Monday 28 October 2019

A Reading Update

It's been a bit since I've provided a reading update. Relatively speaking, October has been a slow month. I managed to catch up a bit on my recent trip back home to Ontario. It's a long flight and I finished a couple of books there and back. Also enjoyed a few movies too; Tolkien, Avengers Endgame... I'm enjoying the books I'm currently reading but they are all relatively long. I do hope I can finish a couple more before end month.

Anyway, since my last reading update I've completed 4 books. I'll update those and also the books I've started since (October has for the most part been Horror month). I'll also try and continue with my look at the Mystery genre - American Cops. Oh, November will focus on War - type books, mainly fictional, in respect for Remembrance Day. I do have one Fantasy book lined up as well, for my UK Reading Group's November Genre challenge.

Anyway, on to reading info.

Just Finished

1. The World of Suzie Wong by Richard Mason. I read this for the October genre challenge in my UK Book Club, Romance.

"The World of Suzie Wong is my first exposure to the work of English writer Richard   Mason. Mason lived from 1919 - 1997 and over the course of his life he wrote six novels. Suzie Wong was his fifth novel and written in 1957. The book was converted to a movie in 1960, starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan. The book had that feel to it, in my mind, you know, a Sunday afternoon matinee on TCM.

Suzie Wong is a Chinese prostitute, a bar girl, who works in Hong Kong. Robert Lomax is an Englishman. The story starts in British Malaya, where Robert works on a plantation. The owner has strict rules about the men are not allowed to fraternize with the native Malaysian girls. So to keep himself occupied Robert begins painting. Eventually, he decides to move to Hong Kong and paint there. Being limited in his funds and wanting to live in the real Chinese part of Hong Kong, he rents room in a hotel in Wanchai. The hotel is frequented by bar girls, Chinese prostitutes, who stay in the bar and pick up British and American sailors who frequent the place. They then use the rooms in the hotel with their pickups.

Robert loves the atmosphere of the hotel, uses his balcony to paint. He loves the girls, becomes a confidante of theirs. He meets Suzie Wong and they develop a close friendship with her. He loves her personality, her attitudes, her humour, everything about her. Theirs is not a sexual relationship,, in fact, he has no sexual relationships with any of the girls. He just likes the atmosphere, is inspired by the area... and it does suit his limited finances.

The two, Suzie and Robert, are like best friends. Suzie has various relationships during the course of the story and Robert is still a close friend and becomes acquaintances with these other men. It's an interesting dynamic, this relationship, Suzie using Robert's room, as a place to hang out, to discuss her life and Robert's life and their attitudes and feelings.

Of course, the feelings between the two do progress and the development of a relationship between them is well-presented. All in all, the story is interesting, emotional, peopled with excellent characters; the other girls, while not crafted in great detail, are still presented as wonderful women and individuals. The story has great emotional content and rises and falls with the various incidents that occur over the course of this excellent story. One thing that struck me, and maybe it's because I'm a man, the somewhat misogynist attitude of Robert that becomes apparent when his relationship with Suzie becomes more and more personal. Suzie doesn't want to be a bar girl if she's going to have a relationship with Robert, but then how will she support her child. Robert's attitude to this is interesting. I won't get into it but I'd be interested to see what a woman would think of it. I think it's pretty clear without me describing it.

Anyway, that little bit does not detract from the excellent story that Mason tells. It's a satisfying character driven story that will leave you feeling excellent. (5 stars)"

2. Relic by Preston & Child (Pendergast #1). My first exposure to this writing combo. Quite enjoyable.








"Relic by authors Preston & Child was my first exposure to their writing. I had seen the movie many years ago but couldn't remember much about it. The book was an entertaining thrill ride, most enjoyable.

We move from an expedition in South America where a number of the explorers are killed. The scene moves to Museum of Natural History in New York many years later. They are in the process of preparing for a big exhibit on strange beings and habits and bodies are beginning to crop up. Is there a relationship to materials that were shipped from South America as part of the earlier expedition? You'll have to read the story.

