Books Read in April 2025

In April I read eight books: one nonfiction, one graphic novel, one time-loop novel, one very long fantasy novel, three crime fiction novels, and one book of mystery short stories. 

Nonfiction, Books about Books

Book Lust to Go (2010) by Nancy Pearl

I have read all of the Book Lust books by Nancy Pearl several times, and I enjoy them each time. I find something new every time, possibly because my tastes change over time. The subtitle for Book Lust to Go is "Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers." Because the book was published in 2010, it could be considered out of date, but for me that is one of its charms.

Graphic novel

Here (2014) by Richard McGuire 

This is a graphic novel that shows the reader the history of one room over the life of the house. It actually does more than that, because there are scenes showing the location /setting of the house going back before the house was built, back into prehistoric times. There is not much text to this book at all; the story is told more in pictures. It is 304 pages long. I think the book definitely bears rereading, probably multiple times. 

Speculative Fiction / Time-loop

On the Calculation of Volume I (2020) by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland

I first heard of this book late last year when my husband sent me an article from the Atlantic about it. The author is Danish; the book is very short, about 160 pages. In the article the novel was described as a time-loop story; I had never heard of that terminology for that type of time travel. One comparison is to the film, Groundhog Day, but this story is much more introspective and the story is handled very differently. The book is part of a seven volume work and only the first five have been translated to English at this time.

I liked the book but I was underwhelmed by the lack of resolution at the end. Obviously as part of a series of seven novels, I should not have expected anything else, but I was also disappointed in the repetitiveness of the story. Those who liked the story more than I did praised the meditative and philosophical aspects. I normally love things like that, so maybe I need to read it again more slowly. I plan to do that before moving on to book 2.

Fantasy

Royal Assassin (1996) by Robin Hobb

This is the second book in the Farseer Trilogy, following Assassin's Apprentice. The main character in this trilogy is FitzChivalry, a royal bastard who becomes the king's assassin in the first book, a fact that he and only a few others know. The story is very dark, with little relief. Fitz is shunned by most people in the court and leads a difficult life. Yet, I care about many of the characters, and loathe all the bad ones.

At this point I plan to continue reading the whole series, which includes a total of 16 books. Only problem is that each book is longer than the last. This book was 650 pages approximately. The third book in the series is closer to 750 pages. But I will persevere. I gave this book 5 stars and it is a page turner. I was introduced to this author and this series by Cath at Read-Warbler.

Crime Fiction

My Name is Michael Sibley (1952) by John Bingham

This was John Bingham's first novel. It is a very compelling and well written mystery; his writing is quiet and restrained. The narrator of the story is Michael Sibley, who tells  the story of his school days with John Prosset and how he grew to hate him. See my review.

Come Death and High Water (1988) by Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves' first series featured George and Molly Palmer-Jones. George is a serious birder and worked for the Home Office before he retired; Molly is not a birder but often accompanies him on such activities. Cleeves wrote the first two books when she was living on an island with her husband, who ran a bird sanctuary there. The books in that series are set in locations related to birding. Come Death and High Water is set on an island with a bird observatory. I enjoyed the first book in the series because of the birds and the setting, but this book was even better, with an interesting group of characters and a more focused plot. There are eight books in the series and Cleeves wrote them between 1986 and 1996.

Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories (2022) by Peter Lovesey

On the occasion of his hundredth short story, Peter Lovesey assembled this collection of his short stories. It includes sixteen stories, one piece of nonfiction about George Joseph Smith and the brides in the bath, and a poem. I started reading this book in 2022, and I reviewed ten of the stories at that time. It took me until this year to read the rest of the book, and my thoughts are here.

The Spellman Files (2007) by Lisa Lutz

I loved this book. I like books about families, and I like private detectives as the focus. In this case, the private detective agency is run and operated by the family. Izzy Spellman, the middle daughter, tells her story. As far as the crime goes, this book is lighter than most mysteries, but there is plenty of depth in the family relationships and issues. This is the first in a series and I will be reading more of the books. See my review.

