A Saturday Reading Update and Other Things

The last couple of days have been actually springlike, sunny, bright, even moderate temperatures. Yesterday Jo and I went for lunch at Benino's and she beat me at two games of Sequence while we enjoyed our lunch. Darn her! At the moment it's sunny out so maybe we'll do some yardwork this afternoon. We'll see.

I like having books. What about it?

I got a few new books this week, went around to the local Little Free Libraries and dropped off quite a few books and found 4 that I think I'd like to try. When we were out yesterday, I checked out the book stores in Comox while Jo chatted with a lady that runs a consignment store. I picked up a couple of more books there. Yeah, yeah! I know. I already have too many. Sue me!

I also finished one more book, excellent Aussie mystery by Peter Temple. I'll update that plus provide the synopses of the new books. I'll also get back to my ongoing longtime thread of Women Authors whose work I've been enjoying.

Just Finished

1. Bad Debts by Peter Temple (Jack Irish #1). Only 4 books in this series. That's too bad.

"My wife introduced me to a great Aussie TV series, Jack Irish, starring Guy Pearce. The series is based on books by author, Peter Temple. There are four books in the series. Bad Debts introduces us to failed lawyer Jack Irish, now spending his time hunting for missing people and other odd legal jobs. Irish gave up the law profession for the most part when his wife was murdered by a lunatic client.

This is a fascinating, rich story with many varied plot lines. Irish receives a voice mail from a client he defended who went to prison. Out of prison, Danny McKillop, leaves a message that he wishes to talk with Irish. Irish gets his message too late and discovers that Danny was shot by police. This murder is the start of an entertaining investigation by Jack Irish, that will involve corruption and other things i won't get into that will threaten Jack's life and also other people associated with him.

On a lighter note, Jack helps two friends, Harry (an ex jockey) and Cam, manipulate gambling on horse racing to try and earn big bucks. (It's more complicated than my short synopsis of course, but fascinating stuff). Cam and Harry are great characters and good friends and partners to Harry. 

The story is peopled with so many excellent characters. Jack works for an old German furniture restorer (it helped him get over his wife's murder); the three old gents at the local pub who argue over old Aussie Football matches; the lovely reporter, Linda, who starts a relationship with Jack and helps him with his investigation into the death of McKillop and so many others..

It's a rich story that meanders along at times and as the story builds up, gets tenser and tenser. It's so well written that you feel yourself in the story, felling the same dread that Jack and Linda begin to feel as their lives become more and more at risk. I enjoyed the description of Temple, the characters, the whole story. Once you start it, you will just want to keep reading to learn more about the characters, enjoy the setting and follow the mystery. I thought I had it sort of figured out, but there were nice little twists and turns that surprised and satisfied me. I can't wait to read the next book. I have it on order. 😎 (5 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (Cotton Malone #3). This is a new series and yes, I'm starting with the 3rd book. Blame the random number generator.

"In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer–will be drawn into an intense geopolitical chess game.

After narrowly escaping incineration in a devastating fire that consumes a Danish museum, Cotton learns from his friend, the beguiling adventurer Cassiopeia Vitt, that the blaze was neither an accident nor an isolated incident. As part of campaign of arson intended to mask a far more diabolical design, buildings across Europe are being devoured by infernos of unnatural strength.

And from the ashes of the U.S.S.R., a new nation has arisen: Former Soviet republics have consolidated into the Central Asian Federation. At its helm is Supreme Minister Irina Zovastina, a cunning despot with a talent for politics, a taste for blood sport, and the single-minded desire to surpass Alexander the Great as history’s ultimate conqueror.

Backed by a secret cabal of powerbrokers, the Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the hellish power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing keeps Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great–in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years.

Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them. Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people–depending on who finds the lost tomb first."

New Books

1. The Hand in the Glove  by Rex Stout (1937). A standalone mystery by the creator of Nero Blanc.

"Wealthy industrialist P. L. Storrs has never approved of lady detectives, and he normally would not have made an exception of Theodolina "Dol" Bonner. But faced with a very delicate problem and surprisingly impressed, he hires her instantly.

It seems that Storrs' bird-witted wife has fallen under the spell of a smooth-talking religious charlatan, and now Storrs wants Dol to get the goods on him. But when the gorgeous gumshoe arrives at Storrs' picturesque country estate, Birchhaven, to meet the scoundrel, she finds more than she bargained for; namely, the corpse of her client and a garden party teeming with suspects!"

