December 2008 reads
This is a cross-post from 4MA
BONES OF THE BURIED by David Roberts
2nd of 9 featuring Lord Edward Corinth, a jaded English aristocrat,
and Verity Browne, a leftist journalist, between the wars in 1930s
London, England. "It's 1936, Spain is on the verge of civil war and
Lord Edward Corinth is coming to terms with the decline of his own
titled class in England made all too clear by the murder of three of
his Eton classmates. Verity Browne she asks for his help in freeing
her former lover, the communist ideologue David Griffiths-Jones, from
jail in Spain. It appears Griffiths-Jones has been framed for the
murder of another Communist Party member working to resist Franco's
military rebellion. I prefer the country manor 1930s mystery but this
is probably more "real." Why Edward is attracted to Verity, I have
no idea.
BROTHER CADFAEL'S PENANCE by Ellis Peters
20th of 20 featuring Brother Cadfael, a 12th century monk and
herbalist in Shrewsbury, England. "Olivier de Bretagne, who (unknown
to himself) is Brother Cadfael's son, has been taken prisoner during
England's dynastic war between two grandchildren of William the
Conqueror. Cadfael is determined to find Olivier, although to do so
he must leave the monastery without his abbot's 'leave or...
blessing.' The search begins badly when, at an unsuccessful peace
conference, Yves Hugonin, Olivier's hot-headed brother-in-law, picks
a fight with Brien de Soulis, a commander who may know where Olivier
is held-but won't say. When Brien is found murdered, Yves is abducted
by one who holds him responsible for the killing, and then Cadfael
has two men to find. In the process, he delicately explores puzzles
related to Brien's death and to shadowy deeds in the larger political
scene." This is an excellent series and I'm sad this is the last for
me to read.
CONSEQUENCES OF SIN by Clare Langely-Hawthorne
1st of 2 featuring Ursula Marlowe, an Oxford-educated heiress,
suffragette, and aspiring journalist in Edwardian London, England.
"An Oxford graduate who hopes to become a journalist and an active
suffragette, she is a disappointment to her father, a self-made
magnate who would like his daughter to marry and settle down. When
one of her friends is accused of murdering another woman, the friend
calls Ursula for help. With assistance from her father's lawyer, Lord
Wortham, she begins investigating and, in the face of overwhelming
evidence against her friend, finds indications of a sinister plot
that endangers herself and her family." This wanted to be a better
book. Good bones of a story just not well executed, IMHO.
DEATH AND THE CHAPMAN by Kate Sedley
1st of 17 featuring Roger the Chapman, a medieval chapman (peddler)
in 15th century England. "A lusty romantic interlude leads him to a
grieving alderman's house in Bristol, where Clement Weaver, the son,
is missing--he accompanied his sister to London to shop and
disappeared right down the lane from the Crossed Hands Inn. Six
months later, Roger the Chapman is in Canterbury and hears of two
other disappearances near the Crossed Hands Inn." Good to find a new
histmyst series now that I'm done with Peters'.
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin
"Decades after the unsolved disappearance of a young boy, Jens
Davidsson, who vanished one foggy autumn afternoon in 1972 and was
presumed to have drowned, Jens's grandfather, Gerlof, a retired sea
captain, receives one of Jens's sandals in the mail. Gerlof enlists
his alcoholic daughter, Julia, who's still struggling to come to
grips with the loss of her only child, to help solve the mystery. All
leads point to infamous thug Nils Kant, who was rumored to have
killed numerous people. But Kant allegedly died years before the
fateful day that Jens disappeared, so who could've killed the boy?
And why?" I liked it and look forward to more by this author.
FACE OF A KILLER by Robin Burcell
1st of new series? "San Francisco FBI forensic artist Sydney
Fitzpatrick races to unravel the 20-year-old mystery of her father's
murder before the upcoming execution of his convicted killer, Johnnie
Wheeler. When Sydney interviews Wheeler in San Quentin against her
mother's and stepfather's wishes, Wheeler's claims of innocence have
a ring of truth. As Sydney begins to investigate her father's past,
she uncovers unsavory secrets linking him and some old army buddies,
including one who's now a high-powered U.S. senator, to a bank
engaged in illegal activities. Sydney's dogged persistence and
willingness to bend FBI rules endangers her family, but an 11th-hour
meeting with Wheeler for a new forensic sketch points to the answers
she's been seeking." I was disappointed because I just didn't care
about the protagonist or the story. Just me, but I won't be
continuing with this series I think.
