Review of "Cherry Cheesecake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery " by Joanne Fluke

In this 8th book in the 'Hannah Swensen' series, the baker/amateur sleuth investigates when an actor is murdered with a 'prop gun.' The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

The star of this series is Hannah Swenson - amateur sleuth and entrepreneur - who owns a cookie bakery and loves to create new cookies for her shop and prepare treats for her friends and relatives. Luckily for readers who'd like to try the sweets, recipes are provided.

In this story some scenes for a Hollywood movie are slated to be shot in Hannah's home town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. The producer, director, actors and supporting staff flood into town, and - to the delight of the townsfolk - local citizens will be involved as advisors and bit players.



The murder in this book involves a character dying from a bullet wound from what was supposed to be a prop gun. This doesn't occur until about page 200, however, and until then we visit with the characters and follow Hannah's apparently eternal romantic triangle with Norman the dentist.....



.....and Mike the detective.



In fact, this book has an additional boyfriend - Hannah's attractive friend Ross - who's on the movie staff.



It's hard to believe Hannah's beaus would put up with her indecisiveness forever, but it's a book - not real life.

Once the murder occurs Hannah and her sisters are on the job - not "investigating" (which is frowned on by Mike the detective) but rather "snooping" to help find the killer. As usual with amateur detectives in these kinds of stories, they withhold information from the police, go where they shouldn't, etc.



This isn't a complex mystery but rather an entertaining cozy with fun characters that are staples of the series - and lots of good pastries.

*****

These are some of the recipes in the book.


Cocalattas


Peanut butter and jam cookies


Fruit pocket French toast


Cherry cheesecake


Mini cherry cheesecakes


Chocolate truffles


Cream cheese puffs


Lemon cream torte


Angel kisses


Ooey gooey chewy cookie bars

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Small Great Things: A Novel" by Jodi Picoult

In "Small Great Things" Jodi Picoult addresses the topic of racism in America. The story revolves around Ruth Jefferson, an educated black woman who's been a skilled labor and delivery nurse in a Connecticut hospital for over 20 years.



Ruth, the widow of a decorated soldier, lives in a nice neighborhood with her teenage son Edison - a fine student who plans to attend college. Ruth has high hopes for Edison, who's been raised to strive for success.

Things are going well for Ruth until she tends to Davis Bauer, the newborn son of Turk and Brittany Bauer. The Bauer parents are white supremacists who can't abide a black person touching their child.



They make a fuss and complain to the charge nurse, who puts a note in the infant's file stating 'no African-American personnel can handle this baby.' As it happens Ruth is the only black nurse in the unit, so it's clear the note refers to her.

Before long two white nurses who work in the nursery are called away for critical situations and Ruth is left alone with Davis. The baby - who just had a medical procedure - stops breathing and Ruth is torn about what to do. If she helps Davis she could be fired. If she doesn't help him she's violating her nurse's oath. Very soon a 'code blue' is called and Ruth gives Davis CPR, but the baby dies. To Ruth's shock, her nursing license is suspended and she loses her job.



Turk and Brittany are devastated by their child's death and want someone to blame. The hospital's attorney - who needs to protect her employer - points them in Ruth's direction. In a harrowing scene, the cops hustle into Ruth's house at 3:00 A.M, handcuff Edison, and arrest Ruth - who's charged with murder.



As things play out Ruth is represented by a legal aid attorney named Kennedy McQuarrie. Kennedy knows the case has a strong racial element but insists she can't use the 'race card' during the trial because it wouldn't play well with with the jury. This seems wrong to Ruth...(and I didn't understand it either.)



The story is told from the rotating points of view of Ruth, Kennedy, and Turk - so the reader learns about the characters' backstories as well as what's going on with them now. We find out that Ruth felt like an outsider at the 'white' schools she attended; that she felt embarrassed to wrap her hair at a white girls' sleepover; that some merchants regard her as a probable thief; that her son Edison was turned down when he asked a white girl to a dance; etc. In short, almost all white people in Ruth's orbit are at least a little bit racist, whether they realize it or not.

As Ruth and Kennedy prepare for the trial, other things are going on. Ruth - out on bail - has to take a minimum wage job. This embarrasses Edison, who's already acting out and getting into trouble.



