A RULE AGAINST MURDER, Louise Penny

This time the season is summer and the location switches to the Manoir Bellechasse, a magnificent lodge on the shore of an isolated Quebec lake.  The author is gifted in her ability to evoke July in the Canadian woods including several humorous and realistic encounters between the humans in the story and many insects and one memorable thunderstorm that builds over the lake.

There is, of course, a murder to be solved involving a very dysfunctional family and very large statue. Many details of the life story of the Inspector and his librarian(!) wife are revealed in a very clever juxtaposition with the family who’s central to the murder at the lodge.  I’m eagerly awaiting my next installment of the Three Pines series.

Minotaur Books, 2008, 322 p.

BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel

In this, the second of a planned trilogy, about the life of Thomas Cromwell, the author does not disappoint the reader. 

 

This volume continues the story of Henry VIII’s world; he has tired of Anne Boelyn who’s failed to give him a male heir and has fixed his desire upon her polar opposite:  Jane Seymour.  Cromwell, arguably the most powerful man in England, “save the King” is tasked with keeping peace among the very influential and aristocratic families of the realm as well as finding or manufacturing cause to remove Queen Anne as he did Queen Katherine.

 

Anne won’t go willingly and, as the book graphically tells, finds herself facing the executioner who will behead her.  Wonderfully told in finely-tuned detail of life in 16^th century Europe, I look forward to the next volume of this acclaimed and award-winning series.

Henry Holt, 2012, 410 p.

Night Passage

by Robert B. Parker
Jesse Stone series, #1

It was actually an episode of the television series that brought me to this book, and neither the broadcast nor the written versions disappoint.

Jesse's a messed up cop who moves far away from his home in California to take up a post in a small town on the East Coast. He's hired specifically because he's messed up. The town elders think it will be easy to carry on their shady plans that way. But Jesse just won't play the role they have lined up for him, no matter how often or how seriously they threaten him.

text: 322 pages

"Tempted" by Elisabeth Naughton

Book 3 in the Eternal Guardians series deals with Isadora, heir to the throne of Argolea, and Demetrius, the darkest of the Argonauts.  When Isadora is kidnapped, several of the Argonauts set out to rescue her.  Unfortunately, she and Demetrius ultimately end up on the island of Pandora, where they are hunted by dangerous beasts.  Based on Greek mythology, this series is full of action and many characters with unusual powers and weaknesses.  Will Isadora and Demetrius make it off of the island alive or will their mutual hatred do them in first?  These are two very different people with dangerous secrets, and I enjoyed seeing the way they both evolved over the course of the story.  411 pages.

(I posted about book 1, "Marked," and book 2, "Entwined," earlier this month.)

God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren and art by David Hohn

This is a wonderfully told and beautifully illustrated Christmas story. Little Cub and Mama go searching for God to see how He gave us Christmas.I picked it up to share with our preschool children at church, but feel the message would be enjoyed by and inspire people of all ages. 40 pages.

No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie

Deborah Crombie is a Texan who writes British detective stories.  This latest installment features former partners and newlyweds Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James. A former Olympic caliber rower on the verge of a comeback is found drowned in the Thames. Was it an unfortunate accident or was she murdered? The suspects include her former husband, a shell-shocked Afghanistan war veteran, and a Chief Superintendent with a history of sexually harassing his female staff.  Did I mention that the rower was also a police detective?  563 pages.

The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge

I read this book every year just before Christmas. Isaac the clock maker accidentally puts a watch paper in the watch case of the Dean of the Cathedral, Adam Asycough. The watch paper is inscribed "I labour here with all my might, to tell the time by day or night, Then you a lesson take by me, and serve thy God as I serve thee." Inspired by the quotation, the Dean asks Isaac to teach him all about clocks and clock making.   Once he befriends Isaac, the Dean meets other people around the town-Polly a housemaid, Job a fishmonger's apprentice, Bella the headstrong toddler grand-daughter of the Dean's lawyer, and Emma, Isaac's emotionally stunted sister. The Dean's journey from isolation within the church to community with ordinary folk is a feel-good Christmas story! 383 pages.

THE CRUELEST MONTH, Louise Penny

Another season and another murder in Three Pines; a séance in the old Hadley house goes awry when one of the participants drops dead, a scream of horror frozen in place on her face. If she was frightened to death, did someone set the scene?  Chief Inspector Gamanche and his team are on the case.

