July 30-comparing two favorite characters

This month I read both a mystery by J.D. Robb and a novel by Jacqueline Winspear, two of the series that I have discovered recently and I’m trying to catch up on.  Although they are completely different types of stories I have a good time comparing Maisie Dobbs with Eve Dallas-in some ways the antithesis of each other and yet some similarities at the core.  Both had difficult childhoods and both have suffered a traumatic experience with which they have to deal.  Both investigate mysteries:  Maisie as a private investigator and psychologist who has incredible intuition and an ability to read people; and Eve as a homicide detective for the New York City police.  Both are passionate about their jobs, Maisie with not only solving the “mystery” but helping all concerned deal with the aftermath and Eve with standing as Justice for the victim making sure the perpetrator pays for the crime.  Both are strong females that work at managing their vulnerability.    I like both of these characters and, especially in the J.D. Robb series, it s one of the main reasons that I keep going back to the series.

Unfortunately, I may never meet anyone who reads both so I can discuss this idea-unless I can convince Mary to read the Maisie Dobbs series.  I’m amazed that she likes the Eve Dallas series; I think she might like Maisie even better.  Diana doesn’t like Eve and I suspect Melinda wouldn’t, either-too gritty, and too futuristic-but they both like Maisie.

Winspear’s series is clearly better literature with each one being well crafted and historically researched.  So far there are five books in the series.  I found book five in hardcover on a sale table at B&N last week so sometime in the next few weeks I will be caught up and anxiously awaiting another installment.  Robb churns out her series at the rate of two a year in addition to all the books she cranks out under the Nora Roberts name.  I’ve read the first twelve plus two others out of order; in November she will publish number 27.  It will take me quite a while to catch up.  One thing that helps with the catching up is that these are very fast reads, a maximum of two easy nights reading assuming I’m smart and go to bed on time and don’t stay up to finish it! Let’s face it.  I like the Eve Dallas series because it’s chick fantasy!   Much of the attraction of the Maisie Dobbs series is its historical accuracy as well as appealing continuing characters you care about.

July 31-2008 goals and plans for the blog

I’ve been so busy trying to set up my new book blog that I’ve only had time to make one daily note-which may be defeating the purpose of the blog, which is to share my thoughts on reading.   In fact, I found I was also neglecting my reading.  I had set a goal of trying to read a minimum of six books a month for this year and I had to stay up late tonight to finish my 6^th book for July.  However, I’m still well ahead for the year since in the first six months I averaged nearly 9 books a month-53 books completed by the end of June.

My goal for the second six months is to read at least one classic book every month as well as to continue reading at least six books each month.  Luckily, in July my classic book was a short one.  If I decide to tackle Anna Karenina this year I may be glad I’m so far ahead in my total book tally!  In addition to having had a desire for many years to read that novel, it has the added bonus of giving me a big boost toward my goal of 10,000 pages from my personal library in 2008.  I have just a little over 2,000 pages more to reach my goal and Anna would be about half of the amount I have left.  Since all my classics will be from my personal library this year I have a good chance to exceed that goal, also.

However, first I must finish setting up the blog.  I planned to have the blog “start” with January of this year as I can draw from this journal to fill in the first six months.  I think I have May, June and the rest of July to catch up.  When reading I often make connections to other books I’ve read so I may go back to previous journals when I find a relationship between a current book and one I’ve read previously.  I also tend to read “series” books-especially mysteries-so I will use the earlier journals to fill in there, also.  One important thing I must learn next is how to make internal links when I want to refer to a book I’ve already read so the reader of the blog can just click a link to go to than review.

Robb, J.D.:  Judgment in Death

In an uptown high class strip joint, a cop is found bludgeoned to death. Roarke owns the place and it looks like this cop who was working a part time job off duty was a dirty cop.  But things aren’t always what they seem. This is another Robb where you end up having sympathy for the perpetrator and some of the victims seem to get what they deserve-but of course vigilante justice is not something Eve would condone.  These books are still holding my interest. I usually lose interest in a series after six or seven, but even though I know these aren’t books I’ll ever reread I certainly enjoying them as a light fast read.

Skom, Edith:  The Mark Twain Murders

I’d better write this review fast-before I forget this book that I finished this afternoon.   I was very excited about this book because I usually really enjoy “literary” mysteries that somehow connect to classic authors I love.  The story takes place at “Midwestern University” in Illinois and concerns thefts of rare or somewhat rare books from the university library and murders that take place in the library.  The FBI is called in and of course the agent is attracted to the young female professor of literature who is trying to find out about a plagiarized essay.  The first murder victim submitted it to a contest which she won.  We get lots of information about the professors in the English department and views of the rivalries that are going on.  It should have been right up my alley.  I kept thinking I had read this before, but I hadn’t-only others like it. It’s an “okay but run of the mill” mystery.   There are at least 2 others in the series (this is the first) and I own the second one.  I can’t decide if I want to read it-maybe someday when I have to flu and can’t concentrate.  It’s possible that this author will improve with practice but right now my verdict is that this book makes J.D. Robb look like literature!  If you want a really great literary mystery try The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.

Pearl, Matthew:  The Dante Club

I read this in 2007 and highly recommend it for those who like “literary” mysteries.

