Death in Berlin / M.M. Kaye

 

Death in Berlin by M.M. Kaye
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo

3.25 stars

I know for a fact that I read this novel back in the 1980s, but I remembered nothing about it. Actually, I think it is the most forgettable of Kaye's mystery books, perhaps because of the grey, dismal surroundings of Berlin immediately after WWII. Kaye manages to make the ruins and relics somewhat impressive, but only the family backyard and the cherry blossoms seem at all beautiful. Quite unlike her usual exotic settings. But she was describing the Berlin that she stayed in as an army wife, the role allotted to Stella Melville in this tale.

These mysteries are frightfully predictable, at least with regards to the heroine’s love life, if not the identity of the murderer. Miranda, our main character, becomes accidentally enmeshed in the very first killing and remains at the centre of the storm for the duration. Of course, there is an improbably attractive man, Simon Lang, in charge of the investigation. How someone young enough to be a romantic interest for our girl in her late teens/early twenties could possibly achieve the rank of lead investigator is conveniently omitted.

Another unusual facet of this story is that Miranda is not as good at putting the clues together as other Kaye heroines. She spends a great deal of the book confused and scared. She is also sans female friends, unlike Death in the Andamans, which I read earlier in this year's Bingo. Although staying with her cousin’s family in Berlin, she has very little emotional support. This also detracts from the charm of the story, at least for me. There also seemed to be an emphasis on possible marital infidelities that seemed overdone. Kaye generally has at least one rather greasy philanderer per novel, but this one seemed rather catty, with women looking to snag one another's husbands.

I'm always nonplussed by the rapidity of the decision to marry in novels of this vintage. However, Kaye's husband is reputed to have proposed to her after five days acquaintance and by the time he got divorced from his first wife, Kaye was pregnant with their second child. They were married on Armistice Day 1945. So perhaps she knew something about wandering spouses, especially in the years just after the war.

This novel will never be my favourite Kaye mystery, but I'm still glad to have renewed my acquaintance with it.




View all my reviews

Those Who Hunt the Night / Barbara Hambly

 

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo

I'm not a true horror fan, but I read a lot of vampire books. Many times, I feel they aren't really too horrible. Barbara Hambly managed to make me quite uncomfortable with her version of the bloodsucker. They may still look more or less like people, but they don't really act like them anymore, unlike so many fictional vampires that are basically just long-lived humans with strange nourishment requirements. I also liked her premise, that someone is killing the vampires of London and that the eldest among them decides to “hire" a human to investigate and fix the problem.

Hambly has created the perfect main character to become a vampire hunter. James Asher is a retired spy, now an academic, so he has research skills, intelligence, attention to detail, and the ability to read a situation. Street smarts and book smarts, the perfect combination for the task. His wife, Lydia, is a medical doctor at a point in history when women aren't supposed to be educated in such things, and James may be a bit over protective, but he mostly treats her as an equal. He goes into the investigation with his eyes wide open, knowing that he is no match for Simon Ysidro or the other vampires physically, that he is being blackmailed into cooperation, and that he is likely expendable once the problem is solved.

The author’s sense of dramatic tension suited my temperament perfectly. She kept me on the edge of my seat without pushing me over into nightmare territory. The vampires were just dangerous enough. World weary and yet completely committed to continued existence. In some ways, they were like very creepy, cranky senior citizens—unhappy that the world is moving on and forcing them to change. (Rather like me when I'm forced to figure out yet another new website or technological gadget. There is swearing and some foot stomping until I have adjusted to it.) The main vampires character describes it well: ”There are stages--I have seen them myself, passed through them myself, some of them...When a vampire has existed thirty, forty years, and sees all his friends dying, growing senile, or changing unrecognizably from what they were in the sweetness of shared youth. Or at a hundred or so, when the whole world mutates into something other than what he grew up with; when all the small things that were so precious to him are no longer even remembered. When there is no one left who recalls the voices of singers which so inextricably formed the warp and weft of his days. Then it is easy to grow careless, and the sun will always rise.” I've heard similar sentiments from nonagenarian humans.

I'm so pleased that I found a copy of this first volume of a series featuring James Asher. Our library has some later volumes, but not the first couple. I can see where I'll be ordering installment two to continue my acquaintance with James and Lydia.




