Inferno by Dan Brown

Inferno by Dan Brown

I’ll admit it.  I can’t wait to see what happens to poor Robert Langdon next.  For a professor he sure does get himself into a lot of trouble.  In this book he wakes up in a hospital and has no clue how he got there.  A glimpse out of the window freaks him out entirely.  Last thing he remembers he was on campus in America.  The buildings out his window prove to him where he is – Florence, Italy.  But when, and how, did he get here?  Yep, poor Dr. Langdon has amnesia and it seems like there are people after him and trying to kill him.  Upsetting in normal circumstances, even more upsetting when you have no clue what these crazy killers want!

Was it completely over the top?  Yes.  Was it pretty cool how he incorporated symbolism and the words of Dante?  Yes.  Am I waiting for the next one?  Yes!  If you want great literature, go elsewhere.  If you want a wild ride through Italy (and other places I cannot mention lest I ruin the plot!) definitely give this one a spin.

A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins

A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate by Susanna Calkins

In the mid-1660s in London Lucy Campion is a chambermaid.  She is a “good girl” as she and her employers will admit and goes about her duties faithfully.  Her world is turned upside down when her mistress’s ladies maid, Lucy’s best friend, Bessie, is found brutally murdered in a field.  Lucy’s brother Will is sent to Newcastle to await trial for Bessie’s murder.  Lucy knows that finding any evidence is the only way she can help her brother and keep him from the hangman’s noose.

Lucy is a bit headstrong but she is a believable character of the time.  The murder mystery is almost secondary to the time period.  The persecution of the Quakers, life as a servant, and the outbreak of the plague in 1666 all figure prominently in the narrative.  This is an often overlooked time period, especially from the viewpoint of the help, and it was nice to visit for a while.

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

Cate Cooper is not having a good month.  Her husband commits suicide and at his funeral she learns about his affairs, love child and his impending bankruptcy.  It is all very hard to take in.  Then the repo men come to repossess everything in her house.  Homeless, broke and confused Cate flees New Jersey and returns to Folly Beach, SC, to her Aunt Daisy’s house.  A touch of the magic of the south exactly what she needs to turn her life around.

This is a great later-in-life love story and a tale with a very southern feel.  The characters of Folly Beach are quirky and memorable and the home Cate is living in (the former home of Dorothy and DuBose Heyward, the writer of Porgy) is a character all its own.  A feel good story about how a person can pick up the pieces after it seems that their life has completely fallen apart.

If you enjoy southern accents, don’t miss this one on audio. 

Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge

Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge

A woman is standing off the coast of San Francisco in about two feet of water.  She is staring off into the distance, holding her shoes and wondering how she got there.  Some nice swimmers get her to the hospital where she comes to the realization that she has no clue who she is.  After her story is run on the local newstations a man, her fiancé, comes to claim her and bring her home to Seattle.  Lucie, who is surprised to learn her name is Lucie, seems very different from the successful, fashion conscious and hyper-organized woman Grady asked to marry him.  Can he love this new Lucie as much as the former one?

Most “I suddenly have amnesia” books tend to be lighthearted.  Not this one.  There is a reason Lucie ran, and a reason she’s blanked out her past.  Lucie needs to remember the trauma of her childhood, a trauma she blanked out once before.  This is a love story, the love between Lucie and Grady (who is wonderful by the way) and how they are coping with her transformation.  But it is also a coming of age story; a soon to be 40-year-old woman who is only now dealing with the events of her past.

The Blue Fox by Sjón

The Blue Fox by Sjón

A man goes out onto the Icelandic glacier in pursuit of a blue fox.  A blizzard comes up and he must battle the elements to survive.  A girl is born different and struggles to survive in the world after being saved from horrific circumstances.  These two stories meld in a way that will surprise and satisfy any reader.

I will admit straight out that I love anything that has to do with Iceland (and I’m sure you’ll see posts here about more books set in that country over time) but that is not the only reason I loved this book.  First, it is short.  In a time when it seems like most authors get paid by the word it’s great to read a complete story in less than 120 pages.  Second, the style is poetic and stark, but not over or underdone.  You are not begging for further information or description; it is all there.  Finally, I love a good fable.  And this is a great one.

Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

Genevieve is living her dream.  She saved enough money from her London jobs to take a year off, buy a barge and live on it at a marina in Kent as she fixes it up.  She doesn’t miss her high pressure sales job but she does kind of miss her weekend one.  Genevieve was a pole dancer at a gentleman’s club where she made great money.  She doesn’t miss the shady back room dealings – she kept her nose clean, but she knew something was going on.  She does miss her best friend Caddy and the dancing itself. 

To celebrate her efforts she decides to have a boat-warming party and invites the marina locals and friends from London.  The party goes well, but she’s a little disappointed that Caddy didn’t show.  Later that night there is a bumping against the side of her boat.  Genevieve is horrified to find a body up against her home, a body that looks a lot like Caddy.

