Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Back in 1973 a volcano erupted in the Westmann Islands off the coast of Iceland.  The only town there was partially buried in lava and ash.  Today archaeologists are uncovering some of the ash filled homes.  Markus, a former resident, hires a lawyer, Thora Gudmundsdottir, to ensure that he is the first to enter the basement of a childhood home to retrieve some items.  Thora manages to work out an agreement so Markus is the first downstairs.  He returns upstairs empty handed and very disconcerted.  The box he went to retrieve broke open and a human head rolled across the basement.  The rolling of that head was stopped by three dead bodies.  He claims he had no knowledge of the head, much less the bodies.  Needless to say Thora’s client is now being charged with murder.

The author has been dubbed the Iceland’s Crime Queen and this book fits her reputation.  It is well-plotted and she really brings the landscape and the culture of the people of this small, somewhat insulated island, to life.  If you are looking for a foreign mystery you should think about giving Yrsa a try.  (Weird librarian note: Traditional Icelandic names are cataloged by first name – in Iceland all phone books are in alphabetical order by first name.  So if you are looking for her books look under Yrsa, not Sigurdardottir!)

The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig

The Passion of the Purple Plumeria by Lauren Willig

Another entry in the Pink Carnation series: this time following the chaperone of the Pink Carnation, Miss Gwendolyn Meadows.  She always comes across as older than her forty-five years, but she does that on purpose.  Spies often overlook spinsters with their innocent charges.  That is why she and the Pink Carnation have avoided suspicion for the past two years living in France and spying on Napoleon.  But now the two must return home to England.  Agnes, the Pink Carnation’s younger sister, has disappeared from boarding school and they fear that their exploits in France may have endangered the girl.  Arriving at the boarding school they find that Agnes and another girl have gone missing.  The other girl’s father, a colonel just returning from India, arrives on the scene and gets swept up into the hunt for the two girls.  Good thing for Gwen that he happens to be charming, handsome and single.  But is she ready for love?  She, who was burned so badly years ago?

As with all the rest, this is a great listen making you wish that your drives would take just a little while longer.  There are two storylines in each book; the historical spy storyline and the current storyline featuring an American historian working on her Doctoral thesis (about flowery spies of course) and her English beau.  More because of the present time storyline than the one in the past it’s best to read these books in order, but you can try one in the middle, you won’t be too lost.

Big Egos by S.G. Browne

Big Egos by S.G. Browne

Would you like to be a famous person or fictional character for a day?  James Dean, Elvis, Marilyn, Indiana Jones, Jessica Rabbit: you can be any one of them!  All you need to do is inject an EGO – it will slightly alter your DNA for a short period of time changing your facial features slightly (so pick an ego that somewhat matches your look) and your personality (only the good points, not the bad).  Sounds great right?  Maybe not.  It’s been three years since EGOs went on the market and some side effects are coming to light.  Like death.  Not good.  The main character, and EGO employee, is trying to figure out what’s going on as the EGOs he’s injected over the years meld and start to overtake his own ego.

I really enjoyed Browne’s first book Breathers and when I saw this one come out it sounded strange, so I decided to read it too!  It’s a really quick-paced read with tons of movie, music and literary references.  Great escapism that I can only hope never comes to be.

The Black Country by Alex Grecian

The Black Country by Alex Grecian

In this sequel to The Yard Scotland Yard investigators Day and Hammersmith travel to a small coal-mining town to investigate the disappearance of a family.  Mother, father and son are missing, leaving behind the other three siblings.  Who would kidnap a family?  Is it a kidnapping or is something more sinister going on? 

This is one of those mysteries where you can’t figure out why the author has so many disconnected storylines (illness running through the town; a disfigured rifleman; superstitions galore) until the very end when they all come together.  I was able to “solve” one storyline; the other few, not so much.  While the answer to the ultimate question is difficult to take (read: disturbing) it is more believable to our modern thinking then it would have been in the Victorian Age. 

This is one that I can recommend on audio.  Also, while it is interesting to see the characters from The Yard return you don’t have to read the first entry to appreciate the second.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed by Khalid Hosseini

Families in Afghanistan, Paris, Greece and the United States are all interconnected in various ways.  These are their stories and their interconnectedness brings to the forefront how the actions of one family member affect all the rest, sometimes for generations. 

I’m sure it is no surprise that this was an elegantly crafted story with vivid characters and scenes.  While I enjoyed his last two books, I think I liked this one best.

Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss

Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss

This is one of those fish out of water travel stories which I really enjoy.  I especially enjoyed this one because it’s set in, if you’ve been reading this blog this shouldn’t be a surprise – Iceland.  The author takes a year-long academic position at an Icelandic University and moves herself, her husband and two young boys to the capital from Great Britain.  She happens to have the strange fortune of being there when Eyjafjallajokull erupts.  (Remember when all those flights were delayed to Europe because of the pesky volcano in Iceland?  This is the volcano.)

I learned all sorts of things that a casual tourist wouldn’t know.  Icelanders park their prams outside restaurants and shops (with baby sleeping inside) during the summer because the weather is nice and who would take a child?  Saturdays are half price sweets day at the supermarkets.  (All those with a sweet tooth take note!)  It is considered rude to strike up a conversation with a random stranger on line or waiting for a bus; they are a very private people.  And the one that tripped up the author most, there are no secondhand shops in Iceland.  This has changed a little with the kreppa (the economic collapse) but there is a real stigma with purchasing secondhand appliances and clothes.  Getting a washing machine and other large necessary items proved to be a challenge, as was getting an apartment since only ten percent of the population rent.