View all my reviews

Games Creatures Play / edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner

 

Games Creatures Play by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Another new Bingo category this year, Lethal Games. I'd been searching for an excuse to read this anthology for some time and it fit beautifully. Cards, racing, roller derby, there's a little of everything. Many of the stories end up being about games of chance, bets made with the Devil or the Fair Folk to avoid certain fates or gain certain advantages. One story, by Mercedes Lackey, even combines the Fair Folk and the Devil in one story.

In the Blue Hereafter is a Charlaine Harris story which brings two of her storylines together. It was fun to get another glimpse of Sookie and see her effect on Manfred. I was surprised to see a story from Jan Burke, who I think of as a thriller writer. Here, she spins a Faerie tale in a very practiced fashion. Colour me impressed. Prise de Fer, by Ellen Kushner, is very reflective of her Swordspoint universe. Despite the fact that I figured out quickly what was going on, I still felt it was well presented. Special mention for The Case of the Haunted Safeway, a happily ever after ghost story; Jammed, a roller derby story featuring Antimony Price from Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series; and Hide and Shriek by Adam-Troy Castro, a very funny riff on the tentacled Horror.

I only really disliked one story, which is pretty amazing considering that in real life I’m an extremely reluctant game player (excepting Halloween Bingo of course).




View all my reviews

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination

 

The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination: Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius by John Joseph Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

I was thrilled with this new category for Halloween Bingo this year, Mad Scientists and Evil Geniuses. Apparently, looking at the list of books that I've read, I have a weakness for this kind of character. You can't have a superhero without a really good villain. Batman is less impressive without the Joker. What's the point of Spiderman if there's no Doc Octopus or Green Goblin? Muahaha!

I was glad to see Seanan McGuire’s Laughter at the Academy included here, as I love most of her writing. As I expected, she produced an interesting angle on the villain in question. You'll enjoy it if you've studied the social sciences and been sneered at by an engineering student.

Another favourite for me was Jeremiah Tolbert's Instead of a Loving Heart. And I now realize that it too is about the contrast between the “detached scientific" point of view and the artist. I personally think that this dichotomy is exaggerated in literature, as I don't think many real life scientists are heartless, soulless people. But I guess it makes a point about science serving all people, rather than people serving the evil genius.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Angel of Death Has a Business Plan by Heather Lindsley. It reminded me (in the best ways) of Hench by Natalie Zina Walscots. Both deal with the business of being a super villain from a female point of view. The Angel of Death has some interesting customers for her super villain coaching business.

A contribution by Diana Gabaldon was a complete surprise. I hoped for something different from her usual, but that was not to be. It was a side story to Claire and Jaime, it was bloated and meandering, and it would have been improved by tight editing. I also had overly high hopes for Theodora Goss' story. If you aren't already familiar with the Athena Club novels, I'm not sure you would care one bit about this short fiction.

There are a lot of stories here, more than I can comment on individually. Many of them are by well-known authors. Some writers may be favourites of others. Overall, it was a good assortment, featuring both male & female perpetrators and a vast array of evil plans.




View all my reviews

When Sorrows Come / Seanan McGuire

 

When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't believe that this is the fifteenth book in the October Daye series and that I'm still enjoying it so much. I love this Fae world that Seanan McGuire has created and I can't get enough of it.

This is the volume where Toby and Tybalt are supposed to tie the knot, but those of us who have read this far know that disaster follows our favourite Knight wherever she goes. So going into things, you are waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the crisis that will delay or cancel the nuptials. Toby has turned the wedding planning to her chosen family and the groom, so every step of the process is a reveal to October as well as the reader.

Sure enough, within hours of arriving at the High Court (in Toronto, Yay!), Toby realizes that there is an attempted coup underway, with the goal of assassinating Quentin's father. Quentin, her squire, himself is under a spell of the Sea Witch which disguises him as a Banshee, shielding him from the worst of the plotting.

Can Toby manage to make it to the altar? Will her wedding dress be drenched in blood? In other words, will she be her usual self? If you have read the previous volumes, you may be skeptical of the outcome—grab a copy and enjoy it!

