Ice Cold

What a suspenseful mystery novel!  It could be a great screen play as there was so much action throughout. The heroine, Dr. Isles, had to cross country ski to find help, and then had to climb mountainous terrain to escape death.  However, the book had a disconnect. Once Maura had left the compound on her skis, there was no reporting on the three characters left behind.  They disappeared from the novel, and the reader was introduced to new characters, some good and some evil.  Yet Father Daniel, who should be the one representing morality, forces Maura to make a life-altering decision. A fast read.

Buried Evidence

I'm reading murder mysteries again - gotta stop and go for more cerebral writings. Oh well, a little murder never hurt anyone! This book reads like a carriature of the genre.

The talented DA and her university aged daughter were brutally raped years ago, and now the perp is back on the streets looking to kill the woman responsible for his incarceration, afore mentioned lawyer.

Throw in an alcoholic, no-good, unemployed husband and a dashing prosecution lawyer, and it's no contest for the missus.

In the end, well, why don't I just let you read it for yourself?

The Other Family

Chrissie loved her husband for 23 years.  They had three daughters and a good life. But Ritchie would never marry her, in spite of her buying a wedding ring.  When Ritchie dies expectantly his will provides for a son and wife whom he walked away from years earlier.  He was terrible father to his son Scott and in death wanted him remembered.  Chrissie and her two older girls wanted nothing to do with Scott and his mother, yet the youngest daughter wants a relationship with her half-brother.  She defies her mother and goes to spend time with Scott, being very well treated by Margaret, Ritchie's abandoned wife.  Amy paves the way for a connection that her father had been too weak or negligent to create.


This novel is a good read, leaving many questions unanswered.  How could a father and husband be so cold as to ignore his first family?  How could this same father be so loving to the children of his second family? How could Chrissie be so spiteful when she is the one who invaded Ritchie's first life, and how could Margaret be so understanding?

Dead Like You

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has a serial raptist stealing shoes as a trophy of his conquests.  The case is very similar to a cold case file from the 1990's, so investigation becomes murky. Meandering throughout the sleuthing are flashbacks to the 10 year disappearance of Grace's wife, Sandy.  Grace is now in love and about to become a father with a woman who has made him whole again. (What a cliche I just wrote!) As the fifth victim is saved is appears that the Shoe Man has been caught. But is this the perp of both cases? Maybe not.

Peter James writes with intelligence, giving you just enough info about his characters to not let them overtake the plot of the crime.

Secret Daughter

In India, Kavita gives birth to her second daughter, the first having been taken from her, never to be seen again. Killed?  Her husband, insists that the second daughter also be removed from their lives.  Kavita and her sister walk a great distance to bring the baby girl to an orphanage.  An orphanage from which she is adopted by a couple of married doctors. He is native to India and she is a white American. Asha has a good life but is missing her Indian connection, which she experiences on a visit to her Indian grandmother.


The third child Kavita has is the beloved son, Vijay, who does not prove to be the son that offers them their earthly and spiritual salvation.  Asha searches out the identity of her birth parents and learns to let go and love the family she has. Her birth parents also learn of her identity through a magazine article.  They never meet this daughter, after years of quilt has burdened them.  But learning of her good fate gives them some relief.


Though a bestseller, I found the characters to be superficial and cold - and the story read like a melodrama. I found the son, Vijay, believable and also like the Indian grandmother.

A Secret Kept

Antoine and Melanie, brother and sister, return to the beach in France where they vacationed as children as a celebration of her birthday.  Their holidays had involved their grandparents and parents. Many memories stired, one so vital that once shared it caused Antoine to question his childhood, parent's relationship, and his role as a single parent of teenagers.

With inquiry and confrontation, Antoine discovers the truth about his mother and her death, and begins to understand his father's demise as an aloof and bitter parent.  Antoine's own relationship with his children is uneasy, as he learns to separate himself from his ex-wife.  Angele comes into his life at a time when he is struggling with his relationships, helping him learn to feel good about himself again.

The Full Cupboard of Life

Alexander McCall Smith
The Full Cupboard of Life
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
198 pp.
Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf , 2003


No one delights the literary senses more than Alexander McCall Smith in his novels of life in Botswana. Mma Precious Ramotswe's intuition and kindness shines through her detective work as the number one lady detective in her country. Her secretary (pardon me, the administrative assistant), Mma Ramotswe's wedding plans are limping forward while the case of a wealthy woman occupies the agency. This novel is one of a series. All books require a cup of tea and the ability to enjoy simple acts of humanity.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Twin sisters are bound to one another by the past. Elspeth is dying of cancer and so has bequeathed her London flat to her two nieces, who live with Elspeths sister, Edie, in the United States.  Elspeth has a young lover who lives in the flat beneath hers.  He works at the cemetery adjacent the house. Robert gives tours and is an academic who fails to make headway with his thesis.  He is emotionally paralyzed by Elspeth's death. However, emotional paralysis is a theme shared by other characters in the novel.

Edie allows her daughters, who are also twins, to travel to London and reside in the flat, as the condition of ownership is that the girls occupy the flat for one year.  The novel explores the relationship which the girls have with one another, and with their neighbours. Martin lives on the third floor and has such extreme OCD that he never leaves the flat.  His wife has recently left him due to the many barriers he has constructed around his world.

Julia and Valentina, the twins, begin to respond to peculiar happenings in their aunt's flat.  Elspeth's ghost is haunting the space and communicating with them through her ability to move objects. They inform Robert, who responds with compete belief. As the suspense mounts and the story unfold, the characters take on more definition.  We learn more about Edie and why she left England, vowing never to return.  Julia who is timid like a mouse and Valentina who seems so selfish, like her aunt, begin to test themselves as independent women.

No all characters are likable, but the surprise ending explains much, as peculiar as it is.  This book held my interest, especially the ghost story and Martin's life upstairs.  An exciting read!  You may want to read, The Time Traveller's Wife, also by Audrey Niffenegger.

Secrets to the Grave

This novel continues where Deeper Than The Dead  ends. Tami Hoag writes a very suspenceful story.  Her plot and subplots are clever and imaginative.  However, her characters lack depth, but in a series she may be able to develop them more fully.  When I read one of her books, I do n ot want to put it down.  Some of her descriptions are not for the faint of heart.  She is truly one of the best murder mystery writers.