Murder on the Eiffel Tower

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner is a wonderful book that combines history and mystery to produce a fun work of fiction. We are immersed from the beginning in the 1889 World Exposition in Paris. The entire city is focused on the new Eiffel Tower and the exposition. The joy and the excitement of going up to the viewing platforms has visitors in a frenzy. And when someone is murdered on the platform, the case makes front page news. But who would murder a maiden aunt taking her niece and nephews on an outing? Victor Legris, a young bookseller, is on the platform with newspaper friends when this happens and wants to find the culprit. And when more people start dying after visiting the viewing platforms and the exposition, he is determined to solve the case - even as his friends are turning into suspects.

The author (really a pen name for two lady booksellers in modern France) brings to life the Paris of the time, and Victor's occupations as bookseller and book critic. Victor is a compelling character who is trying to be modern but finds he is more conservative than he thinks he is. With a cast of interesting secondary characters, the story allows us a brief glimpse into their world. And we had a wonderful time. A very fun read.

The Perfect Poison

The Arcane Society continues in Amanda Quick's The Perfect Poison. Quick (who is Jayne Ann Krentz) has written her sixth book in the series - the third historical one. And much to this reader's joy - she keeps the excitement in the series. (Can I tell you how many times books within a long series, have clunkers through out because the author can not keep up the quality?)

Finally Quick brings us Colin's story. Colin Jones' talent is a difficult one - he has a talent for strategy and making connections. He sees the patterns in his head and connects the dots so that the Society and his new project, Jones and Company can figure out what is going on in the battle for the founder's formula. He doesn't have Miss Lucinda Bromley in his pattern however.

Lucinda has a talent for botany - more specifically figuring out what botanic ingredients have been combined to create potions for good or for evil. She's been helping a member of Scotland Yard, with various cases that involve poisons and she discovers that one of the ingredients she has figured out was stolen from her greenhouse. She decides to enlist Jones and Company to find out who the thief is and where is her plant. She also has a bit of a reputation - she is rumored to have poisoned her fiance, and wants things handled as quickly as possible. When they meet - they end up surprising each other - with their talents and intelligence. And when Colin figures out her thief is connected to his quest - the hunt is on.

Quick once again gives us great characters, with pithy dialogue and a roller coaster ride of a plot. And she brings us an excellent subplot of an Arcane Society matchmaker in action. (It would be fun to have her again in another book!) Along the way she manages to deftly fill in more details about the Jones family, the Arcane Society, their history, and their members' talents. I can hardly wait for the next installment! A very good read!

Fool's Puzzle

When you are reading the first book in a series, you hope for the best. The best would be that you are interested enough in the character, her surroundings and situations to continue reading the rest of the books in the series. The worst would be that nothing touched the reader enough to bother looking up the next book in the series. I'm here to say that Earlene Fowler's Fool's Puzzle has brought out the best.

Benni Harper is a widow who has taken up the job of a director of a small town folk-art museum. The museum also rents out studio space to various artists. Benni happens to stumble upon one - a dead one - when she is supposed to be setting up for her first quilt exhibition. Was it a former boyfriend? A stranger? Blackmail? Benni keeps getting hints from the local police chief to leave it alone. But as she asks more questions, she keeps finding more clues about what happened the night her husband died.

Fowler sets up a series filled with an interesting location - a farming/cattle area in small town California, quirky characters - her best friend Elvia is a stitch, and a question of romance between the Hispanic police chief and Benni. She leaves the reader wanting to know what happens next to these folks. A good read.

Traveling with Carolyn Blue

Sometimes when you find a "new" mystery series you get the urge to run out and read all the books in order, right away, because you are obsessed with the characters, theme or the setting. And because you are reading a series, you might shortly discover that the author might have a "formula" or "pattern" in their books. And the books might all seem similar. This is what is known as a genre, folks! (Some people may say there are only 6 stories - just told over and over and over again!) And in crime/mystery fiction somebody usually solves a murder/puzzle/crime. The art is in creating scenarios and characters that the reader wants to come back to.

I have been whipping through Nancy Fairbanks' books with the food writer/academics wife/mom Carolyn Blue. I had read the first one for it's New Orleans connection a while ago (see early posting). But now I needed to read her books about traveling to France - Death a L'Orange and French Fried. (And now I've been sucked into reading them all!) And travel we did. One book is set in the city of Lyons, the other in Paris and the surrounding countryside on a tour with a bunch of not so nice academics.