How much longer can McGuire keep churning out these adventures? My fingers are crossed for many more. I hope she isn't bored with her creations. I need to know what's going on with Oberon, if Toby can salvage her relationship with her daughter Gillian, if Amandine is going to leave her daughter alone, and whether Sylvester will ever pull his head out of his butt.

Sometime soon, I must start a rereading cycle of these books. I'll need to buy copies of the last 2 or 3, but I know I want to own them eventually in any case. A project for 2022 perhaps?




View all my reviews

Hollow Kingdom / Kira Jane Buxton

 

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

4+++ stars

Warning: This story features almost exclusively animal characters and this is a post-apocalyptic story. Necessarily, some characters (including dogs, y'all) are going to die. Please don't come with torches & pitchforks for me, saying I fooled you into reading it & that you are traumatized.


Okay, now we all know where this is headed. What a hoot! The zombie apocalypse as narrated by a domesticated crow, S.T. (that’s Shit Turd, dontcha know). From that name, you can determine the sophistication of his owner, Big Jim. S.T. saves Big Jim's eye when it falls out and tries everything he can think of to cure his big buddy—beak administered beer, a variety of substances filched from a local pharmacy, even his beloved Cheetos. He recruits Dennis, Jim's bloodhound, to help him try to help Big Jim and all the other Mofos. But the humans have become shambling, aimless wanderers unless they spot a phone screen, which turns them into screaming, focused pursuers.

S.T. is sure there must be Mofos out there who haven't succumbed to zombification, so he and Dennis set out from their home to seek them and save Mofo society. Our favourite crow is convinced that life won't be fun without human food and entertainment. Plus, he needs someone with opposable thumbs to open doors for him. Dennis the hound turns out to be an affectionate and loyal companion, much needed as the two meet wild animals and try to rescue domestic animals trapped in their homes.

Buxton imagines networks between wild creatures: the Aura, the Echo, the Web. Being in tune with these is healthy and sustaining, unlike the humans whose internet has brought on their disaster. Who among us hasn't thought about phone zombies? On the university campus where I used to work, drivers must observe a speed limit that is lower for the students (20 kph) than for the campus daycare (30 kph). Toddlers are more wary than phone entranced young adults! If I have this one (very mild) criticism, it is that the “humans have brought on their own downfall through technology” message is a bit heavy handed.

The fantasy elements are right up front. If you can't enjoy a crow who wants to be a human and can't envision animals communicating and co-operating to survive after the disaster, this is not the book for you. If you hated Watership Down, you may want to give this one a miss. Likewise, if you are a delicate flower who can't withstand a fair amount of cursing, pass on by. For the rest of us, have an absolute blast with this cheeky corvid.




View all my reviews

Those Who Fight Monsters / edited by Justin Gustainis

 

Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives by Justin Gustainis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

It's fascinating in a short fiction collection like this to see the many ways that both monsters and monster hunters can be imagined. Some of the stories are written by authors I'm familiar with, Lillith Saintcrow, Rachel Caine, T.A. Pratt, Laura Anne Gilman. One, Tanya Huff, I've had on my TBR for a while and haven't got to yet.

Rachel Caine's offering fits into her Weather Warden series, which I am unfamiliar with. Based on this story, I think I would like it. Unsurprising, really, as I like several of her other series. This was easily my favourite entry in this anthology.

I'm also pleased to read something locally published. I have met representatives of Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy publishing at the writers and readers conference held each August here in Calgary. Here I am, being a booster for my city, but I was happy to hold an attractive volume with a well designed cover and appropriate artwork. Also pleased that the local public library was willing to purchase from a local source.




View all my reviews

The Code of the Woosters / P.G. Wodehouse

 

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These Jeeves & Wooster books may be a bit dated, but they are still quite entertaining. They are worth reading solely for the delight that Wodehouse exhibits in the English language. Yes, there is silliness, but the range of vocabulary and hilarious slang certainly make up for it.

This volume follows the approved pattern. Bertie finds himself rushing off to the rescue of friends even more clueless than he is and is rapidly up to the torso in complications, none of which are pleasant for Bertram. It seems to me that Mr. Wooster actually manages to do some quick thinking of his own in this bout, rather than being completely dependent on Jeeves to mastermind the whole extrication.

