Middle Sister's August Reads

 It was a wet and rainy August... really. We had over 12 inches of rain at my house in late July and early August, and more than 15 inches elsewhere in town. So of course when it's hot and humid and rainy here, I want to visit other places in my reading travels that are not hot and humid.

Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon Guido Brunetti has quickly become one of my fictional crushes, right up there with Roderick Alleyn and Homer Kelly. The series is extremely well written and provides a wonderful, intimate view of life in Venice, Italy. However, it's the complicated twists and turns of the mystery that Ms. Leon always manages to adroitly weave together that make the series a favorite. In this novel, Guido is confronted by two seemingly unrelated issues: the deaths of two American service personnel and the robbery of several valuable paintings. Just as I was wondering how Ms. Leon could pull off solving the mysteries, she did, and I was astonished yet again by her prowess. Highly recommended (Audiobook)

Mrs. Smith's Spy School for Girls by Beth McMullen Absolutely delightful YA novel! We meet Abigail as she's about to be sent to a boarding school against her wishes, but once there, she makes several strong friendships. But one night, prowling around the headmistress' apartment, Abigail learns that the school is a cover for an elite spy school for children, because, as the founder said, no one pays attention to children, so they can hear and see lots of things they shouldn't. The book is very well written, with likable and well-defined characters, rollicking adventures, and a fast pace. I listened to the audiobook, and it was very well read. I already have the second book on hold at my library. Highly recommended (Audiobook)

The Big Four by Agatha Christie I'm pretty sure I've read every Agatha Christie novel. My aunt loved them and I used to borrow them from her when we spent the summers with her. However, it's been 40 years since I read some of them, and I've been enjoying re-reading her work. This is one I didn't remember at all. The Big Four is Ms. Christie dabbling in a spy thriller, and I have to confess I didn't like this one as much as her other Poirot books. Poirot tackles an international crime syndicate with global reach. The book's setting moves around as Poirot tracks down the big four, the criminal masterminds who run the organization. The book is very episodic in nature, with each section involving Poirot traveling somewhere, identifying one of the master criminals, both trying to trap the other, and a slow weaving together of their organization and Poirot's plan to defeat it. It's not a typical Christie and it may be my least favorite, but it is interesting for Christie fans to see the Grand Dame attempt to write a spy thriller. This might have been more successful with an original main character, rather than thrusting Poirot out of his country manor setting into a global conspiracy. (Audiobook)

Murder in an English Glade by Jessica Ellicott Although this series was new to me, it's the fifth in the Beryl and Edwina series. Beryl Helliwell, an American adventuress, and Edwina Davenport, a proper English gentlewoman, were schoolgirl chums who meet again after WWI and start their own private  enquiry agency. In the proper English society in which the books take place, Edwina's understanding of the social mores is helped by Beryl's forthrightness in solving crimes. In this entry, Constance Maitland hires the two to pretend to undertake an investigation to placate her cousin, Cressida, who is convinced that Constance's brother's wife is having an affair. But then the alleged adulterer is killed, and Beryl and Edwina have to go undercover while undercover to help Constable Gibbs. It's a peasant read, perfect for the summer. I admit that I had a hard time accepting the author's choice of a female constable, even though she explains away the impossibility of a woman holding that position with a blithe comment that there were simply not enough men to fill the constabulary because of the war. It was hard to accept that early 1920s English millionaires and the upper crust would recognize and cooperate Constable Gibbs as a legitimate police officer, and that one incongruity tainted my enjoyment of the book. But it's an easy read, the story is well written, and there were no huge gaffes on the author's part. Recommended. (Net Galley)

