This reminded me of the romantic suspense that was popular a number of years ago. With that said, the ending was quite different than it would have been in one of those books. I did not guess the mystery at all. It was fun, although I thought it was longer than it needed to be.
I also read Murder under a Red Moon by Harini Nagenra.
This is her second book (after the Bangalore Detectives Club ) and I really hope she continues with this series. Kaveri is a great character and this mystery is even better than the last. The setting (India in the 1920s) is very well drawn and she adds a dose of social commentary. In this one, she includes a few recipes, and not a common curry either. Truly excellent.
Is there a kernel of truth to the legend of the Minotaur? We already know there are many theories regarding the location of a labyrinth as described in the Greek myth. One theory mentioned previously is the complicated floor plan of the Knossos palace complex. Many of the Achaeans, the early mainland Greeks, would have come from halls with much fewer rooms so it is possible they saw the complicated and many roomed palace and were overwhelmed.
. A fragment of a floor with a labyrinth has been found during the excavation at Knossos. Was it decoration? Or something more? No one knows.
Or perhaps the maze as described in the myth hasn’t been found. Pieces of tablets from Knossos, talk about a place with a labyrinth. So far, no one knows where that might be. Or even if it was a different location.
What about the minotaur, a bull-headed man? Considering the number of ancient cultures who used masks to represent animals and/or Gods, it doesn’t take much imagination to guess a man wearing a mask played the part of the Minotaur in religious rites. Bulls were very important; sacred in fact in this Bronze Age culture.
Finally, we come to the core of the Theseus and Minotaur myth. The tribute of young men and women were chased through the labyrinth and consumed. The Minoans have the reputation for being a peaceful society. It is probably true that, because they were an island with an excellent Navy, they were well defended from outside invaders. But certain finds have suggested this society was not as peaceful as it appears to us now. Bones of children mixed in with the bones of bovines and sheep, and bearing the same cut marks, suggest they were eaten as the animals were. Were these ancient Cretans cannibals? Was eating human flesh part of their religious rites?
Another finding suggests human sacrifice. Three bodies, crushed by falling debris during an earthquake, seem to indicate the sacrifice of a young man by a priest. Many cultures sacrificed to appease the Gods. However, if they were sacrificing this young man to prevent an earthquake, they left it to late.
This past week I read Shadow Rites, Number ten in the Jane Yellowrock series and The Fourth Enemy by Anne Perry.
Shadow Rites opens with a bang. Jane wakes to a magical green fog sweeping through the house and her hand hurting. She awakens her partner Eli Younger and they go out. Jane senses two witches bespelling her house.
Not long after, she is summoned to Vamp HQ, where she is attacked by Gee, the Mercy Blade. Jane is almost killed. Seeing Gee’s eyes are green, and a similar green eye in the palm of her left hand, alerts her to a magic spell.
It is particularly important nothing interrupt the conference between the witches and the vampires in preparation for the arrival of the European vamps.
Another winner.
I also read The Fourth Enemy by Anne Perry.
Daniel Pitt’s friend Ian Frobisher confides in Daniel that the police are investigating Malcolm Vayne, a wealthy philanthropist who Frobisher believes is engaged in an elaborate pyramid scheme. They do not have enough evidence to arrest him – and they they do a few days later.
At the same time, Miriam becomes deeply involved in the suffrage movement and sees up close the efforts of those who would keep women in their place.
At its core, this book is about courage; the courage to confront the wealthy and powerful or the courage to fight the status quo.
Another enjoyable read. But a bittersweet one since Perry recently passed away (at the age of 84) and there will be no more mysteries from her.
I read one book this week; Courting Dragons by Jeri Westerson.
I was a huge fan of Jeri’s Crispin Guest mysteries so I was curious about this new series. In this one, historical personages are more than cameos. Henry VIII, his wife, Anne Boleyn, Cromwell and quite a few others prance through these pages. The historical backdrop is Henry’s effort to divorce Catherine so he can marry Anne Boleyn.
