Mysteries – Page 13 – BooksPlease

Six Degrees of Separation from The Poisonwood Bible to …

Published on May 5, 2018 by Margaret21 Comments

I love doing Six Degrees of Separation, a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

This month the chain begins with The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favourite books. I’ve read it several times.

The Poisonwood Bible

Told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959, The Poisonwood Bible is the story of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

I bought The Poisonwood Bible in Gatwick airport bookshop just before boarding a plane to go on holiday. So my first link in the chain is to another book I bought in an another airport bookshop waiting to board another plane:

Fortune's Rocks

It’s Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve. I had never heard of Anita Shreve, but I liked the look of this book – and the fact that it’s a chunky book of nearly 600 pages, good to read on holiday. It’s set in the summer of 1899 when Olympia Biddeford and her parents are on holiday at the family’s vacation home in Fortune’s Rocks, a coastal resort in New Hampshire. She is fifteen years old and this is the story of her love affair with an older man.

When I looked at it today, I saw that it’s written in the present tense. Recently I’ve been writing about my dislike of the present tense – but I obviously haven’t always disliked it, because I remember really enjoying this book.

Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)

Another book written in the present tense that I loved is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, the story of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a blacksmith, and his political rise, set against the background of Henry VIII’s England and his struggle with the Pope over his desire to marry Anne Boleyn. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, which takes me to my next link, another book set in the reign of Henry VIII –

Lamentation (Matthew Shardlake, #6)

Lamentation by C J Sansom set in 1546, the last year of Henry VIII’s life. Shardlake, a lawyer is asked by Queen Catherine (Parr) for help in discovering who has stolen her confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner. It evokes the people, the sights, smells and atmosphere of Henry’s last year and at the same time it’s an ingenious crime mystery, full of suspense and tension.

Barnaby Rudge

The next book also combines historical and crime fiction – Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens, set in 1780 at the time of the Gordon Riots. It’s a story of mystery and suspense which begins with an unsolved double murder and goes on to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution.

Barnaby Rudge is a simple young man, living with his mother. His pet raven, Grip goes everywhere with him. He’s a most amazing bird who can mimic voices and seems to have more wits about him than Barnaby. Grip is based on Dickens’s own ravens, one of whom was also called Grip.

Ravens form the next link-

The Raven's Head

to The Raven’s Head by Karen Maitland, set in 1224 in France and England about Vincent, an apprentice librarian who stumbles upon a secret powerful enough to destroy his master. He attempts blackmail but when this fails Vincent goes on the run in possession of an intricately carved silver raven’s head. The plot revolves around the practice of alchemy – the search for a way to transform the base soul of man into pure incorruptible spirit, as well as the way to find the stone, elixir or tincture to turn base metals into precious metals.

And finally to the last link in this chain another book featuring alchemy –

Crucible (Alexander Seaton, #3)

Crucible by S G MacLean, the third of her Alexander Seaton books. Set in 1631 in Aberdeen Robert Sim, a librarian is killed. Alexander investigates his murder and finds, amongst the library books, works on alchemy and hermetics – the pursuit of ancient knowledge and the quest for ‘a secret, unifying knowledge, known to the ancients’ since lost to us. S G MacLean’s books are full of atmosphere. I think her style of writing suits me perfectly, the characters are just right, credible well-rounded people, and the plot moves along swiftly with no unnecessary digressions.

My chain this month has travelled from Africa to Scotland via America and England, and spans the years from the 13th century to the mid 20th century. It has followed a missionary and his family, a teenager in love with an older man, and looked in on power struggles in Tudor England, and the pursuit of the secret to turn metal into gold.

Links are: books I bought to read on holiday, books in the present tense, crime fiction and historical fiction (and a combination of these genres), ravens and alchemy.

Next month (June 2, 2018), we’ll begin with Malcolm Gladwell’s debut (and best seller), The Tipping Point, a book and author I’ve never come across before.

Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith: A Christmas Crime Story (British Library Crime Classics)

Published on April 19, 2018 by Margaret6 Comments

Portrait of a Murderer was first published in 1933. Anne Meredith is one of the pen names used by Lucy Beatrice Malleson (her other pen names are Anthony Gilbert and J Kilmeny Keith). This Poisoned Pen Press edition has an introduction by Martin Edwards. It is crime fiction where you know who the murderer is and the motive and how the victim was killed quite early on in the book.

On Christmas Eve 1931 Adrian Gray was violently murdered by one of his six adult children. The murderer had acted on impulse in a fit of rage. Adrian had not got on with any of his children and they all wanted him to lend them or rather give them money for one reason or another. From then on it is a character study of the family and of the murderer in particular, who works out a plan to put the blame on one of the other family members. The setting at Christmas seems to be purely because this family don’t get on and it was only at Christmas that they gathered together at the Gray family home.

It begins slowly and I was beginning to wonder if I wanted to finish the book, but I found I was thinking about it when I wasn’t reading and wondering whether the plan would work. As the suspense increased I realised that I was hooked and couldn’t wait to get back to the book to find out. Will the wrong person be convicted or will justice be done?It’s an excellent character study, told in the first person by the murderer and in the third person by the other characters.

I was also fascinated by the picture Meredith paints of the society and culture of the 1930s. It’s set in the Depression and the Grays had come down in the world, no longer the owners of a large landed property. This was accompanied by a steady deterioration in character as their point of view changed and they aspired to possessions and a place in society with authority, consumed by jealousy and criticism of others.They are an unlikeable set of characters and probably one of the reasons this book works so well is that each one is described with precision and insight, so that they come across as recognisable people and not as caricatures.

I also enjoyed reading about life in London in the 1930s, with descriptions of the River Thames, the traffic and the talk of electricity and speed, ‘the age’s God‘, and the desire for cars resulting in air pollution from the petrol fumes. The newly rich are financiers, such as Gray’s financial adviser and son-in-law, Eustace Moore. Although his appearance isn’t that of the traditional conception of a Jew, Meredith reveals the casual and nasty anti-semitism typical of the period in referring to his race. In addition she shows society’s attitude to women from the unmarried daughter expected to act as housekeeper and look after her father, to the scandal attached to divorce.

From a slow and unpromising start Portrait of a Murderer developed into a fascinating novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for a review copy via NetGalley.

Amazon UK link
Amazon US link

My Week in Books: 18 April 2018

Published on April 18, 2018 by Margaret10 Comments

This Week in Books is a weekly round-up hosted by Lypsyy Lost & Found, about what I’ve been reading Now, Then & Next.

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A similar meme, WWW Wednesday is run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading: I’ve made some progress with Little Dorrit, my Classics Club spin book. I’ve met the Meagles family with their spoiled daughter, Pet and her maid and companion, the wonderfully named Tattycoram, and also Arthur Clennam, recently returning to England from China. Arthur goes to his family home, a dark decrepit house in London where his mother lives, his father having recently died. But I haven’t met Little Dorrit yet – still a long way to go in this book.

Little Dorrit

I’m also reading Portrait of a Murderer by Anne Meredith, which is what it says in the title. I’ve nearly finished this book, which is fascinating, even though it is so long winded.

Description:

‘Adrian Gray was born in May 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931.’

Thus begins a classic crime novel published in 1933 that has been too long neglected – until now. It is a riveting portrait of the psychology of a murderer.

Each December, Adrian Gray invites his extended family to stay at his lonely house, Kings Poplars. None of Gray’s six surviving children is fond of him; several have cause to wish him dead. The family gathers on Christmas Eve – and by the following morning, their wish has been granted.

This fascinating and unusual novel tells the story of what happened that dark Christmas night; and what the murderer did next.

I’ve recently finished A Dying Note by Ann Parker, her latest book in the Silver Rush Mysteries, which was published on 3 April 2018.

I loved this book, set in the autumn of 1881 in San Francisco, where Inez Stannert is making a new start in life, managing a music store. All is going well until the body of a young man, Jamie Monroe, is found washed up on the banks of Mission Creek canal.

