Review of "Thereby Hangs A Tail: A Chet and Bernie Mystery" by Spencer Quinn

In this 2nd book in the 'Chet and Bernie' series, the detective team investigates the abduction of a show dog and her owner.

In the Chet and Bernie stories, Bernie Little and his hundred-plus pound dog Chet run the Little Detective Agency in a region of Arizona called The Valley.



The books are narrated by Chet, whose somewhat limited vocabulary, unfamiliarity with idioms, doggie logic, craving for treats, and tendency to get distracted set the stage for plenty of smiles.



Bernie is a West Point graduate, war veteran, former police lieutenant, and talented private detective. Chet is Bernie's invaluable partner, always ready to clamp his jaw on perps and drag them off by the pants.

As the story opens, Chet and Bernie nab an arsonist/jewel thief, who confesses and is arrested.

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Afterwards, Chet observes, "Hours later we had two checks, one for the arson, one for the jewel heist, and a good thing, too, because our finances were a mess—alimony, child support, [and] a bad investment in some company with plans to make Hawaiian pants just like the Hawaiian shirts Bernie wears." Bernie has a tendency to make bad investments, and in this book, Bernie buys into (what is almost certainly) a fake tin mine.....much to Chet's dismay.



As always, Bernie's bank account needs a boost, so - when Bernie's frenemy Lieutenant Stine recommends a gig that pays $2,000 per day - the Little Detective Agency takes the job. Bernie and Chet are hired to 'bodyguard' a small, white, prize-winning show dog named Princess, who's owned by Contessa Adelina.



Unfortunately, Chet immediately grabs a bacon bit meant for Princess, and the detectives get fired before the job even begins.

Soon afterwards, the Contessa and Princess are abducted, and Bernie and Chet are hired to find them. This is a big news story in The Valley, and Bernie's journalist girlfriend, Suzie Sanchez, chases the scoop. Next thing you know, Suzie is missing as well.



As the story unfolds, Bernie and Chet encounter the Contessa's husband, who has a title but no money;



Princess's trainer Nance, who witnessed the Contessa's abduction;



a man who claims that - in the last dog show - his pooch was nobbled by the Contessa's team;



and a sheriff and his deputy, who seem reluctant to help.



Chet also has an adventure of his own when he gets separated from Bernie and meets a couple of old hippies in the desert.





The novel has plenty of action, danger, and laughs, but the story feels padded (too much driving around here and there). Still, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to readers who like cozy mysteries, especially Chet and Bernie fans.

Rating: 3 stars

Review of "Spook Street: Slough House #4" by Mick Herron

This is the 4th book in Mick Herron's 'Slough House' (Slow Horses) series, about British MI5 agents who've made a bad mistake and are relegated to working in a dilapidated building called Slough House. The agents, called 'slow horses', are given nothing but monotonous paperwork to do, and are itching to get back in the game.

The novels in this series are best read in order because of the continuing story arc.

*****

The man in charge of Slough House is former spy master Jackson Lamb, an offensive slob who hurls insults at people, smokes too much, eats too much, and needs to shower and use deodorant. Regardless, Lamb feels compelled to look out for his 'joes' (agents), even if he thinks they're idiots.



The slow horse brigade currently working for Lamb consists of:

Louisa Guy - a sharp young woman who's usually reliable in a pinch;



Roderick Ho - an egocentric computer whiz with an inflated opinion of himself;



River Cartwright - an ambitious fellow whose grandfather was an MI5 agent.



Marcus Longridge - a good agent with a bad gambling problem.



Shirley Dander - a tough woman who'd waterboard a suspect (or slug just about anyone) if given an excuse.



Moira Tregorian - Jackson Lamb's new assistant, whose job it is to organize the tasks at Slough House.



Catherine Standish - Catherine left Slough House because she had her fill of working for Lamb. Even so, Catherine still maintains connections with the slow horses.



J.K Coe - an agent who developed PTSD after a frightening incident. Coe almost never speaks, and his hands are constantly playing an imaginary piano.



As the book opens, a flash mob dancing in a London mall ends with an explosion that kills forty people.



An investigation reveals that the men responsible for the bomb seem to have some connection to former MI5 agents. This opens up a HUGE can of worms for MI5 headquarters at Regents Park. To avoid a scandal, the head honchos at the Park scramble to shift the blame. The people leading the cover-up are Claude Whelan (the new first chair).....



.....and Diana Taverner (the second chair). Diana, ruthless as always, is willing to order people killed to accomplish the task.



Meanwhile, octogenarian David Cartwright (River's grandfather, aka the Old Bastard) - who was once very high up in Regents Park - is succumbing to dementia.



River fears David might accidently give away MI5 secrets, and River even fears the Park would terminate David for security reasons. As it happens, someone DOES try to kill David, which results in River hustling off to France to investigate who, what, and why.

All this, and more attempted murders, galvanize the slow horses into action.

The Slough House books are largely character driven, and Roderick Ho (Roddy) is especially entertaining in this novel.



Roddy, who's deluded himself into thinking he's irresistible to women, keeps talking about his girlfriend. Roddy is convinced the girl is really into him and the other slow horses are convinced the girl is imaginary.

