Library Books T/K

Note to self: I got the following out of the library yesterday --

After Hannibal, by Barry Unsworth
Tomb of the Golden Bird, by Elizabeth Peters (#18 in the series)
A Place of Hiding, by Elizabeth George (I don't *think* I've read this before)
Rules of Engagement, by Bruce Alexander (the last of the series, completed after his death by his wife(?))

An Experiment in Treason

One of the wonderful Bruce Alexander mysteries about Sir John Fielding, the "blind beak of Bow Street", who founded the Bow Street Runners with brother, Henry. All the stories are told from the p.o.v. of young Jeremy, his apprentice and sometime clerk. This one's about a letter stolen from a government official, having to do with the American colonies. Ben Franklin makes a discreditable appearance.

Death in a Strange Country

Donna Leon's Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti investigates the deaths of two Americans stationed at a base near Venice. Purely through luck, I chanced on the 2nd of her many-book series, which is satisfying, since I dearly love going in order when it comes to a series.

I like the Leon's I've read, although they can be slightly one-note. But Venice itself is such a great character that I forgive her.

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

P.D. James introduces young Cordelia something, an independent 22-year-old detective. The book is strangely dated for James, with lots of stuff about the generation gap that probably seemed very current in the early '70s but now just seems forced. Free love, undergraduates finding themselves -- I had to ignore that part to follow the mystery story, to wit: did young Paul something-or-other really hang himself in that rustic cottage?

Still, even slightly self-conscious James is still James.

Little Children

By Tom Perotta, the guy who wrote Election and something else I didn't recognize. More satire about current-day suburbia -- affairs, petty-mindedness, the mind-numbing rearing of children. Pretty biting, and just this side of too depressing.

Something about the fact that this was made into a movie put me off from reading the book, but a friend pressed it on me and J is still strolling through the 2nd Patrick O'Brian (am I really going to read this series for a THIRD time??) so I picked up the Perotta. And raced through it in two days. Nicely done, with a great ending.

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor

This seems to have become a once-a-month list site, but whatever. The point is to keep track of what I've read so that I don't end up reading the same mystery over and over and over again. Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson (I read books by both last month and already can't remember what they were called, ARGH), Elizabeth George, whoever.

Anyway, I know I re-read this Jane Austen mystery, the first one, b/c I own it and it's still sitting out on my coffee table. It's much less cheesy than the title/theme might suggest, and is actually pretty complex and enjoyable.

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Really excellent Iain Pears that I read maybe 7-10 years ago. I picked up a used copy a little while ago and was all set to dive in again, and had gotten about 50 pages in, when J finished up the O'Brian series. He was bereft, and wouldn't be satisfied with Mystic River which, while a very decent thriller, is nothing more.

So I gave up Instance and moved on to Thunderstruck, Erik Larson's story of Marconi and Crippen, and how their worlds intersected on Crippen's transatlantic flight from justice. Really really great.

But then J kept making reference to his book, and since I did read it probably a decade ago, I have no memory of who did what or why. So I got my own copy yesterday and will read along, so we can discuss.