"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." (James Bryce)

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A FOUNTAIN FILLED WITH BOOD (Julia Spencer-Fleming)

Clare Fergusson is a 35-year-old former army helicopter pilot who is now an Episcopal priest.  She has been pastor at St. Alban's in Miller's Kill, located in New York's Adirondack Mountains, for less than a year.  Russ Van Alstyne grew up in the Miller's Kill area and recently returned to serve as chief of police.  He is in his late 40's and married to Linda, his faithful wife who is mentioned frequently but never seen.  Clare and Russ have been fighting off an unacknowledged mutual attraction for months.

A series of horrific attacks on local gay men might be hate crimes, or they might have a more sinister meaning.  Claire is shaken when she discovers the body of one of the developer's of a local upscale spa in a local park during the town's 4th of July fireworks display.  This victim, who was also known to be gay, had his throat cut and his death could be related to the previous attacks, or perhaps there is a connection to alleged PCB contamination problems at the building site.  Clare discovers a connection between the couple she is preparing to marry and the victim and she launches her own investigation into the murder.  The result is an action-packed mystery brimming over with appealing characters, ecclesiastical detail, unrequited love, and a great helicopter rescue.

Julia Spencer-Fleming Fleming has produced an incredible follow-up to In the Bleak Midwinter, her first Clare Fergussen novel.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

DISHING THE DIRT (M.C. Beaton)

Agatha's back!  I wasn't really sure if I was going to continue reading this series because Agatha was starting to get on my nerves, a little too abrasive, a little too stupid about men, and surrounded by people who were a bit too unfeeling.  M.C. Beaton has a winner with Dishing the Dirt.  I think that Agatha was at a kind of evolutionary standstill, but now she HAS evolved. Thank you, M.C. Beaton!

When Agatha discovers that Jill Davant, a therapist new to the area, has been digging into her past, Agatha is incensed and threatens to kill the woman.  You can guess what happens next!  For fans of the series, I won't go into the plot in much detail (more bodies, Agatha in danger, James and Charles show up periodically, and one handsome man piques Agatha's interest).  What I especially liked about this, the 26th in the series, was that Agatha seemed a bit more human and less of a caricature than usual, Charles and James were more caring and compassionate.  I REALLY want Agatha and Charles to realize that they are soulmates and belong together.  I think that Charles is beginning to realize that, but Agatha still seems clueless!  I guess we'll have to wait until number 27 to see what happens!

A SINGLE THREAD (Marie Bostwick)

I just discovered Marie Bostwick, and I like what I've found.  Think Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street novels, Kate Jacob's Friday Night Club, or Nancy Thayer's Nantucket-based novels.  Women's friendships are a wonderful basis for stories focused on dealing with change and overcoming adversity.  I think that's one of the reasons why the TV series The Golden Girls still has just as much charm and appeal as it did 30 years ago.  Women reaching out to each other in friendship and supporting each other in times of trouble, with or without men in the mix, is a theme that never grows old and stale for women readers.

Recently divorced, 50ish Evelyn Dixon arrives in New Bern, CT from Texas to experience the beautiful autumn colors of New England for the first time.  While exploring the town she discovers an empty storefront in an alley called Cobbled Court and decides to follow her life's dream of opening a quilt shop.  After 6 long months of renovation and almost all of Evelyn's savings, she opens for her first quilting class, a breast cancer benefit.  Her customers include Abigail Burgess, a wealthy, uptight scion of the town, Abigail's troubled niece, Liza, who is in Abigail's custody due to an unfortunate brush with the law, and Margot Matthews, a downsized marketing expert.  This unlikely group forms a friendship, which strengthen even more when they pull together to help Evelyn through an unexpected  (but not to the readers!) illness.

Bostwick creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere in this first of the Cobbled Court series.  If you are anything like me, you'll be anxious to read the next installment because you'll feel like you've made some new friends. too.


Saturday, September 19, 2015

THE PERFECT COMEBACK OF CAROLINE JACOBS (Matthew Dicks)

Everyone has those moments in life, usually during high school, that they REALLY wish they could do over, or at least tell someone off for.  Caroline Jacobs is just such a woman.  After speaking her mind for the first time in years (and using some language just a little too shocking for a PTA meeting), she realizes that her doormat-like behavior and lack of career success (she is a very talented photographer) all hark back to the day that her best friend Emily snubbed her in the high school cafeteria, leaving her friendless, alone, and thoroughly humiliated.  Caroline decides on the spur of the moment, to drive from her home in Maryland to Blackstone, Massachusetts, her teenage daughter Polly in tow, to confront Emily about that life-changing moment.  During the trip she periodically checks in by phone with her bewildered (but supportive) husband and begins to see her recalcitrant daughter, Polly, in a new light.  She finally tracks down Emily in her beautiful upscale home, Caroline is at first intimidated, but after spending time with her old friend she begins to see that perspective can be skewed by age and circumstances.

