Saint Peter's Fair

My first book of the new year! The only challenge that this one counts towards is my 2012 GoodReads challenge, to read 245 books in 2012. I aimed for 156 (3 per week) in 2011 and made it to 242, so I think aiming to up my total by 3 in 2012 is perfectly possible.

Saint Peter's Fair is the fourth book of the Cadfael Chronicles, set in Shrewsbury during the Nineteen Year Winter in the 12th century (Not to be confused with darkoutthere's LARP by the same name, inspired by the Cadfael books and excessively fun if you haven't played in it already (and, really, even if you have!)). The book is split into five sections, which is rare in these books, the eve of the fair, the first, second and third days of the fair and after the fair. Events focus on young Emma, a wealthy merchant's niece, come to the fair from Bristol. Another focus of the novel is the unrest from the town, as it had recently been attacked by King Stephen, after declaring for Empress Maud (see One corpse too many, book two in the series). The town is aggrieved that for three days of high business, all income goes to the Abbey and they feel that the Abbey should part with some of that income in order to restore the town's defences etc.

This is a fascinating and enjoyable murder mystery, with a hint of espionage thrown in from all quarters, and well up to Pargeter's usual high standard.

The First Deadly Sin

I first read this many years ago, but since I absconded from the cottage with The third deadly sin, I thought I would collect the lot of them. In this one, Edward X Delaney is still married to Barbara, though she spends almost the entire novel in the hospital suffering her last illness. He's also the Captain of the 251st precinct, which is right next door to him. He decides to retire to spend time with his wife while she recovers (which she doesn't, sadly) but is convinced to turn this into an extended leave of absence and further to spend this time running an unofficial investigation at the behest of the Commissioner and a few others. Politics abound behind the scenes. Thankfully Delaney is utterly uninterested in politics, so we manage to avoid most of it.

Again, the narrative is beautifully interwoven between Delaney and the killer, which allows a reader to experience both view points and to appreciate the effect that each is having on the other. There's a fair amount of philosophising, mostly done by Celia Montfort - a woman that is ostensibly the killer's girlfriend, but about whom there is almost no information available at all. Though, to be fair, we know as much about her, her brother and her manservant as the killer does. Delaney also spends a fair bit of time philosophising, but given that his wife's condition is rapidly deteriorating, I'm willing to forgive his dwelling on the meaning of life, etc.

The ending is rather depressing and I'm not sure that it's entirely realistic. I suspect that a serious break with reality is required for it to occur and I thought it well-written and believable, though I do wonder about it's likelihood now that I'm finished reading.

The Third Deadly Sin

I read this many years ago. Seeing it at the cottage when I had nothing to read (prior to the trip to the Simon's Town Library sale, obviously) I decided to reread it and, since I enjoyed the series, to abscond with it. Since I recognised it as being one of Dad's unwanted books that were variously placed at the cottage or used book stores (or my shelves), I felt that would be perfectly acceptable. Besides I don't think anyone else reads the books down there.

Anyway, this book features Edward X Delaney, who used to be a police chief and has a thing about sandwiches. The book made me hungry, with all its talk of food. Delaney is approached by an old friend who needs his help solving a series of apparently unrelated murders committed by one person. That would be Zoe Kohler, having adventures, which as far as I can tell involves dressing up like a hooker and murdering the men that pick her up. The police's attempts to find her are fascinating and really do show the value of painstaking, methodical work as opposed to the intuitive behaviour of Poirot (for example) - but that's at least partly the difference between having suspects and not having suspects.

Sanders writes well, though I don't enjoy all his work. This is one that I can recommend without reserve. It is both a police procedural, following the investigation through Delaney, who has the advantage of being able to step outside the strict lines of protocol, being retired. At the same time the book traces the journey of the killer and how the investigation impacts on her life and her kills.

Original Sin

The 9th Adam Dalgliesh, this one is actually set mostly in London, which is fairly rare for the series. The setting is a firm of publishers, who have suffered from natural deaths, a suicide, a number of malicious pranks and, finally, a murder. And things don't stop there, a number of other murders follow on, generally involving attempts at being disguised as either suicides or accidents.