The photos at the top and bottom of this post were taken at the end of April in our back area. The rest of the yard is a mess, but these two plants are making me happy. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Short Story Wednesday: More Stories by Peter Lovesey

From the description of this book on the dust jacket:

More than fifty years ago, Peter Lovesey published a short story in an anthology. That short story caught the eye of the great Ruth Rendell, whose praise ignited Lovesey’s lifelong passion for short form crime fiction. On the occasion of his hundredth short story, Peter Lovesey has assembled this devilishly clever collection, eighteen yarns of mystery, melancholy, and mischief, inhabiting such deadly settings as a theater, a monastery, and the book publishing industry. The collection includes the career-launching story, as well as three never-before-published works.

The cover of this book is lovely: the cat, the books stacked up, the skull on the window ledge, the old-fashioned lamp and the teacup on the desk.

In February of 2022, I read the first ten stories in this book. My brief notes on those stories are in this post. I have now read the last eight items in the book:

• "The Deadliest Tale of All" 
• "Gaslighting"
• "A Three Pie Problem"
• "Remaindered"
• "Agony Column" 
• "The Bathroom" 
• "The Tale of Three Tubs" 
• "A Monologue for Mystery Lovers" 

The first six of these are short stories. "The Tale of Three Tubs" is a nonfiction piece on George Joseph Smith and the brides in the bath. "A Monologue for Mystery Lovers" is a humorous poem. 

My favorite story in this set is "Remaindered." The story is a bibliomystery, first published by MysteriousPress.com / Open Road Integrated Media in 2014. 

Robert Ripple, the owner of the Precious Finds bookstore, died slumped over a box of Agatha Christie hardcover books that he had recently purchased. It was determined that the cause of death was coronary. This event led to the discovery of many secrets about the bookstore and the meetings that had regularly been held in its back room. 

"Remaindered" was humorous, somewhat unbelievable and over the top, but a lot of fun. The ending was not obvious, at least not to me, although it was somewhat ambiguous. The story was the longest in the book at 42 pages. Almost novella length.

The other story I especially liked was "Agony Column," the shortest story in the collection at five pages. It consists of letters sent to an advice column by a woman who worries because her husband is taking two hour walks at night and is ignoring her when he is home. She receives answers from Dr. Wisefellow with advice and questions. It is humorous but I cannot say more without spoiling it.

Short Story Wednesday: "A Man With a Fortune" by Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey died on April 10, 2025, at the age of 88. He was a British author who published historical and contemporary mystery novels, from 1970 to 2024. I have enjoyed many of his short stories and novels over the years. You can read more about his career in this post at the Rap Sheet, "A Decent Man and One Hell of a Writer."

I looked around for some of Peter Lovesey's short stories and I found this one, published in 1980.

"A Man With a Fortune"

Eva is returning to England on a flight out of San Francisco. She is nervous about flying and is very uncomfortable during the take off. The man in the seat next to her starts up a conversation; he is going to England for the first time to try to find out if he has any long lost cousins in the UK. He is a widower, has a bad heart, and even though he is forty two, he doesn't expect to live much longer. He also owns two vineyards and has lots of money. He plans to find where birth and death records are stored, although he realizes the search will be a difficult job because his grandfather's name is a very common one, John Smith. 

When Eva gets home, she tells her roommate, Janet, about John Smith and his search for relatives. When Janet learns that John is rich she gets interested, and suggests ways that they could be helpful to him. 

In the end, both of them got quite a surprise.

Per the list of Peter Lovesey's short stories at his website, this story was first published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, November 3, 1980, and was also titled "How Mr Smith Traced His Ancestors." It was adapted for an episode of Tales of the Unexpected in 1982.

I read this story in A Century of Mystery 1980-1989, an anthology edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini. I first saw this book reviewed at George Kelley's blog. I immediately found a copy for myself at ABEBOOKS, but this is the first story I have read in the book. I will be getting to more stories in the book soon, I hope.

Please check out George's review of the anthology. He includes a list of all the stories and authors included.

 

Six Degrees of Separation: From Sandwich to The Wheel Spins

The Six Degrees of Separation meme is hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. The idea behind the meme is to start with a book and use common points between two books to end up with links to six books, forming a chain. The common points may be obvious, like a word in the title or a shared theme, or more personal. Every month Kate provides the title of a book as the starting point.

