A Saturday Update

It's funny how many times Jo and I watch The Big Bang Theory that we still find it funny and full of laugh out loud moments. We also watched Ghosts this morning. Love that show! We went out to lunch at Benino's and played five games of Sequence. Oh, we ate as well. Yum.

So since my last update, I've completed 5 books. I'll provide the reviews for them and the synopses for the next books in line. I'll also provide the synopses for any new books, I've added to my book shelves.

Just Finished

1. The Cat Who Turned On and Off by Lilian Jackson Braun (Cat Who ... #3 / 1968).

"The Cat Who.... has been such an enjoyable series so far. I recognize that I've only read the 1st 4 books but they have been getting better and better. The Cat Who Turned On And Off by Lilian Jackson Braun] is the 3rd book in the series so, yes, I read the 4th out of place. Sue me! 😎

Fearless feature writer for the Daily Fluxion, Jim Qwilleran, has been forced to live with his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum, in a local hotel. Their antics are causing complaints from the other residents. Qwill, an ex crime reporter for a big newspaper, is given the opportunity to write a Xmas feature. He finds himself in Junktown, not drug's 'Junk', but antiquing Junktown and his editor tells him to writer a heart-warming feature about the antique dealers who reside there. 

Against his better nature, Qwill begins to conduct research and 'luckily' for him, finds an apartment to rent at the home of one of the antique dealers, CC and his wife Iris Cobb. Of course the house is haunted. Qwill discovers that recently one of the locals was found dead in his antique shop. The police say it was an accident, but Qwill's magic moustache twitches and he thinks it might have been a murder.

His boss doesn't want Qwill to investigate, he wants a happy Xmas story. So combining the two, Qwill writes a series of articles about the interesting, quirky dealers and also tries to find out what happened to Andy; liked by some, disliked by others.

It's a fun, easy, comfortable read. Koko and Yum Yum provide fun and games and Koko continues to discover clues. The people are interesting, especially Iris and another dealer, Mary Ducksworth, for whom Qwill has developed a bit of a crush. The story flows nicely, it's difficult to put down and ultimately, the ending is satisfactory and pleasing. Most enjoyable. Now on to #5 (4.0 stars)"

2. March: Book 3 by John Lewis (March #3 / 2016).

"I began my journey with The March trilogy by American Member of Congress, John Lewis in August of 2022 when I discovered the first book in my local book store. Each chapter covers another portion of his fascinating life and his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as he worked to get equal rights for American negroes, especially in the South.

Each story was powerful, educational, striking in its emotional impact. I think this third book, March: Book Three was the most powerful of all, as it covered the bombing of the Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama, which resulted in the deaths of four young girls; Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair. It also covers the murders of the three civil rights workers in Mississippi, and that of Malcolm X. But that is the tip of the ice berg when it comes to the crimes perpetrated against the Negroes in the South as the struggled for equality. 

This last book also covers the friction between the various civil rights organizations, John Lewis's SNCC, Martin Lewis Kings Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) as they sometimes competed for the same cause. The efforts to have Negro representation from Mississippi at the 1964 Democratic Convention is also covered. Of course the final chapter is the march between Selma and Montgomery where Mr. Lewis was so brutally attacked by Alabama State troopers.

It's history in action, riveting, terrifying, featuring peaceful, loving bravery in the face of armed opposition and hatred that sends chills down your spine. The fact that there are Governors in the US to this day that don't want this story told is sad and dispiriting. Those people who would keep this history from their citizens, because they don't want to be 'embarrassed' by it, shows that these people are the new George Wallace's and Sheriff Clarks, maybe put in nicer suits. The story should be read and told. (5.0 stars)"

3. Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold by Margaret Atwood (2016).

"Shakespeare Retold is a modern retelling of various Shakespeare plays (12 in fact) by current authors. Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold is a retelling of The Tempest by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. I found it a very interesting take on the play.

Felix is the artistic director of the Makeshiweg Theater. He is avant-garde and likes to stretch the limits of Shakespeare. Like Prospero, Felix is betrayed and finds himself thrown out of his job. His life mirrors Prospero's in many ways. Living by himself on an 'island', he is haunted by his own spirit, the ghost of his dead daughter, Miranda.