Ruth's situation also attracts the attention of an Al Sharpton-type character who wants to use her case to rouse the black community. All this adds to Ruth's anxiety.

Additional characters in the story include Ruth's mother - a housekeeper for a wealthy white family; Ruth's sister - the militant member of the family; Ruth's co-workers - who don't step up when things get rough; Kennedy's husband and daughter - loving antidotes to her difficult job; and Turk's father-in-law - who taught young Bauer to be a vicious skinhead.

The trial part of the book is compelling, and I liked the scenes of jury selection and questioning of witnesses (I'm a big fan of Perry Mason. LOL  🙂). The book's climax and ending are a bit contrived, but satisfying.

The author tells a good story that's relevant to what's going on today, with young black men being shot by cops and African-Americans still experiencing discrimination. My biggest problem is that the author sets up a situation so extreme that it's hard to believe. Ruth is the ONLY black person in her hospital group. The note is SUPER offensive; Turk is EXCEPTIONALLY vicious; and so on. To me it seems like every important character in the book is more of a 'type' than a real person.

Still, this is a good book, recommended to fans of literary fiction.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Before I Go To Sleep: A Novel" by S.J. Watson

Since a severe head injury 17 years ago, forty-something Christine Lucas has had amnesia. She's lost all her long-term memories, and short term recollections from any given day are wiped out when she sleeps. So Christine wakes up each morning not knowing where she is, not recognizing her husband, and thinking she's still a young woman. 



And every morning Christine's husband Ben has to remind her who he is, tell her about her life, show her a scrapbook with photos, etc. 









Unknown to Ben - who feels Christine has seen enough doctors - she is being treated by Dr. Nash, a specialist in amnesia. Dr. Nash has advised Christine to keep a journal, where she records what happens each day. Every morning Dr. Nash calls Christine, tells her who he is, and reminds her to read the journal. This helps Christine put together pieces of her life and gives her some day to day continuity.





Dr. Nash has also been taking Christine to places she's lived, in the hopes of reviving old memories. And Christine does get flashes from the past which she faithfully records in her journal - along with mundane day to day occurrences.



As Christine begins comparing her journal to things Ben tells her, she realizes Ben is lying about important matters. As the story unfolds the reader slowly learns the truth about Christine's past as well as what's going on in her life now.



The book has an interesting premise. However, it's very slow moving and tediously repetitive as Christine constantly relearns aspects of her life. Thus this 'thriller' isn't that thrilling, though there's some excitement as the story approaches it's climax - and Christine confronts difficult truths.





From the buzz around the book I expected to like it better, but it turned out to be a 3 star book for me.

Note: The movie adaptation of the book, starring Nicole Kidman (Christine) and Colin Firth (Ben) is half-faithful to the story. It's not a great film (2 stars for me) but it does zip along much faster than the book.



Rating: 3 stars

Review of "X: A Kinsey Milhone Mystery" by Sue Grafton

In this 24th book in the 'Kinsey Milhone' series, the private detective investigates two complex cases. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****



Private detective Kinsey Milhone has money in the bank (for a change) and time on her hands. So when Ruthie Wolinksy - widow of Kinsey's deceased colleague Pete Wolinksy - is preparing for a tax audit, Kinsey agrees to look through Pete's old files for pertinent documents.



Instead, Kinsey finds two surprising things. One is a coded document that turns out to be a list containing six women's names. At least some of the women have a connection to an obnoxious man named Ned Lowe, who has a history of stalking and mistreating his old girlfriends and wives.



Another is a three-decades-old manila envelope containing mementos from Lowe's first wife, meant for his now grown daughter.



Kinsey had disdained Pete Wolinsky when he was alive, thinking of him as a dishonest rogue.



So when Kinsey learns that Pete had the list and envelope because he was trying to do good things, she decides to carry on with his inquiries. This isn't smooth sailing, though, because nasty Ned Lowe makes every attempt to derail Kinsey's investigation and keep her away from his daughter.

Meanwhile Kinsey takes on another case. Wealthy fashionista Hallie Bettancourt asks Kinsey to locate the son she gave up for adoption thirty years ago.