Will Somers, the King’s jester, is a supporter of Catherine.
The first murder is that of a Spanish courtier who is charged with protecting Catherine.
But another murder occurs, by crossbow, and the bolt comes perilously close to Will Somers love. Already investigating, Will now has a personal reason to find the murderer.
An interesting mystery set in a fascinating time period.
The date for the release of In the Shadow of the Bull is now July 4 for the UK. No word on the release date in the US yet.
In an attempt to reveal what we know of this ancient culture, I thought I would begin with the bull. Bulls were sacred. I’ve read varying explanations. Is it because the Bull represented the male principle, even in a society with a Supreme Goddess? Is it because of the connection with Poseidon. also a God in this culture. (I have mentioned previously how much the Classical Greeks borrowed from the Minoans).
Whatever the reason, the mosaics, the statuary, the rites practiced were all centered around the Bull.
One of the practices was bull dancing or bull leaping. This is a feature of the Theseus myth. Since it was written by the occupying Greeks, it has a negative spin. In the myth, Minos, the ruler of Knossos, requires tribute from the mainland: 7 young women and 7 young men, to face the fearsome Minotaur in the labyrinth. (The creation of the Minotaur is another myth, a rather creepy one.) Theseus volunteers to be one of the tributes. Minos’ daughter Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of string and he is able to kill the Minotaur and lead the other tributes to safety.
Frescoes from Knossos show young men and women (probably teenagers) leaping over a charging bull. The bull dancer grasped the horns and flipped over the bull’s back. Another member of the team caught and steadied him as he landed. There seems to be no doubt that these performances occurred.
Remnants of mazes pictured in mosaics have also been found. But labyrinth, a synonym for a maze, is actually from the word labyrs, a sacred two headed axe used in religious rituals.
A stylized version of the bull’s horns, called the Horns of Consecration, were used everywhere. Examples have survived in Knossos.
The first book I read this week was Book Four of the Jane Yellowrock series, Raven Cursed.
Jane is working security in Asheville, N.C. for a vamp parley. The vamps in Asheville want to set up their own territory. Evangeline Overheat, Molly’s older sister, has agreed to facilitate the parley. But a group of campers are attacked by something supernatural, and Jane realizes the two werewolves she didn’t kill have followed her to North Carolina and are on the hunt.
Then Lincoln Shaddock does not turn up at the parley and Evangeline begins changing, growing younger and prettier. What is going on?
Action packed and fun.
The second book I read was A Truth to Lie For by Anne Perry, the fourth Elena Stands mystery.
Elena is called into service again, tasked with pulling a scientist working on German warfare out of Germany. Elena calls upon her old friend for Jacob and they successfully find the scientist. But when they try to take him out of Berlin, traffic jams and roadblocks send them south to Munich. Just in time for the Night of the Long Knives; Hitler’s strike against Rohm’s brownshirts.
At the same, a young Gestapo officer, Hans Beckendorff is trying to navigate the politics of working for the Reich, and for an increasingly unhinged Hitler. In the end, he is forced to make a life-changing decision.
I had a few criticisms. The ending seems rushed. Perry relies on a few phrases over and over (I really got tired of ‘surprisingly good coffee’.) It is not really a mystery, more a thriller.
But here’s the thing. Despite the absence of blood and gore (a constant feature of the Yellowrock novels), A Truth to Lie For is absolutely terrifying. Maybe because the reader knows what is coming in the next few years, but I felt a sense of dread throughout. I was truly scared at several points in the book.
August 29. This week I read the latest Kathy Reichs Cold Cold Bones.
A human eyeball is delivered to Temperance Brennan’s front porch. Shortly after, a head missing said eyeball is discovered. Shortly after, other victims turn up, each one mimicking a past case that Brennan worked on.
