A Work in Progress

Cover Her Face

The victim: Housemaid Sally Jupp

The crime: Murder by strangulation

The crime scene: A country house known as Martingale

The suspects: Mrs. Maxie, her son Stephen and daughter Deborah, family friends Catherine Bowers and Felix Hearne, Miss Liddell, and the victim's uncle

"Exactly three months before the killing at Martingale Mrs. Maxie gave a dinner party.  Years later, when the trial was a half-forgotten scandal and the headlines were yellowing on the newspaper lining of cupboard drawers, Eleanor Maxie looked back on that spring evening as the opening scene of tragedy.  Memory, selective and perverse, invested what had been a perfectly ordinary dinner party with an aura of foreboding and unease.  It became, in retrospect, a ritual gathering under one roof of victim and suspects, a staged preliminary to murder."

The detective: Detective Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard

I first encountered Adam Dalgliesh a couple of years ago in Devices and Desires and was intrigued enough by him to know I wanted to go back and start from the beginning.  It's taken me a while, but I'm glad I finally picked up P.D. James's first Adam Dalgliesh mystery, Cover Her Face.  I'm not sure I've learned much more about Dalgliesh than what I gleaned in Devices and Desires.  What I've read only seems to reinforce what I'd already learned, but I still hope to find out more about his history.  Dalgliesh is intelligent, cultured (particularly so for a police officer it appears), and even tempered--his feathers are rarely ruffled.  He has "an uncanny facility for extracting uncomfortable truths" from suspects.  I don't yet know how he came to end up as a detective, but he lost his wife and child in childbirth.

Published in 1962 Cover Her Face is a much more slender novel than Devices and Desires, but her trademark style is easy to spot even at the beginning.  She writes with clarity and precision, getting inside the character's heads, so that you feel like you know them intimately.  There's a closed setting, so you're introduced to the cast of suspects and there might be a surprise or two, but nothing that couldn't be worked out by an especially observant reader.  This felt very much like a traditional cozy mystery in a country house setting, so it was interesting to see in Devices and Desires where she takes things from here--expanding more on the relationships between characters.   

In Cover Her Face Sally Jupp makes a perfect victim.  She's not an especially nice person--a little on the vindictive side, slightly manipulative and very secretive.  She lost her parents in a bombing raid and was raised by her aunt and uncle.  Somewhere along the way she ended up pregnant and alone.  She was taken in by St. Mary's Refuge for Girls, run by Miss Liddell, and after the birth of her son was employed by Mrs. Maxie as a housemaid.  Perhaps a little progressive for a conservative and wealthy family?  Everyone in the house and nearly everyone attending the Maxie's dinner party have some reason to dislike Sally, however, or each other.  In a conversation between Deborah Maxie and Felix Hearne the situation is described perfectly:

"A house full of people all disliking each other is bound to be explosive." (Per Felix)

"Oh, it isn't as bad as that!" (Replies Deborah)

"Very nearly.  Stephen dislikes me.  He has never bothered to hide it.  You dislike Catherine Bowers.  She dislikes you and will probably extend that emotion to me.  Martha and you dislike Sally Jupp and she, poor girl, probably loathes you all.  And that pathetic creature, Miss Liddell, will be there, and your mother dislikes her.  It will be a perfect orgy of suppressed emotion."

And emotions do simmer away until finally someone snaps and Sally Jupp pays.  The tricky thing is the murder takes place behind a locked door.  The body of Sally Jupp is found in her small bedroom, her child sleeping only a few feet away.  It will take the arrival of Detective Chief Inspector Dalgliesh and his calm and collected reasoning to sort out suspects, motives and opprtunities.

This was a wonderful read--perfectly plotted and perfectly explained.  I especially liked that it was set in the early 1960s, the memory of WWII not so far off still.  Progress aside, there is still a line drawn between the "master of the house" and "the servants" subtle though it may appear, it's still palpably felt.  I've given only the barest bones of the plot away, so if you plan on reading this one, you're in for a treat.  As I mentioned I could happily have moved on to A Mind to Murder and even went so far as to pull it off the shelf, but I already had something else set aside to read.  Although I am happy to read multiple books by an author close together, I tend to prefer not reading them back to back.  So I will be keeping the next Adam Dalgliesh in reserve for later.  I can see why P.D. James is called "the reigning mistress of murder"!   