2. The First Law by John Lescroart (Dismas Hardy #9). I have a few books in this series now. I've heard good things about it. Now to try one, eh?

"John Lescroart -- author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The Oath" and a "master" of the modern thriller ("People")-- returns with a spellbinding novel about events that force defense attorney Dismas Hardy and Lieutenant Abe Glitsky outside the law and into a fight for their lives.

Prodded by his father, Glitsky asks the new homicide lieutenant about the case, but the brass tells him in no uncertain terms to stay out of it. Guided by the Patrol Special -- a private police force supervised by the SFPD that is a holdover from San Francisco's vigilante past-the police have already targeted their prime suspect: John Holiday, proprietor of a run-down local bar, and a friend and client of Dismas Hardy.

While Dismas Hardy has built a solid legal practice and a happy family, John Holiday has not followed the same path. Despite this, Hardy has remained Holiday's attorney and confidant, and with Glitsky's help, Hardy finds ample reason to question Holiday's guilt. Hardy's case falls on hostile ears, however, and to avoid arrest, Holiday turns fugitive. The police now believe three things: that Hardy is a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky is a bad cop on the wrong side of the law.

As the suspense reaches fever pitch, Hardy, Glitsky, and even their families are caught in the crossfire and directly threatened. The police won't protect them. The justice system won't defend them. Shunned within the corridors of power, and increasingly isolated at every turn, Hardy and Glitsky face their darkest hour. For when the law forsakes them, they must look to another, more primal law in order to survive."

3. The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #4). I've read nothing by Zafon before but the plot does sound interesting.

"In this unforgettable final volume of Ruiz Zafón’s cycle of novels set in the universe of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, beautiful and enigmatic Alicia Gris, with the help of the Sempere family, uncovers one of the most shocking conspiracies in all Spanish history.

Nine-year-old Alicia lost her parents during the Spanish Civil War when the Nacionales (the fascists) savagely bombed Barcelona in 1938. Twenty years later, she still carries the emotional and physical scars of that violent and terrifying time. Weary of her work as an investigator for Spain’s secret police in Madrid, a job she has held for more than a decade, the twenty-nine-year old plans to move on. At the insistence of her boss, Leandro Montalvo, she remains to solve one last case: the mysterious disappearance of Spain’s Minister of Culture, Mauricio Valls.

With her partner, the intimidating policeman Juan Manuel Vargas, Alicia discovers a possible clue—a rare book by the author Victor Mataix hidden in Valls’ office in his Madrid mansion. Valls was the director of the notorious Montjuic Prison in Barcelona during World War II where several writers were imprisoned, including David Martín and Victor Mataix. Traveling to Barcelona on the trail of these writers, Alicia and Vargas meet with several booksellers, including Juan Sempere, who knew her parents.

As Alicia and Vargas come closer to finding Valls, they uncover a tangled web of kidnappings and murders tied to the Franco regime, whose corruption is more widespread and horrifying than anyone imagined. Alicia’s courageous and uncompromising search for the truth puts her life in peril. Only with the help of a circle of devoted friends will she emerge from the dark labyrinths of Barcelona and its history into the light of the future."

4. Omega by Jack McDevitt (Engines of God #4). Another new author, this time Sci-Fi, that looked interesting. I'll be honest and say the book cover first caught my attention.

"Now, the writer who gets better with every book delivers a scorching novel of destruction and heroism-on a galactic scale.

Hailed as a sweeping novel of suspense and spectacle, Chindi was thought by many to be Jack McDevitt's finest book to date. Now he concludes the story begun almost a decade ago in "The Engines of God"-as Earth's military and scientific experts band together to save an alien society from a deadly force speeding toward its home planet..."

5. Kurt Vonnegut: The Last Interview (2011). I read one book in this series so far, that being Hannah Arendt. I also have Ursula K. Le Guin's on my bookshelf. 

"One of the great American iconoclasts holds forth on politics, war, books and writers, and his personal life in a series of conversations, including his last published interview.:

6. Searoad by Ursula K. Le Guin (1991). Le Guin is one of my favorite authors, along with Nevil Shute, John Wyndham, Margaret Millar, to name a couple. I've been snagging books by her as I find them, no matter the genre.

