October 2021 Wrap-Up

Books Read:

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte (2015)  4/5 stars (my review here)

Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie 

(1944)  3/5 stars

When the concubine of a wealthy landowner-priest is found dead, it is ruled an accident, until other deaths begin to occur in the household.  Though set in Ancient Egypt, this is a typical Christie family drama, and enjoyable as such.  While both the characters and the writing are a bit flat, the plot kept me interested, and the solution was satisfying.

Audio Books Completed:

I Found You by Lisa Jewell (2017)  4/5 stars (my review here)

The Worm of Death by Nicholas Blake (1961)   4/5 stars

In this mystery, a London doctor is found dead in the river and, while the police decide if it's suicide or murder, Nigel Strangeways does his own investigating.  This is one of Blake's best, in my opinion, and I found it enjoyable and engrossing, despite the obvious solution.

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers 

(1932)  4/5 stars

This was a reread for me and, despite remembering the solution, I still enjoyed it immensely.  It's convoluted and rather ridiculous in a way, but still intelligent and interesting, as are all the Lord Peter stories.

Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell 

(1967)  4/5 stars

Despite remembering part of the solution, I fully enjoyed this reread.  It is intelligent, gripping, and well-layered, with a memorable ending.  Rendell is a master of police mysteries, and this is an excellent example. 

Did Not Finish:
The Pure of Heart by Susan Hill

I mostly enjoyed the first of her mystery series (my review here) and was actually looking forward to this one.  It begins with a child abduction -- which was no surprise as it was mentioned in the blurb -- that would have been tolerable had it been kept at a distance, as most writers do with violence against children.  However, she depicts the nine-year-old's as he cries to go home to his mommy.  I simply could not take that.

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro 

I'm not new to Ishiguro's style, having previously read four of his novels, but this one meandered and drifted and at 30% I decided I wasn't interested enough in the subject to continue working to keep up with the plot.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

This was a major disappointment for me.  I've read (and loved) Christie's autobiography, but apparently Benedict has not -- she did not capture Christie's voice or personality at all.  I gave up in disgust a few hours into the audiobook. 

The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Berry

This started off so solid, and I was really enjoying it, but after several murders of Madison it felt repetitious, and I lost interest.  

Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

The premise is good, and I can't fault the writing for the first chapter or so.  It's just that Xe Sands narrates this audiobook, and I've yet to finish a book that she does.  (This will be the last one I try.)  I find her monotone to be grating and she ruins any book for me. 

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber

The historical atmosphere was incredibly unconvincing and turned me off right away.  I read about 15%, though, hoping it would get better.  It didn't.

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-1918
Joseph Loconte
2015
4/5 stars

This is a nonfiction work in which the author's premise is that the combination of their experiences in WWI, their friendship, and their Christian faith resulted in C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien writing their particular and similar style of romantic fantasy.  Though it is rather light, it's still an enjoyable book, easily accessible to the casual scholar, which gives interesting information on the Great War and on the two authors.  I do recommend it, but with the caveat that if the reader is not interested in a Christian point of view, this book will not be as meaningful.

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

I Found You

Lisa Jewell 

2017  

4/5 stars

One rainy evening, Alice approaches a man she has noticed sitting on the beach outside her cottage since morning.  The man has no idea who he is, where he is, or even why he is the Northern town.  Alice, who is  a toughened single mother of three with a history of bad decisions, finds herself feeling sorry for him and allows him to use her shed as a shelter over night.  Instead of leaving the next day, however, Frank (as her daughter calls him), is still in a state of amnesia and, despite knowing she shouldn't, Alice finds herself making him a part of her family.  The only thing is, Frank thinks he might have killed someone.

Meanwhile, a young Ukrainian woman new to England, Lily, is concerned because her husband of three weeks did not come home to their suburban London flat.  When the police begin investigating, Lily learns that her husband may not be the man he claimed to be.

The story also goes back in time, over twenty years ago, to when the Ross family spent their summer holiday in Ridinghouse Bay.  What should be a typical stay becomes a nightmare for teenaged Gray and his younger sister, Kirsti, when a somewhat older man, Mark, becomes obsessed with her.  What happens to the three is tied in with the mystery of Frank and Lily's husband Carl, and is slowly revealed as the novel progresses.

Jewell writes well, and kept me engaged and intrigued to the very end. The plot becomes obvious as the story unfolds, but that doesn't make it less gripping or tense.    Yes, there are parts that are not fully credible, but I Found You is engrossing enough that I was willing to suspend belief and just enjoy the ride.  I was favorably impressed by Jewell, which was surprising as I disliked and did not finish another of her books, The Girls in the Garden (my discussion here), and wouldn't have tried this one if I had realized it was the same author.  As it stands, though, I'm certainly willing to try a third.

