Worth the Wait

My husband didn't believe me last night when I told him to "Be quiet! I want to finish this book! It's a mystery! And I've been waiting for it for nearly a year!"

But it is true. I finished the fourth book in Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler crime series last May and have been waiting expectantly for book five, The Shadows in the Street ever since. I'd had it pre-ordered since October for crying out loud, and it finally arrived in the past couple of weeks. I actually tried to hold off reading it, but it didn't work.

I've written about his series before, here, here, here and here. This is not your typical mystery series. A lot of the story focuses on the people we've come to know over time and about the town they live in. Simon sometimes seems to be a secondary character in his own story! What stands out to me about these books is that the reader usually gets to know the victim before they become a victim. They are never just a nameless, faceless, victim, but a person, sometimes struggling, with a family and job and home and suddenly everything changes.

In this, the fifth installment in the series, someone is murdering prostitutes, but then the pattern changes and other women begin to disappear as well. There are a lot of other things going on, Simon's sister and father have had big changes in their lives, and a new clergyman has arrived at the cathedral who wants to make big changes not appreciated by all.

I cannot put my finger on why I enjoy this series so much. While I enjoy mysteries, it's never just about the mystery for me. I'm much more interested in the people and the setting. Being an anglophile this setting appeals to me particularly. Sadly, I have another wait ahead of me - who knows when or if another book will be forthcoming? I'll be there, ready to read it.

'And In the End'....they fizzled

I bet the title of this post really makes you want to keep reading! As we near the end of 2009, my thoughts are turning to what were my favorite books of the year. Not wanting to be rash, I'm keeping my mind open to current and recent reads. But let me tell you, not a one is making my list! Sure, there are plenty of good books, but I'm looking for WOW books. I keep having the same problem lately - a book starts out really well, and then, well, it fizzles, it just doesn't maintain the power it had at the beginning. Here are a few examples.



The Day the Falls Stood Stillby Cathy Marie Buchanan was I book I expected to love. I loved the cover, loved the topic of Niagra Falls in the early 20th century, and devoured the vintage photographs so wonderfully included. The story focuses on Bess, once well to do, her family is now down and out, clinging to their old life by a social thread. Bess falls in love with The Wrong Sort of Boy, Tom Cole, grandson of a heroic riverman and a bit of a hero himself. The story becomes partly one of war and how it changes everything, one of industry and debate as the power of the falls is utilized for electricity, and one of life and tragedy. Overall I liked this book, though I would say I loved the first half and found it to be a pageturner. As I continued reading, I found myself less interested in the characters and somewhat unsurprised by the twists and turns at the end.

Changing gears a bit, I came across Minette Walters as an author comparable to Barbara Vine. I was sold! I chose to read Walters' debut novel, The Ice House: A Novel. The Ice House began well, as a body is found in the ice house of a country manor, a place where a man, the husband of the current resident, disappeared. There has been a murder investigation here before - coincidence? This was sort of a quirky murder mystery. I mean, I don't' read many books when the police force comes across as incompetent and the suspects practically seem to be egging them on. Everyone is lying in one way or another. I liked this book right up until the end, when the tone changed from quiet and suspenseful to crowded and confusing with a lot of people showing up and shouting at one another. I read somewhere that Walters doesn't know who is responsible until she's written half of the book, and I'm not so sure I like this idea. Perhaps I prefer a more 'crafted' book in which hints are dropped and feelings are alluded to along the way. Not to say I won't try Walters again - I definitely will.

Now I'm off to make lentil soup - it's soup season here.

Falling in Love with Louise

Receiving Louise Penny's The Brutal Telling (An Armand Gamache Novel) as an advance copy (thank you Minotaur Press/St Martins Books and you too FTC) turned out to be one of those miracle reading moments, the ones when you don't really know what you're getting into and it turns out to be a great reading experience.




The Brutal Telling is the fifth in Penny's Three Pines/Chief Inspector Gamache series set in a tiny village in Quebec. A village that sounds so charming you would love to visit it - except for the fact that murders keep occurring there.