It follows the tradition of such stories / movies as Jaws. Something is killing people and the undermanned investigators must not only try to find the killer(s) but also battle museum executives who want the exhibition to take place no matter what. FBI investigator Pendergast comes up from New Orleans on the trail of a killer who had murdered people there, who were part of the previous expedition. He works with New York cop Lt D'Agosta who is investigating some disappearances and murders at the museum. These may be related. On another avenue you have museum scientist Margo Green and novelist Smithback who are doing research on the expedition and material that was shipped to the museum from South America, as part of that expedition. Are all these investigations related? As I mentioned earlier, you'll have to read the story. :0)

As the story builds, the exhibition comes to fruition, the museum is filled with spectators and police and FBI security and a heavy rainstorm begins. Things begin to accelerate, bodies start cropping up, people get separated, the power goes out and action and tension builds and builds. We follow the various characters throughout the museum as the try either to escape or to find the killer(s). It's definitely a fun ride, lots of action and suspense. The main characters are well-developed and likable and you want the succeed. All in all, I enjoyed this story very much. Suspend disbelief and just enjoy! (3.5 stars)"

3. Sharpe's Sword by Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe #14). This has been a steady favorite of mine, kind of a comfort read.











"Sharpe's Sword is the 14th book in the Sharpe's adventure / historical series by Bernard Cornwell. This story is set during the period June / July 1812 during Wellington's Salamanca Campaign in Spain. Sharpe is attached to Wellington's spy master Maj Hogan to try and find a master French spy, Colonel Leroux. Leroux is a nasty man and is set on finding El Mirador, one of Hogan's most effective contacts.

Leroux has been captured but disguised himself as another officer and escapes into a French fort near Salamanca, even though having given his parole. He kills Sharpe's company commander and a young lieutenant while making his escape. Sharpe and his men, especially his faithful Sgt Harper, because they can recognize Leroux are assigned the task of finding him when Wellington attacks to take over the three forts held by the French.

There is also a spy within Wellington's camp who warns the French of the attack, with disastrous results. There are many suspects including a Spanish contessa with designs on Sharpe, Lord Spears, one of Hogan's spies who is recovering from an injury and spending much time with the Contessa and Sharpe, and Father Curtis, an Irish priest who seems to show up everywhere.

It all makes for a great action-filled adventure, with battles, intrigue and romance. Sharpe wants Leroux's sword and to capture the French spy. Sharpe's life is threatened many times (it is an adventure, eh?   :0)). All in all, one of the better Sharpe adventures, filled with excellent characters and an interesting plot. I do like how Cornwell ties the actual historical events into Sharpe's story line and highlights the actual history in the afterword. I've enjoyed this series very much and look forward to getting the next book in the series. (3.5 stars)"

4. French Alley by Matthew Clay.

"I found French Alley by Matthew Clay in a used book store in Victoria, Canada (Grafton Books; unfortunately now closed). It was one of the books in a glass cabinet, wrapped in clear plastic. I bought it on a whim as it wasn't really all that cheap. I think it is a '50s version of Harlequin romances, with more of a gritty flavor to it.

The story is about 3 women who have found their way to a burlesque club in New Orleans. There is Renee, a Cajun girl from the bayous of Louisiana. Her mother, worn from life in this environment, gives Renee enough money to escape the life and move to the city. Renee starts working in a laundromat but after advances from the owner, escapes. She meets Steve a pianist at the burlesque club who suggests she might want to work there. At the club Renee meets Kim. Kim is everyone's friend. Kim had escaped from her life with Luke whom she had married at 16. Luke took her to New York where he was supposed to be an actor and dancer, but in fact was a drunken wastrel. Kim finds work as a dancer and on discovering Luke with another woman she also moves to New Orleans. There she is in love with Red, another Luke, shifty and living off Kim. The third member of the group, the last roommate is Judy. Judy came from a wealthy family in New York, ignored by her father after her mother died and mistreated by her house keeper. After her father marries the housekeeper he tries to force Judy to marry a wealthy friend's son, but Judy runs away to New Orleans.

The three have issues, are trying to find love and romance and also work at the burlesque club. The story delves into their lives and relationships and there are differing results, some even very tragic. It's not the type of story I usually read, in fact it's sat on my bookshelf for 10 years or so. I dusted it off for a book group October genre challenge of Romance. It's sort of what I expected. It was gritty and moved along nicely, in some ways reminded me of movies of the decade by stars like Ida Lupino and such. (2 stars)"

Currently Reading
I've started 3 books since my last entry.

