Reading Report: Jerusalem Inn

Jerusalem Inn
(A Richard Jury Mystery)
Written by Martha Grimes
First published 1984

Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Richard Jury is spending a dreary Christmas in Newcastle when he unexpectedly meets an interesting woman in a snow-covered graveyard. Helen Minton is beautiful, unhappy and mysterious, and Jury thinks she could easily brighten up his sagging holiday spirits. Unfortunately, the next time he sees her, she’s been murdered. 

Meanwhile, Melrose Plant, Jury's aristocratic sidekick and unofficial assistant, isn't faring much better. Snowbound at a stately mansion owned by critic Charles Sealingham and his wife Grace, Plant mixes with a group of artists and idle aristocrats. There he encounters another lovely lady, romance writer Beatrice Sleight. But shortly afterward he stumbles over her corpse in the snow. She’s been shot while wearing a distinctive ermine cloak belonging to her hostess, Grace Sealingham.

Seeking clues in Helen’s murder, Jury eventually arrives at the mansion, discovers Plant, and the two friends team up for the rest of the investigation. Both murders seem to be linked to a remote country pub – Jerusalem Inn –where the game of snooker, a Nativity scene, some fairly complicated family histories, and an old secret will all play their parts in helping Jury uncover a killer and solve a murder that has come to feel much too personal. 

I’ve heard so much praise for Martha Grimes’s series of Richard Jury novels, I was really expecting to enjoy this one more than I did. It’s number five in the series, but the first one I’ve read and I think I definitely would have benefited from reading at least a couple of the earlier novels first. I was a little lost at first – and while I liked the parts of the book that concentrated on Jury and his investigations, I had a hard time warming up to Melrose Plant and his ditzy Aunt Agatha and all their madcap friends and relations. 

At first, the “Jury” part of the book (which I liked) and the “Melrose” part (which I didn’t, much) really seemed like two completely different tales, one having nothing to do with the other. After they finally came together and I understood what was going on and how they matched up, I warmed to the story and characters a little more and actually enjoyed the last third or so quite a lot. But there’s a lot of needless “drawing room” chatter and more info than I really needed about the game of snooker. It diverts attention away from the mystery and sort of bored me. So, just an "OK" read and not one of my favorites of the year, but it certainly hasn’t put me off the idea of sampling more from the series. 

Rating: ✭✭½

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2021 Category Challenge at LibraryThing. 
2021 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge. 
2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge. 

Reading Report: Nemesis by Agatha Christie

Nemesis (A Miss Marple Mystery)
by Agatha Christie
First published 1971

It's been quite a while since I posted any reviews here on the blog. I've been reading, and posting reviews in other places, but for some reason I've been neglecting the blog. So I thought I might start trying to do a little catch-up work and just say a few words about some of the books I've read during the first half of this year.

And I suppose a good place to start would be at the beginning, with the first book I read back in January. 

In this next-to-last Miss Marple novel by Agatha Christie, Jane Marple receives a posthumous request from recently-deceased millionaire Jason Rafiel to investigate a mystery. If she accepts the job and solves the mystery, she'll receive a legacy of £20,000. She's met Rafiel before — they worked together on an earlier mystery (which you can read about in Christie's A Caribbean Mystery, from 1964), so she knows he's eccentric but reliable.

Problem is, Mr. Rafiel doesn't leave any information about the mystery — no clues, no suspect or suspects, no advice about where to start. All she knows is that he wants her to go on a coach tour of English gardens and country houses, which he has arranged and paid for. Now in her eighties, Miss Marple is a bit reluctant at first, but ultimately can't resist the intriguing challenge.

This was a fun read and a good book to start the year with. And though it's hard to improve on Agatha Christie, I think this would have been an even better read (maybe even 5 out of 5 stars) if there hadn't been so much repetition throughout the book. It seemed like every few pages, we'd get another summary of the story so far, or  recap of the assignment Miss Marple was working on. That got very tedious very quickly. But any Miss Marple is better than no Miss Marple, and I'm very sad to realize that I've almost finished the series! (Well, finished with the novels, anyway.) Guess I'll have to start over from the beginning.

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

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Qualifies for the following reading challenges:

2021 Category Challenge at LibraryThing. 
2021 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge.
2021 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge.

