Middle Sister's September Reads

Autumn is subtle in the desert. The air begins to dry out and the view to the mountains becomes clearer. It's still hot, but overnight temperatures start to drop slowly, so that one can stand outside under the inky black sky sprinkled with stars, and breathe. My flagging energies are always renewed this time of year. Reading comes less of an escape from oppressive heat and more a simple delight.

In the Shadow of Vesuvius by Tasha Alexander I often listen to audiobooks while doing other things around my house or while driving. My library's collection is ever increasing, but they don't often have series in their entirety, so I often jump into a series well in its arc. Such happened this month with In the Shadow of Vesuvius, the fourteenth book in the Lady Emily series, a series of which I had never heard. The brief description mentioned murder in Pompeii and archaeology; I was sold. I'm not sure I like Lady Emily; she's strong and late twentieth-century modern yet falls back into simpering nineteenth-century femininity by turns, so she and several of the other women in the novel, set in 1902, are not convincing in their presentation. I truly dislike when authors and publishers set stories in historical settings and yet then have the characters speak as if they were walking around today: "turns out" and "you lot" used by a convent-educated woman, for example, seemed incongruous. The constantly shifting point of view, between 1902 and 79 AD, was handled well but the ancient story was so predictable that it detracted from the murder Lady Emily  and Colin were investigating. The character of Kat was as annoying as one might expect, but did demonstrate some character growth that will make her less of a distraction in future books. The mystery was intriguing: while touring Pompeii, Emily, Colin, and Ivy, Emily's friend, discover a modern body encased in an ashy cement and posed between the remains of humans killed during the ancient volcanic eruption. The investigation is handled well enough considering the author set her story in time long before telephones and instant access to information. I may read another in the series to see if they are more interesting as straight-up mysteries. While many like shocking family secrets, I am not a fan of melodrama and soap operas, and there was a lot of that in the background. The narration was adequate. (Audiobook)

From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way by Michael Bond I used to use and survey maps for a living, which (only partly) explains my love of books with maps. A book about how humans navigate sounded fascinating to me, and it was indeed engrossing. Mr. Bond started off with a detailed but not too esoteric background on the biological basis of how our brains map spatial data, and then moved on to some cultural differences between different human groups and their perceptions of space and how they learn to perceive locations. Particularly poignant were the stories of people who got lost and died, reminding us all that even in the day of GPS on our phones and watches, there are still wild areas where one can get dangerously lost. I would have to agree that current reliance on GPS is causing some humans to lose their navigating abilities. I worked with someone who, for an entire week, took the same wrong turn because the GPS told him to. Well written, fascinating and recommended.

After reading The Plot Thickets last month, I decided I had to read the first two books in the series. Pruning the Dead by Julia Henry is the first entry in the Garden Squad series, and it's here that the Garden Squad forms and begins its clandestine beautification projects around Goosebush. Lily's husband died two years ago, and she's been living in a fog since then. But her friends have managed to convince her that her beloved garden needs her tender care, and that a garden party would be a gentle way to rejoin Goosebush society. It's a huge success and Lily begins to slowly emerge from her widowhood, only to find that some changes in town have happened over those two years that she doesn't like. But what she really doesn't like is when her ex-husband's wife is murdererd, so Lily decides to find out who the real murderer is. One note: Roddy is introduced here with an Irish accent, but later books say his accent is English; one notices little things like this when you read three books back to back. All in all, it's a good first book, with a mystery that's not too intricate for the reader to guess but which is a pleasant introduction to the small town and the loyal friends who make it special.

Tilling the Truth by Julia Henry I love Lily Jayne's best friend, Tamara; she's bright, funny, and in a wonderful marriage. But someone is out to destroy Tamara's reputation as a realtor by playing nasty pranks that ruin her open houses. Tamara is determined to sell a coveted beach house despite the pranks, but it may not be just the commission she loses when the woman who lives next door is found dead, with Tamara standing over her. The entire Garden Squad swings into action to help save one of their own from being falsely accused of murder. The mystery in this series is secondary to the warm, considerate, kind cast of characters that Ms. Henry has created in the people that surround Lily. Goosebush is a pleasant place to visit, despite the murder rate. I envy the close and supportive relationships this group have with each other, and that's really the draw for the series for this reader. 

