Cold Mourning: Brenda Chapman

I always aim to have a few Christmas mysteries to review at this time. This is my second book for 2016 set around Christmas.

Kala Stonechild, a First Nations police officer with a troubled background, arrives in Ottawa, Ontario for a new job just a few days before Christmas. She has been hired by Detective Jacques Rouleau, who heads a specialized unit in the Major Crimes division. Very shortly after Kala reports in for her new job, wealthy businessman Tom Underwood goes missing. Kala is assigned to the case before she even has time to find a place to live. As she and other members of the team interview his family and business associates, they uncover dysfunctional family relationships and disagreements within Underwood's business, pointing to many people who might want him dead.

There are a couple of secondary plots. Kala has moved to the area to look for a cousin who she has lost contact with. She spends any extra time she has looking for this woman. A secondary case the team is working on is related to a man assaulting women in apartment building lobbies and fondling them.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints. Kala's. Rouleau's. Geraldine, the missing man's daughter. Susan, a friend of Tom and his first wife. The story moves along quickly. The characters are well developed, especially Kala and her boss. Enough background about the characters' lives is provided so that they are believable, although Tom Underwood's family is an exceptionally mixed-up, conflicted group. The gradual reveal of various relationships and issues they have is very effective.

I enjoyed reading this book; for those who like police procedurals, I recommend it. I would like to continue the series, and see what happens next in the lives of Kala and Rouleau. They are both likable characters, dealing with issues in their lives, but in a healthy way. Kala is a strong female, secure in her abilities as a policewoman, and dealing well with the racism and sexism she encounters. Detective Rouleau is older, recently divorced, and dealing with that loss in his life.

As noted above, I picked this book to read and review at this time because of the Christmas setting. It does not have a Christmas theme as such, but Kala does arrive in Ottawa shortly before Christmas, and Tom Underwood disappears after leaving a company Christmas party. And because this is Canada, there is snow and cold weather and it really feels like Christmas time... unlike Southern California at Christmas. There are more parties and the buildup to Christmas is going on during the investigation, and the characters are having to deal with trauma in their lives in one way or another during the Christmas season, which should be bright and merry (in theory). Of course, Christmas is often not so merry for those who work in law enforcement.

See other reviews at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan and Peggy Ann's Post.

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Publisher:   Dundurn, 2014.
Length:       389 pages
Format:      Trade Paperback
Series:       A Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery, #1
Setting:      Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Genre:        Police Procedural
Source:      I purchased this book.

Boobytrap: Bill Pronzini

This is the 25th novel in the Nameless Detective series about a private detective working in the San Francisco area. The series began in 1971 and now consists of nearly 40 novels, plus novellas and short story collections. Over the years the character has aged, matured, and changed his lifestyle.

I started reading these books when they first came out, then introduced them to my husband. We found several copies at a used book store in Santa Barbara in the early 1980s and he bought all that were available there. Pronzini ended up being one of his favorite authors of mysteries and he buys every one of them as soon as they come out.

In this book, Nameless is on a solo fishing trip, staying in a cabin on a lake in the High Sierras. He needs a break but his planned vacation with his wife has been canceled due to her work responsibilities. An Assistant D.A. in San Francisco has offered Nameless the use of a friend's cabin at a mountain lake if he will drive his wife and son up to the area. Unfortunately, Nameless just happens to be at the lake at the same time as a bomber is seeking vengeance on the people who sent him to prison.

I like the way the story was told partly through journal entries written by the bomber, who has just been released from prison for an attack on his ex-wife and her lover. The reader knows from the beginning there will be trouble coming when Nameless arrives at the lake. Suspense is maintained by not knowing which other newcomer at the lake is the culprit or how he has set up his boobytrap. The relationship between the D.A.'s twelve-year-old son, Chuck, and Nameless is very well done.

There are significant ways this book differs from earlier books that I read. The story here focuses mainly on Nameless, less on his personal relationships and the changes at the office. Normally the entire story is told from the detective's point of view, in first person; this time we have the bomber's point of view, giving us more information. Also, we are away from the more usual setting of San Francisco. This was a good place for me to get back into the series, but not necessarily a good place to start for those who haven't read any other books in the series.

I enjoyed the book knowing the character's previous struggles and the type of person he is, and none of that is rehashed with each book (which is a good thing). At this point in the series Nameless has added one or more persons in his office and is less of a loner, but that is definitely in the background in this book. As a side note, Nameless actually gets a first name in this book; he is called Bill by one of the characters. It is just a throwaway line, no emphasis on it ... and I completely missed it.

