Set sail for murder

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

a good read

I finished the novel , In the Bleak Midwinter, and I found it to be an excellent introduction to a new series, probably one I will visit again. The story was believable, the characters were likable, and the drama and suspense held my interest without making me afraid to sleep. I don't gravitate to suspense, but it was just enough for me to be interested in the story; and it takes place near Christmas, so it is timely. I am glad Sue Hofer presented this for the Mystery Book Group and I found another author to like.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

reading

I am one of those people who read more than one book at a time, I don't know when I started it, but it just happens, I don't have my book with me, I pick up another, and pretty soon I have a book started in each room of the house and I drive my husband crazy with all my books all over. I like to read anything; magazine essays, short stories, or a chapter in a book I read two years ago. If I really like the way it is written, I'll read it over, maybe just in parts. Sometimes I'm in a mood, nostalgic is my main mood. To a gentler time, an older time in history, maybe it safe for me to go there because it is past and can't scare me with its terrors. I can sympathize with the characters, and think about what it was like, but it not my world. I don't want to read about people who commit mass murders in 2009 and their ilk, I don't want to frighten myself anymore than I already do by watching the news. I have an old book on my shelf that I am ashamed to say probably read four or five times, and still it draws me in and I like to visit the setting, the time, the winter snowy night, the blizzard feeling of closed roads and winds swirling at the windows and whistling through the grooves of the bricks or stone walls of the house. This book is "Murder at Hazelmoor" by Agatha Christie and is also known as "The Sittaford Mystery" and the date is 1931. Right smack in the middle of that wonderful time between the wars known as "the Golden age of Mystery novels" taken to be the period between 1913 and the start of World War II. Funny, I thought that it started after World War I, I stand corrected. Any way, Hazelmoor is a home I think, where murder has taken place, and it is perfect for a winter night, and I like to picture myself back in the sixties, on a chair close up to the blazing fire, in my home as a child. I loved those fires, back before we knew all the heat was going up the chimney, as the living room heated, and the back bedrooms got more chilly. My link in the title of this post is to the website Resources for School Libraries. You'll find a whole list of mystery authors.

In the Bleak Midwinter

The Mystery book discussion group at Tipp City Library will meet on January 11 at 7 pm. For January the book will be "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Julie Spencer-Fleming. This is her debut novel and it won more mystery awards than any debut mystery. Click onto the link in title of this blog to read more. The title along makes it an appropriate winter title, let's just hope we don't get snowed out on discussion night. Join the group for refreshments and informal conversation with others patrons who enjoy talking about good mysteries. Books can be picked up at the front desk of the library.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Julie and Romeo


Jeanne Ray is an author you don't want to miss if you like romantic comedies, especially for older couples. This is a twist on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two main characters know that their families have always hated each other, but they don't know why. And they don't know why they should continue the family tradtion, but their families have other plans. It's cute, children trying to twart their parent's love plans.
The author, Jeanne Ray, is a nurse in Nashville, Tennessee, and mother of award winning Ann Patchett. This is her first novel, written after she has turned sixty herself, and doesn't feel over the hill. So she writes "a story about two vital, attractive individuals over sixty who fell in love."

Saturday, December 12, 2009

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society


Annie Barrows helped to finish her aunt's novel after her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer grew ill. Read more about the biographies of both authors on the link in the title of this blog.
Also mentioned in the biography of Mary Ann Shaffer is a book about the German occupation of Guernsey, Jersey under the Jack-Boot. That would be an interesting book to find and read. That's how I like my reading to evolve sometimes, fiction, nonfiction by subject.
Another English book I am reading right now is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Hailed as one of the best mystery novels written, it is about an investigation into the murder of the princes in the tower. I think there was a lot of research completed by Miss Tey for this novel, but I especially like the dialog. The author was also a playwright. Recommended for English history lovers.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Winter Storm

We are feeling the winter winds turning down our collars tonight, what a good excuse to just pull those covers up and turn off the TV and the bad news and read a good book. Okay I know, I always want to read, but I am trying to encourage you to read, too and to find a really delicious book to sink your teeth into. If you haven't read Mary Ann Shaffer's book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you are in for a treat. Mary Ann had this idea for a book for a long time, as a librarian she had seen her share of books come across her desk, but she wanted to share to experience of the World War II fellow English men and women who had the unfortunate luck to be invaded by the Nazi army and hold up on their island for the duration of the war, Guernsey Island that is, and probably more of the Channel Islands. Hitler thought he was going to invade the rest of England but he never got the chance. Those poor islanders, they had no news of the war for over four maybe five years. And no word of their children that they had sent over to the mainland of England for their safe keeping. This is the setting of the story and how they managed to survive the war. Who ever heard of potato peel pie anyways? Guess it was pretty good if you were really hungry. This is a book of books, and a whole cast of interesting characters that are going to really steal you hearts. I have read it twice already, once quickly, and then savoring the story on the audio version. Try it either way. Sometimes I like to cook while I listen to a good book, I remember the year I baked all my Christmas cookies listening to Rosamunde Pilcher's Book, Winter Solstice. The snow blew all around my house and the characters in the story were snowed in their tiny town and they planned their own little celebration. A true cosy book that was perfect for the season. Rosamunde Pilcher has always been able to keep my attention and my warm feeling for her characters. The author has a wonderful ability to make you feel you are right there in the little English or Scottish town getting ready to sit down with friends and have a regular "cuppa" and let your worries drift away with the snow flurries. Enjoy your own little read this cold December night.