Deck the Donuts by Ginger Bolten Am I the only person who hates it when people spell doughnut donut? It was a hot, very rainy month here in the desert, so naturally I wanted to read a book that takes place at Christmas in a small and very snowy Wisconsin town. This is another new series to me, the Deputy Donut series. Deputy Donuts is a doughnut shop in Fallingbrook, WI, owned by a retired police chief and his widowed daughter-in-law, Emily, our amateur detective. Fallingbrook is quite the idyllic town, where everyone is good friends who care for and watch out for each other. And it's even more Hallmarkian at Christmas, with every shop and home decorated, nearly the entire town participating in caroling and the ice festival, and it's all almost too much so for this reader to happily suspend her disbelief. But I decided not to resist the saccharine and just enjoy a small town that I'd like to live in with people I wouldn't mind being friends with. Emily and Brent, her late husband's partner, are the first to respond to a bus accident during a raging blizzard in which the driver is severely injured. Townspeople immediately open their homes to house the tourists from the bus, and they all pitch in to provide activities to amuse the unhappy stranded families, led by Emily and her team. They make doughnuts to bring to the people, they throw a doughnut-decorating party, they make doughnuts and cookies for the fire department's Christmas party--they eat a lot of doughnuts in this town. A lot. And apparently all are handmade as the book mentions them cutting the doughnuts by hand. Frankly, boutique designer doughnuts or not, I'd want an industrial doughnut machine.  Fallingbrook must be largely inhabited by retired police and firefighters, as they own the doughnut shop, the cleaning service, and seem to be everywhere. I get it; if you work in that field, you know a lot of people in that field, but they all work and hang out and marry each other--it's quite incestuous. The story is okay, although not very clever, and the hamhanded attempts to make some people mysterious and possible murderers is clumsy. Therefore, the final reveal of the murderer was a bit of a surprise as they flew under the radar of this reader. Enough of a surprise that I will overlook the unsuccessful and blatant shoving of certain characters into our fictional faces as red herrings and look for the other titles in the series. Fallingbrook may be too good to be true, even for fiction, but it's perfect for a Hallmark movie, which may be the author's ultimate goal. (Net Galley)

Scones and Bones (Tea Shop Mystery #12 ) and Devonshire Scream (Tea Shop Mystery #17) by Laura Childs (Tea Shop Mystery #12) I used to really like the tea shop mysteries. I love tea, almost obsessively, and tea shops, and mysteries, and plunk a beautiful tea shop in a beautiful city like Charleston with its history, and I'm sold. But I stopped reading the series years ago after reading Scones and Bones. After all these years, I hadn't remember which book had ticked me off. I'm on the road a lot right now, and have been going through audiobooks at a steady clip. When I saw this title, I thought I'd give the series a chance again. And I remember why I started to dislike the series so much. In Scones and Bones, Theodosia Browning's character took a turn for the worse. I think we were supposed to sympathize with her instant attraction to her friend's boyfriend Max, despite dating restauranteur Parker for several books. After all, most of us have experienced sudden chemical bursts when we meet a stranger. But Theo instantly forgot about Parker, and when they finally talk, she isn't honest with him (despite literally consoling herself by saying that she's always honest). I think we're also supposed to sympathize with her maternal desperation when Haley, her pastry chef, is kidnapped. But that desperation is no excuse fo Theo's utter disregard for her, Haley's and everyone's safety when she ignores Detective Tidwell's instructions as the police surround the house they think Haley is in to rescue her herself. But I thought maybe this was an aberration, maybe Ms. Childs was exploring new characteristics for Theo that maybe didn't pan out, so I then skipped several books to listen to Devonshire Scream. Only to find that the irritating dismissal of the professional police has now been extended by Theo to the FBI. Theo is an annoying buttinsky--she tells the police what to do, she tells the FBI what to do, she tells the Coast Guard what to do. There were a lot of annoying incidents in this book that just do not ring true: Theo's insistence that Brooke's niece's death is murder, not felonious murder as we listeners know it is (after all these crimes, she doesn't know what this is?) and that Brooke would immediately start planning the funeral within hours of the death rather than her niece's parents was very odd. Theo assumes a lot in this book: she assumes she's the only eyewitness to suspect a woman was involved in the explosion, she assumes this was an inside job, she (and Drayton) assume that they can just substitute a tea for Delaine that they she should drink rather than the one ordered (OK, this may be stretching it, but change my order at a restaurant and see what happens), that of course she can just waltz onto a yacht during a private party--the list goes on and on. I have to confess I heartily enjoyed the last chapter, when the whole scenario Theo had constructed fell down around her and she was proven to be completely wrong in her blundering investigation. And Ms. Childs, Earl Grey is a therapy dog, NOT a service dog (pet peeve of this dog trainer, therapy dog handler, and therapy dog evaluator for an international therapy dog organization), and the breed is called the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, not the King Charles Cavalier spaniel.  She clearly looked the breed up enough to be able to describe it accurately, so perhaps she could have cut and pasted the name correctly, too. I'll probably give in and read more of the series, but I predict I won't enjoy them if Theo continues on this path. (Audiobook)

Big Book of Baby Knits by Marie Claire Editions Very nice knitting book with a lovely selection of baby knits perfect for the new grandmother or aunt. Coordinating sets of tops and little sweaters, sometimes with a matching blanket or pants, are presented in order of increasingly complicated knitting techniques, from plain stockinette through to cables. The photography is lovely, and the layout very engaging and crisp. There are no little babies in my life, which I was ruing very much after reading this pattern book. Patterns are presented with written directions, occasional charts, and every pattern has a sketch to show how the pieces fit together. Charming book for avid knitters or for someone expecting a new little one. (Net Galley)

