cjeanne99's reviews
975 reviews

Not great literature - but - interesting to learn from Helen herself about her life. Like many people, I know the story of the Miracle Worker - but not about Helen getting in to college, and her prolific writing. 

A dead body on the floor of the Bistro brings Gamache and his crew to Three Pines. No one claims to know who the dead man is. The investigation leads the team to a neighboring spa - recently opened in a house where previously a son murdered his mother. They find evidence that the body had been there - but it was not the murder site.  They find a cabin in the woods with a lot of blood, the home of the unknown corpse. The investigation continues - the man might have had a connection with the local Czech community - although no one claims to have known him. 
The ex-husband of the mother of the spa owner appears - a father that the spa owner thought was dead.  Nope - just too self absorbed to be bothered with his son. So after he wrote a book about his life working with autistic children, he went to India to study with a teacher, and was dead to his ex-wife. 
Gamache and Jean Guy talk to Gabri and Olivier, the Czech community, the Spa owners. They return to Olivier - especially after his fingerprints are found in the cabin. Tell the truth Olivier. He equivocates. Gamache travels to British Columbia to find the source of the inspiration for some wood carvings found in the cabin. Wood carvings with cryptic markings on the bottom.  Gamache learns that other carvings by the same person were sold on E-Bay. The spotlight returns to Olivier. Finally he admits that yes, he knew the hermit, yes he sold some of the items the hermit gave him, yes he knew how much money the hermit had in his possession. But he didn’t kill him.  Olivier claims all he was guilty of was greed. 
Our side plot - Clara has some pieces that an art dealer is interested in showing - but when he insults Olivier while meeting with Clara at the Bistro - she confronts him and he cancels the show. But - surprise - Clara meets the Suretés chief art investigator - who shows her work to another influential dealer - and Clara’s show is back on. 
In the end - Gamache arrests Olivier - who continues to claim he didn’t do it. 

It's Three Pines - of course the characters are loveable.  And - somehow we have yet another murder in Three Pines - which prides itself in being the town that everyone forgot. 

Margaret Fuller - remarkable woman - known for reading, discussing books, expanding minds, teaching - not following conformity.

Decker and Jamison travel to Baronville, PA for vacation. Their intention is to have a quiet visit with Jamison’s sister and family, celebrate her niece’s sixth birthday and relax. The first day they are there - Amos discovers two dead men in what appears to be an abandoned house. The police are called, and, Decker of course can not help but get involved - especially after the local ME misses some clues that Decker claims were very obvious about the death of the two men - who turn out to be undercover DEA agents. Now the DEA, local police and Decker/Jamison are cooperating - and when Jamison’s brother-in-law is found dead at the local “distribution center” (for an unnamed organization) - Decker kicks his investigation into high gear.  Four people have been found dead - all with ties to the grandson of the town’s founder - John Baron - and drugs. The story moves along - with all clues leading towards Baron as being a murderer - except Decker just doesn’t believe it. Baron has no need to deal with people selling fentanyl - the connection seems too circumstantial. Decker discovers a hidden room at the distribution center, implicating manager Ted Ross in the fentanyl trafficking.
In the end - the DEA and FBI find the bad guys, justice wins, and John Baron goes from being an eccentric recluse living on the family manor to being the town’s benefactor.
One of the side plots, Amos develops a rapport with Zoe - so well described in this review by Heather Fink https://jathanandheather.com/2020/06/10/the-fallen/

Yes - it took me three months to complete this book. I read it in bits and pieces. I felt like I was having a conversation with Neil at my neighborhood bar. One day, we would talk about his respect for Buddy Rich, another day we talked about the T.A.M.I. Show and the influence that Brian Wilson and other California musicians had on his life. Then - Neil would take off on his motorcycle - and I would go on to other things. But we’d meet back at the bar to talk some more. He’s an interesting guy - and the book is so much more than a rehashing of what happened when Rush was on tour. 
His time spent in the wilderness of the western United States, his respect for the National Parks and the work of John Muir - I really would like to hang out with Neil Peart some day. 

Allende brings us another story of a resilient woman who lives her life on her own standards. 

Two novellas - Blockade Billy is a baseball story - with a brand new catcher called up to the New Jersey Titans when they lose their only two catchers at the end of Spring Training. 
Billy Blakely arrives from Iowa in time to get a uniform, meet the team, and start catching. Billy is there for 22 games - a marvelous catcher - even though he's a little odd. 
Morality - young husband and wife with money troubles - take on a challenge from the wife's employer to commit a sin - record it on videotape - and receive $200,000.  

Well done. Quinn lets Lyudmila Pavlichenko tell us her story - how she went from a 21 year old mother of a five year old to being a sniper for the Russian army in World War II.  Pavlichenko was part of a Russian delegation that traveled to the United States in 1942 to garner support from the United States to join the fight against Hitler. In Quinn’s story - during the trip to the United States, Lyudmila foils a plot intended to assasinate President Roosevelt. Later, when Eleanor Roosevelt visits Lyudmila in Moscow, they talk in veiled terms about that attempt. 
The war-time romance with her commanding officer -

and his subsequent death,

was a bit over the top for me. But the rest of the book is well done - especially the ending. 

How does Aloysius Archer get his start as a gum shoe in the 1940’s world of Southern California? Our man of honor finds himself embroiled in a double murder that leaves you questioning everyone - including