Ann Purser's "Sorrow On Sunday" is her seventh book in the Lois Meade mystery novels. Life is good in Long Farnden except for a series of horse equipment thefts. Since Lois and her husband, Derek, don't keep horses, it doesn't affect them until one of Lois' cleaning business clients has a saddle stolen.
In the meantime, Derek and a group of his friends have been playing the lottery and they've won. It's a nice winning but not so much that either one of them is ready to give up their cleaning or plumbing business. It will be a nice cushion for them and Lois has some ideas about investments that might help them garner future income.
However, when Dot Nimmo (one of the infamous Nimmo crime family members) loses her one and only son to an accident, she's out for revenge because she's sure it is no accident. She's had her doubts about "accidents" ever since her late husband had one. She approaches Lois about working for New Brooms and Lois initially says no but after Inspector Cowgill asks Lois to see what information she can learn that might help him solve the recent thefts, Lois decides Dot might be just the person to do some sleuthing for her.
As usual, all does not go as planned and Dot ends up in the hospital near death's door as a result of a pedestrian hit and run accident. Next Lois and a young friend are almost run off the road and killed as a result of another hit and run. Lois would have died if the young friend hadn't pulled her from the wreckage. When a third near miss accident results in a death, Lois and Cowgill are certain these are not coincidences. It's up to Lois and her friends to help solve a crime once again. pazt
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
"Night Passage"
Robert B. Parker's "Night Passage" is the first in his Jesse Stone series of novels. After seeing some of the Jesse Stone made for TV movies based on Parker's books, I decided to start reading the novels.
"Night Passage" tells us why Jesse Stone started drinking on the job as a homicide cop in L.A. and how he ends up in Paradise, Massachusetts, as chief of police. During his interview he was drunk and was surprised when he got hired. That also intrigued him.
Settling into Paradise -- which seems like a nice quiet little town -- Stone discovers not all is what it seems on the outside and the people who hired him don't really want him to be a very competent cop. When he decreases his drinking and stops drinking on the job and begins to take notice of what is going on around him, he becomes a threat. Will he die like the last Police Chief who retired to the west and later was found blown up in his vehicle?
Parker has some mean people out to make life rough in Paradise and an ex-wife in L.A. who wanted out of the marriage but doesn't seem to want to let go of him or their relationship. Her nightly phone calls make it hard to forget her and move on. His problems in Paradise are putting his life in danger and he doesn't know who he can trust. A great read! pazt
"Night Passage" tells us why Jesse Stone started drinking on the job as a homicide cop in L.A. and how he ends up in Paradise, Massachusetts, as chief of police. During his interview he was drunk and was surprised when he got hired. That also intrigued him.
Settling into Paradise -- which seems like a nice quiet little town -- Stone discovers not all is what it seems on the outside and the people who hired him don't really want him to be a very competent cop. When he decreases his drinking and stops drinking on the job and begins to take notice of what is going on around him, he becomes a threat. Will he die like the last Police Chief who retired to the west and later was found blown up in his vehicle?
Parker has some mean people out to make life rough in Paradise and an ex-wife in L.A. who wanted out of the marriage but doesn't seem to want to let go of him or their relationship. Her nightly phone calls make it hard to forget her and move on. His problems in Paradise are putting his life in danger and he doesn't know who he can trust. A great read! pazt
"The Debt"
"The Debt" is a John Madden film starring Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Ciaran Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. It was recommended to me by a co-worker who did say it might not be everyone's "cup of tea."
What happens when you make a decision that you later regret? Can you change events?
This R rated movie uses flashbacks and modern day scenes to tell the story of three Mossad agents who were assigned to track down a Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin. They were charged with bringing him back to Israel for trial but something goes wrong and the rest of the tale is one of twists and turns.
I've always been intrigued by World War II and anything to do with the Holocaust and I began researching it and writing school papers about it during high school. I watched the film to the end but my husband decided to check it out on the web and found out the secret so stopped watching it with me. I refused to let him tell me what happened so I could experience the film on my own. I would recommend it but, as my co-worker indicated, it might not be a film everyone wants to see. pazt
What happens when you make a decision that you later regret? Can you change events?
This R rated movie uses flashbacks and modern day scenes to tell the story of three Mossad agents who were assigned to track down a Nazi war criminal hiding in East Berlin. They were charged with bringing him back to Israel for trial but something goes wrong and the rest of the tale is one of twists and turns.
I've always been intrigued by World War II and anything to do with the Holocaust and I began researching it and writing school papers about it during high school. I watched the film to the end but my husband decided to check it out on the web and found out the secret so stopped watching it with me. I refused to let him tell me what happened so I could experience the film on my own. I would recommend it but, as my co-worker indicated, it might not be a film everyone wants to see. pazt
Sunday, August 23, 2015
"The Insane Train"
Sheldon Russell's "The Insane Train" is another Hook Runyon mystery in the series I've been reading. In this "chapter" of his life Hook finds himself in trouble with the railroad and up for a disciplinary hearing that might end his career as a "yard dog" -- or railroad detective.
