A Man Lay Dead

 

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh  224 pp.

This is the first book in Marsh's series of mysteries featuring Inspector Roderick Alleyn. It was written in the 1930s, in the heyday of British mysteries (although Marsh was from New Zealand). I read this about 30 years ago and that was long enough for me to have vague memories of the story but not remember who the murderer was. Alleyn is a rare detective who comes from the upper classes and was educated at Oxford. After working for the diplomatic service he turned to policing. The story is a classic one of a British house party where a "murder game" is played but one of the guests actually ends up dead, stabbed with his own dagger. The victim's cousin, Nigel Bathgate, is also in attendance and ends up helping Alleyn with the investigation while still being a suspect because of inheriting the victim's fortune. Bathgate reappears in later stories about Alleyn. Of course, there are multiple characters who could be the killer (including the butler). A side story about a band of Russian anarchists enhances the investigation. Inspector Alleyn is still single in this volume and appreciates young, eligible women, but not in a creepy way. He meets and marries artist Agatha Troy in a later book.  

Lucy By the Sea

Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (2022) 288 pages

I still have not read the original Lucy book, My Name is Lucy Barton, but have read Strout's other books which have offered snippets of Lucy's life. The most recent chronology of Lucy's life occurs during the pandemic. Her ex-husband William, a parasitologist/microbiologist, is driven to get Lucy and their adult daughters out of New York City as the pandemic gets underway. He has found a remote place on the shores of Maine where he has rented a house for Lucy and him to live in, while their daughters find other places to stay during the lockdown.

As with Strout's other Lucy books, Lucy's story is told in first person, in her conversational and understated way, even when she feels the pain of isolation impossible to bear at times. Other times, she feels joy at the little things that make her days better, like taking a walk near the ocean and waving to neighbors. Her relationship with William is intriguing; he seems difficult at times, but they still share quite a kinship.

Life is slow in Maine, but I still found the book to be a fast read.

Painted Devils

 Painted Devils by Margaret Owen, 512 pages.

In this sequel to Little Thieves, which I wrote about here, we catch back up with Vanja several months later, and she is not doing well. Her own self-destructive tendencies make her flee the friends and loved ones she had by the end of Little Thieves, believing herself unworthy of them and going off on her own to try to learn some honest skills that will make her feel worthy of love. Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and she accidentally starts a cult instead. This becomes an even bigger problem when the god she made up manifests and demands human sacrifice. It is an even bigger problem when she demands the sacrifice be Emeric Conrad, Vanja's (ex?)boyfriend, who was in town to investigate if divine fraud was being committed and finally earn full admittance to the prefects. A quest follows trying to find a way to resolve the multiple situations that are implied there, which soon begins to show ties to Vanja's past.

This was an excellent sequel. Although it wasn't quite as much my thing as the first book, Owen is a good enough writer that things that would drive me crazy in other books (such as a lot of pages dedicated to the sex lives of teenagers) are handled well and feel like they contribute significantly to the themes of the book overall. This is slated to be the second book in a trilogy, and it definitely reads like one. There is a lot of time spent developing relationships, establishing problems, and a less than satisfying ending. This book is written with craft and maturity, and is a great example of literary merit in young adult novels. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one!

Enchantment

Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May, 212 pages.

Jan wrote about this cozy nonfiction book here a couple of months ago. May writes about trying to recapture not just a sense of normalcy, but something better after the long stress period of a global pandemic. The book is mostly part memoir and part meditation on nature and life, one which encourages the reader to do the same kind of thinking.

I had a hard time getting into this book, but I'm pretty sure it is a perfectly fine book that would be very impactful if it spoke to you. I liked that the book was structured around the four classical elements, which felt like an effective organizational method. Overall, it wasn't for me, but I think it could be a very could choice for someone who enjoys an introspective memoir.
 

Hide and Seek

 

Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin  288 pp.

This is an early book in the Inspector Rebus series. John Rebus is called to the scene of a dead body in a squat in a derelict part of Edinburgh. The young man is laid out on the floor with candles around him. Witchcraft symbols are painted on one of the walls. Death was by an overdose of heroin, or was it? Rebus believes there is more to it and begins an investigation, trying to find the "Hyde" that seems to be at the heart of the mystery. While this is happening, Rebus is tagged by his boss to be the face of a new anti-drug campaign to be funded by some of Edinburgh's movers and shakers. He doesn't want the job but after being forced to socialize with the elite, he finds much to be suspicious of. Soon Rebus finds connections between the dead boy and the same elites he is supposed to work with and their illegal and violent activities. Lots of twists and turns in this one but Rankin got a little cutesy with character names - Rebus's boss is Watson, his assistant is Holmes, and the criminal they are looking for is named Hyde.   

Warrior Girl Unearthed

 Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley, 400 pages.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was looking forward to a relaxing summer of fishing and hanging out with her dog. Instead, she ends up stuck in the tribe's summer internship program to pay off damages after a minor car accident. Even worse, she ends up assigned to Cooper Turtle, manager of the Sugar Island Cultural Learning Center and local weirdo. However, she soon comes to like and appreciate Cooper Turtle as he draws her into the fight for repatriation of ancestral remains and grave goods, a topic she quickly finds a passion for. Also featuring in Perry's summer is the possibility of romance, illegally obtained Anishinaabe artifacts, and a slew of missing girls. 

