O Jerusalem

Author Laurie R. King sends Holmes and Russell to British controlled Palestine to work on a case for Mycroft.  During their sojurn they masquerade as an Arab man and boy traveling with two others through the countryside.  Their costumes bring them into some unusual situations as Russell proves to their two guides her ability with a knife and her willingness to kill if necessary.  The four of them uncover a plot to destroy British rule and of course triumph.  An exciting story.

You've heard about it, now read it!

I have heard endlessly about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, and I bought it a year ago.  But it took me until last week to get around to reading it.  I hated putting it down!  It is worth reading. 

Disgraced financial investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist is hired to research the decades old disappearance of 16 year old Harriet Vanger.  In turn, he hires the unorthodox Lisbeth Salander as his assistant.  Along the way, they discover the shady dealings of Hans-Erik Wennerström the financier who sent Blomkvist into his exile. 

Now that we have the facts of the story out of the way, I want to say that there is much suspense, horrific crime, computer hacking, and romance.  I cannot do the book justice.  Just read it.

Body Work

This latest work by Sara Paretsky featuring her detective, V. I. Warshawski, begins in the trendy Club Gouge.  Performance artist Karen Buckley, The Body Artist, allows bar patrons to paint on her naked body, at the club.  Warshawski attends a performance and witnesses the venom of one of the young club goers (Chad) toward Nadia, a woman who paints on the Artist.  At a later performance, Nadia is shot and Warshawski gets involved; hired to prove that Chad is not guilty of killing this woman he has had differences with.  The Body Artist, the bar owner, and all involved in the club are extremely uncooperative with the investigation, which leads to the disappearance of the Artist and the involvement of Ukranian thugs.  This latest offering in the V. I. Warshawski series is worth reading.

Books books books

Now that school is in session again, it is harder to get around to blogging about my reading. 

Here is what I read - as far as I can remember

The Lies of Fair Ladies - Jonathan Gash - Lovejoy book - loved it.
The Moor - Laurie R. King - a Sherlock Holmes, Mary Russell book - I listened to it and loved it.
Deep Shadow - Randy Wayne White - A Doc Ford mystery - probably his best yet.

If I think of anything else, I will write again.

A Real Slog through a Lovejoy Mystery

The Great California Game by Jonathan Gash was quite a slog.  This one takes place in the US, but the slang was so weird that you would never recognize it as anything American.  Lovejoy gets himself involved in some sort of country-wide gambling scheme aimed at control of the major markets of America.  You can tell from that last sentence that I never quite figured out what was going on.  Give this one a miss. 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Eleven-year-old Flavia finds a dying man in the family's cucumber patch.  She makes solving his murder - and his identity - her task.  Full of fun and quirky humor.

Alan Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was enjoyable to listen to.  I think it would make a great kid's movie.  I am not so sure about the appeal to adults.  I do not think I would have been able to enjoy this if I read it, but listening to it was fun.  The reader - Jayne Entwistle - did a great job of Flavia de Luce's voice.  She really sounded like a young genius.

Louisiana at its murderous best!

James Lee Burke is a superb writer of mystery set in his home state of Louisiana.  One really gets a flavor of the state.  In the newest entry, The Glass Rainbow, Burke's detective, Dave Robicheaux gets involved in investigating a series of murders of young women.  Of course, these murders are outside his jurisdiction and using his friend Clete Purcell to help him, is not working by the book. 

I got lost when he began to investigate the wealthy man his daughter was dating.  I probably just read too fast.  The book is a good one, maybe not the best in the Robicheaux series, but still a worthwhile entry.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women - Laurie R. King

I just realized that I had omitted writing anything about this book.  I finished listening to it several weeks ago.  The book involves a charismatic woman preacher who has drawn a large following of wealthy women.  Why have so many of these women died?  Is the minister to blame?  It certainly looks as though she would be guilty.  This book was a good entry in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series and I recommend it highly.  One caveat, the series should be read in order.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

I'm still listening to the series of Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Laurie R. King that I read already.  I just finished A Letter of Mary in which Dorothy Ruskin, an archaeologist, presents to Mary a parchment she has discovered which appears to be from the hand of Mary Magdalene.  While Russell is studying the letter, she and Holmes discover that Ruskin has been found dead.  Determining that she was murdered, they then begin to seek clues regarding the murderer. 

A Letter of Mary is fairly interesting in its study of early documents and the implications such a document as a letter from Mary Magdalene would have on society.  I did not find the conclusion of the mystery that satisfying.  Perhaps I missed a clue or two.  This would not surprise me as sometimes when I listen to a book, my attention wanders.

The Best Detective Books Anywhere!

I believe that Bill Pronzini is the best author of detective books anywhere.  His latest, Betrayers, does not disappoint.  Tamara is off sleuthing on her own case, Bill has a case that sounds like it will be a waste of time, and Jake is working a skip trace.  No major cases this time, but the same taut writing and ever-evolving characters.  Added to this book is a side story concerning Bill and Kerry's thirteen-year-old daughter who has found and brought home a box with cocaine inside.  Where did this come from and why does she have it?  Bill will figure this out as well. 


I recommend all of the books by Pronzini, especially his "Nameless Detective" series.  I would recommend you read an earlier book first so that you can get a better idea of who each character is, especially since Tamara and Jake are not in the earlier books. 

Caper!

Parnell Hall, the writer of both the Puzzle Lady and the Stanley Hastings series of mysteries, has released his latest in the Hastings series: Caper.   Stanley is a private detective whose only detecting ability is in his expertise with trip and fall cases in his work for an ambulance chasing, sleazeball lawyer.  In this newest book, Hastings is approached by a young woman looking to have him track down the movements of her teenage daughter, who she says is working after school as a prostitute.  She tells him that she wants her daughter followed and brought safely out of her situation.  What Hastings does not know, is that the "mother" is not the mother of the girl in question, and when the daughter's supposed John is found dead, who looks the guiltiest?  Stanley Hastings himself.  The bumbling private eye then spends his time working out how to clear his name without revealing his close involvement. 

I used to read these and thought it might be fun to read a new one.  But now I find that the detective's bumbling ways just annoy me.  Perhaps I have read one Stanley Hastings/Parnell Hall too many.

Lovejoy in Hong Kong

In Jade Woman by Jonathan Gash, a penniless Lovejoy is sent to Hong Kong to escape Big John Sheehan's thugs.  He is promptly robbed of the money he was given by Janie, the woman who is helping him, and all of his belongings.  How does one survive in a country where you do not speak the language, have no possessions, and know no one?  Well, in Lovejoy's case, you get yourself in more trouble than you started in.  Lovejoy becomes a gigolo for hire, manages to get involved in the local triad, and plans an antique scam.  All action, no thinking!  Love it!

The God of the Hive

This latest Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery by Laurie R. King continues last year’s The Language of Bees. Russell and Holmes are separately trying to get back to London from northern Scotland. Russell has a small child with her and is dependent on an American pilot for help. Holmes is on the North Sea traveling with a young man with a gunshot wound and a woman doctor. It’s hard to say much about this book without spoiling its predecessor. I recommend this book, but if you have never read a Russell/Holmes book, please begin with the first book, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.

Another Lovejoy Mystery

I just finished Firefly Gadroon.  Lovejoy is forced into finding and rescuing a cache of stolen antiques in the North Sea before they are shipped off to Europe.  Will he succeed?  Can he rescue these prizes?  Would he give them to their rightful owners?  Can he manage all this, save his skin, and avoid killing the bad guys? Oh, and what is a gadroon, anyway?