What I Read in October 2022

 

I had another good month of reading in October. Half of the eight books I read were crime fiction; the rest were other types of fiction and one mystery reference book. 

Although the majority of the books I read in October were published after 1999, I did read a classic novel published in 1811, a vintage mystery from 1938, and a children's book from the 1960s. 

Mystery Reference

Talking about Detective Fiction (2009) by P. D. James

This is a relatively short book about British detective fiction written by P. D. James at the request of the Bodleian Library. My review here.

Fiction, Classic

Sense and Sensibility (1811) by Jane Austen

This was the last full-length novel that I had left to read by this author. I am a big Jane Austen fan but this one appealed to me less than the others. See my review.

Fiction, Short Stories

The Souvenir Museum (2021) by Elizabeth McCracken

I had very mixed reactions to the stories in this book. Some were fantastic, some were blah. But I would definitely try more stories by McCracken. My thoughts here.

Fantasy, Children's

The Ghost of Opalina (1967) by Peggy Bacon

This was a book I read for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event, recommended by Constance at Staircase Wit. It is a children's fantasy, made up of a series of linked stories that Opalina, the ghost cat, tells to the children of the house that she has lived in for all of her nine lives. It was great fun to read. My review here.

Crime Fiction

The Man Who Died Twice (2021) by Richard Osman

This book is the second in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. In that series, the sleuths are four men and women in their late seventies who live at an upscale retirement complex. I have now read all three books in the series and I loved them all. See my review.

The Listening House (1938) by Mabel Seeley

I picked this book to read in October for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event because the description sounded like it would be sufficiently suspenseful and scary for Halloween, and still within the limits I will read. I am partial to a boarding house setting, and I loved such things as the list of characters at the beginning of the book and the detailed plans of the house, including the basement and the first and second floor. This book exceeded my expectations. See my full review.

State of the Onion (2008) by Julie Hyzy

This is the first book in a cozy mystery series about White House Assistant Chef Olivia Paras. She gets involved with some intrigue related to a possible threat on the President's life. When she isn't busy sleuthing, she is vying for the Executive Chef position, which will be available when her boss retires. Some recipes are included. I enjoyed the book and plan to continue reading the series. 

The Gray Man (2014) by Mark Greaney

This is the first book in a series. Court Gentry is an assassin, known as the "Gray Man," who works for a contractor who vets his assignments. That type of thriller is not my favorite but I have heard good comments on this series. The Gray Man is a fast-paced story. Like the last espionage series I started, I was initially put off by the first few chapters, but got involved in the story and could not stop reading. This is not strictly a spy thriller, but a lot of the characters were former CIA employees, so it felt like one. It left me wanting to know what happens next with Court Gentry, so I am sure I will try the next book in the series to see how it holds up.

Currently reading

I am now reading A Pocket Full of Rye in this lovely new edition. Although I read Why Didn't They Ask Evans? earlier this year, I haven't read a Poirot mystery for over a year and it has been since 2018 that I read a Miss Marple book. So I am glad to get back to that series.

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were from one of our walks around Santa Barbara and Goleta. They were taken while walking on the breakwater at the Santa Barbara Harbor. My husband took the photos. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Talking about Detective Fiction: P. D. James

P. D. James (1920-2014) is best known for her series of novels about Adam Dalgleish, initially a Detective Chief Inspector, later a Commander, in the Metropolitan Police Service at New Scotland Yard in London. I have read all 14 novels in that series, and some of them twice. 

In 2006, the Bodleian Library requested that P.D. James write a book on British detective fiction in aid of the library. This book was the result of that endeavor. The book was only 198 pages long, thus there are many authors of detective fiction that are not included, but I found it an informative and enjoyable read.

Although the book centers on British novelists, James includes a chapter on the hard-boiled school of American detective fiction. The focus in that chapter is on Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, but she closes the chapter with her thoughts on Ross Macdonald and Sara Paretsky. 

This is followed by a chapter titled "Four Formidable Women," which compares and contrasts the works of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, and Dorothy Sayers. I enjoyed her insights regarding those authors.

Another chapter I especially liked was "Telling the Story: Setting, Viewpoint, People." She talks about the technical aspects of writing, including references to the works of other authors and how she approaches writing mysteries.

