2027 Reading Challenges #1 - Agatha Christie et al

As I work through my reading challenges for this year, I've started thinking about what my challenges might be for 2027. I think I've pretty well sorted them out, although it's only October so the books I pick are subject to change. What I'm tentatively planning is 3 12 + 4 Reading Challenges and 5 Individual Challenges. Ove the next while, I'll periodically look at these challenges. Let's start with my first 12 + 4 Reading Challenge. (That means that I'll choose 16 books, 12 main ones and 4 alternates)

The Queens of Crime - Christie, Marsh, Sayers and Allingham

My first challenge features the 4 women crime writers, nicknamed the Queens of Crime during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. They were Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L. Sayers. I've been working through their works since I moved out to the West Coast in the early 2000's and at some point I hope to read all of their books. I've probably had more success with Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh, but this challenge will let me focus on the books I've got on my book shelf.

Agatha Christie is best known for her Hercule Poirot (39 books) & Miss Marple series (13 books) But she also wrote other series; Tommy and Tuppence, Colonel Race, etc., plus many standalones and short stories. Thus far, I've managed to read 23 of her books and I plan to read another ten in 2027. Margery Allingham is the creator of another sleuth, Albert Campion, and wrote 21 books in the series, mainly novels, some short story collections. Thus far, I've completed 12 of the series and plan to read two more in 2027. Ngaio Marsh is a New Zealander but set most of her Inspector Roderick Alleyn books in the UK. A few, set during the war years, were set in New Zealand. She wrote 33 books in the series and I've completed 20. I plan to read 2 more in 2027. The final member of the quartet is Dorothy L. Sayers who wrote the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series. It consisted of 15 books and while I've acquired quite a few of the series, I've only completed 4 of the books. Once again I plan to read two of the books on my shelf.

As a matter of interest, each author's characters have been subject of movies and TV series and they are all worth checking out. Below are the books I currently plan to read from the 4 authors.

12 + 4 Reading Challenges - Agatha Christie and Other Golden Age Authors (Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh & Dorothy L. Sayers) (This will be all of the Agatha Christie books on my shelves and 2 of each of the others) 

1. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #6 / 1928).

"Bound for the Riviera, detective Hercule Poirot has boarded Le Train bleu, an elegant, leisurely means of travel, free of intrigue. The he meets Ruth Kettering. The lovely American heiress--bailing out of a doomed marriage--is en route to reconcile with her former lover. But by morning, the young bride's private affairs are made public when she's found murdered in her luxury compartment. The rumor of a strange man loitering in the victim's shadow is all Poirot has to go on. Until Mrs. Kettering's secret life begins to unfold . . ."

2. Hickory, Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #34 / 1955).

"A most unusual series of crimes at a student hostel intrigues Inspector Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie’s Hickory Dickory Dock, especially when a simple case of kleptomania paves the way to murder.

Hercule Poirot doesn’t need all his detective skills to realize something is troubling his secretary, Miss Lemon—she has made three mistakes in a simple letter. It seems an outbreak of kleptomania at the student hostel in which her sister works is distracting his usually efficient assistant.

Deciding that desperate times call for desperate measures, the great detective agrees to investigate. Unknown to Poirot, however, desperation is a motive he shares with a killer. . . ."

3. Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #37 / 1972).

""The Ravenscrofts didn't seem that kind of person. They seemed well balanced and placid..." And yet, twelve years earlier, the husband had shot the wife, and then himself--or perhaps it was the other way around, since sets of both of their fingerprints were on the gun, and the gun had fallen between them. The case haunts Ariadne Oliver, who had been a friend of the couple. The famous mystery novelist desires this real-life mystery solved, and calls upon Hercule Poirot to help her do so. Poirot is now a very old man, but his mind is as nimble and as sharp as ever and can still penetrate deep into the shadows. But as Poirot and Mrs. Oliver and Superintendent Spence reopen the long-closed case, a startling discovery awaits them. And if memory serves Poirot (and it does!), crime--like history--has a tendency to repeat itself."

4. Nemesis by Agatha Christie (Miss Marple #12 / 1971).

"In utter disbelief, Jane Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr. Rafiel - an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. He had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing. Soon she is faced with a new crime - the ultimate crime - murder. It seems someone is adamant that past evils remain buried..."

