Keeping Track of my Reads

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Have just finished Sunburn by Laura Lippman. This was a very enjoyable read and hard to put down. I’ve read one of hers before and made a note of the name. They had a few titles by her in my local library so I thought I’d try another one of hers, and I’m glad I did. This was a story about a woman, caught in a violent marriage, and she hatches a plot to get out of it, but also to get enough money to live comfortably when she does. But, a private detective is sent to find her and find out if she has any money, and where it’s hidden. It reminded me of a Raymond Chandler book, the P. I. And the femme fatale. I must read some more of her books, this one was so good and so well plotted, there’s a long list of her books at the front of this one, so she seems very prolific.

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Have finished A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris. It was a follow up to her first book, A Different Class. The all boys Grammar school now is taking in girls, and has a female Head, the Deputy Head in the previous book. I thought the plot was a bit convoluted with too many coincidences. I think I notice a pattern of books written during lockdown are a bit too long, like the authors had too much time on their hands. A good read overall.

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My latest read was Suspect by Scott Turow. This was about a female police chief who is accused of asking for sexual favours in return for promotions among her officers. She was single, divorced, and did have sexual relations with some of the accusers, but it was consensual. She hires a lawyer, who is a friend of hers from college to represent her. He has a female investigator who tries to get to the bottom of why it is happening. She’s a quirky character who was thrown out of police college when she failed a drugs test. It turns out that an ex cop partner of the chief who was thrown off the force for drug dealing and a few other crimes, wants to get rid of her as he’s now dealing in real estate to launder his earnings from drugs and she sets out to convict him when she becomes chief. I enjoyed it, an easy read, with short chapters and the investigator was an Interesting character. I suppose it was another Take on the “me too” movement, turning the tables to the male perspective.

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I’ve finished Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson. I enjoyed it. I’ve read all her books and particularly liked her Jackson Brodie books. This was more like her other books, set mostly at the beginning of the 20th century or around the Second World War. This was set in the 1920s and was about the Soho nightlife of the time and the disappearance of young girls. A former librarian, who had been a nurse during the war, goes to London, from York to find two missing girls and gets caught up in the life of the family who run most of the clubs, the Cokers, with a matriarch in charge. It was an interesting read and with good characters.

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My latest read was A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley. This was set in Monterey, California just before the start of the American Civil War. It was about a young girl who was married off to an older man, so she wouldn’t marry a young Irishman she’d fallen for. Her husband brought her out to California to the gold rush, but it had moved on from Monterey by the time they got there. He turned out to be violent and treated her badly, but, lucky for her, he was shot in a bar fight and she was left alone, she had no skills, so ended up working as a prostitute in a brothel. She was well looked after there and saved her money and for the first time had her independence. She also made friends with another prostitute, her first real friend, she said. Over time, girls started to disappear, so Eliza and her friend try to find out what happened to them. It was a good read and really captured the lawlessness of the times, and how cheap life was, especially for prostitutes. I enjoyed it. There was an Irish theme running through it, and even a couple of Irish songs sung.

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I’ve read two books in quick succession. First was The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin. This was good. It was about a woman working in a remote Scottish hotel to be near her brother who is in jail close by. He was involved in a dangerous gang and was killed during a prison riot. It’s her last night in the hotel and a big storm hits and the hotel is cut off. A stranger arrives who says he was part of a convoy moving a dangerous prisoner who has escaped and he is a police officer needing help, she lets him in, but then another man turns up with the same story, who is the real policeman? I enjoyed it and finished it quickly.

The next read was Dark as my Heart by Antti Tuomainen. This the third book of his I have read. I really enjoyed it. His other two books were black comedies, this one was a straightforward thriller about a man whose Mother disappeared when he was twelve and never found, he has an idea who is responsible and sets out to prove it. There were plenty of twists, the plot was good, he’s from Finland so this was translated and I thought it was well done. Easy to read and I couldn’t put it down.

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I’ve finished Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke. This is a Dave Robicheaux book, set in New Orleans. This is one of his earlier books set in the 80’s. A light aircraft crashes in the river while he and his wife are fishing and 4 people are on board and a little girl, fleeing from South America. They are all killed, except the little girl who he rescues and decides to keep and rear with his wife. But he begins to look into who the passengers are and upsets the local gangster and drug dealers, with disastrous consequences for him and his family. His writing is very lyrical and poetic, but also very violent. But I enjoy his books.