Meet the Kellys by Chris Enss

 

First Line: When the outlaw duo of George "Machine Gun" Kelly and his wife, Kathryn Thorne, kidnapped Charles Urschel in July 1933, the couple, and their accomplices, made history.

George Kelly was a small-time bootlegger until he met Kathryn Thorne. Thorne was charming, strong-minded, and pretty. She was already an experienced criminal, divorced twice, and ready to marry a man who could give her the lavish lifestyle she'd always wanted. Put Kathyrn Thorne and George Kelly together, and the country got "Machine Gun" Kelly, one of the most notorious American gangsters during the Depression.

With Kathryn's connections and intelligence, the two were soon living large, but it wasn't enough. The couple plotted to kidnap an oil tycoon, and it worked. They collected the ransom and the attention of the country-- even the world-- and the FBI.

~

Going to see Bonnie and Clyde at a local drive-in was the start of my interest in the Great Depression and that era's gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde. Pretty Boy Floyd. John Dillinger. Ma Barker. Bugs Moran. I'm not quite sure why I found these gangsters to be so fascinating. I didn't think they were romantic. I certainly didn't want to emulate them. I think it probably had something to do with how people reacted to and survived the Great Depression. So, it's no wonder that when I heard about Meet the Kellys that I wanted to read it.

I was familiar with other books written by Chris Enss, so I was expecting a well-researched history of Kelly and Thorne. That's exactly what I got. Kathryn Thorne saw the potential in small-time bootlegger George Kelly to give her the lifestyle she had always craved. And with her gift of a machine gun to Kelly, history was made. The couple's endless road trips not only had me hearing some of the music from Bonnie and Clyde, but they almost made me carsick.

I learned quite a bit from this book. I'd forgotten how kidnapping had taken center stage for several of these gangsters, so much so that the government passed the Federal Kidnapping Act in an attempt to put an end to it. In true diva style, when everything disintegrated, Kathryn Thorne tried her best to keep herself and her parents out of jail. She was definitely what my family would refer to as a "piece of work." If you have any interest at all in this time period, Meet the Kellys is well worth a read. 

Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

by Chris Enss

eISBN: 9780806543079

Citadel Press © 2025

eBook, 272 pages

Non-Fiction

Rating: B+

Source: Net Galley

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

 

First Lines: Woodrow Wilson Nickel died in the year 2025, on a usual day, in the usual way, at the rather unusual age of 105. A century and a nickel.

 

At the age of 105, Woodrow Wilson Nickel can feel his life ebbing away, but one thing still has the power to rouse him to action. When he learns that giraffes are going extinct, he knows he must share the most unforgettable experience of his life.

 

In 1938, the Great Depression still lingers on. Hitler is threatening Europe, and Americans are longing for a diversion. They get it with the story of two giraffes that survived a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. The next stage of the giraffes' journey is a twelve-day road trip in a custom-built truck to Southern California where they will be the San Diego Zoo's very first giraffes and behind the wheel of that custom-built truck? Young Dust Bowl survivor, Woodrow Wilson Nickel. 

~

I was in the mood for a road trip, and I don't think I could have found a better one to read about than Lynda Rutledge's West With Giraffes, which was inspired by actual events. The book weaves real-life figures like the world's first female zoo director with fictional ones.

The narrator of the story, young "Woody" Nickel, is an almost feral child, barely surviving a brutal father and a harrowing life on a farm during the Dust Bowl in the Texas Panhandle. But no matter what he's had to do to survive, his voice tells you that he's basically good. He may not always do the right thing, and readers may wince a time or two at what he does, but everyone will want Woody to come out on top. Watching his growth as a person is one of the many highlights of the book.

He has a tough time convincing Riley Jones, the caretaker in charge of getting the giraffes to San Diego, that he's just the driver Jones needs, and it doesn't help when a pretty red-headed female photographer starts following them, but Woody is determined to get to California.

The well-paced story of West With Giraffes will sweep readers right out onto the road with Woody, Riley, and the giraffes. It's part adventure story, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, and it has a lot to say about the kindness of strangers, being changed by the grace of animals, and the need to tell a story before it's too late. The setting is spot-on, and anticipating what the passengers in that custom-built truck will be facing next is part of the fun of reading the book.

If you're in the mood to turn back the clock and experience a cross-country road trip in 1938, I strongly suggest that you pick up West With Giraffes.

