The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

After successfully solving a murder in their first outing, the members of the Thursday Murder Club find themselves investigating even more crimes.  The first has to do with an attack on one of their own, while the second has a man from Elizabeth’s past contacting her.  It’s her ex-husband and he is on the run after allegedly stealing twenty million pounds’ worth of diamonds from a broker for some very bad people, all of whom have reason to want him dead.

The Murder Club has their hands full, but as usual they will rise to the occasion.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club and the lively assortment of people in the retirement community, but wondered if the delight of that book could be sustained in a sequel.  I’m very happy to report that this one is just as good, and maybe even better.  The old crew is still together:  Elizabeth the former spy who still has contacts in high places, Ron the rabble rouser union activist, Joyce the seemingly flighty one with a sharp eye and sharper mind, and Ibrahim, the psychiatrist who loves order and lists.  Together they are a formidable team.

What I like most about the book is the writing: practically every page there is something amusing and/or profound.  If I were the type to underline in books, I’d probably go through two pens just to get it all. There are wonderful character sketches that make me think of people I know.  There are insights that make me pause, and lines that make me laugh out loud.  I like the way the story is told from different perspectives—Joyce’s is in first person as she writes in her diary—and lets the reader see the world through someone else’s eyes. I adore the humor in the books, and the author is so good at making me want to read “just one more chapter.”

The characters are very distinctive, with strong personalities. I like all the Murder Club members immensely and would love to join them at their meetings, though they are all made of sterner stuff than I am. The characters are also all aware of their limitations and face mortality with intelligence, grace, and humor.

I am definitely going to read the rest in the series.  There’s to be a filmed version of the first book and from all reports it’s a dream cast:  Helen Mirren as Elizabeth, Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim, Pierce Brosnan as Ron, and Celia Imrie as Joyce.  While I’m sometimes dubious about book to film, I have to say I’m excited about this one. If it’s half as good as the book, I’ll be thrilled.

Highly recommended!

Nevermore 4-2-24: Becoming Madam Secretary, Ten Thousand Doors of January, Girl Behind the Gates

 

 Reported by Rita

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

Describes how Frances Perkins met a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt in turn-of-the-century New York and, despite initially not getting along, the pair formed a historic partnership that led them both to the White House.

 

Perkins is a fascinating character.     – WJ     5 stars

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

January Scaller, a ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, finds an ancient book containing tales of secret doors and truths about the world as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

 

A very good fantasy novel.     – MH     4 stars

 

The Girl Behind the  Gates by Brenda Davies

1939. Seventeen-year-old Nora Jennings has spent her life secure in the certainty of a bright, happy future--until one night of passion has more catastrophic consequences than she ever could have anticipated. Labeled a moral defective and sectioned under the Mental Deficiency Act, she is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her. 1981. When psychiatrist Janet Humphreys comes across Nora, heavily institutionalized and still living in the hospital more than forty years after her incarceration, she knows that she must be the one to help Nora rediscover what it is to live. But as she works to help Nora overcome her past, Janet realizes she must finally face her own.

 

It's a good book but a heartbreaking story.     – CW     5stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot

The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet by Jeff Goodell

All Bleeding Stops: Life and Death in the Trauma Unit by Stephen M. Cohn

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor

The Frozen River: a Novel by Ariel Lawhon

Largo Desolato: a Play in Seven Scenes by Václav Havel

Dear Mom and Dad: a Letter about Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew by Patti Davis

New Books

The Tigerbelles: Olympic Legends from Tennessee State by Aime Alley Card

Unbecoming a Lady: the Forgotten Sluts and Shrews that Shaped America by Therese Oneill

Until August by Gabriel Garcâia Mâarquez

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

The Lost Traveller by Sheila Connolly

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

American Maura Donovan moved to Ireland after inheriting a pub in rural County Cork from a friend of her Irish-born grandmother.  It’s been a bit of a struggle to adjust as well as getting the pub, Sullivan’s,  up and running—the late owner had been an elderly man who didn’t quite keep things up. Maura has kept the local charm while trying to update things a bit, including bringing back live music.

