Time of Death by J.D. Robb

I received a review copy of Time of Death from the Penguin Group. This is an anthology of 3 novellas published by JD Robb, Eternity in Death, Ritual in Death and Missing in Death. Although these are reprints and not new books this is a good packaging/marketing tool. I like it when publishers use anthologies especially in long running series. It’s a good way to get a taste of the series and decide if you like it enough to invest in other books without first spending a lot on new books.

In each of these books we discover a bit more about the main character Eve Dallas. In Missing in Death, her husband says of her “it takes more than skill and duty to make a good cop…it takes an unfailing sense of right and wrong.” In each of these books Dallas doesn’t just solve the crime, she wrestles with the motives and the feelings that each criminal brings to the crime.

These are books where the murders happen relatively early in the story. The balance of the story is the deduction of who did it and why it was done. Along the way we find out more about what makes Eve Dallas tick and why she is a good cop.

This book is a good introduction to the series. You will want to go back and catch up on the story, find out about her childhood, how she met her husband, why she doesn’t like his butler. But you don’t need to know all that to enjoy this anthology.

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn

Silent in the Sanctuary is the sequel to Silent in the Grave, reviewed here
http://sharisbooknotes.blogspot.com/2010/08/silent-in-grave-by-deanna-raybourn.html
Once again we meet Lady Julia Grey who has been recuperating in Italy. Her Father Lord March has summoned her and her siblings home for Christmas and she returns to England to celebrate Christmas with her family. When she arrives she finds the rest of her family along with some additional guests invited by her father. One of them is none other than Brisbane, the detective that she had met and assisted in a murder investigation that led her to needing to recuperate in Italy. She hasn't heard from him since she's been away and is suprised and pleased to see him again, until she is introduced to his fiance. This is a murder mystery so there is eventually a body to find, there are ghosts afoot and family intrigue.

The March family is unconventional. Even though the story is set in Victorian England Julia Grey is a very modern thinking and acting heroine. The detailed descriptions and well-written characters make this an interesting and entertaining story to read.

Repurposing

To repurpose something means to adapt for use in a different format or product.

I rented a condo in Harrison Hot springs this past weekend and while we were picking up the key we noticed that the desk they were using was an old piano frame. I asked them about it and it turns out that the piano belonged to his mother, now deceased. Neither of them were musical but they wanted to keep the piano and I guess being practical people decided to hollow out the middle and the strings and create a desk out of the rest of it.

At the time it seemed charming to me but the more I think about it the more it upsets me. A piano is supposed to be used. Even old pianos properly tuned can produce beautiful music (stay with me, this will ultimately be a post about books). Even when not being used, a piano has the promise of beautiful music but once the musical part of the piano is removed there’s nothing left but an empty shell.

Books are meant to be read. Often people will use books as a decorating tool or horror of horrors a hiding place for valuables after they’ve created a hollow in the book. An unread book holds the promise of entertainment, information or both. A book that’s been read holds the promise that it can be re-read at any time and provide even more hours of enjoyment. So, if your books are gathering dust or propping doors open please consider reading them or giving them away to others to enjoy. Some things aren't meant to be repurposed.

Split Second by Catherine Coulter

Catherine Coulter’s FBI thriller series has long been a favourite of mine. In this book, FBI agents and married couple, Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock are once again on the hunt for a killer. This time it’s a serial killer with ties to another famous serial killer, long dead. There are two new agents who have been added to the story, Lucy and Cooper. Along with the story line of the killer is another story that involves Lucy and her family and a ring that Lucy has fallen heir to.

This is a great story with lots of action scenes. There is also a lot of dialogue and often a narrative assist in knowing what the killer is thinking at certain times which means that you get to hear the story from all angles.

I basically read this story straight through to the neglect of many other things this weekend. If you’re going on vacation and need a book to read I’d highly recommend this one.

Spiritual Rhythm by Mark Buchanan

Mark Buchanan is a Canadian pastor on Vancouver Island. This is his 6th book. I’ve read several of his books and have also heard him speak a couple of times. He’s my favourite kind of communicator, direct, real and honest.

