Category Archives: Currently Reading

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I have been a fan of Barbara Hambly’s since she wrote fantasy and science fiction. (The series about the Dog Wizard is an especial favorite.) I love the Benjamin January books.

January is a free man of color in New Orleans. Although trained as a doctor, as a black man he is not allowed to practice so he supports his family as a musician.

In 1840, William Harry Harrison, an Indian fighter, was running for president. January pays only a little attention to politics but since the run up to a large rally in New Orleans is filled with balls and other events, he is busy playing. One day after a fist fight between two suitor for a beautiful flirt named Marie- Joyeuse Maginot, she is found murdered and the only black person there is promptly arrested. January immediately begins investigating to save his friend.

A story that begins with an attack on January by an escaped slave (for his clothes) ends with January racing across roofs to prevent an assassination.

As usual, Hambly’s mystery is excellent. But, also as usual, what strikes me most is the difficulty of living in a slave state as a free man. January always carries his papers, and even then risks being sold into slavery and possibly ending up in the cane fields. A smart man, he must hide his intelligence from the wealthy white men who hire him as a musician. This dynamic gives the Hambly mysteries an added dimension beyond the historical facts, great characters and wonderful puzzles.

Highly Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I regularly read Science fiction and this week, on the advice of a friend, I read Project Hail Mary. It doesn’t hurt that Ryan Gosling will be starring in a movie soon.

A lone astronaut wakes up with no memory of who he is or what he is doing in this metal room with two corpses. Gradually, as his memories returns, he remembers he is Ryland Grace, scientist/school science teacher, on a mission to save humanity. And how did he go from scientist to teacher? He disagreed with the establishment and left research in a huff.

A space microbe, named by Grace as Astrophage, has infected the sun and is drawing the energy away in such large amounts the sun’s output will diminish by several percent. All life on earth will perish and the Hail Mary project is an effort to reach Tau Ceti and find out why it is not infected. The space ship, hastily cobbled together by the nations of earth, and with three crew members from different countries, have been put into induced comas and sent on this dangerous and likely to fail mission.

And then, as Grace enters the Tau Ceti system, he is met by an alien ship.

There are so many twists and turns in this novel, it is hard to keep up. This is truly hard science fiction, full of physics and math. (It at least all sounds plausible.) I very much liked Grace’s reasons for, not only helping with the research, but pushing his way onto the ship. As a teacher, he feels the kids he teaches are HIS kids so he has a stake in saving them, a feeling I both agree with and totally understand.

Highly Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

After a week’s vacation in Maine, I am resuming my usual schedule. During this week, I read the latest by C. S. Harris.

Who will remember is Harris’ twentieth Sebastian St. Cyr mystery. I’ve read all of these books and enjoyed them all.

1816, the year without a summer. A young ragged boy appears at St. Cyr’s home and tells him there is a dead body hanging by one foot in a ruined chapel. St. Cyr investigates and discovers it is. What’s more, it is a Nobel, brother of one of the Regent’s boon companions. The victim, Farnsworth, is well-known as a crusader against crime, sin, immorality.

But as St. Cyr investigates, he discovers Farnsworth may not be the good and pure man many believe.

And what is the link with the Frenchman who may be an assassin sent by Marie-Therese, daughter of Louis and Marie-Antoinette, and the sole remaining member of her family?

The setting – Regency England with glaring economic inequality – and the poor who struggle to survive is beautifully rendered. Another winner! Highly recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Rita Todacheen is a forensic photographer, an unusual choice for a Navaho. Navahos avoid death; Rita is photographing the dead every dat. She also sees ghosts, a gift/curse that she has had her whole life. Now she is haunted by a murder victim, Erma, who insists Rita find out who murdered her.

More murders, one of a judge and a family, begin to push Rita onto the path to discovering the murderer.

This has a real Sixth Sense vibe. I found the identity of the murderer fairly easy to figure out and the mystery is somewhat overwhelmed by the ghost angle.

Still, unusual and captivating. Recommended.

