Author: whatmeread

Day 90: As the Crow Flies

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Cover for As the Crow FliesIn honor of the premiere of “Longmire,” the new TV series on A&E starting this Sunday and based on Craig Johnson’s mystery series, today I’m reviewing his latest book, As the Crow Flies. Johnson’s series features Walt Longmire, the sheriff of fictional Absaroka County in Wyoming. The highlights of the series are likable characters and difficult puzzles and a sense of the modern American West as almost a character in the novels.

Walt and his best friend Henry Standing Bear are in Montana at the Cheyenne reservation trying to make the final arrangements for Walt’s daughter’s wedding. Although Henry reserved the site at Crazy Head Spring where Cady wants to be married several months earlier, the librarian on the reservation wants it for a Cheyenne language immersion class, and she is not to be denied. Walt and Henry manage to alienate the new Tribal Police Chief, Lolo Long, at first sight as they are on their way to Painted Warrior cliff to see if it will be a good alternate site for the wedding. While they are taking pictures to send Cady, they see a woman and her baby fall from the cliff above them. The woman dies, but the baby lives, and Walt and Henry rush it to the reservation clinic. On the way, Chief Long tries to arrest them.

Things look suspiciously like murder. Chief Long is belligerant and has already made some law-enforcement errors, but after Walt makes a few cogent observations about her job performance and helps her keep her jurisdiction from the FBI, she asks him to teach her to be a police chief.

Although it looks at first as if the girl’s abusive boyfriend may be guilty, Walt is not so sure. After a red truck tries to run him down along the road, he traces the truck to a different suspect. Walt is torn between helping Chief Long with her police work and working Cady’s to-do list.

As well as the cast of recurring characters you expect from a Johnson novel and some interesting new ones, As the Crow Flies continues the hint of Indian mysticism that has appeared here and there in the series,  including a peyote ceremony and a conversation with the deceased Virgil White Buffalo (who I miss). Its taste of Cheyenne culture gives it an added dimension.

Day 89: The Wars of the Roses

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Cover for The Wars of the RosesThe Wars of the Roses were a series of complex events involving numerous significant figures. As such, when I have previously read about them, I’ve found it confusing to keep track of events and people.

In The Wars of the Roses: Through the Lives of Five Men and Women of the Fifteenth Century, Desmond Seward presents the clearest and most interesting explication I have read. He organizes the material and infuses interest by following the effects of the wars on five people–William Hastings, Edward IV’s best friend and one of the most powerful men in the realm during his (Yorkist) reign; John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, head of an ancient family and a loyal Lancastrian; Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor’s mother; Dr. John Morton, a loyal Lancastrian clergyman who turned Yorkist; and Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV and daughter of a successful London businessman.

A series of battles between rival factions of the Plantagenet family for the throne, the Wars of the Roses lasted 32 years. The roots of the dispute lay in Henry IV’s usurpation of the crown from Richard II years before. Henry IV and his son, Henry V, were strong rulers, but Henry V’s heir, Henry VI, succeeded at the age of 15. He proved a weak and ineffective ruler who was dominated by his favorites and his wife’s rapacious relatives. Henry also managed to lose the portion of France that his father had so arduously and expensively won back, and England’s state of law and order had almost completely broken down.

The shift in government began when Henry VI had a son who replaced Edward Duke of York (later to be Edward IV) as heir to the throne. This made Edward’s position precarious and he had to flee to Europe. His subsequent battles against Henry’s adherents were only the beginning of years of instability that resulted in the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the beginning of that of the Tudors.

History can be written with too much detail or in a too academic and dry style, or it can be so lightly researched as to seem like fluff. Seward hits the perfect balance with a terrifically interesting book that is wonderfully well written.

Day 88: The Iron King

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Cover for The Iron KingBest Book of the Week!

