Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness has started a new meme and she's calling it 'Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times'. More details are here and here at Judith's blog. The idea is to do this every Friday (but anytime in the weekend is fine). For these times when we are (mostly) confined to our homes, the suggestion is to look through a bookshelf or a bookcase or stacks of books and share some thoughts on the books. Or in general: "Talking about books and reading experiences from the past, present, or future."

My first thought was to go through my stacks and boxes of uncatalogued books choose a few to talk about (and then actually catalog them). For two years now, I have neglected to catalog most of the books I have bought, and that is a large number, because I always buy at least 100 books at the annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale (most of them are $1 each).

So I will start with:
Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains. This is book 5 in the Dandy Gilver series, written by Catriona McPherson. I had forgotten I had purchased it online over a year ago.

I have read two previous books in the series. I was lukewarm on the first book, After the Armistice Ball, but I liked the 4th book in the series, The Winter Ground, a lot. And The Winter Ground is set around Christmas.

Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Bloodstains is set in 1926 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dandy, a wealthy amateur sleuth, has taken an undercover job as a maid to investigate a possible crime. This sounds like a really interesting premise, so I am glad I uncovered this book.


Next is...
Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger

This one I knew I had, but wasn't sure where it had ended up. Now that I have relocated it, I will read it in the next few months. Boundary Waters is the second book in the Cork O'Connor series, which now numbers 17 books. In December 2018, I read the first book in this series, Iron Lake, after a recommendation by Rick Robinson at Tip the Wink. That one had been on my TBR a long, long time.

This description of the series is from Krueger's web site:

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe.

Boundary Waters takes place in the Quetico-Superior Wilderness: more than two million acres of forest, white-water rapids, and uncharted islands on the Canadian/American border.

... and also...
Mistakenly in Mallorca by Roderic Jeffries

Now this is a book and a series I don't know much about. I learned about this from two sources: Margot Kinberg, when she was blogging at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist, and Mathew Paust at Crime Time.  I purchased a copy in November 2018.

This was the first book in the Inspector Alvarez series and was published in 1974. There are a total of 37 books in the series, and the last was published in 2013. He wrote several other series, under various pseudonyms.

Enrique Alvarez is a police inspector on Mallorca, the largest island in the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean. Although it is a part of Spain, the native language is Catalan, with Spanish also an official language. This setting in the early 1970s sounds interesting, and I like police procedurals, so I was willing to give it a try. I should do that soon.

Winter Ground: Catriona McPherson

When a circus comes to spend the winter at the neighboring estate to Gilverton, Dandy Gilver is asked to investigate some worrisome pranks and practical jokes. Then one of the pranks results in a death, and the question becomes, was it an accident or not?

This is the fourth book in the Dandy Gilver Mystery Series, set in 1920s Scotland after WWI. The series features Dandy, wife of Hugh Gilver, owner of the Gilverton estate, and mother of two sons. She is also a private detective, working with her friend Alec Osborne. The series is cozy, with little violence, quirky characters, and a lot of subtle humor.

I had a mixed reaction to the first book of the series, After the Armistice Ball. The story was interesting and nicely paced, but some aspects bothered me. My comments on that book are here. I became much fonder of Dandy in this book than I had been in Book 1. Dandy and her friend Alec are still investigating crimes. Dandy takes it very seriously but her husband, Hugh, is not resigned to the idea. Dandy's two sons are home from school for the holidays and thrilled to visit the circus folk and watch them prepare for a special performance.



It was fun to read about a circus operating in the time frame of this story. The circus people were very interesting and provided a contrast to Dandy's upper-class life. The depiction of Scotland in 1925 is very interesting, the characters are well-done, and the events take place around Christmas and the New Year.

I enjoyed Dandy's thoughts while on a walk in November with her dog, Bunty:

I trudged on, inwardly counting my blessings as Nanny Palmer's early training had left me all but unable not to do. Peace was still on the list even seven years after the armistice that put it  there but it was beginning to lose its place to the everyday: stout shoes, warm clothes, a solid roof awaiting my return, hot coffee – chocolate even, if I asked for it – and health and strength and… I willed my thoughts towards less depressingly wholesome blessings… a new sable-tipped evening wrap, Christmas coming but no family visits coming with it and, next week, Rudolf Valentino at the Cinerama.

Christmas, which comes very near the end, does not play a big part in the plot, but I enjoyed the chapter that included the family's observance of Christmas and the family squablles.