LEAVE THE GRAVE GREEN by Deborah Crombie
3rd of 12 featuring Duncan Kincaid, a Scotland Yard superintendent,
and Gemma James, a sergeant, in London, England. "Duncan Kincaid and
Gemma James investigate a suspicious drowning near London; they
encounter a strange situation: the victim's widow-a painter whose
father is a famous conductor and whose mother is a renowned opera
singer-is oddly stand-offish and strangely unaffected by her
husband's death...creates strategic tension by both establishing a
parallel between this drowning and the childhood drowning death of
the painter's brother and by juxtaposing two protagonists who feel-
but struggle against-a mutual attraction." Enjoyable.
LONELY HEARTS by John Harvey
1st of 11 featuring Charlie Resnick, jazz-loving police detective in
Nottingham, England. "The chief focus is on divorced, Polish
Detective-Inspector Charlie Resnick - who lives with four cats and a
collection of jazz records and is on the brink of a tentative affair
with bristly social-worker Rachel Chaplin. Charlie and his crew are
trying to solve the brutal murders of two single womenboth advertised
in the local newspaper's Lonely Hearts' column." Having enjoyed his
Frank Elder books, I've been meaning to get to this series for a long
time.
LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde
2nd of 5 featuring Thursday Next, an agent of the Special Operations
Network, Literary Division, in Great Britain a funny sci-fi,
alternate history series. "When Landen, the love of her life, is
eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday
must moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction—the
police force inside books. She is apprenticed to the man-hating Miss
Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations, who grudgingly shows
Thursday the ropes. What she really wants is to get Landen back.
Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal
coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the
Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink
sludge from engulfing all life on Earth." Love love love this series
especially in audiobook where the Brit humor really shows.
SATAN IN ST. MARY'S by P.C. Doherty
1st of 16 featuring Hugh Corbett, a spy for King Edward I in England.
"1284 and Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the
late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of
Evesham in 1258. The Pentangle, the movement's underground society
whose members are known to practice the black arts, is thought to be
behind the apparent suicide of Lawrence Duket, one of the King's
loyal subjects, in revenge for Duket's murder of one of their
supporters. The King, deeply suspicious of the affair, orders his
wily Chancellor, Burnell, to look into the matter. Burnell chooses a
sharp and clever clerk from the Court of King's Bench, Hugh Corbett,
to conduct the investigation. Corbett -- together with his
manservant, Ranulf, late of Newgate -- is swiftly drawn into the
tangled politics and dark and dangerous underworld of medieval
London." Though obviously a first in a series, I like the time period
and character. New series to follow!
THAI DIE by Monica Ferris
12 of 12 featuring Betsy Devonshire, a needlework shop owner in
Excelsior, Minnesota. "As full-time owner of the Crewel World
needlework shop and part-time sleuth, Betsy Devonshire has become
skilled at weaving suspicious threads. But when one of her regulars
unwittingly becomes involved in a deadly delivery of exotic
antiquities, Betsy fears something is seriously warped." Too much
exposition of the crafts and too little mystery; this is my last one
I'm going to read of this author.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Steig Larsson
I think everyone knows about this one so I'll skip the description.
I had gotten it when it was first hyped but didn't get around to
reading it until last week. I'm glad I waited until most of the hype
died down so I could read it on its own merit. I truly liked it.
The strength was in its plotting and interesting characters. A lot of
story is packed in those pages. I look forward to the next one.
THE HARPER'S QUINE by Pat McIntosh
1st of 5 featuring Gil Cunningham, a notary in 15th century Glasgow,
Scotland. " Gil is a recently qualified lawyer whose family still
expect him to enter the priesthood. When he finds the body of a young
woman in the new building at Glasgow Cathedral he is asked to
investigate, and identifies the corpse as the runaway wife of cruel,
unpleasant nobleman John Semphill. With the help of Maistre Pierre,
the French master-mason, Gil must ask questions and seek a murderer
in the heart of the city." I liked it though the language slowed me
down a bit. Kind of like having slang spelling to capture the
accents of the South.
THE SANCTUARY SEEKER by Bernard Knight
1st of 12 featuring Sir John de Wolfe, the crowner (coroner), in 12th
century Devon, England, in the Crowner John series. "in 1194, as Sir
John de Wolfe criss-crosses Devon, the first coroner appointed by
King Richard the Lion-hearted. Assisted by the imposing Cornishman
Gwyn and the dour defrocked priest Thomas de Peyne, who serves as his
clerk, Crowner John records all crimes and legal events. He begins an
investigation when an unidentified corpse is found facedown in a
stream in the moorland village of Widecombe. Though locals
unconvincingly claim ignorance of its identity, the body is
identified as that of a young nobleman recently returned from the
Crusades. Richard de Revelle pressures Crowner John to prosecute an
apparently innocent man, but the evidence points to quite a different
killer." Another series for me to follow.
