Airs Above the Ground

Airs Above the Ground
by Mary Stewart
Rating: ★★★½
Publication Date: August 11, 1965
Pages: 238
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Colorgravure for Reader's Book Club Australia

Vanessa March never thought to look for her missing husband in Vienna -- until she saw him in a newsreel shot there at the scene of a deadly fire. But her hunt for answers only leads to more sinister questions in a mysterious world of beautiful horses.

And what waits for Vanessa in the shadows is more terrifying than anything she has ever encountered.

Not her best work, but a fun read nonetheless. More a straight up mystery than romantic suspense, and while the plot villain was obvious, Stewart at least had some fun misleading the reader about the plot itself.

Aside: I bought this years ago at a FOTL sale for a dollar; when I finished reading it, I saw that it was published and printed 3 blocks from where I live now. On its site now sits a ‘home improvement store’ – Bunnings, the Aussie answer to Home Depot. A place I spit and swear about every time I have to visit. Now, it seems, I have even more reason to dislike it – I’d rather the book publishers were still there.

Content retrieved from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2800296/airs-above-the-ground.

Tales from Margaritaville – Reread

Tales from Margaritaville
by Jimmy Buffett
Rating: ★★★★½
Publication Date: June 11, 1989
Pages: 233
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

The singer/songwriter displays his gift for creating witty, laid-back Southern stories in a collection of bizarre tales and thoughtful essays

A recent re-read for me, though I dare not try to add the dates, as I’m afraid BL will blow my original dates out.

I love these stories and continue to love them every time I read them. They remind me of my home, and their eccentric and quirky. What I didn’t remember from previous re-reads was the Australian thread that runs through both the book and many of the stories. Buffett opens with a quote from Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines, in an introduction titled “Walkabout”, and at least one – two? – stories include references to aboriginal myth. A small thing, but a nice parallel for a Florida girl on a decade-plus walkabout down under.

Content copied from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2800371/tales-from-margaritaville.

Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit (Kopp Sisters, #4)

Miss Kopp Just Won't Quit
by Amy Stewart
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Kopp Sisters #4
Publication Date: September 11, 2018
Pages: 309
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

While transporting a woman to an insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her story. Before she can investigate, another inmate breaks free and tries to escape.

In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But 1916 is a high-stakes US election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath’s future — and her own. Constance’s controversial career makes her the target of political attacks.

I always enjoy these books; they’re soothing reads in many ways, as Stewart doesn’t try to over dramatise or create more suspense than history dictates. (This series is based on the real events and life of Constance Kopp.) This 4th instalment surrounds the election for Sheriff, a pivotal point for Constance, because the sitting sheriff – the one that was bold enough to hire a woman – has hit his term limit and can run.

It’s a bittersweet story with an interesting ending. I look forward to finding out how the Kopp sisters fare.

Content copied from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2800337/miss-kopp-just-won-t-quit-kopp-sisters-4.

Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler?
by Georgette Heyer
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 0434328499
Publication Date: August 11, 1979
Pages: 262
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Heinemann : London

Every family has secrets, but now they are turning deadly...

On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence and Amberley believes her--at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the evidence incriminating Shirley Brown begins to add up.

Why Shoot a Butler? is an English country-house murder with a twist. In this beloved classic by Georgette Heyer, the butler is the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant as he ferrets out the desperate killer--even though this time he's not sure he wants toknow the truth...

An accidental re-read, but an enjoyable one. As I started reading it, I remembered my frustration the first time around with the slow, purposefully vague start, but once into it, I enjoyed the banter and the mystery again – and had no recollection as to whodunnit.

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Amethyst Dreams

Amethyst Dreams
by Phyllis A. Whitney
Rating: ★★★
Publication Date: July 11, 1997
Pages: 276
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Crown Publishers

For several years, time and circumstance have managed to separate Hallie Knight and her old friend Susan Trench, but when Susan disappears from her grandfather's seaside home on historic Topsail Island, it is Hallie whom Nicholas Trench calls for help.

When Hallie arrives from California, she finds the old man surrounded by an odd collection of friends and relatives, all of whom seem to know a little more than they're willing to tell about Susan Trench and her last days on Topsail. Underlying Hallie's anxiety about Susan as well as her growing concern for Nicholas Trench is the personal problem of her estrangement from a husband she loves. Threads intertwine and questions build to the pitch of what may be a fearful answer.

Like a lot of other authors who write romantic suspense, Whitney was very hit and miss. Most of the misses I’ve read are the ones she wrote in her later years, and this isn’t an exception. The woman could still write well – her island setting came alive – but the plot was soft and sentimental, and the resolution was not a resolution at all. In fact it was completely unrealistic, unless the poor dead woman meant less than nothing to her family.

Content retrieved from: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/2634250/amethyst-dreams.