The starting book this month is Sandwich by Catherine Newman, which I have not read... but I do have a copy that I am planning to read. The story takes place during an annual family visit to Cape Cod.

1st degree:

My first link is to The Cape Cod Mystery, published in 1931 by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. It is the first book in the Asey Mayo series. In the middle of a sweltering hot summer on Cape Cod, a man's body is discovered in a cottage. A sheriff arrests Bill Porter for murder, based on circumstantial evidence. Bill asks his friend, Asey Mayo, to find out who really committed the crime. The author knew Cape Cod quite well, and her depiction of it in this book is humorous and entertaining.

2nd degree:

Death in the Off-Season is a much more recent mystery set on Nantucket, an island about 30 miles south of Cape Cod. Merry Folger is a new detective in the Nantucket police, working under her father. This novel is the first book in the Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery series and was first published in 1994. Later it was republished by Soho in 2016, with edits to bring the series up to modern times. That worked well for me, and I liked the characters and the setting.

3rd degree:

The previous book was a police procedural and that is a favorite subgenre for me. Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey is also part of a police procedural series, this time set in London and featuring Peter Diamond. But as this third book in the series begins, the police detective is no longer in the police, and is working as a security guard at Harrods in London. This wonderful story takes the reader to New York and then to Japan as the protagonist goes in search of the identity of a young Japanese girl.

4th degree:

So now I move to a police procedural set in Japan, Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino. This book starts out as a police procedural, then turns into something else. Detective Sasagaki is investigating the death of a man in an empty building. He starts with the victim's family, a wife and a son about 10 years old, and his place of business, a pawnshop. The case is dropped for lack of evidence although Sasagaki continues to look for more information related to the crime. The middle section of the book follows the lives of people related to the victim in the years leading up to the death. As the story gets closer to the end, Detective Sasagaki comes back into the story and the crime is solved. This book was originally published in 1999, and the novel portrays life in Japan in the 1970s to the 1990s, with changing fads, various stages of education, office life, and characters at various economic levels.

5th degree:

Staying with Japan and police procedurals, I turn to Tokyo Express, Seichō Matsumoto's first novel, published in 1958. In this novel, two detectives in different cities in Japan investigate the same crime and collaborate, sharing their thoughts and discoveries. A man and a woman are found dead on a beach in Kashii, and the police assume that it is a double suicide. The alibis of their suspects depend on train schedules, so a good amount of time is spent on that aspect of the alleged crime. This is a good picture of Japan after World War II; it was first published in English translation as Points and Lines.

6th degree:

Picking up on the emphasis on trains in the last book, I am moving to The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, which takes place primarily on a train. This book was filmed as The Lady Vanishes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. A young woman, Iris, meets an older lady while traveling on a train in Europe. They have tea and talk for a while, and then, Iris takes a nap. When she awakens, Miss Froy, the older woman, has disappeared, and the other people in the same carriage deny that there ever was a Miss Froy in the  carriage. The Wheel Spins was published in 1936, and is an excellent picture of the tensions in Europe in the 1930s.

My Six Degrees took me from Cape Cod and other coastal areas in the US, on to the UK and Japan, and finally to an unnamed area in Europe prior to World War II.  If you did this month's Six Degrees, where did your chain take you?

The next Six Degrees will be on January 4th, 2025 and the starting book will be the 2024 Booker winner, Orbital by Samantha Harvey.

Short Story Wednesday: Reader, I Buried Them and other stories by Peter Lovesey

 

I was interested in this book from the first time I heard of it, and then I saw it featured at Rick Robinson's blog, Tip the Wink. Rick kindly offered to send me his copy and now I have read ten stories in the book. Only eight stories left to read.

This is such a great cover: the cat, the books stacked up, the skull on the window ledge, the old-fashioned lamp and the teacup on the desk. 

These are the stories I have read:

“And the Band Played On” 

This story particularly resonated with me. The Strawberry Blonde with James Cagney, Rita Hayworth, and Olivia de Havilland is a favorite film in our household; the song "The Band Played On" is featured in that film. The lyrics begin with "Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde and the band played on." In this story, the narrator's grandfather has moved in with his family and constantly sings this song. We learn that the grandfather was in prison for murder, which initially gives the narrator nightmares. The story is told effectively and has a very nice ending.