There's plenty of excitement and danger in this book, and new information is revealed about some of the MI5 agents. Fans of the series will enjoy the novel.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Review of "Coal Run: A Novel" by Tawni O'Dell

 

The book's main protagonist, Ivan Zoschenko, has had a difficult life.



Ivan grew up in Coal Run, a coal-mining town in Pennsylvania.



In 1967, when Ivan was six-years-old, a mine explosion killed 96 men, including the boy's father - an immigrant from Ukraine. Ivan's mother carried on alone, doing her best to raise Ivan and his younger sister Jolene. It's hard growing up without a dad, but Ivan did well in the circumstances.



Ivan grew up to be a high school football star.....



.....and his beautiful sister Jolene became a pageant winner - many many pageants.



Both Ivan and Jolene might have benefitted from more parental guidance, because the football celebrity prided himself on seducing as many girls as he could.....



.....and Jolene, who's still single, had three sons with three different men.



Ivan played football in college, and Just as he was about to join the Chicago Bears, the athlete's leg was damaged in a freak accident. Ivan then moved to Florida, where he lived for 16 years, drinking heavily and supporting himself as an exterminator.



Now thirtysomehting Ivan has returned to Coal Run, drawn back by the news that a fellow high school football player, a universally hated bully called Reese Raynor, is being released from prison.



Right around the time of Ivan's accident, Reese beat his young wife so badly she became a vegetable, and Ivan was, and still is, incensed about the incident. Ivan knows Reese will cause trouble when he gets out, and Ivan means to do something about it.

Though Ivan's football career was cut short, he's still a superstar in Coal Run, and the sheriff makes him a deputy. Ivan is lackadaisical about the job, drinks on duty, and usually wears only half his uniform - which isn't necessarily spotless.



Ivan's life experiences may have enhanced his empathy, however, because the deputy tries to help malefactors rather than locking them up, especially since Ivan knows most of them from childhood. Ivan's personal life is a mess though. He has no apartment, bunks on Jolene's couch, and often gets so drunk he sleeps in his truck.

Ivan's ties to Coal Run include Jolene and her three boys;



Ivan's mother, who works as a care facility administrator;



the town doctor, who provides free care to families, especially children, who have no medical insurance;



and Ivan's former neighbor Val Claypool, who lost a leg in Vietnam.



Ivan also happens to meet meet an attractive woman surgeon who works in Coal Run, and he's instantly infatuated. (I'll admit, my first and ongong thought was, what would this successful woman want with a drunk who has no prospects.)



As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that a dark secret has drawn Ivan back to Coal Run, and the truth is revealed little by little.

The family ties that bind the Zoschenko family are heart-warming, and Ivan's demons are convincing and sad. However, I didn't much like Ivan. His arrogance in high school was off-putting (to put it mildly), and his conviction that he should be with the doctor, just because he's sttracted to her, smacks of male entitlement at its worst.

That said, though, this is a compelling, well-written story. Highly recommended.

Rating: 4 stars

Review of "The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers: A Novel" by Samuel Burr

Fiftysomething Pippa Allsbrook is an unmarried cruciverbalist (crossword puzzle enthusiast) who longs to socialize with like-minded individuals.



So Pippa starts a club called 'The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers', and recruits a variety of puzzlers, including: a codebreaker, an arithmetician; a trivialist; a jigsaw puzzle maker; an inventor of mechanical puzzles; a maze-designer; etc.



All the puzzlemakers - and the folks they meet - are engaging, each with his/her individual history, personality, and quirks. For instance, Sir Derek Wadlow, a codebreaker, was part of the team that built the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park;



Earl Vosey is a personable maze-maker whose wife has cancer;



Nancy Stone is a cab driver who excels at trivia;



Hector Haywood is a quiet artist turned jigsaw designer;



Angel, a housekeeper/cook, means well but causes chaos; and more.



In time the puzzlers become a kind of family, and decide to share a big house in the country, with a room for each resident, and studios and outbuildings where the puzzlemakers can work. The members, who make money from their puzzles, contribute to the household expenses.



Pippa never had a child, and she feels an absence in her life.



Then one day a miracle happens. A black leather hatbox with gold trim is left on the doorstep of the Fellowship residence. Inside the box is a baby boy, only a few days old.





Pippa becomes the boy's guardian, and all the puzzlemakers help raise the little fellow, who's named Clayton Stumper. Clayton is very happy at the Fellowship, though he's curious about his history: Who are his parents? Why did they give him away? Clayton can't seem to get any answers.



Then when Clayton is twenty-five, Pippa dies and leaves Clayton a series of puzzles to solve. The puzzles are actually a kind of treasure hunt that provides clues about Clayton's parents. The crosswords and riddles take Clayton to London.......



.....and then to the continent, and Clayton, who was very sheltered at the Fellowship, makes new friends along the way.



The story is told in dual timelines, so that Clayton's adventures in the present alternate with flashbacks to the past, when the puzzlemakers come together, establish their fellowship, 'adopt' Clayton, and so on.

I enjoyed this charming story, which shows that a diverse group of people can become a family; and that love can fluorish in unexpected places. As a bonus, the enthusiastic reader can try to solve the puzzles along with Clayton (they're not so easy).



Thanks to Netgalley, Samuel Burr, and Doubleday for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars