The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny

I want to rush right out and buy this for my my friends, a couple--one a musician and the other a poet.  It inspired and moved me.  Louise Penny has quickly become one of my favorite authors.  In fact, I keep telling folks that my first retirement trip is going to include a literary tour of Quebec following the Inspector Gamache books.  I just hope I can find Three Pines (or something like it!).

Finally Three Pines is spared a murder!  This mystery takes place at monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups.  A monastery hidden from view for centuries and recently come to public attention through the making of a CD of Gregorian Chants.  But, success breeds dissent and hence Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir go together to investigate the murder of one of the monks.

The secondary plots of the series are nicely developed as well.

Take a day or two to savor this one (and maybe put some Gregorian Chants on as you read)!

Harry Hole novels by Jo Nesbo

It looks like I've been deep in detective fiction this fall/winter.  Indeed--that is the case.  Shortly before I fell into Louise Penny's work I discovered that of Jo Nesbo.  Nesbo is a Norwegian author.  In the past I have read Stieg Larsson's books (Swedish).  It appears that Scandinavian detectives/editors are generally pretty miserable.  Harry Hole is a rather desperate alcoholic who is however, a loving brother to his sister with Down Syndrome.  He also cares deeply for his father, but has some difficulty with that relationship.

Through all his drinking and drug binges Harry manages to solve terrible crimes.  Unfortunately, in most cases he leaves a trail of destruction on his way to the solution.  The plots are well crafted and move forward with a sense of urgency.  They are not, however, for the faint-hearted.  There is graphic violence and some relatively explicit sexual scenes.

 Hole solves murders through inspiration.  It can be hard to follow the clues that get him to the solution.  Sometimes it is as if his drinking and drugging are necessary to put him into a state that allows the subconscious to work.

Although Hole is not a character that you will like, he is fascinating.  I will finish the series and also pick up his children's books, the Doctor Proctor  series.

Reading these alternately with Louise Penny's books has been quite a study in contrasts.  The Nesbo's rough, grimy tales alternately with Penny's comparatively gentle, refined works have perhaps counterbalanced each other.

A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

I picked this up because of a review I heard on NPR. A Fatal Grace is second in a series about Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of the Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec.  The series is technically "detective fiction" or a "murder mystery" but the writing itself is literary.  I will be reading other titles in this series and hope to continue to be delighted with the artful weaving of the arts with mystery/detective work.  

A Fatal Grace is set in a lovely village in the Canadian province of Quebec.  The cast of characters include a poet, two artists, and several other interesting folk.  The poetry included in the book is lovely and inspired me to return a volume of poetry to my "to read" stack.  Inspector Gamache is a particularly compelling main character.  He is intelligent, sensitive, and wise about people.  Unlike many other detectives he appears not be to plagued by major personality quirks or haunted by demons from his past. 

If I'm reading her home page correctly I have quite a bit of reading to do.  I appears there are 11 titles in this series to date. 

http://www.louisepenny.com/

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

This book was pretty compelling, right up to the end. 

Sylvie, a bright and motivated 14 year old, lives in a pretty discouraging home.  Her parents "heal" the haunted.  Her older sister is a rebel.  The book is a murder mystery.  Early in the story Sylvie's parents are murdered in a local church.  Sylvie may be the only one who has answers to the identity of the real murderer.

Over all I enjoyed the book.  The strands of the mystery are many and interwoven.  I would have personally chosen a different ending, but that is because I am always looking for cross-over books (adult books for young adults).  I will hesitate to recommend this book without forewarning (in my conservative state). 

One strength of the book is that there are many adults and a few young adults who actually support Sylvie and are actually somewhat helpful.  The main characters are relatively nuanced.  Generally I can recommend this as a summer read. 

