We Wish You a Murderous Christmas / Vicki Delany

 

We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun little cozy Christmas mystery. It's a nice distraction between more substantial books, one of which is coming up for me. So I was practicing avoidance, basically, plus trying to inspire myself to set up my artificial Christmas tree (that part worked).

Vicki Delany is a good writer, but as I have written before she has a formula for at least two of her series. This Year Round Christmas series is SO similar to her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries. These Christmas books were written first, so I guess the Bookshop Mysteries are re-runs or at least reworkings of them. Eventually, I'd like to try some of her other writings to see if they are different.

I’ve rated my reading experience as 3 stars, but maybe 3.3 would match a bit better? Your mileage may vary.


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The Archive of the Forgotten / A.J. Hackwith

 

The Archive of the Forgotten by A.J. Hackwith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Misunderstandings are part of life. Especially when you are dealing with family. And like most urban fantasies, Hell's Library involves a chosen family, centred around the former librarian, Claire. But Claire is now the Arcanist in charge of Hell's archives, the Muse Brevity has been promoted to Librarian, and each has an assistant: the former book character Hero in the Library and fallen angel Ramiel in the Archives.

All of these changes happened during a turbulent period (see book one) and it is the supernatural Library that chooses these things. Claire is hurt to be shifted from her librarian position and isolates herself. How many families do you know where this happens? Someone's feelings are hurt and they withdraw from family gatherings and communication. It's difficult for everyone, there's a lot of anger, and nothing gets resolved.

So when a huge pool of Ink appears in the Archives, a result of destruction of books (see book one), it would make sense to collaborate. However Claire still isn't willing to talk. She was proud of her work and still isn't ready to admit to her mistakes. Pride cometh before a fall, and Claire gets infected with this magical ink. Brevity is having her own issues, as her sister Muse Probity has come to “support" her. Or is that Probity's true purpose?

I'm rating this as 4 stars, the same as book 1, but it's maybe truly 3.8 stars. I liked it just a titch less, but it was still very good. The first installment had the excellent tag line, “Raise Hell. Join the Library.” That's pretty hard to beat.


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Find Me / Anne Frasier

 

Find Me by Anne Frasier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm struggling with the rating of this book. On the one hand, I felt like the author tipped her hand just a little too obviously. On the other hand, I read it fast and didn't want to stop. Also, I'm starting to wrestle with the issue of fiction glorifying serial murders and the people who commit them. I feel somewhat guilty that I enjoy this genre, but I also think that it doesn't hurt anyone if I like it. Something that I'm going to have to work out for myself, I guess.

I guess we are all amateur psychologists, attempting to understand those around us. And because we value being able to predict the behaviour of others and understand their motivations, I think we fixate on people who behave in antisocial ways. It's kind of like rubber necking to see a car accident--we're attempting to learn from the misfortune of others and avoid it ourselves. If I can just spot the dangerous person, I can get away unscathed, goes the reasoning. At least I think that what motivates me.

I loved the desert setting that Frasier uses here. Maybe this harks back to my teenage years of reading Zane Grey. I haven't personally spent much time in desert habitats, I'm a grassland girl. But I have to agree with the main character Reni when she says, “I cope by looking up and out. That's where I find help. Nature never lets me down.” Birds have always been my thing and there are very few places on Earth where you can be outside and not see a bird pretty quickly.

I'm going to give this 3 stars, but that's just my feeling about my reading experience today. I think I might have rated it more highly if I'd read it several years ago.




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The Searcher / Tana French

 

The Searcher by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. If I had never read French's Dublin Murder Squad books, I'd probably be even more effusive. This author writes like a dream. Perhaps I was expecting too much, so I feel just a tiny bit disappointed, which is ridiculous as this is a fine mystery.

As I have observed many times, setting a mystery in a small community is the most efficient method. Fewer people to sort through for the sleuth and the reader. Plus you get to include the history of the people who live in this village and the impulse among the villagers to shut out the foreigner. Cal, as a retired American detective, is about as much of a stranger in rural Ireland as anyone could be.

I've lived in a small community, though not so small as this one. It's true, you know who deals the drugs, who's allergic to work, who's on the dole, who beats his wife and/or his kids. You know who is related to whom. It can be hard for the outsider to keep track of all these details. Cal misjudges his neighbours and conversely they don't realize how he is going to react either, causing more issues than either side thought there would be.

