A Work in Progress

June 18: Reading Notes (Mystery Ed.)

Okay, so don't be alarmed by these two photos.  If you drop by here regularly you'll know that when it comes to books I rarely do things by halves.  Are you curious about the mysteries I've been dipping into?  I admit that my reading pile of mysteries is pretty indulgent even for me.  But it's summer, I am in need of lots of distraction, and there are no rules when it comes to books and reading in my house.

I'm at varying stages of reading in these books.  I've already finished one and am making stately progress in most of the others.  In some cases I'm not in any rush to finish, in others I don't want to put the book down.  The photo below is the pile I have (mostly) been drawing from and adding to as suggestions come in or books catch my eye (and I'm afraid the pile is not complete as I forgot to grab a couple of library books I want to read, too). 

First, though, a little rundown of the books that have been holding my attention.  The pile is in no particular order.  I tend to reach for whichever I am in the mood for most at that particular moment, unless of course I am nearing the end or have reached a "point of no return"--you know when you get to that place in the story where you have to find out what's going to happen and can't put the book down!

Laurie King's A Grave Talent, the first in the Kate Martinelli series, has turned out to be surprisingly good.  Not sure why I should say surprisingly as I love her Mary Russell books and am slowly making my way through them, but maybe because it is one of her earlier novels.  The initial draw here was the San Francisco setting, though this first book is actually set just outside the city.  A good straightforward police procedural with a strong female protagonist.  She's hooked me.

In my opinion Thomas Cook is always good (at least I've liked all the books by him I've read).  I don't know why I don't read more of his books, which is what I was thinking when I picked Instruments of the Night up (which when I thought that, I then thought--well, why not go and pick one up then . . . so I did).  It was sort of a random choice, but I think it will turn out to be a good one.  The  main character is sort of curious, but interesting.  His books tend to follow a similar style, which is in its way comforting.

I'm totally digging Jean-Claude Izzo's Total Chaos.  It's one of the 'don't want to put this one down' books I tend to reach for more often than not, and I have only just started reading it.  He creates a great atmosphere when it comes to setting.  Until just now I can't say I had ever had a great desire to visit Marseilles, but now I do.  Maybe it's partially thanks to the essays he wrote in which he talks about his city so lovingly.  Also the writing (translation) is superb and he immediately has drawn me into the story.

I'm reading Dashiell Hammett's The Continental Op, which is a collection of stories.  Since I already have gone on about the book in some detail, I'll save the stories for next Sunday.  I've already mentioned, too, Peter Lovesey's The Last Detective and Louise Penny's Still Life.  Both good, contemporary detective stories and both series I plan on continuing on with.  I tend to switch back and forth between these two (I need to devote a day of reading to each and finish them) waiting for that moment of 'no return'.

Cold Flat Junction is the second Emma Graham mystery by Martha Grimes and also a reread.  I loved Hotel Paradise (the third time around) and couldn't wait to start the second book.  Since I've read it once there is no need to rush it, but I've not read the third or fourth books, so I won't want to tarry too long either.  It's funny as I was thinking how I would like to read a good coming of age story, but don't dare pick up any other new books.  Conveniently this could easily pass for just such a story really, since Emma is only twelve and the events of this and the last book are sort of life forming.  I'm still at the beginning which is a rehash really of what happened in the previous book and am looking forward to when the story really kicks in again. 

The book I've just finished is Pierre Lemaitre's Alex.  Let's just say this was one rollercoaster of a ride sort of book.  I am going to write about it soon, so I am afraid I'm going to leave you hanging a bit on this one!  I can see why it's been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger Award, though, which will be a little bit of a teaser for you.

I'll just share the links to the books in this pile as most of them are suggestions so you might already be familiar with them.  Maybe looking at all these great books will help explain how I end up with such a massive pile of in progress books.  There is always a new (and exciting) mystery read just around the corner!

Last Bus to Woodstock by Colin Dexter -- The first Inspector Morse story, and this would also be a reread (I read it a very long time ago, though, so it will be almost like reading it for the first time).  I'm leaning very heavily towards starting this one next.

Quieter Than Sleep by Joanne Dobson --A literary/academic mystery featuring Emily Dickinson's poetry.

Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers -- This it the first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery.  I know this is a series where you can skip around (and maybe should?), but I do have this thing about reading mysteries in order.

I'm always up for Italian crime, and I think I will definitely need to read a few books at some point.  I've got Christobel Kent's The Drowning River, Magdalen Nabb's Death of a Dutchman (really liked her first Marshal Guarnaccia novel) and Maurizio de Giovanni's I Will Have Vengeance.

Quiet as a Nun by Antonia Fraser is set in a convent.  I read this years and years ago but have been thinking I'd like to read all the Jemima Shore mysteries so had better go back and start at the beginning.