The Iron King is the first of seven books in the “Accursed Kings” series by the French novelist Maurice Druon. Unlike many historical novels, this series does not follow a fictional hero or heroine but is an interpretation of actual events in French history with all historical figures. This series was popular in its time (it was written in the 1950’s), but may be difficult to find now. If you are lucky, your local library may have it.

It is 1307 in France. The kingdom is broke, and King Philippe IV, known as the Iron King, is looking for sources of money. The Knights Templar, one of the wealthiest organizations in the world, seems like a good place to get it, but they refuse France a loan. Some charges of heresy, obscene rituals, and other abominations have been laid against them by a defrocked knight. Everyone knows they are false, but with the collusion of Pope Clement, who fears the knights’ power, Philippe orders the members to be arrested all on the same night, and seizes their assets.

In the meantime, Robert of Artois has been cheated out of his inheritance by his aunt, Mahaut.  He decides to get his revenge by bringing down her daughters, who are married to the King’s sons.

Druon’s writing is elegant and ironic, his novels thoroughly researched. He doesn’t over-explain; instead, the novel is compelled forward solely by the events in the plot. Few of the characters are sympathetic; nevertheless, it is a fascinating series. I have often read opinions that Druon is one of the best historical novelists ever.

Day 87: Bangkok Haunts

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Cover of Bangkok HauntsBangkok Haunts is unlike any mystery I have ever read.  I heard about the series by John Burdett and wanted to try it but think perhaps it might have been best to start with the first one. (Bangkok Haunts is the third.) I had an ambivalent reaction to it but am willing to try reading another one.

Sonchai Jitpleecheep is a devout Buddhist detective who tries to remain relatively straight in what is, according to one of the characters in the book, the world’s most corrupt police force. I say relatively because his mother is the proprietor of a brothel, where he helps out. He also keeps being pulled into the illegal schemes of his powerful boss, police captain Vikom.

A vicious snuff film is sent to Sonchai anonymously. He is horrified to see that the victim is Damrong, a prostitute with whom he was obsessed until she left him. Damrong’s ghost begins haunting him at night, even though he is living happily with his pregnant girlfriend. Sonchai is determined to bring Damrong’s murderers and those involved in the film to justice, even though Vikom is more interested in blackmail.

The novel’s Byzantine plot involves sorcery, Buddhist monks, an elite gentlemen’s club, Cambodian thugs, and some seriously disturbed individuals. For such dark material, the first person narration is oddly light in tone. However, the atmosphere and insights into Thai beliefs, modern life, and customs are rich and fascinating.

I did not buy at all the subplot about Sonchai’s FBI friend Kimberley Jones, who becomes obsessed with his assistant Lek. Lek is saving up for a sex-change operation, but Kimberley falls madly in love with him and keeps calling Sonchai to talk about how wrong the operation would be and to demand he talk Lek out of it. I can’t imagine that a woman who has fought her way into the FBI would be this susceptible and irrational–and unprofessional.

This novel is not for everyone, but I definitely think the unusual series is worth another look.

Day 86: Nightingale Wood

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Cover for Nightingale WoodI hardly know how to categorize Nightingale Wood, written in 1938. On Amazon, it is called a romance, but the novel is a little cynical for that. It is described on Wikipedia as a rewrite of the fairy tale Cinderella. If so, neither the heroine or hero is what you would expect. Stella Gibbons, better known for writing Cold Comfort Farm, has written a charming, light novel with a touch of acid.

Viola Withers comes to live with her in-laws after her husband dies, leaving her penniless. The Withers’s home is uncomfortable and gloomy, containing miserly Mr. Withers; socially conscious Mrs. Withers, who thinks her son (Viola’s husband) married beneath her; and two unhappy daughters, Tina and Madge. Viola soon meets Victor, a wealthy cad who is almost engaged, and falls in love with him.

Gibbons’s characters are quirky and obsessive, and even the heroine and hero are not totally sympathetic. Viola is silly and not very bright, Tina is in love with the chauffeur, and Madge cares only about getting a dog. And I think we know enough about Mr. and Mrs. Withers already. What makes Gibbons’s books appealing is that people turn out to be better than they seem at first, and everyone gets what he or she deserves.

