Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

Title: Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
Author: Shamini Flint
ISBN: 9780312596972
Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2010
Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Inspector Singh
Rating:  A+
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

First Line: The accused, Chelsea Liew, was in court.

Portly Inspector Singh is at the top of the Singapore Police's "early retirement" wish list. It seems that Singh is notoriously difficult to deal with, and they just want to wash their hands of him. So when former Singapore resident and top model Chelsea Liew is accused of murdering her husband, his superiors see this as an excellent opportunity to be Singh-free for a while.

In no time at all, Inspector Singh finds himself in Kuala Lumpur complete with an "aide", Sergeant Shukor of the Malaysian police. Singh didn't just fall off the turnip truck that morning-- he knows that Shukor is following his every step not to help, but to spy. Be that as it may, Singh relishes his relative freedom and begins to track down all the "players".

Chelsea Liew was in the midst of a divorce from her wealthy husband, Alan Lee. The most heated part of the proceedings concerned custody of their children. Without warning, Lee informed everyone that he had converted to Islam and declared his children Muslim so only the religious courts had jurisdiction over custody. When she heard this, Chelsea threatened to kill Alan, so when he was found shot to death soon afterward, the police focused on her and no one else. Inspector Singh talks to many people and begins putting pieces of information together. He knows the answer is not a simple "Chelsea did it."

I have to admit that author Shamini Flint had me in the palm of her hand by page 8 of this book when two self-important men are fighting for a better place in line at the airport:

"You heard me, get in line here."
"Behind all these people?"
"Yup."
"You can't do that!" It was the Chinese man.
"I've just done it..."
"I'll have your badge for this!" he stammered angrily.
Singh grinned, suddenly happy. He said, "There's a long queue for that too!"

It's probably got something to do with the fact that I had obnoxious souls in my face trying to intimidate me by threatening to write to my superiors to have me fired. My normal response was to spell my name very carefully to avoid confusion. But to get back to this marvelous book....

Flint seemed to treat each one of her characters with extraordinary care-- even the obnoxious ones. It didn't take long for me to feel as though I'd known everyone in the book for years. Kuala Lumpur is described so well that I feel as though I'd actually been there, and Flint adds just enough information on current events to make the place come to life.

Wonderful characters in a fully realized setting-- and a plot with surprises all along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed Inspector Singh and his visit to Malaysia. I can't wait to get my hands on his other adventures! (I also have a feeling that I know why his superiors want him to retire: he follows the spirit of the law even better than he follows the letter of the law.)

Buy from Amazon.
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Black Rain by Graham Brown

Title: Black Rain
Author: Graham Brown
ISBN: 9780553592412
Publisher: Dell, 2010
Mass Market Paperback, 528 pages
Genre: Thriller; #1 Danielle Laidlaw
Rating: B
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: The darkness of the jungle loomed above, its dense, tangled layers spreading like a circus tent from the towering pillars of massive trees.

When I read that Black Sun, the second Graham Brown thriller featuring Danielle Laidlaw, was out at the end of August, I thought I remembered the first sitting on my shelves. I took a look and was relieved that my memory was in proper working order for the moment. In no time at all, I was deep in the Amazon with Danielle in Black Rain.

Danielle Laidlaw is an investigator for a covert branch of the National Research Institute. She takes a team deep into the Amazon rain forest to discover the source of radioactive crystals, and to search for an ancient Mayan city. This puts Danielle and her group directly in the path of ruthless billionaire Richard Kaufman-- as well as an extremely hostile tribe of natives and violent man-eating creatures. Within days, Danielle is faced with choosing between the mission objective or the lives of her team and herself.

Even though I'm normally a character-driven reader, there are times when I want to read something fast and fun. Black Rain had the added bonus of being deep in the Amazon dealing with Mayan mythology, both of which interest me.

The plot is fast-paced and interesting, and even though thrillers are not known for characterization, one of them stood out in this novel. McCarter, a member of Laidlaw's team, behaved in a smug, self-righteous manner throughout most of the book, but when the chips were down about as far as they could go, he received two thumbs up from me. I'm just not used to being favorably impressed by characters in a thriller, and this means that I'm going to be looking for Graham Brown's Black Sun for my next Mayan mythology and Amazon rain forest fix. If you're in the mood for something fast, fun, interesting, and even scary at times, I suggest you give Graham Brown a try, too.

