Looking for You

Alexander McCall Smith writes so many books and so many series that I can barely keep up with him, just as a reader! But I enjoyed the first volume in this little series so I thought I'd try the second one too. Maybe because I've been in the mood for some gentler reads lately in antidote to all my mystery reading, this one suited. 

Katie Donald is still running her cousin's matchmaking company in Edinburgh, and starting to get the hang of it. Her cousin Ness is still in Canada. And her business neighbour Will is now un-engaged, but their relationship is still undefined, beyond friendship. 

It's told in a series of client stories, in which Katie and William help a range of people find a match, or at least try to. We meet a crashing snob who only wants someone with his level of social caché, which strains Katie's professionalism a bit. And there is a woman who met 'the perfect man' at a supermarket but didn't give him her name or contacts, or get his - and now hopes they can find him again. And there are others, with McCall Smith's trademark musings, asides and philosophical additions. Lots of small observations of the minutia that make up daily life, which enrich the narrative. 

If you're in the mood for a slower paced, charming read that is just easy and gentle, I'd recommend this series as a good pick. Just perfect for a peaceful read. 

The Lightning Bottles

 

The Lightning Bottles / Marisa Stapley 
TO: Simon & Schuster Canada, c2024.
294 p.

This has a little bit of mystery/suspense to it but it's really more about relationships, fame, trust and music. It's a Canadian novel but takes place mainly in the US and Germany - and a bit of the rest of Europe as well. 

Jane Pyre grows up stifled in small town Ontario. She wants to be a musician, a star, and finds a 'soulmate' on an online forum. Elijah Hart lives in Seattle and is there at the beginnings of the grunge movement. When Jane finally decides to leave home (still a teenager), she makes her way to Elijah. His bandmates see her as a bit of a Yoko Ono, but she and Elijah are magic together -- their songs (well, Jane's songs, really) shoot them into the stratosphere. But despite their soul connection, Jane can't keep fame from affecting Elijah in all the worst ways. He starts using, he's unreliable, and eventually he disappears. The fan base turns on Jane, blaming her, of course. 

Much later, Jane retreats to a tiny remote town in Germany. But next door lives Hen, a teenager and superfan of the Lightning Bottles, who recognizes Jane. Hen is convinced that Elijah has been leaving coded messages for Jane through street art across Europe, and somehow convinces Jane to check it out with her. And then the two of them go on a road trip across Germany, France and Iceland to find Elijah, if it is indeed him leaving obscure signs. 

This is a really entertaining read. There are some dark themes, and some sadness and exhaustion that permeates the pages, but it kept me reading. The look at 90s music, the cost of fame, misogyny in the music world, the world of street art, and the drive toward musical life especially in Jane -- it's all intriguing and slots together really smoothly. With this tough, hard world, I would have loved to see Jane more powerful and less forgiving overall. But it's a perfect rock n roll story if you're in the mood for something both nostalgic and edgy. There is a lot to think about, including the ending, and it made for a satisfying read. 

Crafting an Alibi: a Gasper's Cove mystery

 

Crafting an Alibi / Barbara Emodi
Lafayette, CA: C&T, c2025
224 p.

It's the beginning of a new month, and I have lots of Christmas reading planned. But I still have a bunch of reviews to share from my recent mystery binge, so will have to catch up on a few of those before I switch over to holiday fare. 

Starting with one in a series that I've read all of so far -- this is Book 5 in the entertaining Gasper's Cove mystery series. We meet many of the same characters we've seen over the last few books, but see them from new angles. And there are some new characters added too, perhaps ones we will see again. 

As this story begins, Valerie is invited into a big secret held by a group of senior ladies, now resident at the Seaview Manor. She is asked to find some valuable fabric hidden decades ago, but before she can do it, the hiding place is burned to the ground. Unfortunately for Valerie, it was her family cottage and there was a renter in it. 

This set-up leads to some dramatic events -- insurance investigations, attempted murders, further fires -- all while Valerie is trying to puzzle out the clues (missing important steps as usual). She is also in the midst of helping to plan her cousin/best friend's wedding, dealing with her emotions over being an empty nester, and of course losing a family property. 

There is a lot going on here, but it's rooted in the same small town atmosphere as the previous books in the series. It has the hallmarks of a Gasper's Cove story - some Nova Scotia history, some cozy relationships which involve food and tea, and Valerie's crafting knowledge, which always plays a part. I really enjoyed the cabal of old ladies at Seaview Manor in this novel and hope to see their cleverness highlighted again.  

If you've enjoyed this series so far, this is a good addition, with some lovely scenes as well as some heart-pounding ones. Beware, you may be left craving butter tarts after this one!

(first published in slightly different form at FollowingTheThread)

The Medusa Situation

The Medusa Situation / Gabiann Marin
Bittern, Australia: Clan Destine Press, c2024.
238 p.

This was another random discovery, this time on Hoopla. It's by an Australian author, set in Australia, featuring the classic Greek gods, now dethroned. It's imaginative and entertaining. 

In this world, the Greek gods are living on the edges of society, trying to survive while passing as regular people, not always successfully. They get existence credits by the fact of people believing in them -- in one scene Hera is a bit pissed that other gods ride the pop culture wave and have so many more credits than she does. It's snarky and funny and a pretty consistent set-up. 

The story gets rolling when Hera is approached by Medusa's two sisters to help with a problem; Medusa's head has gone missing again and they think Perseus may be behind it. This is dangerous as Medusa's head can be used as a weapon to turn enemies (and any random humans in the way) into stone. 

A feminist search ensues; Hera is only too glad to get a break from the slovenly, lazy Zeus who just hangs around the house all day watching Mystic TV (and is helpless without her). She and her step-daughter Athena put aside their differences to start investigating, wanting to recover Medusa's head for everyone's security, but also for Medusa's own dignity. 