5. Third Girl by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #35 / 1966).

"In this breathtaking Agatha Christie mystery, the Third Girl sharing a London flat with two others announces to Hercule Poirot that she’s a murderer and then disappears. The masterful investigator must figure out whether the missing girl is a criminal, a victim, or merely insane.

Three young women share a London flat. The first is a coolly efficient secretary. The second is an artist. The third interrupts Hercule Poirot’s breakfast confessing that she is a murderer—and then promptly disappears.

Slowly, Poirot learns of the rumors surrounding the mysterious third girl, her family, and her disappearance. Yet hard evidence is needed before the great detective can pronounce her guilty, innocent, or insane.…"

6. Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective by Agatha Christie (Parker Pyne 1 - 12 / 1934).

"Agatha Christie once again demonstrates her mastery of the short form mystery with Parker Pyne Investigates—short stories of crime and detection featuring Parker Pyne, certainly one of the most unconventional private investigators ever to pursue a hot lead.

Mrs. Packington felt alone, helpless and utterly forlorn. But her life changed when she stumbled upon an advertisement in the Times that read: "Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne."

Equally adept at putting together the fragments of a murder mystery or the pieces of a broken marriage, Mr. Parker Pyne is possibly the world's most unconventional private investigator. Armed with just his intuitive knowledge of human nature, he is an Englishman abroad, traveling the globe to solve and undo crime and misdemeanor."

7. Remembered Death by Agatha Christie (Col. Race #4 / 1945).

"A beautiful heiress is fatally poisoned in a West End restaurant…

Six people sit down to dinner at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary – in solemn memory of Rosemary Barton who died at the same table exactly one year previously.

No one present on that fateful night would ever forget the woman’s face, contorted beyond recognition – or what they remembered about her astonishing life."

8. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie (Standalone / 1951).

"She fell head over heels for the charming young man one afternoon. And by nightfall, Victoria Jones had conspired to follow him to Baghdad.

But no daydream of love could match the real life adventure that unfolded: a stranger was stabbed in her bed, someone issued a hushed warning, and her rival for Edward's affections neatly arranged her kidnapping. From the steamy Arab marketplace to the vast and arid desert, Victoria was pursued by an unknown power that threatened not only her, but the fate of the entire world ..."

9. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #19 / 1938).

"A repugnant American widow is killed during a trip to Petra! Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sat the corpse of Mrs Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist was the only sign of the fatal injection that had killed her. With only 24 hours available to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he'd overheard back in 'You see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?' Mrs Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he'd ever met!"

10. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #18 / 1937).

"The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything...until she lost her life.

Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: "I'd like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger." Yet in this exotic setting nothing is ever quite what it seems."

11. Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #5 / 1933).

"Way back during the Crusades, Richard I presented the Huntingforest family with the tiny Balkan principality of Averna but since then the kingdom has been forgotten, until circumstances in Europe suddenly render it extremely strategically important to the British Government. They hire unconventional detective Albert Campion to recover the long-missing proofs of ownership - the deeds, a crown, and a receipt - which are apparently hidden in the village of Pontisbright. 

On arriving in Pontisbright, Campion and his friends meet the eccentric, young, flame-haired Amanda Fitton and her family who claim to be the rightful heirs to Averna and join in the hunt. Mr. Campion and his two young friends, Eager-Wright and Farquharson, posted as the Hereditary Paladin of Averna and his entourage! Unfortunately, criminal financier Brett Savanake is also interested in finding the evidence of the oil-rich state's ownership for his own ends. 

Things get rather rough in the village as Savanake's heavies up the pressure on Campion to solve the mystery before they do. In the course of the hunt, Campion dresses in drag, takes refuge in a tree, is nearly drowned in a mill race, and his friends find themselves bound and gagged in sacks, shot at, and witnesses to a satanic ceremony led by the local doctor. The rural calm of Pontisbright is well and truly shattered."

12. More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #13 / 1948)

"In a masterpiece of storytelling, Margery Allingham sends her elegant and engaging detective Albert Campion into the eccentric Palinode household, where there have been two suspicious deaths.

And if poisoning were not enough, there are also anonymous letters, sudden violence and a vanishing coffin. Meanwhile, the Palinodes go about their nocturnal business and Campion dices with danger in his efforts to find the truth."

