The Man Who Died Twice: Richard Osman

 

This book is the second in a relatively recent mystery series by Richard Osman. The first book in the series was The Thursday Murder Club, and I loved it. In that book, a quartet of men and women in their seventies or eighties have formed a club, expressly for the purpose of reviewing and investigating cold cases, whose case files they inherited from a former member who had access to police files. Then they have the opportunity to investigate a current crime, when a part owner of their retirement complex is killed.

In this book, the four amateur sleuths are still working together and still reviewing cold cases. The four main characters are: Elizabeth, the leader, ex-MI5 operative; Joyce, a retired nurse; Ibrahim, a psychiatrist, mostly retired; and Ron, a former left-wing union leader. All of them are very clever and contribute in their own way. In the first story they worked with two police officers, DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna de Freitas, and in this book we learn even more about Chris and Donna's backgrounds too.  

Out of the blue they get pulled into a new case. Elizabeth gets a message from someone in her past, and that leads to a very unusual adventure for all of them. I liked that this one connects to Elizabeth's job in MI5 and borders on being an espionage story, but there are also brushes with drug dealers, mob bosses, etc.

My Thoughts:

It was a joy to get back to these characters again. The book was a page turner and yet I did not want it to end. All of the various story lines do get a bit complex, but this time I had an easier time following them. And with this series, I enjoy the writing and the characters so much that I just go with the flow. 

The story is told mostly in present tense, third person, from various viewpoints. I had no problem with that. Joyce's chapters are written as diary entries, which serve to follow up on various actions the group takes without dragging the scenes out. Her commentary is often wry and revealing. There is a lot of quiet humor throughout the book.

For me, the age of the main characters is very appealing. The issues of old age are front and center, from the aches and pains of aging to the death of spouses or friends or living with spouses with dementia. On the positive side, their age and appearance gives them an opportunity to blend in, be unobtrusive, and get things done when they are working on a case.

This was a fun and engaging read, and now I am eager to get to the third book, The Bullet That Missed.

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Publisher:    Pamela Dorman Books, 2021
Length:        368 pages
Format:        Hardcover
Setting:        UK

Series:         Thursday Murder Club  #2
Genre:         Mystery
Source:        I purchased this book in 2022.

Short Story Wednesday: The Ghost of Opalina by Peggy Bacon

This was another book I read for the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event. The Ghost of Opalina 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. None of these stories are scary, and Opalina never behaves maliciously. She does protect those she cares about.

The book begins with a family, Mr. and Mrs. Finley and their three children, moving to a house in the country with lots of land, gardens, barns and such. They arrive in the summer, and the children have all their days free to explore. Their parents have set up a play room for them in a section of the house that has no electricity. One evening they stay in the room until after dusk, and when it gets dark in the room they see a glowing form in an old stuffed chair in the room. This is Opalina, a beautiful white cat, who announces to them that she is a ghost and can only be seen at night. They beg her to tell them about the various families that have lived in the house since she was there.

The unique aspect of this children's book is that the stories give the reader a picture of the house and the way people lived over two centuries, from 1750 up to 1966, the year the Finley family moved in. The first story is First Life, 1750: "The Mice, the Mouser and the Mean Young Man." The last story is Ninth Life, 1966: "Trick or Treat." The book was published in 1967. Most of the stories are from 20 to 40 pages in length.

This was a fun and entertaining read, although certainly aimed at children. I see it as a perfect book for reading aloud to children of any age. I was particularly drawn to the book because it is illustrated by the author. And a book featuring a cat is always of interest. 

Many reviewers at Goodreads mention that they loved this book as a child and were thrilled to find an affordable copy. For many years this book was only available for high prices online.

I first heard of this book at Staircase Wit. Constance's post also has more information about the author and illustrator, Peggy Bacon.

The Listening House: Mabel Seeley

Published in 1938, The Listening House is a suspenseful and sometimes creepy mystery with a boarding house setting. The boarders (and the landlady) are all strange, sometimes sinister, types. The story is perfect for this time of year.

