Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

April 27, 2020

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

After receiving a frantic letter from her recently married cousin Catalina, Noemi Taboada is sent by her family to visit Catalina and scope out the situation.  Traveling to a remote mountainous region of Mexico, Noemi arrives at High Place, the family home of the English Doyle family.  The house is isolated and neglected with a group of secretive and silent residents who follow a set of strict house rules.

The local doctor informs Noemi that Catalina has a mild case of tuberculosis and requires rest and good food to recover.  The family quickly squashes Noemi's efforts to bring in a psychologist to examine Catalina, and it becomes clear that Noemi is an unwelcome, meddlesome guest.  Soon after arriving at the house, Noemi begins to experience a series of disturbing dreams or hallucinations.  At the same time, she continues to push for more information about her cousin's condition and unexpectedly uncovers horrific secrets about the Doyle family that could threaten her very life.

There are strong gothic overtones similar to Wuthering Heights or Rebecca:  creepy setting, perpetual fog or mist, run-down old house, controlling patriarch, rigid housekeeper, imprisoned wife.  There is a little bit of everything here:  gothic, mystery, horror, historical fiction, folklore.  

I didn't like this one as well as Moreno-Garcia's first book Gods of Jade and Shadows.  But if you like your fiction with a dose of weird, this could be for you.

Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence

April 16, 2020

Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence

A young man is found dead in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh, an apparent suicide, but Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton isn't so sure.  As the number of victims mounts, Hamilton realizes that there is a serial killer on the loose in Edinburgh.  With the murders increasing in frequency and scope, the detective finds himself desperate to interpret the few clues left by the ruthless and organized sociopath.

This is the first title in a historical series set in Edinburgh in the late 19th century, in the early days of forensic science.  Like all good detectives, Hamilton is a damaged man carrying secrets from his past.  The point of view changes with the chapter and sometimes it's hard to figure out what character is speaking or thinking at the moment.  But overall it is quite a good historical mystery.

During the shelter-in-place period here in Illinois, I've been doing what work I can from home, doing things like working on book orders, writing book reviews, and staying in touch with my staff.  I have also been sewing face masks for friend and family.

Last night was a movie night - Hulu is streaming some older movies for free.  I watched Blazing Saddles, which is randy, tasteless and certainly not politically correct but still hilarious.  It's similar to Blades of Glory, which is about two male competitive figure skaters who are banned from competition for brawling at a competition, but then team up as pairs figure skaters since the competition rules don't state that a pair has to be a man and a woman.  Predictable and stupid, but some parts are just so damned funny.  

Stay well!

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

April 10, 2020

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Irene is a Librarian with the Invisible Library, which houses copies of all books ever created.  Her latest assignment is to secure a copy of Grimm's fairy tales that includes a previously unknown tale, from an alternate Victorian London.  She is accompanied by a new trainee, Kai, although she's not sure if he is there to assist her or watch her.  The assignment seems straight-forward at first, until the Librarian-in-Residence in the alternate world advises them that the book's owner was a vampire who was brutally murdered, and the book has vanished.  What seemed a simple "get in and get out" task becomes much more complicated by the occult residents of the alternate world, and Irene and Kai find themselves in mortal danger from unknown enemies.

I usually gravitate toward any book that has "library" in the title but it took me a while to get into this one.  I actually started it once before but put it aside.  The characters are decent but the plot is kind of hazy with too many characters and types (vampires, Fae folk, dashing detectives, clockwork animals, etc.).  There were also characters who were introduced, like the elder Miss Olga Retrograde, who seemed like they were going to add something interesting to the story but then were never referred to again.  This title is the first in a series so maybe some of these characters will recur later.  While the story was okay, it definitely had a YA feel and I'm not sure I found it engaging enough to continue with the series.

I haven't been reading as much as usual lately.  I do a lot of my reading on my commute to work, and with being at home so much, I've been doing other things.  Also, my sweet little dog Asia died in her sleep on Monday night.  I adopted her when she was 10-1/2 so I knew there was a chance she wouldn't be with me for long, but I hoped it would be more than 18 months.  Asia was just the best little girl, so peaceful and unfussy, and she left me the same way she lived. 😥

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

April 2, 2020

The Mirror and the Light

May 1536 - Henry VIII has just rid himself of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, with the help of his faithful secretary, Thomas Cromwell.  Cromwell has been managing Henry's personal and private affairs for ten years and has smoothed the way for Henry to marry a third wife in his quest to get a male heir.  But Cromwell knows that Henry's whims and volatile temper can change with the wind, and that as much as he is in favor today, it could all fall apart tomorrow.  He also knows that his trusted retainers are ambitious and could betray him for money, power, and position.

