MostlyFiction Book Reviews » Cozy We Love to Read! Wed, 14 May 2014 13:06:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.3 THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF SCONES by Alexander McCall Smith /2011/the-unbearable-lightness-of-scones-by-alexander-mccall-smith/ /2011/the-unbearable-lightness-of-scones-by-alexander-mccall-smith/#comments Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:32:04 +0000 /?p=17110 Book Quote:

“I’m settling down at last. And what a way to settle: money, flat, Porsche, sexy-looking woman who thinks I’m the best thing ever—and who can blame her? All on a plate. All there before me for the taking. And I have taken it.”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Guy Savage (APR 1, 2011)

We read for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons frequently cited is that books offer an “escape.” How true that is, and books, of course, offer a variety of escapes. There’s the thrill of adventure and romance, and the infinite worlds of science fiction. But there’s another escape too–an escape into a simpler, cozier world in which, if the truth is told, the lives of some fictional characters seem enviable.

And this brings me to Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series. Smith, the author of the phenomenally successful series: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency was inspired to write a series of tales set in his native Scotland following a trip to San Francisco and a discussion with author Armistead Maupin about his novel, Tales of the City. Upon returning to Scotland, Smith began writing 44 Scotland Street which appeared in serial form in The Scotsman. Writing approximately 1000 words a day, Smith’s Scotland Street series developed and blossomed with 44 Scotland Street, followed by Espresso Tales, Love Over Scotland, The World According to Bertie and now the fifth novel in the series: The Unbearable Lightness of Scones. In the Scotland Street series, we are introduced to a group of people whose lives are intertwined in a number of ways. These delightful novels possess both a comfortable and comforting old-fashioned feel, a certain coziness, and while the novels occasionally border on the twee, for the most part, reading about these characters is sheer delight. As we follow the trials and tribulations of the various characters, we become increasingly involved with the fictional dramas and traumas–never anything too bleak or dreadful, and always handled with a wonderful sense of humor and a profound generosity towards the human condition.

Here are some of the characters from The Unbearable Lightness of Scones:

There’s ex-school-teacher Elspeth and gallery owner Matthew whose fancy wedding and expensive reception is followed by a honeymoon to Australia.

There’s Bertie, a six-year-old boy whose domineering, politically-correct, frustrated mother suffocates the boy with Italian lessons, Yoga, and psychotherapy. Meanwhile Bertie is plagued by the unwanted attentions of his classmate Olive. Bertie’s goal in life is to be a boy scout—much to the horror of his mother:

“You see, Bertie, the problem is that these organizations appeal to a very primitive urge in boys. They make them want to pretend to be little hunters. They make them want to join together and exclude other people. They make them want to get dressed up in ridiculous uniforms, like Fascisti. That’s why Mummy thinks they’re a bad idea.”

Then there’s the “persistent narcissist” Bruce Anderson who’s engaged to the wealthy heiress Julia Donald. Bruce discovers his first wrinkle in the course of the story, but he’s destined for bigger shocks than that. Bruce, by the way, is one of my favorite characters. Here’s Bruce watching his girlfriend:

“But all of this material comfort was topped by having Julia herself. In the earlier days of their relationship, Bruce wondered how he would possibly be able to bear her vacuousness and her simpering. He had gritted his teeth when she called him Brucie, and when she insisted on sharing the shower with him. Of course, she’s mad about me, he told himself. That was understandable—women just were. But I wish she’d give me a bit more room. You can’t have somebody stroking you all the time, as if you were a domestic cat.”

What’s so nice about the novel is that there’s a wide range of characters. For example, on the other end of the economic spectrum there’s artist Angus and his dog, Cyril, Big Lou, owner of the Morning After coffee bar and her Jacobite plasterer boyfriend Robbie, and burly, shady ex-con, Lard O’Connor.

The chapters move back and forth in-between characters and points-of-view, blending storylines as the book develops. In many ways, The Unbearable Lightness of Scones reminds me of the Cranford tales by Elizabeth Gaskell. There are similarities: a small Victorian village in which a major drama erupts involving a lost cow, and in Edinburgh, skullduggery occurs over the high treachery of a missing blue Spode tea-cup.

