Ghastly Glass by Joyce and Jim Lavene.
This is the second of the Lavenes' Renaissance Faire Mysteries featuring scholar Jessie Morton, who is writing her doctoral dissertation on Renaissance crafts in modern times. One of her methods of research is apprenticing with various craftspeople at the year-round Renaissance Faire Village and Market Place in Myrtle Beach. This time around she is assigned to glassblower Roger Trent, proprietor of the Glass Gryphon.
Unusually for Jessie, this visit occurs during the academic year, as this will be the first time the Village does a special event for Hallowe'en. Residents will be dressed as witches, ghosts and other creepy creatures that fit in with the holiday theme. There is even a very large man dressed as Death, complete with scythe.
However, things turn seriously macabre when a cast member is found dead in the middle of the square, with the slogan "Death shall find thee" painted on his robe. Jessie and Chase Manhattan, her beau and Village Bailiff Chase Manhattan attempt to find the killer without too much disruption of the Faire's day-to-day activities.
This was a quick read; light and fun. It made for perfect travel reading!
24 November 2009
15 November 2009
Just finished reading...
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris.
Charlaine Harris has previously written an 8-book series about librarian Aurora Teagarden and a 5-book series about housekeeper-cum-private detective Lily Bard. Currently, besides the immensely popular Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series, Ms. Harris writes another wonderful paranormal mystery series about Harper Connelly, who is able to find (and, to some extent, "read") dead bodies as a result of having been struck by lightning when a teen.
Harper and her step-brother Tolliver Lang have turned her talent into a business, travelling the country detecting bodies, mostly in order to provide closure for relatives of missing persons. Because she is able to read what was going through the victim's mind just before death, she has occasionally helped solve a suspicious death.
In this book, the fourth in the series, Harper and Tolliver are in Texas, visiting the two little girls they both regard as sisters, who have been taken in by their aunt and uncle. Tolliver's older brother Mark informs him that their father has been released from prison, and would like to reconnect with his children to start over. Neither Tolliver or Harper believe that Matthew Lang has become a new man, and their suspicions seem justified when he approaches the little girls without permission from their adoptive parents.
This complicated situation is further convoluted when Tolliver is hit by a bullet they believe was intended for Harper. But is the gunshot related to the case they just completed, also in Texas, or to something much deeper in their past?
Grave Secret was unputdownable, and I stayed up way too late finishing it. Having forgotten that this is the last volume in the series, I was upset when I finished the book, although the ending does provide some very satisfying conclusions.
Charlaine Harris has previously written an 8-book series about librarian Aurora Teagarden and a 5-book series about housekeeper-cum-private detective Lily Bard. Currently, besides the immensely popular Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series, Ms. Harris writes another wonderful paranormal mystery series about Harper Connelly, who is able to find (and, to some extent, "read") dead bodies as a result of having been struck by lightning when a teen.
Harper and her step-brother Tolliver Lang have turned her talent into a business, travelling the country detecting bodies, mostly in order to provide closure for relatives of missing persons. Because she is able to read what was going through the victim's mind just before death, she has occasionally helped solve a suspicious death.
In this book, the fourth in the series, Harper and Tolliver are in Texas, visiting the two little girls they both regard as sisters, who have been taken in by their aunt and uncle. Tolliver's older brother Mark informs him that their father has been released from prison, and would like to reconnect with his children to start over. Neither Tolliver or Harper believe that Matthew Lang has become a new man, and their suspicions seem justified when he approaches the little girls without permission from their adoptive parents.
This complicated situation is further convoluted when Tolliver is hit by a bullet they believe was intended for Harper. But is the gunshot related to the case they just completed, also in Texas, or to something much deeper in their past?
Grave Secret was unputdownable, and I stayed up way too late finishing it. Having forgotten that this is the last volume in the series, I was upset when I finished the book, although the ending does provide some very satisfying conclusions.
14 November 2009
Just finished reading...
Midnight Fugue by Reginald Hill.
A new Dalziel and Pascoe novel is always a cause of happiness for me. This one did not disappoint.
