Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution

Nathaniel Philbrick's work Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution (#1,344) was originally published in 2013, but it is just as fascinating today, especially if you intend to watch Ken Burn's newest documentary on the American Revolution.  I thought I knew quite a bit about the Revolutionary history where I grew up, but reading this book opened my eyes to just how much I didn't know.

Philbrick introduces the reader to people, places and politics which led to the bloody battle of Bunker Hill (which actually took place on nearby Breeds Hill) and the British evacuation of besieged Boston less than a year later.  The descriptions he includes of the good, the bad and the ugly make these historical figures and events come alive on the page through their own words.

Mr. Philbrick also makes it clear how the outcomes of these events turned on the smallest details.  What if the patriots had had enough gunpowder at Bunker Hill?  What if General Gage authorized British attacks on key points like Dorchester Heights?  What if smallpox hadn't riddled the besieged city of Boston?  It is astonishing how fragile the American victory actually was!  His extensive notes at the end of the book are equally interesting, expanding on the text with references to pertinent web sites, etc.

I was constantly reminded of the places where I played growing up - Quarry Hill and the old Powder House in what is today Somerville, Massachusetts and was then Charlestown Without the Neck.  Coming out every year to watch Paul Revere ride by on his horse.  I was fortunate to have parents who were interested in history as well and brought us to visit the local sites.

It was interesting to read that John Quincy Adams refused to attend any of the memorials of the battle at Bunker Hill, including the dedication of the monument in 1843, because the memories of watching the actual battle with his mother when he was eight years old were too vivid and painful.  I have climbed that monument many, many times, but my most vivid memory is of a day in the 1980s when I was doing post graduate work at Northeastern.  We were to tour a neighborhood clinic adjacent to the monument so a few of the adult students took the opportunity to climb to the top.  We'll never forget overhearing one of the younger students earnestly explaining to the others with her that "This is where the Americans rolled the cannon balls down onto the heads of the British..."  Yikes!  Bunker Hill ought to be mandatory reading for them all!

The Busybody Book Club

Who ever heard of a small community book club involved in a murder mystery?  Especially one where the members of said book club are each a part of a mystery of their own tied to that murder?  It works surprisingly well in Freya Sampson's The Busybody Book Club (#1,363).

Nova Davies should be concentrating on her upcoming wedding in a few days, but hanging on to her job at the community center is getting harder.  Her evening book group is a perfect example.  One of the members of the group is suspected of nicking the cash to repair the roof of the community center building.  The money is essential in order to keep it open.  Otherwise, it will be condemned, and where will all the people who depend on its services go in this remoted Cornish coastal town?  

When the book club members hear they are under suspicion, they bond together to find out "who dunnit".  Michael, a newcomer to the group, is a prime suspect since he rushed out of the meeting on the night the money went missing.  Following the examples of their favorite fictional detectives, they find a body at his home, and Michael missing.  Case closed?  Not since more evidence points to Nova herself as the likely culprit.

As they investigate, each member of the book club turns out to have secrets of their own.  As these are slowly revealed, the plot thickens, and so do their bonds with each of these lonely folks.  All will become clear at Nova's wedding - if she ever makes it to the church!

Entertaining characters and evolving relationships are at the heart of this cozy mystery.  If you enjoy character-driven stories, you will also want to check out Freya Sampson's Nosy Neighbors.

Apostle's Cove

Cork O'Connor is forced to confront an episode from his past in William Kent Krueger's Apostle's Cove (#1,362), the latest in his popular Cork O'Connor mystery series set in northern Minnesota.  A brutal murder which took place in Aurora twenty-five years ago has re-surfaced when Cork's son Steve, a law student, begins working for an organization similar to The Innocence Project.  Although Cork has long been retired as sheriff in town, the murder of Chastity McGill has always haunted him.  His feelings are confirmed when Steve phones to tell him he's convinced his father sent the wrong man to jail.

Cork and Steve's investigation (with the help of his daughter Jenny) stirs up old wounds in Aurora.  It quickly becomes obvious that someone does not want to re-visit Chastity's murder, especially her glamorous and infamous mother Aphrodite.  She was found at the time with a bloody knife sitting by her daughter's body.  Could she be responsible?  The problem is that Chastity's estranged husband Axel Boshey long ago confessed to the crime and has been behind bars for decades.  When Cork confronts him, he maintains that he is doing good behind bars, and that is where he belongs.  But as facts are slowly uncovered, Cork is convinced that the real murderer is still out there...

This was the perfect time of year to be reading this book, as it is set in the Halloween season.  The crime is presented in both the past and the present as justice slowly grinds.  It is good to spend time with familiar characters.

The Red Kimono

The Red Kimono (#1,361) by Jan Morrill tells a story of Americans of Japanese descent caught up in the turmoil after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Sachiko and Nobu Kimura have never known anything but the quiet Berkeley neighborhood where they have been brought up.  The bombing changes everything as their father becomes the victim of a hate crime and is beaten in a local park in front of young Sachiko.  She recognizes one of the three boys involved in the beating as a friend of her older brother.

