MOON SHELL BEACH (Nancy Thayer)

Moon Shell Beach is one of those books you keep thinking about while you are busy with something else - work, cooking, etc. - wondering what is going to happen next. I'm not quite sure why. It is well-written, like all of Thayer's books that I have read, but it is not a thriller or a mystery. In fact, in a few respects it is not even totally believable! It is, however, great women's fiction with a wonderful sense of real friendships and of place. In this case the place is Nantucket, the setting of many of Thayer's novels and also her home since 1984. The two friends are Clare and Lexi, girls who grow into women on the island and each make choices , one to go and one to stay. Lexi's family is financially strapped and unable to finance her college education, so she marries a rich developer, leaves the island, and fulfills her dreams of travel and culture. Clare stays on Nantucket to pursue her relationship with the irresistable Jessie. After 11 long years the friends are reunited when Lexi returns home to the Island. Each of them finds personal fulfillment in a new life with new goals and dreams. Yes, I know that it sounds like a romance, and in a lot of ways it is, but it is also a wonderful story of the ups and downs of friendship and how forgiveness can make all the difference!

MARTIANS IN MAGGODY (Joan Hess)

Martains in Maggody takes place well into the Arly Hanks series, perhaps 8th or 9th. Any entry is a series of any kind should be written so that someone who has not read the previous books can jump in and enjoy the story. Usually a few lines explaining the main character's background and circumstances and brief allusions to the relationships between that character and others who figure prominently in the story is enough; after all, no one wants a rehash of the plots of all of the books leading up to the current one! In Hess' case, though, there seems to be an assumption that the reader will have started at the beginning of the series and worked on through to the current book, relieving the author of any obligation to fill us in. I would imagine that, for a reader to whom these characters have already endeared themselves, the book would be fine, even enjoyable. For those of us who are not familar with Maggody, however, the story is ruined by a jumble of characters with names like Jim Bob, Marguerite, Dahlia, Darla, and Estelle, none of whom I could remember when their names pop up throughout the plot. I spent much of the book wondering why Arly was divorced, who she had married, and why she returned to Maggody. None of this was mentioned in Martians. My advice to Joan Hess would be to add a little bit more background to each book so someone who comes across the series for the first time will be inspired to seek out more. One more thing...I hope people from Arkansas really don't behave like this!

A SPOONFUL OF POISON (M.C. Beaton)

Agatha Raisin is up to her usual tricks in this, the 18th (I think) in this series. Agatha is asked to do the publicity for a local fair where someone adds LSD to the jam, resulting in 2 deaths. The local vicar hires Agatha's detective agency to solve the crime. Naturally she becomes romantically interested in a local widower, an architect with green eyes to die for,whose wife perished in a mysterious fall down the stairs some months before. Naturally Agatha starts hearing conflicting stories about the wife's suspicious death and her interest in the widower waxes and wanes. Poor Agatha! One of the things that I especially like about this series is that Agatha's character has actually developed along the way. She will always be Agatha, but she is becoming just a little softer in each novel.

This mystery brings in all of our favorite characters: Sir Charles, Ray, Mrs. Boxby, Bill Wong, and even James Lacey, Agatha's great love and former husband. If you love cozies, and especially if you love Agatha, you will enjoy M.C. Beaton's latest!

INÉS OF MY SOUL (Isabel Allende)

Allende is a beautiful writer, in my humble opinion. Her prose is rich with vivid descriptions and historical allusions and her use of words reminds me, a bit, of Dickens. Still, I didn't really like this book. Inés Suarez, a real woman who lived and loved more than 400 years ago, was the lover, then wife, of Spanish adventurer, Juan de Málaga, a man with little to recommend him but his stunning good looks and astounding sexual prowess. After he disappears into the South American wilderness, Inés travels from Spain to the new world, meeting along the way Pedro de Valdivia, the married soldier who will eventually found Chile with her help. After ascertaining that Juan is dead and spending nine years as Pedro's mistress, Inés marries Rodrigo de Quiroga, who becomes the "gubernador" of Chile. He is the love of Inés' life (finally!) and they enjoy 30 years of wedded bliss before dying within months of each other.

This novel, while rich in historical details, lacks soul (despite the title). Inés is too focused, to fearless, and too emotionless to appeal to the reader's emotions. She is almost annoying in her ability to manage any and every situation, including marrying herself off to Quiroga after Pedro de Valdivia dumps her for political reasons. I haven't read any of Allende's other books, but I understand that this one is very different in tone and character from her usual works. Historically, it is full of blood and gore details of Pizarro's conquest of Peru and surrounding areas, and for this reason I would recommend it to anyone interested in this period of history. It was certainly an eye-opener for me. If you are looking for an engaging novel, though, I would look elsewhere.