Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Massie Dobbs mystery - 4th in the series

Set in 1930's England just before WWII is going to begin. Georgiana Bassington-Hope, a pioneering female war reporter who was a classmate of Maisie's at Girton College (Cambridge), asks Maisie to investigate the death of her twin brother, Nicholas Bassington-Hope, a WWI veteran and artist. The police have ruled Nick's fall from a scaffold at a Mayfair gallery before his masterpiece could be unveiled an accident, but Georgiana suspects foul play. As Maisie delves into the art world and the dead man's unusual family, we see that class divisions still abound and dangerous political undercurrents of homegrown fascism in early 1930s Britain.

Massie Dobbs books are more about psychological development versus a true mystery. A lot of this book has Dobbs evaluating her life and those around her. I enjoyed the development between her and Billie (her assistant) whose family suffers a tragedy. Dobbs suffers from a melancholy spirit and has to find if anyone can make her happy. But I love how we see an independent woman deals with society who tries to dictate what she can and can not do. I like how the author merges history with for me is an unknown time in history. I've heard her speak a couple of times and she spends a lot of time researching her books and keeping the characters as authentic as possible.

Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

First in the Jane Lawless series

After discovering a sorority sister drowned near her Alma mater, restaurateur Jane Lawless embarks on an investigation to untangle the events that led to Allison Lord's death. Because little evidence exists, the police assume Allison committed suicide; but Jane is somehow convinced that the young woman was murdered. Besides the mystery we see the many issues such as fundamentalism, homosexuality, bigotry and psychological that torment the characters. Jane is herself a lesbian but while she observes various behaviors the issue is never brought up except with her good friend, Cordelia Thorn. Cordelia is really the more interesting of the 2 as she is an actress and loves food. We find out that Jane's partner died several years ago and she has isolated herself off and is trying to find her back.

It was an interesting story and it was kind of refreshing to read a lesbian story that didn't focus so much on the sex but rather the relationships. I'm intrigued enough to want to read more books that feature Jane Lawless.

44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

First in the series, this book comprises of 110 sections was originally serialized in the Scotsman. We follow the lives of residents of an Edinburgh boarding house. We're first introduced to Pat, 21, who is on her second "gap year" (her first yearlong break from her studies was such a flop she refuses to discuss it). She is employed at a minor art gallery and newly settled at the eponymous address, where she admires vain flatmate Bruce and befriends neighbor Domenica. A low-level mystery develops about a possibly valuable painting that Pat discovers, proceeds to lose and then finds in the unlikely possession of Ian Rankin, whose bestselling mysteries celebrate the dark side of Edinburgh just as Smith's explore the (mostly) sunny side. The possibility of romance, the ongoing ups and downs of the large, well-drawn cast of characters, the intricate plot and the way Smith nimbly jumps from situation to situation and POV to POV.

I can see how this was written as a serial as each section has a bit of an ending with a bit of a cliffhanger so you want to read the next installment to find out what happened next. I love all of McCall Smith's works and enjoyed this as much as his other series. I listened to this on CD in the car and it was something I looked forward to every day while driving. I'm so glad that there are more out there to read.

City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley

It is February 1940, San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up, and the cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice--whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic.

I've read quite a few reviews so was excited to read it. I enjoyed a lot of it but did feel that I was given too much information about the main character. She's a PI who used to be a callgirl who used to be a nurse in the Spanish war. We just kept getting more layers that it almost overwhelmed the story for me. But she's a tough cookie, she drinks with the boys and doesn't give up when she gets beaten up. Plus she is out to find the answers no one wants to even ask the questions for.

Interesting storyline and characters and the ending was done well. I'll look for the sequel.

Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

In 2004, cartoonist Marchetto, a hyperstylish was busy capturing "fabulista" humor, in the New Yorker and Glamour. She was engaged to a fabulous guy, perennially cool restaurateur Silvano Marchetto, whose personal style perfectly matched her Manhattan-centric life. Just weeks before their "secret" wedding she found a lump in her breast shortly. Telling Silvano was bad enough but having to tell him that she didn't have health insurance was even worse. She was convinced he would leave her but his only concern was that she be ok, the rest would take care of themselves.

Cancer Vixen tells the story of what happens next, and how her inner circle— stylists, gossip columnists, shoe designers and assorted others you'd only find in New York City, rallies round to help her beat the disease and get married on time and in high style. Marchetto wears her best high heels to chemotherapy and remarks on the similarities between her hospital gown and Diane von Furstenberg designs.

