The Vanishing Half

 Once again I am reminded how incredible a book can be.  I realize that I read in a few limited genres and many of my books are written by a Jewish author and also are of jewish content, either historical or modern day.  There is a comfort in reading a book that feels like home.  The characters are recognizable, the language and inflection flow through you like you are listening to family.  You understand a little of where the characters came from or why they think they way they do.  

This time I read a book that is so out of my usual comfort zone, The Vanishing Half, that at first it was very jarring.  I almost put it down and then I realized that it was just another family and their style of speech, their food choices and clothing ideas.  This was my chance to sneak in and see how other people live and think.  What a fascinating concept.

This book has been getting fabulous reviews.  I heard the author, Brit Bennett, speak about writing this book.  So I really wanted to keep reading.  In the end it is definitely a good read.  It is interesting to see other people view themselves and people of their social, economic and racial and ethnic groups.

This book looks at the prejudices of people who identify differently than other people around them.  It looks not only at black and, so called, white, but also at sexual differences.  People who are comfortable in their own skin and people who are not.  Who you are on the inside vs how you look on the outside.

In the end, this is a wonderful heartfelt story of people caught in a world that is hard to negotiate. It is the younger generation that seems to be learning to trust themselves and their feelings.  It gives you hope that our young people will help bring us all to a better place of getting along with all people and moving our world closer to acceptance of all different kinds of human beings.

Moonflower Murders

 Of course I must review Anthony Horowtiz's newest mystery, Moonflower Murders without delay!!

Horowtiz is an amazing writer.  His newest mystery novels I think may be the beginning of a new genre completely.  Each of these quirky, witty, entertaining mysteries are really a novel within a novel.  

We again meet the now retired book editor, Susan Ryeland.  She was the editor for the late Alan Conway who wrote the Atticus Pund mystery series.  Ryeland has retired with her boyfriend, Andreas to help him run his small hotel on a Greek island.  This is a wonderful relaxing lifestyle with sun, beaches, delicious food and island time.  But is becoming all too much for Susan who was used to the busy schedule and noise of London traffic and congestion. So when a couple shows up on the Greek island inviting her back to England to their hotel to help solve the mystery of their daughter's disappearance, Susan is off for the adventure.

Cecily, disappearance is linked to a murder that happened at the hotel eight years prior, where possibly now the wrong man is serving time for a crime he did not commit.  Cecily may have figured out the real answer to the mystery by reading a Atticus Pund novel written by Alan Conway.  This is where Anthony Horowtiz uses all his creative abilities and writes a full Atticus Pund mystery within the main storyline, which links to the answer to the current mystery.  

As a reader you are trying to figure out the answers to two mysteries at once, because one discovery leads to the second.  Of course they are both impossible to figure out but when you see each detective bring the culprits into the room for the big reveal you are amazed at how the facts pull together.

And this time even after the crimes are all wrapped up neatly with a bow, Horowitz has Ryeland revealing more and more little touches that were placed in the mystery that he wants to make sure the reader notices.  Because what author does not want the reader to see how much creative hard work goes into building an incredible mystery novel.

The Last Flight

 The Last Flight is an extremely popular book right now.  Julie Clark has done a great job writing a plot that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat until you are finished.  Though is not my usual style of book and I thought it would not be in my comfort zone, I read it for a book discussion group and ended up really enjoying it.  Though I would say, I did not want to read it at night alone in the house.

This is a story of two women who are stuck in relationships that are damaging to their wellbeing.  For all the world to see, Claire Cook looks like she has the perfect life, a wealthy attractive husband, everything money can buy and working the charity circuit of social events.  But under the makeup and beautiful clothes are the markings of an abusive marriage and Claire wants to escape.

When she runs into Eva who is also running away from a secret unhappy life she thinks she has found the answer to her problems.  The two women decide to switch places and start their lives over.

Reading this psychological thriller is entertaining, but this novel is so much more.  The topics of spousal abuse and love, family and a place to belong and feel needed are so strong throughout this novel.  This book keeps looking at how the each decision you make along the way can change the trajectory of your life so easily.  

It is always interesting when a fast well paced thriller can also give you something to think about as you enjoy the tantalizing plot.

Aunty Lee's Delights

 This is the first in the Aunty Lee series by Ovidia Yu.  An entertaining new mystery series set in Singapore.  Aunty Lee is an elderly widow who along with her "housekeeper" who is really her right hand assistant runs a cafe and solves mysteries.