Her efforts seem to be paying off—that is, until the body of a man is found near the pub, his face so battered that identification is impossible.  It seems that the murder is keeping people away in droves, so unless Maura can help the police solve the crime soon, Sullivan’s may be out of business.

I’d read one or two others in this series before I picked this one up, but I had no trouble following the characters. Connolly keeps the reader up to speed with what has gone before in a very organic way that doesn’t feel like a lecture.  While the mystery is slow moving in terms of being solved, the real appeal of this book is the setting and characters.  The book doesn’t feel at all stereotypical, the way that some Irish set mysteries by Americans can be. For example, she keeps the rhythm of the Irish speech without writing in dialect or resorting to the eternal, “That’s not the way we do it in America.”

I also liked the way Connolly handled some of the issues, such as illegal workers, young people leaving for the city, and so forth. She was informative but not judgmental.  The Travellers may also be new to some readers, and an interesting addition to Irish culture.

The mystery is resolved, but as I said before it’s slow moving.  The resolution is in some ways anti-climactic and most of the information comes near the end of the book. Usually, this would cause me to complain but in this book it seemed to fit in with the pace and atmosphere.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Sullivan’s and will no doubt return.

Titles in the County Cork Mystery series are:

Buried in a Bog

Scandal in Skibbereen

An Early Wake

A Turn for the Bad

Cruel Winter

Many a Twist

Tied Up with a Bow

The Lost Traveller

Fatal Roots

The Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

American Molly Kimball loves living in Cambridge, England.  She helps manage the family bookstore, the centuries old Thomas Marlowe, and is dating Kieran Scott, a handsome bike shop owner who is also the son of a titled family.  In fact, Molly has been hired to inventory the Scott family library, an incredible collection of rare books, the crown jewel of which is an eighteenth century manuscript of The Fatal Folio authored by “Selwyn Scott.” It was a popular book in its day and still interests gothic scholars, including Kieran’s cousin Oliver who teaches at a nearby college.  Oliver is hoping to get a promotion, but his chances are dimmed when a student files a complaint against him—and then the student ends up dead.  While the police are investigating, it’s Molly who may be able to pull all the clues together to expose the killer.

This is the third in the Cambridge Bookshop Mystery series, but it can be read as a standalone title.  I think it’s the best in the series so far, since the author has firmly established her characters and location which means there’s not a lot of time wasted explaining things.  Molly is comfortable, and this makes the reader comfortable.  There’s some romance, great settings well described (I want to visit that library!), and of course an intriguing mystery.  Actually, there’s more than one and I found them all interesting.

Part of one mystery is the authorship of the “Selwyn Scott” book, since the name was a pseudonym for a member of the family.  Molly reads a copy of The Fatal Folio during the course of the book, searching for clues to the author’s identity, so the reader has a story within a story.  I have to say that in some books I have found this annoying, but Penney made the gothic novel entertaining and also helped with the overall atmosphere of the modern story.

I did figure out whodunit before the denouement, but I was enjoying the other elements so much that didn’t bother me. 

I’ve read the previous two books in the series and enjoyed them. In order they are:

Chapter and Curse

A Treacherous Tale

The Fatal Folio

Madrigals and Mayhem (due out November 2024)

Nevermore: James Herriot's Dog Stories, Hand to Mouth, Book of Separation

 Nevermore 3-19-24

Reported by Rita

 

James Herriot's Dog Stories by James Herriot

Tells the stories of fifty dogs and their unique relationships with their owners.

Loved it – absolutely delightful.   – NH     5 stars

 

Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado

A first book by a widely read, controversial essayist on poverty profiles the realities of the working poor in America and why poor people make decisions that are popularly criticized.

