How the Light Gets In

by Louise Penny
New York : Minotaur Books, 2013.

This is - let me see - the ninth book in the fabulous Three Pines/Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. My reviews of previous titles in the series (from newest to oldest) can be found as follows:

• The Beautiful Mystery
• A Trick of the Light
• Bury Your Dead
• The Brutal Telling
• A Rule Against Murder
• The Cruelest Month
• A Fatal Grace
• Still Life

At the end of the last book, Jean Guy Beauvoir walked away from Inspector Gamache to follow after his addictions and Chief Superintendent Sylvain Francour. As the Christmas season gets closer, Gamache's department has been completely decimated and only Isabel Lacoste is left standing with him. Meanwhile, Myrna Landers calls from Three Pines when a friend of hers goes missing.

This series has been incredible in the way I've come to know and care about these characters almost as much as friends. The end of The Beautiful Mystery left me incredibly unsettled (should books be getting these reactions out of me?), and I couldn't wait to pick this up and find out what would happen next. Many of the storylines that have been threaded through previous books come to a head in this one, in a way I found incredibly satisfying. I gobbled this up in three days, became invested even when I'd already figured out part of the solution, and found myself swinging from emotional extremes of fear and joy. I wasn't sure Louise Penny could top Bury Your Dead for my all-time favorite in the series, but I do believe she has done so with this one.

Mistress of the Art of Death

by Ariana Franklin
New York : Berkley Books, 2008.

In 1170, a child is found brutally murdered in Cambridge, and the townspeople are quick to blame the Jews. King Henry II doesn't particularly care about the Jewish people, but he does care about his lost income now that they are holed up in a castle for their own protection, and arranges to have someone sent to investigate. Enter Adelia, a woman doctor from Salerno, and her traveling companions Simon and Mansur, who arrive to look into the matter.

The best historical fiction, to my mind, teaches you something about a time period, a people, or a culture while telling a really good story. This book does that in spades, giving such information about the Church at that time, medicine, and more. Yet there's no time for an information dump, because the story reads fast, at first because there is a lot of dialog and short paragraphs and, as the story progresses, an ever-faster pace as we draw closer to the conclusion. I have to say, the identity of the murderer was not all that surprising to me (one of a few people I had on my own suspects list), but exactly how it happened and how everything was resolved was indeed unexpected. In this sort of book, you're always on the lookout for glaring anachronisms. Adelia herself is the biggest anachronism of all - not so much because she's a woman doctor, which is handled believably, but because of her modern ideas and practices. The others are dealt with well in the author's note. The descriptions of the dead and what had been done to them was a bit much for the squeamish side of me. Granted, I was reading so fast much of this washed over me and I only noticed looking back.

If you really enjoy historical mysteries, this is the first in the series and well worth reading. Ariana Franklin is the pen name of Diana Norman, a British journalist and author, who sadly passed away in 2011.

Mastiff (Beka Cooper #3)

by Tamora Pierce
New York : Random House, 2011.

Even though I read Terrier in 2010 and Bloodhound in 2011, in took me until late 2013 to finally read the third book in the trilogy. I'm not sure why, except that for some reason in my head I'd finished the series. Now, I finally truly have!

In the final book of the Beka Cooper trilogy, Beka and her partner Tunstall are called away secretly by Lord Gershom to investigate the kidnapping of the Crown Prince of the realm. Her scent hound Achoo is needed, and they are helped by a mage named Farmer who seems out of his element but is one of the few who can be trusted in what seems more and more like a political play by who knows how many mages angered by the king's potential oversight in their craft.

I read the other two books over two years ago, but fortunately didn't suffer much for it. I could generally remember who characters were and what their relationships were to each other; except for the very beginning, the story itself was fairly self-contained, so it didn't matter that I didn't remember 100% of the events in the previous two books and what I really needed to know was introduced in a way that I could follow easily. Beka has developed quite a bit from the shy Puppy she was in Terrier, and it was fun to see her really grow into her own here as a full partner in a Hunt. I don't think the journal format works as well as a simple first-person narrator would have, as mentions of when Beka's finding time to write in her journal or comments that these were written much later than events just became clunky and distracting from the narrative. Even so, this series is a good strong fantasy that I would have no trouble recommending to a variety of readers.

The Beautiful Mystery

by Louise Penny
New York : St. Martin's Minotaur, 2012.

Despite the fact that this is the eight book in a series, there are no spoilers in the following review. Enjoy! Chief Inspector Gamache and his second in command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, are on another case. When a monk dies, they go to Saint Gilbert Entre les Loups, a monastery where few have ever been allowed access. This order of Gilbertines is known for their amazing Gregorian chants, plain songs which can have a profound affect on those who sing or listen - the "beautiful mystery.".

As much as I enjoy Three Pines and the characters from the village, I find that some of my favorite Inspector Gamache stories are set away from there. Because of the unique setting, we really focus on two familiar characters exclusively - Gamache and Beauvoir. I had so many highs and lows I felt like these were real people, real friends of mine. Meanwhile the story, the mystery unfolds slowly until I found myself drawn in and so completely immersed that I want to listen to some plainchants myself just to hear what was described throughout the book.

Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #2)

by Tamora Pierce
New York : Random House, c2009.

Sequel to Terrier.

Rebakah (Beka) Cooper is back in her second adventure. In her journal, she records the events of her day as a Dog on the police force in Tortall. Lately, coles - silver coins with brass hidden in the middle - have been showing up in the Lower City. Beka and her partners' hunt for the colemongers take them outside of their normal stomping grounds to Port Caynn, where they meet a new group of people and a new Rogue, Pearl Skinner, who doesn't have the brains or the finesse of Rosto.

If you enjoyed Terrier, the first book in the Beka Cooper series, be sure to continue with Bloodhound, which uses the same diary format and fast-paced plotting to continue Beka's story now that she is a full-fledged Dog. As with other Tamora Pierce books, I didn't agree with some of the main character's choices in her personal life, and as with Terrier, I found the journal entries sometimes confused things (in this case, by having the dates out of sequence so that the story itself is told chronologically). I think the fact that I took two weeks to read a book I would normally read in about three days had something to do with the fact that I didn't quite like Bloodhound as much as the first in the series.

Whose Body?

by Dorothy L. Sayers
New York : Harper, c1923.

Lord Peter Wimsey loves a thumping good mystery. When a body shows up in a vicar's bath tub, his mother the Dowager Duchess - who can never quite admit that her second son is an amateur detective - asks him to help discover its identity. Then his friend Parker turns up with a second mystery: Reuben Levy is missing. The body is certainly not Levy, but the two men decide to help each other in their investigations.

I didn't know quite what to expect of Lord Peter, since my only other introduction to his sleuthing was in a collection of short stories. In some ways, I was a little surprised that this was the first book in the series - we're not really introduced to people, such as Parker, as if this was the first time we have encountered them. Instead, we're thrown in to Lord Peter's discussion with his mother, told that he's dabbled in detecting before, and even given references to past cases. There are intriguing hints of the past that I hope are explored further as the series goes on. Lord Peter was really quite funny, and I generally enjoyed this tale, even though I figured out who and just a bit of how the murder was done before he did. I was a bit bothered by the antisemitism inherent in some comments regarding Reuben Levy. This was generally confined to the beginning of the book when we're told he has a good character, while "despite..." is implied. The particular copy from my local library was, I think, a 1923 first edition which was a little nerve-wracking (I was a little afraid it would fall apart in my hands, as the spine was damaged and had been repaired at least once), but neat.

In the Teeth of the Evidence

by Dorothy Sayers
New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company [c1940]

I admit, I have never read a Lord Peter Wimsey novel. But since I have heard about them so much on LibraryThing lately, when I saw this collection of short stories on the library sale's "fill a bag for a dollar" day, I thought it would be worth a try.

The first two stories involve Wimsey. Having, as I said, not read any of the rest, I couldn't tell you where they fit into the chronology of the novels. Even with this lack of knowledge, I didn't find them hard to follow. Mostly, I enjoyed the humor and am even more curious to see how her mysteries are fleshed out in a longer story. The rest of the short stories in this collection are mostly mysteries; one is a creepy, almost Gothic sort of story. In some ways they remind me of O. Henry stories, having a similar plot arc, but with different characters and circumstances, each with an unexpected revelation or twist. I enjoyed trying to guess where she was going with the stories and was nearly equally delighted when I'd figured it out as when I was surprised. Though it may have been an unconventional introduction to Sayers, In the Teeth of the Evidence made me impatient to try her Lord Peter Wimsey stories.

A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny
New York : Minotaur Boooks, 2011.

The day is finally here: Clara Morrow's solo show at the Musee d'Art Contemporain, and all the big wigs of the art world, as well as her friends from Three Pines, have come to her vernissage, followed by a party at her house to celebrate her success. But then a dead body shows up, in Clara's garden. At first, no one seems to know her, but as the investigation goes on and her identity becomes known, it turns out quite a few people disliked her. Now, she seems to be on the straight and narrow, even a nice person. So who was she - cruel or kind? Can people really change?

In many ways, this book is a study in contrasts: good and bad, light and dark. Forgiveness. Revenge. Clara really comes into her own as a main character. She has always been a central person in the town, but this is about her shining moment, as well. I kept wondering to myself, as she deals with sudden publicity and fame, reviews for her previously obscure and unknown art, how much of herself Ms. Penny put into Clara. I don't mean that I think Clara's personality is like Louise Penny's, just that she makes a clear comparison between the struggle of Clara as an artist and the struggle of writers. I think many of Clara's hopes and fears, the vulnerability she has now that she has become "known" outside her circle of friends, must be similar to what the author herself experienced as her series became better known and began receiving accolades. The more well-known you are, the more you have to lose with bad reviews, and judgments made on your writing or yourself.

As I was reading it, I couldn't help but compare my response to that of the previous book in the series, Bury Your Dead. Then, the complex mysteries and many-stranded story held my interest throughout as I struggled to put the pieces together to find out what happened to Armand Gamache. In A Trick of the Light, I read more slowly and introspectively (though I admit, I still read the book in only two days). I was carried along by the internal struggles of the characters I have come to know and care about. Did I nearly cry over Bury Your Dead? This book made me cry twice, and not only that, but laugh and cry at the same time in the end. While the story, and my reading experience, is completely different from Bury Your Dead, in many ways it was a supremely fitting follow-up. This is a series I couldn't recommend more highly, and it keeps getting better.

Christmas at The Mysterious Bookstore

edited by Otto Penzler
New York, NY : Vanguard Press, 2010.

Otto Penzler, real-life proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York, has a unique way of celebrating Christmas. Every year, he asks a well-known crime author to write a short story that he makes into a booklet to give to his customers with their purchases during the season. This book collects seventeen of these stories, from 1993 to 2009, into book form for the first time. Including authors of a wide scope, from Donald Westlake to Mary Higgins Clark, what these stories have in common are three things: a mystery, The Mysterious Bookshop (at least mentioned if not a part of the story itself), and the holiday season as a setting.

What follows are stories as unique as the individual writers themselves, an excellent sampling of the mystery genre's variety. Though of course each reader will enjoy some stories more than others and these authors, for the most part, are novel writers whose stories often don't read like traditional short stories, there are really no complete misses in the bunch. Before reading this collection, I had heard of some of the authors but read none, so I really have no way of knowing how typical these selections are. Still, I liked some enough - my favorites were "Give Till It Hurts" by Donald Westlake, "The Grift of the Magi" by S.J. Rozan and "The Killer Christian" by Andrew Klavan - to look up the authors' full-length novels.

The Shape of Water

by Andrea Camillieri
New York : Viking, 2002 (published in Italy in 1994).

Two garbage collectors find a dead politician in a car parked on the notorious Pasture, the local place where people go to find a prostitute. Signor Lubarello died of a heart attack, but the situation surrounding his death suggests to Inspector Montalbano that all is not as it appears. He convinces the judge to let him continue his investigation, even though the death is apparently natural and all Montalbano has to go on is a hunch.

I never would have heard of this Italian police procedural if it hadn't been for Richardderus's recommendation based on my enjoyment of the Three Pines series. I don't read a lot of mysteries; I like them cozy, and I'm picky about it. Well, the Inspector Montalbano series is rougher around the edges than a cozy without going quite so far as the characters in The Maltese Falcon (I despised them, with no exceptions). Montalbano's informants are seedy people but trustworthy in their own fashion. Montalbano himself is not a saint, though he lives by his own code of ethics. Politics are dirty, allegiances are complicated, and it can be a little difficult to follow when you're as completely unfamiliar with Italian police and politics as I am. Even so, I was surprised that the seediness of some people and places didn't bother me more. Interactions between characters are believable and often humorous. The plot is fast-paced, keeping me reading late into the night to get just that much closer to the end, and intrigued me enough to want to continue the series.

The Unusual Suspects

by Michael Buckley
Prince Frederick, Md. : Recorded Books, p2006.

Series: The Sisters Grimm, Book 2

Sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been living with their grandmother for three weeks. In that time, they fought off a giant, learned the secret of Ferryport Landing, and have been researching how to free their parents by consulting the vast number of fairy tales collected by their families. Yes, they are descendants of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and now they have to begin the most annoying mission of all: going to school.

As in the first book, the prologue takes an exciting moment of the climax, suddenly stopping to start the story from the beginning until that portion of the story makes sense and it is repeated nearly word for word - only now we understand its significance. The series is a fun blend of fantasy and mystery, with some odd characters thrown in for good measure. The girls' social worker really gets me, though, she's downright abusive at times and her entire discussion with the grandmother about school seemed forced and not actually legal, I think. A bit extreme. But once the story got going, and I started meeting some of the new fantasy characters - it's always fun trying to recognize old characters with a new spin on them - I really enjoyed the story and the humor. In the end, I liked it even better than the first book, and I'm looking forward to starting The Problem Child soon.

Bury Your Dead

by Louise Penny
New York : Minotaur Books, 2010.

This is the sixth book in the Three Pines / Inspector Gamache series and necessarily has spoilers for previous books. Here are my reviews for the previous books in the series: Still Life, A Fatal Grace, The Cruelest Month, A Rule Against Murder, and The Brutal Telling.

Inspector Gamache is taking a leave of absence from the Surete, after an incident that scars him, both physically and emotionally. He is the old city of Quebec, spending time with his old mentor and browsing the shelves of the Literary and Historical Society, a library that keeps a collection of English historical materials. When a man fixated on Samuel de Champlain is killed in the basement of the "Lit and His," Gamache helps the local police with their investigation. Meanwhile, he has daily received letters from Gabri, friendly, but insistent that Olivier did not kill the hermit.

My sister has this habit of keeping books so she can read them over - not usually the whole thing, but portions here and there, reading the beginning, or a favorite chapter, or the ending over again. Now that I've finished Bury Your Dead, I understand a little better why she would do that. The story lines - the historical and current mystery Gamache works on, Beauvoir's story, and the revelation of just what happened to cause Gamache to take a leave of absence - are expertly intertwined and perfectly paced. I experienced a range of emotions following these characters, coming the closest I have in years to crying over a book. I want to start all over again to tease out the details and start to understand the chronology of some events that are given out piecemeal, in an order dictated by what I need to know about the characters and their choices rather than a time frame. An incredibly satisfying read that will stay with me a long time, Bury Your Dead is, in my opinion, the best of this series so far.

The Brutal Telling

by Louise Penny
New York : Minotaur Books, 2009.

There's murder in Three Pines again, but this time the man killed was an outsider, and all evidence points to the realization that the murderer is most likely one of the characters we've come to know and love throughout the series.

This is an exceptionally difficult read to discuss without spoilers, because it leaves me wanting to talk about the book with someone who knows it, to mull over the end, heck, to read the next book in the series (which unfortunately is not due out until the end of September). Suffice it to say that while it took me awhile to get into the story, it has a sort of building dread rather than a building pace. Looking forward to the next one!

A Rule Against Murder

by Louise Penny
New York : Minotaur Books, 2009.

Inspector Armand Gamache and his wife Reine-Marie are away, celebrating their anniversary in a small hotel in the middle of nowhere. The Finney family are the other guests, "celebrating" a reunion, but each of them seem deeply unhappy underneath their surface behavior. When murder intrudes, Inspector Gamache and his team have a wealth of suspects to sort through: the question is not why but how?

I absolutely love this series, and I find it so hard to explain exactly why. I read more analytically if there's something I don't like, something I can focus on outside of the story. But the Three Pines series completely draws me in to that world, to these characters whom I've come to care so much about that I can smile or tear up depending on what's going on in their lives and hearts. I got up this morning with about 80 pages left, put on a pot of coffee, sat down on the couch to read and didn't get up to get my cup of coffee until I'd finished the book (and if you know me at all, you know almost nothing gets between me and coffee first thing in the morning). This fourth book in the series is the first to be set away from Three Pines, but I was not at all disappointed by the results. Once again, the characters' inner struggles are the focal point, because twisted human emotions are what lead to murder and Armand Gamache carefully exposes his own and others' secrets to find the truth. If you've been putting off reading the series, all I can say is, what are you waiting for?

The Cruelest Month

by Louise Penny
New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008 (2007).

The third book in the Three Pines series promises to be different from the others from the very first page. As Easter approaches, the villagers are preparing for an Easter egg hunt, and a Good Friday seance that Gabri is going to spring on his unsuspecting guest, a psychic. The first seance breaks up rather lightly. Clara, Myrna, Monsieur Beliveau and the other participants decide to hold another at the old Hadley place because of the resident evil that seems to be in its very foundation. But when one of the participants in the second seance dies, Inspector Armand Gamache is called in to investigate.

I do not normally read books involving seances (too easily scared, I suppose), but I honestly think Louise Penny could get me to read almost anything in order to find out more about the wonderful people who live in Three Pines. Reading this series has kept me so riveted that I hardly know what to say when I've finished, except that I'm utterly satisfied. I love these characters, who seem very human to me because of the author's attention to human emotions - the best and the worst, what makes us noble and what drives us to kill. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The Fairy-Tale Detectives

by Michael Buckley
Prince Frederick, Md.: Recorded Books, 2005.

Sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been moving from foster home to foster home ever since their parents' disappearance, and each home has been successively worse. Then, an old woman appears, claiming to be their grandmother, and taking them to live at Ferryport Landing. But Sabrina's parents always said their grandmother was dead, so she's not about to believe it, or any crazy things the lady says about being descendants of the Grimm brothers who may just have been recording history.

The first of the Sisters Grimm series has a little bit of everything: mystery, adventure, and fractured fairy tales. Sabrina and Daphne's relationship was good but realistic, with a little bit of good old-fashioned arguing and manipulation, and I enjoyed their interactions. I also had fun recognizing fairy tale characters and discovering the author's reinterpretations. L.J. Ganser's narration of the audiobook was well done, with each character instantly recognizable. My only complaint as an adult reader is that I saw some of the twists coming a mile away, but I daresay I wouldn't have noticed a bit as a child.

A Ghostly Mystery

The Prince of Mist
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
translated by Lucia Graves
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2010.
(first published in Spanish in 1993)

In the summer of 1943, Max Carver and his family move to the seaside. Their new home has been empty for some time, and was built by the Fleishmanns, a couple whose son, Jacob, drowned. The house seems creepy and full of secrets, including a garden of statues surrounded in mist that Max discovers nearby. Max also meets Roland, a boy who promises to take him and his older sister, Alicia, diving to see the Orpheus, a ship whose demise has a mystery of its own.

This debut novel of the author best known for The Shadow of the Wind has been newly translated into English. Though not as polished as his later works, The Prince of Mist definitely has moments of atmosphere that reminded me of Ruiz Zafon's adult books. The backstory is introduced kind of clunkily and the prose doesn't flow as well, but the deliciously creepy mystery kept me reading quickly. This is a story I can recommend to fans of The Ruby in the Smoke and other mysteries with a taste of the supernatural.

I thought it was kind of cool that in the age of adult authors writing for teen audiences, here's one who's debut was, in fact, a teen novel. The book website has a book trailer which is kind of atmospheric on its own.

If There Weren't So Many Murders, I'd Move There

A Fatal Grace
by Louise Penny
New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2007, 2006.

If it weren't for the murders, I'd move to Three Pines. I want to be Myrna and own the bookshop. Ahem...

Nobody particularly liked CC de Poitiers and no one, even in idyllic Three Pines, is particularly torn up now that she's been murdered. Even so, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache investigates, using his trademark respect and ability to read people.

The second in the Three Pines series, A Fatal Grace could be read before as a standalone; however, readers familiar with the inhabitants of Three Pines - such as Peter and Clara Morrow, Gabri, Olivier, Ruth, Myrna and, of course, Inspector Gamache himself - will appreciate the return of beloved characters and probably best be able to keep track of them all. Personally, I loved the first book, Still Life, and was a little afraid I had unreachable expectations for A Fatal Grace as a result, but the book delivers in spades. This is a really delightful mystery series with a little bit of everything, including a smattering of human emotion and psychology, poetry, and hints of the past affecting the present for Inspector Gamache and his team. I really look forward to seeing how this series continues to develop.

A Mystery My Mother Might Love

The Daughter of Time
by Josephine Tey
New York: The MacMillan Company, 1952.

Alan Grant is laid up in the hospital after a fall through a trap door, and incredibly bored as a result. Best-sellers brought by well-meaning friends do not help his situation, but when Marta brings him some historical photographs, he suddenly takes an interest. Grant studies faces, and he comes across a photograph of a man he would have guessed to be a leader and a good man - only to find out it is Richard III. Surprised at his uncharacteristically wrong guess, he embarks on a research project to find more about the last Plantaganet king and the mystery of the murder of his nephews.

This is the type of mystery my mom might like - because it's a historical mystery, there's no violence or gore or really any immediacy, but even so the mystery is quite intriguing. I enjoyed Tey's dry sense of humor from the beginning, and once Grant started sending people off to research Richard III and continuing with historical tidbits, I was pretty well hooked. I would have followed Grant and his friends' research better had I been better versed in the history of the British monarchy, but I can't really say I wanted more inserted in the story itself. As it was, there was one chapter thick with historical summary that bored me incredibly. I also wished for a bibliography or author's note or something as an endnote to tell me where to look up more information about Richard II or Henry VII or the Princes in the Tower. I was intrigued enough, however, to want to follow up with a nonfiction title, and will certainly read more by this author in the future.

Still Life

by Louise Penny
New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006.

"Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday. It was pretty much a surprise all around. Miss Neal's was not a natural death, unless you're of the belief everything happens as it's supposed to" (1).

So begins Still Life, a mystery set in the small town of Three Pines, Quebec, where everyone knows everyone and life goes by at a slightly slower pace. Jane Neal was a bit eccentric - not letting anyone beyond her kitchen, for example - but well-liked and about to enter a painting into an art show for the first time. When she is found dead in the woods, apparently the victim of a hunting accident, Inspector Armand Gamache is called in from the big city to piece together the events. He relies on intuition and good people skills in his investigation.

So many people have recommended this book to me that I feel a little late to the party. It's one of those stories that I loved so much by the time I finished I felt tongue-tied, unable to tell you exactly why I liked it. All I can say is its one of those stories that gripped me from the first sentences. The blend of humor and seriousness, wonderfully vibrant characters and compelling mystery made this an incredibly difficult book to put down. To try to classify the book is difficult, too - it feels like a cozy because of the characters, small town, and lack of descriptive violence, yet the detective is a member of the police force rather than an amateur. The philosophical discussions remind me a little of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, while Inspector Gamache's methods remind me a little of Maisie Dobbs, but this story doesn't really have the same feel as either.

What else can I say? I'm glad it's the first in a series, because I don't want to leave Three Pines behind. Still Life is definitely on my list of favorites for the month, and will probably make my list of top reads for the year.