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller. 

Scene of the Blog Featuring Vanessa of Today's Adventure!

I can't remember how I came across the blog of today's guest. I think I must have been looking for reviews of a certain book, and there she was in Ontario, Canada: Vanessa and her blog, Today's Adventure.

Although she and I don't share that many favorite genres, we do both enjoy mysteries, but that's not the only reason why I like keeping up with her blog. Today's Adventure is more than book reviews, which can be gathered from the caption in her header: "...in which I talk mostly about books, and a little about that which keeps me from them." (I would imagine that a baby might be one of the reasons for that second part....)

There are book reviews and author interviews and the like, but Vanessa also takes the time to analyze her own handwriting, talk about ugly book covers and whether or not ARCs should be sold. (I agree with her. Anything that clearly states NOT FOR SALE on the cover should not be sold.) If you have never heard of Vanessa or her blog, Today's Adventure, I hope you take the time to stop by and say hello. You'll be glad you did!

Now let's get to the part that you all come here for: the reveal of Vanessa's blogging space! Don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size.

This is where the action happens!  I should probably confess that I tidied up a little before taking this photo.  If you want an idea of my usual working condition, imagine this desk with about 5 times more stuff on it, totally random and none of it useful.  A few highlights: (1) Stack of books I've finished reading, but still need to write reviews for.  In an ideal world, this stack would not exist.  (2) A glass of water and Nature Valley Chocolate  granola bars (crunchy).  Perfect blogging snack, other than the crumbs in my keyboard. (3) My reading notebook, where I jot down my thoughts about each book as I go along.  (4) My telephone, to constantly interrupt me while I'm working.  (5) A safari helmet and a fancy hat.  You know, just in case I need to go on safari or to a tea party unexpectedly.   Also, you can see that I am one of the few people in existence who uses a desktop computer instead of a laptop.  Because why have one small piece of equipment when several large ones work just as well?

This picture hangs over my desk.  It's a photo my dad took of the lake by the house I grew up in.  I've moved across the country since then, and having this photo reminds me of home and family.  I love it.

Total chaos.  This is what I should be cleaning up when I'm blogging instead.

Thank you so much, Cathy, for inviting me to participate in your Scene of the Blog feature.  It's been fun!

It's been fun for me, too, Vanessa. You're not alone, you know. I don't use a laptop to blog. In fact I have two huge monitors on my desk, and I wouldn't want to work without them. My netbook is fine for reading blog posts or running a search or two while I'm sitting in the family room with Denis watching television, but it just don't cut the mustard when I blog!

That photo that hangs above your desk is absolutely gorgeous, and to have it be one that your father took makes it that much more special. I think I'd find myself sitting there staring at it often.

As for that third photo, well... I think we can all relate to that to some degree. Who wants to clean up when there are books to talk about and blog posts to be written? Certainly not me!

Thanks so much for taking the time to give us this peek into your blogging space, Vanessa. We really appreciate it!

Who will be the next guest on Scene of the Blog? Stop by next Wednesday to find out!

Wordless Wednesday

Click to view full size. More Wordless Wednesday.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Title: An Impartial Witness
Author: Charles Todd
ISBN:  9780061791789
Publisher: William Morrow, 2010
Hardcover, 352 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #2 Bess Crawford series
Rating: B+
Source: Amazon Vine

First Line: As my train pulled into London, I looked out at the early summer rain and was glad to see the dreary day had followed me from Hampshire.

It is the early summer of 1917 and nurse Bess Crawford has returned to England from France with a convoy of gravely wounded soldiers. One of the men is a badly burned young pilot who wears a photo of his wife pinned to his tunic. He clings to life solely because of his love for her.

In a London train station Bess happens to witness the extremely emotional farewell between a woman and an officer. When the woman turns her head, Bess recognizes her. She is the wife of the young, burned pilot, which means that the officer is most definitely not her husband.

Back in France, Bess happens to see a newspaper article in which Scotland Yard is asking for any information about the woman in the sketch. The sketch is of the pilot's wife, the woman at the train station. Bess feels that she must become involved in the case because of the young pilot's love for his wife and because of the fact that she seems to be the last person to see the woman alive. It won't be long at all before Bess realizes just how dangerous her quest for the truth really is.

