Alias Emma: Ava Glass

Alias Emma is the first book in a relatively new spy fiction series. Emma Makepeace has always wanted to be a spy. Her father who died before she was born was a spy, and she idolizes him. She gets her wish when she enters the military and catches the attention of the leader of a department in the Secret Service. After some training exercises, Emma is given an important assignment to bring Michael Primalova, the son of Russian dissidents, across London to a safehouse, so that he and his parents can be put in protective custody. 

Michael is a doctor, a pediatric oncologist, and initially he is reluctant to go with her and leave his patients behind. But he soon sees how much danger he is in from assassins who want to kill him. The biggest problem they face is that the Russians have hacked the CCTV cameras in London and any actions that Emma and Michael take will be known to them. 

My thoughts...

The story alternates between the action (getting Michael to the safehouse) and flashbacks to Emma's life before spying, her training, and how she became a spy. This isn't good or bad, but it does mean that — in a book of 269 pages — the actual spying part is thin. The background information is not padding, it is useful and necessary to give us more information about the characters. It will be interesting to see if the next book in the series is structured in a similar way.

Emma is a strong female protagonist, very serious about her job and learning her way as she goes. Some reviews or blurbs compare Emma to James Bond; I don't consider this a compliment. It isn't that I don't like the James Bond books by Ian Fleming; I have read most of the books, some in my youth and several since I started blogging. The original Bond series is really a mixed bag; some of the books are serious, others seem like comedies. 

This is a fine beginning to an espionage series, and two more books have already been published. I was entertained the whole time, and the pacing is very good. My only real quibble was that there was too much of a romantic vibe. The story doesn't go overboard in that direction, but even the hint of it did not add anything to the story in my opinion.

This book was recommended to me by Constance at Staircase Wit. See her review for more details, especially about the author.

-------------------------

Publisher:   Bantam Books, New York, 2023 (orig. publ. 2022)
Length:      269 pages 
Format:      Trade Paper
Series:       Alias Emma #1
Setting:      UK
Genre:       Espionage Thriller
Source:      Purchased in November 2023.

A Darker Domain: Val McDermid

This book is the second book in the Karen Pirie series. Detective Inspector Karen Pirie is in charge of the Cold Case department in Fife, Scotland; she works primarily with Detective Sergeant Phil Parhatka. A woman reports that her father has been missing for over 20 years, from the time of the Miner’s Strike of 1984.  At the time they thought he had deserted the family and gone to Nottingham to work the mines there; as a result the family was shunned by the community. But now the daughter needs to find her father because her son is dying and in need of a bone marrow transplant. This investigation doesn't really fit into the Cold Case criteria for Karen's department, but she takes it on anyway. Shortly after that, new information shows up in Italy related to a kidnapping that also took place in 1984 in Fife, and that case is added to Karen's workload.

My Thoughts...

• I liked that the story went back and forth between 1984 and 2007. For some readers, this would be a negative and it can be confusing. There are no chapter breaks, but it is clear when the story transitions to a new location or time, so I was OK with that.
• I was especially interested in the strike and what it did to the mining community. I have read a Reginald Hill novel, Under World, from 1988, that is about the aftermath of the strike. Another book about the strike is GB84 by David Peace, which I have not read.
• There are many interesting secondary characters. The kidnapped woman was the daughter of a very important man in Scotland, Sir Broderick Maclennan Grant. His daughter was killed and her infant son was never seen again after a botched ransom exchange. He wants to find his grandson, but he also is very controlling and manipulative and expects the police to bow to his will. Investigative journalist Bel Richmond is the one who finds the clue in modern-day Tuscany, and she is the one who does the sleuthing in Italy.  And then there is Sergeant Phil Parhatka, a very likable character and the perfect working partner for Karen.
• After all the investigative work comes together, the ending is kind of abrupt. Some reviewers complained about this, but it worked perfectly for me. The book was already long enough, I did not need any further results spelled out for me.
• I was very impressed with this book. The subject is serious, and Karen takes her responsibilities seriously, but there is plenty of humor in the story. At this point I think A Darker Domain will be one of my top books of 2024.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Harper Perennial, 2010 (Orig. pub. 2008)
Length:       368 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:        Karen Pirie, #2
Setting:      Scotland and Italy
Genre:       Police Procedural
Source:      On my TBR pile since 2017.

