Thursday, February 28, 2008

New Mysteries on the Shelves (2)

I don't want to let a month go by without mentioning what's new on the library's the book shelves for mystery readers. Here are two more:

The first book is In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews. This sounds like a dream opportunity for a young researcher. Geology graduate student Valena Walker travels to Antarctica to study glaciology--actually a lifelong dream to visit the location--with the esteemed Dr. Emmett Vanderzee. Dr. Vanderzee is unavailable to her as she is stunned to learn he is arrested and accused of murder. Underway with her studies, Walker concludes she needs to help Vanderzee clear his name as her grant-supported work could end otherwise. She does this by attempting to investigate the death of a reporter visiting the area. The reporter was conducting an investigation into research discrediting Dr. Vanderzee.

In steps that mirror her fictional character, Andrews recently used a grant from the National Science Foundation to study in Antarctica. The book has 336 pages.

The next book is Crime & Clutter by Cyndy Salzmann. Described as an inspirational cozy, this is the second of a series of a six middle-age women who comprise the "Friday Afternoon Club," a fun-filled group that meets to cook, eat and chat. Mary Alice has the huge cleaning project with a storage unit in a 1963 Volkswagen minibus and finds old letters from that period involving her father whom she barely knew. Her friends also get involved with the work and the novel switches between the women's story today and Mary Alice's parents in the 1960s, a pair of then hippies caught up in the times. Mary Alice has a tough struggle here as she relives her father's abandonment of her as a baby. Although dead, can she forgive him? The book has 270 pages with recipes and discussion questions.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Book club discusses "Murder Among the OWLS"

This month the book club discussed the newest of a long-running mystery series by Bill Crider featuring Sheriff Dan Rhodes. Murder Among the OWLS: a Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery is the 14th book featuring the law enforcement chief in a small Texas county.

Fortunately, as new readers to this series--which included all gathered--we didn't feel as if we jumped in the middle of the series and had to play catch up. That's always appreciated (some incidents of previous crime cases were mentioned in passing mostly). The novel focuses on the death of an older woman, Helen Harris, in the community whose death appears accidental but the sheriff's gut feelings say otherwise. Why, for instance, did Helen's cat's show up at Dan's home when it is "strictly an indoor cat."

The longest section of our discussion covered the proper amount of police force to use when confronting a hostile situation. During two different times Rhodes is attacked with an improvised weapon (one much more deadly than the other) and the laid-back sheriff doesn't forcefully enough quickly quell the situation. That led to talk about a character flaw with Rhodes and the genuine need to overpower others. Rhodes tries peaceable methods but hesitates to use force and pays the price by getting banged up. In a more realistic setting, we couldn't imagine that could stay the case. Sadly, two mentioned how police may be confronted with deadly consequences when challenged by from defiant, angry individuals.

Another person noted in comparison a fictional female sheriff who had a different and more forceful attitude as being more suited for the position of sheriff.

All in all though, Rhodes tracks down a murder in a conclusion that puzzled one attendee just a little. He just found the reason for murder to be a little unclear and others responded with the character's motivations.

Writer Crider did provide a quick read for most in his an affable-styled writing. Clear and precise, one person noted an appreciation for repeating situations using different words and another for skipping repeatable dialogue. (Here's a pix of Crider from his blog I found on Google. He apparently writes nonstop--take a look at his website.)

Crider also provided a wonderfully, funny beginning for his book as I read the first four paragraphs about the cat "Sam" who wanders in and creates a home in Rhodes' house. Of course, he sneezes around it and his wife's reaction ("you're not really allergic to anything") is part of the dry humor in the story. Another found two anxious and needy deputies quite funny as Rhodes is surrounded at work by those easily-available, apparent busybodies.

In a quick informal poll, the book rated as a good, pleasant read and some began to read earlier books in the series.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Writer Last Year, a Sheriff This Year...?

Daniel "Chipp" Bailey certainly can't be faulted for multi-tasking. Last year, the part-time author had his third mystery novel hit the library and bookstores--A Lowcountry Murder. Take a look at his author website and you'll see he is a South Carolina "Lowcountry" fan (that actual area is South Carolina's coastal counties, including Charleston and below).

His new book has the story of a former Atlanta detective, Jed Bradley, reluctantly investigating a series of murders in his childhood home in South Carolina with possible strong personal ties that go back 40 years.

Bailey's other work is as the newly-appointed sheriff of Mecklenburg County as of February 6th. Working previously as the chief deputy sheriff, Bailey was outgoing Sheriff Jim Pendergraph's choice to succeed him (Pendergraph was leaving the post three years early after accepting a job with federal Homeland Security department).

That move to sheriff for Bailey appeared likely until a challenger, Charlotte attorney Nick Mackey, garnered support to become elected sheriff by the local Democratic party. Unfortunately for Mackey though, questions dogged his background and, moreover, the election itself was overturned by the state Democratic party as being termed flawed. Rushing to appoint a new sheriff, the county commissioners quickly appointed Bailey, who publicly expressed interest in the job. And needless to say, this story was well-covered by the local media and Bailey has his share of newspaper coverage.

However, I'd have to guess that all publicity can't hurt as Bailey's older books are in demand with current library requests according to a recent catalog check.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Academy Award Winner "Crime Saga"--

Novelist Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men which had become a critically-praised movie has now grabbed Hollywood's top honor with its Oscar win last night. As a movie fan and mystery reader, I'm pleased this violent but good movie won.

Billed as a "crime saga" in one web site I read, the story of No Country is ripe for print or the big screen with the theft of drug money and the chase that ensues. This story follows the thief of stolen money, a psychopathic killer after the thief and the sheriff concerned about both.

A quick check of our library catalog shows the expected interest of this title with a brisk demand for the book and new upcoming DVD by requests following the four award wins at the Academy Awards. I haven't read the book or seen the movie but I'm hopeful to at least see the movie in the near future. Following last night, I am especially interested in seeing the movie with actors Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones in this new critically-lauded Coen brothers production.