cjeanne99's reviews
977 reviews

This book disturbed me - I had to take a break from reading when I got to the part where Snowman explains what happened to Oryx and Crake. If you love dystopian fiction - this is one of the best. Well thought out.  

Strike and assistant Robin are hired to search for author Owen Quine who has been gone two weeks. They learn that Quine was about to submit his new book - Bombyx Mori - for publication. His publisher claims he gave her a copy - and she shared it with a few others - unaware of the large number of thinly veiled lambasts of members of Quine’s writer’s circle. 
Quine’s developmentally disabled daughter, Orlando, is in her 20’s and lives at home. Quine has multiple dalliances with other women - leaving his wife home with Orlando. 
Quine and his friend Michael Fancourt - whom he hasn’t spoken to in over 20 years - own a house. Left to them by another writer who died, the house is meant to be a “spiritual retreat” of sorts. Fancourt hasn’t been there in years - and was surprised when Strike finds Quine’s body there - disemboweled and clearly dead. 
Accusations fly as to which of Quine’s frenemies could have killed him - with the police settling on Leonora, his wife. Strike is confident this is not true - and continues to investigate - uncovering the clues he needs to prove his theory. 
Story bogged down a bit in the middle  -  but in the end was a satisfying mystery - leaving me wanting to see what the next Cormoran Strike adventure will be. 

Three brothers managing two ranches in Australian. Nathan, the eldest, lives on the property he kept after his divorce from Jacqui - mother to his son Xander. Jacqui has moved to Brisbane, but Xander is visiting his dad for a December school holiday. Cameron and younger brother Bub live on the family ranch. Cameron and his wife Ilse manage the property now that father Carl is dead. 
Simon and Katy, two backpackers that Cameron hired, are living on the property - along with Liz - Nathan, Cameron and Bub’s mother - and Uncle Harry - brother of deceased Carl. 
The book opens with Bub and Nathan standing at Cameron’s body - found by a grave on their property. What was Cameron doing there? Why had he walked there and not driven? Where was his truck? Law enforcement arrives - and when moving Cameron, they discover a freshly dug hole in the sand beneath him.  Shortly - they find Cameron’s truck - fully loaded with water, camping supplies and food - parked almost 10K away. Why had he left it there? 
The book moves back and forth between current day and memories of growing up in the Bright household with Carl who was physically and emotionally abusive to his wife and children. Eking out punishments that fit his passion at the moment. Or - memories of Nathan meeting Ilse when she first moved to the area - when Nathan hadn’t yet been shunned for driving by his ex-father-in-law who was having a stroke on the side of the road - but not 10 minutes earlier had told Nathan - “don’t come near me or my family”. Memories of Nathan being surprised when Cameron started dating Ilse. 
The official cause of death is ruled as dehydration - but Nathan can’t stop thinking of inconsistencies. Why was the driver’s seat in Cameron’s truck adjusted? Cam and Nathan were the same size - but when Cam got in to drive the truck - he had to move the seat. 
Why is a woman from their past suddenly trying to reach Cameron?
Why is Katy - the backpacker - reluctant to fulfill her role as teacher?
Lots of questions - particularly when the murder took place in such a secluded place. Not many suspects - and yet - it looks like Cameron might have committed suicide - by dehydration. 

Mother Liz’s eventual confession surprised me - but it shouldn’t have. Lots of clues to her involvement in this - but easy to miss when you first read them. And the envelope of cash and documents that Liz took from Cameron - was safest behind his painting. “Don’t touch Cam’s painting”

 

OK - and I’ll probably read another Benni Harper mystery just to see if she gets more believeable - but this first foray was a little “flat” for me. I couldn’t help but compare Benni to China Bayles, Stephanie Plum and even Izzy Spellman (although not as funny as Izzy)  - and - in this first book - Benni misses the mark. The premise of a murder at a folk arts co-op/museum in a town north of Los Angeles has some promise. But Fowler mixes in the death of Harper’s husband and a loosely put together blackmail scheme that makes sense in the end - but isn’t flushed out enough. 

In the end - it isn’t clear to me if JD Freedman was covering up for his son - or if he (JD) was the one found wandering down the road in a drunken stupor. Did Jack swerve to avoid hitting JD and have an accident? Or was Carl in the car and walked away from the accident?

Not enough character development for me - I wasn’t invested enough in Em to cheer her on when she got loose - and never understood why she stayed in the house once free. And Pickering came off as just a mean asshole - instead of a killer to be feared.  

Well done - like others I kept thinking this was a true story - even when I knew it wasn't. This is one time that I wish I had the actual book instead of audio. I googled to find the pictures - but couldn't find them all. The writing style in the beginning reminds me of Bill Bryson - all reminiscent about his growing up days in Edgewood, Maryland - I kept thinking - when are we going to get to the murders? 
In the end - Chizmar gives us a well done mystery.  Using himself as the narrator - he tells us the story of three murders that occured in an 18 month period in his hometown. A recent college graduate, he was starting his career running Cemetery Dance, a real life magazine and book publisher - when the first fictional murder occurs. Twisting reality in with his fiction - Chizmar leads us down the path he took investigating the murders with the help of a friend who works for the local paper. Together they interview family members of the victims, become friends with the lead investigating officer, and keep us wondering who the murderer was. 

Well done - although some of the chapters giving us the character history were unnecessary to the supporting the plot line - in my opinion. 
Told in multiple POVs - we have a murder at a wedding. But who died - and who did it? She does keep you guessing. 

Based on the life of Margaret Mead during her time in New Guinea in the 1930’s. 

Entertaining - but dragged in a few spots. The segment of their second tv show interview disturbed me a bit. Carl handled it well - but the psychopath audience members and the “special guests” were too much for me. 
And to invest 13 hours in an audiobook that doesn’t finish the story is a bit much. This isn’t Lord of the Rings. 

A blend of science fiction, dystopia and humor. Written as somewhat of a documentary - Red Side Story follows the lives of four young adults in Chromaticia.