Felix assumes a new identity and gets a job teaching drama at the local minimum security prison. Each year he gets a group and they perform one of Shakespeare's plays. All the while Felix plots his vengeance against the group that betrayed him, just as Prospero does while on his island. After a few years, Felix's plan to gain vengeance is almost ready. This year he will have his class perform The Tempest and while doing so he will enact his plan.

It's an interesting take on the Tempest and an interesting take on the way of telling the story. It's a play of a play within the context of the play. 😎😀😁 It's a slow burn for the first part but as you get to the actual enacting of the play, the story picks up greatly. Interesting and different. (3.5 stars)"

4. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (2019).

"I had no idea what to expect when I saw this graphic novel in my local book store. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is the graphic novelization of his Newberry Medal award winning novel of the same name. Written in a combination of free verse and prose, it tells the story of basketball playing twins, Josh and Jordan Bell, stars of their junior high basketball team. The story is told by Josh, AKA Filthy McNasty. Josh leads from the front and Jordan is the dribbler, free throw shooter.

Their dad is an ex-basketball player, had a great career in Italy but had to retire when he injured his knee. He attends every game, getting almost too involved. Their mother is an assistant principal in their high school and rules the roost.

The closeness of the two brothers is tested severely when Jordan falls for a new girl in school; a pulchritudinous beauty in tight jeans and pink Reeboks. Josh will now find himself without his constant companion, the person he goes to to sound out his fears, his desires.

Compounding this stress is the health of Dad, who refuses to go see a doctor even under pressure from Mom. She worries about his high blood pressure, possible heart problems.

Kwame Alexander presents this story wonderfully; emotionally, sensitively. The penwork of David Anyabwile adds to the impact of the story; his drawings are crisp, lifelike, filled with action. The story flows, strikes at your core, is just excellent. (4.5 stars)"

5. The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer (Hildegarde Withers #1 / 1931).

"I took a chance on this book; The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart   Palmer, the first Hildegarde Withers #1 book. My wife and I had seen the movie based on the book (well, we watched the 1st half... that should have told me something).

Hildegarde Withers is a school teacher in New York. We meet her as she is escorting a class of 3rd graders through an aquarium. A pickpocket is discovered and Miss Withers trips him up with her faithful umbrella. She then discovers that she's lost her hat pin and sends the children scurrying about trying to find it. What they find instead is a body floating in the penguin pool.

This begins a fluffy, somewhat silly cozy mystery. Police investigator Piper takes Miss Withers under his wing for some reason as he investigates the murder of Wall Street broker Gerald Lester. It seems that Miss Withers hat pin had something to do with the murder. There are 4 suspects; Lester's wife, her onetime beau David Seymour; a lawyer who seems to have instigated himself into the scene, Mr. Costello; and the director of the aquarium, Mr. Hemingway.

There is an investigation of sorts; in the great tradition of Eliot Stabler of Law & Order: SVU, every person  is immediately guilty and locked up in the Tombs. Great leaps of logic, clues ignored, yada yada... The best part is the court case itself, which is short and sweet. The series was very popular in its day as were the movies. I may eventually try to find a copy of the 2nd book, but I won't rush to it. (2.0 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Ray Carney #1 / 2021).

"Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked…” To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home.

Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.

Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either.

Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs"

2. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (2018).

"A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent."

3. Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis #2 / 1988).

"In the future, nuclear war has destroyed nearly all humankind. An alien race intervenes, saving the small group of survivors from certain death. But their salvation comes at a cost.

The Oankali are able to read and mutate genetic code, and they use these skills for their own survival, interbreeding with new species to constantly adapt and evolve. They value the intelligence they see in humankind but also know that the species—rigidly bound to destructive social hierarchies—is destined for failure. They are determined that the only way forward is for the two races to produce a new hybrid species—and they will not tolerate rebellion.