Alternates

Alt 1. Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn #11 / 1941).

"The party's over when murder makes an entrance...

With the notion of bringing together the most bitter of enemies for his own amusement, a bored, mischievous millionaire throws a house party. As a brutal snowstorm strands the unhappy guests, the party receives a most unwelcome visitor: death. Now the brilliant inspector Roderick Alleyn must step in to decipher who at the party is capable of cold-blooded murder"

Alt 2. Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh (Inspector Alleyn #12 / 1943).

"It was a horrible death – Maurice Questing was lured into a pool of boiling mud and left there to die.

Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn, far from home on a wartime quest for German agents, knew that any number of people could have killed him: the English exiles he’d hated, the New Zealanders he’d despised or the Maoris he’d insulted. Even the spies he’d thwarted – if he wasn’t a spy himself…"

Alt 3. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #5 / 1928).

"Ninety-year-old General Fentiman was definitely dead, but no one knew exactly when he had died—and the time of death was the determining factor in a half-million-pound inheritance. Lord Peter Wimsey would need every bit of his amazing skills to unravel the mysteries of why the General's lapel was without a red poppy on Armistice Day, how the club's telephone was fixed without a repairman, and, most puzzling of all, why the great man's knee swung freely when the rest of him was stiff with rigor mortis."

Alt 4. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey #6 / 1930).

"The elegant, intelligent amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey is one of detective literature's most popular creations. Ian Carmichael is the personification of Dorothy L. Sayers' charming investigator in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation.

When mystery writer Harriet Vane is accused of the murder of her lover, the evidence seems pretty damning. But Lord Peter Wimsey is not convinced and when, five hours later, no verdict has been returned, it seems the jury may not be either.

But if Harriet didn't murder Philip Boyes, who did?"

More to follow in the near future.

A Quick Mid-Month (that being May 2026) Reading Update

 

Happy Victoria Day weekend for all of Canada! It's been cool here on the West Coast but it's nice and sunny this morning.

For anybody interested, especially Canadians, who might be interested in an alternate social network, one that was created in Canada and is free, check out Hey Café. I checked it out after it was recommended by a YouTuber who talks about Canadian issues, Guard the Leaf and is very interesting. There are a couple of other Canadian YouTube subscribers that are also worth checking out, The Bill Kelly Podcast and Claus Kellerman. Check out their videos, subscribe if you find them interesting. Oh wait, here are two more you might like; Tod Maffin, who has made a concerted effort to bring more medical professionals into Canada, and The Interesting MD, an American doctor who made the move to Canada and talks to medical professionals, some who've moved to Canada and also compares Canada's medical system with that of the US. Oh, by the way, if you do join Hey Café, look me up please.

So, now let's talk about books. My last update was 9 May. I've completed 3 books since then and I'll update those as well as the normal other activities; books started, new books.

Completed Books

1. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #4 / 1931)

"Police at the Funeral is the 4th book in English author, Margery Allingham's mystery series featuring Albert Campion. It's also the 10th book I've read in the series, of 15+ books. I recently watched the TV adaptation of this book and it made me think of the show the more I got into the story.

Albert Campion is asked to come out to a Cambridge estate by an old school chum of his. Leaving behind his lugubrious man-servant, Lugg, Campion heads out. It's an old estate, ruled by the matriarch and there is much friction between the various family members, all relatively old. That is except, lovely Joyce, Marcus's (Campion's chum) fiancé who looks after various business matters and Great Aunt Caroline. 

Before he heads out, we are introduced to Campion and his police friend, Chief Inspector Oates. Oates was to meet someone down an alley, but is surprised to find Campion also there. A man follows Oates but runs away when a woman, who we discover is Joyce, also arrives, as she had arranged to meet Campion. Although she denies it, Campion believes she knows who the man was.

After this, Campion receives his invite. Uncle Andrew, a very unlikable man, has been missing, having disappeared after the family returned from Sunday Mass. His body is ultimately discovered by a couple of hikers, murdered and thrown into the river. The gun which was used cannot be found and his body has been in the water for some time. CI Oates is called up from Scotland Yard to investigate as well. Campion stays at the estate to assist. 

Another murder takes place shortly after, with Aunt Julia being poisoned. The suspects seem to be from within the estate, with Uncle William a prime candidate. Campion investigates, sometimes assisting Oates, but mainly keeping his own counsel.