I quite liked this book, and Perry in particular. I found the plot engaging, the characters good, and the information about NAGPRA thorough and informative. Unfortunately, I feel like this book was trying to do a bit too much, and it ended up feeling sort of unfocused, and the resolution felt like it only sort of made sense. Still, I consider this a pretty enjoyable book, and a good addition to the growing category of young adult novels by indigenous authors.

Die Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker

 Die Vol. 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, 184 pages.

In 1991 six teenagers disappear from the home where they were playing a tabletop roleplaying game called Die for Dominic Ash's sixteenth birthday. Two years later five return. They cannot speak of what happened to them. Twenty-five years later Ash receives in the mail the metal twenty-sided die that transported them to a terrible fantasy world on his sixteenth birthday, splashed in blood. It belonged to Sol, the gamemaster, the one who didn't come back. The group hasn't seen each other in years, avoiding reminders of their traumatic two years. But now they are together again considering if they can save the friend they thought was dead, and are instantly pulled right back into the world they never wanted to return to.

This comic series has been described by the author as "Goth Jumanji" and that doesn't seem too far off the mark. This volume had to do a lot of heavy lifting establishing the world, rules, and history, which meant we only got hints of a lot of what I believe it's building to. That being said, I'm already hooked. The characters are very flawed, and also very engaging, so I'm excited to see where we're going with this! The art is also super cool. And, as a ttrpg nerd, I am of course sold on the premise. This won the British Fantasy Award and was a finalist for a Hugo, and I think those accolades are definitely deserved. 

Fun Fact: The author is releasing an actual rpg book for the game represented in this story, and it sounds really interesting!

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks, 417 pages

They say you should write what you know, and Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks definitely took that advice in this, his first novel. The book follows, well, the making of a big budget comics-based superhero movie, from source material and backstory, all the way through the film's release. The book spans decades and hops between several main characters, including the creator of the comics, the writer/director of the movie, the director's right-hand woman, the local hire that ends up being completely invaluable to the film production, and the lead actress in the film. It's a complex story, full of amazingly three-dimensional characters and plenty of insider knowledge of filmmaking, and I loved reading it. Really, my only complaint is with the world's longest tongue-twister of a title.

The Misplaced Legion

 

The Misplaced Legion by Harry Turtledove (1987) 323 pages

This is the first book in a series called The Videssos Cycle. I picked it up at a nerdy yard sale because it was recommended by the host. A Roman Legion is fighting "barbarians" in Gaul. When the leaders of both forces stand off against each other, both carrying Celtic swords, and the swords make contact, as pictured on the cover, the whole legion is transported to the Empire of Videssos, a strange magical land. No elves, or orcs, or dragons make an appearance, just different human cultures living within or outside of Videssos. There are wizard/priests who can do magic drawing from either the light or dark divine realms of the local religious system. I mainly enjoyed the story because of the main character, Marcus Scaurus, the leader of the Romans. He is inquisitive, observant, fair-minded, disciplined, and brave. The way he and his men adjust to this new world, and the way this world is revealed through Scaurus's eyes kept me engaged. Another Goodreads reader points out that the author is an expert on the Byzantine empire and that this is the basis for the world of Videssos. There are not many fantasy elements. It does feel like the Legion, which is somewhat over 1,000 men, has jumped 1,000 years into the future into the medieval Middle East. It all leads to a big battle. It is the start of a series, so maybe I shouldn't have expected a neatly wrapped happy ending. I don't imagine it is easy to find this old series, so in my mind it will probably remain a stand-alone adventure, and it was enjoyable enough for what it was.

Tower of Dawn

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

(2017) 660 pages (Throne of Glass #6)

Having a hard time with how I feel about this one. I think this series should have been much shorter, but on the other hand there were parts of this book that I really enjoyed. The background information about the Torre and the healer Aelin met at the very beginning was a nice tie-in. 

 

This book is different from the rest in that it focuses on the healer Yrene Towers, Choal Westfall and Nesryn Faliq, who are all heading to Antica where the healers have fled Adarlan. Choal is paralyzed from the waist down since the glass tower was destroyed by Aelin. Him and Nesryn are in search of the powers that may help him regain his mobility. They also are on a mission to secure more bodies from the great Khagan to help with the war against Erawan. Yrene Towers, who we met at the very beginning in Innish, who was saved by Aelin (then Celaena Sardothien) and given a fortune to send her to the healer's tower in Antica in order to study and become a healer herself. In the time spent at Torre Cesme, she has risen in ranks and become the one who will be chosen to replace the Healer on High. She heals Choal throughout the course of the book, but at the beginning hates him because he was one of the evil king's men, the ones who murdered her mother and burned her village. Many things are discovered about the Valg as they have arrived in Antica, stirring up the Khaganate and trying to get close to Yrene. Overall, it is a great bridge to have all the information for the big battle that should be taking place in the next book.