The man, Christian Satterfield, was in prison for bank robbery and has just been paroled. Because Kinsey thinks the job will be quick and easy she accepts the modest payment of two hundred dollars in cash. Kinsey then performs a spot of surveillance, finds Christian's address, and sends it to Hallie. 

As it turns out, Hallie Bettancourt's entire persona is false. Her name isn't Hallie, she isn't Christian's mother, and the cash payment she gave Kinsey is 'marked' - part of a $25,000 ransom paid to retrieve a stolen painting a couple of years before. So Kinsey decides to find out what the unknown woman actually wants with the ex-convict. Could she be planning a robbery?

Kinsey also has one other concern. An elderly couple, Edna and Joseph Shallenbarger, have recently moved next door to Kinsey's landlord, nonagenarian Henry Pitts. Joseph is wheelchair-bound and Edna is a sly old bird who constantly wangles Henry into helping her, buying her groceries, taking her to the store and the dentist and so on.



Kinsey resents the Shallenbargers taking advantage of Henry.



In addition - as it turns out - the old couple are even worse neighbors than Kinsey feared.

In the course of her inquiries Kinsey makes a lot of phone calls, follows people, conducts interviews, looks up documents, meets a millionaire, writes up her index cards, and so on. She also spends some time dining in her friend Rosie's bar, making peanut butter and pickle sandwiches at home, and talking with old friends and acquaintances.

I enjoy this series and like visiting with the familiar characters. For me, though, the plot in this book is not riveting. Kinsey's cases seem unfocused, and her investigative procedures are a little slow and rambling. This contrasts with previous books where Kinsey's investigations were driven and fast-paced.

Still, I recommend this book to Sue Grafton fans. A flawed Kinsey Milhone story is better than none. :)

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "A Conspiracy of Friends: A Corduroy Mansions Novel" by Alexander McCall Smith

This is the 3rd book in the 'Corduroy Mansions' series, which centers around an apartment building in the Pimlico section of London. The residents of the building - and their friends, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, and co-workers - get up to all sorts of amusing antics. The book can be read as a standalone.


Pimlico section of London

*****

In this book we visit with some familiar characters and see what they're up to.

Twenty-something Caroline Jarvis has a degree in art history and works as a photographer's assistant.



Caroline's parents want their daughter to spend less time with her best friend James, a gay young man who's not a viable marriage prospect. Thus, Caroline's mom engages in a little behind the scenes manipulation for her daughter's own good.




And Caroline makes a regrettable mistake.

*****

Middle-aged William French owns a wine store and lives with his beloved dog, Freddie de la Hay. One weekend William and Freddie de la Hay go to the country to visit William's lifelong friend Gerald and his wife Maggie. Unfortunate consequences ensue.



Freddie de la Hay disappears and Maggie reveals a disturbing secret she's been harboring for decades. A bit of trouble follows and William gets assistance from his friend Marcia Light - who carries a torch for him.....



.....and his neighbor Mr. Singh.



FYI: I was amused to learn that Freddie de la Hay (my favorite character) can fasten his own seat belt in a car.

*****

Berthea Snark is a psychologist and writer with a lot on her mind.



Berthea can't stand her son, Oedipus Snark, a self-absorbed minor politician with delusions of grandeur.



Berthea does love her brother Terry Moongrove, a good-natured fellow with his head in the clouds. Terry is always on the brink of either accidently killing himself or being victimized by con artists, so Berthea keeps a close eye on him.

In this book, we see Oedipus (as usual) avoiding work and trying to throw his weight around. He also joins colleagues on a trip to the CERN supercollider, where he tries to be a know-it-all and embarasses himself.

Terry also reveals his latest obsession - owning and driving a race car.



*****

Barbara Ragg, a book editor, is the ex-girlfriend of Oedipus Snark, who was a neglectful, indifferent boyfriend. She's now dating Hugh, whom she hopes to marry.



Barbara feels guilty about a couple of things and 'confesses' them to Hugh. Hugh returns the favor, relating a shocking story about working in Colombia, South America.

*****

We also look in on some other characters including William's ne'er do well son Eddie and his girlfriend; Barbara's resentful business partner, Rupert Porter; an author writing a true-life book about a Yeti; and others.

This is a humorous, entertaining book that should probably be enjoyed with a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Recommended for people who want a restful, low-stress book for a relaxing read.

Rating: 3.5 stars