''Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body.'' - Albert Einstein
A breach of promise by Anne Perry
The twisted root by Anne Perry
Resurrection row by Martha Grimes
The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes
Morality for beautiful girls by Alexander McCall Smith
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
A breach of promise by Perry, Anne.
The Winds of Change: a Richard Jury mystery by Grimes, Martha
Resurrection row by Perry, Anne.
The Lamorna Wink: a Richard Jury mystery by Grimes, Martha.
The Blue Last: a Richard Jury mystery by Grimes, Martha.
Santa Teresa private detective Kinsey Millhone is hired by wealthy Nord Lafferty to pick up his daughter at the California Institute for Women and get her through the first few days of freedom. Out on parole, Reba takes to Kinsey and the two women go out to dinner together when her former boss Alan “Beck” Beckwith arrives at the restaurant. He invites himself to have a drink with the two women and Kinsey knows she has been set up by a pro.
--Great stuff!
By the summer of 1893, the English have become concerned with the bombing activities of anarchists who set explosions recently in London and Paris. A tip has come into the Special Branch, whose mission is to stop terrorists, claiming a bomb is set to go off in East London. Special Branch Chief Victor Narraway and Agent Thomas Pitt rush to the area; they capture two of the bombers. A third, a parliament member's son, is killed.
--Anne Perry is great! London in the late 1800's!
Dr Dowan Purcell is Kinsey Millhone's missing person in P is for Peril, the latest of the Alphabet mysteries from Sue Grafton. Kinsey sometimes says she thinks taking a case is a mistake - missing person or whatever - but she always takes the case.
Dr. Missing is a respected doctor running a nursing home. He left work and never showed up anywhere. There's money missing from his savings and where is that passport? He's disappeared before but he's been gone an awfully long time. His first wife thinks the police could be doing more. Everybody thinks he's dead.
--Kinsey is Hott!
A Thames River Police superintendent struggling to win the respect of his men, William Monk is on a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge when he notices a young couple standing at the bridge railing, apparently engaged in an intense discussion. The woman waves her arms and places her hands on the man’s shoulders. A caress or a push? The man grasps hold of her. To save her or to kill her? Seconds later, the pair plunge to their death in the icy waters. Monk can’t help but wonder, was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? It seems impossible to determine the truth, but haunted by the woman’s somber beauty, he is impelled to try.
--I love the depth of description of the settings in these books.
Bernie Rhodenbarr novels by Lawrence Block:
1. Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977)
2. The Burglar in the Closet (1978)
3. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979)
4. The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza (1980)
5. The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian (1983)
6. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams (1994)
7. The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (1995)
8. The Burglar in the Library (1997)
9. The Burglar in the Rye (1999)
10. The Burglar on the Prowl (2004)
There are also Bernie Rhodenbarr short stories, "The Burglar Who Dropped In On Elvis" and "The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke".
I LOVE these books. LOVE em!!
* 1884-85, Amarna, Crocodile on the Sandbank
* 1892-93, Valley of the Kings, Curse of the Pharaohs
* 1894-95, Mazghuna, The Mummy Case
* 1895-96, Dashur, Lion in the Valley
* Summer 1896, London and Kent, Deeds of the Disturber
* 1897-98, The Lost Oasis (Sudan), The Last Camel Died at Noon
* 1898-99, Amarna, The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog
* 1899-1900, Dra' Abu el-Naga', The Hippopotamus Pool
* 1903-04, Seeing a Large Cat
* 1906-07, Valley of the Kings, The Ape Who Guards the Balance
* 1907-08, The Lost Oasis, Guardian of the Horizon (published out of sequence)
* 1911-12, Zawyet el'Aryan, The Falcon at the Portal
* 1914-15, Giza, He Shall Thunder in the Sky
* 1915-16, Giza, Lord of the Silent
* 1916-17, Gaza and Deir al-Madinah, The Golden One
* 1919-20, Children of the Storm
* 1922-23, Valley of the Kings, The Serpent on the Crown
* 1922-23, Valley of the Kings (tomb of Tutankhamun), Tomb of the Golden Bird
"Masters and McClanahan return in the latest addition to the wonderful Dale Brown series...China is determined to retake Taiwan after they declare independence. So determined, in fact, that they wage uninhibited nuclear warfare against Taiwan and the U.S....Now the Megafortress must fly again, with stakes as high as the Old Dog's original mission, because failure could mean a nuclear apocalypse...A chillingly realistic thriller..."
--Highly Technical, Fast and Fun.
"Taking a cue from the smash hit television series, 24 Hours, the thrilling plot of her latest plays out over a single day. An early morning missing persons report sends Chief van Alstyne scrambling to one of the last great Adirondack summer estates. One of the heirs to a fortune is missing amidst evidence of foul play."
It wasn't bad, but you really have to swallow some huge bad decisions that no person in their right mind would make.
--Not bad though.
Continuing the story of the characters introduced in "Ammie Come Home" and "Shattered Silk," ever-popular author Michaels follows Rachel, a graduate student studying women's crafts--weaving, spinning, quilting, embroidery--and the superstitions connected with them. Linking all important rites of passage to the garments created as markers of these occasions leads Rachel to her theory: in societies in which magic was practiced, the garment was meant to protect its wearer. She gains evidence that her theory is valid when an evil antique bridal quilt enters her life.
--Good stuff. Takes place in Leesburg Virginia!!
"A scar is permanent. That is why a skilled plastic surgeon will try to hide it -- in the crease of an eyelid, in the fold beneath the breast, along the hairline or behind the ear. If you're lucky and have the right genetic makeup, the scar may be almost indiscernible to the naked eye. But it is always there. It never goes away."
--I can't say I liked this book much. I spent too much time thinking how stupid the main character was. I just didn't care about him.