"In one of her most deeply felt works of fiction, Le Guin explores the dreams and sorrows of the inhabitants of Klatsand, Oregon, a beach town where ordinary people bring their dreams and sorrows for a weekend or the rest of their lives, and sometimes learn to read what the sea writes on the sand. Searoad is the story of a particular place that could be any place, and of a people so distinctly drawn they could be any of us."

7. The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth (Miss Silver #28). I read a couple of the Miss Silver books back in early 2000's but then kind of stopped as I wasn't in the mood for cozy mysteries. But this book had a great cover and it sounded interesting. I'm BAAACK for Cozy.

"NO one could have guessed that Paulina Paine was Stone-deaf. Her ability to lip-read was astonishing. So the two men who met that day during the showing of a new art exhibition did not realize until too late that the middle-aged tweedy figure sitting quietly out of earshot had understood every word they said. And it had been no ordinary conversation. In fact Paulina was so shaken by its implications that she went to see Miss Silver. It was the last thing she did...

Subsequent events soon involved Miss Silver in murder and robbery. And a very tense house-party, where all the members were linked in some way to Paulina—and one was a killer..."

8. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic #2). I just finished the first book in this series and it was so good. 

"Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell's possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games-an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries-a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again-and so to keep magic's balance, another London must fall...in V.E. Schwab's "A Gathering of Shadows."

Women Authors Whose Work I Enjoy - Tessa Harris

Tessa Harris

Tessa Harris is an English author from Lincolnshire. I know her from her Thomas Silkstone, historical mystery series. I've read two of the books so far and enjoyed them both, a nice mix of thriller and beginning forensic science. I'm looking forward to reading the 3rd book in the series. I'll look at the two books I've completed thus far.

1. The Anatomist's Apprentice (Silkstone #1).

"The Anatomist's Apprentice is author Tessa Harris's first book in her historical mystery series featuring anatomist, Dr. Thomas Silkstone. Silkstone is a doctor from Philadelphia who moves to England to study under famed anatomist, Dr. Carruthers. Since Dr. Carruthers is now blind, Silkstone continues to teach at college and support Dr. Carruthers.

Silkstone becomes involved in investigating the death of Sir Edward Crick of Oxfordshire. His sister, Lydia comes to London to gain Silkstone's assistance in determining whether the death might have been murder.

This begins a sometimes convoluted investigation and tentative romance with Silkstone searching for clues to Edward's death and also to determine, if it was a murder, who might have perpetuated it. There are no shortage of subjects, Lydia's husband, possibly abusive and a womanizer; his friend, Lavington, who sticks his nose into so many parts of the investigation; maybe Hannah Lovelock, the maid whose daughter died recently? 

It's not a perfect story; at times Silkstone seems helpless to do anything with actions taking part at will about him. His developing feelings for Lydia seem kind of incongruous. But those are minor things. All in all, it's entertaining and a fine start to a four books series (so far anyway). I won't hesitate to check out the other books. (3 stars)"

2. The Dead Shall Not Rest (Silkstone #2).

"The Dead Shall Not Rest is the 2nd book in the Victorian mystery series featuring American anatomist / doctor, Thomas Silkstone by Tessa Harris. Silkstone practices in London and is engaged to Lady Lydia Farrell.

In this story we meet Irish giant, Charles Byrne, an actual figure in history. He is saved from the freak show by Lady Lydia and Count Boruwlaski, a dwarf friend of Lady Lydia. They want to help Charles gain a pardon from the Royal family for his father who was falsely convicted of murder. As well, Dr. Silkstone tries to improve the giant's health as he is very ill.  Introduced into this story is another historical person, Dr. John Hunter who wants Byrne's body for anatomical research and frequents grave robbers to get the corpses he needs to further his scientific work.

Complicating this story is the murder of an Italian soprano and the arrest of his mentor, another soprano and friend of Count Boruwalski. We also get another spanner thrown into the mix, Lady Lydia meets somebody who upsets her and her relationship with Silkstone. So there is lots going on and it makes for a complex story. Silkstone has many pots on the fire, trying to prove that Signor Moreno didn't murder Signor Cappelli, trying to help Lady Lydia and sort out her issues, trying keep Charles Byrne out of Hunter's clutches. It makes for a busy entertaining story, if somewhat far-fetched. 

The story kept my interest. I liked the historical elements and I like Lady Lydia and Silkstone. The resolution wasn't totally satisfactory but there is always the next book to read. (3 stars)"

The complete listing of Tessa Harris's books can be found at this link. Enjoy checking her books out.