For me, the enjoyment in reading the books in this series comes not from deducing the murderer, but from immersing myself in the time period and in the character of Bess herself. Living in an era (as I do) in which it seems no one wants to claim responsibility for anything, Bess's sense of duty and responsibility is quite refreshing. She may have a stubborn and slightly reckless streak, but she's got an excellent safety net in her family-- and she knows how to use her common sense.

The mother-son writing duo known as Charles Todd has a long-running series set in the same era which centers around Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran who returns to his job at Scotland Yard. That series is also very good, but after a while, I tired of Rutledge being haunted by the ill-tempered spirit of a soldier shot for desertion.

Bess has no such haunts, for which I am grateful, and it seems that, if she finally becomes aware of someone right underneath her nose, she may have a relationship to help keep her grounded in future books. I like Bess, and I look forward to reading more books in the series to see if I'm right about her prospects.

If you've read Todd's Ian Rutledge series or Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series about a former World War I nurse as private investigator in 1930's London, you should enjoy this series about Bess Crawford.

Buy from Amazon

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What Australian Animal Are You?

You Are an Emu

You are a bit of an odd bird, and to outsiders, you seem quite shy and withdrawn. However, if you are given the right incentive (like food!), you warm up quickly. You tend to bond well with one other person. You feel most comfortable when you are part of a pair. You are cautious and conservative. "Better safe than sorry" is definitely your motto!

What Australian Animal Are You?

September New Mystery Releases!

It's almost impossible to believe that another month has flown by. If someone asked me where summer went, I certainly wouldn't be able to come up with an answer!

Like every other bookaholic in the world, I have my favorite genres, and I always want to know when new books are being published. Whether they're by new-to-me authors or ones who are tried and true, I'm insatiable when it comes to new books.

The following books are my top ten picks for new mysteries being released in September. (Don't tell anyone, but I squeezed in one historical fiction title...shhhh!) The titles are grouped by release dates, and I've included the information you'll need to find them all at your favorite book spots. Let's see which titles have me drooling this month!

===September 2 Release===

 

Title: The Shadows in the Street
Author: Susan Hill
Series: #5 in the Simon Serrailler series set in Lafferton, England
ISBN: 9781590204085
Publisher: Overlook
Hardcover, 384 pages

===September 7 Release===

Title: Russian Winter
Author: Daphne Kalotay
Historical Fiction
ISBN: 9780061962165
Publisher: Harper
Hardcover, 480 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Title: Dexter Is Delicious
Author:Jeff Lindsay
Series: #5 in the Dexter Morgan series set in Florida
ISBN: 9780385532358
Publisher: Doubleday
Hardcover, 368 pages

Title: Thirteen Hours
Author: Deon Meyer
Series: #2 Benny Griessel mystery set in South Africa
ISBN: 9780802119582
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Hardcover, 384 pages

Title: The Crocodile's Last Embrace
Author: Suzanne Arruda
Series: #6 in the Jade del Cameron historical series set in Kenya
ISBN: 9780451231178
Publisher: NAL Trade
Paperback, 400 pages

===September 28 Release===

 

Title: Blue Lightning
Author: Ann Cleeves
Series: #4 in the Shetland Island Quartet
ISBN: 9780312384357
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 368 pages

Title: Bury Your Dead
Author: Louise Penny
Series: #6 in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series set in Ontario, Canada
ISBN: 9780312377045
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Hardcover, 384 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Title: Saving Max
Author: Antoinette Van Heugten
ISBN: 9780778329633
Publisher: Mira Books
Paperback, 384 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Title: You Are Next
Author: Katia Lief
ISBN:  9780061809026
Publisher: Avon
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Title: The Day of Small Things
Author: Vicki Lane
ISBN: 9780385342636
Publisher: Dell
Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books









It looks as though September is another wonderful month for crime fiction-- in particular the 28th with the books by two of my favorites, Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny.

Which ones did you just add to your own wish list?