The Brutal Telling is about the murder of a hermit who lived up in the woods amongst some of the world's most valuable antiques. As far as the mystery goes, I pretty much figured out who-done-it from the very beginning. Obviously, what I liked so much about this book was not so much the mystery aspect, but the characters that populate these books such as Chief Inspector Gamache. He is one of those 'knowing' souls, he sees and hears things the rest of us pay no attention to. He is polite, well dressed and he loves good food. Oh does he ever! I loved, loved, loved, reading about all the tasty things these characters were eating all the time. For me this novel was more about the why? and what if? than the who.

Well, I liked this book so much that I immediately went looking for books 1-4. And I wanted to read them RIGHT NOW! But I managed to ration myself to just one, reading Penny's first book Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Three Pines Mysteries) and enjoying it immensely as well. This cleared up some the past history and relationships for me that I read about in book five and this time around, I wasn't so certain who the murderer was.

Now I am greedily holding on to books 2-4. I've decided to reward myself with book 2 when I go to the in-laws for Christmas. They're lovely people but Christmas there tends to be a bit....dull. It's handy to have a book to immerse yourself in. You know.

Unremarkable

My book club met on Monday night to discuss Those Who Save Us. This was the first book all year that we all finished and that we all liked - quite an event for us. The enjoyment of the book ranged from those who thought it was 'fine, readable, maybe missing something' to those who 'really liked it'. All in all, it was a success. A good discussion of an atypical holocaust book, one in which we see the point of view of the German civilians.

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Does this ever happen to you? You finally get around to reading a book by an author praised by critics and fans alike and find yourself...totally underwhelmed? That's what happened to me when I read P.D. James' Innocent Blood. P.D. James is well known for her detective series and since I don't generally gravitate toward those sorts of series I chose to read this stand alone novel.

The premise is intriguing. Philippa is an adopted British woman who upon turning 18 seeks to discover the names of her birth parents. What she discovers about her parents and their involvement in a murder is horrifying. Phillipa's story is juxtaposed with that of a man hungry for revenge who creeps around London hunting his prey. It sounds interesting, yes, but in actuality I found this book very...dull. There is great description of place, but the characters were one dimensional. Oh the characters! Never has a more unlikable group of people appeared in one book! The 'bad' people were utterly void of morals, and the 'good' or shall we say 'better' people were not much better.

I think Innocent Blood would have worked well as a short story. This format would have given the reader more of feeling of tension. As it is, the story plodded along until the last 75 pages which I found satisfying. Except for the very creepy and corrupt event that happened in the epilogue. Ugh.

Someone told me, 'If you're looking for a good mystery, you can't go wrong with P.D. James.' For me, that hasn't proved to be the case, but I'm willing to give her another try one of these days.

The Crocodile Bird

Ruth Rendell's novel The Crocodile Bird is the story of Liza, a young woman with a rather unusual upbringing. She has grown up sheltered from the outside world, brought up in the gatekeeper's house of an estate in the English countryside. Liza has only left the property a few times in her life, so has only come into contact with a few adults besides her mother Eve who has dictated her upbringing. Liza has never even known another child.

The Crocodile Bird opens with the knowledge that Eve is going to be prosecuted for a crime in the coming hours. In an attempt to protect Liza, Eva hatches a plan for Liza to get away, but Liza does not follow her instructions. What follows is the story of Liza's life after Eve's incarceration, as well as Liza telling the story of her past and why Eve kept her in seclusion. Liza's story is bone chilling; after all, Eve was arrested after the police came around looking for a missing man. For Liza, Eve's behavior didn't seem out of the ordinary - for her audience, well, it is shocking.

The Crocodile Bird is one of Ruth Rendell's stand-alone mysteries, and I felt it was very similar to her books under the name Barbara Vine - if you like her writing, I think you'd like this book. Rendell's books often seem so timeless. This one was written in 1993, if it hadn't been for descriptions of cars and televisions and other items, it could have taken place at anytime in the past 50 years or so.

Like the other Vine/Rendell books I have read, The Crocodile Bird is perfectly paced, and perfectly creepy. What made The Crocodile Bird stand out was its ending. Based on the blurb on the back of the book, it seemed clear what direction the story would take. And then - surprise. Well done Ruth Rendell.

An Incomplete Revenge

I won the fifth book in the Maisie Dobbs series, An Incomplete Revenge, from Iliana, ages ago and I've just finally read it. The only reason I put it off is because I wanted to save it for just the moment and I finally found the right one.

