A Novel

by Deborah Crombie

An e book bargain today

#AKillingofInnocents #NetGalley

My only wish is that Deborah Crombie wrote faster and more frequently. Her Gemma Jones and Duncan Kincaid mysteries are among my very favorites. This American author writes a terrific British set series. I have been reading them ever since the first title, A Share in Death, was published in 1993. Over time, the characters and their relationships change and develop, keeping readers riveted. For full enjoyment, the books could be read in order but that is not strictly necessary; enough backstory is provided to keep a new reader from being lost.

In this, the 19th, entry, a young doctor has been murdered and hers is but the first, not the only, death. Sasha had friends and family. She also had a complicated work relationship with one of the nurses at her hospital. The case is brought to both Duncan and Gemma along with their teams. It goes to Duncan because of the murder and Gemma because of there being knife crimes.

Readers get to know Sasha’s family which includes a brother with some tricky history. They also get to know her artist roommate; she too has a brother who may well be suspicious. Sasha was supposed to have been meeting him on the night that she was murdered.

Regular readers of the series will be delighted to catch up with Duncan and Gemma’s children. They will also be interested in finding out how Doug (Kincaid’s team) and Melody (Gemma’s) are doing after the events of the previous books.

The book and series are just a delight. Mark your calendar for this title’s release date!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 07 February 2023

368 pages

List Price: $28.99 (hardcover)

Transient Desires

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

by Donna Leon

Transient Desires is Donna Leon’s thirtieth (!) book about Guido Brunetti. What an accomplishment to have kept a series fresh over so many novels..

In thinking about this title, I concluded that it is a story of place and character, as compared to a classic mystery. There are people good and bad, those with and without morals, those who get caught up in situations with difficult consequences, vicims, various types of love and more. Venice is also critical part of this story. Areas of the city that were new to me were in this book as were the canals, cafes and tourist sites along, of course, with Brunetti’s home.

My favorite of all of the people in this novel is Brunetti. His desire to do right, his willingness to apologize when wrong, his trying to help others and his love of lunch and Paola (his wife) all play their part.

The plot is not dense. Two young girls are injured and left at a hospital. The story goes from there as it impacts a number of others.

If you are going to be a new reader of Brunetti, start at the beginning with Death at La Fenice. All other Leon fans welcome our Commissario back! Now I just have to wait for #31.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Here is another title in the series that began with Before the coffee gets cold. Those familiar with the books know what to expect.

For those who are new to the author, it is important to know that a unique cafe is featured. This spot helps select patrons to return to the past so long as they are ready to return within the proscribed time frame. It is critical that the rules are followed.

Four customers want to go back in time. For example, one is a daughter who pushed her father away.

Will these returns bring peace or resolution? Read this short collection to find out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

This book was published in 2023.

Her distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here’s where to start.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/article/joan-didion-best-books.html

Our columnist has summery new recommendations.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2024/06/23/books/review/new-romance-books.html

The author of “Funny Story” churned out five consecutive No. 1 best-sellers without leaving her comfort zone. How did she pull it off?
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/books/emily-henry-funny-story-tiktok.html

Inside the British Museum reading room — the UK’s grandest library reopens

https://www.thetimes.com/article/18df794b-20c7-4546-932f-0edd14b0a841?shareToken=8b26d9199f04342a4673e0ab9c3586b0

Best audiobooks to listen to this summer

https://www.thetimes.com/article/51eb64f3-4450-4fbd-b862-ed4841cd3068?shareToken=7c3783f58f442a2c7d6adf35dfcaf322

#TheHunter #NetGalley

The Searcher…The Hunter. These linked and simply titled novels by Tana French are highly recommended. While The Hunter can be read without having read The Searcher, they are best as a pair (even if, for any reason, a reader picks up The Searcher second.)

These stories feel different from the author’s earlier Dublin Murder Squad books. I loved those and miss them but these two titles tell of new directions (and welcome ones) on French’s part.

Ardnakelty, the setting, a small, Irish, mostly farming community feels so real that a reader will believe that they could visit. It is a place with a population that includes some quirky characters.

Readers will get to know the most important characters well (although I think that some of the secondary characters sometimes were hard to keep track of). Among these are Trey. To me, she feels like a kindred spirit to Scout in Harper Lee’s book. Both have strong opinions and beliefs. Trey is a teen who has become close to Cal, initially despite herself. Cal is an incomer to Ireland. He has become a kind of mentor to Trey and their relationship has much meaning to both. Lena has become involved in a relationship with Cal though she does not want to marry. She also cares about Trey.

In this novel, Trey’s ne’er do well father, Johnny, is back from England. He has a grand scheme in mind. Readers can find out about this when the pick up the novel…and they should! How will Johnny’s arrival impact Trey who is just beginning to have some stability? Will there be a great deal of destruction?

This book, for me, was kind of a slow burn. I relished its pace however and was in no hurry to turn the last page.

It is very easy to recommend The Hunter. Its characters, setting and story are all memorable.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 05 March 2024

an e book bargain today

I have just begun reading this book which is gently provocative and inspiring.  The author, ordained within the Episcopal Church, has left the ministry to begin teaching World Religion in a small, largely Christian college.

Written in a highly accessible, almost novelistic tone, Ms. Taylor introduces the reader to her students and their studies.  She encourages the reader to think about the role of religion in our lives.  Although I have not yet finished the book, I have the feeling that I will be savoring it right up to the end.  This is a thoughtful and highly recommended read.

From Goodreads:

The renowned and beloved New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world’s religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations.

Barbara Brown Taylor continues her spiritual journey begun in Leaving Church of finding out what the world looks like after taking off her clergy collar. In Holy Envy, she contemplates the myriad ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students’ eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques.

Troubled and inspired by what she learns, Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present. Re-imagining some central stories from the religion she knows best, she takes heart in how often God chooses outsiders to teach insiders how out-of-bounds God really is.

Throughout Holy Envy, Taylor weaves together stories from the classroom with reflections on how her own spiritual journey has been complicated and renewed by connecting with people of other traditions—even those whose truths are quite different from hers.  The one constant in her odyssey is the sense that God is the one calling her to disown her version of God—a change that ultimately enriches her faith in other human beings and in God.