Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star Review of The Curious Secrets of Yesterday by Namrata Patel

Tulsi has been expected all her life to take over for her mother and grandmother as a spice healer in the Ayurveda tradition at their shop in Salem, Massachusetts, but she doesn’t think that’s the path she should take. The Gupta women also had a tradition of raising a daughter alone. The problem for Tulsi was that she didn’t know how else to live her life or what she wanted instead. But as she uncovers secrets about her mother and grandmother’s past and gets to know the owner of the new restaurant next door, her options become clearer. She also meets people from her mother and grandmother’s past in Chicago. Throughout the book, each of the characters is beautifully developed. The writing is engaging. As a bonus, it was fascinating to learn about various herbs and spices and their medicinal values.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four-star review of The Ministry of Unladylike Activity 2: The Body in the Blitz by Robin Stevens

 In the follow-up series to the Murder Most Unladylike collection, Hazel’s little sister May is joined by her friends Nuala and Eric to investigate murders, this time in the London mews where they are living while they train to help the Ministry’s spies including Hazel, Daisy and their friend George during World War II. Yes, I figured out what was going on long before the kids but then they’re about 11 years old and this is only their second case. Stevens seems to know how pre-teens’ minds work and the chances they might take. The story is told by Nuala who, like Hazel in the first series, is the one documenting the cases. The characters in the story are interesting. Some of the situations are implausible, but fun to read about.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four-star review of A Precarious Homecoming: An Arabella Stewart Historical Mystery Book 1

Arabella Stewart recently returned from France where she was part of the United States Signal Corps during the Great War and found her hometown in northern Ohio as well as the returning servicemen changed. She mourns her brother who died in battle as well as her parents who also died, in their case from the Spanish flu that swept the country. But when a middle-aged German-American is killed, suspicion falls on the former servicemen. Arabella, her brother’s friend Jax, who’s now the town Constable, and others investigate the murder. With so many suspects, it takes time to narrow down the list. Some of the dialogue seems stilted but considering the time period, it’s probably true to the way people spoke. I picked the right murderer long before the end, but so did Bella and Jax. They just had to prove it.  

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four-star review for Redemption (Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran Book 1) by Deborah Ledford

Eva “Lightning Dance” Duran is a Taos policewoman searching for her best friend, Paloma, a renowned hoop dancer from the Taos Pueblo. Paloma and three other women, all addicts, have been missing for a while. Paloma’s teenage son, Kai, is also searching for his mother. The story is told from many POVs, including the woman holding the four women prisoner. Descriptions of the area around Taos and the Pueblo resounded with me because of a recent trip there to see the city and the gorge bridge, which pays a crucial part in the story. I’m also interested in stories that portray the lifestyle of any of the many Puebloans in New Mexico.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star review of Bad Blood (Kate Shugak, #20) by Dana Stabanow

This book refers to other characters and incidents in this series but is really about the feud between two villages, one prosperous and the other fallen on hard times, and the deaths of three people. Kate, her half-wolf, half-dog companion, Mutt and her significant other, Park Ranger Jim travel to various places in their part of Alaska to determine who killed each of them. There’s a Romeo and Juliet-style romance involved along with bootlegging and drug dealing. The cliffhanger ending leaves quite a few questions unresolved. Stabenow’s writing is always excellent with great descriptions and character development.

 

 

Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-star review of The Queen of Thieves (The Moonwind series Book 2) by Johan Rundberg

 In this second book of the series, Mika is curious about the extended absences of three other children from the Stockholm orphanage where she’s lived her entire. Her investigation shows they’re working for a woman who performs in the squares. Mika suspects she trained the kids to be pickpockets who operate while she has the audiences attention. But it’s more complicated than that. Mika is a wonderful spunky character. It was good to see some of the others from the first book in the series. The mystery behind her own background and that of an infant delivered to the orphanage is woven into the story and provides additional motivation for Mika.

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

This book provides brilliant insight into how the mind of its first person narrator works. Christopher John Francis Boone is a fifteen-year-old autistic boy who needs a concrete understanding of what goes on around him. He can’t deal with abstracts or intangibles. The teacher at his special school asked him to write a book about the death of a neighbor’s dog, Wellington, since Christopher discovered the skewered body of the standard poodle late one night. He uses the book to detail his investigation of the murder the way his favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes might. When things get tough, rather than think about them, he does math puzzles in his head. He especially likes prime numbers and knows them up to 7057.

 Years before, Christopher’s father told him that his mother went into hospital and died from a heart attack. Since then, it was just Christopher and his father. And his pet rat. But as secrets are revealed, including who killed Wellington, Christopher must be brave enough to face some of his hardest tasks, including a solo trip on a crowded train and facing reality. His ability to cope with life increases throughout the story. A can’t-put-down book that left me feeling proud of him.