Holmes, Marple and Poe

 James Patterson writes this new series with Brian Sitts.  Using the well known and loved classic mystery novel detectives as inspiration, these authors have created a team of detectives that will solve any crime.  They can even work more than one case at a time. Sharing their unique specialities they each contribute something to solving of each mystery.  Though in addition their individual eccentricities also can get in the way of their work as they help each other through the lows and demons they each face.

 Book two is already available and I do hope there will be more to follow.  I enjoyed this mystery both for the twisty cases but also for the way the authors captured the personalities of the Homes, Marple and Poe.

I Am Not The Only Murderer in My Retirement Home

 Fergus Craig has written an entertaining mystery novel about the life of an aging and former serial killer.  Carol has done her time and paid her dues and now leaving the prison sentence behind she is moving into a senior living establishment.  She has decided to turn over a new leaf and lead a honest life.  She has had enough of prison.  

When a fellow resident dies, Carol is the first person on the scene and calls the police.  But when they realize who she is and learn about her past, her freedom may be at stake.  The police may think they do not look any further than Carol for the crime, but Carol insists she is innocent.

This time Carol may have to prove who the real killer is to be able to prove her own innocence. 

Mad Mabel

 Mad Mabel written by Sally Hepworth, is a winner of a book. Hepworth is a masterful storyteller with a great ability to build suspense.  This time we meet Elise Mabel Fitzpatrick, an elderly woman living a quiet life down a small lane.  She waves to her neighbors but keeps to herself. When a neighbor dies, Elise’s sarcastic responses to the police bring her past under closer scrutiny. 

Now her quiet life is disrupted by neighbors knocking at the door and a need to tell the story of her past.  As Elise tells the story of her life interspersed between the current events happening on Kenny Lane, Melbourne, Australia, we get a picture of her life story. A difficult childhood, with indifferent parents, Elise has a hard childhood with many challenges and difficulties along the way.  She tells the story of her life and explains so many of the mysteries that have surrounded her and followed her through her life.

The Very Unremarkable Life of Etty Bloom

Talya Jankovits, has written a very endearing first novel, The Very Unremarkable Life of Etty Bloom.  Along with the title the novel takes a slow stroll through the life of Etty Greenberger as she grows up in the Hasidic neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  We watch her grow from the child of Holocaust survivors to a grown woman, getting married, becoming Etty Bloom, and struggling to have children.  We follow her life through to old age and find her not only growing old in age, but slowly growing smarter as she ages.  

Growing up in a time of great superstition, following the Holocaust, Etty's parents are over protective and social norms are constraining. The goal of every parent is to see their daughter married, taking care of a husband and many children.  Etty is headstrong and has other interests.  She has trouble fitting into the accepted society she was born into.  Her mother tries really hard to fit into the small world they live in and works hard to make Etty fit the role she is meant to play.  

Etty never seems to be happy.  She is not able to see the positive side of her life and experiences. As her friends all quickly make matches, marry and start building families, Etty has trouble accepting any of the young men she is offered in marriage. When she finally marries, she has trouble conceiving a child.  Then following the same mistakes her mother made, she imposes on her own daughter some of the same pressure to fit in, marry and raise a family.  Pushing her daughter to follow the accepted social practices of the Hasidic community, she did not favor. 

This is the story also of how from one generation to the next times changed.  Etty's daughter, Sarala, is very similar to Etty, but is stronger than her mother and fights the pressure of the community to stand strong in her beliefs. She is satisfied with her life even if it is not the prescribed pattern of the women in the neighborhood.

Though Etty Bloom’s life seems unremarkable, author Talya Jankovits has captured the voice of the NY immigrant Jewish community very well. The smells of the traditional foods and superstitious beliefs of the time period . The reader will be able to picture the Lower Eastside of New York and the life of the immigrants who came to America.  

The plot keeps you engaged until the end, always hoping maybe that Etty will find clarity and become a better person.  It will take Etty a lifetime but maybe she will finally realize that her unremarkable life is really rather remarkable. A wonderful lesson in humility, tzedukah and being your best self.

Murder on the Marlow Belle

As we move through the series of the Marlow Mystery Club it gets harder to keep the mysteries intriguing but Thorogood is nothing but great at his craft. Judith an her friends still manage to present a interesting and compelling read and keep the reader in suspense all the way to the concluding page. This time even though it seems the murderer has been apprehended there is a last minute current that sends the plot downstream toward another possible ending.

This time Judith Potts, the puzzle solving, woman of a certain age, citizen detective is called to a woman's home when her husband seems to have disappeared. Then when his body is found Judith, Suzie and Becks, the Marlow Murder Club, start to quietly ask questions.  This time DI Tanika Malik asks them not to investigate because she is being harassed by her colleague, who doesn't like the trio getting involved in police investigations. 

Judith joins the local amateur actors group, playing a role in the upcoming performance, which gets her on the inside with all the suspects.  The murdered man was the director, Oliver, who had issues with every one of the cast members. The cast members were all together on a boat ride, the Marlow Belle,  when the murder occurred. 

Blunt Instrument

 Amy Bloom has written her first crime novel, Blunt Instrument.  What a wild ride it is .  We follow self-taught private investigator, Dell Chandler, as she takes on her first solo case.  Dell was professor of English before she was fired from her position. The year her mother died she did everything she could do wrong in the job and ended up without a career.  Her Uncle Lou, who she had worked for through her teenage years, helping him with his private investigator firm, Martinez and Associates, offered to take her on as a partner.  She learned what she could from watching Law & Order.  Then she went to the gun range and learned how to shoot for protection.

Now her uncle is gone and her father has given her name to the Cromwell College president, Elizabeth Curry, as someone who can find the killer of Professor Oliver Bullfinch.  Killed in his office, Curry wants to find an answer quickly and the police have not been able to find the killer.  Dell sets to work trying to smoke out the killer.  She runs into many obstacles along the way.  The police do not want to share information.  She has angered a few people and they are trying to scare her away.  

She might be falling in love and she is not really sure who she can trust.  Someone who seems like a friend  could be or they could be a suspect.  As Dell negotiates her way through the suspect list and tries to keep herself, her father and her godfather, Theo Gurwitz, who was her mother’s closest friend, safe.  At seventy five he was blind and supposed to be retired but was still teaching on class at Cromwell.   

This novel takes the mystery plot a little deeper, building character development to round out the private investigator and the prime suspects personalities. Giving more depth to the relationships and motives.  Clever dialog and descriptions make this a perfect read.

The Secret of Cherry Hill Orchard

 

The Secret of Cherry Hill Orchard , written  by Kim Davis, is the second in the series about 11 year old, Amber and her younger 5 year old half sister, Ava.  In the first book they were playing a game and they were pulled into the land of the game.  This time Amber is supposed to babysit for Ava and her friend Harper.  Their mothers are going shopping for items they will both need when they each give birth to their next children.  Amber, Ava and Harper are not so excited about the new additions to the family.  As they start to play a game called Cherry Hill Orchard, a large cherry appears and takes them into the game.  There they meet a group of cats who are being harassed by a group of dogs. The dogs are chasing them and keeping the cats from harvesting their cherry trees. All the food the girls get to eat there are made with cherries.  Cookies, pies, even the drinks are cherry flavored. The three girls learn the importance of working together and getting along as they try to bring peace between the cats and dogs.  They travel through dangerous territory to meet the Queen and ask her to punish the dogs and protect the cats.  It is only then that they can return to the real world.