Pawmistry by Megan Lynne Knott Absolutely delightful and charming book for cat lovers, especially cat lovers with a bent for astrology. I read Ms. Knott's book as a very subtle parody of astrology and palmistry, but it's done so sincerely your horoscope-loving, cat-loving recipient might not realize that. Ms. Knott's illustrations are enchanting--I'd love a tea mug or tee shirt or tote with her images on it. Short and sweet, each page brought smiles and memories of some of my own cats, and some pages inspired loud guffaws. I know one cat-loving friend who will be getting this book for Christmas. (Net Galley)

Middle Sister's July Reads

July was the month of Donnas, and another very hot desert summer plus COVID-19 pandemic-caused cabin fever meant I wanted to escape--to someplace I've always wanted to visit, to a similarly tumultuous and frightening period in our history, to a big, raucous, loving family as mine has contracted sharply and sadly.

Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews I love Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series, and one that takes place in a cold, snowy Christmas season is perfect. However, as much as I love the bird puns, and the silly situations that weave in and out of the events that transpire, and as much as i have a teeny fictional crush on Meg's husband Michael, I have to say--the three-year-old twins were way too precocious. They were incredibly articulate, and listening to and following adult conversations, to which they responded. None of the three-year-olds I know have really done that, although they will keep up a conversation you start directly with them, and occasionally catch a word for something they know and love, like cake. I actually found the twins a little off-putting this time around. Really, Josh sat there and intently watched his father perform the entire A Christmas Carol? I'm not sure if I'd be able to do that without a desperate need for a bathroom break. As usual, the mystery is believable, the secondary characters delightful, and Carphilly a wonderful place to spend the holiday. Recommended

Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews So after listening to Duck the Halls, I decided to see what my library had available and start this series at the beginning again. I was sure I had read the first few books in order, but it's been over twenty years, so that means it was like reading a new book. A couple of criticisms I have to get out of the way: I've been a maid of honor twice (in the late 1990s to boot, same era as the book), and I was not responsible for anything Meg did for her friend, mother, and brother's fiancee. What bride lets someone else pick out her wedding dress? Completely unrealistic! And who writes thank you notes before the wedding? Who even opens the gifts before the wedding (Id think that was bad luck, personally). Second criticism: I listened to the audiobook, and the reader gave Meg's father a very high, feminine voice. There are a lto of characters in these books because Meg has a huge extended family. My advice? Just read in your natural voice--Ms. Andrews generally does not have long passages of dialogue that would be hard to follow without weird voices.  Meg is delightfully thickheaded about Michael's interest in her in this book, and her father may be one of the most romantic men in fiction. The mystery is enjoyable, puzzling enough to entertain, and the wedding shenanigans don't take over the narrative. Recommended.

The Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews Meg, the Queen of Organization, is assistant director of the Carphilly Un-Fair, the county's response to the cancellation of the Virginia State Fair. There are giant pumpkins, and baby lambs, and an unusual twist with an emphasis on heritage livestock. When someone starts damaging the arts and crafts entries and smashing the produce and stealing the heirloom chickens, Meg swings into action. She almost has to jump into this mystery, as the fair is located on land that straddles Clay County and Carphilly, and the Clay County sheriff's department is being ornery and unhelpful. Although this book immediately preceded Duck the Halls, the twins are not nearly as unnaturally articulate as they are in Duck. Another fun entry in the series.

Deady Nightshade by Cynthia Riggs  I read a Victoria Trumbull mystery years ago, although I can't remember which one, and I like the idea of a 92-year-old female lead character. I love the Martha's Vineyard location, a place I have long wanted to visit. Victoria is the most naive 90-something I've ever 'met'. It's very easy to identify the murderer, but Victoria's disbelief that the murderer was who it was simply because of certain things which were blindingly obvious to the reader made me want to shake Victoria. Except that I couldn't yell at my elders and she's too frail, probably, despite being so active. The clear social strata and tensions between the old white folks and the Black newcomers, as exemplified by Domingo, adds an interesting element. In fact, Domingo and his wife were two of my favorite characters, and I look forward to reading more of his encounters with a city council that cannot believe he cannot be blackmailed. Recommended

Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon Guido Brunetti is one of my fictional crushes, and I love him, his family, and coworkers. At first this book depressed me, concerning as it did an assisted living facility for lonely old people. And Signorina Elletra was not as likable and funny in this entry as in other books. One of the best things about a Guido Brunetti novel are the meals he shares with Paola and their children, or that he eats with colleagues, but there was hardly any food in this book. Just as i was worried about the ending, Guido and Ms. Leon saved it for me, and I was very happy Guido fell on the side of what is right as opposed to what is just. The older people were very sympathetic, some were sad and heartbreaking, but all made me worry a little for my own solitary future. Recommended

