Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Torso in the Town: Fethering Mysteries Book 3 by Simon Brett

 

Carole Seddon and Jude are at it again when Jude is invited to one of the Friday night dinners held by Grant Roxby and his wife at their new home in Fedborough and a limbless body is discovered in the basement by the Roxby’s son. With the usual plethora of suspects both for the body and the murderer, leave it to the Fetherington neighbors to ferret out the truth. Their friendship as always is hampered by Carole’s inability to learn more about Jude’s past or even her last name. But that doesn’t stop them from working separately and together to learn more  about the secrets buried in the house.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor

 A fine example of African-inspired science fantasy. I’d read the first part of this trilogy before and knew I had to read it again plus the rest of the story about Binti, a teenaged girl from a somewhat subjugated group of people in a desert town where all the people have certain abilities. Binti and her father are harmonizers who create astrolabes for the people of the village and others to use. Binti’s use of mathematics to calm herself in times of stress comes in handy during her off-planet trip to Oomza University and what occurs on the journey, her experiences with others at school, and the events of her return home. There is so much to this story that I’ll have to think about to really understand her and what is happening around her. There are lessons to be learned and parallels to what’s happened in our time. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of Death on the Downs Fethering Mysteries Book 2 by Simon Brett

 

Carole Seddon finds a wrapped pile of bones in an abandoned barn on the downs when she takes shelter from a storm. So starts another murder mystery for her neighbor Jude and her to explore. The two women are so different but their skills are complimentary. As always in this series, there are a number of suspects that allow the typical small town gossip and suspicions to shine as the women, separately and together, investigate. I enjoyed this as much as the first in the series although parts of the story were more predictable. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Body on the Beach Fethering Mysteries Book 1 by Simon Brett

 Carole Seddon, a recent divorcee and former Home Office employee, and her neighbor Jude, with a mysterious past she won’t talk about, become an unlikely team of amateur sleuths in this, the first in a series of murder mysteries set on the south coast of England. In this one, they investigate the disappearance of a body Carole found on the Fethering beach while she walked her dog. Typical of small English villages filled with more deaths than inhabitants, we’re introduced to an assortment of both eccentric and typical characters. Touches of British humor are combined with examples of the social strata that seem to still exist in Britain. This was a quite enjoyable solid murder mystery made better by the growing friendship between the two protagonists. 

Tuesday Book review on Wednesday

Four-star review of The Prophet of Yonwood: The Third Book of Ember by Jeanne duPrau

 

This is actually a prequel to the other Ember books, a story about a girl dealing with the impending sale of a family house against the background of an impending war. The story is well-written but not as engaging as the others in the series. Eleven year-old Nickie travels to Yonwood, North Carolina with her aunt after the death of her grandfather to see to the sale of his home. She has three goals that summer: to keep the house from being sold, to meet her true love, and to do something to help the world. Meanwhile, the people of the town follow the so-called prophet’s mutterings as interpreted incorrectly by one zealous woman whose proclamations lead to such actions as banishing all dogs to the forests surrounding the town, and that includes the one Nickie has adopted unbeknownst to her aunt. Although the story doesn’t lead directly into the other Ember books, there are several interesting characters.

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of A House Between Sea and Sky by Beth Cato

 

What do you get when you mix Hollywood folks in need of direction, a sourdough starter that’s older than time, a mysterious house on a cliff in Carmel in the 1920s, and Russian folklore and witches and throw in a dash of Agatha Christie and a pinch of PTSD? This wonderful read, of course. The magic makes sense and the characters are multidimensional, as in other books I’ve read by Beth Cato. Houses narration of parts of the story made me chuckle and smile. I second other reviewers’ wish for another book about Mother and House. Very satisfying ending. I wish I could end my stories so well. 

Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review of The Wedding People by Alison Espach

I enjoyed the humor sprinkled throughout this story  of a depressed woman, Phoebe, whose meeting with the people attending a wedding in Newport makes a difference in her life. The casual references to sex seemed gratuitous to someone of my generation. Otherwise, I liked many of the characters and they all were well-described, with quirks and foibles. I listened to the audiobook and the descriptions put me in every scene. The ending didn’t resolve everyone’s story, although Phoebe was more hopeful about her future. I wish I cared more about what that would be.