Gallows View is the first book in the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson. There are 28 mystery books and they have won a number of awards in the period from 1987 to 2023. All of the stories take place in Eastvale, a fictional city in the Yorkshire Dales. Banks moved there from London for a quieter life, but with the number of murders and other crimes portrayed in the series, it could not have been all that peaceful. The plots follow the police procedural structure, and the stories are reminiscent of the Ruth Rendell mysteries (high praise indeed).
Readers are often surprised by how good the first novel is and then they read more books and find that the series is consistently strong. In Gallows View, Banks deals with a peeping Tom, a murder, a rape, and some break-ins, all in the same time period, and we find that there are some links to the criminals and the events that unfold. The story is well told and a satisfying read.
All of the Inspector Banks stories are recommended. Rating – 4.4/5 stars.
I have been a fan of The Beatles for 60 years and I still listen to their songs, embedded onto my playlists. Many songs still resonate for me, and one of them is Let it Be. It is a Paul McCartney song, written in remembering his mother who had died when he was 14. It is tale of hope, resilience, and acceptance, reminiscent of his mother’s words. I sing along to the song, with my own mother in mind. It is a permanent personal playlist song:
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
River of the Gods – Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile is a historical account of the expeditions of Richard Burton and John Speke in the 1850s. The author Candice Millard has written a historical account of the at-the-time-famous expeditions by British explorers to trek from the East Coast of Africa into the Interior in search of the Mountains of the Moon and the source of the Nile. Burton is a fascinating man who spoke over 50 languages and had spent his whole life living in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa learning the cultures, traditions, and languages. On the other hand, he had little time or patience for missionaries, bureaucrats, slavers, profiteers, or politicians. He was well-admired for his research, intelligence, daring, and ability to withstand hardships. He takes on Speke as his second-in-command on expeditions that take years. They hire a freed slave Siti Mubarak Bombay who serves as their expedition manager. They are attacked by a gang of 200, they contract multiple tropical diseases, many of the porters and guards desert, they run out of supplies, and both become too sick to travel. In spite of this, they are the first Europeans to see Lake Tanganyika and in a period when Burton cannot travel, Speke and Bombay are the first to see Lake Nyanza (Lake Victoria). Speke is convinced he has finally found the source of the White Nile, but Burton wants further proof.
Speke was a jealous and self-centered man who had racist views and was not above lying and self-aggrandizing. He returned to England, sold his version of the story, and started to lecture. In his version of affairs, he was the leader and Burton was unfit for the expedition and unworthy of credit. When Burton finally returns, he finds himself embroiled in a public debate.
The author uses recorded statements to lay out the facts of the life of Burton, the explorations in the Middle East and in Africa, and in the aftermath of the media (of the time) coverage of the events.
The events of their lives and their key partners and friends after the expeditions are well-detailed and fascinating. Burton was an accomplished poet, translator, and essayist. He translated and published the first copies of the Kama Sutra and The Arabian Nights.
This was a precise and well-crafted historical account and a highly recommended book.
Force of Nature is a thriller/mystery novel written by Jane Harper, the second in the Aaron Falk series, set in Australia. Five women set out on a four day corporate retreat backpacking into the remote Giralang Range, but only four return. A search is started and the police question the women and anyone else associated with the missing Alice Russell. Their stories are not consistent as the author patiently develops the characters of the five women, each flawed, each with secrets, each dealing with personal, family, and work issues. Two police teams investigate and the truth slowly unfolds, but this is not a procedural detective story. It is an interwoven account of people under stress with trust, betrayal, loyalty, personal growth, resentment, fear, and anger. The truth is revealed through the interactions of the women with each other and the police, and at the end of the book regret and guilt are stronger than denial and lies.
This is another compelling story by Jane Harper and it is recommended as an engaging read. 4.4 stars/5.
One of my favorite female singer-songwriters for decades has been Kate Wolf. Many of her songs were in the folk/Americana/acoustic genre. With a crystal clear warm voice she wrote and sang many memorable songs until her death from leukemia in 1986. There are many wonderful songs to love, but Green Eyes is one of her best:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Agatha Christie’s first book. She wrote in on a dare in 1916 and tried to get it published, unsuccessfully until 1919. It was then releases in serial format with 18 parts. It was not published as a full book until 1920. In the book we are first introduced to Hastings, the narrator of the story and to the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie went on to write 33 Poirot books, and many other mystery books for a total of 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections. She became the best-selling author of all time.
