Little Souls by Sandra Dallas

December 28, 2022

Little Souls by Sandra Dallas

Denver, 1918 - as World War II is winding down and the Spanish flu epidemic is ramping up, sisters Helen and Lutie Hite are coping the best they can. Helen is a nurse, caring tirelessly for influenza victims while Lute works as a graphic artist for one of Denver's leading department stores. Both sisters are engaged to be married. But their pleasant lives are shattered when Lutie returns home from work to find Helen crouching over a dead man with an ice pick in her hand. More disasters await them as they struggle to hide the man's murder.

I have mixed reactions to Dallas' historical novels. I have really enjoyed some of them, others not so much. This is one of the not so much novels. It's not terrible but the characters didn't engage my interest. I figured out the romance angle way in advance of when it actually happened. Also, the child abuse storyline is difficult to read. "Little souls" was a slang term for child prostitutes. Not recommended unless you are a die-hard historical novel fan.

A warning sign from the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, much like the advice we received in 2020-2021

True Biz by Sara Novic

December 22, 2022

True Biz by Sara Novic

True biz: American Sign Language expression that means really, seriously, honest truth

At the River Valley School for the Deaf, the students are just like kids everywhere: they want to pass their courses, go to parties, and hook up with one another. They also wish their parents, school administrators, and politicians would stop telling them what is the right thing for them. Especially the ones who are not deaf. Charlie is a transfer student with an unsuccessful cochlear implant. Her beauty pageant mother is desperate for her to be "normal" at any cost and pushed for the implant, not allowing Charlie to learn sign language. Austin is another student at the school, from a family with a genetic history of deafness and intermarrying with other deaf people. His world is turned upside down when his sister is born hearing. Eliot is Austin's roommate, whose mother resorted to faith healing to heal his deafness with disastrous results. When the school principal learns that local officials want to close the school and integrate the students into the public school system, she struggles to save the school, the students and her marriage.

There is so much here: coming of age, the deaf community and culture, family wanting to do what they think is best, use of sparse resources for the needs of a small percentage of the population. There is also the history of the deaf community, including standard American Sign Language versus Black American Sign Language (as well as sign language in other countries), plus the many problems with cochlear implants which are well-known to the manufacturers but hidden from the deaf community. Book clubs could spend hours or even multiple sessions talking about these topics.

As a hearing person, I never realized there was so much controversy within the deaf community. I know one person with a cochlear implant and another who was approved for an implant but opted not to get it. The person who did get the implant said it helped in some situations but certainly didn't give them great hearing. Not sure whether they regret getting the implant or not.

A really interesting read, highly recommended.

Cochlear implant

Exiles by Jane Harper

December 21, 2022

Exiles by Jane Harper

Aaron Falk, AFP officer, returns for a third case, this time in the wine country of Southern Australia near Adelaide. Falk has been invited to stand as godfather for his friends' new baby son, with the christening set to coincide with the local food and wine festival. But what should be a happy occasion is overshadowed by the mysterious disappearance of a young mother, as well as an unsolved hit-and-run case that continues to affect the community. As Falk learns more about the woman's disappearance, he begins to suspect that she didn't vanish by choice.

I really enjoy Harper's Aaron Falk series. Her detective is intelligent and professional, but also has a vulnerable human side. Harper writes clever intelligent mysteries that wind in all of the seemingly unrelated threads in a satisfying manner. I did not enjoy her previous standalone novel (The Survivors) that much, so I am glad that she returned to Aaron Falk. Readers who enjoy the Harry Bosch series will enjoy this mystery series set in Australia.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Wine country in Southern Australia

An Act of Foul Play by T. E. Kinsey

December 18, 2022

An Act of Foul Play by T. E. Kinsey

Lady Hardcastle and Florence Armstrong return for another adventure, this time investigating the murder of an actor in Bristol. Posing as a pair of socialites wanting to open an artsy theater, they go undercover to learn about the members of the company and who might have had a motive for wanting the man dead. They learn that just about everyone did, so they have to sort through the conflicting stories to get at the truth.

Such a fun series with two appealing heroines. This isn't Holmes and Watson - Flo is just as capable at solving a mystery as Lady H. Very enjoyable cozy read, highly recommended.