It's a slowish - paced story, a somewhat heavy read at times (not complex, but it just seems that often, I'd been reading for awhile but then realized I'd only read 10 or so pages). The characters are interesting, mostly likable, with a few exceptions. Grumpy old people who are beholden to Great Aunt Caroline, who is sharp, wise and observant, quite a favorite of Campion's.

It's an ultimately satisfying story, somewhat confusing (I think maybe better explained in the TV series). Campion is an interesting character, seemingly mild and sometimes simple but when necessary, quite filled with action and strength. All in all, I continue to enjoy the series, both the books and the TV series, with Peter Davison as Campion. The story was a bit less fun without the irrepressible Lugg accompanying Campion, but it was still enjoyable. (3.5 stars)"

2. The Sundial by Shirley Jackson (Fic / 1958).

"Of American author Shirley Jackson's six published novels, The Sundial, originally published in 1958, is the 5th I've completed. The first novel, The Road Through the Wall is on order. I started reading Jackson's work with her short story, The Lottery. Anyway, I believe Jackson was one of the unique horror authors of her time, focused more on the psychological aspects of horror, more so than just pure scary horror.

The Sundial reminded me of her last novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. By that I mean that it's told in many voices and it also is about a group of people isolated on an estate. But the story itself is quite different.

It starts with the death (or maybe murder) of the son of Halloran family, who presumably was pushed down a stairway to his death. His father is married for the 2nd time and the current Mrs. Halloran runs the show and now that the son and inheritor of the estate is dead, she plans to have everyone else residing in the home sent away. This includes Aunt Fanny (unmarried sister of Roger, the father), Maryjane, wife of Lionel (the dead son) and everybody else. That is except Fancy, Maryjane and Lionel's young daughter. Orianna (Mrs. Halloran) plans to raise Fancy and eventually have her take over the estate.

However, Aunt Fanny throws a spanner into the works. She has a vision, from her dead father, which foretells that basically the earth is going to end and that everyone in the home must stay there if they are going to survive. For some reason, she persuades everybody, including Orianna, to believe her. So this is the basic premise and over the course of the novel, we get constant varying viewpoints from the residents of the estate. A few others will arrive to add to the mix, a friend of Orianna's and her two daughters, Mrs Willows and Julia and Arabella. As well, an old family friend who is going on a cruise or safari sends his daughter, Gloria, to stay at the home. And finally, a man, referred to as the Captain is brought in (I can't remember by whom, maybe Arabella).

So you've got this mix of strange, odd people, all playing on each other's nerves, trying to prepare for the end. Aunt Fanny brings Miss Ogilvie, the lady who teaches Fancy, into town with Arabella, to start ordering supplies for the estate. Of course, they can't help mentioning it to the townsfolk, who think they are somewhat odd. Essex, a gadabout, hanger-on who has lived on the estate at Orianna's good will, is constantly sticking his oar in, poking people, irritating them. 

Julia wants desperately to leave and persuades the Captain to go with her, but Orianna has her own plans. They do need men to help repropagate the world, dontcha know. As the time winds closer, Orianna plans a huge garden party for the people of the town, basically one last affair before everyone else, but them, of course, dies.

It's a strange, sometimes meandering story but as the days get closer, you find yourself being drawn more and more into the plot, into the events, into the people. Of course, I won't tell you how it all ends, but everything is fascinating and surprising. It took me awhile to get into the story. At times it made me think of Ionesco's The Rhinocerous, as it seems satirical.. and maybe it is, but it's still scary and interesting and it does draw you into the insanity. (4.0 stars)"

3. Echo Round His Bones by Thomas M. Disch (Sci Fi / 1967).

"The only other book I've read by Sci Fi author Thomas M. Disch was Camp Concentration which I enjoyed very much. Echo Round His Bones was his 4th novel, published in 1970. I was looking forward to trying another book so Echo was it. I find it somewhat hard to describe, very interesting concept but the story ultimately didn't work for me.

We're in a kind of alternate Earth where it seems that all if not most of the cities are covered in domes. There is a somewhat uneasy peace between the US and Russia, although they still have nukes (if I understand correctly, the nukes are just not on Earth, but in space, e.g. the Moon and Mars? So a Dr/ Panofsky, who escaped from Nazi concentration camps and now works for the US government, has invented a device, a transporter or sorts, there allows instantaneous transport between transport machines. 