Dashing Through the Snowbirds by Donna Andrews I guess I'm in a sentimental frame of mind, wanting to vicariously live in either a town like Goosebush, where strong friendships have created a fictive family that takes care of each other, or in Caerphilly, where the extremely large Langslow family, with its dozens of cousins and aunts and uncles, constantly pour in and out of Meg's kitchen and life, always ready to pitch in and help with the task at hand, whether that's cooking for a crowd or solving a murder. Meg Langslow has so many relatives that pepper her mysteries that sometimes I get confused over who is who, but that's not the case this time, in the latest book in this long running series. It's Christmas in Caerphilly, and Meg's house is overrun with the employees of a genealogy company her brother's company is in the process of buying. There's a deadline looming on the project they are all working frantically on so that they can return to Canada for Christmas. But then the boss is murdered, and everyone's plans change. Ms. Andrews has this formula down to an art, yet somehow manages to make each book read fresh, and this is no exception. Meg's large family is still present, but their involvement in the murder investigation is scaled back from other books in the series, which means the cast of characters is not unwieldy and their oft-crazy shenanigans don't upstage the murder. I wish I had a big family that was always underfoot, like Meg, so a visit to Caerphilly is always wonderful. This soon-to-be-published book is a great holiday read, and I recommend it (and the whole series). Net Galley

Mystery at Magpie Lodge by Clare Chase I know there are a number of Eve Mallow mysteries in print, but this is the first for me (number 7 in the series). I love a mystery set in a small English village, and I loved that the protagonist of this series, Eve, is a fifty-plus woman with a career, a secret lover, a dachshund, and a life she's comfortable with. The black sheep of a local prominent family returns, down on his luck and desperate for money. He starts leading tours around the village, but he focuses on the scandals the locals would rather were forgotten. When he is murdered, there are several villagers who are happy he's no longer around to stir up trouble, but Eve is troubled. She liked Emory and found him sincere, and she is determined to find out who killed him. I figured the whodunnit out about three-quarters of the way through, which is much later than usual; Ms. Chase did a good job of sprinkling her clues and red herrings about. I enjoyed this book enough that I may have to back track to read more about Eve and how she came to the little town of Saxford St. Peter and her clandestine romance. Net Galley

Middle Sister's August Reads

We had a particularly rainy August this year, and there's nothing I like better than hearing raindrops on the roof and windows while I read. 

The Game Is Afoot by Vicki Delany Ms. Delany is an extremely prolific cozy mystery author, with currently 6 series in publication. I always worry when an author puts themselves in this position, because quality goes right out the window as they struggle to meet all the deadlines for all their different series. Or worse, they employ a ghostwriter who can't recreate the original style that earned the second and Thord contracts. I enjoy her Tea by the Sea series, and being a mystery lover, couldn't resist trying a title in the Sherlock Homes Bookshop series. I'd enjoy living in a community that not only supported a mystery bookstore (our local mystery bookstore closed shop in December 2020 because of the pandemic) but one that was so specialized that it only dealt with books of and about Sherlock Holmes. Gemma Doyle (get it?) owns the bookstore, located in the small town of New London (get it?) on Cape Cod, and after some success in solving local mysteries, she has been called in to investigate the potentially paranormal activities going on at the local historical museum, Scarlet House. She is certain that a very alive human is behind the unexplained incidents, but before she can convince the board of directors to implement her practical advice to change the locks, someone dies. Was it murder by a human or a ghost? To complicate matters, Gemma's sister Pippa, who works for some mysterious British government agency (get it?) shows up unannounced and in pursuit of something. I wish Gemma's boyfriend, policeman Ryan Ashburton, maintained the lines between public and police a little more, but overall that trespassing back and forth was handled quite well. There were a few coincidences that stretched belief, but  the setting was well done, the pace never slacked, and overall I enjoyed the book and will look out for others titles. (Net Galley)