I really, really liked this episode in the story of Maisie, in fact, I think this might be my second favorite after the original, Maisie Dobbs. It feels like going back to the basics in many ways. The romantic story lines from the recent books are completely absent here and Maisie is forced to come to terms with issues in her past that go back to the first back. We as readers also get to know Maisie better through this tale, making this a really great read.

So what is it about? Well, Billy Beale is off on vacation, a rather sad vacation actually, that involves traveling with the family out to the countryside to live in huts and pick hops. I suppose this was the only way the working class could afford a little time outside the city. Maisie has been hired by an old friend to seek out information about some property he wants to purchase and learn about some oddities in the town where it is situated. Naturally this town happens to be located just where Billy is. Gypsies have come to pick hops as well; the townspeople are suspicious of them while Maisie gains their trust and we learn about their unique ways. As is often the case, the secrets this town protects go back to the War and Maisie finds herself investigating suspicious yearly fires, crimes of theft, and a deadly Zeppelin raid that killed an entire family. It is truly a tale of tragedy, but as always, Maisie wraps up the case nicely and all secrets are revealed.

Naturally, I recommend this book and the entire series. I can hardly keep my hands off the sixth book, but I am going to make myself wait. It will be interesting to see if Winspear brings the element of romance back (do you think people didn't like it?) as well as the fate of Billy. It seems eventually he will move on - it won't be easy to find someone to take his place as Maisie's right hand man.

I Found the Just Right Book!

Have you heard of Mary Stewart? I was introduced to her by the Bas Bleu catalog who offers her novel The Ivy Tree. I was intrigued by the description of The Ivy Tree (1961) and came across it in a wonderful new edition by the Chicago Review Press along with Stewart's novels Thornyhold (1988) and Nine Coaches Waiting (1958). Nine Coaches Waiting came home with me that day and I picked it up the other day.

It was perfect.

Nine Coaches Waiting is the story of Linda, a young woman living in England who, due to a series of circumstances, takes a position working as a governess in France for the Valmy family. Her charge is Philippe, a nine year old boy who has had a rough time due to the death of his parents. Something about the house where she has come and the people that live there seems....not quite right. Events happen, things are whispered and slowly it is revealed what a perilous situation Linda is in. Linda is such a wonderful heroine. She is clever and smart, and willing to take chances.

I'm trying to be so careful in this little synopsis because I do not want to give anything away that could detract from your enjoyment of this book. There is a wonderful suspenseful feeling about it, but also romance, friendship, and the rather ordinary goings-on for a governess. If it weren't for a few details, I could believe this book was written last week rather than in 1958. That is how timeless and modern the story and writing are.

So - have you read Mary Stewart? Apparently she is best known for her Merlin series, but I am more interested in these romantic-mystery-suspense sort of books. Do tell.

You Spoke, and I Listened

A few weeks ago I showed a photograph of some new books I acquired. One of those books was The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King and so many people stopped by to comment how much they loved that book! All the comments came at just the right time and I decided that TBA would be my next read.

All I can say is, you were all right! TBA is a terrific read and is just what I like in a mystery. That is, not a traditional who-done-it or fast-paced thriller, but a more character based story with lots of atmosphere.

For the uninitiated, TBA is the story of teenager, Mary Russell, who is preternaturally clever and bright. She literally stumbles over the mysterious Sherlock Holmes on one of her walks around the countryside. Holmes quickly discovers Russell is his intellectual match and thus begins a great friendship, partnership, and yes, apprenticeship. I loved Mary's wit and forward-thinking mind, I loved the very British setting in the early 20th century, I loved that Holmes and Russel solved several cases in the course of the novel, in short, I thought it was splendid. I do have one confession. That is, I've never read any Sherlock Holmes stories! So I can say with great assurance that you do not have to be well versed in the Sherlock Holmes canon to enjoy this book. Though I do suspect that there is a lot in this book that ties into Arthur Conan Doyle's writings.

Here is the rub. There are apparently 8 books in this Mary Russell series - but I've come to understand that this is the very best, the rest don't hold up as well. Nuts! I was hoping for a long relationship with Mary Russell. In any case I've already got a couple more in the series on the way so I'll be trying those out - I'm trying not to set my hopes too high. By the way - Bookcloseouts.com
has a few books in the series including The Beekeeper's Apprentice with the above cover for a great price- $4.99 - in the event you haven't read this book.