Nathan Hansard, a Capt. in the US Army is assigned along with his platoon to take a message to the General in charge of the Mars detachment. They are transported to Mars but we discover that a part of themselves (an Echo, get it?) remains on Earth. Hansard hasn't gotten along very well with his platoon, especially Sgt Worsaw, who he has demoted to Pte.  When Hansard realizes what has happened, the echo of Hansard that is, he has to escape from the Echoes of Worsaw and the rest of his platoon.

The Echoes can feel pain, they can die, they breathe, they need to eat. Worsaw and his group have become cannibals, eating the Echoes of those they kill.

Hansard escapes from them but must try and survive in this new Echo condition (now, just to try and keep up, the real Hansard is visited at times during his stay on Mars. The letter he has given the General tells the General that in a month, he will have to launch his nukes on Earth.

Hansard meets the Echoes of Dr. Panofsky and his wife, Brigida (now there are more than one Echo of each because every time they transport, a new Echo is created). Have I confused you very much? Then you are a smarter man than I, Gunga Din. 😁😎

Hansard and the Panofskys find out about the letter and the rest of the book is involved with them trying to save the world. And sundry other matters.

For a very short book, 144 pages, a whole lot happens. As I said, it's a neat concept, but I did find Disch got kind of caught up in the technicalities and philosophies. The characters were ok, but not too fleshed out. And the ending was confusing. But other than that.. it was kind of neat and I'm going to try another Disch story when I get it. Check out Camp Concentration first, I'd suggest but this might also be right up your alley. (2.0 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Bad Indians Book Club: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawec (Non Fic / 2025).

"In this powerful reframing of the stories that make us, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec leads us into the borderlands of history, science, memoir, and fiction to What worlds do books written by marginalized people describe and invite us to inhabit?

When a friend asked what books could help them understand Indigenous lives, Patty Krawec, author of Becoming Kin, gave them a list. This list became a book club and then a podcast about a year of Indigenous reading, and then this book. The writers in Bad Indians Book Club refuse to let dominant stories displace their own and resist the way wemitigoozhiwag--European settlers--craft the prevailing narrative and decide who they are.

In Bad Indians Book Club, we examine works about history, science, and gender as well as fiction, all written from the perspective of "Bad Indians"--marginalized writers whose refusal to comply with dominant narratives opens up new worlds. Interlacing chapters with short stories about Deer Woman, who is on her own journey to decide who she is, Krawec leads us into a place of wisdom and medicine where the stories of marginalized writers help us imagine other ways of seeing the world. As Krawec did for her friend, she recommends a list of books to fill in the gaps on our own bookshelves and in our understanding.

Becoming Kin, which novelist Omar El Akkad called a "searing spear of light," led readers to talk back to the histories they had received. Now, in Bad Indians Book Club comes a potent challenge to all the stories settler colonialism tells--stories that erase and appropriate, deny and deflect. Following Deer Woman, who is shaped by the profuse artistry of Krawec, we enter the multiple worlds Indigenous and other subaltern stories create. Together we venture to the edges of worlds waiting to be born."

Newest Arrivals

1. Montgomery Schnauzer PI and the Case of the Stealthy Cat Burglar by Timothy Forner (Middle Grade / 2019) I enjoyed the 2nd book a lot, just plain fun.

"Montgomery Schnauzer uses the wisdom of his favorite storybook detectives to find his place with a new family in the big city. Monty's antics uncover a mystery and draw the attention of a Bulldog femme fatale. Suddenly he has a real client and a case to solve.

Follow Monty's journey as he moves from the animal shelter to life in the big city, with his new human – who knows nothing at all about dogs!

Phew! That's a lot for one little Schnauzer, even one that believes he's a private investigator."

2. Jizzle by John Wyndham (Hor / 1954). Probably the first Sci Fi writer I ever tried and one that I always enjoy. Finally winding down his books.

"Take a dip into a world where reality trembles and sanity is all in the mind — a world created by the brilliant author of The Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes.

There’s a monkey with a unique artistic talent. A man living his life over again. A tube in the rush hour that was so crowded it seemed like hell; in fact it was hell...

