Unholy Dying

Finished October 6

Unholy Dying by Robert Barnard

This is the seventh novel in a series featuring an English police officer, Charlie Peace, but the first that I've read. There are several characters whose viewpoint we can see things from. One is a journalist, Cosmo Horrocks. Horrocks is a journalist with an eye out for a story wherever he goes, who uses any situation for gain, and has no respect for anyone else. It is the last characteristic that has been limiting in his career, and we can see that no one around him likes him, not his coworkers or his family. He is married, with two daughters. On a train he overhears a conversation between two men, Con and Derek, that piques his interest, about an investigation into the actions of a priest regarding one of his parishioners, a young single mother. 

Another is Julie Norris, the mother in question. She was pregnant at sixteen, kicked out of the house by her parents, and soon after living in a small home on a council estate in Shipley. She aims to be a good mother to both her toddler and the second child she is expecting. She found the priest, Father Pardoe, a good listener and a good adviser. He had been able to help her get some basic items for her home, such as used furniture and appliances. 

We also see Father Pardoe. He has been sent away, boarding with a middle-aged woman in a nearby town, awaiting the investigation, but is growing impatient as the bishop hasn't answered any of his inquiries about the status. 

We also see Mrs. Knowsley, the woman Pardoe is boarding with, and she provides an ear for him, and a source of unexpected comfort. 

Another set of voices are several female parishioners of Father Pardoe, including Miss Preece-Dembleby; Mary, the wife of Con; and Janette, the wife of Derek. These women are also wondering about the inquiry, and want to provide support for the priest, who they believe is innocent of the things he has been accused of. 

I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, moving through different characters multiple times, so that I could see the nuances of the situation and the lives affected. 

There are a couple of themes present as well. One is the role of the Catholic Church both in the lives of these people, and in its secrets. Another is the role of women, in society and in domestic life. Some women have breakthroughs in their lives, while others continue in their expected roles. 

A very interesting read that has me interested in others in the series. 

These Still Black Waters

Finished October 6

These Still Black Waters by Christina McDonald

This is the first book in a series featuring police officer Jess Lambert. Some of the story is from Jess's point of view. She is recently returned to work and detective work after an automobile accident that took the life of her daughter Isla and left her with permanent injuries. She drives a modified motorcycle, and struggles with her loss. She sees her Isla in both work and home situations and finds herself talking to her. She has soothed herself with alcohol, even as she feels guilt that she had a drink before driving the day of the accident.

The central character in this book though is Neve Maguire. Neve and her husband have recently made the decision to separate, but the day they chose to tell their teenage daughter Ash, they were the victim of a violent home invasion. 

Neve has retreated to the house she spent summers in, in the small town of Black Lake. She had a couple of close friends, Bee and Sandra, but the last summer she spent there was a disturbing one, and the secrets of that summer are gradually revealed over the course of the novel. 

Soon after Neve arrives, a neighbour is found dead in the lake, something that has personal significance to Neve. Jess is the lead officer on the case, and she finds herself being guided by her daughter's words. She is also following leads suggested by Neve's words and actions as she talks to her about the woman who died. 

This is an interesting new series, with lots of emotional situations, and some strange twists. 

I found it compelling to read, and the ending gives a hint towards further books in the series. 

Touched by the Dead

Finished October 2

Touched by the Dead by Robert Barnard

This mystery novel is centered on Colin Pinnock, a man who was adopted as a baby, brought up by loving parents, and has done well for himself. He was elected as an MP a few years ago, and as the book begins is now a Minister in the UK government. When he returns home from work the day he is offered the position and meets his staff, he finds a strange note under his door saying "Who do you think you are?" He isn't sure how to take this, whether it is a hostile message or a deeper one. The question, and subsequent messages set him on the trail to find out who his birth parents were. 

Because he isn't sure of the intent of the messages, he mentions them to the police working at the government buildings. He wants to have a record of them in case things escalate. They do escalate, but he isn't sure that they are related to his search. He talks to people around him, and brings in his old girlfriend who is a researcher and historian to follow up on leads. 

He finds himself first led to a political scandal that happened shortly before he was born, when a politician was disgraced and immediately disappeared. As the present day threat escalate, he finds himself also struck by the limitations of his work in government, and starts to question his life in other ways. 

I enjoyed the way the plot brought different elements together as well as by the real issues that the main character dealt with. A very satisfying read. 

Dark and Shallow Lies

Finished September 27

Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain

This young adult novel is set in a small town in Louisiana, La Chachette. It is known as the Psychic Capital of the world, and is accessible only by boat. The main character, Grey, who is seventeen, has spent her summers there for years. After her mother's death when she was eight, she has lived with her father during the rest of the year, and come to stay with her grandmother Honey in the summer.  When she returns this summer, she knows that her best friend Elora, who was born on the same day, in the same room as her, disappeared six months earlier. She is worried about the rest of her friends there and how they are reacting to the situation. She also finds it strange that none of the local psychics have been able to discover what happened to Elora. 