While preparing this post, I reread the last 30-40 pages of the book and I liked the ending just as well the second time. McPherson does a very good job of pulling together a lot of threads in the book and left me with a good feeling about the future of the series.

See also:
Katrina's review at Pining for the West. Katrina lives in Scotland.
The review at the Historical Novel Society.
A review at The Bookbag.


 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Hodder, 2009 (orig. pub. 2008) 
Length:       294 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Dandy Gilver Mystery #4
Setting:      Perthshire, Scotland, 1925
Genre:       Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.

August and September Reading

I skipped a reading summary for August so this is a combo summary for August and September. I read ten books in August and seven in September. As usual most of the books were crime fiction. I read several of these books specifically so that we could go ahead and watch film or TV adaptations (Blue Lightning, Hammett, The Case of the Rolling Bones, and One Shot).

My project for the next few months is to read books by Jane Austen, as a part of the Jane Austen Read All A-Long at James Reads Books.  So far it has been a great experience. In August I read Pride and Prejudice (a re-read actually). In September I read Mansfield Park, which was totally new to me. And now I am reading Emma.

And these are the crime fiction books I read:

Blue Lightning (2010) by Ann Cleeves

Blue Lightning is the fourth book in the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves. Jimmy Perez is a Detective Inspector in the Shetland Islands. The book takes place on Fair Isle, where Perez grew up.  My thoughts are here.

Dead Skip (1972) by Joe Gores

The DKA Files series by Joe Gores features a group of investigators who work for Daniel Kearny Associates, a firm specializing in repossessions of vehicles whose owners have defaulted on their loan payments. The setting is in and around San Francisco. Dead Skip is the first novel in the series. I enjoyed it and will continue reading the series. My thoughts are here. 

Hammett (1975) by Joe Gores

This is a fictionalized version of events in Samuel Dashiell Hammett's life in 1928, when Hammett was no longer a private detective and was trying to support himself with his writing. An old colleague tries to get him involved in a high profile case in San Francisco. My thoughts are here.

Malicious Intent (2004) by Kathryn Fox

Set in Sydney, Australia, this is the first novel in a series starring Dr. Anya Crichton, a pathologist and forensic physician, who begins working as a freelancer. Dan Brody, a defence lawyer, asks her to look into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl. Forensic investigations are not my favorite subjects in mysteries, but this was an exciting read and my interest never lagged.

The Emperor's Snuff-box (1942) by John Dickson Carr

This is a standalone novel, not one of Carr's series books. Eve Neill is living in France, divorced from her first husband. She lives across the street from her new fiancé's family. One night her ex-husband sneaks into her house to beg her to return to him, and they see someone attacking her fiancé's father. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Dr. No (1958) by Ian Fleming

James Bond is sent to Jamaica to follow up on the disappearance of two agents, one of them being the Head of Station, John Strangways. This was a very entertaining novel and I enjoyed it even more since the movie is a favorite. My post is here.

Deep Water (2016) by Christine Poulson

Deep Water is about a legal fight to assert a company's claim to a drug patent, and the deaths that may or may not be related to it. This novel shows the many aspects of pharmaceutical research and development. There are those who need the drugs, to improve their lives or maybe even save them. There are the researchers, who are fighting for time and money to complete their research. And the companies who fund the research. This sounds complex, and there are a lot of characters, but they all feel real and the pacing is terrific. 

Winter Ground (2008) by Catriona McPherson

When a circus comes to spend the winter at the neighboring estate to Gilverton, Dandy Gilver is asked to investigate some worrisome pranks and practical jokes. Then one of the pranks results in a death, and the question becomes, was it an accident or not? Set in 1925 at a country house in Perthshire, Scotland. The setting is great, the characters are interesting, and it is set around Christmas and the New Year.

The Case of the Rolling Bones (1939) by Erle Stanley Gardner

This is the 15th Perry Mason novel in a series numbering over 80 books. A 70-year-old man (Alden Leeds) is institutionalized in a sanitarium by his relatives who don't want him to marry a younger girlfriend from his past.  His niece (Phyllis Leeds) thinks that Alden is being blackmailed and goes to Perry Mason for help. My post is here.

A Capital Crime (2010) by Laura Wilson

It is the 1950s in London; Detective Inspector Ted Stratton is a widower with grown children. The story begins with the suspected murders of a woman and her child. But it is also about the post-war changes in England and family relationships. Overly long, but I enjoyed this third book in the DI Ted Stratton series.

