Middle Sister's November Reads

This month, my reading followed two themes: continuing my immersion into favorite fictional towns where I'd love to live by reading multiple books in the same series, back to back (something I rarely do), and holiday-themed mysteries. Tinsel and murderous mayhem--a perfect combination.

Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart This book presents three mystery short stories that each involve a Christmas-themed scarf. I've not anything by Carlene Connor, but her story, Christmas Scarf Murder, features Siobhan O'Sullivan, Garda, and her new husband, Detective Sergeant Macdara. They investigate what appears to be an accidental death involving a scarf and a tractor (yes, that's what I wrote) while they try to celebrate their first Christmas as a married couple. I thought this was the weakest of the three stories. In Scarfed Down by Maddie Day, Robbie Jordan, owner of the Pans 'N Pancakes diner, investigates the sudden death of one of the local knitters who was poisoned by the yarn with which she was knitting Eyes, that's what I wrote). Robbie appealed to this reader more than Siobhan, although the murder in this short story was just as unusual as that in the first short story. By the end of Scarfed Down, I was a little disappointed in the book and not holding out much hope that the third short story wouldn't also involve an almost preposterous murder scenario. Imagine my surprise when the third story turned out to be Death by Christmas Scarf by Peggy Ehrhart. I've enjoyed the Pamela Paterson books I've read, and this short story is a lovely visit with our friends of her knitting group in Arborville. A scarf knitted for the library auction is found at a murder scene, and Pamela and her friends swing into action to solve the whodunnit. (NetGalley)

The Railway Detective's Christmas Case by Edward Marston Set in 1864 England, the Railway Detective undertakes to solve another mystery associated with one of England's railroads. The series features Scotland Yard Inspector Robert Colbeck and Sergeant Victor Leeming, this time not so ably assisted by their superior, Superintendent Edward Tallis. Tallis is determined to take as long as they need to solve the murder of Cyril Hubbleday, but Colbeck is equally determined to solve the murder and be hime by Christmas. I liked the main characters and the setting, and the pace and mystery were well plotted. I will be looking for more of the Railway Detective series. (Net Galley)

A Trip with Trouble by Diane Kelly This is the second in the Mountain Lodge series featuring Misty Murphy, who has relocated to the Blue Ridge Mountains to run the Mountaintop Lodge. A women's motorcycle group, the Dangerous Curves, have rented the entire lodge for a retreat. There is some friction between some of the riders, and the group leader is avoiding phone calls, so Misty is already dealing with some unpleasantness when one of the bikers is killed. Things escalate as someone starts stalking the lodge. I enjoyed the mystery, and liked Misty well enough. I wish her love interest wasn't named Rocky but he's written exactly like the kind of man I'd be interested in. The setting is described in enough detail to satisfy this reader, who loves to vacation through the books I read. The secondary characters are interesting and fleshed out sufficiently to add to the story. I enjoyed the book very much and will seek out more in this series. (Net Galley)

Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman In the fourth Mrs. Pollifax mystery (a series I am happily re-reading, or, in this instance, listening to as an audiobook), Mr. Carstairs sends Mrs. Pollifax to an exclusive resort in Switzerland. It was supposed to be an easy job, but as always happens, Mrs. Pollifax stumbles upon a far more dangerous and complicated situation than Carstairs and Bishop ever imagined. The original mission involved stolen plutonium, but a mysterious woman being held captive, a charming little boy, and a debonair jewel thief become intertwined with Mrs. Pollifax, and none of their lives will ever be the same again. Again, the series is now 30-plus years old, so the technology is dated, but the books are still as delightful as ever. This book was read by the marvelous Barbara Rosenblat, one of my favorite audiobook readers. 