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

ASIN: B088FF4S7Q

Lake Union Publishing © 2021

eBook, 381 pages

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

 

First Line: In the beginning, after he labored over the heavens and the earth, the light and the dark, the land and sea and all living things that dwell within, after he created man and woman and before he rested, I believe God gave us one final gift.

 

On the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. It is also home to two orphaned white boys, Odie and Albert. It's 1932. The country is deep in the Depression, and times are hard. They are made even harder by Lincoln School's cruel superintendent, Mrs. Brickman, whom all the students call the Black Witch because of her raven hair and dark eyes. Odie and Albert often find themselves in trouble and being punished by the superintendent, but they've made friends with a mute Native American boy called Mose and Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who's raising her little daughter, Emmy, by herself.

 

When tragedy strikes down Mrs. Frost, Odie and Albert are faced with a momentous decision. The two boys, along with Mose, rescue Emmy and escape in a canoe down the Gilead, leaving a dead body in their wake. All Odie and Albert want to do is make their way to St. Louis to an aunt who lives there. All they want is a place they can call home.  

 

~

 

This Tender Land is so much more than an homage to Huckleberry Finn. William Kent Krueger is so immensely talented at creating living, breathing characters and setting them in a landscape that you can see and hear and touch.

 

Mose's Indian name means "broken to pieces," and so many things are broken to pieces in this marvelous book, first and foremost the lives of the characters. It's how hard they try to put those pieces back together that warms your heart.

 

More and more, I'm coming across books that are set during the Depression. It's such an incredible time period, and Krueger brings it to life. Rootless people with no money, no hope, and no homes. One cataclysm after another that they must endure. No wonder thirteen-year-old Odie believes God is a tornado. Another of the strong elements in This Tender Land is showing what so many children were forced to endure in Indian boarding schools throughout the United States and Canada.

 

With a rock-solid foundation of a setting, I couldn't help but be swept along with those four children in their canoe as they paddled down one river after another. On the run, hungry, scared, encountering people from all walks of life, and being placed in all sorts of situations. Krueger is superb when it comes to depicting the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of the land. If you want to be fully immersed in the next book you read, pick up a copy of This Tender Land.    

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Narrated by Scott Brick.

ASIN: B07S85YLDY

Recorded Books © 2019

Audiobook. 14  hours and 19 minutes.

 

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Winter Seeks Out the Lonely by Larry D. Sweazy

First Line: January 13, 1935. Sonny Burton stood on the front porch and watched an open-topped jalopy sputtering down the hardpan road, rolling slow enough to kick into the air any dust worthy of noting.

 

It's a bleak, cold January in the Texas Panhandle. The Depression lingers on, digging its dirty fingers deep into every nook and cranny of life. The local Texas Rangers office is closing, which means Sonny Burton's son Jesse will probably lose his job. A ragtag, tired circus camps outside Wellington, needing rest before continuing on its journey, but most townsfolk don't seem to want it there. 

 

Sonny Burton is retired from the Texas Rangers, but that doesn't stop anyone from coming to him for help. His friend, Aldo Hernandez, comes seeking help for his cousin who got into a fight and cost another man his chance to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Although Sonny doesn't want to get involved, he finally agrees to help and finds himself in a snarled mess of corruption, bigotry, and hate. 

 

Sonny would much rather focus on the letters he's been receiving from Edith Grantley. While he worries about Edith being willing to share her life with a one-armed man who's used to living alone with his three-legged dog, Edith has grown tired of waiting for a response to her letters. She's jumped into her car, left her home in Huntsville, and is driving all the way to Wellington to see him-- not necessarily the wisest thing to do in these hard times. For both of them, it's a time of dangerous confrontations.

 

~

 

I've been a fan of Larry D. Sweazy's Sonny Burton mysteries since the very first one, A Thousand Falling Crows. During a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker's aim cost Sonny his arm. There can't be any one-armed Texas Rangers, so she cost him his job, too... the most important thing in his life. His dedication to his job took a huge toll on his personal life, and even though his son Jesse joined the Texas Rangers in his father's footsteps, their relationship is strained. Sonny lives outside of town with his three-legged hound, Blue, feeling very much the outsider, and the cold, bleak winter is making him feel rootless and lonely. He's not the only one.

In the second book in the series (there are now three), The Lost Are the Last to Die, Sonny met boardinghouse owner Edith Grantley who's also feeling lost and alone. While Sonny thinks he's not fit to share Edith's life, Edith has her own thoughts on the matter and is brave enough to jump into her Pierce Arrow and make the journey from Huntsville all the way to the Texas Panhandle where Sonny lives. I could talk about these two characters all day because Sweazy brings them to life, but Sonny and Edith aren't the only reasons why you should read this book.

