November Books -- and Anniversary Drawing Reminder and Link

Boy, I had a tough time reading in November. (And even a harder time writing about it in December so you'll get two book posts this month!) I dumped one book about five chapters in; tried picking up another WWII bio I hadn't finished and it was too heavy for me. I'm all for the Resistance but I have to be in the right mood to read it. 

Then I quit another after the introduction deciding I didn't want to read the diaries of Anne Morrow Lindbergh during WWII, when her husband, aviator Charles, was advocating non-involvement in the war and anti-semites like Father Coughlin were on his side. It reminded me too much of the situation in Ukraine and the increasing signals from the incoming House of Representatives here that we should cut funding. 

Maybe it was the delightful distractions of November that made reading hard. Who knows? I finally settled on two that were well worth the time and one that wasn't. (And face it, the upcoming holiday preps, physical therapy and not feeling my best  didn't help much either!). 

So, the books!

"The Reckoning" by Rennie Airth

This entry in the John Madden series of mysteries by Rennie Airth finds the retired Scotland Yard detective enjoying the quiet life of a farmer in post World War II England. He and his wife Helen enjoy the company of their new neighbor, retired Scotland Yard chief Angus Sinclair and keep in touch with former colleagues at the Yard.

So, when a seemingly random execution killing of a fisherman takes place is tied to an earlier killing of a doctor in Scotland, DI Billy Styles asks his old mentor for his insights. But apart from the execution-style of shooting, no other similarity can be found. None, that is, until Madden notes that both victims served in World War II and one, the fisherman, was penning a letter to Madden before his death.

The murders don't stop there, when a third veteran is killed and Madden draws a frightening conclusion: the killer is out for revenge. But they are leaving no traces behind and Madden and his former colleagues at the Yard are stumped. 

This is another well done mystery by Airth with engaging characters, a good plot and a satisfying conclusion. I look forward to the next one in the series. (Recommended to read in order; "The Reckoning" is the fourth of six books.)

"A Line to Kill" by Anthony Horowitz

This is the next in the Hawthorne series of mysteries in which author Horowitz writes himself in as a character -- "mystery writer Anthony Horowitz," who is writing a series of books about Inspector Hawthorne, an enigmatic detective with the observational skills of Sherlock Holmes. 

This episode finds the duo at a literary conference on the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands, where they are there to speak about their upcoming book, "The Word is Murder" (reviewed here). The fellow authors all have their oddities and the islanders are in a political frenzy about a proposed power plant for the island.

When the sponsor of the literary festival turns up dead on his property after a party to kick off the event, there is no shortage of suspects: The wife, with whom he has an open marriage; a television chef and cookbook author appearing at the festival and the chef's personal assistant; opponents to the power plant; and pretty much everyone else, given that he was greatly disliked.

These books are always fun. There's the tension between Anthony and Hawthorne and the fact that Hawthorne always sees things that go by Anthony who, as a mystery writer, thinks he should be better at solving the cases! It's a very Poirot/Hastings or Holmes/Watson dynamic and loads of fun. 

You don't need to read these in sequence but there is mention made of previous cases which make the book a little richer. Your call!

"Meet Isabel Puddles" by M.V. Byrne

M.V. Byrne's bio says he is from my town of Lansing, MI and is a screen and television writer. "Meet Isabel Puddles" is the first in a series of mysteries set in Michigan. I'm all for supporting local writers. But this isn't the book for that. It's OK. But Byrne might be better suited to sticking to the screen.

It's cute. And pretty darned implausible. And has way too much surface "local color" that really doesn't move the plot forward and just eats up a lot of the 330 pages in the book. It's way too chatty and the chat isn't integral to the story and only slightly to establish character. But, it's cute. I'm not sure I'd take that as a compliment, though. Should a murder mystery be cute?

Isabel Puddles is a widow, probably in her 60s. She lived in a small resort town on the west side of the state (the Lake Michigan side) in a town similar to towns like Pentwater, Whitehall or Montague, for those who know the state. Because she's always willing to help out when someone asks, and she's asked to do make-up to fix up the body of a local farmer who presumably died from a stroke. In doing so, she makes a discovery that leads to a revised conclusion -- murder.

The man's son is arrested soon after but Isabel doesn't believe he is guilty and is determined to prove it. Along the way she nearly gets herself (and several others) killed as she closes in on the killers.

Isabel has the most annoying friend, Frances, and if Frances was eliminated from the book, it would greatly help both the editing and the sanity of the reader who just wants to murder Frances to get her out of the series. The other characters are fine but we just spend way too much time with them. Think about if an hour-long "Murder She Wrote" episode was stretched into two hours or more without adding anymore plot, just a lot of unnecessary conversations between characters. You'd switch channels. 

I should have "switched channels" but by then I was close enough to finish that I could speed read through it. I'd describe it as a murder mystery that tries to be funny but just ends up being a combination of silly and trite. It could have had potential but it missed the mark here for me. I'd say give it a pass unless you like fanciful chase scenes that I hope never appear in real life. 

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December doesn't look like it's going to be a big reading month. I'm just trying to keep my head above water! Let's get merry!

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And don't forget, if you haven't already entered the 15 Years of Blogging Anniversary drawing, please leave a comment on THAT POST (once only, please!) before midnight, December 31, Eastern Standard Time (US). International entries are welcome but if you do NOT have a blog or are a no-reply blogger please leave your name and email in case your name is drawn! Otherwise, I have no way of contacting you.