The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

 

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
by Andrew McCall Smith
 Anchor Books, 2002, Fiction. 235 p.

At thirty-five years old, Mma Ramotswe has survived a bad marriage, the loss of a child, and her beloved father's death. Now she must find a way to support herself.  She takes her inheritance money and sets up a small detective agency in her hometown of Gabarone, Botswana.  It is a risky undertaking in a country where women are rarely professionals, but with her hard won wisdom and comfortable personality, she soon has a reputation as someone who "knows what's what."  Her clients range for poor grocers to wealthy business owners, and she hardly ever disappoints.

This is a book that was hugely popular when it came out in 2002 and now there are now more than 20 in the series.  I think the charm of the book is Smith's great characterizations, and the authenticity of the setting. As you read the book, you feel that you could walk into a town in Botswana and the people you would meet and the things you would see would be just as Smith describes.  Mma is strong, confident, and funny, though not a beauty or a super woman. If you love a good comfortable mystery and reading about other cultures, this is the series for you.

A Christmas Escape by Anne Perry

A Christmas Escape
by Anne Perry
Ballantine Books, 2015. Fiction. 157 p.
James Latterly is mourning the death of his wife and decides to spend Christmas in a remote area of Sicily.  There he connects with the proprietor and one of the visitors, a young 14-year-old orphan girl who is under the care of an elderly uncle.  The other visitors are not so pleasant and it is soon apparent that there are serious personal issues underneath the vainer of civility. All these concerns, however, are dwarfed by the increasingly ominous rumblings coming from a nearby volcano.  When one of the residents is found dead, Latterly realizes that it the volcano may or may not be the most dangerous thing on the island.

Here is a thrilling Christmas read that is short enough to finish in a few days.  Anne Perry is a master of historical mysteries.  This one has an unconventional plot, but still has Perry's characteristically endearing characters and lots of suspense.  I was also charmed by the sweet father/daughter like relationship that develops between James and Candice. As of this posting this one is on the shelf at Highland.  Drop by and pick it up or one of Perry's other Christmas mysteries. (157, 2015)

The Noel Stranger

The Noel Stranger
(Noel Collection #2)
by Richard Paul Evans
Simon and Schuster, 2018, Fiction, 330 p.
Maggie grew up in an abusive home, but married a handsome and influential man, and also runs a successful catering business. Her "happily ever after" comes crashing down when her husband is arrested for bigamy.  Publicly humiliated, Maggie withdraws from the world until her best friend and employee urges her to get out and start living again.  She decides to start by buying a Christmas tree, and when she gets to the tree lot she meets its rugged and handsome owner, Andrew Hill.  They both fall into a whirlwind romance and Andrew seems to be the perfect man for Maggie, but then something happens to make Maggie doubt that Andrew is being completely honest with her. 

This is a decadent confection of a book, just right to curl up with on a cold winter evening for those of us who can't get enough of Hallmark Christmas Specials during December.  Although Maggie and Andrew's romance is anything but subdued, Evans keeps it pretty clean, which is an added plus.  This is the second in a "collection" but it is a stand alone story with different characters than the first in the collection and the books can be read in any order. If someone beats you to the print copy of the book at the Library, it is also available through Overdrive as an ebook or e-audiobook. 

The Giver of Stars

The Giver of Stars
by Jojo Moyes
Viking, 2019, 390 pg., Historical Fiction

Alice was thrilled to marry the handsome Bennett Van Cleave and leave behind her dull life in England. She imagined that married life in Kentucky would be full of all the happiness she craved. But when her marriage remains cool and the locals of the small Kentucky town eye her with either suspicion, humor, and sometimes outright hatred; she realizes that she had no idea what she was getting into. Margery O'Hara is an independent woman who has never allowed herself to rely on anyone. It's how she survived her poor Appalachian family. Now she is determined to lead the new traveling pack horse library initiative inspired by Mrs. Roosevelt and funded by the WPA. Margery, Alice, and other women in the community set out to deliver books and encourage literacy to the impoverished mountain folks. But when murder stalks the library's doorstep it just might undo everything they worked for - and their lives.

This novel is a pick for Reese Witherspoon's book club, and it deserves that distinction. Moyoes' characters are deep and captivating. Their lives intertwine to form a beautiful story of love and friendship. But Moyoes went a step further and did fantastic research on not only the WPA's pack horse library, but also what personal lives for women were like in late 1930's Kentucky. This lends her story a powerful backdrop. Readers who enjoyed books such as Kirsten Hannah's The Nightingale or The Great Alone, Susan Meissner's Secrets of a Charmed Life, Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing, or Lisa See's Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane will also enjoy this title. Readers should be aware that there are scenes of death, murder, domestic violence, some language, and sexual content.

Winterhouse

Winterhouse

by Ben Guterson

Henry Holt & Co, 2018, Intermediate Fiction, 370 p.

Elizabeth Sommers is an orphan who lives with an uncaring and lazy aunt and uncle, so she is totally surprised when they tell her she will be going to a posh resort called Winterhouse for Christmas while they go on a separate vacation.  At Winterhouse she soon finds a friend, Freddy, who shares her love for puzzles and word games.  She also finds a book in the resort's vast library that is more than it seems.  Soon she and Freddy are caught up in a dangerous mystery that promises to shine a light on the past, but that puts everyone and everything at Winterhouse in peril.

Here is a great middle grade thriller to read at on a chilly winter's evening.  Elizabeth and Freddy are charming word nerds and young readers will enjoy the word games the two are forever playing.  Winterhouse is a magical place and the plot twists and suspense will keep readers turning pages. 

The Guest Book

The Guest Book
By Sarah Blake
Viking, 2019, 486 pg., Historical Fiction

"'Wars, plagues, names upon tombs tell us only what happened. But history lies in the cracks between. In the inexplicable, invisible turns - when someone puts a had down, pushes open one particular gate, and steps through. A man saying no instead of yes, two hands grasped on a dark street. A twenty-year-old nun in her cell, eyes closed, praying, touching the word God in a book we recover, over and over and over, so that what we have left is the trace of her devotion. In the erasing of that word' - she paused - ' is a person. That is history.'" (pg. 43-44    )

For me, this quote defines why I love this book, and what I think is part of it's message. The actual plot of this book center's on an island off the coast of Maine and the three generations of the family who owns it. The story moves back and forth between present and past, and is told from multiple characters perspectives. It can be a little confusing. But at its heart Blake seeks to show the human side of many difficult moments in history. I love how this book addresses some of the most difficult points in American history; Jews, the Holocaust, Segregation, and Feminism, but focuses on the humanity of peoples choices. Blake does not spend time criticizing her characters choices (nor does she praise them), but instead she illuminates the struggles they go through in making them - and living with the consequences. She also does not tie up all the loose ends, which I think is appropriate, because in history there are some choices we will never really know. As she points out early on, history, people, may sometimes be found in the act of erasing - in what is not there.

This would be a great book for those who enjoy complex plots and characters. Historical fiction fans may enjoy it as well. Readers should be aware that there is some swearing, death, and sexual content.

The Mistletoe Promise

 

The Mistletoe Promise
By Richard Paul Evans
Simon and Schuster, 2014. Fiction, 251 p.
Elise has been just going through the motions since her divorce five years earlier.  Every day she eats the same thing from the same restaurant all alone in the food court in her building. Then one day in November a handsome lawyer approaches her with a surprising proposition.  He wants to make an agreement with her to spend the holiday season together.  He writes up a contract that they will attend each other's office parties, go out to dinner, and basically keep each other from feeling lonely until Christmas day.  Elise is reluctant, but also very lonely, so she finally agrees.  That begins the most wonderful holiday season she can ever remember.  As she spends times with her mysterious benefactor, she finds that this "pretend" romance might not be pretend at all.  Yet she knows that if he knew about her dark past, he would have never want to see her again.

If you are in the mood for a super clean holiday romance, this is the book for you.  The love interest is pretty much perfect; tall, handsome, rich and kind. Elise is wounded by tragedy and abuse, but is healed by his persistent emotional affirmation. The whole book is one long, delicious, Cinderella story, like Godiva chocolate in print. If you are traveling this holiday, you can check it out on OverDrive or as a book on CD.