Ordeal by Innocence / Agatha Christie

 

E

4 out of 5 stars 

Much more directly psychological than most of Christie's output, this novel explores the nature/nurture debate, human dynamics in the family, and the role of the mother of adoptive children. Mrs. Argyle, the victim of murder (presumably by her adoptive son, Jacko), was a force to be reckoned with. She supported the family, ran the house, mothered her children far too much, and sent her husband retreating into historical studies, where he could feel like he had some autonomy.

When Dr. Calgary appears on the scene, returned from the Antarctic and having newly heard about the case, he reveals that Jacko had an alibi for the night of the murder and has died in prison for a crime he could not have committed. Those remaining in the household quickly realize that there must be a murderer in their midst. Calgary and the police are both asking uncomfortable questions—even Philip Durrant, the wheelchair bound son in law, is amusing himself by investigating on his own.

At one point, someone describes Mrs. Argyle's parenting style as “smothering,” something which all of her many adoptive children would agree with, though some of them coped with it better than others. Mary, wife of Philip, seems to have chosen a similar possessive style to care for her disabled husband. He resents it as sharply, understandably saying his brain is just fine. Christie can lay all kinds of red herrings within this situation, where resentments seethe just beneath the surface.

I knew a man, adopted into a good family and raised with every advantage, who nevertheless felt hard done by. He couldn't have been more different from his adoptive brother if he'd tried. He eventually met his natural brothers and his behaviour was just like them—tetchy, quick to anger, grudge holding, and believing that everything was stacked against him. That's how powerful genetics can be. I was a friend of his mother and was dismayed by the way he treated her. She was kind without smothering (although perhaps with a tendency to “be right" too often, like Mrs. Argyle). I couldn't help but think about them while reading this.

I think that I'll be rereading this novel in the future, just to examine how Christie shaped it so deftly and to try to parse what she felt about being a child and being a mother.

Making It So / Patrick Stewart

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

My first attempt at reading this book was with the paper copy. Stewart truly began at his very beginning with his birth in Yorkshire and I kept zoning out. Then I realized that I could borrow the audiobook (read by the author!) from my library and I changed plans. I had a very long wait, but it was a good decision. Stewart's voice made the book for me.

I'm not much of a television watcher any more and I rarely attend a movie, but I was devoted fan of Star Trek TOS as a child and then TNG as a young adult. I saw all the movies based on these franchises. Jean Luc Picard was most definitely my captain. Incidentally, I am also a fan of Shakespeare and currently have a project going to see all of his plays performed. So I had double the reason to be a Patrick Stewart enthusiast. However, my obliviousness to acting meant that much of Stewart's name-dropping meant very little to me, despite his reveling in it.

I thought that Stewart was disarmingly honest about his insecurities and foibles. As an actor, I can understand his angst about losing his hair, feeling it would thwart his aspirations to be a leading man. Likewise, his Yorkshire upbringing meant that he wasn't necessarily conversant with things that other Brits might take for granted. (His childhood tales made me think of A Kestrel for a Knave). It's challenging to learn the rules of new social situations, even more so in class conscious Britain. For me, it was somewhat disconcerting to realize that the man who plays the calm, cool, competent captain of a starship has so much anxiety! An actor's life can be precarious, especially theatre actors. Insecurity about his appearance, his social standing, and reputation would only exacerbate that anxiousness.

For someone with a working class upbringing, Stewart quickly acquired some very elite preferences: Shakespeare, theatre, and classical music. A very unusual teenager! I completely understood his compulsion to read, driving him into the family loo with a book and a candle to get some uninterrupted time.

When the book first came out, I heard Stewart interviewed about it. He was able to laugh about being described by the Hollywood press as an “unknown Shakespearean actor.” He has certainly become a famous and well loved figure. I was pleased that he seems to be able to enjoy this status now, not to mention the financial rewards of his work.