In this book he is comparing spiritual growth to Seasons, not to the seasons of life i.e. youth, adult, senior etc. but the actual seasons of Winter, Spring Summer and Fall. He begins with a statement that generally characterizes spiritual growth, busyness = maturity, the more you do for Jesus the more spiritual you are. Recognizing the fallacy in that he adds another component, busyness+commitment=fruit. But that doesn’t seem right either. Finally (and I’m obviously paraphrasing a chapter here) he realizes that the better model of spiritual growth is Seasons. “Fruit grows in seasons and all seasons are necessary for growing it” (pg18). Each season we go through has a purpose for making us more like Christ.

Then he goes on to describe the seasons. Winter is the absence of light, of God of friends, winter is death. A stark description but true I think of many people who have at times felt far from God either because of depression or circumstances or any number of reasons. Spring is hope, renewal, new beginnings. Summer is vitality, a foretaste of heaven, a time for joy and warmth and fruitfulness. Fall is harvest; a time to reap what we’ve sown in the other seasons. Each season has its purpose and he also describes various activities that can help bring clarity to your life as you experience each season. This is a book that he has lived. There are lots of personal examples and stories.

Part 2 of the book discusses the rhythm of the seasons, and how we can join in with the rhythm of each season. Often spiritual growth is discussed in terms of balance but he says we need more than balance. He says that while staying in the boat requires balance, getting anywhere in the boat requires rhythm. “We crave balance but we need rhythm”. (pg 198) Finding the rhythm of the season that you’re in will help to propel you through that season and on to the next. Of course he ends up with some spiritual disciplines like worship, reading the Bible, prayer and community. These are watchwords of any spiritual growth discussion. But in this book these disciplines are the well of water that sustain us through each season

This is a long review but I really wanted to give you a taste of what the book is like. I found this book to be very helpful in understanding the season that I’m in and in finding value in that season. I know that you will find it valuable as well.

The Body in the Gazebo by Katherine Hall Page

Faith Fairchild is a caterer/minister’s wife/amateur detective. I just realized that a lot of mysteries I’ve been reading lately have been set in church settings. I’m sure there’s a blog post in there somewhere that I will have to explore later, lol.

The Body in the Gazebo is the 19th book in this series. In this story, mysteries from the past and present are explored. Faith’s minister husband has been accused of stealing money from the church and while Faith works to clear her husband she is also involved in hearing the tale of the body in the Gazebo. Her best friend’s elderly mother is ill and needs to confide in someone. She chooses Faith and in a series of flashback stories tells about the murder of her brother. Meanwhile Faith’s best friend is encountering her own past as she attends her son’s wedding.
There are a lot of story lines in this book. It’s not confusing but it is a little bit dull sometimes as the narrative seems to drag a bit. All of the action happens in the last few chapters. An interesting twist is how social media is used in the story to help with the mysteries.

You don’t need to read the whole series to enjoy this book. Each story is a standalone story but if you want to start at the beginning you will have 19 books to read and a chance to get to know the Fairchild family and the town they live in.

Tell Me Your Secret by Deirdre Purcell

The story begins in Ireland in 1944 and spans 60 years. It’s a tale of a family with secrets, terrible secrets formed by misplaced ideas of discipline and justice.

The Shine family lived in the “Big House” in their Irish village. Violet Shine is a beautiful 16 year old who has fallen in love with a village boy who would be deemed very unsuitable by her family. So they have been meeting secretly. Naturally, her father discovers them and the story unfolds from there. The punishment meted out to her is truly unimaginable for she is imprisoned in an attic in their house for nearly 35 years!

Despite that last sentence this is not a story of revenge or even hate. It’s a beautifully told story of love and forgiveness. The story is told in many voices, starting with Violet’s. Claudine is the modern voice of the story, the real estate agent who is interested in the old house in the village now in disrepair but still worth a lot of money. She begins to investigate its ownership and discovers a startling connection to her own story about family.

The story is told in the first person by a variety of speakers and it’s easy to be completely taken in by the tale, indeed it was hard for me to put the book down. This is the first book I’ve read by Deirdre Purcell but I can tell it won’t be my last.