I'm also in the market for a good vintage cozy (though I've already got Joan Coggin lined up) and Edmund Crispin's The Moving Toyshop would fit the bill nicely, though I have the first Gervase Fen mystery coming soon in the mail, so that will be something to look forward to. 

I happened to get Swedish author, Anna Jansson's Strange Bird as a ARC.  Jansson has been called a modern Agatha Christie, though her plots are all hardboiled detective--sounds like an interesting combination.  This is the first Maria Wern mystery, which I am looking forward to reading. 

Last but not least is a library find--The Mammoth Book of British Mysteries edited by Maxim Jakubowski.  It's the tenth book, which makes me think I should look for the previous nine--well eventually anyway.  I'm looking forward to exploring a few of these short stories. 

As you can see I have quite a line up of good mysteries both in progress and in the reading queue (and then there are the ones I left out but are in other piles calling out for a little attention.  I think I am going to need a few afternoons off from work to dedicate to (mystery) reading. 

All Mysteries, All Month (June Reading)

Well, mostly mysteries anyway.  I know we're already a week into June but I was looking at my reading pile and realized that the books I seem to be reaching for most this week are almost all mysteries.  So why not make a whole month of it, I thought.  You know how bookish serendipity goes.  I am in a mystery/crime novel mood to begin with.  Then the CWA International Dagger shortlist was announced last week, and as I already had one of the books on my reading pile, it prompted me to pick it up and start reading.  Not that I need a tipping point, but did you know that June is International Crime month?  Perfect timing (maybe there was something subliminal going on there, too?). 

As a side note Melville House has a special deal on a bundle of crime novels, which I sorely wish I could order, but I need to save up for my vacation so am trying to avoid these kinds of temptations.  And have you seen Europa Editions new World Noir imprint?  I already own several of their noir mysteries and am waiting for another which found its way into my last book order, Jean-Claude Izzo's Garlic, Mint and Sweet Basil: Essays on Marseilles, The Mediterranean and Noir Fiction.

So, the line up (no pun intended)?  First and foremost will be to finish the books I already have started.  Normally I only read one mystery at a time, but I have been over enthusiastic about starting books of late (more than normal that is).  I'm well into all of them, and in most cases am at or past the halfway mark.  Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun is my lunchtime reading and I am finding Pierre Lemaitre's Alex absolutely compelling reading (though at the moment somewhat disturbing and uncomfortable, too).  I'd been enjoying Peter Lovesey's The Last Detective and now have the excuse I need to spend more time with it so I can finally finish.  And Louise Penny's Still Life will be my last Canadian Reading Challenge book.  All very good in different ways.

And then there is a small pile of 'set aside' books from earlier this year (or dare I admit it) from last year.  They are books I always mean to get back to but there is something else that needs to be read first, and you know how that goes.  Cleo Coyle's On What Grounds is an easy, entertaining and light mystery set in a coffee house.  John Lawton's Black Out is a genre crossing novel set towards the end of WWII and has elements of espionage in it.  He's very good and I want to read all the Inspector Troy books.  And then there is last year's Summering in Italy book The Faces of Angels by Lucretia Grindle set in Florence, which is more of a psychological crime novel.

And yes, there will be the miscellaneous pile.  I am sure I will be picking up a few new books this month, too.  I'm not sure yet what they will be.  Maybe some from this pile (these are some of the books I had close at hand), or maybe something entirely different.  I've been contemplating reading Thomas Cook.  I want to read one of the Europa Editions authors.  Laurie King wrote a series set in San Francisco that would be perfect.  Maybe another cozy or two?  An Agatha Christie or another Miss Silver book.  It's definitely time to pick up the next Andrea Camilleri novel (am working my way through the Montalbano books very slowly).  I will likely read some international crime like something by Argentine writer Claudia Pineiro.  And I've been itching to read Stephen King's new one.  The problem is I am terribly spoiled for choice.  I have a pretty massive mystery collection (and I might just give you a tour this month sometime), so it is always an agonizing choice.  There are so many good one I can never decide (hence the multiple mysteries and crime novels I have started at the moment).

And more serendipity?  The most recent New Yorker also happens to be their Summer Fiction edition, subtitled "Crimes and Misdemeanors".  There are stories by Dashiell Hammett, Annie Proulx, Cormac McCarthy to name just a few as well as some interesting "true crimes" articles, all of which I am looking forward to reading. 

I will still be reading a few other books (hope to finish the Pym this weekend) this month and need to catch up on writing about books I've recently read, so I won't feel like I am completely gorging on chocolate (though is there anything wrong with that now and again?), but expect to see lots more posts focusing on the mystery genre!  I only wish I had thought of this earlier and could have organized myself better!