 

Sweazy also sets readers down right smack dab in the middle of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. You get a real feel for the landscape, how people lived, what they thought. If you enjoy historical mysteries set in the western United States, then don't miss Sonny Burton. 

The mystery concerning Aldo Hernandez's cousin is a good one, and it kept me trying to figure out what happened, but the part of the book that really grabbed me was Edith's journey across the state of Texas. Any female reading Winter Seeks Out the Lonely is going to put herself in Edith's shoes and find herself wishing that Edith's bright yellow Pierce Arrow would go faster. Faster. Faster. What makes this part of the book so memorable is that it isn't only adrenaline-churning action, it shows us just what kind of a person Edith is.

For Edith, "The road trip had revealed a world desperate to survive, to express its rage, and to take whatever it wanted without consequence." For readers, Winter Seeks Out the Lonely is a road trip deep into the Depression with two characters who show the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. I am so glad I found these books.

Winter Seeks Out the Lonely by Larry D. Sweazy

ISBN: 9781432868963

Five Star © 2021

Hardcover, 290 pages

 

Historical Mystery, #3 Sonny Burton mystery

Rating: A

Source: the author

Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah Woodworth

 

First Line: "I'm thirsty," seven-year-old Betsy grumbled, plunking her cracked white teacup on the ground.

 

Sister Rose Callahan is slowly acclimating to being the new eldress of her community of Believers in Kentucky, even though Brother Wilhelm, the elder of the community, would like nothing better than to see her thrown out on her ear.

 

However politics and emotions should take a backseat when two little girls are poisoned. All signs point to the medicinal herb shop and the group of Believers recently arrived from another community who work there. Something isn't right, and Sister Rose is determined to find out what it is in order to keep the community she loves safe.

 

~

 

Deborah Woodworth's historical series featuring Sister Rose Callahan is one that I've enjoyed from the first book, Death of a Winter Shaker. One of my cherished memories is of visiting Pleasant Hill, a Shaker community in Kentucky when I was sixteen. I found the history of the Shakers and their accomplishments fascinating, and I still do. The second Sister Rose Callahan starts walking the streets and paths of her community, I am immediately transported to Pleasant Hill.

 

Woodworth's research is impeccable, and she weaves it all seamlessly into her story. There's no feeling that you've been thrown into history class and are about to face a pop quiz. 

 

The mystery in Sins of a Shaker Summer is a good one. Readers are quickly drawn to the new group of Believers who arrived from another community. They're secretive, don't talk much, and they seem to be conducting strange experiments in the medicinal herb shop, which is one of the many ways the Believers earn money. But what exactly is going on, and which one of the newcomers is responsible? This takes some work to figure out.

 

But no matter how strong the mystery is or how wonderful the sense of place and time is, the story isn't going to shine unless the characters do. The characters shine in this book. Sister Rose is a conscientious, compassionate woman who wants everything in her community to run well and for everyone to be healthy and happy. She also is a first-rate investigator. Brother Wilhelm, the other person in charge is a rabid fundamentalist. He wants everything like it was in the Good Old Days, and he believes Rose is too modern and should be thrown out of the community. Wilhelm wants to ignore the outside world even though the Shakers must rely on non-Believers to buy their goods and for converts to their faith.

There are also other dynamics among the characters. Newcomer Sister Patience is causing concern and divisiveness with her visions and pronouncements, and it's up to Sister Rose to find out if the woman is a true visionary or a fraud. And... looming over the entire community is the outside world. Everyone is suffering through the Depression, and when any little thing goes wrong, there must be someone to blame. For those living outside the Shaker community, the best scapegoats are always the Believers. They're weird. They believe in celibacy. Their religious services sometimes look like a circus sideshow. Yes, the Believers are very easy to blame for anything that goes wrong, and it's this attitude that brings a very real sense of menace to Sins of a Shaker Summer and the other books in the series.

If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that will transport you to another time and place, one with a strong mystery and even stronger characters, I recommend Deborah Woodworth's Sister Rose Callahan series. It's been one of my "go-to" series from the very first book.

Sins of a Shaker Summer by Deborah Woodworth

ISBN: ‎ 0739401394

Avon Books © 1999

Hardcover, 261 pages

 

Historical Mystery, #3 Sister Rose Callahan mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap 

The Lost Are the Last to Die by Larry D. Sweazy

First Line: Sonny Burton downshifted the Model A Ford pickup truck and pulled it over to the side of the road.

