Ann Purser's sixth mystery, "Secrets on Saturday," again stars Lois Meade, owner of a cleaning brigade in a small English village and part-time sleuth.
When Lois is asked to take on the cleaning of a local elderly man's cottage by his nephew, she is immediately suspicious when the information the nephew gave her to contact him is false. Also, the gentleman in question has always seemed healthy out walking his little dog so why (according to his nephew) is he now in need of care and been placed somewhere but no one seems to know where?
There's also badger baiting as well as fraud out and about in the village but Lois is reluctant to share what she knows with her old friend and ally, Chief Inspector Hunter Cowgill, for a couple of reasons - Cowgill's wife has just died in an accident and Lois' husband doesn't want her doing any more sleuthing -- especially with or at the behest of Cowgill.
However, Lois already seems to be attracting some unwanted attention without trying and she and some of her cleaners have actually felt threatened. Can she leave it alone?
This is a more complicated mystery than I remember from the other Lois Meade mysteries and I really didn't have a clue what was going on most of the time so the ending came as a surprise to me, too! pazt
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
"Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?
"Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?" is a novel by Lorrie Moore and I'm not sure if I read about it somewhere or if I just picked it up at the library because the title intrigued me. I took it with me on my recent trip to Kansas and was able to finish the book (just under 150 pages) in just a few days reading part-time.
It was given high reviews by The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune and is a national bestseller. Moore is the author of some story collections as well as this novel and another one, "Anagrams." She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The story follows two friends, Sils and Berie, through their teenage years as well as a bit about their adulthood. Although the pictures the writing conveys are exceptional and helped me"see" the story as I was reading, I found myself having some difficulty getting into it.
What I took away from the story was a review of my teenage years and my girlfriends and where we are now as far as still having a relationship. One of my best friends was my friend all through grade school and high school and, when she came to visit a few years ago, we had a great time despite the fact that we differ widely in our views on religion and abortion. I think we just made a nonverbal pact to not discuss those areas. Our contact since then has been minimal -- through Facebook and the occasional letter and meeting up a time or two at our all school reunion. She wrote a novel that I read and enjoyed despite the fact that it touched on areas that I don't particularly agree with in my "real" life.
I have another friend who was very important to me in my high school years because she kept me from sitting at home on Saturday nights while my boyfriend was away at college. She was funny and had me laughing all the time. However, now we are on such different ends of the political spectrum that she seems to be angry with me for not being in agreement with her. I finally unfriended her on Facebook because I didn't like being "yelled" at in writing. I was pleasantly surprised to have a very nice e-mail from her recently checking to see if I knew of one of our classmate's serious illness.
The friends I have made as an adult (mostly couples that my husband and I became friends with together) are in a different category. Some of them were our neighbors and others we met through the churches we attended. Although we have moved away and our religious and political views are more liberal than most of our "old" friends, we can pop in on them when we're in the area and sit down and have a conversation about our lives that feels like we've never been apart. Those are the friendships I really cherish -- the ones that really mean something to me because it doesn't matter what we believe - we still care about each other and can enjoy one another's company. pazt
It was given high reviews by The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune and is a national bestseller. Moore is the author of some story collections as well as this novel and another one, "Anagrams." She is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
The story follows two friends, Sils and Berie, through their teenage years as well as a bit about their adulthood. Although the pictures the writing conveys are exceptional and helped me"see" the story as I was reading, I found myself having some difficulty getting into it.
What I took away from the story was a review of my teenage years and my girlfriends and where we are now as far as still having a relationship. One of my best friends was my friend all through grade school and high school and, when she came to visit a few years ago, we had a great time despite the fact that we differ widely in our views on religion and abortion. I think we just made a nonverbal pact to not discuss those areas. Our contact since then has been minimal -- through Facebook and the occasional letter and meeting up a time or two at our all school reunion. She wrote a novel that I read and enjoyed despite the fact that it touched on areas that I don't particularly agree with in my "real" life.
I have another friend who was very important to me in my high school years because she kept me from sitting at home on Saturday nights while my boyfriend was away at college. She was funny and had me laughing all the time. However, now we are on such different ends of the political spectrum that she seems to be angry with me for not being in agreement with her. I finally unfriended her on Facebook because I didn't like being "yelled" at in writing. I was pleasantly surprised to have a very nice e-mail from her recently checking to see if I knew of one of our classmate's serious illness.
The friends I have made as an adult (mostly couples that my husband and I became friends with together) are in a different category. Some of them were our neighbors and others we met through the churches we attended. Although we have moved away and our religious and political views are more liberal than most of our "old" friends, we can pop in on them when we're in the area and sit down and have a conversation about our lives that feels like we've never been apart. Those are the friendships I really cherish -- the ones that really mean something to me because it doesn't matter what we believe - we still care about each other and can enjoy one another's company. pazt
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
"The Given Day"
"The Given Day" is Dennis Lehane's 8th novel and I found it quite different than the first few I read. This one is what I would consider historical fiction and I found it a very interesting read. It basically tells the tale of what led up to the Boston Police Strike of 1919 and the political, racial, and union strife of the time as well as touching on the end of World War I and the problems that came with the war and soldiers bringing home the Spanish flu epidemic. I also gained an understanding of what probably led up to the Communist "witch" hunts in later years.
