The Janissary Tree: A Novel The first in the series of books by Jason Goodwin with protagonist Inspector Yashim, an eunuch with connection to the Sultan and his mother in 19th century Istanbul. A pleasant low-suspense mystery that allows the reader to get Goodwin’s insights into the politics, culture, and daily lives in Istanbul in […]
Tagged book, istanbul, reviewWhite Heat: The First Edie Kiglatuk Mystery (Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries) Edie Kiglatuk is a woman of half Inuit heritage. She lives in one of the Canadian portions of the Arctic very near Greenland. She’s an accomplished hunter and guide. A person who can deal with much of the modern world but also held in another […]
Tagged book, mcgrath, reviewThe Woman and the Ape A nice treatment of the conflicts between our manufactured perfection and the perfection of the natural world. The woman comes from her perfect world and an ape, capable of speech and intelligence we often associate with humans is captured from his world. The two come together, live together in an […]
Tagged book, hoeg, reviewThe Second Deadly Sin Another very nice mystery/thriler by Asa Larsson featuring Rebecka Martinsson and Anna-Maria Mella. Great descriptions of the cold in northern Sweden near Lapland. Larsson’s stories are filled with dark turns and redemption. Another one nicely done.
Tagged book, larsson, mystery, reviewAn Event in Autumn: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original) A relatively short, but very good novel that features Kurt Wallander. Although there will be no more Kurt Wallander novels, and he was essentially done away with in a previous novel, this one seems to have been unearthed form Mankel’s previous writings. All […]
Tagged book, mystery, review, wallanderA Conspiracy of Faith: A Department Q Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen Another in the series of Alder-Olsen’s Department Q series. These books deal with an Inspector Carl Morck and his two assistants as they deal with what we call cold cases, ones that have not been solved for many years. It often turns out thought […]
Tagged mystery, reviewThe Baklava Club: A Novel (Investigator Yashim) by Jason Godwin Having visited Istanbul I enjoyed reading this mystery/novel set in 19th Century Istanbul and written with historical accuracy. The plot moves along although I was disappointed in having guessed the primary perpetrator of one of several murders. However, the story is interspersed with descriptions of […]
Tagged instanbul, reviewThe Jew Store: A Family Memoir by Stella Suberman America in the twenties. The Bronsons, a Jewish family, the parents are from Russia, move first to Nashville and then to Concordia TN to establish a business – Bronson’s Low Priced Store. As I read it I thought it was told almost entirely from the point […]
Tagged memoir, reviewThe Man Who Smiled: A Kurt Wallander Mystery (4) (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Henning Mankell Another great police mystery by Mankell. It contains the usual characters on the police force and Wallander’s family and friends. Parts allude to the struggle of the common man against the rich and powerful with some justice in the end.
Tagged mystery, review, wallanderThe Word Exchange: A Novel by Alena Graedon The future. A symbiotic relationship between humans and their ‘smart’ devices. All seems good except that words are supplied to us so we don’t have to think of them, at a modest cost. But what about cornering the market on words? Removing all existing text and dictionaries. […]
Tagged review, science fiction