Although her writing and her plots improved over time, the first story reads as if it was written by a well-established author. Over time, the Poirot character becomes more nuanced, and in time the many movie and TV adaptations have added a character who is well-known to us, even after 100 years. Agatha Christie has been the most influential writer for the novelists to follow in the mystery genre. Her first book set a high standard and established its own sub-genre – the cozy mystery. Poirot attempts to solve a murder in a country manner where the number of suspects is small, and the clues are elusive. As readers we try to guess the murderer and how it was done. I confess that I guessed right this time, but I had the advantage of having read quite a few Poirot novels over the years. I enjoyed this one too and recommend it. [4.3/5]
The book of Koli is a dystopian science fiction novel, told in a future after civilization has broken down and genetically-altered nature has taken over. People survive in small villages or enclaves and build their own way-of-life, complete with the myths created by those in charge.
The story is told by an illiterate youth named Koli. With no education he follows the tenets of the village and takes on the trade of his family, accepting the expectations of the ruling family. In a world without technology, there are still a few pieces of “tech” in operation and those who have them do so with a level of power and authority. From a wandering doctor (Ursala), he learns a little about the “Old World” and the place of technology. Koli oversteps his place in the village of Mythen Rood and retrieves/steals some tech from storage, subsequently figuring out how to use it. It is an AI music player called a Dream Sleeve with the persona of a Japanese social media star Monono as its voice. Using the player, Koli makes poor choices and finds himself banned from the village (Koli Faceless).
The tale is told in plainspoken language in the first person by Koli, looking back at the events that changed his life, covered in a trilogy. The first book can be divided into two parts – Koli’s life in Mythen Rood, then Koli’s flight into the dangerous world of a future Ingaland. By the end of the first book, Koli’s quest is set and along with Minono, Ursala, and Cup, he is off to find Lundum.
But it really is not a tale of action and adventure. There is a thread of humanism, compassion, woven into world-building and character development. We care about the characters and we find ourselves alongside Koli as he grows and as he explores the world outside.
I was fully engaged with this book and I will carry on with the trilogy. My rating – 4.7/5.
Louis Armstrong was known as a jazz trumpeter, but he sang ballads with a raspy and nuanced voice. One of his best songs was performed in 1967. the song was written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss and has been recorded many times, but none matches the first rendering by Louis Armstrong.
A World of Curiosities in the 18th book in the Inspector Gamache series by Canadian author Louise Penny. It is a police procedural crime novel, but there are many layers and intriguing developments throughout the story, completed by a thriller ending.
The tale begins with several back-stories. The main story is an early Gamache case in which a prostitute is killed and her two kids are orphaned, but they have been damaged, and the echoes are part of the current murders. There is a look back at the killings at the Ecole Polytechnique, with a real life survivor as part of the narrative. And there is look back at when Chief Inspector Gamache first takes on his protege, Jean-Guy Beauvoir.
Ten years later, the events of the past collide with murders near Three Pines, a small village in Quebec and the clues start with a mysterious painting (A World of Curiosities) within a hidden room. A spider is building his web, with revenge on his mind.
The multiple strands and layers of this story make it a page-turner, one of the best of its genre. Highly recommended – 4.8/5 stars.
For years we have been seeing more and more people who seemed to spend a lot of time in trailers or vans. When we talked to a few people we were surprised to find out that they were actually traveling in their homes. We assumed it was just a choice they made, to be unattached, except to a love of travel. We did not really think that this was an economic choice. In Canada, it is very hard to live in a van or trailer over winter, so we just don’t see the nomads. Nomadland helped us to understand this phenomenon better.
We could not see ourselves choosing to live in an RV or van. We have stayed up to a month in a campervan and have spent many weeks in our recreational trailer, but after a couple of weeks, we are looking for more room, better plumbing, and some comfort. We stay in our RV to basecamp close to hiking and paddling, but sometimes for touring too. Could we adapt to becoming a long-term RVer? Probably, but we would not choose that way of life. The people that the author of Nomadland Jessica Bruder followed were mostly not nomads by choice, but for economic reasons.
The nomads faced some hard choices later in life for a variety of reasons and ended up in vans and RVs. Many had to travel from place to place, doing seasonal work as campground hosts, working for Amazon, or as seasonal laborers. In winter, most traveled to warm spots in the desert. Although there are undoubtedly nomads in Canada, the only part of the country that would allow overwintering in an RV or van would be the Lower Mainland, so we just don’t see large numbers of them.
The author follows some groups as they completed their seasonal cycles, as Campground host, in Amazon’s peak season, in harvest season, and in the off-season in winter. With lots of people facing this lifestyle, there are now blogs, conventions (of a sort), and speaking engagements, many focused on sharing the do’s and don’ts, secrets of the trade, and success stories. A network now exists on where to camp, how to save money, what to avoid, how to service and repair, and other parts of the nomad lifestyle.
The book is journalistic reporting, but it is coherent, well-crafted, and interesting from start to finish. I found it to be an eye-opener, a book I was thankful for.