The Cost of Living by M.L. Pressman

The Cost of Living by M.L. Pressman

Caroline Kurchowski’s story starts when she is eight and moves with her mom into their new home in Long Island.  Caroline (C.C.) knows that her mom loves her, but she is horrified to find out that her mom isn’t always right and definitely isn’t a normal mom.  Mom lives by the motto: if it’s free, it’s for me.  Jean Kurchowski is a compulsive hoarder, a woman who lives for a sale and will drive halfway across the country for a deal (even though tolls and gas run her what she would have saved, or more).

This is fiction that reads like a memoir.  I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t true; I wasn’t reading journal entries mixed with memories.  It felt so real.  Each chapter is short, only five to fifteen pages, chronicling another mishap/adventure in C.C.’s life.  I loved the incident of the prom dress, purchased from a woman who makes “creations” including the disintegrating disaster forced on C.C. and the potluck Thanksgiving dinner where cheap Jean figured someone would have been thoughtful enough to bring a turkey, not realizing that it is really up to the hostess.  (The Thanksgiving story becomes a plumbing story that is quite funny.)

It’s a compulsive read.  I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see what strange, horrible, wonderful thing happened next.  While you have trouble understanding Jean, you eventually get where she’s coming from, and she has heart so you do like her despite herself.

Dolan’s Cadillac by Stephen King

Dolan’s Cadillac by Stephen King

Even if you’ve already read his 1993 short story collection Nightmares and Dreamscapes you’re going to want to check out this audiobook.  Only four stories are included and the readers are excellent and recognizable: Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Yeardley Smith and Rob Lowe (who was amazing!)

Evil children, parallel dimensions, carnivorous weather, and well-plotted and dastardly revenge are the norm in these stories.  A very fun and short listen.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown

Owen Wedgwood is moderately happy with his life as a successful chef working for a shipping magnate in England.  His wife and newborn child died a few years past and he’s still grieving for them every day; cooking is his escape and his life.  Unfortunately for Owen it is 1819 and pirates sail the seas and pirate queen Mad Hannah Mabbot has a bone to pick with his employer.  After shooting his employer dead she kidnaps Owen and forces him to create elaborate Sunday meals for her from the little supplies on board ship.  If the food is good, he lives; if the food is bad, he dies.  Great motivation to do good work!

This is a lighthearted tale overall with serious storylines.  Mabbot is a pirate with an agenda – the downfall of the opium trade that has ruined the lives of so many in the South Pacific.  She wants to bring the shipping giant, which still deals in slavery among other unsavory business practices, to its knees.  So does her nemesis the Brass Fox, a man of mystery and cunning, but his motivations may not be as pure.  Then of course there is the wildly inventive Frenchman obsessed with bringing Mabbot down with whatever insanely destructive means necessary.

This is a fun filled pirate tale with a lot more substance to it than you would assume by the title and cover.  This is another book to read on a full stomach.  While the ingredients at Owen’s disposal are meager, the culinary creations he prepares will make your mouth water.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Scott McGrath was once a successful and well respected investigative reporter, until he decided to dig into the life of reclusive cult film director Cordova.  His career in shambles, his home life not much better, Scott is trying to get his good name back.  Then Ashley, Cordova’s daughter, is found dead from an apparent suicide just blocks from Scott’s home in New York City.  Even though Scott knows that involvement in Cordorva’s life in any way will most likely lead to problems, he can’t help himself and begins to dig into Ashley’s life and death.

I am a sucker for books with “extras” in them.  Things like maps, charts, pictures, etc.  This book has LOTS of extras.  Screen shots of webpages abound as do excerpts from newspaper articles.  It just added to the illusion of following the research of an investigative reporter and it really worked well.

Dark, otherworldly and twisty this is a thriller that will drag you into its world.  I’m still not totally sure I liked the ending, but I liked getting there.

The Returned by Jason Mott

The Returned by Jason Mott

What would happen if the dead started coming back?  Simply started returning?  No one knows why they are coming back, or how, but they are returning in great numbers all over the world.  The returned typically show up miles, or even continents, away from their original homes. 

Harold and Lucille Hargrave’s son Jacob died tragically back in 1966.  Now, Jacob shows up on their porch looking and acting exactly like the eight-year old boy they buried over fifty years ago. Is this boy a miracle?  Or is he something else?  Is he even Jacob?

This book raises a lot of questions: how would the government deal with returned?  How would the general public?  Are they actually people?  Some questions are answered, some not.  The premise brings up many ethical and philosophical questions and it is interesting to follow the changes in this small North Carolina town as they are inundated with the returned.  

Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison

Chose the Wrong Guy, GaveHim the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison

Quinn Barton was all set to marry her high school sweetheart Burke Morrison.  She was happy, in love and set to walk down that aisle.  Minutes before the wedding Frank Morrison (the groom’s brother and the best man) decides to break it to Quinn that Burke cheated on her.  Quinn calls the wedding off, tells Burke off, and takes off with Frank to Vegas to get away from it all.  It’s now a decade or so later and the boys are back in town.  Quinn hasn’t seen either since that fateful week so long ago.  She has some unfinished business and her best friend is going to help her get over it all.

This is a good quirky romance novel.  Glenn, Quinn’s gay best friend, has great ideas for getting his friend out of the rut that has become her life.  And the brides that walk into Quinn’s shop are, for the most part, delightful. 

This is yet another book I can’t quite recommend on audio.  I didn’t like that reader’s “voice” for one of the characters, made him seem smarmy to me, and since he turned out to be the romantic interest of the piece, it was hard for me to want him to have his happy ever after.