It does seem, however, that Jeeves will be arranging that round the world tour that he has been lobbying for. I do hope that it is as enjoyable as he anticipates.


View all my reviews

The Time of the Hunter's Moon / Victoria Holt

 

The Time of the Hunter's Moon by Victoria Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

3.5 stars

I'm not sure how I missed reading this Holt novel way back when. I may have by-passed it, as my mother and I used to share them and we decided at one point that her gothic romances were no longer up to our standards. A quick calculation reveals that the author would have been 75 years old when this was published, so she must have been a lively older woman.

I enjoyed this adventure a great deal, possibly because it was brand new to me. Of course, it became obvious from early in the story that Cordelia was to be matched up with several men, but there is little doubt which one she will choose.

There are a lot of Jane Eyre-like details. Cordelia is an orphan, raised by an aunt. Thankfully, her Aunt Pattie is nothing like Jane's Aunt Reed. Cordelia must earn her living as a school teacher and ends up teaching the two nieces of the local aristocrat, Jason Verringer. Like Mr. Rochester, he has a past. Cordelia arrives on the day of his invalid wife's funeral. The local grapevine is delighted to fill her in on their speculation that he murdered the wife in order to marry his mistress, who is ensconced in a nearby cottage. He pursues Cordelia determinedly, but she refuses to be caught, despite being seriously attracted to him. Her reputation is important if she is to keep her teaching position. She also has a banker as a suitor, rather like Jane's cousin St. John.

There is also a mystery swirling. Cordelia met a mysterious man while at finishing school in Switzerland and thought he was interested in her. He kept turning up in her life, something that made him seem like a romantic prospect. Then he vanishes without a word and she finds that everything he told her was a lie. Later, she learns that he married one of her close school friends, who has subsequently died in a skiing accident. There are a lot of women disappearing and dying under suspicious circumstances and Cordelia tries to piece together the clues to prevent further tragedy.

This is a very predictable book. As I said earlier, it is easily told early in the game which man she will end up with. I figured out the major points of the mystery, although some of details eluded me. Still it was a very entertaining way to fill the Gothic square for Halloween Bingo.




View all my reviews

The Nine Tailors / Dorothy L. Sayers

 

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Dorothy Sayers is a favourite author of mine and I think this may be one of her best. I am constantly amazed about Sayers' areas of interest. When I first picked up this book, my idea of a tailor was someone who sewed and altered clothing (perhaps because that was how my great-grandmother supported herself after she was widowed). The church bell lore surprised me in a very pleasant way. It was fascinating to get educated in this obscure field of study.

Nine tailors make a man. When tolling a death, nine strokes of the tailor bell signify the death of a man. And this signal is sent several times over the course of the novel. Lord Peter is embroiled in this mystery by an unfortunate car accident. As a result, he makes the acquaintance of the Rector of the small community, Mr. Venables, who is rather church bell obsessed. After the rescue and repair of his car, Lord Peter makes his exit, but when a grave in the churchyard is reopened to inter a spouse, an unknown man is revealed. Who is he, how did he get there, how did he die? The questions just keep coming and the Rector's wife knows just who to contact—Lord Peter Wimsey.

Being the inquisitive sort, Wimsey learns about an old crime too, the theft of an emerald necklace and the fall out when it could not be found. Is this a factor in the mysterious corpse's appearance? Sayers weaves the many strands of the story very skillfully, giving us a complex puzzle to solve. I can rarely keep up with her virtuosity and this book was no exception. The story was so interesting that I was happy just to bump along, waiting for the author to reveal all.

I absolutely loved the absent-minded Rector and his ultra-organized wife. It seems to me that Sayers also had great affection for these characters and I wonder how much of it is based on her father, who was a rector on the edge of the Fens and involved in the restoration of a set of church bells. Obviously she had personal attachment, so that may be why this novel is so well realized.




View all my reviews

Thornyhold / Mary Stewart

 

Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

This is one of those two-birds-with-one-stone books. It's my September birthday book, Ms. Stewart being born in this fair month, and it also fits one of my Halloween Bingo categories, as it has both Hodge, the witch's cat, and Rags, the border collie rescued from a nasty witchy fate. I love Stewart's books and I read this one several times in the 1980s. Then I had to move several times and let it go, along with a number of other titles that I wish I'd hung onto. This year I tracked down a second hand copy of Thornyhold and I’ve enjoyed it yet again. I'll be keeping it in the permanent collection now.