Texas Ranger Sonny Burton retired after losing his arm in a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde, and you'd think they would leave him alone. But when Billy Bunson escapes from the prison in Huntsville, Texas, Sonny is asked to help capture him-- and his partner will be his son, Jesse.

No one knows Billy Bunson like Sonny Burton, and when Sonny learns that Billy escaped while taking a pregnant woman hostage, he knows there's more to this than meets the eye. For one thing, Billy has vowed revenge on Sonny and fully intends to carry it out because of the history between them. From his beginnings as a simple thief, Bunson has turned into a ruthless killer, so Sonny needs to proceed with caution.

The Lost Are the Last to Die unfolds over the twenty-five years that ex-Texas Ranger Sonny Burton and escaped convict Billy Bunson have known each other. In timelines varying from 1911 to 1934, readers are told these two men's stories from both points of view, and it's all about perspective. Sweazy does an excellent job of portraying both men. We see Burton's unhappy home life, his World War I service, and his slightly uneven career in the Texas Rangers. And throughout this time, Billy pops in and out. Billy, whose mother is a prostitute and his grandmother a brothel owner. Billy, a little boy who travels with the women from place to place when business gets too slow. Billy, who's trained as a thief and whose best friend and teacher is a former slave named Jim Rome. And throughout his life, there's the shadow of Sonny Burton, a laconic Texas Ranger who always seems able to outthink him and who always seems to expect more from Billy than Billy wants to give-- and that makes Billy angry.

As I read this engrossing story, two things stood out. One, a scene where Sonny comes across a rabbit cull. He sees a little four- or five-year-old boy covered in blood and screaming for his mother, and as he drives his Model A Ford pickup truck down the dirt road, he thinks about that little boy, wondering what he would remember of that day and what sort of man he would become. This scene not only brings to life a common occurrence during the Dust Bowl (rabbit culls), but it also tells us a lot about Sonny himself. The second thing? In many ways, the character who stood out the most (and who didn't get that much "screen time") was Jim Rome. In a few words, Sweazy manages to bring this man to life and make readers ponder all the things he had to endure. This is some marvelous storytelling.

This is the second Sonny Burton mystery I've read and enjoyed. The time period, the plots, and the characters all capture my imagination, so it should be no surprise to anyone when I say that I hope Sonny makes a third appearance. I really hope he's not done telling us his story.

The Lost Are the Last to Die by Larry D. Sweazy

ISBN: 9781432857233

Gale Publishing © 2019

Hardcover, 332 pages

Historical Mystery, #2 Sonny Burton mystery

Rating: A

Source: the author


 

A Thousand Falling Crows by Larry D. Sweazy

First Line: The farm-to-market road was vacant, the day's traffic settled and tucked away as the big red sun dropped below the horizon.

Sonny Burton now has only one arm, thanks to Bonnie Parker. Losing the shoot-out with the infamous Bonnie and Clyde in such a way meant his retirement from the Texas Rangers, and he's finding it hard to acclimate to his new life.

Then Aldo Hernandez, a hospital janitor, asks for Sonny's help. Aldo's young daughter has gotten mixed up with two brothers who are involved in a series of robberies. He knows that type of life means death, and he wants his girl back before that happens. Sonny agrees to help, but he finds his attention divided. You see, someone in the area has started killing young women and leaving their bodies out in the fields for the crows to feast upon.

Having really enjoyed Larry Sweazy's Marjorie Trumaine mysteries set in 1960s North Dakota, I didn't hesitate to pick up A Thousand Falling Crows. It's one of the best decisions I've made so far this year. Sweazy's lean, poetic writing style is so evocative of the Depression and the Dust Bowl that I felt as though I were following along with Sonny every step of the way. 

Sonny Burton is a sort of Everyman, struggling with all the changes in his life, with loneliness, and with his lack of relationships. He's a man without a safety net, and just as we see him reaching the end of the long, dark slide that leads to eating his gun, two things happen: Aldo Hernandez reaches out for help, and so does Blue, a mangy stray hound with a broken leg.

Sweazy has written the compelling story of a lonely man who finds a reason to get busy living. As he tracks down Aldo's daughter, Carmen, we see her life from her point of view. As he is forced to live with Blue, we see him coming out of his shell of loneliness. The excellent mystery the author has crafted almost comes as an afterthought in my mind because of the strength of the book's characters and setting.

