Books Read in June 2024

 

I read eleven books in June and that was many more books than I expected to read, considering that I had cataract surgery in the middle of the month. I ended up having more time to read and not much energy or motivation for anything else, including blogging. Nine of the books read in June were from my 20 Books of Summer list. Unfortunately I am very late in posting about my reading for June but I hope to catch up more in the next few weeks.

Graphic memoir

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003) by Marjane Satrapi; Mattias Ripa (Translator)

This graphic memoir tells the story of the author's life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, from the point when the Shah is overthrown through the war with Iraq. Reading about those times from the viewpoint of a child is interesting and entertaining. The story is continued in a second volume, and I will be reading that too.

Fiction

The Lonely Hearts Book Club (2023) by Lucy Gilmore

This story has a book club theme, and it also has romance, dysfunctional families, and lonely people making friends. See my thoughts here.

Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020) by Anne Tyler

Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit; he wants everyday to be the same. He has been with his girlfriend for three years. Two new events happen in his life that shake up his normal life. I liked the story a lot, the length was perfect at under 200 pages, and I want to read more of Anne Tyler's books.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014) by Gabrielle Zevin

This book is centered around a bookstore and of course books are discussed throughout. This was a lovely story with a little bit of romance and a lot about relationships, friends, and community. See my review.

Fantasy, Time Travel

Tales from the Café (2017) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This is the second in a series of five books about time travel that takes place in a café in Tokyo which has been serving a special coffee for more than one hundred years.  There are four connected stories in this book. The stories of the people who run the café are just as interesting as the time travel stories. The first book in the series is Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

Crime Fiction

Skeleton-in-Waiting (1989) by Peter Dickinson

Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors. I prefer his mysteries, but he also wrote children's books and fantasies. This is the second book in a duology, set in an alternate Britain with a very alternate royal family. The first book is King and Joker, and in that book the two main characters (Prince Albert and Princess Louise) are teenagers. This book takes place over ten years later and both Albert and Louise have married and have children. This was a reread, and this time around I was more impressed with the story and enjoyed it very much. 

Nearly Nero (2017) by Loren D. Estleman

Between 2008 and 2016, Estleman wrote nine humorous short stories about Claudius Lyon, a man who is obsessed with emulating Nero Wolfe in all ways, and his assistant, Arnie Woodbine. Most of these stories were published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. This book includes all of the stories. I reviewed the stories here and here.

Family Business (2021) by S.J. Rozan

S.J. Rozan won the 2022 Shamus Award for this novel, her 14th book starring New York City private eyes Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. When the powerful Chinatown crime boss Big Brother Choi dies, he leaves the Tong headquarters building to his niece, Mel, who hires Lydia and Bill to accompany her to inspect it. They discover the body of another Tong member in Choi's living quarters. I will be reading the latest book in the series, The Mayors of New York, very soon.

In the Midst of Death (1976) by Lawrence Block

This is an early book in the Matthew Scudder series.  Scudder is an ex-cop who works as an unlicensed private detective. In this case he is helping out an old friend on the police force who is accused of murdering a prostitute.  I liked the book but it was very dark, especially the ending. 

The Cipher Garden (2005) by Martin Edwards

The books in this series are set in Cumbria, England's Lake District, and feature Detective Chief Inspector Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind. DCI Scarlett heads the cold case division. Here, an old cold case involving the death of a gardener is reopened because of poison pen letters sent to the police and to people involved in the crime. I like the mystery plot but could do without the romantic subplot.

A Caribbean Mystery (1964) by Agatha Christie

This is the 9th book in Christie's Jane Marple series. It is not set in Miss Marple's village of St. Mary Mead and I missed that setting. On the other hand it has a nice depiction of a Caribbean island vacation spot and any Miss Marple story is going to be entertaining. Another elderly visitor to St. Honoré, Major Palgrave, has been monopolizing Miss Marple's time, telling stories of his adventures during his travels. At one point he tells her about a murderer he met, starts to show her a picture, then gets interrupted. Shortly after that Major Palgrave dies, seemingly of natural causes. We just watched the film adaptation starring Helen Hayes tonight, and saw another adaptation with Joan Hickson a couple of weeks ago. Both were good.

Currently reading

I have just started reading A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny, the 12th book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novels. The story begins with Gamache taking on a new job and the discovery of an old intricate map. 

The subject of the photos at the top and bottom of this post is our cat, Rosie. At the top, Rosie is helping me read. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Short Story Wednesday: "Paladin" by Tod Goldberg

 

“Paladin” is the fifth story I have read from the short story anthology Playing Games, edited by Lawrence Block. The theme of this anthology is games and gaming. The story is set in 1985 and has connections to the tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, which was first published in 1974. 