A Few for Review, or Summer Reading

As tempting as many of the offers are, I don't often take review copies unless a book really piques my curiosity and it is likely something I would pick up or borrow from the library anyway.  My own reading list is just too long and I have this mental queue that I try to stick to (easier said than done).  But once and a while I can't resist and then occasionally a book will arrive unannounced and it's always a treat when it turns out to be hugely appealing to me. 

I seem to have accumulated a little pile of review copies that I'll be reading my way through over the course of the summer (if not even sooner), so I thought I might share them as I'm quite excited about these recent finds.  Expect to hear more about them soon.  (See, now that I'm sharing them I'll have to make sure I get to them all in a timely manner).

Stephen King's Joyland was something of a surprise though Titan Books kindly sends me the occasional parcel now and again (am reading a Helen MacInness spy novel at the moment, which I was thrilled to get).  I just came across an article about Joyland.  It seems Stephen King is going to hold off publishing this as an ebook as he wants to try and get readers into brick and mortar stores to buy it.  Joyland has a wonderfully pulpy cover.  it's set in a North Carolina amusement park in 1973.  "Joyland is at once a mystery, a horror story, and a bittersweet coming-of-age novel, one that will leave even the most hard-boiled reader profoundly moved."  It's been years since I read Stephen King and I am looking forward to this.  It has summer read written all over it!  It's due out June 4.

Another surprise arrival actually came to me via my work.  I sometimes will attend webinars put on by publishers announcing their new releases.  I especially look forward to those that are about mysteries and I must have dropped my name in a virtual hat to win a review copy.  I  missed the last webinar I signed up for and have been too busy to listen to the recording, so Pierre Lemaitre's Alex is another welcome surprise.  Lemaitre is a French author who has written a number of award winning crime novels, though this is the first to be published in English.  "In this gripping, fiendishly plotted detective novel, Alex Prévost is kidnapped, savagely beaten, and suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned industrial building in a wooden cage—she is running out of time. Her abductor/torturer appears to desire only one thing: to watch her die. Will hunger, thirst, or the rats get her first?"  Le Monde calls it "“Exhilarating, literary, Hitchcockian."  It's due out September 3.

I won a copy of Anton Disclafani's The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls from Library Thing.  Every once and a while I will try my luck and request one of their review copies from their Early Reviewers program.  I'm very excited to start reading this as I was in line for a copy at the library.  And my luck held out since I have a copy in my hot little hands right now.  "A lush, sexy, evocative debut novel of family secrets and girls’-school rituals, set in the 1930s South."  This is due out June 4.

I've already mentioned Kimberly Gerry-Tucker's Under the Banana Moon: Living, Loving, Loss and Asperger's.  I'll be starting it very soon.  Copies are available now.

And one that's already underway, C.C. Humphreys' Jack Absolute.  It's an edge of your seat adventure story set during the American Revolution, but this is a story with a twist.  Jack Absolute is a British spy.  This is the first in a series of historical novels featuring this dashing hero (though maybe he's more of an antihero really).  I can't say I mind a swoon-worthy protagonist.  I suspect the rest of the books will be published in the US eventually, though I might have to cheat and get the UK versions when I finish this one!  It was published last month.

It's a good thing I have a long weekend to look forward to this coming weekend.  I think you know what I'll be doing!

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart

Is Touch Not the Cat only the fourth Mary Stewart novel that I've read?  I somehow feel she and I, rather her stories and I, are long standing friends.  Isn't it funny how easy it is to fall in with certain authors?  You can pick up their books and settle into them knowing you're in good hands.  I've got a string of authors who have become dependable reads and I think I can safely add Mary Stewart to that list.  Happily she has written more than a dozen books of what I suppose you might classify as romantic suspense, though don't be put off by that label if you're not a romance reader.  Her stories have plenty of suspense/adventure and Touch Not the Cat almost feels like a mystery novel though typically her books seem to have a romantic thread running through them.  All  in all they're very satisfying and perfect turn-to books when in need for a little light escapism.

The last two Mary Stewart novels I've read have had exotic settings, but most of the story this time around takes place in England.  It's a little bit unusual, too, in that the main character has a 'second sight' or what might be called ESP.  Bryony Ashley is working on the island of Madeira when she  has an overwhelming sense that something has happened to her father.  He's recuperating from an illness in Germany when she wakens one night hearing a voice in her head.  Bryony's ESP comes in the form of an intimate communication with someone she believes is an Ashley cousin.  "My lover came to me on the last night in April, with a message and a warning that sent me home to him" begins the story. 