Love of animals and plants is something I completely understand and identify with, endearing the main character, Geillis Ramsey, to me. If one of my relatives had left me a lovely cottage with an herb garden and a cat, I would have been just as pleased as she was. I'd also be thrilled with the witchy powers, of which I am sorely lacking.

This is a short and simple romance, with only a few mysterious elements to it. I suppose people who don't believe in presentiments of any kind wouldn't care for it, but I've had just enough freaky dreams (talking to dead relatives or seeing someone that I met later) that I was perfectly suited to the subject matter.




View all my reviews

The Case of the Curious Cook / Cathy Ace

 

The Case of the Curious Cook by Cathy Ace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

One of the things that I admire about this series by Cathy Ace is that she manages to write a mystery story that doesn't revolve around a murder. This story starts with the very benign sounding problem of a bookseller who keeps finding books deposited in his store mysteriously. What could be less threatening? Some questions about an old murder turn as a result of the book investigation, but that crime doesn't dominate the plotline.

I also like the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. They are a variety of ages and backgrounds, none of them being particularly young. I like reading about women my age doing interesting, challenging things. Talking to each other about their cases and their lives. Of course they are still interested in the men in their orbit, although Mavis is the least invested in that pursuit. I'm also happy that they are willing to drop a guy who isn't working out.

I'm surprised at how much I'm enjoying several cozy mystery series now. Writers like Ms. Ace are stretching my boundaries in the best ways.




View all my reviews

Fifth Grave Past the Light / Darynda Jones

 

Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

3.5 stars?

Once again, I am shirking my reading responsibilities and having silly fun with Charley Davidson. I may have to throw a library book or two back unread, but I had to follow my bliss in this case. It seems that each year I can find a way to read another Darynda Jones book for Bingo.

Jones keeps Charley's life pretty frantic. This outing, she ends up with the ghosts of 27 victims of a serial killer inhabiting her apartment—a definite impetus to discover the man responsible. Add to that a fire arms course for Cookie, an angry philanderer, a strong suspicion about an arsonist, a wary chief of police who would like to know how she solves so many crimes, and the fact that Reyes, the man who sets her panties on fire, is now the cook at her father's restaurant. Among other things. All done while cracking wise at every opportunity.

Truth be told, I like all the action very much and I like Charley's role as a grim reaper, but the amount of joking around sometimes gets on my nerves. But I keep coming back for another book, so it can't be too bad.




View all my reviews

Midnight Crossroad / Charlaine Harris

 

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

My second time reading this novel and I enjoyed it more this time out. Proving once again that my enjoyment of a book often has more to do with my mood than the book. I still didn't love it, but I did stay up too late to finish it.

Part of my attitude change may have been due to filling in my Harris reading. Now that I've read her Lily Bard and Aurora Teagarden series, I know more about some of the characters who show up in Midnight. It's like meeting old friends.

I hadn't meant to read this for Bingo, but I requested this book from the library as insurance, to have options. (I'd read an excerpt in another Harris book a while ago and had a yen to give it another go.) Once it was sitting on my coffee table, it was irresistible. I was pulled to it almost against my will. (No, read the mad scientist book, no!)

Once again, Harris writes small town life extremely well, although Midnight, Texas, is unlike any other small town. It has an extremely small population that includes a vampire, a psychic, and a witch, among other oddities. Everyone has a secret and the unspoken agreement of the community is “no personal questions.” Well, we all do have our secrets, just maybe not as weird as those of the denizens of Midnight.

I've got other fish to fry and books to read right now, but I hope to revisit book two and read the third one for the first time before too long.




View all my reviews

The Haunted Heist / Angie Fox

 

The Haunted Heist by Angie Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

This series by Angie Fox is kind of like cotton candy--there's not a whole lot there, bit it's sweet and fun. Verity, the main character, can see some ghosts and has accidentally trapped a ghostly gangster on her property. Frankie is most unhappy about this—how is he supposed to swill booze, play cards, hit on dames, and shoot his dead buddies while he's confined to the home of a broke goodie-two-shoes like Verity?