Books Read in September and October 2024

I read 12 books in September and October. I enjoyed all of them. Seven of the books were mysteries; five were in other genres.

Humor / Cartoon Collection

A Wealth of Pigeons: A Cartoon Collection (2020) by Harry Bliss and Steve Martin

In this book, Steve Martin partnered with the cartoonist Harry Bliss to create a collection of cartoons and comic strips. Steve provided caption and cartoon ideas, and Harry created the artwork. It was a fun read.

Fiction

My Ántonia (1918) by Willa Cather

The story, which is narrated by Jim Burden, focuses primarily on Ántonia Shimerda, the daughter of Bohemian immigrant parents who have settled on a farm on the Nebraska prairies. Jim and Ántonia were both children when they arrived in Nebraska, on the same train. See my review here.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) by Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox and Elgin Branch have promised their daughter a trip to Antarctica if she makes excellent grades. She succeeds, but unfortunately Bernadette get so mired down in the preparations that everything falls to pieces in their already precarious marriage. This is a real mishmash of a book, and there were many times that I was totally lost. Fortunately, it was worth the effort getting to the end. Bee Branch, their daughter, was my favorite character. The story is told partially through emails and documents.

Orbital (2023) by Samantha Harvey

Although I did have a few nitpicks when reading this book, I loved it. I was very pleased and surprised when it won the Booker Prize. It depicts one day in the life of six astronauts on the space station, watching the sunrises and sunsets and monitoring a typhoon threatening inhabited islands. The reader is privy to their thoughts, and watches their activities and their regimen. It is short, about 200 pages, and very meditative. It inspired me to read more about the space station, and I wish it had been longer.

Fiction / Short Stories

Ladies' Lunch: and Other Stories (2017) by Lore Segal

This book of short stories was published by Lore Segal in 2023 on her 95th birthday. Ten of the sixteen stories in the book are about a group of older women, now in their 90s, who have been meeting for lunch for thirty years or more. See my review here.

Crime Fiction

The White Lioness (1993) by Henning Mankell

This is the third book in the acclaimed Kurt Wallander series. Henning Mankell is a Swedish author. This book is set mostly in Sweden but there are also sections of the book set in South Africa. See my review here.

Silent Voices (2011) by Ann Cleeves

This is the fourth book in the Vera Stanhope series. DI Vera Stanhope is relaxing in the spa of a health club, after swimming laps in the pool. I know this doesn't sound like Vera at all but her doctor has strongly recommended some exercise, and this is what she can manage. She discovers the dead body of a woman in the spa with her. This series has great characters; I like Vera's relationship with Sergeant Joe Ashworth, her 2nd in command, and the way she works with her team of investigators. The setting is very nice too.

The Mayors of New York (2023) by S.J. Rozan

I am a big fan of Rozan's Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series, totaling 15 books; this is the newest one. The first book was published in 1994. I started reading the books in 2008; since then I have read all the books in the series. See my review here.

Winter Work (2022) by Dan Fesperman

I regret not having the time to review Winter Work. This is the third book to feature Claire Saylor, an agent for the CIA. Safe Houses was the first book in the series, set in 1979 (Berlin)and 2014 (US), and it was fantastic. The second book, The Cover Wife is set in 1999. This book goes back to 1990; it is set in Berlin after the fall of Berlin Wall. The trilogy features strong female characters and intelligent plots.

The Hamlet Trap (1987) by Kate Wilhelm

Kate Wilhelm, who wrote both science fiction and mysteries, published her first novels in the 1960s and published her last novel in 2017. She was married to Damon Knight, a well-known science fiction author. This book is the first one in the Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn mystery series. The story is set in Ashland, Oregon and the story revolves around preparation for a play to be performed there, and the people involved in creating it, the author, director, set designers, etc. The story is excellent, very complex, with lots of characters. I have two more books in the series to read.