Reading Notes and Other Miscellanea

I'm amazed at the idea of reading for twenty-four straight hours, as I know some readers did this weekend.  On the one hand it sounds like complete bliss--hour after hour of uninterrupted (well, maybe uninterrupted) reading time.  I don't think I could manage it, however.  I think I could read for (maybe) half the time and be pretty content, though I'm a slow reader so I don't think I'd be able to finish more than one or two books.  But ultimately I know I would fade and sleep would take over.  Anytime I try and read when I am too tired the story ends up being a muddle in my mind.  Still, it was fun to watch from the sidelines.  I wonder how many pages were read collectively by all the participants?!

I never spend as much time as I'd like reading on the weekends, but I did finish Cover Her Face by P.D. James.  Since I plan on writing about it soon, I won't say more than I liked it so much that I wanted to pick up the next Dalgliesh mystery as soon as I completed it!  I'm trying to be more systematic about my reading at the moment, however.  The idea is to not start a new book until I finish reading two that are in progress (and hopefully whittle down my pile).     

Since I did finish two books this week, I decided to pick up Nicola Upson's An Expert in Murder  (and not the Nicola Upson book along with a P.D. James novel!).  I've only just started it, but I have high expectations as I've heard many good things about it.  Still, the writing seems very good and Upson has already drawn me into the story.  It's set in 1930s England and features a fictionalized Josephine Tey who gets mixed up in murder.  I've only read one Tey novel, which was ages ago, but I have a feeling this will want to make me read more.  

This week I'll be spending time finishing Georgette Heyer's The Talisman Ring, which has been a fun romp of story and reading my postal reading group book, which I'm struggling with a bit.  It's the sort of book that I enjoy when I'm actually reading it, but faced with a stack of books many of which are really engaging, I tend to not reach for first.  The story is interesting, but at the same time it's not really grabbing me either--if that makes sense.  I have eleven days in which to finish it, as it will need to go into the mail May 1.  It's also a long book, which means if I read just a little every day, I still need to read 30 pages every day to finish. Wish me luck.  Of course things may pick up and I won't want to put the book down, too.

In case you're curious, I decided to stitch the Carriage House Samplings pincushion.  I'm hoping for a little more instant gratification by choosing a small project.  Everything is ready to go and I had planned on starting last night.  I popped in a movie (Slumdog Millionare), but I didn't realize there would be subtitles, which meant stitching would be out of the question.  The movie was pretty amazing, but it's not one I think I could watch again anytime soon (though I loved the song and dance at the end before the credits--a nice uplifting way to finish an otherwise heavy movie!).  My only complaint was the tiny subtitles on my already small TV.  I don't sit very close to the TV either, which meant I missed a lot, and watching a DVD means you can only go back scene by scene (which I think is a pain, so I didn't do it often).  Still, it was pretty visually graphic, so I think I caught the jist of what was going on when I missed some of the subtitles.  Maybe I'll start stitching it tonight.  Or maybe I'll get a head start on tomorrow's 30 pages!          

Needlework Update

  

Since I finished a stitching project, I'm ready to start a new one.  I'm probably worse when it comes to stitching in terms of starting projects (and not finishing them in a timely manner) than I am when it comes to starting books.  I'll eventually finish reading the books I've started (even if there are ten of them), but I have half completed needlework projects dating back years.  There's no continuity problem when it comes to needlework--I can easily pick it up later and work away on it.  So, while I should choose an already in progress needlework design, I have this overwhelming desire for something new.  Should I work on Birds of a Feather's (a favorite, but now defunct design house) "Happy Hearts".  I've always loved this design.  It's stitched on a small count fabric--36 count with only one strand of floss.  I prefer working with one strand of floss--I get messy using two strands.

    

Or, how about this one.  Same designer but this one is called "Counting Magpies".  I love the rhyme.  In case you can't read it, it says:

1 for sorrow
2 for mirth
3 for a wedding
4 for a birth
5 for silver
6 for gold
7 for a secret, not to be told
8 for heaven
9 for hell
10 for the devel's on sel

I've seen variations on this rhyme and have always found it interesting when a line of it will pop up in literature.  The linen is 32 count--much easier to see, but it's also hand dyed so there is no starch in it.  It's be flopsy to work on, which I hate and my two strands of floss won't lay straight (I've had experience with this!).  I'll have to press it well before beginning to give it a little stiffness.

 

I could opt for something smaller, like one of these pincushions designed by Carriage House Samplings.  I'm considering stitching the little man and woman and have it the fabric and floss ready to go.  I've got a nice small count fabric, which is nice and stff and should be easy going.

 

One more.  I could stitch a little "Welcome" by Brightneedle.  I'd like to make it into a little pincushion.  I don't have the supplies for it ready to go, though, which would mean digging through bins of linen and floss and not starting right away. 