Part of this series
1. Middlemarch by George Eliot. I've enjoyed both of Eliot's books I've read so far. This is a collection of 4 novellas. (The photo isn't of Middlemarch but my edition is part of this series. I bought three of her books in an antique store in Courtenay, all with similar covers.)

"'We believe in her as in a woman we might providentially meet some fine day when we should find ourselves doubting of the immortality of the soul'

wrote Henry James of Dorothea Brooke, who shares with the young doctor Tertius Lydgate not only a central role in Middlemarch but also a fervent conviction that life should be heroic.

By the time the novel appeared to tremendous popular and critical acclaim in 1871-2, George Eliot was recognized as England's finest living novelist. It was her ambition to create a world and portray a whole community--tradespeople, middle classes, country gentry--in the rising provincial town of Middlemarch, circa 1830. Vast and crowded, rich in narrative irony and suspense, Middlemarch is richer still in character, in its sense of how individual destinies are shaped by and shape the community, and in the great art that enlarges the reader's sympathy and imagination. It is truly, as Virginia Woolf famously remarked, 'one of the few English novels written for grown-up people'."


2. Nobody True by James Herbert. I do like Herbert's brand of horror. This story is off to a bit of a slow start but the premise is interesting.







"Jim True knows. He has returned from an out-of-body experience to find he has been brutally murdered and his body mutilated. No one can see him, no one can hear him, no one, except his killer, knows he still exists. Freed from his body, True embarks on a quest to find his killer and discover why and how he has managed to survive. As he closes in on his murderer, True discovers that even the very people he loved and trusted have betrayed him. He meets his killer, a strange and sinister figure who can also leave his body at will. An epic and deadly battle ensues between True and a seemingly unstoppable and hideous serial killer - a man now intent on even more murders, including True's wife and child . ."

3. The Mind Parasites by Colin Wilson. I have previously read Wilson's The Space Vampires and enjoyed very much. This one seems interesting so far.











"Wilson has blended H.P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy & unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating an Anatolian archeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of the unconsciousness, feeding on human life force & steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction. They can be fought with one weapon only: the mind, pushed to-& beyond-its limits. Pushed so far that humans can read each other's thoughts, that the moon can be shifted from its orbit by thought alone. Pushed so that humans can at last join battle with the loathsome parasites on equal terms."

My Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - American Cops
In my last entry I looked at Craig Johnson's Longmire series.

1. Julia Keller - Belfa Elkins. I've read the first two books in this series set in West Virginia and featuring DA Belfa Elkins. Keller was born in West Virginia and portrays the area excellently. She won a Pulitzer Prize while working at the Chicago Tribune. There are currently 8 books in the Bell Elkins series as well as 4 e-novellas.

a. A Killing in the Hills (2012). 

"A Killing in the Hills is the first Bell Elkins mystery by Julia Keller. The story is set in rural West Virginia and Elkins is the local District Attorney. Something happened to Bell during her childhood in the town of Acker's Gap, which becomes apparent as you progress through the story. She married at a later date and moved to Washington DC with her husband, a new lawyer. Bell also got her law degree but wanted to return to Acker's Gap to help the people of that community; ending up with her going alone with her daughter, Carla.

The story starts with a triple murder in the town, 3 old men sitting having coffee at the local restaurant. Carla is one of the people who sees the shooting. Bell is also working on a case in which a mentally handicapped boy is charged with the murder of his friend. As well, Carla, a typical teenager?, is rebelling, anger issues, suspended driver's license. Bell's best friend, Ruthie, is suffering with cancer, and, oh yes, Bell's sister is coming up for a parole hearing for the murder of their father, many years ago. So, yes a lot is going on.


But Keller is able to tie this all together to make an interesting, tense story. It flows very nicely and there are characters, especially Bell (Belfa) and the sheriff, Nick Fogelsong, with long ties to Bell, who are developed nicely. The past and the present are tied together, the murderer is well-described and interesting/ somewhat scary, and the mysteries are nicely tied up. There are enough loose ends at the end of the book; especially re. Bell's daughter and Bell's sister, to make you want to find out more about this series. I enjoyed very much and look forward to trying the next, Bitter River. (4 stars)" 


2. Bitter River (2013).

"Bitter River is the 2nd book in the Bell Elkins series by Julia Keller. I enjoyed the first book, A Killing in the Hills, but this one was even better. Keller is an excellent author spinning a tense mystery and crafting excellent characters.