I posted my review on Monday and gave it 4 stars.

What do you think you’ll read next:

Will it be Time is a Killer by Michel Bussi, which was published on 5 April 2018 and in last week’s post was the book I said I might read next? Or will it be something else? I still don’t know.

Description:

‘One of France’s most ingenious crime writers’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Bussi breaks every rule in the book’ JOAN SMITH

It is summer 1989 and fifteen-year-old Clotilde is on holiday with her parents in Corsica. On a twisty mountain road, their car comes off at a curve and plunges into a ravine. Only Clotilde survives.

Twenty-seven years later, she returns to Corsica with her husband and their sulky teenage daughter. Clotilde wants the trip to do two things – to help exorcise her past, and to build a bridge between her and her daughter. But in the very place where she spent that summer all those years ago, she receives a letter. From her mother. As if she were still alive.

As fragments of memory come back, Clotilde begins to question the past. And yet it all seems impossible – she saw the corpses of her mother, her father, her brother. She has lived with their ghosts. But then who sent this letter – and why?

Have you read any of these books? Do any of them tempt you?

A Dying Note by Ann Parker

Published on April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 by Margaret6 Comments

I’ve read the first book in Ann Parker’s Silver Rush Mysteries, Silver Lies (see my review post) set in 1879/80 in the silver-mining town of Leadville, Colarado in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I loved it and fully intended to read more of the series. Somehow that hasn’t happened. A Dying Note is the 6th book in the series, so I have some catching up to do. I wondered if this would be a problem, but it reads very well as a standalone book.

A Dying Note is set in the autumn of 1881. Inez Stannert is still the co-owner of Leadville, Colorado’s Silver Queen saloon, but she has left Leadville and is making a new start in life in San Francisco with her young ward, Antonia Gizzi. She is managing a music store, hoping to become an equal partner with the store’s owner, Nick Donato, a celebrated local violinist. In addition to managing the store she also gives piano lessons and is in silent partnership with some of the small businesses run by women in the city.

All is going well until the body of a young man, Jamie Monroe, is found washed up on the banks of Mission Creek canal. He had been beaten to death. Jamie is one of the musicians who frequented Nick’s music store and was in love with Carmella, Nick’s sister. So Inez and Antonia are drawn into the investigation into his death.

Then some of Inez’s old acquaintances from Leadville, including Harry Gallagher, arrive in San Francisco, threatening to expose her past. Harry is looking for his son, Robert and has brought with him Wolter Roeland de Bruijn, also known as ‘Mr Brown’ who he’d employed to find Robert. He insists that Inez helps Mr Brown which results in putting them all in danger.

It’s a fast paced mystery (that actually is not that difficult to figure out) and I enjoyed very much. I also liked the setting and all the details about San Francisco in 1881 – the scenery, the layout of the city with its dangerous areas of the Barbary Coast and Chinatown, where Inez, Antonia and Mr Brown search for Robert and follow the suspects of Jamie’s murder. The details about the efforts to set up a musicians union and the work of Frank Roney (a real life figure) involved in the Seamen’s Protective Union also add a lot to the story. The characters are also well defined and I was very taken with Antonia, a teenager with an inquisitive mind and lots of daring!

In her Author’s Note at the end of the book, Ann Parker identifies what is real, based on historical facts and what is the result of her imagination, with a warning that this contains spoilers – so don’t read it until after you’ve read the book! She also gives details of the sources she used in writing her book, all of which I think is fascinating, especially for me, knowing nothing about the history of San Francisco.

I shall certainly seek out books 2 – 5 in the Silver Rush Mysteries:

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2. Iron Ties (2006)
3. Leaden Skies (2009)
4. Mercury’s Rise (2011)
5. What Gold Buys (2016)

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for a review copy via NetGalley.

