Who Can Resist the Annual Centenary College Book Sale?

As my knee healed, I decided I was able to attend the huge (80,000 items—books and record albums) book sale that is a fundraiser for Centenary College, the Methodist liberal arts college in our neighborhood.  Equipped with my cane and a rolling backpack, I swore I would stop shopping once my backpack was full.  In addition to  selecting books for me to read, I was hunting for inexpensive children’s literature and young adult books for our Little Free Library (LFL).  Well, it didn’t take long to fill up my backpack.  I completed my purchase before Ricky finished looking through the record albums, a first! 

I came home with a couple dozen books with a total cost under $25.  That's a bargain I couldn't resist.  About half the books were ones I planned to read before assigning them to our LFL, and half the books were for the children's shelf in our LFL.  I've already started reading the mysteries I purchased, but I selected books from other genre, too.

Murder in Murray Hill, by Victoria Thompson

Berkley Prime Crime, 2014

I’ve read others in this Gaslight Series and enjoy the characters and the setting in nineteenth century New York.  Midwife Sarah Brandt’s situation has changed in this book.  Her suitor Frank Malloy, a New York policeman, inherited money so they can now afford to get married.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is Frank is dismissed from his police position because all the other officers are too jealous and resentful to work with him.  Malloy was fired while he was in the middle of the investigation of a missing young woman. The woman's distraught father hires Malloy to pursue the case privately, not trusting the police to do a thorough job.  Malloy, with Sarah’s help, uncovers a serial sexual predator preying on homely and lonely women who seek husbands through Lonely Hearts newspaper ads.  The women that Malloy and Sarah rescue want vengeance and peace of mind in a society that tends to blame the victims.  Malloy must decide how justice will be served in this case.  

Not a Girl Detective, by Susan Kandel

Wm Morrow, 2005

Cece Caruso is a biographer researching the life of Carolyn Keene, the pseudonym for a pool of ghostwriters working for the Stratemeyer Publishing Syndicate who gave the world Nancy Drew books (plus a host of other series).  This publishing group churned out the popular Nancy Drew mystery series starting in 1930.  As a child, I loved Nancy Drew so I liked the premise of this mystery: a biographer researches the people behind the Nancy Drew series and, in turn, solves mysteries herself.  The plot rapidly becomes a hot mess though--it meanders all over.  The characters aren't engaging, and their actions don't make sense.  Descriptions of Cece's vintage clothes were fun, and I liked the facts about the original Nancy Drew books that were sprinkled throughout the book.  For example, the ghostwriter most responsible for depicting Nancy as a feisty heroine was Mildred A. Wirt Benson who penned 23 of the original 30 books.  I have the quasi-scholarly book, Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, by Melanie Rehak on my library shelf.  I should have read it instead.

Death on Blackheath, by Anne Perry

Ballantine Books, 20014

The familiar cast of characters returns in Perry's novel set in London during the waning years of the Victorian era.  Thomas Pitt now is commander of law enforcement's Special Branch, which is concerned with protecting the security of the nation.  When a lady's maid is missing from an important scientist's household and mutilated bodies of young women turn up in the gravel pits nearby, Pitt must decide how this is connected to the scientist's household and if treason is involved.  Pitt's wife Charlotte, her sister Emily and husband Jack, Lady Vespasia and the former head of Special Branch, Victor Narraway all assist in resolving the case.  These recurring characters feel like old friends.  Many of Perry's books have an element of the macabre in them, and this one is no exception.  The motivation of the villain stretches believability, but all-in-all, I found reading this book to be a satisfying way to spend an evening.

While I love escapist reading, I also like to read books with more substance.  I've been reading  books about the Middle East found on my library shelves.  Each one has provided me with insights into current events in this troubled region.

Reading and Recuperating, Part II

When I look around my library, I’m inundated with books waiting to be read, or at least examined before I assign them to our Little Free Library.  I decided to read books from my shelves next as I continued on my road to recovery.  Besides we needed to refresh the offerings in our LFL by switching out books.