Booklikes-opoly 2020; Pandemic edition / audit update #1

Given that I’m already behind on posts, it seems my decision to audit was a good one. After finishing Amethyst Dreams for square 6, I rolled a 7 and landed on the Robot square. I made a note of it on my RL board, and rolled again, getting a 5 and landing on a Chance square:

I decided on Why Shoot a Butler? because I wasn’t in the mood for non-fiction, and it was on my TBR. Which it shouldn’t have been, because I’d already read it, but never mind, I enjoyed reading it again.

Rolling again, I got a 5 and landed on the Cat Square, made a note and rolled again, getting a 6, which landed me on space 27. For this one, I’m going to do a re-read again, but this time on purpose. I’m choosing the anthology from Jimmy Buffet, Tales from Margaritaville, which feature a short story called Take Another Road, about a man named Tully Mars; it’s definitely a tale of a hero’s journey – if a somewhat eccentric one.

Cotillion

Cotillion
by Georgette Heyer
Rating: ★★★
Publication Date: January 1, 1952
Pages: 345
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Publisher: Heinemann

I was in the mood for a light read and while I was perusing my TBR piles, boxes, and shelves, I came across this and remembered that Lillelara had recently read it and enjoyed it.

I definitely enjoyed The Grand Sophy better, but this one got me through without complaint. I struggled to really feel invested in the story or any of the characters though; it seemed to missing just that little bit of depth – or else my reading slump had dulled my reading sense, rendering everything a bit duller. Given Heyer’s hit and miss record, either is possible. Or perhaps a bit of both: the final scene at Rattray’s rectory perked me right up; in that moment, the characters popped to life for me and I cared about what happened next.

I haven’t read even close to Heyer’s entire backlist, but I’d firmly place this midway on a scale of those I’ve read so far.

Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 99582643
Series: Anne of Green Gables #1
Publication Date: September 1, 2013
Pages: 468
Genre: Children's Fiction

Yes, this is my first time reading it. I was book shopping back in January with my 9 year old niece and she was pressuring me to read Little Women, which isn’t going to happen, and in a panic, I volunteered to read Anne of Green Gables instead.

Keeping in mind that I’m 40 years beyond the target audience for this book, omg, it’s so twee. 468 pages and about 368 of them so twee and precious I almost gave up and dnf’d it. Suffice it to say, I identified most strongly with Marilla. But if I skimmed the gratuitous expository narrative, there was a charming story that kept me going (after a 3 month hiatus). And as Anne grew up, the story got progressively easier to read. That part of the story earned it the extra half star.

The reasons this book is a classic are clear, though I’m confident I wouldn’t have been much more enamoured of this book when I was in its target audience; even as a child I lacked the requisite imagination to feel like Anne was a kindred spirit, and Heidi pretty much killed the orphan sub-genre for me anyway. But I have one niece for whom this book might be a perfect fit, and I’ll be holding in on my shelf for her next visit, assuming that happens before she’s old enough to drive, given current border closures. Or maybe I’ll just send it to her in the post.

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs (Royal Spyness, #13)

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs
by Rhys Bowen
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Royal Spyness #13
Publication Date: August 6, 2019
Pages: 304
Publisher: Berkley

The author starts this instalment with an apology in advance; the book is set in Africa – Kenya – during the late 20’s/early 30’s, a time when race relations and the views of the British Empire (as were the rest of the world) were shameful.

This had me braced for difficult reading, but I have to say, that was not the disclaimer I needed. In true cozy style, Bowen acknowledged the dichotomy and inequality between white and black without really verbalising it. What caught me unawares (and shouldn’t have; I can only wonder if the pre-apology diverted me), was the casual references to hunting big game. Of course it was a thing back then, and of course I should have seen it coming.

The other unexpected part of the story was the behaviour of the upper class in Kenya; a risqué path for a cozy, but done well by the author, and based on actual events and a real person: Lady Idina Sackville. Bowen closes with a short bibliography of texts she used in an effort to write about the times accurately.

All in all, another enjoyable instalment in a long-running series that has remained fairly strong throughout, balancing cheeky naiveté and interesting murder plots.

A Sprig of Sea Lavender

A Sprig of Sea Lavender
by J.R.L. Anderson
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 312753772
Publication Date: January 1, 1978
Pages: 176
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

I bought this a few years ago, when Otto Penzler was selling his collection through his bookshop, Mysterious Books. It’s a review copy of an author I’d never heard of, but the short catalog blurb made it sound interesting: mysterious death on a train, unknown works by Gainsborough, Turner and Constable found with the body, along with a sprig of – you guessed it – sea lavender.

This is a mid-century mystery, and it suffered from the usual quirks of that age: instant, yet chaste, romance, and a complete disregard of the fair-play rules of mystery plotting. As such, the reader, by the end, is presented with a fait accompli in both the romance and the mystery’s resolution, without having any idea whatsoever how the main character got there, although he does explain it all at the very end.

By today’s standards, it’s all a bit thin, naive and 2 dimensional, but I had fun with it nevertheless. It wasn’t trying to be anything other than an entertaining mystery and, while I’ve read others that are greater successes, it generally achieved its goal.