A Field Guide to Murder / Michelle L. Cullen

 

3 out of 5 stars 

Ever since Richard Osman published The Thursday Murder Club, its success has inspired other authors to jump on the older character bandwagon. I don't mind because I'm an older adult myself and I have been enjoying fiction that features characters of my own age. Often the main character is a woman, but this novel features a man, Harry Lancaster, who has had a fall and injured a hip. He has hired a caregiver, Emma, to help out while he heals. This is an excellent way of introducing a younger sidekick to the action.

I appreciated that Harry was written as still being intellectually sharp and curious, just hindered by a temporary physical ailment. He assumes a somewhat paternal relationship with Emma, but isn't pushy with his opinions. Emma is supposed to be happily planning her wedding but is actually experiencing ice cold feet. Her fiancé seems to expect to run her life because he will make more money than her, which is bothering her (as it should). Harry encourages Emma to trust her feelings, even as she is pressured by her family to go ahead with the wedding.

The title of this volume inspired me to hope for a birding connection, what with the crow and binoculars on the dust jacket and the title including Field Guide. It turns out that Harry keeps an eye on his neighbours as a way of distracting himself from his grief for his late wife, not birds. So that was a tiny disappointment. More distracting was the stiff writing style. The author is an anthropologist turned writer and this appears to be her first novel. There is potential here, as I managed to lose myself in the action from time to time despite what I perceived as stilted expression. As usual with an amateur sleuth book, I found the level of meddling in an active investigation to be unrealistic and the detective involved puts up with far more interference than he should. This is a perennial complaint of mine, however, and Cullen is just following the established pattern of the cozy mystery genre.

Publicity for this novel recommends it for readers of Osman or Deanna Raybourn. Take that advice with a grain of salt, as Cullen is not nearly as skilled as either of those authors, but you could certainly do worse in the cozy mystery category.

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold / Seanan McGuire

 

3.7 out of 5 stars 

One of the things I appreciate about McGuire's Wayward Children series is that each volume is just a bite-size snack. In my opinion this one is better than the last couple of books as it isn't overly preachy. This is several children from Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children engaged in active problem solving.

Nancy Whitman has found her place: in the Halls of the Dead, serving as a living statue, reveling in the stillness and not being rushed by the pace of life in our reality. Trouble is stirring in those same Halls, however, as the restless dead suddenly start killing any of the “statues" who accidentally move and reveal their living status. The Lady of the Halls comes to Nancy and requests her help. Can she recruit friends to help prevent more deaths?

So Nancy returns to the school to petition for assistance from her friends. Several of them (Sumi, Kade, Talia and Christopher) volunteer to return with her to try to sort things out. Needless to say, there are complications.

I have the feeling that this is a transitional book in the series, that McGuire is setting the stage for the next installment. I really can't complain, as it was an engaging little adventure that didn't take a big chunk of my reading time.

Murder at Gulls Nest / Jess Kidd

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Jess Kidd has written a very original amateur sleuth in this mystery novel. Nora Breen has just been released from the religious order where she has lived for decades. The monastery has provided a few clothes, collected from women entering their service, and a small amount of money, which is how Nora finds herself wandering about Gore-on-Sea in a horrible puce coat, a beret, an ill fitting dress, and heavy, unattractive shoes (which will be of great utility later).

Nora has requested her freedom because she is concerned about a young friend, Frieda, who wrote to her weekly from Gore-on-Sea, and then seemingly just disappeared. Nora is now living in Frieda's room at a rundown boarding house, Gulls Nest, where she is methodically investigating her friend's fate. The denizens of Gulls Nest are rather rundown themselves. This may sound like an Agatha Christie setting, but Kidd's boarding house is much less genteel than any of Christie's. It is dirty, dusty, and shabby. The housekeeper, Irene Rawlings, has an ironclad set of rules and an unfortunate style of cooking. The landlady, Helena, is uninvolved in the running of the household, despite sharing the house with her boarders.

It turns out that everyone in Gulls Nest has a secret. The atmosphere of the house is tense and hostile. Nora sets about untangling this Gordian knot of personal histories and tracing the last steps taken by Frieda. It is like the convent trained her for the task, which she pursues quietly and stubbornly.

I was particularly fond of the gull that Nora feeds from her bedroom window (very much against the rules) that she has christened Father Conway. Watching Nora come alive again out in the world was pleasurable, as was watching as she took no shit from the men of the village. A disrespectful young Constable gets her heavy shoes flung at him until he learns to pay attention! It only took three times.

I didn't figure out the murderer until very late in the game although I did guess at some of the concealed relationships. Kidd set things up neatly and finds a method to satisfy inquisitive minds about the actual events. Nora's plan to move on seems to be put on pause in the last few pages of the book. I was glad to see that she will be featuring in another novel in the near future. Fingers crossed that my library orders it!

Shakespeare, the Man Who Pays the Rent / Judi Dench, Brendan O'Hea & Barbara Flynn

 

4 out of 5 stars 

I chose the audiobook version of this memoir and I'm still debating whether it was the right choice for me. I am such a visual learner and I wonder how long the details of this will stick with me. Incidentally, Barbara Flynn does a top rate job of performing Dench's part in the audiobook. Ms. Dench herself has very limited vision now, so reading from a script (the edited version of the original interview) is impossible for her.

It is fascinating to see my beloved Shakespeare's works from the opposite side of the stage. Dench discusses the female characters in the plays knowledgably, no matter how long it had been since she had played the role. Her ability to quote significant speeches from whichever play they are discussing is absolutely amazing—she does say at one point that she has a photographic memory, which would certainly help. She has acted in some plays multiple times with different casts and directors, giving her varying experiences to draw on. She has also played different parts in the same play, with the same result.

This certainly gives me more perspective on the women in the plays. Their roles are both necessary and important to the action. The boys who played these parts in Shakespeare's time had a big job! As Dench and O'Hea observe, Shakespeare explores all the human emotions which is what keeps his work relevant through the centuries. They also comment on the number of rebellious women that Shakespeare puts in his plays. Dench observes that it is no wonder the Puritans forbade their performance, as god forbid that women should have opinions of their own or refuse to obey men!

The after word reveals how much work went into this project: 120 hours of discussion rendered down into 12. Also, the effort to redact the swearing of Dame Judi! There's life in the old girl yet and she expresses the desire to live to 100. At 91 she stands a good chance at achieving that goal and I hope she is successful.

Twelve Months / Jim Butcher

 

4 out of 5 stars 

It's been a year, more or less, since the big battle in Chicago and a year is nothing when you're grieving. Harry Dresden knows all about it, as he stews in his sorrow and guilt over the death of Murphy. He's driving himself pretty hard and trying to take care of those people he feels responsible for. But life doesn't quit happening just because he doesn't want to deal with it.

Winter Queen Mab has betrothed him to Lara Raith of the White Court vampires. His brother Thomas is in stasis on Daemonreach Island. A pregnant Justine, Thomas' partner, is missing. Separately, they could maybe be dealt with, but combined? It's going to be one helluva task. Will the pressure make or break Wizard Dresden?

Butcher is allowing Harry to grow as a person. He gets acknowledged for his kindness frequently in this volume. He navigates his relationships with Mab and Lara with more grace than before. He and Lara seem to have forged a partnership that bodes well for their marriage. Harry is spending more time with his daughter and it is doing them both good. Many of Harry's old friends are present and being supportive. He is learning to accept help.

There are plenty of problems to be solved and Harry uses his brain as much as his powers. His adulting is getting much better. Nevertheless, there are still narrative strands left to dangle at the book's conclusion. The next book is supposed to be published next year, a pleasant prospect as we've waited six years for this one.

Elusive / Genevieve Cogman

 

4 out of 5 stars 

This series is a retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel and the French Revolution in an alternate timeline. Cogman has made two very agreeable twists to the tale. Firstly, she has added vampires and I am a firm believer that everything is better with vampires. Also, she has made a young English serving women the main character rather than an aristocrat.

In the first book, Eleanor was inducted into the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel because of her uncanny resemblance to Marie Antoinette. The League takes her along to France, where she proves her mettle as they rescue people scheduled for the guillotine. But Eleanor has very few reasons to trust Sir Percy Blakeney and his associates, knowing that they usually treat people of her station as possessions rather than as humans. This book finds her testing them. Will they actually listen to a young female seamstress? Will they admit when she has good ideas? When the Revolution is over, will she be free or will she revert to being chattel?

Eleanor finds that she admires the original aims of the Revolution as she understands them, namely that all people have equal worth and that includes women. She resonates with democracy rather than the monarchy of England. Eleanor has shouldered more than her share of the action in this novel. In fact she has rescued the men on several occasions and yet they scold her for taking the chances that have kept them alive and free. (In this, she reminds me of Sookie Stackhouse who comes up with original ideas for her vampire companions, solves their problems, and saves their bacon but gets dismissed as merely a female mortal.) They appreciate her but still regard her as “just" a woman, which justifiably angers her.

The novel ends with surprising news from England as they board their ship bound for home. I'll be thrilled when I manage to schedule the third book into my reading queue.

Curtain / Agatha Christie

 

4.25 out of 5 stars 

I started my journey through all of Agatha Christie's novels in October 2020 with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. This novel brings Poirot full circle, from brand new Belgian refugee to a elderly Belgian in a wheelchair. It was written in the 1940s and stored away until its publication in 1975, so the writing is strong.

Also returning to Styles is a newly widowed Arthur Hastings. He has returned from the Argentine and has been invited by Poirot to Styles. His adult daughter, Judith, is also present, as is her employer, a medical researcher. Hastings admits that his late wife dealt with their children skillfully and that he is woefully unprepared for that role. He really muffs it on several occasions, mostly because he jumps to conclusions rather than asking respectful questions.

Hastings being who he is, Poirot must explain why he has been invited to this gathering, and do so without revealing too much. As he says, Hastings' face is an open book for anyone who pays attention. The criminal is a subtle one, influencing others to do the work for him. Poirot knows exactly how prone to being influenced Hastings is and withholds the identity of this villain to ensure that expressive face doesn't give him away.

Hastings does his best to be an able assistant to Poirot and a dutiful father to Judith. As usual, it's debatable how much success he has at either role. Despite his association for many years with Poirot, he has been unable to see past his social conditioning and prejudices. Poirot's death doesn't prevent the little Belgian from doing the final big reveal via a letter delivered to his friend four months after his death.

I couldn't help feeling sad for Hastings, who has lost both his wife and his friend. I was amazed at the manipulations employed by Poirot in this final case and the disregard of his own personal guidelines in order to achieve a conclusion to the investigation. I am ever so glad that Christie wrote this final Poirot novel when she was at the height of her powers, allowing him depart with a bang, not a whimper.