This was an interesting mix of settings for a mystery.  You learn a lot about houseboats and the life of a pole dancer.  Two topics I never thought I’d be interested in, but both were neat to learn about in their own ways. 

I loved Haynes’s first book Intothe Darkest Corner and was looking forward to this one.  I wouldn’t say I was disappointed, but it wasn’t as gripping.  Her third comes out this summer and I already have a hold on it.  I’m not giving up on Haynes!

Palisades Park by Alan Brennert

Palisades Park by Alan Brennert

This is the story of a family growing up near, in and with Palisades Park from the 1930s through to its closing in the 1970s.  The Park becomes a character with many renewals, rebirths and finally a decline.  The characters in the novel are interesting, vibrant and realistic considering their unique circumstances.   The family owns a concession at the Park and other concessionaires, traveling showman and carnies of all types become friends, lovers and mentors.

I have never been to Palisades, yet I remember other amusement parks fondly.  Who didn’t want to run off and join a circus or carnival after being wowed by the performances and enticed by the music and the smells of the concessions?  This is the story of some people that made the park a central part of their life and how that place affected their life choices.

 If you remember the Park, and find yourself humming the iconic song just reading the name, you’ll want to visit that swinging place called Palisades Park once again while reading this book.

Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

Need some escapism?  You can always count on the romantic suspense of Nora Roberts.  

For Eli Landon Boston no longer feels comfortable.  He was cleared in the murder of his wife, but there are many who don’t believe in his innocence.  So he returns to the family estate at Whiskey Beach, to look after the place while his grandmother recovers from a fall.  Did his grandmother fall?  Or did the intruder that has been in the house looking for famed pirate treasure give her a push?  Could the famed Esmeralda’s Dowry actually exist?

This is a fun beach read…or listen.  The reader is male so some of his female voices and romantic interactions were a little odd, but I was able to ignore it and enjoy the story.  My one complaint is that Eli’s love interest, Abra, was the most perfect person I have ever read about!  She’s intelligent, forgiving, empathetic and quirky.  I like my main characters, especially in romances, to have a little more of an edge or at least a bad habit!  Still an enjoyable diversion while stuck in traffic.

The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne

The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne

An eight-year old boy is found dead; a victim of a brutal murder on a local playground.  An eleven-year old boy, Sebastian, a neighbor, is accused of the crime.  Daniel Hunter, a man with a difficult childhood, is the solicitor for Sebastian.  Daniel’s past, and how he identifies with the situations his young clients find themselves in, weaves a thread throughout the arrest and trial of Sebastian.

There are two separate, yet related, storylines here.  First is the straightforward trial of Sebastian for the murder of his neighbor.  Second, is the story of Daniel’s childhood with Minnie, a foster parent who legally adopts him as a teenager.  The estrangement between Daniel and Minnie, wanting to know what went wrong in a relationship that saved Daniel from being one of the troubled kids he defends, is the real mystery at the center of this novel.

If you enjoyed Defending Jacob you will find this a gripping read.  The courtroom drama is well written and the backstories really come to life.

In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

Gabriel is facing a mid-life crisis.  He’s a chef at a struggling hotel in London with an international staff.  Things are going well at the restaurant, yet he’s trying to put together funding and a location for a restaurant of his own which is causing him a lot of stress and anxiety.  His long time girlfriend seems to be hinting at marriage.  His father has fallen seriously ill.  And one of his porters has been found dead in the cellars under the hotel restaurant – was it murder?

I was looking forward to reading this book having heard wonderful things about other books by this author.  However, I have a really hard time enjoying a book when I don’t like the main character.  I really didn’t like Gabe.  He makes some horrible decisions and I have to admit I don’t understand why he does some of the things he does.  The book was described as a murder mystery (there is no mystery) in a fast paced restaurant kitchen (yes, but the kitchen scenes are minimal).  I would describe it more as a mid-life crisis over ethical issues by a man with questionable morals.

Fever by Mary Beth Keane

Fever by Mary Beth Keane

This is the story of Mary Mallon.  She was a woman who arrived in New York a poor young Irish immigrant with no skills.  Through hard work, and a strong personality, she elevated her position from laundress to head cook in good households throughout the city.  Her food was well received as was her care for the ill.  It was a surprise to the families, and Mary herself, to find out that she was a healthy carrier of a deadly disease.  Mary Mallon was Typhoid Mary.

This is the story of an ordinary woman trying to make a living in hard times that is stalked and harassed by a doctor telling her that she is making people sick.  Mary doesn’t believe him, nor do many of her friends and acquaintances, because the idea is just too hard to comprehend.  Mary isn’t sick so how can she make others sick through cooking?  And can Mary stop cooking when she is making a salary many times that of a laundress?

A very human face is put to the woman who was given the infamous moniker.