The Scotland Street books are delightfully reassuring, and it’s no wonder that Alexander McCall Smith’s novels are so phenomenally successful. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones is recommended for those who enjoy the coziness of reading about the small, safe details of characters’ lives. There are no civil wars here, no terrorism. Most of our lives are spent on the petty details and the mundane moments, and so it is in The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, but here daily life is also laced with laugh-out loud humor and a very welcome whimsy.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-5from 57 readers
PUBLISHER: Anchor; 1 edition (January 12, 2010)
REVIEWER: Guy Savage
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Alexander McCall Smith
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Lots!  Read reviews of

Bibliography:

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series:

44 Scotland Street

Portuguese Irregular Verbs Series:

Isabel Dalhousie Mystery:

Children’s Books:

Other:

  • The Criminal Law of Botswana
  • Changing People: The Law and Ethics of Behavior Modification (1994)
  • Health Resources and the Law (1994)
  • Forensic Aspects of Sleep (1997)

Movies from books:

]]> /2011/the-unbearable-lightness-of-scones-by-alexander-mccall-smith/feed/ 0 THE DARK VINEYARD by Martin Walker /2010/the-dark-vineyard-by-martin-walker/ /2010/the-dark-vineyard-by-martin-walker/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:16:07 +0000 /?p=14770 Book Quote:

“The distant howl of the siren atop the mairie broke the stillness of the French summer night. It was an hour before dawn but Bruno Courrèges was already awake, his thoughts churning with memories and regrets about the woman who had until recently shared his bed. For a brief moment he froze, stilled by the eerie sound that carried such weight of history and alarm. This same siren had summoned his neighbors in the small town of Saint-Denis to war and invasion, to liberation and peace, and it marked the hour of noon each day.”

Book Review:

Review by Kirstin Merrihew (DEC 29, 2010)

The first time readers met this village lawman was in Bruno, Chief of Police. He was something of a French version of Andy Taylor of Mayberry: as a matter of course he didn’t carry a gun, he sometimes upheld the spirit of community well-being rather than enforce the letter of the law, and he dealt with the villagers with a natural but unadvertised psychology instead of simply compelling obedience. He was also single and had a history of discreetly dating a number of women. He was the only local police officer, having no Barney Fife at his side, but when crimes of greater significance than a parking ticket arose he had to collaborate with his immediate boss, the town mayor, and with wider French enforcement agencies, including the national police. He, unlike Sheriff Andy, had a bit of a repertoire in the cooking department and was especially famous in the tiny Périgord commune for whipping up heavenly truffle omelettes. Bruno, whose actual but never used name was Benoît, was deeply content to remain in Saint-Denis, although as a highly decorated former soldier who had traded in one uniform for another, his services would have been eagerly accepted by the Police Nationale in Paris itself.

Bruno, Chief of Police evoked a real French village atmosphere, complete with a likeable stalwart and romantically-inclined local cop as well as a unique bunch of Saint-Denis residents. If you haven’t already read this book, I suggest doing so before immersing yourself in The Dark Vineyard. I didn’t take that advice and although my omission didn’t dim my enjoyment, it did leave me with a few backstory questions that were all answered by happily “inhaling” the earlier novel. Author Martin Walker doesn’t believe in following other series writers in the practice of rehashing a lot of background each time around. In that he respects the reader’s time but also expects them to keep abreast of each installment.

Both Chief Bruno mysteries (and we can safely bet there will be more) benefit from Walker’s sure writer’s hand. His prose is really unassailable; it is clear as a bell and easy to read– although…any reader who never took French in school or has forgotten all he knows should have a French/English dictionary at hand to look up some of the italicized words and phrases such as appellation contrôlée, mairie, putain de merde, croquet-monsieur, or bécasses. The author intrigues us with characters who betray all the faults of our species but also inveigle empathy and understanding from both Bruno and us. And Walker is adept at forming complex plots that are both “cozy” (no excessive harping on gruesome details– just state the facts and move on), yet disturbing.

So what exactly is The Dark Vineyard about? Bruno awakes to a siren that signals fire. Arriving at the scene, he learns that a research station for genetically modified crop experimentation has burned down. He begins an investigation, suspecting arson at the hands of some environmentalists who oppose unnatural alteration of food and worry about contamination of nearby vineyards and other producing fields. Problems heap on for Bruno when a privileged and brash young American named Fernando Bondino pays a visit. He represents his family’s worldwide wine corporation which sees an opportunity to buy up a number of smaller local wineries and bring “new techniques and modern marketing” to the area. It isn’t long before suspicious deaths associated with the fire and the Bondino empire strenuously test Bruno’s detective skills. The deaths also provoke unwanted media attention for the town which just wants to mourn its losses at a traditional bonfire wake.

