The Professional by Robert Parker

Mike and I went to see a movie yesterday--and discovered that most of the Cedar Valley had the same idea. So, we headed to the WPL to pick up a few DVDs to enjoy together, and a few books on CD for me to listen to while I grade papers. However,
when I saw Robert Parker's latest novel on the Express Book Shelf, I had to grab it! The latest book in the Spenser series, The Professional offers many of the same characters and themes as in previous stories--Spenser's longtime girlfriend Susan Silverman, his good friend Hawk, and his former colleagues in the Boston P. D. Quirk and Belson. There is plenty of clever dialogue, good food, and debate about some of the big questions in life about love and respect, monogamy, motivation, and relationships.

In The Professional, Spenser gets hired by a group of women who are all being blackmailed by a scoundrel--all of them had affairs with a man named Gary. All of them are married to much older men and do not want their husbands to find out about their affairs. As usual, things are more complicated than they seem, and as Spenser investigates to find what the four women have in common, he discovers they are all members of an exclusive health club.

The Professional is a good read; Robert Parker has a way of hooking me into the story so effortlessly. He is a master of prose--funny, insightful, easy to read, enjoyable. I sat down to read a chapter last night and about a hundred and fifty pages later, realized that I needed to go to bed. Today I finished it off--and not to give anything anyway, it was worth it!

You can find The Professional on the Express Check out display: I promise to return it promptly. However, if you have not read any of the other Spenser novels, you can find many of them in the Mystery section as well as the large print area.

See Cherie's video Review of The Professional on YouTube!

c 2009, Waterloo Public Library

Reading Books on my new I-Phone

I was very skeptical, but curious about the Kindle, Amazon's hot device to read books electronically. Then, several weeks ago, I found myself downloading a hot new application for my I-Phone, when a friend recommended Stanza, a program for reading books on the I-Phone.

I read a book by one of my favorite authors--Lee Child, with his series of books about Jack Reacher, former military policeman. I was astonished at how easy it was to use, and how I quickly "forgot" I was reading a book on a small screen. When I came to end of the "page," I just tapped on the lower right hand screen and the "page" seemed to turn itself to the next one.

It was even possible to read at night in the car (while Mike was driving); I found that I could adjust the brightness of the screen or change the background altogether.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and disconcerting experience all at once.

However, how much easier was it that I had checked this book out from the WPL and read it some time last year? Would I have been as engaged if it were not one of my favorite authors and series?




c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Without Feathers by Woody Allen

My introduction to Woody Allen came several years ago in the form of Annie Hall… It’s hard to top that. When I came across Without Feathers, I eagerly began scanning the pages. Happily, it promised the same neurotic pessimism, wit, and sarcasm that you would expect from the author. Published in 1975, it made (and spent some time on) the New York Times Best Seller List, and has since become known as one of Allen’s best literary works.

Reading Without Feathers is as if you’ve the ability to thumb through Woody Allen’s personal notebook of scrawled thoughts, ramblings, and dissentions left abandoned on a coffee shop table in New York City. The title is the author’s fitting rebuttal to an Emily Dickenson’s quote, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” The perfection of this book is the fact that it is not one continuous thread, but rather a collection of works, musings, and humor in true Woody Allen style. The short sections, most of which had been previously published in his New York Times column (before it had become an avant-garde trend to be a Woody Allen fan) make the book great for reading in quick doses. The humorous vignettes are a great way to start or provide a much needed diversion from your day, as well as to serve as a refreshing literary break between more dense books. It’s a quick, light read, without having sacrificed intellect. Which can be a rarity.

Each chapter produces a smirk, at least, while The Whore of Mensa, and God (A Play) will defy you not to laugh out loud. Death (A Play) reads as having a Who’s-On-First approach, but hints at greater philosophical questions… not to be taken too seriously, to be sure. God (A Play) features Allen’s hallmark classic Greek references, notions of relationships with the opposite sex, and modern New York- all of which culminate in a grand ending (!) If you appreciate nothing else, it’s worthy of reading for the endless string of one liners and quotes that can be pulled from the pages. I can’t resist inserting a few here:

“Uh-oh… That’s footsteps- the maniac probably has feet… Oh, God, save me.”

“I’m used to the streets at night

“Oh?”

“Well, I’m a prostitute.”

“No kidding. Gee, I never met one before… I thought you’d be taller.”

“Kleinman, you have been judged and found guilty. You will hang. Do you have any final requests?”

“Yes, I’d prefer not to hang.”

“Still obsessed by thoughts of death, I brood constantly. I keep wondering if there is an afterlife, and if there is will they be able to break a twenty?"

Before stumbling across Annie Hall, I had been purposefully ambivalent toward Woody Allen. For two reasons: First, I didn’t want to join the trend- I enjoy having a mind of my own. Second, I had no interest in the ubiquitous tabloid fodder that surrounded his personal life. However, after simply considering the work for itself, I discovered that I really enjoy Allen’s sense of humor, writing style, and mixture of the profound and superficial. I encourage you to do the same, and consider it for yourself. If you're already a Woody Allen fan you're bound to love it.