Whatever I choose I just hope I can keep my attention on it long enough to complete it--a problem I've had lately with my needlework!

Upcoming Reads

 

I've had a few review copies show up in the mail in the last week or so, so I'll be slowly adding them into my current reads pile (and will hopefully also be finishing a few of those current reads very soon).  Two are via Library Things Early Reviewer program (the top and bottom), one is for a blog tour I'm taking part in later (the second from the top), and the last was kindly passed along to me from HarperCollins.

The Old Man and Me by Elaine Dundy.  I mentioned this one earlier.  Written in the 60s (and being reissued by NYRB Classics) this is about hipster American Honey Flood taking on London.  

The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein.  This is a fictional account of a real woman.  Pan Yuliang was a prostitute in turn-of-the-century Shanghai who later became a painter, known for her nudes and influence on Post-Impressionist art.  I'm not sure how I missed this one, as I love books that combine fiction with art.

Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival by Clara Kramer.  This nonfiction book is based on the diary of Calra Kramer who spent twenty months in hiding during WWII.  She was a Polish Jewish teenager when the war broke out and hid with several families (a total of eighteen people).  I may have to start with this as Holocaust Remembrance Day is next week, so this seems a timely sort of read.  

The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.  I'm really looking forward to this one as I read their earlier book Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, which I really enjoyed and thought was well done.  This time the husband and wife team are writing about the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, but it sounds as though it's about life in turn-of-the-century Paris as much as it is about the robbery.

I expect a copy of Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate to show up sometime soon as well.  It should be interesting as it's one of only two Gothic novels that she wrote.  It'll be interesting to compare it to the others I've read so far. 

So I have lots of interesting books to look forward to reading soon!

Darling Jim

Christian Moerk's Darling Jim is hard to classify.  It isn't a mystery and it's not a crime novel, though there is a mystery of sorts to solve and from the first page the reader learns of the horrific crimes that occur in the book.  It's more of a story within a story within yet another story.  You might really call this a storyteller's smorgasbord; a little bit fairy tale, a little bit myth with a dash of modern gothic thrown in for good measure.  At the heart of the story is Jim Quick, a seanchaí, or itinerant storyteller whose smooth talking and good looks leave all the girls and women swooning in his wake, though I couldn't discern many attractive qualities in him (perhaps I was privy to a bit more information?).  The thing is, he tends to leave more than broken hearts behind.

"Long after the house had been disinfected for the new occupants and the bodies rested safely in the ground, people still didn't come near it.  'Cursed,' whispered the neighborhood gossips and nodded meaningfully.  'Deadly, a haunted house!' cried the children, but they only ever mustered up the courage to take a step or two into the front yard before losing heart."

This is the Dublin home where three bodies were found in what appeared to have been a bloody battle.  Two sisters and their aunt had been living there, and it took three long days after their deaths before anyone noticed something was wrong.  And something was horribly wrong.  Sisters Fiona and Róisín had been poisoned, slowly weakened, and chained in their rooms to die.  The culprit?  Their aunt Moira.  What would drive a woman, their own family for pity's sake, to commit such a brutal act?  Maybe I should say who would drive?  As the realization came over the sisters of what was happening they wrote their stories down.  Knowing their time was running out, the sisters took their one chance to try and get away, or at least send their journals off safely, and in so doing murdered their aunt, but it ended in tragedy for all three.  Strangely, there was another prisoner who escaped, but left no trace behind.

So one story concerns the sisters, their aunt and the events that led up to the tragedy, which began three years earlier in the small Cork town of Castletownbere with the arrival of a handsome stranger and his seductive power over three sisters and their aunt and the rest of the town.  Moerk cleverly ties this together with another thread, which involves a Dublin postal employee, Niall, who finds Fiona's diary in the dead letter bin.  When he reads Fiona's story he's compelled to look for the Dublin captive who got away, and embarks on an adventure of his own to unravel the mystery of the sisters.  The third narrative is that of Jim himself.  It's the story he tells when he travels from town to town; a dark tale of an enchanted castle and a wolf who's also a man.  If you listen carefully you can see parallels between Jim and the wolf--both of them predators, and their lovely and oh so gullible prey.