September 2021 Wrap-Up

 

Books Read:

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley (2014)  3/5 stars  (my review here)

The Killer and the Slain: a Strange Story by Hugh Walpole (1942)  5/5 stars  (my review here)

The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King (2016)  5/5 stars

This Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes adventure revolves around their housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, and her past.   As with most of the series, The Murder of Mary Russell is intelligent, compelling, and well-written, but King's greatest strength lies in her ability to weave together canon Holmes with her own inventions, as she does marvelously here. 

Mary Russell's War and Other Stories of Suspense 

by Laurie R. King (2016)  3/5 stars

The talent for writing short stories is quite different from that needed for novels, and sadly, Ms. King does not appear to possess that particular gift.  I feel I'm being generous giving the collection three stars, as many of them were rather poor.  However, the title story giving more of Mary's background was generally good and worth reading, and the story of their wedding was, despite feeling like a novice attempt, mostly amusing -- hence the rating.

Audio Books Completed:

The Stone Wife by Peter Lovesey (2014)  4/5 stars

Another solid mystery featuring Inspector Diamond. It seemed straight-forward at first, but then became nicely complex and twisty.  I fully enjoyed it; Lovesey and his Diamond are firm favorites.

Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn (2004)  3/5 stars

This takes place during a Christmas house party, and has a real Golden Age of Mystery feel to it. In fact, I quite enjoyed it -- until the obvious murderer and weak motive were revealed.  I still continue to read the series, though I only find the books average, because I enjoy Dunn's cheerful, breezy style and her pleasant characters.

Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry (2018)  4/5 stars

Using his particular clever, intelligent, and witty style, Fry tells some of the Ancient Greek stories of heroes.  I would have preferred more details given to some of them -- I felt the same with Mythos (my review here) -- but otherwise Heroes is a wonderful collection of tales well-told.  

The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill  (2007)  3/5 stars

DS Freya Graffham moves to the cathedral town of Lafferton and becomes deeply interested in a missing person case.  When more women go missing, and she gets closer to the truth, Freya becomes a target herself.  

Hill writes well, and I was impressed by her ability to bring characters and situations to life.  I enjoyed it tremendously, found it engrossing and gripping. In the end, however, I had to give it three stars instead of four, because there were many people and incidents that had no purpose in the long run, except as filler.

Did Not Finish:

Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie

I've never not finished a Christie mystery, but. . .  This is set in Ancient Egypt and is, I think, the only one of her novels that I have not read.  I was instantly interested in the plot; however, I was listening to the book and found I couldn't keep up with the names.  Once I'd processed what the name was, Emilia Fox was two sentences on and I was left trying to catch up.  So, it's not the fault of the author, or even the narrator, but of my difficulty with the names.  I will probably get the book from the library; I think I would be much better served reading it at my own speed.

The Dead Letter by Seely Regester

This is considered the first full-length American detective novel, and, as Victorian era sensationalism is one of my favorite genres, I was excited to read it, and really enjoyed the first 30%.  At that point, though, a clairvoyant was introduced and was responsible for giving vital information; I prefer my crimes to be solved by the skill and intellect of the detective, not through a Deus Ex Machina situation.

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers by Peter Lovesey

I'm such a fan of Lovesey, so I have been trying his first series with the Victorian Sargent Cribb.  This is the second of that series, and is centered around bare-knuckle pugilism and, as such, didn't interest me as much as the first one did.  Having a stack of other library books to read, I decided to give this one a miss, at least for now.

Waltz into Darkness by William Irish (pseudonym of Cornell Woolrich)

I read and thoroughly enjoyed two other noir novels by Woolrich, and this one was good for the first quarter or so.  At around 33%, though, it lost it's momentum and liveliness and, as a result, my attention.

The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley

I read the first of this series (my review here) and since I found this one on audio at the library, decided to continue with it.  I listened for four hours, and then stopped.  My problems were threefold: the main characters all have French accents and the narrator didn't differentiate well with them; the over-melodramatic grieving grated on my nerves; and finally, the sense of unrecognized entitlement which allows these rich sisters to achieve their desires was more pronounced here than in the Seven Sisters.   I put most of the problem on the fact that I was listening to the Storm Sister  and therefore not in a position to skim over things, like I did when I read the first.  I've not called it quits on the series entirely, as the premise intrigues me, but I don't think audio is the way to go.

Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison

I really wanted to like this, as the blurb made it sound so interesting, but alas. . . the writing and the characters were unappealing, and I didn't make it longer than an hour of the audiobook.