Accomplice To The Villain

I recently watched a very entertaining author interview with Hannah Nicole Maehrer who has written a popular romcom/science fiction(??) series featuring an innocent village maiden who is forced to seek employment with the local Villain.  Apprentice To The Villain (#1,358) is the third book, with the fourth to be announced soon.

Evie Sage has a way of putting her foot in everything, creating chaos wherever she is.  Trystan Maverine, The Villain, has of course fallen for this, hook, line and sinker.  The tension in this book is largely due to the "Will they, won't they?" question.  (And please, if you can't figure out the answer to that one, the rest of the book will be lost on you!)  Much of the action in this installment is the pursuit of a cure for the spell which has turned a neighboring kingdom's prince into an adorable crown-wearing frog.  Kingsley, as he's known in Massacre Manor, communicates by a word or two scribbled on signs which Trystan has considerately left for his use all over the manor.  That's all well and good, but lately, Kingsley seems to be spending more and more time lapsing into actual frog behavior.  Time is of the essence in reversing the spell.  Many daring and dangerous adventures befall our merry band as they pursue the enchantress who did this to Kingsley.  Things are not yet resolved at the end (hence the need for the fourth book!!), but things are getting close...

I enjoyed the Accomplice, but for myself, I would have preferred a little less steam and a lot more swashbuckling, but that's just me.  Looking forward to finding out what title Evie Sage will take on in the next volume!

My Friends

 Frederik Backman scores another emotional hit with his latest novel My Friends (#1,357).  To try to pin down what the story is about is difficult; it's one story wrapped around another, wrapped around yet another, all to do with friendship, family and art.

It weaves back and forth in time, and between characters who are still interrelated, unpeeling one layer of the plot and emotions at a time.  It may seem confusing at times, but when Backman finally arrives at the end, the conclusion is so satisfying you just sit back and nod to yourself.  It feels right.

It's not always an easy read, but it's absolutely worth the time to meet this trio of teen boys and the painting they inspire.  It may change your mind about art.

Fuzzy Nation

I didn't realize John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation (#1,356) was exactly the book I wanted to read until my husband retrieved it from the stacks of our local library.  It has action, humor, legal drama and a totally new species!  And, best of all, it's terrifically entertaining.  If you watch and re-watch the Indiana Jones movies, you'll probably love Fuzzy Nation too.  Too bad so many people won't even pick it up because it's labeled science fiction.

Jack is a contract prospector working for a mammoth company on a distant planet.  He likes being out by himself (with his dog Carl, of course) exploring the planet's mineral resources and blowing up things.  His fortunes change the day he uncovers a fabulous vein of priceless gems with his unorthodox methods.  By a fluke of pissing off his boss and being fired, the ownership of the sunstones reverts to Jack under the fine print of his contract.  The fight for the claim is on.  To complicate matters, when Jack returns to his treetop home, he finds a small, utterly adorable fuzzy creature and its family.  The question of wealth hinges on whether or not the fuzzies are sentient...

Great storytelling here!

Dogged Pursuit

The latest book in the Andy Carpenter mystery series, Dogged Pursuit (#1,355) by David Rosenfelt is actually a prequel.  For fans of the series, we finally get to find out how Andy met Tara.  The result is a clever, dog-centered mystery series.

Here we meet Andy who has decided that life in the DA's office is no longer for him.  His wife and wealthy father-in-law are both pressuring him to join the family firm as a corporation lawyer.  His income would be secure, and his life would be a series of long lunches and regular hours. And zero intellectual stimulation.  It's not what Andy wants, but he's not sure what he does want.  

The day he decides to adopt a dog, everything changes.  He not only immediately bonds with Tara, the golden retriever (and arguably the best dog in the history of the world) but her shelter buddy, Sonny the beagle, is part of the package.  There's a complication.  Sonny belongs to a man charged with a triple murder.  In order to take Sonny home, Ryan Tierney will need to sign off on Andy taking custody.  After speaking to Ryan, Andy decides to take on his case.  He has found his new profession: defense attorney. Now all he needs is an office and investigators. The mystery is complex as Andy negotiates through a web of deceit to uncover a high stakes enterprise and unmask the real killer.

This would be an excellent place to start reading the Andy Carpenter mysteries if you haven't already discovered them.  If you're a fan, you will find a few answers to some of the questions you didn't know you had about Andy and Tara's back story along with other favorite characters.

Too Old For This

Lottie Jones has settled into a routine which suits her - a quiet life centered around church and the weekly Thursday night Bingo games with her friends.  The biggest problem she comes up against is what to make for the buffet table.  Everything changes one day with a knock on her door.  A perky young woman announces that she's come to do a docuseries on Lottie's former life - her life as an accused serial killer.