"It comes through neither in words nor in pictures, but--I can't put it any better--in sudden blocks of intelligence that are thrust into one's mind and slotted and locked there, the way a printer locks the lines into place, and there is the page with all its meanings for you to read.  With these thought-patterns the whole page comes through at once; I suppose it may be like block-reading, though I have never tried that." 

It's a sort of private conversation Bryony has with this unknown man.  Exactly who he is she's unsure, but it's someone she's known from childhood on.  The conversations and familiarity are completely natural to her, so much so she has never really questioned it, though growing up she did try and learn about it, seeing it more as a gift than a burden. 

By the time she arrives in Bad Tölz it's too late.  Her father is dead.  He had been walking to the city center when he was struck by a motorist who didn't stop to aid him.  He left behind for Bryony a garbled and mysterious message that neither she nor the family lawyer can decipher.  And now she must return to England with her father's ashes to begin tying up loose ends at Ashley Court.  A grand manor house complete with a moat, Ashley Court no longer belongs to Bryony.  The house and grounds are entailed and so go to her father's nearest male relative.  Most likely it'll go to her own cousins since their father resides abroad.  She hopes to finally discover just which of these cousins is her secret confidante. 

Ashley Court has a unique feature--there is a maze behind the house and in the center sits a pavilion that was once the trysting spot for a long-ago Ashley relative.  Now the house draws every fund available for its upkeep and it's likely to be more of a hardship on her cousins than a gift.  A wealthy American family rents a part of the house and the rest is open to the public for tours.  Bryony discovers that a number of expensive family heirlooms have gone missing which adds to the mystery of her father's last message to her.   

Each chapter ends with a teaser--a scene from her roguish Ashley forebear and his lady love in the mid-1800s which holds a key to the mystery of Ashley Court and Byrony's "sight".  I wasn't sure how Stewart would handle this aspect of the novel.  I often have problems with time slip stories (Susanna Kearsley being a notable exception) or stories that deal with (for lack of a better word) the supernatural (okay, so ghost stories excepted, too), but I very much enjoyed this one.  Aside from the slightly jarring use of the word Lover in Bryony's mental communications, I was an enthusiastic reader as the story was unraveling.  Timing plus just the right balance between intrigue and romance made it hard for me to put down, and it's always nice to have a few of these on hand.  It has lots of suspense, a few twists and a nice bit of romance as well.

This was Cornflower's last book group choice, so a nod in her direction and thanks for the gentle push to pick up a new Mary Stewart novel sooner rather than later.  Reactions were a bit mixed among her readers, and certainly it does occasionally show it's age (it's a later book published in 1976), but most readers seem to be in agreement that generally speaking Mary Stewart is much loved and there are many favorites amongst her other novels.  I've been collecting her books so am already looking forward to the next.  If you read Mary Stewart, which book do you call favorite?

This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart

There is something comfortable (and comforting, too) about Mary Stewart's novels.  I've only read three so far (not counting her Arthurian quartet which I also read years and years ago), but picking one up is like sitting in a cozy overstuffed chair in front of a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.  In the case of This Rough Magic maybe it's more like sitting on a sunny sandy beach in front of the roaring ocean, however, since the setting is the island of Corfu in Greece. 

I suspect most of you already are familiar with Mary Stewart, but if you're not she writes really marvelous suspenseful books that usually have a dash of romance in them.  They are very gentle reads--with more to the mystery/suspense aspect than the romance, since it's all very chaste really (preferable to me to be honest).  This Rough Magic was published in 1964 and books from that era of this sort have a particular feel to them, which I find I very much like.  For me she is like Georgette Heyer in that she writes a reliably good story.  Excellent escapist stuff where you can pretty much expect all wrinkles to sort themselves out in the end.  And they often have exotic settings which has an appeal all its own.  Picture someone like Audrey Hepburn, an attractive young woman with intelligence and moxie, stylish and independent and very likable in the lead role as heroine.  She'll find herself in some sort of tight squeeze.  And while there will likely be a suitor or two, don't expect her to be your run of the mill damsel in distress.  She's very likely going to rescue herself.   

It's handy to know a little Shakespeare for This Rough Magic, but if you're like me and haven't read as much of the Bard as you'd like (another gaping hole sadly), the story won't suffer for it.  Lucy Waring is a  young British actress visiting her sister on the island of Corfu after a failed season at home--her first stage role having ended after the "merest face-saver of a run".  Phyllida is married to an Italian banker and living in the Villa Forli where she is expecting their first child who she jokingly says she's going to name Prospero.  Corfu (in the book at least) is thought to have been the setting for Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the book's title is a line from the play.  Prospero, the Duke of Milan, and his daughter had been had been set adrift in the hopes they would drown.  In his stead, Prospero's brother would usurp his position, but the two end up on the island.  There is magic (and books of magic) involved in Shakespeare's play, and Stewart's story plays on these various themes.

