Midsummer Roundup

It's time for a roundup of what I've been reading but haven't yet posted about.

Fool Errant, by Patricia Wentworth - I liked Dead or Alive so much that I immediately downloaded another to read during my May travels. Sadly, Fool Errant was not nearly as good, primarily because I simply couldn't stand the heroine, Loveday Leigh, who was breathless, dim, completely self-absorbed, and aggravatingly coy.  Just a 3-star read, but I'm not giving up on Wenthworth and will try again.

The Resistance Man (Bruno, Chief of Police, #6), by Martin Walker - another solid 4-star treat with arm chair traveling to the Dordogne in France where Bruno keeps the peace. This plot was particularly appealing to me as it dove headfirst into the Resistance during WWII and the modern-day search for the spoils from a train robbery near the end of the war. Seriously good reading!

If We're Being Honest, by Cat Shook - another recommendation from Joann at Gulfside Musing. An interesting foray into a family grappling with a myriad of issues, secrets, etc. Nothing earth-shattering but fun to read and well put together.

Homo Sapiens Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution Rewriting Our Origins, by Paul Pettit - absolutely outstanding nonfiction. I started it in March and finished it June--not bad considering it covers roughly 80 thousand years of human evolution. The same brother who gave me Sapiens a few years ago also gave me this book, and I loved it. 

I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai - I heard an interview with the author on an NPR show a few months ago and knew I wanted to read this. It ended up being terrific, but initially I had some serious issues with the 1st person narrator, Bodie Kane. She reminded me so much of the awful main character, Ann, in The Cloisters, by Katy Hays, which I tried to read but abandoned because I simply could not spend any more time with this stupid woman. I think the stereotype of the smart, poor girl from a small town who is plagued by insecurity around more affluent, beautiful people is so tired and fundamentally flawed. Anyway, initially Bodie was annoying me, but then I got caught up in the story as she matured and didn't mind her so much. I thought the plot was good and the writing decent.

Call for the Dead (George Smiley, #1), by John le Carré - I figured it was high time I gave this author a try and so decided to begin with the first in his George Smiley series. It was good, and I think George and I will get along just fine.

Dead or Alive — Patrica Wentworth

Believe it or not, while traveling I find I have more reading time than at home where work, gardening, cooking, shopping, and TV steal away valuable reading time. But on vacation, there are planes, “down time” between excursions, and lazy mornings that mean more reading time!

This trip I finally dug into Patricia Wentworth, starting with Dead and Alive, the first of two in her Frank Garrett series. I chose it mainly because it was one of two PW’s available as ebooks from my library, and it did not disappoint. I gave it a solid 4 stars on Goodreads, which makes it a very good mystery.

Set in the 1930s (published in 1936), it is a thriller in which Meg O’Hara’s ne’er-do-well husband has been missing and presumed dead for almost a year. She is slowly starving as he left no money, she can’t find a job, and her eccentric well-off uncle and former guardian has taken a turn for the even more eccentric and can’t be bothered to advance her some money on which to live.

Enter Bill Cloverdale (aka lovesick childhood friend on a white horse) who sets out to help Meg survive, prove her husband is dead so she can be officially declared a widow, and (hopefully) agree to marry him.

But true love never did run smoothly. Before Meg can share her life with her one true love (was that too big a spoiler?), she must first battle a ruthless criminal gang, swim for her life, dodge multiple attempts on that same life, rescue her dotty uncle, and put some meat on her bones. Meg is plucky but polite and can dredge up nerves of steel when they are most needed. I absolutely loved spending time with her.

Not entirely sure why the author decided this was a Frank Garrett mystery as he barely figured in the story. Perhaps she had high hopes that he would rise to the occasion of being a first-rate Golden Age detective as she sort of eased him into the picture, but Meg and Bill were the stars of this story for sure. Kept me on edge and guessing til the end. Definitely a good book to travel with.

Now, time for me to get a few chapters into my next PW mystery, Fool Errant, before lights out.