THE STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy
1st of 2 featuring Olivia (Ollie) Paras, White House assistant chef
in Washington DC. "White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras faces
challenges aplenty: a heated competition for the soon-to-be-vacant
top chef's job, the sneering antagonism of the president's newly
appointed sensitivity director and, of course, the mysterious
intruder she unwittingly stops on the White House lawn with a couple
of swift blows from a frying pan—an unarmed man with news of a threat
to the president. Though the Secret Service disapproves of her
interference, Ollie soon takes on the mantel of amateur sleuth. The
tension mounts as the president negotiates a major peace plan for the
Middle East, Ollie stumbles on the path of a nearly invisible enemy
known as the Chameleon, and obnoxious TV celebrity chef Laurel Anne
Braun shows up to threaten Ollie's career." Yes, it's a cosy but it
was recommended by reviewer David Montgomery so I gave it a try.
Interesting for its setting.
THE WESTMINSTER POISONER by Susanna Gregory
4th of 4 featuring Thomas Chaloner, a reluctant spy for the Secretary
in Restoration London. "After the Puritan ban on Christmas
festivities, Restoration London is awash with excess between
Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, but the two men found in Westminster
Hall had not died from a surfeit of gluttony, but from poison. The
Lord Chancellor appoints Chaloner as his investigator into the
killings, believing them to be of scant importance to the affairs of
state he deals with. But Chaloner reveals a stinking seam of
corruption in the Palace of White Hall, where even the Queen is a
victim to the greed of courtiers and functionaries. And the pickings
are so rich that men are prepared to go to any lengths to save their
own skins and their stolen fortunes." Without a doubt, I love this
series.
Overall in 2008, I read 111 books. Not my best showing but not my
worst (unemployment helped that). So far, 2009 is off to a good
start.
BONES OF THE BURIED by David Roberts
2nd of 9 featuring Lord Edward Corinth, a jaded English aristocrat,
and Verity Browne, a leftist journalist, between the wars in 1930s
London, England. "It's 1936, Spain is on the verge of civil war and
Lord Edward Corinth is coming to terms with the decline of his own
titled class in England made all too clear by the murder of three of
his Eton classmates. Verity Browne she asks for his help in freeing
her former lover, the communist ideologue David Griffiths-Jones, from
jail in Spain. It appears Griffiths-Jones has been framed for the
murder of another Communist Party member working to resist Franco's
military rebellion. I prefer the country manor 1930s mystery but this
is probably more "real." Why Edward is attracted to Verity, I have
no idea.
BROTHER CADFAEL'S PENANCE by Ellis Peters
20th of 20 featuring Brother Cadfael, a 12th century monk and
herbalist in Shrewsbury, England. "Olivier de Bretagne, who (unknown
to himself) is Brother Cadfael's son, has been taken prisoner during
England's dynastic war between two grandchildren of William the
Conqueror. Cadfael is determined to find Olivier, although to do so
he must leave the monastery without his abbot's 'leave or...
blessing.' The search begins badly when, at an unsuccessful peace
conference, Yves Hugonin, Olivier's hot-headed brother-in-law, picks
a fight with Brien de Soulis, a commander who may know where Olivier
is held-but won't say. When Brien is found murdered, Yves is abducted
by one who holds him responsible for the killing, and then Cadfael
has two men to find. In the process, he delicately explores puzzles
related to Brien's death and to shadowy deeds in the larger political
scene." This is an excellent series and I'm sad this is the last for
me to read.
CONSEQUENCES OF SIN by Clare Langely-Hawthorne
1st of 2 featuring Ursula Marlowe, an Oxford-educated heiress,
suffragette, and aspiring journalist in Edwardian London, England.
"An Oxford graduate who hopes to become a journalist and an active
suffragette, she is a disappointment to her father, a self-made
magnate who would like his daughter to marry and settle down. When
one of her friends is accused of murdering another woman, the friend
calls Ursula for help. With assistance from her father's lawyer, Lord
Wortham, she begins investigating and, in the face of overwhelming
evidence against her friend, finds indications of a sinister plot
that endangers herself and her family." This wanted to be a better
book. Good bones of a story just not well executed, IMHO.