A man out on a boat with a coast guard rescue crew calls the sheriff of Granite City, a town off the southern coast of Washington. They are close friends and he asks the sheriff to look in on his son, a 12-year-old, who is alone at home. What the sheriff finds is a bloody crime scene, but the boy is not there. On the same day, the crew of the coast guard boat that the father went out on is lost at sea.

This was a very good story, well-written; it kept me interested from beginning to end. It was not really gory but the main crime scene, and other evidence found in the days following, was horrendous, although not lingered over. The crime is not solved. 

The story is about 25 pages long and a lot was packed into it. I continued to think about it for the next few days, trying to decide what could have happened. It was a disturbing and haunting story. 

Tod Goldberg has written eleven novels, including five novels based on the Burn Notice TV series, and three collections of short stories. I would be interested in reading his latest series. The first book is Gangsterland, but it might be too violent for me. 

I read the first four stories in this anthology in July of this year and discussed them here. 

Also see reviews at Book Chase and GeorgeKelley.org.

Reading Summary for January 2023

 

Looking back on my reading in January, it was a pretty good month. I was glad I pushed myself to finish Anna Karenina. As with some other longer classics I have read, once I got past the halfway mark it got better. Reading the biography of the Mitford sisters, The Six, got me started on a quest to find more books about that family. I read my first graphic novel for the year (a manga!), and I read some very good crime fiction. 

Nonfiction / Biography

The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters (2015) by Laura Thompson

The Mitford family was in the news a lot in the late 1930s and during World War II primarily because of the behavior of Diana, who married Oswald Mosley, and Unity, who was a big fan of Hitler. The book concentrated on the six sisters, but spent more time on Nancy, Diana, and Unity. I am hungry for more information about the family, so I am now reading The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell. My review of The Six is here.

Graphic novel

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 1 (2018) by Umi Sakurai (Writer and Artist)

This is a short graphic novel about a widower who lives alone and decides to get a cat for the first time. The story is mostly about him learning to live with and take care of a cat, and it is very sweet. This is a manga and I had to get used to reading the story from back to front and from right to left on the page. I have read volume 2 in the series now, and will be reading more.

Fiction / Classic

Anna Karenina (1878) by Leo Tolstoy

After owning this book for twelve years, I finally read it and I am glad I did. I learned a lot about life in Russia when it was written. But I found a large part of it depressing to read. My review is here.

Crime Fiction

The Graveyard Position (2005) by Robert Barnard

Barnard is one of my favorite authors. He wrote about 50 novels between 1974 and 2012. Some were series books but a large number of his mysteries were standalones. The standalone books have the best plots and subtle humor, but I have read and enjoyed most of his series books. This one is about a man who returns from abroad to Leeds, England after his aunt dies, to the dismay of the rest of the family, who thought he was dead. He will inherit most of his aunt's estate, once he can provide proof of his identity. Some long hidden secrets about the family are uncovered along the way.

The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979) by Lawrence Block

This is the third book in the series starring Bernie Rhodenbarr, who makes his living as a burglar. In this book, he has purchased an antiquarian bookstore, and his lesbian friend Caroline, a dog groomer, is introduced. Bernie is hired to steal a very rare book, and in the process gets involved in another crime. I liked the first two books but I think this one was much better. I like the characters and the writing and will read more books as I locate them.

A Midsummer's Equation (2011) by Keigo Higashino

This book is the 6th book in the "Detective Galileo" series but only the third book translated into English. I like the series very much, and each book is a bit different.  My review is here.

The Sign of Four (1890) by Arthur Conan Doyle

I have been a fan of mystery novels since my teens, but I did not read anything in the Sherlock Holmes series until the last few years. This was the second of the novels that I have read, and I was surprised to find that the novels are a combination of puzzle mystery and exotic adventure. My review is here.

Currently reading

I am reading The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell and Fender Benders by Bill Fitzhugh, a darkly humorous mystery about the country music scene in Nashville.

Status of challenges

• Both the crime fiction book by Keigo Kigashino and the two manga were read for the Japanese Literature Challenge. And I recently read Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka.
• Several of the books I read in January also fit categories for my Bingo Reading Challenge.
• Six of the books I read in February count for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

The images at the top and bottom of the post were taken on a recent visit to the Woodland Loop at the Natural History Museum, in the Mission Canyon area. It has been years since we walked in this area. Another lovely walk.