As the summer goes on, she feels that everyone there has secrets and some of them are more worrying than others. She also makes a new friend, a teen that also met Elora, and is aware of the close relationship that Elora and Grey had. 

As Grey grew up she knew that she and Elora were part of a group of children born that summer, known as the Summer Children. There were ten of them, born to eight different families. With the new boy, that makes eleven, a number Grey feels is unlucky. As she discovers the truth about the death of two of the group when they were very young and what the stories told then signify, she finds a need to get to the truth, for all of them. 

This is a very engaging book, about friendship and love, about finding one's one place in the world. It is a coming-of-age tale in a very unusual place. I really enjoyed the read. 

October Reviews for the 18th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

 This is where you link to your reviews for books finished in October that fit this challenge.

The Starless Sea

Finished September 24

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

This enthralling novel is split into sections: Sweet Sorrows, Fortunes and Fables, The Ballad of Simon and Eleanor, Written in the Stars, The Owl King, The Secret Diary of Katrina Hawkins, and an Afterward called Something New and Something Next. Some of these are books within the novel, some are elements within tales. 

The novel starts with three tales from Sweet Sorrows, and then moves to a university library in Vermont, where the central character of the novel, Zachary Ezra Rawlins is engaged in a regular activity of browsing the shelves for a fiction book or two to read for pleasure. He comes across the book Sweet Sorrows, a book with some missing pages and that he finds is not in the system. Zachary is almost twenty-five and a graduate student at the university working on a thesis on video-game design with a focus on psychology and gender issues. Zachary is the son of a fortune-teller, and grew up in New Orleans and upstate New York.

As he begins to read the book, he reads the chapters that we've already read, and is shaken by the third chapter, one which he is sure is about him as a boy, although the book appears much older than he is. As he looks at the book more closely, he notices a series of symbols, a sword, a key and a bee. 

As the novel continues, the events of Zachary's life are given in some of the chapters, interspersed with chapters from the book he reads. After reading the book a few times, he decides to get out of room and on a winter walk meets Kat, an undergrad that he has become friendly with. She runs a video-game-themed cooking blog. She also runs a couple of classes, one that is a discussion oriented one called Innovation in Storytelling and asks for his help for that week's class which is focused on gaming. This discussion is quite interesting, including multiple possible endings, collaborative storytelling, and what makes a story compelling. All of those relate to this novel in important ways. He also encounters Elena, the librarian that helped him check out the book and she has done some sleuthing to where the book came from and leads him down a path that reappears later in the novel. As his search leads him to a masquerade party on New Year's Eve, an attractive woman who dances with him, an unseen man who tells him a story in the dark, an invitation to a meeting later that night, and a stranger who asks a big favour of him, he finds himself entering that strange world that he read about, or a version of it that is lonelier. 

As the novel unfolds, other books within this novel are introduced, as are the characters attached to them. There are also interludes that tell of other times and events, and words from folded papers. All of these move the story forward, as we watch Zachary and other characters make choices that lead them to each other and to endings and new beginnings. 

I found this book fascinating, a superb example of innovative storytelling in itself. 

On Borrowed Time

Finished September 23

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

This is the fifth book in the A Library Lover's Mystery series, and the first that I've read in the series. The main character is Lindsey Norris, the library director in the small town of Briar Creek, Connecticut. It is coming up to Christmas, and Lindsey is expecting her brother Jack to join her for a few days before they connect with their parents at Christmas. 

When he shows up unexpectedly at her work, she leaves him in a meeting room, but when she returns a few hours later, he is gone and there is a dead man on the floor. 

Lindsey is also in a bit of a love triangle with her ex-boyfriend Mike Sullivan, a boat captain, and new suitor actor Robbie Vine. This rivalry continues to be a side plot throughout the novel. 

Lindsey has made friends since coming to the community, and many of them are part of a book club she runs. 

She doesn't tell anyone about her brother's presence or disappearance when the police arrive to the murder scene, believing that she is protecting her brother, but she grows more worried for him after menacing phone calls and threats begin to appear, and she calls her friends into action. 

Overall, I wasn't won over by the book. Lindsey's actions weren't logical and her reasons were pretty flimsy. I found the rivalry banter a bit juvenile for middle aged men, and it seemed over the top. 

Jack's job and situation were far-fetched, and he seemed to exhibit both spy-like (with the passing along of information), and amateurish, bringing Lindsey into a dangerous situation. 

The trap to stop the boat seemed unlikely, both in the set-up and in the outcome. 

This novel didn't make me interested in more in the series.