Murder on the Mind by L.L. Bartlett

I am reading a murder mystery after quite a bit and this was refreshing.

Jeff was rescued by his step brother after he was seriously mugged. He lost not just his wallet and money but since they also took his keys they trashed his apartment and he was left with literally nothing. One strange thing however followed the mugging.  Jeff became what could only be called psychic or extra sensitive to things happening around him and especially to a murder which took place around the time.

He saw bits and pieces of the puzzle and it was upto him to put the pieces together coherently. Richard his brother was disbelieving though his girlfriend was not a skeptic.  Going to live with his brother who was a millionaire several times over was the only available path for Jeff to both recover as well as to have a sounding board as Jeff himself was very stressed out with his new powers. Jeff knew he had to follow through specially since a child was involved as well.

Through step by step deductions and another murder which followed the first Jeff is able to solve the crime and present it to the authorities as a solved crime. With the murderer dogging his footsteps and endangering the lives of those around him Jeff still manages to solve the crime though his brother does get badly injured in the  melee.

Unusual for a murder mystery linking it with the paranormal this was a different kind of read. 

The Undertaker's Daughter by Kate Mayfield

This took me right back to Six Feet Under. The tone of the book was very reminiscent of this but then this took a different turn.

Kate Mayfield is one of the children of a local small time undertaker and her memoir of growing up above a funeral home is a wonderful read for people who like good writing. Strong characters in the form of a father and mother whose word was law and an older sister who was slightly psychotic with two other mild siblings Kate seemed to be the curious one. The one who always wanted to know the whys and hows. Not discouraged by her undertaker father to understand the workings of the funeral home, for her and the other children death was very much part of their lives and nothing to be afraid of. They grew up with the notion of death coming to all, young and old and how their lives had to fall in line with the funerals which took place in the home because funerals governed the entire Mayfield family life.

Kate growing up in this environment, the attitude of those around her to her background and how she eventually leaves the small town of Jubilee to make a life for herself elsewhere is the story of this book. Her turbulent relationship with Evelyn one of her sisters and the very close relationship she had with her father despite his shortcomings which she got to know of only in her later teenage years are very descriptively told. Her mother and she seemed distant with her mother not really understanding or rather wanting to understand the needs and mind of the young Kate.

A family saga with Kate being the spokesman in this book a very nicely balanced story of how life and death live alongside each other.

The book was sent to me by Netgalley via Gallery, Threshold Pocket Books.

Mailbox Monday/It's Monday! What are you reading?

Coming to the meme after an absence of a week. These three courtesy of Netgalley.






        






Hosted by Sheila at Bookjourney.









Very little reading is being done - got back from Vietnam which was a totally different kind of holiday - didn't enjoy the constant political history. Very little cultural insights into the country because their entire focus is on the Vietnam war and the horrific results todate. A huge country with a vast agricultural industry and being an agriculturalist myself this is one part I enjoyed. Developing fast so I am glad I saw it like this.


Now its Christmas week but we have no major preparations as celebrations are extremely low key in our household and have been since our children left home years ago.  So many Sri Lankan parents are in the same category as due to civil war, lots of parents sent their children overseas for security reasons, but the older folk still seem to carry out Christmassy traditions and rituals. Putting up the tree, decorating the house, making the traditional cake and wine and sweets is still a must.  I admire them for it but I gave it all up and just enjoy it in other people's houses!


Reading bits and pieces from several books, enjoying TV specials and work going on as usual. Rather mundane for this time of the year.

Three Daughters by Consuelo Saah Baehr

Starting from a village in Jerusalem we cross three generations of women and end up in Georgetown, America. We start from a traditional, very conservative woman who is stepping out or rather forced to step out of her environment to take over a business she knows nothing about. No knowledge of the world, no knowledge of accounts, mother and wife and how she transforms not just her life but those of her children holding in trust the business for her husband to return to from a war which destroys their homeland.

Three women, Miriam her daughter Nadia given opportunities beyond her dreams of an education, flying in the face of clan opposition as to what good this is all going to be and then her daughter Nijmeh facing deviousness from her own cousin who is determined to lay waste to Nijmeh's dreams and hopes and take it all for herself. All three women live their lives in the face of vast change - both to their country and within their own families. They each in turn face opposition from within when they try to do something different as the clan influence is great and the good name of the clan is more important than the ambitions of the individual.