Amazon UK link
Amazon US link

The Fire Court by Andrew Taylor

Published on April 15, 2018 by Margaret2 Comments

I loved Andrew Taylor’s The Ashes of London so I was eagerly looking forward to the next book, The Fire Court set in 1667, eight months after the Great Fire had swept through London. And once again I was immediately transported back in to the 17th century as Londoners set about rebuilding the city.

It continues the story of James Marwood, working for Master Williamson, under-secretary to the Secretary of State, and of Cat (Catherine) Lovett, whose father, Thomas Lovett, was one of the Regicides of Charles I. It is a standalone novel – you don’t have to have read The Ashes of London to enjoy this book, but I think it helps to understand the background if you do.

James’s father, Nathaniel who was a Fifth Monarchist, an extreme Puritan sect, suffers from dementia. The book begins as Nathaniel follows a women he believes is his dead wife and finds a murdered woman. James thinks it is just a product of his deluded mind but when Nathaniel is killed in an accident, run over by a wagon he feels guilty for not believing him. And then a witness to his father’s death tells him that he had seen Nathaniel coming out of an alley leading into Clifford’s Court where the Fire Court was sitting. And the more James thinks about this and makes inquiries, particularly into the work of the Fire Court, he becomes convinced that his father had been telling him the truth

The Fire Court was set up to settle disputes between landowners and tenants as the work of rebuilding and developing London gets underway. Cat, now going under the name of Jane Hakesby works for Simon Hakesby, a surveyor and architect and both are involved in the work of the Fire Court. As you would expect these disputes are complicated and open to intrigue and dishonesty at all levels. James renews his acquaintance with Cat, a spirited independent young woman, and they work together as James tries to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding his father’s death and the identity of the murdered woman.

In fact this is one of the most satisfyingly complicated books I’ve read recently, equally as absorbing as The Ashes of London, once again weaving fact and fiction into a complete whole. I love it. Taylor’s research is impressive, bringing to life the complexities of Restoration England, drawing in all levels of society from Charles II, the aristocracy, politicians, to the ordinary people and those living in poverty. I particularly liked all the details of the work of the Fire Court and how London was rebuilt – and once again there is a fire – not as widespread geographically as the Great Fire, but dramatic and with devastating results for James.

Many thanks to Harper Collins for a review copy via NetGalley.

Amazon UK link
Amazon US link

My Friday Post: A Dying Note by Ann Parker

Published on April 13, 2018 by Margaret9 Comments

Every Friday Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader where you can share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

This week’s book is A Dying Note by Ann Parker, her latest book in the Silver Rush Mysteries, which was published on 3 April 2018. I’ve just finished it, so my review will up soon.

It begins:

Not my hands!

Throat crushed, blood gurgled, words choked so they screamed only in the mind.

A dramatic opening to this novel set in 1881.

Also every Friday there is The Friday 56, hosted by Freda at Freda’s Voice.

30879-friday2b56 These are the rules:

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56, or 56% on your eReader.
Find any sentence (or a few, just don’t spoil it) that grabs you.
Post it.
Add the URL to your post in the link on Freda’s most recent Friday 56 post.

56%:

Inez allowed herself to consider what life might have been like if she, her then-husband Mark Stannert, and their business partner, Abe Jackson, had come all the way to San Francisco as originally planned. Perhaps they would have built a drinking and gaming establishment to capture some of the fortune from gambling fever that clutched the golden city.

But that was not what happened. Seduced by the possibilities in the silver mining boom town of Leadville they had lingered in the city in the clouds, then settled in.

Description (Goodreads):

It’s autumn of 1881, and Inez Stannert, still the co-owner of Leadville, Colorado’s Silver Queen saloon, is settled in San Francisco with her young ward, Antonia Gizzi. Inez has turned her business talents to managing a music store, hoping to eventually become an equal partner in the enterprise with the store’s owner, a celebrated local violinist.

Inez’s carefully constructed life for herself and Antonia threatens to tumble about her ears when the badly beaten body of a young musician washes up on the filthy banks of San Francisco’s Mission Creek canal.

~~~

This is a fascinating historical mystery – I loved it.

What do you think? Have you read it – or are you planning to read it?