This is the seventh installment in the Frieda Klein series of mysteries. These books are best read in order, and with this book the week has been completed. “Blue Monday” was the first in the series and looking back, is perhaps the best of the series. All of the books have been reviewed in this blog.
As a quick overview, Frieda Klein is a London psychotherapist who off and on, works with the police to hunt down criminals. This book begins with a dead body found under the floorboards in Frieda’s own flat and she becomes a suspect herself. Before long her friends are threatened by the killer, and if you have read the other books in the series, you have a good idea who the murderer is, and what the message is that he is sending to Frieda. The earlier novels in the series were suspenseful and addictive. However, by the 5th in the series, my interest was flagging, the devotion of Frieda’s friends was getting on my nerves, and I was as desperate as Frieda to put away her protagonist. I was sure this was going to be the grand finale with all the answers. Finally I would be free!! By the last third of the book, I began to suspect that the end was not nigh, and that perhaps the plot line would be further stretched. There is a tidying up by the end of the book, but the mysterious Dean Reeve has not been captured. Sure enough, I recently discovered there is to be another novel called, “Sunday Silence” which promises to wrap up the series.
If you began this series, most likely you will continue. The plot line and suspense is excellent, even though the characters become tiresome. And how can one resist knowing how Frieda will eventually outsmart Dean Reeve!
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Monday, September 18, 2017
THE CROSSING by Andrew Miller (fiction)
I love Andrew Miller’s writing. Like Hilary Mantel, he is one of Britain’s most lauded authors. In the past his subjects have been historical. Considered his best book, “Pure” which takes place on the eve of the French revolution, won a number of literary prizes and was deemed one of the world’s 10 best historical novels by The Guardian.
This book is completely different. It takes place in present day England and opens with a young couple, members of a university sailing club, preparing a dry-docked sailboat for the season, when Maud Stamp suddenly falls from the boat. Surprisingly she survives. The young man working with her, Tim Rathbone, eventually becomes her husband. Tim is from an aristocratic family which has nothing in common with Maud’s middle class parents. There are some uncomfortable moments for each when the families meet.
The story then takes a leap forward, and we find they have a daughter. Maud who was trained as a chemist, is working for a pharmaceutical company while Tim is a stay-at-home Dad. He spends his time dreamily composing music. Maud herself has a dreamy quality which is attractive to men. She is something of an enigma. The reader gets the feeling that these two are not deeply committed to each other, and when an unfortunate accident occurs Maud drifts into her own world.
In her attempt to heal her deep depression, Maud sets sail on Lodestar, a boat she and Tim had lovingly refurbished. The main part of the book takes us on this solo thousand mile journey across the Atlantic with Maud. The details of her life aboard with its daily chores and adjusting to the wind and currents is so accurate that the author must have sailing experience. Every moment and each movement is real. As someone who had sailed for many years, I appreciate Miller’s attention to life aboard and found it doubly anxiety making when Maud finally runs into a major storm.
As we move into the final third of the novel, the dismasted ship, has drifted off course and Maud is rescued by a young girl who is part of a cult group made up of children and teens left to fend for themselves. I will give no other detail of what happens next, but the book takes a strange and intriguing twist.
Andrew Miller is a gorgeous writer. His sentences flow effortlessly and one drifts, buoyed by their beauty. For example:
“…the boat’s shadow like black silk hauled just beneath the water’s surface.”
or, “..a face that is starting to talk about him….though looked at casually he can still be whoever you want him to be.”
or, “Nights are like the bottom of somewhere, a kind of seabed. As for the days, they have a cunning of their own.”
I recommend reading any of Miller’s novels for their style and grace. You don’t have to be a sailor to appreciate this book. It comes to an odd conclusion, but I loved every minute of the reading.
This book is completely different. It takes place in present day England and opens with a young couple, members of a university sailing club, preparing a dry-docked sailboat for the season, when Maud Stamp suddenly falls from the boat. Surprisingly she survives. The young man working with her, Tim Rathbone, eventually becomes her husband. Tim is from an aristocratic family which has nothing in common with Maud’s middle class parents. There are some uncomfortable moments for each when the families meet.