The Plot Thickets by Julia Henry I've read the last three of five in this series, with The Plot Thickets the latest (and soon to be publishe. I remain a little skeptical of Lilly Jayne--she's too perfect. Oh, the author has her complain about aches and pains, but she's always right and everyone in town defers to her opinions and tastes, and I find her a little supercilious and obnoxious because of that. But I really like some of the secondary characters, like Ernie and Tamara, and I love the setting: a small town in Massachusetts where everyone knows each other. The fictive family they have created includes everyone in holidays and dinners, looks out for each other, and everyone's social and political sensibilities are in line (if they are not, they will be a major suspect or the next victim). I like this fictional town, despite it's silly name, and I read the series for the cosiness I feel stepping into that place. In this book, Lilly discovers something odd is happening at the town cemetery, and she and Delia dive deep into the historical records and the funeral business to figure out who is behind the shenanigans and why. There is character development across the series, but you can read them out of order without feeling lost. I was inspired to get books 1 and 2 from my library to get a little more of the backstory. Some of the plot devices felt a little underdeveloped and others felt stretched, but I enjoyed the book and my visit to this caring, too-perfect little town. (Net Galley)

The Murder Mystery by Alice Castle This is the first in the Beth Haldane series, and I really liked the opening. Beth was a fresh protagonist, with her practical voice, recounting daily struggles as a single mother and very excited to have finally found a full time job. Better yet, it's at a prestigious local public school (read private school; this takes place in England) that she's hoping her son will be able to attend in a few years, and having mum on staff can't hurt.  I even enjoyed learning that she was not close to her parents; that there was no awful reason why, they were just dissimilar people who weren't involved in each others' lives. I found that refreshing. Unfortunately for Beth, her new boss is murdered the morning of her first day. Unfortunately for the reader, we quickly became quite disenchanted with Beth as she convinces herself that the police think she is the number one suspect because she found the body. She met her boss exactly twice; it is obvious to both fictional police and reader alike that Beth is not and could not be murderer since she lacks any motive. But Beth is almost hysterical about this as the reason she has to investigate the crime, and by the third or fourth repetition of this ridiculous pretext, I was starting to hope the handsome inspector would arrest her to validate her completely unfounded conviction. Beth also accuses others of doing exactly what she is doing ("...amazed at his imperturbability. If someone had decided to put her own archive in order, say, she'd be furious." Yet this exactly what Beth is doing. Americanism: pot, meet kettle.) There are also some weird situations that defy credulity: Beth was never invited to her grandparents' parties as a child staying with them. Really, a child would want to spend the entire evening with people 60 years older than them and no one to play with? And yes, of course, our amateur detective doesn't think the police will investigate the victim's finances (really?)  because they are clearly not competent because they are not telling her everything about their investigation. At one point, Beth just flat out admits that she's going to obstruct the police: "Beth wasn't sure whether, if she revealed what she'd found to Inspector York, she'd get into such huge trouble that she would just regret it. And also, if she did tell the police, how could she then get any further with her digging? They wouldn't obligingly tell her how they were getting on." How I hate this attitude in mysteries. Naturally, because he doesn't tell the police what she learns, she gets into terrible trouble after she confronts the murderer on her own.  I have two more Beth Haldane mysteries on my Kindle and am not sure I want to read them if this is the attitude of our main character, because it doesn't make me sympathize with her. On the plus side, I did learn some British words I'd love to use, like wodge and Grand Panjandrum. I may just take a break and see if I feel like fi ending out if she grows as a character. (Net Galley)

Middle Sister's Mid-Month Review

We've had some rainy nights the past few weeks as the much-needed summer rains arrive. It's been so wonderful to sit and read while listening to the sounds of the drumming rain on my new roof (installed last September, and perfect timing that was). Perfect for summer genre reading.