However, before his hearing date arrives, Hook is sent to Barstow, California, to check out the Baldwin Insane Asylum. They've just had a fire that killed a large number of their residents and the doctor who owns and heads up the asylum has decided he wants to move all the "residents" to a place he owns in Oklahoma. Hook's job? How to transport some of the most dangerous criminally insane in the country safely halfway across the country?
The benefits: a pretty nurse named Andrea
The risks: Someone seems out to kill the patients.
Before the journey starts Hook encounters some servicemen hanging out on railroad property. They've returned from the war and seem at loose ends so Hook hires them to help him transport and guard the asylum inmates. When he encounters a woman "hooking" on railroad property, he offers her the choice of jail or going along to assist, too.
The adventure begins and with it more deaths and some serious sleuthing on Hook's part. When they finally arrive at their destination and the townsfolk don't want the new "business" in their town, Hook also has some negotiating to do to convince them why their town needs this.
Russell appears to be a writer with a high opinion of women -- case in point is the following quote from the beginning of Chapter 36:
"Soon Oatney slept, her head falling against Hook's shoulder, her hair brushing his ear. He wondered at her strength and her softness, how they coexisted, how in her world she could still manage a smile and face the day. She never railed against injustice or succumbed to the malice and hatred due her. Had she been a man, her spirit would have long since flickered away like a spent candle."
Another great read from Sheldon Russell - pazt.
However, before his hearing date arrives, Hook is sent to Barstow, California, to check out the Baldwin Insane Asylum. They've just had a fire that killed a large number of their residents and the doctor who owns and heads up the asylum has decided he wants to move all the "residents" to a place he owns in Oklahoma. Hook's job? How to transport some of the most dangerous criminally insane in the country safely halfway across the country?
The benefits: a pretty nurse named Andrea
The risks: Someone seems out to kill the patients.
Before the journey starts Hook encounters some servicemen hanging out on railroad property. They've returned from the war and seem at loose ends so Hook hires them to help him transport and guard the asylum inmates. When he encounters a woman "hooking" on railroad property, he offers her the choice of jail or going along to assist, too.
The adventure begins and with it more deaths and some serious sleuthing on Hook's part. When they finally arrive at their destination and the townsfolk don't want the new "business" in their town, Hook also has some negotiating to do to convince them why their town needs this.
Russell appears to be a writer with a high opinion of women -- case in point is the following quote from the beginning of Chapter 36:
"Soon Oatney slept, her head falling against Hook's shoulder, her hair brushing his ear. He wondered at her strength and her softness, how they coexisted, how in her world she could still manage a smile and face the day. She never railed against injustice or succumbed to the malice and hatred due her. Had she been a man, her spirit would have long since flickered away like a spent candle."
Another great read from Sheldon Russell - pazt.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
"The Spy Wore Red"
"The Spy Wore Red" is the true story of Aline, Countess of Romanones, and her adventures as an undercover agent in World War II.
Aline's story starts in 1943 when Aline is twenty and working as a model in New York. She has two brothers that are in the military and she confides to an acquaintance that she'd like to do her part for the war effort. Little did she realize that he (John Derby - code name Jupiter) could help her realize her goal. Aline became one of the original recruits of the newly formed OSS and was sent to Spain with the cover story that she was working for an American oil company. Although she did work at the "company," her work was more in the line of sending and decoding messages. Her real work was mingling with the cream of Spanish society making friends, cultivating contacts, and gathering information useful to the allies.
Although Aline's biography reads like a spy thriller, it's even more fascinating knowing that it's all true. Her OSS code name was Tiger and she fell for another OSS agent, Pierre, that she trained with. It was forbidden, though, to have a romance with fellow agents but when their paths crossed in the line of their work, romantic sparks flew.
As soon as Aline arrives in Spain, she is wooed by a famous bullfighter who takes her out and sends her flowers and chocolates -- not a bad way to be introduced to her new surroundings. A fellow agent acts as her contact and introduces her to others in society who would be helpful for her to get to know.
In her time as a spy, Aline's life is threatened several times and in one instance she actually has to kill a man to prevent her own murder. In another she happened to be away from home at just the right time. She helps uncover a double agent and is instrumental in misleading the Germans by the information she feeds to this agent.
Aline's story doesn't end there because after the war she continues to work undercover in France and Switzerland until 1947. At the time she resigned from the OSS to return to Madrid to marry a young man who she encountered when she initially arrived at her hotel in Madrid. Although introductions were not made at that time, she later learned that he was the future Count of Romanones.
I loved this biography and highly recommend it - pazt!