“Sweet and Low” 

In this story, all the bee hives have been stolen from a farm. The background information about bees and bee hives was as interesting to me as the solving of the mystery. 

“Lady Luck” 

A burglar wins a vacation to Marrakesh. He thinks he is very lucky but it turns out to be the opposite for him.

“Reader, I Buried Them” 

I liked this story the best (so far), maybe because I always like a story set in a monastery. I like to read about the way the monasteries are run and how the members of  the community relate to each other. When the Father Superior plans to relocate the group to a new, smaller location, Brother Jeffrey (who is the narrator of this  story) is very upset to leave his beautiful wild flower garden that he maintains. Shortly after that the Father Superior dies of stomach problems. Is it food poisoning or a virus? As with most of these stories, there is an unexpected twist ending. I liked the way it was handled.

“Angela’s Alterations” 

This is a very clever story about a newly married couple having problems with the husband's teenage son and the woman who helps them solve this problem. Or so it seems. This one is a bit different; the resolution is more complicated and interesting. More of the story is hidden from the reader, and the ending is sort of open, so the reader has to decide exactly what happened.

“The Bitter Truth”

A darker story about a man writing an obituary for a well-known toxicologist. Very good.

"Ghosted"

A clever story. A moderately successful novelist is hired to ghostwrite a story for a young female celebrity with a very rich husband. The ending took me by surprise.

"The Homicidal Hat"

This story was about a hat contest at the Malice Domestic conference. Cuthbert Murphy plans a very creative and complex hat for his wife Adelina. Another clever story with a twist. And lots of mystery titles and authors were mentioned.

"Oracle of the Dead"

Set on the Greek island of Corfu. A couple encounter problems on their honeymoon. I liked this story the least, so far.

"Formidophobia"

Formidophobia: the fear of scarecrows. Tells the story of a man who has had a fear of scarecrows since he was eight years old. He thinks he knows what happened to cause his fear, but only later in life does he learn the full truth. 

Peter Lovesey has written a very good Foreward for this book. One of the stories included is Lovesey's first published short story, "The Bathtub" (1973), which was noticed by Ruth Rendell at that time. Three of the stories were first published in this book (2022).  The rest of the stories are mostly from 2008 - 2017, published in mystery magazines or anthologies. There is also a checklist of Lovesey's novels, anthologies, and short stories.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times No. 3

Judith at Reader in the Wilderness has started a new meme: Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times. The idea is to look through a bookshelf or a bookcase or stacks of books and share some thoughts on the books. You can find more details here and here at Judith's blog.

For my Bookshelf Traveling post this week, I have picked three books I bought or received in 2017 (and have not read).

Rough Cider by Peter Lovesey

This is one of Peter Lovesey's earlier novels. Published in 1986, it is set in 1964, and involves events that took place during World War II.

A university lecturer, Dr. Theo Sinclair, is approached by a young woman, Alice, who has questions about a murder that occurred 21 years earlier in 1943. When Sinclair was nine years old he was sent to Somerset during the Blitz; while he was there he provided evidence for a murder trial. Alice's father was convicted of murder at that trial. 

See reviews at the Historical Novel Society site and At the Scene of the Crime.




Miss Darkness: The Great Short Crime Fiction of Fredric Brown

This collection of short stories by Fredric Brown was selected and edited by Jonathan Eeds, and published in 2012. Except for a few short stories from this collection, I have not read anything by this author. He was an American science fiction and mystery writer, publishing short stories and novels from the 1940s through the 1980s. I know I have read blog posts on books by this author but not sure where. I would love to hear from anyone who is familiar with his writing.

Doan and Carstairs: Their Complete Cases by Norbert Davis
(with an introduction by Evan Lewis)

I first heard about Norbert Davis and the Doan and Carstairs series at Neeru's blog, A Hot Cup of Pleasure, in 2013, when she reviewed Holocaust House. At the time I planned to read something by this author, but never did that. In 2017, this omnibus version was published by Argosy House, with the introduction by Evan Lewis. Evan has many posts about Norbert Davis at his blog, Davy Crockett's Almanac; here is a link to a post on The Mouse in the Mountain, one of the three novels in the series.