I'm pretty sure that French introduces a flock of rooks in Cal's back yard as a mirror to village life. They are hard to win over, skeptical, and wary. Cal often interprets their calls as derisive. They appear at book's beginning and end to make the full circle.

French did her usual thing, surprising me with little switcheroos. Maybe not a full scale twists, but definitely events that made me shake my head and refocus my eyes. Agatha Christie does that to me too, so she is in good company. And like In the Woods, she doesn't wrap everything up neatly or answer every question and I love that. I have yet to read The Trespasser, I started it once and got stuck. This makes me think that I should return to it and take another run at it.


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Heroes Die / Matthew Woodring Stover

 

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I started reading this book in a cranky mood. I'm an introvert and this Covid-19 pandemic is the apocalypse that I've been training for, but even I am beginning to feel the strain of lack of in-person human contact. So I read the first half of the book while grumpy, then went for a massage (while still able to do so) and returned to the task with a happier outlook. Maybe the second half of the book was better, maybe I was just in a better frame of mind to enjoy it.

Hari Michaelson is an actor. But not in our sense of that word. He gets transferred into another world that shares interdimensional space with his (which I assume is a future Earth), where he becomes Caine, an extraordinary fighter, who changes the course of history in Overworld. Kind of the ultimate in reality TV. Meanwhile, in his home world, grey, faceless multinationals run everything while maintaining a crippling caste system. There, Hari must bow and scrape to his Administrator, something he hates but can't change if he wants to work. It's the wealthy Leisure class who plug in to the Actors' feeds, like wealthy Romans at the gladiatorial games, vicariously savouring the violence and blood.

It is when he is Caine that Hari feels alive. He “thinks with his fists" and can channel all of the aggression that builds up inside him. Not realizing this, his fellow actor Shanna marries him, only to find out that he does more acting in “real" life than when at work. This isn't what she signed up for and they separate. Nevertheless, when one of Shanna's roles goes pear shaped, Hari is determined to go rescue her.

So, this is gladiatorial combat with a fantasy overlay. The whole story seems to exist simply for Caine to pound on his adversaries. His wife is set up as the altruistic one of the two, but blind to how her projects are also manipulating the course of events in Overworld. Hari just wants to prevent her death and get her home, a kind of extreme possessiveness. It seems like a grittier, more X rated version of R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, which is also all about the fights, but has a more good guy main character. Caine has his own code, kind of a murky one. His morality is much less absolute, more situational, than most fantasy main characters. Perhaps he's good to have on your side, but don't get too comfortable because he is always on his own side first and foremost. In the second half of the book, events get a lot more convoluted and back-stabby, which was more interesting.

The novel got me thinking about morality—intervening in another world's politics and history seems so intrusive, and yet how often has that happened with Western countries messing about in Latin America or the Middle East? And to do so for the sake of entertaining the rich on another world seemed gratuitously insulting. Plus, the gross unfairness of the caste system in Hari's timeline, which could be a possible outgrowth of the extreme wealth gap, seemed to have a tone of warning for current society.

Perhaps Kurt Vonnegut had it right in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, when he had Eliot Rosewater praise science fiction writers for dealing with the big, contentious problems of society.

Book number 384 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater / Kurt Vonnegut

 

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

Kurt Vonnegut was ahead of his time. How many people in 1965 were concerned about the gap between rich and poor? The drawbacks of capitalism? Or the environment? As he said elsewhere, we were rolling drunk on petroleum at this point in history. All these ideas were just getting started, shaking up the status quo. Here in the early 21st century, they are much more influential.

The author isn't subtle about setting up Eliot Rosewater as the holy fool who believes that he can use the Rosewater fortune for good. He is continually casting his pearls of kindness and compassion before the swine of the capitalist system, and they do try to tear him to pieces. Being subtle is a good way to be overlooked, after all.

I love this book because it introduces Kilgore Trout, the unsuccessful science fiction writer whose works seem to end up almost exclusively in pornography shops. Is Trout an alter ego for the author? I suspect so, as he wanders through Vonnegut's published works at will.

The problem is this: How to love people who have no use? In time, almost all men and women will be worthless as producers of goods, food, services, and machines, as sources of practical ideas in the areas of economics, engineering, and probably medicine too. So—if we can't find methods for treasuring human beings because they are human beings, then we might as well, as has so often been suggested, rub them out.