The other fictional town I would love to live in is Sea Harbor, where Sally Goldenbaum has set her Seaside Knitters Society series. The series was originally published by a major mass market publisher, but after it was dropped, the series was picked up be Kensington, thank goodness. The earlier books can probably be found at a used bookstore, so that character backstories can be explored more deeply. I read two of the most recent in the series in November, and have the latest on tap for December. A Murderous Tangle (number 3 in the Kensington series) takes place in late winter, just before the holiday season, and the knitters are excited to participate in a hygge celebration at Izzy's yarn shop. Birdie's granddaughter and her classmates have been inspired by their new teacher, Tess, to spearhead and implement conservation measures to save the ocean. Tess is observed arguing with Bobby, owner of the new and trendy pub overlooking the ocean, and then Bobby is found dead. As winter sets in on Sea Harbor, and the weather gets colder and damper, the heat and pressure to find the murderer rises. In A Crime of a Different Stripe (number 4 in the series), Izzy's good friend Cass is expecting her baby imminently but is determined to attend the photography event that Nell and the Artist's Colony have mounted. Izzy's husband Sam is quietly reluctant to see his former teacher, a famous photographer, showcased, but agrees to chauffeur the man to the reception. When he is found dead the next day, the knitters try to uncover who would have wanted to kill a man who had never visited Sea Harbor before. Which means the motive is buried very deeply in someone's past. I love Sea Harbor and the women of the Knitters Society and wish I lived there so I could hang out with them, knit before the fireplace, attend Friday night dinners at Nell and Ben's, and take long walks along the shore with my dog. Perhaps someday I can find my own Sea Harbor...

Middle Sister's July Reads

It was a hot and stormy month... Last year's summer rainy season was a bust, but we have had record or near-record rain this year. Those rainy nights are perfect reading weather! Surprising and unexpected mini-themes: midlife weddings and home invasions.

Strangers on a Skein by Anne Canadeo The Black Sheep & Co. yarn shop and its owner, Maggie, have solved several mysteries over the life of the series that tangentially relate to knitting and yarn. In this latest entry in the series, Maggie's employee Phoebe has struck out on her own, serendipitously landing a stall at the Plum Harbor Farmer's Market after the death of the stall's previous renter. Phoebe is excited to start her own business selling finished knit items and yarn kits, hoping this new venture will take her mind off of her recent break up with her boyfriend, Harry. Then she discovers that her stall is right across from Harry's aunt's stall, and the uncomfortable situation is made worse when vandalism and a suspicious death stalk the market. Like all the books in the series, the yarn shop and knitting are just the hook to attract readers and don't contribute to the story. These books never read as if the author herself has experience with knitting.  Minor goofs, like 'casted off' for beginning a project (it's casting on) and vague wording (like "Maggie helped her finish the sock") signal very clearly that Ms. Canadeo isn't a knitter. So diehard knitting fanatics who want to read descriptions of yarn and more meaningful connections between the knitter and her project should pass on this series. This entry is a little better than previous stories in that none of the Black Sheep regulars are suspected of murder, although one of them is involved with a major suspect. The story was fairly fast paced, and Plum Harbor seems like a nice enough little town. A couple of chapters before the end, I began to suspect who the murderer was, but it still came as a surprise that Ms. Canadeo went in that direction. I want to like Maggie more than I do: she's middle aged and has started all over again, found romance, lives in a lovely little town, doesn't have to really work for a living, is surrounded by a group of close friends--but I just don't care that much for her. She's kind of bland. She doesn't like tacos! I'm not sure I can like a character who doesn't like tacos. Her groups of friends have more interesting and distinct personalities. It's a pleasant enough read, and when I stumble across one, like this, I will read it, but this is not a series I'd seek out or eagerly wait for.  Net Galley

On Deadly Tides by Elizabeth J. Duncan The Penny Brannigan series is another that I've enjoyed in the past enough that this new title in the series caught my eye. I've enjoyed the locale, Wales, very much, and had hoped we'd read more about it in this story, which takes place in Anglesey. Penny and a friend are taking an artist's retreat with a retired and famous actor. Penny meets both a handsome, intriguing wildlife photographer and a very nice young journalist from New Zealand in the hotel bar, but is horrified when she finds the journalist dead the next morning. Penny embarks on a whirlwind romance with the photographer, and befriends the journalist's mother after she travels from New Zealand to accompany her daughter's body home. The location outside Penny's small village sets this story apart from others but in some ways was underutilized: we're not really shown the sites of Angelsey, and there do seem to be one or two coincidences too many. And the discovery of the final clue was a little too pat and too unbelievable. But the series is still pleasant, despite the annoying villagers who think Penny's marriage is their wedding (who would let them dictate to her where and how the wedding takes place?), and on that level, it's a perfect beach read. Net Galley

