Peachy Reads

Back in London, Peter Grant is called to investigate the unfortunate overdose death of a school acquaintance of Lady Tyburn’s daughter.   And there are faces for everyone-- Lesley May reappears with a new face, and the Faceless Man is faceless no more.   A bit disappointingly,  Nightingale has more of a peripheral role in this installment of the series.   And while, sure, there are a lot of magical goings-on and some rather fantastic battles, the plot was a little ho-hum, almost like the author phoned it in.   I notice, based on customer reviews, that other readers felt a change in the series with this book as well.     Maybe it has run its course.   Still love the London settings and the local color, but I think I’m less inclined to continue with the next novel when it comes out.

Another police procedural set in Sweden.   The last Henning Mankell book I read featured a character who had successfully overcome cancer. This book (which was published first) centers on this individual, Stefan Lindman, as he frets over his diagnosis and also becomes involved in the murder investigation of a former colleague on the police force.   Wallander is nowhere to be found in this book, and though the feel is the same, this book is set largely in remote, rugged, and woodsy  Härjedalen , near  Östersund , far from the flat seaside landscape of Ystad.    The plot deals with a little known aspect of Sweden’s stance in World War II, and how some individuals thought that Hitler represented the only answer to halt the spreading Soviet influence within Europe.   And how Nazism survives even today in corners of Sweden. Found this on Hoopla to download for free through the library.

Henning Mankell  authored the internationally known detective series featuring Kurt Wallander.  This particular volume features his daughter Linda, a character who has been in previous novels, but in this installment she is a recent graduate of the police academy and now joining the police force in Ystad, following in her father’s footsteps. Their relationship is fraught with tension, even though they are probably more like each other than either would care to admit.  You don’t always show your best side with family, and this book certainly illustrates that, but I think it is all the more realistic for it. The main storyline focuses on Linda’s friend Anna.  Linda tries to determine her whereabouts after she mysteriously disappears.  Things all become a bit complicated with the reappearance of Anna’s long missing father, a cult, arson, and two brutal murders.  The final scenes stretch credibility, but are nevertheless suspenseful. I liked the sens...

An art history whodunit?    Hard to imagine, but this book often reads like a thriller.   The Ghent altarpiece is one of the most stunning artworks ever created.   Its unparalleled beauty and intricate symbolism also made it one of the most prestigious spoils of war throughout the centuries.   Noah Charney describes the genesis of this wonderful work of art and then charts its precarious survival in spite of iconoclasts, unscrupulous caretakers, inept burglars, and foreign invaders.   The last part of the book documents Hitler’s effort to create a mega art museum in Linz with all the stolen booty from the Nazi plundering of Europe.   In the final days of World War II, this priceless depository of art, including the Ghent altarpiece, was nearly destroyed in a salt mine in the Austrian Alps.   Stealing the Mystic Lamb is a bit of fascinating art history with a little Monuments Men thrown in.   Click here for an online link that shows the wo...

This is the first Bernie Gunther novel  I have read that was completely set   after the fall of the Third Reich.  It takes place in 1947 with a Berlin in ruins, its inhabitants trying to survive under very difficult circumstances with the Russians exerting an enormous influence, and the fragile peace struck between the allied victors fraying at the seams.  Partly due to the struggle for everyday existence in the former German capital, Bernie takes on a job in Vienna, another city that is split between the Amis, Brits, French, and the Russkies. He very quickly finds himself caught in a complex web of intrigue involving the Russians and Americans, and a shady association of ex-Nazis who are creating a network of influence in postwar Europe.  This novel  is extremely suspenseful up until the last pages, and is an enjoyable foray into the history of Europe in the immediate aftermath of World War II and its earliest efforts at reconstruction. 

A chance encounter at a christening party radically redirects the destiny of two families for decades to come.  The dilemmas and issues that confront the two families are largely commonplace, but there is one defining event, the secret of which is painfully revealed in a very public way, that has repercussions that no one expected. The parts of this book, divided by the passage of time, serve almost as stand-alone short stories—the characters and situations are drawn so vividly and so expertly that it almost feels as if the reader has stepped into the scene and has become an active observer.   In Commonwealth Ann Patchett describes life as we know it, and yet, in her hands, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Ove is the self-appointed neighborhood overseer, making sure that residents and visitors follow the home owners association rules to the letter.  His daily routine includes checking to see that the recyclables have been sorted correctly, seeing that motor vehicles do not enter the residential area, and that bikes are properly stored in the bike shed.  He takes this role seriously, and it immediately becomes obvious that Ove is an insufferable curmudgeon.   After the recent death of his wife, he contemplates joining her by plotting to take his own life.  In a comedy of errors his attempts to do himself in are always foiled by a last-minute interruption that pulls him in closer to the circle of the living.  Bit by bit the neighborhood community embraces him, and he is no longer a loner, though he is just as grumpy.   The reader learns of Ove’s upbringing and his marriage via flashbacks, and these vignettes provide important glimpse...