It seems to me that this Covid-19 (doesn't that sound like Vonnegut named it?) pandemic has started to push us closer to this with the idea of the guaranteed income. Recognizing that everyone should have the basics, whether they've been successful or not. That jobs are decreasing as robotics and artificial intelligences take on more roles.

I first read Vonnegut as an undergraduate in my 20s and I loved his questioning of the system and irreverence for Western society's sacred cows. Today, in my late 50s, I find myself focusing on what I think is one of his main ideas: Babies, God damn it, you've got to be kind. Kindness for not only our families and friends, but also for those less fortunate and even for those who are supposedly more fortunate. A trip down memory lane.




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The Undead in My Bed

 

The Undead In My Bed by Katie MacAlister
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

These 3 paranormal romance stories were an amusing way to spend a Friday evening.

Katie MacAlister manages to write a fun romance while seeming to make a bit of fun of the PNR tropes that often get taken just a little too seriously by authors of this sort of fiction. At least her female main character in this one is a smart, talented woman. I read her first Dark Ones novel for Halloween Bingo this year and found the two female main characters to be ditzy, and although it worked in the context of that book, it's not my preference. I like my heroines to be intelligent and competent.

Molly Harper's sense of humour always appeals to me and any story that involves her Jane Jameson character will always get a thumbs up from me. Having worked in libraries myself, I have a soft spot for this children's librarian turned vampire bookstore owner. Now that Jane is successfully paired off, Harper can use her as an accomplice to other women who are trying to sort out their romantic lives. (I also loved that Dick wanted to stick around for Tess and Sam's reunion to see if Tess would be throwing her chef's knives!)

The third author, Jessica Sims, was new to me. Strange isn't it that a story so similar to the first two didn't appeal to me quite so much? Maybe it's lack of familiarity, maybe it's a slightly different emphasis, maybe it's the whole giving the romance a second chance plot line. I haven't quite put my finger on it yet, but I think it might be the second chance angle, it's not a plot that I favour.

That was fun and fast. I stayed up too late to finish it up and may have difficulty getting up in a timely fashion tomorrow to get to the grocery store before the weekend crush. Oh well, it was worth it.


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Sailing to Sarantium / Guy Gavriel Kay

 

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sinking into a Guy Gavriel Kay historical fantasy is like immersing myself in a warm, fragrant bath, lovely and comforting. His worldview meshes with mine so well, he is truly the perfect author match for me. Now that I have finished this volume, I have only three unread books of his left and this distresses me. What will I do until he publishes the next? Well, begin a re-reading cycle, yes, but there is no feeling like the first experience of a GGK novel.

Well, I shall persevere. Because this author writes main characters who are decent men like Caius Crispin. He may be cranky (he has reasons) and he may take risks, but he is kind to those who he has power over, perhaps the most telling measure of a man. In addition to decent men, Kay writes women as real people (we are, you know), with the same aspirations and emotions as his male characters. They aren't perplexing enigmas, they aren't cardboard cut-outs, they are fully realized people. This is the major reason that I adore Mr. Kay's fiction.

The other main reason is his treatment of the religious aspect of life. Crispen comes face to face with a Pagan god, he is knocked on his back by a spectacular Jaddite mosaic, and both of these experiences feel absolutely real to me. I feel his awe right along with him. Aspiring to be a happy Pagan myself, feeling a lot of sympathy for such things, this aspect of the story delights me. (This is why The Egypt Game grabbed me firmly as a tween and why the King Arthur cycle continues to speak to me so loudly today, I am just a sucker for pre-Christian religions.)

As Crispin plans his grand mosaic, I am reminded of another favourite book, What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies. It's main character, Francis Cornish, also creates a very personal masterpiece, a painting done in Old Master style, but featuring people and symbols peculiar to the artist. He smuggles his own mythology into it and creates something extraordinary, just as I expect Crispen will do in this sanctuary.

I both look forward to and dread reading the second half of this tale. On one hand I want to spend more time in this world with these people. On the other hand, then the adventure will be over. The best books leave me feeling torn this way.

Book number 383 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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To Say Nothing of the Dog / Connie Willis

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, that was fun. A wonderful time travel whodunnit. I forget where I read that this book was informed by Three Men in a Boat, which I read earlier this year in preparation for reading this novel. Although I didn't find Jerome K. Jerome's tale too engaging, I loved Connie Willis' version. I’m so glad I was familiar with Mr. Jerome's work, as it provided a great deal of humour. Although this novel features the same university department as Willis' Doomsday Book, it had an entirely different tone. This one is practically slapstick by comparison.

