…you don’t know what mothers do when they can’t stop crying…. This is a delightfully gloomy Norwegian novel about tragedy, death, and loss of one’s treasure. You know you’re off to a good start with a sentence like this: Jenny Brodal had not had a drink in nearly twenty years. She opened a bottle of Cabernet and poured herself a large glass. Jenny is 75 and her daughter Siri is throwing her a birthday party at their summer home, Mailund, on a winding, misty coast […]
She’s Just a Little Old Lady; Who Cares if We Left the Keys in the Helicopter (Said No Terrorist Ever)
Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist (1997) I’ve loved Mrs. P from the beginning (14 books ago!), but I didn’t realize she was married and still having adventures until I picked up Innocent Tourist. Although a little formulaic (I’ve only read the early ones), they are about the most atypical spy hero imaginable. Picture a little old lady in New England who got tired of volunteering for local charities after her husband passed away. What does she do? She goes to the CIA and tells them she’s […]
A New Year, Same Old Crazy
(Several words of warning: There are very mild spoilers for the book down toward the end, but nothing an astute reader couldn’t figure out from the description and the genre.) I figured that, as it’s a whole new year and all, that it was time to pay a third visit to Lil Littlepage-Eller, Boris, and the rest of the free-form asylum also known as Crazy, VA. So far, the Lil & Boris series has been a nice series of comfort nibbles with inhabitants I’ve always described […]
The first Agatha Christie.
This was fun! I was in the perfect mood when I checked this out of the library, and my library participates with one of those digital audiobook lenders, so I was able to carry it everywhere with me. I listened to it in the car, while I was cooking, doing chores, checking my emails, cleaning my fish tank, getting ready in the morning, etc. The library is enabling me. I’m not sure I’ve ever read an audiobook so fast before (of course, I usually only […]
Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel Would Rate It Two Meth Teeth out of Five
Normally, I don’t break my one cardinal rule of reading – never ever ever get something from the Barnes and Noble bargain bin. But my eyes saw the magical words “Edgar Award” and I decided Edgar Award surely could trump the stench of bad bargain books. I was so so wrong. I stopped reading and went into “shut up and take my money” mode right after Edgar Award, so I didn’t notice the few qualifiers that came with Edgar Award – namely, “from the Edgar Award […]
The Beginning of Something
Detective and former cop Kinsey Millhone is employed by Nikki Fife after serving her sentence for the murder of her husband eight years prior. She hires Kinsey to find out who really murdered the bastard, a very successful divorce lawyer and philanderer. Her investigation reveals another death eight years ago using the same murder weapon (ground oleander-spiked medication), and leaves a trail of bodies in its wake, natch. Millhone also works for California Fidelity, investigating small claims insurance fraud in exchange for her office space. […]
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