In Diane Les Bequets' The Last Woman in the Forest (#831), Marian Engstrom is working in the wilderness with her tracker dogs on wildlife conservation projects when she is informed of the death of her lover, Tate Mathias, on a different conservation project in Washington state. She had met Tate when she joined the group, and their romance looked promising until the details began to unravel about the unsolved deaths of a group of young women called the Stillwater Murders near the Montana headquarters of her conservation group.
As Marian grieves and collects Tate's belongings, she vows to learn more about the man she was involved with. The details prove to be unsettling, especially after she connects with a retired criminal profiler who seems to take an interest in Marian's quest.
There is much of interest about the methods used by groups like the one in the book to track and monitor the health of endangered wildlife populations by using dogs to track their scat. It can be analyzed for an accurate picture of the food sources of the target populations, approximate numbers and range of the animals by methodically covering wilderness sectors. In many ways, this was the best part of the book.
The cover blurb says the book is "twisty", but I have to admit the ending telegraphed itself not very far into the book, so I kept waiting for the big reveal. It did eventually come, and it was exactly the way I expected it to play out.
Other than that, it was entertaining enough, but upon reading the author's notes at the end, she sees this as a "mission" book to empower women to speak up about male physical, emotional and sexual abuse. It didn't work at all for me on that level, but her aim is noble.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
The Binding
The Binding (#830) is Young Adult author Bridget Collins' first fantasy novel for adults. It will be the last book of hers I read, which is disappointing because the novel started out so well, with an interesting premise and writing so vivid the reader is immediately smack in the middle of the Dickensian world of her imagination. And yet, for me, that promising ending petered out into just another hackneyed romance. Yawn.
What if you had a secret you could not bear to live with? A fatal accident you caused; a love affair that could never be; a child out of wedlock; all could be totally erased from your memory by visiting a book binder. You tell your unwanted memories to the binder, and when you are through, he or she will construct a volume containing all of your story and your memories along with it. A reputable binder will lock that volume safely away in a vault to be forgotten forever. The problem is, not all binders abide by the code to protect their clients' memories, and a flourishing trade in illegal book sales exists for connoisseurs. Bad things can happen if the volumes are disturbed. It's no wonder that binders have a terrible reputation, and it is with the greatest of reluctance that Emmett Farmer's parents apprentice him to an ancient binder living in the marshes on her own.
Part I moves along briskly, introducing this mysterious world of book binding and the principal characters. However, when the back stories begin to be revealed, Emmett is squarely in the middle of things with a ruined romance. He and the object of his desire (the wealthy scion of a rich and powerful man) are both bound to forget what would bring shame and inconvenience to their families, so they are constantly missing each other in their remembrance phases. By the time I got to the Part III, I was so disgusted by their cavalier and hurtful treatment of everyone else around them that I thoroughly disliked them both and concluded that Emmett Farmer and Julian Darnay deserved each other. Too bad the binding didn't work out for both of them for everyone's sake!
What if you had a secret you could not bear to live with? A fatal accident you caused; a love affair that could never be; a child out of wedlock; all could be totally erased from your memory by visiting a book binder. You tell your unwanted memories to the binder, and when you are through, he or she will construct a volume containing all of your story and your memories along with it. A reputable binder will lock that volume safely away in a vault to be forgotten forever. The problem is, not all binders abide by the code to protect their clients' memories, and a flourishing trade in illegal book sales exists for connoisseurs. Bad things can happen if the volumes are disturbed. It's no wonder that binders have a terrible reputation, and it is with the greatest of reluctance that Emmett Farmer's parents apprentice him to an ancient binder living in the marshes on her own.
Part I moves along briskly, introducing this mysterious world of book binding and the principal characters. However, when the back stories begin to be revealed, Emmett is squarely in the middle of things with a ruined romance. He and the object of his desire (the wealthy scion of a rich and powerful man) are both bound to forget what would bring shame and inconvenience to their families, so they are constantly missing each other in their remembrance phases. By the time I got to the Part III, I was so disgusted by their cavalier and hurtful treatment of everyone else around them that I thoroughly disliked them both and concluded that Emmett Farmer and Julian Darnay deserved each other. Too bad the binding didn't work out for both of them for everyone's sake!
Monday, May 20, 2019
The Tale Teller
I read Anne Hillerman's latest Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novel, The Tale Teller (#829) while on vacation in the Southwest. The vast expanses, unique rock formations and emptiness of the landscape there made me feel I was in the middle of Manuelito and Chee's world, right down to driving past a Tribal Courthouse.
In The Tale Teller, Manuelito stumbles across a body while out jogging in a popular park. The fact that the body's hands are bound makes it certain that this was no natural death. Chee is off in Chinle, helping their Navajo Police with a rash of burglaries targeting the elderly, so he can't help his wife with this crime.
In the meantime, a retired Leaphorn is pulled into investigating an anonymous museum donation for his friend Louisa. A valuable Navajo textile and a unique bracelet, both listed on the donation invoice, are missing from the mailed package. How can the donor be traced to ascertain whether the items in question ever made it into the box? No pressure, but the museum director is anxious to clear things up before she retires in a week. When her young assistant unexpectedly dies, matters are made even more complicated.
Though seemingly on different cases, the threads of this mystery pull Chee, Manuelito and Leaphorn ever closer to the central plot.
I love this series because of the glimpses it gives of a unique culture and place; enough so that it feels familiar when you actually encounter it. What could be better?
In The Tale Teller, Manuelito stumbles across a body while out jogging in a popular park. The fact that the body's hands are bound makes it certain that this was no natural death. Chee is off in Chinle, helping their Navajo Police with a rash of burglaries targeting the elderly, so he can't help his wife with this crime.
In the meantime, a retired Leaphorn is pulled into investigating an anonymous museum donation for his friend Louisa. A valuable Navajo textile and a unique bracelet, both listed on the donation invoice, are missing from the mailed package. How can the donor be traced to ascertain whether the items in question ever made it into the box? No pressure, but the museum director is anxious to clear things up before she retires in a week. When her young assistant unexpectedly dies, matters are made even more complicated.
Though seemingly on different cases, the threads of this mystery pull Chee, Manuelito and Leaphorn ever closer to the central plot.
I love this series because of the glimpses it gives of a unique culture and place; enough so that it feels familiar when you actually encounter it. What could be better?
Thursday, May 9, 2019
American Princess
Author Stephanie Marie Thornton mentions in her interview at the end of American Princess - A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt (#828) that this is the first novel about Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Teddy Roosevelt, wife of Congressman and Speaker of the House Nick Longworth, and cousin of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It's hard to believe, after reading about a life so jam packed with fame, folly and family that she hasn't already been the subject of a dozen novels! It's also hard to believe that when the "Other Washington Monument" as she was dubbed by the press died at the ripe old age of 96 in 1976, that it didn't make more of an impression on me at the time.
Although Alice lived in the glare of publicity virtually her whole life, she didn't seem to have a particularly happy life in many respects. She did, however, live her life as her own woman, flouting many of the conventions of the times and even traveling on behalf of her father as a Goodwill Ambassador to the Far East. Surprisingly, despite her political maneuvering on behalf of her family and her husband, she never wanted to hold office herself, nor was she much interested in the cause of women's suffrage.
Ms. Thornton has done a good job mixing the facts of Alice's well-documented life with a storyline that keeps the reader turning the pages to see what outrageous thing she would do or say next. This is the kind of historical fiction which makes learning history a pleasure. Recommended reading.
Although Alice lived in the glare of publicity virtually her whole life, she didn't seem to have a particularly happy life in many respects. She did, however, live her life as her own woman, flouting many of the conventions of the times and even traveling on behalf of her father as a Goodwill Ambassador to the Far East. Surprisingly, despite her political maneuvering on behalf of her family and her husband, she never wanted to hold office herself, nor was she much interested in the cause of women's suffrage.