This is an excellent novel, with one major setback. I did not find the motive convincing. The motive is essentially an extremely long-term attempt at vengeance and, while I'm sure such things do occur, I thought it lacking. I did think the manner of attaining vengeance well-thought out and very well-planned, however. The final twist was rather depressing, particularly given the fact that I think the intention is for the reader to sympathise with the murderer (which may be why I found the motive troubling). I thought some of the characters behaved in ways that were very out-of-character (third-police-officer-whose-name-I-forget in particular), which rather spoils my enjoyment of the book, as I find it very jarring to be thinking "but that makes no sense - they wouldn't do that", though it may well illustrate my inability to understand human behaviour rather than anything else.

Cargo of Eagles

I've read one other Margery Allingham, Police at the Funeral, which I enjoyed very much. This one was also enjoyable, but not quite as good. Perhaps I've just had enough of those secret agent style books with spies and international intrigue and the Cold War and so on. In which case I should take a break from those books. This has some fantastic parts and is well worth reading, however. Particularly if you enjoy mystery stories. There were certain aspects that, while important for the story, are terribly dated and rather unnecessary, in my opinion, such as the idea that young people on motorcycles are automatically violent or criminal or less-than-respectable.

The ABC Murders

The 13th Hercule Poirot book, I quite enjoy this one. It really is quite ingenious in many ways. I like the idea of the murders - A name A surname in A town, followed by B name B surname in B town and so on. It would be quite interesting to have a serial killer working in that way (though X and Z may prove difficult, it'll have to be an international killer). Despite all appearances, however, this is not your ordinary serial killer. This is someone smart enough to hide a very personal, ordinary murder under the guise of a serial killer. I quite enjoyed the psychological assessment - exactly what one would expect from the time, and yet so amusing and quaint from a contemporary perspective. It does make one wonder what our 'cutting-edge' theories will appear to be in fifty or seventy-five years time. I particularly liked the murderer's attempt to frame an appropriately initialed man, though I found the characterisation of that man unbelievable.

Definitely an enjoyable holiday read.

The Body in the Library

Miss Marple number three. Miss Marple's dear friends, Colonel and Mrs Bantry, wake up one morning to find the (dead) body of a young blonde in their library. Naturally the village begins to talk and of course they all think that it must be a woman that Colonel Bantry was carrying on with. Cue Miss Marple, on a quiet crusade to clear his name. Out of a fair number of missing girls, the woman is identified as a young dancer from a nearby hotel/resort by a relative she was staying and working with. A couple of days later a burnt car with the body of another girl is discovered, confusing everything.

Naturally Miss Marple saves the day, explaining all those odd little twists and turns that are really very simple, once you know what happened.

At Bertram's Hotel

This is the 11th Miss Marple, and I have to say that I don't think very highly of it. The story has fantastic potential, with plenty of sub-plots and sub-sub-plots to keep you confused and unsure what's significant and what's not. Like much of Agatha Christie, it relies heavily on a fair amount of coincidence, which tends to annoy me. Unfortunately, this book simply does not live up to what one expects. The execution is poor and the pacing is problematic.

Miss Marple: the Complete Short Stories

I love this collection. I could read it every week! I'm particularly fond of the first set, generally known as the Tuesday Club Murders or Thirteen Problems. These short stories are a great introduction to Miss Marple and the way in which she goes about solving crimes (the well-known village parallel). The writing is particularly evocative and you can clearly picture a white-haired woman carefully counting stitches in the corner, listening to everything being said and quietly solving the mystery without anyone noticing.

They Do It With Mirrors

Due to lack of internet, I am horribly behind in my blogging, so expect a massive spate in the next week or so. Also, we'll be at the cottage this weekend, which will involve piles of reading and knitting and so on, so I'll have even more to catch up on when I get back... Lately I've been rereading a bunch of books, notably Agatha Christie's, because all the books I want to read are waiting in the wings for 2012 and the mass of challenges. You'd think that would give me less to review, but apparently I haven't reviewed most of these.