Then We Take Berlin (2013) by John Lawton

This is the first book in the Joe Wilderness series. Wilderness's real name is John Holderness; he is sometimes an agent for MI6 and sometimes a con-man and thief. I learned a lot about Berlin during the time immediately following World War II, when the city was divided up into four sectors. It was a good, although very confusing, story up until the end, which was a cliffhanger. I will be reading book 2 in the series.

Big Sky (2019) by Kate Atkinson

This is the 5th book in the Jackson Brodie series. Reading mysteries by Atkinson can be confounding. They just seem to meander along and several unrelated threads come together to resolve themselves. Nevertheless, I love them. The fourth books in the series, Started Early, Took My Dog, was published in 2010, and I read it in 2011. Big Sky did not come out until 2019, and I just read it this year, so after 14 years I had forgotten a lot about the series. But I settled into Atkinson's quirky approach very easily, and was certain that I would be satisfied with the experience and the ending. It was a wonderful book full of eccentric characters and I have bought the 6th book, Death at the Sign of the Rook, to read sometime in 2025.

Currently reading

A Darker Domain by Val McDermid, the second book in the Inspector Karen Pirie series. Karen Pirie investigates cold cases. I am about a third of the way in, and I am loving the book. It grabbed me immediately. In 2007, a woman reports that her father has been missing for over 20 years, from the time of the Miner’s Strike of 1984. At the time he left, the family thought that he had deserted the family and did not look for him, but now she needs to find him desperately because her son is dying. 

The three photos at the beginning and end of this post are ones my husband took while we were walking around in downtown Santa Barbara. The ones directly above are from a bridal shop in 2014. The top photo was taken in 2010. Click on the images for best viewing quality.

Short Story Wednesday: Deadly Anniversaries

 

Three years ago I purchased Deadly Anniversaries, edited by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller, so that I could read "Chin Yong-Yun Sets the Date" by S.J. Rozan. Chin Yong-Yun is Lydia Chin's mother in the Lydia Chin / Bill Smith series. My thoughts on that story are in this post. So, now I am finally getting around to reading more stories in that book.

Description from the cover of the book:

Deadly Anniversaries celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Mystery Writers of America with a collection of stories from some of the top names in crime fiction. An anniversary can honor many things: a birth, a wedding and sometimes even a death. 

Each author puts their own unique spin on what it means to recognize a certain day or event each year. These nineteen stories travel across a wide range of historical and contemporary settings and remind readers of how broad the mystery writing tradition can be, encompassing detective tales, domestic intrigue, psychological suspense, black humor and thrilling action. 

Here is a list of the stories in the book:

• "If You Want Something Done Right. . ." by Sue Grafton
• "Ten Years On" by Laurie R. King
• "Normal in Every Way" by Lee Child
• "The Replacement" by Margaret Maron
• "Chin Yong-Yun Sets the Date" by S. J. Rozan
• "Amazing Grace" by Max Allan Collins
• "Ten Years, Two Days, Six Hours" by Wendy Hornsby
• "The Anniversary Gift" by Jeffery Deaver
• "The Last Dive Bar" by Bill Pronzini
• "Case Open" by Carolyn Hart
• "The Bitter Truth" by Peter Lovesey
• "Unknown Caller" by Meg Gardiner
• "April 13" by Marcia Muller
• "Whodat Heist" by Julie Smith
• "Blue Moon" by William Kent Krueger
• "Aqua Vita" by Peter Robinson
• "The Last Hibakusha" by Naomi Hirahara
• "30 and Out" by Doug Allyn
• "The Fixer" by Alison Gaylin and Laura Lippman

In the last couple of days, I read stories by Lee Child, Margaret Maron, Max Allan Collins, and William Kent Krueger. 

Max Allan Collin's story, "Amazing Grace", was my favorite of those four.  

In 1960, Grace Rushmore is eighty years old and has been married to her husband Lem for fifty years. He has never been a very good husband; he married her for her money and never contributed to the business of the farm that had supported them. They had ended up selling the farm and opened up a bakery in town, and Grace baked wedding cakes as her specialty. Now Grace has four children, twelve grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. All of the children and their families are coming home for a big 50th anniversary celebration. Grace bakes a huge Lemon Layer Cake for the party. 