Ms. Willis obviously shares some literary interests with me. I loved the references to Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie & Poirot, Dorothy Sayers & Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane, P.G. Wodehouse & Jeeves & Wooster, not to mention Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone. This kind of thing is just catnip to me. So many of my favourites alluded to all in one place. Not to mention the sighting of Jerome out on the river!

Willis also has a talent for names—what else do you call the rich, pushy woman who has taken over everything and destroyed the regular work of the history department? Why, Lady Schrapnell, of course! Perfect. I think that Jodi Taylor must have read this before writing her own time travel romp Just One Damned Thing After Another, another book that I've enjoyed a lot.

It took me a couple of attempts to really get going in this book just because of life matters, but once I reached a certain point, I couldn't set it down until I was finished.

Book number 382 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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November Hunt / Jess Lourey

 

November Hunt by Jess Lourey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let's call this one 3.5 stars, shall we? Better than many books I've rated 3, but not quite a 4.

This is the penultimate book in my 2020 Book-of-the-Month reading list, the November choice. Chosen for a frivolous reason, it was a surprisingly entertaining read. Mira is a relatable main character, a young woman looking to change her life by moving to a small town in Minnesota. I'm missing some of her background, having joined in here at book number seven. But I didn't feel that I was missing any crucial information.

One of my favourite side characters is Mrs. Berns, the blunt spoken senior who seems to be Mira's BFF in Battle Lake. Unfortunately, she leaves the Minnesotan winter for Arizona for the majority of the book. She provides a good foil for Mira, who shouldn't really fit into the small community. Mira is from a big city, has given up alcohol, and doesn't eat red meat, just a few of the ways she stands out from the general population. With Mrs. Berns to “sponsor" her, she's fitting in well enough to have a job at the library and a regular column in the newspaper. She also seems to have a talent for befriending seniors and other folks who don't immediately fit in. There's also an amusing subplot concerning her hot new boyfriend--she's just been through a bad break-up and is determined not to sleep with him for 6 months.

So it's kind of a typical cozy, although those usually involve a local girl who's come back home from the big city after a break-up. The real hook is that Mira is working on getting her PI license, which is what draws her into the conflict that begins this novel.

So I find myself strangely wishing that I had started with book one, although I'm not likely to go back to it at this point. But I might be convinced to go on to the December adventure.


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A Killing Frost / Seanan Mcguire

 

A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, book 14 in this series, and unlike some others (Anita Blake for example) I'm still really enjoying these adventures. Part of that is due to my passion for McGuire's depiction of the world of the Fae. She has created a world that I find fascinating--I'm always interested to expand what I know about the Byzantine rules that run the lives of the Purebloods. Toby is having to worry about some of these conventions now, as her blood balance has shifted further away from changeling, more towards the pure end of the spectrum. Also because she will (probably) be marrying Tybalt, the King of Cats.

And that's what this book is all about—observing the rules in order to have the wedding run smoothly. Toby must rescue her legal father, Simon Torquill. I think that Toby bleeds less during this installment, but May seems to stand in for her. Quentin has a few moments of peril, too.

I'm ever so glad that McGuire has more volumes of this series planned. I can't be sure how much longer she can continue to spin these tales, so I'll be waiting with anticipation when each one of them is published.


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The Secret Adversary / Agatha Christie

 

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

2020 Re-read:

This was a very fun re-read. How different it is from Christie's first novel, although it was entertaining to see Inspector Japp show up very briefly during the proceedings. I became aware that Hercules Poirot and Tommy & Tuppence exist in the same environment.

You'd think that I would remember the ending since I only read it two years ago, but no dice. There were plenty of other details that stuck in my mind however. I loved the banter between the main characters and the breakneck pace of unlikely events. After all, Tommy and Tuppence are rank amateurs in the spy game, but they turn up more information while flailing around as beginners than the professional spooks have been able to come up with.

Highly entertaining. I'll look forward to more adventures of this dynamic duo. My initial rating holds up.