I thank you all for your advice, and particularly for bringing TBA to my awareness in the first place. I'd love your opinions on the rest of this series, if you have any.

You think I'm hearty, right??

Because the only positive thing I can think of when spending January in Minnesota, are the bragging rights. You know, where the temperature is given this time of year as degrees above or below zero? Where this morning it was the coldest it has been since January of 2004 - that would be -18. Where we have to keep the water dripping in our upstairs bathroom or it will freeze. Where if I traveled further north, it'd be -40. This is temperature folks, not windchill. I haven't seen a temperature above 30 in weeks. Man, that would be balmy. Ahhh.

Anyway, on a more positive note, I have received not one, but two Butterfly Awards for having a cool blog!

I don't know how cool my blog is, but I sure live in a 'cool' place. Haha, I couldn't resist! Many thanks to Bonnie from Redlady's Reading Room and Rhapsody in Books. I give this right back to both of you, and to everyone else whom I read and correspond with in this great bloggy world. You're all cool!


I finished my first book of 2009 - Susan Hill's The Pure in Heart which is the second novel in the Simon Serrailler crime series. You might remember that I read the first book in this series, The Various Haunts of Men just last month and really liked it, despite it being not a traditional crime novel. The Pure in Heart is a bit more of a traditional crime novel but it many ways is really a novel with a mystery at its heart. There is much more about Simon in this book and while it was good to get to know him, I missed some of the voices from the first novel. What I liked about this book was learning more about the various characters. What I didn't like or should I say, what I found unsatisfying, is that the main storyline is not really wrapped up. I knew this going in from reading the Amazon reviews, but I didn't expect it to bother me so much. I also didn't expect to be bothered so much by the boy that goes missing in this book. His mother's grief and anguish were quite upsetting. I understand from the reviews that this storyline is wrapped up in the third book in the series. Because of this, and because I'm just drawn to this town and its people, I ordered the next two books in the series from Britain, as they don't seem readily available here. I'll be interested to see how I feel about these. I think I must be pretty drawn to Hill's writing to continue with the series after being a little bit let down with this installment.

P.S. Nuts! It seems in trying to change a few things on my blogroll, I've deleted the entire thing!! I'm really bad at keeping this current, so it's going to take me a while to build it again. So please don't take it personally if you're not there for while!!

Some Reviews. Finally.

I'm hosting a special playdate here for two little girls - a trip for hot chocolate and to look at books, soon they'll be watching a movie and eating pizza and popcorn. So cute! I'm going to try to write a little something while they are occupied. In case you are interested how I am doing with Lost, I have begun the second season. It sure is different from the first with so many new characters and an overall different feel of the storylines.

I have a few books that I read in 2008 that I still need to review. Needless to say, I finished them quite some time ago so they are not terribly fresh in my mind.


In 2008 I read and reviewed Bound by Sally Gunning. The Widow's War was written before Bound and includes some of the same characters. The story, set around 1761, revolves around Lyddie Berry whose husband has died in a whaling accident. According to common laws at that time, a window only received 1/3 of what her husband owned, which left Lyddie only 1/3 of a house and the expectation that she would go to live with her daughter and son-in-law. Lyddie isn't happy living in their home, and challenging custom decides to go back to her husband's home to live. She meets adversaries and frustration every step along the way. I liked this book very much, and for many of the same reasons I liked Bound. A vivid historical setting with lots of details of everyday life, and interesting and headstrong characters. I prefer historical fiction to be about women, but not necessarily romance based. The Widow's War fit the bill and I'm hoping Gunning writes more about these characters and time period.

The Minotaur is Barbara Vine's most recent US release (her new book is coming out soon, I believe). It is the story of Kerstin, a young Swedish woman recently graduated from college who comes to live with the Cosways, an eccentric family in the English countryside. Her role in the Cosway's home is to be a nurse to adult son John who is so heavily medicated that it is difficult to tell if his diagnosis of schizophrenia is accurate. Vine creates a wonderfully atmospheric story, full of the everyday, but also the eccentric, unusual, and disturbing. There is a more modern feel to this story as compared to Vine's usual work, in keeping with the times. As is usual there is murder, and as is usual, I enjoyed this book very much. The only niggle I had with it is its ending, which I felt was abrupt and tied up much too quickly. If you're a Vine fan, this one won't disappoint.

