Fall into a book...

Fall is here! You guys know what that means, right? It gets dark much earlier, there is a nice cool nip in the air, and suddenly pumpkin spice is being inserted into everything from coffee to pizza. Enough with the pumpkin spice already, it doesn't even have real pumpkin in it.

Sorry. I digress.

Fall also means a brand new crop of books! September and October bring tons of new titles, including new stuff from old favorites. To kick start your autumnal reading, I'm going to give you a quick list of a few of the books that have caught my eye recently...

Once A Rake - Eileen Dreyer
The fourth book in her amazing Drake's Rakes series.Those who are frequent visitors to the blog know that I love me some Eileen Dreyer romance! If you need a reminder of why I adore her stuff, you can find one here, and here, and here.

Through The Evil Days - Julia Spencer-Fleming
Number eight in the always excellent Claire Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series, I am alternately looking forward to and/or dreading this one. If you read this series you know that the last book ended with a big, super-duper, twist. I usually fear this sort of thing, but Spencer-Fleming is a very talented writer and I'm going to trust her to get her characters, as well as her fans, through this latest crisis.

Storm Front - John Sandford
The seventh book in Sandford's Virgil Flowers series. I've read Sandford's Lucas Davenport books for years, but just read my first Virgil book this summer. As soon as I finished the first book, I immediately raced through the next five. Sandford is so good, he makes it look effortless.  Can't wait to see what "that fucking Flowers" is up to next!

The Night Guest - Fiona McFarlane
From down under comes a title from a new author and it's getting crazy good reviews.  The Night Guest tells the story of an elderly woman, on the verge of dementia, living alone in an isolated beachfront area in Australia. One day a mysterious caregiver shows up and the developing relationship between the two women becomes the focus of a story that has been called "beautiful," hypnotic," and "creepy." I'm intrigued!

Johnny Cash: The Life - Robert Hilburn
Long time LA Times music critic, Hilburn brings us what is being called the "definitive" biography of the always fascinating Man in Black. I've been a Johnny Cash fan all of my life, so of course, this one is on the list.

The Thicket - Joe Lansdale
"I didn't suspect the day grandfather came out and got me and my sister, Lula, and hauled us off toward the ferry that I'd soon end up with worse things happening than had already come upon us or that I'd take up with a gun-shooting dwarf, the son of a slave, and a big angry hog, let alone find true love and kill someone, but that's exactly how it was." C'mon people, who can resist an opening like that? If you haven't read Joe Lansdale, then you have missed out on some very fine storytelling. Can't wait for this one!

So, there you go folks, some great new books to curl up with as the autumnal winds start blowing. I'd love to hear what you guys are eagerly anticipating.  What's on your fall reading list?

Anticipation...

It's a quick top 5 Tuesday list today since I'm trying to get ready to dash off to California for a conference. I'm hoping now that the Holidays are over, I'll have a bit more time to update the blog.  Thanks to those of you have continued to read, comment and email to let me know you're visiting. I truly appreciate your support.

I thought we'd start off the New Year with a list of five of the genre books that I'm most looking forward to in 2011. Most of these don't have covers yet, so no pretty artwork. They are all available for pre-order though, so keep an eye on Amazon.

The Dark Enquiry - Deanna Raybourn - pub date: June 21, 2011

Fifth book in her amazing Julia Grey series. Brisbane is back! Yay!

Cold Vengeance - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - pub date: August 2, 2011

Latest in the newly re-energized Agent Pendergast series.  Looks like a good one!

One Was A Soldier - Julia Spencer Fleming - pub date: April 26, 2011

I've been waiting for this one. Seems like forever since the last Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne book.  

Fallen - Karin Slaughter - pub date: May 31, 2011 

I never know what to expect from Slaughter, but this title is supposed to mingle characters from her Grant County and Atlanta series, so it should be interesting.  

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart - Sarah Maclean - pub date: May 1, 2011

I have enjoyed this historical romance trilogy by new writer, Maclean, but I'll be happy to finish it up just so I never have to type these silly titles again.