Book Beginnings: A Fatal Grace

A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny (first published 2006)

Second book in the Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series

Opening Lines

Had CC de Poitiers known she was going to be murdered she might have bought her husband, Richard, a Christmas gift.

About the Book

The falling snow brings a hush to Three Pines – until a scream pierces the air. A spectator at the annual Boxing Day curling match has been fatally electrocuted. Heading the investigation, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache unravels the dead woman's past and discovers a history of secrets and enemies. But Gamache has enemies of his own. As a bitter wind blows into the village, something even more chilling is sneaking up behind him. (GoodReads)

Initial Thoughts

Hmmm?  So now I'm wondering why she didn't buy the poor guy a Christmas gift. Even though she didn't know about her impending demise.

I just finished the first book in this series (Still Life, 2005) last week, and liked it so much that I just had to go ahead and read the second book right away. Actually, that doesn't happen very often for me – I usually allow some time between books in a series. But Chief Inspector Gamache is such an attractive character, I felt like I wanted to spend a little more time with him. From the reviews of this one, it seems to be just as good as the first book (it won the Agatha Award for Best Novel), so I have (as usual) high hopes.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Stay safe. Stay calm. And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Book Beginnings: The King's Justice

The King's Justice, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam, February 2020).

Ninth book in the Maggie Hope series of historical mystery novels.

Opening Lines

Prologue

March 1, 1943

Each incoming tide of the Thames brought another layer of debris, and, when the waters receded, mysteries could be found buried in the silt.

About the Book

Maggie Hope started out as Winston Churchill's secretary, but now she's a secret agent–and the only one who can figure out how a missing violin ties into a series of horrifying murders. 

Traumatized by her past, Maggie finds herself living dangerously–taking huge risks, smoking, drinking, and speeding through the city streets on a motorbike. The last thing she wants is to get entangled in another crime. But when she's called upon to look into the theft of a Stradivarius, one of the finest violins ever made, Maggie can't resist.  

Meanwhile, there's a serial killer on the loose in London, targeting conscientious objectors. Little does she know that investigating this dangerous predator will pit her against a new evil–and old enemies.

Initial Thoughts

This will be a new series for me, and as usual I'm jumping in at the end without having read any of the earlier books. But the premise is intriguing, and I'm always interested in that World War II period as a setting. So I have high hopes for this one.

I'm actually still reading the same book I've been reading for a couple of weeks now (Still Life, by Louise Penny), but I'm expecting to start this new one in a day or two...if I don't get distracted by one of those other books in one of those many piles of TBR books around here.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Stay safe. Stay calm. And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Book Beginnings: Still Life, by Louise Penny

Still Life, by Louise Penny (first published 2005).

First book in her series of Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries.

Opening Lines

Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday. It was pretty much a surprise all round.

About the Book

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. 

Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces—and this series—with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny. (—GoodReads)

Initial Thoughts

This is a series I've been meaning to sample for years now. My husband recommended it, which is a little odd since he doesn't read many mystery novels. And I'm doing something that's quite unusual for me, too — starting with the very first book! Instead of starting near the end of the series and working my way back. It's definitely a new experience — but so far, a happy one.

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Stay safe. Stay calm. And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Give the Boys a Great Big Hand, by Ed McBain

Thomas & Mercer edition published December 2011
First published 1960
204 pages (Kindle edition)

About the book:

He dresses in black and stalks the streets of the 87th Precinct. He is a shadow, always searching for his next victim. And when he finds it, all that will be left is a severed hand.

For Detectives Carella and Hawes, this new killer is an enigma. He leaves no trace of his crime—no evidence at all. Even the severed hands have had their fingertips sheared off. With nothing much to go on, the detectives work off the hunch that the black-clad killer has a grudge against the 87th, and begin a frantic manhunt before any more of his handiwork appears on their streets.

One of world-renowned crime master Ed McBain’s most grisly and intense novels in the famed 87th Precinct series, Give the Boys a Great Big Hand is a finely tuned build-up of brooding malevolence and frantic desperation… (--Amazon UK)

My Thoughts:

Give the Boys a Great Big Hand is no. 11 in the 87th Precinct series. It's been quite a while since I dropped in on "the boys" of the 87th Precinct in Ed McBain's fictional city of Isola. I remember reading a bunch of books in the series back in the 1970s and really enjoying them, but didn't know how I'd feel about them today. After all, they are very much of their time, with all those bad old attitudes and assumptions. (In fact, the books are so un-PC now, they're actually sort of refreshing.) But I should have known better than to worry — Ed McBain (a pseudonym of novelist Evan Hunter) was an absolute master of the hard-boiled police procedural and definitely knew how to hold a reader's interest. The books hold up, even after all these years.