This time as the chief’s cases heat up, the ambitious Police Nationale inspector, Isabelle Perrault, whom Bruno first encountered in Bruno, Chief of Police, and who became his lover, appears fleetingly and not so much for professional reasons. But Bruno doesn’t see a sustainable future for them because she is seldom in Saint-Denis and he is seldom away from it. He wants more than a stolen night here or there and had thought they’d broken up. Apparently Isabelle can content herself with occasional passion and requires more explicit signals from gallant Bruno if their relationship is to truly end. During her long absences however, Bruno has begun to relish the company of a British ex-pat who loves to ride horses and “who seem[s] content to give him all the time in the world.” Volume three of this series may find Bruno in a love triangle and having to choose between the ladies…or — ahem — maybe not choosing between the ladies?

Frequently sequels aren’t quite as strong as their predecessors. The Dark Vineyard, I would opine, follows this pattern. Don’t misunderstand. The Dark Vineyard provides another window into French small-town life, permitting the reader to tag along with Bruno to a grape-crushing gathering, to additional patriotic parades down the main street, to the merchants trying to make a living, and to the winemakers (organic and not) who rely more on their experience than on science and innovation to bottle fragrant and full-flavored juice of the vine. Walker cites Robert Louis Stevenson’s lovely thought, “Wine is bottled poetry,” and The Dark Vineyard seeks to convey that sentiment in its pages. Yet the customs and culture of a village in the South of France eclipse the caliber of the two prominent murder plots. There is little mystery about who committed one of the crimes; Bruno has that person fingered from the get-go. And another culprit is also fairly easy to spot. The “how” and the “why” of the deaths that Bruno investigates actually supply the book’s suspense, rather than the suspects’ identities. Also, although The Dark Vineyard possesses rich and intricate subject matter, it seems on the light side in comparison with its forerunner. It has some formulaic similarities (such as the Saint-Denis’ way of life being threatened by outside corporate pressure), and some repetition of routines, but that is because, after all, the rhythms of small town French life are repetitive, so while I mention this, it more as a notation than a criticism.

Walker does create an interesting ironic reversal vis-a-vis Bruno who, in the first book arguably made himself judge, jury, and absolver when due process, the civil law system, and duty (but not mercy and cosmic justice?) demanded a different action. Chief Bruno knows the human heart and mind is capable of all sorts of skullduggery; why shouldn’t he have latitude to deal with cases where the suspect seems obvious and where genuine justice can’t be won? This time fate and higher legal authorities dispense their own compromised “justice,” frustrating him. Bruno feels a sense of powerlessness when he understands that despite his ability to identify perpetrators, justice will be only partial.

Anyone who read Bruno, Chief of Police, will surely luxuriate in this second visit with the denizens of Saint-Denis. Anyone who reads The Dark Vineyard without initially being aware of the earlier volume (or just skipping it) will also almost surely be impressed because this is a superior (just not perfect) addition to the cozy mystery genre. It would be very hard to top the original story, but we would be poorer had Walker stopped after Bruno, Chief of Police.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 18 readers
PUBLISHER: Knopf; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
REVIEWER: Kirstin Merrihew
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Martin Walker
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of:

Bruno, Chief of Police

Bibliography:

French Countryside Mysteries:

Other Fiction:

Nonfiction:

]]> /2010/the-dark-vineyard-by-martin-walker/feed/ 0 THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN’S BAG by Alan Bradley /2010/weed-that-strings-the-hangmans-bag-by-alan-bradley/ /2010/weed-that-strings-the-hangmans-bag-by-alan-bradley/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:06:58 +0000 /?p=8136 Book Quote:

“Carefully, I injected each chocolate with a drop or two of the stuff, touching the injection site with a glass rod (slightly warmed in the Bunsen burner) to smooth over the little hole.

“I had carried out the procedure so perfectly that only the faintest whiff of rotten egg reached my nostrils. Safe inside the gooey centers, the hydrogen sulfide would remain cocooned, invisible, unsuspected, until Feely —

“Flavia!”

Book Review:

Review by Kirstin Merrihew (MAR 8, 2010)

Young Flavia Sabina de Luce, chemistry whiz, accomplished amateur detective, and sometime drama queen, is back! She says she trying to be a better person, but she still at least thinks rude retorts, forgets to come home for Mrs. Mullet’s strange meals, steals into houses and businesses to collect evidence, opens coffins and peers inside to confirm forensic theories, and gives as good as she gets to her older sisters.