Jizzle will grip you from cover to cover with its unique blend of horror and fantasy — a combination which can never fail.

Contents:
- Jizzle
- Technical Slip
- A Present from Brunswick
- Chinese Puzzle
- Esmeralda
- How Do I Do?
- Una
- Affair of the Heart
- Confidence Trick
- The Wheel
- Look Natural, Please!
- Perforce to Dream
- Reservation Deferred
- Heaven Scent
- More Spinned Against"

3. Fire by Elizabeth Hand (Fic / 2016).

"The title story, "Fire." written especially for this volume, is a harrowing postapocalyptic adventure in a world threated by global conflagration. Based on Hand's real-life experience as a participant in a governmental climate change think tank, it follows a ragtag cadre of scientists and artists racing to save both civilization and themselves from fast-moving global fires. "The Woman Men Couldn't See" is an expansion of Hand's acclaimed critical assessment of author Alice Sheldon, who wrote award-winning SF as "James Tiptree, Jr." in order to conceal identity from both the SF community and her CIA overlords. Another nonfiction piece, "Beyond Belief" recounts her difficult passage from alienated teen to serious artist. Also included are "Kronia," a poignant time-travel romance, and "The Saffron Gatherers," two of Hand's favorite and less familiar stories. a bibliography and our candid and illuminating Outspoken Interview with one of today's most inventive authors."

4. The Science of Herself by Karen Joy Fowler (Fic / 2013).

"Widely respected in the so-called “mainstream” for her New York Times bestselling novels, Karen Joy Fowler is also a formidable, often controversial, and always exuberant presence in Science Fiction. Here she debuts a provocative new story written especially for this series. Set in the days of Darwin, “ The Science of Herself ” is a marvelous hybrid of SF and historical the almost-true story of England’s first female paleontologist who took on the Victorian old-boy establishment armed with only her own fierce intelligence—and an arsenal of dino bones. Plus...

“ The Pelican Bar ,” a homely tale of family ties that makes Guantánamo look like summer camp; “The Further Adventures of the Invisible Man,” a droll tale of sports, shoplifting and teen sex; and “ The Motherhood Statement ,” a quietly angry upending of easy assumptions that shows off Fowler’s deep radicalism and impatience with conservative homilies and liberal pieties alike. And our Outspoken Interview in which Fowler prophesies California’s fate, reveals the role of bad movies in good marriages, and intimates that girls just want to have fun (which means make trouble)."

5. White Silence by Jodi Taylor (Elizabeth Cage #1 / 2017). I've been enjoying Taylor's Chronicles of St. Mary's time travel series. This one sounds interesting.

"The first instalment in the gripping supernatural thriller series from international bestselling author, Jodi Taylor.

'I don't know who I am. I don't know what I am.'

Elizabeth Cage is a child when she discovers that there are things in this world that only she can see. But she doesn't want to see them and she definitely doesn't want them to see her.

What is a curse to Elizabeth is a gift to others - a very valuable gift they want to control.

When her husband dies, Elizabeth's world descends into a nightmare. But as she tries to piece her life back together, she discovers that not everything is as it seems.

Alone in a strange and frightening world, she's a vulnerable target to forces beyond her control.

And she knows that she can't trust anyone..."

There you go folks. I hope you see a couple of books that interest you. I also hope the links I provided all work. Enjoy your upcoming week and GO Montreal Canadiens!

A Reading Update for Almost mid-April 2026

It's so nice to be back at our home in the Valley. Jo is still adjusting after a month of radiation treatment. At the moment she's having an early afternoon nap. Still appointments and chemo to follow but that is all here. So far only a couple of appts with doc's back in Victoria and that's not until Juneish. I guess I have no excuses not to get some yard work done.. And maybe give the car a nice treat by washing it. It was so good on our weekly trips back and forth between Victoria and here.

While she's having and before I head upstairs to sort some laundry, here is my latest reading update.

Completed Books (since my last update)

1. American Gods, Vol. 1, Shadows by Neil Gaiman (Graphic novel / 2018).

"I read the novel version of American Gods back in 2017. I watched some of the TV series about it when it came out. So when I saw American Gods, Vol. 1: Shadows by Neil Gaiman I thought I'd give it a try. 