Bell Elkins is the DA of a small town in West Virginia. She is called out by the sheriff, her friend Nick Fogelsong, when a body is discovered in her car in the Bitter River. The body is that of a young girl, Lucinda Trimble, a high school senior, who is also pregnant. The story basically involves their investigation of the murder of the girl. Complicating the story is the fact that Nick had previously had a relationship with the girl's mother, Maddie many years ago. Both had moved on, Nick marrying someone else and Maddie marrying as well.

Besides this main story, Bell is also dealing with a number of issues, her ongoing relationship with a younger man, Clay; the fact that her daughter has moved to Washington to live with her father and Bell's ex-husband; the absence of Bell's sister after her release (in the last story) from prison. As well, an ex-friend of both Bell moves to Raythune County to get away from things for awhile. He has some issues, it appears. Will these affect anything?

This is more than simply a murder mystery, as things begin to spiral out of control as the story moves along. The tension builds nicely and there are a number of surprise happenings that add to it. Judith Keller is an excellent story - teller. She develops characters very nicely, making them more than words on paper. She presents the locale and events clearly and in a manner that draws you in to the story.

I found the story flowed along smoothly and could feel the tension of the characters and events as they occurred. I enjoyed it very much. Some of the events seemed far-fetched, but in Keller's hands they just made for a more entertaining story. Well worth reading. I look forward to continuing the series. Next in line is Summer of the Dead (4.5 stars)"


The remaining books in the series are -
a. Summer of the Dead (2014)
b. Last Ragged Breath (2015)
c. Sorrow Road (2016)
d. Fast Falls the Night (2017)
e. Bone on Bone (2018)
f. The Cold Way Home (2019)

So there you go, all caught up. Now to get back to reading. Have a great week! 

Sunday 27 October 2019

A Whole Heap of New Books - Part 2

As I watch the Formula 1 race in Mexico, I'll finish my post from yesterday. Below are the remaining books I purchased this past week.

Just Purchased

1. Borderline by Nevada Barr (Anna Pigeon #15). This has been one of my favorite mystery series and I'm slowly winding down with it.

"To list their spirits, Anna Pigeon and her husband head to Texas for a rafting trip on the Rio Grande. The power of the river works its magic- until the raft is lost in the rapids and someone makes the grisly discovery of a pregnant woman caught between two boulders. Soon Anna will learn that nature isn't the only one who wanted to see the woman and her baby dead."

2. Fire Ice by Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos (NUMA Files #3). This is one of the Cussler series I've yet to try. I've enjoyed his Dirk Pitt books and also the Isaac Bell series.










"In the heart of the old Soviet Union, a mining tycoon is determined to overthrow the Russian government-distracting the U.S. with a man-made natural disaster using a notoriously unstable compound known as "fire ice." Detonation of this compound could create a tidal wave big enough to destroy a major city. But Kurt Austin and his Special Assignment Team are about to make a few waves of their own..."

3. The Lost Island by Preston & Child (Gideon Crew #3). I've tried Preston & Child's other series. Looking forward to trying this one as well.











"Gideon Crew--brilliant scientist, master thief--is living on borrowed time. When his mysterious employer, Eli Glinn, gives him an eyebrow-raising mission, he has no reason to refuse. Gideon's task: steal a page from the priceless Book of Kells, now on display in New York City and protected by unbreakable security.

Accomplishing the impossible, Gideon steals the parchment--only to learn that hidden beneath the gorgeously illuminated image is a treasure map dating back to the time of the ancient Greeks. As they ponder the strange map, they realize that the treasure it leads to is no ordinary fortune. It is something far more precious: an amazing discovery that could perhaps even save Gideon's life.