Too Old For This (#1,354) by Samantha Downing is not my usual read, but its dark and twisted plot pulled me right in.  Lottie hasn't worried about being outed in many years.  But here is proof right inside her house that she will be exposed if she doesn't stop Plum Dixon from going national with her story.  Her instincts for self-protection kick in.  Old habits are hard to break and therein lies the tale.

We know Lottie did it, but what makes it so interesting is how everything she does is driven by forces outside of her control, the very opposite of her old life.  I was rooting for her throughout the book despite everything I knew to be wrong.  I had to admire how clever she had been all along.  Does she succeed?  You'll have to read Too Old For This to find out.

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

Allison Brennan says that Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds (#1,353) is somewhat of a departure from her usual writing.  Well, I enjoyed it so much I hope she continues add to this romance genre.  I don't normally enjoy steamy romances, but in Beach Reads it blended seamlessly and logically into the story line.  Guilty pleasures, indeed!

Mia Crawford is about to be made partner in the financial planning firm where she has spent the last five years.  She loves her job, but can't the partners just deposit a bonus into her retirement account and let her get on with things?  But no, they insist she takes a week's vacation at an exclusive Caribbean resort on a private island.  What's a girl to do but sit back and enjoy the mai tais?

A guest has just gone missing from the resort and Mia has time to speculate about what could have happened.  Her romantic late-night encounter with a gorgeous bartender at a secluded lagoon is spoiled by a body washing up on the beach.  Mia can't help herself; she's read too many mysteries not to try to track down clues.  A used book she picked up at a gift shop swap table may hold the key...  And will she ever have enough time with Jason Mallory to have that romantic fling she promised herself?

It's a great locked room mystery with an intriguing plot and lots of colorful characters.  I particularly liked Ms. Brennan's quotes from some of my favorite books and authors which begin each chapter, and she's sprinkled Easter eggs for others throughout the pages.  It really is the perfect beach read!  More, please!

Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue

Well, it didn't take Mrs. Plansky very long to earn the title "Florida Woman..." in her second adventure Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue (#1,352) by Spencer Quinn.  Despite knowing that there is a large alligator in the pond behind her condo (She's named him Fairbanks!) it doesn't take her long to swim in that pond.  That's the dumbest of dumb moves in any Florida waterway.

She does, however, manage to get to the bottom of her tennis partner's disappearance after their triumphant win in mixed doubles over a rival tennis club.  His fancy fishing boat explodes in a ball of flame after he claims it was hit by lightening.  Mrs. Plansky was right there, but she didn't see said bolt.

Between trying to cope with her father's love life taking place right there in her spare bedroom, and trying to get in touch with her tennis pro son Jack, Loretta's serene life has gone down the drain.   The only person who seems to have spoken to Jack recently is her father, but he has turned cagey about the particulars, just that his grandson consulted him on "business".  That in itself is suspicious to Loretta since Chandler has never managed money successfully in his life.

A clue here and a clue there gradually add up to something bad happening that ties everything together.  The question is, will Loretta survive solving the mysteries?

There Is Nothing For You Here - Finding Opportunity In The 21st Century

 A member of my book club recently heard Fiona Hill speak and suggested we read her memoir There Is Nothing For You Here - Finding Opportunity In The 21st Century (#1,351).  I soldiered through what I  felt was mostly a dry economics text.  When Ms. Hill wrote about herself and her own experiences, the book came alive.  Alas, those instances were too few and far between.

Let me sum up the lesson of this book: getting an education and/or vocational training, as much of it as possible, is the key to earning a decent wage and social mobility.  Using every contact and opportunity which presents itself, or that can be unearthed by diligent efforts will also be necessary.  

The problem is that it takes Ms. Hill over three hundred pages and multiple repetitions of these core ideas to make her point.

Her own examples drawn from her life are admirable.  She has been extraordinarily fortunate in pursuit of her goals, and she has proved that she possesses inner strength and integrity.

But that said, I think I stand by the principal that less is more.  Also, I was very unhappy with the way she characterized my hometown, trashing it as "Slummerville".  If you are going to call it a deindustrialized failure of a place, full of "have nots", at least do your homework.  Somerville, Massachusetts is east of Cambridge, not north, and it's obvious she hasn't revisited it since her college days at Harvard when she fell into the "gown" portion. It's very easy to look down on those you have to squint to see from your ivory tower. Talk about an economic turnaround! I do have to say that it made me wonder what else might be missed in this book since it was written in the 2020s, not the 1980s.  No positive updates here.

Definitely not for the casual reader.