It remains 1950, and the Bonepenny murder is no distant memory yet. Thoughts of what it means to die occupy Flavia’s vivid imagination in the churchyard on a particular summer day, and she thinks she is alone until she hears sobbing. Of course, she investigates. Soon she is acquainted with famous BBC puppeteer Rupert Porson and his assistant, Nialla. Their van has broken down and their tuppence in hand don’t stretch enough for the repairs. The vicar suggests they give a couple performances in Bishop’s Lacey to earn cash, and they agree. After more than a day of preparations, with which Flavia helps, the matinee goes off without a hitch. However, the evening’s “Jack and the Beanstalk” ends shockingly. Flavia, of course, can’t leave the police work to Inspector Hewitt and his stalwarts. Using her own brand of cunning, coy charm; she ferrets out local history that could give motive to murder. The “misadventure death” of a five–year-old in 1945 becomes part of her inquiries, as does the story of the German prisoner of war who still works on a local farm. Flavia applies her wits (and her wit), her kid’s energy, and her scientific genius to get at the truth.

The mysteries in The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag arguably don’t quite match, in complexity or intensity, those in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I expected a few more revelations than actually materialized. This second Flavia book, however, provides more opportunities to get to know this remarkable character and those around her. Dogger, the family factotum, demonstrates that when he’s lucid, he can keep stride with Flavia in the deduction department. Haviland de Luce, Flavia’s father, who mainly exerts parental privilege to keep his youngest daughter from constantly disappearing, still has a tendency to mentally retire in uncomfortable situations. But he can defend his daughters when pushed — although seldom against each other. He also tells Flavia to look past the surface when it comes to his visiting sister.

One of the warmest, most insightful scenes in Weed is an unlikely conversation between Flavia and said paternal sister. Flavia usually thinks Aunt Felicity oppressive and odd, but when the girl asks what her mother was like, Felicity tells her, “Good heavens, child! If you want to see your mother, you have no more than to look in the glass. If you want to know her character, look inside yourself. You’re so much like her it gives me the willies.” Then Felicity urges to Flavia to listen to her own inspiration. “You must let your inner vision be your Pole Star,” she tells her. “Even if it leads to murder?” Flavia boldly asks. Her aunt assures her yes. Flavia wants to throw her arms around “this dotty old bat in her George Bernard Shaw costume and hug her until the juices [run] out.” But a de Luce has much more British reserve than that. So, Flavia settles for telling her, “Thank you, Aunt Felicity…You’re a brick.”

The generally unhurried pace of this novel allows for such enjoyable interludes. Another one occurs when the family gathers to listen to music on the wireless. Some are less comforting however:  Her sisters’ unkindness to her almost jumps the shark here. In fact, the Flavia/Cinderella comparison, which she invokes, feels quite appropriate. In Sweetness, we knew the sisters feuded unmercifully, but it seemed more in fun than it does in this sequel. Although Flavia once again sets out to “poison” them, her humanity is not really in doubt. Feely and Daffy, however, go too far on at least one occasion.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag is, happily, rife with examples of Flavia’s indomitable and often acidic sense of humor.When Nialla says Flavia looks like the kind of kid who smokes, the girl is actually dumbfounded. But she quickly recovers and gamely flings back, “I was thinking of taking it up next week….I just hasn’t actually got round to it yet.”

Amusingly, Flavia tells the reader, “I have never much cared for flippant remarks, especially when others make them, and in particular, I don’t give a frog’s fundament for them when they come from an adult. It has been my experience that facetiousness in the mouth of someone old enough to know better is often no more than camouflage for something far, far worse.” A successful detective has to be able to read people, and Flavia does quite well for someone either already or nearly eleven years old. She is terribly precocious — sometimes too knowing to be believed. But she does have limits — as when she goes to Dogger to ask about what “having an affair” really means. Poor old Dogger. What will he say?

This mystery also provides Flavia with plenty of opportunities to slip away to the handsomely equipped lab handed down through Uncle Tar and then her mother. Observing Flavia test someone’s bodily fluids or isolating a gas is great fun. Even outside the lab and in a terrible pinch, she can roust ingredients needed to be open to a charge of, in the words of Inspector Hewitt: “practicing medicine without a license.”

This second in the Flavia series follows the form of the first by creating interesting psychological portraits. What does make Nialla stay with a man who gives her black and blue marks? How is a man with a wasted limb from infantile paralysis (polio) marked inwardly by his disability? How does he live with his chronic pain? Why does the German POW, Dieter, speak nearly perfect English, and why hasn’t he been shipped back to Germany? What hidden talents lurk within Mad Meg? Is she really delusional? What might a farmer want to keep secret about his crops? What happens to the psyche of a mother whose only child dies tragically? How do a minister of God and his wife balance the needs of the parishioners against their own? Should a “blue-blood” teenager go all crushy for a man who wore an enemy uniform only five years ago? These, and many other human questions are raised.

