Still Life by Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

The residents of a tiny Canadian village in Quebec, Canada called Three Pines are shocked when the body of Miss Jane Neal is found in the woods. Miss Neal, the village's retired schoolteacher and a talented amateur artist, has been a good friend to most of the townsfolk, so her loss is keenly felt. At first, her death appears to be a tragic accident--it's deer-hunting season, and it looks a stray hunter's arrow killed her.

But since no one can find the murder weapon Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Montreal Surete is called in to investigate. Accompanying Gamache are his loyal assistant Beauvoir and Yvette Nichol, a new addition to Gamache's team. The trio soon finds that the seemingly peaceful, friendly village hides dark secrets.

This intriguing cozy was much more graphic than I expected and was a pleasant surprise as now I want to read more. It has the flair of a Miss Marple but the drama of Hercule Poirot.

Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz)

Lavinia Lake first encounters Tobias March when he bursts into her antiques shop in Rome, trashing her wares, all the while claiming to be on the trail of a murderer and warning Lavinia that she is in danger. There's also talk of treason, a criminal organization known as the Blue Chamber and an evil mastermind named Azure.

Despite her skepticism, Lavinia returns with her niece, Emeline, to London, where she is caught up in more intrigue. She sets herself up as a private detective and even though stubbornness on both sides leads to an oil-and-water pairing, she soon finds herself in business with Tobias, attempting to foil a blackmail scheme, locate the culprit in a series of murders and identify the surviving member of Azure's organization. 

Lavinia also is skilled in the practice of mesmerism, but decides to become a private investigator. Strong-willed and independent, Lavinia isn't a typical society widow, a fact which alternately attracts and frustrates her enigmatic partner, Tobias March. Lavinia and Tobias have a prickly and passionate relationship, and Tobias is determined to protect her, while Lavinia is just as determined to be an equal partner in their business. 

Both Lavinia and Tobias come from simliar backgrounds where they have to take responsiblity of another person and help make both better.  But the sexual tension doesn't have much depth and it took me awhile to figure out what drives the characters.  The sub-characters were almost more interesting than the main ones.

The first chapter of the next book in the series was included but I'm not sure if I'm that interested in reading more of this series or not.  It reminds me of the Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson series by Elizabeth Peters which I think I really prefer.  Plus I think I prefer her books that have more a futuristic aspect to them that she writes under Jayne Castle.

Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

First in the Strain series

When a plane arriving from Berlin goes completely black on the runway at JFK, losing all electrical power and contact with the outside world, authorities expect to find a tense hostage situation on board. Instead, they discover that almost everyone on the plane has mysteriously died, presumably during the very brief interval between the time it landed and the moment a SWAT team stormed the cabin. Suspecting a disease of some kind and fearing its spread, authorities call in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, head of a CDC team set up to deal with just this sort of fast-moving, potentially catastrophic epidemic.

What Dr. Goodweather and his team gradually discover, however, is something much stranger and potentially even more dangerous: a species of parasitic worm that gradually turns its host into a bloodthirsty something that very closely resembles a vampire. Soon they are operating well outside the realm of established science, especially after they team up with Abraham Setrakian, a Holocaust survivor and former academic who now operates a pawnshop in Spanish Harlem and has dealt with this sort of thing before. Armed with Setrakian's knowledge and an extensive arsenal of anti-vampire weaponry, the CDC team sets out to control the outbreak by attacking its source.

An interesting premise and I was intrigued by the storyline as I've enjoyed many vampire novels in the past.  This one did not disappoint though I could tell towards the end that it was going to be a series as there was no way it could be finished in one.  So of course there is a cliff-hanger to make me want to read the next one.  But it was borderline too much for me.  The gore was pretty offensive especially in some sections.  I just turned down the volume and waited it out.

Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono

Nicoletta, in her late teens or early 20's is seeking out the mother who left her as a child.  She finds her way to Casetta dell'Orso, a quaint little restaurant in the heart of Rome. The food's delicious, but the handsome staff of bespectacled gentlemen is the real draw. Nicoletta's mother, Olga, left her with her grandmother when she was 4 years old to marry her dream man, Lorenzo, whom she believes would have refused her had she revealed the existence of her child. Fifteen years later, the adult Nicoletta plans to expose her mother by telling Lorenzo the truth.

