I"m late to posting this because I was travelling during the end of June. June was a big month for mysteries for me. These are some of the books I read :
- The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear. I am a big fan of Winspear's Maisie Dobbs mystery series so I had high hopes for this stand-alone novel. Unfortunately I did not think it rose to the level of the Dobbs' mysteries. The novel follows the life and career of Elinor White through both the first World War and the second World War. I found Elinor's life during both of the wars fascinating. But Winspear decided to structure the novel starting in 1947 with a plot that involves organized crime and she tells Elinor's story in flashbacks. I did not think this worked. I kept wondering why she didn't just tell the story in a linear fashion and what the organized crime plot was adding to the story. In the end the organized crime plot really just fizzled out with characters doing things seemingly because Winspear needed to wrap up the story rather than arising out of their own character. The other problem I had was more personal to me. When I read a novel, I don't see specific pictures in my mind (no "movie in my mind" for me). I see general pictures. But I HEAR each character's voice (including the narrator's) very clearly in my mind. For me, Elinor's voice sounded exactly like Maisie's - the cadence and abruptness and bluntness. They of course talked about different things but in terms of HOW they said things (even when the narrator was in their minds), there didn't seem to be much difference. I couldn't get past that.
- Red Bones by Ann Cleves. This is the third novel in Cleves' Shetland Islands mystery series. I read the first two at the beginning of last year but then put the series aside because I couldn't get the books digitally through my local library. I can now get them so I picked it up again. I really enjoy this series. The principal detective, Jimmy Perez, is back. This time the mystery directly involves the family of Sandy Wilson, the somewhat inept policeman who works for Perez. It was nice to see some growth in Sandy in this novel. I did think the ending of this novel seemed a little contrived but I always like Cleves' creation of characters and the sense of place. I will continue to read this series.
- Chita by Chita Rivera with Patrick Pacheco. I very much enjoyed reading Shy, the Mary Rogers memoir, last year so I thought I'd give Chita Rivera's new memoir, Chita, a try. I did enjoy it. She mostly takes things chronologically although sometimes she links things thematically (for instance, her cameo appearance in the film Chicago is included in the chapter about how she originated the role of Velma Kelly on Broadway). I don't think anyone who isn't a theater nerd/fan would appreciate this book, in many cases you just have to "know" what she is talking about. After finishing I surfed YouTube for video of young dancing Chita in performances she references (and, wow, I almost forgot what a fabulous dancer she was). She doesn't "dish the dirt" like Mary Rogers did, but she also doesn't sugarcoat things. But her main tactic is to talk mostly about the good and avoid the bad. I think if you love Broadway and theater in general, this is a good book to read.
- Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Najendra. This is the second book in The Bangalore Detective Club series which is set in Bangalore India in the early 1920s. I remember that I liked the first book when I read it last year, but I thought the characters seemed a little too modern in their thought for the time period it was set in and the plot was somewhat convoluted. I still thought that about the characters, even though I like the main character. This time the mystery was less convoluted from a plot point of view but I found the author's sense of time confusing. Something would happen (a character is injured, for example) and it seems that maybe only a day or two goes by before we meet that character again and most of their bruising is gone (which seems unlikely). This happened multiple times and pulled me out of the story. Not enough to spoil it for me, but it did pull me out. This series has a great sense of place, which I enjoy. I'm sure I'll read the next in the series but I don't count this as one of my favorite series.
- The Burning by Jane Casey. There is a serial killer in London and Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan is on the investigating team, which is unpleasant enough without the constant sexism she must deal with from all the men on the team (other than the Big Boss who treats her with respect). But is the latest victim the work of the serial killer or of a copycat murderer? Maeve thinks it is the work of a copycat. Can she prove it? And will they catch the serial killer? I normally dislike serial killer books but this one was so on the periphery of the main story that it didn't bother me. This was a debut novel and it has a lot of debut novel problems including trying to do too much, dragging a bit at the end and wrapping everything up with a nice neat confession. I also guessed the killer early on (which I can't decide if she INTENDED everyone to guess or not). But even so, it showed some promise as a debut and was published back in 2011, so maybe someday I'll read another of hers and see if she improved.
- A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao. This mystery is set in Fiji in 1914. World War I is raging back in Europe but not in the East. Akal Singh is a Sikh from India who works for the British Police Service, formerly stationed in Hong Kong. Something happened in Hong Kong that caused him to be transferred to the backwater of Fiji where his new boss is not his biggest fan. The case he takes on involves a missing Indian woman who has come to Fiji with her family to labor on a plantation. It is contractual servitude that is little better than slavery. Did she run away? Or did something happen to her? The setting was interesting, the mystery only moderately interesting. This is, I believe, a debut novel. I'm not breathlessly anticipating a follow up although once it arrives I may read it.