Matthew Dicks is one of my favorite authors.  It takes a great man to write convincingly from a female perspective and he succeeds admirably.  In fact, considering that he has in the past written from the perspective of an autistic child, a brilliant but obsessive-compulsive thief, and a quirky (also OCD) male nurse, I guess that he could probably write from almost any point of view.  His specialty is getting into the heads of people that are lovable but just a little bit off kilter.  I have met Matthew Dicks.  If you have not, you might come to the conclusion that this is a man with deep-seated psychological problems, but that's not the impression I got.  I think he's just brilliant!

FINDING SKY (Susan O'Brien)

Last month I wrote a blog post about the Christie Capers, our library's mystery book club, for the Wicked Cozy Authors, a group of talented New England mystery writers.  The most exciting result of that post (other than being somewhat famous for a day) was that Susan O'Brien sent us a couple of copies of her novel, Finding Sky.  I admit that I have a hard time getting around to reading books that I actually own (they are stockpiled in anticipation of the day that I become housebound or all of the libraries close due to lack of funding), but I felt that Susan's gesture deserved to be rewarded with my endangering our circulation statistics by reading a non-library book.  I'm glad that I did!  By the way, this novel will be in the Windsor Locks collection and available for checkout very soon as will the next in the Nicki Valentine series, Sky High.

Nicki Valentine, the single mother of two young children, Sophie and Jack, was widowed when her cheating scoundrel of a husband was killed while out boating with his secret mistress.  Nicki is an aspiring private investigator and has enrolled in a PI training course with an instructor named Dean, whom she finds to be very hot in addition to being very helpful and an expert in his field.

When Beth, the birth mother of her next-door-neighbor and best friend Kenna's adoptive baby-to-be, disappears, Kenna and her husband Andy are in despair.  Has Beth changed her mind?  Does her disappearance have anything to do with the gang-related activities of the baby's father?  Do her grandparents in West Virginia know anything?  With a little help from Dean and a lot of babysitting from her mother, Nicki sets out to use her developing investigative skills to try and find Beth.  She brazenly follows the baby-daddy, Marcus, witnesses a gang-style shooting, and worms her way into the lives of nearly anyone who might know something about Beth's whereabouts.

Nicki is not your typical amateur, zany housewife investigating a crime or solving a murder.  She is special, and very likable.  O'Brien does an exquisite job of blending humor, friendship, single parenthood, and some exciting action into a very appealing series.  I'm looking forward to reading the next one!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

ASSAULTED PRETZEL (Laura Bradford)

Laura Bradford is a favorite author at Windsor Locks Library!  This is the second in her Claire Weatherly Amish series, which takes place in quaint (yet murder-prone) Heavenly, Pennsylvania.  Claire relocated to Heavenly after her divorce, moving into her Aunt Diane's B&B, Sleep Heavenly, and opening up her own gift shop, Heavenly Treasures.  In the first of the series, Hearse & Buggy, the body of her shop's former owner is discovered in the alley outside of Claire's shop and she begins to develop friendships with two local men: Benjamin, and Amish widower, and Jakob, a formerly Amish detective recently returned to his hometown. And, of course, she gets involved in solving the murder!

In Assaulted Pretzel, Heavenly is abuzz at the arrival of toy manufacturer Rob Karble, who is in town to discuss working with the Amish to manufacture a line of Amish toys that promises to boost the local economy by creating new jobs for the Amish (since farmland is becoming scarce, many Amish are forced to find occupations other than working the family farm).  After the locals circulate a letter stating Rob's intention to manufacture the Amish-designed toys in his own plant, Rob's dead body body is discovered behind a booth at the local Amish festival and suspicion naturally falls on the Amish.  Bradford keeps the reader guessing the identity of the killer until the very end.  Along the way we are treated to the further development of the Jakob-Claire-Benjamin triangle and more insight into the working of the Amish community.

Laura Bradford does her research well, making frequent trips to the Lancaster, PA area to help create the authentic characters and ambiance for her series.  If you are looking for a relaxing cozy with an interesting mystery and fascinating glimpse of the Amish culture, choose this one!