Category: Recommended Read Page 7 of 8

Published November 10, 2015
Minotaur Press

A new Charles Lenox mystery is always a good excuse to clear one’s schedule and find a comfortable chair to inhabit. Lenox’s ninth outing, “Home By Nightfall” is up there with my favorites in the series.

We catch up with gentleman sleuth Lenox in the Autumn of 1876. The private detection agency he founded with two partners in the series’ previous title (“The Laws of Murder,” 2014) is finally finding its feet. Except for the fact that he is spending most of his time in the office instead of out on cases, and that his first-of-its-kind in England agency quickly spawned a less-than-scrupulous rival agency, Lenox is enjoying being (gasp!) “in trade.”

In the opening pages we learn London is abuzz with the disappearance of a visiting German pianist named Muller. It’s a baffling locked-room mystery and solving it would be a feather in the cap of his agency. It would also be a feather in his rival’s cap. But Lenox also has family to tend to – his brother, a recent widower is mourning alone at the family estate in Sussex.

And so we have Lenox splitting time between London and Markethouse, the village of his boyhood. It isn’t long before a nervous villager seeks his services on a curious break-in. That and a series of seemingly unrelated thefts in the quiet village quickly escalate into something more sinister.

Finch is an excellent writer who gets even better with every book. He brings the era and locales into focus with attention to the rich details of the day-to-day and an ever-growing cast of characters. Often when a novel has a secondary mystery I will find myself rushing through whichever I find less interesting to get back to the storyline I want; however, “Home By Nightfall” had me enjoying every page. Finch also provides just the right amount of backstory so a lack of familiarity with the previous books shouldn’t hinder readers’ enjoyment of this excellent cold-weather read.

Happy reading!

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published November 3, 2015
Atria Books

It came late in the year, but I believe I have finally read my favorite book of 2015. Allende’s latest is a beautiful meditation on love, aging, and regret explored through the relationship of two disparate women: privileged and elderly Alma Belasco and young, haunted Irina Bazili.

Irina has found peace and refuge from her troubled past working with the residents of the Lark House senior residence. But she is drawn to one particular resident – Alma. Alma is a successful fabric artist and member of an old respected San Francisco family. That same family is baffled when one day Alma declares she no longer wishes to preside over charity functions, or live on the sprawling family estate, Sea Cliff. Instead she packs the bare essentials (including her cat), and moves to Lark House. Soon she has Irina working part time for her, helping her sort out a lifetime of papers, clippings, and photos. This is partly to help her grandson Seth, who has long been working on a book about his family. Seth and Irina wonder: who is sending Alma gardenias and mysterious letters each week? And where does she disappear to for days at a time?

We are taken in and out of various points in Alma’s life, from her childhood when she was sent from Poland to live at Sea Cliff with her relatives in the U.S. to wait out the war (a wait that would never end) to young adulthood and beyond. It is at Sea Cliff, we learn, that as a child she befriended Ichimei Fukuda, the son of the Bellascos’ gardener. Irina’s story is also revealed, a bit at a time, but it is Alma’s tale that is the centerpiece of this novel.

The Japanese Lover kept surprising me. Just as I felt the story was coming to a natural resolution it would deepen or change or twist. The ache of regret over choices made, or made for you, and their ramifications over a lifetime is always in the background but still the book manages to not be utterly bleak or hopeless.  (That said, I may have had to dab at my eyes once or twice.)

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published October 27, 2015
Simon & Schuster

Scott’s latest title in her series of “Madame Chic” books is a gentle exhortation to cultivate a little poise and grace in ourselves and our surroundings, whether it be the home, the office, or the escalator at the mall. Like past titles, Scott draws on the example of effortless elegance she absorbed as an exchange student in Paris from her host family, presided over by the “Madame Chic” of the title.

I admit I love a good self-improvement book. Habits, happiness, mindfulness, de-cluttering, etiquette – they are my guilty pleasure and I dip into one every few months. Many of these titles share a particular trait: much of what is between the covers is, well, obvious – a matter of common sense. But when presented well, or at least charmingly, with an engaging voice these books can be a little refresher course in gracious living, or a reminder to shore up resolve that has slipped over time.