I love the descriptive parts of this series; lots of lovely details about life in an imagined (?) small Canadian village, this story is set in April so there are newly blooming flowers and newly hatched ducklings adopted by the most unlikely villager.  Also, the author weaves literary references into the conversations including poems supposedly composed by one of the characters.

Minotaur Books, 2007, 311 p.

STILL LIFE, Louise Penny

This novel, the first in a series, presents the detective, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surete du Quebec and the residents of a small, rather off the road Canadian village, Three Pines.   I read a very enthusiastic review of Ms. Penny’s recent work, and I decided to give the author and her detective an audition by reading this book, first published in Great Britain.

The first chapter introduces and kills-off 76-year-old Miss Neal, a much beloved and long-time resident of Three Pines.  Serendipitously, I checked it out for the long holiday weekend and the first sentence read:  “Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday.”

When Chief Inspector arrives on the scene, the first unknown is how she died.  Was it a hunting accident?   If so, why hasn’t the guilty party come forth?  And, Miss Neal, why hasn’t anyone in the village ever, ever set foot in her house beyond the kitchen?

I’m hooked on the characters and the author’s often droll descriptions of life in Three Pines.  Book #2 and #3 are on their way to me as I write.

Minotaur Books,  2006, 312 p.

A Free Life by Ha Jin

A Free Life / by Ha Jin

Story of a Chinese immigrant family reunited in US after 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and begins a new, free life in the United States. The author brilliantly brings to life the daily struggles to survive and dream to successes that characterize many Chinese immigrant experience. I feel inspired by Nan's  (the main character of the story) aspirations to poetry even under harsh living conditions. Long book but worth reading.

660 p.

Hidden in Plain View (a Darryl Billups mystery) / Blair S. Walker

Darryl Billups is back on the job as a reporter for the Baltimore Herald, after helping to catch a notorius killer.  Riding on the coattails of his journalistic success on that case, Billups is able to ingratiate himself with Baltimore PD to help investigate a series of deaths dubbed the Confederate Flag killings (decals placed on the foreheads of victims).  Perhaps not so coincidentally, Billups finds himself a target of the killer, but fortunately catches on and manages to extricate himself from danger.  This is a fast read, not so challenging as a mystery, but provides an interesting African-American perspective on life in Baltimore.  268 p.

"The Collage Workbook: How to Get Started and Stay Inspired" by Randel Plowman

Collage seems to be an art form that any of us can do.  There's no need to be a talented drawer or painter; just cut out pictures from old magazines and throw them together in interesting ways.  That's what I used to think collage was all about until I read this book.  Plowman, an MFA student who runs a popular collage blog called "A Collage a Day," explains how to prepare different materials and the tools to use them in your art.  From transparency film to laser transfers on tracing paper to items found in the street, he shows the reader how they can inspire and transform the look of simple collages.  He talks about the basic tools and materials needed to get started and even supplies 50 creativity exercises for the reader to explore their creativity.  My only complaint is that he seems to use some of the same types of  materials over and over in his collages, so that many of them had the same basic look.  132 pages.

The betrayal of trust / Susan Hill

A torrential rainstorm the likes of Lafferton has rarely seen unearthed two bodies in the subsequent flooding.  Detective Simon Serrailler immediately recognized the remains of the missing Harriet Lowther, a 16-year old cold case.  The second was of another young woman, a foreigner who no one had reported missing.  Interwoven through the story of how Det. Serrailler discovers the connection between the two deaths is a parallel story of a newcomer to the community who plans a chilling alternative to end of life care.  It takes a while for the stories to connect, but they do finally. Enjoyed the story; I'll read the author again.

The Blackhouse / Peter May

Detective Sergeant Fin MacLeod is sent back to his boyhood home, the Isle of Lewis, to investigate a connection between a grisly murder there and an unsolved crime in his current city of Edinburgh.  Little did he realize that he had been purposely lured there to account for a long-held childhood secret.  Beautifully evocative of life on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and as dark and brooding as the constant weather there.  I could not put this down and was delighted to discover it is the first volume in a planned trilogy.  357 p.

Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter

A political thriller set in the context of 1952 through the 1970s.  The 'Palace Council' is a group of prominent men, black and white, begun in 1952, to manipulate the presidency of the U.S.  Soon after, the body of one of the men is found, murdered, by Eddie Wesley, a rising black writer in Harlem.  When Eddie's younger sister disappears, Eddie begins a 20 year search to find her, complicated by the news she is heading a radical extremist group.  Eddie also involves the woman he loves, Aurelia, who has married into a prominent family, but whose husband is also a member of the Council.  Lots of plot twists and dead ends are enhanced by Carter's ability to deftly depict the character of those times.
510 pages.

