Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil written by John Berendt was first published in 1994.  Interestingly I had just joined my first book group locally with a few women with small children.  We would meet late at night after the kids were asleep.  We were all sleep deprived and it was hard to read a book a month let alone understand and discuss it.

That was my excuse for not realizing that this book was supposed to be non fiction and not a novel. Though I remember not really understanding the plot at the time, it seems to have made a comeback now and is on many reading lists so when I was looking for a non fiction murder story for my group I added it to the list.

Though Berendt insists the book is non fiction he does mention that there are a few changes to the timeline to fit the facts he wants to emphasize. The story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute in Savanah Georgia.  Male prostitute, Danny Hansford was shot by his employer and possible lover, respected antiques dealer Jim Williams.  The book follows Berendt's time in Savannah before and during the murder trials, there were four trials, of Williams.  

The timeline of events is altered to add Berendt being in Georgia earlier in the sequence of events than he really was.  The book also is written to have the suspense and build up of a mystery novel.  It has been referred to as a nonfiction novel  in the press.  Berendt says he is the only fictional character in the book until he catches up with himself, meaning he adds himself to the beginning of the story when he was not there but hten later he is really a part of the timeline.

Once again I found it rambling and difficult to follow.  There is quite a big build up of getting to know the characters and the setting of Savannah and its society scene.  An interesting story that has increased the attention to Savannah and its tourist visitations.  

Fahrenheit 451

 A classic, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is also one of my banned books.  So I finally read the book for my book discussion group.  It actually is a great book, but I probably would not have appreciated it in High School so I am glad I read it now.

451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns.  Those small tidbits and how the book was written add to the enjoyment of the actual story in the novel.  This is a science fiction, dystopian novel that is usually not my favorite genre but this plot is incredible.

Ever since houses were built so they could not burn, the firefighters have been engaged to burn books.  They now sit in the fire house and wait for someone to discover a house hiding books.  They then go and burn the books and the house. The occupants are arrested.  it supposed to be the future, which Bradbury writing in 1953 thought would be 1994.  People are supposed to be happier if they have no stress and no individual thoughts of their own.  Everyone the same.  There are receivers in your ear with someone telling you what to do, there are large screens in walls of your home with "friends" talking to you all day.

You should not read and think individual thoughts.  When Montage a fireman starts to think on his own and question the system things go awry.  Bradbury wrote and reworked this incredible book in a few weeks on a rented typewriter in a library.  The narrative is so well written you just want to quote so many of his thoughts.  He was tremendously incitful about how people think.  Definitely a classic and should be read by everyone.  It is also especially relevant once again in today's political environment.

Pink Lemonade Cake Murder

 I think I have read every one of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson's murder mysteries. It has been 23 years of reading these entertaining easy cozy stories with recipes mixed into the plot.  She started back in 2000 with The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder and now I have just finished this, her newest though not yet last mystery, Pink Lemonade Cake Murder.

Back in the early days it was the new idea of writing a mystery detective who was in some way also a chef or baker.  The mystery was centered around the bake shop or the catering business and included recipes either throughout the book or at the end.  I was a young mother looking for fun new things to cook and it was fun to think about trying the recipes after I had solved the murder.

But now though I give credit to Joanne Fluke for continuing the series all these years, I think the mysteries themselves are getting a little too formulaic.  There were a few other authors who have disappeared who I also loved reading at the time. But to be honest I never really made any of the recipes because so many of them included large amounts of butter and cream and sugar at a time when we were all trying to cut back on those ingredients.

This time I found the actual mystery weak and forced.  I found the characters stale and old fashioned.  I know this takes place in Minnesota but I do not think the teenagers there and their parents are quite as rigid about social norms as the book stated.  The characater who is murdered seems to be killed because he was flirting with teen girls who rode on the back of his convertible car in bikini tops through the small town.  A little too unrealistic for me.

Then there are the recipes.  Maybe it is because these days I love to binge watch The Great British Baking Show, but all the recipes include many prepackaged products.  Recipes for cakes and cookies that use Kool-Aid and Cool Whip along with boxed cake mix.  I am not even tempted to want to make these desserts.

I will probably come back for the next installment of Hannah Swenson's life when the next novel comes out, just nto see if she ever gets married and who she picks..a 23 year romance with two men, Mike a police officer and Norman the town dentist, she has been able to keep them both interested and courting her all these years.

Murder Book

 Murder Book, written by Thomas Perry, was a interesting mystery novel about ex cop, Harry Duncan who can use unoffical methods to bring criminals to justice.  His ex wife is a Senator who hires him to look into some unsavory business dealings.

He can go undercover to figure out what is happening in the small unheard of town in the midwest where business are closing and the owners are being offered deals too good to pass up and protection for a price.

He keeps a murder book with the details of all the deaths he is encountering.  He starts off thinking this will be a small job and as things progress the crimes he is uncovering are getting bigger and bigger.

He reports back to his exwife but she needs more concrete proof.  Both their lives will endangered before he can solve the entire story of corruption .

Very involved but satisfying in the end.

Prom Mom

 Prom Mom by Laura Lippman was not what I had expected when I started reading.

There seems to be a small trend with books about girls who get in trouble and it comes to a climax around the high school senior prom.

This time Amber, who is the unpopular girl in school, tutors Joe the handsome jock, who needs help in French.  He has recently broken up with his girlfriend and Amber convinces him to take her to the prom.

He is described throughout the book as such a nice guy, so he cannot say no to Amber and takes her to the prom, but of course the night goes incredibly wrong and their lives are changed forever.

Now many years later, Joe and the love of his life, his wife, Meredith are living back in the same area he grew up in.  Amber who had created a life for herself in New Orleans comes back to close up her stepfather's house.  She decides to stay.  She opens a gallery and rents an apartment.

As Joe runs into Amber accidentally at first and then slowly gets involved and starts making plans to meet her.  He also has another affair he is stuck in and cannot extricate himself from.  All the while saying that Meredith is the only woman he really loves.

The pandemic breaks out.  All their lives are affected by the restrictions and fear of contracting Covid.  This is an interesting thriller that moves at a slow pace and delivers a slightly trick ending.

It all moved a little too slowly for me.  I found myself wanting to get to the crux of the plot more quickly than the author was getting there.