I finished another book yesterday, the best so far of 2019. I've therefore started one more and am already enjoying it. I'll update on those and also continue my look at the Mystery Genre with my focus still on British detectives.
Just Finished
"I enjoyed reading We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time by chef José Andrés. It's a fascinating story of the efforts Jose Andres and a group of chefs from off - island and those also on the island to try and feed Puerto Rico after the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria.
On the whole, it's a very uplifting story, about how these chefs and their volunteers were able to bring food; ham and cheese sandwiches, paella and other meals to the people of San Juan and then expand it to the outlying areas. The amazing thing is that they were able to accomplish this while the government efforts, through FEMA and other organizations, and also the larger NGO's like the Red Cross were unable to accomplish the same successes.
Jose Andres wanted to get down to Puerto Rico as soon as possible and pulled as much money as he could from his own bank accounts to get started. He teamed with friends in Puerto Rico, like restaurateur Jose Enrico and others to start feeding right away. He started small making meals and then expanding successfully for the time he was there. As a chef and with many of his friends and business associates, they were able to cut through the red tape and find sources of food, barter food for gas, use local food trucks and move out into those areas hardest hit to provide food to them. His team also endeavored to get kitchens working in schools, in outlying restaurants and such to ease the workload of the people working out of San Juan.
He does highlight frustrations dealing with the federal government and the local governments, but the majority of the book details their hard work and positive results and ideas for providing support to future disasters. Food and water were their priorities but as they grew they were able to provide other forms of support as well, tarps, medicines, etc.
It's an amazing, fascinating story and even with the frustrations, does make you feel good for their efforts. The story moves along very nicely and is well - written and keeps you turning pages. Excellent book (5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Benares, India, 2945. Captain Richard Blake stands trial at a court martial, accused of stealing a million rupees from one of he wealthiest, most powerful and dangerous men in India. Eight years later, he begins his quest for retribution..." I've read the first chapter already and it seems interesting so far.
My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - English Detectives Part 4.
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| Simon Brett |
"I've read books from other series by Simon Brett; 3 of the Fethering books and one of the Charles Paris books. I enjoyed both series so have been looking to try the Mrs. Pargeter mysteries and have just finished the third book in the series, Mrs. Pargeter's Package. Overall, I preferred the other series but I still liked this book. It was cozy, light and entertaining.
Melita Pargeter is a 60ish widow. Her husband was a successful businessman, some of his methods may have been less than legal. But he also had many friends and it seems that they feel an obligation to support Melita due to their working with her hubbie.
Melita is taking a trip to Corfu, the Greek Island, with a friend, Joyce, who is trying to get over the death of her husband. There is a mystery here. Joyce is looking for something in Corfu and she ends up dead. The local police officer says it was suicide but after looking the situation over, Melita feels that it was murder.
With the help of Larry Lambeth, a fellow pretty good at forgery, Melita searches for clues to Joyce's death. Back in London, detective Truffler Mason and wheeler dealer Hamish Ramon Henriques (HRH), help Mrs. Pargeter look into deaths and other clues that might help.
It wasn't a complex story but it moved along nicely and it kept me interested. Call it light and fluffy and a fun read. (3 stars)"
"Mrs. Pargeter doesn't much like diets. She never felt any need to change her own pleasingly ample figure, but she's happy enough to accompany her slimming-obsessed friend Kim Thurrock for a few days' stay at the exclusive Brotherton Hall health spa. There's one condition, however.
Mrs. Pargeter must receive a special "allergy treatment" featuring the choice delicacies of a cordon bleu chef and an excellent wine list. Suitably assured of rich food and drink, she relaxes and looks forward to a luxurious rest.
Until ... she sees two men wheeling away a young girl's body. Never one to let a murder go unsolved, Mrs. Pargeter sets off on a dangerous trail of inquiry through the pretensions and occasional charlatanism of the health-and-fitness game. It's a trail that brings her up against many of her late husband's "business associates" - among them, the lugubrious private eye Truffler Mason, journalist Ellie Fenchurch, Brotherton Hall's manager "Ankle-Deep" Arkwright, surgical specialist "Jack the Knife," and the enigmatic Stan the Stapler.
But can she trust them all, or were some involved in the notorious betrayal of the late Mr. Pargeter summed up in the one ominous word "Streatham"? In typically unflappable style, Mrs. Pargeter rides through the investigation - from Brotherton Hall to London's King's Cross, through Cambridge University to a Dead Sea mud bath - in search of the villain"
"When Brett introduced us to this humorous not-quite-cozy series four novels ago, the indomitable Mrs. Pargeter, a mixture of Miss Marple and Murph the Surf, had just become a widow. Confronting her first corpse, she discovered that part of her late husband's legacy was the devotion of a cadre of larcenous but fiercely loyal "associates," whose combined street-smarts were the match of any murderer's. In her latest brush with sudden death, Mrs. P. decides to build a dream house on the plot of British countryside left her by the thoughtful Mr. P. But a body is found in the new wine cellar. And when the police arrest her contractor, she and the gang combine their unusual skills to prove them wrong and find the real culprit. The idea of a customer wanting to get a contractor out of jail is just one of the many amusing elements in this charming tale"
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| Victor Canning |
"Laconic private eye Rex Carver has accepted the apparently straightforward job of tracing a young German au pair. Never one to avoid trouble, Carver becomes entangled in a dangerous game of international espionage and double dealing."
"Rex is a private eye and a case leads him to Ireland and to France, where he is trying to find a man left a legacy by an aunt. The man is involved with a large haul of diamonds, and Rex has to deal with people about to trade these stolen diamonds for heroin."
The other two books in the series are -
- The Python Project (1967)
- The Melting Man (1968).
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| G.K. Chesterton |
"Chesterton portrays Father Brown as a short, stumpy Roman Catholic priest, with shapeless clothes and a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into human evil. "How in Tartarus," cried Flambeau, "did you ever hear of the spiked bracelet?" -- "Oh, one's little flock, you know!" said Father Brown, arching his eyebrows rather blankly. "When I was a curate in Hartlepool, there were three of them with spiked bracelets."
Not long after he published Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton moved from London to Beaconsfield, and met Father O'Connor. O'Connor had a shrewd insight to the darker side of man's nature and a mild appearance to go with it--and together those came together to become Chesterton's unassuming Father Brown. Chesterton loved the character, and the magazines he wrote for loved the stories. The Innocence of Father Brown was the first collection of them, and it's a great lot of fun."
"Father Brown, an unassuming and shabbily dressed priest, possesses an incredible ability to solve crimes and murders. Here he reveals the secret of his success. He discovers the culprit by imagining himself to be inside the mind of the criminal. This fourth collection of Father Brown stories contains the magnificent ‘The Chief Mourner of Marne’—a fascinating story with unexpected twists—about a duel and a case of mistaken identity."
The remaining collections in this series are -
- The Wisdom of Father Brown (#2 / 1914)
- The Incredulity of Father Brown (#3 / 1926)
- The Scandal of Father Brown (#5 / 1935).
So there you go, some more mystery ideas, something old and something newer. In my next entry I'll look at one of the Classics of the genre. Enjoy what's left of your Sunday and the upcoming week.
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