It's fitting then that in one of the smaller bungalows on the Forli estate a famous but now retired actor, Julian Gale, and his son Max reside.  In poor health Julian is something of a recluse and as Max is a musician working on new compositions the pair prefer anonymity and quiet.  While Julian Gale is friendly and gregarious when approached, Max is prickly and suspicious of visitors or other interlopers.  A second bungalow, however, is occupied by the handsome and far more amiable photographer, Godfrey Manning.  We have our prospective suitors, but who is going to be more suitable?

One afternoon when Lucy is swimming she discovers a dolphin has taken up residence in the bay, but someone hidden from view (and she herself appears hidden from him) begins taking pot shots at the mammal.  A bit recklessly and without thinking Lucy jumps out into the open and causes a stir in order to surprise the shooter into backing off.  The shots rang out from the forest by the Gale's bungalow, but Max denies that either he, and more importantly his father were the culprits.  Besides, Lucy is trespassing on property she shouldn't be on.  Things become even more mysterious when not just one but two local fishermen drown within a week of each other.  Chance?  Or is something more treacherous at work on the island? 

A sunny holiday away from rain dampened London (and its theatrical failures) proves to be much darker and dangerous than Lucy anticipated.  She doesn't set out to become involved in murder, but when she does tries to help the dolphin when it manages to beach itself she becomes inextricably linked to one of the two men.  The story is a cat and mouse game filled with smugglers and shady dealings with the whisper of political intrigue.  All great fun and highly entertaining. 

This Rough Magic shares the same Greek (though not Corfu) setting with My Brother Michael, which I read about this time last year.  Different stories but similar styles, the two just edge out The Ivy Tree, which I read a few years earlier, as favorites.  September seems to be my month for Mary Stewart novels, though I certainly hope it won't take me a year to read another of her books (I want to read them all now of course).  By the way, I love the Hodder and Stoughton reissues with their retro, glamorous covers.  I've only managed to get my hands on one of those editions.  In the US Mary Stewart's books are published by Chicago Review Press, which has also done a nice job on the book designs, though they have opted to give the covers a more atmospheric and mysterious look to them.  I'm happy with either as ultimately it's the stories and her storytelling style I love so much.  She was one of my Lost in the Stacks authors, but she doesn't seem to lack a following even today--which I am happy to see.   

Bookish Cravings (In search of a book . . .)

Do you ever have bookish cravings?  I have them all the time.  Maybe I should explain what I mean by cravings.  Not so much a desire to acquire new books (though I have those sorts of cravings all the time), but a desire to read a particular type of story.  It seems there are search engines out there where you can pop in a title and they'll tell you what you should read next . . . a readalike?

This is what I have in mind.  A story of suspense.  Female protagonist.  Setting would be prewar Europe.  The heroine finds herself mixed up in something of that's dangerous and a little beyond her experience, but she's not one to back down from a challenge.  Maybe something a little political, definitely along the lines of a spy story.  Think 1930s.  Glamour.  A story that you could imagine translating onto the silver screen and of course filmed in B&W.

Now, if I hadn't already read Ethel Lina White's The Lady Vanishes, that would be just the ticket.  Or even The Madonna of the Sleeping Cars (though Lady Diana Wynham's secretary Gerard has all the "fun") would do quite nicely.  But something new to me is preferable.  Something written in the 30s would be a first choice, but maybe there is a more contemporary novel written about the era that would satisfy my desire.  Why does nothing come to mind?

I know there are loads of spy novels out there and I've even got a list or two, but the books tend to be heavy with male protagonists.  I seem to return to this genre quite often, don't I?  Maybe I should go back to Helen MacInnes or "settle" for a John Buchan?

Here's my other scenario.  Yes, I've got two.   Last year I read a book called Losing Nicola by Susan Moody.  It was a good novel, not perfect, but I liked the premise.  A coming of age story, a seaside setting of postwar England, another story of suspense and murder (though not espionage this time around).  I hate to think I like reading the same story over and over, but I guess I sort of do--at least occasionally.  When you have a good experience you want to repeat it, right?   Maybe not one book after another of the same sort, but enough time has passed that the stories come back to mind and I've got a bookish whim to read something along those same lines.

Now it's not as though I don't have plenty of satisfying reads on the go right now or anything.  I do.  I'm very much enjoying a number of books at the moment.  And I have four books that I am trying very hard to finish before I go on vacation (which is two weeks from today--quickly approaching--by the way), but when I have these whims, there is nothing for it but to give in to them. 

Yes, this is what I do at the gym when I am using weights and can't have a book in hand.  I start thinking about other books.  Gym time comes after work, and it is my "down time", time to think about what I want to do in my leisure moments.  It's a given that these moments turn to books, right?  I know I should break myself of the habit of thinking about other books when I am in the middle of something good (it almost feels a little bit disloyal).  I should learn to focus more.  Sigh.  