Yes, this actually is a book blog...

There's been a fair amount of reading going on behind the scenes around here...I finished these books a couple of weeks ago.

In the Woods by Tana French was not exactly what I was expecting. This is the story of detective Rob Ryan, who is investigating the murder of a young girl along with his partner, the bright and adorable Cassie Maddox. It just so happens that detective Ryan grew up in the area where this murder takes place, and was involved in another murder case as a child. He entered the woods with two of his friends as a boy, and was the only one ever seen again. He remembers nothing of that time.

I think I was expecting more of a psychological thriller, and what I got was more of a police procedural. There was a psychological piece, but it was more about the detective and not the victim or suspects. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book - I really did and found it to be a page turner and quite well written. It is more of a literary mystery than some others that I've read. Some of the aspects of the case bothered me, namely the fact that the victim was a young girl. The detectives immediately targeted her family as suspects which made me feel very upset. I couldn't help thinking, what if my little girl went missing and instead of figuring out who had harmed her, the police were targeting me. The relationship between Rob and Cassie was interesting as well, complete with lots of sexual tension, and an outcome that was not entirely unexpected.

I definitely didn't see the ending coming, so I think French did a good job of maintaining suspense with this clever storyline. I was a bit disappointed though in one aspect of the ending that I was expecting more resolution with. I think if you've read the book you'll know what I mean. I liked this book enough to request French's latest book The Likeness from the library. It also features detective Cassie Maddox. The storyline sounds just as compelling as this one.


So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz is told in alternating storylines, one taking place in 1963, the other in present day. As the stories unfold it becomes clear how these stories relate and the character's complicated relationships with one another are revealed. The main part of the story has to do with present day Jon and his wife Ginny, who Jon is cheating on with Freddi, a coworker. We follow them though one hot, sticky, summer day, as they go through their day and encounter various other people who also seem to have a history of relationship troubles. There is even a stalker, Ethan, who follows Freddi around. His behavior veers from disturbing to terribly frightening to downright funny. He is bit of a food snob and being sort of one myself, I found it humorous to read about his preoccupation with table manners and food in general.

I cannot really say that I enjoyed this book, mainly because I am not really interested in reading about infidelity. This was an ARC supplied to me by the publisher which is why I continued with it. It is certainly a readable book, and a well-told story which leads to an improbable and rather dramatic conclusion. It is a book about relationships, but unhealthy ones, which is perhaps why I never connected to any of the characters or the story itself.

A Fatal Waltz

I have never been a big reader of books in a series as an adult. Besides Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet books (must reread those), Sandra Gulland's Josephine trilogy, and the Maisie Dobbs books which are a new find for me, the only other ones I can think of that I've read are Patricia Cornwell's books that I borrowed from my mother when I was home from college. I had heard so many good things around the blogs about Tasha Alexander's mystery series about Lady Emily Ashton , that when Harper Collins offered me a copy of Alexander's latest book, A Fatal Waltz I was excited to try it. I hoped it would be an interesting perspective that I could give, not having read the first two books in the series.


A Fatal Waltz begins in late 1891 England. Emily is at a country house party hosted by Lord Fortescue, a man with whom she is often at odds with. When Fortescue is found murdered, Emily's good friend is arrested for the crime. Emily knows her friend is innocent and is determined to find the truth in order to set her friend free. This takes her to Vienna where Emily finds herself in great danger. As all this goes on, Emily has the additional problem of the Countess Von Lange - an ex-lover of her fiance whom he is working with.

I found A Fatal Waltz to be an enjoyable and entertaining read. The cast of characters at the beginning of the book went a long way in increasing my understanding of who everyone was. I thought the novel stood solidly as a stand-alone read, but I was intrigued throughout about what was being referred to in the past and definitely plan to go back and read the first two installments in this series.

This is a fairly traditional mystery in the sense that it is quite plot driven but at the same time it is a romance. I enjoyed the settings, the English countryside, Emily's home in Berkeley Square (made me think of that miniseries), and Vienna in the winter. I didn't feel that this was really 'pure' historical fiction in the way that more character driven or historical-event driven books seem to be. Emily is quite a modern woman and the conversation often feels more modern, as do some of the situations.

I will certainly look out for more books in this series and as I said, plan to catch up on Emily's past exploits.

What series books do you enjoy?