And above it all is a Greek chorus of crows, letting us see it all from their vantage point. If you haven't sampled Larry D. Sweazy's writing, I hope you change that as soon as you possibly can. I did, and now I want to read everything he's ever written. 
 

A Thousand Falling Crows by Larry D. Sweazy

ISBN: 9781633880849

Seventh Street Books © 2016

Paperback, 280 pages

Historical Mystery, Standalone

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet.  


 

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert

First Line: Elizabeth Lacy had been a member of the Darling Garden Club ever since Mrs. Blackstone started it in 1925, and president for the last two years.

It's 1930 in Darling, Alabama (population 907), money is scarce, and everyone is making do. The ladies of the Darling Dahlias Garden Club are looking forward to sprucing up the neglected gardens of their new clubhouse, which they inherited after the club's founder, Mrs. Dahlia Blackstone died. However, there's plenty going on in town to distract them.

There are rumors floating around that the Darling Savings and Trust may be in trouble, and there's been a prison break, but what has the lion's share of club president Elizabeth Lacy's attention is the disappearance of drugstore clerk, Bunny Scott. 

Bunny was known to be flighty and man crazy, and she was always talking about moving to New York, but Liz Lacy and fellow club member Verna Tidwell know good and well that a woman doesn't leave for New York City and leave all her clothes, jewelry and cosmetics behind. When Bunny turns up dead in a stolen car, the Darling Dahlias decide to do some investigating on their own-- even if a ghost does seem to be digging around the old cucumber tree at night.

Susan Wittig Albert almost immediately transported me to Depression-Era Alabama in this first book in the series. She's done her research, and her mentions of songs playing on the radio and the movies that were showing at the theater in town created a lot of the needed ambiance. Her research shows up everywhere-- in the prices people were paying for things, in their recipes, in the fear that swept through the community when rumors of a bank closure and a prison break began to circulate-- and all these details fit into the story seamlessly. 

Add an intriguing mystery to a perfect setting, and you've got a good book to read. In fact there are several little mysteries running throughout this book. Some are easily solved, but others require much more thought and deduction.  What raises the bar even higher is Albert's cast of characters. The main garden club members come from all walks of life-- there's the mayor's wife whose husband is always telling her not to worry her pretty little head, there's a legal secretary, a probate clerk, and women who run the local diner and moonlight as telephone operators. If these women don't have their fingers on the pulse of Darling, Alabama, then no one does!

We get to know Lizzy Lacy the most in this book, and I like her a lot. She's what would have been called a spinster back then, since her domineering mother got it into her maternal head that Lizzy was going to be her live-in doormat forever more. But lest you get the idea that Lizzy has no spine, think again. I guarantee you're going to like her. I look forward to learning even more about the rest of the characters because just enough of their backgrounds were given to let readers know that there's much more to their stories, too. 

Albert also includes "making do" tips and recipes at the back of the book, and reading them brought back many memories for me, having grown up with a grandmother and mother who lived through the Depression. And although I did notice the slow pace of the book throughout the first half, I just chalked it up to setting the stage for this new series. History, mystery, characters, food, music, and flowers. I'm already looking forward to the next book!

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert

ISBN: 9780425234457 

Berkley © 2010

Hardcover, 304 pages

Historical Mystery, #1 Darling Dahlias mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Paperback Swap 


 

No Badge, No Gun by Harold Adams

Title: No Badge, No Gun
Author: Harold Adams
ISBN: 9780802775757
Publisher: Walker & Company, 1999
Paperback, 202 pages
Genre: Historical Mysteries, #15 Carl Wilcox mystery
Rating: B
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: It was hot in Jonesville just before noon as I was finishing up a window sign and looking forward to getting out of the sun and into a café, when these two characters came around and moved close, watching me.

Those two characters just happen to be the local pastor and his nephew, and they'd like him to check into the rape and murder of the pastor's niece. Carl Wilcox, ex-con, part-time bum, and itinerant sign painter is beginning to get a reputation in small town South Dakota for being able to solve crimes. Since this is the Depression, Carl can't afford to pass up the money, even though he's not trained as a private investigator:

"How'd you get into detecting?"


"Fell in. Being an ex-con, I was a suspect in anything that went wrong wherever I went for a few years, and I started figuring out who done it a couple of times when it kept me from getting stuck, and then one day Corden needed a temporary cop the worst way, and as somebody said, they got the worst kind. That sort of set up my bona fides, and I've been milking it ever since."