In this one, detectives Steve Carella, Cotton Hawes, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer (yes, that's the name, not a typo) and all the rest of the boys are presented with a seemingly unsolvable case when an airline bag is found, containing just a severed hand with the fingertips removed. Forensics being what they were in the early 1960s, the medical examiner can tell them that it's male and give them a blood type and an approximate height and weight, but that's it. Now they have to find a body to match the hand. And that mission sets them off on one of their most intriguing investigations, including the interviewing of some very intriguing stripper ladies.

All in all, this was a quick enjoyable read. A little gory, of course — but not as bad as some of the more recent crime fiction I've read. I'm only giving it three and a half stars, though — mainly because it doesn't quite come up to the level of some of the other books in the series. Although, that might not really be a fair comparison.

Rating: ★★★½

Notable Quotes:

The diminutive "Meg" did not exactly apply to her because she was five feet seven and a half inches tall with all the cuddly softness of a steel cable. 

........ 

Even conversation seemed to concern itself primarily with the fantasy world, and not the real. Did you see Jack Paar last night? Have you read Doctor Zhivago? Wasn't Dragnet exciting? Did you see the review of Sweet Bird of Youth? Talk, talk, talk, but all of the talk had as its nucleus the world of make-believe. And now the television programs had carried this a step further. More and more channels were featuring people who simply talked about things, so that even the burden of talking about the make-believe world had been removed from the observer's shoulders — there were now other people who would talk it over for him. Life became thrice-removed.

........ 

You are hooked because she can change her face, this woman, and change her body, and all that was warm and tender can suddenly become cold and heartless — and still you are in love. You will be in love with her forever, no matter how she dresses, no matter how they change her, no matter who claims her, she is the same city you saw with the innocent eyes of youth, and she is yours.

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Family Tree Reading Challenge .
Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge .

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Book Beginnings: Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy M. Montgomery. First published 1908. These are the first lines of Chapter One:

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

About the Book:

"Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had decided to adopt an orphan. They wanted a nice sturdy boy to help Matthew with the farm chores. The orphanage sent a girl instead - a mischievous, talkative redhead who the Cuthberts thought would be no use at all. But as soon as Anne arrived at the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables, she knew she wanted to stay forever. And the longer Anne stayed, the harder it was for anyone to imagine Green Gables without her."

Initial Thoughts:

Well, my first thought is that this is a book I've had on my "must read" pile/list for several decades. This would be a really good time to go ahead and read it. "Anne" would qualify for a couple of the reading challenges I'm doing this year. And it's one of those classic pieces of children's lit everyone should read.

Since its appearance in 1908, Lucy Montgomery's tale has gone through countless editions, and now it's actually in public domain and available free at Project Gutenberg. My old paperback edition is from the 1970s, but I'll probably read the version I've got on my Kindle -- which has what I think is a really charming "cover":

The problem is... I've started this book several times in the past and haven't been able to stick with it. Will this time be any different? I wonder. That opening passage is all one sentence, isn't it? Hmmm.

What about you? Does this sound like a book you'd carry on with? Have you read it? Did you love it?

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday.  As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.

Miss Zukas and the Library Murders, by Jo Dereske

First published 1994
Avon Paperback edition, 218 pages

(I actually read the Kindle edition, 227 pages.)

First published in 1994, this is the first entry in Dereske's very popular and long-running cozy mystery series featuring librarian Helma (short for Wilhelmina) Zukas. When an unidentified dead body turns up in the fiction stacks of the public library, everyone is amazed and horrified. Murder just doesn't happen in lovely Bellehaven, Washington — and certainly not in the "MO-NE" aisle of the public library! Even after a thorough investigation, the police (led by the charming Chief Gallant) can't seem to turn up any information about the dead man or why the murder took place where it did. Enter Miss Helma Zukas, reference librarian extraordinaire, who just can't let a good question go unanswered. With her talent for tracking down information and her Miss-Marple-like "noticing" abilities, she's definitely on the case.