A Sunless Seam, by Anne Perry

Random House:  2012

This latest addition to the William Monk series is equal to any of Perry's other works. Those of you unfamiliar with Anne Perry's work, she sets most of her books in Victorian England. Thus, in addition to a gripping detective story, you also gain an appreciation of the Victorian era. The book continues the theme from Perry's most recent Monk novel, but she provides adequate details so that readers who have not completed,  Acceptable Loss, will not find following the plot difficult.

This book explores the opium trade and the opium wars that marred this period of  British history. Her portrayal but seems realistic that I have no expertise to be able to evaluate the accuracy of her research. I find it extremely believable and detailed enough that but I am willing to take it at face value.

Thea plot and characterizations are among Perry's best. I appreciate the way that she actually develops characters over the series and rejoice in William Monk's change of relationship with his former antagonist Runicorn.

I had the opportunity to travel to London this summer. Doing so has changed my reading experience. Although the docks are no longer the dangerous and dirty territory portrayed in this novel, having been there and on the Thames, I have a much greater sense of place. Envisioning Perry's books while I visited enrich my time in the city as well. I found myself wanting to purchase copies of them so I could work through the details. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to really walk through either Anne Perry's books or Sherlock Holmes adventures. In my next trip, I will plan more time so that I can complete these literary explorations.

Between, by Jessica Warman

2011,  Bloomsbury Teens

Young Adult Choice--International Reading Association

I can easily see why this book was chosen as a favorite read by adolescents.  It is a book that I will recommend to many.  It is a ghost story and also but sensitive but look at many of the stresses that too many teens face in their lives.

Liz (Elizabeth) has died mysteriously on her 18th birthday.  Her ghost narrates the book.  She has been joined in the afterlife by Alex, another team from her high school, who also died recently in an unsolved hit and run accident.

Liz, and all her friends, live privileged lives.  They have wealthy families, are beautiful, and hold the top positions in the social structure of their high school. Her boyfriend, also her next door neighbor, is smart, good looking, totally devoted to her, but also a drug dealer.

I found the mystery in this book compelling.  I did not deduce the answer to the mystery until almost 2/3 way through the book. I expect that teen readers may take just a little bit longer.  Even once I had resolved the mystery,  I was still compelled to finish reading to discover what happened to the various characters.

In addition to the mystery of how and why Liz died, themes of anorexia, exercise addiction, teen drug use, high school social structures, and blended families are all explored.

the Distant Echo, by Val McDermid

2003

This stand alone novel by Val McDermid is helping elaborate my background for an upcoming trip to Scotland. I am probably going to be seeing murderers everywhere I turn. To keep in balance I'm also watching the BBC Hamish Macbeth television series.

McDermid tells the story of four male college students who happen upon a young woman who has been brutally attacked and dies as they try to help her. The four become the police's primary suspects although they are innocent of the murder. No charges are ever brought against them and the murder goes unsolved. The four have to live of with the suspicions of the murdered girl's brothers and other community members. The investigation is reactivated as a cold case with the advent of DNA testing and other advances in forensic science.

I have read almost all of McDermid's Tony Hill novels. The Distant Echo did not really capture my imagination as much as the Hill novels do. The novel spans 25 years and has to keep two parallel time frames sensible to the reader. I thought McDermid handled this quite well however, it did make for some mental exercise on the part of the reader. She also took two of the main characters to America for their adult lives. I still don't quite know how I feel about this intrusion of America into her world in Scotland.

Bad Men, by John Connolly

Fans of John Connolly need to be aware that this is not a book in the Charlie Parker series. Although Charlie Parker makes some brief appearances in this book, he is not the main character.  Once again, Connolly, an Irishman, writes with sensitivity and detail about Maine and other parts of the United States. In this book he begins with an historical event set on one of the islands off the coast of Maine. As always, ghosts and the supernatural come into play. There is significant violence and description of a relatively gruesome events in scenes. It is not a book I would recommend to adolescents.  Both the plot and the writing make it clearly an adult read.

Conley writes with relative sophistication blending historical fiction, religion, and geography with strong plots and characterization. His plot and characterization grab the reader immediately and will keep you reading.