I have only covered the high points from my perspective. There are chapters on other topics: Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton and Golden Age mysteries, for example.

Overall, I was very pleased with this book and sorry that I put off reading it for so long. 

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Publisher: Vintage Books, 2011 (orig. pub. 2009)
Length: 198 pages
Format: Trade Paperback
Genre:  Nonfiction, Mystery Reference
Source: On my TBR since 2017.

Annual Book Sale Purchases, Part 1

This year was the 43rd Planned Parenthood Book Sale, which goes on for approximately 10 days. We attended the first Friday (I always take the day off from work and this year my husband did too), Saturday and then both Saturday and Sunday of the next weekend. Each year is a bit different, at least in the mystery section, but on the second Saturday several boxes of older vintage paperbacks appeared and I picked up quite a few of those.

However, this post is concentrating on a few of the more contemporary books I picked up.

The Torso (1999) by Helene Tursten

From the review at Publishers Weekly:

In Swedish author Tursten's outstanding second police procedural to feature Irene Huss of the Göteborg Violent Crimes Unit (after 2003's Detective Inspector Huss), the discovery of a dismembered corpse initiates a frustrating chase for a wily serial killer.

I don't like books about serial killers, but I want to read more of this series set in Sweden. This book was the 2nd published in English, but Night Rounds precedes it and I have a copy of that so I plan to read that one sometime soon.

Ah, the confusion of foreign language series being published out of order. Such fun.

A Beautiful Place to Die (2008) by Malla Nunn

Now we move to South Africa. From the publisher's site:

Award-winning screenwriter Malla Nunn delivers a stunning and darkly romantic crime novel set in 1950s apartheid South Africa, featuring Detective Emmanuel Cooper -- a man caught up in a time and place where racial tensions and the raw hunger for power make life very dangerous indeed. 

In a morally complex tale rich with authenticity, Nunn takes readers to Jacob's Rest, a tiny town on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is 1952, and new apartheid laws have recently gone into effect, dividing a nation into black and white while supposedly healing the political rifts between the Afrikaners and the English. Tensions simmer as the fault line between the oppressed and the oppressors cuts deeper, but it's not until an Afrikaner police officer is found dead that emotions more dangerous than anyone thought possible boil to the surface... 

Adios Muchachos (2001) by Daniel Chavarría

From the Akashic website

The first suspense novel in English-translation by internationally acclaimed Uruguayan mystery writer Daniel Chavarría, Adios Muchachos is a dark, erotic, brutally funny romp through the sexual underworld and black-market boardrooms of post-Cold War Cuba. Seen through Chavarría’s compassionate but uncompromising eyes, present-day Havana is a crossroads for petty hustlers looking for an easy mark, two-time losers looking for a fresh start, and high-rolling international speculators looking to take advantage of them all.

This may be outside of my comfort zone, but I will find out and let you know.

Stormy Weather (2001) 

by Paula L. Woods

From the AudioFile site:

Detective Charlotte Justice of the LAPD investigates the peculiar death of African-American film director Maynard Duncan against a backdrop of Hollywood glamour, greed, and lost opportunities.

I read Inner City Blues by Woods earlier this year and was glad to find two more books in the series at the book sale.

In this series, Charlotte Justice is a black female policewoman in Los Angeles in the 1990's. Themes of how women and especially black women are treated in the police force are explored in Inner City Blues. I look forward to finding out what the remaining books cover. 

The Sirens Sang of Murder (1989) 

by Sarah Caudwell

Description from Goodreads:

Young barrister Michael Cantrip has skipped off to the Channel Islands to take on a tax-law case that's worth a fortune–if Cantrip's tax-planning cronies can locate the missing heir. But Cantrip has waded in way over his head. Strange things are happening on these mysterious, isolated isles.

Third in Sarah Caudwell's series about Professor Hilary Tamar, who is friends with four young London barristers. I have read the first book and I have copies of all of the books, but this hardcover copy appealed to me.

The Mistletoe Murder and other stories (2016) by P. D. James

From the dust jacket of the book:

As the acknowledged queen of crime, P. D. James was frequently commissioned by newspapers and magazines to write a special short story for Christmas. Four of the best of these are collected here for the first time. Swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young poet-detective Adam Dalgliesh) that together–to borrow the author's own description–add up to a delightful "entertainment."