Having been lazy this year about posting comments on books as I was reading them, I now find myself with four days left in 2011 and some 60 books that need attention. I fear it will be well into February 2012 before I get a chance to even mention them in blog posts, even if I group them three or four per post. It's sort of like having to cram the night before a final exam when you wish you had read the assignments and studied all semester. Fortunately, I started writing down the titles of the books I was reading back in July so I know most of what I've read.
Gently Does It by Alan Hunter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Gently is a fine name for the detective in this series by Alan Hunter in which there are 46 mysteries starring George Gently. He is a gentle man and goes about solving murders without a lot of thrills and violence. He eats hard candy and is always looking to see where his next bag of sweets are going to come from. Please note that the TV adaptation of this series, from what I've seen of it, in no way resembles the books.
The series began with this book, Gently Does It, written in 1955, and ends in 1999, six years before the author's death. The first nine books are available for the Kindle (at least in the US they are) but the rest are out of print and you will have to go to abe.com or one of the other used book dealers to get them as the library is likely to have a spotty collection.
2011 No 165
Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Necessary as Blood is the last of the Duncan Kinkaid/Jemma Jones mysteries published so far. We must wait (at least in the US) until February 7 for the next book in the series.
Here's what Publisher's Weekly says about Necessary as Blood:
Romance dominates Crombie's 13th contemporary procedural featuring Scotland Yarders Gemma James and Duncan Kincaid, who are on the verge of getting married. The how, where and when of their wedding proves a considerable source of stress to both, overshadowing the murder investigation of Naz Malik, a solicitor suspected in the disappearance of his wife, Sandra Gilles, an artist specializing in textile collage. Malik was found suffocated in Bethnal Green, with traces of an animal tranquilizer in his system. Meanwhile, James's mother is seriously ill, placing James in the impossible position of trying to fulfill both her familial and work responsibilities. In addition, James must fight to keep Malik's now parentless young daughter from falling into the custody of Sandra's unsavory relatives. Hopefully, Crombie will provide a better balance of police work and her characters' personal lives next time.
2011 No 166
The Alto Wore Tweed by Mark Schweizer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This first in a series of very funny mysteries that takes place in a North Carolina mountain town, is filled with puns, sly references to music and musicians, and satire aimed at the Episcopal Church, all done gently and with great charm. Other titles by Mark Schweizer include The Baritone Wore Chiffon, The Soprano Wore Falsettos, The Bass Wore Scales, and The Mezzo Wore Mink.
Hayden Konig is not just the police chief of St Germaine and an aspiring mystery writer, he is also the holder of a degree in music from Chapel Hill and choirmaster/organist at St Barnabas Episcopal Church where a new rector, female, has just arrived and is upsetting everyone from the sexton to the warden and vestry. The digs at liberal feminist clergy and at conservative cradle Episcopalians are wacky and wise, Hayden's attempts at a noir detective story are entertaining, and the characters are quirky. I was delighted with this unusual mystery. And the Kindle price of 99 cents is a bargain.
2011 No 167
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