My husband took the photos. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

My Reading in August 2022

 

This may be the latest I have ever taken to put up a monthly reading summary. August was a good reading month with six books finished. I read two nonfiction books which was unusual. The rest were crime fiction, which is my favorite genre. The majority of the books were published after 2000, which is a change for me. 

Nonfiction / Biography

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life (2007) by Laura Thompson

I started out loving this biography of Agatha Christie. It is very readable, and the first chapter about her childhood was charming. I had some quibbles with this book, but most of it was interesting, informative, and worth reading.

Nonficton / Nature

Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear (2018) by Lev Parikian 

This is a nonfiction book about a man who decides to return to an old love, birding. He has a goal to find 200 different species in the UK in one year. I love to read about birds and I would have liked to get more about birds and less about his personal journey and the process. But all of it was good, and visiting different parts of the UK was interesting. 

Crime Fiction

The Long Way Home  (2014) by Louise Penny

I am now a big fan of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Except by this book, the tenth in the series, Gamache has retired to Three Pines. I was still very happy with the book, and I look forward to reading the next in the series. See my review here.

The Burglar in the Closet (1978) by Lawrence Block

The Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block now consists of 11 books. The Burglar in the Closet is the second book in the series. Bernie lives in New York City and supports himself by burgling apartments. See my review here.

Vanish (2005) by Tess Gerritsen

This is the 5th book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. It has been eleven years since I read the 4th book in the series, but I caught up with the story easily enough. Jane Rizzoli is a police detective, and she is also pregnant and her baby is overdue. While visiting her doctor at the hospital she gets caught up in a hostage situation. I am not fond of books about sex trafficking and that was a focus here, Also, the book was a bit too thrillerish for me. However, in the end I liked the book a lot because Gerritsen tells the story well, most of the characters are strong and well-defined, and the story has a great twist at the end.

Death Around the Bend (2017) by T.E. Kinsey

This is the third book in the Lady Hardcastle historical mystery series. The books have interesting plots, wonderful characters, and a lot of humor. See this post where I discuss the first three books in the series.

Currently reading

I am currently reading Anna Karenina. I started it on September 12th and am about a third of the way through. 

We have been to the Planned Parenthood Book Sale three times already, and will go again this weekend. It started on September 16th and will end on the 25th. I have bought way too many books, so I hope I won't find too many more on the weekend. 

The photos at the top and bottom of this post are geraniums (actually pelargoniums), my favorite flower. I think it is because there is so much variety in the blossoms for various types of geraniums. Photos were taken and processed by my husband. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

 

The Burglar in the Closet: Lawrence Block

The Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block now consists of 11 books. The series started in 1977, although the first book, Burglars Can't Be Choosers, was not intended to be the start of a series. The most recent novel was published in 2013. I read some of these books many years ago; they would have been from the first five books which were published between 1977 and 1983.

The Burglar in the Closet is the second book in the series. Bernie lives in New York City and supports himself by burgling apartments. In this book Bernie is working for his dentist, who wants to get back at his ex-wife. Once in the apartment, Bernie has to duck into the closet when the dentist's ex-wife's comes home earlier than expected. And then she is murdered. Out of desperation, to save his own neck, Bernie ends up solving the case. 

The books are humorous and I enjoy Lawrence Block's writing, but this is a series that I find most appealing for the characters. Bernie is proud and confident of his ability's as a burglar. He doesn't always get away with it and he has been in prison for brief stays. Bernie tells his story in first person, and he is a very likable character. Not only is he charming, but he runs into many interesting people as he endeavors to prove that he is not a murderer. 

Block excels at fleshing out characters in small roles. Early in the book Bernie has an entertaining conversation with an elderly lady in the garden of a very exclusive building; that comes back to haunt him later in the book. Later he calls a lady in his building to check out whether the police have visited his apartment. She knows he is a burglar but thinks that is fine, as long as he keeps his burgling outside of the building. 

I also enjoyed this story for the picture of New York in the 1970s. I want to read the next book in the series soon because Bernie is a used book store owner in that book. Later books were published in the 1990s and two after 2000, and I would like to check those out also to see how Bernie has changed over time.

Lawrence Block has written another book in this series which is scheduled to be published in October 2022. In that book, The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown, he will deal with the realities of new technology such as security cameras and closed-circuit TV and locks that are truly pickproof.  

 -----------------------------

Publisher:  HarperTorch, 2006. Orig. pub. 1978.
Length:      320 pages
Format:      Paperback
Series:       Bernie Rhodenbarr, #2
Setting:      New York City
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased my copy. 