Wreathing Havoc by Julia Henry (to be published September 2021) Goosebush, MA, and the Garden Squad are devastated by the unexpected death of their friend, Leon Tompkin. Everyone knew that Leon was ill, but still, his death was a surprise. Then they learn that his death was suspicious, and Lily Jayne and her gardening friends swing into action to find out exactly what happened. I really like the secondary characters in this series, as I've mentioned before, but Lily herself is just too perfect: her house is always perfectly maintained, her garden is always perfectly maintained, her self is always perfectly maintained. It makes her an unsympathetic character to this reader, although others may not be irritated by all that perfection. However, in this entry in the series, the secondary characters assume slightly more prominence, to its enrichment. Roddy remains my favorite character, and I hope we learn more about him. He's clearly being set up as a romantic interest for Lily, which, to be honest, I'm not sure I want to read. But I do appreciate that Lily is presented as fashionable and attractive in her 60s, although some of her attitudes and behaviors seem far older than those espoused by the 60-year-olds I know (and as of this writing, I'm 56). The murder of Leon is linked to events that happened decades ago at his beloved local theater. This book rather obviously but with some deftness weaves the two storylines. However, the murderer was obvious from the beginning, and that always disappoints me a little. I'm actively trying to not figure out whodunnit because I want to be surprised. The series is pleasant, and it's always nice to read about late autumn and early winter when the temperatures are 108*F and rising outside. Goosebush is growing on me, and I'm willing to suffer Lily's insufferable certainties to visit every now and then. NetGalley

Loch Down Abbey by Beth Cowan-Erskine This was the best fiction book I have read in 2021, to date. Funny, well-written, satiric, with a superb cast of eccentric and selfish characters and the perfect blending of country house mystery with the reader's own recent experiences in a world gone half mad--it's a delicious parody of Downton Abbey and pandemic lockdowns. The aristocratic Scottish family, the Ogilvie-Stirlings, has descended on the ancestral home (for 600 years, no less) for the one time a year they all visit. Reason: for a local ball, where they can dance, gossip, and relish their importance and relevance, and ignore each other. The three generations don't really like each other and barely speak unless absolutely necessary. So when a very contagious sickness sweeps through the village and through the Abbey's servants, and Lord Inverkillen dies under somewhat mysterious circumstances, the family is suddenly faced with horrors big and small: trapped in their absurdly enormous home, trying to figure out how to cover the enormous death duties and continue their pampered lifestyles, while facing the collateral damage of their servants dropping like flies, with rations of food and--gasp--toilet paper and the indignities of giving up breakfast trays and having to make their own beds.  Family scuffles and family secrets are punctuated by a marauding band of unsupervised children intent on wreaking havoc while a skeleton crew of cook, housekeeper, and chauffeur do their best to keep the family from killing each other. The parody of Downton Abbey was hilarious. The threat of a pandemic sweeping through the family, village, and all of Britain causing disruptions to food delivery services and everything else, so familiar after the past year, was handled so brilliantly that instead of causing traumatic flashbacks, those sections brought on laugh out loud guffaws. What a completely brilliant book. Highly recommended! Net Galley

Loon Lessons by James D. Paruk   Mr. Paruk's lifelong fascination with loons doesn't seem odd or unusual when you read this fascinating treatise on loon life, distilled from his career studying these birds. As the world's worst birder (I'm never looking at the right part of the bird to identify it), I am fascinated by these beauties, and loons, which live far away and seem mysterious to a desert-dweller like me. Imagine, a life lived solely on water or in the air! There is a lot of detail and scientific facts and data abound int he book, but the presentation is clear and easy to read, not at all offputting to a general reader with little background in biology or ornithology. If their redolent call has ever captivated you, or if you are a diehard birder, you will enjoy Loon Lessons. Recommended. Net Galley

Middle Sister's December Reads

 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.