Week of December 26 – January 2, 2022

The holidays slowed down my reading. Besides, I was reading Two Graves by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Their books are usually quite long.

In the Prendergast thriller, He discovers that his wife Helen is alive. She had faked her death to throw the villains off her trail. Now her brother has arranged a meeting with Prendergast, a meeting that goes horribly wrong. Helen’s brother is killed, and she is abducted. Despite being injured, Prendergast follows them to Mexico where she unfortunately is shot dead.

After a spell of self-destructive grieving, Prendergast is tempted into a new case involving a serial killer. He takes no trouble to avoid cameras and Prendergast realizes the serial killer is designing his murders for Prendergast himself.

Prendergast goes on the hunt, following the trail to a Nazi compound deep within Brazil.

The writing is merely pedestrian. But the story, and the sheer creativity, hooks a reader in and keeps them reading until the end.

I also read the new Elly Griffith, The Midnight Hour. I’ve been a fan since the beginning of the Ruth Gallagher series but I really enjoy the newer Magic Men mysteries as well. In the latest, it is the fifties. Emma and Edgar are married with three children. Emma has set up a detective agency with her friend, reporter Sam and they are asked to investigate a murder also being investigated by the police. Impressario Bert Billington has been poisoned. Suspicion immediately falls on his wife: Verity Malone, but there are a slew of other suspects from the entertainment world.

Besides the mystery, which I did not guess, the novel touches on the struggle of women to be taken seriously, no matter how bright and talented. All of the usual characters make and appearance and there are several life changes. Highly recommended.

Finally, I read A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. It is more than a reworking of The Sleeping Beauty fairy tale and it is wonderful. The main character, she calls herself the dying girl, has been severely damaged by environmental factors. She is transported into the fairy tale – and it is very different from what she expected. Yes, the Princess is cursed and there is a bad fairy. Except not so much. The Prince is not charming and the Princess is fighting against her fate with every ounce of her being.

In a relatively short book, the author touches on environmental issues and expectations of gender. A wonderful tale and highly recommended.