Short Story Wednesday: Murder in the Rough

A few weeks ago I featured two stories from Murder at the Foul Line, an anthology of short stories assembled by Otto Penzler  with a basketball theme. Since then, I read some stories from Murder in the Rough:  Original Tales of Bad Shots, Terrible Lies, and Other Deadly Handicaps from Today's Great Writers. These stories focus on golf. The stories were all published for the first time in this anthology in 2006.

These are a few of my favorite stories so far: 

"Welcome to the Real World" by Lawrence Block. 

Kramer is a man of routine. When he retires, he established plans for each day of the week, Monday through Friday. Mondays and Thursdays he has a specific exercise routine; Tuesdays he goes to a batting range; and Wednesdays he practices at a shooting range, keeping three of his own guns at the gun club.  On Fridays he plays golf, practicing different shots at a driving range for most of the day. He likes his routine and sees no reason to change it, until he gives into some good-natured ribbing from a former co-worker, Bellerman, and actually plays a real game of golf. This story has a slow build-up and a great ending.

"The Man Who Didn't Play Golf" by Simon Brett

Leonard Wensam cheats on his wife, Amanda, with another woman every Thursday. He says he is playing golf at the golf club but instead he is meeting his lover. One week, Amanda accidentally finds out about this arrangement. She meets the club professional, who has never heard of her husband.  She then plans her revenge.

"A Good **** Spoiled" by Laura Lippman

This was another variation on a married man using golf as an excuse for being away from home with his mistress. It is very different, humorous, and an excellent story. But I don't want to spoil it by saying any more about the story.

"Unplayable Lies" by William G. Tapply

This was an excellent story, narrated by a young man who often caddies for a member of the Mafia, Big Paulie Mazza. I have never read a book by Tapply but reading this story makes me want to.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these stories set in the world of golfing, but I think the game of golf, with the setting and the long walks, lends itself to crime stories. There are a lot of mystery novels with a connection to golf. At the end of this book there is a seven page list of golf mysteries.

Short Story Wednesday: the Martin Ehrengraf stories by Lawrence Block

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Irene Tursten's short stories in An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed. Col at Col's Criminal Library commented that they reminded him of the Martin Ehrengraf stories by Lawrence Block. I found that a good number of those stories were in a Lawrence Block anthology that I own, Enough Rope. So I read a few of them.

"The Ehrengraf Defense"

Martin Ehrengraf is a defense lawyer but he doesn't spend much time in court. He usually aims at getting his clients declared innocent before the cases reach court. Most of these stories came out in magazines, so each story explains the premise behind Martin Ehrengraf's defense methods. He operates on a contingency basis; he will not get paid if his client is found guilty. And the client will pay his very high fee whether or not it can be proven that Ehrengraf had any part in him/her being set free. His assumption is always that his client is innocent. 

In this story, the client's mother hires Ehrengraf, and the story is interesting, but sort of off-putting.

"The Ehrengraf Presumption"

Martin Ehrengraf takes on two cases for the same murder (not at the same time). I liked this one much better.

"The Ehrengraf Experience"

Martin Ehrengraf will use any means necessary to achieve his clients release, and sometimes the results are very chilling.

This one was interesting because stamp collecting comes into the story. Lawrence Block is a serious stamp collector. I know of at least one other character of his that is a stamp collector, Keller, a hit man.

 

"The Ehrengraf Appointment"

In this case, Ehrengraf takes an appointment from the IDC (Indigent Defense Commission), so he will get a very small fee instead of the usual extravagant fee he usually demands. However, he still plans to work by the same rules. A fellow lawyer makes a wager with him on the outcome of the case, which could potentially add to his monetary intake.

Ehrengraf often quotes poetry in these stories. This time it was "An Epitaph" by Andrew Marvell.

 

These stories will not necessarily appeal to all those who read short stories, but Lawrence Block can really write, so they are worth a try. I found the four I read a bit too much the same for me, and they would probably be better when read separately. When they were published they came out in different issues of magazines, primarily Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, so they would not normally be read  back to back. On the other hand, they were sort of like potato chips; it was hard to read just one. I kept wanting to check out the next story. 

There are ten Martin Ehrengraf stories in this book and I was only able to find publication dates for nine of them; they were published from 1978 through 1997. 

Some other resources for the Martin Ehrengraf short stories:

• Col's review of Defender of the Innocent, a collection which includes all 12 short stories. The review is of an audio version; the copyright dates of all the stories are listed.
• A review of Enough Rope, the anthology which was the source of the stories I read. The review was by Kevin Burton Smith, and is at January Magazine.
• A review of the 12th  story, "The Ehrengraf Fandango," at Kevin Tipple's blog Kevin's Corner.

