Category: Book Review

Book Review: A is for Alibi

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

I had never read Sue Grafton. I’d been tempted, with so many books to her name it seemed a possible vista of reading. When she died recently, James over at This is My Truth Now, penned a lovely tribute which made me run out (virtually anyway) and order a book.

I started at the beginning. A is for Alibi.

Book Description (Courtesy of Amazon):

A IS FOR AVENGER
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.

A IS FOR ACCUSED
That’s why she draws desperate clients like Nikki Fife. Eight years ago, she was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer. But after all this time, clearing Nikki’s bad name won’t be easy.

A IS FOR ALIBI
If there’s one thing that makes Kinsey Millhone feel alive, it’s playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer―and sharper―than she imagined.

My thoughts:

I hated the opening of this book. Had it not been on my kindle I might have thrown it. Utter balderdash. But then on page 3, one of the characters says something – being a mistress is all about an ego trip. And I thought well, damn, at least she isn’t afraid to talk honestly about humans and the why they do the things they do. I’ll read on.

I can’t say it was a great mystery. I knew who dun it a third of the way thru. shrug. But it was an interesting read. Interesting enough for me order B is for Burglar. I kind of want to see where this is going. What it will look like when Sue and Kinsey hit their stride.

Agatha Christie Read-a-thon Week 3

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Every body say hi to Jay over at This is My Truth Now. He’s hosting this month long love affair with the first lady of mystery, Agatha Christie. This week’s book was The Body in the Library.

The basics (Courtesy of Goodreads):

Colonel Bantry has found the strangled body of an exotic blonde bombshell lying on his library hearth – and the neighbors are beginning to talk! When Miss Marple takes an interest, though, things begin to move along nicely, and its all far more convoluted – and sordid – than the genteel Bantrys could have imagined.

A curmudgeonly financier, his self-absorbed adult children, a couple of pragmatic and clever hotel workers, tons of money and influence, a wild local lad, some smitten girls, the film business, mix into a classic Christie plot filled with twists, turns, and double-backs galore. Plus the glorious settings of A Great House, a fancy Hotel, and an excessively genteel little village, and let’s not forget Miss Marple…

 

My Thoughts:

This is one of my FAVE Aggies. I adore Miss Marple. She’s so straight forward in a lovely, polite, mid Victorian manner. Nothing people do shocks her. In fact, she can often guess what and why before anyone else because she knows people. Miss Marple insists everyone is much the same, human nature being so predictable. I often wonder if Agatha Christie was rather like Miss Marple in a large amount.

This book lays claim to awesome quotes like “fairly made the toe of my boot itch.”

The plot is amazing and to explain why it’s amazing I might have to spoil it a bit. So stop reading now if you hate spoilers.

The Body in the Library - Christie, Agatha

Just a little pic to break it up.

Now back to the spoiling. The whole book it’s forced on you that only two people have a reason to kill Ruby and they both have air tight alibis. All that forcing makes you think it must be someone else right? A forced card like that provokes a reaction. But…

It is actually one of them. And the alibis are for naught as there is a second dead body, a little switcharoo.

Brilliant!

Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A…

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I kept seeing references to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck everywhere. A blog I follow mentioned it, then another. Then FB posts started appearing, every one talking about Mark Manson’s ideas and suggestions.

The Basics (Courtesy of Harper Collins):

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be “positive” all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F**k positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—”not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault.” Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

My Thoughts:

I actually considered buying this one before I saw the 12 plus dollar cost for an e-book. Um, no. So I got on the very long list at the library. Eventually the book came to me.

I ended up reading it almost entirely in one day. It was just the way the timing shook out. Some things got canceled and moved about so I had time to read. That in and of itself was a pleasure.

Manson was mostly preaching to the choir. So many things he went on about, the constant media onslaught to be extraordinary, the pressure that if you aren’t – you are lazy or a failure and a loser, the role the media plays in increasing school shootings…The idea that our emotions are a feedback to loop to look at what we value. You have to pick and choose what to spend your time, effort, and emotion on. Not new ideas.