I had read one of the later Miss Zukas mysteries several years ago and enjoyed it enough to add this first work to my TBR-someday list. Glad I decided to make this year that "someday" — Miss Zukas No. 1 was a cute, fast read. Must admit, I had pretty much figured out "who dunnit" long before the big reveal, but that didn't spoil the fun. And even though Helma is a little prickly, decidedly opinionated, and not always easy to be around (hey, that sounds just like me!), I'll definitely continue with this series.

Rating: ★★★★

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge .
Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge  (February word: "and").
Reading the '90s Personal Reading Challenge .
USA Fiction Reading Challenge (ongoing) (Washington State).

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Intruder in the Dark, by George Bellairs

Inspector Littlejohn #43
First published 1966
Kindle edition, Ipso Books, 2016; 224 pages

Description (from Amazon.com):

In the strange, nearly-deserted village of Plumpton Bois, Mr Cyril Savage inherits the home of his wealthy and estranged Aunt. But before Savage has the chance to discover her fortune, he is struck dead in the cellar of this once grand country house. 

The police are baffled and, unable to unearth a motive – let alone a killer, call for the assistance of Scotland Yard. Superintendent Littlejohn and Inspector Cromwell arrive in Plumpton Bois and find the village, the family, and the house itself full of secrets. 

The door to a locked room has been bashed open, Savage’s aunt is not nearly as rich as she seemed to be, and now another body has turned up on Littlejohn’s watch…

The Inspector Littlejohn mysteries are a new discovery for me. Not sure how I managed to miss out on such a long-running series (57 books between 1941 and 1980!), but I'm very happy that I've found them.

Overall, I enjoyed this entry in the group. A little more "procedural" than I might have liked -- I think I would have been happier with a little less talking about the case, and a little more action. But apart from that quibble, I thought it was very well written and found Superintendent Littlejohn a very intriguing character. I can definitely see myself continuing with this series in the future.

Rating: ★★★

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

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A Murder is Announced, by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple #5
First published 1950
Pocket Books paperback, 1990; 275 pages

Description (from the agathachristie.com website):

A Murder is Announced is a staple of crime fiction and is often considered the best of all the Miss Marple novels. The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’ A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out….

... and, of course, murder happens. And would you believe it -- Miss Jane Marple just happens to be staying at the local hotel where the victim worked. And Inspector Craddock, who's investigating the goings-on, just happens to be the godson of Sir Henry Clithering, the ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard who is a confirmed fan of Miss Marple. Sir Henry strongly encourages Craddock to avail himself of the old bag's the talented spinster's sleuthing abilities. And the game's afoot.

I haven't read all the Miss Marple books, but I do think this is my favorite of the ones I've read so far. It has all the classic Christie touches -- village setting, lots of quirky, intriguing characters, hidden identities, several red herrings, and a lovely chatty summing up by la Marple in the final chapter. What more could you want?

In addition, this entry in the series has a strong emphasis on the post-WWII society emerging at the time. Several characters comment on the fact that the world is changing, with "new people" and new ideas making life less secure and predictable than it was before the war. In fact, that new unpredictability is a major part of the book's story line. Just how well do any of the villagers really know their neighbors? Or their close friends? Or even members of their own families? Well, since this is Agatha Christie, we know we're in for some big surprises and unexpected twists. That's why she's the best-selling novelist of all time.

Rating: ★★★★

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Vintage Murder, by Ngaio Marsh

Inspector Roderick Alleyn #5
First published 1937
Jove paperback, 1978; 272 pages

In Vintage Murder Chief Inspector Alleyn is vacationing in New Zealand (Ngaio Marsh’s homeland), and finds himself traveling with a group of English actors touring the country with their latest play. Alleyn thinks their company intriguing and slightly amusing, until one of the group is rather gruesomely murdered. Naturally, the New Zealand authorities are delighted to find the famous policeman in their midst and all but beg him to aid them in their investigations. At first, he's reluctant to join in, but of course cannot keep his nose out for long.

Not my favorite of the Roderick Alleyn mysteries. Lots of long discussions about how the murder was committed and the various relationships among the actors in the company. Not a great deal of action. And I missed the presence of stalwart Sergeant Fox and Alleyn's artist friend Agatha Troy. But it was nicely plotted and did keep me guessing the identity of the murderer right up to the final few chapters. So definitely worth a read -- any Inspector Alleyn is better than no Inspector Alleyn, after all.