Together with his new partner, Amy, Gideon follows a trail of cryptic clues to an unknown island in a remote corner of the Caribbean Sea. There, off the hostile and desolate Mosquito Coast, the pair realize the extraordinary treasure they are hunting conceals an even greater shock-a revelation so profound that it may benefit the entire human race . . . if Gideon and Amy can survive.
"


4. The Japanese Corpse by Janwillem van de Wetering (Amsterdam Cops #5). I've read two books by van de Wetering and like his unique style.

"A beautiful waitress at Amsterdam’s most elegant Japanese restaurant reports that her boyfriend, a Japanese art dealer, is missing. The police search throughout the Netherlands and finally locate a corpse. But to find the killer, the commissaris and de Gier must travel to Japan and match wits with a yakuza chieftain in his lair."

5. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Stephenson is a new SciFi author for me. I've a couple of his books awaiting my perusal. 










"Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison -- a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cyber-sensibility to bring us the gigantic thriller of the information age. In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's Cosa Nostra Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous... you'll recognize it immediately."

6. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith (Precious Ramotswe #8). Back a few years ago I read the first few books in this series one after an other. For one reason or another, I shifted to other books and series. It'll be nice to revisit this wonderful series. 

"As winter turns to spring across Botswana's red earth and slow green rivers, all is not well on Zebra Drive. Mma Ramotswe has plenty of work, ranging from thefts at the printing works to suspicious deaths at the Mochudi hospital. Meanwhile Mma Makutsi's forthcoming marriage appears to threaten a happy working relationship. But when Mr J.L.B. Matekoni - trying to prove himself as a worthy husband - has to go at a little detective work, disaster looms..."

7. Vicious Circle by Mike Carey (Felix Castor #2). This is a new series for me. I think it's somewhat like the Dresden files books.











"Felix Castor has reluctantly returned to exorcism after a successful case convinces him that he really can do some good with his abilities---"good," of course, being a relative term when dealing with the undead. His friend Rafi is still possessed, the succubus Ajulutsikael (Juliet to her friends) still technically has a contract on him, and he's still dirt poor.

Doing some consulting for the local cops helps pay the bills, but Castor needs a big private job to really fill the hole in his bank account. That's what he needs. What he gets is a seemingly insignificant "missing ghost" case that inexorably drags him and his loved ones into the middle of a horrific plot to raise one of hell's fiercest demons.


When satanists, stolen spirits, sacrifice farms, and haunted churches all appear on the same police report, the name Felix Castor can't be too far behind..."


8. Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey (Felix Castor #3).

"You might think that helping a friend's widow to stop a lawyer from stealing her husband's corpse would be the strangest thing on your To Do list. But life is rarely that simple for Felix Castor.

A brutal murder in King's Cross bears all the hallmarks of a long-dead American serial killer, and it takes more good sense than Castor possesses not to get involved. He's also fighting a legal battle over the body - if not the soul - of his possessed friend, Rafi, and can't shake the feeling that his three problems might be related.

With the help of the succubus Juliet and paranoid zombie data-fence Nicky Heath, Castor just might have a chance of fitting the pieces together before someone drops him down a lift shaft or rips his throat out."


9. Blue City by Ross Macdonald. I have enjoyed Macdonald's Lew Archer books. I'm looking forward to trying this one.











"He was a son who hadn’t known his father very well.  It was a town shaken by a grisly murder—his father’s murder.  Johnny Weatherly was home from a war and wandering.  When he found out that his father had been assassinated on a street corner and that his father’s seductive young wife had inherited a fortune, he started knocking on doors.  The doors came open, and Johnny stepped into a world of gamblers, whores, drug-dealers, and blackmailers, a place in which his father had once moved freely.  Now Johnny Weatherly was going to solve this murder—by pitting his rage, his courage, and his lost illusions against the brutal underworld that has overtaken his hometown."

10. The Burning by M.R. Hall (Jenny Cooper #6). I first heard of this series when I watched the Canadian version based on Hall's books. It was excellent. I hope the books are as well.

"In the depths of a frozen winter, Coroner Jenny Cooper is called to the scene of a devastating house fire that has claimed the lives of Ed Morgan and his two step-daughters in the isolated hamlet of Blackstone Ley.

The police look no further when they discover the message Ed left for his wife, Kelly, telling her that he set the fire as revenge for her infidelity and that she will never find their infant son.