We often like books, blogs, people who agree with us. So my saying I enjoyed this book, is not saying much. Manson is funny though. He’s also thought provoking. Emotional. Vulnerable in his openness about his own shortcomings.

If you’re easily offended by swearing, this is not the book for you.

But if you can overlook a potty mouth that wants to shock you into thinking…it’s an interesting read.

Agatha Christie Read-a-thon Week 2

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Once again the delight of an Agatha Christie read-a-thon this April is being hosted by the amazing Jay over at This is My Truth Now.  This week’s Agatha gem was Peril at End House. You can check out what other readers had to say here.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Goodreads):

Hercule Poirot is vacationing on the Cornish coast when he meets Nick Buckly. Nick is the young and reckless mistress of End House, an imposing structure perched on the rocky cliffs of St. Loo.

Poirot has taken a particular interest in the young woman who has recently narrowly escaped a series of life-threatening accidents. Something tells the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just mere coincidences or a spate of bad luck. It seems all too clear to him that someone is trying to do away with poor Nick, but who? And, what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will soon strike again. And, this time, Nick may not escape with her life.

My Thoughts:

Full disclosure. I don’t like this particular Aggie. I don’t. I know. Shhh. Just breathe and it will pass.

This one makes me sad. So many people die, so needlessly and for the dumbest of reasons. Yes, Poirot is brilliant. Yes, I believe people actually act this dumb. Yes, I buy his deductions. There’s nothing wrong with the writing. Or the plot. Or the characters.

But it just leaves me worn and sad for the state of the world. A little heartbroken for young lovers who deserve better. A bit nostalgic for an old fashioned hero who took great risk just to prove he could and was cheered by the world for doing so. sigh

I clearly missed my time period. LOL. I think I’ll just pop back to the 40’s and enjoy it all first hand.

Book Review: The Blood Card

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I just finished the latest Magic Men book, The Blood Card. I adore Elly Griffiths. I read everything she writes. I’ve gotten several friends into her two series.

The Basics (Courtesy of GoodReads): Elizabeth II’s coronation is looming, but the murder of their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, spoils the happy mood for DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. A playbill featuring another deceased comrade is found in Colonel Cartwright’s possession, and a playing card, the ace of hearts: the blood card. The wartime connection and the suggestion of magic are enough for him to put Stephens and Mephisto on the case.

Edgar’s investigation into the death of Brighton fortune-teller Madame Zabini is put on hold. Max is busy rehearsing for a spectacular Coronation Day variety show – and his television debut – so it’s Edgar who is sent to New York, a land of plenty worlds away from still-rationed England. He’s on the trail of a small-town mesmerist who may provide the key, but someone else silences him first. It’s Sergeant Emma Holmes who finds the clue, buried in the files of the Zabini case, that leads them to an anarchist group intent on providing an explosive finale to Coronation Day.

Now it’s up to Edgar, Max and Emma to foil the plot, and find out who it is who’s been dealing the cards . . .

My thoughts:

She let me down this time. Weak tea, this book. And maybe it’s that I’ve been doing rather a lot of Beta lately but I couldn’t help noticing her excessive use of crutch words like but and just. Many, many times a chapter. Was she on a short time line?

The plot was tepid as well. A bit tame. Predictable. Convoluted in a way that did not intrigue – left me tired. sigh.

It’s so disappointing when a favorite author lets you down badly.

Then again, I’d rather read tepid Elly Griffiths, then 50 shades of vampires.

 

Agatha Christie Read-a-thon Week 1

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I have been a huge fan of Agatha Christie as long as I can remember. Seriously, my mom saved a Christmas list from when I was eight and I asked for all the Agatha Christie books I didn’t already have. LOL. Of course, I didn’t quite realize I was asking for 80 plus books for Christmas.

Jay is hosting this love fest for the Grand Dame of Mystery. Our first book is The Secret Adversary. The first in the Tommy and Tuppence series.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Amazon):

Agatha Christie’s first Tommy and Tuppence is a thrill-packed novel of international intrigue and murder with all the Christie hallmarks of suspense and ingenuity. Tommy and Tuppence, two young people short of money and restless for excitement, embark on a daring business scheme – Young Adventurers Ltd. Their advertisement says they are ‘willing to do anything, go anywhere’. But their first assignment, for the sinister Mr Whittington, plunges them into more danger than they ever imagined!