The series was published in the 1940's. Doan is a detective and Carstairs is a Great Dane. The stories are hard-boiled mysteries with a lot of humor. See an overview at The Thrilling Detective Web Site.

I still haven't read any of the books and none of them are very long. I have really got to do something about that. I have read one of Norbert Davis's short stories, "Watch Me Kill You!", in The Complete Cases of Max Latin. My post is here. 

20 Books of Summer 2019

This is my fourth year of joining in the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge. It is very flexible. You can go for 15 Books of Summer or 10 Books of Summer if 20 is too much to commit to. Books can be substituted along the way. And that is fine.

The event is hosted by Cathy at 746 Books. The description is here. This is her list.

This year, for this event, summer starts June 3rd and ends September 3rd. I finished my list last summer so I will go into this optimistically. Of course, part of it is reviewing the books and I did not get all of them reviewed last year, but still, I enjoyed reading them all.

Here is my list:

The Keeper of Lost Causes (2007) by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Set in Copenhagen, Denmark. The first book in the Department Q series.

Pearls Before Swine (1945) by Margery Allingham

The twelfth book in the Albert Campion series. I am rereading this series in order.

 Transcription (2018) by Kate Atkinson

I like this author's books. I don't know a lot about this book (and I want to keep it that way) but it does involve espionage, a favorite subject of mine.

Perfect Gallows (1988) by Peter Dickinson

Peter Dickinson is one of my favorite authors. This book takes the reader back to a death in World War II, with a framing story set in 1988.

Crooked Heart  (2014) by Lissa Evans

Historical fiction about the homefront in the UK during World War II. Ten-year-old Noel Bostock is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz.

Out of the Deep I Cry (2004) by Julia Spencer Fleming

Third book in the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. Clare Fergusson left her job as a military helicopter pilot to become an Episcopal priest in the small town of Miller's Kill, New York. Russ Van Alstyne is the police chief. An interesting combination.

City of Shadows (2006) by Ariana Franklin

Set in 1920s and 1930s Berlin, Germany. Features a policeman, Schmidt, and Esther, a Jewish refugee from Russia.

Death in Amsterdam (1962) by Nicholas Freeling

First novel in a mystery series set in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Main characters are Piet Van Der Valk, a police inspector, and his wife Arlette, a gourmet cook.

Broken Harbor (2012) by Tana French

Fourth book in the Dublin Murder Squad series set in Ireland. Each book features a different detective in the squad.

China Lake (2002) Meg Gardiner

The author is originally from Santa Barbara, California; the female protagonist of this novel, Evan Delaney, is a lawyer in Santa Barbara. So I have to give the series a try.

Cold Comfort Farm (1932) by Stella Gibbons

From the description at goodreads: "Winner of the 1933 Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, COLD COMFORT FARM is a wickedly funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s."

Death Knocks Three Times (1949) by Anthony Gilbert

Anthony Gilbert (pseudonym of Lucy Beatrice Malleson) was an English crime writer. The Arthur Crook series is comprised of over 50 novels, and this one is #21.

The Disciple of Las Vegas (2011) by Ian Hamilton

The second book in the Ava Lee series, starring a young Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant.

London Rules (2018) by Mick Herron

The fifth book in the Slough House espionage series; I read Spook Street in May, loved the book, and am eager to get to the next in the series

Innocence or, Murder on Steep Street (1985)
by Heda Margolius Kovály

Mystery novel set in Prague, Czechoslovakia in the 1950s.

Friends and Traitors (2017) by John Lawton

I read the seventh book in this series in 2012. Now I want to read the most recent novel in the series.

The Summons (1995) by Peter Lovesey

The third book in the Peter Diamond series. 

Station Eleven (2014) by Emily St. John Mandel

I read two post-apocalyptic novels in May, now I want to read another one. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) by Betty Smith

An American classic about a young girl growing up in Brooklyn in the early 20th century.

The Axeman's Jazz (1991) by Julie Smith

The second in Smith's Skip Langdon series. Set in New Orleans.