The Dark Enquiry (A Lady Julia Grey Novel)
Cold Vengeance
One Was a Soldier: A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery
Fallen: A Novel
Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

History's Mysteries...

Top five Tuesday is here already! In honor of the recent excellent guest review of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series, I've decided to offer up my current top 5 historical mystery series. Obviously since I am new to the Willig series, she isn't on there yet, but I hope you'll check out these other, very fine, historical mystery writers...

The Lady Julia Grey Series - Deanna Raybourn
Excellent Victorian era series featuring Lady Julia Grey and her delicious husband, Nicholas Brisbane.  With four titles in this series, Ms. Raybourn just gets better and better, I am eagerly looking forward to the fifth.  

The Julian Kestral Series - Kate Ross
In my opinion, one of the best historical mystery series ever! Set in Regency times, Julian is a suave, erudite and fashionable rogue, however his dapper exterior hides a much deeper core. It breaks my heart that Ms. Ross only completed four books in this series prior to her untimely death. If you are a fan of historical mysteries, hunt them down and read them all.  Brilliant!

The Sebastien St. Cyr Series- C.S. Harris
Excellent Regency era series featuring the dark and cynical Sebastian Alistair St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin.  Harris creates truly remarkable supporting characters and St. Cyr is a perfect world-weary hero, but I live in fear that he will choose the wrong woman.  Team Hero for the win!

The Molly Murphy series - Rhys Bowen
This entertaining series set in turn of the century New York is a delight. A bit lighter in tone than the other series, it features a protagonist who is funny, smart and endearing, even though she isn't much of a detective. The setting and the historical period, along with the aforementioned heroine, make this series a winner.

The Lady Emily Series - Tasha Alexander
Another Victorian era series featuring a very sharp lady protagonist. Lady Emily exhibits remarkable growth throughout this series and a strong cast of supporting characters, including sexy new husband, Colin Hargreaves, an agent for the crown, make this fast-paced and far-reaching series a delight.


There you have it.  I hope that you'll share your favorites in this genre, I am always on the look out for a new series to love!  

Because you asked so nicely...

About six months ago while attending a professional conference, I was offered the chance to meet author Dennis Lehane and get a signed copy of the arc of his latest novel, Moonlight Mile. Now knowing I love mysteries and knowing the Mr. Lehane is one of the best mystery writers on the planet, one would think I would have jumped at the chance. Not so much. As I explained to the rep who was extending the invite, I had quit reading Mr. Lehane some years before and I didn't want to waste his time or mine.  She politely asked why I had stopped reading him and I mentioned that after reading Gone Baby Gone, his fourth book in the Kenzie and Gennaro series, I simply couldn't read him anymore. As memories of my feelings about that book came rushing back, I went on to explain that I had never been as angry with or as disappointed in a fictional character as I was with Patrick Kenzie in GBG.

The plot of GBG basically involved Kenzie and Gennaro working to track down a missing four year old girl.  They are asked to find her by her aunt, because her mother is too busy drinking and drugging to bother. The book was full of twists and turns, but the moment of truth arrived when they found 4 year old Amanda. Spoiler warning here folks, Amanda was living in a loving, supportive home with people who adored her.  She may have been kidnapped, but her new home and parents had given the poor child an opportunity to live in a safe, happy, loving environment for the first time ever. As always in a Lehane novel, this brings up some very hard questions about morality and right and wrong. Angie wants to leave the child where she is, knowing that returning her to her neglectful mother would end the only shot the child has at a normal life. Patrick simply won't hear of it. He is set on returning the child to her natural parent, even as he realizes it will be destroying her chance at happiness. I was incensed. As I saw it, to satisfy his own moral code, Patrick ignored the welfare of a child. Not only did he refuse to even debate the issue, he seemed smug and self righteous when others tried to convince him. I don't recall ever being so angry at a fictional character in my life. That book ended my enjoyment of a series that I had loved for many years.

