the Pope. Marie-Josephe is very low in the court hierarchy and she must fulfill the expectations of her sponsors if she is to survive there. She is an intelligent woman who prefers natural history, mathematics, or music to court life, and her time in a convent has left her naïve about the true nature of the courtiers who surround her.

When Marie-Josephe’s brother, Yves, returns to court with two sea monsters (one dead, one alive) it falls to her to feed and train the living specimen. His return also reunites Marie-Josephe with her Turkish slave, Odelette. While Marie-Josephe is made to feel her own unworthiness, she cannot help but acknowledge the intelligence and emotions of both Odelette and the sea creature. She is not comfortable with the court's dismissal of the basic rights of thinking beings.

This is alternate history, so there are many real historical figures represented here. McIntyre obviously did a ton of research to get the details of the period correct. Unfortunately, many of the people with titles have at least two names, their given names plus their titles. This can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning. It was an interesting idea, to introduce a mermaid-like person to the King's court and to set an innocent young woman in opposition to the most powerful man in Europe.

Nevertheless, from time to time I found the going difficult. Marie-Joseph could have been a bit more sophisticated in my opinion. Her completely misguided ideas about sex got tiresome quickly and they prevented her from effectively using what little influence she had. Still, I'm not unhappy to have read this book and will read more of McIntyre’s work eventually.

Silver and Lead / Seanan McGuire

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Nineteen books into this series and October Daye is still going strong! The character October (better known as Toby) has come a long way since the first volume, Rosemary and Rue. Toby has gained confidence in herself and her abilities. She has acquired a fleet of friends and a house full of chosen family. She has often regretted the rift between her eldest daughter, Gillian, and herself, as written in earlier installments, but she has happily housed and fed a coterie of teenagers who have become like her own. Now, she and her new husband Tybalt are welcoming another babe into their household.

At the book's beginning, Tybalt is stuck in overprotective mode. Mind you, he has reason, as Toby, who is after all a Hero of Faerie, tends to charge into action impulsively. In the opening chapter, Toby is trying to heed everyone else's desires to keep her safe, but feels like she is under house arrest and dying of boredom. When her Queen requests her assistance, Toby jumps at the chance to do something. But this is Toby we're talking about, so you know that things will go spectacularly wrong!

As always, I love McGuire's use of fairy lore and her alternative reality of Faerie anchored in the Western United States. (And that her squire, Quentin, is from a Canadian royal family.) Her “rules" are consistent, if very different from our own conventions and they make for interesting complications. While I may not be quite as enthusiastic about fantasy including Fae characters as I was five years ago, I still make room for Toby in my reading life because of the strength of McGuire's world building.

I don't know what McGuire's plans are for Toby and company, but there remain unanswered questions at this book's end, so I can plan reasonably surely to read at least one more volume in the future. No doubt Toby will be risking herself once more, to Tybalt's dismay. But who knows? Perhaps motherhood will temper her impulsive nature (not that I believe it will). I’ll anticipate the next book with pleasure.

They're All Named Poppy / Sarah L. Pratt

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Book 24 of the 2025 Read Your Hoard Challenge

I should state up front that Sarah Pratt is a friendly acquaintance of mine. She is the dungeon master of my mystery book club and we both attend a local writers conference each August. I had heard her read from this work on two occasions and bought it on that basis. I had the advantage of hearing her voice in my mind's ear as I read Poppy. Humour is a very personal taste, but I understand and appreciate Sarah's.

Dana is a pharmacist, but that seems to be secondary to her gravitational attraction for eccentric people. It soon becomes apparent that she has oddities of her own. Sarah produces a varied assortment of characters. Despite the brevity of this novella, I found them well described. There's Ben, the hypochondriac who frequents Dana's pharmacy. Then we meet Louise with a prosthetic foot and a belligerent attitude. And Porky, so called because he wears a tee shirt but no pants. He a nudist but sensitive about his belly. Eventually we meet Constable Ted Partridge who may complicate life for all of them.

As I said, Dana has her own kinks. She haunts a hookup app for serial one night stands. As soon as the deed is done, she barely has time to get dressed before she is compelled to get away. The descriptions of her carnal encounters were amusing, to say the least.

At one of the readings that I attended, Sarah told us a bit about the dream that started this writing project. I wish my subconscious was half so creative or that I could remember my dreams at all. Dream on, Sarah!