Ms. Thornton has done a good job mixing the facts of Alice's well-documented life with a storyline that keeps the reader turning the pages to see what outrageous thing she would do or say next. This is the kind of historical fiction which makes learning history a pleasure. Recommended reading.
Saturday, May 4, 2019
Murder At The Queen's Old Castle
Murder at the Queen's Old Castle (#827), is the second book in Cora Harrison's Reverend Mother Aquinas series I've read, and although it paints a grim picture of Cork in the 1920s, the mystery here is suitable to its setting.
Merchant Joseph Fitzwilliam has promised Reverend Mother her pick of flood-damaged goods at his low-end department store built in the ruins of a medieval castle in the center of Cork. Although it's been years since Reverend Mother set foot in the place, a chance to pick up items for the orphans and poor children attending her primary school from Queen's Old Castle is too tempting to pass up. In fact, one of her former students, an apprentice at the store, has been assigned to help her. Mr. Fitzwilliam soon appears outside his cubbyhole office perched high up on one wall before pitching over the railing to land almost at her feet, watched by horrified customers and staff.
It soon becomes obvious that his death was not natural. Who would have cause to wish Mr. Fitzwilliam harm? The list of suspects grows, as he was discovered to be a rather unpleasant man, liked by neither the staff nor his family, all of whom but the eldest son work in the store. Means and motive abound for several of them, yet how Reverend Mother eventually arrives at the truth is almost the death of her.
The plot is quite twisty, and the motivation and means quite dark and somewhat unexpected. This is one of those rare mysteries where justice is not served up with a neat bow at the end, but the reader is not left in the dark. Reverend Mother Aquinas remains a formidable character.
I just had to comment that I did not care for the cover artwork on this novel. There is a dark castle on the left, but on the right is a looming dark figure. I thought at first that it was the iconic figure of faceless Death in a hooded black robe, but when I took a second look, it seemed to shift to an image of a woman in an abayah. I really had to think about the subject of the book to have that image morph into a nun in an old-fashioned habit seen from the rear. Rather disconcerting, I thought.
I do love cover art. When I mentioned how clever I thought the cover of Tara Westover's memoir Educated (See my post of 2/5/19.) is composed with a photo of a mountain landscape with its solitary figure integrated into the tip of a pencil, not one other person in my book club had ever paused to look that closely at the cover art. You miss a lot when you don't look carefully!
Merchant Joseph Fitzwilliam has promised Reverend Mother her pick of flood-damaged goods at his low-end department store built in the ruins of a medieval castle in the center of Cork. Although it's been years since Reverend Mother set foot in the place, a chance to pick up items for the orphans and poor children attending her primary school from Queen's Old Castle is too tempting to pass up. In fact, one of her former students, an apprentice at the store, has been assigned to help her. Mr. Fitzwilliam soon appears outside his cubbyhole office perched high up on one wall before pitching over the railing to land almost at her feet, watched by horrified customers and staff.
It soon becomes obvious that his death was not natural. Who would have cause to wish Mr. Fitzwilliam harm? The list of suspects grows, as he was discovered to be a rather unpleasant man, liked by neither the staff nor his family, all of whom but the eldest son work in the store. Means and motive abound for several of them, yet how Reverend Mother eventually arrives at the truth is almost the death of her.
The plot is quite twisty, and the motivation and means quite dark and somewhat unexpected. This is one of those rare mysteries where justice is not served up with a neat bow at the end, but the reader is not left in the dark. Reverend Mother Aquinas remains a formidable character.
I just had to comment that I did not care for the cover artwork on this novel. There is a dark castle on the left, but on the right is a looming dark figure. I thought at first that it was the iconic figure of faceless Death in a hooded black robe, but when I took a second look, it seemed to shift to an image of a woman in an abayah. I really had to think about the subject of the book to have that image morph into a nun in an old-fashioned habit seen from the rear. Rather disconcerting, I thought.
