Mid-Week Mash-Up

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 ~~ Books & More...

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THOUGHTS

OUGHTTOBIOGRAPHY

It is March. Time to get the taxes done.

READING MY HORDE

Just one this week-- and for the rest of the month. I am on hiatus. I've decided that I miss my old favorites and will devote the rest of the month to spending time with Dick Francis (all of them in alphabetic order), Georgette Heyer (just my favorites), Nevil Shute and, in memory of newscaster Bob Edwards, the book he wrote on Edward R. Murrow and the birth of broadcast journalism, which I re-read every few years because it is fascinating and thought-provoking.  RMH=34 books this year

 

THE BOOKS

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto

I definitely hope that Sutanto does not turn Vera Wong into a series. Vera was a hoot but I think her story has been told. This was a definite improvement over Dial A for Aunties (which I could not finish).
3.5 stars

The Greek Coffin Murder by Ellery Queen

The mystery was marvelously clever but the storytelling dragged terribly.
3 stars

Banker by Dick Francis

If I was forced to rank his books, this one would be near the top of the stack. It builds slowly but deliberately, like an old-fashion rollercoaster that slowly draws you up to the top of the super-structure before you can start the long, twisting, turning wild rush to the bottom. This is a good one for HB Psych for multiple reasons -- but mostly because the perp had to have been dreadfully off kilter.
4.25 stars

The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer

Historical romance set just after the Jacobite Rebellion. The missing heir returns home to claim his title and establish his children in their rightful place in society. Regardless of the authors intentions, the book is a burlesque (an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, especially in a literary or dramatic work) and you will get more fun out of it, if you don't take it seriously. The heir is over the top -- especially as voiced by this particular narrator. The romances are pure cotton candy. The villainy is dastardly. Kidnapping, duels, swordplay abound. This is early Heyer and she gets better with age. Still, my favorite Heyer hero comes right out of this book.
4.0 stars.