But instead decides to observe her mother and her relationship with her husband and the people who work in the restaurant.  She finds herself attracted to one particular waiter, Claudio, who still wears a wedding ring even though he has been divorced for years.  But his ex-wife continues to eat in the restaurant every week almost making in impossible for him to move on.  So Nicolette continues to watch and learn from everyone as she starts to work in the kitchen prepping and cleaning.

I enjoyed this quiet graphic novel though I'm not really sure I understood everything but found the illustrations intriguing and it kept me reading.

Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

This picks up where "Girl Who Played with Fire" left off - Lisbeth Salander, who was found by Blomkvist shot in the head is alive after having brain surgery. Though still the prime suspect in three murders in Stockholm, she is convalescing under armed guard.  Meanwhile Mikael Blomkvist works to unravel the decades-old coverup surrounding the man who shot Salander: her father, Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector and longtime secret asset to Säpo, Sweden's security police. While Blomkvist and Listbeth primarily communicate via online the story flows as both come to terms with the truth.

It took me 2 months to read this book as the first 350 pages just were difficult for me to process.  We are introduced to many new characters while we continue to follow old ones.  Plus since I knew it was the final book I think I just didn't want to finish it.  But once I got to about 350 I just couldn't put it down.  Thankfully it was over a long weekend so I was able to finish it and I felt very happy by the ending.  While I'll miss this series I felt like it ended where I would like it to be.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch

Mirka is a normal Orthodox Jewish girl who dreams of fighting dragons.  She constantly battles wits with her stepmother, Fruma, whose argumentative nature and sharp nose conceal a warm and caring nature.  Mirka is stuck going to school, cleaning and has to learn how to knit, yet longs to wield a sword and do battle with dragons. 

One day on her way to school she takes a wrong turn and discovers a magical house where a witch lives.  She brings her siblings there to prove she isn't just making it up.  She takes one grape and finds herself caught in a battle of wills with a talking pig.  The girl encounters both a mind-reading witch and a multilingual troll in her quest for a sword with which to fight dragons. Yiddish language and Jewish customs are an essential part of the story and provide window to another way of life. 

The scene where Mirka outwits the troll and obtains the sword is hysterical as she is challenged to a race of knitting the perfect sweater.  What makes this graphic novel endearing is the relationships that Mirka has with her stepmother and her opinionated brothers and sisters.  We see how life is in an Orthodox Jewish village as Mirka has to deal with life and yet dreams outside her ordinary life.  Interestingly enough the father never has a voice and is in the background while the stepmother is the one who teaches Mirka how to live life including how to fight trolls.  A fun yet thought provoking graphic novel.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster

Mr. Bones, "a mutt of no particular worth or distinction," and his master, Willy G. Christmas, a middle-aged schizophrenic who has been on the streets since the death of his mother four years before. The novel begins with Willy and Mr. Bones in Baltimore searching for a former high school English teacher who had encouraged the teenage Willy's writerly aspirations. Now Willy is dying and anxious to find a home for both his dog and the multitude of manuscripts he has stashed in a Greyhound bus terminal.  Timbuktu is Willy's name for heaven.

After Mr. Bones is forced to leave Willy he is temporarily adopted by a Chinese boy named Henry but after a few days is discovered by Henry's father and forced to run again.  He then finds a family with 2 young children, Alice & Tiger - but there is no longer has control of his own life.  There are rules that he must follow or there might be serious consequences. But in the end Mr. Bones decides his own fate and goes to find the road to Timbuktu.

This was a rough book to read as about half is focused on Willy and Mr. Bones' relationship and mostly about Willy's rants. But this is all Mr. Bones has ever known.  Over the years I've worked with a lot of homeless that are homeless by choice - more often than not really intelligent people.  So it was hard to read the sections with Willy.  Plus I knew the book wasn't really going to be a happy one - it just had a despondent feel to it.  But there were some really lovely passages - I loved the section in which Mr. Bones turns into a fly and follows Willy to the hospital and is there until he dies.  It is a dream of course but wouldn't it be a wonderful thing?