ORIGINAL REVIEW:

***2018 Summer of Spies***

I had great fun reading this, the second of Dame Agatha’s books to be published. It is refreshing for its lack of a plot formula, like those developed during her career and well established by books like Hallowe'en Party. It is also unusual in its featuring of a couple in the starring roles, Tommy & Tuppence. Plus it incorporates a relatively recent event, the sinking of the Luisitania (1915), The Secret Adversary being published in 1922. I was really struck, however, by the plight of the young people after WWI :

"Rot!" said Tommy hastily. "Well, that's my position. I'm just about desperate."
"So am I! I've hung out as long as I could. I've touted round. I've answered advertisements. I've tried every mortal blessed thing. I've screwed and saved and pinched! But it's no good. I shall have to go home!"

Maybe because I live in a town where the economy has been dominated by the (now slumping) petroleum trade for decades and I have also been perusing resumés for a new position in our department. It’s rather sad to see young people bravely putting their best foot forward and knowing that there are much more experienced candidates available.

Of course it’s very unrealistic for two young amateurs to fare so well against the Secret Adversary, but it’s more fun than realism would have been. Tuppence, especially, seems to embody the spirit & brains that so many of Christie’s female characters exhibit, giving a hint of what is to come. It was just what I was looking for in a summer read—a rather fluffy & fun adventure.

I also liked the author’s dedication: “To all those who lead monotonous lives in the hope that they may experience at second hand the delights and dangers of adventure.” I think she could have dedicated a great many of her books this way.

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Anti-Diet / Christy Harrison

 

Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating by Christy Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I used to work with a woman who was perpetually trying a new diet and who wanted to try each fad device that came along. I finally told her that if they actually worked, they wouldn't be relegated to small ads in the back of magazines, they would be trumpeted on the cover of Time magazine. I doubt she paid much attention to me as she was very caught up in her magical thinking. I should know, I've spent years of my life pursuing the goal of weight loss. If losing weight was easy, trust me, no one would be fat.

We've all heard the news that diets don't work. In fact dieting seems to be the best way to gain weight, as you mess with your metabolism, slowing it down. Our bodies are very good at maintaining energy balance if left alone. I speak as someone who has dieted, on and off, since I was about 11 years old. The sad thing is that I look back at photos of myself back then and I realize that I was far from fat. However, I often couldn't find clothing to fit my body and ended up wearing women's sizes much earlier than I was comfortable with. Instead of blaming the clothing manufacturers, I blamed my body. Things are much different today, although its still more difficult to find plus-sized clothing that I actually like.

We are unaware that we are surrounded by Diet Culture just as fish are surrounded by water. The weight loss industry has realized that dieting has been discredited and they have changed to “lifestyles" and “healthy living.” Since I've been reading this book, I've really become aware of how bombarded we are by exhortations to eat healthily. Which would be okay if it wasn't designed to drive us into the arms of the weight loss industry.

Does this mean that I will abandon spinach and beans in favour of soda and chips? Absolutely not! The health benefits of real food are not limited to the weight issues. We need vitamins, minerals, and fiber to maintain our bodies and psychological health. However, I'll continue to insist on tasty, satisfying food. I decided long ago not to eat anything that I don't like, no matter how healthy it is reputed to be (I'm looking at you, kale).

Although the book doesn't discuss this, it seems to me that there is a strong push in our society, urging women to be perfect: thin through a perfect diet & exercise plan, contributing perfectly at work, raising the happiest, healthiest children, maintaining a perfect house-beautiful living space. No wonder so many women are so bloody tired!

And just as a final note, I have a cousin who is an artist and sometimes when we spend time together she asks if she can draw me. I've always felt a bit awkward about this and finally told her so. She said the most wonderful thing: “I like drawing you, you're comfortable in your body.”



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With my cousin's permission:

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires / Grady Hendrix

 

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the foreword, this author says, “With this book, I wanted to pit a man freed from all responsibilities but his appetites [a vampire] against women whose lives are shaped by their responsibilities. I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom. As you'll see, it's not a fair fight.”

But it takes a while. Especially when the vampire arrives in town with money and seems to be willing to spread the wealth by investing in the local economy. He says to Patricia at one point, “I moved here because you people are all so stupid. You'll take anyone at face value as long as he's white and has money." And the men are totally bamboozled. It's the wives who see what's going on, but the old, experienced vampire knows how to turn the husbands against the wives and the women retreat for fear of losing their marriages, their reputations, and, in Patricia's case, her freedom when her husband threatens to institutionalize her.

But they don't suffer the worst of the situation. That is the fate of the black community just outside the town limits, where children are going missing, are committing suicide, or are being murdered. It's not reported in the newspaper and pretty much ignored by the police, because apparently they are expendable. The book club ladies back off when first threatened, but when James Harris comes after their children, something must be done.

