The beginning of the month was a very slow book month for me. I just could not seem to get myself to focus on reading (probably because of <waves arms around>). I finally gave up, went to some libraries and stocked up on some mysteries I'd been wanting to read. That did the trick. I also continue on my year-long reading of Don Quixote.
These are the books I finished in June.
Precipice by Robert Harris
It is the summer of 1914 and Britain is in the middle of some significant "Irish troubles" and, unbeknownst to them, on the verge of World War I. The Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, has a lot on his plate. To add to the stress in his life, he has become smitten with Venetia Stanley, a socialite less than half his age and a member of his son's group of friends. He writes to her at least once daily and takes her on long drives in the country every week. He frets if she doesn't respond to his letters immediately. These are the days when there were 12 mail deliveries every day in London - writing a letter was almost the equivalent of texting. As Britain slides slowly into war and as the war goes on the Prime Minister obsesses over his relationship with Venetia and begins to share more and more confidential information with her. This comes to the attention of Scotland Yard who assigns a young intelligence officer to look into things. Harris tells us that the intelligence officer is fictitious but Asquith and Venetia were real people and Venetia preserved all the letters he wrote to her (her letters were destroyed and Harris must create her side of the correspondence). This is the third Harris novel I've read and each of them has been totally different: The Second Sleep had a seemingly medieval setting; Act of Oblivion involved two men who signed the death warrant for Charles I being pursued all the way to the New World by agents of Charles II; and now this novel is set amongst the high society of WWI London. And I've enjoyed each of them. I will warn that this novel sometimes gets into the weeds of WWI. This was not a problem for me as I love WWI fiction but some might find it a little too much. But the relationship between Asquith and Venetia does hold the attention.
It's Easier Than You Think by Sylvia Boorstein
I listen to the "Currently Reading Podcast" each week and two different hosts recommended this book at different times. Both of them read it after going through personal losses. I didn't realize before I picked it up that it was basically a beginner Buddhism book. That was ok because, even though I'm not a Buddhist, it had a lot of good insights into putting your life in perspective. It is written in very simple terms with examples. I don't think I would rave about it like both of them did (I think one of them put it on the list of best books she read last year) but I'm also not in the middle of a personal crisis either. I did like it and am not sorry I read it.
Detective Aunty by Uzma Jalaluddin
Kauser Khan is a recent widow who hasn't visited her old hometown, Toronto, in the 20 years since her son died. Her daughter and grandchildren have had to travel to visit her ever since. But now her daughter is suspected of murder and needs her. Part of this story is Mrs. Khan being able to face her old self and her old neighborhood in Toronto and part is her solving the mystery. I suspect this is the first in a series since, although the mystery is solved (and I didn't guess until the end), there are still unexplained loose threads. Jalaluddin is, apparently, an established writer of romance novels and this is her first cozy mystery. She did a good job establishing the characters and, as I said, I didn't automatically guess who dunnit. It's also always nice to see an older woman as the main character.
A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill
Miles Off Course by Sulari Gentill
Paving the New Road by Sulari Gentill
These are books #2, 3 and 4 in the Rowland Sinclair Mystery Series that I started a few months ago. My libraries only had the first book in digital form so I had to track down hard copies of some of the next in the series and when I found them I picked up books 2-6. In A Decline in Prophets Rowland and his friends are on their way back to Australia from Europe via New York, on an ocean liner in the early 1930's. Murders ensue. I'm always fascinated by ocean liner travel back in the days when it took weeks if not months to travel across oceans and this certainly had a sense of place. Miles Off Course takes place in a more remote part of Australia where Rowland and friends are searching for a missing person. Paving the New Road takes the group to Germany in the 1930's. I liked this one the least, partly because I easily guessed who the bad guy was (and easily guessed who their woman friend was) but mostly because it made me sick to my stomach to see how similar are the times we are living in. Again, Gentill is wonderful at giving a very specific sense of place. Books 2 and 3 were good mysteries; although I had suspicions about many characters it wasn't until the end that I honed in on the murderers. I will look forward to getting to know the characters even better as the series progresses. I still have the next 2 library books that I need to read before they are due.
The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan
The Lost Man by Vaseem Khan
Back in February I read Midnight at the Malabar House by Vaseem Khan which I described as Slow Horses but in Post-War Bombay. The main character, Persis Wadia, is the first female police officer on the force but since they didn't know what to do with a female police officer they assigned her to Malabar House. While browsing books at the library I found the next two books in this series and immediately snatched them up. The Dying Day involves the theft of a rare copy of Dante's Divine Comedy; The Lost Man involves solving the identity of a body discovered in the Himalayas. Both books involve Persis navigating the sexism of the Bombay police force. I really like this series, it has well-drawn characters and a good sense of place and the mysteries are set up very well. I didn't immediately guess whodunnit in either book. Unfortunately my libraries don't have any of the remaining books in the series so I may have to actually purchase them if I want to continue the series.
The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler
This is a brand new mystery novel that is clearly meant to be the first in a series. It is 1898 in Chicago and Harriet Morrow has just been hired (on a probationary basis) as an investigator at a detective agency. They have never had a woman detective before and Harriet must navigate many hurdles. For her first case she is sent to investigate a missing maid at the home of her boss's neighbor. He thinks it will amount to nothing but it becomes very complicated. The blurb describes Harriet as a "bike-riding, trousers wearing lesbian" which is accurate but a bit reductive. Harriet is a complicated person. I liked this novel and will definitely read more. Harriet is an interesting character and Osler created a variety of interesting side characters. Osler also used Chicago as a great backdrop, creating a good sense of place. If you are at all familiar with Chicago you will enjoy seeing the various neighborhoods at the turn of the last century. (Part of the plot takes place in my sister's old neighborhood back in the day when the entire population was Polish.) And I didn't guess whodunnit. In many ways this reminded me of Amy Stewart's Miss Kopp series although it takes place in a different city and in a slightly earlier time.
A Long Way From Home by Peter Carey
This seemed to be my month to read novels set in Australia. This 2018 novel by Peter Carey takes us on a 1950's car race around the entire continent of Australia and we see it principally through the eyes of Irene Bobs, a woman who loves to drive. Her husband is a good car salesman and wants a licensed car dealership. Irene hopes winning the race will be the kind of publicity they need to make a successful dealership. As their navigator they take on their next-door neighbor, former quiz show champion Willie Bachhuber. Things become interesting for all of them as they head out of white Australia into the outback. Carey wants to show us, through a humorous story, the clash between white culture and the ancient aboriginal culture. I liked the idea of this novel and I liked the character of Irene but it disappointed me as far as a sense of place went. I never really had a "feel" for most of the landscapes because Carey was so focused on the driving. Late in the novel it takes an unexpected turn and I thought it was interesting but really slowed down the narrative.