Allmen and the Dragonflies (2011) by  Martin Suter

I don't know much about this book except that it is about an art heist set in Switzerland.

2019 TBR Pile Challenge!

Roof Beam Reader’s Official TBR Pile Challenge is back for its EIGHTH YEAR! And this will be my 5th year participating.

The idea is:
1) Read 12 books that have been sitting on your TBR shelf for at least a year.
2) The books must be listed in advance and the post up by January 15, 2019. Two extra alternate titles are allowed in case you run into a title that you cannot read or finish for any reason.
3) Books must be read and must be reviewed (doesn’t have to be too fancy) in order to count as completed.

Last year I did not do so well with the challenge. Of the total of fourteen books, I read 11 of them, which is not bad. But of those 11, I only reviewed 4 of them.

So here is my list and we will see how well I do with it this year.

• Deadly Nightshade (1940) by Elizabeth Daly
• The Iron Gates (1945) by Margaret Millar
• The Long November (1946) by James Benson Nablo
• Perfect Gallows (1988) by Peter Dickinson 
• A Chill Rain In January (1990) by L.R. Wright
• The Axeman's Jazz (1991) by Julie Smith
• The Summons (1995) by Peter Lovesey
• Tarnished Icons (1997) by Stuart Kaminsky
• What Never Happens (2004) by Anne Holt
• The Secret in Their Eyes (2005) by Eduardo Sacheri
• City of Shadows (2006) by Ariana Franklin
• The Shanghai Factor (2013) by Charles McCarry

Alternates:

• Death in Amsterdam (1962) by Nicolas Freeling
• Murder in Mykonos (2009) by Jeffrey Siger

Short Stories with a Christmas Theme

Last year I started reading stories from The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, edited and with an introduction by Otto Penzler. It is one of those huge books: around 650 pages with two columns per page, and 59 stories. (That is how many I counted, some descriptions say 60 stories.) So it will be a few years before I finish reading all of them.

The stories are divided up into groups:

• A Traditional Little Christmas
• A Funny Little Christmas
• A Sherlockian Little Christmas
• A Pulpy Little Christmas
• An Uncanny Little Christmas
• A Scary Little Christmas
• A Surprising Little Christmas
• A Modern Little Christmas
• A Puzzling Little Christmas
• A Classic Little Christmas

So far I have read mainly stories from the first section of Traditional Christmas stories. My favorites in that section are:

"The Butler's Christmas Eve" by Mary Roberts Rinehart

First published in her short story collection Alibi for Isabel (New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1944). I enjoyed this for the wartime setting. It was sort of a spy story, but it was really about a family and friendships, and I liked it a lot.

"The Adventure of the Dauphin's Doll" by Ellery Queen

First published in the December 1948 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. I did not expect to like it as much as I did, but I was charmed with the description of the Queen family Christmas dinner preparations.

"So it was that when Attorney John S. Bondling called, Inspector Queen was in his kitchen, swathed in a barbecue apron, up to his elbows in fines herbes, while Ellery, behind the locked door of his study, composed a secret symphony in glittering fuchsia metallic paper, forest-green moiré ribbon, and pine cones."

This was an impossible crime story. The solution seemed fairly obvious to me, but it was still fun to read. The best part is that the structure and the humor reminded of the episodes of the Ellery Queen TV show, starring Jim Hutton. This story is examined in more detail at Reading Ellery Queen and Cross Examining Crime.

“MoreThan Flesh and Blood” by Susan Moody

This was first published in A Classic Christmas Crime, edited by Tim Heald (London, Pavilion, 1995). I thought this was a very good story, and very dark. It is the story of a man who has finally found a long lost relative after a long search. It loosely has a Christmas theme, but it did not seem to fit into the Traditional Christmas story section at all.

"The Haunted Crescent” by Peter Lovesey

This one is from the section titled Uncanny Little Christmas stories. It was first published in Mistletoe Mysteries, edited by Charlotte MacLeod (NewYork, Mysterious Press, 1989). That is actually where I first read the story. The story is narrated by a man looking into the reported haunting of a house in Bath.

