Magpie Murders

This book was actually a birthday present from sister-in-law, Patty, and I was excited about reading a mystery written by Anthony Horowitz, the creator of both the Foyle's War and Midsomer Murders series. That being said, I had to start this book 3 times before I finally got into it, even though it started out in lovely English cozy style and then on page 3 the narrator tells us that the story to come changed her life; she goes on to say "Unlike me, you have been warned."  Susan Ryeland is a book editor for a small London press, and specifically for one of their cash cow authors, mystery writer Alan Conway. She is all set to have a good read on a rainy weekend of the newest Conway script for his 9th book, but finds that the final chapters are missing. And then Alan Conway dies. It could have been an accident, or even suicide, but Susan begins to suspect murder. It is a story within a story, the first being the story in Conway's book, featuring his Hercule Poirot-like protagonist Atticus Pünd. Conway is planning to kill off his money-making character in this book, and that will turn out to be at the crux of solving the mystery surrounding Conway's own death. The stories are told with the expected expertly detailed English town and country settings as well as detailed character development. I did occasionally find the transitions between the two stories a little hard to follow, however. And the ending was a total surprise to me, so well-done on that score. 

Great review by The New York Times, USA Today, Kirkus, and NPR.

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La Belle Sauvage

I have been hearing about this new trilogy, "The Book of Dust," from Philip Pullman--of Golden Compass fame (published in England as Northern Lights)--and so jumped on Volume 1 when I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble. This is a prequel to the "His Dark Materials" trilogy; here, Lyra is a baby, being hidden from forces that want to destroy the child of Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. She is being cared for in an obscure priory, just across the Thames from The Trout, a pub owned by the parents of Malcolm Polstead, the hero of this tale. Malcolm helps out in the pub, of course, and overhears lots of conversations since no one pays much attention to an 11-year-old boy. He also frequently runs errands for the nuns and, between these two sources, soon learns about their secret guest. He is besotted with Lyra and protective of her. When a menacing character with a 3-legged hyena as a daemon comes into the Trout asking about the baby, Malcolm is alarmed. There are strange goings-on everywhere and  Malcolm witnesses an apparent abduction, which eventually draws him into a spy network opposing The Magisterium, an organization of religious zealots with enormous political power. At one point he helps Lord Asriel surreptitiously visit his daughter at the priory, and in return, gets his little boat, La Belle Sauvage renovated. The masters of the River have made Malcolm's little boat seaworthy but also issued a warning of devastating rains and flooding to come. No one believes Malcolm when he tries to pass on the warning, however, so he becomes Lyra's rescuer when the rains come and the Thames River floods the nunnery,  sending Malcom and Lyra and the surly barmaid, Alice, on a surreal adventure in search of Lyra's father in London.
This is a totally engrossing tale from the first page and I can't wait for the next two volumes. No doubt I will have to re-read "His Dark Materials" when I finish.
Erudite review from The Guardian, which highlights the story's literary and political antecedents and underpinnings. Also a thoughtful review from the New York Times, Slate, and The Independent.

The Clock Work Dynasty

This is the newest book (2017) by our local (Portland, OR) science fiction/ alternative history writer Daniel H. Wilson, who has written several previous books, mostly robot related.  There is a good overview of what he has written on Wikipedia. He is certainly qualified with a PhD in robotics and masters degree in artificial intelligence. This novel alternates between an historical journey, beginning in 1700's Czarist Russia, and a present day Pacific Northwest thriller. The action begins with the revival of two human-like mechanical beings--a young girl and an adult man (Elena and Peter)--by the Czar's "mechanician." When Peter the Great dies, his wife, Catherine, vows to destroy these abominations and so begins their life on the run, so to speak.
In current day Oregon, June Stefanov is an academic anthropologist who studies these ancient machines and is about to make an astounding and life-threatening discovery. As these characters' lives collide, nothing less than the fate of the human race is at stake.
I felt the pace of the book was slow to get started, but eventually I was drawn into finding out the origin story of these mechanical beings, who continue to evolve themselves, and are hiding in plain sight. This review from Publishers Weekly pretty accurately sums up my reading experience. My curiosity is piqued now to check out some of his more futuristic novels such as Robopocalypse.
Positive review available from Kirkus, and excerpts from an interview on OPB.

The Little French Bistro

What a disappointment. I so enjoyed The Little Paris Bookstore, by Nina George, that I pleasantly anticipated reading this selection for our upcoming book group. The parallels to the first book are significant, a protagonist who has existed for decades without love suddenly realizes there is more to life during a journey of self-discovery. I almost never disagree with Kirkus reviews, who found this book to be "a satisfying virtual visit to the French Riviera," but I found the plot to be utterly predictable and the prose to be overblown. I would put that down to translation except that the first translated book was done by the same guy, Simon Pare.
Marianne is sick of her life and especially her unfathful and condescending husband. While with him on a tour in France, she sneaks away from dinner and attempts to drown herself in the Seine, only to be rescued by a homeless man and taken to a hospital, where her husband catches up with her and tells the doctor she is mentally ill.
Once again, Marianne makes her escape with suicide in mind and this time, inspired by a colorful ceramic tile she saw in the nurses' station, she heads for the coast to a tiny fishing village called Kerdruc, where she plans to walk into the sea. She is immediately adopted by an entangled group of locals (for more detail, see the NYTimes review) and made the chef's assistant at a local bistro. And of course she meets someone and falls in love. She has already fallen in love with the sea, the food, the countryside....and has begun playing the accordion again. Someone just happened to have a spare one lying around. She does not know what to do about her marital situation and chooses not to discuss it with anyone, until her husband makes a public appeal on TV and everyone recognizes her. She tries to run away again, this time from the people in Kerdruc, and go back to her husband. Realizing she has changed too much to make this possible, she returns to Kerdruc, her lover, and everyone else's romantic problems in the village are solved in the last chapter. Oh please spare me.
The reviewers all liked the book, however: Publishers Weekly, Washington Post, New York Times.

A Christmas Return

Apparently Anne Perry regularly writes a special mystery novella for the holidays and this is the 15th in her Victorian Christmas series. Certainly competent writing and a good plot. She is a prolific and accomplished author, but unless you are looking for something really light to read, not worth the investment of time. Apparently this is a character that has appeared in earlier novels, as has the character's granddaughter, Charlotte Pitt. Mariah Ellison is in her 80's and living with Charlotte and her husband when she receives a strange package--a Christmas pudding surrounding an antique cannon ball. She immediately recognizes it as the former property of a dear friend who died when a bookcase fell on him and the cannon ball hit his head. She hasn't had contact with his surviving wife in 20 years, but she resolves to make the trip and find out what prompted this unusual invitation. A cold case is being revived that threatens to dishonor the name of her deceased friend, and she is determined to save both his reputation and that of his wife. It is a proper detective story and enjoyable reading, but as I said, only if you have nothing better to do.