Akin looks like an ordinary human child. But as the first true human-alien hybrid, he is born understanding language, then starts to form sentences at two months old. He can see at a molecular level and kill with a touch. More powerful than any human or Oankali, he will be the architect of both races' future. But before he can carry this new species into the stars, Akin must reconcile with his own heritage in a world already torn in two."

New Books

(5 new books since my last update)

1. Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher (2022) A new author for me.

"From the author of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World comes a haunting and suspenseful story of isolation and dread within a small island community. There's something in the water... On the edge of the Northern Atlantic lies a remote island. The islanders are an outwardly harmonious community—but all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. And when a strange disorder begins to infect them all, those secrets come to light. Ferry service fails and contact with the mainland is lost. Rumors begin to swirl as a temporary inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal. The fabric of the once tight-knit island is unnervingly torn apart—and whatever the cause, the question soon stops being how or why it happened, but who, if anyone, will survive."

2. Wanderers by Chuck Wendig (2019). Yup, a new author.

"Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and her sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other "shepherds" who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.

For as the sleepwalking phenomenon awakens terror and violence in America, the real danger may not be the epidemic but the fear of it. With society collapsing all around them--and an ultraviolent militia threatening to exterminate them--the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart--or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world."

3. Ottoline at Sea by Chris Riddell (Ottoline #3 / 2010). One of my fun reads.

"Ottoline and Mr. Munroe do everything and go everywhere together. That is, until the day Mr. Munroe mysteriously disappears, leaving a strange clue written in string . . . Armed with her Amateur Roving Collectors' travel pass, Ottoline sets off on a journey over, under and on top of the sea to find her hairy best friend - and bring him back home."

4. American Gods Vol 1, Shadows by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novel / 2018). I've read the original book and seen some of the TV series. Interested to see how it's presented as a graphic novel.

"Shadow Moon gets out of jail only to discover his wife is dead. Defeated, broke, and uncertain where to go from here, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him to serve as his bodyguard--thrusting Shadow into a deadly world where ghosts of the past come back from the dead, and a god war is imminent.

Collecting the first nine issues of the American Gods comic book series, along with art process features, high res scans of original art, layouts, character designs, and variant covers by BECKY CLOONAN, SKOTTIE YOUNG, FABIO MOON, DAVE MCKEAN, and MORE!"

5. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (2019). I've read one other book by Chambers. I enjoyed her unique take on Sci-Fi.

"In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.

Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.

Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home."

Women Authors Whose Work I've Enjoyed - Val McDermid

Val McDermid

I've enjoyed quite a few of Scottish crime writer Val McDermid's work. She was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1955 (She's my age. 😏) Over her long career, she's written series; Tony Hill & Carol Jordan, Karen Pirie, Kate Brannigan, etc. as well as many standalone novels, over 30 novels. I've managed to enjoy 7 of her books thus far and have another 8 still to read. Let's take a look at those books to give you an idea of her work.

1. The Torment of Others (Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #4 / 2004).

"A dead girl lies on a blood-soaked mattress, her limbs spread in a parody of ecstasy. The scene matches a series of murders which ended when irrefutable forensic evidence secured the conviction of one Derek Tyler. But Tyler's been locked up in a mental institution for two years, barely speaking a word except to say that 'the Voice' told him to do it.

Top criminal psychologist Dr. Tony Hill is prepared to think the unthinkable - this is not a copycat murder but something much stranger. While DCI Carol Jordan and her team mount a desperate and dangerous undercover police operation to trap the murderer, Hill heads towards a terrifying face-off with one of the most perverse killers he has ever encountered..."

2. The Grave Tattoo (2006).

"A 200-year-old secret is now a matter of life and death. And it could be worth a fortune...

It's summer in the Lake District and heavy rain over the fells has uncovered a bizarrely tattooed body. Could it be linked to the old rumour that Fletcher Christian, mutinous First Mate on the Bounty, had secretly returned to England?

Scholar Jane Gresham wants to find out. She believes that the Lakeland poet William Wordsworth, a friend of Christian's, may have sheltered the fugitive and turned his tale into an epic poem - which has since disappeared. But as she follows each lead, death is hard on her heals. The centuries-old mystery is putting lives at risk. And it isn't just the truth that is waiting to be discovered, but a bounty worth millions..."

