Voodoo River

With a title like Voodoo River, it's little wonder that this "Elvis Cole" installment by Robert Crais is set in the bayous of Louisiana. Normally I like to read a series in order, but I picked up a few paper backs to take to New Zealand and got hooked again on Robert Crais, so am kind of reading whatever I have on hand (see earlier reviews of Free Fall and The Last Detective). This one goes back to the time when Elvis met Lucy, then an attorney in Baton Rouge. Elvis is supposed to be tracking down the birth parents of a TV star, who it turns out, is being blackmailed about her parentage. Said star doesn't tell Elvis that and he finds out the hard way by running head on into the blackmailer and some even worse bad guys who eventually kill the blackmailer; they are also running illegal immigrants into the country. There are some pretty colorful characters here, including a centenarian snapping turtle named Luther who can bite a 2 X 4 (that's a board) into splinters and you just know he's going to be bad news. Pike comes out from LA to make sure Elvis comes out the other end of a high risk double cross designed to round up the  coyotes at the top of the food chain and get the blackmail victims off the hook. Lucy crowns Elvis with the moniker "Studly DoRight" in this book, and we meet her son Ben, so a lot of the material for subsequent books gets its genesis here...good one to read if you want to dive into these--and they are well worth reading. As I said in earlier reviews, there is a lot of actual detecting that goes on in this series.

Borderline

The title of this Nevada Barr installment in the Anna Pigeon series speaks both to the book's location in Big Bend National Park on the border of Texas and Mexico, and to the state of mind of Anna Pigeon.  After she killed someone--in self-defense--in Isle Royale, he sense of man's inhumanity to man has taken on haunting dimensions and she feels she is perched on the edge of a bottomless void in her soul. Even the love of husband Paula doesn't seem to be enough right now. She is on administrative leave from the Park Service and, because being in nature is what usually grounds Anna, she and Paul have decided to go rafting down the Rio Grande to facilitate her recovery. But a flash flood, the harrowing rescue of a nearly drowned pregnant woman, and the political ambitions of a big city Texas mayor on the verge of losing her husband all combine in this fast moving story to challenge Anna in ways that will either push her over or bring her back from the brink of that abyss. As always, you get a wonderful sense of place; it's like getting to virtually visit the national parks by reading this series of books.  And of course Anna is a strong resourceful woman, maybe most of all when she's having a tough time. You can read Maureen Corrigan's more detailed plot summary and evaluations of Anna's character here.

The Map of Lost Memories

This book by Kim Fay has gotten quite a bit of very positive chatter and I was certainly curious to read it, since the protagonist was (a) a strong, independent woman,  (b) started out in Seattle, and (c) was about a part of the world I know nothing about (southeast Asia). Starting out in 1925, at the art and cultural museum on the campus of the University of Washington--renamed in this book as the Brooke (instead of the Burke)--Irene Blum has operated in the background for years helping to build the collections to levels of national and international recognition with special emphasis on southeast Asian work. Her special passion is Cambodia and the history of the Khmer empire, which rose to prominence and then essentially faded away to nothing. Irene's parents had spent time in southeast Asia, although she doesn't realize how much until late into the story, but she does find out upon her father's death that he possessed the diary of a missionary with information that may lead to critical records documenting the last great king of the Khmer empire. When Irene is passed over for the curator's position of the Brooke museum because she does not have a PhD, she decides to see out these mysterious copper scrolls and sets off on a dangerous adventure, financed by a lifelong friend of the family, who is also a serious collector of artifacts. Everyone who comes into this story has ulterior motives as Irene soon discovers, even those whom she thought she could trust most, and the relationships between the players turn out to be much more complex than she could ever have imagined. In spite of the author's ability to capture a sense of place with colorful description, her characters left me unengaged and I never really felt very deeply for any of them. I was fascinated with the idea of learning more about the Khmer empire, knowing virtually nothing about this culture, and yet over I was disappointed by this book. She does raise all the pertinent questions about the damage done to history and culture and memory by colonization of one people by another (or many others) but still this story felt flat to me. Clearly this is a minority opinion so I encourage you to form your own.