Yeah, it was as good as the others and it follows Shadow as far as his visit to the funeral parlor with Mr. Ibis. It was all very familiar and there wasn't anything really new from the book but the artwork was excellent. 

Will I buy the other graphic novels if they come out... probably not... After I bought a number of Gaiman's books / graphic novels, I began to read about disturbing allegations about him and I did get rid of a few of the books I'd purchased but I did keep this and read it anyway. (Gaiman has denied the allegations...) I have a book on the Art of Neil Gaiman but it's by someone else, so how does that fit in?  Anyway, 3.5 stars...."

2. Brzrkr, Vol. 2 by Keanu Reeves (Graphic / 2021).

"It's been too long between the first graphic novel in the Brzrkr franchise and BRZRKR, Volume 2 by actor Keanu Reeves. That's not a good or bad thing, it's just chronology.

It was relatively easy to get back into the flow of the story. B is a sort of half mortal, half god who has lived for thousands of years. He remembers his mother but not his father. He has managed to stay 'hidden' by always joining armies and fighting in their midst.

B is now the subject of experiments by some organization who wants to find the source of his original power. They've been examining him and conducting experiments and the leader (although the 'leader' seems to be followed around by a floating orb that may in fact be his boss) is getting frustrated because B can remember some things, but not enough. The boss wants to conduct Project X, which as I understand it, means burying him in a hole deep in the ground and forcing B to use his power to escape and then they will somehow follow the energy to B's beginning??

Suffice it to say it's an ok story, confusing somewhat and I hope #3 provides more of an explanation. I hope so as I believe it's the final in the series. It's ok, the artwork is good. I'm just waiting for it to go somewhere. (3.0 stars)"

3. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3, One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughan (Graphic / 2004). This completes one of my reading challenges for 2026, a graphic novel one. I've since laid out one more.

"I enjoy exploring the world of graphic novels and have especially enjoyed the work of Brian K. Vaughan; Saga and The Paper Girls. But I think so far that I've been enjoying Y: The Last Man, the most. I just finished Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step and it was excellent, a page turner.

I love the characters. I think the art work is beautiful and the story is so fantastic. As a bit of a recap, something (a plague, maybe) has destroyed every creature on earth with a Y chromosome. So there are no men left (I write that, gritting my teeth in despair). However, it seems that it wasn't perfect. There two men left. Yorick a part-time somewhat successful magician and his pet monkey, Ampersand. 

Women for all over are either trying to kill Yorick, to get him to start the world over again, or to protect him until 'they' (the big They) can discover what caused all males to die. Yorick, a special agent named 355 (she works for the president) and a geneticist, are heading to her lab in San Francisco to conduct tests on Yorick. Yorick's mother, another politician, wants him brought back to her so she hires an Israeli special ops team to get him. Of course they have their own plans.

In this volume, we are introduced to a Russian agent, Natalya, who has come to the US because a Soyuz space ship is supposed to land in Nebraska, bringing a Russian cosmonaut (male) and two American astronauts (one male, one female) as the crew. She is to return the cosmonaut back to Russia. The group decides to work together. They plan to bring the crew to a top secret installation, with  a 'safe room' where the men can be kept safe until the cause of the plague can be discovered and hopefully eradicated. The Israelis have different plans of course.

So much is going on and it's so beautifully presented. But I won't tell you any more because you need to read it. At the end of this chapter, there is a 2nd small story about a wandering minstrel show, made up of women who go from town to town presenting plays. It's a neat little story and it seems our team meets up with the... at least the monkey does.

It's just such an entertaining, well crafted and drawn story. I can't wait to see what happens next. Check it out. (4.0 stars)"

4. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum #11 / 2005).

"You always know what you're going to get with a Stephanie Plum mystery. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich, the 11th book was no exception. 

Things you expect - Sexual tensions between Stephanie, her boyfriend Morelli and also her mysterious friend, Ranger; Humor; fun and games with Grandma Plum (especially at funeral viewings); more fun and games with her ex hooker pal, Lula, exploding cars (mostly those belonging to Stephanie, and an interesting action-filled story. 

What was new in this one - Stephanie, trying to sort out her life, decides to quit being a bounty hunter and turns her badge back in to Vinnie, her cousin. Someone is sending Stephanie threatening notes and people keep dying or being injured around her.