1774 by Mary Beth Norton An excellent history of the year 1774 in the American colonies, focussing on an unusual perspective in American Revolution histories, that of the Loyalists. Dr.Norton does an exhaustive job of setting the scene for the year with enough background to inform the events, and similarly an exhaustive job of following the events and their repercussions throughout the thirteen colonies, and even how they were perceived in London. There were an enormous number of parallels between 1774 and what was going on the American society with what is going on in American society today, in 2020. I am hopeful that we were able to overcome these arguments and differences before and will do so again. Excellent and recommended. (NetGalley)

An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters The Brother Cadfael mystery series is well known for its excellent writing and very evocative depiction of medieval England. Ellis Peters' series can always be depended upon for a great mystery. An Excellent Mystery was true to form, and while I knew the secret at the heart of the story early on, it did not disappoint. If you have never met Brother Cadfael, read the series and watch the excellent adaption starring Derek Jacobi.

The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes I gave this book several chapters, but I did something unusual for me and stopped reading after about 5 or 6. Louisa's stepfather and his intention to sell her sexual services to someone he owes money to, her paralysis and inability to tell her mother what was going on was all just too distasteful. This book could be triggering to anyone who has been sexually abused. I shouldn't have been surprised--I hated Downtown Abbey and couldn't get beyond the first season. Not recommended.

Middle Sister's February Reads

I had lots of airplane time in February, so plenty of time to dive head first into a book for uninterrupted reading time. I think that might be a bad thing, as I seem to have been a lot more critical than I usually am. This month: mysterious mayhem checked by a brief nature outing.

Drury Lane's Last Case by Ellery Queen I tend to enjoy stories that feature fictional works by famous artists, if well written and well researched and plausible. This mystery centers on the disappearance of a Shakespeare folio and the substitution of a more rare Shakespeare folio, with a mysterious, rainbow-bearded client and one thousand dollars cash. Drury Lane, former Shakespearean actor now retired because he's lost his hearing, becomes involved in the search for the folio and the unmasking of mysterious strangers. Originally published in the 1930s, the story does show its age a little. The beginning is very long and slow by comparison with the second half of the novel, but that half moves very quickly. Thumm and his daughter Patience are likable characters, but I didn't see the need to introduce some third rate gangsters. Parts were confusing but in the end, a satisfying and unique twist that I cannot imagine any modern writers being willing to use. Not the best Ellery Queen, but a good read nonetheless. (audiobook)

Unto Us A Son is Given by Donna Leon Guido Brunetti has recently become one of my favorite fictional characters, and Donna Leon one of my favorite mystery writers. Her love for Venice and its residents is clear, but she doesn't whitewash the failings of the Italian police or society. In this novel, Guido's father-in-law, the Count, asks him to use his connections to look into the background of someone about whom he has serious concerns. Despite his initial reluctance, Guido does, and this touches off a sequence of actions, including a natural death and a murder, that profoundly affect Guido in a way that other cases have not. I love Guido and Paola's relationship, and I love Leon's depiction of Venice. Another excellent entry in the series.

48 Peaks by Cheryl Suchors I love nature books, and books about hiking in nature, and books about how hiking in nature affect people's lives. Suchors details her quest to climb all 48 peaks in New Hampshire's White Mountains. I wanted to like it. The details of Suchor's training and her relationships with her hiking partners form the majority of the book, with less detail on the wonders of nature that she encountered on the various peaks. And that's one reason I didn't like it: the emphasis was on her obsessive training and her clashes with hiking partners whose hiking philosophies differed from her own. Suchors hiked to tick each mountain off her list, not to enjoy nature, to learn about the environment or the geology or plants, or to enjoy being in nature, and her frustration with people who did hike for enjoyment was dismissive and irritating. I would hate hiking with her. There are few deep introspections offered, but the clear emphasis on just climbing each mountain to climb it, not to enjoy it, detracts from the effort and the narrative in this hiking lover's opinion.

Upstaged by Murder by C. S. Chalinor Rex Graves and his new wife, Helen D'Arcy, are enjoying a   night at the local community theater when the murder of the leading lady interrupts the show and delays their move to Edinburgh. I'd never read a book in the series before, and my experience was ambivalent. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it. The plot was rather mundane, the suspects not that interesting, and even though the author lived in the UK for several years, the dialogue didn't ring quite true. I didn't quite understand Rex's involvement beyond being interviewed as a witness. Why the inspector let him just interview suspects at will was not really explained well for first-time readers to the series, but I assumed the two were friends who'd worked on previous murder mysteries. Otherwise it seemed like a dereliction of duty. The resolution was no surprise. It's not a bad book, it's just not a good book.  

