pick10 years after being convicted of killing her lover's teenaged daughter, Jeannie Long commits suicide, just a few days b4 evidence proving her innocence comes to light. Vera re-investigates the case to find out what led the police astray and who was really guilty.
Nice and twisty. The author misled me into thinking that one character must be guilty even though I didn't want it to be that person. TV Vera is a much toned down version of Book Vera.
I'm starting "Telling Tales" and then depending on how long that takes I will read either "Hidden Depths" or "Last Night in Montreal" .
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@Andrew65
pickI've watched random episodes of “Vera“ at my parents' over the years but it was only recently I learnt the character is based on a book series. This first book isn't as focussed on Vera herself as in the TV series - she doesn't put in an appearance till nearly halfway through. There were times when I could hear Brenda Blethyn's voice when reading the dialogue, but the book still stands on its own terms as a good mystery.
"IF YOU WERE TO LOOK FOR Baikie‘s Cottage on an Ordnance Survey map you would not find it mentioned by name, though Black Law Farm is."
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@ShyBookOwl
Vera book and TV (but different stories)
pickLucy Worsley takes us through Jane Austen's life through the lens particularly of the houses she lived in.
#coffeeandabook
Views of the Abbey Gateway, Reading. The upper room was used as a classroom in Jane Austen's schooldays here.
I started this yesterday and am expecting to finish it on Monday or Tuesday
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@Andrew65
To generations of Austen worshippers, the site of Steventon Rectory is hallowed ground.
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@ShyBookOwl
bailedDick Young experiments with a drug that takes him back in time to the 14th century as a disembodied observer.
DNF. I got about half way through and found I wasn't following the parts set in the 14th century at all because I couldn't keep track of who was who.
The first thing I noticed was the clarity of the air, and then the sharp green colour of the land.
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@ShyBookOwl
so-soThere was quite a bit of repetition from book to book, so the omnibus format may not be the best way to read these. I will continue with the series but after a break.
so-soThe third novel starts with mysterious incidents in an operating theatre, which ultimately lead to an operation on a very, very, large patient.
so-soThe first part, where the doctors try to work out how to treat Lonvellin, is much more interesting than the second part where Sector General comes under military attack from an empire trying to cover up its own misdeeds.
so-so(Read in the omnibus Beginning Operations):
This 1st novel was actually a collection of short stories originally published in magazines with little to no linking material. I found the 1st one with O'Mara as the MC a little heavy going but the rest kept me reading to see what the answers to the puzzles were, though I could have done with more exploration of the different species and how their psychology differed as well as their bodies.
They were an old, wise and humble race, O‘Mara concluded; intensely humble. So much so that they tended to look down on other races who were not so humble as they.
Happy New Year. May we all have enough to eat and drink, clothes on our backs and roofs over our heads, somebody to love and books to read throughout 2022
The alien occupying O‘Mara‘s sleeping compartment weighed roughly half a ton, possessed six short, thick appendages which served both as arms or legs and had a hide like a flexible armor plate.
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@ShyBookOwl
pickClassic Sherlock Holmes novel which mixes all the things we love about him with the more than questionable attitudes of the time.
pickWhen the victim of the first murder on a space station is a disguised priest, Father John McClellan, former Marine and programmer, is sent “upside“ from Earth to investigate.
I found McClellan's back story a bit heavy going at times, but the main story, with its exploration of moral choices, sentience, and guilt and innocence, was fascinating. I don't know if the author has another book in the works but I look forward to it.
so-soThe restaurant is going to be used for a TV programme on weddings in San Francisco while various recurring characters wonder if they do want to get married. In the meantime Tim's mother puts in an unwelcome appearance.
Another episode in this mystery series where there is no mystery. I don't think I'll be continuing.
pickJazz Bashara is a smuggler in the lunar colony of Artemis. She is offered a huge sum to indulge in a bit of industrial sabotage but it all proves more complicated than she thought.
Although I enjoyed this caper story, I found myself puzzled by Jazz. We are continually assured that she is a genius with unrealised potential and she picks up new fields of study very quickly but I never really got a sense of why her potential was unrealised.
so-soEmma Pierce is the social media manager for a chain of gyms in California. The co. takes on a consultant to help it expand into New England. He just happens to be her ex's brother who is hoping they will reconcile. But which brother does she really want?
There were places where the text could've been edited better and about 1/2 way through I did think it could've been shorter without any great loss, but on the whole it was entertaining enough.
"“Monster names for monster situations. Silvia only has one eye. She had cancer when she was five and lost it.”"
I think Sylvia lost her other eye, not "it".
pickCarla Lemarchant asks Poirot to revisit the murder her mother was found guilty of 16 years ago.
Excellently done. I fell for the red herring as usual.
pickA look at mystery writing from the 1880s to the 1960s in which characters can be read as gay or lesbian. Some of the essays are more convincing than others. I've added some of the books discussed to my TBR list but for the most part they were by authors I was already aware of.
so-soA dancer falls to her death when the wire she was suspended from is severed. The company's assistant publicity officer investigates because the police's main suspect seems to be the dancer's understudy, his girlfriend, and he had unwittingly handled the pair of shears which served as the murder weapon.
Competently enough done but doesn't really have the spark I've always enjoyed with Gore Vidal.
pickAnton Palook is shot on stage while dancing the role of Petrushka in the ballet of the same name. Inspector Quill is assigned to investigate the murder.
Not as funny as I remember from reading it as a teenager but still very enjoyable.
so-soInspector Chen is assigned to look into the contacts of Xing Xing, a corrupt official who has fled with his ill-gotten gains to the United States in an attempt to claim political asylum.
Although I enjoyed the previous books in this series, I didn't really get on with this one and often found myself making excuses not to pick it up. I don't think I will be continuing with the series.
Since it is probable that any book flying a bullet in its title is going to produce a corpse sooner or later - here it is.
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@ShyBookOwl
so-soFlavia Albia is asked to look into the death of a 15-year-old girl, which has set her family at odds with her parents now wanting to divorce and her grandmothers resorting to fisticuffs.
I enjoy Albia as a narrator but somehow this one felt a bit lacking. At one point we did seem to be veering towards a recurrent theme of organised crime, which is not something I particularly enjoy.
pickBruno is invited to meet the Pope at Christmas. But why?
I knew then that the matter was serious; only extreme frustration could provoke the prior to take the name of Our Lord in vain. It happened a lot when he dealt with me.
pickGiordano Bruno recalls when as a Dominican in Naples in the 1560s he met a society of natural philosophers, and in particular the niece of its leader. For completists who are reading the series.
bailedNormally I love Fredrik Backman, but I got about a hundred pages into this and I'd already had more than enough ice hockey talk. Did not care and DNF'ed it.
"When my husband‘s ex-wife came offering me work, I knew she was up to something."
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@ShyBookOwl
pickTerry Pratchett's shorter fiction, including juvenilia from college magazines and also some Discworld stories.
