Late For His Own Funeral

 

Late For His Own Funeral by Elaine Viets (2022) 227 pages

Sterling Chaney's car had crashed, rendering the driver unidentifiable. He was declared dead. As it turns out, someone else had stolen his Porsche and died in the wreck. When Sterling shows up at his own funeral with a bottle of Johnny Walker, it causes quite a stir.

Sterling's wife, Camilla, had previously kicked him out as a result of his serial infidelity. After his "return from the dead," though, she agrees to a reconciliation. But when it is publicly revealed that Sterling makes his money from running a business where women read sexual scripts to men, and that these women barely make a living while Sterling and his manager rake in great wealth, Camilla is disgusted and kicks him out again. It's also clear that Sterling is already straying.

When yet another car wreck occurs, really killing Sterling and a female passenger, Camilla is the prime suspect. Her friend, Angela Richmond, the death investigator for the county, makes it her mission to find out who the real killer is, even as it strains the relationships Angela has with two police officers, Chris Ferretti, her boyfriend, and Jace Budewitz, an officer she often worked with.

Elaine Viets again produces a story with all the drama of a good mystery, with realistic details and relationships, along with a smattering of humor.

Life Without Parole

Life Without Parole by Elaine Viets (2021) 231 pages

I've been enjoying the Angela Richmond Death Investigator series by native St. Louisan Elaine Viets. I had never heard of the job title Death Investigator before, which is not the same as a medical examiner or a coroner. Angela takes an array of photos around the scenes of suspicious deaths, and meticulously notes all the details such as injuries on the body, the physical setting, and much more, delivering all that information to the medical examiner, along with the body.

In this novel, Angela is called to the home of Tom Lockridge, a wealthy man who has apparently been killed by a gang of thieves dubbed the Ghost Burglars, which has been striking the wealthy who live in Choteau County, Missouri. This is the first time they have murdered, though. But Jace, the detective on the case, wonders if Tom's wife has anything to do with his death. Her upbringing was rough, and her new life of luxury apparently has gotten her into drug usage. Plus she seems to have overly close connections to Wesley, Tom's protégé. As Angela and Jace investigate further, other wealthy (as well as not-so-wealthy) people emerge as suspects. Upsetting the wealthy people in the county is putting their jobs in jeopardy, since the police brass usually work for the top 1%. For example, when a wealthy old widow kills a bank teller while driving at highway speeds through the downtown area, she's belligerent when the detective wants to hold her accountable for the death of the teller. Usually when she drives drunk, the police just call her housekeeper to come bring her home. Jace is committed to justice but his superiors are threatening his job unless he finds the murderer of Tom Lockridge within the next week. The stress is on, for both Angela and Jace. 

The Borrower

 The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai, 324 pages.

In a fictional version of Hannibal (this one has no river) children's librarian Lucy Hull accidentally kidnaps (or is kidnapped by, depending on your perspective) her favorite patron, ten-year-old Ian Drake. Ian is a voracious reader, but his parents are very controlling about what he is allowed to read, forbidding any book that seems to mature or that might challenge their Christian beliefs (Lucy has helped him sneak books home). One morning Lucy finds I an in the library, running away from home and, she assumes, the anti-gay classes his parents enrolled him in several hours away. She is, only slightly hesitantly, convinced to take Ian on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to save him. 

This book was sort of fun to read, and I really enjoyed Makkai's writing style. It was almost enough to forget that the plot made absolutely no sense. However, by the time I was halfway through the book or so the fact that the plot made absolutely no sense started to become both distracting and frustrating. For example, at know point during the technically-a-kidnapping/helping Ian run away from home debacle does Lucy actually ask Ian why he is running away. She seems to do nothing but make nothing but bad, life-shattering decisions for no apparent reason. As fun as the style is, I find that this failure to ever once make a decision a rational human being would make made it sort of hard to get invested in the story.

There You Are

There You Are (2019) by Mathea Morais; 304 pages

Spanning three decades, There You Are follows the lives of Octavian Monroe and Mina Rose as they navigate love, friendship, race, and music. They find solace with each other in grade school--Octavian, whose mother is dying of cancer and older brother whose behavior is becoming increasingly troubled, and Mina, a misfit who wishes she weren't white...experiences that inform much of their identities and the adults they become. Heartbreaking events bring them closer together, then tear them apart, until they must face one another again when they get the news that their beloved record store is closing.

The book centers mostly around University City and Rahsaan's Records, specifically--inspired by Vintage Vinyl in U. City's Loop district--and delves deep into the troubled race relations that have plagued St. Louis since its founding. This is certainly one of those books where you could call setting a character--anyone familiar with St. Louis will recognize much of the novel. That said, the characters themselves were vivid and charismatic, well-crafted by Morais to bring you right into the moment. A lot of big ideas are packed into these pages, but I was invested in the entire story arc and appreciated the closure at the end. I definitely look forward to more work by Mathea Morais.

Bettyville

Bettyville by George Hodgman, 278 pages.
George Hodgman, a book and magazine editor in NYC (Simon and Schuster, and Vogue, among others) returns to Paris, Missouri, to care for his aging mother. This is an interesting memoir, particularly because of the author's admitted reticence. He tell tales of his refusal to open up, and yet he seems to be truthful, as far as he can be, with us, his audience. His beloved mother, quickly becoming a shell of her former self, wants to live independently, but can no longer do so. George spoke at the Library in February and he was a wonderful speaker. He shared many of the stories that went into or surrounded those in the book. It was a great talk about a very interesting and engaging book. I look forward to reading his next book.