"Oh you have to talk to Dennis" the rep insisted "and you have to read Moonlight Mile as well." Not wanting to offend, since Mr. Lehane had just arrived and was standing within shouting distance, I agreed. "Tell him" she encouraged as we approached, "tell him how you hate Patrick." So I did. I explained how much I have enjoyed his work, and how talented I think he is, but that I had to give up the series books and why. He could not have been nicer about hearing me say I hated one of his characters. Turns out, I am not the only one. Seems he has heard this same thing from many readers since GBG was published. Women, it seemed, were especially furious with Patrick and most felt as I did, that he had sacrificed a child's well-being without giving it a second thought. Mr. Lehane asked me to give Moonlight Mile a chance, since the plot involves Patrick and Angie revisiting the situation in GBG. He assured me that I might feel differently after seeing Patrick being forced to confront his prior actions. He promised some emotional pay-off for the pain inflicted by my disappointment in GBG.  And you know what guys? He delivered.

Moonlight Mile picks up about 12 years after GBG. Patrick and Angie have married and are struggling through tough economic times. Patrick is picking up contract detective work and Angie is working on completing her advanced degree. Once again, Amanda McCready, the child in GBG, is missing. Amanda, now 16, has disappeared. Her aunt shows up to ask for Patrick and Angie's help. More haunted by the past that one could imagine, Patrick sets out to find Amanda and make sure that she is safe.  What follows are the amazing twists and turns that are the trademarks of a Lehane mystery. The book is as tight and well-written as all of Lehane's stuff is and he did not exaggerate when he said that he had put Patrick through the emotional ringer. Patrick is forced to deal with the consequences of his actions from 12 years before and he seems to realize that the choice to return the girl was not as cut and dry as it might have seemed. Moonlight Mile is about morality and living with the choices that one makes. Lehane forces Patrick to deal with the fact that Amanda would very likely have been better off left with her kidnappers. We, as well as the characters, are forced to think about the general concept of right and wrong and how those concepts may be more fluid than we might like to think.

I would like to thank Mr. Lehane for writing Moonlight Mile.  Thanks to his decision to revisit this story, I was able to make peace with Patrick and to find my way back to enjoying some truly excellent and thought provoking work.

When is a Gothic not a Gothic?

When it is Elizabeth Hoyt's new romance, Wicked Intentions.  I was very excited when I first started reading that EH had a new book coming out.  I love her stuff.  I think she is one of the best romance writers around and to make a good thing even better, I was hearing that this one would be a Gothic romance!  I love me some Gothic romance.  I love all of the cliches involved in Gothic romances, love everything about Gothic romances.  I even love the covers with the heroine in appropriate period dress fleeing from the castle, mansion, etc.  So you can imagine my excitement at the idea of one of my favorite writers writing in one of my favorite genres?  So, I pre-ordered that baby for my Kindle and waited with anticipation for the release.  Sadly, the reality did not live up to the hype, as is often the case.

Wicked Intentions looks a lot like a Gothic. It has the heroine in appropriate period dress, fleeing down a dark and foggy London street. In the beginning it sounds like a Gothic, with the heroine and her loyal servant hurrying through the dark, foggy London night. And that's about where the Gothic stuff ends.  OK, so I don't have a Gothic written by one of my favorite romance writers, I still have a new book by EH and you know that will be excellent.  Right?  Um, not so fast...

I really do respect EH's talent and it hurts my heart to say that Wicked Intentions was not very good.  The story had promise, a young widow, Temperance Dews is trying desperately to keep the orphanage her family runs afloat. She meets the mysterious and dangerously attractive Lazarus, Lord Caire and he offers to introduce her to possible patrons for her good works, if she will agree to guide him through the murky streets of the St. Giles area. Lazarus suffers from a rather odd and fascinating condition in which physical contact causes him pain. To alleviate his sexual needs and avoid too much contact he has a habit of binding his paramours during sex. In fact, the reason that he needs to snoop around St. Giles is because his former mistress was murdered and he wants to avenge her death. At this point, I'm thinking that EH is entering some pretty interesting territory.  I'm still trying to piece together why it just didn't work.