This is the 6th Miss Marple and one of my favourites. There's a slight hint of what she may have been like as a young girl and we get to see her outside of St Mary Mead, which is always good. She meets up with an old friend, who is worried about her sister, Carrie-Louise. She has been manipulated into inviting Miss Marple to visit her and, unsurprisingly, a murder occurs. This really is one of Christie's more ingenious plots and, knowing what happens, it's really interesting to reread it and see all the little clues and details that point in the right direction.

This is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys that sort of mystery.

The Lighthouse

Another fantastic PD James, in other setting that, sadly, doesn't really exist. I'd really like to go to some of the places in these books, they're so remote and evocative. Of course, that may just be the writing.

I was rather concerned by the cavalier mention of SARS in this book, without much explanation. I know what it is and contemporary readers will have known what it is, but will readers in ten years time know what it is? I was particularly concerned by Emma's premonition that 'something bad' would happen to Dalgliesh. I'm sure things like that really do happen sometimes, but it really doesn't make me think that a particular piece of fiction is realistic. Unsurprisingly, it makes me think just the opposite. And that the author in question isn't very good at foreshadowing, which is not the case with James.

The mystery itself is very good and there are no shortage of suspects, despite the restrictions imposed by the location. The beginning was very good, and though you don't learn who the victim is until the murder happens (unless the back-of-book synopsis is very different on your copy than mine), it was rather obvious who it would be and I was very pleased as the person was shown to be a most unlikable character. The solution is not immediately obvious, though there are hints (and, obviously, clues) to the solution throughout.

The Clocks

I've read this before, but I was in the mood for something light and entertaining and couldn't remember exactly what happened. I have to say that there are some monumental, and extremely unlikely coincidences in this book. I found the obligatory mention of Cold War spying and defection unnecessary, except in a way to get the protagonist into the story, which could have been managed far more skilfully by someone as capable as Christie. I have to say that I found the solution, which only Poirot managed to figure out, elegant and well thought out. This isn't one of her best, but it's still a quick read that's fun and entertaining, without requiring too much thought.

Devices and Desires

I really enjoy PD James. She writes very well. She recently (at the age of 92) wrote a sequel to Pride and Prejudice that involves Wickham's murder, which I'd like to read. This, however, is an older book that I found in a used bookshop the other day. It's one of the Adam Dalgliesh series, which is always good.

I have to say, however, I found this book disappointing. Dalgliesh, admittedly never the entire focus of the book, usually has a greater part in it. I didn't feel that that detracted from the book, as it was interesting to see him on the outside of the murder inquiry, looking in - a detached perspective that was able to cut both ways, as police officer and as witness or even suspect. What disappointed me, I think, is that it wasn't as good as I expected it to be. That's the problem with being brilliant -a good book by other standards is only mediocre. I found the aspect of terrorism relating to the nuclear power stations unnecessary and irrelevant, though amusing. Perhaps it was less so when the book was written, around the time that the Cold War ended. I have to say that I found the solution interesting, but I didn't find the motive particularly believable. I certainly didn't find some of the attitudes present particularly believable given the time it was set, but I was only a child at the time. It's perfectly possible that there really were women whose lives were as banal and empty as some of the attitudes and assumptions indicate. I can't imagine any woman in the late 80s or early 90s really being "a dried up spinster" whose life is entirely wrapped up in "keeping house" for her brother. I certainly can't imagine that anyone would actually believe that. But James clearly thought that would be believable, so it must have been at least partially accurate.

All in all, this was a well-written book, well worth reading. It's not quite up to James's usual standard, but given how high that is, this still manages to be a good read.

Towards Zero

I really enjoyed this. Sometimes Agatha Christie's can get a bit repetitive and are less enjoyable, but this was one of her best - right up there with The murder of Roger Ackroyd. I enjoy the character of Superintendent Battle, and the rest of the characterisation in this was just as good. I particularly liked the fact that any of the characters could have been the murderer. It makes it that much more satisfying a mystery. There were also a fair number of unrelated matters, snippets out of the characters' ordinary lives that helped make the story believable and more satisfying. Particularly as they were given without comment or anything relating them to the later bit they were to do with. At the same time, it still managed to be a quick, light read.