That's not Verity's only issue. She's broke because she called off her wedding to a cheating man from a prominent family of the tiny town of Sugarland. Her almost ex-mother-in-law has influence and is gunning for our girl. Could things be more complicated? You bet! Verity is now dating her ex's brother, a handsome police officer. He's a contrast to his sleazy sibling and Verity would like to quit sneaking around, but she just doesn't need additional animosity.

Two issues hit at the same time. Ellis is ready to go public and Frankie is ready for freedom and neither of them are inclined to wait or be cautious. Verity has a line on a good job when her potential employer is shot dead right after her job interview. If she can depend on Ellis and cajole Frankie, they can maybe solve this murder!

I spent my own money on this book and I'm not disappointed that I did. I'd rate it on the lower end of the four star rating (maybe 3.7 stars?) but I did really enjoy it, fluffy as it is.




View all my reviews

Murder with Peacocks / Donna Andrews

 

Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Delightful! I've been neglecting this series for years under the misapprehension that it was too saccharin sweet for me. Cozy mysteries didn't use to be my jam, but I've discovered that, like every other genre, it's all about the writer. Sorry, Donna Andrews, for ever doubting you. Ms. Andrews manages to take the Southern stereotypes and uses them without letting them feel stale. We have the overbearing Southern mother, the large and off-kilter family, the somewhat ineffectual sheriff (who is of course a relative), and the preoccupation with polite Southern hospitality. Preoccupations with dress, house deocration, and food are worked into the plot seamlessly without bogging down the action.

The mix includes no less than three weddings, all being planned by one woman, our main character, Meg Langslow. Her best friend, her brother, and her mother all seem to be functionally helpless and Meg is hung with planning all three events, for all of which she is also maid of honour. She is determined to make everything happen, despite all the obstacles that fate throws in her way. Corpses, poisonings, herds of peacocks, lost dogs, eight year old boys that require bribery, dogged pursuit by unlikely suitors, odd behaviour of her father, Meg makes everything bend to her will.

If you want the honest truth, I love Meg because I see a great deal of me in her. I've mellowed, but there were years when I went out and kicked butt in a much similar manner. I remember someone telling me that they always asked a busy person to do things for them because busy people get stuff done. Since I was their busy person, I did a bit of contemplation about that and let go of a lot of responsibilities. I am happy to report that no one would think to foist their tasks on me any longer. I am blissfully unreliable.

The romance element of the novel is obvious from the get go, but it plays out charmingly. Meg doesn't respond well to pursuit, so the eligible bachelor plays the role of friend, able assistant, and hand holder. Believing him to be gay and a temporary resident, Meg simply enjoys his company. Though the reader is in on it from the beginning, the reveal to Meg at the end is perfect.

I rarely truly laugh out loud when reading. This book required audible snickering on numerous occasions. The rejected suitors, the wacky family, and the bridesmaids dresses provided comic relief, as did Meg's lack of comprehension of Michael's purpose. I will anticipate the next book with pleasure.




View all my reviews

A Murder of Quality / John Le Carre

 

4 out of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Write what you know goes the old advice, and it is obvious that Le Carre knows a thing or two about snooty boarding schools. Everyone I've ever spoken to who has gone to one has horror stories to tell. Not your optimum environment for students or instructors.

This is a George Smiley novel, but there's no espionage. Unless you count Smiley using his everyman façade to infiltrate this school on behalf of the police to assist with their murder investigation. Which he wouldn't have heard of if a former service contact wasn't concerned about it. Going to this community puts him back into his ex-wife's old stomping grounds, something he's not keen on.

This is a decent murder mystery, but I have to say that I prefer Le Carre's espionage novels and I'm glad that he wrote more of those. He could have succeeded in the mystery genre but he was masterful writing spy novels. George Smiley is an inspired creation, so able to blend into the crowd and be overlooked. What better quality in a spy or an investigator? I truly must read more Le Carre and Smiley.
 

This book was a twofer—a side read for a reading group and a Bingo selection as well. Double duty.