Author Alan Bradley, besides liberally sprinkling in culture and chemistry, doesn’t neglect to weave in a small, new plot point about stamps, a salute to the previous case that brought Flavia (and himself) fame. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag is a superior and lovely cozy mystery. Bring on Flavia #3, Mr. Bradley. Oh, and if Flavia gets to investigate her own mother’s death in it or another future novel, so much the better.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-5from 213 readers
PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press (March 9, 2010)
REVIEWER: Kirstin Merrihew
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Alan Bradley
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of:

Bibliography:

]]> /2010/weed-that-strings-the-hangmans-bag-by-alan-bradley/feed/ 0 GREETINGS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE BY Monica McInerney /2009/greetings-from-somewhere-else-by-monica-mcinerney/ /2009/greetings-from-somewhere-else-by-monica-mcinerney/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:17:04 +0000 /?p=4310 Book Quote:

“Dublin didn’t just look different from Melbourne, it smelled different. The air was a mixture of winter smells, fresh rain on pavements, a hint of smoke from open fires burning in nearby houses, beer and Guinness aromas from the pubs along the street.”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Danielle Bullen (AUG 20, 2009)

If you’re looking for a breezy, late-summer addition to your library, pick up a copy of Monica McInerney’s novel, Greetings from Somewhere Else. A combination of an easy to follow main storyline combined with compelling subplots and a likable main character make it a quintessential beach book.

Lainey Byrne runs an event management company in Australia and juggles her relationships with her chef boyfriend Adam and her parents and three brothers. The family receives word that great-aunt May has passed away in Ireland. Her nieces and nephews were her only family and she left them her bed and breakfast, but there’s a catch. One member of the Byrnes must live in and run the inn for a year before they can inherit it. Lainey’s father suffers from an accident he had at a construction site and the family needs money for his care. If they follow the plan, they can later sell the bed and breakfast. Lainey is nominated as the representative.

She takes a leave of absence from her job, breaks up with Adam, and heads to County Meath. When she arrives at the inn, Lainey is in for a shock. The run-down old house has clearly seen better days, the inside is dusty, smelly, and old-fashioned. May’s lawyer tells her that there have been hardly any guests. Around town, Lainey’s aunt had a reputation for being an obnoxious, stubborn old lady, and her bed and breakfast had developed a stay-away status.

Lainey uses money May had left her to redecorate the inn with the help of her friend Eva from Dublin. She throws herself into the project to distract herself from thinking about Adam. Another distraction soon comes along, Lainey’s childhood friend, Ronan, now a handsome documentary filmmaker in the country on assignment. Her flirtation with Ronan forms one of the undercurrents of the story.

Coming up with clever new ways to market and fill Tara Hill, her new name for the bed and breakfast, keeps her busy. Her brother Hugh keeps in touch by sending videos of the family. Lainey sees Adam’s influence in some of the videos and wonders if it had been a mistake to end things with him.

Greetings from Somewhere Else also has another  ingredient that makes for a good story —  a main character who changes for the better. The more Lainey learns about her aunt, the more she sees herself in May’s bossy, single-minded, isolating behavior. “She had to learn to take a step back, let things unfold, let people live their own lives. . .Not be the one in charge of the world. . .It was going to be very, very hard.”

Lainey’s year in Dublin is the catalyst for positive changes in her personality and her relationships, and it mellows her view of the world.

McInerney’s writing is clear and compelling and the pages move quickly. A plot point involving a series of letters May wrote and Lainey inherited could have been fleshed out more; yet, for the most part, the story is well-developed and a good choice for some light entertainment.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 3 readers
PUBLISHER: Ballantine Books (July 7, 2009)
REVIEWER: Danielle Bullen
AMAZON PAGE: Greetings from Somewhere Else
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Monica McInerney
EXTRAS: Reading Guide and Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: More late summer reads:The Late Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow

Girl Talk by Julianna Baggott

Tokyo Fiancee by Amelie Northomb

And another enterprising business woman:

Chez Moi by Agnes Desarthe

Bibliography:

]]> /2009/greetings-from-somewhere-else-by-monica-mcinerney/feed/ 0 THE PIG COMES TO DINNER by Joseph Caldwell /2009/the-pig-comes-to-dinner-by-joseph-caldwell/ /2009/the-pig-comes-to-dinner-by-joseph-caldwell/#comments Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:02:00 +0000 /?p=2385 Book Quote:

“Believing or not believing isn’t what makes the truth the truth.”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Mike Frechette (JUN 25, 2009)