Mailbox Monday-- Books, Hail and Moonlight

Mailbox Monday is on tour! That's right-- my favorite weekly meme is out and about. For the entire month of August you'll be able to find Mailbox Monday on Shanyn's blog, Chick Loves Lit. If taking a look at the books other people discovered in their mailboxes intrigues you, and if you'd like to participate, this just might be the meme for you. Thanks for hosting, Shanyn!

The weather this weekend held center stage. Saturday there was deep, rumbling thunder combined with blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Then a stray cloud spit out about ten drops, and that was it.

An hour later the thunder started again, but this time clouds did appear, and somewhere just south and west of Casa Kittling, a dam seemed to burst. Sheets of rain, pea-sized hail... and then golf ball-sized hail. Watching the hail hit the surface of the pool and then pop! up was amusing and took my mind off the ones that were battering the windows.

Now all is calm. The moonlight is so bright that I have the office blinds raised so I can watch the moon travel across the sky. But all this has nothing to do with books!

This past week, I sent 4 of my books to new Paperback Swap (PBS) foster homes, and I received 4 replacements. Here's the scoop on my new-to-me books:

1. Bad Manners by Marne Davis Kellogg (PBS).  "Lilly Bennett quits her California job as chief of detectives, returns to the family ranch in Roundup, Wyoming, and opens a security business. Buoyantly untarnished by her previous work, she enthusiastically investigates the murder of a hateful old man who pushed one daughter off the family foundation's board, kept the other in nose candy, and gave his affection to a rodeo mistress. In her return to the 'Old West', Bennett becomes a U.S. Marshall, unearths family peccadilloes, dates a real cowboy, and generally has a ball-- not bad for 45. A humorous, rambunctious, and lively debut."
2. American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age by Pete Davies (PBS). "In 1919, a military convoy of 81 vehicles set out to travel the Lincoln Highway-- a line drawn on the map-- from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco. Essentially a PR ploy to dramatize the need for good roads, the 'First Transcontinental Motor Train' delivered. Trucks foundered in mud, crashed through wooden bridges, and got beaten to pieces on byways barely better than trails. Modern motorists will be surprised to learn just how bad things were back then, but the story behind the undertaking is equally interesting. Automobile and tire manufacturers, who stood to gain if newly car-crazy citizens had smooth roads to travel, managed to drive the government their way; the grueling journey captured the American imagination and spurred road building to a fervor."
3. Gimme More by Liza Cody (PBS). "Birdie Walker— rock widow, con-woman, aging wild child— now lives by her wits. Unsentimental self-interest sees her through, but no one could call it pretty. Twenty years ago, she and her now-deceased rock star lover were the most famous couple alive. The public treasures its outrageous memories, but she’s still the woman everyone loves to hate. Media darling, media demon, she fights with fame and infamy alike. But when music biz executives get wind that she’s hiding valuable, never-released tapes, Birdie learns exactly what it takes to survive them."
4. The Day of Small Things by Vicki Lane (from the author). "In the misty folds of Appalachia, the girl they call Least grows up cursed by her mother’s cruelty and blessed by her neglect. Deemed unfit to join the outside world, Least turns to the wisdom of the land, to voices she alone can hear, to legends left by native Indians, and to the arts of divination and healing. But the time comes when Least has to choose between a doting suitor and her childhood magic, between his church and her spirits. Now, as her life enters its final chapter, her world has been invaded by a violent criminal with a chilling plan. To stop him from committing an unspeakable crime—and to free an innocent child—the woman who was once Least must break long-held promises, draw on long-buried powers, and face a darkness no one else can even see."

The book that I'm most excited about in this batch (besides The Day of Small Things) is American Road, probably because Denis and I have spent so much time on trails of wildly varying conditions here in Arizona. I'd like to compare some of our experiences to theirs!

Do any of these books sound particularly good to you? Which ones?

Now comes the fun part-- traveling from blog to blog to see the books that everyone else discovered in their mailboxes!

Top Ten Picks-- Favorite Literary Places

Once again Jillian of Random Ramblings has chosen a topic for her Top Ten Picks meme that I simply cannot resist: Favorite Literary Places.

I had to have a little "look-see" at some of the other responses, and I have to admit that they are choosing some wonderful places-- several that I would choose, that is, if I didn't have this need to be contrary. Did I say that? I really meant "different". Honestly!