Although the story of the sisters is a compelling one, I have to admit that this was a somewhat uneven read for me, and I struggled with it a little at first.  The novel is divided into sections including two diaries, and in the first I found the many colloquialisms a little wearing.  I do like what you might term 'local color', but it somehow felt like a little too much.  Still, I wonder how much of the story was tongue in cheek.  I think there was purposely an outrageousness to the novel, as it felt a little over the top at times, like the author was having fun with his readers--telling his many stories, as he certainly tells them with exuberance.  So I suppose this is a minor quibble in what is probably the most unusual story I've read yet this year.  It's one worth sticking with as the threads twine nicely together as any good storyteller's will.  You can check out the author's website here (be sure and click on the photo gallery link which has pictures of the Ireland that inspired his story).    

New Acquisitions

 

I stopped by the bookstore after work last night and left with only a very few books, one of which was something that had been set aside for me.  The trick is not letting myself browse beyond the first few front tables.  Their marketing worked nonetheless as I still managed to find one bargain book and one new release.  My intention was to go straight to the cash register for my book, but you know how that goes sometimes.

First Matt wrote about it and then I noticed Cornflower is reading it, so I had to go and search for a copy of Georgina Harding's The Spy Game for myself (as they rarely steer me wrong when it comes to good books).  Luckily it's been published here in the US as well as the UK (lately I seem to be tempted by too many books not yet available here).  I'm looking forward to reading this one soon.  The New Yorker called it an "austere but atmospheric début".

I seem to recall mixed reactions to Jennifer Lee Carrell's Interred with the Bones, but as I found a copy in the bargain bin, I didn't hesitate to buy it.  It's supposedly a "literary romp" about a Shakespearean puzzle (a lost play?).  I've not forgotten about my project (and will hopefully be gearing up to read another play soon), so even though this is a novel it could be fun to read about Shakespeare as part of an adventure tale.  

And for more Shakespeare, I came across Faye Kellerman's The Quality of Mercy, which I had not heard of before.  It's a "sweeping tale of illicit desire, dangerous intrigue, and enthralling adventure".  I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something (I need a little adventure in my life?).  Set in Elizabethan England, Rebecca Lopez is the daughter of one of Queen Elizabeth's physicians.  She's also a clandestine Jew.  She gets messed up in intrigue and murder--in the company of a young actor and would-be playwright, William Shakespeare.  I'm often leery of books featuring once real people, but this just sounded like fun, so I have to give it a try.       

Now I'm off to peruse my new books.

Time for Library Loot

It's been a couple of weeks now since I've shared my library finds.  I've done a little switching out of books as I really want to read one that has a line of people waiting for it.  Library books can be a little problematic for me, as I tend to allow them to cut in on other books I should be reading, there being the added pressure of the due date (and not being able to renew them when there's a line of readers waiting).  I suspect I'm not alone when it comes to this little problem?

This is the culprit:  Dara Horn's All Other Nights is a historical novel set at the beginning of the Civil War and concerns a young Jewish man who acts as a spy for the Union.  Normally Civil War stories don't appeal to me much, but I'd heard some good things about this one.  I started reading the first few pages and it grabbed me right away.  It's also nice to read a book that's different from my normal choices lately.

Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen is a standalone crime novel by a Swedish author.  She's been compared to Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith, so I'll be expecting a good psychological thriller.  Eva and Jonas are a married couple who aren't especially happy.  Jonas loathes his wife and has been having an affair.  This one could be pretty messy.

Am I the last person to read Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog?  This is set in an elegant Parisian hotôl particulier.  It sounds quirky and philosophical.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent is another historical novel set in Salem during the witch trials.  Apparently the author is a descendant of one of the characters in the novel, Martha Carrier.  This is another novel I've heard is a gripping read.  

All in all a pretty good haul, don't you think?  As always the problem is how to get them all read (as I really do want to read them all) before they have to be returned.  They get lined up according to due date and then I hope I can renew....three weeks is just not enough time!  

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets

Well, I shouldn't use the word charming to describe Eva Rice's The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, as that's a word I tend to overuse and you'll stop believing me (though it is charming), so how about utterly delightful?  Eva Rice is a talented author.  She's made me feel nostalgic for a time I've never even experienced.  While I actually like the cover, as it's very evocative of a period long gone, the girly pastels make a potential reader immediately think--chick lit (and perhaps choose to move on to the next book on the shelf).  Don't be fooled, though.  This is a wonderful story, and it is delightful, but it's not just so much fluff.  There's much more to it than your typical chick lit fare.  Yes, there is a dash of romance, never saccharine by the way, but it's all the other elements that make this such a pleasurable reading experience.  And most importantly Rice is not only a good writer but a good storyteller as well. 

