The Impossible Fortune / Richard Osman

 

4.5 out of 5 stars 

Hail, hail, the gang's all here! Osman has created a foursome of friends that have just grabbed me and don't let go. I felt sympathy for Elizabeth's grief and for Ron's shaky hands. I enjoy Joyce's commentary on whatever is going on and Ibrahim's certainty that he can figure out anything.

But it isn't just these four. The side characters are allowed to develop as well. Bogdan is still a regular in Coopers Chase. Donna and Chris are still in a conflicted state about the Thursday Murder Club, but they show up when necessary. And in this volume Joyce's daughter Joanna gets a significant role. Not only is she getting married, she's working with her mom and Elizabeth to solve a murder and figure out a financial puzzle. I also enjoyed watching Joyce and Joanna learn how to appreciate each other better.

I love Osman's sly sense of humour and the complicated problems that he creates for his characters. I also appreciate that these characters continue to age as the books progress. If he continues to write them, I fear that he will eventually break my heart with the death of one of my imaginary friends.

For the time being, I continue to enjoy these novels and will look forward to the next one with pleasure.

The Future of Us / Jay Ingram

 

3.25 out of 5 stars 

Jay Ingram is a well known Canadian science journalist and broadcaster. Way back when I still had a TV, he hosted a daily science news show that I enjoyed. Hence as I read this book I could hear his calm, reasonable voice. He was living here in my city when he wrote this book, although he has moved out to the West coast. I don't blame him--he's 80 and winters are much easier out there.

Some sections interested me more than others naturally. Making urban environments more habitable was one of those. Nature is very important to human health and well-being, so getting more greenery into our cities seems like a no-brainer to me. I was surprised that water features provide even greater benefits, but it makes sense to me. (We don't seem to be headed for the claustrophobic cities of Asimov, among others. Thank goodness!)

I know that I am a privileged North American, but I found the food section disappointing. I am very underwhelmed by the lab grown meat possibilities. I don't eat much meat now, but if I'm going to indulge I want the real thing. And I realize that other cultures eat insects with gusto but I will only do so by accident. Yes, they are nutritious. No, I won't ingest them willingly.

I perked up once again as moving off Earth was discussed. This is an idea that I find highly unlikely. For a realistic examination of this issue, I recommend A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?. The authors of that title reveal how much research is required before that plan can become a reality. It's a lot and who knows how much of it is being done? Despite what billionaires like Elon Musk think, it's not going to be easy. Ingram doesn't really get into the technical deficiencies of our current understanding, perhaps because it could be its own book.

Despite being a couple of years old, his artificial intelligence section still stood up pretty well. He points out that AI, unlike us, is not emotion driven. I think we are safe for a long time yet—it takes emotion to be truly evil or malevolent. I have read numerous fictions where a human uploads their consciousness to a computer and I have never found it convincing. We aren't us without our emotions and they are a product of physical brain structures. No physical brain, no real uploaded intelligence, IMO.

Ingram’s last chapters deal with the concept of consciousness, something we can't define even in humans. I agree that it's a stretch to attribute it to machines. He even deals with the idea that we exist in a simulation a la The Matrix. The only logical reaction to that is to live the life you want and to enjoy yourself as much as possible in case the simulation gets turned off. So let's live our lives to the fullest!

A Nice Class of Corpse / Simon Brett

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

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

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

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

Atonement Sky / Nalini Singh

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

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

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

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

Elephants Can Remember / Agatha Christie

 

3.5 out of 5 stars 

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

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

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

Miss Winter in the Library With a Knife / Martin Edwards

 

3 out of 5 stars 

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

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

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