In this first novel the plot sets the scene with the major characters, Aunty Rosie Lee, Nina, her assistant, Mark Lee and Selina, Aunty's stepson and his wife.  There is also a step daughter Mahtilda off with her family in England.  Of course they will work to solve the murders of the girls who seem to be washing up on the beach with Police Commissioner, Raja and Senior Staff Sargent, Salim.  

Though these mysteries are light and entertaining they do delve into deeper subjects, this time exploring the feelings around homosexuality.  

Food is a major theme in each book and there are some recipes in the back of the book.  It would be very interesting to eat some of the signature Singapore delicacies some day.  But until then we can read about the delicious recipes and ingredients and listen to Aunty Lee's descriptions of the food.

Aunty Lee explains the connection between food and life... "In life as in recipes, it was often. the smallest pinch of contrasting flavor - the lightest splash of seasoning savored undetected - that made all the difference to a dish."

Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials

 On the surface Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials seems like just an entertaining mystery.  And though that is true and I look forward to reading more of the series, there are some interesting issues that are part of the mystery that can lead to a larger discussion and get the reader thinking on a deeper level.

Aunty Lee is this wonderfully colorful character who lives in Singapore and owns a delightful and delicious cafe.  She is a widow with two step children and her step son Mark is selling his wine cellar business to Lee's new business partner Cherril.  Cherril will be Aunty's partner in detection.  Aunty also has a sort of sidekick, her assistant, Nina who looks out for Lee's best interest. 

When two people end up dead at a catering event that Aunty Lee and Cherril have cooked for and are serving, they must work with the police to help solve the crime before their business gets closed down.

While trying to solve this mystery other people are turning up missing and there is talk of people selling their organs for money.  Organ donation is illegal in Singapore.  This book gives the reader a chance to think about how one feels about organ donation, or selling body parts like a kidney for money.

If you thought that you could save someone's life with a cadaver body part, how far would you go to get one?  There is also the rumor that the dead woman's business is in trouble.  How far would you go to save your business?  Or could it just be as simple as badly cooked food?  The chicken dish they ate just could have been cooked improperly... was it just food poison?

Author, Ovidia Yu is off to a great start with this clever mystery series

A Question of Betrayal

 Anne Perry, once again brings her readers a great series of mysteries.  This time we are following the exploits of Elena Standish, granddaughter of retired director of MI6, Lucas Standish. 

World War One has ended and the countries of Europe are trying to rebuild.  In Germany Adolf Hitler is starting to take advantage of the war torn country to build his followers and make the people believe he is offering the best solution to their troubles.  In England Lucas Standish who lead MI6 through the war has stepped down and though he still has his ear to the ground and friends on the inside he is in retirement.

This is the second book in the series and I look forward to more of this fascinating collections of adventures that Elena will be taking as she becomes a more experienced spy for Britain.  Though in the last book she had been dumped by the man she loved her, and fired from her job, she went off on a holiday and got caught up in a murder and espionage.  Now back in this second mystery, she has proved herself worthy of being a undercover agent for the British intelligence and is sent off to northern Italy to help bring informant Aiden Strother back with the information he has gathered, because it has become clear his cover has been blown.  Elena has been chosen because she may be the only one who can recognize him... he is the man she loved who dumped her.  

Elena has to accomplish this mission to prove herself worthy of continuing to be a trusted agent.  She has to maintain her level of calm, control and not get caught up in personal feelings.  It is hard to be a young woman scorned and still want to rescue the man who ruined her name.  

This is a absorbing book, with a good mystery, good character development and some historical developments that keep the plot moving and the story compelling.  It will be fun to watch Elena and her sister Margot  as they move forward with their personal relationships and their top secret government positions.  Also very relatable are their grandparents, Lucas and Josephine Standish.  

A Bookshop In Berlin

Another fascinating book.  This one is a memoir written right after the Holocaust and found years later.  So glad we have this small account of Francoise Frenkel's life during the war years.  

She is a young woman at the time, starting out in life on her own.  She grew up in Poland and has left her family there to strike out on her own as a bookstore owner who after going to school in Paris loves French literature.  She opens her French bookstore in Berlin.  For a while she is successful catering to a niche audience.  As the Nazis invade France everything changes.  

Francoise ends up on the run, hiding from the Nazis and also trying to get home to her family.  Crossing borders becomes more and more difficult.  This is a story of survival and leaning on the kindness of strangers and friends.  It shows you the hard times people were living through and how there were some people who wanted to help but were too frightened and others who were willing to take more risks to help those the Nazis were hunting.