Murder Your Employer

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes, 399 pages.

This novel contains three case studies of individuals who, for one reason or another, determined that murdering their employer was absolutely necessary to maintain their quality of life. These individuals all, by some means or another, go to study at McMaster's Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a very specialized and secret school which teaches its pupils to "delete" deserving targets. From there each student must use a variety of very specific skills to craft an elaborate plan to eliminate their truly terrible bosses.

This is a fun book that very fully explored it's premise. It was absolutely chock full of wordplay, which is both good (a love a good pun) and slightly tiresome (some examples felt very belabored). This book reads at a leisurely place, and it was genuinely a pleasure to watch elaborate plans kill terrible people who absolutely deserved it.  

How to Order the Universe

How to Order the Universe by María José Ferrada trans. Elizabeth Bryer, 170 pages.

Seven-year-old M wants nothing more than to join her father on the road as a traveling salesman, a wish he is (perhaps irresponsibly) happy to indulge. While her mother thinks she is at school, she is instead using this unique upbringing to construct a worldview all her own.

M's unique voice guides some profound insights about humanity. I found the story simple, engaging, and very quick to read. I also thought it was fascinating how the Pinochet dictatorship managed to saturate the whole story, despite never being explicitly named. I think this is a story with very wide appeal. It is a very quick read that I do believe I will be thinking about for much longer than it took me to read.

Murder Under Her Skin

Murder Under Her Skin by Stephen Spotswood, 352 pages.

Will Parker has to go back to the circus that raised her after an old friend is murdered and her knife-throwing mentor is on the hook for the crime. She left the circus to do detective work with Lillian Pentecost, but in many ways it's still part of her, which makes this case extremely personal, especially as it becomes less and less clear why anyone would want to kill the tattooed lady.

This book was so much fun! I read Fortune Favors the Dead not long after it came out, and enjoyed it enough that I meant to read this one immediately, but didn't get around to it for a few year. I regret waiting so long. This book has a really great classic noir feel, but with a bisexual female lead. We really get to dig into Will's character (and especially her flaws) this book, and I found that it only made her more compelling. The mystery was interesting and twisty, without at any point feeling like the number of twists got improbable. It's the kind of mystery where the details make more sense after the facts, which I really appreciate. Book three is already on hold for me, and I strongly recommend this series to anyone who likes a classic character driven mystery.

Making Money

 

Making Money by Terry Pratchett 394 pp.

Moist Lipwig, Ankh-Morpork's favorite conman turned Postmaster General is awarded a new position in the city's mint by the despotic Lord Vetinari. Moist must then deal with the elderly Royal Bank chairman who keeps two loaded crossbows on her desk and the Mint manager who is a small dog. There's also the chief clerk who is possibly a vampire and tries to block all of Moist's plans. Upon the death of the chairman, the dog is made the one in charge with Moist running things for him. While he tries to implement a paper money system, he must also figure out where the gold has disappeared to, creating many enemies that want to see Moist gone. Throw in a bunch of Golems, one who is transgender, if that is possible in a sexless clay being and a very inflexible accountant who was born a clown and it becomes Pratchett at his Pratchettiest.  In spite of, or maybe because of, the silliness there is a fairly solid plot in this book although it isn't quite as good as its predecessor, Going Postal.  

The Mistress Experience

The Mistress Experience by Scarlett Peckham, 360 pages

Normally, renowned courtesan Thaïs Magdalene chooses just one "suitor" a week and never beds the same man twice. But to raise money for an institute to help educate and employ women, she decides to auction off her services for an entire month, the titular "mistress experience." While she thinks a rakish former suitor has won, when she arrives at his home, she discovers that he was a front for the quiet, and not-yet-sexually-liberated Lord Alistair Eden, who wants to learn how to please a woman before he enters the marriage mart. As you can imagine, much learning ensues, though so do a lot of feelings that Thaïs has previously stopped herself from feeling.

I'm not normally much of a fan of historical romance, but I enjoyed the first book in this series, The Rakess (which gender-swapped the rake trope in excellent fashion), and thought I'd give this one a whirl. While it was OK, it wasn't my favorite by any means, and something about the "hey, you paid for this" vibe struck me as off. Wasn't the worst romance I've read this year though. Read it if your favorite Van Halen song is "Hot for Teacher."

Profiles in Audacity

 

Profiles in Audacity: Great Decisions and How They were Made by Alan Axelrod 320 pp.

Forty-six profiles of the people and events in history that required audacious ideas/decisions are given in chapter length bites. A wide range of time periods are covered from Cleopatra's decision to rescue Egypt to the passengers of Flight 93 fighting the terrorists on board the plane on 9/11. In addition the subjects vary from military battles to world changing business decisions, humanitarian endeavors, exploration, and civil rights. It is a very mixed bag and I question the inclusion of a couple chapters which didn't seem as strong as the others. But as a whole it is an interesting collection of history making events and the people behind them.