Bristol, England

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

 December 15, 2022

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

A history and expose of the pharmaceutical company that was largely responsible for the opioid epidemic, Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler family, the family that owned the company. Although the Sacklers didn't discover or invent oxycodone, they were responsible for marketing OxyContin, their own brand of oxycodone, as a safe, non-addictive pain reliever. The company's sales force continued to push doctors to over-prescribe oxy through sales incentives and marketing campaigns for everything from back pain to menstrual cramps to toothache.  The drug decimated rural and low-income areas in particular, and when the government began limiting the drug's availability, many users resorted to hard drugs like heroin.

First, let me say that oxycodone is a wonderful drug. I was prescribed oxy following surgery (which is how it is intended to be used) and it helped tremendously with post-operative pain. At that point, in 2021, oxy's addictive properties were well known, and even though I was prescribed enough oxy for seven days, I was encouraged to use it only when I really needed it (I stopped taking it after three days). It was criminal the way the Sacklers continued to push drug sales, long after they knew that people were dying from overdoses or moving on to stronger street drugs. It was unconscionable and indicative of a family that was morally deficit.

OxyContin, Purdue Pharma's trademarked brand of oxycodone

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

December 11, 2022

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Louise and her brother Mark have never gotten along. When their parents are killed in a car accident, they leave a controversial will that gives Mark the house, furnishings, and money, while leaving Louise with her mother's "artwork." After some bickering, they agree to sell the house but first they have to clean out all their mother's junk: dolls, puppets, puppets that look like clowns, paint by number pictures, string art, even a set of stuffed squirrels from when their mother took a taxidermy class. There are strange noises coming from the attic, and the dolls and puppets appear to be moving around. At first, Louise and Mark suspect that the other one is screwing with them (because that's what siblings do). But when a realtor does a preliminary walk-through, she tells them that the house has weird vibes and that they need to do a spiritual cleansing to get rid of the negative energy if they ever want to attract a buyer.

This is a really creepy book that has a cohesive storyline. Horror fans should really enjoy it but they'll probably want to read it in the daytime with the lights on.

(For me, dolls and puppets are in the same category as clowns, monkeys and mimes, when it comes to creepiness. I was creeped out before the actual horror even started. I would have packed it all up in trash bags and driven to Indiana (or maybe Ohio, since Indiana might not be far enough) to get rid of everything.)

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The television in the novel keeps coming on by itself, and it's always playing the Home Shopping Network selling dolls

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

December 9, 2022

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

On the first Christmas following her death, Liliana Armitage-Feathers has arranged for her surviving family to assemble at Endgame House, the family's country house. Every Christmas, they play a game, following clues that lead them to their Christmas presents. This year will be no different, except the clues will lead them to the ultimate holiday gift: the deed to Endgame House.

The Westing Game meets Clue (or Cluedo, it you're a Brit). I love mysteries set in country houses but this one was disappointing. The author was so focused on showing the reader how clever she is, that she neglected to use that same focus on the mystery. I had a good idea pretty early on about who was the murderer and who was working behind the scenes. I always read a few seasonal books, and this is my last Christmas mystery for 2022.

Disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Christmas at an English Country House - always wanted a place like this

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

December 7, 2022

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

A group of teens living in an isolated Alaskan town find a boot with a dismembered foot on the shoreline. This is a frequent occurrence and the gruesome find is chalked up to a suicide or someone who fell off a cruise ship. But when an Anchorage detective hears about the discovery, she wonders if it is related to the disappearance of her husband and son a year earlier. She travels to the town, only to be stranded by a snowstorm and avalanche. With nothing else to do, she begins digging into the town and its residents.

This starts out as a nice "locked room" mystery with a limited number of characters who live in the same building in the same tiny town. Everyone is stranded by the snowstorm, unable to leave. There is even a moose named Denny. But about 2/3 of the way in, the author introduces a group of characters from a nearby Native American village (the "Rez Men," who she takes great pains to emphasize are NOT Native American) who are able to move about and come and go as they please. They all sound like their dialog is from a 1950s B-movie. I'm sure the author liked all of her characters and didn't want to make one of them the bad guy so she decided to pin it on someone from outside the town, but I hate it when authors do this. It's a cop-out.

Also, the two detectives are conducting a thorough investigation up until this point, but at the 2/3 mark, they suddenly get stupid. Instead of thoroughly searching the town and surrounding area for two children who go missing, including the nearby abandoned military compound (hint, hint), they decide to hop on snowmobiles and go search the Native American village that is two hours away.

The ending is just two unbelievable. The reader is supposed to believe that the murder victim in a tiny isolated town was somehow involved with the deaths of the detective's husband and son. How unbelievable is that?? Talk about a stretch.