As Jenny digs into Blackstone Ley’s murky past, she uncovers a history that begs more and questions. What provoked Ed’s murderous rage? How might the other, guarded inhabitants of the village have been involved? And what connects the fire with the unsolved disappearance of a four-year-old girl nearly ten years ago?

Finding herself ranged against forces far darker than she could ever have imagined, can Jenny unearth Blackstone Ley’s secrets before more lives are claimed?"


11. Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley. I've read a few of Findley's books. He's got an interesting style.











"Not Wanted on the Voyage is the story of the great flood and the first time the world ended, filed with an extraordinary cast of remarkable characters. With pathos and pageantry, desperation and hope, magic and mythology, this acclaimed novel weaves its unforgettable spell." 

12. The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdette ( Sonchai #4). I've read the first two books in this police series set in Thailand and have enjoyed them very much.










"John Burdett's famed Royal Thai detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep is put to the test both as a Buddhist and as a cop as he confronts the most shocking crime of his career.

A rich American film director has been murdered. It is an intriguing case, and solving it could lead to a promotion for Sonchai, but, as always, he is far more concerned with the state of his karma than he is with his status in the earthly realm. To complicate matters his boss, Colonel Vikorn, has decided to make Sonchai his consigliere in a heroin smuggling operation. Sonchai travels to Kathmandu to meet Vikorn's connection Tietsin, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and falls under the sway of this dark and charismatic guru."


So there you go, book purchases all caught up. In my next post I will get back to reviewing books I've completed and in a few days will do my monthly reading update. Have a great week and enjoy the last week of October. Happy Hallowe'en.

Saturday 26 October 2019

A Whole Heap of New Books - Part 1

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I traveled back to Ontario two weeks ago to visit with family. Jo and the pups stayed here in the Valley. It was nice to see everybody but it was also great to get back to home. I've been to physio once since my return, on Thursday, and I have to say I've been very achy the past couple of days. Ah well, old age, I guess..

I was actually pretty good when I went back home. I usually visit Allison the Bookman in North Bay and then another used book store in Ottawa before I return home. I did visit Allison's but for a change only purchased 3 books. I didn't bother to even stop at the place in Ottawa. Now, on my return here, I have received one book in the mail and then today I went to the annual Rotary Club Book Sale. Today was the last day so you could buy a bag of books for $10.00. I admit that I took advantage of this opportunity and picked up a full bag of books. So for the next two entries, I'll list the books I've purchased in the past week. It will take me two days to complete this list. Yup, I got a few today, mostly fleshing out series I'm reading but also some new books too.

Just Purchased.

1. The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lilian Jackson Braun (Cat Who #6)











"Inheriting unexpected millions has left reporter Jim Qwilleran looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. While his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, adjust to being fat cats in an enormous mansion, Qwilleran samples the lifestyles of the rich and famous by hiring a staff of eccentric servants. A missing housemaid and a shocking murder show Qwilleran the unsavory side of the upper crust. But soon it's Koko's purr-fect propensity for clues amid the caviar and champagne that gives Qwilleran pause to evaluate the most unlikely suspects...before his taste for the good life turns into his last meal."

2. A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett (Charles Paris #15). 

"If playing a dead man could be called a role Charles Paris has sunk to new lows when he agrees to play missing Martin Earnshaw on the true crime TV series "Public Enemies".

The show has all the hallmarks of a hit: a vulnerable, tearful wife, a sexy female detective and, best of all, dismembered limbs probably belonging to Earnshaw, turning up each week just before airtime.

As viewers shudder gleefully and ratings soar, Paris discovers there's more to the whole production than meets the eye... and the climax is a killer."

3. Alias the Baron by John Creasey (The Baron #5).












"John Mannering (aka 'The Baron') bought the Dellamont Emeralds in Paris. They were beautiful, expensive - and sinister. But Mannering, connoisseur of precious gems, chose to ignore their history of misfortune. Then things began to happen - an attempted robbery of the famous jewels; and a quarrel with Lorna Fauntley. Seemingly separate incidents, yet all connected. The strangest thing of all was that someone was impersonating the Baron."

4. High Five by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #5). I've read more than 5 of this series but this one seems to have slipped through the cracks.