Gwynne Dacres is a 26-year-old divorcee who loses her job as a copywriter. It is hard to find a job, and she needs to find a place to live that she can afford. She discovers an advertisement for two rooms (one of them a kitchen) available for a reasonable price at a boarding house. When she checks the place out, she is put off by the dark, smelly, gloomy hallway that leads to the rooms. But the rooms are very nice, even including her own private lavatory. So she moves in quickly.

Very shortly after Gwynne moves in, she discovers the body of a man near the boarding house. The initial investigation focuses on the residents of the house, but there is no evidence that the death of the man was connected to any of them.

Interest in that event dies down, but Gwynne is bothered by sounds in the night. There is a break in and the police come back to investigate. And finally one of the people living in the house is found dead, after being missing for days. People want to move out, but the police won't let them.

The story is told by Gwynne Dacres. These are the opening paragraphs.

I am not sure, myself, that I should open the door of Mrs. Garr's house and let you in. I'm not at all sure that the truth about what happened there is tellable. People keep saying to me that the rumors going around are simply ghoulish, and ought to be laid to rest. But I've heard those rumors, some of them at least, and they're not a bit more nightmarish than the truth. Finally, of course, I gave in to pressure.

"Okay, I'll do it," I said.

Because, after all, I'm the one that not only knows almost everything that went on in Mrs. Garr's house in April, May, and June of this year, but also why a lot of it went on. And, unless Hodge Kistler wrote it, no one else could get the ending anywhere near right.

Since agreeing, I have made seventeen entirely separate and different beginnings.

I have begun with the cat's swift sneak and hunch under the bookcase of that dark hall. I have begun with my first sight of Hodge Kistler chinning himself on the bar. I have begun with those terrifying hands reaching for my throat. I have begun with the opening of a door that led to an unimaginable hell.

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 this time of year, 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.

Some parts of the story are fast moving. At other times the pace slows as the police review the possible suspects... over and over. But either way, I enjoyed it, because Gwynne was such an entertaining narrator.

Along the way, two men compete for Gwynne's attentions: the police detective (Lieutenant Strom) and another lodger, a newspaperman, Hodge Kistler. And she doesn't seem aware of it.

I won't say much more except that I loved the ending. 

Also see the reviews at The Passing Tramp, Beneath the Stains of Time, and crossexaminingcrime. 

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Publisher:   Berkley Prime Crime, 2021. Orig. pub. 1938.
Length:      349 pages
Format:      Trade Paperback
Setting:      US
Genre:       Mystery
Source:      I purchased this book.

Sense and Sensibility: Jane Austen

As Sense and Sensibility begins, Mr. Dashwood of Norland Park has passed away. He and his wife, Mrs. Dashwood, and three daughters, Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret had lived in a large country estate in Sussex. Now his oldest child, John Dashwood, is the owner of their ancestral home.  John's father had exacted a promise from him to provide for Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters, but John does not follow through on this. His wife does not want to share her home with them, so they have to move out to a much smaller cottage in Devonshire. Here they live near to a distant cousin, Sir John Middleton, who invites them to dinners and parties and provides some social life.

Before leaving Sussex, Elinor (the eldest daughter) has formed a friendship with Edward Ferrars, her sister-in-law's brother. Unfortunately Fanny, the sister-in-law, disapproves, and is determined that Edward will make a better match than Elinor. 

After moving to Devonshire,  Marianne meets a very personable young man, John Willoughby. They have shared interests and quickly become enchanted with each other. Sir John Middleton speaks well of Willoughby's background and his expectations of a future inheritance. But not too long after that he leaves the area with little explanation. Marianne refuses to believe that she has been abandoned.