You can find Without Feathers in the Adult Non-Fiction section, on the second floor of the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

I read Julie & Julia for my book club not that long ago: tonight, Mike and I went to see the movie, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. It was wonderful and seemed very true to the book, complete with some of Julie's disasters, emotional melt downs, and cooking triumphs. You could almost taste the food -- smell the food -- as the movie switched back and forth from scenes of Julie cooking to Julia cooking. I enjoyed the contrasting settings, with Julia walking in the streets and market places and sitting in the restaurants of Paris and Julie in her cubicle, cooking in her tiny kitchen in an apartment over a pizza place, and entertaining on the roof.

I also liked the portrayal of the two very supportive men who were separated by decades, but strikingly similar in their love for their wives, appreciation of good cooking, and ability to enjoy (do I dare say savor?) life.

For those not familar with the story, Julie & Julia is about a young secretary who works at a job that might be difficult for many to do: she works for a company helping to coordinate efforts after 9/11 and takes phone calls from angry, grieving people all day. She likes to cook but doesn't really think she is all that good; after all, she is no Julia Child. Julie is also a self proclaimed failed writer, having invested several years in a novel that did not get finished and that no one wanted to publish anyway. As her 30th birthday approaches, however, she feels a need to do something significant; talking with her husband, Eric, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's famous cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking--and then blog about it. So there are a number of scenes where she sits at her laptop and composes her blog entries; I was struck again by the way she found her voice online, and how she addressed an audience that didn't exist at first.

Back in 2002, blogging was not as common and the blogosphere was less crowded, so it may have been easier to get noticed. At first, she isn't sure anyone is reading her blog except for her coworker, her mom, who is not totally supportive, and Eric. But as she makes progress through the list of recipes, and continues to document her efforts, she becomes aware that people are reading her postings. At the end of the year she has accomplished her goal of cooking all 500+ recipes, but she has gained much more than the mastery of cooking techniques. She feels that she has truly taken back her own life. At the same time, she starts getting contacted by editors and agents and the rest is history!

I loved the book; I loved the movie. While Meryl Streep is an amazing actress, I was not prepared for how much she took on the role of Julia Child; she captures the loud, exuberant voice, gestures, and seems to channel JC. She is just the way I picture Julia in the book; Stanley Tucci plays her husband, Paul, and they are wonderful together. Likewise, this is a great role for Amy Adams: she has a lovely quality that is very authentic and likeable in spite of her emotional meltdowns. She is a real woman living in post 9/11 New York city.

If you're hungry for a good read, check out Julie and Julia; you can find it at the WPL in either the CDbook area or in the nonfiction section.

You might also be interested in the movie site, which you can find at www.julieandjulia.com/

You may also want to go to Julie Powell's current blog,
http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/


c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Big Boned by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is the author of the popular Princess Diaries, so many people think of her as only a young adult writer. However, I just finished Big Boned and thoroughly enjoyed it. Big Boned is about Heather Wells, who is a plus sized former pop singer who is now the Assistant Dorm Director at a college in New York. She has a new boyfriend and currently lives with the brother of an old boyfriend: okay, it is a little complicated. Her boyfriend is her remedial Math teacher, Tad. He's into jogging and health food. Heather is more into walking, fancy coffee, and chocolate chip cookies. She lives with Cooper, whose brother Jordan was once Heather's teen boyfriend; Cooper is a private investigator who felt his brother treated Heather badly and offered her a room.

Heather has moved on from her teen singing career; her days are filled with dealing with emotional college students, demanding administrators, and she has made a number of friends at the Residence Hall. Her beloved former boss, Tom, recently got promoted and her new boss Owen is a rather humorless, bland person. So, imagine her surprise when Heather arrives at work one day to find that Owen has been shot in the head from the street, and is sitting at his desk with a cup of cold coffee in front of him. She calls the police and it becomes evident that she may be really well acquainted with one of them; Detective Canavan questions her and from the references to the "Death Dorm," it is clear that they have worked together before.

I loved the descriptions of the college meetings, the friendships with Pete the Security Guard and Magda the cafeteria lady, and the way Heather goes to bat for her assistant Sarah and the other students. Mix in a proposed strike by graduate students, the appearance of a well meaning but inept PR person named Muffy, a large orange cat named Garfield, and Owen's ex wife and the story is an engaging one. While many books proclaim themselves to be funny, this one REALLY IS funny; I liked the self deprecating way Heather has of describing her reaction to healthy eating and exercise, worrying that her uterus may have fallen out while running. As she tries to reach out to one of her students, Jamie, they share a dish of warm cobbler.

However, I liked the way the author developed the storylines and characters. Heather is not a perfect person; however, she handles the various crises with her graduate students with her heart, and it becomes evident that she gets a lot of satisfaction from doing her job. I also liked that each new chapter offers a stanza of song lyrics from her music. (For example, "You're not fat--though you could get toned--But it's not your fault--You're just big boned.")