Hit Man: Lawrence Block

Hit Man is not a novel but a series of connected stories about an assassin named Keller. He lives in an apartment in New York City and leads a (mostly) normal life, except that the way he supports himself is by killing people. It was a very enjoyable read but it is an adjustment to get used to a killer being the main focus, without any retribution in the end.

I have read several books about hitmen in the last year: Hit Man and Hit List by Block, The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter by Malcolm Mackay, and The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry. As far as the subject matter, a man who kills for a living, this one was a more challenging read in some ways because it is so matter of fact. In all ways, Keller seems like a really nice guy. Normal except that he doesn't have a standard job. He isn't nasty, mean or a thug, although he is somewhat of a loner.

These stories do take the reader on the road with Keller to his assignments, but they do not focus very much on the actual act itself. The stories are still more about Keller, the people he runs into, his experiences. Keller is a likable person and it isn't that he is trying to fool others into liking him. He just doesn't have any issues with taking money to kill a person and once he has the contract, his main goal is to get the job done, within the specifications of the contract. So he may be nice in his everyday life, but he has picked a profession that is not nice at all.

In some ways I compare this to spies and their assignments. In spy fiction, often the spy is called upon to kill an innocent person just because it is better for the agency he works for, and thus, supposedly, better for the country he works for. The immorality of spies and their methods is not taken for granted, but often forgiven for the greater good. I am not sure that there is much difference between hitmen and spies who are willing to kill for the job.

Lawrence Block is a very gifted writer to convince us that Keller is worth reading about, when each story takes us back, even if only briefly, to the planning and execution of a crime. Dot is the only other character in this book who has a continuing role. Keller gets his assignments from a man in White Plains, and Dot is the go-between. We don't get close to Dot but they have some interesting conversations.

I like the view of New York that we get in these stories. Keller lives in New York City, but visits many other parts of the US. Most (all?) of Lawrence Block's series are set in New York, and he has edited two of books of short stories set in New York (Manhattan Noir and Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics). But I also like Keller's comments on the places he visits. In the first story, his assignment is in Oregon, a small town near to Portland; in the second one it is in Colorado, near to Denver.

Towards the end of this book, one of the stories ("Keller in Retirement") deals with Keller's new found passion – stamp collecting. I learned a lot about stamp collecting from this story, and I assume the information is accurate since the author is also a stamp collector. This hobby continues to be mentioned in stories about Keller.

I cannot forget to mention the humor. The stories are not laugh-out-loud funny, but are filled with low-key humor. Even though I am sure I will continue to find it a challenge to read about a killer for hire, these books are pleasant and fun.

In the Acknowledgments at the beginning of the book, Block says...

Grateful acknowledgment is also due to those publications in which some of Keller's adventures appeared in a slightly different form: Murder on the Run, a collection of stories by members of the Adams Round Table; Murder Is My Business, an anthology edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins; and, of course, Playboy.

It is amazing to me that Block could pull together those stories and make them into a book that holds together so well, and provides a broad picture of Keller and the stage he is at in his life and career.

I would not recommend this book and the later books in the series to everyone, but I will say that if you haven't read anything by Lawrence Block, you should try one of his books. There is the very humorous Burglar series and the serious and dark Matt Scudder series, and more, to choose from.

Also see...

• Moira focuses on one of the stories at Clothes in Books
• Review at Col's Criminal Library

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

Publisher:  Avon Twilight, 1999 (orig. publ. 1998).
Length:      309 pages
Format:      Paperback
Series:       Keller, #1
Setting:      USA, New York City and various states
Genre:       Linked short stories
Source:      I purchased my copy.

Reading in January 2018

So in February it only took me until the 11th to get a reading summary up for January's reading. In January I stuck with crime fiction, although the first book I read in 2018 was a mix of fantasy and mystery.

I am reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo throughout the year as a part of a read along, one chapter a day. I really did not know what to expect, If I ever knew anything about the story I forgot it long ago. So far it has been very interesting, especially reading it in small chunks. Some days I get a bit ahead, sometimes I fall a bit behind. Check out the sign-up post at One Catholic Life for more details.


These are the nine crime fiction books I read in January and all of them were very, very good.

The Big Over Easy (2005) by Jasper Fforde

This is the first book in The Nursery Crime series. DCI Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary investigate crimes within the world of nursery rhymes. Here, they investigate the apparent suicide of Humpty Dumpty. The book is clearly a fantasy / mystery crossover with lots of humor, puns, and satire. My son read this first and recommended the book, and I enjoyed it very much. A review will follow... sometime soon. 