But I'm still happy to take any recommendations you have to offer! 

By the way, I am very nearly already in vacation mode.  I still have a couple of books that I'd like to write about, but I (as you see) had other distractions tonight.  Maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about a book I recently finished (and liked very much) or maybe I'll save them for the weekend when I have more time to spend writing the posts.  Posting in general may be a little sporadic (and probably like tonight a little uninspired), but it seems my mind is in about twenty places at once right now (and not enough time to devote to any one thing like I'd like to).  Assure me you know how that goes!

May 23: Reading Notes

A few very brief reading notes today as I am thisclose to finishing a book and I want to turn off the computer in order to read.  Here in the US we have a long weekend to look forward to and I am counting down the hours (not really, but just about) until it comes.  If I can organize myself and get all my 'chores' out of the way I hope to spend Monday very lazily with a book in hand and my feet up relaxing!

Although summer is technically a month away, Memorial Day is sort of the unofficial kick off, so it's time to pull out my Italian crime novels that I so excitedly wrote about last month and start reading.  I got a little ahead of myself in April (but anticipation is sometimes half the pleasure, right?).  I've had a weird reading year when it comes to crime novels, though last year I had a good run of them.  This year seems to be more of a cozy mystery read sort of year, but I think I'm in the right mood to pick up something nice and gritty.  I've decided to start with Andrea Camilleri's The Terra-Cotta Dog (looks short and easy), and a book of short stories from an anthology edited by Maxim Jakubowski, Venice Noir (for the gritty part of the equation).  I've seen the series of Akashic Noir books, but I had no idea there were so many (Venice Noir was one of my latest library finds).  If I like the stories in this anthology I might just start collecting the books.

I've done a bit of shuffling of books on my sidebar in order to add a couple of categories to reflect more or less the books I'm dipping into.  I did remove a few in order to make a little room, but they are actually still on my night table, as I do want to finish reading them.  I wanted to finish a whole slew of books this month, but I've not been as successful at doing so as I would have liked.  And I'm afraid I pretty much threw out the 'not going to start any new books' plan about halfway through the month.  Oh well, it's a work in progress.

I've been using my Nook at the gym this past week when I use the elliptical machine.  I have this fear of falling off if I can't hold on to the bars, so my Nook has been the perfect solution since it sits easily on the little shelf.  I can read and hold on at the same time, and just a quick press flips the pages.  I have lots of books on my Nook so it was hard deciding which to read, but in the end Anne Bridge's The Portuguese Escape won out.  I enjoyed the first Julia Probyn novel, A Lighthearted Quest, last year and would like to read through the whole series. 

She began writing them in the mid-1950s and the last one was published in the early 1970s.  The books are political/spy thrillers with a dash of romance thrown in.  I really like suspense novels from this period, and as Bridge traveled quite a lot and wrote about the places she lived, the stories have a nice authenticity to them.  She was one of my Lost in the Stacks authors, if you want to read more about her.  Her settings are always exotic and this time out the story is set in Portugal (of course), and it concerns a young woman who was stuck in Hungary behind the iron curtain while her family was able to escape to the West.  She lived in a convent and about a decade later was able to rejoin her mother.  This book was published in 1958 so we're still in the thick of the Cold War.  My only disappointment is that Julia seems to have such a small role so far in the story, but I'm only a third of the way in, so we'll see how things develop.

One more quick note--I decided on an audio book finally and am now listening to Christopher Priest's The Prestige.  Too soon to tell what I think as I have only started listening this week.  It is slightly shorter than my last couple of books (about twelve hours), but I wanted something absorbing and with a good reader (in this case it is Simon Vance).  It seemed to get high marks from other listeners so I took a chance.  I did see the movie, but that was ages ago, so I only have a hazy recollection of it. 

Now I'm off to finish my book!

Armchair Traveling: Destination Italy!

I don't know about you, but with the pleasant weather we've been having my mind has turned to summery thoughts and fantasies of traveling somewhere far away and exotic.  Italy is one of my favorite places, though sadly it has been a very long time since I've traveled there (or well, anywhere to be honest).  Last year I had a little reading project going: Summering in Italy.  I was having a little crime/mystery binge Italian-style, and I enjoyed myself so much I am ready to do it again.  I know it's a little early to be in summer mode, but I think I'm ready to start reading a few mysteries set in Italy at least.  Armchair travel is about the only kind I can contemplate at the moment, since a trip so far away requires not only careful planning but also cash.  I have an abundance of one and none of the other.  And, well, books are always the next best thing really--books and a little imagination.

