The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

First Line: The night I arrived at Oxford, I learned that my dorm room was built in 1361 and had originally been used to quarantine victims of the plague.

As the last surviving descendant of the Brontë family, Samantha Whipple is used to stirring up controversy and speculation. Even she believes there's some truth to the rumor of a large secret Brontë estate waiting only for her to put her father's clues together with the Brontës' own novels to find it.

When Samantha enrolls at Oxford, the dilemma about that estate takes on a whole new meaning. Books that should have perished in the fire that killed her father mysteriously turn up in her room. Only her professor seems able to help in deciphering the cryptic clues her father wrote in the margins of the books. Will Samantha be able to decode the messages and find the Brontë "treasure"?

I have long been a fan of the Brontës, so when I learned of Lowell's novel that combines this storied family with a treasure hunt, I couldn't resist. I'm glad I didn't.

The first-- and most important-- thing to draw me into The Madwoman Upstairs was the character of Samantha Whipple herself. I loved her sarcastic voice. Having been homeschooled by her eccentric father, she's much different from the usual sort of student, and when she's being questioned by her Oxford professor, her responses are often quite funny. The Brontë treasure that Samantha is searching for so diligently is both a literal and a figurative one, as she learns quite a lot about herself in the process.

As for that brooding Professor James Orville, his identity is a mystery until the end, although fans of Jane Eyre will be able to see where the relationship between professor and student is going. 

I'm also happy to say that the Brontë angle was fascinating and the life's blood of the story. Lowell brings up many of the personality traits of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne that I'd already read about, incorporated them seamlessly into the story, and added quite a few insights into their novels. However, the thing that pleased me the most was that the least-known of the Brontë sisters, Anne, is the one who had the most prominent role in The Madwoman Upstairs. Not only does this give freshness to Lowell's story, it also gives Anne some of her due-- at least to me. All those years ago when I read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, I didn't like Emily's novel at all, and I really liked Charlotte's. But when I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I knew Anne was the best of the three sisters even though she had to live in the shadow of the other two.

Are there problems in this book? Yes. Items being hidden where they could be destroyed by the weather. The tricky issue of provenance. The idea of the treasure hunt itself when no one else really seemed to be after it. But I could overlook those things because Lowell's story and characters were so strong that I was spellbound, and when you're spellbound, it's easier to cast a detail or two aside. After the pleasure The Madwoman Upstairs gave me, I'm looking forward to Catherine Lowell's next book.
 

The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell

eISBN: 9781501124228

Touchstone © 2016

eBook, 352 pages

Literary Mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

While Miz Kittling Knits: Shetland

You're probably all waiting for my recap of Left Coast Crime which was held here in Phoenix last week from Thursday to Sunday, but you're just going to have to be disappointed for a bit.

It just ended yesterday. I have lots of photos to go through and lots of notes. Plus... it almost feels like Denis and I need to be reacquainted again! No, he didn't go because he had to work, and I was gone before he was awake, and I was in bed before he got home from work. Two ships that pass in the night, eh? But once I get everything sorted out, you can rest assured that you'll be hearing all about my first-ever crime fiction convention!

But in the midst of freshening the feathers in our nest, I have been watching television and stitching, so I thought I'd share another knitting project and another UK television series that I've been watching.

I came across an oh-so-soft bulky yarn called Fleece Lite in a shade named "Fiesta," and it immediately made me think of babies. Don't ask me why; I only show my maternal side around baby critters. This yarn made me think "baby blanket" and how warm a baby would be wrapped up in something made with it.

I chose a close-knit basketweave pattern because I wanted the blanket to be warm, and I didn't want little fingers or toes to get caught in the stitches. You can barely see the basketweave pattern in the photo above, but trust me-- it's there. If I'd really wanted the pattern to shine instead of the yarn, I would have chosen a solid color. Maybe next time!

Here's a closeup for you so you can get an idea of the true mix of colors running throughout the yarn. It doesn't matter if the baby is a boy or a girl, this blanket will be perfect!