We can identify with Carolyn because she is an underestimated sleuth. She's the nondescript over 40+ lady who is supposed to stay in the background. But she doesn't and that is when she gets in to trouble or when the humor begins. In Chocolate Quake, she ends up on the back of a motorcycle to go interview a guy in a pool hall nicknamed Spider. Holy Guacamole has Mrs. Blue crossing the Mexican border by her hometown of El Paso with a female ex-vice cop and ends up being her partner in bounty hunting. (Pretty darn funny scene.)

I like reading travel narratives and this is really what these mysteries are about. (And it is a cheap way to travel!) Carolyn talks about and notices the food, but then that is her specialty and profession. She is my kind of traveler - looking at the cultural aspects of the area while having studied the history of the town etc. That is how I travel - which may be why I enjoy these so much. Are these realistic? Well - the travel part is pretty real - and she exposes the reader to sights that they may not have know about. It is a travel guide? No - but it is a heck of a good read. I'm up to the Mozzarella title and having a fun frothy time. A fun read with some quirky characters. Enjoy.


Crime Brulee
Truffled Feathers
Death a L’Orange
Chocolate Quake
The Perils of Paella
Holy Guacamole
Mozzarella Most Murderous
Three-Course Murder
Bon Bon Voyage
French Fried
Turkey Flambe

Dream a Little Dream

Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a story about redemption and healing. Gabe Bonner just wants to be left alone after the death of his wife and son. Rachel Stone is a widow, trying to stand on her own and survive with her son. She is trying to create a new life for herself that has nothing to do with the life she lead as the younger wife of a "take the money and run" preacher. Gabe doesn't want her son near him. It reminds him too much of his dead son.

Phillips is a writer who has a way with snappy dialogue and humor, but she has chosen topics that are not easy. Recovering from religious betrayal is not a popular topic in romance books. But she tackles it with grace and sensitivity. Rachel can be seen as just trying to grab her share of the pie, but Phillips shows us that beneath the tough shell, she is a person who has doubts and fears. She also tackles the topic of trying to have a relationship while having a child. That is never an easy process, and she makes the relationship between Gabe and Edward a cantankerous one. It does test the love Rachel has for Gabe.

She also has some excellent secondary characters in Ethan and Kristy. Ethan, Gabe's brother, is a preacher who seems attracted to the bad girls and doesn't notice the good girl - Kristy - who is in front of his nose, until she quits working for him. A fun couple to watch.

This book is part of an overall series (Chicago Stars) that Phillips has, but it can be read as a stand alone. It really is a nice example of well developed romance fiction. Some people may have trouble with the religion topic - there are good preachers and bad ones - but I think she is brave enough to take it on. A very good read.

Going Overboard

Some publishers have a sneaky way of having a story blurb on the back of a book that is supposed to be a mini peak at what the storyline is. Some have a paragraph that turns out to be nothing like the book inside. Talk about snarky! When you like the book - it is fine - but when you don't the consumer/reader might get a tad irritated. They are lucky this one was a good book.

I chose Going Overboard by Christina Skye as part of a book discussion on contemporary romance. I was interested in the setting a Caribbean cruise ship. I have always have wanted to go on one so this seemed like a way to enjoy one with out leaving my living room. (And that made it a bit cheaper on expenses, too.) Well, I think we are on the cruise for about the first third of the book and then it is on to all over the islands. This is no placid ride. This is a romance adventure.

It starts out simply enough. Photographer/Video Director Carly Sullivan needs a buff looking guy for her shoot that needs to take place during the cruise. It is an ad for the cruise line. The model they got was a bit flabby and she needs a last minute replacement. She starts scouting on board and finds Ford McKay who says he is a rancher from Wyoming. A very buff rancher. They start working together. And when the bullets start flying on a location shot on an island, Ford is definitely not just a rancher. (Hint - he's a Navy SEAL.)

There's intrigue, kidnapping, terrorists threats, assignation attempts and murders. (And you thought this just was a nice boat trip.) And through it all Carly and Ford learn about each other's strengths, desires and fears. They want each other but can their jobs and current situation keep their love alive?

A fast paced adventure from island to island with some great characters. A good read.

Belle Weather

Columnist, Celia Rivenbark makes us laugh again with Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny With a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits. I'm not quite sure what makes me laugh so hard at her work. Is it the southern flavor? I don't live in the south so is it "really" southern. Is her gentle but snarky (hard to combo but I think it works) jabs to one and all of her favorite topics? Or is it the ride of the absurd as she gives us a rambling tale that ends with us saying "Huh? Didn't we start back over there? " Or is just her funny turn of phrase?