A Study in Scarlet / Arthur Conan Doyle

 

4 out of 5 stars 

2024 Re-Read

It's been a long time since I first became acquainted with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. I have a much greater appreciation for this tale, now that I have read the full Holmes canon and also have a better sense of the historical setting. Honestly, I have to recommend The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold for a better understanding of the London of the time and the situation of regular people in that time and city. It gave me an understanding of Watson's need for economical housing during his convalescence from his war injuries and his anxiety on that matter. You can enjoy the story without that background, but how much more fun to comprehend the milieu.

So this is the origin story, the meeting of the partners. It sets up their relationship, the astute Holmes and the rather plodding but admiring Doctor. We meet Lestrade and the Baker Street Irregulars (although not yet known by that epithet). Conan Doyle refers to other fictional detectives who came before, his inspirational building materials.

Conan Doyle was a Victorian man and his writing reveals the mindset of the time. The long interlude set in Utah reminded me strongly of the romantic western novels of Zane Grey, who also used the Mormons as the bad guys in some of his plots (Riders of the Purple Sage, for instance). There were suspicions about this new religion and their polygamous leanings, some of which may be based on fact, but fact and fiction get muddled when prejudice is involved. I have to ask how much say the women in this very patriarchal religion had in the matter of plural marriage, but I also wonder how many non-Mormon women got strong armed into these marriages in reality. I wouldn't put it past entitled old white men to think it was a-okay, but this plot device may reveal the fears of non-Mormon men that they would never find wives of their own (like the incels of today believe, the Mormons were the “Chads" who were getting all the girls).

At any rate, the story returns to London and Holmes eventually. The reader gets to hear the detective's explanation of his insights, setting him up as the Great Detective figure with whom we are familiar.

Suddenly Psychic / Elizabeth Hunter

 

4 out of 5 stars 

Book 27 of the 2024 Read Your Hoard Challenge

I bought this book back in the summer, shortly after discovering the Paranormal Women's Fiction website. They are a group of women who are supporting each other in their quest to publish urban fantasy fiction featuring mature female main characters. I picked up 3 books by 3 authors. I'm not sure exactly what inspired me to choose this one right now, but I am so glad that I bought it!

Why do women so often have two really tight friends? We seem to bond in trios, at least that's been my experience. They don't last forever (what does?), but we usually get a good run. Robin, Val, and Monica are just such a friendship--they've been through childbirth, empty nests, divorce, and widowhood, always supporting each other. The book opens with the three women involved in a car accident that requires them to escape the car submerged in Glimmer Lake. It's cold, dark, and deep and the doors and windows won't open. Suddenly, Robin sees a striking man outside the vehicle, preparing to smash her window with a rock. Miraculously, all 3 women make it successfully to the surface but their rescuer has disappeared.

Robin realizes in hospital that she can now see ghosts. Once the pals reconvene, Monica admits that she get premonitions and vivid dreams. Val is completely freaked out by her new psychometric ability. They’d like to blame this on menopause, but if so, it's not a common symptom. It seems their savior may have been a ghost and they start to investigate who he might have been. Things get complicated quickly. How are Robin and this ghost connected?

Three women means three books, right? I've peeked ahead and the next one features Val as narrator. I must order volumes 2 and 3 soon, to make sure I get them. I was being careful when I only bought one, but I now wish I'd thrown caution to the winds. Elizabeth Hunter has potential to be a new favourite author for me. I'll be checking out more authors from this collective for certain!

Fool's Errand / Robin Hobb

 

R

4 out of 5 stars 

Free Range Reading 2024

Robin Hobb has done it to me again. Using her writing, she has squeezed my heart until tears leaked out of my eyes. Hobb is unsparing of her characters. They face big challenges and they don't emerge unscathed. Fitz really takes the brunt of it in this outing.

Every pet owner can sympathize with the losses experienced. Animals, however beloved, have shorter life spans than we do, and their care for us influences their behaviour. I had a little old bunny who waited for me to return from a trip and get to cuddle her one more time before she gave up her struggle. It was heart breaking and I'm just lucky that I got to and from the vet's office, crying as hard as I was.