My thoughts:

How disappointing that summary is. Goodreads had almost the same one though. I suppose given it’s Aggie, she doesn’t need much pomp and circumstance to sell books. Tommy and Tuppence are good fun as a mystery duo. I suspect they were quite fun as parents as well. In the later books they have grown children and I can only imagine Tuppence’s pluck balanced with Tommy’s stolid practicality made for an interesting time.

Agatha frequently works in her political opinions in her books. But I’m always much more interested in the way people relate to each other. She gives her characters such complicated inner workings but paints it with such a light hand.

One of my absolute favorite exchanges comes when Julius goes off to procure a Rolls Royce because Tuppence has said she wants one. She has told him it will be impossible, people wait ages. But he comes back in 35 minutes with the car.

“How did you get it?” gasped Tuppence.

“She was just being sent home to some bigwig.”

“Well?”

“I went round to his house,” said Julius. “I said that I reckoned a car like that was worth every penny of twenty thousand dollars. Then I told him that it was worth just about fifty thousand dollars to me if he’d get out.”

“Well?” said Tuppence, intoxicated.

“Well,” returned Julius, “he got out, that’s all.”

I laugh every time I read it. I think that’s the true joy of Christie novels: no matter how many times I read them, I laugh, I cry, I find new little bits that I never noticed before. It’s rich and layered even if she breaks all the “rules of good writing.”

Tuppence and Tommy come out on top, of course. The baddies get their comeuppance.

Next week we’re reading Peril at End House. It’s not too late to join us.

 

 

Book Review: The Book Stops Here

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I read Kate Carlisle’s book binding cozy mystery series from time to time. She’s always a safe choice.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of KCLS):

Brooklyn Wainwright is thrilled to be appearing on the San Francisco edition of the hit TV show This Old Attic as a rare-book expert and appraiser. Her first subject is a very valuable first-edition copy of the classic children’s story The Secret Garden,which is owned by a flower vendor named Vera. Once she hears what her book is worth, Vera is eager to have Brooklyn recondition it for resale. But after the episode airs, a furious man storms onto the set, claiming that Vera found the first edition at his garage sale, and he wants it back–or else. Brooklyn is relieved that she’s put The Secret Garden in a safe place, but Randolph Rayburn, the handsome host of This Old Attic, is terrified by the man’s threats. He confides in Brooklyn that he fears he is being stalked by the show’s former creator and star, who was fired when ratings declined. In the days that follow, several violent incidents occur on the set, and Brooklyn is almost killed, leaving both her and her security expert boyfriend, Derek, shaken. Is someone after Brooklyn and the book? Or has Randolph’s stalker become more desperate? And then Brooklyn visits Vera’s flower shop…and discovers her dead. Is the murderer one of the two obvious suspects, or is something more sinister–even bizarre–going on? Brooklyn had better find the clever killer soon or more than her chance at prime time may be canceled…permanently.

My Thoughts:

This is a good solid read. Although I admit to consuming a lot of alcohol while reading it on vacation. In fact, an entire “fishbowl” of a Cruiser was imbibed during the reading of this book.

And yet I can say; there was no trickery, no confusion. The occasional red herring did pop up and occasionally the book really stretched my suspension of disbelief.

No one questions a woman who asserts she found a 20-25K book at a yard sale for 3 dollars? Really?

And Brooklyn gets a new neighbor who can’t wait to be best friends with her. Surprise, the new neighbor just happens to be ex-CIA. Really?

I would still consider Carlisle a safe read, after all you need something mellow when consuming a beverage meant for four.

 

Book Review: The Monogram Murders

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An Agatha Christie book written by someone else. All my spidey sense are tingling. The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of KCLS):

Hercule Poirot’s quiet supper in a London coffee house is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified, but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done. Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London hotel have been murdered, and a cuff link has been placed in each one’s mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim.
My thoughts:

I am beyond torn on this one. I want to complain. There are so many issues. The Poirot in this book speaks French, he talks about his little grey cells, but he is not Poirot.