Rose

An oldie (1996) but goodie by Martin Cruz Smith, author of Gorky Park, Red Square and other Arkady Renko thrillers--not sure what compelled me to choose this from my sizable collection of unread paperbacks. It's late Victorian England, 1872, and the big landowners also owned the lives of the people on the land. Set in the mining town of Wigan in the Lancashire coal district, these are hard lives for the miners and their families, crammed 10 to a room, dozens sharing a privy, compensated a few shillings for the "accidental death" of a child at the mines, relieved by even greater acts of brutality like betting on fights between the strongest men trying to kick each other to death with nail studded wooden clogs.  Whereas the moral crusaders, the Temperance workers, and the mine and mill owners cast judgement, live in relative luxury, and stand  apart...with a couple of exceptions. The protagonist Blair, has been recalled in disgrace from his duties as mining engineer (for gold) on the west coast of Africa because he used ("stole") the money from the missionaries' Bible fund to pay his porters. His boss, Lord Hannay, who has owned the Hannay mines for hundreds of years, promises to sponsor his return to Africa if he will find the missing fianc

-->é of his daughter Charlotte Hannay. He was a penniless curate named Reverend John Maypole who seemed to have a passion for the local miners, including the "Pit Girls," the women who roll up their skirts, don men's pants, and sort the coal that is brought out of the mines. One in particular, Rose Molyneux, is apparently at the heart of this mystery. This is a fascinating historical novel on so many levels. The miners are a closed community and are not about to help Blair in his investigation, even though Blair was actually born in Wigan and has worked in a coal mine before becoming an engineer working for Hannay. There are shifting identities and so many secrets people are desperate to keep. The real reason for Blair being brought in is only gradually revealed. Rose is not who she originally appears to be, but finding this out may get Blair killed. Initially, all Blair wants to do is finish the job for Hannay and get back to his beloved Africa; he hates England. But he gradually gets sucked in, wanting to figure out what has happened to the missing man who cared so deeply about these people that it may have cost him his life. Smith compellingly creates the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the mining town, and even, in very brief glimpses, the world of Africa left behind. This author is a master craftsman and you will learn a lot about coal mining and the class system surrounding it and it will keep you guessing until the very end.

The Tipping Point

Maybe it's just because there have been so many books in recent years that have made similar points, but I just did not find this book by Malcolm Gladwell that revolutionary. He offered some interesting anecdotes and classifications with regard to how "epidemics" of ideas, trends, behaviors, etc. are promulgated. He identifies some key types of players in the process. There are those who are especially good at making connections between people ("Connectors"), those who love becoming experts and using that expertise to help others ("Mavens"), and those who can translate concepts meaningfully to the person in front of them ("Salesmen"). He discusses Hush Puppies, Sesame Street, teen suicide in Micronesia, teen smoking in the U.S., and in an Afterword to this paperback 2002 publication, the school shooting "epidemic" in the U.S. He makes a compelling case for context as a powerful force in determining behavior with his discussion of the radical decline in violent crime in NYC in the 1990's, citing twin studies, "broken window" theorists, and crime statistics. At times, the book feels a little disjointed--I'm not really sure where he wants us to go with him. The subtitle of the book is "How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference"...the "tipping point" is defined as "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, or spreads like wildfire" (back cover).  And he does offer various explanations and factors to consider in how that happens, what is required. What I came away with was a refocused attention on how media today can shape social phenomena that have become somewhat epidemic, like school shootings. I have perhaps slightly different questions about the precipitous rise in social behaviors like "cutting," or eating disorders, or autism, or ADHD. Any book that makes you think, I suppose, is laudable, I just didn't find this one to live up to all the hype I had heard. Perhaps some of Gladwell's other books?

Oolong Dead

What a totally cosy little mystery, except set in Savannah instead of some quaint English village! This is #10 in Laura Childs' "Tea Shop Mystery Series"http://www.laurachilds.com/teashop.php and Theodosia Browning (yeah, I did think the name was a bit over the top) is suddenly thrown from her steeplechaser when he shies from a jump. The problem turns out to be a dead body--the body of someone Theodosia has had words with, and also the sister of her ex-fiance. Not only is Theo thrown from her horse, but she is also thrown for a loop when the local homicide detective subtly asks for her help in looking into who might have wanted newly promoted TV anchor Abby Davis dead. There are plenty of suspects, the has-been anchor man beat out by Abby, the jilted husband...To top it off, the next day Abby's brother Jory shows up and says the family wants Theo to investigate as well. Theo runs the Indigo Tea Shop in Savannah, hence the name of the series, and apparently has a knack for solving crimes. If this book is any indicator, the series is a total romp and I will look for more when I am in the mood for something light. Plus they have yummy recipes in the back. And this has aroused a powerful urge in me to visit Savannah!.