The second installment of Joseph Caldwell’s pig trilogy, The Pig Comes To Dinner, might be better titled The Pig Becomes Dinner, a suggestion that shouldn’t spoil the ending. As those who have read the first book of the series know, these charming tales aren’t really about the pig at all. Her ultimate fate lies beside the point, and her lesbian mischievousness (that’s right) serves only to inch the plot forward for an entertaining cast of quirky characters – human characters. The lovelorn American Aaron McCloud and his self-indulgent melodrama starred in the first novel, while his aunt Kitty, a hack novelist who earns her livelihood rewriting the old classics, takes center stage in this most recent story. Now married to Kieran Sweeney, a former arch-enemy, Kitty lives with her husband in Castle Kissane. However, soon after moving in, Kitty and Kieran realize that they do not technically live alone, a disturbing discovery that unearths the castle’s troubled history. Part comedy, part ghost story, and part historical fantasy, The Pig Comes To Dinner is a bit overambitious, but nonetheless a smart sequel that sets the bar high for the conclusive installment of this thus far delightful trilogy.

Like its predecessor The Pig Did It, readers will first appreciate Dinner for its humor. The plot develops in ridiculous directions, preventing the level of seriousness from ever exceeding a certain value. Crisp, witty prose quickly establish the book’s comedic tone, one that persists even during the story’s creepiest moments when the ghosts of two deceased youths named Brid and Taddy begin to appear in the castle. Falsely hung two centuries ago for supposedly lining the castle with gunpowder, Brid and Taddy have now returned with haunting looks and the rope burns still fresh on their necks. However, any horror at their presence and sorrow for their plight is defused when we discover that Kitty is not frightened of the ghosts per se but is secretly paranoid that Keiran is falling in love with the beautiful Brid.

In an episode of self-deprecation, Caldwell himself calls attention to the preposterousness of this line of storytelling through Lolly McKeever, Aaron’s new wife and the swineherd from the first novel. Now a writer, Lolly is composing a novel based on the events that have been unfolding. Unsure how to proceed, she eventually decides the plot can move forward only if one of the castle tenants falls in love with one of the ghosts. Aaron, the former writer turned swineherd, exclaims, “Falling in love with a ghost! Really! You should have a little more respect for your characters than that.” In this novel within the novel, Caldwell laughs at himself, in turn sparking laughter from the reader and illustrating how the tedium of crafting fiction can lead to peculiar stories. One can almost hear Caldwell himself speaking when Aaron says, “Thank God, I never have to write another word.”

Aside from her fear that Kieran is creepily obsessed with an adolescent apparition, the ghosts also bother Kitty because they present something inexplicable. For Kitty, “it was her impulse to search for understanding, to expose a motive, to tame the chaos of the human adventure.” Though Kitty and Kieran discover some important answers about the castle’s history and their own, the ghosts present an aspect of reality that cannot be explained but must only be accepted. In humorous contrast to Kitty’s bawdiness and Kieran’s earthiness, this novel seriously gazes outward in contemplation of a universe that could possibly be infinitely complex. As the book’s prefacing quote says, “The purpose of reality is to show the way to mystery – which is the ultimate reality.”

In addition to humor and metaphysical mystery, the novel contains a number of other notable features as well. For history buffs, the plot’s momentum cleverly relies on the long, combative history between the English and the Irish, although the historical background does feel a bit injected at times. In terms of character, some might think that Kitty’s paranoia and a lesbian pig could carry the novel alone, but Caldwell’s cast is much broader. When the parish priest cannot rid the castle of its ghosts, Kitty calls on the local Seer, Maude McCloskey – referred to by Kitty as “the Hag” – and her precocious son Peter for wisdom and guidance on how to address the presence of specters in her home.

Unlike The Pig Did It, the pig plays an even less significant role in this story as catalyst for the action. And now that she’s dead, the reader wonders what possible role, if any, she could have in the conclusion to this trilogy. The third installment is called The Pig Enters Hog Heaven, leaving us to speculate where precisely Caldwell will transport his readers in the final tale of the series – some bizarre afterlife for swine, perhaps? Or better yet, maybe the pig’s ghost will haunt Kitty and Kieran for accidentally roasting it on the spit. The first two books haven’t exactly clung to the tenets of realism, so we shouldn’t put it past him.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-0from 8 readers
PUBLISHER: Delphinium Books (May 19, 2009)
REVIEWER: Mike Frechette
AMAZON PAGE: The Pig Comes to Dinner
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Joseph Caldwell
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Read our review of The Pig Did It

Bibliography:

Pig Trilogy:

]]> /2009/the-pig-comes-to-dinner-by-joseph-caldwell/feed/ 0 TEA TIME FOR THE TRADITIONALLY BUILT by Alexander McCall Smith /2009/tea-time-for-the-traditionally-built-by-alexander-mccall-smith/ /2009/tea-time-for-the-traditionally-built-by-alexander-mccall-smith/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 17:16:43 +0000 /?p=2021 Book Quote:

“We were all at the mercy of chance, no matter how confident we felt, hostages to our own human frailty. And that applied not only to people, but to countries too. Things could go wrong and entire nations could be led into a world of living nightmare; it had happened, and was happening still. Poor Africa; it did not deserve the things that had been done to it. Africa, that could stand for love and happiness and joy, could also be a place of suffering and shame.”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Mary Whipple (MAY 27, 2009)

Not a believer that change is entirely for the better in Botswana society, Mma Precious Ramotswe, the “traditionally built” owner of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency in Gaborone, has decided that cars are among the biggest agents of change, making people lazy. She has therefore decided to walk the two miles each way to her office, located beside the garage where her husband Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni operates a car repair service. She secretly admits, however, that the real reason she is walking is that her beloved little white van, now twenty-two years old, is making strange noises, and she fears that when Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni hears them that he will decide her little van can no longer be repaired.

Focusing on relationships and the patterns of politeness that make good communication flourish, the novel, though ostensibly a mystery, is filled with warm, homey touches—the giggling of Motholeli, Mma Ramotswe’s wheelchair-bound foster child, when she plays with her friends; Mma’s need to urge the children to do their homework; her foster son Puso’s love of football (like the passionate love for football among all her other male acquaintances); her protectiveness toward her husband; her need to make Mma Grace Makutsi, her assistant at the detective agency, a little more flexible about what she believes to be “the rules”; and her empathy toward Fanwell, a young apprentice who works for Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni and supports five other family members.

Her innate kindness toward others, and the belief that “there is plenty of work for love to do,” dominate all aspects of Mma Ramotswe’s life, because, she believes, “We [are] all at the mercy of chance… When we dismiss or deny the hopes of others…we forget that they, like us, have only one chance in this life.” Her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, is just as thoughtful, donating one day every two weeks to help a needy friend keep abreast of the work that is piling up in his shop. As always he keeps the machinery at the local orphanage in working order, even when it is costly to himself.

More sentimental and less dependent upon plot than some of the earlier novels in this endearing series, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built intersperses local stories, gossip, and legends among several (sometimes thin) plot lines—Mma Ramotswe’s love for her little white van and her unhappiness about its possible future; a mysterious case of the Kalahari Swoopers, a great football team that is losing too many games, a particular worry for its owner, Mr. Molofololo; the fate of the romance between Mma Grace Makutsi and her fiancé, Mr. Phuti Radiphuti, after he hires Violet Sephotho to work in his furniture shop; and the case of a woman who is trying to live with two husbands.

Characters familiar to readers of earlier novels also make their appearances here. Charlie, the apprentice mechanic for Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, still does not like to work, if he can avoid it, but he plays a key role in resolving one of the plot lines. Glamorous Violet Sephotho, a poor student at the secretarial college where Grace Makutsi earned 97% on her final exam, lies about her exam scores to get a job with Phuti Radiphuti, intending to use her considerable charms to steal him away from his fiancée Grace. Mr. Polopetsi, a man saved from disaster in a previous novel, and who now works for Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, helps out at the detective agency and offers advice to Mma Ramotswe. And Mma Potokwane, who runs a large orphanage, drifts in and out of the action here, too, always in need of help.

“Cozy,” in the warmest sense of the word, the novel makes readers feel good about life, about principled women like Mma Ramotswe, about the pace of life which allows people to slow down or stop in order to be kind to others, and about the value of communication and good will in the solving of big problems. Whereas Mma Makutsi believes that “The trouble with this country [is] that there are too many people sitting down in other people’s chairs,” Mma Ramotswe believes that “if a chair is empty, then anybody should be welcome to sit in it…Maybe the real problem with the modern world,” she emphasizes, “[is] that not enough of us [are] prepared to share our chairs.”

