For the time being I'm going to do my first post on books for March 2025, an update on books read and started and also some new books.
Just Finished
(I finished 4 books as I wound up February)
"Wycliffe And Winsor Blue is the 14th book in the Superintendent Wycliffe mystery series by British author, W.J. Burley. This story finds Wycliffe investigating a murder in the town of Falmouth in Cornwall.
Wycliffe had headed to the town for a presentation ceremony when he hears about a murder in the town. First, let's take a step back in time. Businessman Edwin Garland dies of a heart attack. He runs an art store and also a separate framing business. After the funeral, his son Francis was shot dead while walking his dog. Wycliffe decides to take over the investigation as he finds the closeness of the two deaths quite suspicious.
He brings a team from HQ to help with the investigation, including two of his most reliable Inspectors, Kersey and Lane. As always, it's an interesting investigation. We meet all of the people who were to inherit something from Edwin's death. Besides being an art dealer, he was also an excellent artist and the case seems to involve both his inheritance and his relationship with two artistic friends, one dead, one alive.
The area is always nice to visit. Falmouth is a popular tourist area. The characters are well - defined and like any good mystery, you like some and suspect others. I will say that I had the mystery pretty well figured out but it didn't take away from the story. Wycliffe is an excellent character, crusty, smart (he is a Superintendent of course) and intuitive. I kind of thought he missed some things that I saw earlier but ultimately, he gets the gist of what's going on.
Entertaining and enjoyable. I like how the Wycliffe story flows and how people interact. (3.0 stars)"
"I first heard of the poetry of Charles Causley while reading Howard's End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. In this non-fiction book, she lists 40 books she would keep if she could only read the same 40 books for the rest of her life (basically). She selected a book of poetry by Mr. Causley. Based on that I decided to check out Causley's work and bought a short collection of his poetry published in 1988, A Field of Vision. Only 68 pages, it contained some lovely poems.
I tried to follow Hill's rules for reading poetry as well; basically read a few lines, think about them, try not to read too many poems a day. In fact I believe her recommendation was to read only one a day. I wasn't that strict, but I did find myself reading a paragraph, reading it again to try and get into the flow of the poem. It seemed to work. What I found neat (a very poetic description, eh?) is how Causley's poems flow from line to line. Sometimes they are more traditional, one thought to per line, but then at other times, the sentences carry over to line after line.
from Dick Lander -
"My Auntie said before he want away
Dick was a master cricketeer. Could run
As fast as light. Was the town joker. Had
Every girl after him. Was spoiled quite out
Of recognition, and at twenty-one
Looked set to take the family business on....."
It made me read carefully, get into the flow of his thoughts, his ideas. He crafts such lovely pictures with his words. One I particularly liked made me think of my relationship with my wife.
I love the laurel green
(after Etienne Jodelle)
"I love the laurel green, whose verdant flame
Burns its bright victory on the winter day,
Calls to eternity its happy name
And neither time nor death shall wear away.
I love the holly tree with branches keen,
Each leaflet fringed with daggers sharp and small.
I love the ivy, too, winding its green,
Its ardent stem about the oak, the wall.
I live these three, whose living green and true
Is as unfailing as my love for you
Always by night and day whom I adore.
Yet the green wound that stays within me more
Is ever greener than these three shall be:
Laurel and ivy and the holly tree."
I enjoyed his poetry so very much. His style, his word craft, his ability to make you see what he is trying to say. I've since ordered his collected works to give him more of a look-see. (4.0 stars)"
"(Warning: This graphic novel has nudity within)
Gun Honey: Collision Course is the 3rd volume of the Gun Honey, e.g. Joanna Tan, hard case crime, pulp graphic novel series. Just like the others, it's an action - packed thrill ride, a sexy, brightly drawn, entertaining story.
After the last two novels, Joanna and her partner Brook Barrow have been hiding out in the jungles of Borneo. As Joanna tells Brook, they need to stay hidden for a year so their enemies will think they are dead. Joanna has a safety device, a cache of incrimination information hidden away in a secretive vault in Mongolia.
Of course things happen and Joanna and Brook head off on a series of adventures, trying to stop government agents from killing them, destroying their allies, ending up in Paris where there is a plot to kill a senior US government official, who is attending the Paris Olympics.
Lots going on, some doesn't sense. I find it somewhat difficult at times to ascertain who is who especially with the plethora of bald, white, muscular men all fighting it out. But hey! It's pulp fiction, it's action and more action. It's nice to just sink yourself into the story, watch the action (did I say action?) and everything else. Just fun and games. I'm looking forward to Joanna next adventures. (3.0 stars)"
"The Blackhouse is the 1st book in Scottish author Peter May's Lewis trilogy (+1) and also my first attempt at his work. I've also got the first book in the Enzo Files sitting on my book shelf. I'm afraid I let myself get a bit intimidated by the size of this book and kept setting it aside for the past few years. I'm glad I finally decided to try it.
Edinburgh detective Fin McLeod, who grew up on the Isle of Lewis, is sent to look into a murder on the Isle because there are strong similarities to one that he is investigating on his home turf. The lead detective on the Lewis case, one from Glasgow doesn't appreciate Fin being there, but lets him look into the case.
The murder brings back painful memories of his growing up on Lewis. The murder victim was an old bully, one who, along with his brother, tormented the other kids in their home town of Stornoway. He had been accused of raping a young girl and was found murdered. Fin investigates the murder with the assistance of local cop, DS Gordon Gunn. But he is also investigating his past life, the events that affected his growing up, the traumas and relationships he experienced while a young boy / man on Lewis.
It's a beautifully written story and wonderfully describes the setting and life on this harsh island off the north coast of Scotland. I've never visited but in my travels did spend a night on Shetland, which is a bit further north so it was interesting to try and compare. Anyway, the story moves from the past to the present smoothly and presents the characters that impacted on Fin's life and who he affected as well. I can't say that Fin is all that sympathetic as he did negatively affect others that he left behind when he went to the mainland, but he is an interesting character.
The story is rugged, the lives were / are rugged. I especially found the annual trip by group of men to the even more remote island of An Sgeir fascinating. It's a trip by 12 men from Stornoway to cull 2,000 young gulls from the island as a 'treat' for their families and folks back home. The trip that Fin and his best friend Artair take part in affects both of their lives until the true story of the events come out much later in the future.
So, the people are interesting and well-crafted, the story flows easily between past events and the current case and the ultimate conclusion, with more dramatic events on wind-blown An Sgeir, make for an excellent mystery & novel. Now to move on to the Lewis Man (4.0 stars)"
Currently Reading
"A murder has been committed - but as the victim was a rapist, recently released from prison, no one is too concerned about the crime. That is, until Detective Inspector John Rebus and DS Siobhan Clarke uncover evidence that a serial killer is on the loose ...
When Rebus also starts looking into the apparent suicide of an MP, he is abruptly warned off the case, not least because the G8 leaders have gathered in Scotland, and Rebus's bosses want him well out of the way. But Rebus has never been one to stick to the rules, and when Siobhan has a very personal reason for hunting down a riot cop, it looks as though both Rebus and Clarke may be up against their own side ..."
Collects Issues #1-5."
And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change.
The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks.
André Alexis's contemporary take on the apologue offers an utterly compelling and affecting look at the beauty and perils of human consciousness. By turns meditative and devastating, charming and strange, Fifteen Dogs shows you can teach an old genre new tricks."
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