Well, I've read two books this week and, of course, have started two more. I received one ordered book in the mail today and yesterday when I dropped off some books at Nearly New Books yesterday I found 3 that seemed interesting, either the next book in a series or just books or authors I'm interested in.
Today I'll just do a reading and purchase update. I'll get back to my look at the Mystery genre in my next entry.
Just Finished
"I've enjoyed reading the Inspector Alleyn mysteries by Ngaio Marsh very much. I've read the first few in order but I've also jumped around a bit in the series. A case in point being my latest, Spinsters in Jeopardy which is the 17th book in the series. I guess it's probably somewhat important to read the series in order as you do get to see how Alleyn's relationship with artist, Agatha Troy develops. I was a bit surprised to find that the duo now have a son. But having said that, the stories also stand very well on their own.
In Spinsters, we see our intrepid family on a 'vacation' in southern France, ostensibly visiting a long lost relative of Troy's. On the train journey to Roqueville, as the train approaches the city, both Alleyn and Troy see what appears to be an act of violence from their train compartment. On arrival in Roqueville, they are also thrown into a dire situation, as one of the passengers, an elderly woman, Miss Truebody, has a problem with her appendix and must see a doctor immediately. Fortunately, while all of the local doctors are away at a conference, there is an Egyptian doctor at the villa, which the train just passed and the family brings Miss Truebody there.
Now Alleyn isn't exactly on vacation, he is instead working with la Surete to find a drug smuggling ring working in the area. So, there is lots going on here. Alleyn must try to remain somewhat incognito as he visits la Chevre de l'Argent (the silver goat), as there appear to be people there who know both he and Troy. He must keep his family safe from the strange goings on at the chateau, while still investigating. There is more going on than just drug smuggling, maybe>
For an Alleyn mystery, there is considerable action. There are great characters, Alleyn, Troy (nice to see her playing a bigger role) and Ricky, their young son. As well, you have the inestimable Raoul, Alleyn's driver who is so much assistance. And of course, suitable villain abound. It's an interesting, quick moving story and one of the more entertaining Alleyn mysteries. (4 stars)"
"London Rain by Nicola Upson is the sixth book in Upson's Josephine Tey mystery series. Neat that mystery author Josephine Tey is turned into a sleuth in this series.
The story is set during the celebrations in London for the coronation of King George VI. Josephine is at the new BBC Headquarters building for the preparations for the broadcast of her play (written under the name Gordon Daviot) Queen of Scots. While there she is witness to friction between renowned BBC broadcaster, Anthony Beresford and his wife, Vivienne Beresford, due to Anthony's relationship with another woman.
One thing leads to another and Beresford is murdered after his part in broadcasting a portion of the coronation. In the book, there is no doubt about who has murdered Beresford, but I'll let you read and discover that part of the story for yourselves.
The story follows the investigation of the murder by Josephine's friend, Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose. Thrown into the mix are problems involving Josephine's relationship with Marta and the conflict with Marta's old relationship; Archie and his girlfriend Bridget, and the Anthony's mistresses. Included in the mystery is the death of Vivienne's sister ten years previously.
It's an interesting premise, the mix of Josephine Tey's real life and the events of the coronation combined with the murder mystery. It moves along at a nice pace, the characters are interesting and the story is ultimately satisfying. I will have to find the other books in the series and discover more. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
"Inspector Jules Maigret receives a puzzling visitor, shy, apologetic Xavier Marton, who insists that he is in mortal danger because his wife is plotting to poison him. But before the Inspector can dismiss the matter as something best investigated on a psychiatrist's couch, he receives a second caller. Mme Marton, cool and poised, recounts with equal insistence a second story, the image at her husband's in every detail - except that it is she whose life is in danger. Is a murder about to take place? Is one or both of these two insane? Without a corpse or a motive, Maigret finds himself caught in a bewildering hunt for a crime that has yet to occur - until his own doing triggers the final, fatal consequences."
"Tucked away in the mountains of the New South Wales is Cork Valley, inhabited by hard-drinking Irishmen ... Here an Excise Offider looking illicit 'stills' has been murdered, and it's Bony's job to find the killer ..."
New Books
"Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again."
"Nov´k, a British-born professor of Czech parentage, was a peace-loving man of high, if misguided, ideals. He planned to spend a quiet week-end in London. There, he was unexpectedly called on to make an appalling decision. Having made it he became the helpless plaything of Fate. This is the story of his battle for his beliefs, for his life, and for that of the platinum blonde, Fedora, who got him into all his troubles."
"The body of a beautiful seventeen-year-old Zulu girl, Amahle, is found covered in wildflowers on a hillside in the Drakensberg Mountains, halfway between her father’s compound and the enormous white-owned farm where she worked. Detective Sergeant Cooper and Detective Constable Samuel Shabalala are sent to the desolate landscape to investigate. They soon discover that Amahle’s life was woven into both the black and white communities in ways they could never have imagined. Cooper and Shabalala must enter the guarded worlds of a traditional Zulu clan and a divided white farming community to gather up the secrets she left behind and bring her murderer to justice.
In a country deeply divided by apartheid, where the law is bent as often as it is broken, Emmanuel Cooper fights against all odds to deliver justice and bring together two seemingly disparate and irreconcilable worlds despite the danger that is arising."
"Detective Carl Mørck holds in his hands a bottle that contains old and decayed message, written in blood. It is a cry for help from two young brothers, tied and bound in a boathouse by the sea. Could it be real? Who are these boys, and why weren’t they reported missing? Could they possibly still be alive?
Carl’s investigation will force him to cross paths with a woman stuck in a desperate marriage- her husband refuses to tell her where he goes, what he does, how long he will be away. For days on end she waits, and when he returns she must endure his wants, his moods, his threats. But enough is enough. She will find out the truth, no matter the cost to her husband—or to herself.
Carl and his colleagues Assad and Rose must use all of their resources to uncover the horrifying truth."
Some reading ideas for your weekend. Have a great one!
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