While Wilcox paints signs and woos the local school teacher, his investigative methods mainly consist of questioning every person he can think of and seeing what turns up. What turns up are several prime suspects, and Carl soon has to narrow down the list.

Adams has a lean comfortable writing style that drew me right in. It's a deceptively simple style because whenever I stopped to ponder what I'd read, I would realize that I'd gleaned much more than I thought was there.

Even though this is the fifteenth book in the Carl Wilcox series, I didn't feel lost. This book stands very well on its own, but it's so good-- and doesn't have the usual P.I. clichés-- that I fully intend to look up other books in the series.

It's almost the absolute end of the year, and I've found yet another gem!

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

Buy from an Indie Bookseller.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Title: Bud, Not Buddy
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
ISBN: 043940200X
Publisher: Scholastic, 2002
Paperback, 245 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: B+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Here we go again.

It's 1936 in Flint, Michigan, and the Depression is in full swing. People don't have the most basic of necessities, so it's not all that surprising that children keep turning up on the doorsteps of orphanages. Ten-year-old Bud (don't make the mistake of calling him Buddy!) has been in the orphanage for a while, so he's a pro. He's also tired of going to new foster homes to be used as a servant and to be treated badly.

When he's beaten up by the spoiled son of the latest couple to take him in and then locked in a shed and attacked by a nest of angry hornets, he's had enough. He manages to get out of the shed and into the house where he finds his battered and beloved cardboard suitcase-- and then he's on the road to Grand Rapids. You see, from the important things his mother kept, he's figured out whom his father is, and that man is a musician who has his own club. All Bud has to do is make it to Grand Rapids.

Bud, Not Buddy is the first novel to receive both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Newbery Medal.  Although the grim conditions of the Depression and the harshness of Bud's circumstances as both an orphan and an African-American child are depicted honestly, Curtis surrounds the unpleasant facts in a spirit of hope and optimism. Bud can be in the midst of a very serious situation and still have the power to make a reader smile with his habit of referring to "human beans" or mopping a floor and pretending he's reenacting the action of "Twenty Thousand Leaks Under the Sea." (I have to admit that, even though I have a great tolerance for gore and violence, it was nice to read something that contained neither. A discerning reader can easily recognize the ugly bits and shudder, but the focus never moves from that little boy.)

At the end of the book, Curtis admits that two of the characters were based on his own grandfathers-- and that most of what he learned about the Depression came from research and books. When he was young and the old folks started talking, he made a bee-line in the opposite direction because he didn't want to hear those "boring tall tales."

Bud, Not Buddy is a wonderful book, filled with love, laughter and truth-- and the most important truth of all may be the very last paragraph of Christopher Paul Curtis's book:

Be smarter than I was: Go talk to Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad and other relatives and friends. Discover and remember what they have to say about what they learned growing up. By keeping their stories alive you make them, and yourself, immortal.

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

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Anything Goes by Jill Churchill

Title: Anything Goes
Author: Jill Churchill
ISBN: 0380802449, Avon Books, 1999
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, #1 Grace and Favor mystery
Rating: C+
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: Lily was hot and cranky.

Lily and Robert Brewster enjoyed being members of the idle rich, until their father lost everything in the crash of 1929. Now they're part of the disillusioned poor and very tired of scrimping and saving for every crust of bread. At first they jump for joy when they are told that an uncle has died and left them a Hudson River mansion. They jump higher when they're told that a fortune goes with the mansion. They stop jumping when they learn that they have to live in the mansion for ten years before they can get their hands on a penny of the money.

They pack their bags and arrive at their new home, which they swiftly name Grace and Favor Cottage. They're settling in and getting to know the people in the area when they discover that their uncle was murdered aboard his yacht during a storm. Since Lily and Robert inherited the money, they are now suspects, and when another body turns up in the kitchen of Grace and Favor, they know they have to be the ones to clear their names.

This was a pleasant little read that moved right along. I liked the time period and the Hudson River setting, and Lily and Robert were fun characters who provided a laugh or two along the way. However, the villain was not difficult to spot, and I didn't find Lily and Robert as engaging as I thought I would. Probably because this poor kid has an innate suspicion of rich kids. (I have to admit to a bit of a smirk when Lily moaned about her awful job and working conditions. Poor baby.)

I don't think this is a series that I'll continue to read, but I can certainly see where it would be a favorite of many other readers of cozy mysteries. If you like the time period and are in the mood for a pleasant afternoon's mystery, you could certainly do a lot worse than picking up Anything Goes.