The Right Sort of Man / Allison Montclair

4 out of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

London right after WWII, men are in short supply, and Iris and Gwen have teamed up to start a matchmaking business. They have set up a couple and are waiting to hear the outcome, which is not what they expect. The young woman is murdered and her potential date is fingered for the crime. Gwen and Iris can't let an innocent man hang and their business can't afford bad publicity, so they find themselves investigating what the police refuse to.

At first, no one expects much from them. But Iris was active in the war (and can't talk about most of what she did). Gwen lost her beloved husband, had a breakdown, and lost custody of her six year old son. Now she's on the warpath to get him fully restored to her. Iris can wield a knife, pick a lock, speak several languages, and identify a tail. Gwen is learning to be fierce and getting better at it. Can they clear their client by finding the real murderer?

I loved the extreme independence of these two women, taking their futures into their own hands and giving the world what's for. They both have things they aren't ready to talk about, but there's still time for that. And they're both learning to expect more out of life (and better). Don't settle for second best! I am glad there are future adventures of these two ferocious women to come!

 

Death in the Andamans / M.M. Kaye

 

4 out of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

I am inordinately fond of M.M. Kaye's mystery books and find this story set in the Andaman Islands particularly appealing. Despite the desperately 1980s cover on the paperback that I procured, this was copyrighted in 1960, although from the author's foreword I believe it was written much earlier. Kaye actually stayed on the island in question in the huge Government House, invited by a good friend just as Copper Randall has been in the novel. After experiencing an enormous storm that knocked out communication with the mainland, Kaye and her friend decided it would be the perfect time to carry out a murder and they entertained themselves by gleefully planning one. Years later, once again needing something to do, Kaye set pen to paper to produce this novel. She claims that she saw the spooky stuff with her own eyes, which I guess is why those parts feel as spine tingling as they do. She incorporated many aspects of her visit into the book.

It's a version of a closed room mystery, with the suspects being limited to the people rescued from the water after three sailboats are capsized by the storm and one of their number gets killed by a blow administered by someone in the party. With no official doctor to do a proper autopsy and the police stuck on the mainland, Copper, her friend Val, Val's fiancé Charles, and Copper's love interest Nick decide to do some amateur sleuthing until someone official presents themselves.

Things quickly get complicated—by a second murder, by family dynamics, by suspicions held by other members of the group. The population of British ex-pats is small and well known to one another, both assisting their investigation and muddying the waters. There are no clear motives and Copper ends up terrified, willing even to suspect the man whom she has been quite possibly falling in love with.

Kaye manages some good red herrings, moving the reader's attention from one suspect to the next, all the while giving enough clues to give hope of solving the mystery. I'd read the book about 30 years ago, but my memory had gone dim and I only remembered one crucial bit of the reveal, which actually led me astray this time!

I have to say that this is very much a period piece, giving a window into the colonial outlook of the era. It also makes the romantic elements seem awfully tame by contrast with the modern romance/mystery genre. It would be vanishingly rare in this day and age for a couple to become engaged after only a few kisses and the occasional embrace. However, it reflects its time and I find reading these sorts of novels charming. As long as I don't have to live by those standards!

This is Your Mind on Plants / Michael Pollan

 

3.25 out of 5 stars

I've enjoyed Michael Pollan's work in the past and this one sounded intriguing, inspiring me to add it to this year's reading list. It seemed to be a good follow-up to reading Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception earlier this summer (and Pollan does talk about Huxley in the final section of the book).

Unfortunately, I found the first third of the book, on opium, to be tough sledding. It is the oldest piece of the book and ends up being far more about the author's worries about potential law enforcement actions than about opium. He does restore the section of his manuscript that dealt with the preparation and experience of making an opium tea. I'm afraid that my minimal experience with archives focused me on the storage method used for that information: he had to find someone who maintains antique technology and then utilize special software, summoning these pages from the past like a sorcerer summoning a being from an alternate dimension! As Pollan concludes, for preservation paper works best.

I had much more interest in the caffeine section, as I am one of the many people devoted to this substance. The links between caffeine consumption and the development of our current worldview were fascinating. In conjunction with the progress of agriculture in Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal, these books give a very different way to interpret our history and an elucidating outlook.