Since I tend to read mostly crime fiction on this blog, I cast my mind to my favorite series locations. Places that are either real or could be. Most of them are in the Western Hemisphere, but hopefully I've managed to throw in a surprise or two. For regular readers of Kittling: Books, one location should be a Sure Thing. (And for those of you who may wonder, they're ranked according to the order in which they fluttered into my mind.)

Absaroka County, Wyoming as experienced in the books of Craig Johnson. The county itself may not exist, but the Big Horn Mountains do, and that's where Sheriff Walt Longmire enforces the law. Beautiful mountains, sparsely populated, it's just my cup of tea-- except for the winters. I'd definitely be in Longmire's neck of the woods in the summer!

Small town Toussaint, Montana as portrayed by Peter Bowen in his mysteries centered around a fiddle-playing Métis cattle brand inspector named Gabriel Du Pré. Mountains are available, but Toussaint is more in the high plains which have their own kind of beauty. Once again, I've chosen a sparsely populated area, and the few people who live there are extremely independent. I chose this picture because it makes me think of riding shotgun with Du Pré as he flies along the highway in his old police cruiser. Hopefully I'm brave enough to keep my eyes open....

Blight County Idaho is the territory of Sheriff Bo Tully in the mysteries of Patrick F. McManus. This makes three mountainous, sparsely populated areas in a row, which shows you I have an affinity for such places-- in the summer. Blight County is another area of great natural beauty and weird characters. Seems to me it's easier to appreciate eccentrics in small towns. They blend in too much in cities.

Checking in at #4 is "Booktown", New Hampshire, a setting used well by Lorna Barrett in her Booktown Mystery series. It's a small New England village that's been converted into a place filled with bookshops. That's my kind of place! When I wasn't scouting for books, I could check out the fall color, maybe drive over to Cape Cod.... What am I talking about? I'd never get out of the bookshops!

For regular readers of my blog, #5 is the Sure Thing: Bisbee, Arizona. Nestled in the Mule Mountains of Cochise County, Arizona, it's home to not one, but two, mystery series: the Sheriff Joanna Brady series written by J.A. Jance and the Chloe Newcomb series by Betsy Thornton. Jance grew up in Bisbee, and Thornton lives there now. For one small, old mining town to be home to two series shows just how special it is. The icing on the cake for me is that Denis and I visit at least twice a year.

Coming in at #6 is the small Canadian village of Three Pines so brilliantly portrayed by Louise Penny. Three Pines may be a picturesque place and deserving of many post cards sent home to show it off, but when I think of it, I think of the villagers themselves: their hopes, their dreams, their strengths, their flaws, their relationships to each other. Three Pines may exist only in Louise Penny's imagination, but her decorator is one of the most talented I've ever seen.

#7 may surprise you a bit, but it shouldn't. I'd love to hop into one of those ubiquitous time machines and travel back to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, home of Simon Levack's mystery series featuring the slave, Yaotl. The city-- floating on a series of islands in a lake, home to temples and a fascinating culture. By all means, Scotty-- beam me to Tenochtitlan!

While I'm being transported, I may as well visit another favorite spot-- Swindon, England as seen through the eyes of Thursday Next and her creator, Jasper Fforde. I could picture myself in Fforde's world of terrible puns and book busts gone bad. I'd like to travel by dirigible and have a dodo and a mammoth as pets. I'd also like to be able to jump into the plots of books, and I think a career in Jurisfiction would suit me right down to the ground. (Can you tell I love Fforde's Swindon?)

#9 is the city of Morpeth, Northumberland, England as seen in the series of books written by Roy Lewis.  His main character, Arnold Landon, is on the planning commission and has a passion for old buildings. You'd be surprised how many murders someone like Landon can find around ancient architecture. Although I've been to many places in Northumberland, I haven't visited Morpeth yet. I'd like to change that.

I've wanted to visit alpine mountains, a village in New England, the Great Plains, a small Canadian village and a town in England. I've also wanted to pay my respects to Tenochtitlan, a radically different Swindon, and Morpeth as a base for old house hunting. When I mentally ran through my list, one type of place screamed out in its absence: the sea.

