Total Books: 5 Total Pages: 1344 Longest: 384 Shortest: 94
Genres: 3 (Fiction – 2, History/Memoir – 1, Mystery – 2)
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz
This is the 3rd in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series in which the author plays sidekick to former DI Daniel Hawthorne as his biographer of sorts.
This time they’ve been invited to a literary festival on a small island off the south coast of England to promote their first book, The Word is Murder (see Note 30). And, of course, they end up investigating a murder where almost everyone on the island, both guests and residents, are suspects.
The Silver Ladies of Penny Lane by Dee MacDonald
A humorous novel of two best friends looking to live their best life as single women of a certain age. I expected to find them in their 70s from the title, only to discover they are described as early 60s (my age!) oh my!
Tess and Orla operate a dress shop for “plus-sized” ladies and decide to get out of their rut by joining an “over-the-hill dating agency” which is sponsoring a singles cruise in the Greek Islands. Will they find their soulmates? How many scoundrels will they have to date along the way to find Mr. Perfect? It was an entertaining, light read, but I hope to never find myself in their shoes!
Etruscan Places by D.H. Lawrence
For a tour on our upcoming cruise, our guide recommended D.H. Lawrence’s Etruscan Places. Yes, the same D.H. Lawrence of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and other novels.
It seems in addition to his novels, essays, and short stories, he also wrote quite a bit about his travels. This short book was published posthumously in 1932; Lawrence died at the age of 44 in 1930.
His “Etruscan” travels in Italy occurred in the 1920s. His detailed descriptions of the tombs he visited, what was known about the Etruscans at that time, and the countryside are quite fascinating. I was glad that our guide recommended this book.
The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz
Continuing the Hawthorne and Horowitz series, The Twist of a Knife, finds Horowitz lamenting he is exceeding the original 3-book contract with Hawthorne and has run out of literary murder title references. In this fourth installment, Horowitz has penned a play which is opening in London’s West End.
From Amazon: The play is panned by the critics. In particular, Sunday Times critic Margaret Throsby gives it a savage review, focusing particularly on the writing. The next day, Throsby is stabbed in the heart with an ornamental dagger which turns out to belong to Anthony, and has his fingerprints all over it.
Will Hawthorne come to his rescue and find the real killer ensuring a fourth book? As this is the fourth book, I guess the answer is evident!
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The iconic Jazz Age novel turned 100 years-old this year, so I pulled my circa 1986 paperback from the bookshelves and gave it a read for the first time in almost 40 years. It was also my tribute to the late Robert Redford who played the title character in the 1974 movie version.
I have to say that the story still holds up 100 years later and probably will still in another 100 years.
Until next time, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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