The Bane Witch

The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn, 384 pages

Since she was a little girl, Piers has always loved poisonous things, including dangerous pokeberries, which she's able to eat without any ill effects. This affinity comes in handy when Piers fakes her own death to escape her abusive husband, and then again when a man on her escape route tries to sexually assault her and she inadvertently kills him in self-defense. But when she eventually joins up with her extended family, Piers learns that her ability to harness the powers of poison comes naturally to the long line of witches in her family. And now she must face a decision — does she embrace her deadly nature or does she reject it to try living a more normal life (albeit one with the ever-present possibility of accidently poisoning someone)?

This was suggested to me as a fantasy novel, though I'd be hesitant to hand this to a reader looking for a straightforward fantasy. It's more of a thriller with a fantasy tinge. Like Gone Girl with magical poison powers or Practical Magic with murderous overtones. It's well-written and a compelling story though, and an excellent read if you want to see some truly horrible people get their due.

The Queen of Poisons

The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood, 261 pages

When the  mayor of a small English town is murdered during a planning council meeting, the suspect pool is somewhere between tiny and nonexistent — after all, there were only four other people in the room when he died and the man was universally beloved. But the Marlow Murder Club — crossword creator Judith, quirky dog-sitter Suzie, and vicar's wife Becks — are determined to figure out who poisoned the poor man's coffee and why in the world they did it.

This is the third book in this popular series, and even though I haven't read the first two, I had no trouble falling in with this winning trio of amateur detectives and their sneaky sleuthing. The characters are delightful, and the mystery kept me guessing until the very end. I will definitely be checking out the first two books in this series, as well as any others that come after.

This is How You Lose the Time War

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019) 209 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Libby narrated by Cynthia Farrell and Emily Woo Zeller. Amal answers a reader's question on Goodreads about how the two authors divided the writing with "In brief, Max wrote all of Red and I wrote all of Blue." I struggled to follow the story and understand what was really happening in the early chapters of the book. It is a very abstract book with lots of poetic language and mind-bending multi-verse time jumps. The two main characters named Red and Blue are female time agents from two warring factions. If you are a fan of espionage stories, I wouldn't recommend this because the spy work of these two time agents is left pretty vague, or, at least, it is difficult to follow the thread of the consequences of their actions forward and backward through time. There are letters that Blue and Red send to each other in this short book, which start as taunts between competitors and turn into proclamations of love. Red's world includes many more references to human civilizations throughout history and has a sci-fi bent. Blue's world has many references to plants and animals and has a fantasy angle. Ultimately, I think this is really talking about the competition between humanity and nature through the millennia, and a star-crossed couple representing these two things begins to see value in each other.

 

Death in Ecstasy

 Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh  280 pp.

The fourth book in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn series finds Alleyn investigating the cyanide murder of a wealthy woman during a ceremony at the House of the Sacred Flame, a cultish organization lead by "Father" Garnette. The clues are many but all seem disconnected from each other. The suspects are varied and jealousies and suspicions within the church members abound. There is obvious drug use but the possible source varies widely. Even the discovery of an old chemistry manual that opens to the instructions on how to extract cyanide from household items serves only to add confusion. Of course, the intrepid Inspector, assisted by Sergeant Fox and journalist Nigel Bathgate wrap up the investigation satisfactorily. Alleyn produces droll comments throughout although my favorite line came from the medical examiner during the inquest when he was asked why he had not thought it worthwhile to send for remedies (for the victim) to which the doctor replied "There is no remedy for death."

Five Little Pigs

 Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (1942) 266 pages

This book was actually discussed in a medical book I just read (When Doctors Don't Listen, by Wen and Kosowsky). What Dr. Wen liked about this book was that detective Hercule Poirot was looking back at a crime, and using the testimony of several witnesses 16 years later to reconsider a case. For Dr. Wen, practicing medicine is similar to being a detective, and listening to people is crucial. 

Since I didn't recall this book as one of the numerous Agatha Christie books I have read, I found it. A young woman, Carla Lemarchant, has turned 21 and received a letter written to her by her mother, Caroline, who died in prison shortly after being convicted of killing her husband 16 years ago. Caroline says she did not kill her husband. Carla wants Poirot to find out the truth--did or did not her mother kill her father? Caroline's husband, Amyas, was an renowned artist who had an unfortunate habit of having affairs with other women. This time, the woman, only 20 years old, was living with the family while Amyas was painting her portrait, and the young woman becomes very brazen about her plan to marry Amyas. When poison is thought to be missing, and then Amyas dies of poisoning, everyone believes Caroline killed him. Her attitude on the witness stand during her trial does nothing to dispel that notion. 

So 16 years later, Poirot interviews all of the police and prosecutors associated with the case, and then the five witnesses, including a stockbroker (the pig who went to market), the stockbroker's brother (the pig who stayed home), a rich woman (the pig who had roast beef), the governess (the pig who had none) and the teenager who had been injured long ago (the pig who cried wee wee wee). Can Poirot learn anything new with a trail this old? But yes, or he is not Hercule Poirot!

Death at La Fenice

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon  270 pp.

This is the first book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series by Leon. Brunetti is a Venetian police detective and the story has a distinct Italian flavor. A famous conductor is found dead in his dressing room between acts of the opera "La Traviata", poisoned by cyanide in his coffee. There is a diverse list of suspects including the soprano singing the lead, the opera director, the conductors wife, and a creepy old woman who was once an opera singer, among others. Because of the high profile of the case, Brunetti's superior is keeping a close (and annoying) eye on the progress of the investigation. After many dead ends, Brunetti discovers the truth and the case is solved in a not particularly satisfying way. However, I enjoyed the interplay of the characters and am likely to read more in the series. I downloaded the ebook from Overdrive. 

Unleashed

Unleashed by David Rosenfelt (2013) 308 pages

In Rosenfelt's eleventh installment of the Andy Carpenter mystery series, Andy (a criminal defense attorney) finds himself reluctantly taking on Denise Price as a client. She's been accused of poisoning her wealthy husband with botulism shortly before he flew his airplane, causing him to crash after becoming paralyzed by the toxin mid-flight. Meanwhile, a foreign terrorist plot is quietly taking shape as ex-military artillery experts are recruited to bring down prominent targets simultaneously in several cities across the U.S. As Andy's team investigates, looking for evidence that Denise is innocent of murder, some business associates of her husband are found dead. When the team follows the money to see where it leads, they begin to see hints that something big is being planned.

Andy's chapters are written in an engaging first-person narrative, while we're kept informed of the terrorist plot development by a third-person narrator. Unleashed is a fast read, with humor, suspense and some surprising twists.