Witch way to murder: an Ophelia and Abby mystery / by Shirley Damsgaard
Thirty something Ophelia Jensen wants to live a quiet life as a small town librarian. She's created a comfortable existence with her kooky, colorful grandmother Abby, and if it were up to her, they could live out their days--along with Ophelia's dog Lady and cat Queenie--in peace and quiet. But, to Ophelia's dismay, she and Abby aren't a typical grandmother/granddaughter duo. She possesses psychic powers, and Abby is a kindly witch. And while Ophelia would do anything to dismiss her gift--harboring terrible guilt after her best friend was killed and she was unable to stop it--threatening events keep popping up, forcing her to tap into her powers of intuition. To make matters worse, a strange--yet devastatingly attractive--man is hanging around Ophelia's library, and no matter how many times she tells him she's sworn off men forever, he persists. Soon this handsome newcomer reveals he's following a lead on a local drug ring, and then a dead body shows up right in Abby's backyard. And much as Ophelia would like to put away her spells forever, she and Abby must use their special powers to keep themselves, and others, out of harm's way.
Ophelia is a great character, so intent on not getting hurt again that the walls she's built inside have kept her from really knowing people, like her coworker Darci. Ophelia's past is slowly revealed throughout the course of the book, so readers learn why she is the way she is, just as she herself does. Abby is another good character, content in who she is and not caring what other people think. Rick, with his incessant questions is annoying at first, but grew on me as a character once his true reason for being in town was revealed. The magick that Abby (and Ophelia to a lesser extent) perform is very believable, as is Ophelia's struggle to accept her gifts and her past. The mystery itself is a bit darker than in most cozy mysteries, but pretty easy to figure out, since it's obvious from the beginning who the bad guys are. It will be interesting to see future books with these characters.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain
America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by a nosy college roommate-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.
This book is the story of the real Nancy Drew. Taking 10 cases, it explores her life from the 1920's to 1992. As the times change, so does Nancy's life. But she still finds herself caught up in mysteries that often involve other famous teen sleuths like Frank and Joe Hardy, Judy Bolton, and Encyclopedia Brown. And they are quite eye opening for all concerned. Make no mistake about it, this book is intended for adults and not kids. There are lots of adult themes, and no halos are left intact.
The author nailed that part when she has Nancy talk about how we the readers never want to seem these characters grow up or change. On the other hand, I found the cameos by other teen sleuths (and there seems to be at least one every chapter) quite fun. Obviously, the more you know about them, the more you'll enjoy the references. Since I've read a lot of children's mystery series from the 1940's on I enjoyed having these cameos. Of course, some come out looking better then others. The storylines of each chapter are quite fun as they find Nancy in various points of history.
This is a fun read for those who loved reading mysteries from Nancy Drew to Encyclopedia Brown. It will make you laugh and feel nostalgic.
America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by a nosy college roommate-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.
This book is the story of the real Nancy Drew. Taking 10 cases, it explores her life from the 1920's to 1992. As the times change, so does Nancy's life. But she still finds herself caught up in mysteries that often involve other famous teen sleuths like Frank and Joe Hardy, Judy Bolton, and Encyclopedia Brown. And they are quite eye opening for all concerned. Make no mistake about it, this book is intended for adults and not kids. There are lots of adult themes, and no halos are left intact.
The author nailed that part when she has Nancy talk about how we the readers never want to seem these characters grow up or change. On the other hand, I found the cameos by other teen sleuths (and there seems to be at least one every chapter) quite fun. Obviously, the more you know about them, the more you'll enjoy the references. Since I've read a lot of children's mystery series from the 1940's on I enjoyed having these cameos. Of course, some come out looking better then others. The storylines of each chapter are quite fun as they find Nancy in various points of history.
This is a fun read for those who loved reading mysteries from Nancy Drew to Encyclopedia Brown. It will make you laugh and feel nostalgic.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Deja Dead by Kathleen Reichs
Dr. Temperance Brennan is a fortyish American forensic anthropologist from the South, who is working in French-speaking Montreal. A recovering alcoholic, she is divorced, mother of a college-age daughter, troubled--and incredibly good at what she does. In a tight story heavily interspersed with fascinating scenarios of Montreal, Temperance (called "Tempe") is called upon to autopsy a young female victim of a pathologically gruesome murder.
When an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern within the grisly handiwork -- and her professional detachment gives way to a harrowing search for a killer in the city's winding streets. With little help from the police, Tempe calls on her expertise, honed in the isolated intensity of the autopsy suite, to investigate on her own. But her determined chase is about to place those closest to her -- her best friend and her daughter -- in mortal danger....
I'm a big fan of the show Bones - based on this series. So I was curious to see how they compared. Very differently but interesting to compare. It was interesing how the book is from the 1st person point of view but often I felt left out on why she was reacting or feeling they way she was. So I'm interested to see if Tempe's character is further developed.