I don't know anyone who's having a baby, so I'm thinking of donating this (and the future ones I make for there will be more) to a nearby hospital. Hospitals are happy to accept donations like these for preemies and other at-risk babies. Maybe I have more maternal instincts than I thought because it makes me feel good to think of my knitting being used in such a way.

What have I been watching as I'm working on this baby blanket? Denis and I have been enjoying a Christmas gift I gave to the two of us. I think all-region DVD players are becoming easier to buy. We've got one-- it's almost a necessity with all the British television and films we watch-- so I went shopping at Amazon UK and purchased some DVDs. One of my choices was the 3-disc set of seasons one and two of Shetland, based on the novels by one of my favorite authors, Ann Cleeves (a Left Coast Crime guest of honor!). 

I love her novels set on the Shetland Islands of Scotland, and I've come to trust the BBC to do good crime fiction adaptations. I couldn't wait for Shetland to be available on Acorn or Netflix or PBS, so I just went ahead and bought the DVDs.

When Denis and I began watching, the first thing that struck me was that the actor Douglas Henshall looks nothing like the Jimmy Perez portrayed in the books. I'm used to Hollywood changing everything around, so I kicked this dissimilarity to the curb.   

There was very little-- if any-- chit chatting while we watched because we were enjoying what we were seeing. Good stories and good acting make for a very pleasurable evening of TV viewing.

And as I thought, the Shetland Islands themselves play an important part in the series. The scenery is often stunningly beautiful (think the Scottish Highlands but with no trees), and we get to learn a bit about the customs of the Shetlanders, just as you do while reading Cleeves' books.

For the most part, I had no problem at all with the accents, but there was one notable exception. An old fisherman's lines were often unintelligible, but once we'd backed up and listened to sections again, I could tell that my difficulty in understanding the actor was due more to the fact that he mumbled-- a lot-- than due to any accent.

Season three of Shetland is playing right now in the UK, and I'll be looking to add it to our DVD collection. I know most of you don't have the wherewithal to watch DVDs from other regions, so keep your eyes peeled for this series to show up elsewhere. I think you'll enjoy it!   

    

The Domestic Goddess Weekly Link Round-Up

You know... like many of the rest of you, I just love to clean. In my case I love it so much that I'd rather take a beating than have to do it. I have a friend who used to have a cleaning woman come in once a week to take care of things, and I'd love to be able to do that, but there's something that bothers me about bringing in someone else to do something I should be doing. Does that make sense?

I wish I could be as funny as Carol Burnett whenever she played the cleaning woman on her television show, or as alluring as Melanie Griffith in "Working Girl," but I'm not.

However, there is something about spring-- and spring is fully blown here in the desert-- that gives me a minuscule molecule of incentive to freshen the feathers in my nest. I'd better take advantage of it before our greatly anticipated house guest arrives. 

I hear those links out in the corral. They're gettin' mighty restless, so I'd better put down the mop and bucket to take care of those critters. Head 'em up! Mooooooove 'em out!

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The February 2016 eBook author earnings report is now available.
• HBO unleashes a creepy teaser for Game of Thrones season six.
• Unseen J.R.R. Tolkien poems have been found in a school magazine.
• Author Pat Conroy has pancreatic cancer. 
• Two articles on 11.22.63: one from the series' showrunner, and the second from Stephen King. 
• Jeannette de Beauvoir talks about history as mystery: Part One and Part Two. 
• Jo Nesbø's perfect writing room (that he never uses).
• After the BBC's recent television adaptation, Tolstoy's War and Peace is on the bestseller list for the first time. (Any bets on how many of those folks actually read past the first chapter?)
• How to find your birthday word. Mine? The term "artificial intelligence" was coined at just the same time I was. 
• In interesting article about one of my favorite crime fiction publishing houses: Soho Press.
• 2015 saw the opening of 60 indie bookstores.  
• Harper Lee died at the age of 89. You may choose to mourn her passing, but here's why you don't have to. (Thanks for the second link, Kathleen!)
• More than 12,000 Dallas newborns are going to be heading home with a book.
• Here's a new word for you: xylotheks. They are wooden books that hold wooden collections.
• How about a game of Shakespearean pic-up stix?