The novel follows the lives of both the perpetrator and the victims as the Kimura family are relocated to an internment camp for their "protection", and Terrence is processed through the American legal system for his crime.  It makes for thought-provoking reading.

How can you be asked to support a country where you are denied the most basic of rights?  Sachiko, Nobu and Terrence all struggle in their own ways to make meaningful connections and make the best of a horrific situation.

Recommended reading for those who have only recently become aware of what the American government has done to its own people in the past, and are concerned about what might be in store for the future.

The Magician of Tiger Castle

Louis Sachar has written his first novel for adults with The Magician of Tiger Castle (#1,361) and I, for one, hope he continues to entertain his expanded readership.  I've seen this book lumped into both science fiction and fantasy categories, but to me, it was more magical realism.  However you decide to characterize it, though, it is a charming picaresque tale set in 1523.

Anatole is the official magician for a small Italian city state where the wedding of the century is shortly to take place.  The King and Queen want their daughter to be docilely presented at the altar to unite their kingdom with the even more powerful Oxatanian kingdom next door.  Tullia, their daughter, is not going to go willingly; she is in love with Pito, a poor scribe working at the court.  What can be done to change her mind?  Both parents and Tullia appeal to Anatole to help them out of a sticky situation.  Anatole, a kind soul, is caught between a rock and a hard place, but his strongest sympathy is with Tullia.  He intends, however, to go along with the king's wishes until the bridegroom is revealed.  The stakes become personal for Anatole...

The story is rooted in the events happening across Europe in that time period, but just enough so that what is affecting the characters pushes the plot along.  In a seemingly impossible situation, can love conquer all?  You'll definitely be rooting for Anatole!

Murder At Gulls Nest

In what I hope is going to be a continuing series, Jess Kidd introduces readers to Nora Breen, former nun, in her latest book Murder At Gulls Nest (#1,360).  

The Gulls Nest in question is a rundown boarding house perched on the edge of an equally down-at-the-heels beach resort town in Kent.  Nora has left her order after thirty years and is using her time to investigate why another young postulant of the order has stopped writing to her.  

Freida Brogan's health has forced her back out into the world, and she landed at Gulls Nest for the beneficial sea air.  So why has she suddenly stopped writing to Sister Agnes of the Cross and disappeared from the boarding house, leaving everything behind?  Nora is having a hard time getting the police in Gore-on-Sea take her inquiries about Freida seriously.

Until there is a mysterious death at Gulls Nest, followed by a second death and a beating.  Now Inspector Rideout is willing to take Nora's suspicions seriously and take advantage of the skills she offers to solve the mysteries.

It's quite a dark, bleak series set in the years just after World War II.  Miss Kidd has introduced a cast of "flotsam and jetsam" characters to inhabit Gulls Nest.  You certainly wouldn't want to eat there, and even more certainly not partake of any hot beverages on offer!  Nora is such a wonderful character I hope there will be more of her adventures "in the world" to come.  Don't miss this one.

Murder Takes A Vacation

Hmm.  I've discovered a new author with a list of publications to keep me occupied for a long time: Laura Lippman.  Murder Takes A Vacation (#1,359) has been causing some buzz on GoodReads, so I decided to check it out.

Muriel Blossom, a peripheral character in Ms. Lippman's Tess Monaghan series, has an adventure of her own.  She'd been living with her daughter's family in Arizona, helping out with the girls, when her son-in-law announces that they are relocating to Tokyo.  Sorry, Muriel, no room for you.  

But her fortunes change when she wins a multimillion-dollar payout from the Lottery.  She decides to return to Baltimore and indulge her wish to travel by booking a French river cruise for her and her old friend Elinor.   She'll spend a week in Paris first, visiting museums and spending her days immersed in art.  That was the plan.  But a little romance begins in the Baltimore airport and continues through an unexpected stop in London where the kind and handsome Allan has a meeting.  Setting off on her own to Paris, Muriel is stalked by another handsome man.  But then strange things keep happening; her luggage and room are searched, the police ask her about Allan's unexpected death in Paris, where he is not supposed to be and Danny, her second stalker, is definitely not who he claims to be...

I can relate to Muriel as an older (usually invisible) plus-sized woman.  This trip is forcing her out of the shell she's been hiding in since her husband's death years ago.  She has to rely on her own intuition to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings.  Opening herself to new experiences and new friends is the key to a colorful life she never dreamed could exist for her.  Plus, Muriel finds out she's a darn good detective!

If you've never taken a European river cruise, don't be put off my Muriel's experience on board the Solitaire.  They really are a wonderful way to travel.  Your normal cruise staff would be fired on the spot if they treated their guests the way the Solitaire staff did!