Close Quarters (1947)
and Smallbone Deceased (1950) by Michael Gilbert

Close Quarters was Michael Gilbert's first mystery novel and also the first in the Inspector Hazelriggs series.  Smallbone Deceased  is the fourth in the series and regarded by many as his best book. I love the way Michael Gilbert writes and both books are enjoyable reads. Smallbone Deceased was especially good, though.

Wicked Autumn (2011) by G. M. Malliet

Max Tudor is the vicar of the very small village of Nether Monkslip, and the star of this amateur sleuth mystery. However, he was previously an agent for MI5, so he has a bit of experience. He gets called on to help in a behind-the-scenes role when a prominent member of the Women's Institute dies during the Harvest Fayre. A bit too cozy for me, but I plan on reading more in the series.

One Shot (2005) by Lee Childs

This is the ninth Jack Reacher novel, and I read it because it is the basis for first Jack Reacher film. I loved this book; it is only the 2nd Jack Reacher book I have read. Now I will be  reading more of them.

The Nightrunners (1978) by Michael Collins

Coincidentally, this is the ninth Dan Fortune novel. Dan Fortune is a one-armed private detective based in New York. In this story he starts out tracking down a business man's brother, who is a compulsive gambler, but soon realizes that the story is much more complex. Michael Collins was a pseudonym for Dennis Lynds. Lynds was from New York like his protagonist, but he moved to Santa Barbara when he was 41 and several of the books in the series are set there. I will be tracking down more of them.

After the Armistice Ball: Catriona McPherson

The best brief introduction to this book is at the author's website:

After the Armistice Ball is set among the struggling upper classes of 1920s Perthshire as, in the aftermath of the First World War, their comfortable world begins to crumble. Dandy Gilver, her husband back from the War, her children off at school and her uniform growing musty in the attic, is bored to a whimper and a little light snooping seems like harmless fun. Before long, though, the puzzle of what really happened to the Duffy diamonds after the Armistice Ball is swept aside by a sudden death in a lonely seaside cottage in Galloway.

This book did not grab me from the beginning. It wasn't slow, but the "detecting" style and the narrative style was not my favorite. It may have to do with my preference for real detectives of some type, either policemen, or PIs, or even spies. Amateur detectives are not my favorite. Putting that to one side for now, I did get grabbed by the plot about two-thirds in and I always prefer a good ending over a good start (if I can't have both).

Although Dandy is new at sleuthing, she is getting paid to detect, so she is not strictly an amateur. I noticed how much of Dandy's motivation was connected to getting paid to do the sleuthing, which I found surprising. Was this because this was her own money not controlled by her husband? Or because the family's funds are low due to economic circumstances of the times?

Dandy later acquires a partner in sleuthing, Alec, a male acquaintance who has connections to the family she is investigating. Her husband, Hugh, is involved with the care of their estate and is just as happy for her to go off and entertain herself, and she does not enlighten him as to her true intent. These are relationships I don't understand, but I accepted them and I assume they were not that unusual for the time. Dandy is still very inexperienced at detecting. She doesn't really have a plan, she and Alec endlessly discuss what they have discovered, and she sort of fumbles through the sleuthing. Nevertheless, except for the long discussions, the results are entertaining.

The depiction of the times seems accurate, although I am not knowledgeable in that area. In fact, learning more about that time is one attraction for me. I have read some books from both the Charles Todd series (Bess Crawford) and the Jaqueline Winspear series (Maisie Dobbs) and this one focuses more on the upper classes and how they were affected by World War I. That does bring a different slant to the story.

One thing that bothered me initially: Dandy makes it quite clear she is not maternally inclined and is just as happy that her sons are now away at school. That, along with her attitude toward her husband, grated on me. But this is just my personal prejudice, reflecting my times and my experiences. When her sons return from school, their relationship with Dandy seems quite fine, so maybe she just is not the smothering type. One can definitely understand how a woman of that class in those times could be bored with her life and seeking more excitement.

There is a detailed description of Dandy Gilver and her family and her household at the author's blog.

This book seems to get a divided response at Goodreads. Seems like readers either love it or hate it. So be warned, this may not be the book or the series for you. From my comments, you can see I went back and forth about this book. I have read many reviews that are very complimentary about the later books. I enjoyed the setting and the characters and I plan to seek out more of the books in the series.

This is my first read for the Read Scotland challenge, hosted by Peggy at Peggy Ann's Post.

Reviewed at: BooksPlease and Pining for the West