Day 85: Spider Bones

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Cover for Spider BonesFor years I have been enjoying Kathy Reichs’s series featuring the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Brennan alternates between working in Montreal and Charlotte, North Carolina, but I usually prefer the books that take place in Montreal. In Spider Bones, she goes farther afield.

A corpse from an autoerotic episode that is found in a lake in Quebec seems to be John Lowery of North Carolina, but John Lowery supposedly died 40 years earlier in Vietnam. Brennan’s investigation takes her to Hawaii to work with an old friend at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. She brings along her daughter as well as her on-again off-again lover Ryan and his daughter.

When Tempe is asked to help with the remains from an apparent shark attack and to identify some other bones from the Vietnam War, her life becomes endangered, as well has those of her companions.

I enjoyed this novel, but my interest in the series is winding down as the books depart more from the original set-up and become more like thrillers. I think the absorbing parts of these series are her descriptions of Brennan’s work and of the culture of Montreal. Also, the Bones TV series was a severe disappointment, as it bears little relationship to the books.

Day 84: Bring Up the Bodies

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Cover for Bring Up the BodiesBest Book of the Week! Year!

If Wolf Hall was a wonderful historical novel, Bring Up the Bodies is masterly. In this second of a trilogy, Hilary Mantel continues the story of Thomas Cromwell. Bring Up the Bodies is more focused than the last book, because it deals with a much shorter time period and defined subject–the downfall of Anne Boleyn.

The writing is elegant and impeccable. I have read a few comments that Wolf Hall was sometimes difficult to follow because the readers could not always tell who was meant by “him” or “he.” Mantel has written both books using a strict third person limited point of view, from that of Cromwell, and people don’t think of themselves by their first names. Hence, the difficulty, which I did not notice as a problem in Bring Up the Bodies. This technique is very difficult to employ successfully–we are much more used to a third person that changes from character to character or even to third person omniscient. But Mantel uses it effortlessly to create a memorable character in Cromwell–kind but implacable, one who fosters the growth of others but does not forget the crimes and indignities committed against Cardinal Wolsey, whom he loved as as a father.

Henry VIII has already decided he wants to rid himself of Anne Boleyn and marry Jane Seymour, but Anne has one more chance. She is carrying a child, and if it is born alive and is a boy, she is safe. Henry must have an heir, and he has decided that if he hasn’t been given one, God must have found some fault with his marriage to Anne just as there was one for his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. Thomas Cromwell must find him some way out of his difficulties.

Of course, Cromwell helped Anne to her position in the first place, but the Boleyns have made many enemies in their enjoyment of power, and they have treated him with disdain. More importantly, Anne Boleyn destroyed the Cardinal, and her brother mocked him in his downfall.

From the moment you begin reading, you find yourself plunged into the Tudor world of shifting politics and intrigue. Of course, we know what happens to Anne Boleyn, yet the novel maintains its suspense. The Boleyn and Howard families are going to suffer a huge defeat, but they will go down fighting.

Day 83: Travels in Siberia

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Cover for Travels in SiberiaIn Travels in Siberia, Ian Frazier relates the incidents and observations of several trips to Siberia over the course of 10 or so years. Frazier explains his fascination with Siberia as a sort of embarrassing infection and makes repeated trips to visit it, first crossing the Bering Strait, then traveling along the entire breadth of the region from the west to the Pacific, and finally journeying from Yakutsk to the “coldest place on earth outside Antarctica.” In doing so, he tells us about what happens to him and relates a lot of interesting history and facts.

The book is quirky and not what you would expect from a travelogue. For one thing, he seems strangely reluctant to take part in the adventure himself but often sits aside. He is sometimes an insensitive traveller–he often stays apart from his guides; he is not always grateful or gracious to his hosts, refusing to drink any vodka; insisting on viewing things that his Russian guide would rather avoid, to the point of rudeness (although maybe you had to do that in Soviet times); and actually treating his principal Russian guide at times as a menial when I believe he is a university professor trying to earn extra money.