This is the third book in Mantel's fabulous trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and his rise from humble beginnings to being the most powerful man in England.  The first two books both won the Man Booker prize and were dramatized into the play Wolf Hall which was presented as a six-part series on PBS (well worth watching).  I loved all 750 pages of this book, and I'm sorry to see the series end.

I'm moving on to something lighter, a fantasy about time traveling librarians.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

March 22, 2020

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Flora Poste grew up believing that her family was wealthy, but when her parents died, she discovered that they were deeply in debt and that she had only a small annual income to live on.  Flora decides to contact her relatives and get one of them to take her in.  After receiving a mysterious response from her mother's cousin, she opts to go stay with her Starkadder relatives at Cold Comfort Farm in rural Sussex.  When she arrives, Flora identifies several "projects" that need her attention and she settles in happily to fix things.

Such a fun read - slightly futuristic for the time since it refers to another world war even though it was published in the 1930's, and also a device the author calls a video-phone.  Lot of quirky characters and a happy ending.  This was the third book in my "read 12 classics this year" New Year's resolution.  It was a good choice for reading during the current health crisis.

My family and I are all well during the COVID-19 pandemic, although I am still dealing with my back pain.  I hope any readers are also safe and healthy.  I have been reading a 750 page historical novel and just finished it today.  Review to follow shortly.

Illinois has a shelter-in-place order originally until April 7, extended today until the end of April.  The library remained open until March 21, and Chicago's mayor tried to get the library (and also the city parks) exempted from the "stay at home" order, insisting that the library should be classified as an essential service.  She was actually encouraging the homeless and senior citizens to go to the library, and telling parents to drop their children off at the library while they went to work.  They even had a plan worked out where the reference and clerical staff would have to continue working but the non-essential staff like the administration and departments like cataloging would be allowed to stay home.  Fortunately, Illinois' governor included the library in the shelter-in-place order.  I am the first person to say that libraries are important to their communities but it's not a vital or essential service.

Verses for the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

March 19, 2020

Verses for the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Early in the morning, an elderly Florida woman and her dog visit the local cemetery where the dog finds an unusual object on a grave, which turns out to be a human heart.  The FBI is called in to investigate the gruesome discovery, more hearts are discovered on graves (all old suicides), and it soon becomes evident that a serial killer, who calls himself Mr. Brokenhearts, is at work.

There has been a reorganization at the FBI and Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast finds himself with (gasp!) a partner.  It’s that, or leave the FBI (or maybe get shipped to a remote FBI office out west).  Agent Coldmoon is a Native American junior agent who is the polar opposite of Pendergast, specifically chosen by Pendergast’s boss Pickett to be Pendergast’s partner and keep an eye on him.  Pendergast follows a hunch that the new murders are somehow connected to the graves where the hearts are found.  His hunch leads him and his new partner from Florida to Maine. 

Agent Pendergast is the main character in one of my favorite mystery series.  This is a strong entry in the series which could be read as a stand-alone title, although I missed hearing more about some of the regulars like Constance and Vincent.  Agent Coldmoon is quite an interesting character on his own, and I hope we see  more of him.  It was interesting that the late William Smithback’s brother Roger Smithback makes an appearance as a whiny Miami journalist.

Preston and Child write other books together in addition to the Agent Pendergast series, and for some reason, their other books are never as good.  I don’t know if that’s because they put so much into the Pendergast series that they just use leftover ideas for the other books or what. 

The library is still open but will be limiting hours next week.  Stay well and keep reading!

Dublin Noir edited by Ken Bruen

March 17, 2020

Dublin Noir edited by Ken Bruen

A collection of short stories by noir and mystery writers all centered around the city of Dublin.  The quality of the stories varies, but tend to be of higher quality than many collections.  Part of the noir series from Akashic Books.

This is a short review because it's not possible to review each individual story.  Because it's noir, the overall flavor tends to be darker than the average mystery collection.  Many of the stories deal with revenge for a past misdeed, but some are just about psychopaths who like to murder people (go figure).  There is some black humor (which is very Irish), particularly in the first story by Eoin Colfer.

I hope anyone who is reading this is staying well and taking precautions.  I'm at work but I know a lot of people are working from home or their places of employment have been closed by executive order.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and stay healthy!