Dr. Temperance Brennan is a fortyish American forensic anthropologist from the South, who is working in French-speaking Montreal. A recovering alcoholic, she is divorced, mother of a college-age daughter, troubled--and incredibly good at what she does. In a tight story heavily interspersed with fascinating scenarios of Montreal, Temperance (called "Tempe") is called upon to autopsy a young female victim of a pathologically gruesome murder.
When an unidentified female corpse is discovered meticulously dismembered and stashed in garbage bags, Tempe detects an alarming pattern within the grisly handiwork -- and her professional detachment gives way to a harrowing search for a killer in the city's winding streets. With little help from the police, Tempe calls on her expertise, honed in the isolated intensity of the autopsy suite, to investigate on her own. But her determined chase is about to place those closest to her -- her best friend and her daughter -- in mortal danger....
I'm a big fan of the show Bones - based on this series. So I was curious to see how they compared. Very differently but interesting to compare. It was interesing how the book is from the 1st person point of view but often I felt left out on why she was reacting or feeling they way she was. So I'm interested to see if Tempe's character is further developed.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus (Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth) when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train.
The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison. But there he also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. He also is introduced to an elephant named Rosie.
The book jumps from the present and him remembering the past. It has a mixture of extremely graphic violence and a dreamlike vision of his life in the circus. Then you are slammed back into his reality of living in a glamorized nursing home, alone with only his memories.
I liked how his life was summed up but did not find the ending believable but appreciated the romantic notion it gave. She has an interesting voice that makes you want to know what happens.
Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus (Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth) when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train.
The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison. But there he also falls in love with Marlena, one of the show's star performers—a romance complicated by Marlena's husband, the unbalanced, sadistic circus boss who beats both his wife and the animals Jankowski cares for. He also is introduced to an elephant named Rosie.
The book jumps from the present and him remembering the past. It has a mixture of extremely graphic violence and a dreamlike vision of his life in the circus. Then you are slammed back into his reality of living in a glamorized nursing home, alone with only his memories.
I liked how his life was summed up but did not find the ending believable but appreciated the romantic notion it gave. She has an interesting voice that makes you want to know what happens.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
It is England, 1915. 17 year Alexandra Fox lives a privileged life in Brighton. Her elder brothers are both of age for the war, one wants to be a soldier and the other a doctor and does not want to fight. Their disapproving father is a doctor but only sees the honor his sons must bring to the family by fighting the war. Alexandra wants to become a nurse but discovers she has a terrible gift. She can see the future. Her premonitions show her brutal horrors on the battlefields of the Somme, corpse worms crawling over the faces of soldiers soon to die. And worse, they show her what will happen to Edgar and Tom.
Like the Prophetess Cassandra, who witnessed a different war on the plains of Troy, Alexandra is trapped by her tragic power. Cursed by a fate too awful to bear - for who wants to see the end of their own story...? Alexandra's story leads her to the French battlefields, and the road to High Wood, pursued all the while by a mysterious vision of a raven, mocking and taunting her.
Interestingly told as the chapters count down from 101 to 1, leading more to the countdown to doom. It is told from the point of view of Alexandra as her dreams and visions show her the death of soldiers and eventually her brothers. Unable to help her brother Edgar she is determined to save Tom. So she goes as a volunteer nurse to France and the front. In France, she meets a soldier like herself who can see the deaths of those around him. Together they search for Tom. But will she be able to save Tom or is his fate already decided?
This read very fast and was an interesting twist on the typical teen historical novels. I would read more by him.
It is England, 1915. 17 year Alexandra Fox lives a privileged life in Brighton. Her elder brothers are both of age for the war, one wants to be a soldier and the other a doctor and does not want to fight. Their disapproving father is a doctor but only sees the honor his sons must bring to the family by fighting the war. Alexandra wants to become a nurse but discovers she has a terrible gift. She can see the future. Her premonitions show her brutal horrors on the battlefields of the Somme, corpse worms crawling over the faces of soldiers soon to die. And worse, they show her what will happen to Edgar and Tom.
Like the Prophetess Cassandra, who witnessed a different war on the plains of Troy, Alexandra is trapped by her tragic power. Cursed by a fate too awful to bear - for who wants to see the end of their own story...? Alexandra's story leads her to the French battlefields, and the road to High Wood, pursued all the while by a mysterious vision of a raven, mocking and taunting her.
Interestingly told as the chapters count down from 101 to 1, leading more to the countdown to doom. It is told from the point of view of Alexandra as her dreams and visions show her the death of soldiers and eventually her brothers. Unable to help her brother Edgar she is determined to save Tom. So she goes as a volunteer nurse to France and the front. In France, she meets a soldier like herself who can see the deaths of those around him. Together they search for Tom. But will she be able to save Tom or is his fate already decided?
This read very fast and was an interesting twist on the typical teen historical novels. I would read more by him.
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