Some examples:
On online dating-
"Her friend complained 'There ain't nothing out there for the rednecks.' ...but "listing one of her 'unique attributes' as the 'ability to pee off the side of my daddy's bass boat while standing' wasn't the sort of thing most on-line dating services could really appreciate."

On how she is disappointed in the 'new' TV Guide magazine-
"...I always felt that the Holy Grail would be to write the program synopses for TV Guide. It wasn't my fallback, it was my dream job and now, verily, it will never be. ...I pictured being paid a big pile of money to watch hundreds of hours of TV before reducing a complicated plot line to few powerful nouns and verbs."

And her open letter to Britney Spears is something to read...
"Through all the wild partying and head shaving and fornicating and tattooing and what not I've got your back. Even though, when you shaved your head , you looked like the world's only redneck Tibetan monk. ...I didn't lose faith in you."

A little essay here, a little essay there - fun for all abounds. A fun read for a crummy time.

Death Swatch

Death Swatch is the newest book in Laura Childs' scrapbooking series. It has a great setting - Mardi Gras time in New Orleans - and some great characters in Carmela and her girlfriend Ava. It even has a great mystery - a float designer who has connections to some of the highest crewes that parade, is killed at a Mardi Gras party. (A dark humorous scene is everyone coming to the funeral when they are all hung over from their various Mardi Gras parties from the night before.) He also was an amateur historian interested in maps and Jean Lafitte's treasure. Who has the map and who killed him for it? And is there a treasure? Carmela gets more than she planned for in this hectic and fast paced adventure.

I was actually thrilled that this series finally seems to have hit it's stride. The story is strong and the characters are too. I loved the part where Carmela and her women friends have created their own female crewe. I just wish the author would move the interpersonal relationships forward. Carmela and her ex have been hanging on too long and it seems to be dragging the series and the character development down. I hope this gets taken care of in the next book. A fun read.

Through a Glass, Deadly

Sarah Atwell's Through a Glass, Deadly is her Agatha nominated first book in the glassblowing series. Emmeline Dowell has created a life for herself as a glass artisan in Tucson. She is happy living above her studio and shop, selling her glass pieces and teaching classes in the ancient art of glass making. Finding a body in her furnace is a big surprise. Even more astonishing is the fact that this body was the husband of someone she just met. And this husband was involved with the mob. Em just wants to find the murderer so that things can get back to normal. Having the police over means her ex boyfriend, the chief of police, Matt will soon be by.

Atwell gives us a great exploration of glassblowing - maybe more that you wanted, but I always thought it was a fascinating art - and of the Tucson area. Em is an interesting artist and it is great to see her passion for her work. She is an appealing character, there are great secondary characters and it is a good start for a new series. I'm looking forward to the next one. A good read.

Bright Lights, Big Ass & More

What can you say about Jen Lancaster's books? They are funny. They are relatable. And sometimes she says those not so nice things that you were just dying to say!

Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? is her sequel to Bitter in Black and it continues the tale of money and job woes and their slow recovery. It also tells the story of Jen's book deal which happens whiles she's in temping hell. And then there are those wacky neighbors? They never have those on the glam TV shows!

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big or Why Pie is Not the Answer is a story about losing weight. But it also the story of someone trying to accept their body, make it healthier, and figure out how she got that way and make some changes in her life. She makes the working out horror story seem funny, and brings a great "everyday" woman appeal to the typical "trying to change myself" memoir. If it is on thing you learn - Jen is not typical. Very funny and inspiring.

Lancaster's next book is supposed to be a memoir about growing up. I can't wait to see her perspective on it. And to laugh about it. Her books are very good reads.

We'll Always Have Parrots or Organized Chaos Can Be Fun

Donna Andrews has written a mystery series. Her publisher refers to them rather plainly as "the Meg Langslow mysteries." I'll just call them "organized chaos." From the very beginning of the series, Murder With Peacocks, to the one I just finished, We'll Always Have Parrots, we are exposed to a world that Andrews has created containing lovable quirky characters, twisting plot points, way too much happening at one time, and the occasional murder. And let us not forget the birds. What may have started a cute title idea has managed with Andrews' cleverness to be fully integrated into the story line. Each book has something to do about birds.