Rating: ★★★

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Backstabbing in Beaujolais (Winemaker Detective Mystery #9)

Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen
Translated from the French by Anne Trager
Le French Book, November 2015
122 pages

Publisher's Description:

A business magnate calls on wine expert Benjamin Cooker to kickstart his new wine business in Beaujolais, sparking bitter rivalries. Can the Winemaker Detective and his assistant keep calculating real estate agents, taciturn winegrowers, dubious wine merchants and suspicious deaths from delaying delivery of the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau?

My Thoughts:

This is the first of the Winemaker Detective books I've read, so I won't pass judgment on the whole series. And this one got glowing reviews at GoodReads and Amazon, so I was all set to be dazzled. But now that I've finished the book, I'm sort of wondering what all the uproar was about. It was entertaining and a very fast read -- I think it took me about two hours, and I'm a slow reader. Not really much of a mystery, though.

The book starts out promisingly enough with a dead body discovered in a vat of Beaujolais. But then there's a flashback to three months earlier, and we don't get back to that murder until near the end of the book. And by that point I thought it was pretty obvious "who dunnit" and I was beginning not to care.

There was naturally a lot of talk about wine and wine-making and wine country, which I expected and enjoyed. I was just hoping for a little more suspense. But I did like the central characters, wine expert Benjamin Cooker and his assistant Virgile, and wouldn't mind getting to know them a little better -- so I'm still planning to try one of the earlier books in the series, just to be fair.

My Rating: ✭✭✭ (out of a possible 6 stars / Grade = B-)

Disclaimer:  I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher. No other compensation was received, and no one attempted to influence my opinion of the book.

Tail Gait (A Mrs. Murphy Mystery)

Rita Mae Brown
Bantam, 2015
336 pages

Publisher's Description:

Spring has sprung in Crozet, Virginia—a time for old friends to gather and bid farewell to the doldrums of winter. Harry and her husband, Fair, are enjoying a cozy dinner with some of the town's leading citizens, including beloved University of Virginia history professor Greg “Ginger” McConnell and several members of UVA's celebrated 1959 football team. But beneath the cloak of conviviality lurks a sinister specter from the distant past that threatens to put all their lives in jeopardy. 

When Professor McConnell is found murdered on the golf course the next day—gunned down in broad daylight by an unseen killer—no one can fathom a motive, let alone find a suspect. Just as Harry and her furry cohorts begin nosing into the case, however, a homeless UVA alum confesses to the crime. Trouble is, no one believes that the besotted former All-American could have done the foul deed—especially after Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker make another gruesome discovery. 

As the questions surrounding Ginger's death pile up, Harry's search for answers takes her down the fascinating byways of Virginia's Revolutionary past. The professor was something of a sleuth himself, it seems, and the centuries-old mystery he was unraveling may well have put a target on his back. As Harry edges closer to identifying an elusive killer, her animal companions sense danger—and rally to find a way to keep Harry from disappearing into history.

My Thoughts:

I'm giving this one three stars, but that might actually be something of a stretch. I've always loved the Mrs. Murphy mysteries and still enjoy the interaction of all the critters in the books. But I'm afraid the series is really just running out of steam.

In this entry, the mystery seems to be mostly an afterthought, almost completely lost amidst all the interplay among characters. Which wouldn't be so annoying if that interplay had been a little more interesting. Number 23 in the series (or number 24, depending on how you count), and very slow going. Not a terrible read, just not as enjoyable as the earlier Mrs. Murphy books. I'd absolutely still recommend the series, but would say don't start with this one.

My Rating: ✭✭✭ (out of a possible 6 stars / Grade = B-)

Disclaimer: This review refers to an advance reader's copy of the book, provided free of charge by the publisher, through the NetGalley website. No other compensation was received, and no one attempted to influence my opinion of the book.

A Saintly Killing (Faith Morgan Mystery #3)

Martha Ockley
Lion Fiction, 2014
234 pages

Publisher's Description:

It is late July and preparations are underway for the one thousandth anniversary of the church at Little Worthy. As Vicar, Faith Morgan has planned a whole range of celebrations—a music festival, a photographic booklet of recent history, a planting of new trees in the graveyard and vicarage garden, bell ringing, and a visit from the bishop. 

A new painting of the church has been commissioned from distinguished local artist Sal Hankley. Sal, who has recently returned from Australia, is not a universally popular choice. She is outspoken and opinionated, and she has made her share of enemies. 