Foul Play in La Playa is the fourth and the newest in the Vermont Country Living Series. In this outing, the Buckleys accompany their friends Alma and Sheriff Mills to Mexico for a destination wedding. First, Stella and Nick discover that the previous occupant of their cottage was murdered. Then, barely a few days later, one of the other guests is found murdered.

In certain mysteries, the victim is so unpleasant that the reader thinks he or she deserves it. This is one of those cases. Georgie is a vile woman who ferrets out secrets and then blackmails the secret holder. Naturally, the mystery turns out to be far more complicated than that.

Another winner. I hope Meade continues with this series. It is stellar!

Currently Reading

Posted on by

First, a shoutout to let everyone know I’ll be at Clifton Park Mall this Saturday, June 21, 10 – 4. There will be a lot of authors there and so a lot of fun.

This week I read two very good books.

The first was the new one by well-established author, Anne Perry. The One Thing More takes place during the French Revolution on the eve of the execution of the King. Celie, born into minor aristocracy, is now a laundress. She is also working with a group trying to arrange the King’s escape. Several other people, including the owner of the house, are not only involved but leaders. But the plans are halted when Bernave, the house’s owner and the leader of the plot, is murdered during an incursion by a mob. Who murdered Bernave and why? Now the house is surrounded by the police, including the dogged Menou. Celie, in an effort to connect with another plotter, has to go over the roofs.

The murderer and the motive are not identified until almost the final page after some pretty hair raising scenes. Perry has not lost her touch. Recommended.

Death upon a Star is Amy Patricia Meade’s newest mystery. Evelyn Galloway travels to Hollywood in the late thirties to work as a script girl for Alfred Hitchcock on Rebecca. On Evelyn’s first day, she meets a kind older actor who had been a silent movie star. They make arrangements to meet for lunch the following day but he doesn’t show. Evelyn can’t let it go and begins her own sub rosa investigation.

Meade’s trademark humor and interesting characters are on full display but the real star is the setting. From the activity in the studio to the long ago stars to Alfred Hitchcock himself, Meade hits every note perfectly. Although not as funny as the Country Living series, Death Upon a Star is charming and fun. It deserves a wide readership. Recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Game over at Guild Hall in the third in the Vermont Country Living Mystery series. In this outing, the Buckleys are invited to attend at Game Supper at the Guild Hall. Not a sports game supper or a board game supper but a game meat supper. The object is to sample all of the game recipes: venison stew, bear meatballs and the like.

The supper does not turn out as planned. An young man, Mudd Morrison, angry that his ‘gleaned’ meat (read roadkill) is not included, confronts organizer Bessent. He is sent on his way but a short while later Bessent drops dead, poisoned.

Later that night, Stella sees a light at the guild hall as someone searches Bessent’s office.

She begins to dig into the mystery, discovering that Bessent’s game supper has created quite a few enemies, from the exhausted volunteers, to Mudd Morrison, to the environmentalist who is worried about sustainability, even the local priest.

Then, in the middle of all this, Stella’s mother arrives unexpectedly with a catastrophe of her own.

And I can’t forget the talking dog. Yes, seriously. Truly funny.

The Nick and Nora Charles vibe is alive and well, the characters are offbeat but never implausible, the mystery is intriguing. I love this series and can’t wait for the fourth installment. A must read.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Nick and Sarah Buckley trade their city life on Murray Hill for a rustic farmhouse in Vermont. Barely a few hours after they arrive, they discover a body in the well – by way of blood in the tap water. Since their house is now a crime scene, they must leave. But where can they go? The town is full of leaf peepers and there is not a room to be had.

Offered a hunting camp, with no electricity or running water, they soon realize that if they ever want to return to their house, they are going to have to solve the crime.

Accordingly, they begin speaking to their neighbors and soon discover the victim was almost universally loathed. And the locals; well, quirky does not begin to describe them. But Sarah and Nick persevere.

This cozy has a real Nick and Nora Charles or Hart to Hart vibe. It is laugh out loud funny. A++. Highly recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

First, I want to give a shout out to the Poughkeepsie Barnes and Noble for hosting the mystery panel yesterday. The four of us: Jode Millman, Nancy Bilyeau, Tina deBellegarde and myself engaged in a lively discussion about writing, and of course about our books. Thanks again to Barnes and Noble.