We're introduced to two families in the beginning of the story as well as Babe Ruth and other "real" well known individuals from that era. One fictional family is the Coughlin family whose father, Tommy, is a high ranking police officer and his oldest son, Danny, walks a police beat. His next older son, Connor, is an attorney and his youngest son, Joey, is still at home and in school. Tommy is an Irish immigrant who stowed away on a boat to get to America and a better life. That's where he met another stowaway who became his best friend in America and Danny's Godfather.
Our other parallel story follows a black man, Luther Lawrence, who loses his well paying job in an Ohio munitions factory due to the end of the war and needing to open up the jobs for the white boys coming back from the war. He and his girlfriend move to a black town near Tulsa where they marry. However, the course of his life doesn't run smooth and he ends up fleeing the authorities and settling in Boston leaving his pregnant wife behind. Boston is where he and Danny meet and their stories begin to converge.
The first part of the book setting the stage for what was to follow was slower going for me but I'm glad I persevered as it is a great story that shows how much things really haven't changed in some ways as far as our political and racial issues go and our compassion (or lack thereof) for the poor. pazt
We're introduced to two families in the beginning of the story as well as Babe Ruth and other "real" well known individuals from that era. One fictional family is the Coughlin family whose father, Tommy, is a high ranking police officer and his oldest son, Danny, walks a police beat. His next older son, Connor, is an attorney and his youngest son, Joey, is still at home and in school. Tommy is an Irish immigrant who stowed away on a boat to get to America and a better life. That's where he met another stowaway who became his best friend in America and Danny's Godfather.
Our other parallel story follows a black man, Luther Lawrence, who loses his well paying job in an Ohio munitions factory due to the end of the war and needing to open up the jobs for the white boys coming back from the war. He and his girlfriend move to a black town near Tulsa where they marry. However, the course of his life doesn't run smooth and he ends up fleeing the authorities and settling in Boston leaving his pregnant wife behind. Boston is where he and Danny meet and their stories begin to converge.
The first part of the book setting the stage for what was to follow was slower going for me but I'm glad I persevered as it is a great story that shows how much things really haven't changed in some ways as far as our political and racial issues go and our compassion (or lack thereof) for the poor. pazt
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Healthy Gifts
Friends and I were discussing healthy gift giving options recently. One is a nurse in an infant intensive care unit and family tend to show their appreciation for the care their infants are receiving with food gifts. Unfortunately, these gifts tend to come in the form of sweets of some type or another.
When I look at my RN friends and others in the health care field, there seem to be a disproportionate number of them that are overweight. Most of them work in units that are understaffed and they often aren't able to take a break for lunch or -- just a break at all. It makes me wonder why health care facilities don't practice what they tell their patients! Shouldn't they be staffing so that nurses and other health care staff are able to take at least 30 minutes or more to sit down to a healthy meal option and another 15 minute break every four hours so they can have a healthy snack? Wouldn't they not only have healthier staff but also have a higher retention rate? What do you think?
Please.....when you think about giving gifts to others -- those in the health care field or your friends or family that you love, think about organic fruit and vegetables or healthy nuts that are easily ready for them to grab on the go as a healthy option!
Any other ideas for healthy gift giving? pazt
When I look at my RN friends and others in the health care field, there seem to be a disproportionate number of them that are overweight. Most of them work in units that are understaffed and they often aren't able to take a break for lunch or -- just a break at all. It makes me wonder why health care facilities don't practice what they tell their patients! Shouldn't they be staffing so that nurses and other health care staff are able to take at least 30 minutes or more to sit down to a healthy meal option and another 15 minute break every four hours so they can have a healthy snack? Wouldn't they not only have healthier staff but also have a higher retention rate? What do you think?
Please.....when you think about giving gifts to others -- those in the health care field or your friends or family that you love, think about organic fruit and vegetables or healthy nuts that are easily ready for them to grab on the go as a healthy option!
Any other ideas for healthy gift giving? pazt
"Secret Prey"
"Secret Prey" is the 9th book in John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series of novels and I couldn't put it down until I finished it!
When a wealthy banker is shot while on a hunting trip with his co-workers, there are plenty of suspects but Lucas and his friends have to search out who has the most to gain from his death and how some past deaths might be tied to this current one. However, when some of the suspects also end up dead, the list of who might have done it begins to narrow.
In the meantime, Lucas is distracted by an attack on his estranged fiance, Weather, as well as another one on his favorite nun and childhood friend, Elle Kruger. Are these attacks tied to his current investigation or are they people from his past trying to get even with him by going after those close to him?
Lucas' colleagues are also trying to get him out of his depression over his and Weather's estrangement and think a new woman in his life might be just the ticket but is he ready for that yet? Are he and Weather really finished or is there a chance they might be able to start over again?
A clever killer really makes this Davenport mystery worth the read! pazt
When a wealthy banker is shot while on a hunting trip with his co-workers, there are plenty of suspects but Lucas and his friends have to search out who has the most to gain from his death and how some past deaths might be tied to this current one. However, when some of the suspects also end up dead, the list of who might have done it begins to narrow.
In the meantime, Lucas is distracted by an attack on his estranged fiance, Weather, as well as another one on his favorite nun and childhood friend, Elle Kruger. Are these attacks tied to his current investigation or are they people from his past trying to get even with him by going after those close to him?
Lucas' colleagues are also trying to get him out of his depression over his and Weather's estrangement and think a new woman in his life might be just the ticket but is he ready for that yet? Are he and Weather really finished or is there a chance they might be able to start over again?
A clever killer really makes this Davenport mystery worth the read! pazt
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