For one thing, I think that EH tried to do way too much with this book.  It is the first in a new series and she introduced a million characters that you know will be featured in her future work. On top of the cast of thousands, she tried to explore a complex psychological condition and flirt with the concept of bondage and alternative sexual practices, as well as write a compelling mystery. Just too much stuff going on here. Her attempt to cover all of this territory meant that the relationship between the hero and the heroine just wasn't very well-developed.  Oh the witty dialogue that is a trademark of EH books was there, but there wasn't much substance to it. The depth of attraction and connection that you see in so many other EH books just wasn't there in Wicked Intentions.  Also, the whole no touching thing was treated sort of inconsistently.  We never really get a good explanation of why Lazarus has developed this condition and it seems to weaken and almost disappear by the end of the book. Yes, he had a withdrawn and distant father, but is that all it took for him to develop this debilitating condition?  By the end of the novel, he has made this major transformation, however it is never really explored in any depth.

I think there was great potential here but unfortunately it just didn't pan out. That said, I would encourage you to read Wicked Intentions if the description interests you. Just because it isn't as strong as her previous work, doesn't mean that it is not worth checking out. I'm sure that I will read the next in the series as well, because a weak Elizabeth Hoyt book is still better than most. After all, this is the author that created Jasper, Viscount Vale from To Seduce a Sinner and I owe her a debt of gratitude for bringing that amazing creature to life. Vale made my top ten Romance Heroes list. Curious as to who else is on the list? Stay tuned, I'll be featuring it soon...

Why are you so good Agatha Christie?

Could not let the day pass without a shout out to Dame Agatha on her 120th!  She was a master of mystery and mayhem and I have loved her since I was 10 years old.

If you haven't read her then quit reading this and go and find yourself any one of the zillions of great books that she crafted. You'll quickly see how much contemporary mystery writers owe to the lady.  Christie has reportedly sold between 2 and 4 billion books and is listed in Guinness as the best selling mystery writer of all time.  Only the Bible and Shakespeare have outsold the Dame.  Her works have been adapted into movies, tv shows and even video games.  She has been honored in many ways, but one of my all time favorites remains this wonderful episode of the classic British tv series, Dr. Who.  Why is Agatha Christie so good?  I'll let David Tennant explain...

The Unicorn and the Wasp - Dr. Who

Also, kudos to Google for a very cool tribute today...

Google Christie Tribute

Well deserved for a woman who helped define the modern mystery novel.

To glom or not to glom?

Do you glom?  Yes, I'm aware that glom has a multitude of meanings, but in this case we're discussing the one that involves a reader obsessively reading all of an author's backlist.  I am a big time glommer.  I confess that when I read a book that I love, it is a certainty that I will immediately set about locating and reading other books by that writer.  I think that glomming is an activity that has special appeal for genre readers.  Genre reading, by it's very nature, involves looking for some consistency from writers.  Whether you read, mysteries, science fiction, romance or any other genre, you've most likely identified consistent elements that make a book work for you.  So, it follows that if you love police procedurals and you find a writer who writes a fantastic procedural, you'll want to check out their backlist.

In my world, glomming can also involve reading an entire series, rather than the entire author backlist.  This is especially true of genre writers who may have three or four very different series running at once.  For example, I've recently been laid up recuperating from some minor surgery and I sort of stumbled onto a historical mystery series by Rhys Bowen.  Now Bowen writes three series and they appear to be quite different, so rather than glom her entire backlist, I limited my glomming activity to her Molly Murphy series.  I had tried one of her Constable Evans mysteries years ago and found it a bit to cozy for my taste (I can only read a cozy if there is a cat in it, it's a terrible personality flaw), but the MM series worked for me.  A big part of the charm was the setting of NYC at the turn of the century.  An author could not ask for a more exciting, tumultuous time or place and I'll read almost anything that uses this backdrop.  I decided to glom the series on the strength of setting and I've since worked my way through six of the nine titles available and I have the other three waiting at the library.  While I have a few qualms about this series, it has consistently delivered on the elements that appealed in the first title I read and that is really all a glommer can ask for.

So, any other glommers out there?