Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Sleep While I Sing (1986)


Sleep While I Sing by L.R. Wright


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Bas Blue Catalog recommended several L.R. Wright mysteries featuring Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg. I have read those titles and am now venturing into the rest of the nine titles in the series.Set in a small town in British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, the people who populate the town make the stories compelling. That and the fact that the author knew how to tell a great story.

Karl is interested in Cassandra, the town's librarian, and their on again off again romance is another added bonus.

When I discovered L.R. Wright had passed away, I sent a message via the offical website and received a nice response from the author's daughter. My local library doesn't have the titles in its collection, but through MeLCat I have been able to request books from libraries across Michigan. You have to wonder how long the state will be able to support such a costly service.

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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)

Nine Coaches Waiting Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Bas Bleu Catalog recommended this title so I tried to find it at my local library. No luck. Romances by Mary Stewart were bestsellers and on every library's shelves years ago. Not now. However I finally got an old paperback copy from the Rawson Memorial Library in Cass City about 160 miles away.

The story has all the necessary trappings of a gothic romance mystery. Written in first person by the governess, once well-off but now orphaned and poor, who has come to the remote estate in France to tend for the small child who will inherit everything if he survives the plotting to remove him. But who are the real villains? Flowery language, a Cinderella romance and a heroine who is brave and good, makes for a suspenseful read.

But I don't think I need to read anymore Mary Stewart titles.

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Thursday, December 17, 2009

No Book Store for 150 Miles?

I just read a brief notice in the local paper that the city of Laredo, Texas is scheduled to lose its only bookstore as Barnes & Noble prepares to close the last 49 B. Dalton Bookstores. Read more about it here.


When Will There Be Good News? (2008)

When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel When Will There Be Good News?: A Novel by Kate Atkinson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Starting with an horrific event, everything in Kate Atkinson's story collides and those who survive are not left unscathed.

"Case Histories introduced her readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster."

The Jackson Brodie series includes:

1. Case Histories (2004)
2. One Good Turn (2006)
3. When Will There Be Good News (2008)

You'll want to read them all. Visit Kate Atkinson's offical website here.

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The BURGH

If you are interested in Jackson history or graphic comics, take a look at The BURGH, a blog by the Hart Brothers.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Another Library Closes

"Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries, because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years." (Ray Bradbury)

When you read the quote from Ray Bradbury about the importance of the public library in his education and then read about it closing, where do you think we are headed as a society?

Click here to read more.


Friday, December 11, 2009

A Chill Rain in January (1990)

A Chill Rain in January (Crime, Penguin) A Chill Rain in January by L.R. Wright


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
There are lots of times when I read a new author and that's as far as it goes. Then there are the 'discovered' authors where I seek out other titles.Canadian author L.R. Wright wrote the kind of mystery I really enjoy reading. This title is number three in a series which features Karl Alberg, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sergeant, and his on again off again love interest librarian Cassandra Mitchell.

Interesting stories, characters, and solutions make for a cozy read.

The Karl Alberg Mysteries

* The Suspect (1985)
* Sleep While I Sing (1986)
* A Chill Rain in January (1990)
* Fall From Grace (1991)
* Prized Possessions (1993)
* A Touch of Panic (1994)
* Mother Love (1995)
* Strangers Among Us (1996)
* Acts of Murder (1997)

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Suspect (1986)

The Suspect The Suspect by L.R. Wright


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Not too many books have characters that I care about so much that I tear up at the ending. This was one of them. The Bas Bleu Catalog suggested this and another title by the LR Wright and I got them both from the library.

A little gem of a mystery where the reader knows who the murderer is right from the beginning but doesn't know why or what will happen. Set in a small coastal town in western Canada, this beautifully written story deals with much more than the usual murder mystery. Highly recommended.

Being curious about the author, I went to her site and found the following.

Bunny Wright was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995. Surgery brought a clean bill of health but the disease returned in 1997. Over the following three years she wrote three novels, travelled extensively for both business and pleasure, gardened, and generally continued with the business of living. On December 25, 2000, Bunny and John Wright were remarried. Bunny Wright died on February 25, 2001. Of her battle with cancer, she had this to say: "She died, and the cancer died with her. It was a draw."


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Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Likeness (2008)

The Likeness: A Novel The Likeness: A Novel by Tana French


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I didn't expect The Likeness to be connected to In the Woods, the author's debut mystery-thriller but, in fact, it continues the story of Cassie Maddox.

The premise is intriguing and with a bit of suspension of disbelief, the story delivers a beautifully written and suspenseful read. It was 2 AM when I turned the last page.

A young women is found murdered in an abandoned stone cottage in a small community near Dublin. What is shocking is that she looks exactly like Cassie and is carrying identification that Cassie used once in an undercover operation. Who is she and who killed her? To find out Cassie takes the dead woman's place living with four housemates leading a seemingly idyllic life as graduate students in a manor house they are restoring. The comraderie and the atmosphere is absolutely seductive.

There's a Gothic element to both these tales that bring to mind Donna Tartt and Carol Goodman. There is a elegiac element throughout that remains at the end.

Watch for her new books due out in July of 2010 called Faithful Place.

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Lunenburg (2000)


Lunenburg by Keith Baker


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My favorite bookseller in Stratford, Ontario suggested this title to me a couple of years ago and it's been sitting waiting since then. I bought it because of the title. A trip to Nova Scotia years back included an overnight in Lunenburg, a charming and colorful small village on the coast.

Keith Baker doesn't disappoint. His descriptions of Halifax, Lunenburg and the surrounding areas are evocative. But it's the thirty year old mystery that keeps you turning pages into the wee hours of the morning. Three other titles are listed for the author: "Inheritance", "Reckoning", and "Engram". Good luck finding them in your local library or even on Amazon, which is a shame because the author is well known in Great Britain.

From the cover "Annie Welles is an officer with the Robbery and Violent Crimes Unite of the Halifax Regional Police - a high-pressure job which has cost her her marriage."

Well drawn characters, intrigue, a little romance and a satisfactory conclusion make this a highly recommended thriller.



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Thursday, December 3, 2009

Everybody Thinks Their Old Books Are Valuable


Check out these funny conversations between a book dealer and some of his customers by clicking here!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Have I Learned My Lesson?


Planning a 10 hour trip for Thanksgiving, I grabbed a couple of audio books at the local library. When will I ever learn? This is the second time I have given up on listening to a book read by the author. Actually I broke two rules. I chose a book that was not produced by Recorded Books.

Authors seem to modulate their voices in ways that make it impossible to hear clearly in a car with road noises. Recorded Books, with studios located in New York City, hires people with trained voices you can always hear and understand.

I have never been disappointed with the quality of Recorded Books, but this time I thought I would go with an interesting title. Bad decision.

Check out Recorded Books here.