DEATH AND THE CHAPMAN by Kate Sedley
1st of 17 featuring Roger the Chapman, a medieval chapman (peddler)
in 15th century England. "A lusty romantic interlude leads him to a
grieving alderman's house in Bristol, where Clement Weaver, the son,
is missing--he accompanied his sister to London to shop and
disappeared right down the lane from the Crossed Hands Inn. Six
months later, Roger the Chapman is in Canterbury and hears of two
other disappearances near the Crossed Hands Inn." Good to find a new
histmyst series now that I'm done with Peters'.
ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin
"Decades after the unsolved disappearance of a young boy, Jens
Davidsson, who vanished one foggy autumn afternoon in 1972 and was
presumed to have drowned, Jens's grandfather, Gerlof, a retired sea
captain, receives one of Jens's sandals in the mail. Gerlof enlists
his alcoholic daughter, Julia, who's still struggling to come to
grips with the loss of her only child, to help solve the mystery. All
leads point to infamous thug Nils Kant, who was rumored to have
killed numerous people. But Kant allegedly died years before the
fateful day that Jens disappeared, so who could've killed the boy?
And why?" I liked it and look forward to more by this author.
FACE OF A KILLER by Robin Burcell
1st of new series? "San Francisco FBI forensic artist Sydney
Fitzpatrick races to unravel the 20-year-old mystery of her father's
murder before the upcoming execution of his convicted killer, Johnnie
Wheeler. When Sydney interviews Wheeler in San Quentin against her
mother's and stepfather's wishes, Wheeler's claims of innocence have
a ring of truth. As Sydney begins to investigate her father's past,
she uncovers unsavory secrets linking him and some old army buddies,
including one who's now a high-powered U.S. senator, to a bank
engaged in illegal activities. Sydney's dogged persistence and
willingness to bend FBI rules endangers her family, but an 11th-hour
meeting with Wheeler for a new forensic sketch points to the answers
she's been seeking." I was disappointed because I just didn't care
about the protagonist or the story. Just me, but I won't be
continuing with this series I think.
LEAVE THE GRAVE GREEN by Deborah Crombie
3rd of 12 featuring Duncan Kincaid, a Scotland Yard superintendent,
and Gemma James, a sergeant, in London, England. "Duncan Kincaid and
Gemma James investigate a suspicious drowning near London; they
encounter a strange situation: the victim's widow-a painter whose
father is a famous conductor and whose mother is a renowned opera
singer-is oddly stand-offish and strangely unaffected by her
husband's death...creates strategic tension by both establishing a
parallel between this drowning and the childhood drowning death of
the painter's brother and by juxtaposing two protagonists who feel-
but struggle against-a mutual attraction." Enjoyable.
LONELY HEARTS by John Harvey
1st of 11 featuring Charlie Resnick, jazz-loving police detective in
Nottingham, England. "The chief focus is on divorced, Polish
Detective-Inspector Charlie Resnick - who lives with four cats and a
collection of jazz records and is on the brink of a tentative affair
with bristly social-worker Rachel Chaplin. Charlie and his crew are
trying to solve the brutal murders of two single womenboth advertised
in the local newspaper's Lonely Hearts' column." Having enjoyed his
Frank Elder books, I've been meaning to get to this series for a long
time.
LOST IN A GOOD BOOK by Jasper Fforde
2nd of 5 featuring Thursday Next, an agent of the Special Operations
Network, Literary Division, in Great Britain a funny sci-fi,
alternate history series. "When Landen, the love of her life, is
eradicated by the corrupt multinational Goliath Corporation, Thursday
must moonlight as a Prose Resource Operative of Jurisfiction—the
police force inside books. She is apprenticed to the man-hating Miss
Havisham from Dickens's Great Expectations, who grudgingly shows
Thursday the ropes. What she really wants is to get Landen back.
Thursday finds herself the target of a series of potentially lethal
coincidences, the authenticator of a newly discovered play by the
Bard himself, and the only one who can prevent an unidentifiable pink
sludge from engulfing all life on Earth." Love love love this series
especially in audiobook where the Brit humor really shows.
SATAN IN ST. MARY'S by P.C. Doherty
1st of 16 featuring Hugh Corbett, a spy for King Edward I in England.