I really liked the ending of this story. A recipe for Lemon Layer Cake is included following the story.

The Mayors of New York: S.J. Rozan

I am a big fan of S. J. Rozan's Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series. I started reading the books in the series in 2008 and by the middle of 2009 I had read all the books available at that time. Since then I have read all the books in the series. This is the latest book in the series, which now consists of 15 books.

The two main characters in the series are Bill Smith and Lydia Chin. Bill is a white private investigator in his forties who lives in Manhattan; Lydia is an American-born Chinese private investigator in her late twenties who lives in New York’s Chinatown with her mother. They are not partners but they often work together on cases. The element that I have always liked about this series is that the narrator of the books alternates between Lydia and Bill. The first book was narrated by Lydia; the second book was narrated by Bill; and so on.

Most of the books narrated by Lydia are set in Chinatown. Bill's stories are usually set in other part of New York City.

Summary of The Mayors of New York from Simon and Schuster:

In January, New York City inaugurates its first female mayor. In April, her son disappears.

Called in by the mayor's chief aide—a former girlfriend of private investigator Bill Smith’s—to find the missing fifteen-year-old, Bill and his partner, Lydia Chin, are told the boy has run away. Neither the press nor the NYPD know that he’s missing, and the mayor wants him back before a headstrong child turns into a political catastrophe. But as Bill and Lydia investigate, they turn up more questions than answers.

Why did the boy leave? Who else is searching for him, and why? What is his twin sister hiding?

My thoughts:

The series is still going strong after 15 books. If anything, the stories are getting better and better. The pacing and tension in this story is very well-done.

The characterization is very strong. Lydia and Bill each have their own opinions and strengths; neither fits the stereotype of a private eye. I like the relationship that has grown between the two over the series. 

Also, the secondary characters come alive in this book. There is Aubrey Hamilton, also known as "Bree," the mayor's assistant. At one time she had a relationship with Bill, which ended badly, and she is the one that recommended him to the mayor. They are constantly sparring in this story. The mayor’s son is an appealing character, even though he isn't on the page a lot, since the point is to find him. The twin sister of the missing boy is a real pain, very snarky and dismissive, but concerned about her brother.

The New York setting is very well done. In this story, the focus is not on Chinatown. This book features many other neighborhoods in NYC, as Lydia and Bill search the city for information about the missing teenager.

The series does not have to be read in order. I did, and I loved the early books in the series, but many readers stress that this book is a perfect jumping in point, and there are few (if any) references to earlier cases in the books. 

Another review to check out:

Please see the review of The Mayors of New York by Aubrey Hamilton at Kevin Tipple's blog, Kevin's Corner.

Aubrey Hamilton is a blogger (at Happiness is a Book) who specializes in reviewing older mysteries, many written before World War II. Her reviews often include interesting information on the author's background. You should check out her blog. She won a character name in this book by S.J. Rozan. As she notes in the comments below, she was pleased that the character had such a prominent role.

Short Story Wednesday: Two Novellas by Rex Stout

 

In early October I reviewed "This Won't Kill You", a novella in Three Men Out by Rex Stout. Today I am discussing the other two novellas in that book: "Invitation to Murder" and "The Zero Clue". Both of those stories were first published in The American Magazine in 1953.

For a brief introduction to the series of books and novellas:

Nero Wolfe is an armchair detective, preferring to do all his detecting from home. He is a genius, a lover of orchids and fine food, who supports himself (and his household) as a private detective. Archie Goodwin, the narrator of the stories, is both his assistant and a private investigator, and he does most of the legwork. They live in a New York brownstone and share the house with Theodore, a plant expert who cares for Wolfe's orchids, and Felix, Wolfe's cook. 