I didn't expect to have such an emotional reaction as I did reading this story. It reminded me of Sex and the City but dealt with more serious issues. I really enjoyed it but found it informative as well. And learned never, never, never let your insurance lasp!

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, lives in the quiet English village in the 1950s. Flavia is the youngest of 3 girls who live with their widowed father. Their mother died just after Flavia was born. She spends much of time in her laboratory working with chemicals as well as is preoccupied with retaliating against her lofty older sisters. She is sneaking around after hours when she overhears a rude, redheaded stranger arguing with her eccentric father, a philatelic devotee.

Equally adept at quoting 18th-century works, listening at keyholes and picking locks, Flavia learns that her father, Colonel de Luce, may be involved in the suicide of his long-ago schoolmaster and the theft of a priceless stamp. The sudden expiration of the stranger in a cucumber bed brings for the mystery of who the man is and why he died there. She uses her local library and her connections with the other villagers, but when her father is arrested for murder she must prove who did it.

I really wanted to like it but just felt annoyed by how precocious and prickly Flavia is. It wasn't until the final chapters of the book that I even started to like her and enjoy the book. And that was because she got herself kidnapped and started to show she wasn't perfect.

There is a sequel and I may read it down the road but it will be awhile.

Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver

Features Lincoln Rhyme & Detective Amelia Sachs and introduces Kathryn Dance an investigator from the California Bureau of Investigation who is an expert interrogator and uses kinetics to spot lies witnesses and suspects present.

At first what seems to be 2 separate cases eventually intertwine in didn't see it coming moment. Sachs is investigating her first case solo in which a businessman supposedly commits suicide. But how does a man with a broken thumb tie a noose to hang himself? While Rhyme is investigating a serial killer who calls himself the watchmaker. But like an onion you keep pealing back the layers to find an even more complicated storyline.

I wanted to read this as I was curious about Kathryn Dance who is introduced in this book. But I wasn't disappointed either as it was a complicated yet intriguing story. I really liked how everything tied together in the end and it felt believable.

Body on the Beach by Simon Brett

Carole Seddon, a fiftyish divorcee late of the Home Office, has settled in a small town of Fethering, content to live a sensible, orderly retirement. But two events conspire to disrupt Carole's rigid routine: the arrival of an alarmingly casual new neighbor who insists on being called, merely, "Jude"; and the discovery of a dead middle-aged male on the Fethering beach.

When Carole informs the police about the body, they dismiss her as a menopausal hysteric; after all, their subsequent search of the area yielded no trace of evidence. But when a haggard, drug-deranged woman appears at Carole's door with a gun, demanding to know if Carole located a knife on the body, Carole realizes that the corpse had been moved just before the police search. The situation gets more dyre when a local teenage boy is found washed up on the beach, it's Jude who convinces Carole that the two deaths are somehow connected and deserving of the two neighbors' full attention.

We learn a lot about Carole's mundaine government working life but while hints of a more exotic life for Jude we really learn very little about her.  It's interesting as her character seems open but she won't even give out her last name.

I really enjoy Simon Brett and know that I read this many years ago but enjoyed it very much.  Yet more books to read now.

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich
 Latest installment in the Stephanie Plum series
 The story starts out with the kidnapping of her cousin, Vinnie, who's being held for ransom in the high six figures. As Stephanie, sidekick Lula, and office manager Connie soon realize, Vincent Plum Bail Bonds is seriously in the red due to Vinnie's gambling. Vinnie's also gotten caught up with local mobster Bobby Sunflower in a complicated scheme. Even though her sleazy cousin isn't her favorite person and chasing oddball felons isn't her ideal career, Stephanie knows family loyalty counts for something, plus she owes him for giving her a job all those years ago. So with Lula and Connie in tow--and romantic interests Morelli and Ranger lurking in the background Stephanie is causing hauvic once again.

