Peachy Reads

It had been awhile since I’d read Sue Grafton and picking up a book with P.I. Kinsey Millhone was like reacquainting oneself with an old friend. It’s so reassuring to revisit wonderful characters such as benevolent landlord and retired baker Henry and pushy Hungarian restauranteur Rosie. Kinsey’s self-deprecation, sense of humor, and often mildly misanthropic tendencies make her a memorable and enduring personality in the realm of detective fiction. Oh, and she's a smart cookie. Plus the fact that she is in a timewarp circa 1988 makes reading the alphabet mysteries a bit of a nostalgia trip as well. I never thought Grafton would reach the end of the alphabet, but the strength and freshness of the plot of U is for Undertow is proof that this series should easily make it to Z and perhaps beyond. Note 1-3-2011 My reunion with Kinsey was so wonderful, I picked up T is for Trespass and found it an even more compelling read. And you don't have to read these in order!

The Double Comfort Safari Club is number 12 in a series that shows no signs of losing steam. This installment again illustrates that the cases of the No. One Ladies Detective Agency’s number one detective Precious Ramotswe have less to do with sleuthing, mystery and intrigue and more to do with the vagaries of human nature. The occasional observations about life are wonderful in their own right, never mind the plot that takes the reader along with Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi to a Botswanan Safari Park. Here are two quotes that I marked (electronically in my borrowed library e-copy on my Nook) that I thought were worth coming back to: p 9 That was the way the world was; it was composed of a few almost perfect people (ourselves); then there were a good many people who generally did their best but were not all that perfect (our friends and colleagues); and finally, there were a few rather nasty ones (our enemies and opponents). Most people fell into that middle group-- those who did th...

Henning Mankell does not disappoint in this installment in the Kurt Wallander detective series. While some books in the series seem overdominated by psycho-serial killers, this one has a more credible plot. An inflatable liferaft with two dead bodies floats onto a Swedish beach near Ystad and the case takes Wallander to Latvia. It is 1992, so this Baltic nation is just emerging from its submission under the Soviet mantel that enveloped it since the end of World War II. The politics of police work in Riga are ticklish—there is corruption and intrigue between nationalists and Soviet sympathizers. Wallander gets fully involved and very nearly loses his life in the process. A fascinating insight into the history and turmoil of a nation coming into its own and a darn entertaining read.

I must say I really have enjoyed reading David Nicholls, first with One Day , then A Question of Attraction , and now finishing up with The Understudy . They're all light reading-- no Tolstoy or Joyce here-- but if you're looking for a laugh and an entertaining diversion, you won't be disappointed. In this novel he follows the life of actor Stephen C. McQueen (no, not that Steve McQueen), the understudy to movie heartthrob Josh Harper, who is doing a turn in a one-man play on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End. Stephen is literally waiting in the wings for his big break, weary of reprising the role of Sammy the Singing Squirrel to make ends meet, but the leading man is never ill, so Stephen never gets his chance to take center stage. His life off-stage is what really is the main interest here, and when it begins to intersect with his stage life things start to get interesting. Stephen makes a Faustian bargain with Josh Harper, which involves his American wife (who...

Pippi Longstocking meets Miss Marple in the character of precocious 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, the youngest of three daughters in a once well-to-do family in early 1950s rural England. This first mystery in an intended series finds Flavia beating the local police inspector at his own game in solving the mystery surrounding the murder of an old school mate of her father's in their back garden (in the cucumber patch no less). Clues include a bird indigenous to Norway, a rare stamp, and a bit of flaky pie crust. This nostalgic and innocent whodunnit will have you at the edge of your seat by its suspenseful climax. I can see BBC/PBS picking up on the popularity of this charming mystery. The second in the series has already been published and the third is soon to follow. And by the way, here's a great library quote from Flavia on page 50: "... it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No ...