"Invitation to Murder"

Herman Lewent wants Nero Wolfe to investigate Theodore Huck and the three women that he employees at his mansion. Huck was married to Herman Lewent's sister, who died a year earlier. Lewent had received $1000 a month from his sister since their father died and left his estate to her. Huck had continued to give him that money, but Lewent thinks he deserves more. However, what he really wants Wolfe to figure out is whether one of Huck's employees killed his sister, who died of Ptomaine poisoning. Lewent believes that all three women (a housekeeper, a nurse, and a secretary) would be interested in marrying Huck, and one of them murdered his sister to get her out of the way. Wolfe won't leave his home to investigate but he allows Archie to go in his mansion, to scope out the household and see if there is any basis for the accusation.

Eventually Archie decides that Wolfe really needs to be at Huck's mansion, so he tricks him into coming there. And, of course, the case is solved. 

This is an old-fashioned puzzle mystery, and in this case Stout clearly provides clues to what happened, although I am sure I did not figure out the first time I read it. In these shorter works by Stout, I primarily enjoy Archie's narration and the story telling. 

"The Zero Clue" 

Leo Heller is a professor of mathematics who specializes in probability and has made a lot of money using his talents in that area. Wolfe had some dealings with him earlier and despises the man. When Heller wants help from Wolfe to determine if one of his clients committed murder, Wolfe refuses. But Archie decides to go talk to Heller at his office, in an attempt to gather information that will convince Wolfe to take the case.

When Archie arrives at Heller's office, there are several people there waiting to see Heller either in the lobby of the building or in Heller's waiting room on the fifth floor. Archie goes into Heller's office, finds it empty, and snoops around a bit while he waits. Heller does not show up and Archie leaves. Later in the day, the police discover Heller's dead body in the closet of the office, and they find out that Archie was there. Thus, Inspector Cramer of Manhattan Homicide shows up at Wolfe's door. 

Most of this story is about Wolfe interviewing six suspects to get more information about their business with Leo Heller while Inspector Cramer listens in. Cramer is one of my favorite characters in the Nero Wolfe stories, so I always enjoy it when he shows up. This time Wolfe and Cramer get along pretty well. 

This story also has clues to the solution, but the reader has to know some obscure mathematical facts to be able to catch them, so I am not sure it counts as playing fair with the reader. Not that I think Rex Stout put much emphasis on that part of mystery plots.

I enjoyed learning more about mathematics. My major was mathematics in college but I am sure I did not know the arcane facts that Wolfe uses to make the deduction before I read that story for the first time. Regardless, "The Zero Clue" was my favorite between these two novellas, because I think it is a very clever and entertaining story.

Annual Book Sale 2024: My Husband's Books

Every year in September we attend the Planned Parenthood book sale, which lasts ten days. We usually visit a minimum of five times. This year our visits were curtailed because my husband and I had Covid when the sale began. 

Nevertheless, we did find many books to add to our collection. These are six of the books my husband found. As you can see from this list, he enjoys reading about social history.

My husband purchased the following three books about daily life in various historical periods in England. The author is Elizabeth Burton. The three books were published between 1958 and 1972, and all of them have lovely illustrations by Felix Kelly. In the 1940s she published 6 novels as Susan Alice Kerby. Wikipedia describes them as comic fantasy novels. 

The Elizabethans at Home by Elizabeth Burton.

First published in 1958. This edition is a reprint from 1970.

From the dust jacket:

In this reissue of Miss Burton's highly praised and highly successful domestic history of the Elizabethans, she draws most entertainingly on a wealth of contemporary sources. How did the Elizabethans really live? What was ordinary existence like for the Elizabethan man and woman? What sort of furniture did they use? What were their staple diets? What sort of remedies did they keep in their medicine chests? How did they get their news? What games did they play? These and other questions are answered in this fascinating account which is illuminated by the superb drawings of Felix Kelly.

The Georgians at Home by Elizabeth Burton

Published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1967.

From the dust jacket:

In The Georgians at Home, she covers the period from the accession of George the First to the death of George the Fourth, and from a mass of sources, many of them unpublished, she presents a fascinating and remarkably complete picture of Georgian domestic life in all its detail.