Crewel and Unusual by Molly MacRae Another first in an established series for me, and this one features yarn shop owner Kath Rutledge and her live-in ghost, Geneva. A local bank is being transformed into a gallery for artists and small shop owners, and the murder of one of the shop owners draws Kath and her boyfriend Joe into solving the murder. I freely admit that I went in to the book with two chips on my reader's shoulder: I'm not fond of paranormal mysteries (and I didn't realize this was a paranormal until after I'd started it), and I really dislike it when the amateur detectives think they are smarter than the pros. In Chapter 9, Kath actually says "But I'd be willing to bet Coleridge [law enforcement] smelled a rat. And if he plans to hunt it down, then we'll see if we can't catch it first, even if we ruffle a few feathers." Murder isn't a game, and when it's treated as such I tend to get my reading hackles up. But I did like Joe; in fact, I'd really like to have seen more of him and less of Geneva. Like the previous title, it's not a bad book, it's just not a good book. The plot is a little weak, the ghost aspect not appealing to all readers (and she's a bit of an annoying ghost to boot), but some of the secondary characters interesting.

How to Knit a Murder by Sally Goldenbaum I haven't read all of the Sea Harbor mysteries, but I have enjoyed the ones I've read. This, however, is not my favorite of the titles I've read. I approve of how Ms. Goldenbaum shifts point of view between a handful of main characters, and she handles it deftly because all of these characters are well defined and sympathetic, interesting, and with enough to appeal that the reader can see themselves as Nell, or Ben, or Birdie, or Izzy, or Cass. The characters are all likable (except for the murder victim, of course), and Sea Harbor is the perfect small town where everyone knows and cares about each other and drops by with scones and wise advice. It's a little too perfect, and for some reason, that perfection seemed to be more egregious in this entry, perhaps because the novel dealt with the lifelong repercussions of childhood bullying. And none of the main characters and most of the secondary characters were astonished that such hateful behavior could have happened under their noses. There's very little of Izzy in this entry, a lot of Nell and Birdie, and a great deal of a newcomer to town, Rose, who is murder suspect number one. If Rose and Stella don't become a romantic couple in the future, someone needs to talk to Ms. Goldenbaum about portraying platonic female friendships more realistically, because the gushing and instant intimacy of Rose and Stella was too unrealistic if it's not clearly pointing to a romance. Sea Harbor doesn't appear to have any LBGTQ characters (or any people of color), so it's high time some moved there. The murder is slow to be solved, and the sudden appearance of the clue that solves everything was a little too trite and deus ex machina for me; I prefer a more clever approach where clues are sprinkled throughout the novel and I get to solve it along with the amateurs. But Sea Harbor is always a nice place to visit and wish was real, especially the restaurants.

Middle Sister's January Books

Well, January has been almost all book club books, all the time. I'm working on my second book club book this month (The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain--I've read it before, but it was my suggestion to the group, so I'd better read it,right?), with a third on order from the library. All in all, a very enjoyable month of reading. (And I'm still trying to slog my way through Lorna Doone, November/December's book club selection.)

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie I thought I'd read all the Agatha Christie novels that existed, but perhaps I've only read all the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple books. This title didn't ring a bell at all, and I enjoyed it immensely. I was completely bamboozled by the ending, and that rarely happens these days.Tthat's why Dame Agatha is still so popular. The social aspects of her early twentieth-century world may be vastly different than today (it was published in 1929, 85 years ago), but the characters and their human foibles are timeless. Suffice it to say, this book club's selection for next month is a Christie I now suspect I haven't read, and I can't wait. Highly recommended (library copy)

By Its Cover by Donna Leon Italy, rare books, rare book libraries, palazzos, contessas, impersonations, a mysterious murder--what's not to love? Usually I do not like police procedurals, but I like Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series. That may be in part due to their setting (Venice), their main character (Guido Brunetti, an honest policeman in a corrupt department within a corrupt and lazy system that sometimes seems to not want to catch the bad guy), the relationships (Guido's marriage, his coworkers--all are so finely portrayed with just a few succinct sentences), but mainly it's the mysteries and the writing themselves. Guido investigates more esoteric mysteries, like this one about stolen rare books, and more urban  and gritty murders for more familiar reasons, so the series stays lively without falling into the traps series often do. Her writing is top notch--crisp, clear, yet evocative. I will admit here to a slight fictional crush on Guido, too.  Highly recommended (NetGalley)