Grey Mask (1928) by Patricia Wentworth

The first book in the Miss Silver series. I was very pleasantly surprised. Book review here.

Hit List (2000) by Lawrence Block

Hit List is the 2nd novel in the Keller series. I read the first book, Hit Man, in December and liked it so well I started this one while reading another book. Keller is a hitman living in New York City; he gets his jobs or assignments from Dot, who works for a man who brokers (arranges) hits for his clients. As I said in my summary of Hit Man, it was a very enjoyable read but it is an adjustment to get used to a killer being the main focus.

Death of a Red Heroine (2000) by Qiu Xiaolong

The story is set in Shanghai in 1990 just after Tiananmen Square, with Chief Inspector Chen Cao as the lead character. The author was born in Shanghai, China, in 1953, but has lived in the US since 1988. I primarily enjoyed this book for the picture of life in Shanghai in the 1990s. I will be returning to the series.  

The Puzzle of the Pepper Tree (1933) by Stuart Palmer

The fourth book in the Miss Hildegarde Withers series. It was a lot of fun because of the setting, on Santa Catalina island off the California coast. Book review here, with  some comments on the film adaptation.

Cold Cold Heart (2017) by Christine Poulsen

A medical thriller with two story lines: one set at an Antarctic research base, and the other set in the UK. I loved the detail of the daily life on the base during the winter months when no one can leave and no one can fly in. Review here.

The Whip Hand (1965) by Victor Canning

Although I have read only three books by Victor Canning, I have become a big fan of his writing. This book is along the lines of a James Bond thriller, although the protagonist, Rex Carver, is a private eye and not a spy. He does do some side jobs for a British secret service department. Carver is hired to track down a missing au pair in Brighton. 

The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter (2013) by Malcom Mackay

This is the second book I read this month about a hitman, a man who kills for a living. Calum Maclean has been an independent agent, taking jobs as he needs the money. Then he is offered a temporary job working for Peter Jamieson, head of a crime organization in Glasgow, while the regular hitman is having a hip replacement. The first in a trilogy and I will be reading the 2nd and 3rd books also.

Metzger's Dog (1983) by Thomas Perry

Chinese Gordon and his friends Immerman and Kepler break into a lab at the University of Los Angeles to steal some pharmaceutical cocaine, worth a lot of money. But Chinese also takes some papers a professor has compiled for the CIA, which include a blueprint for throwing a large city into chaos. The CIA decides that a band of terrorists has stolen the papers... and go overboard in their attempts to rectify the situation. Very funny at times, entertaining, with a wonderful ending.

Reading Summary for April 2017

April was an incredible reading month for me. I read ten crime fiction novels. I also read a non-fiction book, but the author of that book was a crime fiction author.

The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany is a collection by Donald E. Westlake. Foreword by Lawrence Block. Cover illustration and design by Darwyn Cooke, who adapted some of the “Parker” crime novels as a series of graphic novels.

The pieces were written at various times in his career. They include appreciations of other crime fiction authors, interviews (of Westlake, by others), and letters. There is a wonderful essay by his wife, Abby Adams Westlake, about "Living with a Mystery Writer." I enjoyed reading about his experiences with having his books translated into film, and his experiences as a screenwriter. No matter what he is writing about, Westlake is entertaining. I loved reading this book.



Following are the crime fiction books I read in April:

The Blackhouse (2009) by Peter May

A murder investigation set on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. In Part 1 of a trilogy, Fin Macleod, a detective from Edinburgh is sent to the Isle of Lewis because of previous connections to a similar crime. The story is powerful and well told. My review here.

Death on the Move (1989) by Bill Crider

Dan Rhodes is the Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. In this fourth book in the series, jewelry is disappearing off bodies prepared for burial at the funeral home in Clearview. There is also the problem of a rash of thefts at some homes built around a nearby lake. This is one of my favorite contemporary series. Full review here.

Cold Comfort (2012) by Quentin Bates

This is the second book in a police procedural series set in Iceland. Sergeant Gunnhildur has been promoted from her rural post to the Serious Crime Unit in Reykjavík. She is working on two cases, locating an escaped convict, Long Ommi, and investigating the murder of a fitness guru. I have found this to be a very enjoyable series, with a great main character, who has a realistic life, a single parent raising a teenage daughter.

Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977) by Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a burglar; when he attempts to steal a blue leather box from an apartment, the police walk in on him and a dead man is discovered in the bedroom. Bernie successfully eludes the policemen but they think he killed the man in the bedroom; he then has to prove his innocence. This is the first in a series about Bernie Rhodenbarr. A humorous mystery that was a lot of fun. My review is here.