Murder by the Bookend by Laura Gail Black This is the second in the series, and I have not read the first, but I often feel that is actually a benefit--the reader can often tell how good the author is by how deftly they write in enough details to fill in the characters' relationships and history without making it read like a sales sheet blurb for the previous story. Jenna Quinn's uncle owned an antiquarian bookstore which she inherited after his murder (the subject of the first book). In this second book, she's re-opened the bookstore under a new name and is eager for a new life in a new town. Things get complicated when someone is murdered with a bookend from her store the night of her grand opening. Jenna is a suspect again, and this time, her new boyfriend Keith, a police officer, cannot help her because he's not allowed to work on her case. Detective Sutter is assigned to the case, and he still holds a grudge after Jenna solved her uncle's murder. Jenna and her new friends decide they have to solve the murder before he completely messes it up and allows the real murderer to escape. The story was ok, although I wasn't as enamored of this small town as I have been of other fictional small towns that served as the settings for stories read this month. The romance is very much a dominant plot line, and of course Keith is too good to be true, so much so that I found the romance was getting in the way of the mystery. I didn't feel I had to play catch up to understand the characters and their relationships to each other. The murderer's motive was a little cliched and they are easy to identify, but again, this is the kind of easy beach read that doesn't make demands on the reader. However, I doubt I'll read another in this series as it just didn't pique my interest that much. Net Galley

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman This is the second inthe delightful Mrs. Pollifax series. Mrs. Pollifax has settled back into ther quiet life in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after her unexpected yet thrilling first adventure for the CIA. SHe's happy to be called into action once again, for a simple courier job: getting apassport and money to defecting spy in Turkey. Of course, nothing is every simple when Mrs. Pollifax and the CIA are involved. The usual formula for the series was followed: a seemingly straightforward job is highjacked by unexpected complications, Mrs. Pollifax finds a ragtag group of innocent bystanders who prove remarkably adept at international spying, and ultimately she has to rely on her own wits to save her life and that of her companions. Despite being formulaic, the series is so well written, and the characters so genuine and real, that even the dated storylines can be overlooked (for example, in this book, the Cold War spy is defecting from Russia). I read these about 25 or more years ago, and decided to re-read the series. I'm enjoying it just as much as I did the first time around. (audiobook)

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell Excellent biography of Virginia Hall, an American WWII spy who was instrumental in helping the French resistance but whose contributions were unknown outside a small circle of intelligence specialists. This is one of the best books I've read in 2021. I listened to the audiobook, read by Juliet Stevenson who did a great job, but I do wonder if I missed some photos that might have improved my appreciation of the woman and France during the war. Hall served as a wireless operator, rescued 12 agents who'd been arrested and imprisoned, completed a harrowing escape on foot across snow-covered mountains, and armed and organized hundred of French resistance fighters. Klaus Barbie was obsessed with identifying and arresting this mysterious agent, but ms. Hall outwitted him and the Germans at every turn. I'm so surprised this book and Virginia's life have not been made into a movie, as it has everything: drama, tragedy, war, romance. Parts of the book are not easy to read, notably the descriptions of the horrific tortures the Nazis inflicted on their enemies, but perhaps it's important that we read and remember as those who witnessed the horrors die and leave only their memoirs to remind us. (audiobook)

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn The third in the Victoria Speedwell series, this was the first I had read. Victoria is the illegitimate daughter of the heir to the British throne who has led a life of unimaginable adventure and excitement, often in exotic locations. But in this adventure, Victoria and her mysterious partner, Stoker, are asked to find an amateur archaeologist who has disappeared in England after returning from a successful Egyptian excavation season. Is it a mummy's curse, or something more wordly? The adventure is made more perilous as the missing man is married to Stoker's former wife, and Stoker is himself the number one suspect in the man's disappearance and possible murder. No, Victoria and Stoker do not act like real Victorian-era people would have, even the well-known real Victorian explorer, and generally that lack of historical accuracy annoys me. But if you can suspend your expectations and beliefs, this can be a fun romp to read, and it, too, would make a rollicking movie. 

Murder Has a Motive by Francis Duncan Mordecai Tremaine is off to visit his friends in Dalmering and walks right into a murder mystery. Who would want to kill Lydia Dare, a popular and friendly young woman who doesn't seem to have an enemy in the world? Unless it's the man who has been not-so-secretly in love with her for years who is incensed to learn she has fallen in love and decided to marry after a whirlwind romance. But then another body is found, and a third, and the evil simmering under the surface threatens even Mordecai's life. I know some dislike Mordecai Tremaine for not being a heroic kind of amateur detective, quick off the mark and smart and handsome, but that's actually why I really like him. He's smart but human and can be fallible. 