Found on TN R.E.A.D.S. – a real eye-opener.  – CD     5 stars

 

The Book of Separation: a Memoir by Tova Mirvis

The author describes how she left both Orthodox Judaism and her marriage and followed her inner compass to forge a new life for herself and her children while seeking her own path to happiness

Stark, but very moving.  – AH     5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Ultra-Processed People: the Science Behind Food That Isn't Food by Chris van Tulleken

Congo by Michael Crichton

The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold

Bloodroot: Reflections on Place by Appalachian Women Writers by Joyce Dyer

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

North Woods: a Novel by Daniel Mason

Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power by Victor Davis Hanson

The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life by Robin S. Sharma

We All Want Impossible Things: a Novel by Catherine Newman

Always Looking Up: the Adventures of an Incurable Optimist by Michael J. Fox

 

New Books

Dear Mom and Dad: a Letter About Family, Memory, and the America We Once Knew by Patti Davis

Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America by Leila Philip

Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

The Maid by Nita Prose

 

The Maid by Nita Prose

Reviewed by Jeanne

Molly is a maid.  She’s a very good maid, anxious to restore each guest’s room to a state of perfection, and she loves working at the Regency Grand Hotel.  She loves coming in each morning to her crisp maid’s uniform waiting at her locker.  Molly loves cleaning and order. She loves rules, which help her try to understand human behavior.  Nuances are not  her strong suit. Molly’s social skills are rudimentary and she has trouble understanding people. She used to talk to Gran about it, and Gran would help her understand but Gran died a few months ago.

But even Gran might have trouble explaining to Molly about finding a dead body in a hotel room—especially when that body belongs to a wealthy and powerful man.  This means the police are eagerly looking for suspects. And who is a better suspect than a maid?

This had been on my To Be Read list for quite some time and I’m really glad I finally picked it up. Molly is a wonderful character.  She’s very rigid in many ways but she’s also struggling to understand a world that that to her is chaotic and confusing.  She’s very much an innocent even as she feels she is in control. I found myself worrying over her when I know she’s misreading a situation and cheering her on when she stands up for herself. To make it even better, the whole thing is wrapped up in an intriguing mystery with some fascinating twists and turns. It says a lot for how much I cared for this character that I kept skipping ahead to make sure things turned out okay.

Besides Molly, the book is populated with a number of vivid characters. Some are wonderful, like Gran or Mr. Preston, while others are—well, not.  I’m looking at you, Cheryl. Most of all, I liked seeing the world from Molly’s point of view, even as some of her friends and co-workers watch, baffled, by what Molly sees as straightforward.

With as many mysteries as I read, it’s hard to find something that seems fresh, and this one certainly did.  In fact, I was so entranced that I rushed to find and read the sequel, The Mystery Guest, which was just as satisfying.  I’m very much looking forward to the third in the series, a novella entitled The Mistletoe Mystery due out in October.

Bad Boy Beat by Clea Simon

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Emily Kelton is a journalist, currently working for the Boston Standard on three months’ probation before becoming a full-fledged employee.  She has the crime beat, working anything of interest that comes in over the scanner, desperate to get copy in—especially a story that would rate a byline.  She’s no rookie; she’s jaded enough to know that some crimes won’t rate space in the paper or police investigation time.  She knows a lot of the small time operators in the city, and she is good at spotting patterns.  When dead bodies start turning up in alleys, she thinks there may be a connection but handsome detective Jack Harcourt disagrees.

That isn’t going to stop Em.  She’s a real reporter and and she knows a story when she sees one.  One way or another, she’s going to uncover what is really going on in the streets and alleys of Boston.

This is a standalone novel from Simon, who is also the author of several series. It’s a bit darker and grittier than some of her other offerings but just as well written. Em is no wide-eyed innocent, for all her rookie status. She comes off as more an old-time journalist, eschewing databases for pounding the streets and interviewing witnesses.  She is cynical and a bit of a loner though she is loyal to friends like Roz, a reporter who is working on stories out of city hall. Em is tough; she’s cautious in the streets but not cowed. She’s well able to stand up for herself against editors, bouncers, or cops and can hold her own at a bar.  She is   As a reader, I enjoyed the peek behind the scenes at a newspaper, even as subscriptions dwindle and content goes online.  Simon also does a good job of conveying the atmosphere of the seamier side of Boston. Good mystery, strong characterization, some fast-paced action and a few twists and turns make for a most enjoyable read.

Other standalone novels by Simon are World Enough and Hold Me Down; her most recent series is Witch Cats of Cambridge.