The story then takes a leap forward, and we find they have a daughter. Maud who was trained as a chemist, is working for a pharmaceutical company while Tim is a stay-at-home Dad. He spends his time dreamily composing music. Maud herself has a dreamy quality which is attractive to men. She is something of an enigma. The reader gets the feeling that these two are not deeply committed to each other, and when an unfortunate accident occurs Maud drifts into her own world.
In her attempt to heal her deep depression, Maud sets sail on Lodestar, a boat she and Tim had lovingly refurbished. The main part of the book takes us on this solo thousand mile journey across the Atlantic with Maud. The details of her life aboard with its daily chores and adjusting to the wind and currents is so accurate that the author must have sailing experience. Every moment and each movement is real. As someone who had sailed for many years, I appreciate Miller’s attention to life aboard and found it doubly anxiety making when Maud finally runs into a major storm.
As we move into the final third of the novel, the dismasted ship, has drifted off course and Maud is rescued by a young girl who is part of a cult group made up of children and teens left to fend for themselves. I will give no other detail of what happens next, but the book takes a strange and intriguing twist.
Andrew Miller is a gorgeous writer. His sentences flow effortlessly and one drifts, buoyed by their beauty. For example:
“…the boat’s shadow like black silk hauled just beneath the water’s surface.”
or, “..a face that is starting to talk about him….though looked at casually he can still be whoever you want him to be.”
or, “Nights are like the bottom of somewhere, a kind of seabed. As for the days, they have a cunning of their own.”
I recommend reading any of Miller’s novels for their style and grace. You don’t have to be a sailor to appreciate this book. It comes to an odd conclusion, but I loved every minute of the reading.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
COCKROACHES by Jo Nesbo (fiction)
This is the second Harry Hole book Nesbo wrote. If you are a fan of Nordic noir and Jo Nesbo and you haven’t read this thriller, you will like it. It is not necessary to read the Harry Hole mysteries in older and this book, while written in the 90s, was not published in the States until 2013. The story takes place in Thailand, and though not as good or as polished as his later work, you can see how Nesbo developed as a writer. There is no need to write a review of this book, because you are either a Nesbo fan or not. If you have never read one of his books, I would not start with this one. You might try “The Snowman,” or “The Redbreast.” You may find yourself hooked and move on to others.”The Snowman” is currently being made into a movie, so it might be a good one to begin with. Michael Fassbender plays Harry Hole. Good choice I would say, and I hope the movie lives up to its namesake.
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann (non-fic)
The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
David Grann has written a well-researched and deeply disturbing account of the systematic destruction of the great Osage Nation throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The book is mainly the account of the conspiracy against the Osage in Oklahoma where by chance they ended up sitting on the most valuable oil fields in America.
The story can be said to begin in 1804 when leaders of the Osage Nation met in Washington with Thomas Jefferson who had just completed the deal for the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson was impressed with the strong handsome and well-spoken representatives who met with him, and at that time assurances were given by Jefferson that no one would take tribal lands from the Osage. At that time the Osage possessed 100 million acres of rich land within the territory. In less than 20 years, all that sweet talk was for nought, and the nation was not only decimated by small pox, but forced back into Kansas, their territory reduced to 4 million acres. Soon the white settlers came pouring in with promises from the American government of cheap land. Once again the Osage were relegated into a smaller area, this time in Oklahoma. Homesteaders had claimed all the good land in Kansas and Oklahoma territories. Unknown to those in power at the time, the dry useless land the natives were forced onto was atop of a mega oil field.
The main part of the book takes place in the 1920s, and Grann, an excellent writer, examines the fate of one Osage family, and how the FBI became involved in what was to be its most publicized case, the foundation on which J. Edgar Hoover built his powerful organization. At this time the Osage were the wealthiest people in the world, per capita. The newspapers played up lurid stories of exaggerated profligacy of tribal members spending money on orgies of bling and waste. This sparked jealously and outrage among the white settlers and was further fanned by newsmen throughout the country. The national government decided the Osage were incapable of handling their own money and each family was assigned an guardian, white of course, who lined their own pockets and bilked the natives. Because by law, the mineral rights to the oil could not be sold and could only pass by inheritance, there was a preponderance of white men who married into the Indian families.