For me this book fizzled rather than sizzled.  I was disappointed.  There were some comedic moments but honestly I think she just needs to go with either Morelli or Ranger and just ride it out!  It seems that the last few books have her skipping back and forth.   I'll continue to read this series but I hope the next one has a bit more fun in it.  It just felt flat to me.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley
To win the hand of the lovely Ramona Flowers, he must defeat her seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends in video-game style battles.  This time out, he's got to fight the handsome twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi who are even more awesome than Scott himself. More importantly, now that he and Ramona are cohabiting, they face danger from the jealousies and insecurities of couple hood.  Scott and Ramona both carry emotional baggage from their previous relationships. Scott cheated on one or more of his ex-girlfriends, who have names like Envy and Knives. As we know Ramona has several ex-boyfriends but dated the twins at the same time! 

The ending is rather bittersweet as Ramona just kind of pops out of existence.  It leaves you wondering how this will resolve. There is more mature feel to this series now as we see Scott become more of an adult especially with his relationships.  There is still that teen angst but thankfully not so prevalent.  A movie version of this series has been released but I think I'll wait until it comes out on cable or DVD.

Winter Widow by Charlene Weir

San Francisco policewoman Susan Donovan moves to Hampstead, Kans., when she marries the small city's police chief, Dan Wren, only to become a widow within six weeks. Shocked and enraged, Susan gets herself appointed Hampstead's temporary police chief and vows to find Dan's killer. When a reporter, daughter of the area's leading family, is strangled while investigating Dan's death, the mayor responds to local pressure and threatens to fire outsider Susan before more citizens die. She wins a five-day reprieve but must survive various assaults, from humans and animals, before she can solve the cases.

I had read a later book in the series and her backstory intrigued me so I finally read the first in the series.  Coming from the midwest you get a real feel of the cold isolation that the open plains are. She has to deal with a small town mentality where men run the show.  Much of the story is her internalizing the situation and trying to deal with the grief she is feeling.  Not bad for a first book.

Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

Nina Harrison has been 15 years old since 1973 because she is a vampire. She and the members of the Reformed Vampire Support Group break the mold when compared to the accepted vampire lore that has been around since the time of Count Dracula. They are not beautiful, strong, powerful, rich, or in control. Instead they are sickly, struggling just to stay alive, living on the blood of the guinea pigs they keep, and making the best of their affliction. They have all vowed not to drink human blood or be responsible for the creation of another vampire. But Nina hates her boring, uneventful life, which changes drastically when Casimir is staked and the group, realizing that the killer knows who and where they are, all move in with Nina and her mother, a non-vampire.

With only a silver bullet as a clue to track the vampire slayer, Nina, Dave, and Father Ramon, who sponsors the group, set out on a dangerous journey. Along the way they rescue a werewolf from an illegal fight ring, deal with a villainous father/son team, and discover that their immortal lives might have more to offer than they ever thought.

Set in Sydney Australia we get a real flavor of the city plus how uneventful life is if you are a vampire. Imagine if you were only awake during the night - it would really limit your work potential. Plus they even had to wear sunglasses at night as bright lights would make their eyes bleed! Yuck.

I wanted to like this but honestly the characters are so whiny and prickly it was hard to even care if they lived to the next day. But I finished it the end as I try to give most vampire books at least a try. I was grateful that it wasn't very violent and believe there was nothing romantic or sexy about being a vampire in this story. The redeaming factor was the ending chapter when it is revealed that Nina has written their story but changed names and descriptions and places to protect everyone.  So it felt more authentic then the rest of the story.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

This is a quiet tale of Major Ernest Pettigrew, an honor-bound Englishman and widower, who is the very embodiment of duty and pride. He lives in his childhood home in the quaint village of Edgecombe St. Mary in Sussex, England. As the story unfolds, the major is mourning the loss of his younger brother, Bertie, while grieving again for his wife who died several years ago. But on the flip side Pettigrew is trying to get back Bertie's antique Churchill shotgun—part of a set that the boys' father split between them, but which Bertie's widow doesn't want to hand over. While the major is eager to reunite the pair for tradition's sake, his son, Roger, has plans to sell the heirloom set to a collector for a tidy sum.

As he frets over the guns, the major develops a friendship with Jasmina Ali—the Pakistani widow of the local food shop owner in town. Mrs. Ali is a 50-something Pakistani widow who shares his love of Kipling and his wry look at the world in which they both reside.

Time passes and the more things change the more things stay the same as Pettigrew finds himself part of the gossip and he flounders on what is polite and what is the right thing to do. He struggles to understand his own son whom he discovering he has little in common with yet he yearns to have around.