The story is a romp, with sly nods at a lot of Greek mythology -- if you are familiar with the myths you might be quicker at making a list of suspects, but if you're not you will still be able to follow easily. In the end there is a reason that Medusa's sisters came to Hera and not one of the male gods, and it's Hera's well-known detective skills and slightly vindictive nature that solve the problem. There are discussions of how Medusa was treated, and some serious allegations against some of the characters, so it's not all light. But the story also contains a lot of feminist humour, highlighting how the women in Greek myth were often portrayed as simply decorative or as props to the male gods. Here they stand on their own, and for their own. 

This book might be a little hard to find but if you can get your hands on it, it's a fresh, funny read that I really enjoyed. Hurrah for the Goddesses! 

Den of Thieves

Den of Thieves / Katharine Stall
NY: Simon & Schuster, c1987.
286 p.

This was a random discovery at a used bookshop; I loved the cover and then when I read the premise I knew I had to buy it. That premise? That some divinity students get involved in a conspiracy when they discover that a charismatic televangelist is using a fake 'ministry' to brainwash the country through media (in this case tv) so that his version of a Christian Nation can take over. Sound timely? It was. 

Not only did I find the concept intriguing, her narrative tone is both sharp and easy to read. It's an intellectual adventure story -- theology, kidnappings, spies, murders, brainwashing, remote compounds and more. I found it entertaining as a caper, but also with some elements that might make you think a little deeper.  

P.K. Mather is a preacher's kid, trying to live down her father's conviction years earlier for attempting to blow up a train of weapons headed to Vietnam. But in her moment of crisis she discovers that she's more like her father than she'd realized - she needs to stand up for what she believes, and track down the fundamentalist network kidnapping non-evangelical preachers as the first step in their great brainwashing plan. 

Cross-country hijinks ensue, complete with connections to P.K.'s father's old sixties underground compatriots and some of P.K.'s own fellow students. This story reflects a lot of the elements of American culture that are at the forefront today, and is scathingly satirical about much of it. I never knew that a story about divinity students could be so thrilling, engaging and just plain fun!

I couldn't find much information on the author, and haven't found anything else she's written since. It's too bad because this one was clever, with some sharp social commentary and an interesting main character. Not a setting or theme I've seen much of in fiction but really well done here. A serendipitous find! 
 

The Lake of Dead Languages

 

The Lake of Dead Languages / Carol Goodman
NY: Ballantine, c2002.
390 p.

This is one I first read many years ago; it started my habit of reading all of Goodman's books as soon as they were released. But since I've been in a bit of a mystery/thriller mood, I decided to reread it. I still liked it a lot - all those elements, gothic storyline, academia, murders, secrets and silence that show up in most of Goodman's subsequent books start here. It's a first novel, though, so not as strong as the following ones, for me. 

Jane Hudson has returned to the girls school she graduated from twenty years earlier; she's now the Latin teacher. She is newly single and has a young daughter, so thinks that this change may give them their own new beginning. But Jane is forgetting that her last year at the school was fraught with terrible things; three suicides and Jane left behind to go on with her life without her friends. And now that she is back, secrets are threatening to burst out of the past and disrupt her longing for a peaceful, ordinary routine. 

The story flashes between the past and Jane's present, slowly building up a clearer picture of what happened back then, and why it might be resurfacing now. I like this technique and found it gave lots of chances to create suspense. Jane herself is a bit meh as a character this time around and that ending! It's so melodramatic! I recall being a bit sceptical of it the first time and it was definitely OTT on rereading ;) 

As a debut novel, though, it's well done, entertaining and atmospheric, which is why I became a fan and have read all of her work since. I'm not sure it was as good this time around as my memories of first reading it over twenty years ago, but that so often happens with an old favourite. And now that I've read so many of her other books I guess the comparisons can change perceptions of a story. Still, I think it's a good read, if you haven't read her yet, you'll probably want to go back to it once you get hooked on her more recent titles!

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax

 

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax / Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblat
Ashland, OR: Blackstone Publishing, 1991, c1973.

As I mentioned in yesterday's review, I've been loving the Mrs. Pollifax series. I had to continue my streak by listening to the next book in the series. This fourth volume has Mrs. Pollifax staying put in one place: a health spa in Switzerland. This is quite a different situation than the wide ranging travels of her first three adventures. It also feels a bit more fanciful, with the inclusion of an imaginary country as the centre of a conspiracy. 

Mrs. Pollifax is once again sent out for an 'easy job' which becomes much more complex. She meets an intriguing cast of characters, none of whom are who they first seem. Being trusting and friendly, she makes many connections, one of them with a young boy who is there with his recuperating grandmother and is very lonely. This boy is also clever and resourceful, which comes in very handy later on. 

I loved the way that the closed room feel of this one allows for some deep character development. And there are some anxious bits mixed in with the humour and lightheartedness, as usual for this series. Mrs. Pollifax finds a gory dead body near the beginning, and later is kidnapped by the villains along with her young friend; they end up (through many twists) touring a castle nearby, in which Mrs. P uses her new karate skills and the two of them evade capture for hours. 

The finale is a bit nail biting, and the moment that saves them is hilariously unlikely but perfect. And once again Mrs. P encounters a helicopter in the closing pages of a story. 

I enjoyed this one greatly, finding the characters memorable, and the outlandishly mustache twirling villains entertaining - I feel that she could let herself go a bit since she'd created an imaginary country and so didn't have to be so careful or exact. Loads of fun, and I definitely recommend the audiobook series as the reader is so good. This is proving to be my series of the year ;)