Another fault of the book from my own point of view is that he often concentrates on his own philosophical musings. I am much more interested in the sights and people of the area. Frankly, he often doesn’t seem very interested in interacting with the people, even though he has the opportunity for some unique experiences, for example, being stopped along the highway by a wedding party and invited to attend the wedding (and contribute money to the bride and groom). This could have been an entertaining social occasion but he seems to view it more as a delay. He also sticks pretty much to the highways instead of investigating any of the byways and wilderness parks.

The book contains no photographs, but it has quite a few good little drawings that Frazier made of what he saw, like the one on the cover. It is most interesting when it is reporting the results of his research rather than his travels, however. Travels in Siberia is written about a fascinating subject, but I couldn’t help feeling that Frazier was almost the wrong person to make the trips!

Day 82: Cotillion

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Cover for CotillionOne of my favorite authors if I want the lightest of reading material and a good laugh is Georgette Heyer. Although I am not a romance reader, for her meticulously researched and comic Regency romances I have to make an exception. Her period pieces are absolutely convincing, as she was an expert on Regency dress, deportment, and speech. In fact, she became such an expert on the period’s idioms that she once was able to successfully sue a plagiarizer by proving that the expression the other writer copied appeared only in some records to which she had been granted private access.

But Heyer was also an expert at creating charming comic characters and situations. Cotillion is one of my favorites of her books, and one of the silliest.

Kitty Charing is an impoverished orphan who has been raised in discomfort by her miserly old guardian, “Uncle” Matthew Penicuik. A great one for manipulating his putative heirs, Uncle Matthew announces that he will leave his entire fortune to Kitty, but only if she marries one of his four grandnephews. Then he invites them all to come calling. Priggish Reverend Hugh Rattney and doltish Lord Dolphinton arrive, and the married Lord Biddenden comes to represent his rakish brother Captain Claud Rattney, but dashing Captain Jack Westruther, whom Kitty has grown up hero-worshipping, does not make an appearance, as he is unwilling to be manipulated.

Kitty is furious that Jack doesn’t appear, but even more furious at being put in this position. She soundly rebukes all of her “cousins,” except Lord Dolphinton, who is too stupid to be responsible for his actions and has been compelled to come by his mama. But then Uncle Matthew announces that if Kitty refuses to marry one of her cousins, he will leave her with nothing. What is a spunky Heyer heroine to do but run off into a snowstorm with only a few possessions and an impractical plan to get a job as a house maid?

She arrives at the local inn to find her cousin Freddy Standen, who has absolutely no idea why he has been summoned. Freddy, not the brightest of bulbs but a kind-hearted young man, is perfectly wealthy in his own right and has no intention of getting married. When he meets Kitty at the inn, she talks him into pretending an engagement with her and inviting her to go up to London so she can acquire some “town polish,” buy some nice clothes, and (she hopes but doesn’t tell Freddy) enchant Jack into a proposal.

Freddy, an expert in deportment and fashion who can always be relied upon to accompany a young married woman to a dance or concert, is not really a lady’s man. When he and Kitty arrive in London to find his harassed mother attempting to care for a house full of children with mumps, he is dismayed to find he is left responsible for a naïve girl who tends to fall into difficulties and odd friendships.

The novel is crammed with comic characters, such as Kitty’s foolish governess “Fish,” who has a turn for quoting romantic poetry; Freddy’s frippery married sister Meg, who wears color combinations that shock him to the core and spends her time trying to avoid her mama-in-law; Camille, Kitty’s real French cousin, who is impersonating a lord; Lord Dolphinton, who is terrified of his mother but strictly charged by her to get Kitty to dump Freddy and marry him; and the silly doe-eyed Olivia, whom Kitty befriends but Jack is pursuing to be his mistress.