Before the painting can be completed, Sal is found dead at her easel on a hillock overlooking the church. A respectable member of the community—a member of the Parochial Church Council—is under suspicion. Faith, now trying to hold the church and the village together, once again finds herself teamed with her former boyfriend, Detective Inspector Ben Shorter, as they seek to discover the murderer.

My Thoughts:

I was a little doubtful about A Saintly Killing when I started reading it. Even though I knew from the start that its main character was a vicar, I have to admit being a bit put off by the church setting at first. Well, maybe slightly more than a bit -- just too much religion, and not enough whodunnit I thought.

But after the first couple of chapters, things picked up a bit and I ended up enjoying it quite a lot. In fact, I wouldn't mind spending more time with Faith Morgan and her parishioners. And I can definitely see myself recommending this one to friends who like cozies.

My Rating:  ✭✭✭½ (out of a possible 6 stars / Grade = B)

Disclaimer:  I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher, through the Early Reviewer program at Library Thing. No other compensation was received, and no one attempted to influence my opinion of the book.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie ("Sister" Jane Arnold #9)

Rita Mae Brown
Ballantine Books, 2014
304 pages

Publisher's Description:

"Sister" Jane and the Jefferson Hunt Club have traveled from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to the Bluegrass State of Kentucky to ride with the members of the Woodford Hounds—in the teeth of foul weather. Sister knows better than anyone that an ill wind blows no good. 

After the hunt, Sister Jane and her boyfriend, Gray Lorillard, head to a sumptuous party on a nearby estate, also home to a historic equine graveyard. The revelry is interrupted by jarring news: The discovery of grisly remains in the cemetery that are decidedly not equine. 

Now Sister and her hounds are on the case, digging up clues to an old murder that links three well-connected Southern families. When mayhem follows the Jefferson Hunt back to Virginia, the deadly doings become all too real: A dear friend of Sister’s is found murdered. Sister and her animal friends must work fast to find a clever killer determined to keep deep-rooted secrets buried.

My Thoughts:

I've been wanting to sample Rita Mae Brown's "Sister" Jane series for a while now. I'm a real fan of her Mrs. Murphy series, so I guess I was naturally intrigued. And while I didn't enjoy this new book quite as much as the Mrs. Murphy books, I definitely thought it was an entertaining read, if a little slow at times. There was an awful lot of information about riding and fox-hunting. That's to be expected, of course, but not terribly exciting for someone who doesn't ride or hunt, and it really diverted attention away from the mystery elements. But the main characters were interesting, and I wouldn't mind meeting them again in the future. Looks like I've added one more long-running series to my TBR list.


My Rating: ✭✭✭½ (out of a possible 6 stars / Grade = B)

Disclaimer: I received my copy of this book free of charge from the publisher, through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.

Review: The Lost Symbol

Written by Dan Brown
Doubleday, 2009; 509 pages

Publisher's Description:

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object -- artfully encoded with five symbols -- is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation...one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom. 

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon -- a prominent Mason and philanthropist -- is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations -- all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

I love Dan Brown.  There. I've said it.  His books are so wonderfully exciting, and beautifully implausible -- such absolutely perfect guilty pleasures!

This is Brown's third book about Harvard professor Robert Langdon, so I guess that's enough to call it a series now.  Langdon is still the same likable, self-effacing, modest-though-brilliant guy we got to know in the previous two books.  Still getting into incredible amounts of trouble through no fault of his own.  Still out there saving civilization as we know it, clad in Harris tweed and cordovan loafers, and with only his intellect as weapon.  What a guy.

I picked this novel to start the year with because I figured it would be something I could stick with and get through quickly.  And that was all true.  Even though it's a bit of a chunkster (well, for me 500 pages is a lot), it was a very fast read.  And informative, too: Brown always includes lots of nice detail for Langdon and all the other characters to pass along -- this time all about the Masons, our nation's Founding Fathers, and Washington DC.  (Thrilling and educational! Can't beat that.)

I love the cinematic style of Brown's thrillers -- short, succinct chapters that keep you right there on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what's going to happen in the next scene.  With each vignette, Brown grabs your attention and then rapidly pulls the ground out from under your feet, dumping you into the next bit of the story.  And before you can get bored with that bit, the whole process repeats itself.  Very like a movie, and very effective for this sort of tale.  In this book, all of the action (500+ pages of it) takes place over just one day and night! And what a 24-hour roller-coaster ride it is!

