All That Glitters

 All That Glitters, written by Orlando Whitfield is A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art.  A very interesting story, written in a very readable style that entices the reader into a world of art and crime.  

Orlando Whitfield was young and impressionable when he met Inigo Philbrick at Goldsmiths, University of London.  They become friends and start the company I&O Fine Art.  

They join the glamorous world of art dealing, art galleries and multimillion dollar deals with major famous wealthy clients.  It is a world of travel on private jets, parties and money.  But getting caught up in this world leads to greed and illegal ways of building their bank accounts.  Philbrick gets carried away and eventually the complicated financial schemes he is working start o unravel and he has to run.  

Whitfield has a mental breakdown and changes his life. He feels betrayed by Philbrick who he has always thought was his friend even as things go under.  Whitfield wants to stay in touch with Philbrick even as he is on the run with his girlfriend until he is caught hiding on the Pacific Island, Vanuata and sent to United States by the FBI for trial.  

Whitefield leaves the art world for good.  He gathers all the information and writes this book looking back on the whole story after the fact.

Vanishing Treasures

Katherine Rundell has done the serious research and written definitive book on extraordinary endangered creatures, Vanishing Treasures.  This is a book about awe-inspiring animals that are in danger of extinction.

Each animal gets a short chapter about its history, its way of life and why it is in danger of becoming extinct.  There are some animals that are very unusual like the Lemur, the Wombat, and the Narwhal.  These are animals that live in small areas of the world and their lives are endangered because of eithher the environment changing or being killed faster than they are having babies.

There are also some surprising animals in the endangered list.  These are animals that are very common in our lives and this reader never realized that these animals were not prolific.  Crows, Raccoons, and Bears.  These animals have been hunted, captured and their food sources and living areas are being changed and disappearing as humans are building homes and taking away the forests and places the animals live.

This book is written in a very readable interesting style.  Some of the information about the animals is quite interesting and surprising.   Giraffes have purple tongues, to help protect it from the sun.  The seahorse mates for life and the male carries and births the babies.  Thee Narwhal has one long horn that could be where the design and idea of Unicorn's horn comes from.  

She also adds one last animal at the end of the book that Rundell says could be in in danger of extinction if things do not change, the human.  Rundell points out that though we think the Earth is at our disposal, it is not true and if we do not respect nature, it could destroy us. It can still be saved and that is our challenge.

The Examiner

 The Examiner a mystery novel by Janice Hallett is one of the most confusing novels I have ever read.

I pushed so hard to work my way through it but in the end I did not really enjoy the book.  It was not a satisfying read.

Written as a series of text messages, email chains and private messages.  I found it extremely slow reading and even if you try to skim and read quickly it bogs the reader down.  

The premise is a graduate school design program, students have been recruited to thee program, hand picked it turns out by the professor.  They are mostly older working on a second career, having worked in other art fields.  Now they are tasked with working together to promote a company and their new launch as the assignment.  They are all on a Doodle share group talking to each other about the projects they are doing.  There are also private chat groups for different groups of the students and then private chats between the professor and certain students.  Somehow all these chains are saved and are being investigated and that is how the reader is privy to this story as it develops.  

A crime of some sort has taken place and there are hints of many mysterious circumstances have taken place.  But to this reader so much of this seems so obtuse that I could not get excited about what was being uncovered and could not relate to any characters.  

A very frustrating read and time wasted

We Solve Murders

Richard Osman takes on a new detective and mystery series with We Solve Murders, his newest book. 

Stepping away from the elderly detectives and the assisted living community of The Thursday Murder Club. Osman takes the reader on another kind of mystery adventure. This time we are globe traveling with Amy a private security officer who is assigned to protect a famous author who has been targeted.  They are on a secluded island when there is a threat to their lives.  This sends them traveling from country to country trying to avoid being assassinated.  

The Thursday Murder Club series was delightful, light and entertaining mysteries. A bit fanciful but the characters were interesting.  This time there so many characters coming and going it is hard to keep them straight.  Amy is in danger and it is hard to keep track of who she can trust and who she cannot.  Then her father-in-law becomes her wing man.  Where is her husband in all of this? 