She is as interested in the chattels and hovels of the poor as she is in the architecture, gardens, furniture and interior decoration of the great houses built by Kent, Gibbs, Adam, Holland, Nash, Soane and others of a glorious age. Cooking and food; glass, china and utensils; the relative cost of living; the bizarre and often horrifying medical remedies of doctors and quacks, the use of cosmetics; travel, transport and amusements–from Elizabeth Burton's meticulous research into such minutiae a whole way of life emerges.

The Early Victorians at Home by Elizabeth Burton

Published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1972.

From the dust jacket:

The Early Victorians at Home gives a wonderfully detailed account of the domestic lives of our ancestors–their houses, furniture, food, medicine, recreations, gardens–with numerous sidelights on the minutiae of every day life at all levels of society.

The Last Country Houses by Charles Aslet

From the Goodreads description:

The magnificent country houses built in Britain between 1890 and 1939 were the last monuments to a vanishing age. Many of these great mammoths of domestic architecture were unsuited to the changes in economic and social priorities that followed the two world wars, and rapidly became extinct. Those that survive, however, provide tangible evidence of the life and death if an extraordinarily prosperous age. This book recounts the architectural and social history of this era, describing the clients, the architects, the styles and accoutrements of the country houses. 

Nature's Mutiny: How the Little Ice Age of the Long Seventeenth Century Transformed the West and Shaped the Present by Philipp Blom

From the Goodreads description:

Although hints of a crisis appeared as early as the 1570s, the temperature by the end of the sixteenth century plummeted so drastically that Mediterranean harbors were covered with ice, birds literally dropped out of the sky, and “frost fairs” were erected on a frozen Thames–with kiosks, taverns, and even brothels that become a semi-permanent part of the city.

Recounting the deep legacy and far-ranging consequences of this “Little Ice Age,” acclaimed historian Philipp Blom reveals how the European landscape had suddenly, but ineradicably, changed by the mid-seventeenth century. While apocalyptic weather patterns destroyed entire harvests and incited mass migrations, they gave rise to the growth of European cities, the emergence of early capitalism, and the vigorous stirrings of the Enlightenment. A timely examination of how a society responds to profound and unexpected change, Nature’s Mutiny will transform the way we think about climate change in the twenty-first century and beyond.

 

McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories by Michael Chabon (editor),  Mike Mignola  (Illustrator)

From the Goodreads description:

Michael Chabon is back with a brand-new collection that reinvigorates the stay-up-all-night, edge-of-the seat, fingernail-biting, page-turning tradition of literary short stories, featuring Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Peter Straub, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Heidi Julavits, Roddy Doyle, and more!

A complete list of the authors and their stories:

• Margaret Atwood - Lusus Naturae
• David Mitchell - What You Do Not Know You Want
• Jonathan Lethem - Vivian Relf
• Ayelet Waldman - Minnow
• Steve Erickson - Zeroville
• Stephen King - Lisey and the Madman
• Jason Roberts - 7C
• Heidi Julavits - The Miniaturist
• Roddy Doyle - The Child
• Daniel Handler - Delmonico
• Charles D’Ambrosio - The Scheme of Things
• Poppy Z. Brite - The Devil of Delery Street
• China Mieville - Reports of Certain Events in London
• Joyce Carol Oates - The Fabled Light-house at Viña del Mar
• Peter Straub - Mr. Aickman’s Air Rifle

Short Story Wednesday: "Dead Man's Shoe" by Floyd Sullivan

 

This story was published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine January/February 2023. I had not heard of this author before, but he had an earlier story published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine September/October 2021 which I will also read.

"Dead Man's Shoe" by Floyd Sullivan

Rick Peters tells the story of his brief visit to a cabin on Keuka Lake in New York. He was taking a vacation from his job as a professional photographer. The local sheriff rings the doorbell and asks Rick to take photos of an object on a nearby pier. The object turns out to be an athletic shoe with a foot in it. The foot had been sawed off a body just above the ankle. 

This was a slow burn story. Peters doesn't want to give up on figuring what was behind the discovery of the foot. There are some elements that stretched my ability to suspend disbelief, but I enjoyed the story and the ending was very satisfactory.

Last line: "I have no plans to return to the Finger Lakes. Ever."

There is an article about the inspiration for this story at Trace Evidence.