I've been working on a list of possible reads.  They are a mix of mysteries and crime novels by both Italian authors and writers writing in English but with an Italian setting.  I won't get to everything on my list and I may well add more titles to it, but this is where I'm starting my project.  If you've come across a good mystery or crime novel with an Italian setting, do please share it.  Some of these books are part of ongoing series and others are standalones.  And they are set all over geographically.     

The Faces of Angels or The Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle - Both are standalones set in Florence with a historical slant

Girl with the Crystal Eyes by Barbara Baraldi - Bologna, sounds like a little serial killer action in this one

The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri - Inspector Montalbano/Sicily, why has it taken me almost a while year to pick up another of his books when I enjoyed the first so much?

Death of a Dutchman by Magdalen Nabb - Marshal Guarnaccia/Florence, another case of enjoyed the first in the series and am ready for the next and the first felt rather cozy-ish

Blood Sisters by Alessandro Perissinotto - Anna Pavesi/Milan, this one is totally new to me

A Deadly Paradise by Grace Brophy - Inspector Alessandro Cenni/Perugia, read the first and was left with a little cliffhanger (or, there was promise to something interesting in the second book that was alluded to in the first anyway), sadly there seem to be only two books written thus far

Quietly in Their Sleep (aka Death of Faith) by Donna Leon - Commmissario Guido Brunetti/Venice, it may have been in my pre-blogging days that I was actively reading these, but I am ready to get back (Brunetti's wife is a Henry James scholar from what I recall)

Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli - The first of a trilogy, this one set in Fascist Milan, I read his mystery featuring Grazia Negro last year

The Dogs of Rome by Conor Fitzgerald - Police Chief Commissioner Alec Blume/Rome

Involuntary Witness by Gianrico Carofiglio - (defense lawyer) Guido Guerrieri/Bari, I was set to read this one last year but then got distracted (as I am want to do so often!)

Death in a Serene City by Edward Sklepowich - Urbino McIntyre/Venice, have had a number of books by Sklepowich for a very, very long time (may even have read one at some point, but it's all faded from memory, I'm afraid)

A Rich Full Death by Michael Dibdin - Florence 1855, did read this one a long time ago and recall being intrigued by it (should really read Zen, shouldn't ?!)

The Drowning River by Christobel Kent - Sandro Cellini/Florence

The Salati Case by Tobias Jones - (private investigator) Castagnetti, by chance this is sitting on the top of my pile

I haven't quite decided which book to start with--one of the shorter crime novels or one of the cozies/police procedurals.  A few of the authors I read last year and hope to continue on with their work and I also hope to pick up a few books by authors who are either new to me or who I've not visited in far too long (like Donna Leon).  I shouldn't be starting yet another project, but as there are no rules to reading, why not!

As a side note--I'll be posting on an abbreviated schedule this week (and maybe next as well).  Work has been hectic and I feel as though I'm burning the candle on both ends.  It's starting to wear on me physically.  There isn't enough time to do all the things I want to do no matter how hard I try and squeeze it all in.  And I'd like to spend more time reading and relaxing in the evenings, so I need to slow down just a bit.  I've finished several books that I want to write about, and I'm working on those posts now, so if you don't see me every day, do check back later for more bookishness!

Lost in the Stacks: Hunter in the Shadows

I've already forgotten what it was I was looking for when I came across Jennie Melville's Hunter in the Shadows, and the spine is pretty unremarkable on this book, so why I felt like pulling it from the shelf has already escaped me, but maybe it was the title.  When I looked it up on Amazon, I thought automatically I'd scored a good find.  The blurb on the 1971 reprint from Publishers Weekly reads "In the gripping tradition of Helen MacInnes...romantic suspense...one of the best thrillers yet!"  Maybe I have a knack for homing in on good, suspenseful stories?  Luck or something else, I sort of like the sound of this one, even though I've not been able to find a detailed description.

I have found out a bit about Jennie Melville, however.  Jennie Melville is a pseudonym for Gwendoline Williams Butler, who was born in 1922 in London, England.  She read History at Oxford and married a professor of Medieval history.  She is credited with inventing the "women's police procedural" and wrote a series of mysteries featuring Chief Superintendent Charmian Daniels, but she began her career with a detective from the Victorian/Edwardian era, Detective Inspector John Coffin.  Booklist called her "one of the most underrated mystery writers".  To top it off she also wrote gothic romantic thrillers, and it seems as though it is under this last category that Hunter in the Shadows must fall.

"The 'Melville' gothic romances are usually told in the first person, with the narrator being a young girl caught up in a mysterious , dangerous situation.  Most often 'someone wishes [the heroine] ill, generally for economic reasons; someone else has nothing but her good at heart, and often she is hopelessly confused between the two.  The lover/killer figure is a favorite motif of Melville's: naturally, since it provides a focus for the tensions of the plot and takes to its most obvious extreme the concept of fear as an erotic force." (Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series, volume 108).

