- Entries : Category [ Mysteries ]
09 March
2008
Ready for vacation
beach reads
Two weeks ago I was ready for the beach, so I found a couple of mystery beach reads from the most-trusted source for mystery books: Murder by the Book in Houston, TX. Although their website is rather lame, the books and recommendations are first rate. Click here if you want to visit MBTB's website.
If you are looking for a fun, light, and a laugh-out-loud improbable book, here you go: Brilliant by Marne Davis Kellogg. It fits the category of beach read because it takes no brain cells, it is really light on plot, and the dialogue is amusing without being loaded with witticisms and meaning. The main character, Kick, is an executive assistant at an auction house in London. She is also the former mistress of the late owner; plans to retire on her trust fund; is a trusted steward of the auction house; extremely honor bound; and oh yeah, she is a world-class jewel thief. Kick's's unique code and idea of what it means to be a lady is what keeps you amused. I've pictured Kick as a Martha Stewart with the body of Dolly Parton. You really can't take this book seriously, so it fits rather well with the sand and sunscreen.
22 March
2008
A book set over the pond
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King
I wrote an entire entry on this book and then found this:
"As every good mystery reader knows, when Sherlock Holmes quit detection, he retired to the South Downs to keep bees. What he wanted was the quiet life. What he got, according to Laurie King, was a gawky but fiercely intelligent apprentice. Not only that, but this apprentice was a young woman….For my money, Laurie King is the most interesting writer to emerge on the American crime fiction front in recent years. Intelligent, humane, gifted with both talent and insight, she is an unalloyed pleasure to read. "(Manchester Evening News--Val McDermid)
Laurie King is a joy to read in the same style as Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham. If you enjoy it, be assured there are plenty more in the series.
A British Period Piece
Death in the Garden by Elizabeth Ironside
This is a vintage 1930's upper crust, British, garden mystery that takes 50 years to solve. It is PD James, Agatha Christie and Evelyn Waugh wrapped in one. Moving the action between the '30s and the end of the century is actually very interesting and keeps the suspense of who and why going. Elizabeth Ironside, the pseudonym for Lady Manning, the wife of the British Ambassador to the US, paints a wonderful picture of life between the wars. This book was another great read that I spent 2 days trying to get back to every chance I got.
Whose Body
Dorothy L. Sayers
Over the years PBS has introduced me to some of my favorite authors. Dorothy Sayers is one of those. Ten mystery novels starring Lord Peter Wimsey was all that she wrote before Sayers devoted her energy to her true passion, theological studies. Her translation of Dante is still highly regarded, and yet her mystery books are my favorite.
Although spanning the decades between the wars, these books capture a bygone era that is fun to visit in a book. Despite what the cover art looks like here, these stories are truly timeless and real page turners.
If you've never read any of her work - you are in for a real treat. If you have the time start with Whose Body. If you enjoy Dorothy Sayers, you'll also love Margery Allingham.
23 March
2008
Death at Bishop's Keep
by Robin Paige (pseudonym for Susan Wittig Albert and Bill Albert)
Another awesome series. I've found this appeals to late teens as well as retirees. If you are looking for a good beach read and you like historical fiction, British Victorian literature, or mysteries, this series is for you.
Kathryn Ardleigh, daughter of deceased immigrants, is a struggling author of penny dreadfuls in NYC and is given the opportunity to return to her aunt's house in Essex England as a companion and secretary. It is England that the mystery unfolds as this anything but typical Victorian woman (she is rather outspoken, independent, wears pants, likes to drive automobiles) teams up with amateur detective Sir Charles to investigate the dead body uncovered at a nearby archaeological dig.
In subsequent stories Beatrix Potter, Winston Churchill, Countess of Warwick, and the Prince of Wales, among others, make cameo appearances.
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