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-5from 163 readers
PUBLISHER: Pantheon (April 21, 2009)
REVIEWER: Mary Whipple
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Alexander McCall Smith
EXTRAS: Excerpt
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Lots!  Read reviews of:

Bibliography:

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series:

44 Scotland Street

Portuguese Irregular Verbs Series:

Isabel Dalhousie Mystery:

Children’s Books:

Other:

  • The Criminal Law of Botswana
  • Changing People: The Law and Ethics of Behavior Modification (1994)
  • Health Resources and the Law (1994)
  • Forensic Aspects of Sleep (1997)

Movies from books:

]]> /2009/tea-time-for-the-traditionally-built-by-alexander-mccall-smith/feed/ 0 A DATE YOU CAN’T REFUSE by Harley Jane Kozak /2009/a-date-you-cant-refuse-by-harley-jane-kozak/ /2009/a-date-you-cant-refuse-by-harley-jane-kozak/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:57:44 +0000 /?p=971 Book Quote:

“Handsome, by the time we’re done, you’ll buy me a gun range, a bowling alley, and a yoga garden. But first show me the artillery”

Book Review:

Reviewed by Guy Savage (APR 26, 2009)

Special: Author Interview

Have you ever had a friend who’s so accommodating to others that her life becomes messy and out-of-control? If you’ve known someone like this, then you understand all too well that the old cliché, “she’s just a girl who can’t say no” extends far beyond the notions of sexuality.  Wollie Shelley, the heroine and amateur sleuth of author Harley Jane Kozak’s novels, is one such person. She’s “nice” in the traditional sense, and with a complete lack of caution, she approaches the world as she sees it–with far too much trust. Guileless and easy-going, she demands too little from her personal relationships and her life quickly becomes cluttered with the unreasonable demands, expectations and behavior of those who are drawn to her.

A Date You Can’t Refuse is the fourth novel from author Harley Jane Kozak to feature serial dater, minor TV celebrity, and “alternative” greeting card designer, Wollie Shelley. Wollie (which is short for Wollstonecraft) made her fictional debut in Dating Dead Men, followed by Dating Is Murder and Dead-Ex. A Date You Can’t Refuse begins with Wollie sitting on a jury that finds in favor of the defendant in the case of Lucille Lemon versus MediasRex Enterprises and its CEO Yuri Milos. After the verdict is read in court, Wollie is offered a job by the charismatic Yuri–a handsome man who admits he has a “rather big crush” on Wollie after seeing her on the reality show Biological Clock (Dating is Murder) and the “equally cheesy talk show” Soapdirt (Dead Ex). It seems that Wollie is a “large hit in Belarus” and that she has quite a fan base in “Moldavia, and Slovakia. And Ukraine.”  In spite of an extremely generous and somewhat vaguely intriguing job offer, Wollie declines.

Enter the FBI in the shape of slimy Agent Bennett Graham. He coerces Wollie into cooperating with the Feds’ current interest in Yuri’s activities and persuades her to become an FBI informant. Wollie accepts Yuri’s generous job offer in order to get the scoop of the shadier aspects of Yuri’s global business deals. She soon finds herself living 24/7 in Yuri’s Calabasas compound where as part of the MediasRex team, she is supposed to entertain and train various athletes and entertainers from Eastern Bloc countries and teach them how to behave in American celebrity culture. This process of “transformation” is, according to Yuri, worth $50,000 for 3 months. There are drawbacks to this lucrative arrangement. Wollie has to live inside Yuri’s guarded compound where there is little privacy and little phone access. Here, according to Bennett Graham, Wollie is supposed to spy on her employer and report back using the cover of a yogurt shop to leave information.

Wollie, who is a guileless as a newborn baby, is supposed to snoop, plant listening devices and wheedle information from Yuri, his family, his grumpy housekeeper and his colorful guests. Feeling conflicted loyalties, Wollie isn’t exactly “double agent” material, but she manages to stumbles onto information when she discovers that her predecessor, a popular model named Chai died in a highly suspicious accident. In addition to Wollie’s amateur sleuthing activities, she also has to ward off questions from her some-time lover, FBI agent, Simon Alexander. With their relationship reduced to sweaty trysts in the back seats of cars or hurried humps in mall parking lots, Simon has the audacity to make demands of Wollie while still maintaining his distance and placing some rather suspicious restrictions on their relationship.

A Date You Can’t Refuse is the best Wollie adventure to date. Laugh-out-loud funny, this hilarious novel follows Wollie’s blunders as she attempts to lead a double life while she acts as a babysitter to huge Moldavian boxer Zbiggo, herds various celebrity clients through the perils of L.A., and wards off the amorous intentions of an overly excitable gun-nut who wants to show Wollie a good time over a collection of assault weapons.  Light, good-natured and just a fun read, this is the perfect book to distract and entertain.

AMAZON READER RATING: stars-4-5from 14 reviewers
PUBLISHER: Broadway (March 17, 2009)
REVIEWER: Guy Savage
AVAILABLE AS A KINDLE BOOK? YES! Start Reading Now!
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Harley Jane Kozak
EXTRAS: MostlyFiction author interview
MORE ON MOSTLYFICTION: Yes, more Harley Jane Kozak reviews

Bibliography:

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