3. Kick Back (Kate Brannigan #2 / 1993).

"PI Kate Brannigan is hired to investigate a series of strange financial scams across Manchester. At first it looks like a discrepancy with the paperwork, but the deeper Kate digs, the murkier the case becomes.

Before long she’s up to her neck in crooked land deals – and murder – and her own life is on the line…"

4. Clean Break (Kate Brannigan #4 / 1995).

"Manchester-based, kick-boxing PI Kate Brannigan takes on the hard men of European organized crime as she battles to recover a Monet in a case that stretches love and loyalty to the limits.

Kate is not amused when thieves have the audacity to steal a Monet from a stately home where she’s arranged security. She’s even less thrilled when the hunt for the thieves drags her on a treacherous foray across Europe as she goes head to head with organized crime.

And as if that isn’t enough, a routine industrial case starts leaving a trail of bodies across the Northwest. Unfortunately, cleaning up this mess will mean confronting some truths about her own life…"

5. Beneath the Bleeding (Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #5 / 2007).

"The residents of Bradfield are devastated when their star midfielder dies, the victim of a bizarre, seemingly motiveless murder.

In a hospital, recovering from injuries, criminal profiler and psychologist Dr. Tony Hill struggles to make sense of the fragments of information he can gather in order to help his ally, Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan, bring a killer to justice. Then an explosion rips through a soccer stadium, leaving dozens dead and many more injured, and Jordan finds herself pushed to the margins of the investigation by the intelligence services.

Despite the dark places in their relationship, Tony and Carol remain the best hope for uncovering the truth about an ever-increasing series of unspeakable crimes. Are they terrorist attacks, a personal vendetta . . . or something even more sinister?"

6. A Darker Domain (Karen Pirie #2 / 2008).

"In Britain circa 1984, the news is dominated by the national miners’ strike. The region of Fife in Scotland is hard hit by the strike, devastated economically and shaken by clashes between miners and police. Against this violent and bitter backdrop, heiress Catriona MacLennan Grant and her baby son are kidnapped. The ransom should have gone smoothly, but instead, the payoff goes horribly wrong, and Catriona and her son disappear without a trace.

Twenty-four years later, dramatic new evidence discovered by a jogger in Tuscany prompts police to reopen the cold case. Detective Sergeant Karen Pirie leads the investigation. It won’t be the only cold case to end up on her desk. A young woman soon walks into the station reporting a missing person, Mick Prentice, who abandoned his family in Fife in 1984 to join the strike-breakers down south. Labelled a blackleg scab, he might as well be dead as far as his friends and relatives are concerned."

7. Fever of the Bone (Tony Hill & Carol Jordan #6 / 2009).

"In the sixth novel to feature Tony Hill and Carol Jordan, Tony meets his most twisted adversary to date—a killer with a shopping list of victims, who is unmoved by youth and innocence and driven by the most perverted of desires. The murder and mutilation of teenager Jennifer Maidment is horrific enough on its own. But it’s not long before Tony realizes it’s just the start of a brutal and ruthless campaign targeting an apparently unconnected group of young people."

8. The Skeleton Road (Karen Pirie #3 / 2014).

"The Skeleton Road, now available in paperback, is a gripping standalone novel about a cold case that links back to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. In the center of historic Edinburgh, builders are preparing to demolish a disused Victorian Gothic building. They are understandably surprised to find skeletal remains hidden in a high pinnacle that hasn’t been touched by maintenance for years. But who do the bones belong to, and how did they get there? Could the eccentric British pastime of free climbing the outside of buildings play a role? Enter cold case detective Karen Pirie, who gets to work trying to establish the corpse’s identity. And when it turns out that the bones may be from as far away as former Yugoslavia, Karen will need to dig deeper than she ever imagined into the tragic history of the Balkans: to war crimes and their consequences, and ultimately to the notion of what justice is and who serves it."

So there you go. An interesting mystery writer worth checking out.