"1284 and Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the
late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of
Evesham in 1258. The Pentangle, the movement's underground society
whose members are known to practice the black arts, is thought to be
behind the apparent suicide of Lawrence Duket, one of the King's
loyal subjects, in revenge for Duket's murder of one of their
supporters. The King, deeply suspicious of the affair, orders his
wily Chancellor, Burnell, to look into the matter. Burnell chooses a
sharp and clever clerk from the Court of King's Bench, Hugh Corbett,
to conduct the investigation. Corbett -- together with his
manservant, Ranulf, late of Newgate -- is swiftly drawn into the
tangled politics and dark and dangerous underworld of medieval
London." Though obviously a first in a series, I like the time period
and character. New series to follow!
THAI DIE by Monica Ferris
12 of 12 featuring Betsy Devonshire, a needlework shop owner in
Excelsior, Minnesota. "As full-time owner of the Crewel World
needlework shop and part-time sleuth, Betsy Devonshire has become
skilled at weaving suspicious threads. But when one of her regulars
unwittingly becomes involved in a deadly delivery of exotic
antiquities, Betsy fears something is seriously warped." Too much
exposition of the crafts and too little mystery; this is my last one
I'm going to read of this author.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Steig Larsson
I think everyone knows about this one so I'll skip the description.
I had gotten it when it was first hyped but didn't get around to
reading it until last week. I'm glad I waited until most of the hype
died down so I could read it on its own merit. I truly liked it.
The strength was in its plotting and interesting characters. A lot of
story is packed in those pages. I look forward to the next one.
THE HARPER'S QUINE by Pat McIntosh
1st of 5 featuring Gil Cunningham, a notary in 15th century Glasgow,
Scotland. " Gil is a recently qualified lawyer whose family still
expect him to enter the priesthood. When he finds the body of a young
woman in the new building at Glasgow Cathedral he is asked to
investigate, and identifies the corpse as the runaway wife of cruel,
unpleasant nobleman John Semphill. With the help of Maistre Pierre,
the French master-mason, Gil must ask questions and seek a murderer
in the heart of the city." I liked it though the language slowed me
down a bit. Kind of like having slang spelling to capture the
accents of the South.
THE SANCTUARY SEEKER by Bernard Knight
1st of 12 featuring Sir John de Wolfe, the crowner (coroner), in 12th
century Devon, England, in the Crowner John series. "in 1194, as Sir
John de Wolfe criss-crosses Devon, the first coroner appointed by
King Richard the Lion-hearted. Assisted by the imposing Cornishman
Gwyn and the dour defrocked priest Thomas de Peyne, who serves as his
clerk, Crowner John records all crimes and legal events. He begins an
investigation when an unidentified corpse is found facedown in a
stream in the moorland village of Widecombe. Though locals
unconvincingly claim ignorance of its identity, the body is
identified as that of a young nobleman recently returned from the
Crusades. Richard de Revelle pressures Crowner John to prosecute an
apparently innocent man, but the evidence points to quite a different
killer." Another series for me to follow.
THE STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy
1st of 2 featuring Olivia (Ollie) Paras, White House assistant chef
in Washington DC. "White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras faces
challenges aplenty: a heated competition for the soon-to-be-vacant
top chef's job, the sneering antagonism of the president's newly
appointed sensitivity director and, of course, the mysterious
intruder she unwittingly stops on the White House lawn with a couple
of swift blows from a frying pan—an unarmed man with news of a threat
to the president. Though the Secret Service disapproves of her
interference, Ollie soon takes on the mantel of amateur sleuth. The
tension mounts as the president negotiates a major peace plan for the
Middle East, Ollie stumbles on the path of a nearly invisible enemy
known as the Chameleon, and obnoxious TV celebrity chef Laurel Anne
Braun shows up to threaten Ollie's career." Yes, it's a cosy but it
was recommended by reviewer David Montgomery so I gave it a try.
Interesting for its setting.
THE WESTMINSTER POISONER by Susanna Gregory
4th of 4 featuring Thomas Chaloner, a reluctant spy for the Secretary
in Restoration London. "After the Puritan ban on Christmas
festivities, Restoration London is awash with excess between
Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, but the two men found in Westminster
Hall had not died from a surfeit of gluttony, but from poison. The
Lord Chancellor appoints Chaloner as his investigator into the
killings, believing them to be of scant importance to the affairs of
state he deals with. But Chaloner reveals a stinking seam of
corruption in the Palace of White Hall, where even the Queen is a
victim to the greed of courtiers and functionaries. And the pickings
are so rich that men are prepared to go to any lengths to save their
own skins and their stolen fortunes." Without a doubt, I love this
series.
Overall in 2008, I read 111 books. Not my best showing but not my
worst (unemployment helped that). So far, 2009 is off to a good
start.
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