The story centers around the romantic tribulations of Elinor and Marianne. Elinor is 19 years old, full of sense, and cares much more for propriety and good manners than Marianne. Marianne is only 16, so it is not so strange that she seems to go her own way, not sticking to conventional ways and often being rude and thoughtless with people she does not care for. The younger sister, Margaret, is 13 years old and hardly comes into the story. Their mother, Mrs. Dashwood, is not much involved either, although she is often talked about or written to by Elinor. 

Elinor hides her own feelings and is too ready to consider only Marianne's needs and ignore her own pain and grief when she is snubbed by the man she had considered to be a friend and possible suitor. Marianne on the other hand is more than willing to let the world know how unhappy she is when she is ignored by Willoughby.

This was the last remaining Jane Austen novel for me, and it is the only one that I have not truly liked. Some of that may be due to my mood at the time of reading it. I did not hate it and it covers the interesting topic of the plight of people who feel pressure to marry for money, not love, but I did not have the urge to hurry to get back to reading it or finish it that I usually do. 

For me, Sense and Sensibility did not have the humor of the other novels, and I did not care for any of the characters one way or the other. I could not work up an interest in the main characters, Elinor and Marianne, and we spend almost all of our time with them. I sympathized with their plight, but I got tired of hearing about it. Marianne was a real brat at times, thoughtless and needlessly rude to people. Her youth could excuse this to some extent. Even characters who could be considered villains to some extent were tame villains.

In some of Jane Austen's novels, it is pretty obvious that the romances will work out by the end, but this one was pretty unpredictable, and trying to guess the resolution was a plus. I did like the ending. In general, Sense and Sensibility gets very high ratings from most readers, so I still recommend this novel if you are interested in classic novels and/or romances.

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Publisher:   Borders Classics, 2006 (orig. pub. 1811)
Length:      297 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Setting:      UK
Genre:        Literary fiction
Source:      I purchased my copy.

My Reading in September 2022

I had a nice month of reading in September. Only fiction and mostly crime fiction. I did read one cross-genre book, the first one on my list below.

I noted that most of the books I read were published after 1999; the same thing happened last month. I seem to be tending in that direction lately. Not sure why.

And these are the books I read:

Science Fiction / Mystery

Head On (2018) by John Scalzi

This book qualifies as both science fiction and mystery and in this case the mystery actually supersedes the science fiction, in my opinion. It is the second book in a two-book series set in the near future. The story begins about 20 years after the world-wide epidemic of a virus which causes Lock In syndrome. Technological breakthroughs have been developed to the point where the victims of the disease can use a robotic device to move around, talk, and function in society while their bodies are lying in a bed elsewhere. See my thoughts on the book here.

Crime Fiction

The Tenderness of Wolves (2006) by Stef Penney

I read this for my Canadian Reading Challenge. Set in 1867, primarily in a small settlement in the Northern Territory. There are treks into even more remote areas to search for a murderer. This is a historical mystery, but the crime and the investigation are not primary to the story.  The focus is even more on the setting, the prominence of the Hudson Bay Company, and the treatment of Native American trappers. There are a lot of characters to keep up with. I loved it and the ending worked well for me.

Crazybone (2000) by Bill Pronzini

I have been reading the Nameless Detective series by Pronzini since the mid-1970s. I introduced my husband to them in the early 80s after we got married, and he became a bigger fan than I am. He has read all 41 books in the series. I have only read the books up to and including Crazybone, and I still have 15 books left to read. They are short and quick reads; serious stories and sometimes dark. There is humor along the way and the main character ages and develops. Getting back to reading this series seems like meeting an old friend that I haven't seen for years.

The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983) by Ellis Peters

This is the fourth Brother Cadfael book that I have read, but it is the seventh book in the series. The setting for the books in the series is between 1135 and 1145 in England and Wales, primarily. Brother Cadfael takes care of the plants for the monastery and is an herbalist. If this book is typical of the series, it seems like they can be read in any order. However, I plan to get back to reading them in order when possible.  

