Book Review Friday: Bruno, Chief of Police

Bruno, Chief of Police
By Martin Walker



Wow!  I feel like I just got back from a long vacation in France.  Martin Walker gives his book Bruno, Chief of Police a real sense of place.  From the description of the small French village of St. Denis to the mouthwatering descriptions of real French cooking this book is a vacation between two hard covers.  Bruno, whose real name is Benoit Courreges, is the only policeman in the commune of St. Denis.  He knows all the villagers personally, teaches their little ones tennis, and works with the police in the other local villages playing a game of cat and mouse with the health inspectors from the European Union who are trying to enforce modern production rules that would shut down half the businesses in the local market square.  And when murder shatters the peace of the little village of St. Denis, Bruno proves that common sense and old fashioned police work can triumph over flash and politics. 

First in a series.  Other titles include:
The Dark Vineyard
Black Diamond
The Crowded Grave
The Devil's Cave
Bruno and the Carol Singers
The Resistance Man
Children of War
They Dying Season

For more mysteries set in France try these authors:
Michelle Wan
Gerald Jay
Fred Vargas
M. L. Longworth

Book Review Friday: A Dangerous Place

A Dangerous Place

By Jacqueline Winspear

The last book in this series left main character Maisie Dobbs at a crossroads, and left her author with a bit of a dilemma, she wanted to take Maisie in one direction, but millions of fans were hoping for another. How Jacqueline Winspear resolves that dilemma, and she does it very well, becomes a major plot point in this new installment of a well-loved series.

A Dangerous Place opens four years after Leaving Everything Most Loved ended.  On her way home to England, Maisie stops off in Gibraltar and becomes entangled in a murder case.  The police dismiss the stabbing death of Sebastian Babayoff as the work of a transient, but Maisie isn’t convinced and begins her own investigation.  Soon she draws the attention of the British Secret Service in a dangerous place where nothing is what it seems to be and everyone is guarding a secret, including Maisie herself.

A well-crafted story complete with many of Winspear’s characteristic psychological twists and turns. While some Maisie fans will be disappointed, most will welcome the return of their favorite psychologist and private investigator.

If you like the Maisie Dobbs series, you might like:

The Molly Murphy series by Rhys Bowen

The Kate Shakleton series by Frances Brody

The Cordelia Gray series by P. D. James

The Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R. King

The Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Ian Rutledge series by Charles Todd

The Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd

*Series suggestions courtesy of Novelist Plus

  

Book Review Friday: I Think I Love You

I Think I Love You
By Allison Pearson

It's 1974 and Petra is absolutely in love with David and is sure she's going to marry him one day.  The only problem is Petra is 13 and David is 70s pop star David Cassidy.  I Think I Love You tells the story of young Petra and her girlfriends' obsession with David and all the trials and tribulations of adolescence, first love, and growing up.  The second half of the story sees Petra all grown up with a daughter of her own, still trying to navigate life and make it all make sense.  This was a great coming of age story.  Pearson absolutely nails growing up in the 1970s.  And Petra's struggles with her friends and her parents will ring true for any woman of any age.

If you liked  I Think I Love You, you may like these authors:

Emily Giffin
Jodi Picoult
Anna Quindlen
Beth Hoffman
Kaye Gibbons

Book Review Friday: Cat Out of Hell

Cat out of Hell
By Lynne Truss

After the unexpected death of his wife, Alec Charlesworth takes an extended holiday to mourn and regroup  When he and his dog, Watson, aren't wandering the windswept beaches of Norfolk, England, Alec starts reading a curious document sent to him by a man he barely knows.  The computer files relate the story of a man named Will Caton-Pines, Wiggy to his friends.  Wiggy's sister disappeared under mysterious circumstances and when he went to her home to investigate, Wiggy encountered Roger, a cat who could talk.

Suspend disbelief and allow author Lynne Truss to take you on an hysterical, horrifying adventure into the real world of cats.  You will never look at your cat the same way again.

Truss is the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, and several other works of fiction and nonfiction. She is currently at work on a sequel to Cat Out of Hell.

Book Review Friday: Destiny of the Republic

 

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President
By Candice Millard

Don't know much about History?  Here's the amazing story of the life and death of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States.  Killed by an assassin's bullet only a few months after his inauguration. Except, as the assassin argued at his trial, the bullet didn't kill President Garfield, it was his incompetent doctor and the poor medical care he received that killed him.

Candice Millard displays an amazing depth of research in her writing and provides insight into the life and death of an almost forgotten President.  The post Civil War era was a time of turmoil in the United States as people tried to heal the wounds of the Civil War and chart a course through the murky world of politics. James A. Garfield rose from a poverty stricken youth to become an educator, a Civil War General, a Congressman, and finally a reluctant Presidential candidate. Meanwhile, his would-be assassin, Charles Guiteau, was charging through life convinced that he was destined for greatness.  Millard details Guiteau's delusions of grandeur, his family's attempts to institutionalize him, and his close encounters with Washington DC's political elite until the fateful day that he crossed paths with Garfield in a Washington train station.  Other lives touched Garfield's as well, from Doctor Joseph Lister in England to Alexander Grahame Bell in Boston, Millard describes the threads that formed a tragic tapestry that brought Americans together to mourn the death of a President for the second time in 15 years.

This was a great book, very readable and accessible, not a textbook history.  An excellent choice to recommend to History buffs especially Civil War buffs and those interested in Presidential assassinations.  Also a great recommendation for people interested in reading more about the history of medicine or politics in the United States.



 

Book Review Friday: Everything I Need to Know ...

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book
By Diane Muldrow

Everyone of a certain age remembers Little Golden Books.  My childhood was full of those sweet little books, with their simple stories and rich illustrations.  Diane Muldrow has repurposed those illustrations into this little book of life's lessons learned.  Simple enough to share with your children or grandchildren and profound in its wisdom and simplicity.  This book would make a great gift for graduates, newlyweds, or that person who has everything on your gift list. Recommended for everyone.

Book Review Friday: Aloha, Lady Blue

Aloha, Lady Blue

By Charley Memminger

Stryker McBride, a former Honolulu crime reporter, has been keeping a low profile since his job nearly got him killed a couple of years ago, but that all changes when an old classmate asks him to look into the death of her elderly grandfather.  As Stryker investigates he uncovers more than he bargained for and encounters a variety of colorful and dangerous characters with secrets of their own to protect. 

Aloha, Lady Blue is a funny, fast-paced, action-packed mystery.  Charley Memminger’s writing style pays homage to John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series, and his vivid descriptions make the island paradise come to life, doing for Hawaii what MacDonald did for Florida. This story grabbed me and had me laughing out loud and I could almost hear the surf pounding in my ears as I read Memminger’s descriptions of his beloved Hawaii.  If a Hawaiian vacation isn’t in your budget this year, Aloha, Lady Blue will get you there without the airfare or the TSA.

For more books set in Hawaii try:

Hawaii by James Michener

Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii by Lee Goldberg

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport

The Aloha Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini

Pele’s Tears by Sharon K. Garner

One Man’s Paradise by Douglas Corleone

Honolulu by Alan Brennert