Janice Hallett: The Appeal, Serpent Tail/Viper, 9781788165297

I always check the books listed for the CWA Dagger Awards and came across Janice Hallet's " The Appeal" which won the CWA New Blood Dagger Award 2022 , sounded really interesting

This is certainly a totally unique crime novel in the sense that it is written entirely as a sequence of emails and WhatsApp messages going back and force when law students Charlotte and Femi are assigned to this case by a law firm. In order to uncover what went wrong in the little town of Lower Lockwood and their alpha family the Haywards during a fund raising appeal for their sick grandchild leading eventually to murder,  they have to read previous emails of all the 15 people involved in this plot to get to the bottom of the murderer. 

I really struggled with this concept,  took me quite a while to warm to the concept but it never took. Another problem was that I really did not like any of the characters in the plot and the book has 432 pages! I finished anyway, the second half of the book saw me more engaged but this is definitely not my favourite mystery of the year. Apparently others see this differently which is part of the fun of reading, different strokes for different folks. 

 Joseph O'Connor:  My fathers House, 9871787300828, Penguin Random House, Harvill Secker, pub date: Jan 26, 2023

" Joseph O'Connor's : My fathers house " is one of these rare books that is literary, thriller and historical novel all in one,  based on a real life figure, Father Hugh ' O Flaherty, who was a priest in Vatican city with an Irish background. Set during the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1943, ( of which I had scant knowledge)  O' Flaherty set up a tight network of people from British diplomat,  Italian contessa, street vendor, nurses or ordinary people who helped Jews or escapees from prison camps to flee Italy via hiding them in Catholic institutions before an escape route could be found. Their hair raising dangerous missions of leading these groups to freedom while risking their own lives left me breathless at times. What human beings were capable of can be discovered between these 300 pages of this novel, be it the brutal reckless rule of SS Officer Hauptmann or the men and many women around O' Flaherty. Taking fictional liberties but based on true facts, this is a fantastic read, great writing and uplifting in the end.

 Ajay Chowdhury: The Detective, Harwill & Secker, 9781787303171 trade paperback , April 2023

Ever since reading the debut "The waiter" of the wonderfully entertaining Kamil Rahman detective series, I have become a fan of Ajay Chowdhury's writing. It has been such fun to read these three detective novels, featuring the demoted former Kalkotta detective Kamil in his new life as a cook and waiter in his friend Anjoli's Indian Restaurant in Brick Lane, London. Like a cat who cannot stop chasing mice, Kamil stumbles from one murder to another and resolves it in his unique way with Anjoli's unorthodox help. 

In " The Detective"  he has finally made it to detective with the British Met police and the plot is the best yet. One of the co-founders of a start up dealing with Artifical intelligence has been found murdered and Kamil is very  eager to show his worth to his superiors. Loved it, excellent mystery, cleverly constructed, gobbled it down.

 Mariana Leky: Was man von hier aus sehen kann, Dumont  Paperback, 9783832164577

ENGLISH: What you can see from here, Bloomsbury

Schon lange kein Buch mehr in Deutsch gelesen, dass so hinreissend komisch, spinnert, rührend und einfach zauberhaft war wie " Was man von hier sehen kann". Habe die Geschichte um Selma, ihre Enkelin Luise und ihre schrulligen  Mitbewohner in einem Kaff im Westerwald mit immer grösser werdender Begeisterung gelesen, weil es mich so an meine Kindheit in einem kleinen Dorf im Rheinland erinnerte und sich gleichzeitig fast wie ein Märchen las  . Wenn Selma von einem Okapi träumt, stirbt jemand im Dorf....Der grosse Erfolg dieses Buches in Deutschland wundert mich nicht mehr, wunderbar erzählt und geschrieben. 

Its been a while since i have read such an enchanting, potty, moving and simply magical novel as "What you can see from here" . I read the story of Selma, her granddaughter Luise and her eccentric fellow neighbours in a tiny village in the Westerwald with growing enthusiasm particulary since i was so reminded of my childhood in the Rheinland growing up in a little village. When Selma dreams of an Okapi, someone in the village dies.....The huge success in Germany of this book is no longer surprising to me, i hope Bloomsbury have the same publishing success. Simply wonderfully written.

 Maggie O'Farrell: The Marriage Portrait, Tinder Press, 9781472223852, large format paperback

(German edition: Portrait einer Ehe, Piper Verlag, 

A book that stays in your head after you have long finished reading is my criteria for an ace read. " The Marriage Portrait" by Maggie O'Farrell defintely falls into this category. 

I was completely drawn in by the fate of  Lucrezia de Medici who became the Duchess of Ferrera at the tender age of 15 and O' Farrells extraordinary writing.  Based on historical facts taking some fictional liberties, the story starts with Lucrezia being convinced that her husband Alfonso is taking her to an unexpected visit to their country fortress in order to murder her.

This delicate, sensitive and artistic young woman who was married off to Alfonso, Duke of Feŕrara by her father Cosimo de Medici against her will and expected to produce a male heir,  was completely ill suited to the brutal and restrictive court life of a noble woman in Renaissance Italy.  Some of the happenings made me gasp. It is a fascinating story and O' Farrell narration is so fine and nuanced.

Loved ever page of it and still cannot get some the characters, particularly Lucrezia and Alfonso, out of my head. 

 Donna Leon: So shall you reap, 9781529153316, Heinemann /Penguin Random House, coming March 3, 2023

Thanks to a Penguin netgalley proof ,  I was able to read the upcoming  Donna Leon, comfort reading for me always and this week especially;  it has been a couple of challenging weeks.

"So shall you reap" is one of Leon's  better books in my opinion, dealing with the murder of a Sri Lankan immigrant whose body  had been found in the canals. As Brunetti discovers he has been quietly living in a garden house on the grounds of one of Venice's noble families,  with one family member having past ties to Red brigades terrorists.  As always Brunetti's subtle, calm but determined investigation leads to results with no Hollywood ending,  a colorful portrait of human behaviour with Donna Leon's narration making this so enjoyable. I once had the pleasure of spending time with her at the bookfair and her kindness and keen observations transpire into her writing. 

Loved it, as always. Coming in March 2023

 Kate Atkinson: Shrines of Gaiety, large format paperback 9780857526564, Doubleday / Penguin Random House UK

I have to confess I had a bit of a hard time getting into "Shrines of Gaiety" which has probably something to do with the multiple string of characters and the parallel stories it needs to built up this terrific 450 page plot. The story reminded me in its complexity of Dickens novels,  but once i got into it and the story gathered speed,  I had the best time, particularly during the second half of the book. Set in the 1920ties world of seedy Soho clubs, run by the formidable Nellie Cocker and her more or less capabable six children, it is a fabulous portrait of the underbelly of London after WWI,  the damage it did to a lot of men who found work as policemen or gangsters and the desire it left for entertainment, drugs and diversion amongst the wealthy. A fresh supply of innocent young runaways looking for adventure often end up as hostesses in Nellie's clubs but then a few turn up dead suddenly with corrupt policemen showing little interest to solve their murder. Enter Inspector Frobisher who is installed to take down Nellie and corrupt fellow policemen. A great story of betrayal, seduction, innocence and crime, ended up loving it!

 Raynor Winn: Landlines, hardback 9780241484562, Michael Joseph /Penguin Random House UK,

Raynor Winn's autobiographical  book "The Salt Path" was one of those true book finds, just blew me away and i wanted to know what became of her and husband Moth.

 Her third book "Landlines" has them walking the Cape Wrath Trail, an ancient gruelling path through Scotlands lochs and mountains which is started for the same reason as their other hikes, Moth neurological degenerative disease which seems to improve whenever they start arduous walking.  Winn's prose has some incredibly beautiful nature writing in "Landlines" which is topped by her recounting the hardship they put up with to reconnect with their love for Scotland and their hope that Moth's worsening illness might go into reverse. While hiking the Sheigra Trail, Moth's health seems to become steadier and they take the decision to carry on walking the Westhighland Way, The Borders, the Pennine Way and even further..

I cannot fathom the conditions they endured on these hikes.
Winn is an excellent chronicler of their emotions, love and trust in each other but The Salt Path remains my favorite of her writing,

Kali Fajardo-Anstine: Woman of Light, One World/Penguin Random House Usa, 9780525511328, hardback

Kali Fajardo-Anstine's short stories "Sabrina & Corina" made it to the finals  of the National Book Award and where a true discovery  for me. I knew she would be someone to watch, her writing  is exceptional. 

But i really fell in love with her latest book, "Women of Light".  The novel just tugged at my heart with all the betrayal, heartbreak and injustice that befell  Luz Lopez, the main character, and generations of her mixed Native American and Latino family. The story switches between the voices of her anchestors beginning in 1868, following her Native American grandfather Pidre and her grandmother Simodecca and finishes in 1934 Denver, Colorado. 

All the characters are strong and stuck in my head whenever I stoped reading but Luz, who has the gift of seeing like her aunt Marie Josefina and her grandmother Simodecca,  shines particularly as does her brother Diego and her aunt Marie Josefina. The novel reminded me of Julia Alvarez's or Louise Erdrich's storytelling but Fajardo-Anstine has her very own distinct voice.  "Women of Light" is one of my favourite books of the year so far and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next...

Cassandra Leah Quave: The Plant Hunter, A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines. Penguin Books USA, 9781984879134, paperback 

Found Dr. Cassandra Quaves enlightening book " The Plant Hunter" at one of the airport bookshops in Austin. I have always been interested in the medicinal healing power of plants, something i remember as a kid from my mother and grandmother who would  consult their herbal knowledge before using pills.  So naturally i was drawn to Quaves very personal story in the search of natural compounds who might be helpful in keeping multi resistant  bacteria at bay. 

Her life story is an extraordinary one.

Born with a birth defect and living with a prothetic leg, having undergone multiple surgeries herself, nothing stops her during her field research to find healers with ancient knowledge in the Amazon, Italy, Kosovo, even as a young mother, or her tireless effort to apply for grants to fund her research projects. For someone who is not a science wiz , I had a hard time occasionally staying focused when she goes into scientific explanations. Her personal story however is exceptional, an example of willpower, perseverance, never giving up and raising three children with her husband Marco while plunging herself fully into her mission. Perhaps a bit too detailed at times for myself but all in all a fascinating memoir, i hope she is succesfull in her quest. The world needs scientists and mentors like her. Nothing was ever achieved if you do not think outside the box. 

 Joanna Moorhead: The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington, 9780349008790, paperback, Virago/ Little Brown UK

The first time I came across Leonora Carrington was during a fascinating art exhibition here in Frankfurt about women painters in Surrealism called " Fantastische Frauen". 

Leonora Carrington's  paintings stood out for me, very detailed, vivid and full of fantasy. I became interested in her life which was colorful, independent, hard and extraordinary to put it mildly, always staying true to her core beliefs.

I belief books always find you; recently I stumbled across her biography by journalist Joanna Moorhead who is also her cousin.  Her book is a detailed portrait of this headstrong artist who came from an extremely priviliged English upper class background which she chucked to live life on her terms.

She is best know for her intense love relationship with the painter Max Ernst in  1930  Paris causing her to be estranged from her family. This was the crucial start of her path as a painter and writer but she and Ernst struggled as many artists do financially.

Leaving her well known Surrealist artist friends behind, she and Ernst eventually fled to the French countryside and she continued via Portugal to New York when the Nazis invaded France. Leonoara had many lovers after Ernst and eventually married a Mexican settling in Mexico City where she spent the longest period of her adult life,  had a family and became a famous, much adored artist.  

Moorhead does an excellent job  writing objectively about her  aunt but still manages to weave in her personal feelings and experiences with Leonora who became a huge influence in her own life and a friend.

If you enjoy biographies about extraordinary lives and female artists , this is a great one, loved it and learned so much.

Garry Disher: The way it is now, 9781800811386, Viper/Serpent's Tail UK, hardback

Garry Disher's stand alone novels, always set in Australia, are just as excellent has his Hirschhausen series,  i am a huge fan of his writing. In " The way it is now" Charlie Deravain, a cop on disciplinary leave,  returns to the coastal town  where he and his brother Liam  grew up before his parents separated. Charlie's mother Rose disappeared shortly after his parents marriage fell apart but was never found.   His father Rhys always had the shadow of accusation for being responsible for her possible death hanging over him. With lots of free time on his hands Charlie starts to reopen the case on his own, ruffling more than a few feathers amongst his former police officers until two skeltons are found.  Disher is excellent at describing the noir undercurrents in family dynamics which makes this such an excellent read,  thoroughly enjoyed it. 

William Boyd: The Romantic - The Real Life of Cashel Greville Ross, Viking, 9780241542033, large format paperback , publication date: October 6, 2022

William Boyd is one of my favorite authors and thanks to an early netgalley by Viking, i was able to enjoy the upcoming " The Romantic".  

I absolutely loved this book, Boyd is back to what he does best, writing a fictional biography about a human life, in this case Cashel Greville Ross, born 1799, died 1882,  which seems so real that you have to stop yourself hitting Google search.  And what an incredibly colorful, roller coaster life Cashel had, from orphan to diplomat, from England, Ceylon, Italy , Amerika back to Europe and of course there is a love story at the center of the novel. I devoured the 464 pages quickly and felt at times, given the century the novel is set in,  as if  reading a classic. Wholeheartedly recommend this fabulous story by a master storyteller.

Cara Hunter: Hope to die, 9780241990162, Penguin Books UK, paperback

Holiday reading No 2, mysteries. Over the years, I have become a fan of Cara Hunter's cleverly constructed mysteries and have recommended her to friends looking for new English crime writing. 

"Hope to die", her latest is brilliantly plotted, loved it . Adam Fawley, DI and his team of Oxford detectives are called to a remote manor house where an apparent burglar was shot. Right from the beginning the story the owners tell has holes and Fawley discovers that they have changed their name after their daughter was sentenced to a long prison term for killing her baby. It takes 411 pages until this dark case is solved and I kept turning the pages fast. What I like about Hunter's writing is the utterly realistic and plausible  way Fawley's team operates and go about their cases. Thumbs up from me !!

 Kristin Harmel: The Book of Lost Names, Welbeck publishing, 9781982151553, paperback, read the ebook

(German edition: Das Buch der verschollenen Namen, Droemere Knaur)

Holiday reading ,  escapism book no. 1, recommended by a friend.

I love books with historical background and "The book of lost names" was no exception.  Inspired and based on true life events of forgers working in the underground French resistance in the 1940ties  risking their lives by producing false passports for hundreds of  Jewish children or anyone who needed a new identity to flee being sent to Nazi concentration camps, Harmel tells the story of Eva Traube who is able to escape from Paris with her mother, a Polish Jew, to the mountain village of Aurignon after her father was rounded up by Nazis. 

 In Aurignon Pere Clement uses his church to provide a set up for forger Remy who is soon joined by Eva who has been recruited  to the cause and becomes one of their best forgers. The story is mostly set in the 1940ties but also has a current timeline where the book of Epitres et Evangiles plays an important role. It is a great story about never giving up even if the odds are terrible, a bit smaltzy towards the end but I  found it moving and engrossing. The author  provides interesting historical data towards the end. 

 Lisa Jewell: The Family remains, pubdate: July 21, 22, large format paperback 9781529125801, Century Penguin House UK

This is my first Lisa Jewell title, I took the Netgalley ( thank you Century)  e-copy with me on holiday which made for a perfect summer read. I now understand why Jewell has so many fans, she really knows how to spin a yarn and although "The Family Remains"is a prequel to The Family, it is a perfect stand alone. 

When a bag containing bones is washed up along a river, the case lands on DCI Owusu's desk.  It soon becomes clear that the bones are female, date back  25 years and are tied to a mansion which has a  mysterious history with possible abuse within the family who lived there and has just been sold to a new owner. Enter siblings Henry, Lucy and Libby ...  I will not go into details as it would spoil the plot.  Jewell does a great job in building up suspense and has several story lines running which she ties together perfectly in the end.  She did a great job in keeping me interested and hooked to the last page... 

 Charlotte Wood: The weekend, 9780593191989, paperback, Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House USA

"The Weekend" by Charlotte Wood has been sitting on my book pile for some time but boy,  am i glad i finally read it ! It is one of these books that will stay with me for some time.

Wood's story is set in Australia centering around three women in their 70ties, who have come  together to clear out the beach house of their deceased friend Sylvie where they have  spent many christmas days together. What unfolds during the course of this christmas weekend  is a story so brutally honestly, poignant and touching, it really affected me. Wood' novel leaves no doubt that female friendships over 40 years comes with some collateral damage, as do all relationships,  and how that fragile equilibrium can be destroyed any time. I loved Wood's writing and her clear cut, unsentimental look at long term female friendship and relationships.  But it is also a book full of love, tenderness and compassion. 

 Garry Disher: Consolation, Viper/Serpents Tail, 9781788168175, paperback

I am a big fan of Garry Disher's "rural noir" writing as one critic called it, perfected in the character of Constable Hirschhausen. 

Hirsch was reposted to the Australian outback town Tiverton when he would not be part of a dirty cop operation in Adelaide. In this third Hirsch novel the creepiness behind ordinary peoples lives is again so brilliantly observed whether it is a farmer going on a rampage, someone  stealing womens underwear from a clothline, Hirsch being stalked, child neglect or missing money from elderly citizens bank accounts. 

Disher's plots are always a slow built up which somehow makes the characters and more often than not their weirdness too  stand out that much more. And there is always a murder as a result  in this gloomy God forsaken place  which he so fabulously portraits.

 Five stars from me and damn, now have to wait a while for  Hirsch 4! 

 Tara M. Stringfellow: Memphis, 9780593446775, large Format paperback ,The Dial Press, PRH USA

I had such a great reading time with "Memphis", a debut by Tara Stringfellow which reminded me in many ways of Gloria Naylor's " The Women of Brewster Place" which i absolutely loved as this too is the story of strong women, how three generations of the women in a black family hold everything together. 

Stringfellow's fine prose  gives  the novel a destinct poetic voice as she switches between time lines and the individual women's voices revealing the love, tragedy and feistiness which seems to be synonym to each of the North women's lives:   Hazel, the grandmother, her daughters Miriam and August by different fathers and Miriams daughters Joan and Mya;  they all grew on me as I was transported into their life story but spirited August was my absolute favorite, really loved being in the company of these fabulous Southern women which was really uplifting. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, 9781398515697, paperback, Simon & Schuster UK

Downloaded Taylor Henkins Reid's " The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" on holiday, i wanted a light entertaining beach read and the story line promised that, its a unique one,  with two strong female main characters,  touching the same sex angle which is important to the plot.

It kept me well entertained the first half of the book but then, at least for me,  it became repetitive,  predictable and pushed too many cliche buttons towards the last quarter for my taste.. I know it did well in the bestseller charts and i am sure it has its fans who loved it  but it just didn't do it for me in the end. Tastes vary, it is cleverly done and the Hollywood angle is certainly fun.

Chanel Cleeton: Our last days in Barcelona, Berkeley 9780593197820, paperback

( she is published by Heyne in German)

Sometimes it has to be pure entertainment after a more serious novel, particularly when the sun is out and it feels like summer. 

Throw in a family dynasty of the Perez women,  who fled Cuba for Palm Beach during Castro's revolution  and narrate switching between two timelines, 1936 Barcelona when Franco's nationalists started  a devastating war  and were still in power in 1964 and you have a story which ticks all boxes for a great womens summer read: love story, strong female characters, historical novel, exotic settings and a bit of mystery. 

In 1964 Barcelona Isabel goes in search of her missing sister Beatrix and ends up discovering a family secret her mother Alicia harbors, hence the 1936 timeline. It ended a little too smaltzy for my taste but otherwise had me thoroughy entertained ... 

Chanel Cleeton has written 3 other novels around the women of the Perez family but they can all be read indepently. 

Maggie Shipstead: Great Circle, A. Knopf (Penguin Random House US),  9781524712020, large format paperback, 

Shortlisted for Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022, K

(German edition: Kreiseziehen, DTV)

 

I started reading Maggie Shipstead’s “Great Circle” twice, discovering a few months ago I was not in the right frame of mind to concentrate on such an epic story,  589 pages of superb writing as it turned out to be. I am so glad I gave it a second go, absolutely loved submerging myself into the cosmos of female aviator Marian Graves’s incredible, fictional life which has so many stories in a story it could go on forever.  

As a baby, Marian and her twin brother Jamie were rescued from a sinking ocean liner in 1914 and brought up living an almost feral life as children at their Uncle Wallace’s farm in Missoula, Montana.  Discovering a passion for flying early through travelling barnstorming pilots, Marian is determined to make her dream come true to become a pilot, striking a fateful deal with bootlegger Barclay Macqueen whom she marries later. She has to escape her husband’s stronghold, creating a new identity and years of restless resettling before her destiny, to become an independent woman circumnavigating the globe being the first to fly over the North and South Poles, seems attainable by a lucky turn of events.

“Great Circle” is a rich tale with many colorful characters but Marian became especially dear to me, as did her brother Jamie who inherited his Uncle Wallace’s talent for painting and is the polar opposite to Marian. The novel begins in 1914, is set mostly in the US but also England during WWII, but makes a connection to the present by way of a second storyline which really irritated me at first. Actress Hadley Baxter who is to play Marian in a Hollywood movie is the second heroine of the novel with an entirely different voice.   

I questioned first whether this second story had been a good idea but as the book develops and particularly towards the last
part of the novel, it all makes sense and comes together.  A great book, an emotional story, fabulous writing, what more do you want from a book – I loved it!

 

 Jo Nesbo: The Bat, Penguin Random House UK, paperback, 9780099581871,

This was my first Jo Nesbo thriller, in Germany he is a huge bestselling Scandinavian  author  and i can see why, he is a terrific writer who knows how to spin a yarn. 

"The Bat" is  the first novel of the  Harry Hole series , a Norwegian detective with a complicated personal and professional history.  Harry is sent to Australia to help investigate the murder of a Norwegian girl but to stay out of trouble. When the team discover a string of unresolved murders that might be connected to the recent one, it becomes clear they are investigating a serial killer. I had a great time with this thriller,  a perfect holiday read.

 Louise Penny/ Hillary Rodham Clinton: State of Terror, Pan Macmillan, hardback,  9781529079692

( GERMAN EDITION: State of Terror, Harper Collins Deutschland, gebunden)

Usually I never read thrillers written  by bestseller authors and famous personalities that have been concocted by  editiorial and marketing departments in publishing companies. 

But I am a fan of Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series and wanted to see what  plot she and Hillary Clinton had come up with. Having asked Hillary, who has apprently been a friend for some time,  what her worst nightmares had been during her time as secretary of state, the duo came up with a very enjoyable political thriller which was great fun to read. 

Borrowing heavily from actual recent political developments, such as an inept, narcisstic, corrupt US president who might also be considered a traitor, unrest and war in many Arabian states and terrorist explosions in major European cities, London and even Frankfurt in the novels case, the head protagonist in "State of Terror" is Ellen Adams. She has been newly appointed as secretary of state,  and as a former media group owner was installed in her position by a president she did not support who wants to keep her influence in check for political reasons hopeing she might trip early in her new post. The plot moves along very quickly,  is very plausible and well thought through, Hilary Clintons political experience and background clearly shows. A fast paced political thriller which surprised me positively - excellent read.

 

Daniel Klein: Travels with Epicurus - A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life, 

9780143126621, paperback, Penguin USA

Having just finished this little gem of a book, I believe that certain books come your way when you are ready for them. 10 years ago I would have probably not been up to understanding some of the pearls of wisdom Daniel Klein comes up with when packing his bags and heading to the beautiful Greek island of Hydra ( i can attest to its charm and beauty) to reflect and meditate upon what path to take for himself, how to grow old gracefully and mindfully in a world where staying forever young seems to be the thing to aim for.

His first starting point is observing his elderly Greek male friends, how joyfully they pass their days sitting in the local taverna talking, watching, eating, drinking and reminiscing. Klein always comes back for guidance to the ancient Greek philosophers and here in particular  Epicurus. Some of his observations made me laugh, smile and rethink a lot of my former beliefs one of which is that very old old age is something to thrieve for, where in reality it is very very hard, something I am watching my nearly 99 year old father going through. I really loved this little book which gave me much food for thought on many subjects about aging; i loved the often humorous approach,  recommended reading for anyone in their sixties plus or interested in the subject ....

 C.J. Box: Shadows Reels, a Joe Pickett novel, 9780593331262, Putnam 

( German editions by  Heyne but some out of print, available as ebooks)

I have been a fan of C.J. Box's Joe  Pickett series for some time. It's a bit like reading a Western and escaping into Wyoming, something i love to do. "Shadow Reels" i found a bit constructed and just not up to the usual quality. Nevertheless an entertaining read.

When a local fishing guide is found tortured and murdered and Hitlers  photoalbum stolen by American soldiers during  WWII is left at the libary where Joe's wife Marybeth works, it soon becomes apparent that the two incidents might be connected.

Nate, Joe's falconer friend,  is meanwhile hunting Soledad, who stole most of his falcons and lifelihood, and is associated with Antifa. I found this part of the novel particularly unconvincing and think it should have been left out or been a novel in itself with a larger role by Joe. 

 Nekesa Afia: Dead dead girls, 9780593199107, Berkley Crime

Sometimes it has to be an entertaining mystery, and i found just that in Nekesa Afia'S DEAD DEAD GIRL. Really enjoyed this unusual setting and developed a soft spot for Louise,  the spirited chief protagonist. 

Set in the Harlem Renaissance featuring a young black lesbian heroine, Louise Lloyd spends her days working at a cafe and nights boozing with her lover Rosa Maria and her twin brother Raffael at the Zodiac club. Not much escapes her there but when the girls she knows from the club end up being brutally murdered and dumped in front of the cafe where she works, she is scared and clueless. After a scuffle with the police, they force her to use her Harlem connections working with the somewhat shady  detective Gilbert or to get arrested herself. A glimps of what it might have been living in the 1920ties Harlem as a young woman fending for herself and being ousted by a preacher father with a mystery thrown in helped me to escape during a time when the world seemed to fall apart.  

Nora Ephron: I feel bad about my neck, Doubleday, ‎ 9780857526939, paperback

(German Edition:  Was nie im Trend lag, kommt niemals aus der Mode … Atlantik Verlag, gebunden)

 I have been re-reading my old edition of “I feel bad about my neck” by the wonderful Nora Ephron who died in 2012.  What a witty, laugh out loud hilarious look about the problems females face (particularly in New York) or create for themselves. 

Her writing is so sharp and funny, be it about “Maintenance” – she literally boils it down to hair, skin or other parts  of the body , or what it means to find the perfect apartment in New York or what she wished she had known which is a fabulous piece in its to the point  straight forwardness and humor.  She was truly brilliant; I just love her writing and sense of humor. I urge you to get a copy and have some good laughs while enjoying her sharp intelligence.