Peachy Reads

Sue Grafton is another author I've read since the 1980s, and since her stories take place in that decade and time never advances much, it's always a bit nostalgic traveling back to the time before cellphones, internet, and many of the things that define the intervening decades.  This unfortunately is the last visit with detective Kinsey Millhone, since the author of the alphabet series "only" made it to Y before her recent passing. In Y is for Yesterday Kinsey is hired to find out the identity of a blackmailer who is trying to get a surprisingly paltry sum from a young man recently released from confinement after a tragic murder in high school.  The story ping pongs back and forth from 1979 to 1989 and includes as a sidestory a stalker (from a previous episode in the series) who is after Kinsey.  The whole book is a bit dark, and the usual lighter vignettes of Rosie's "offal" cooking in the neighborhood Hungarian restaurant and her octogenarian b

Having recently read a couple books by Alexander McCall-Smith, his wonderful knack for character development reminded me of another skilled author who is adept at drawing well-rounded 3-dimensional characters, Anne Tyler.  I began reading Anne Tyler back in the 1980s with  The Accidental Tourist , but it had been many years since I had picked up one of her novels.  Clock Dance was available through the library's eBook service, so I reentered her world of quirky individuals, plotting their course through life. We first meet Willa as a young girl, trying to navigate a tricky childhood with a mother whose mood swings introduce a difficult dynamic into the home.  Willa holds things together, far too young to be doing so, trying to walk a tightrope and searching for that all important balance, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout her life.  We next meet Willa in college, with a promising career in linguistics ahead.  Instead, she acquiesces to fiance Derek's pro