Total Books: 3 Total Pages: 950 Longest: 353 Shortest: 297
Genres: 2 (Fiction – 1, Mystery – 2)
Anthony Horowitz – The House of Silk
If you’ve been following my monthly book notes, you’ll know that Horowitz has been popping up frequently the past couple of years. The House of Silk is Horowitz’s first entry into the world of Sherlock Holmes, written on the request/approval of the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. I read his second Holmes book, Moriarty, back in Note 52, but just now reading the first!
Set in 1890, the story stretches from the Boston criminal underworld to the opium dens of London. Now, nearly two decades later and a year after Holmes’ death, Dr. Watson records the tale which he claims in the Preface was “the most sensational of Sherlock Holmes career”, yet “the events … were simply too monstrous, too shocking to appear in print” at the time.
It’s been over a decade since I last read Doyle’s Complete Sherlock Holmes, but from my recollection Horowitz has encompassed the style and characters splendidly. If reading “the game’s afoot…” gets your blood pumping – don’t miss this one.
Amy Gail Hansen – Happier Here With You
Happier Here With You has been sitting in my queue for a few months, and I was more than ready to tackle its Hallmark movie-like script following The House of Silk. I love it when I learn/realize things reading light-hearted fiction like this – in this case, the main character, Maggie, is a museum curator and food historian. I don’t think I ever considered someone could have a job as a food historian, but why not? The other revelation in this book for me was about the Women’s Land Army during WWII, I don’t recall having encountered info about that organization previously – or maybe I’m just getting forgetful!
Back to the story though – Maggie, widowed and working in the big city supporting her 5-year-old daughter, gets a summons to spend the summer at her estranged great-aunt’s farm in Wisconsin. While there, Maggie reconnects with her love for cooking, something she hasn’t found time for lately, and she gets pulled into the history of the farm which has been in her family for generations. It helps that a handsome well-known pastry chef is teaching a cooking school nearby, too. A little food, a little history, a little mystery, and a little romance – it all makes for an enjoyable read.
Richard Osman – The Impossible Fortune
The Thursday Murder Club is back!
Book 5 finds Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim, and Ron pulled into the mysterious disappearance of Nick, the best man at Joyce’s daughter’s wedding, who had just asked Elizabeth for her help. Nick and his business partner, Holly, own a cold storage business – which is not what you might first think, there are no refrigerated items there. They also seem to have something very valuable that someone is willing to kill for.
I still cannot read these characters without picturing them as I originally imagined them: Joyce as Dame Judy Dench, Elizabeth as Dame Helen Mirren, Ibrahim as F. Murray Abraham, and Ron as Donald Sutherland (RIP)! The movie cast is half right in my mind!
Until next time, read what pleases you!
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