Maybe if we get to book two of this series the many parts will start to make more sense and fall into place.  So far I am not counting this on my list of favorites for this year, but ruling out reading what comes next.

Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder

 This novel blew me away.  It was quite unexpected.  I thought I was picking up another fun light entertaining mystery novel.  This time I have read an amazing fun entertaining but emotionally impactful book that I could not put down.

Yes this a fun mystery novel that pulls you in as the mystery is revealed along the way.  But also you become attached to the characters in a way that is heartwarming and I was crying as the details of the main character';s life and hard times become evident.  So unusual for a mystery novel.

Lenny Marks is an almost forty year old woman with obvious issues around interacting in social situations.  Though she may already be on the spectrum, which seems to be a new character trait being used in books lately, she also has suffered trauma in her youth.  This trauma is referred to and slowly uncovered as the plot progresses.  She is a school teacher, living in her own small house, near her foster mom, who she sees weekly for a meal and advice.  She likes routine and has a strict routine that she follows until the memories she has suppressed for years start to come back to her.

Also she is trying to negotiate making friends, and we watch as she piccks some of the wrong teachers to to try and befriend missing the social cues that would set her up for success with another teacher who wants to be friends.  Of course there is an awkward love interest also.  All these different plot lines are running alongside each other building your attachment to Lenny as you root for her to succeed.

Such a perfect mystery novel and it si author Kerryn Mayne's debut novel.  I look forward to future writing from this author.

Peggy

 Peggy; A Novel written by Rebecca Godfrey is another novel in the line of great historical fiction I ave read.  Taking a a little known figure from history and developing a plot that incorporates facts we know aboout her life and building out the rest of the story with fictionalized details to fill in the missing pieces.

This book takes the reader on a journey with Peggy Guggenheim from her childhood to becoming an adult.  Starting as a teenager living with here parents in New York City as one of the wealthiest families in America.  Her family had built its wealth on the backs of workers who went down into the mines.  She is unhappy with owh her familly earned their money and about how her parents repeatedly remind her and her siblings to keep a low profile and not attract attention to the fact that their family is Jewish.

Then her father is lost at sea when the Titanic goes down.  Peggy's world abruptly changes.  Family secrets are disclosed and the money disappears. As soon as she can leave Peggy moves to Paris for a new life with many artists.  She marries and starts a new life.  Over her life she supports many artists and authors in their careers.  Using a special talent she has had since childhood when she would go to museums with her father and analyze paintings, finding the meaning behind the artwork.  This is all very useful to Peggy's future lifestyle and career.

Her marriages, her friends, her children such an interesting life.

Magical Meets Cute

 Magical Meets Cute by Jean Meltzer is the third novel by this romance writer. Each of her novels is about a romantic couple that faces some obstacle and overcomes the trouble that is brewing.  All focused aroung Judaism without getting involved in any real religious discussion.  They are entertaining and well written. 

I was not a romance fan before reading Meltzer.  But she has won my heart with her kooky lovable characters and plots. 

This time we meet Faye Kaplan who has given up her law practice and her engagement and moved to Woodstock NY and opened a pottery business.  She's throwing pots and creating art out of clay.  One night she creates a golem out of clay and buries it out in the back garden.  She writes all the things she would love to have in the man of her dreams on his body and forgets him in the garden.

Soon she rescues a man who has been hit by a car and seems to have amnesia.  She names him Greg.  She takes him to the hospital and the she agrees to take him home when they cannot find out who he is.  While she is taking care of him he decides to also take care of her.  He is extremely solicitous of her and anticipates her every need.  When she runs into trouble in town Greg comes to her defense.  Is he too good to be true? 

Faye wonders if Greg is real or if maybe her golem has really come to life. As things get out of hand when some non Jewish town members get angry at Faye and want to attack her store front, she is worried that the golem may go too far in her defense.  She wants to stop him, but how can she tell if she is in control or if he is just too good to be true?