After a severe injury that left him in a coma, Andy Dalziel has decided to return to work sooner than advised. He's sure that everyone will be judging him to see if he's really ready, and thinking that he should just give up and retire. He gets a call from an old colleague, Mick Purdy, asking him to take an unofficial look into the case of a policeman who disappeared seven years earlier.
Dalziel bumbles a bit at first, and when one of his officers is injured, it seems that he should really have taken more time to rest. Pascoe and Wield begin to wonder if they'll continually have to mop up his messes, as is the reader.
This is a complicated tale of greed, mistaken (or maybe not?) identity, and possible police corruption.
Hill's prose is a treat to read, and as usual, I was torn between wanting to find out how the book ended and prolonging my enjoyment. I managed a happy medium, and although I thought the ending was too coincidental, it was nonetheless satisfying.
A new Dalziel and Pascoe novel is always a cause of happiness for me. This one did not disappoint.
After a severe injury that left him in a coma, Andy Dalziel has decided to return to work sooner than advised. He's sure that everyone will be judging him to see if he's really ready, and thinking that he should just give up and retire. He gets a call from an old colleague, Mick Purdy, asking him to take an unofficial look into the case of a policeman who disappeared seven years earlier.
Dalziel bumbles a bit at first, and when one of his officers is injured, it seems that he should really have taken more time to rest. Pascoe and Wield begin to wonder if they'll continually have to mop up his messes, as is the reader.
This is a complicated tale of greed, mistaken (or maybe not?) identity, and possible police corruption.
Hill's prose is a treat to read, and as usual, I was torn between wanting to find out how the book ended and prolonging my enjoyment. I managed a happy medium, and although I thought the ending was too coincidental, it was nonetheless satisfying.
09 November 2009
Just finished reading...
The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith.
I love the Isabel Dalhousie books! For those who are not familiar with her, Isabel is an Edinburgh-based philosopher (editor of The Review of Applied Ethics) with a toddler named Charlie, whose father is her much-younger paramour Jamie. Isabel also has a reputation for sleuthing, though there are those who call it interfering.
Early in this narrative, she runs into an old acquaintance, Minty Auchterlonie, who has a son about the same age as Charlie. Though Isabel has never thought of Minty as a friend, Charlie is invited to Minty's son's birthday party. Feeling that Charlie needs to be exposed to his peers, she accepts, only to find that Minty has an ulterior motive. Minty thinks that her son's father is trying to take him away from her, and asks Isabel to speak with him. Reluctanly, Isabel agrees, only to find that Minty hasn't told her the whole story.
Of course there are other plotlines in the book; her nemesis Professor Dove makes another attempt to oust her from the editorship of the Review, her niece Cat becomes engaged to a funambulist, and the fox who lives in her back garden is injured.
Although these books are definitely mysteries, they don't always include murders, which kind of refreshing. There is something gentle and charming about Isabel and her life, and it's a joy to read about.
I love the Isabel Dalhousie books! For those who are not familiar with her, Isabel is an Edinburgh-based philosopher (editor of The Review of Applied Ethics) with a toddler named Charlie, whose father is her much-younger paramour Jamie. Isabel also has a reputation for sleuthing, though there are those who call it interfering.
Early in this narrative, she runs into an old acquaintance, Minty Auchterlonie, who has a son about the same age as Charlie. Though Isabel has never thought of Minty as a friend, Charlie is invited to Minty's son's birthday party. Feeling that Charlie needs to be exposed to his peers, she accepts, only to find that Minty has an ulterior motive. Minty thinks that her son's father is trying to take him away from her, and asks Isabel to speak with him. Reluctanly, Isabel agrees, only to find that Minty hasn't told her the whole story.
Of course there are other plotlines in the book; her nemesis Professor Dove makes another attempt to oust her from the editorship of the Review, her niece Cat becomes engaged to a funambulist, and the fox who lives in her back garden is injured.
Although these books are definitely mysteries, they don't always include murders, which kind of refreshing. There is something gentle and charming about Isabel and her life, and it's a joy to read about.
05 November 2009
Just finished reading...
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny.
I was fortunate enough to receive this book through Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. Although it arrived in July, I'm only reviewing it now because I wanted to read the previous books in the series (I'm anal that way), and I'm glad I did, as I was already familiar with the residents of Three Pines and the members of Inspector Gamache's investigative team.