This week I read The Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman.

Jim Chee is struggling to decide his path forward. He loves his job but worries he has given up his dream to become a haitaii, a medicine man/shaman. He takes a hiking trip in the back country to clear his head, aiming for a sandstone bridge that is sacred to the Navahoes. While there, he discovers a body floating in a man-made lake. Because he discovered the body, he is asked to remain an extra week and investigate.

At the same time. Bernie (Manuelito) has her own problems. She is worried about her mother’s increasing forgetfulness. And, while she is traveling home, she sees the murder of a man on the highway. Trying to discover the man’s identity, and the reason behind his murder. draws her into a case of her own and a very dangerous undercover operation at a hemp farm.

Anne Hillerman describes the setting as carefully as her father did and the mysteries are very good. She is a worthy successor to this series involving Leaphorn, (the Legendary Lieutenant), Jim Chee, and Bernie Manuelito.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

All I can say about this book is Wow. It is not for the faint of heart.

Haymitch turns sixteen on the day of the reaping. He is not chosen but one of the young men tries to run away and is shot dead by a Peacekeeper. Because this is the fiftieth anniversary, the Capitol is choosing double the number of kids: two boys and two girls. The love of Haymitch’s life tries to go to the victim. When Haymitch attempts to go to her aid, he is ‘volunteered’ for the reaping. His companions? Louella, a delicate girl, Wyatt, an obsessive oddsmaker, and Marilee, the most stuck up girl in the Seam. Louella and Haymitch become allies, but after their arrival at the capitol, these two form a reluctant group with the other two, despite their reservations.

District 12 is the poorest and the least of all the districts. They have no mentors at first, they are assigned a costumer that is addicted to toad venom and their costumes are old, used coal miners uniforms. Haymitch defies Snow and right away is marked for death in the arena.

The arena, full of poisoned water and lethal creatures, as well as the other tributes, weeds out eighteen tributes the first day. But District 12 has formed an alliance with most of the other districts and Haymitch involves himself in a resistance movement designed to destroy the arena. That, of course, is far more challenging that he expects.

Anyone who has read the Hunger Games knows Haymitch not only survives but is the victor. I was curious to see how Collins would manage to work that out. The price of his victory, and Snow’s unending vengeance, certain explains Haymitch’s retreat into alcohol.

Gripping, unputdownable, and absolutely heartbreaking. I can’t even watch a trailer for Survivor. It’s the sanitized version of the Hunger Games. This book leaves me with the question: how desperate for power, how cruel, does a society have to be to kidnap children (and they are. The youngest is 12.) to fight other people’s children to the death? How vindictive to program the lethal creatures to target a particular kid? To set the arena for maximum death? And to take revenge on the victor when a disliked tribute wins?

Currently Reading

Posted on by

This past week I read Deadly Hours, four novellas centered around a cursed pocket watch.

In the first, Kearsley’s mystery about the pirate who participated in the sacking of Cartagena and melted his cursed gold down to make a pocket watch named La Sirene, starts the series off with the background on the dangerous timepiece. The watch is reputed to bring bad luck and death to all who own it – and it quickly seems to be working.

In the second part Huber’s Lady Darcy is drawn into an investigation by a local criminal who is terrified by the number of deaths in Edinburgh. He is ill himself and terrified he too will die. At first, Lady Darcy dismisses the connection to a mysterious, and supposedly cursed, pocket watch with a mermaid, but she and her husband are soon are its trail.

Trent’s lady undertaker in Victorian England is working on a project to relocate a number of coffins when a murder takes place in the wealthy area. After other murders occur, all seeming to take place when the pocket watch inexplicably stops, the family that owns the watch can’t get rid of it fast enough.

The final novella takes the story to World War II. When the man who owned the cover for the watch is murdered, and that cover stolen, it seems like a simple robbery. But other murders of people who know something about the watch soon follow. Somebody is determined to own that timepiece. At the same time, transmissions in code are being sent to Germany, drawing the attention of two men from M15.

All of these novellas are well-written and highly entertaining. This was like have four books, instead of one. Highly recommended.