England in the 1950s is still suffering the effects of WWII.  Rationing is only just coming to an end.  The deprivations felt are still relatively fresh in the mind and those loved-ones lost in the War are still mourned.  But progress is also being made and people are looking forward to new and happier times.  Especially the youth.  Pop music has arrived on English shores, and with it American Johnnie Ray (who, yes, did perform in the 1950sand was wildly popular).  When eighteen-year-old Penelope Wallace meets Charlotte Ferris one chilly November day at a bus stop, they'll find that Johnnie is only one of their common passions.  

Penelope and her younger brother Inigo are like any other teenagers except they happen to live at Milton Magna, a once gorgeous country home dating back to Medieval times, that is now a crumbling ruin.  Their mother Talitha, a 'sensational beauty', has had to sell off most of its contents to keep it running, but there's not much left decorating the walls or filling the rooms.  Married young, Talitha was deeply in love with Penelope's father, but he died in the War, and it's been hard going for the family ever since, particularly so for Talitha.  Penelope spends her time studying Shakespeare, writing endless essays, and occasionally working in an antique store as she bides her time before her upcoming travels to Italy.   

"Anyone want to share a taxi?" are the words Charlotte exclaims that will change Penelope's life.  While Penelope is a very traditional, perhaps even a little staid, young woman, Charlotte's appeal "came from her very English brand of stylized chaos and breathless excitement."  Charlotte's the type of woman who's never not in control and always at ease in any situation.  She brings Penelope home to tea at her aunt Clare's messy but very comfortable London flat, where she's introduced to Clare's son Harry.  Harry's a gifted young magician who makes the circuit at posh parties, but has been left heartbroken when his American-heiress girlfriend dumped him for a richer man.  His rather sardonic nature clashes with Penelope's more reserved demeanor, but he still manages to cajole her into a scheme to win back his beautiful ex, Marina.    

Through Charlotte and Harry Penelope is introduced to fashionable high society.  You can practically hear the ice in the cocktails clinking, gaze through smoke filled rooms and tap your feet to the jazzy beat of the music in the background.  It's so easy to imagine Charlotte and Penelope decked out in glamorous dresses and high heels (à la Holly Golightly, though I know she came along a few years later!) as Penelope acts at being Harry's new amour to make Marina jealous.  It's a bit of a stretch as Penelope doesn't find Harry the least bit attractive, though she meets an older American who's both handsome and witty that she can imagine herself with.  As you'll imagine all sorts of mischievous social entanglements ensue. 

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets is filled with irresistible, well drawn characters who are entirely likable.  It's a story of love and family and growing up with a few secrets thrown in that need unraveling.  I will admit that it was a slow start for me, but once she fully caught my attention I couldn't pull myself away from the story.  I'd like to go back and start from the beginning to see what subtle little details I missed.  This one is highly recommended.  Now the problem is how to choose a book to follow up such a satisfying read. 

Easter "Hunt"

 

I finished my little sheep just in the nick of time.  The Easter bunnies have arrived suitably dressed to drop a few eggs in her basket.  Hopefully the Easter bunny brought you something good today,too.  You can see the rest of my sheep here.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.  Hopefully spring really has arrived and the flowers are blooming and the bees buzzing! 

Booking Through....The Numbers Game

 

I suspect it's going to be very quiet around here this weekend--between the holiday tomorrow and many people finishing up their spring breaks and a general desire to enjoy the nice (relatively speaking that is) weather.  I thought I'd keep things simple today and snag a "booking through Thursday" question.  It's one I can use a photo to illustrate...

Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…

Are you currently reading more than one book?
If so, how many books are you currently reading?
Is this normal for you?
Where do you keep your current reads?

You may already know the answer to these questions if you stop by here occasionally (and the  photo should give a few hints if you don't).  I'm definitely a more than one book at a time reader.  I used to only read maybe two books at once, but those were in my pre-blogging days.  There's something about reading blogs and getting bombarded with so much bookish information online, that I can't help myself anymore and always have several books on the go at once, and this is perfectly normal for me these days.  I do admit my pile is a little larger than I normally like.  If I could cut it in half, I would be very happy, but between Library Thing reader's copies coming my way lately, library books, and books for online reading groups, I've had a hard time keeping the pile small.  And as you can see I keep my current reads on my night table.  I do usually concentrate on about four books at once, rotating them--one book for the bus, one to read at lunchtime, one for the gym, which means a few may sit impatiently waiting for me to pick them up again.  I know most people don't prefer this method, but it works for me, and I'm never at a loss for something good to pick up depending on my mood!