Under the Whispering Door

TJ Klune's novel Under the Whispering Door (#1,111) came highly recommended, although it might not be to everyone's taste.

Wallace Price is a highly successful lawyer who has no time for anything or anyone other than his work.  His marriage has failed, and those in his office go out of their way to avoid him at all costs.  One Sunday when he's in the office preparing for the work week in casual clothes, he suddenly finds himself looking down at himself while a young woman tries to coax him away.  Wallace is dead, and his Reaper has come to escort him to the place where he will transition.

Wallace refuses to believe that his is dead, but Mei persuades him to accompany her to the place where he will meet the ferryman, who will explain all.  Who would have expected that place to be a cozy tea shop with other residents who come and go?  Wallace finally has a chance to discover what he's missed while he was still alive, and to make up for some lost time before he himself must move on.

It's funny, it's touching, and it's deeply sad.  It this book doesn't make you examine your life and the choices you've made more closely, you've missed the point of the book.  Have a book of Kleenex handy!

The Twist of a Knife

We just finished watching Anthony Horowitz's TV adaptation of his novel Magpie Murders, which we thoroughly enjoyed, so I jumped on his new novel The Twist of a Knife (#1,110) when it appeared at my book club.  Equally twisty (hah!) and equally enjoyable!

Here Anthony Horowitz takes center stage in his own novel.  His play Mindgame is about to debut in London, and he's so stressed that he's decided to end his association with ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne before his contract with him is complete. They've been best-sellers, and both his publisher and Hawthorne are eager to continue with additional books in the series.  Let's just say that Horowitz's timing here is not the best.

On opening night, a famous theater critic is in attendance, and crashes the cast party afterwards, taking digs at everyone present.  When she's found murdered at her home the next day, suspicion immediately falls on the cast and crew of Mindgames.  The police quickly narrow the pool of suspects to Horowitz himself.  He knows he didn't do it, but how can he prove it if he's in jail?  The only person he can think of to help him is Daniel Hawthorne.  Sure, that will go well...

This one will keep you guessing right up to the end.  Great read. 

Lark Ascending

Lark Ascending (#1,109) by Silas House isn't your typical dystopian novel.  Yes, teenaged Lark is fleeing America in search of political asylum in Ireland, the last country rumored to be taking in American refugees.  On the way, he's lost everyone he's ever loved.  That changes when he miraculously evades the soldiers who sank his ship to come ashore on Irish soil.  His encounters there make up the meat of this evocative story.

Like James Rollins' science-based thrillers, what makes Lark Ascending so horrifying is the plausibility.  In the very near future (so near it's already happening in Florida - today's news carried a threat of prison for school librarians who dare to stock books which groups like Moms for Liberty [theirs, not yours] find objectionable.  Don't even get me started on the dismantling of public health by the quack Surgeon General, or the destruction of the higher education system, such as it is!) the Fundamentalists, Fundies or Nays as they're also known, overthrow the weakened American government and impose their own beliefs and values on everyone else.  Disagree, or act differently, and you're disappeared.   Climate change, widespread famine and wildfires soon make the land virtually uninhabitable.  Lark and his family have escaped from Maryland to the mountains of Maine until the fires finally reach them, forcing them to cross the border to Canada and beyond.

The story is told beautifully through several viewpoints, perhaps most surprisingly, that of Sean, the dog.  In this dystopian world, domestic pets have been slaughtered because they consume precious resources, so Sean's existence is a miracle by itself.  What a difference he makes to those he encounters!

I loved this book with its lyrical language of landscape and on reflections of the human condition.  If you are lucky enough to come across this book, be sure to have a box of tissues nearby.  If you're like me, you'll need them!

The Stolen Lady

The Stolen Lady (#1,108) by Laura Morelli hops between Anne Guichard, a clerk/typist at the Louvre on the eve of the Nazi occupation of France, and the Italy of Leonardo da Vinci and the household of Lisa Gheradini del Giocondo, subject of his masterwork the Mona Lisa.

Anne swiftly becomes one of those charged with moving and concealing the art of the Louvre from the Nazis.  Principal among these is La Joconde, which da Vince had brought with him to France.  Over the course of the war, the art treasures are moved and re-hidden multiple times.  That's an interesting story by itself.  But equally interesting is the story by Morelli of how the iconic Mona Lisa came to be painted, and why it never became a family heirloom hidden away in an Italian palazzo.

It took me a while to get into the story, but once it got its hooks into me, I could hardly put this book down.  Recommended.

Fifty-Four Pigs

I really wanted to like Philipp Schott's Fifty-Four Pigs; A Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery (#1,107).  I managed to plow my way through the entire book, but honestly, I did not like Dr. Peter Bannerman, the veterinarian who is the principal character in this series.  Maybe if you're a fan of The Good Doctor on TV, you'll like this series.  If his dog Pippen (the greatest sniffer on earth according to Peter) played the lead in this book, maybe I would have felt differently.

One frosty day Dr. Bannerman is calling on one of his farm clients when he sees and hears an explosion coming from his friend Tom's farm.  When he pulls in, Tom's hog barn has been destroyed in a tremendous blast.  His fifty-four prized pigs have been vaporized.  When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigate, they turn up human remains as well.  But was the explosion accidental, or was it deliberate?

Once Peter picks up a thread to explore, there's no stopping him, though others out there are equally determined to prevent the truth from surfacing.

Although the cover blurb recommends this "lighthearted mystery" to readers of Alexander McCall Smith, I think the writer of that blurb missed the point.  Although I very much enjoy lighthearted mysteries, I found Fifty-Four Pigs to be too ponderous to qualify for that title.  At least he or she had the sense to not compare this book with James Herriott's beloved vet series.  I'm afraid Fifty-Four Pigs will be the only book in this series I will make time to read.  There's much more and much better out there.