The mescaline portion finished up the book. I had no idea that the peyote cactus was gravely endangered! And I have to agree with the indigenous people that Pollan interviewed—as much Caucasian people want to participate in this experience, it is only fitting that they butt out and leave the sacred plant to those who know how to use it and frankly have much greater need of it. There are other plants and substances for use by the non-indigenous folk.

So, not quite as interesting to me as I hoped, but certainly not a waste of time. Next year I hope to have time to peruse his How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, a book of a similar vein concerning psychedelics.

Strange Brew / edited by P.N. Elrod

 

 3 out of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Any collection of short fiction is going to have some stories that work better for the reader than others. Your favourites may intersect with mine or we may like completely different things. C'est la vie.

For my money, the most enjoyable offering was that of Patricia Briggs. I've enjoyed all of her Mercy books and the Alpha & Omega series, which this story is an off shoot from. I guess I knew there was a story out there about Moira, the blind witch of the Seattle werewolf pack, but I hadn't actively sought it out. I'm delighted to have read it. If possible, I like Moira even more now.

I also liked the glimpse back into Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series, centered on her BFF Molly and her witch family. I have two more books to read in Jane's world and this is my reminder of how much I enjoy Hunter's imaginative world.

Ditto with Pat Elrod. I like her vampire detective, Jack Fleming, although I think I prefer her novels to the short fiction. The story felt a bit rushed to me. There are some other well known authors here—Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine. I'd read work by Karen Chance before too. Once again, as with Elrod, I find I prefer the long form stories, but this is a personal prejudice of mine. I like to inhabit their fictional worlds for a longer stay, rather than just get comfortable in time to have the story end and the carpet pulled out from under me!

Still, this was a fun sampling from a number of my favourite urban fantasy worlds and it was a good choice for Halloween Bingo.

Trail of Lightning / Rebecca Roanhorse

 

4 out of 5 stars

Halloween Bingo 2021

Why did I leave this book so long before reading it? Wow, what an enjoyable fantasy novel! I loved the Navajo details, the way Maggie Hoskie is grounded in her culture. The author, Rebecca Roanhorse, introduces us to the relevant stories through the action, very effectively too. She doesn't freeze the frame to indulge in exposition. She is a skillful craftswoman.

Maggie is such an urban fantasy main character. Orphan? ✔ Supernatural powers? ✔ Trained by a formidable fighter? ✔ Lone wolf? ✔ Starting to realize that she needs friends? ✔ And we get introduced to her potential love interest so early in the book. Kai has secrets of his own, but there is no doubt that there's an attraction there. Maggie has just as many internal obstacles to overcome as outer challenges. All the stuff that I love in urban fantasy.

The alternate time setting was also intriguing. After an apocalyptic event known as the Big Water, North America has changed drastically. Welcome to the Sixth World, where the reservation is surrounded by magical walls that keep the rest of the world out. Much of the former United States is flooded and civilization has been altered beyond recognition. Maggie's truck runs on alcohol; coffee and sugar are rare luxuries. Might is right, and gangs (whether they claim to be law enforcement or not) run things.

I can hardly wait to read the second book and I hope that the author continues in her intention to write more. More Maggie, please!

Peril at End House / Agatha Christie

 

4 out of 5 stars

It is amazing to me how much Agatha Christie could do in a book with less than 200 pages! Mind you, we are already acquainted with M. Poirot and Arthur Hastings at this point, but still, she gives us such vivid portrayals so compactly. Rather than writing long descriptions, she sketches quick characters and sets them in motion and lets the reader fill in the blanks from there.

Christie had really hit her stride as a mystery writer by this novel. There's no fooling around with international crime rings or illicit spies. Instead, she devotes her attention to producing an ingenious who dunnit. She fools me more often than not and this book was no exception to that rule. I was as in the dark as Hastings until the final pages. That's one of the things that I so enjoy about her work, truly. So many authors who write longer books telegraph their solutions so early in the work that there's no surprise left. (There's one author that my gentleman friend loves, but I can't stand because I know the murderer by chapter 2 at the latest.)

I'm just as guilty as Hastings this time out, being far too trusting. Which is kind of funny as one of my sisters accuses me regularly of being far too suspicious of people. While I consider her to be naively accepting. Life doesn't always reflect art, I guess.

Short but satisfying.