By 1925, an overwhelming number of Osage died under violent or mysterious circumstances. No great effort was made to solve these murders. It was only when Mollie Burkhart, (whose husband was white) fearing for her own life after 3 of her sibling suffered unnatural deaths, enlisted the help of a white oil man to petition the national government to step in. Mollie had been victimized by two doctors in the pay of her husband who were poisoning her with shots they claimed were for diabetes.
Once Hoover and an investigator named Tom White became involved, things began to change. The killers of Mollie’s family were eventually brought to justice and the FBI garnered national publicity and praise. By the end of the decade the Great Depression had wiped out what was left of the fortunes of the Osage. While official documents show 24 people had died in mysterious circumstances, modern research had shown the number to be closer to 100.
Unfortunately the greed for oil and territory grabbing is still going on. Witness the recent standoff at Standing Rock and the oil pipelines which are scheduled to go through land belonging to the Lakota Nation. Grann has written an important book furthering our understanding of the injustice done to Native Americans which sadly continues today wherever greed finds a foothold. I recommend this book to all readers and book reading groups.
David Grann has written a well-researched and deeply disturbing account of the systematic destruction of the great Osage Nation throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The book is mainly the account of the conspiracy against the Osage in Oklahoma where by chance they ended up sitting on the most valuable oil fields in America.
The story can be said to begin in 1804 when leaders of the Osage Nation met in Washington with Thomas Jefferson who had just completed the deal for the Louisiana Territory. Jefferson was impressed with the strong handsome and well-spoken representatives who met with him, and at that time assurances were given by Jefferson that no one would take tribal lands from the Osage. At that time the Osage possessed 100 million acres of rich land within the territory. In less than 20 years, all that sweet talk was for nought, and the nation was not only decimated by small pox, but forced back into Kansas, their territory reduced to 4 million acres. Soon the white settlers came pouring in with promises from the American government of cheap land. Once again the Osage were relegated into a smaller area, this time in Oklahoma. Homesteaders had claimed all the good land in Kansas and Oklahoma territories. Unknown to those in power at the time, the dry useless land the natives were forced onto was atop of a mega oil field.
The main part of the book takes place in the 1920s, and Grann, an excellent writer, examines the fate of one Osage family, and how the FBI became involved in what was to be its most publicized case, the foundation on which J. Edgar Hoover built his powerful organization. At this time the Osage were the wealthiest people in the world, per capita. The newspapers played up lurid stories of exaggerated profligacy of tribal members spending money on orgies of bling and waste. This sparked jealously and outrage among the white settlers and was further fanned by newsmen throughout the country. The national government decided the Osage were incapable of handling their own money and each family was assigned an guardian, white of course, who lined their own pockets and bilked the natives. Because by law, the mineral rights to the oil could not be sold and could only pass by inheritance, there was a preponderance of white men who married into the Indian families.
By 1925, an overwhelming number of Osage died under violent or mysterious circumstances. No great effort was made to solve these murders. It was only when Mollie Burkhart, (whose husband was white) fearing for her own life after 3 of her sibling suffered unnatural deaths, enlisted the help of a white oil man to petition the national government to step in. Mollie had been victimized by two doctors in the pay of her husband who were poisoning her with shots they claimed were for diabetes.
Once Hoover and an investigator named Tom White became involved, things began to change. The killers of Mollie’s family were eventually brought to justice and the FBI garnered national publicity and praise. By the end of the decade the Great Depression had wiped out what was left of the fortunes of the Osage. While official documents show 24 people had died in mysterious circumstances, modern research had shown the number to be closer to 100.
Unfortunately the greed for oil and territory grabbing is still going on. Witness the recent standoff at Standing Rock and the oil pipelines which are scheduled to go through land belonging to the Lakota Nation. Grann has written an important book furthering our understanding of the injustice done to Native Americans which sadly continues today wherever greed finds a foothold. I recommend this book to all readers and book reading groups.
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