Stephanie is trying to find a new career, trying to discover who is trying to kill her, also helping with her sister, Valerie's wedding plans. This is not going well. Stephanie's dress will be eggplant purple. She lied and told them she had played the cello and now is expected to play at the wedding. And she is looking after Morelli, who was one of the victim's of Stephanie's stalker.

It's all fun and games and sexiness. I've always thought that Stephanie Plum is one of the sexiest protagonists in fiction and she's got two sexy men in her life. Decisions, decisions for poor Steph. The story moves along nicely, Trenton NJ has to survive her and Lula as they chase down bail bonds defaulters (Yes, even though she has quit, she still assists Lula) and will Valerie's wedding be a success? Check it out. (3.5 stars)"

Currently Reading (since last update)

1. Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion #4 / 1931). This is the 1st book in my new reading challenge.

"Starring Albert Campion, bland, blue-eyed, deceptively vague professional adventurer, and Great Aunt Caroline, that formidable and exquisite old lady, ruling an ancient household heavy with evil. Uncle Andrew is dead, shot through the head. Cousin George, the black sheep, is skulking round corners. Aunt Julia is poisoned, Uncle William attacked. And terror invades an old Cambridge residence. (Publisher’s description)"

2. Skeleton Key by Jane Haddam (Gregor Demarkian #16 / 2000).

"When writer and ex-deb Bennis Hannaford discovers the body of super-heiress Kayla Anson in the family garage, her visit to Litchfield County, Connecticut, is reluctantly extended. Bennis's hostess, Margaret Anson, presents an icy version of the grieving mother, cut out her late husband's will--until now. And when Gregor Demarkian, ex-FBI man and Bennis's lover, arrives from Philadelphia to consult with local police, a media blitz storms in as more suspects crawl out of the woods.

Kayla may have been too blindingly rich for her wild, private school chum; her older, socially ambitious entrepreneur boyfriend; and a divorced, downsized bookkeeper selling her furniture to survive. As Gregor maps out distances, location, and motives, Halloween descends on the dark, silent hills. From a skeleton sprawled on the cemetery caretakers' porch to more deadly mischief and mayhem, the countryside is brimming with secrets. And a killer is about to strike again..."

Recent Additions

3 books arrived in the mail while we were in Victoria and I plucked one out of my Little Free Library that looked interesting.

1. All Flesh is Grass by Clifford D. Simak (Sci Fi / 1965).

"Long before Under the Dome , this novel of a town trapped within an invisible force field earned a Nebula Award nomination for the author of Way Station .

Nothing much ever happens in Millville, a small, secluded Middle-American community—until the day Brad Carter discovers he is unable to leave. And the nearly bankrupt real estate agent is not the only one being held prisoner; every resident is confined within the town’s boundaries by an invisible force field that cannot be breached. As local tensions rapidly reach breaking point, a set of bizarre circumstances leads Brad to the source of their captivity, making him humanity’s reluctant ambassador to an alien race of sentient flora, and privy to these jailers’ ultimate intentions. But some of Millville’s most powerful citizens do not take kindly to Carter’s “collaboration with the enemy,” even under the sudden threat of global apocalypse.
 
Decades before Stephen King trapped an entire town in Under the Dome , science fiction Grand Master Clifford D. Simak explored the shocking effects of communal captivity on an unsuspecting population. Nominated for the Nebula Award, All Flesh Is Grass is a riveting masterwork that brilliantly reinvents the alien invasion story."

2. Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson (Alt Hist / 1988).

"Presenting an alternative version of African American history, this novel explores what might have happened if John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry had been successful. Chronicling life in a thriving black nation founded by Brown in the former southeastern United States, this dramatic story opens 100 years later, just as Nova Africa is poised to celebrate its first landing of a spacecraft on Mars. The prosperous black state will soon be tested when the granddaughter of John Brown returns from Africa to reunite with her daughter and share with her a secret that will alter their lives forever."

3. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin (Historical Fiction / 2008).

"In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers."

3. The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson (Three Californias #1 / 1984).

"Seventeen-year-old Henry wanted to help make America great again, like it had been sixty years ago, before all the bombs went off. But for the people of Onofre Valley, just surviving was challenge enough. Then one day the world came to Henry, in the shape of two men who said they represented the American Resistance..."

I hope you see something that interests you in this collection. Enjoy your next week.