Review: Cat on the Scent

Written by Rita Mae Brown (and Sneaky Pie Brown)
Bantam Books, 1999; 320 pages

Publisher's Description:

Things have been pretty exciting lately in Crozet, Virginia -- a little too exciting if you ask resident feline investigator Mrs. Murphy. Just as the town starts to buzz over its Civil War reenactment, a popular local man disappears. No one’s seen Tommy Van Allen’s single-engine plane, either -- except for Mrs. Murphy, who spotted it during a foggy evening’s mousing. Even Mrs. Murphy’s favorite human, postmistress Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen, can sense that something is amiss. But things really take an ugly turn when the town reenacts the battle of Oak Ridge -- and a participant ends up with three very real bullets in his back. While the clever tiger cat and her friends sift through clues that just don’t fit together, more than a few locals fear that the scandal will force well-hidden town secrets into the harsh light of day. And when Mrs. Murphy’s relentless tracking places loved ones in danger, it takes more than a canny kitty and her team of animal sleuths to set things right again.

I always enjoy the Mrs. Murphy series, and this is one of the best of the lot. Rita Mae Brown (or is it maybe Sneaky Pie?) has a tendency to become a bit preachy at times, making conversations among her characters seem stilted and less real.  But there's very little of that in this book, I'm happy to say.

There's also a lot more action involving Mrs. Murphy and her critter cohorts -- another plus.  Of course, when a cat, a Corgi, and a mixed bag of kitties, birdies, and other pets and domestic animals are the lead investigators in a crime story, there's an awful lot of disbelief to be suspended.  Which I love, but others might find hard.  In this novel, there's one especially wonderful (and totally not believable) episode where Murphy, along with her pals Tucker the Corgi and Pewter (another cat), manage to save the day by actually driving a vehicle.  And without a license, too!

My one real quibble with the book was the ending -- everything was wrapped up, but just not as neatly as I would have liked.  I won't say any more -- don't want to give too much away, but I would have ended it a bit differently.  Still, a fast, entertaining read.  Definitely recommended if you like cozy mysteries.

Reading Report: Quiet as a Nun

Written by Antonia Fraser
Viking Press, 1977; 176 pages

At the beginning of Antonia Fraser's Quiet as a Nun, Sister Miriam, a nun in the Convent of the Blessed Eleanor, is found dead (an apparent suicide) in the Tower of Ivory, an ancient structure adjoining the convent grounds. Sister Miriam was an old school chum of television reporter Jemima Shore -- many years ago, they both attended the convent's private school for girls. In those days, Sister Miriam was Rosabelle Powerstock, heiress to "the Powers fortune," one of the largest fortunes in Britain.

Jemima is contacted by the Reverend Mother Ancilla, head of the convent and school, and invited back to look into Miriam's death and a number of other strange occurrences. During her investigation, Jemima discovers that Miriam, whose family owned the convent's lands, might have written a second will leaving everything to another charity. If that will exists and is found, it could force both the convent and the school to shut down.

Understandably, not everyone welcomes Jemima's poking around in convent affairs. And things turn really spooky when the girls at the convent school tell Jemima that the Black Nun was seen in the convent just before Miriam's death. Supposedly, the ghostly (and faceless) spectre is only seen when a death is about to take place in convent grounds. And now it's been sighted again. Can Jemima discover the truth about Sister Miriam's death before someone else (possibly Jemima herself) is killed?

Well, obviously Jemima can -- this was the first novel in a series that went on to include seven more books. But it's a good, mysterious read, even though we know she's going to figure everything out in the end. I've read several of the later Jemima Shore mysteries, and decided it was time to see how they all started. I always enjoy them, even though they're really not the most thrilling tales -- basically cozies, they proceed at a nice sedate pace. But Fraser's writing is always elegant. And Jemima is an interesting character -- intelligent, sophisticated, and serious about her work as a journalist. And unmarried and childless -- very unlike her creator, who was married and the mother of six!

Definitely had fun with this one. And I'll be reading more Jemima Shore in the future.

Reading Report: Damaged

Written by Alex Kava
Doubleday, 2010; 272 pages

This review refers to an uncorrected proof of the novel, furnished free of charge by the publisher.

