TITLE: THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN
AUTHOR: DONNA LEON
Pages: 343
Date: 27/02/2010
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 3 Commissario Brunetti Mystery
Also Published As: Dressed for Death
Library
Commissario Brunetti hopes of escaping a Venetian heatwave by going on a family holiday are dashed when the body of a murder victim is found. The man's face has been smashed in, and he was wearing a red dress with matching shoes when discovered.
For a long time the victim remains unidentified and Brunetti has to centre his investigation on the transvestite community in Venice.
Once the body has been given a name, Brunetti has a new direction in which to stear his investigation. However, even as matters become more clear, it also becomes obvious that it is highly unlikely that Brunetti will ever find the proof he needs to convict those responsible for this murder and for those that are to follow.
This is a great series. Brunetti is a very well written, sympathetic, and rounded character with flaws that only make him more real to the reader.
I also admire the way Donna Leon deals with with the corruption so endemic in Italian society, which forms a constant obstacle to Brunetti in the execution of his job. While she makes it clear how frustrating this is, she presents it as a fact of life, which I suppose must be how most Italians would perceive it.
I'm really going to enjoy slowly reading my way through this series.
TITLE: BED OF ROSES
AUTHOR: NORA ROBERTS
Pages: 335
Date: 26/02/2010
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 2 Bride Quartet
Library
This is the story of Emmaline Grant, the florist in Vows, the wedding company she runs with her three friends.
From a very early age, Emma has been a true romantic, dreaming of love and devotion that last a life time, like the love her parents share. Beautiful and sexy, Emma gets lots of male attention, but so far love has eluded her.
Jack Cooke has been a friend of Emma and her friends for years. And when he and Emma suddenly find themselves attracted to each other they have to make a few adjustments.
Jack however doesn't believe in happy ever after, which is the only thing Emma will settle for. But if their romance were to fail, it wouldn't be only their friendship under threat. It would also severly challange the dynamics in the group of friends they both belong to.
This is Roberts at her best. Only she can write books where it doesn't matter that I know the ending before I even start reading it. It's the journey towards that ending, romantic, exciting and sexy, that makes these books such fun.
This was also the perfect book to read while recuperating after a minor operation; totally engrossing and not too demanding on my somewhat flighty mind.
The third book in this quartet will be out in just a few months, and I'm already looking forward to it.
TITLE: AMONG THE MAD
AUTHOR: JACQUELINE WINSPEAR
Pages: 278
Date: 23/02/2010
Grade: 5+
Details: no. 6 Maisie Dobbs Mystery
Library
I do love this series. I love the setting, London in between the two World Wars. I love the way it deals with the issues of the time without romanticizing them, showing them in all their ghastly reality while never getting too sentimental. And I love the character of Maisie Dobbs, an independent and self-suffficient woman in a time when those qualities were rare in women, yet a woman with issues of her own which make her more real.
This book starts with Maisie and her assistant Billie Beale witnessing a man, obviously a maimed war veteran, killing himself by blowing himself up.
The next day the British home secretary receives a letter announcing more deaths to follow unless war veterans receive the pensions and care they need and deserve.
Because Maisie's name is mentioned in the letter, she's invited to join the investigation. It soon becomes clear they're dealing with a desperate man, able and willing to use desperate and devastating means to get his point across. And Maisie finds herself dealing with the effects of WW I again. A war that left so many people, including Maisie herself, damaged.
At the same time Maisie is trying to help both Billie's wife and her friend Priscilla who are both dealing with depression.
A very well written mystery with lots of historical detail and insight into human nature and the emotional struggles people have to face.
TITLE: IMPERIUM
AUTHOR: ROBERT HARRIS
Pages: 403
Date: 21/02/2010
Grade: 3.5
Details: no.1 Cicero
Bookclub read for February
Own
I don't think I would have finished this book if I hadn't been reading it for my bookclub. To be captivated by this book, I think the reader would have to be fascinated by politics. My interest in that field isn't deep enough to want to spend hours reading about the mechanics of it, not even when the background is provided by ancient Rome.
This is the story of Cicero and his rise through the political ranks in Rome, as narrated by his secretary and slave, Tiro.
The story starts with Tiro admitting a terrified Sicilian to Cicero's house.
Cicero, who is an ambitious and gifted young lawyer and senator at the time, takes on the politically dangerous case the Sicilian presents and with that sets of on his path through the layers of political power in Rome.
On his way up he will make enemies and friends, will have to let ideals go and discover new ones, and will have at least as many moments of despair as he does of triumph.
Overall, I found the amount of characters and the detailed descriptions of the scheming going on rather tiresome. I have to admit though that the writing was of such a standard that finishing the book never felt like too much of an uphill struggle.