Fitz is Witted, capable of bonding with animals (or should I say an animal) in a way that makes the non-Witted wary and hostile. Unfortunately for all of them, Prince Dutiful is also Witted, as well as desperately lonely and easily influenced. Has he been kidnapped or lured away by those who would use him? Either way, Fitz and the Fool are sent to retrieve the wayward Prince, disguised as servant Tom Badgerlock and Lord Golden.

I can only say that Hobb makes the emotional distress worthwhile. I was able to pick up where I left off in 2020 when I read Assassin's Quest, and sink right back into the Realm of the Elderlings easily. There is no question that I'll be completing this Tawny Man trilogy.

Second Rite / Geneva Lee

 

3 out of 5 stars 

Oh, the mysteries of the reading life! I borrowed the first book in this series from the public library and enjoyed it, but they didn't have subsequent volumes. They also turned down my request that they purchase this book. So I ordered this one from a bookstore in town back in the summer and was a bit whiney about it. What should happen next, but I get a notification via Libby that it's available through that platform as an audiobook. I should have been more patient. (Unusually, I can access it on Libby, but not through my library catalogue.)

This isn’t a bad book--it's very much a continuation from book one. Julian is still trying to run Thea's life and she's still trying to pry all the secrets out of him. But they have determined that they are Mates and that they will stand up to the Vampire Council together. Cue Olivia Newton-John singing Hopelessly Devoted. Julian has never been able to compel Thea and now we learn the possible reason for that. The couple unknowingly undergo the Second Rite necessary before they can wed with the Council's approval (if not Julian's mother's). The remaining number of Rites are unclear, but there are two more books, so I'm guessing two.

Here's my thing: book one was very much a screwball comedy. This one, not so much. Julian's jackassery is more pronounced and Thea's predictable problems with her mother and university friends are tiresome. Julian's family issues are suitably threatening. It was nice to figure out that Thea does have some magic of her own to help her cope with all the cranky vampires and witches.

Libby has volume 3 as an audiobook and I have no doubt that I will borrow it soon. I'm halfway through this soap opera and I might as well keep going. But I will wait MUCH longer before buying the final volume.

Homicide in Hardcover / Kate Carlisle

 

E

4 out of 5 stars 

I am always on the lookout for a good cozy mystery series. Being a recent convert to this sub-genre, I am still figuring out what makes a book good for me. For me, this first volume has all the hallmarks for a good series.

Brooklyn Wainwright is a professional bookbinder and restoration specialist. Having worked in a library with special collections, I was immediately interested in her work. She has just been reunited with her mentor, Abraham, after an estrangement when he is murdered at a big social event. As per usual in this genre, Brooklyn finds him and immediately becomes a suspect. She wants to get justice for Abraham, but her investigation of the matter is pretty minimal. Often authors will depict their main character distrustful of the police, but Brooklyn finds herself in the murderer’s sights, so she is reliant on police for their expertise. So she is not trying to usurp the investigation, but she finds herself more involved by default. I appreciate this approach as I don't find it realistic to think that an amateur is going to have more success than the professionals.

I also enjoyed Brooklyn's family—her hippie parents, the commune where they live, and her geographically named siblings. Her BFF Robin provides more comic relief as she tries to get Brooklyn to care about stylish clothing and her image. I could also appreciate Brooklyn's love of eating. Too often female characters are depicted as worried about their weight and/or restricting their food intake. To hell with that! Let women eat like normal people!

Of course a cozy mystery rarely lacks a love interest, but that aspect doesn't dominate this book. The issue of why a British operative is involved in the situation is never addressed, but I knew from the first moment, when Brooklyn locked eyes with Derek Stone at the original gala event, that he would be filling that role. As love interests go, he is better than many.

The second book in the series is available through my public library and I will be reading it.

This is book number 26 in my 2024 Read Your Hoard Challenge.