All in all, I'd certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Call After Midnight

This is not part of the Rizzoli and Isles series, but is one of Gerritsen's stand-alone books. I have to say I was not particularly impressed. This is a fairly standard spy thriller with obligatory romantic sub-plot and, really, not up to Gerritsen's usual standard. It's a fun, quick read that is fairly well written and doesn't require much brain power and that's about the best that can be said about it.

The Heretic's Apprentice

This is the only Cadfael mystery I've ever had to restart because I just couldn't get into it the first time. I suspect the reasoning for that was that it was around the time I was reading about the Inquisition and there's really only so much religious intolerance I can handle. I didn't even make it to the murder the first time!

This time, I finished it and enjoyed every moment of it. Given the amount of so-called heresies abounding at the time (and, really, ever since such a thing was invented), I really don't think there was any way to avoid covering the topic in at least one of the Cadfael novels. I think she did it very well, personally.

On top of that, there's a murder, which may or may not be related. There's a love story, which is not uncommon, Cadfael has a weak spot for young love. There's also dissension amongst both monks and lay folk regarding what constitutes heresy as well as what constitutes an acceptable use of one's own wit, which may or may not be dependent on one's sex and station in life. And, there's plenty of information about the crafts of the time, in this case the creation of vellum, which was skin that was used as paper (for lack of a simpler way of explaining it). I'm really glad I went back and finished this one, it was definitely worth it!

The Hermit of Eyton Forest

A Brother Cadfael mystery. I had planned to keep this for my Lethal Location challenge next year, but it turns out this was published in 1988.

This really is a very good example of what I enjoy about the series. There's plenty of real life history in the background, with King Stephen and the Empress Maud battling, in this particular novel they're currently fighting over Oxford. (On a side note, we had a lovely LARP set in this period of time, based on the fight between the King and the Empress, which was inspired by this series.) Plenty of good detecting with a healthy sprinkling of clues that let the reader work it out for themselves, if they're so inclined.

This particular novel is loosely centred on Richard, who's father is now dead. He's the 10-year-old heir to a large chunk of land and his only living relative is his domineering grandmother, who wants to marry him off to more land. Luckily for him he's safe in the keeping of the abbot. And then, a hermit arrives, Richard makes friends with the hermit's errand boy and an abbey guest is murdered. Chaos ensues. Luckily Brother Cadfael is there to solve the mystery, with the help of the sherriff, Hugh Beringar, and thankfully unencumbered by any notion of duty to the law. He can act in whatever way he sees as right. And given this is the 12th century, legal and right aren't always the same thing.

As always, the supporting characters are well-drawn and engaging, as is the mystery. Most importantly, Cadfael isn't annoyingly right all the time and none of the Holy Brethren are without fault (though some are more faulty than others, of course). In short, this is a quick, fun read that's still good despite being fluffy.

The Will and the Deed

This was published as Where There's a Will in the US, for reasons that escape me, given how many other works there are with that title. And, really, what is wrong with the original title that it needs to be translated into another English? Unfortunately this was first published in 1960, or I'd have kept it back for next year's Vintage Mystery challenge. I know you're wondering how this fits with either of my VM challenges, so I will tell you. This would have been a Lethal Location book. It starts off with the poor dying diva in Vienna. Once she's dead, the rest of them get into a private plane to fly back to England where they will read the will and so on. But their plane has to make an emergency landing, which strands them in a snowbound valley in a German-speaking country. Given that they were close to Zurich, they're most likely somewhere in Switzerland. They're going to be stuck there for days, possibly longer. They might as well read the will.

And so the fun begins. And by fun I mean the horror of the will not containing the bequests it was expected to and the ensuing murder and speculation. Especially given the fact that the local police force is snowbound out of the village. It's a fairly standard murder mystery, but it's well-written (when is Ellis Peters anything else?), well-timed and manages to keep one guessing. I had my suspicions from the start, but I could never be completely sure until the end. In my books, that makes this a great mystery read.