This story is not dramatic and will not make you sit on the edge of your seat but I just kept turning the pages and enjoy this lovely quiet story about life.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Eizabeth Peters

Also writes under Barbara Michaels

Introduces us to Amelia Peabody

Set in 1884, Amelia Peabody is not your typcial female of the time. She is a spinster living with her aging father and more educated than most men. She lives through her books, so after her father dies she receives a large inheritance and decides to use it for travel. On her way through Rome to Egypt, she meets Evelyn Barton-Forbes, a young woman abandoned by her lover and left with no means of support. Amelia promptly takes Evelyn under her wing, insisting that the young lady accompany her to Egypt, where Amelia plans to indulge her passion for Egyptology.

But when Evelyn becomes the target of an aborted kidnapping and the focus of a series of suspicious accidents and mysterious visitations, Amelia becomes convinced of a plot to harm her young friend. Like any self-respecting sleuth, Amelia sets out to discover who is behind it all. As they enter Egypt they brothers Walter & Radcliff Emerson, who become love interests. The story gets more complicated when Evelyn's cousin shows up with a marriage proposal and a promise to split their grandfather's inheritance.

The mystery is not why you would read this book. It is an entertaining yet educational look at a time period in which men and women were discovering much about the past and moving towards the future. I had read this book back in high school and read many of the series but it's been years since I've read a Peabody mystery. I'm ready to catch back up with this entertaining series.

Mischief in Maggoddy by Joan Hess

Arly Hanks, comes back from vacation to find the community in an uproar: practically everyone is under the influence of psychic Madame Celeste, four hippies have taken over a local store and local prostitute and moonshiner Robin Buchanon has disappeared, leaving behind five hungry children.

The mayor's wife, busybody Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, wants Arly to do something about the children, a wild and uncivilized lot, but Arly manages to foist them onto Mrs. Jim Bob while she goes hunting for the mother, whom she finds with her head blown off in the middle of a marijuana patch. As she sets out to discover who planted the weed and then booby-trapped it, the children proceed to bring Mrs. Jim Bob low while Madame Celeste has premonitions of disaster. Aided by a possible new love interest, David Allen Wainright, guidance counselor at the local high school, Arly tries to help the children, particularly the foulmouthed but oddly charming Hammet.

I have to say this is one of my favorite Maggoddy books. I read it so long ago but the majority of the story stuck with me. But I had forgotten that it had all happened in one book and not through out several storylines. Looking forward to more Maggody books to read over this hot summer.

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures - The Complete Collection by Laurel K. Hamilton, Stacie Ritchie, Jess Ruffner-Booth, Brett Booth and Ron Lim

Graphic novel based on the Anita Blake series - this one focuses on the Guilty Pleasures book. Fusing mythology, werewolves, and vampires with a story loaded with mystery, action, and romance, the Anita Blake novels take place in a world where vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of nightmare have been declared legal citizens of the United States. Anita Blake is an "animator" - a profession that involves raising the dead for a living. She is also known as a fearsome hunter of criminal vampires, and she moonlights by investigating cases that are far too much for "conventional" police. But as Anita gains the attention of the vampire masters in her hometown of St. Louis, she also risks revealing an intriguing secret about herself - the source of her unusual strength and power. Watch as Anita goes up against fierce obstacles and is forced to make tough choices. What price will Anita pay in order to save her friend's life and solve the Vampire Murders?

Since I've read a lot of this series I didn't have problems following the storyline but for those who may not have read the series I think it would be hard to follow or understand Anita's motivation. I personally didn't care for the illustrations of Anita or Jean Claude as he really looked like a harlequin romance cover with his white pirate shirt. Plus it was hard to figure out why she even liked Phillip or Jean Claude. I did enjoy some of the minor storylines such as the wererats and Edward who is also an animator. But honestly I didn't enjoy as much as I hoped.

Peony in Love by Lisa See

Set in 17th-century China, this coming-of-age story, is part ghost story, family saga but also a work of musical and social history. The story is told by Peony, the 15-year-old daughter of the wealthy Chen family, as she approaches an arranged marriage, she commits an unthinkable breach of etiquette when she accidentally comes upon a man who has entered the family garden. Unusually for a girl of her time, Peony has been educated and revels in studying The Peony Pavilion, a real opera published in 1598, as the repercussions of the meeting unfold.

