April Books

[myrna-nora.livejournal.com]

28. Artists in Crime (1938) Ngaio Marsh
Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn falls in love with one of the suspects, when he investigates the murder of an artists' model.
A mystery from the golden era of crime fiction -in the "cozy" genre, but surprisingly gruesome. The mystery was alright, and I liked the characters (reminded me a bit of Lord Peter and Harriet Vane).

29. The Wheel Spins (The Lady Vanishes) (1936) Ethel Lina White
One of the Iris Carr's companions in coach, a sweet old woman, suddenly disappears on long train ride.
The book that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's film. While I prefer an un-abridged audiobook, the abridgements usually don't bother me. But with this one I kept feeling like I might just be missing the stuff that would make this go from good to great. I liked what I read, but I'll have to keep my eye out for the paperback to find out what I was missing.

30. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (2009) Jamie Ford
In the wake of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, young Chinese American Henry Lee forges a bond of friendship and love with Keiko Okabe, a classmate of Japanese descent.
I think the writing could have been polished a bit more, but it was a well told story. The love story portions were of the movie-of-the-week variety, but still more sweet than overly sappy. However, the historical parts focused on some local history that I have always found interesting and that really made the story. The setting was a location I was familiar with, and that made it even better.

31. The Golden One (2002) Elizabeth Peters
1917, archaeologist Amelia Peabody and her family must once again confront danger. But it is son Ramses who faces the most dire threat, answering a call that will carry him to the seaport of Gaza.
Once again I enjoyed reading about Amelia and her family.

32. The Big Sleep (1939) Raymond Chandler
A dying millionaire hires Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters.
I like the language, style, and atmosphere. And for about 1/3 of it I was really engrossed, and then I started getting bored of the convoluted plot. Loved the dialogues throughout, but I can only take so much of the same description over and over of Carmen sucking her thumb, while Marlowe wanders from shoot out to shoot out.

33. Inspector Ghote's First Case (2008) H.R.F. Keating
Newly-promoted Inspector Ghote investigates the suicide of a British memsahib.
This is a prequel to a series that I've never read before. I'm not exactly hooked, but I liked it enough that I might try another in the series.

34. Sparkling Cyanide (1945) Agatha Christie
Six people reunite to remember beautiful Rosemary Barton, who died nearly a year before. None of them can forget Rosemary, but did one of them murder her?
Ms. Christie rehashed the plot of one of her short stories into a full length novel; it is practically identical in places, but the solution does have a different twist. But having the space to flesh out the characters (chapters alternate between different viewpoints) really makes this one. All this time I hadn't bothered to read this one, because I thought I already knew it, and it turned out to be one of my favorite Christie's.

35. The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times (2002) Jennifer Worth
At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth leaves her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in post war London's East End slums.
I adored the TV series, and the book is just as good. It had the power to make me laugh and reduce me to sobbing tears.