Peachy Reads

This is sort of a modern take on Murder on the Orient Express .  The central storyteller is somewhat of an unreliable narrator.  She’s a travel correspondent preparing a feature on a luxury mini-cruise to the Norwegian fjords.  When she witnesses a body being thrown overboard in the wee hours, nobody believes her story about a mysterious woman in the neighboring cabin and some strange goings-on.  Of course things escalate in an exciting conclusion.

Another decades-long family saga is skillfully told by Ann Patchett.  The house of the title features as the focal point, and is almost as much of a character as the human actors.  A mother leaves her family because of the Dutch House, a step-mother (almost as evil as those in fairytales) is drawn to the house, by the end both women reside in the house together, and finally a granddaughter recaptures the house for the family members who were once driven out.  These are just the milestones, the in-between parts are filled with life and love.  Always compelling, Ann Patchett’s strength is her multifaceted characters.

Having read the last book in Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery series, it became obvious that I had skipped over the previous installment, X.  This episode focuses on a serial killer who very nearly snuffs Kinsey.  Y put an end to that killer, so X shed a bit of light on that storyline!  Now I’m caught up.  Definitely would have made more sense to read them in sequence, alas.