At the same time, she is worried about her daughter, Katie, who has returned from military service. Suffering from PTSD, she wants to set up a charity for veterans. She begins volunteering at a local shelter, only to disappear shortly after.
What is going on?
Enjoyable. My only criticism is that I knew who the villain was fairly early on.
The second book I read was In Death’s Shadow by Marcia Talley.
I enjoy these which are a cozy as I like to read. In this one, an insurance scam results in several murders. Insurance scams sound as though they would be very dry but I found the insurance in this book interesting. Hannah’s breast cancer, now in remission, is the theme that ties all the books together. Fun.
Inadvertently, I read this one out of order; this is number four so I will have to go back and fill in with the third.
Last week was a crazy week. Instead of choosing my reading material carefully, as I usually do, I quickly picked up second books in two different series.
The first one was Charlaine Harris’ Longer Fall.
In this sequel to An Easy Death, Gunnie Lizbeth Rose is hired on a new crew tasked with protecting a large trade to the town of Sally in Dixie. The train is derailed and as Rose searches the carnage for the whereabouts of her old crew, she meets Eli Savarov, the Russian Grigori. They join forces to find the crate and, if possible, safeguard its contents.
Lizbeth is almost immediately confronted with several problems. The mores in Dixie are very different than what she is use to. Required to wear a skirt and hose and carry a purse. she and Eli must pretend they are married.
Dixie also runs on slavery. Lizbeth’s good friend Galilee has escaped from this town and the Ballards, the ruling family.
Plenty of bloodshed, betrayal as well as magic; I liked this one even better than the first. A winner.
The second book is another second: Death of a Starling by Linda Norlander.
Our intrepid poet continues to investigate in the school shooting in Cascade. She is warned repeatedly to let it drop but, although she considers it, she doggedly continues despite repeated threats against her.
Why is everyone afraid to even speak about the shooting, let alone answer questions about the teacher and the alleged shooter?
Tess, a student at the High School, tells Jamie that there is something rotten in Cascade and then disappears.
I read three good books this week, all purchased at Malice in April.
First up, Watch her by Edwin Hill.
The second Hester Thursby mystery. Hest, and her friend Detective Angela White are at a university function when another guest, Jennifer Mason, mentions their mansion has been broken into. Hester and Angela investigate and Hester begins to doubt the Matsons’s story. Investigation into finances connected to the university reveals financial malfeasance. How are they linked? A murder ramps up the urgency.
I really enjoy these mysteries, not least because Hester does a lot of research (she is a researcher) that reminds me strongly of library reference work.
The second book I read is An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris. I have enjoyed all of her works and this one does not disappoint.
The former United States has been broken up into five regions: Britannia (still allied with Great Britain), Dixie (the Southern States), Texoma (Texas and environs), New America, and the Holy Russian Empire (California, Oregon and Washington State). Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie from Texoma, a hired gun that signs onto crews tasked with transporting refugees from Texoma through the a bandit-ridden land to New America. This trip goes sideways and she is the only one remaining of the crew. She rescues the cargo and gets all of them but two alive to New America. Home again, she is hired for another job by rigors (Russian magic users) to find a descendent of Rasputin. A gory adventure. Highly recommended.
Finally, I read The Bone Track, the second in Sara E. Johnson’s New Zealand mysteries.
Alexa Glock is on vacation with her brother Charlie hiking in Fiordland National Park. They are independent hikers, hiking from hut to hut, under rainy conditions with regular landslides.
If that were not excitement enough, Alexa, running from a landslide, stumbles across a body revealed by the shifting early. She goes into forensic investigator mode and photographs the skeleton and takes evidence. While she is so involved, a helicopter carrying a bag of bulk rocks tries to kill her by dropping the bulk bag on her.
Simultaneously, one of the luxe hikers is missing. Alexa and her brother find it smashed on the rocks below a swing bridge over a gorge. Then Alexa discovers the marks of hiking poles used to push the victim off the cliff in her back.
Highly Recommended for both the mystery and the setting.