The Black Ice, by Michael Connelly

Grand Central Publishing, 1993

It’s Christmas but LAPD detective Harry Bosch has no holiday plans, so when he hears over the police scanner that a body has been found in a two-bit hotel, he’s curious.  It should be his case since he’s on call but it’s immediately referred to Robbery-Homicide and one of the highest ranking officers in the department.  This doesn’t sit well with Harry, and he soon manipulates his way into the investigation.  An undercover cop is dead, an apparent suicide, but what is his connection to the Mexican drug trade in black ice--coke, heroin and PCP “rocked” together.  A typical Bosch book--violent, intricately plotted, with a moral dilemma that Harry does his best to resolve.  I have to admit I bought this paperback a couple months ago despite having tons of books waiting to be read. I wanted to read one of the first Harry Bosch police procedurals, because the early books give insight into Harry Bosch’s character and provide background for later novels. 

Death is Disposable, by Even Marshall

Worldwide Mystery, 2012

This is the first of a series featuring a New York Sanitation Department garage supervisor Anna Winthrop.  This unlikely scenario works when you consider that sanitation workers go everywhere in New York City and see what others don’t.  Anna befriends a homeless man who is later found dead behind her apartment building, making her a suspect.  Anna decides to find out more about the homeless man who she knew as Isaiah in hopes that she can discover his killer.  The plot meanders at times, but this book was better than I thought it would be.  The premise was so unlikely that every time I started to put it in our LFL, I would get curious all over again.  A mystery series featuring garbage collection?!?  Finally I just decided to read it.

Murder Is Binding, by Lorna Barrett

Berkley Prime Crime, 2008

Tricia Miles is proprietor of a mystery bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue, in the fictional town of Stoneham, New Hampshire.  The entire downtown is devoted to different kinds of book stores, or shops related to books (my kind of town), so maybe that’s one reason I enjoyed this cozy mystery.  When the owner of the cookbook shop next to Tricia’s shop is murdered, Tricia decides to find the murderer because the police seem to think she did it.  I had started reading this book before and didn’t care for it, but this time I grew to like the characters--Tricia, her annoying sister Angelica, the local newspaper owner/editor and the book store employees.  There are now ten books in this series, and I would read more if they appeared in my Little Free Library.  I swear I’m not buying any more books for a long time.

Reading and Recuperating, Part I

The backdrop to my knee surgery recovery for the first two weeks was the Summer Olympics, paired with channel surfing, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family.  I’m not a television watcher but I didn’t feel up to reading, so I was doubly glad when I felt better and got off the pain pills.  I began to read again and gave myself permission to read purely for fun and escape.  Therefore, I was delighted when two friends with whom I regularly share books dropped by for a visit, bringing cozy mysteries and box lunches from Heavenly Ham.

The Cracked Spine, by Paige Shelton

Minotaur Books, 2016

A cozy Scottish mystery set in an Edinborough bookshop where Kansas native Delaney Nichols has agreed to work, sight unseen.  She applied for the job and was hired while she was still in the states.  Her eccentric boss Edwin McAlister has two other employees, Rosie and Hamlet.   Shortly after her arrival, Delaney is able to rent a cottage owned by a taxi driver and his wife who befriend her, and a local pub keeper provides romantic interest.  The setting was fun, the mystery was forgettable.  The author gives Delaney special powers that seem unnecessary.  The plot also strains credulity when an heretofore unknown copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio of plays is uncovered, then disappears,  The last person to have it is found dead and Delaney is determined to find the murderer because the police investigators seem to suspect her new colleagues.

Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize, by Emily Brightwell

Berkley Prime Crime, 2016

The ladies of the Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society play for keeps in this latest installment of the Victorian Mystery series featuring Mrs. Jeffries, the housekeeper for Scotland Yard Police Inspector Witherspoon.  Mrs. Jeffries, assisted by the entire downstairs staff and a few neighbors, helps her boss investigate his murder cases unbeknownst to him.  Mrs. Jeffries must determine which society matron stabbed to death a dealer in rare flowers and then subtly guide Inspector Witherspoon to reach the same conclusion.  It’s the recurring characters that make this cozy mystery entertaining.

These mysteries my friend loaned me provided comfort and entertainment as I recuperated, a pleasant escape from being a patient.  I raid my library book shelves for mysteries to read in tomorrow's post.