The very first place that came to my mind was the Sicily of Inspector Salvo Montalbano and author Andrea Camilleri. The beautiful Mediterranean and Italian food... bliss!

Those are my Top Ten Picks for favorite (mysterious) literary places. Did any of them surprise you?  I'd love to know what yours are!

Weekly Link Round-Up

For those of you who think that I spend hours and hours each week reading blog posts and other things on the Internet for my round-up, think again. I really don't. I think it's more a matter of having the right things sent directly to my inbox. Good thing, too, because Google Reader was playing silly buggers with me today. One time it would tell me that I had 700+ unread posts; then I'd look five minutes later and I'd only have 132. There might be all sorts of wonderful posts I missed out in the book blogosphere, but if your tools are "broke" and you can't fix 'em....

Let's see what managed to make its way through Google's self-imposed moratorium, shall we?

Bookish News & Other Fun Stuff

• How to Dress an Author from The Huffington Post.
• A tongue-in-cheek look at medieval copyright protection.
• Take a look inside a library pub. If it catches on, maybe there'll be a few more books....
• Stieg Larsson's partner talks about her bitter battle for the Dragon Tattoo millions.
• In honor of Ray Bradbury's 90th birthday, a quiz.
• Out of Print has some wonderful t-shirts.
• True Crime Tourists. Don't forget to check out the slide show. Some of them are mind bogglers.
• I love love love this: Karl Lagerfield and Books.
• The Ten Best Bookstores for Vacation Reading.
• Lisbeth Salander's IKEA shopping list.
• 10 Underrated Canadian Authors. (There is also a link to the 10 Most Overrated.)
• They're making a television series based on Ann Cleeves's Vera Stanhope mysteries, and I can't wait to see it. (Yes, we have UK DVD playing capabilities here at Casa Kittling.)
• Have you heard about the Literati wireless reader arriving in October 2010?

Blogging Tips

• Using CopyGator to catch duplicate content and plagiarism on the Internet.

Around the Water Cooler in the Book Blogosphere

• Book bloggers are at it again: Bookrageous! Buy the Bookrageous calendar. Dawn of She Is Too Fond of Books talks about it, too.
• Amanda of Desert Book Chick talks about the 5 Reasons Why I Don't Like Giveaways.
• Man of La Book talks about helping other book review bloggers.

New to My Google Reader

• Moonlight Book Reviews 
• Fly High! 
• The Anglophile

That's all for this week. I hope you found a link or two that brightened and enlightened. See you next Friday with a brand-new batch of freshly chosen links for your surfing pleasure!

Beat Not the Bones by Charlotte Jay

Title: Beat Not the Bones
Author: Charlotte Jay 
ISBN: 1569470472
Publisher: Soho Press, 1995 (Originally published 1952.)
Paperback, 219 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap 

First Line: It is said of a young man in a popular song that he has the moon in his pocket. Alfred Jobe had two moons in his.

David Warwick is a distinguished anthropologist living in Marapai on New Guinea. He is in charge of protecting the natives from exploitation. His young wife is in Australia taking care of her invalid father. When Stella is told that her husband has committed suicide, she doesn't believe it and travels to Marapai to investigate for herself.

At first, I wanted to slap Stella silly because she's exactly the type of woman who drives me nuts: "She had come here for comfort and peace, to be helped by her husband's friend, to be looked after, to be guided and directed as she had always been." Stella is a young woman who's been convent-educated-- not because her family is Catholic, but because her father believed that this sort of education would make her more biddable and "womanly". Stella fully believes that she will be able to find the answers to her questions simply because she's young and nice and pretty and has always behaved. Pah.

When Stella finally realizes that she's been lied to by just about everyone in Marapai, she finally develops the beginnings of a spine and takes her impromptu investigation to a different level-- even leaving Marapai for a bit:

Behind them the wharf grew smaller with extraordinary rapidity. With each moment Marapai was more infinitesimal. An hour ago it had been the whole island, now it was almost swallowed up. As they moved towards the long coastline stretching ahead, the land they were seeking reached out to them, hungry and waiting for victims.

Even though I found Stella exasperating for the most part, I did admire her sheer stubbornness. Once she had an idea in her head, she clung to it like a barnacle, and since she was so young and innocent, the men she was trying to deal with went out of their way to avoid scraping her off their keels.