Death in a Strange Country

I first encountered Donna Leon when I picked up one of her books in the lending library of the resort on Crete. She has written over 20 mysteries featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Police, this being about the the 2nd in the series. A native of New Jersey, Ms. Leon has lived in Venice for 30 years and so has captured the flavor--the corrupt stink and the aching beauty--very well. This town of 60,000 attracts over 150,000 tourists a day, creating two incompatible worlds in a small area.  There is a also, in Leon's characters, a dichotomy between a sense of optimism and a sense of cynicism about what goes on in their country, those who choose to believe nothing bad is going on and those who are not the least bit surprised to find out, for example, that the government is in bed with big business and taking huge kickbacks to allow dumping of toxic waste in the countryside. When an American public health official from the military base in Vicenza turns up dead in a canal one morning, the higher ups want nothing more than to attribute it to a mugging. But as Brunetti pulls on the threads, the victim's lover, also a doctor at the American base, suddenly dies from a "drug overdose" -- supposedly a suicide--and Brunetti is now firmly convinced that these murders are connected. And he will quickly learn that there is absolutely nothing that he can do to bring the culprits to justice. Sometimes, however, fate has a way of twisting the tale of the devil himself. You can read a brief interview with Leon done by NPR's Sylvia Poggioli here.

Folsom Point

A first novel by R. P. Snow set in northern New Mexico (Abiquiu, El Rito, etc.), former home of our friend Joan Starr Ward, so a setting more familiar to her than me, but of interest nevertheless. Our protagonist is Abigail Romero, a thirty-something single woman who works as a private investigator of sorts and is apparently still on the rebound from a relationship with a sociopathic thief she helped send to jail. Little does she know she's in the sights of his younger brother, who wants revenge not only for losing his hero to New Mexico State Prison, but for Abigail spoiling the big score that was going to set them up for life. Posing as an amateur photographer, he convinces a student working on a dig at the Ghost Ranch (of Georgia O'Keefe fame) to help him steal some recently uncovered artifacts which might be of Folsom origin. The Ranch, in turn, enlists Abigail to try and find the missing artifacts. Our villain, Myron Galt as he calls himself, leaves Abigail tantalizing and vaguely threatening e-mail rhymes and clues lying around her property, none of which she takes seriously enough. Although Abigail recovers one spear point and comes tantalizing close to uncovering Galt, she is scheduled to leave on a pre-planned trip to Spain before a satisfactory ending is reached. Galt will have none of it, however, and kidnaps Abigail, then leaves her in an ancient and deep cistern high in the hills just as a thunderstorm approaches. The account of her ordeal is very realistic. Her eventual plan to catch up with Galt calls on some old friends as well as her own resourcefulness. Although the writing felt a bit awkward at times, the pacing was good and this was an intriguing plot idea with appeal beyond those who love this part of the country.

The Stone Monkey

This is the 4th installment in Jeffery Deaver's "Lincoln Rhyme" series --he has 3 other series, none of which I've dipped into. The first book in the series, The Bone Collector, as you may remember, was made into a movie with Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme, and Angelina Jolie as the cop he recruits to become his mobile forensic evidence collector, since he is now confined to a motorized wheelchair. This tale centers around a particularly vicious smuggler of illegal immigrants who just killed the last group of illegals he brought in. Known as "The Ghost" because there are no photos or fingerprints of him on file, he is being tracked by Rhyme in an attempt to stop him before any more people die. The Ghost scuttles the ship with his most recent "shipment" but a lone man and two families escape. Amelia rescues the man from drowning, apparently; he is wearing a stone pendant of the Monkey King. He claims to be a doctor who wants to help Amelia with her physical and emotional pain, or is he just using her for something more sinister?  It is up to Lincoln and Amelia to find the two missing families where they have hidden away in New York City before the Ghost does.  This one had a twist that surprised me, some soul searching on the part of the main characters, as well as Deaver's usual taut storyline.

Free Fall

The 4th of the Elvis Cole series finds Elvis, and therefore Pike, working for about $40 down and $10 a month on their usual $2,000 fee to figure out what is wrong with Jennifer Sheridan's high school sweetheart and now LAPD special task force cop, Mark Thurman. He's acting strange and she's sure he's in something over his head. When Cole's initial investigation turns up evidence--and a confession from Thurman--that he's having an affair, Jennifer refuses to believe it. And subsequent events prove that there is, in fact, a whole lot more going on.  That, for example, a "righteous" death involving the task force maybe wasn't so legitimate after all, and that the whole team is being blackmailed into aiding and abetting one of the worst gangs in the city to keep the evidence of their misdeed under wraps. Pike, as always, is the shadow that saves Elvis' butt when the chips are down, but they both come out looking like the good guys--not much richer but very noble. Mark Thurman isn't quite the white knight Jennifer fell in love with, but she does still love and believe in him, and we all want someone like that in our lives. I like that real detective work happens in these books by Crais and, although Pike is a little too scarey good at what he does to be true sometimes, you gotta love these guys.