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan comes of age. After failing the Barrayaran Military Academy physicals, the brittle-boned, dwarfish son of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan uses a clever touch of creativity to finance a shipment of munitions into a war zone. When the simple merchant expedition draws the attention of an unexpected enemy, Miles is forced to masquerade as commander of a fictional fleet of hired guns he names after the mountains near his home--the Dendarii Mercenaries. His original crew of misfits grows into a considerable force as enemies become allies, guided by the delicate political maneuverings Miles learned from his father.
--I liked it. The characters grew on me. It was a light fun piece of SciFi.
Dr. Alex Delaware attends a party for a controversial Los Angeles sex therapist, Alex encounters a face from his own past--Sharon Ransom, an exquisite, alluring lover who left him abruptly more than a decade earlier. Sharon now hints that he desperately needs help, but Alex evades her. The next day she is dead, an apparent suicide. Driven by guilt and sadness, Alex plunges into the maze of Sharon's life--a journey that will take him through the pleasure palaces of California's ultra-rich, into the dark closets of a family's disturbing past, and finally into the alleyways of the mind, where childhood terrors still hold sway.
--Excellent read!!
Lou Arrendale is autistic. He has profound difficulty interacting with people. Such interactions are intense but frequently incomprehensible. He has, in his thirties, achieved a largely settled lifestyle. He works at a company which needs his skills and understands his difficulties. Now however, there is a new boss, one who is determined to remove the autistics from the company.
Its the 2004 Hugo and Nebula award winner.
--This description does not do this excellent book justice!
It is a case unlike any psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware has ever encountered. Five-year-old Woody Swope is ill, but the real problem is his parents. They refuse to agree to the one treatment that could save this boy's life.
Alex sets out to convince Mr. and Mrs. Swope--only to find that the parents have left the hospital and taken their son with them. Worse, the sleazy motel room where the Swopes were staying is empty--except for the ominous bloodstain. The Swopes and their son have vanished into the sordid shadows of the city.
Now Alex and his friend, homocide detective Milo Sturgis, have no choice but to push the law to the breaking point. They've entered an amoral underworld where drugs, dreams, and sex are all for sale...where fantasies are fulfilled at any price--even at the cost of a young boy's life.
--Good Stuff
The eighth appearance of LAPD homicide detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, will likely increase her constituency as she concentrates more on the case at hand and less on the Jewish law and lore that rises from Rina's Orthodox Jewish background and informs the Decker family life. Chris Whitman, a high-school senior with a hidden past and close ties to his uncle?a powerful Mafia don, has some kinky notions of sexual games. He tries them with his very Catholic and proper (yes, virginal) classmate, Terry, with whom he is obsessed. Trouble begins when Chris's less constrained former girlfriend is found bound and dead in a tawdry hotel the morning after the prom, with evidence suggesting her involvement in a wild night of drugs and sex with multiple partners, including Chris. The youth's confession, coming after Decker discovers photographs that could compromise Terry's reputation, leaves Decker uncomfortable. So does his chief's suggestion that conflicting forensic evidence be given low priority. Decker, fighting some demons of his own, continues investigating even after the case is considered solved, and Uncle Joey, none too happy with Chris or Terry, executes his own brand of revenge. Surprising twists and engaging subplots will keep readers turning the pages to the satisfying conclusion.
--This was probably my favorite Faye Kellerman!
Dark forces are on the move from the Northlands, and Bremen, an outcast Druid, learns of the huge Troll armies on the march and the Skull Bearers who act as their spies. To save the Druids, Bremen must convince the people of the Four Lands that their only hope lies in uniting -- and in using the magic they fear above all else.
Blues in the Night -- by Rochelle Krich
Sunday, July 13. 1:46 A.M. Near Lookout Mountain and Laurel Canyon. An unidentified woman in her twenties, wearing a nightgown, was the victim of a hit-and-run accident that left her unconscious and seriously injured. There were no witnesses.
--Murders follow, common sense does not!
The Bone Vault by Linda Fairstein
This is a mystery set in the Metropolitan museum of art and the museum of natural history in New York. It was a great look at the rest of the iceberg behind the scenes at these huge institutions. I loved the parts about the Cloisters. Now I want to go there!!
A great read.
Q is for Quarry - by Sue Grafton
Kinsey Milhone is back. She is 37 and still the hottie in the all purpose black dress...
Earthsea Trilogy -- by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Talisman by Stephen King, Peter Straub
12-year-old Jack Sawyer takes on a quest in this and a parallel world, the "Territories," to acquire a mystical talisman that will save the life of his dying mother and her "twinner," the Queen of the Territories.
This is the first (1984) collaboration between horror/fantasy writers King and Straub.
--Great story. The sequal is BLACK HOUSE, another good one.
Knight of the Word - A Trilogy by Terry Brooks
Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell
An island in Chesapeake Bay revolts when Virginia's governor orders speed traps on every street. Pirates, helicopters, murder and a small dog named Popeye...
--It was forgettable. Even though there's no Kay Scarpetta, it's a main selection of BOMC, the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild, and the Doubleday Book Club. Go figure.
Black House by Stephen King, Peter Straub
In the seemingly paradisal Wisconsin town of French Landing, small distortions disturb the beauty: a talking crow, an old man obeying strange internal marching orders, a house that is both there and not quite there. And roaming the town is a terrible fiend nicknamed the Fisherman, who is abducting and murdering small children and eating their flesh...
--This book is connected to the Dark Tower world of Stephen King. It stands alone nicely even if you havn't read The Talisman or any of the other books.
What's Marty currently reading?
The Kinsey Millhone saga.
The Sword of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind
The Hive Series by Anne McCaffrey
Odin gave his eye... to be able to read... to know...
