The December Books

I guess I read a bit more than anticipated in December, wrapping up the year with mostly mysteries, which are my "comfort food,"  along with one dearly loved re-read. (OK, I read that book one chapter a month but I finished this month!) Five books -- I'll take it. And they were all worth the time.

 

 "A Necessary End" by Peter Robinson

 

This is my second "Inspector Banks" book and it was a good read. I'm not sure I liked it as well as the one I read last month, but that was less to do with the plot and more to do with one of the more unpleasant characters, a brash detective out for the easy answer, right or wrong, assigned to the major role in the investigation. That was not Banks' style!

The book opens as Chief Inspector Banks is attending a lecture in the City Hall that has attracted the attention of activists in the Yorkshire region because they fear nuclear power is coming to their area. As the woman speaks, a crowd of protestors gather outside and it isn't long before it becomes an angry riot. One police officer, Officer Gill, is killed in the riot and the hunt is on for suspects.

It is determined that Scotland Yard will come in to assist Banks in the investigation, sending "Dirty Dick" Burgess, a distinctly unlikable officer who is with the terrorist and anti-activism unit. Banks is familiar with him and while he doesn't like him, is forced to work with him.

There are several primary suspects, five of whom live at what is called Maggie's Farm, a property owned by woodworker Seth Cotton. His partner Mara, apprentice Paul, artist Rick and astrologer Zoe share the property. Most had some past with activism and in the case of Paul, a most troubled youth, time for breaking and entering. Three others, students Tim and Abha and Dennis Osborne, were also among the chief suspects. When the knife killing Gill is found and Paul seen throwing it away, he becomes the prime suspect, though Banks has his doubts.

Well told and with an interesting conclusion, I find myself liking Robinson's Inspector Banks series. I picked this one up because it was handy but I would choose another in the future. It's a pretty solid police procedural with well drawn characters.

"Murder in Three Acts" by Agatha Christie

 

This is a fun one by a master of mystery. Retired actor Charles Cartwright hosts a small gathering at his Cornwall residence, inviting locals, including his pastor and wife; Egg, a young woman (who is in love with him) and her mother; the local socialist who is in love with Egg, a playwright, another couple (she is a designer), his secretary, the well-known detective Hercule Poirot, and Cartwright's friend, Mr. Satthertwaite. When Mr. Babbington, the vicar, dies suddenly after drinking his wine, that stage is set for some sleuthing.

Written in three "acts," the first features the party. The  wine glass reveals no clues. After Poirot leaves, Cartwright and Satterthwaite decide that the vicar was murdered and go about setting to prove it themselves. 

The second act finds them testing out various theories, joined by the enthusiastic Egg, hoping to convince Charles of her love. (He is already in love with her but will not let on to her, the age difference being so great.) The third brings the return of Poirot. He says he will leave the "detecting" to the trio, while he will "think." When a second, then a third murder take place, the final act is a clever conclusion.

Christie is always good, Poirot always on target. Interestingly enough at the end he reveals that he emphasizes his foreignness and exaggerates his ego to throw people off the track! It was an interesting insight into a well known detective and my first time reading that. 

This is a quick read. Enjoy.

"When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Journal for Staying Put" by Vivian Swift

I have written about this book before -- it is a deeply beloved re-read every year or two. If I could only pull ten books from my personal library to keep with me forever, this would be one of them. Artist and former blogger Vivian Swift has moved into a town on Long Island. And while her past has included travels all over the world, she decides to "stay put" for a year and chronicle it in a journal filled with art and a look at small town life through the seasons.  

 In monthly entries, she tells, in short, readable snippets, the news of her town (sometimes as it appears in the local paper). She tells of the village landmarks and some of the town's characters, making her own observations of the weather and of village life. But certain things remind her of her travels and her past life, in countries around the world.

She writes of it all in this beautifully illustrated book with her watercolors on every page. She documents the seasons -- the stark beauty of spring, the warmth of summer, and so much more. "I''ll remember every morning that I've walked barefoot on grass that was soft and itchy when snow falls into my socks over the tops of my boots when I take the same walk in December," she writes in September. 

On a day in mid-June she says "A little brown bird, flying with a very long pink ribbon in her beak, landed on the sidewalk in the front of me to rest. I watched her catch her breath and launch herself up in the air again, the ribbon flowing in the air behind her, her signature in the wind."

You get the idea. Simple and lovely observations of life, carefully captured in wonderful illustrations and mesmerizing words. I think it may be time to turn the pages back to January again! 

"The Impossible Fortune" by Richard Osman

 

They're back! In the most recent of the "Thursday Murder Club" adventures, Richard Osman reunites us with the four retirees of Cooper's Chase -- Elizabeth, Ron, Joyce and Ibrahim -- as they look into two related cases. The action begins at the wedding of Joyce's daughter Joanna to  Paul, a university professor. At the reception, Paul's best man, Nick, comes to Elizabeth asking for help, as just before the wedding he discovered a bomb under his car and realizes someone is trying to kill him. Nick and his business partner, Holly, own a cold storage facility, one at which people can keep their most secret information. 

He and Holly also share a vault, holding information on their stash of Bitcoins, worth several hundred million pounds He has one code to the vault that he and Holly the other. Could this be the reason Nick has disappeared?

The four feisty retirees, with some help from Joanna, Paul, Bogdan, and a bit from police officer Donna, begin their investigation with Holly. But her life is also short-lived. Now it is up to the four of them to find out Nick -- and discover what happened to Holly. But when life gets busy for these four, it really ramps up.

In a subplot, Ron's daughter, after numerous beatings, banishes her drug dealing husband from their home and he wants revenge on her and Jason, her brother, with grandson Kendrick seeking refuge at Cooper's Chase.  Ibraham, in his ongoing work to council former (?) criminal Connie, may have found someone new to nurture. And all of it is written with Osman's wit and delightful play of characters.

Fanciful? Unrealistic? Crazy? Of course! Does it matter? Not one bit -- because "The Impossible Fortune" is delightful. 

"Close to Death" by Anthony Horowitz 

 

In the most current of the "Hawthorne" book series, writer Anthony Horowitz, also a "first person" character in the books, chronicles an earlier case of the detective's forced into writing another Hawthorne book by his agent. This time, rather than being Hawthorne's sidekick, Horowitz must write his book through the notes and recordings that the detective and his then-sidekick, John Dudley, made.

The case is an interesting one, with echoes of Agatha Christie. In the once peaceful Riverview Close in Richmond, a new neighbor -- Giles Kenworthy, the neighbor from Hell -- has moved into the Lodge, alienating the other good neighbors in the gated cul de sac. Whether it is a matter of parking, destroying the courtyard garden, or getting planning permission to build a pool, issues brew to the boiling point and ultimately, Kenworthy is murdered. Everyone is a suspect -- but Detective Inspector Kahn centers in one. Hawthorne and Dudley disagree.

The plot is clever, and while we miss Horowitz as a sidekick, he makes many an appearance as he struggles with Hawthorne's notes about a case he really does not want to have written. He longs to find out more about the people -- who they are, what happened to them. And he is intrigued by Dudley, Hawthorne's former colleague who appears to have disappeared from the earth. Who was he and what happened to him? 

The solution is satisfying in its way, perhaps not what you may expect. But all in all, it is a most worthy follow-up to a strong series.