The Jinn-bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

September 11, 2023

The Jinn-bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu

Shantiport is a major city that is slowly crumbling into decay due to flooding and political factions. Everyone who lives in Shantiport is trying to find a way to get out, except Lina, who loves the city and wants to save it. When she and her brother Bador, a monkey bot, find a magic lamp complete with jinn who will grant their wishes, they decide to punish the man who killed their father while also saving Shantiport. What could possibly go wrong? Be careful what you wish for.

A retelling of the Aladdin story from 1001 Arabian Nights, which the author tried to marry to Murderbot but not successfully. The first half of the book is some amazing world building, but the second half dragged and I started skimming. The jinn is amusing since before he will grant a wish, he goes through the user agreement and other legalese that we are all familiar with. If you are a hardcore fantasy reader, you may enjoy this but it wasn't for me. I suggest reading Martha Wells' Murderbot series instead.

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

Dystopian city

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

August 26, 2023

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

Memorial Day 1958. The citizens of Jewel, Minnesota, gather to remember those killed in the country's wars. But the festivities are interrupted when the body of a wealthy but unpopular resident is found floating in the river. Suicide, accident or murder? If it's murder, Sheriff Brody Dern has no shortage of suspected, since many locals had a reason to hate the victim.

This is a stand-alone novel, not part of the author's mystery series. The plot is complicated, and there are a lot of characters, so many that I started keeping a list of their relation to the dead man. The river is a character on its own, since so many scenes are enacted on its banks. Ultimately the story is about the human condition that we all share - almost all of the characters experience some kind of loneliness or alone-ness, and many are still traumatized by the wars of the the 20th century. While I didn't enjoy it as much as This Tender Land, it is still a remarkable novel, highly recommended to readers of literary fiction.

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

Minnesota river

Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas

July 22, 2023

Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas

Thomas Llewellyn has hit rock bottom, with no family or friends, unable to find employment, homeless. As a last resort, he answers an advertisement for an assistant to an enquiry agent, which involves some danger. Cyrus Barker is an unusual employer to say the least, taking on cases that need to be investigated discreetly. Shortly after he is hired, Cyrus and Thomas agree to investigate the murder of a young Jewish scholar, found stabbed and crucified in the Aldgate district of London. The crime is stirring up unrest, particularly among the city's lower classes. Even though he knows that there may be some danger involved, Thomas will need all his wits to stay alive.

This is a departure from the usual cozy Victorian mystery, where two spinsters or a couple investigate crimes usually among the middle or upper classes. The tone and atmosphere here are much more hard-boiled, featuring sectors of the London populace that are usually ignored in more genteel mysteries. The main characters are interesting and unique without being overly eccentric. While I suspected the motive, I did not guess who the murderer was, which was part of the reason I liked it. It's unfortunate that prejudice against the Jew and other minorities is still going on, over a century later. The first book in a series. 

Aldgate slums, late 19th century

Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

July 17, 2023

Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

Perveen Mistry, the only female solicitor in 1920s Bombay, returns for her fourth adventure, this one involving a young ayah (nanny) in a wealthy Bombay household. The young woman is accused of inducing a miscarriage by drinking an herbal concoction. When the patriarch of the household dies under mysterious circumstances, Perveen knows there is more going on than meets the eye. 

One of the attractions of this series is the atmosphere and descriptions of early 20th century India. There is a murder, but it takes a backseat to social issues that include the prescribed roles of women and the lack of legal recourse when someone commits a crime against them, status/social class, and prejudice. While the plots of this series tend to be complicated, I found the various threads of this story to be particularly complex and difficult to connect. There are also a number of side plots, including Perveen's on-going relationship with a young Englishman, issues within her family, and larger subjects such as the re-districting of princely India lands. While I recommend this series, I like this volume the least so far.

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

1920s Bombay

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

June 5, 2022

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

Honey Mary Angeline Lovett is the adopted daughter of Cussy Mary Carter, one of the original pack horse librarians in Kentucky. Blue-skinned like Cussy, Honey and her parents have been hiding from the law all of her life. When her parent are arrested for their mixed-race marriage, 16 year old Honey has to find a responsible adult to look after her until she turns 18. Honey moves in with an old friend of her mother's, and to support herself, joins the Pack Horse Library Project, picking up her mother's old route. In the course of her work, she meets Pearl, the first woman park ranger in the state. Honey and Pearl both have to fight for their freedom to work and live independently.

I didn't enjoy this sequel as much as I did the first book (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek), but it was still a good read. There was a little too much calamity, just one disaster after another. But the characters are engaging and the story is well-researched. And Junius the bad-tempered mule is still with us.

An Appalachian homestead like the ones Cussy and Honey would have visited

Honor by Thrity Umrigar

September 23, 2022

Honor by Thrity Umrigar

Smita is an Indian American journalist who lives in New York and works for a major U.S. newspaper. When the local journalist is hospitalized due to an accident, Smita is assigned to cover the story of an Indian woman named Meeta whose brothers murdered her husband and left her horribly disfigured. Because Meena is a Hindu and she married a Muslim man, her brothers were outraged at how she disgraced their family honor, and their honor in their village. Although she was born in India, Smita has not been back for over 20 years, and while the cities are quite modern, rural areas like the village where Meena lived are the same as they were a hundred years ago, except for the village head man. The case forces Smita to revisit the secrets in her own painful past. At the same time, she finds herself increasingly attracted to an Indian man named Mohan. Smita can't help contrasting her own ability to have a love affair with Mohan, against the sadness of Meena's love story.

Wonderful writing, well narrated, horrible story. Meena's story is just so sad. From everything that I've read and seen about India, it sounds like a terrible place to live if you are a woman. It is incomprehensible that two men would murder their sister and her husband just because of some ancient notion of honor. At the beginning of the story, Mohan expresses his belief that India is the most wonderful place in the world. He has lived all his life in the city of Mumbai, and the closest he has been to a rural area is his family's country estate. The way Meena and her sister lived was like a revelation to him. The contrast between city life and rural life in India could not be greater - Indian villages look virtually the same as they have for hundreds of years. I did like the way Smita's story worked out, even though the novel reinforced my belief that India is one of the places that I have no desire to visit.

Mumbai, 21st century

Rural India. 21st century