Wolf Stalker, by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson

This is one of a series of "National Parks Mysteries" by Skurzynski and Ferguson. I chose it because, not only is it the first of the series, it also is set on the border of Idaho and Wyoming. Overall I was just a little disappointed. I had hoped for more science and perhaps even a stronger mystery. It is very readable and I think young adolescents will enjoy it. With its nearly local context readers in Idaho are likely to enjoy it for the local flavor. (Skurzynski lives in Boise.) There may be some who are anti-wolf reintroduction. This book is clearly on the pro-reintroduction side.

Paper Towns, by John Green (2008)

I'd like to recommend this book to both of my semi-adult children. As with Looking for Alaska, Green has created a powerful portrait of the tensions and vulnerabilities of adolescents approaching early adulthood. In this novel, again with a male protagonist, plot tension is maintained throughout the book. I won't spoil the ending.

There are many opportunities for interdisciplinary extensions in this book: cartography, poetry (especially Whitman & Plath), music, Florida, and New York. I would recommend this for students 9th grade and above.

Lightening, Dean Koontz

This is a Dean Koontz novel. I started listening to it on Sunday 9/16. It really grabbed me. So--in order to keep listening I had to start sorting through my mom's boxes of photos to divide them up. (I've had these since she passed away 5 years ago). The main character in this book has a "guardian" who begins work the day she was born--preventing an inibreated doctor from delivering her. The story continue through her life in foster care and into adulthood. I don't want to spoil the book.

This genre is a realy popular one among adults as well as young adults. For years I avoided Koontz thinking it was another "Stephen King" kind of predictable horror. Koontz is much more sophisticated. I think the writing is of slightly better quality. He make the main characters interesting and probably more complex than most popular thrillers. I can see using this to let my 8-12 graders enjoy something with "mass popularity." It also reinforces the value of fiction in exploring the world and other people's lives.

Set in California it will also appeal to our "western" oriented students. For so many years it seemed as if writers only lived on the east coast (okay--big generalization--I know Steinbeck, Fisher, etc.).It makes me a little nervous saying I like this with as many English majors as we have in the class. Where do you all stand on Koontz?Finished. I give this a moderate review. Good for doing housework and gardening, but not something that I'm going to necessarily recommend.

Dark of the Moon, John Sanford

I read every Sanford book as it comes out. Having grown up 3 hours south of Minneapolis this is regional fiction for me. These are adult books--I would let HS students know that I read them, but probably not use them in class or recommend them. I read this sort of popular fiction to relieve stress. As my stress level rises the quality of my reading declines. The way I'm feeling this week (still with vertigo and conference and newsletter deadlines looming) I'm probably going to have to try some romance (just kidding!!). I'm hoping the libarary with call me with my hold for the next Stephanie Myers book. That would be a good read for me right now.

Chill of Fear, Kay Hooper

Author: Lee Dubert
Posted Date: December 4, 2007 9:54 AMLast Modified Date: December 8, 2007 9:38 PMStatus: Published
I listened to this while traveling. My new smart phone lets me down load audio books from the public library site. Cool!!! Hooper is sort of a Iris Johansen "knock off." I don't know if this is part of a series. The main character is part of an FBI unit that uses detectives with extrasensory abilities to research crimes. I'll listen to another when I can't find something better, but Johansen does it better!

Dexter in the Dark, by Jeff Lindsay

Confession: I'm hooked on the Showtime series Dexter. I was also a fan of Six Feet Under. I don't think I'm macabre. Exploring the point of view of someone who is much, much! different from me is intriguing.

For Christmas my family gave me this book. I didn't know that Dexter was based on a series of existing novels. So, now in a ridiculous methodology I'm about to finish the 3rd book in the series and then return to the first. So far I'm impressed and still reading. The book would be great for any young or beginning writer to explore for the development of voice. There hasn't been graphic violence so far. Even the descriptions of murder scenes are not particularly troublesome.

I'll keep you posted as I read the remainder of the books.