A Batch of Books

I keep thinking I will get back to writing a daily post here at Belle, Book, and Candle but family deaths, my own emotional and physical health hits, and emergency travels - and okay, some recreational travels as well - have pretty much made that impossible this year. 

But, I have been reading a lot. 

Today, I thought I would write about a batch of books that I have enjoyed recently. 

Yesterday's Spy (1975) by Len Deighton 
I never really understand what is going on in spy novels so I just let myself go along for the ride to foreign locales.  This one had an engaging narrator, locations in the south of France and Switzerland, and well-written characters. This is the only spy adventure of Mr. Deighton's that I have read and I dare say I will be back for more. He also wrote The IPCRESS File and Funeral in Berlin which were made into movies starring the ever-handsome Michael Caine.  

Chasing Cezanne (1997) by Peter Mayle
I am a big fan of Peter Mayle. His capers are filled with intriguing characters, most often living the high life, and exotic locations, most often somewhere in France.  In Chasing Cezanne we meet art forgers, wealthy art collectors, and a home decor magazine editor (who I swear is Vogue's Anna Wintour in disguise). We get to spend a couple of days touring Paris. We spend time relaxing on the the lovely Cote d'Azure. And, as always, with Mr. Mayle, we are treated to scrumptious meals in glamorous restaurants. All the while chasing down a stolen Cezanne. What's not to like about that?

The Axe Factor (2014) by Colin Cotterill
This is the third mystery starring Jimm Juree, a freelance journalist living with her kooky family and helping to manage their rundown seaside resort in southern Thailand. In this fast-paced story, Jimm gets involved with a British mystery writer who may or may not have killed his wife. Romantic interludes aside, Jimm is also investigating the disappearance of the village doctor. All this in the middle of monsoon season. Quite fun. Mr. Cotterill also writes the mysteries featuring Dr. Siri, the aging national coroner of Laos set in the 1970s. 

Vertigo 42 (2014) by Martha Grimes
I have long been a follower of New Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury and now after a four-year hiatus he is back with his friend Lord Ardry/Melrose Plant, the gang at the Jack and Hammer pub, and various dogs, cats, and, of course, murder. If you haven't read any of Ms. Grimes's witty mysteries set in England, you might start now with her first one, The Man With a Load of Mischief, published in 1981. All the titles of her Richard Jury mysteries are taken from the names of British pubs. I don't know if I can wait another four years for the next Jury investigation so I may have to begin rereading her entire series of, now, twenty-three books.

The Abandoned Book Pile

In March, I abandoned many books by favorite mystery authors. I am not sure if the problem is with them or with me. Three of the books were the latest in a series and one was the first in the series by an author I am crazy about. 

I whipped bookmarks out almost as quickly as I slipped them between the pages.

I mentioned this to a fellow reader I ran into at the library and he said he quit following many series for this same reason. The author seems to run out of steam.  Or perhaps, suggested a newspaper editor friend, it is the editing...or lack of.

In any case, here were my discards for the month:

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill - This is the ninth in the series about the crotchety coroner in 1970s Laos. There were some pricks of violence that weren't in the other ones and I felt for sure that those foreshadowed scenes I didn't want to read.

A Fatal Winter by G.M. Malliet - This is the second handsome vicar Max Tudor mystery. Maybe I am just over vicars or prefer the ones in the Barbara Pym novels.

Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley - The fifth in the series about young detective Flavia de Luce. The story jumped from scene to scene with such rapidity that I lost sight of the real mystery.

One of Us is Wrong by Donald Westlake (writing as Samuel Holt) - Westlake wrote a series of four books very anonymously after he was already a successful author to see if his works would be popular if his authorship wasn't known. His publisher was the only other one in on the plan. After book three, though, somehow the truth came out. For that reason, Westlake lost interest in continuing the series about a television detective star who gets involved in real murders. On the other hand, I lost interest in reading this first book in that series. I will stick with his stories starring the hapless professional burglar John Dortmunder.

Have you had a similar experience? What series or authors have you given up on?

Two new mysteries to solve

March has been a month for beginning books and abandoning them at the flip of a page. And books by some of my favorite authors at that! Oh well, I am just in a slump but will Keep Calm and Carry on Reading.