This, the fifth book in the Armand Gamache/Three Pines series, begins with Olivier Brule's visit to someone only described as the Hermit, who lives in a cabin in the woods. The next morning, Olivier, owner of the bistro in Three Pines, and his partner Gabriel, who runs the Bed and Breakfast next door, are awakened by a phone call summoning them to the bistro.
There, they join friend and neighbour Myrna (owner of the local bookstore), who has seen someone lying inside the bistro. Upon entry, they discover that it is the dead body of a man with a head wound. The local Surete calls in the murder investigation squad of the Surete du Quebec, which happens to be led by Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, no stranger to the village of Three Pines.
Their investigation is complicated by the fact that the body has no form of identification, and no one in the village recognizes the dead man. Once again, Inspector Gamache and his crew set up their Situation Room in the old railway station, now the home of the Three Pines Volunteer Fire Department.
Reading this book was like visiting a place one hasn't been to for some time, and coming across old acquaintances. Woven through the murder story are threads about some of the other Three Pines residents: the artist Clara Morrow, preparing for her first solo exhibition, the poet Ruth Zardo and her duck Rosa. Ms. Penny is an astounding writer, and the people and places in Three Pines felt very real and familiar to me.
I've seen other reviews by people who couldn't put this book down once begun, but I found that I had to take breaks between every few chapters because of the emotional intensity of the story. Penny unflinchingly exposes all facets of her complex characters; we see the good and bad in almost every one of them. To me, the ending was a huge surprise, and I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to see if it really is an ending.
I was fortunate enough to receive this book through Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. Although it arrived in July, I'm only reviewing it now because I wanted to read the previous books in the series (I'm anal that way), and I'm glad I did, as I was already familiar with the residents of Three Pines and the members of Inspector Gamache's investigative team.
This, the fifth book in the Armand Gamache/Three Pines series, begins with Olivier Brule's visit to someone only described as the Hermit, who lives in a cabin in the woods. The next morning, Olivier, owner of the bistro in Three Pines, and his partner Gabriel, who runs the Bed and Breakfast next door, are awakened by a phone call summoning them to the bistro.
There, they join friend and neighbour Myrna (owner of the local bookstore), who has seen someone lying inside the bistro. Upon entry, they discover that it is the dead body of a man with a head wound. The local Surete calls in the murder investigation squad of the Surete du Quebec, which happens to be led by Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, no stranger to the village of Three Pines.
Their investigation is complicated by the fact that the body has no form of identification, and no one in the village recognizes the dead man. Once again, Inspector Gamache and his crew set up their Situation Room in the old railway station, now the home of the Three Pines Volunteer Fire Department.
Reading this book was like visiting a place one hasn't been to for some time, and coming across old acquaintances. Woven through the murder story are threads about some of the other Three Pines residents: the artist Clara Morrow, preparing for her first solo exhibition, the poet Ruth Zardo and her duck Rosa. Ms. Penny is an astounding writer, and the people and places in Three Pines felt very real and familiar to me.
I've seen other reviews by people who couldn't put this book down once begun, but I found that I had to take breaks between every few chapters because of the emotional intensity of the story. Penny unflinchingly exposes all facets of her complex characters; we see the good and bad in almost every one of them. To me, the ending was a huge surprise, and I can hardly wait for the next book in the series to see if it really is an ending.
04 November 2009
The Winners!
(Drum roll)
And the winners are:
Prime Time: Mack
Face Time: caryn
The winners of the three Prime Time totes are: Helen Kiker, Rhyanna and Shirley.
Rhyanna, Shirley and Caryn, I couldn't find your contact info; please email me (click on my profile at left) with your snail-mail addresses so I can get your prizes to you.
Thanks to all of you for reading my blog, and a HUGE thank you to Hank for guesting!
And the winners are:
Prime Time: Mack
Face Time: caryn
The winners of the three Prime Time totes are: Helen Kiker, Rhyanna and Shirley.
Rhyanna, Shirley and Caryn, I couldn't find your contact info; please email me (click on my profile at left) with your snail-mail addresses so I can get your prizes to you.
Thanks to all of you for reading my blog, and a HUGE thank you to Hank for guesting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