Description from the publisher:

On Pensacola Beach, the Coast Guard prepares for a Category 5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. When the air crew patrols the waterways, they spot a huge fishing cooler about a mile offshore. Drug traffickers have been known to dump coolers with smuggled product to avoid detection and pay fishermen to retrieve them. But when the crew open this cooler, they’re shocked by what they find: body parts tightly wrapped in plastic.

Though she is putting herself in the projected path of the hurricane, Special Agent Maggie O’Dell is sent to investigate. Eventually, she’s able to trace the torso in the cooler back to a man who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier after a hurricane hit Port St. Lucie, Florida. Only Port St. Lucie is on the Atlantic side. How did his body end up six hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico?

My Thoughts:

Overall, I enjoyed Damaged. Not quite as suspenseful as I had hoped – you sort of know from the beginning how the whole thing is going to tie up at the end. But Alex Kava is great at leaving you with just that teensy bit of doubt – just enough to keep you reading to see if your guesses are correct. She keeps the action rolling, too, peoples the book with an appealing cast of colorful characters, and pares it all down to the fine essentials without a lot of unnecessary filler. And although the subject matter can be a little gruesome (severed limbs, body parts brokers, shenanigans in the mortuary, etc.), the forensic details are fascinating. Maybe not for everyone, but if you're not squeamish about such things, it's actually a fun read.

This is Alex Kava's eighth whodunit featuring FBI profiler Maggie O'Dell, but my first. As usual, I've jumped right into the middle of a series, and I think that probably influenced my reaction just a bit. Some of the relationships that have been established in the earlier books were a little puzzling to me as I read this one. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the book. I liked Maggie O'Dell and definitely want to get to know her better.

Note: I received an advance uncorrected proof of this book from the publisher, free of charge. No other compensation was received, and no one tried to influence my opinion of the book.

Review: A River in the Sky

Written by Elizabeth Peters
William Morrow, 2010; 320 pages

This review refers to an uncorrected proof of the book, provided free of charge by the publisher, through Good Reads' First Reads Program.

Elizabeth Peters’ latest entry (no. 19!) in her long-running series of novels centered around Victorian female archaeologist Amelia Peabody opens in August 1910. The intrepid Peabody and her husband Emerson are at home in England, having put their Egyptian adventures behind them for the moment. But any dreams they may have of spending some tranquil summer days in their rose garden in Kent soon evaporate when the two are recruited (by the War Office and Buckingham Palace) for some hush-hush derring-do abroad. Not Egypt this time, but Palestine. Another (would-be) archaeologist, Major George Morley, claims to be heading for Jerusalem to search for the legendary Ark of the Covenant. But the Germans are becoming more active in that ancient region, and the British government is convinced Morley is a German agent working for the Kaiser to stir things up in the area. Though he doubts Morley could be a spy, Emerson agrees to help, if only to prevent the destruction that an unprofessional excavation might cause. So Emerson, Amelia, and entourage are off to the Holy Land.

At the same time, in a parallel story, Amelia’s son Ramses is having his own adventures on a dig in Samaria, north of Jerusalem – also involving those nasty German spies. And before he can meet up with his parents at their desert encampment and deliver the important information he’s discovered, he runs into some serious trouble involving a lovely female archaeologist who might or might not be working for the enemy.

The two story lines come together in an exciting conclusion, with lots of unexpected twists, thrilling near-disasters, and generous helpings of humor. I was very eager to read this one, as I'd heard great things about the series. Since I'd never read any of the earlier books, I really didn't have any expectations, although I had thought there would be more of a whodunit-type mystery involved. But the book is actually an adventure story, along the lines of H. Rider Haggard’s or Robert Louis Stevenson’s tales – not my favorite genre, but I enjoyed it just the same.

I've noticed that some readers have complained that Peters spends too much time introducing her characters and explaining the various relationships. And I admit that did slow things down a bit, but as a newcomer to the books I actually appreciated all that exposition. I’m still not completely sure how Ramses and Nefret and several other characters fit into the group, but then I have eighteen earlier installments to catch up with. And that confusion didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this latest book.

My one real criticism is that the novel jumped back and forth between the two main story lines so quickly and so often – after the first couple of chapters I found that really annoying, and wished we could just stay with one plot line for a while. I was tempted to take out a pair of scissors and do a little rearranging of my own. All things considered, though, I thought it was a good, fast, entertaining read. Definitely recommended.