Scott’s genial tone makes this a pleasant afternoon read when you are in the mood for a book of this sort (if you are ever even in such a mood.) If you know a younger person just getting their bearings in the adult world who likes this type of book then “Polish Your Poise” could make an excellent gift.

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published October 20, 2015
Harper Perennial

The first thing I did when I returned from my Library Association’s spring conference this past April was riffle my notes looking for the email to request a “Welcome to Night Vale” galley. I was thrilled when I heard in a Book Buzz session that one of my favorite podcasts (and how could it not be, with its formidable public library and ferocious librarians?) was branching into a novel.

Set in the world of the deliciously weird podcast from which it gets its name, WtNV the novel focuses on two minor characters who are in search of the mysterious King City: Jackie, who has been 19 for a very long time, and Diane, the PTA officer struggling to connect with her shape-shifting teenage son.

One of the delights of WtNV is the sly surreality and dry humor that seems effortless. Fink and Cranor have built a sizable world by putting a strange, sometimes macabre, little twist in the day-to-day occurrences of mundane small-town civic life. Throughout the novel the more prominent characters from the podcast (most notably Cecil and Carlos) are peppered in, in settings that will be familiar to fans. Some questions are answered, or at least addressed. Overall it is a good addition to all things Night Vale. Is it accessible for readers who have never heard a single episode?  I kept asking myself that as I was reading and finally settled on, “I don’t know.” Give it a try. Or give the podcast a try then try the novel.

Happy reading!

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published October 13, 2015
Gallery Books

A chance meeting between Isabel Lyon, an unmarried nanny living in genteel poverty with her mother, and Samuel Clemens led to a partnership in which she served as his loyal secretary. Late in life Isabel married Clemens’ business partner Ralph Ashcroft. Not long after both were fired and then subjected to a well-documented, public smear campaign by Clemens and his daughter Clara. Cullen has crafted a credible speculation based on personal research of what soured the long relationship.

In “Twain’s End” Isabel is in thrall to the Great Man, whom she refers to as “The King.” He calls her “Lioness” and engages in a years-long flirtation with her, with little effort made to hide it from family, staff, or visitors.

Careful details give dimension to this absorbing story of a woman forsaking a personal life for slavish devotion to a legendary personality in his waning years. “Twain’s End” is bound to be a popular choice for book clubs. Recommended for fans of period fiction, particularly Cullen’s previous book “Mrs. Poe.”

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published October 6, 2015
Tor Books

It’s banshees and Bolsheviks in this third – and final – book in the Delia Martin paranormal mystery series.

A parade in post-war (1919) San Francisco is disrupted by suddenly unruly parade-watchers and sniper fire, resulting in a riot. Delia, having received a warning from a watching ghost moments before the shots ring out, ushers her companions to safety while her husband, police Captain Gabriel Ryan runs toward the danger. It soon becomes apparent all the chaos is meant to flush a single young woman and her doomed guardians out of hiding. When the dust settles around the dead, the wounded, and the disoriented, Captain Ryan and his partner Jack Fitzgerald are left to puzzle out the mystery of the young woman who remembers nothing but her name: Alina. Delia, along with her mentor in all things to do with spirits Isadora Bobet, will assist the police as it becomes more apparent that this case straddles the world of the living and the dead.

Moyer’s Delia Martin books are great when you want a little extra spooky with your mystery. The San Francisco setting is beautifully drawn and even if you can see the resolution a bit early, the cast of characters and their milieu makes it still enjoyable getting there.

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.

Published September 29, 2015
ROC

This is not my typical reading material but I have heard so much good about Butcher over the years that when I saw this galley come available I took the opportunity to give him a try.

Kicking off a new steampunk series, Butcher has written a rousing adventure with elements of scifi, fantasy, and the old-fashioned naval warfare novel. It was slow-going getting into the story – a reason I don’t read much fantasy is I don’t always have patience for world-building. I’m still not entirely sure what a “Habble” is and while I could picture the carefully-detailed airships, the Spires and surrounding atmosphere they inhabit are murkier. Perhaps later books in this planned series will flesh the world out more.  All that aside, once I sorted the players (Rowl being a favorite), learned a little unique vocabulary, and the action began it was easy to stay interested to the end, 600-plus pages notwithstanding. I am glad I went out of my comfort zone for this tale of old family lines and loyalties, etherealists, pirates, and monsters.

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher with no expectations other than an honest opinion.