This was an immensely satisfying, if at times gruesome, read.  Pearl gives us a good look at historical Boston, Harvard, and some great literary figures of the day while also providing a mystery that also gives a fair “romp” through Dante’s Inferno.  The Dante Club, centered on Longfellow when he was translating Dante as a way to cope with his wife’s death, was a fact and Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J.T. Fields, the publisher, were members of the club that met every Wednesday night to discuss the translation.  The murders are fictional but the author says, “…they reflect a very real, new sense of violence that had to be confronted at all levels of American Culture [immediately following the Civil War, which is when the novel is set].   Nicholas Rey, as the first Afro-American policeman in Boston, is also fictional, but Pearl states that Rey’s situation comes from Pearl’s research into the historical circumstances of non-white police in the 19^th century.   This is a wonderful historical novel and may become a “classic.”  Therefore, I listed it in “fiction” rather than “mysteries.”

Greene, Douglas G. & Robert C.S. Adey, editors:  Death Locked In (An Anthology of Locked Room Stories

This is a wonderful collection of 24 locked room mysteries from the 19th and 20th centuries including stories by Ngaio Marsh, Conan Doyle (not a Sherlock Holmes story), Wilkie Collins, Le Fanu and of course John Dickson Carr–to mention just a few of the “greats” in this genre. The last story even involves a “time machine!”  My favorite stories were a pair written by May Futrelle and her husband Jaques Futrelle in which the stories are connected.  This tome is a real treat for classic mystery buffs.

James, P.D.:  An Unsuitable Job for a Woman

I really liked this story and the detective, Cordelia Gray.  A famous scientist, a peer of the realm, hires Gray to find out why his son quit college and then committed suicide.  The characters are interesting and the story compelling.  Of course it was murder and I figured out much of the mystery before the end but it was fun to read.  I want to read the other Cordelia Gray mystery, The Skull Beneath the Skin, now.   If it is as good as this one I will be sorry James only used this protagonist twice.  Cordelia reminds me a little of Maisie Dobbs

Robb, J.D.:  Witness in Death

This is probably my favorite J.D. Robb so far.  I might even read this one again.  It starts with a murder that happens on stage during a performance of Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie.  Eve is at the performance so actually witnesses the crime.  However, in this case the “dead” that she is standing as justice for is actually the villain and a lot of good people get hurt in the process of finding the solution. This was not a simple good against bad story with easy answers; this actually gave the reader a chance to ponder “what is justice.”  Robb also worked in some parallels between the plot of Witness for the Prosecution and her plot that as an Agatha Christie fan I found interesting. I shed a lot of tears in this book and even though I did figure out the perpetrator before the end of the book (as did Eve) I still had a few surprises in the dénouement.  This was a terrific read.

Winspear, Jacqueline:  Pardonable Lies

Another interesting outing for Maisie Dobbs in which her search to find out if the son of a peer of the realm actually died in WWI because his dying wife made him promise to find him as she didn’t believe he was dead.  The father wished it to be proved he was dead.  The search leads her to also find out about the brother of her college friend, Pricilla Everden.  The third Maisie Dobbs book is a well written and historically researched novel which adds to the pleasure of a good story.

Christie, Agatha:  A Pocket Full of Rye

This was an audio edition of an enjoyable Miss Marple mystery, well read.  The patriarch of a dysfunctional family dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances at his place of business.  When he is examined it is discovered that there is a handful of rye grain in his pocket.  As the story unfolds it is discovered that the son who has stayed home to help run the business has had a major rift with his father and the prodigal brother has been invited to return home.  Blackbirds figure in the plot, also.  Even though I didn’t remember the story I’m sure I must have read this many years ago so it’s possible I figured out the villain so early based of half remembered information.  However, there were still some surprises for me at the end and I had a good time using this as a “walking book.”

Last November one of my adult students introduced me to J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series.  The author is Nora Roberts writing under a pseudonym.  I don’t care at all for Nora Roberts novels; the couple that I tried that were recommended to me I could not even finish.  However, the Robb books are like giving me a box of chocolates when I’m hungry.  The series is set in New York in the mid 21st Century.  Eve Dallas is a Lieutenant in the NYPD whose specialty is homocide investigations.  Part of the interest of the series is finding out about Eve and her past life.  Another part of the fun is her love interest, Roarke (just one name) who is the richest man in the world and also has a mysterious past. I’ve decided that this series is just fantasy for women.  It has no staying power-I forget the plot almost as soon as I finish the book.  But what a fun ride while it lasts!

This series would definitely not appeal to everyone (I’m amazed that I like it–but it is a classic good vs evil series–even if sometimes it gets a little graphic).  So far there are about 24 in the series and I am only up to #9.  Since Robb cranks them out at the rate of two a year it will be interesting to see which gives out first–her interest in writing them or my interest in reading them.  In January the only mysteries I read were four Robb’s I borrowed from my friend Mary.  I’ll review just the last one to give you an idea of what it is about.

Robb, J.D.                   Loyalty in Death

An unknown bomber stalking New York City sends Eve Dallas taunting letters promising to wreak mass terror and destruction among the “corrupt masses.” And when his work of destruction threatens those she cares for most, Eve fights back to keep him from coming too close to home. It becomes a race against the clock before the city falls.

Her assistant Peabody’s brother, Zeke, figures in this.  Also Greek mythology-an old group called Apollo has spawned a new group, Cassandra-the prophet to whom Apollo gave the power of prophesy.   What is really amazing, to me is that this book, although set in 2059, was published in 1999.  The plot has to do with a group that is targeting major landmarks in New York for destruction and the Twin Towers are even mentioned as a possible target.   This book came two years before the Twin Towers and other landmarks were actual targets of terrorist attacks.  That is just a little spooky!