Middle Sister's May Reads

Overall, May was a good reading month, beginning with some excellent mysteries and an interesting non-fiction history, but unfortunately, the holiday weekend at the end of the month was soured by bacb-to-back less than stellar mysteries. Ah well, those are not bad odds in the book department.

Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews I originally wanted to read this book for several reasons: I've always wanted to visit Cape Cod and Nantucket and the surrounding area; stories near water become very appealing as the hot, dry, desert summer descends on me here at home and my yearly hankering to escape to a lake or ocean overwhelms me; and cheesily, I liked the cover. I loved the book! In fact, I read over half of it in one long reading session because I didn't want to put it down. Very fast paced and well-written, I was swept up into the many storylines of several Nantucket residents facing a Category 3 hurricane bearing down on their island and disrupting their lives, for some of them, permanently. The majority of the book takes place in the 24-hours of the hurricane's direct onslaught, and switches between the viewpoints of 4 or 5 main characters. Generally I am not a fan of multiple POVs, because many authors have trouble juggling several storylines, but Mathews did a superb job of not dropping any of the story lines nor lingering too long on any. Perfect summertime escapism, Maybe not if you're planning a fall vacation on Nantucket, however. Highly recommended.

Fire in the Thatch  by E. C. R. Lorac Poisoned Pen Press began publishing a series called British Library Crime Classics, with introductions by Martin Edwards, several years ago. Long out-of-print British mysteries are reintroduced, with gorgeous covers, to an eager audience--I am one of them--that has discovered, through the wonders of the Internet, a number of OOP authors.  Fire in the Thatch, originally published in 1946 and taking place just shortly before that date, is a thoroughly wonderful example of the lost mystery gems in the imprint. Fire in the Thatch takes place in Devon, England, where a war hero has rented a ramshackle thatched cottage, located in a remote village, that he intends to restore. A tragic accident follows, an accident that someone believes was not accidental at all, and Scotland Yard is called in. I loved this book! It's superbly well written, with great attention to detail, an atmospheric sense of place and time that made me feel I was there, and believable characters, some nice, some not nice.  Ms. St. Cyres, Nicholas Vaughan, Inspector Macdonald, and respectful recreations of charming yet quirky Devon natives were all well drawn. The mystery is intriguing, and carefully spun out so that the reader, if they try, may guess what happened. I am eager to read more by Lorac, and find more new favorite authors through Poisoned Pen's BLCC imprint. Perfect summer reading. Highly recommended.

Still Life by Louise Penny I have heard for years how wonderful the Inspector Gamache series was, so when the first in the series became available at the library, I grabbed it. And it was worth it. Armand Gamache is not flashy, he's not heroic; he's a middle aged, happily married, quiet man who listens and notices. In Still Life, Jane Neal, a nice, quiet woman whom everyone in the village of Three Pines likes, is murdered with an arrow. Why would anyone want to kill someone everyone agrees was a nice person? What is simmering below the convivial relationships between her friends and neighbors? I really liked Gamache, and I really liked his supporting cast, especially Jean Guy Beauvoir, Gamache's partner and second. A divisive character was Yvette Nichol, on her first case with the Inspector. I sympathized because everyone knows what it's like to start a new job, and not know what is expected of you, what to do and when, how to read your new coworkers. But Yvette was so obtuse and unable to understand the people around her (a difficult place for a police professional) that at times she was exasperating and unlikeable. I thought perhaps she was on the autism spectrum. Some of her internal dialogue was so clueless and arrogant that at other times I thought she was just a jerk. I've since read that the author has said she identifies with Yvette. Perhaps thats why the series and characters are so nuanced. A wonderful start to the series, and now I can't wait to read more. Well written, deft handling of a large number of characters, each individual and never losing their voice, tight control of all the storylines--I can't praise this book enough. Highly recommended.

Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal Second in the series. Maggie Hope has finished her job with Winston Churchill and tried to join MI5. She's done well with the intellectual part of training but has failed at the physical tests, so she's recruited to go to Windsor Castle under the pretext of teaching young Princess Elizabeth mathematics as there is a suspicion a German spy has infiltrated the king's household. I listened to the audiobook of this title, and confess I was really irritated by the narrator's choice of voice for Maggie. Maggie is British but was raised in America and has an American accent. The narrator gives her a high, little girl voice I found really distracting and iannoying. A couple of the coincidences that the story relies on are visible a mile away, although I appreciated the author trying to grapple with headier aspects of World War II, such as how injured soldiers dealt with what we now call PTSD and conflicting loyalties. I don't like the dark turn the series seems to be making, and the emergence of an unnecessary love triangle detracts from the story on serval levels. Let a woman whose love disappears in action go through the loss and bewilderment--tens of thousands of women experienced that. A far fewer number had their loves turn out to be alive behind enemy lines. The addition of that story line is going to make it hard for the author to keep everything moving smoothly, without a feeling of complete disconnection between plots, in future books. Yes, life was disconnected during World War II, but I don't think the author has the skill to make this work. She may be trying to create a more sophisticated subgenre, but it's not what I look for in a 350-page cosy, historical mystery (and that's how these are marketed). And frankly, I found Princess Elizabeth's relationship with the much older Prince Philip kind of creepy. Enjoyable enough but I suspect this will be my last Maggie Hope novel.

The Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stuart I thought the basis for the story had great promise: Princess Alexandrina is the the daughter of the Maharaja of Prindur, whose principality is now under British rule in India. They have moved to England, where they inhabit a world in between--they are not commoners because they are royalty, but they are foreign and therefore suspicious and unaccepted. However, the execution of the book left me unsatisfied. In this second book in the series, Alexandrina, whose nickname is Mink (why is never explained in the book), is bereft when her father dies unexpectedly and she discovers that he has left massive debts she must pay off. She accepts an invitation from Queen Victoria to live at Hampton Court Palace, rumored to be haunted but inhabited by quirky, decidedly live people--until one is murdered. My dissatisfaction with the book stems largely from Mink just not acting as a Victorian-era princess, even one flat broke and foreign, would. She's very open and friendly with her maid (and really, poor Pooki can singlehandedly run the entire household--cook, maid, lady's maid, washing, scrubbing the house, cleaning Mink's clothes by hand, buying the food, and doing a little investigating?) and with others (She just goes up to the keeper of the maze and interacts so informally and familiarly with him, even going to his house unannounced and sitting down with him for a cup of tea? Really?) in a way that a twenty-first century woman might act, but probably not a twenty-first century princess, much less a Victorian-era princess. And what romance with the doctor is there other than Pooki's pronouncement that Mink is attracted to him? I saw no evidence from Mink's behavior or her thoughts that she was interested in the doctor. I wanted to like the book because of the unusual premise. I didn't.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman I re-read this favorite for an article I was writing, and was reminded why I find Mrs. Pollifax so endearing. She's not spunky--she's just sensible and active and wants more than life as a widow in suburban New Jersey offers. She's kind and thoughtful and smart, and while maybe a bit naive in this, her first CIA assignment, she's cognizant that there are nuances to spying that she doesn't understand. When faced with grim realities, does what she must to survive, yet remains true to herself. Even though the story (originally published more than 40 years ago) is dated (no cell phones, Communists are the evil enemy, no 24/7 news, no sophisticated digital and electronic spy methods), it was just as enjoyable and gripping as it was when I first read it about 35 years ago. Mrs. Pollifax deserves to be as well known as Miss Marple, Miss Seeton, Miss Silver, and the other elderly female sleuths. Highly recommended

The Templars by Dan Jones Exhaustive history of the Knights Templar--their origin, their history, and their modern legacy. Jones has undertaken extensive research to document the real history of the Knights Templar, the various houses and chapters, and their role in the various Crusades. A very large cast of Templars, kings, and sultans and their exploits and contact and impact on European and Muslim history are recounted. Their rise and downfall, successes and losses, torture and betrayal are presented in almost excruciating detail. Mr. Jones ends the book with a rumination on why the Knight Templars resonate in modern society and appear in so many recent books and movies. The juxtapostion of this book, which included discussion of the expansion of Islam in the Near East and Spain, which I read right after last month's history of Nile exploration and it's brief discussion of expansion of Islam in Africa, was very interesting. Highly recommended for history buffs.