What to you do when you are faced with folklore, a being that your community isn't going to believe in? You do it yourself, of course. All my life, I've watched women wade into problems that they don't really know how to solve, but with the determination to fix things. And they very rarely fail completely.

Even in this day and age, most women are going to recognize the male behaviour in this book. All I have to do is look at the sneering, disrespectful way that women are treated in politics and all of the threats and abuse that they must wade through as they do their jobs. White men are so used to being the ones in charge and to having their wives being their support system, that they just assume it is their due. Male entitlement writ large.

This book could have been all about James Harris, but I appreciated that Hendrix centred the story around the women. As one of the women observes when the book club becomes co-ed, the men sure like to hear themselves talk. But it is the women who take action. You go, girl!


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Our Animal Hearts / Dania Tomlinson

 

Our Animal Hearts by Dania Tomlinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book keeps reminding me of Jo Walton's Among Others, though when I've talked about that book with other people, I've come to the conclusion that I've forgotten chunks it. Here's what I found reminiscent: there's an abiding love of books; Among Others is set in Wales and Iris' mother is Welsh; there are magical creatures, seen by the main character, that we have only her kword to go on.

I'm somewhat familiar with the Okanagan area where this book is set. I remember vacationing there at my aunt's house when I was a child. The lake dominates the landscape, dark blue and cold.



Iris is enigmatic. She is both loyal and a betrayer. She is her mother's caretaker and is rapidly becoming her mother, complete with visions and health problems. Like all of us from time to time, she feels jealous, ambitious, responsible, irresponsible, scared, confident. She never doubts what she sees, that's the one constant in her life.

I'm still pondering the blue fish. It lives for decades in a mason jar with a lid on and without eating. I feel like I'm not quite grasping its significance. Thankfully I don't need to understand it all to enjoy it.



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Murder on Cold Street / Sherry Thomas

 

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sherry Thomas really has my number! Ever since I read A Study in Scarlet Women, I have been greedy for the next installment of the Charlotte Holmes story. She has done such a complete job of feminizing the whole Sherlock Holmes story, in such a delightful way.

Of course, if you're still reading the series at this point, you're also interested in Charlotte's relationship with Lord Ingram, which has ebbed and flowed during the course of the books. Thomas has been very skilled at bringing the two together, then drawing them apart again, maintaining the sexual tension quite nicely. Even though Ash seems to have decided where he stands on the matter, Thomas wrote this adventure as much too time consuming to allow him to do anything about it, drawing out the anticipation even further. I sometimes think that anticipation is half the fun, so I thoroughly approve of her methods.

I had been wanting to know more about the Treadles and I got my wish in spades with this book. I'm glad to see the Inspector continuing to look for ways to appreciate and support his wife. I extra glad to see how Mrs. Watson's support helped Alice to assume her rightful role as head of her company. I wouldn't be surprised if they showed up in future volumes, but this was their book. Now I'm hoping that Miss Longford, introduced here, will be an ongoing character.

Livia got a little neglected, perhaps, this time around, but if the epilogue is any indication, she and Charlotte may be working on her problems when next we read about them. I'm getting sentimental as I get older, I want to see all these young people settled (and yet I dread the end of the series and the possibility of no further Charlotte Holmes stories).



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Peace Talks / Jim Butcher

 

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jim Butcher wastes no time making nice before dropping bombs into Harry Dresden's life. Within 100 pages, Harry's apartment building is on fire and his daughter is threatened. Butcher is excellent at applying pressure to his characters, but he shows a special talent for thinking up seemingly impossible dilemmas for Harry to finagle his way out of.

There's the usual humour, of course. That's one of the main attractions of urban fantasy for me. Things may be turning to shit all around him, but Harry will still have a smart-ass remark to make about it. And there is genuine care, too. His coterie of friends and family don't just stand by him—he stands by them too. There is love, loyalty, and dedication there, qualities that I value even though I don't have to fight for them very often. Perhaps because Harry and Murphy are now a couple and Harry has custody of his daughter, Harry seems more mature and centred in himself. It looks good on him.

Harry is imperfect, as are we all, but he does his best. That's all I can ask and it’s what Butcher reliably gives me. His product is consistent and I know what I'm getting when I pick up a Dresden novel. This one ends with a cliffhanger, but I know that Battle Ground will show up in my hold queue at the library eventually, and then I'll get the rest of the story.


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