"Out of bail skippers and rent money, Stephanie Plum throws caution to the wind and follows in the entrepreneurial boot steps of Super Bounty Hunter, Ranger, engaging in morally correct and marginally legal enterprises. So, a scumball blows himself to smithereens on her first day of policing a crack house and the sheik she was chauffeuring stole the limo. But hey, nobody's perfect! Anyway, Stephanie has other things on her mind. Her mother wants her to find Uncle Fred who's missing after arguing with his garbage company; homicidal rapist Benito Ramirez is back, quoting scripture and stalking Stephanie; vice cop Joe Morelli has a box of condoms with Stephanie's name on it; and Stephanie's afraid Ranger has his finger on her trigger."


5. The Lies of Fair Ladies by Jonathan Gash (Lovejoy #15).












"Accused of gutting a vacant old house and robbing it of its balustrades, moldings, and wallpaper in order to augment his inventory, antiques dealer Lovejoy investigates and discovers that his friend may be involved in an antiques scam. 20,000 first printing. $12,000 ad/promo."

6. Three Days of the Condor by James Grady. Oddly enough, this was first titled Six Days of the Condor but the name changed due to the movie.

"CIA operative Malcolm, code-named Condor, discovers his colleagues butchered in a blood-spattered office, he realizes that only an oversight by the assassins has saved his life. He contacts CIA headquarters for help but when an attempted rendezvous goes wrong, it quickly becomes clear that no one can be trusted. Malcolm disappears into the streets of Washington, hoping to evade the killers long enough to unravel the conspiracy— but will that be enough to save his life?"

7. Jeremy Poldark by Winston Graham (Poldark #3).











"Cornwall, 1790. Ross Poldark faces the darkest hour of his life. He is to stand trial for the wrecking of two ships. Despite their stormy married life, Demelza has tried to rally support for her husband. But Ross Poldark has many powerful enemies."

8. Skinwalkers by Tony Hillerman (Leaphorn and Chee #7).

"Navajo Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn investigate murders that lead them into spine-tingling and mystical world of Navajo witchcraft. Three unsolved homicides and an attempt on Chee's life have left the Navajo Tribal Police baffled. Are the murders somehow connected, although they occurred 120 miles apart? Or are they random acts of violence? Chee and Leaphorn's efforts to solve the seemingly unrelated individual crimes leave them with clues that point toward one suspect, in this suspenseful mystery."


9. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. I've read a couple of Levin's other horror / thrillers and enjoyed them. I've wanted to get a copy of this for awhile.











"For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret--a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.

At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon."


10. Not Dead, Only Resting by Simon Brett (Charles Paris #10). Ah yes, this was one that I bought in North Bay, another Charles Paris mystery.

"Tristam Gowers and Yves Lafeu have the flamboyance of stage matinee idols, but currently they are running a very smart restaurant, Tryst, which is much patronized by top people in the theatrical profession. Which means it's not Charles Paris's usual ambience, but this small-part player, who's more successful as an amateur detective than as professional actor, is the guest tonight of another fascinating duo, William Bartlemas and Kevin O'Rourke, wealthy collectors of theatrical memorabilia. And he is in at the death: the gruesome murder of Yves.


Not Dead, Only Resting seems to be an open and shut case. Tristam caught the night boat to France within hours of a spectacular public quarrel with Yves over a pretty youth, and now he has disappeared. But of course there's much more to it than that: much more, as Charles discovers when he begins to investigate."

11. In the Wet by Nevil Shute. I keep searching for and finding 'new' Shute stories. He's been one of my favorite story tellers for such a long time.











"Drunk and delirious, an old man lies dying in the Queensland bush. In his opium-hazed last hours, a priest finds his deserted shack and listens to his last words. Half-awake and half-dreaming the old man tells the story of an adventure set decades in the future, in a very different world."

12. The Battling Prophet by Arthur W. Upfield (Inspector Bonaparte #20). 

"Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is on leave, staying with an old friend near Adelaide. Ben Wickham, a meteorologist whose uncannily accurate weather forecasts had helped farmers all over Australia, lived nearby.Ben died after a three-week drinking binge and a doctor certified death as due to delirium tremens - but Bony's host insists that whatever Ben died of it was alcohol..." 

OK, there you have the first half of this post. I'll finish it off tomorrow.. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 
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