I can see why this book was the winner of the very first Edgar Award for Best Novel. There's an innocent young heroine looking for the truth. There are well-camouflaged bad guys. Several characters have been in the tropics too long, and they've either had nervous breakdowns, or they're right on the verge of them. And they're all in a lush, alien landscape where the weather, the colors-- almost everything around them-- is just more than human senses can take in and protect itself against.

At the beginning, I read this book because it took place in a part of the world I knew very little about. By book's end I knew I'd just finished reading a well-crafted mystery. I'll definitely be looking for Charlotte Jay's other books. 

Buy from Amazon.

Buried Strangers by Leighton Gage

Title: Buried Strangers
Author: Leighton Gage
ISBN: 9781569476147
Publisher: Soho Crime, 2009
Paperback, 308 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 Chief Inspector Mario Silva mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

First Line: "Somewhere around here," Hans said, swinging his flashlight beam from the dark tunnel in front of them toward the thick wall of vegetation on the right.

When Herbert the Escape Artist (AKA an Old English Sheepdog) proudly brings back a human bone and waits for praise, the police are called instead. There, in a rain forest twenty kilometers from São Paulo, police find a clandestine cemetery. And another. The corpses of hundreds of human beings-- often interred in family groups-- have been secretly buried.

This is a case that Chief Inspector Mario Silva can become very passionate about, since he lost his only child to leukemia when his son was eight years old. But there's a problem named Nelson Sampaio who just so happens to be Silva's boss. Sampaio is one of those political appointees with his eye on promotion, and he is absolutely convinced that another politico is sabotaging him. To Sampaio, nothing is more important than Silva digging up the dirt on his nemesis. Does this bother Silva? No. One of the delights of this series has turned out to be watching the machinations of Silva as he circumvents the human obstacles in his way in order to do what must be done.

Although the first book in the series, the excellent Blood of the Wicked was a bit heavy-handed with torture, this second book deals more with the interactions between the characters and is laced with humor. As Silva and his team slowly piece together tiny clues, the reason for the mass graves becomes horrifyingly clear.The extra dashes of humor were welcome intervals between
corrupt cops and politicians and secret cemeteries.

With just two books, this series has become one of my favorites because of the strength of its characters, its strong sense of place, its powerful plots... and its ability, not only to educate me about an unfamiliar part of the world, but to leave me with a sense of outrage over injustice. What am I outraged over? I don't want to say very much because I don't believe in spoiling the plot for people who haven't read the book. I'll just say that cattle in Brazil have more documentation than many of its two-legged citizens.

Entertaining, educational, emotional. Haven't read a book written by Leighton Gage?

Why?

Buy from Amazon.
Buy from The Book Depository.
Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

Scene of the Blog Featuring Larissa of Larissa's Bookish Life!

It gives me great pleasure today to feature a book blogger who contacted me about appearing on Scene of the Blog.

My guest is Larissa, a twentysomething Brazilian-Israeli living in Rio de Janeiro,  who has a passion for books-- especially Urban Fantasy, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. 

Larissa's blog is colorful, informative, and shows her passion for authors,giveaways, and all things bookish. If you've never paid a visit to her blog, Larissa's Bookish Life, please make time to do so, and don't forget to say hello!

Let's see where Larissa does all of that creative blogging, shall we? Don't forget that you can click on each photo to view it full size.

When I started blogging, I was living in a tiny apartment with my dad in Israel. The whole apartment was the size my bedroom is now, so you can imagine how small my bedroom was then! Now I am back to my home country, Brazil, and I use my bedroom as my "office". We do have an extra room, but it would be away from TV, books, bed, and so on.

This first picture is of my desk.  It's always a mess, but I always seem to figure out where everything is anyway!  See my beautiful new laptop "Sholto"?  Isn't he so cute? LOL  That is were I do all my blogging. I can sit at that desk for hours and hours. Before I had an actual computer chair (got it less than a week ago) I was using the chair from my desk when I was 10 years old-- the thing was literally falling apart. I'm so happy with my new chair!