"The ghost was reputed to walk on Christmas Eve. Knowing of my interest, they had generously placed their house at my disposal. I am an ex-policeman, by the way, and it takes a lot to frighten me." 

It is not a scary ghost story but it does have a nice twist. Very enjoyable reading.

Several other stories that are in this book appeared in Silent Nights, which I reviewed last year. These are:

• "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" by Arthur Conan Doyle 
• "The Flying Stars" by G. K. Chesterton
• "The Necklace of Pearls" by Dorothy L. Sayers
• "The Case is Altered" by Margery Allingham
• "Waxworks" by Ethel Lina White
• "Cambric Tea" by Marjorie Bowen

Of those, my favorite was "Waxworks" by Ethel Lina White, which I discuss here.

And how could I forget to mention my favorite Christmas story: "Christmas Party" by Rex Stout, which is in the Classic Little Christmas section. I first read that in a collection of four novellas in the book And Four to Go.  It was first published in Collier's, January 4, 1957, as "The Christmas-Party Murder". I reviewed it here.

Favorite Reads of 2015

I read 90 books in 2015.  Of that total, 79 were novels, 8 were non-fiction books, and 3 were books of short stories. As usual, most of my reads were mystery novels, but I did read some fantasy and some science fiction. 

I don't keep good statistics so my numbers are rough, but I did check out how many books by male and female authors I read. 45 books by male authors, 34 books by female authors. I would like a better balance in that area. Of the 79 novels, 11 were re-reads. 

Of the 11 re-reads, there were several that were top reads this year. However, with such a long list of favorites, I elected not to include re-reads.

There is no order to this list, and I did not pick a top favorite of them all.

Lock In   by John Scalzi. 
This novel, published in 2014, is a thriller set in the near future. The story picks up about 20 years after the world-wide epidemic of a virus which causes Lock In syndrome. At this point, technological breakthroughs have been developed to the point where the victims of the disease who have been locked in can move around, talk, and function in society in a robotic device while their bodies are lying in a bed elsewhere. The ramifications of a life like this and the society which deals with it is explored via a murder mystery.

I have read two other books by John Scalzi, both in the Old Man's War series, Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigades. That series is military science fiction, and it surprises me how much I like it. I do enjoy the way Scalzi tells a story.

The Maltese Falcon   by Dashiell Hammett. 
Most of you will be familiar with this novel, originally published in 1930. Briefly, the story is set in San Francisco, in the late 1920's. Sam Spade is a private detective hired by a beautiful and mysterious woman to help her find her sister. I avoided reading this book for a long time because I thought it would be too brutal and dark for me (even though the 1941 movie with Humphrey Bogart is one of my favorite movies).  I could not have been more wrong; I loved every word of this book. After reading the book, I watched the film again. Both the film and the book are very, very good.

Concrete Angel   by Patricia Abbott. 
This is Abbott's debut novel, published in 2015, and it is stunning. In the opening chapters of this book, Eve Moran kills a man and insists on treating it as an accident; and then proceeds to let her daughter Christine, at twelve years of age, take the blame. From that point on, Christine relates the background of Eve's problems, how her parents met and married, and how Eve's mental problems and behavior mold Christine's life. Thus this book has elements of crime fiction, but it is primarily a character study and the study of a very dysfunctional family. The events are set in and around Philadelphia in the 1960s and 1970s. My summary is inadequate to convey the depth of the story.




Life After Life   by Kate Atkinson.
This book, published in 2013, is not a mystery, and it has an unusual structure. Ursula, the heroine, lives her life over and over. Sort of like the plot of the film Groundhog Day, but not. At the beginning, it is a challenge for her to even get out of childhood. One mishap after another and the next time she comes back, that one is averted. Sometimes.

Because Ursula is born in 1910 and the book continues to some point in the 1960s, parts of both World Wars are covered. Through Ursula we experience the Blitz and Germany under Hitler. But what I liked most was the view of roles that women played and how the various lives illustrated the limited opportunities open to them.