With a series that has been ongoing for 40 plus books, it is probably futile to recommend that the reader start at book 1 and read in order. That is a time investment most won't make. There are advantages to reading the earlier novels. There is a progression in the life of the detective. He may have hit some rough spots but he is not a flawed character with major problems.

Bill Pronzini was born in 1943 and has been a full-time professional writer since 1969. He is a very prolific writer; in addition to the Nameless detective series, he has published many standalone novels, including westerns, and many short stories. He has also edited a huge number of anthologies, alone and with others. He was the first president of the Private Eye Writers of America. Both he and his wife Marcia Muller have been honored with the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

For more information on this series, there is a great description of Nameless and the evolution of the series at The Thrilling Detective website.

This post is submitted as an entry for Patti Abbott's Forgotten Friday Books meme at her Pattinase blog, which will feature Marcia Muller or Bill Pronzini on December 16

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Publisher:   Carroll & Graf, 1998 
Length:       213 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Nameless Detective, #25
Setting:       High Sierras, California
Genre:        Mystery
Source:       Borrowed from my husband.

A Few Challenges for 2017

In 2017, I am joining in on three challenges hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block. First up is The Read It Again, Sam Challenge. This challenge is for those who like to reread old favorites.

There are four levels for this challenge. I am joining in at the Déjà vu level: Reread 4 books. I will probably reread more than that, but I will start slow.

My favorite author to reread is Rex Stout, but I also hope to include books by: 
Josephine Tey
Margery Allingham
Emma Lathen
Jill McGown
Charles McCarry
Patricia Moyes

Next is the Color Coded Challenge. I took part in this one in 2013 and now I am back for more. These are the basic rules:

* Read nine books in the following categories.
1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title. 

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgundy, etc) in the title.

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title.

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title.

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magenta, etc.).

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.).

I have a lot of books with a color in the title and a couple of series I want to read more of that feature colors in the title: the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald and the Pat and Jean Abbott series by Frances Crane.

And finally, the Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2017

The goal is to to find as many objects on the scavenger hunt list as possible on the covers of the mystery books you read. Participants can play along in either the Golden or Silver Mystery Eras or both.

For the purposes of this challenge, the Golden Age Vintage Mysteries must have been first published before 1960. Silver Age Vintage Mysteries may be first published any time from 1960 to 1989 (inclusive). 

My goal will be to read six Golden Age mysteries to satisfy this challenge. I am sure I will read more than that number but sometimes matching objects to the scavenger hunt list is harder. I was not successful with the Silver Age mystery covers in 2016, but if I am luckier this year I will join in on that one later.

The 2017 Sci-Fi Experience

For the fifth year I am joining in on the Sci-Fi Experience, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. The 2017 Sci-Fi Experience began on December 1st and runs through January 31st, 2017.

Per Carl...

The Sci-Fi Experience will hopefully give people an opportunity to: 

     a) Continue their love affair with science fiction
     b) Return to science fiction after an absence, or
     c) Experience for the first time just how exhilarating science fiction can be. 

If you have ever wanted to give science fiction a try, or are already a fan of the genre and are looking for a group of kindred spirits, this is the event for you.

This is not a challenge. There is no number of books to aim for. You can read any type of literature related to science fiction or even nonfiction material about space travel and enjoy any other media related to these topics. There is a site where reviews are shared, if you should desire to write one.

December isn't a great month for science fiction reading for me, or for starting up any new endeavor relating to reading, but I do plan to try to fit in some science fiction reading this month, and will continue with a few in January.

I plan to read one graphic novel, Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars. Also The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick. I also hope to read a book by John Scalzi (TBD), World of Ptavv by Larry Niven, and The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.

