It's finally winter here in the desert, with long, dark, cold nights perfect for reading.
Stargazer by Anne Hillerman At this point, it's no longer necessary to say that Hillerman took over from her father's storied legacy. Her novels stand on their own now. In Stargazer, the death of an astronomer working at the Very Large Array in New Mexico, a confession by his wife--Bernie's college roommate, and the discovery of a dead baby and a nearly dead young woman cause Bernie Manuelito professional distress at a time when she is dealing with what may be the deterioration of her mother's health, professional strains on her marriage, and a crisis of confidence in herself. Extremely well written, as the entire series is, although not the hardest to solve. It didn't matter that I figured out who the murderer was about two-thirds of the way in. Hillerman's style is gripping, and her depiction of my southwest home region is spot on, down to the last detail. I really like Bernie--she's an interesting main character who is coming into her own as a police officer, which is not an easy job for a Navajo woman, while facing the uncertainties and problems in her personal life we all face. I like Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, but I can identify with Bernie a lot more on a personal level. Highly recommended. Net Galley
The Secret Ingredient Cookbook by Kelly Senyei I loved this cookbook! I love cooking, and enjoy both following recipes and tweaking them to my own likes and what I have on hand. I loved the idea of this book, where Ms. Senyei presents well known and well loved classics, but adds a secret ingredient that takes them over the top. The week I read this, I made the caramelized onion dip (I almost ate the entire dish at one go), cacio e pepe (now a regular in my dinner rotation), and the honey-roasted cauliflower and broccoli (delicious). There are at least ten other recipes on my to-be-made list for 2021. Beautiful photographs, well written recipes (many of which are easy), but I do have one complaint--there's no nutritional information provided. I've become so accustomed to checking the sodium levels that I was surprised and disappointed not to find them listed after each recipe. Otherwise, a delightful cookbook I can heartily recommend to novices and experienced cooks alike. Net Galley
Digging Up the Remains by Julia Henry This is the third in a series called the Garden Squad series, centered on a group of friends who love gardening, and in case you weren't aware, gardens are one of the deadliest places in the mystery world, so it stands to reason that gardeners would stumble upon bodies. The main character is Lilly Jayne, who at 65 is only 10 years older than me but whose attitude is entirely different to mine and the women in their early 60s with whom I'm friends (more about that later). Her partner in crime is her roommate, Delia Greenway, although other Garden Squad members and neighbors play important secondary roles. The gardeners are involved in a multi-day fall festival in their town in Massachussets, which includes a 10K race and a Halloween haunted house walk. I liked so many things about the book--the small town where everyone knows everyone else (although I hated the town name: Goosebush; maybe it's explained in the first book in the series, but I grew up back east and towns in MA don't have names like this); the autumnal setting, most of the characters (can we see more of Roddy, please?). Unfortunately, my least favorite was Lilly. Also, the author makes a big mistake int he beginning of the book that only people who used to work in my job and related industries would catch--the bodies discovered in the public park (buried with their china!) would have had to have archaeological work done because of the use of municipal funds (there are a lot of laws that cover this, beginning with the Antiquities Act of 1906). Delia submits the DNA from one of the bodies to an ancestry-type company for analysis--patently ridiculous! Where did she get the DNA and how was it extracted (these places usually utilize saliva tests, whereas DNA from archaeological sites is usually extracted from teeth or long bones, preservation allowing). And the Medical Examiner would have taken samples that were sent to the Police Lab for processing, not refused to take on the case "since the bodies were so old."Then Delia follows this with the announcement that the bodies were members of the Howland family, but no living members of the Howland family submitted DNA for comparison; we're to assume that they were on this ancestry site already because they'd taken of these kit tests, too? And why would someone running away from home take fragile china with them? Where did the information that Catherine Howland left home with her china come from? There were so few facts included in Delia's presentation of her actions and her interpretation that I wound up thinking she must not be very good at her job, whatever it is. There were also a few turns of phrases that confused me; what is an army of attention? By baskets on the back of a bike do they mean panniers? Baskets go on the front of a bike. And since this happens in the first chapter, the niggling irritation followed me through the whole book. I also hate the attitude they state forthrightly here: "I'm thinking that this case is going to get a lot of attention. Let's try to help Bash (the police) as much as possible." Because after all, we're amateurs and therefore just as competent as professional police officers. I was also really turned off when the victim's employer 1) knew his password to his laptop and 2) made Delia and administrator on his website and gave her the password. I cant imagine there are many people who are not aware that you don't share your password with anyone! None of my employers or coworkers or family know my passwords! Another key point--someone's Internet history on their computer only tells you what sites they visited, NOT whether or not they lost any money on investments (that would be in the account information, not the browser history, which is just a list of sites visited). All these mistakes were compounded by Lilly's judgmental attitude. Who cares that Cole's house exhibits what Lilly decided was a "lack of personality." It's his house, not hers. "This room feels like several historical eras vomited their worst decor, don't you think?" How rude, Lilly. And I have to say the bit about the use of the victim's telephone and locational information from it confused me. I'm not sure you can track a phone whose location sharing with you is not enabled. You can't just follow a phone when it calls--using it's GPS--unless you're the police. It sounds like I'm being picky, but when there are this many mistakes (and there are others, not noted, like when did Cole say he had a few wealthy clients to Lilly?) in what could have been a decent mystery, I get irritated. And I want to remind myself not to get sucked into reading another in the series in a year or two when I forget the author and series names. Net Galley
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie My book club's choice for this month, the first Hercule Poirot. While the character of Poirot is slightly different from his later novels (Poirot gesticulates wildly and run--runs!--in this book), it's still a great story. It had been so long since I read it, it was like a brand new book to me. And it's Poirot! Say no more! Highly recommended.
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart I heard or read a review of this book when it was published, and it went on to the TBR list. I finally got around to listening to an audio version of it, and I'm glad I did. I was intrigued that the impetus for the novel was a real life incidence the author read about. And as a Jersey girl, and book that takes place in historical New Jersey is of interest to me. The main character, Constance, is an interesting woman, having lived such a sheltered life. Her coming to dig deep within herself to find the resources to deal with the messiness of the outside world when it intersects with hers was generally well displayed. I wish we had learned a little more about Norma, as her personality is so different from her older sister Constance. On the other hand, I found the 17-year-old Fleur very annoying and hope that she grows up and matures in the rest of the series because I wanted to smack her upside the head a few times. This first entry in the series is well written, very evocative of the time, yet has enough action to pull the reader in while entertaining and informing us about life in 1914. Highly recommended.
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