“I would know the difference with my eyes closed.” A line oft repeated in the novel. And the difference is there. This is not Poirot, it’s a detective in a Poirot suit. A third rate bit player in a detective suit in a Poirot suit.

And the real rub?

The book doesn’t need Poirot. It is delightfully torturous. A beautiful murder mystery from start to finish. The plot sets trap after trap in a way that had me patting myself on the back so hard that I managed to catch that trap, I didn’t see I had already fallen into another one. Which way am I digging? Out? Or further down the wrong path?

I get the cache a Poirot mystery brings. And in the book market today, you need everything leg up you can get. But calling this a Poirot mystery detracts from the brilliant work it actually would be with any other detective leading the charge. Lucky for me I am good at pretending she wasn’t talking about Agatha Christie’s Poirot.

Side Note: I was so absorbed in this book, I got burned lobster red on vacation.

 

Book Review: That Last Weekend

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I adore Laura DiSilverio. She writes two cozy series I truly enjoy. So when I saw this thriller, That Last Weekend, it was a no brainer.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Amazon):

A terrible accident. A killer among friends.

A woman risking everything for answers.

Every year for a decade, five college friends spent a weekend together at the atmospheric Chateau du Cygne Noir. Then, tragedy struck.

Ten years later, Laurel Muir returns to the castle for the first time since the accident, hoping to reconnect with her friends and lay the past to rest. When a murderer attacks, it rips open old wounds and forces the women to admit there’s a killer in their midst. The remaining friends make a pact to unearth the truth, but suspicion, doubt, and old secrets threaten to tear them apart. Unsure who to trust, Laurel puts herself in harm’s way, risking it all for friendship and long-delayed justice.

My Thoughts:

Slower than molasses in winter. But so intense, it’s chipotle infused molasses. It’s all about relationships, the psychology of how people behave, of what matters most to them and the lengths they will go to protect that. To manipulate you.

I easily spent 2/3s of the book praying the character I liked the most, wasn’t the killer because I could easily see how she might be. How they all might have done it.

Really well written. Really excellent bead on what makes people tick.

Book Review: Anyone You Want Me To Be

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Pure research, although I had to wait for a while to get this one, popular book. John Douglas used to be a Fed, a profiler in fact, and turned his skills to educated the public about how dangerous some people can be.

Basic Summary (Courtesy of Amazon):

Legendary FBI profiler and #1 New York Times bestselling author John Douglas explores the shocking case of John Robinson, a harmless, unassuming family man whose criminal history began with embezzlement and fraud — and ended with his arrest for the savage murders of six women and his suspected involvement in at least five disappearances. Most disturbing was the hunting ground in which Robinson seduced his prey: the world of cyberspace. Haunting chat rooms, targeting vulnerable women, and exploiting the anonymity of the Internet, his bloody spree was finally halted by a relentless parole officer who spent ten years trying to nail Robinson as a cold-blooded killer.

A cautionary tale set in a virtual world where relationships are established without the benefit of physical contact, and where mainstream Americans can be drawn down a dark path of temptation and death, Anyone You Want Me To Be is a contemporary real-life drama of high-tech crime and punishment.

My Thoughts:

Some of his statistics were so unbelievable I noted them so I could google as soon as had wifi again. And every time, the stats were actually worse today that what he quoted when the book was written. For example, John claimed 66% of death penalty convictions were overturned on appeal. I thought, no way. It’s now 75% since the death penalty was reinstated. He said in 1960 the clearance rate for homicide was 90%, now it was down to 64-67%. Well, as of today, it’s less than 60.

Makes me think my detectives are just too good. LOL. I need to play with my dialogue a bit.

I really enjoyed his profiler’s description of a sociopath. I plan to let it flavor my serial killer.

Over all, I found this an intriguing read. It was mildly repetitive. Unfortunately, it was very heavy on the foreshadowing, which released the tension, rather than building it.