And why does Cara, the female detective, start seeing and talking to ghosts, including her dead husband? I know she is supposed to have PTSD, but ghosts have nothing to do with the story and an editor should have cut out those parts. It pisses me off when authors portray women as weak-minded. The male detective doesn't hear or see anything supernatural.

Yamashita tried to deal with too many big issues: domestic abuse, drugs, poverty, suicide, illegal immigration, PTSD, the plight of many Native Americans. These are all important topics, but pick one (or two, at the most) and work with it.

Disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Talkeetna, Alaska, where this novel does NOT take place

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

December 6, 2022

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

Hawthorne and Horowitz return for another case, this time at a small literary festival on one of the Channel Islands. Horowitz is invited to be a guest speaker and Hawthorne decides to go along. But when one of the festival sponsors is found dead, Hawthorne is enlisted to assist the local police. As they investigate the conference attendees and the island residents, they discover a lot more than literary rivalries.

Horowitz appears as a character in his own mystery, playing Watson to Hawthorne's Holmes. Not a good as The Magpie Murders but still has some good twists. Like most mysteries, it's one of the less likely characters who done it. I find Hawthorne to be an unlikeable character, who has his own sense of justice (not sure if other readers feel the same way). I enjoyed listening to the audio version.

One of the Channel Islands

Wellmania by Brigid Delaney

December 5, 2022

Wellmania by Brigid Delaney

After almost two decades of partying hard every night, Australian journalist Brigid Delaney details her search for health via the multi-billion dollar wellness industry. After being prescribed drugs for high blood pressure and high cholesterol in her late 30s (more commonly prescribed to people in their 60s), she decides she is going to change her life and fix her health naturally.

The first half of the book is very interesting as the author talks about undertaking a controversial 101 day fast, then getting into an intensive six-week yoga program that includes taking a 90 minute yoga class daily. Later she experiments with various types of mediation an retreats. One of the things that she notices is that when you start pursuing health via one of these intensive programs, it brings up all the shit that you have stored down in the basement that you'd rather not think about (relationships, wasted years, why you go out drinking every night, etc.). She also talks about the wellness industry itself which is supposed to be for everyone, but then places like Lululemon sell yoga pants for over $100 a pair and the largest size they come in is a 10. But then in the second half, she frequently drifts off into politics and the state of the world (pre-Covid 19) and gets off track. The takeaway is that if you decide to do any of these things for yourself, the most beneficial is vedic meditation.

The book is supposed to be made into a movie next year.

An advanced yoga pose - Delaney notes that unless you're born with a specific type of body or are willing to take a 90-minute yoga class every day, it's unlikely that most of us will ever be able to achieve this level.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

December 4, 2022

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Lydia Southwell is a translator for the Logi cultural attache, Fitzwilliam (not his real name, but as close as possible in English). Translating from English to Logi is exhausting and leaves the translator feeling drunk. After having a public meltdown, Lydia takes a short vacation home to England, then returns to New York to resume her duties. After a cultural event and banquet, Lydia wakes up the next morning to discover that Fitzwilliam has been murdered and that she is the prime suspect.

Confusing plot as conspiracy books often are. There are a lot of peripheral characters who are red herrings or have no bearing on the plot at all (like Lydia's brother Gil and his friend Rank), who are in the story briefly and then just fade away. It all turns out to be an elaborate set-up, a lot of the characters turn out to be actors, and there is actually just one person behind the murder. The reader is left wondering why. Overall rating: meh.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Seven Moon of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

December 1, 2022

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

Maali Almeida (photographer, gambling addict, promiscuous gay man) wakes up in what appears to be a government office, to find out that he is dead and his dismembered body has been thrown in Beira Lake in Colombo, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). He has no idea who killed him (although he has an idea why), and he learns that he has seven days (moons) to get any answers to his questions, including contacting his lover and his best friend about some explosive photos that he took.

Winner of the 2022 Man Booker Prize and deservedly so. There are threads of folklore as well as hints of books like Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders), A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry), and Elsewhere (Gabrielle Zevin). You also learn a lot about Sri Lankan politics and the civil war along the way. BTW, I knew who the King and Queen were long before the characters realized. Highly recommended, although not for everyone since the style is somewhat experimental.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, capitol city of Sri Lanka

Beira Lake, which figures prominently in the novel

Soldier in Sri Lankan civil war