Hot, hot, hot, and now, finally, rainy, rainy, rainy! To combat the steamy weather, I undertook my annual summertime reading of books set in the winter to take my mind off what the humidity is doing to my curls and the rampaging weeds taking over my backyard.
A Brush with Murder (A Watercolor Mystery) by Gail Langer Karwoski I've recently commissioned my artist sister to paint several things for my house, so a painting-themed mystery was on point. Four friends, who all belong to the same local painting group, go to an artistic retreat together. Unfortunately, the friends find that murder can happen even in the most beautiful of places. What I liked about the book: the four women are all middle-aged or late middle aged, with grown children (if they have children; Jane Roland, our POV in this novel, doesn't have children), which is where I am in life now. They are active people, pursuing their interests, and not obsessed with youth or trying to regain their youth, which is refreshing. The circumstances of how the amateur detectives are drawn into the investigation are realistic; I hate farfetched plot devices to get the amateur detective involved. The watercolor retreat is not sidelined by the investigation; our heroines continue to attend workshops and pursue their intent, rather than get sidelined to throw everything into pursuing the mystery, and the watercolor tips they learn certainly read as legitimate. The police were treated with respect by our amateurs, who gave them information and never tried to interfere--hooray! In fact, I loved that when Jane suddenly realized the key to solving the murder, she immediately texted the sheriff. I enjoyed that the final confrontation with the murderer took place out of the reader's view, and we were told about it through the women talking about it afterwards. Great way to move the denouement along and wrap the story up. Things I wasn't so happy about: some of the characterizations of the women made them seem too one-dimensional: Jane is too organized and calm, Donna is too dotty and silly. I'd have liked a little more nuance to their characters as perfect characters are very boring to me. Some of the comments the women said to each other were verging on snarky. and I'm tired of snark and putdowns and even subtle means masquerading as supposed wit or cleverness. So what if Donna wears a bright orange beret? The name of the retreat, Gardens and Horses, felt distinctly at odds with the hoity-toity, elite horse racing community it represents. Something like Magnolia Springs or some other more evocative and snobby name would have worked better to underscore the ritzy country club atmosphere; this sounds like a plant nursery for someone with no imagination. Someone needs to tell the author that black labs don't have fur that your can tousle atop their heads; they have a short coat; minor quibble, but it irked me. And for goodness' sake, if Donna is always fainting because of her high blood pressure, she needs to see a doctor stat and be put on appropriate medication! It looks like this might be the first in a new series, and sometimes it takes the author a while to get the feel of her characters, especially when she's juggling 4 main characters, as Ms. Karwoski is here. This is light read, heavy on horses (not my personal interest) but pleasant summer reading and it shows promise. I'm interested in the characters enough that if a second book appears, I'll read it. (NetGalley)
A Murder at Balmoral by Chris McGeorge It's Christmas Day, and the fictional royal family of England, headed by King Eric, have gathered at Balmoral to celebrate the holiday, as they do every year. But this year, the king has dismissed everyone except his chef, Jon, and the security head, in order to have a real family holiday. Poor Jon! He has to do all the cooking, the serving, and the cleaning up afterwards. He didn't expect to have to solve a murder, too. With a blizzard raging outside, the family are trapped in their castle, and when murder strikes, it is up to Jon to discover which royal is also a royal murderer. I enjoyed the book, although I'm not sure I liked anyone in it. I sympathized with Jon and his circumstances, both private and re: his relationships with the royal family, but I'm not sure I cared for his blind devotion to the king. It also felt that some scenes dragged on a little too much, even though the book takes places over just 36 hours or so. However, kudos to Mr. McGeorge for giving me an ending I was not expecting at all, and which therefore delighted me. And all the descriptions of swirling snow and blinding wind certainly helped me escape these hot desert summer nights. An enjoyable and fairly quick read with a surprise ending that should entertain mystery readers who like locked door mysteries set in English country estates, and those still yearning for more Downton Abbey. (NetGalley)
The Dog Behavior Answer Book by Arden Moore Well illustrated book for new dog owners that provides answers to common questions in short, concise articles. Updated since the first edition in 2006, the book is well organized to help owners find answers to questions ranging from why does my dog drink out of the toilet bowl to common sense training tips for both the dog and the owner. Because as we all know, 90% of dog training is training the owner! Most articles are at most one or two pages long, are written in a loose, conversational style, with lots of stock color photos of cute dogs (always a plus!), along with side bars like Breed Bytes, Sniff it Out, and safety tips that even experienced dog owners, like me, will enjoy reading. (NetGelley)
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer The author of the Seven Percent Solution returns another Sherlock Holmes mystery culled from the unpublished diaries of Dr. John Watson. Sherlock is drawn into a puzzling mystery by his brother, Mycroft, that rapidly escalates into an international intrigue that could contribute to a war that would engulf all of Europe, unless Sherlock can stop it. I enjoyed the book, and the recorded version I listened to was well narrated. The book is based on real events and involves real people, although artistic license has certainly been taken with the physical descriptions of some of them. The parallels with what is happening today are blunt and obvious but no less powerful for that, although the book was published in 2019 and I listened to it in 2022. This is one of my favorite authors to take on Sherlock as Mr. Meyer always does so with great respect to Arthur Conan Doyle but yet he manages to create a Sherlock that is still very much Doyle's creature but also that much more: more fleshed out, more relevant, more interesting.
