Murder in the Manuscript Room - Con Lehane

Murder in the Manuscript Room - Con Lehane

Publication Date:  Nov. 21, 2017

She read

An employee of the New York City’s library is found murdered
It seems she is not the person she presented herself to be.  Solving the case involves Raymond Ambler, the crime fiction curator at the library, a cast of his friends, family, and acquaintances, as well as the Intelligence Division of the NYPD, the investigation of the murder years ago of a trade union reformer, and perhaps some terrorists. 

Despite all these characters, the story hangs together and the characters well developed.  This is the second book in a series.  Initially, some of the background  was a little unclear. I do think reading the first book, though, would have helped in understanding the history of Ambler and his family. 

It was a decent story that held my attention throughout. 

Never Coming Back - Alison McGhee

Never Coming Back - Alison McGhee

What a beautiful book!

Clara returns to her home turf when her mother is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.  She is reunited with her two best friends from college and meets an interesting new man as she struggles with losing the strong woman in her life with whom she has had a mixed relationship.  An old mystery is solved and Clara comes to grips with the new life she must make for herself and her future. 

Well written with a wonderful command of the English language (Clara is a “words” person) this novel is a poignant look at one woman’s relationship with her mother as well as life in general.  I’m so glad I read it.  

In the Midst of Winter - Isabel Allende

In the Midst of Winter - Isabel Allende

She Read

Release date: Oct. 31, 2017

Evelyn is a young woman who escaped the atrocities of the MS-13 gang in Guatemala; Lucia, an older woman who experienced her own horrors in the political turmoil of Chile; Richard, also older and an acquaintance of Lucia’s, has fled from his own miseries in Brazil.  They are all drawn together during a blizzard in New York City when Richard is involved in a minor accident with the car driven by Evelyn.  The car conceals a secret with which they must deal.  As they do, they share their life stories and love blossoms between Evelyn and Richard.

Isabel Allende is a skilled storyteller, and she is at her best when weaving the history of the various Latin American countries into the personal narratives of her characters.  While she is to be applauded for at least tangentially touching on the plight of many immigrants today who are forced into human trafficking, I thought the storyline involving the present day actions of the characters was a bit amateurish.  While that was a flaw, it does not detract from my recommending this book.  When focusing on the backgrounds of the three characters, the book was fascinating and her reflections on aging sometimes painfully accurate.  

Murder on the Oxford Canal - Faith Martin

Murder on the Oxford Canal - Faith Martin

She read

A body is found in the Oxford Canal and DI Hillary Greene is on the case.  She is also under investigation because of the illegal actions of her late, estranged husband and to make matters worse, there is a fellow officer who seems to have it in for her.

A decent, absorbing British police procedural that held my attention throughout, 

I liked her character as well as most of those surrounding her, though I was a bit peeved by the fact that all of them seemed to be on the make in one way or another.  

With some investigation, I learned that this book is part of a series; there are more than a dozen Hillary Greene mysteries.  I look forward to reading some of the past titles and will be on the alert for future ones.