What did amuse me was the realization of how little has changed in the world of politics, despite more than 20 centuries having passed since Cicero's day.
The political world is still largely one of friends helping friends, where what matters is who you know, not what you know, and where money will by you power and favour.
One line in the book reminded me of the Tv-series "Yes (Prime) Minister:
"These people, Cicero complained to me one morning, are a warning of what happens to any state which has a permanent staff of officials. They begin as our servants and end up imagining themselves our masters." (p. 290)
Another quote I really liked:
"The art of life is to deal with problems as they arise, rather than destroy one's spirit by worrying about them too far in advance." (p.402)
And one last line:
"Words, words, words. Is there no end to the tricks you can make them perform?" (p. 402).
Finally I have to admit that even though I was't overly impressed by this book, I do find myself wondering what happened next in Cicero's life and career, and thinking that I may just have to read "Lustrum" to find out.
TITLE: REMARKABLE CREATURES
AUTHOR: TRACY CHEVALIER
Pages: 369
Date: 17/02/2010
Grade: 4+
Details: Large Print edition
Library
This book by Chevalier, like the earlier ones, is based on real people and real events.
Set in the first half of the 19th century, it is the story of two women, Elizabeth Philpot and Mary Anning.
When Elizabeth moves from London to Lyme Regis with two of her sisters she is already resigned to living out her life as a spinster and develops an interest in fossil hunting. While on the beach searching for fossils she meets Mary Anning, a young girl from a very poor family with a remarkable eye for hidden fossils.
Elizabeth and Mary start spending time together, searching for treasures with especially Mary being very successful at finding the remains of creatures unknown to men.
Such is Mary's success that men of science start looking for her help in finding fossils and buying those she has found of her.
Of course, this being the age it is, Mary doesn't get credited publicly with her finds and it seems that her name and Elizabeth's will be lost to history.
Their difference in standing keeps a distance between the two women and a falling out keeps them apart for years. In the end though their devotion to fossils, science and the truth will bring them back together. And, as this book proves, their efforts and lives were momentous enough to be remembered.
This book deals with a lot of issues such as the role of women in society, the church doctrine versus science as well as loyalty and friendship.
Still, this book failed to impress me like some of Chevalier's earlier books did. I never felt close enough to the women to be really interested in their story. And although it wasn't a hard book to read or stick with, I was never impatient to get back to it either. All in all this was an interesting but not an amazing book.
TITLE: WORST CASE
AUTHOR: JAMES PATTERSON
Pages: 356
Date: 14/02/2010
Grade: 4
Details: no. 3 Mike Bennett Mystery
Library
The son of one of New York's wealthiest families is snatched off the street and kidnapped. The kidnapper however is not demanding money. Instead he makes the boy take an exam; getting the answers wrong is punishable by death.
Michael Bennett, still balancing his high pressure job with taking care of his 10 children is joined by FBI agent Emily Parker, with whom he gets on really well right from the start.
But as more kidnappings follow and rich kids die, Mike and Emily have nothing to go on, and the kidnapper is working towards a devastating finale.
As always with Patterson this was an easy to read page turner. It wasn't a very good mystery though, and I never really got caught up in the story, partly because who the kidnapper is is clear from the start of the book. However, I like Mike, and will continue to read the books in this series, just to keep up with his family life.
TITLE: KINDRED IN DEATH
AUTHOR: J.D. ROBB
Pages: 374
Date: 13/02/2010
Grade: 5
Details: no. 29 In Death Mystery
Own
I really, really love this series of mysteries and its main characters, Eve Dallas and Roarke. I also like the way in which the books in this series have been progressing. With every subsequent book it seems to be more about the mystery and less about the sexy. The latter is (thankfully) still there, it wouldn't be an Eve and Roarke story without that aspect, but the balance is definitely shifting towards to crimes and how they're solved.
And, as always, Robb drew me into the story, made me feel the pain, the anger, the pleasure and the joy. She kept me turning the pages, desperate to find out how it ends yet sad that it would have to end at all. This book left me eager for the next one which, much to my joy, is already available in the shops.
In this book the victim who's crime scene Eve is called to, even though she's supposed to be off duty, is the daughter of a colleague and good friend of Captain Whitney's. The sixteen year old girl has been sexually abused in a most brutal way before being murdered; all in her own bedroom.
Although resources are not an issue, Eve and her team can't pick up any useful clues about the murderer and his motives, until just before a second victim is discovered.
When all becomes clear, Eve will have come face to face with parts of her past once again, and will have discovered that, although it will never be easy, she's getting better at dealing with it, always sure of the love and trust of those around her.
TITLE: THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN
