Mystery.

Some of you have probably heard about the new HBO series, "True Blood".  If you have tried watching it and found it a bit too graphic, you will have a blast reading the series that it is based  upon:  The Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris.  It is often described as a Southern Vampire Mystery  Series, but I found them to be a combination of mystery, fantasy, romance and absudity (and not nearly as graphic as "True Blood").

Normally, I am not drawn to vampire stories, but these are just absolutely fun to read.  Sookie narrates her adventures as a barmaid and telepath when she becomes involved with vampires who have recently "come out of the coffin".  She tells her story with a sunny outlook, Southern manners, and a sense of humor. 

The stories get more and more wonderfully crazy, but these light reads are so entertaining, I couldn't read them fast enough.  I don't want to say much more about the plot, because of the surprising twists and turns it takes,  and the very interesting characters that become a part of Sookie's  life.

If True Blood has piqued your interest (or you are a big fan), try the first book in the series, Dead Until Dark.  I bet you will have to read the entire series to find out what happens to Sookie Stackhouse, a character you will wish you could meet.

As intermission ends at Teatro la Fenice, the third gong strikes.  The opera goers return to their seats, eagerly awaiting the final act of La Traviata.  But the orchestra does not begin to play.  Suddenly, from behind the curtain, the artistic director steps out, announcing that Maestro Wellauer is unable to conduct, and the assistant director will finish the performance.  Wellauer will never conduct again.  The police are called, and when they arrive (by boat, as this is Venice), Commissario Guido Brunetti enters the dressing room and finds the body. Maestro Helmut Wellauer, the most famous conductor in Europe, lies contorted by the effect of cyanide in the coffee he'd begun to drink.  Who could have wanted the esteemed maestro dead?

In  Death at La Fenice, it's Brunetti's task to find out, and he's an expert at detection.  At first there appears to be no possible motive, but as the investigation deepens, an array of secrets, rivalries, and intrigue is uncovered.  Was it the assistant director, hoping to eliminate a rival?  Or the soprano, who's hiding a secret only Wellauer knew, that could destroy her career?   It couldn't be his young and beautiful wife, apparently devastated by his death.  And what about the rumors that Wellauer, a German, was a Nazi sympathizer during WWII, a strong motivation for revenge?

As Brunetti investigates, we meet a unique cast of characters:  his vain, insufferable boss, Vice Questore Patta; faded opera star Santina, now living in cruel poverty; his lovely wife Paola, a daughter of Venice's aristocracy.  We come to know his family, and savor the delectable extended meals they share at mid-day.  But the most distinctive character is Venice.  As Brunetti prowls the canals, calles, piazzas, and cafes of his native town, we acquaint ourselves with this ancient and mysterious floating city.

Donna Leon has woven together a fascinating tale that's sure to please lovers of opera, Italian life, and detective fiction. This is the first novel of the Guido Brunetti mysteries; her most recent installment, About Face, is 18th in the series.  Throughout these novels, Commissario Brunetti exposes the seamier side of life in Venice, battling corruption as he brings the truth to light.

Who is the Master of the Horror Genre? Edgar Allan Poe. Nearly 165 years after he wrote his final tale, he is still loved--in fact, he is more popular than when he was alive. Nobody does tales of darkness, mystery, and the macabre like Poe. Nobody.

Edgar Allan Poe's Tales Of Death And Dementia is a graphic novel illustrated by Gris Grimly. It is the second Poe collection Grimly has done: the first, Edgar Allan Poe's Tales Of Mystery And Murder, is also awesome. I am looking forward to his third, and I hope more. His illustrations are just as creepy and understated as Poe's tone which adds a beautiful unique dimension to the tales. The tales have been slightly "nipped and tucked" from their original text, but nothing is lost. The tales are just as wonderfully creepy as they were when written.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" has to be one of the creepiest tales ever written. Written from the perspective of a deranged, cold-blooded killer, it will creep you out. As a child, this tale absolutely terrified me; as an adult, it still gets me, even though I have read it many, many times. The rest of the collection includes the scary yet humorous "The System Of Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether," the tragic "The Oblong Box,", and the weird and disgusting "The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar."

A wonderful set of classic tales to revisit next the fireplace on a cold night or maybe all alone in your room on a windy night. The wonderful illustrations make this collection of Poe's dark tales even darker. A book that anyone young or young at heart will enjoy...tick tock, tick tock....

I think I'm becoming addicted to Michael Connelly. First, I read Echo Park about a year and a half ago and was surprised how much I liked it. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a book-on-tape and came across The Closers, which I promptly checked out. I finished it last night and I have to say that I was sorry to see it come to an end. The Closers is a fascinating and realistic portrayal of a seasoned cop using years of experience, intuition, deductive reasoning, technological breakthroughs and (at times) blind luck to solve a long-cold murder case.

In this 11th installment in the bestselling Harry Bosch series, Detective Bosch is reinstated after three years of retirement (during which time he worked as a private eye) and is assigned to the LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit, where he is paired with former partner Kiz Rider. His first case is the 17-year-old unsolved murder of Rebecca Verloren, a 16-year-old girl of mixed race that in 1988 was abducted from her bedroom, executed at point blank range, dragged up a hill and dumped in the foliage. As Bosch and Rider familiarize themselves with the details of the initial investigation, they find several discrepencies and a complete stonewalling of the racial implications of the case. Since 1988, however, DNA testing has become available and through this method tissue from the murder weapon is traced to a white-supremacist who lived near the victim. As they follow this new lead, it also becomes apparent that Bosch's old nemesis, Deputy Chief Irving, had a shadowy involvement in the initial investigation and sought to keep certain volatile aspects of the case from become known.

The great thing about The Closers is its complete lack of melodrama. Connelly saves the adrenalin for the last portion of the novel, and even then it's far from overblown. The main body of the book is procedural in its approach: we follow two detectives as they follow every lead, use every appropriate resource, deal with interdepartmental politics, generate paperwork, coordinate with the justice system, and perform all of the other tasks and jump through all of the other hoops that real detectives encounter in real police departments. They make mistakes and have breakthroughs and none of it seems phony or contrived. Character development, though part of the story, is understated and generally relegated to tantalizing glimpses into the character and pasts of several of the major players. Of course, much is implicit, based on the fact that this is the 11th entry in the series. Still, the story is about the case and, as such, it's handled in a very professional manner...never dry, always engaging...and this says a lot about Michael Connelly's abilities as a writer.

So if you tend to prefer "Law and Order" over "24", then definitely check out The Closers!

It's a normal day in the Domestic Violence Division of the Dublin Police Department when Detective Cassie Maddox is called to the scene of a murder in the little village of Glenskehy.  First, she wonders why they call her out since she no longer works in the Murder Squad.  Second, what is her old boss from Undercover doing there?  When Cassie arrives at the scene and sees the victim, her life will never be normal again.

If you read my blog posting awhile back on In the Woods, which I'm sure you did, you will remember that I applauded Tana French's debut novel for its complexity of storylines and the multitude of characters that it blends together so successfully.  In that book, Detective Rob Ryan is the narrator.  In French's latest book, The Likeness, his partner Cassie tells the story.

Cassie started her career with the Dublin PD working in undercover as a college girl with the made up personality Lexie Madison.  Several years later, when Cassie is called to the Glenskehy murder scene, she finds a girl who looks exactly like her lying dead of a stab wound and carrying papers identifying her as Lexie Madison.

In an unconventional police tactic, and against her boyfriend Sam's wishes, she retakes Lexie's persona, infiltrates the household where she lives, and attempts to discover who is behind the murder of the dead girl and who the dead girl actually was.  Because Cassie created Lexie, she feels compelled to find the truth and yet she knows nothing of how this mystery girl portrayed Lexie.  As she gets more involved with her rather insulated housemates, the lines between Cassie and the real Lexie, whoever that is, begin to blur.

French has another winner with this novel.  Although there is less of the police procedural and more of the inner psychological drama, it will still appeal to mystery readers and police fiction readers as well as those who like a good character study.

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George

After the shocking murder of his pregnant wife Helen in With No One as Witness, Lynley sets off to walk his native Cornish coast.  Sleeping rough and barely keeping himself alive he finds the body of a young man at the base of a cliff in the incoming surf.  Although he has resigned from Scotland Yard, he is swept up in the investigation of the death of Santo Kerne, which is quickly shown to be murder.  With a wide cast of characters (including Barbara Havers, Lynley's old associate) and suspects (including Santo's parents and sister) Elizabeth George explores Lynley's tortured soul and his decision each day whether to continue living.  Through the investigation surprising and disturbing facts about almost every character's life is revealed.  Ultimately the book is an exploration of the power of revenge, retribution and redemption. 

Being in The Woodinville Library Men's Book Club has led to some interesting discoveries for me. While we read a wide variety of material, we tend to come back to mysteries every three or four months. As a result, I'm starting to become far more familiar with a genre with which I previously had little experience or appreciation. I used to think that mysteries were more or less the same: someone gets murdered and someone else that's really smart figures out "who done it." Because that is more or less true, I've thought of mysteries as being highly formulaic and therefore predictable. What I was missing was a recognition and appreciation of what makes all of these mysteries distinctive: style. After all, thousands of sonatas have been written by thousands of composers over the centuries, but they're all unique works because of their individualized approach to the same basic formula...in a word, their style. Same goes for mysteries.

I've always been a fan of series fiction.  If you have read many of my earlier posts, you'll know that I like novels that have a good amount of action, some kind of puzzle, and a happy ending.  I also like to get to know the characters, and that can be hard to do when they're busy figuring out whodunit.  A series lets you see the characters develop over several books, providing ample opportunity to explore their relationships.  One of my favorite series, the In Death novels by J.D. Robb, has all of these attributes, plus the bonus of being set in New York City in the not-too-distant future.

I recently finished Salvation in Death, in which Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates the poisoning of a priest who may not be exactly what he appears.  The religious theme provides an interesting look at the recurring characters, including non-religious Eve; Detective Delia Peabody, who was raised in a "free-age" community; and Eve's husband Roarke, who, while not a practicing Catholic, grew up in Ireland where the culture and religion were intertwined.  The differences come into play right from the beginning, as Eve sees the church where the murder took place as just another crime scene, while Peabody struggles with her discomfort over what feels to her like trespassing in a holy place.  In a lighter example, Eve relies on Roarke, who made most of his millions in shady deals before meeting Eve, as her expert on Catholicism, resulting in some highly comic scenes.

Though the books are written by romance queen Nora Roberts and do have some spicy parts, particularly between Eve and Roarke, they are mysteries foremost.  They don't have to be read in order, but if you are interested in the characters and their relationships, that's the way to go.  The first book is Naked in Death.  Many of the titles are available in audio, and narrator Susan Ericksen is wonderful. I usually opt for the downloads from OverDrive or the pre-loaded players, so that I can listen anywhere.  With 32 In Death titles and counting, you might know these characters better than your co-workers by the time you finish them all!

Touchstone by Laurie R. King

U.S. Bureau of Investigation Agent Harris Stuyvesant goes to London hoping to find a terrorist. Instead, he finds confusion and chaos. Its 1926 and England is on the brink of a General Strike and possibly a revolution if things get out of hand. Frustrated by the bureaucratic roadblocks that keep hindering his investigation, Stuyvesant follows a desperate lead to Aldous Carstairs. Carstairs, a sinister and creepy spook with dubious motives, throws him a bone. Stuyvesant is convinced that the man he's after is Richard Bunson, a golden boy of the Labor Party. Carstairs happens to have a link to a man who's sister works with Bunson. That man is Bennett Grey, a World War I veteran who's wartime injuries resulted in a unique paranormal sensitivity. Carstairs will introduce Stuyvesant to Grey who in return might introduce him into Bunson's circle. Its as complicated a plot as one would expect from a couple of secret agents. There's just one hitch: Grey hates Carstairs. Carstairs made Grey's truth-sensing abilities the foundation of a government experiment. Grey only won his freedom by attacking Carstairs and threatening to kill himself.
 
Luckily for Stuyvesant that doesn't prevent Grey from helping once he knows that they are out to catch a bomber. It does make things tricky though, especially since Carstairs keeps trying to get the better of both of them. Add to that the fact that Grey's sister resembles Stuyvesant's dead girlfriend and that their suspect is having an affair with Grey's ex-fiancee and things don't get any clearer. But no matter the cost, they must discover the real bomber before the General Strike turns into a bloody revolution.

King has a knack for writing characters who are both prickly and endearing. Stuyvesant, a New York bruiser and crafty agent, is also a loving brother and loyal friend. Grey, broken and remade by the war, has a sense of tarnished innocence about him that is sometimes at odds with his suicidal ruthless streak. The growing friendship between these two propells the story along. King also does a great job with the setting, bringing to life the tensions between capitalist and communist factions. The radical vs. regime arguement will invite current day comparions, but for the modern reader there's also a bit of naivety to the struggle. Some of their grand gestures seem just that: gestures, not actions that will change the future of society and humanity. That disparity just settles the story even more firmly in its place, lending both the sophistication of historical accuracy and the feel of an era where many of the events that make the modern age jaded have yet to occur. The mystery is good too, but its really the characters and setting that make this a great read.

Interred With Their Bones is a mystery thriller about a missing (for real) Shakespearean play, named Cardenio and a search for a missing letter that could prove that William Shakespeare was the real author of all things Shakespeare.
Kate Stanley, a Shakespearean scholar now stage director is staging Hamlet at the Globe in London.  She receives a visit from her former mentor, (they parted acrimoniously three years earlier) and Roz gives her a box with a secret and then Roz dies.  Then the Globe Theater catches on fire--whew it only has minor damage, but it was burned on Tuesday, the June 29th just like the original Globe burned down on Tuesday, the 29th of June in 1613. The secret in the box sets Kate on a whirlwind tour of England, the American Southwest, and Spain in search of the missing play.

What I enjoyed even more than the adventure in this mystery (and there is plenty of it) were the explanations of the many theories of who the real author of arguably the world's greatest plays was.  Jennifer Lee Carrell,  the author placed these theories into the story smoothly, they gave clues to the next place the heroine had to get to--in a way like a literary scavenger hunt, each clue building upon the previous one.  Ms Carrell, has a PhD in English and American literature and she has written an article for the Smithsonian Magazine, "How the Bard Won the West."   She even wove her article into the story, it was fascinating!

At first glance you might think, ohhh, another da Vinci Code wannabe.  Not so!  Interred With Their Bones is a fast-paced literary treasure hunt, with facts and fiction woven together so that everything seems plausible.  Check this out for yourself and let me know who you think wrote Hamlet.