A Killer in King's Cove (2016) by Iona Whishaw

This is a historical mystery set in British Columbia, Canada right after World War II. The heroine, Lane Winslow, has just moved to Canada from the UK, following World War II, and lives in a small town in a home she purchased. After Lane has settled down in King's Cove, a stranger is found dead in the creek that feeds water to her property. Eventually the death is determined to be murder and Lane Winslow appears to have a connection to this man. Another book which was read for the Canadian Reading Challenge. See my review here.

Spycatcher (2011) by Matthew Dunn

I purchased this book at the book sale in September, knowing nothing about it other than it was the first book in an espionage series. It was a fast-paced, action packed story, one you can imagine being turned into a film. A bit too much like the James Bond movies for me, but in the end I enjoyed it and plan to give the second book in the series a try. My main complaint was that the first two or three chapters introducing the protagonist and his handlers were awkward and unconvincing. But I am a sucker for any type of spy fiction, and the rest of the book was much better and held my interest. I have purchased the second book in the series.

Currently reading

Last night, I finished reading The Listening House by Mabel Seeley, a mystery published in 1938, set in a boarding house, one of my favorite settings in fiction, along with hotels and trains. I chose to read it in October because the eerie atmosphere would fit the mood of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event. I haven't picked my next read yet.

I am still reading Anna Karenina, and I doubt I will finish that book before the end of October. 

We have started walking in various areas around Santa Barbara a few days a week. This week we went to Stow House, a historic site in Goleta. My husband took the photos at the top and bottom of this post on our walk. Click on the images for the best viewing quality.

Short Story Wednesday: Sue Grafton and Alexander McCall Smith

 

Three weeks ago my Short Story Wednesday post featured two anthologies and one collection of short stories that I had purchased at the Planned Parenthood Book Sale in September. My SSW post last week was also about a book I had purchased at the sale, Elizabeth McCracken's short story collection, The Souvenir Museum.

So I might as well continue on that theme this week, with two more collections that I found at the sale. I have not started reading either one of these books, but I am sure I will get to them before the end of the year.

Kinsey and Me: Stories by Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton was well known for her Kinsey Millhone series, featuring a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California (a thinly disguised Santa Barbara). Starting shortly after the first book was published (1982), I read the first 5 or 6 books in the series. In 2016, I read the 7th book, G is for Gumshoe. I read that book mainly for the setting, both in place and time. I enjoyed the book but I am not in a rush to read more in the series. 

Description of Kinsey and Me at Goodreads:

A collection of stories that reveal Kinsey's origins—and Grafton's past. The nine stories that open the book show how fully formed Kinsey was from the beginning. The thirteen stories in the second part, written in the decade following her mother's death, feature Kit Blue, a younger version of Grafton herself, and reflect her troubled family life and the author's journey from anger to understanding and forgiveness.

Tiny Tales: Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is also  a well-known author of mysteries, and he has multiple series. I read the first book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series but stopped there. I have never tried any of his other writing. I did find another one of his books at the book sale that I want to try: 44 Scotland Street. 

I was attracted to Tiny Tales because the short stories are accompanied by illustrations by Iain McIntosh. The format of the book is small, and the stories appear to all be very short, each under 10 pages.

Description of Tiny Tales, from the dust jacket flap:

In Tiny Tales, Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness, and happiness in thirty short stories accompanied by thirty witty cartoons designed by Iain McIntosh, McCall Smith's longtime creative collaborator. Here we meet the first Australian pope, who hopes to finally find some peace and quiet back home in Perth; a psychotherapist turned motorcycle racetrack manager; and an aspiring opera singer who gets her unlikely break onstage. And, of course, we spend time in McCall Smith's beloved Scotland, where we are introduced to progressive Vikings, a group of housemates with complex romantic entanglements, and a couple of globe-trotting dentists. 

These tales and illustrations depict the full scope of human experience and reveal the rich tapestry of life—painted in miniature.