A Death in Cornwall

 

A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva  416 pp.

The Gabriel Allon series continues in Silva's latest installment. Gabriel is no longer connected with the Israeli Intelligence Agency, aka Mossad and works full time for the art restoration company run by his wife Chiara. But he ends up being involved in an art related investigation after the murder of an Art History Professor in the part of Cornwall where Gabriel lived many years before. It first appears she is a victim of a serial killer until it's learned she was studying the provenance of a missing Picasso painting looted by the Nazis in WWI. An old friend from Gabriel's time in Cornwall requests his assistance in the police investigation of the killing. The investigation leads to the vast underground world of art sales and money laundering which encompasses legitimate collectors, world leaders, organized crime lords, and the fabulously wealthy. The plot is fast moving and contains enough twists to keep your interest. Silva also brings back some characters from previous novels but sadly, not any of his Mossad cohorts. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. This is one of my favorite series. 

Killers of a Certain Age

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (2022) 353 pages

Four women‒Billie, Helen, Natalie, and Mary Alice‒were recruited to become a team of elite assassins forty years ago by an organization called "the Museum." The Museum has a Board that determines which bad actors need to be taken out. Their original mission was to kill Nazis, but over time they have included dictators and others who have escaped justice.

But now the women are sixty and being treated to a Caribbean cruise in honor of their retirement. All goes well until they make the stunning discovery that one of their former colleagues is undercover on board their ship, and they realize they may have been targeted for extermination themselves. All their instincts kick into gear as they try to protect themselves using only their own resources; they can't ask for the usual logistical help from the Museum, because it might be that their own bosses are the culprits.

Hands down, this page-turner is the most exciting book that I've read in a while. [Thanks for the recommendation, Kara!]

Arrow of God

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, 230 pages

In the 1920s, the Igbo village of Umuaro was dealing with the continued presence of British military and Christian missionaries in their area. Chief priest Ezeulu has been dealing with these challenges the best ways he knows how, while still upholding the traditions of his culture and faith. But when he is imprisoned by the British for refusing to take on the mantle of his village's primary leader (a position that does not exist in Igbo culture), Umuaro's people and crops are threatened.

This was the second book we read in this summer's Adult Summer Reading program, and it once again shows the way in which hubris and ignorance conspired to tear down traditional Nigerian culture during the colonial era. I particularly liked the depictions of Igbo customs, daily interactions, and annual festivals, and I look forward to reading and discussing No Longer at Ease next month.

How to Age Disgracefully

How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley, 337 pages

On her 70th birthday, Daphne decides that her years of being a virtual recluse are over, and she's going to try to make some friends to help her enjoy her older years. An advertisement for a new senior social club at the local community center seems to be just the ticket, especially at the first meeting, when Daphne realizes that her fellow members are anything but stereotypical old people. There's Art, a failed actor-turned-shoplifter, and his best friends, a former paparazzo named William; anonymous yarn-bombing activist Ruby; and former truckdriver and five-times-over widow Anna. (Oh, and Pauline, a former headmistress who doesn't much figure into the story for reasons revealed early on in the book.) When the council decides that the community center's needed repairs are more than they can halfheartedly justify, the seniors team up with the nursery school to fight the demolition, with uproariously funny results.

The characters in this book are fantastic, and all are well developed, from Daphne (who I kinda want to be when I grow up) to single teen dad Ziggy to the surprisingly talented mutt named Maggie Thatcher. I loved reading about this community, and I'll be heartily recommending this to everyone. 

Ash Dark as Night

Ash Dark as Night by Gary Phillips (2024) 295pp
You know you are getting older when you read historical fiction that you lived through. Phillips has set his novel in the heart of LA in 1965 in what has been deemed the Watts Riots. The protagonist, Harry Ingram, is in the middle of the action as the insurrection takes place and in his job as a lone African-American photojournalist he describes a variety of incidents, looting, burning and shooting, culminating in his photographing the murder by police of a young activist. On a personal note, I was a photojournalist in the 1970s and found myself in a few, albeit minor, civil disturbances similar to those described in the book, Phillips’ description of the mayhem and uncertainty reflects my experience. I remember the march of the police phalanx as it confronted “rioters” and the need to seek shelter as night fell and cars burned. One dubious detail is the description of photo equipment used by Ingram. I found it unlikely that he would use a large format press camera in a such a tense environment. In his defense though, he does use the sheet-film camera as a plot element in a true-to-life scenario. Following the riot, Ingram, after surviving a brutal beating, becomes involved in a noir mystery tracking down a missing person and unraveling a knot of corruption. Many characters are introduced, including his love interest, a no-nonsense woman with a number of secrets and a fascinating back story. This fictional re-telling of the infamous incident takes the point-of-view of the people living in the area and reflects a narrative untold in the main-stream media of the era.