Ladies No.1 Detective Agency

I cannot say enough good about Alexander McCall Smith's series featuring Precious Ramotswe,  as the fearless and intelligent detective .  With the assistance of her secretary, Mma Grace Makutsi (administrative asssistant) who has the higest mark in typing ever received at the Secretarial School for Girls, she brings resolution and comfort to her clients while misadventure swirls around her.  Reading one of the novels in this series is like laying in the warm spring sunshine, or receiving a letter from a long-lost friend. The characters are born of the African soil, with kindness for their kinsmen guiding their way.

With her white truck kept in repair by Mr. J.L. B. Matekoni and his crew of somewhat irresponsible mechanics, Mma Ramotswe is able to travel the dusty roads which take her to locations where she finds  theives, adulterers, and murderers.  All in a day's work for the traditionally built woman.

Read the following:
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998) · Tears Of The Giraffe (2000) · Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001) · The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002) · The Full Cupboard of Life (2003) · In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004) · Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006) · The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007) · The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008) · Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009) · The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010) · TV series (2008)

The Boleyn Wife

Lady Jane Parker marries Anne Boleyn's dashing brother, George.  It was an arranged marriage by their fathers.  George has no use for Jane, who feels unloved.  Jane is the narrator as she chronicles her life from Henry V111's first wife, Catherine of Aragon to Katherine Howard, who was beheaded for adultery.  Jane had a front row seat to the drama of Henry's Court, as well as a participating role.


However, I would suggest reading the novels by Phillipa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Red Queen, The Constant Princess, etc. ) which chronicle this era in more detail and with sophistication.

The Shape of Snakes; Fox Evil

In classic British style Minette Walters weaves a story that keeps you in suspence throughout the novel.  There is the clash of classes, with the police often bumbling the investigation.  Strong female protagonists keep the interest high and even the 'good' characters have their flaws.  In The Shape of Snakes, Tourette's Syndrome is explored, while in Fox Evil, the plight of the poor who travel from town to town in their trailers is exposed. Minette Walters is an intelligent author. 

Harvest AND The Bone Garden AND Sinner

Tess Gerritsen is an intelligent author who contributes admirably to the genre of the mystery.  Her strong female characters and well developed plots make her novels a good read.

 



These three novels are penned by Tess Gerritsen, who is a physician turned author. Both rely heavily on her medical knowledge for character development and plot.

In Harvest, a ring of doctors are involved in illegal organ procurement in order to meet the needs of those who pay. The system for organ donation is by-passed (sorry, no pun intended) through a lack of ethics and financial gain. Informative and suspenseful, as the true colours of the players are not revealed until the very end.

The Bone Garden is two stories in one, however the tales merge by the conclusion of the novel. The details of medical life in the 1830's is fascinating, as is the exposure of life for the poor and women, both terms being mutually inclusive. The conditions of childbirth led to many deaths and peculiar actions of certain characters interested in hiding paternity. The heroine's discovery of unidentified bones in the garden she is creating for her new home leads to a remarkable connection from the former inhabitants of their house to the bones of a long lost woman.

The Sinner - can a nun be pregnant? Can she then be brutally murdered? Is the parish priest responsible? A fast paced mystery that has the reader wondering until the conclusion.

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall
650 pp.

Toronto:  Harper Collins, 2009                 


Winner of the 2009 Man Booker P and the National Book Critics Circle Award. This book is simply excellent.  It is a personal look at Tudor times (1500-1535)  through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex in the court of Henry VIII of England.  Cromwell's rise to power from a working class family was incredible.  The Tudor break from the Church of Rome, the divorces and the deaths of Henry VIII's wives, and Cardinal Wolsey demise were only some of the events to which Cromwell was an advisor.  The novel ends with another death ordered by Henry, securing Cromwell as one of the most poweful men at Court.  Though political in nature, the stories of many individuals are told, making this era come alive and seem relevant today.