Badge of Evil (1956) by Whit Masterson

Rudy Linneker, a very rich man in a large border town in California (San Diego?), is blown up by sticks of dynamite thrown into his house. The immediate suspects are Linneker's daughter and her fiance, since Linneker was dead set against their relationship. But Assistant DA Mitch Holt insists that the case does not feel right, and starts investigating in a different direction. This is the book that Orson Welles' 1958 film Touch of Evil was based on. 

Wall of Glass (1987) by Walter Satterthwait

Joshua Croft is a Santa Fe private investigator working for the Mondragón Agency, owned by Rita Mondragón. The case in Wall of Glass centers on a valuable piece of jewelry which was stolen from the house of a wealthy Santa Fe family. The setting was lovely and the story was entertaining. See review here. 

A Fountain Filled with Blood (2003) by Julia Spencer-Fleming

This is the second mystery in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. As the small town of Millers Kill, New York heads into the July 4th weekend, two gay men are severely beaten in separate incidents. Clare urges the police to notify the public; Russ feels like this could lead to copycat incidents. When another man, also homosexual, is killed, Russ must figure out if the crimes are connected. Mixed in with this are conflicts within the town over development of a luxury spa and environmental issues. Although I have some reservations about this series, I finished this book in a 24 hour period and could hardly put it down, which puts it high in my ratings.

Something from the Nightside (2003) by Simon R. Green

This is a cross-genre novel, blending fantasy and mystery. John Taylor is a private eye in London and his specialty is finding things. He originally came from the Nightside, a hidden part of London where monsters and demons reign. A woman comes to him as a last resort to find her daughter. The only clue she has is that she could be found "in the Nightside." John agrees to help her. This book was light and entertaining, a good read.

The Butcher's Boy (1982) by Thomas Perry

This was Thomas Perry's debut novel; it won the Edgar for Best First Novel of 1982. The two main characters are a professional killer with no name and Elizabeth Waring, an analyst for the Department of Justice. They are both very good at what they do. Full review here.

The Likeness (2008) by Tana French

This book is the sequel to Tana French’s debut, In the Woods. That book featured two detectives in the Murder Squad in Dublin, Ireland, Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox. The Likeness continues Cassie's story. Cassie is now working in Domestic Violence at police headquarters, but a unique opportunity arises for her to go undercover, taking up an identity she used previously when she worked in the Undercover division. This is not a perfect book but very close. Also a Chunkster (466 pages).

In April, I read more contemporary novels than usual. I only read one novel written before 1960. There was one written in the 1970s and three from the 1980s. The remaining five books were published after 2001. Regarding authors, only two of the authors were female. In May I am endeavoring to remedy that and focus on female authors.

Burglars Can't Be Choosers: Lawrence Block

The following overview of Lawrence Block's writing was in Marcia Muller's review of After the First Death (1969), first published in 1001 Midnights (1986, ed. Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller).

Lawrence Block is a top-flight professional who has written numerous novels featuring extremely diverse characters and situations. His characterization ranges from the grim depths glimpsed in some of his non-series books and in his series about alcoholic ex-policeman Matthew Scudder, to the lightweight but amusing private eye/writer Chip Harrison, burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, and spy Evan Tanner. Whether Block is chronicling a deadly search or a playful romp, he is a consummate master of suspense and manages to keep his reader fearing for the safety of — and solidly rooting for — his protagonist until the last page is turned.

The Bernie Rhodenbarr series by Lawrence Block now consists of 11 books. The series started in 1977, although the first book, Burglars Can't Be Choosers, was not intended to be the start of a series. The most recent book was published in 2013. I read some of these books many years ago; they would have been from the first five books which were published between 1977 and 1983.

This post on Burglars Can't Be Choosers is my submission for Past Offences' monthly Crimes of the Century feature, for the year chosen for April, 1977.

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a burglar. He is proud and confident of his ability at his craft. However he is a loner, and his acquaintances and neighbors have no idea how he supports himself. He usually scouts out his own heists, but this time he accepts an assignment from a stranger to break into an apartment and steal a blue leather box. The problem is he can't find the blue box, and while he is searching for it two policemen come into the apartment. But, worst of all, there is a dead man in the bedroom. Bernie successfully eludes the policemen but he then has the problem of not being able to return to his apartment. Not wanting to leave New York, he begins to try to clear his name.

This is another series that I find most appealing for the characters. Bernie tells his story in first person, and he is a very likable character. I don't condone burglary, but he makes you forget that his chosen profession is illegal and harmful. And, of course, he only robs the rich. He has been described as the Robin Hood type, but since his goal is to support himself, I don't see that as a fitting description.