It sounds as though she is at her best with her police procedurals, so it is a pity that my library only has this one title by her when she has written quite a few books.  She has won a Silver Dagger from the Crime Writers Association, and a Romantic Novelists Association prize.  Her mysteries have been lauded by critics as as being "superbly constructed stories with byzantine plots, tantalizing suspense, and dark psychological overtones."

Butler became interested in crime fiction when she was only eight and read Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux in one afternoon sitting in the firelight.  She is also a fan of Charles Dickens.  Unfortunately her books seem to be out of print, however noteworthy they were in their heyday.  Maybe it's time for a little attention to be paid her again?  A little teaser of her romantic suspense story:

"The interrogator, sitting in a quiet dark room, high above the river, said, 'By all means let us hear everything she has to say.  It may be interesting.'

The man he was speaking to said, 'It can hardly fail to be that.'

'By interesting, I mean informative, useful to us.'

'Perhaps.  She was very careful.'

'And how did you get this script?'

The other smiled.  'She wrote it down.  Oh, she wants to tell the story.  A natural impulse.  But there is someone in contact with her.'

'We have continued to watch her?'

'Naturally.'

'Naturally.'  He nodded in affirmation. 

The other said, 'I always find it so interesting to listen to people living through episodes like this.'

'Cool bastard!'"

As I'm greatly enjoying Helen MacInnes at the moment, if Jennie Melville is at all similar, she may be very entertaining indeed.  It sounds as though this is a story of a husband believed to be dead who returns home with sinister results.

Has anyone read any of her books?

A Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell

I don't think Ruth Rendell can write a bad book.  I've probably read more books by Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine than I have by any other author and while I favor some stories over others I can't think of a single book by her (and I have been reading her for a long time) that I would call a bad reading experience.  So it is always with much happy anticipation that I crack open one of her books.  A Demon in My View, published in 1976, is yet again another example why she is called, and I can only concur, the queen of the psychological suspense novel. 

She does it all well--a story that is tightly controlled and well plotted, interesting and well developed characters, acute psychological insight and of course always elegantly written books.  Her stories often reflect contemporary society's ills which have changed with the times, so prolific is she with a writing career that spans more than forty years.  And there is always something extra--she pulls it all together in a really clever and often surprising ways like a magic trick.  Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  And how she does it over and over again, and so apparently effortlessly, never ceases to amaze me.  But I'm glad she can.

A Demon on My View takes place in a London apartment building, 142 Trinity Road.  The top flat is occupied by a tenant of long standing, one Arthur Johnson.  Arthur is a solitary fellow, fastidious in his ways, ultra conscientious but perhaps a little too fussy.  In addition to his work in a construction office he acts as a sort of dogsbody for the building's owner, a schoolhood chum, by collecting the rents from the other lodgers, sorting the mail, and keeping an eye on things in general.  His manners are almost flawless, so well trained was he by his Aunt Gracie who raised him.  He rarely strays from his daily routine.  But there is something not quite right about Arthur.

The building on Trinity Road was once a single family home, which after the war was broken into a series of flats.  There's a diverse group of tenants at 142; an Asian woman with an endless string of boyfriends, all of whom she loves but none of whom she promises anything.  Then there is a married couple who seem to be constantly bickering, pay their bills separately and each go their opposite way in the evening.  The last tenant may either be the cause or the effect of the married couple's discontent since he spends so much time with the husband in the local pub.  And one flat sits empty.

Arthur Johnson is relatively happy in his life, but when Anthony Johnson moves into the empty flat it will cause an upheaval in Arthur's life that is almost unbearable and of course will cause the most awful repercussions.  Anthony is a student working on his thesis about psychopathic personalities.  He's come up to London from Bristol to put space between himself and his married lover.  It's a wonderful and ironic juxtaposition of characterizations on Rendell's part.  The men share similar names but their mindsets couldn't be farther apart.  Anthony's arrival and subsequent actions, unknowingly instigated, will set into motion terrible events.

To tell you any more would ruin the story.  I'll only say that Rendell masterfully intertwines the lives of the tenants--like dominoes in a curvy line when the first is pushed the rest of the dominoes collapse one on top of the other.  There was a time when I gorged myself on Ruth Rendell's books (particularly those written under her pseudonym), but these days I tend to space her books out.  I think I won't let so much time pass until I read another, however.  My last Rendell novel was A Judgement in Stone, another slick story that is sparely written but tells a great story.  I think it may finally be time to embark on her Inspector Wexford novels, so I'm off to dig out my copy of From Doon with Death.