Shotgun Saturday Night   by Bill Crider. 
Published in 1987, this was the second book I had read by Bill Crider, and I liked this entry in the Dan Rhodes series even more than the first one, Too Late to Die. Dan Rhodes is the Sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. In this book he gets involved with motorcycle gangs and FBI investigations. Although the story borders on being a cosy-ish police procedural, the ruthless motorcycle gang members do move it a good ways away from cozy.I am hooked on the series, which has now extended to twenty two books. I love the details of life in Blacklin County, in the late 1980's, and the characters, including Sheriff Rhodes' small crew (one jailer, one dispatcher, one deputy).

Hopscotch   by Brian Garfield. 
Published in 1975, this is is an intelligent spy thriller, which won author Brian Garfield the Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writer’s of America. Miles Kendig has been forcibly retired from the CIA. In retaliation, he decides to write his memoirs and publish them, revealing secrets harmful to the CIA. Soon the hunt begins to find Miles Kendig and terminate him. Although most of the agents involved in the hunt are depicted as ruthless, self-serving, and unimaginative, there are some great characters in this book. In 1980, it was adapted as a film starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson. Both the book and film are very entertaining but the book is darker.

In Bitter Chill   by Sarah Ward. 
This is another excellent debut novel published in 2015. The story focuses on the abduction of two very young girls while walking to school. Rachel was returned to her family, but Sophie was never found. The crime occurred in the 1970s and was never solved. Over thirty years later, Sophie's mother is found dead in a hotel room on the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, and all evidence points to suicide. The suicide motivates the police to consider reopening the investigation of Sophie's abduction, and this turns Rachel's life upside down. 

I always enjoy a police procedural; this one focuses not only on the investigation, but also the repercussions on the victim and the two families that were involved. There are sections of the book that alternate between the past and the present and this was particularly well done, maintaining tension throughout.

The Moving Finger   by Agatha Christie.
One of the things I like about Agatha Christie's books is that she often surprises me. The Moving Finger has a first person narrator, Jerry Burton, who has moved to the small village of Lymstock with his sister to recuperate from a serious injury. Shortly after he arrives, he receives a very nasty poison pen letter. He discovers that others in the village have also received such letters. All of a sudden the village becomes more menacing, and a couple of deaths follow.

I enjoyed this book, the story and the characters. It was billed as a Miss Marple mystery, but she barely shows up until the end, making her part in the solving the mystery a bit unrealistic. It also seems to me that this one has a little more romance than usual. The attraction builds slowly and one wonders where it is going, but it is a nice addition.

Funeral in Berlin   by Len Deighton.
Published in 1964, only three years after the Berlin Wall was constructed, this is the third novel in the Nameless Spy series by Len Deighton.  The protagonist is sent to East Berlin to facilitate the defection of an East German scientist. This story is told in first person for the most part, but there are chapters here and there that are in third person. Thus we see some events various character's points of view. I liked that change from the previous two books in the series, although the narration of the nameless spy is one of the best elements of the story.




Diamond Solitaire   by Peter Lovesey.
Published in 1992, Diamond Solitaire is the 2nd book in a police procedural series that is now 15 books long. Its protagonist, Peter Diamond, is ex-CID, due to difficulties in his last assignment. At the beginning of this book, Diamond is sacked from his job as a security guard at Harrods in London. He pursues a personal investigation into the identity of a young Japanese girl, traveling to New York City and Japan along the way. The story is somewhat unbelievable, but I did not have any problems stretching my disbelief and going along with the story. I enjoyed the book throughout, including the methodical way Diamond looks for clues and the patience he exhibits in getting to know Naomi.

The Old English Peep Show   by Peter Dickinson. 
This is the second book in the Superintendent James Pibble series, published in 1969. Pibble is an unusual protagonist, a middle-aged man with a wife who bullies him "into reading the Elsa books." (They figure into the story, of course. This book was also published as A Pride of Heroes.) He is sent off by Scotland Yard to handle the investigation of the loyal servant, Deakin, at Herryngs, a great English country house being run as a theme park, complete with lions, by two retired WWII heroes. Shortly after Pibble arrives he senses that the family is hiding something. This book and the first in the series each won the Gold Dagger award.

Dickinson calls his book "a baroque spoof." The thing that surprised me was that with all the elements of humor and caricature, the later part of the book still has definite thriller elements.