Two more titles on my library reserve list have shown up: 

The Woman Who Wouldn't Die by Colin Cotterill -  This is the ninth mystery in the Dr. Siri stories that take place in the 1970s in The People's Democratic Republic of Laos. Dr. Siri is the aging national coroner with an attitude and something exciting (and usually humorous) always happens during his investigations. A favorite night-time read.

Orchestrated Death by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - This is the first in a series that introduces British police inspector Bill Slider. I may have had this in hand at one time but I don't remember. Nonetheless,  this is quite a popular series and I will give it a try.

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach

I am not finding much time to read during the day. I am in the middle of doing research for a paper that I have to present this month to my Monday Afternoon Club (here). The category is Cities. We have already learned about "Pittsburgh" and "Cities in Literature" and Monday's paper is "City of Enlightenment." My paper is entitled "Nestled in a Fertile Valley" and will take a look at Lompoc, California. (Don't ask.)

So, I find the only time for reading is right before bedtime and I am well into Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill. Unemployed crime reporter Jimm Juree is back with her family and the run-down resort they own and run on the Gulf of Siam in Thailand. There is mother Mair; granddad Jah, a retired traffic policeman; her somewhat dim brother Arny, the body-builder; and Sissi, her sister who (through the miracles of modern medicine) used to be her brother and is a wiz on the Internet. It's all crazy.

This is the second in the series that began with Killed At the Whim of a Hat (here). There are a mysterious mother and daughter on the lam and hiding out in the family's resort. There are tales of the struggles of the Burmese refugees living in Thailand working for little or no pay and occasionally disappearing. There is the head Jimm finds on the beach which no one - especially the police - seem interested in identifying.

And although the plight of the Burmese refugees is real, the story is full of crazy characters and situations all of which Mr. Cotterill manages to make ring true. Very entertaining.

Raining Books

Sky Stack Cane Umbrella
from
The Gifty

When it rains it comes down in books here at Belle's house. 

I am within 100 pages of finishing P.D. James's The Murder Room and just began I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I could read the first chapter over and over. There is not a false note or a wrong word in it. I think that chapter alone should be studied in all writing classes. It is perfect.

As to the rain reference, two books that have been on my library reserve list forever showed up in one day. One is a mystery by Colin Cotterill, Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach. This is the second in Mr. Cotterill's Jimm Jaree series set in Thailand. The first was Killed at the Whim of a Hat which I wrote about here. Mr. Cotterill is also the author of the Dr. Siri mysteries that take place in Viet Nam and which I totally enjoy. 

And you have to admit, the man has a way with titles.

The other book that arrived is Monkey Mind, A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel Smith. As I am familiar with my own chattering monkey mind, I look forward to comparing neurosis with Mr. Smith. I just hope his book doesn't give My Monkey any ideas. 

Of course, having all these wonderful books to read at once is making me very anxious. How does one cope?

Slash and Burn

This is the latest in the mystery series featuring Dr. Siri by Colin Cotterill. The setting is the People's Democratic Republic of Laos in 1978. Dr. Siri is the national coroner. He is in his late 70s and really wants to retire. He is surrounded by a group of characters like none other: Mr. Geung, his mortuary assistant with Down Syndrome; Nurse Dtui, his assistant who studies medical texts in Russian; Daeng, Siri's wife who owns a popular noodle shop in Vientiane; Civilai, Siri's oldest friend; and Siri's nemesis, Judge Haeng, who keeps getting the doctor involved in misadventures of death and destruction.

The thing about reading this series (and I have read all eight of them now) is that the characters and the setting are so, well, foreign. Also, humorous and at the same time historical. Laos after the Vietnam War? I am learning much about the political shenanigans that went on during the war. And its aftermath as well.

This particular mystery has to do with a missing American helicopter pilot and the search for his body 10 years after his reported death. There is the murder of the American major sent to investigate. There is an American Senator on the take, his mistress, hired assassins, and a dog, Ugly.

The narrative moves along in a series of scenes from a former CIA compound through the villages and jungles of Laos. The conversations between Siri and Civilai are right on:  two old friends trying to one-up the other with affection and deep commitment to their long-standing friendship.

There is plenty here to keep me interested. The loose ends get tied up. A heartwarming ending. And if my mind drifts during some of the political discussions, well, who cares.

Oh, and the slash and burn? That is a way of regenerating farm land. After a few years of growing crops, the remaining vegetation is cut, or slashed, and once dried is burned. The ashes provide nutrients to the soil.

So there you have it.