Delta Search by William Shatner

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Young Jim's early life is hard, his parent is killed. His body is encoded and 16 years later the empire is now seeking him. As with all books this one has romance; he finds a girl he likes and she likes him leading to hazards for both of them. 

Audio:  8 hrs. 24 min.

Print:  416 pages.

Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Hannah’s bakery has an order for a three day celebration 1800 cookies. The professor gets murdered and there are lots of suspects. The detective Hannah gets locked in a mausoleum by the killer and must be rescued. Don’t forget the recipes.

290 pages.

Locked On by Tom Clancy

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Jack Ryan Sr. out of retirement runs for president. Jack Ryan Jr. is involved with Pakistani dissidents plotting a war with India. There are stolen nuclear weapons. An American secret service operative is accused and on the run and looking to clear his name.

Audio:  17 hrs. 27 min.

Print:  592 pages.

"Entwined" by Elisabeth Naughton

This is the second book in the Eternal Guardians series and focuses on Zander, an Argonaut who is descended from Achilles.  At 829 years old, he is tired of living, especially since his soul mate, the healer Callia, betrayed him 11 years ago.  But since he is immortal, suicide won't work.  The king of his homeland, Argolea, needs an Argonaut to marry and impregnate the heir to the throne, his daughter Isadora.  When he asks for a volunteer, only Zander agrees.  However, he must be checked out by the king's healer to confirm his ability to procreate.  And who is that healer?  Yep, it's Callia, who believes that Zander dumped her 11 years ago.  Will all these misunderstandings and secrets keep them apart forever?  Will Zander marry Isadora and produce an heir?

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series, "Marked."  Lots of action and suspense enhanced the complicated relationship between Callia and Zander.  This book strongly reminded me of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and even had some very close parallels with its characters and storylines.  Highly recommended for paranormal romance enthusiasts.  336 pages.

More Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas by Ace Collins

I always like learning the stories behind popular Christmas songs. This book contained several that I had never heard of before while others I would find myself singing as I read about them. Most interesting tidbit? The composer of The Little Drummer Boy was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. A good Christmas read. 224 pages.

"One White Rose" by Julie Garwood

I read this short historical romance while waiting for a book on hold at the library to arrive.  The story takes place in Montana Territory sometime in the 1800s. Douglas Clayborne arrives at Sweet Creek to take possession of an Arabian horse he bought from Parker Grant several months ago.  Unfortunately, Grant is now dead and his wife refuses to believe that he would sell one of her horses without telling her.  Isabel Grant is also alone and about to give birth prematurely, but no one in town will help her because they are intimidated by the town bully.  Will Douglas help her deliver her baby and lose his heart in the process?  What do you think.

I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, but this one seemed to have been written quickly without much depth of character or subtlety.  There are more books in this series, but I won't be reading them.  150 pages.

The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

The White Tower is broken and the Forsaken rule! News that the Dragon has been Reborn has spread like wildfire, shattering all bonds as the Prophecies said he will. Nations are broken by civil war and refugees flee in every direction as an unnatural heat settles on the land.

The leader of the Aes Sedai, an ancient order of women who can channel the one Power, has been deposed costing Rand al'Thor one of his most stalwart allies and plunging the order into chaos and rebellion. The Forsaken, a group of powerful channelers sworn to serve the Dark One sealed outside of time more than three thousand years ago by the original Dragon, walk the world once more and secretly control the monarchs of several nations. Even after uniting the Aiel clans under the banner of the Dragon Reborn, one of them has rebelled and seeks to ravage the lands Rand seeks to protect. Meanwhile the seals on the Dark One's prison, the ancient entity of chaos and evil created at the moment of creation, are growing thin allowing him to touch the world once more and trap it in an unending summer.

The fifth book in the Wheel of Time, The Fires of Heaven is another one of my favorites in the series. There is a lot of plot and character development. The female leads Elayne, Nyneave, Egwene, and Moraine get some important developments and some major plot action. Moraine also gets catapulted up to one of my favorite characters. Mat develops his true place in the story and easily becomes the best character, while Perrin (in my opinion the most boring character) is thankfully absent from the book.

Pages: 736