Yet more challenges!

The hard part about this challenge, was choosing my theme. Books written before 1960, not a problem. At least two authors, not a problem. Mystery books, not a problem. Picking a theme, a problem! So, because I can't decide, I have decided to do two of the themes!

The first theme I picked was Colourful Crime - 8 books that have a colour in the title. The second theme was Lethal Locations - 8 books about places. I think this'll be fun and I find myself wondering if I have any books I haven't read yet that fit the descriptions.

Lethal Locations:

1. The Secret of Spiggy Holes by Enid Blyton (1940). As the title suggests, this book is all about Spiggy Holes and what happens there. And children's mystery stories are still mystery stories.
2. The Secret Mountain by Enid Blyton (1941). This one is about a mountain.

I have plenty of others if you include books I've already read, but I don't really want to do that, so I'll have to be on the look out for these.

Next up is the Medieval Challenge. Twelve books across four categories. I have chosen a provisional list of:

1. Beowulf (literature).
2. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (literature).
3. The Confessions by St Augustine of Hippo (biography).
4. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (allegory).
5. The Mabinogion (literature).
6. Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory (romance).
7. The Nibelungenlied (literature).
8. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (philosophy). This is a multi-challenge book and is featured on the classics challenge and the new author challenge as well.
9. The Poetic Edda (literature).
10. The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson (literature).
11. The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris (allegory).
12. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (romance).

Of course, my ability to do this hinges on my ability to find English translations of the works. Now I just need to remember to sign up on December 30th.

Next up is the Library challenge. I have three local libraries at the moment, though that might change next year. At the moment my libraries are the UCT Library, the Vredehoek library and the Central Cape Town Library.

Either way, I'm aiming for Level 4, 37+ library books, none of which are rereads.

Closely associated (it uses the same picture so I haven't included a separate one for it), is the Banned/Challenged challenge. Looking at the lists of books, I'm going to read:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is a reread, but again a book I haven't read since high school.
2. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. This is a multi-challenge book also featured on the new author challenge.
3. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. Another book I read in high school and haven't read since then.
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's ridiculous that I haven't read this yet. This is a multi-challenge book as Orwell is part of my new author challenge.
5. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Another book I read in school. Apparently I went to an awesome school that made us read lots of apparently controversial works. Who knew?
6. 1984 by George Orwell. This is a multi-challenge book. In addition to Orwell being a new author, this is part of my classics challenge.
7. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
8. Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
9. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
11. The Awakening by Kate Chopin.
12. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
13. Beloved by Toni Morrison.
14. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
15. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Seriously? This is a challenged book? It's a multi-challenge book, at any rate, being part of my classics challenge.
16. A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
17. The Colour Purple by Alice Walker.
18. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is a multi-challenge work, being featured in the medieval challenge above.
19. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. This is a multi-challenge item, because Edith Wharton is one of my new authors.
20. A Room with a View by EM Forster.
21. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Another multi-challenge work, this is part of the classics challenge.
22. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally. Another from the new author challenge.
23. The Portrait of a Lady by Thomas Hardy. Also from the new author challenge. I think I'm only going to post more titles now if they're already part of another challenge or I already own them, or I'll be here all day.
24. Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence.

I guess I'm going to sign up for 37+ and I'll just have to remember to check if the book I'm reading counts as one of them.

Lastly (for today anyway), is this library challenge, which will have main monthly challenges and mini-challenges. And you have to read 12 library books (at least), so just one a month. Seems easy enough.

The Nine Tailors

This is a great book. I knew nothing about change ringing (I still know very little), not even that it existed. I do wonder if it's a completely lost art or if there are still places where it happens. As a murder mystery this is a great read, though I will admit to finding certain aspects of it blindingly obvious. Other aspects kept me guessing. The coded message was fantastic and once the message was decoded I had a fair (though not complete) idea of what it meant, but I would never have been able to solve the code myself. I definitely recommend this to people who enjoy mysteries. It's a little dated, being set between the wars, but it doesn't suffer for it.