Murder Goes Mumming: Alisa Craig

Charlotte MacLeod is a mystery author known for her unconventional characters and outrageous plots. Rest You Merry, published in 1979, was her first mystery novel. It was followed by nine more in the Peter Shandy series, ending in 1996. While she was writing that series, she had three other series going. The Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series was also published under her own name. Under the pseudonym of Alisa Craig she wrote two series set in Canada: the Grub and Stakers series and a series featuring Detective Inspector Madoc Rhys of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The first book in the Madoc Rhys series is A Pint of Murder, published in 1980. In that book Madoc meets Janet Wadman, and there is an immediate attraction between them. Murder Goes Mumming is the second book in the series and follows up on that relationship. Madoc is a Royal Canadian Mountie, and he is visiting Fredericton, New Brunswick where Janet works and lives in a boarding house. This book has the fastest engagement ever, with Madoc's mother, Lady Rhys, practically pushing an heirloom ring on them to seal the deal. (Not that I have anything against relationships that move along quickly; if you know you have found a good thing, why not go for it?) Madoc is the black sheep in a family of talented musicians.

This is my first Christmas mystery of the season. The couple is invited to spend Christmas with acquaintances of Lady Rhys, Donald and Babs Condrycke, at the family estate, Graylings. It doesn't hurt that Donald is a board member at the company where Janet is a stenographer. And of course Madoc, Janet, and the huge Condrycke clan all get snowed in. So this is a traditional country house mystery, very much on the cozy side, with lots of humor and some very unusual characters.

In the first mystery in the series, Madoc is sent undercover to investigate a suspicious death. In this one, he is in undercover in the sense that he does not announce that he makes his living in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Condryckes assume he has some unspecified research position in the government. When an elderly member of the family dies, only Madoc suspects that the death was not natural. Since a doctor cannot be called in and they cannot get out to report the death, he proceeds to do as much investigating as he can without alerting the others to the situation.

This is a fun story. I have always wondered what mumming is, and now I know at least one version of it. In this case the costumed group did not visit neighbors, but just traipsed and danced around the big house and partied.

One drawback is that most of the members of the Condrycke family are coarse, self-centered, and unlikable. It is hard to care who did what or why if no one is likable. (We never meet the victim, Granny Condrycke.) Janet and Madoc are really the only likable characters, and they are almost too good to be true. There is a very interesting Welsh butler, Ludovic.

As far as the solution to the mystery goes, it is sort of slapdash, and the explanation is long and involved. But really in this type of story, solving the mystery is not so important and I was mostly enjoying the author's wit and satire.

I will admit that I was drawn to this book because of its wonderful cover, which my husband discovered and pointed out to me.

In December of 2014, I read and reviewed MacLeod's first mystery, Rest You Merry, which also is set at Christmas.

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Publisher:   Doubleday Books, 1981 
Length:       180 pages
Format:       Hardcover
Series:        Madoc Rhys, #2
Setting:       New Brunswick, Canada
Genre:        Cozy Mystery
Source:       I purchased this book.

Reading in November 2016

Another wonderful month of reading with a good bit of variety. Some relatively current crime fiction, a fantasy novel, a couple of mysteries set at Christmas, and some mysteries from earlier decades.

I started out the month with a book from the fantasy genre, one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. I read Mort, the first book in the Death series. I am glad that I have finally started reading Pratchett's books.

I also read a very short graphic novel, RED. This graphic novel by Warren Ellis was the basis for the movie of the same title, released in 2010, starring Bruce Willis, Mary Louise Parker, and a lot of other entertaining and talented actors. When I say it was short, it was only three issues when first published, for a total of 66 pages. The book also includes character design sketches and the script and layouts for issue 1. I found these very interesting since I don't know the processes for developing a comic.



These are the crime fiction books I read in November...

A Question of Proof by Nicholas Blake
(Originally published in 1935, this book is set in a boarding school. This was the first book in the Nigel Strangeways mysteries by Nicholas Blake. Nicholas Blake was the pseudonym of Cecil Day Lewis, a poet laureate in the UK in the late 1960's into the early 1970's.)

Thou Shell of Death by Nicholas Blake
(This was the second book in the Nigel Strangeways mystery series. It is set at Christmas, and is a traditional English country house mystery.)

The Dreadful Lemon Sky by John D. MacDonald (reviewed here)

Past Tense by Margot Kinberg (reviewed here)

Dupe by Liza Cody (reviewed here)

Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves
(This is the second book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series, which is also now a TV series. A woman was put in prison ten years before for killing a teenage girl, the daughter of her ex-lover. Now it has been discovered that the woman was innocent, and Vera is looking into the original investigation.)

Murder Goes Mumming by Alisa Craig
(Another book set at Christmas. This one is a cozy, a humorous tale set in New Brunswick, Canada. Alisa Craig is the pseudonym of Charlotte MacLeod, used for two series set in Canada . Review coming soon.)