I do love cover art. When I mentioned how clever I thought the cover of Tara Westover's memoir Educated (See my post of 2/5/19.) is composed with a photo of a mountain landscape with its solitary figure integrated into the tip of a pencil, not one other person in my book club had ever paused to look that closely at the cover art. You miss a lot when you don't look carefully!
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
That Churchill Woman
I seem to be stuck in a reading rut about Anglo-American society women of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, Stephanie Barron's That Churchill Woman (#826) being a case in point. Frankly, I was disappointed with this one. I'm a fan of Ms. Barron's Jane Austen Mystery series, but I found the Jennie Jerome here shallow and self-centered. The novel concentrates on Jennie Jerome's affair with Charles Kinsky, a member of Austrian royalty. They are portrayed here as star-crossed lovers, whose inability to marry blighted their lives. Maybe so, but Jennie was headstrong, and she deliberately chose her marriage to Lord Randolph Churchill despite vigorous family objections. She did not choose wisely, yet the product of that disastrous marriage, their son Winston, changed the world.
There's a lot here about dresses and social occasions managed on a tight budget, much time spent apart except when Jennie was still able to assist husband Randolph with a promising political career which he tossed aside in six months. Little time was spent with her two sons (Jack was not Randolph's child.), following the English model. That left plenty of time for idle dalliances as long as one was discreet. Numerous affairs are hinted at here, but apparently Jennie's passion for Charles Kinsky exceeded the bounds of good taste, as pointed out by the Prince of Wales.
Having nobly renounced the love of her life in order to stay with her syphilitic husband until his ghastly death, the cause of which was shrouded in mystery by the family, Jennie does go on to marry a second time. Curiously, the reader is never given the name of the that second husband, so I looked it up. She actually married two additional husbands; George Cornwallis-West and Montagu Porch, who was younger than her son Winston! No wonder she had a reputation as That Churchill Woman!
I think I was so disappointed with this novel because I had just finished A Well-Behaved Woman (See my post of 4/24/19.) about Alva Smith Vanderbilt, a friend of Jennie Jerome's who had a similarly difficult life, but went on to devote her life (coincidentally enough!) to her second husband's political career, and the cause of women's suffrage in the United States. Alva did something with her own life, and had many admirable qualities. I did not come away feeling that same sympathy for Jennie Jerome. It's a miracle, all things considered, that Winston Churchill turned out as well as he did.
There's a lot here about dresses and social occasions managed on a tight budget, much time spent apart except when Jennie was still able to assist husband Randolph with a promising political career which he tossed aside in six months. Little time was spent with her two sons (Jack was not Randolph's child.), following the English model. That left plenty of time for idle dalliances as long as one was discreet. Numerous affairs are hinted at here, but apparently Jennie's passion for Charles Kinsky exceeded the bounds of good taste, as pointed out by the Prince of Wales.
Having nobly renounced the love of her life in order to stay with her syphilitic husband until his ghastly death, the cause of which was shrouded in mystery by the family, Jennie does go on to marry a second time. Curiously, the reader is never given the name of the that second husband, so I looked it up. She actually married two additional husbands; George Cornwallis-West and Montagu Porch, who was younger than her son Winston! No wonder she had a reputation as That Churchill Woman!
I think I was so disappointed with this novel because I had just finished A Well-Behaved Woman (See my post of 4/24/19.) about Alva Smith Vanderbilt, a friend of Jennie Jerome's who had a similarly difficult life, but went on to devote her life (coincidentally enough!) to her second husband's political career, and the cause of women's suffrage in the United States. Alva did something with her own life, and had many admirable qualities. I did not come away feeling that same sympathy for Jennie Jerome. It's a miracle, all things considered, that Winston Churchill turned out as well as he did.
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