Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Delightful, Jane Austen-esque mystery

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

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The Moonstone is essentially a Jane Austen novel crossed with a detective novel- the first ever detective novel!  This was an unexpected delight. The plot is very 19th century Britain: several years prior, an English military officer returned from his posting in India with dubious ownership over a very large diamond that had recently graced a Hindu temple.  When the diamond appeared to be cursed, the officer gifted it to his estranged niece, Rachel, in an act that might be malevolent or generous, depending on […]

A slippery mystery

Banana Fox and the Secret Sour Society by James Kochalka

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A friend of mine knows the author (James Kochalka) of Banana Fox and the Secret Sour Society (book one of Banana Fox). Therefore, I thought I would give it a whirl. I knew we had different tastes, but it is always fun to try something new. You never know what you will find. Sadly, this book fell flat for me. The cliche theme of the Hero/World’s Greatest Detective being clueless, the less than convincing villain, and the “dumb fat kid” did nothing for me. The […]

Sassy Girl Detective

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

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BINGO GREEN I love me a good mystery novel and I love, love, love the heroine/main character in this book, Flavia DeLuce.  Flavia is the 11 year old youngest daughter of  Colonel DeLuce, the head of the county seat/manor.  Flavia has two older sisters who torment her as much as possible (Ophelia is boy obsessed and Daphne is book obsessed).  But Flavia, who is chemistry obsessed and spends her time in the old Victorian chemistry lab in her home learning about poisons, gives as good […]

I remember the Russians

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

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Cbr12bingo Nostalgia This book, set in late the 1970s Soviet Union and published in 1981, marks the time of my teenaged years, a time when my personal interest in the Russians began to grow (leading to a long stint in graduate school and a PhD in Russian/Soviet history). Gorky Park was made into a movie (which I never saw) and Martin Cruz Smith went on to write a number of Arkady Renko detective/thriller novels. I think I might have read one of them (Red Square) […]

(not exactly) The Prime of Mr. Jackson Brodie

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

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It’s been nine years since we’ve last seen Jackson Brodie, and in those nine years a lot has changed. So much has changed that I found myself lost a few times- am I supposed to remember this? Is that name supposed to mean something? Is this kid important? Jackson seemed a bit adrift at times as well, but I suppose that was more intentional than my foggy memory. The world has changed for Jackson. His career, his family, his car, his dog- it’s all changing. […]

Inspector Rebus goes to London

Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin

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I’m a big fan of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series.  His novels hit all my detective novel sweet spots- good writing, a good mystery and the location as its own character. This was an old one (published in 1994!) but it fell fortuitously into my hands while I was on a trip to the UK earlier this month. Unlike most of the other Rebus novels I’ve read, Scotland is not the setting for this one- it has Rebus on loan to a London police precinct, […]



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