Aline's story starts in 1943 when Aline is twenty and working as a model in New York. She has two brothers that are in the military and she confides to an acquaintance that she'd like to do her part for the war effort. Little did she realize that he (John Derby - code name Jupiter) could help her realize her goal. Aline became one of the original recruits of the newly formed OSS and was sent to Spain with the cover story that she was working for an American oil company. Although she did work at the "company," her work was more in the line of sending and decoding messages. Her real work was mingling with the cream of Spanish society making friends, cultivating contacts, and gathering information useful to the allies.
Although Aline's biography reads like a spy thriller, it's even more fascinating knowing that it's all true. Her OSS code name was Tiger and she fell for another OSS agent, Pierre, that she trained with. It was forbidden, though, to have a romance with fellow agents but when their paths crossed in the line of their work, romantic sparks flew.
As soon as Aline arrives in Spain, she is wooed by a famous bullfighter who takes her out and sends her flowers and chocolates -- not a bad way to be introduced to her new surroundings. A fellow agent acts as her contact and introduces her to others in society who would be helpful for her to get to know.
In her time as a spy, Aline's life is threatened several times and in one instance she actually has to kill a man to prevent her own murder. In another she happened to be away from home at just the right time. She helps uncover a double agent and is instrumental in misleading the Germans by the information she feeds to this agent.
Aline's story doesn't end there because after the war she continues to work undercover in France and Switzerland until 1947. At the time she resigned from the OSS to return to Madrid to marry a young man who she encountered when she initially arrived at her hotel in Madrid. Although introductions were not made at that time, she later learned that he was the future Count of Romanones.
I loved this biography and highly recommend it - pazt!
Saturday, August 8, 2015
"The Boy On The Wooden Box"
"The Boy On The Wooden Box" is a memoir by Leon Leyson (with Marilyn J. Harran and Elisabeth B. Leyson). It's the story of how he and his parents and two siblings were saved from the Jewish death camps during World War II because his father was able to obtain a job in Oskar Schindler's factory. Leyson is an Americanized version of his family's name and he changed his first name to Leon. He was ten when the war began to alter his whole life and the lives of all the Jews he knew.
This book is not always an easy read but it is a reminder of how we all have the potential to become "monsters" or make the choice to buck the system (as Schindler did) and risk our own lives to help others. It's the story of how one brave man (Schindler) made a difference in the lives of so many people and how one boy (Leyson) took risks that helped him and his family survive the Nazi brutality. Leyson quotes Joseph Campbell's definition of a hero when he talks about Schindler: "a hero is an ordinary human being who does 'the best of things in the worst of times'."
Leyson was a remarkable man and gifted at learning languages. He lost two brothers during the war but his parents and he emigrated to the United States while a brother and sister went to Israel. Leon, despite having his schooling stopped by the Nazis at an early age, went on to work and go to school in the United States to become a gifted teacher. Leon died on January 12, 2013, after suffering from T-cell lymphoma for more than three years. He was survived by his wife of 47 years as well as a daughter, son, and grandchildren.
Stories of what happened to Jews under Nazi rule are sometimes discounted or people don't want to continue to hear about these horrors but they are important lessons for us to remember so we don't repeat past mistakes. These stories must be kept alive!
If you would like to learn more about the Holocaust, visit these sites:
The Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, Chapman University
chapman.edu/holocausteducation
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
ushmm.org
USC Shoah Foundation-The Institute for Visual History and Education
sfi.usc.edu
The "1939" Club
1939club.com
Yad Vashem
yadvashem.org
This book is not always an easy read but it is a reminder of how we all have the potential to become "monsters" or make the choice to buck the system (as Schindler did) and risk our own lives to help others. It's the story of how one brave man (Schindler) made a difference in the lives of so many people and how one boy (Leyson) took risks that helped him and his family survive the Nazi brutality. Leyson quotes Joseph Campbell's definition of a hero when he talks about Schindler: "a hero is an ordinary human being who does 'the best of things in the worst of times'."
Leyson was a remarkable man and gifted at learning languages. He lost two brothers during the war but his parents and he emigrated to the United States while a brother and sister went to Israel. Leon, despite having his schooling stopped by the Nazis at an early age, went on to work and go to school in the United States to become a gifted teacher. Leon died on January 12, 2013, after suffering from T-cell lymphoma for more than three years. He was survived by his wife of 47 years as well as a daughter, son, and grandchildren.
Stories of what happened to Jews under Nazi rule are sometimes discounted or people don't want to continue to hear about these horrors but they are important lessons for us to remember so we don't repeat past mistakes. These stories must be kept alive!
If you would like to learn more about the Holocaust, visit these sites:
The Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, Chapman University
chapman.edu/holocausteducation
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
ushmm.org
USC Shoah Foundation-The Institute for Visual History and Education
sfi.usc.edu
The "1939" Club
1939club.com
Yad Vashem
yadvashem.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)