Meg is a great character who while the chaos reigns around, manages to wrangle it, direct it and sometimes conquer it. She's a take charge kind of gal, and if someone in her large extended family is suspected of murder, she tries to make it right. A bit "type A" for someone who is an artistic blacksmith (but she has been getting into making armory lately...), but because she is the "sane one" in the room, we cling to her as the story tumbles and tosses along.

Her family are a bit nutty. The mother who is a gossip and diva. Her dad, a retired doctor, who is a big mystery fan who wants to help out at the autopsies. Her brother, the "barely passed the bar" lawyer, who managed to create a hit computer game. Her nephew, whose duck follows him everywhere. And the countless other distant and not so distant cousins who keep popping up with regularity. Did I mention it was set in the South?

I can not describe all the funny bits in these books. Maybe because there are too many to describe. But if you do not find anything funny in these - well then - you have no sense of humor and just go away. But I highly recommend them for these serious tense times. A very good read. I can not wait to start the next ones.

The Meg Langslow books I have read:

Murder With Peacocks - Meg tries to organize and be in 3 weddings in one summer with 3 bridezillas - one of which is her mother. One of them wants peacocks on the lawns. And a nasty guest is murdered. (My personal nightmare - being in three weddings in one summer - not the the murder part.)

Murder With Puffins - Meg and her boyfriend Michael try to escape for some quiet time to a family cottage in Maine. Half the family comes with. A local artist and old flame of Meg's mother is murdered. And there is the remnants of a hurricane. Yikes!

Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos - In her hometown of Yorktown, Virginia, Meg tries to help organize the chaos of a reenactment festival of Yorktown and solve a murder that happened in her craft fair booth -while in period costumes. What a gal!

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Meg is temping at her brother's computer gaming company when the office's practical joker is murdered. The buzzard is the office mascot. The game they sell? Lawyers From Hell.

We’ll Always Have Parrots - While attending a fan convention for a TV show, Michael has acted in, and to sell her budding line of swords, Meg finds the dead body of the star of the show. A rabid fan? A disgruntled co-worker? Or could it be one of the monkeys and parrots that are running about the lobby? Talk about a decorating idea gone wild.

Books I have to look forward to:

Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying

And something for the future:

Swan for the Money - Due in July 2009

The Lover's Knot

A Lover's Knot: A Someday Quilts Mystery is author Clare O'Donohue's first mystery. (And she knows something about quilting, having worked on the HGTV show Simply Quilts.) Nell Fitzgerald is recovering from a shock. Her fiance has just called off the wedding. She takes a break from the chaos her life has become by visiting her grandmother in upstate N.Y.

While she is resting, she becomes drawn into her grandmother Eleanor's world of the quilt store, good friends, and her quilting circle. And when Eleanor is injured, Nell takes over for her in the store. But when she finds the local flirt and handyman murdered in the store, her outsider status is useful for picking up clues.

The characters are well drawn and their community well written, it makes one want to travel and see this place for oneself. O'Donohue does a nice job with Nell's reawakening from heartbreak to being in a stronger space. And she does it realistically - time wise. The reader cheers her on.

A great first book for a series. Hope there is another.

Knit One, Kill Two

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton is the first of her series with Kelly Flynn. Kelly comes back to Colorado because her beloved aunt has been killed. The police think it was a vagrant, but there are questions that need to be answered. Why did her aunt take out a second mortgage for $20,000? Where is the money? And what happened to her aunt's precious family quilt that was hanging in the living room? It is no where to be found. And what about this woman who claims to be her aunt's cousin?

Kelly finds her aunt had more friends than she thought, thanks to the yarn and fiber shop across the street. Even though she is supposed to be here temporarily, Kelly finds support and help from these friends when she starts trying to clear things up. And she finds she is really liking the relaxed atmosphere of the area. Perhaps she will stay? On to the next book!

Sefton does a great job setting up a series by giving us a nice set of secondary characters and a heroine the reader can relate to. And the bits about falling in love with the feel and colors of the textiles and yarns, make us want to go yarn shopping. Even if we know nothing about knitting. Looking forward to reading some more. A good read.

More Home Cooking

What can one say about Laurie Colwin's More Home Cooking? Bright, well composed essays on a variety of food topics with cunning recipes stashed in between the start and finish. The joys of gingerbread - got it. The raspberry addict - got it. The love of roast chicken - got it. The pleasures of simple but good food - got it.

She makes the reader want to run home and make some simple but elegant dish. Such zest of life, such honest enthusiasm, humor and love of food. Such fun to read. A very good read.

P.S. Read her first one - Home Cooking, too!