 

 

This second picture is my desk right next to my bed. This is an awesome set up for me. I have a lot of print books, but I read mostly in eBook formats, so I read directly from the laptop. When I'm not blogging or twittering or doing anything else that needs me to type, I just turn the laptop towards the bed and read from there. I can do anything there, but I do avoid chatting or answering emails that way, even though it's easy to type with only my left hand.

Last, but definitely not least, is a picture of my "view" from my desk chair... I have my remote controls, the big screen TV, and my shelves right in from of me when I'm working. It's a great setup, and I simply LOVE my room the way it is right now.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing a little bit of my "Blogging Arena".  hehe 

 

Thanks, Cathy, for letting me come here and share my space with all of you!

 

 

Larissa, you're the first blogger I've featured who reads primarily eBooks, so it was very interesting for me to see how you have everything set up in a way that works-- not only for blogging-- but for reading, chatting, typing, and working. With that big screen TV, books, bed, and a laptop, all you need is a refrigerator and microwave, and you wouldn't have to leave your blogging arena for days!

When I was in college, I had my desk right next to my bed, which was a handy set-up on more than one occasion after pulling an all-nighter studying. All I had to do was lean to the left and gently fall into bed. Of course, this was in the day of no computers, just stone tablets and chisels.... LOL!

Thank you so much for sharing your creative space with us, Larissa. We really appreciate it!

Who will be featured next Wednesday on Scene of the Blog? Stop by to find out!

Wordless Wednesday

Click to view full size. More Wordless Wednesday.

The Dragon Scroll by I.J. Parker

Title: The Dragon Scroll
Author: I.J. Parker
ISBN: 9780143035329
Publisher: Penguin, 2005
Paperback, 340 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery, #1 Sugawara Akitada mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at Bookcloseouts

First Line: There were two watchers in the garden that night.

When author I.J. Parker contacted me about reading her latest historical mystery, The Masuda Affair, I thought honesty would be the best policy. Explaining that I tend to be a stickler for reading mystery series in order, I did say that I had a copy of her first Sugawara Akitada mystery on my shelves, and I'd be more than happy to read and review it. That was quite all right with the author, and I'm grateful that the author gave me the tiny shove I needed to begin this series.


Like many other people in the late 1970s, I devoured James Clavell's Shōgun. I loved the characters, the story, the history-- and the mini-series based upon Clavell's novel cemented my new found interest in Japanese history.

Author I.J. Parker's mystery series is set in eleventh-century Japan, roughly 500 years before Clavell's novel. In The Dragon Scroll, young Sugawara Akitada is an impoverished nobleman and a government clerk in the Ministry of Justice. His first assignment is to travel to the remote province of Kazusa to track down the thieves who have stolen the last three years' worth of tax shipments. To be blunt about it, he's being set up to fail.

Traveling along the Tokaido Road with his older family retainer, Seimei, the two are soon joined by Tora, a young working class man who, for some unknown reason, doesn't have the papers necessary to travel within Japan. Against the mutterings of Seimei, Akitada decides to trust Tora and obtains a set of identity papers for him.

In no time, the three men are in the capital of Kazusa. The former governor of the province requests a meeting with Akitada, but before that can take place, the man is murdered. Akitada finds himself beset by bandits, rogues, and shifty politicians, but he is determined to bring both thieves and murderers to justice.

This book has a wonderful sense of pace-- and a wonderful cast of characters. Akitada, Seimei and Tora play off each other very well, and Parker puts a sharp sense of humor to good use. Her descriptive powers remind me of Japanese woodcuts, like in this scene:

Above them the wind swept ragged smoky clouds along; before them the charcoal-dark ocean boiled and subsided with a continuous roar, vomiting up dirty yellow foam and swallowing it again; and all about them swirled and blew the spray and the everlasting rain, tearing at their cloaks and slapping the wet, salt-laden wisps of their hats against their stinging cheeks.

Parker has told a story with such a strong sense of time and place and populated it with characters who are smart enough, funny enough and cantankerous enough to live on the page. I have to know what happens to Akitada and Seimei and Tora next. I have to.

The only bad thing about being given the necessary push to read this first book in the series is that now I want to read them all, one right after the other. Books have always been my "Lay's Potato Chips".

Buy from Amazon.

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Buy from an Indie bookseller.