Peony's life mirrors that of the opera, and eternal themes abound: an intelligent girl chafing against the restrictions of expected behavior; fiction's educative powers; the rocky path of love between lovers and in families. It figures into the plot that generations of young Chinese women, known as the lovesick maidens, became obsessed with The Peony Pavilion, and, in a Werther-like passion, many starved themselves to death. You really see how life was during that time as the story offers meticulous depiction of women's roles in Qing and Ming dynasty China (including horrifying foot-binding scenes) and vivid descriptions of daily Qing life, festivals and rituals.

The story takes place over a span of almost 30 years as we see Peony become a hungry ghost and deal with the loss of her life and love of her family and the life she never got to have. So she tries to live life through the living as she follows the man she was supposed to marry. But until her tablet is dotted she will never be able to venture on. Women are punished during life and after life for not conforming to what is expected of them.

A truly intriguing story as it really is about a time period I have little knowledge or read about it. Plus it was interesting to discover how much women of that time were involved with literature and the arts. This is not a light summer read but a though provoking story. I need to read more by Lisa See.

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Set in the post apocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its 12 territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death. We start out the story seeing life through Katniss Everdeen's eyes as she struggles to find food for her mother and younger sister. When the drawing happens for the tributes of district 12, Katniss finds to her horror that her sister's name is drawn. In a moment of almost dispair Katniss offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games. So after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta Mellark, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances.

Much of the story is told through flashbacks as we learn more about Katniss and how she came to this point. But the story is brutal as one by one tributes are killed off until the shocking conclusion where the ultimate horror becomes realized. Because of the "love connection" between Katniss & Peeta it is determined that if both tributes from the same district survive to the end then they can both be winners. But when the capital tries to revoke it at the last moment Katniss has the last word by showing they are both willing to die if they have to chose. Unfortunately the love Peeta feels for Katniss is real while Katniss is playing the game to survive.

So the story ends with them going home as the victors but Katniss has revealed her feelings to Peeta who is heartbroken. We're left wondering if they can keep up the deception as they will be under constant surveillance by the capital. Since this is the first book in the trilogy it isn't suprising that the ending is left opened for the next book. I listened to it on CD and really enjoyed it. It's right up there with Lois Lowry's Giver and Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Wow.

Gunnerkrigg Court Vol 1 Orientation - by Todd Siddell

In her first school year, Antinomy Carver attends a mysterious boarding school that looks more like a vast modern factory, while across the adjacent, forbidding Annan Waters is Gillitie Wood, home of fairies, gods, ghosts and sentient shadows.

As the chapters progress Antimony learns more about the school as well as her parents. Most of Antimony's childhood has been spent in hospital sitting with her dying mother. Now that her mother is dead her father is off to parts unknown leaving her at the boarding school both her parents attended. Many of the teachers were classmates of her parents.

But nothing really ruffles Antimony, not even where her little stuffed doggie, soon houses a grouchy but rather protective demon, while the robot she builds out of spare parts lying around the school crosses the Water and comes back with a living wooden arm. Grownups are of little help to the young protagonists, but Antinomy faces difficulties with courage and self-possessed good manners. She and her friend Kat respond appropriately to each fresh bit of weirdness, sometimes taking part in sci-fi space adventures, sometimes coping with the loss of a friend who's changing into a bird.

While this has an almost Harry Potter like feel it very much lives up to it's own as we discover along with Antimony what the school and it's participants are all about. Looking forward to Vol 2.

A.D. - New Orleans After the Deludge by Josh Neufeld


A.D. follows six people from the hours before Katrina struck to its horrific aftermath. Here is Denise, a sixth-generation New Orleanian who will experience the chaos of the Superdome; the Doctor, whose unscathed French Quarter home becomes a refuge for those not so lucky; Abbas and his friend Mansell, who face the storm from the roof of Abbas’s family-run market; Kwame, a pastor’s son whose young life will remain wildly unsettled well into the future; and Leo, a comic-book fan, and his girlfriend, Michelle, who will lose everything but each other. We watch as they make the wrenching decision between staying and evacuating. And we see them coping not only with the outcome of their own decisions but also with those made by politicians, police, and others like themselves--decisions that drastically affect their lives, but over which they have no control.


I think I saw it listed as one of the top 10 GN for Teens for 2009 so I thought I would give it a try. Wow! I was impressed by how much punch and emotion came out with very little text and mostly illustrations to make a point. It brings it all back, the horror at watching this natural disaster become a terrible, terrible disaster. Just really well done.