4 books
From
kl7ikx.1@gmail.com@21:1/5 to
All on Mon Dec 2 17:49:35 2019
I haven't been posting mostly because I'm still dealing
with the darn earthquake impact from a year ago, and
hubby's health has really declined. Ambulance has carted
him off 5 times in the last year. And visited us 3 times
last Christmas Eve.
I have been doing less reading, but I would like to mention
just 4 books I've read of late. Not my usual fare.
I do like to read mysteries set in unusual places. I found
one called "Death on the Patagonian Express" by Hy Conrad.
Its 2nd in a travel themed series about a young woman and
her mother who do a travel blog based on the daughter's
travels. This one is a bit like Christie's Oriental Express
in that it deals with a small group of people travels on a
fictional line that "historically" ran across the mountains
from Argentina to Chile. The railroad line has been shut
down for years. An entrepreneur has restored old cars and
has invited travel writers to enjoy the inaugural run. Its
different in that the train travels to ranches along the
route which are going to be "resorts" where the passengers
stay for a day or two to enjoy the wilderness. I loved the
travel part of it. And the mystery was unusual. I could not
figure out where the clues were pointing. Great intrigue.
The relationship and character development of the mother
and daughter was nicely worked.
I don't read romance at all but after reading "Agnes & the
Hitman" some years back I am a fan of Jennifer Crusie who
writes stand alones. "Welcome to Temptation" has silly
romances in it among several couples, but it was so quirky
and absurd I just kept reading.
The main character has a business as a wedding video
photographer. She gets roped in to doing a video of a
"has been" porn star returning to her hometown,
Temptation, which is a small southern town. Lots of hilarious
small town politics and situations. You know its absurd from
the first page when the photographer and her sister come
over the hill for their first view of the town and discover
the water tower shaped like a rocket has been painted a
flesh colored "peach" which looks like a giant phallic
symbol and is deeply involved in controversy as the local
town election approaches. Through being forced to
completely paint and decorate the actress's family home
to "look good" for the film and all that involves, and
some legal issues with the very handsome sheriff who
mostly just runs the bookstore,accidental porn videos,
many family secrets of many town residents remiiscent
of "Peyton Place" but funny. And of course a dead body.
There really are no clues for the reader to figure anything
out. Its just a very funny wild ride through many situations
and some very unexpected endings.
And the lst one is by Christopher Fowler, Way out of my
normal reading. I had previously read his "The Water Room"
and found it very unusual. I don't read much English
mystery now, and I don't read cops. His series is about
2 officers in London's "Peculiar Crimes Unit". And his
topics are very unique. I was so fascinated by the first
one I picked up another calle "Seventy Seven Clocks."
While it was obvious by the title that clocks were a
serious subject in the plot, it was so subtle I couldn't
really get a handle on it. Usually I only read books
set around Cristmas between Thanksgiving and the New Year.
I had no idea this was set between December 14 and
December 28. Besides clocks other themes in the book
were Gilbert and Sullivan theatricals, and misleading
hints about tontines. It involves the mysterious and
unique murders of several members of a certain family,
thus qualifying as "peculiar". It is certainly not
a police procedural. In fact these cops are extremely
unorthodox. This particular one is set in 1973 as
the partners report back to when the unit was first
put together. The author really sets the reader into
the time period referring to major world political
events not only in Britain but the US as well. Both
the Fowler books I read run on the dark side, but
I found them fascinating.
And ONE book NOT a mystery, but I tripped over it
and wanted to share. If any of you are fans of
James Herriot's books about his live a Yorkshire
veterinarian mid 20 century. I recently discovered
he also wrote several novella's about his life in
the military in WWII. The one I found was "Vet in
a Spin" while he was training to fly planes.
Written with his usual wit and dry humor regarding
every day life in the military and a smidge of
animal tales too. There are 7 more, and I intend to
find all of them.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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