Not only is Bernie charming, but he runs into many interesting people as he endeavors to prove that he is not a murderer. The setting is New York, and I enjoyed this picture of New York in the 1970's. The story is full of coincidences but none of them detracted from my enjoyment of the resolution of this mystery.

Of course, I have several more books in this series, and I look forward to finding out how Bernie's life as an unrepentant burglar progresses (as I remember very little about the books I read earlier).

The paperback reprint edition that I read includes a short essay about how Lawrence Block came to write this first book in the Burglar series. Lawrence Block has another popular series set in New York about Matt Scudder, an ex-cop who becomes an unlicensed private investigator. That one also started in the 1970s and continued for many years, the last book having been published in 2011. The author has also edited two anthologies of short stories set in New York, Manhattan Noir and Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:  Onyx, 1995. Orig. pub. 1977.
Length:      283 pages
Format:      Paperback
Series:       Bernie Rhodenbarr, #1
Setting:      New York City
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased my copy. 

Short Story Reading in February 2017, Part 1

In late January, Richard Robinson at Tip the Wink suggested Short Story February, where we will focus on short stories during that month. I have read a couple of books for previous commitments this month, but for the most part, I have been reading short stories this month.

I finished one book of short stories by Michael Gilbert, Game Without Rules. There are eleven stories in this book, and they are all about the spies, Mr Calder and Mr Behrens. Both are in their fifties, and called upon when needed to handle special projects and missions. It is a wonderful book and I loved all the stories. I cannot even name a favorite. I will do a separate post on this book later.

The stories in this book are:

1. "The Road to Damascus"
2. "On Slay Down"
3. "The Spoilers"
4. "The Cat Cracker"
5. "Trembling's Tours"
6. "The Headmaster"
7. "Heilige Nacht"
8. "Upon the King..."
9. "Cross-Over"
10. "Prometheus Unbound"
11. "A Prince of Abyssinia"

The rest of the books I sampled stories from, although I do hope to finish one of two of them before the end of the month. They are:

Miniatures by John Scalzi
Miniatures is a small book full of very short stories. The stories are all science fiction, but of the ones I have read so far, they are all so light and humorous that they really don't feel like science fiction at all.

1. "Pluto Tells All"
2. “Denise Jones, Superbooker”
3. "When the Yogurt Took Over"
4. "The Other Large Thing"
5. "The State of Super Villainy" ( follow-up to Denise Jones, Superbooker)
6. "New Directive for Employee-Manxte Interactions"

IN SUNLIGHT OR IN SHADOW: 
Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper
edited by Lawrence Block

1. "Girlie Show"  by Megan Abbott
2. "The Story of Caroline" by Jill D. Block
3. "Soir Bleu" by Robert Olen Butler
4. "The Truth About What Happened" by Lee Child
5. "Rooms by the Sea" by Nicholas Christopher

I especially liked "Girlie Show", a story about a woman who is forced by her husband to pose for the painting he is working on. A dark story with a very good ending.
And "The Story of Caroline" about a daughter who wants to see her birth mother.
And "Rooms by the Sea", which is about an unusual family with an unusual house, with elements of magical realism.

Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics
edited by Lawrence Block

1. “Mrs. Manstey’s View” by Edith Wharton (1891) – This was the author’s first published short story.
2. “A Poker Game” by Stephen Crane (1902) – Didn't really get this story.
3. “The Furnished Room” by O. Henry (1906) – Dark with an ironic ending.
4. “Spanish Blood” by Langston Hughes (1934) – Set in Harlem,during the Prohibition era.
5. “Sailor off the Bremen” by Irwin Shaw (1939) – A tale of revenge, very noir. Lots of violence, the darkest tale so far.
6. “My Aunt from Twelfth Street” by Jerome Weidman (1939) – A strange story about a young boy who visits his aunt, a Galician, who refuses to live in the same neighborhood as her relatives and others of the same background. 

OxCrimes (introd. by Ian Rankin, ed. by Mark Ellingham and Peter Florence)

1. "Buy and Bust" by Simon Lewis
2. "I’ve Seen That Movie Too" by Val McDermid
3. "Caught Short" by Anthony Horowitz
4. "An Afternoon" by Ian Rankin

All of those stories were very good. The Anthony Horowitz story was darker than I expected from him. The story from Ian Rankin was unusual in that it was written before he had begun writing crime fiction novels. It was interesting but a bit confusing to me, but I did enjoy the comments by Rankin that followed the story.

I had read the first two stories in this book earlier:  "The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us" by George Pelecanos and "Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed both of those stories also.