How these three women live their lives very bravely is the story told by this author. I loved the descriptiveness in this story. Not just the cultural background but the nitty gritty of daily life - how they lived, what they ate and especially the camaraderie amongst the various groups.

This was a book sent to me by Netgalley courtesy of Lake Union Publishing. 

Private Papers by Margaret Forster

I read about this author but it was another book by the same author that I got.  Invariably for me, it is always like this. I do not get the book recommended as it is out with a huge waiting list or  never around. I take the next one available because a good author is a good author!

This did not disappoint. A download from Open Library.  I wish the site was more user friendly. They can give me innumerable choices if I type in an author I am interested in but there is no way to browse through category, era or interest. You have to know what you are looking for with this site but I do get very good books from here.

Penelope our main character is the Mother - she is also now old. Her children are all grown up and rather patronizing and condescending of her behavior both present and past. Particularly the past. Penelope was brought up in an orphanage and married very young, a doctor who volunteered in WWII and never came back. She single handedly brought up her large family and in her opinion family came first and hence she put their needs before anyone else's.

The story told in two characters both Penelope and her eldest daughter Rosemary are alternate - both overpowering strong characters who thought their way was the best. It is a story of how most families operate. A lot of give and take, a lot of forgiving and forgetting and putting aside differences for the good of all.

The story of the Butler family is told against the fabric of breakout of WWII and the massive changes that took place socially. This was particularly so for women and women of the older generation like Penelope got caught in the middle not knowing exactly what was expected of them at the present times.

This was a very intriguing read. You got caught up in the moment and wanted to slap Rosemary for her high handedness. On the other side you wanted to shake Penelope out of her implacability. Very good book.

Family by Caroline Leavitt

Nick grows up in a loving family but the fairy tale ends when he is orphaned and put into a boys home.  He stoically waits out his time there and then branches out independently on his own.

He falls deeply in love with Dore and they are both happy specially when a baby is born to them. With the sudden tragic cot death of the baby Nick and Dore drift apart. They do not seem to have any means of communication between them and the death of the baby seems to be a divide that they cannot get over. Both suffering immensely in differing ways they drift permanently apart.

Nick in the meantime finds a second love with Leslie and has a daughter with her. The gradual disintegration of the marriage and how Nick finds himself trying to balance his love for his daughter and handle his feelings for Leslie as well. Leslie herself does not have a good relationship with Robin however much she tries and the story seems to be about family and how relationships can disintegrate, break up and get destroyed. It also shows how divided love can be and how it seems quite feasible for some men to love two women in different ways at the same time!  The story is quite convoluted at this point and goes into further complications for all the parties concerned.

Robin the daughter seems to be the pivot on which the relationship of Leslie and Nick revolves on and when she disappears from the scene, their marriage collapses entirely. How Robin's return helps the parents reconcile to a degree of cordiality is also evident in the story.

It is also frightening to realize how much children depend on their very survival for parents to just simply exist. Their entire future seems to be so dependent on this feature and how when this is absent the entire structure can fall apart so rapidly was nerve wracking to even read about.

This was a book that got me thinking on several different lines which is what good books are all about.

This was a book sent to me by Netgalley for an honest review. The publishers are Open Road Integrated Media.

Gracie - Women and War by Ellie Keaton

This was a recommendation from Serena and one which I enjoyed. A free download from Amazon.  A short read it is a simple story set in the WWII background in Britain. 

The war in Britain seemed to have been unexpected. Most of the older folk felt that after WWI there would be no repetition of the war. The world in which England found itself was very harsh. The bombing of London was brutal and Gracie's life as a young woman is in this setting. Coming from a traditional family where parents decided what was good for their children,  Gracie is in service at the "big house" and here she meets Penelope the estranged grand daughter of the family. An unlikely friendship develops but this is a time of great change in England and the  system of upstairs, downstairs is fast disappearing.

Gracie's boyfriend too is not happy that she has joined the war effort and in addition all news of her twin brother lost during a battle seems at an end. Gracie however firmly believes that he is alive and will one day return.

The story of Gracie is a simple one of love and family set in dire circumstances.  This particular story very simply told has a happy ending which adds to the niceness of the story.