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Ancient tetrapod footprints have been discovered in Spain.
• A flower entombed in amber may have been toxic. 
• NOOA is seeking sanctuary for World War II shipwrecks off Cape Hatteras. 
• Scientists in Pakistan have found a 1.1 million-year-old stegodon tusk. 
• Take a look at some astronaut grafitti on the walls of a spaceship. 
• Getting clean, the Tudor way. 
• An ancient Roman brooch contains a "lovely" palindrome. 
• Easter Island wasn't destroyed by war. 
• I came across this in my reading recently, so I thought you might like to learn about Waterloo teeth, too.
• A 7,000-year-old town has been unearthed in Jerusalem. 
• An amateur archaeologist has found a lost Spanish settlement on the Florida Panhandle. 
• An archaeological find in France offers a glimpse into an ancient tavern. 
• How the Gold Rush led to real riches in... bird poop. 
• Here's a bit of information about the 3,000-year-old wheel that was found at "Britain's Pompeii" on a farm near Peterborough. 
• There's a 93-mile-long wall in Jordan that's been puzzling archaeologists. 
• Let's see how book ads looked in 1910. 
• This weird little item will intrigue some more than others: opium-soaked tampons were the Midol of ancient Rome. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Skiers had a surprise encounter with a rare snow leopard in India. 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The Lincoln Memorial (which is nearing the ripe old age of 100) is to get a multimillion-dollar overhaul. 
• Check out New York's impressive array of specialty bookstores. 
• Scientists have discovered a mysterious boiling river in the Amazon rainforest.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Howard Blackburn was an extraordinary man who sailed solo across the Atlantic. What's so extraordinary about that? Blackburn had no fingers.
• Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun-- she painted Marie Antoinette (and escaped the guillotine).
• Michael A. Orthofer's impossible quest to read-- and review-- the world. 
• The harrowing tale of Lady Grange of Edinburgh, the prisoner of St. Kilda. 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• 40 must-read books from the shelves of Ernest Hemingway.
• 26 gorgeous new covers for classic books. 
• 15 things you may not know about Beatrix Potter. 
• 7 memorable fonts from popular book covers.
• 27 products for people who are obsessed with books.
• 6 illustrations that show what it's like in an introvert's head.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

First Line: Augie Odenkirk had a 1997 Datsun that still ran well in spite of high mileage, but gas was expensive, especially for a man with no job, and City Center was on the far side of town, so he decided to take the last bus of the night.

The one regret Bill Hodges had when he retired from the police force was that he hadn't thrown the Mercedes Killer behind bars. Now he's anesthetizing himself with a barrage of junk food and daytime television... until he gets a letter from the lunatic who plowed a Mercedes sedan into a crowd of innocent people lining up for a job fair. 

Brady Hartsfield loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. He has plans, but he just can't resist rubbing Hodges' nose in his failure before carrying those new plans out. What Brady can't anticipate is that his letter will halt the ex-cop's slide into oblivion, teaming Hodges up with two very unlikely allies. This time Brady is intent on killing thousands, and Bill Hodges is hell-bent on stopping him.

Even though Stephen King has given me hours of enjoyment with so many of his novels, I have to admit that I was a bit peeved when Mr. Mercedes won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel. (I'd been rooting for one or two of the other nominees.) Then I read the book, and I understood why it won. This is the first straight-up mystery thriller of his career-- with no supernatural bits at all-- and it's fantastic. Once I started Mr. Mercedes, i wanted to sink down into the story and not reappear until I finished it. I didn't allow myself to-- but it was difficult.

To me, Stephen King's writing voice has always felt like snuggling my toes down into a pair of comfy slippers. I'm at home listening to that voice of his, and I refuse to stop and wonder if I should be concerned about what that says about my own mind. Once again King brings readers right into the heart and soul of the marginalized, reminding us of what it feels like to have no job, to be hungry, to have no real roof over our heads... and what it feels like to have Death come roaring out of nowhere to plow us into the asphalt.

The killer, Brady Hartsfield, is a Norman Bates-like psychopath whose two jobs will give readers pause, but as well-drawn as he is, it's Bill Hodges and his crew that hog the spotlight and deservedly so. With one crazed letter, Hodges comes out of retirement raring for a rematch, and this time he's determined to win no matter the cost. His two sidekicks-- a young black man named Jerome and Holly, a fortysomething woman with Asperger's and a horrid beast of a mother-- are perfect for helping him find clues, for providing laughs, and creating poignant moments that can bring tears to the eye.

This tightly plotted mystery will have you anxious to reach the end, and when you reach it, you will find a tense, teary, bone-chilling climax that will have
you clamoring for the next book in King's trilogy. 
 

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

ISBN: 9781501125607
Pocket Books © 2015
Mass Market Paperback, 560 pages

Thriller, #1 Bill Hodges trilogy
Rating: A+
Source: Purchased from The Poisoned Pen.
 

The Shadow Collector by Kate Ellis

First Line: She had no face.

Almost twenty years ago, suspected witches Lilith Benley and her mother were convicted of the brutal murder of two teenage girls. Now Lilith's mother is dead, and Lilith has been released from prison to return to her old home.

Shortly after her return, a young woman's body is found on an adjacent farm where a reality TV program is being filmed. When Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson is brought in to investigate, he quickly learns that he has to deal with fragile egos, secrets, and the possibility that Lilith Benley has killed again.

While Peterson is looking into a murder, his friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, finds a creepy wax doll inside the wall of a house that once belonged to a woman hanged for witchcraft around the time of the English Civil War. When Neil is involved in a near-fatal accident, it's almost impossible not to look at that doll and think there's a supernatural connection.

I've been happily reading this series, book by book, since the very first one, The Merchant's House. Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson mystery series is such a wonderful blend of character, setting, history, and crime that I wouldn't dream of missing a single volume. By this, the seventeenth book, Wesley's team at the Tradmouth (Dartmouth) police station is a well-oiled machine. They know each other extremely well-- each other's strengths and weaknesses, senses of humor, facial expressions, the works. You might think that this is a drawback to reading a long-running series, but it's not. It's like coming home, or putting your feet into a favorite pair of slippers. It's always a pleasure to see this group get down to work to solve the latest crime-- and since they're always having things happen to them in their personal lives, the series stays fresh.

In The Shadow Collector, Wesley and his wife are having problems with one of their children. Ellis has used Peterson and his family more than once to highlight how difficult it can be to have a personal life outside of such a demanding job, and she does it very well. 

The highlight of any of these books is what the historical angle will be because Ellis always blends a present-day crime with something from centuries past. This time it's witchcraft from the time of the English Civil War, most of which is done with alternating journal chapters from two different historical characters. There's always a sad inevitability to charges of witchcraft, most of which seemed to have been brought on by malice, envy, and greed. Neil has a larger role in this book, and I enjoyed that. His archaeological digs can be relied upon to be fascinating and to add a great deal to the story.

As for the mystery, it's top notch-- one of those puzzlers that I could partially figure out yet still be surprised by the reveal. If you like well-drawn characters and first-rate mysteries with a touch of history, you can't do better than Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson books. If you're worried about starting such a long-running series, it is possible to start anywhere without feeling completely lost. Ellis does a good job at quickly filling in any necessary backstory. Whatever you decide, I hope it's to give the books a chance. This is a series that I recommend highly-- and I've been doing it for several years now!
      

The Shadow Collector by Kate Ellis

eISBN: 9781405515078

Little, Brown, and Company © 2013

eBook, 362 pages

Police Procedural, #17 Wesley Peterson mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.