Now, I can't wait for the people who checked out Cabot's other two books about the same character to be returned: Size 12 is Not Fat and Size 14 is Not Fat Either. In the meantime, if you're looking for something funny and satisfying, check out Big Boned. You can find it in the Mystery section of the Waterloo Public Library. You might also want to check out Meg Cabot's website at www.megcabot.com.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Listen to the Silence by Marcia Muller

I have long been a fan of Marcia Muller's series about Sharon McCone: recently, I got a chance to read one of the books that I had overlooked, Listen to the Silence (2000). When Sharon's father dies unexpectedly, she and her brother John are left with the task of going through his things.

She discovers a shocking secret when she finds her birth certificate with some other papers: she is adopted, but when she goes to her mother for more information, she is met with silence. Finally she gets some information from her aunt and uncle, and goes in search of her biological parents. One of the people she meets gives her a photo that includes her aunt--as well as a group of young Native American young people, including a young woman who looks startlingly familiar.

As Sharon unravels the story, she discovers the identity of her biological mother and a man she believes may be her father. He comes from a rich and powerful family, and his father obviously did not want his son to marry a "poor Indian girl." After she finds her mother, she also discovers that she now has a half sister and brother as well. However, her mother is struck down by a hit and run driver, and in a coma--not the best of circumstances for meeting a long lost daughter.

Muller is a master storyteller; this was a satisfying read, with plot twists, believeable characters, and a complex character at the heart of it all. Anyone who has ever stared at an old family portrait and wondered about the lives of the people in the photograph can relate to Sharon's fascination with the old photo. Of course, Sharon didn't even know who they were at first, other than her aunt.

Over the past two summers, having two surgeries, I've spent my days reading books and scanning in old family photos and putting together photo albums. When I read the wonderful description of the photograph in this book, it made me think of an old black and white photo that I found of my family. It is unusual because it is the only photograph that I have found that has all three of my grandmothers in it. Great Grandma Eva looks pensive, while Grandma Nellie is smiling; I am struck by how short she is, as my older sister Cathi stands in front of her. My grandmother Lillian was visiting from California; she stands next to my father, and I see that she is much taller than Nellie. Looking at the people in this picture helps me to understand better who I am; however, it also makes me wonder. What were their secrets, their joys, their fears? What stories did they not get a chance to share with us?

I am going back to check the online catalog to be sure that I haven't missed any other books in this series; you can find Listen to the Silence in the Mystery section of the Waterloo Public Library.



c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Bad Medicine by Aimee and David Thurlo

I just finished reading Bad Medicine, one of the earlier books (1997) in Aimee and David Thurlo's series about tribal police officer Ella Clah. As noted in my previous review of Wind Spirit (2004), this series blends good storytelling and mystery with an exploration of the Native American culture out west. The series is set on the Navajo reservation and this particular story focuses on the racial tensions between the Navajo and white workers at the local mine. Hate crimes occur on both sides, and there is talk of secret organizations. In the meantime, Ella investigates a mysterious car accident and death: the victim is Angela Yellowhair, the daughter of a powerful Navajo senator. Ella's friend, Dr. Roanhorse, the Medical Examiner, finds tainted peyote in Angela's system, but Senator Yellowhair does not want to accept this verdict.

Ella juggles the investigation, which turns into an ugly and personal attack against both her and Dr. Roanhorse with trying to figure out not only who killed Angela, but why the senator is so determined to reject the evidence found by the M. E. She also becomes acquainted with Kevin, a young lawyer who is building a home near her mother's; Kevin becomes her friend and takes on the task of getting Dr. Roanhorse reinstated at the hospital after the Senator pressures administrators to put her on suspension. The story also develops Ella's relationships with her mother, who is a very strong, wise woman and her brother, a respected medicine man who loves his sister but follows the traditional ways.

I have always enjoyed Tony Hillerman's novels for their windows into the culture of Native Americans. This series goes a step further, in a sense, because it features a woman who embraces both her own culture and that of the larger society. Ella has FBI training, has lived away from her family and culture for a number of years, and has absorbed the values of both; she is fiercely protective of her friends and family, works hard to discover the truth, and has a deep bond with her fellow police officers, including her younger cousin Justine, who assists her in the investigation. Ella also

For all of the cultural differences, however, Ella is a woman that many of us can relate to: she works hard but wonders if she will ever have a close relationship again. Her husband died some years before, and while Ella has had a few romances, she has resisted getting close to anyone else. She struggles with wanting to please her mother and family and still be her own person. She worries about her friend Dr. Roanhorse and is determined to clear her name. Ella pushes herself hard, but tries to shield her partner, Justine, from taking unnecessary risks. She is a very complex, likeable person.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series, but as the summer comes to a close, so does my free time. However, if you're looking for a good read, check out Bad Medicine; you can find it (and all of the Thurlo's books) in the Mystery section.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Wind Spirit by Aimee and David Thurlo

There are several wonderful series set out west, such as Tony Hillerman's books featuring Joe Leaphorn. So when Tony Hillerman recommends a book, I pay attention. Recently, I read Wind Spirit by Aimee and David Thurlo (2004); it is part of the Ella Clah series. Ella is a young Navajo police officer and a single parent who is caught between the culture of her people and that of the outside world.

As the book begins, she attends a ceremony at a mine that is being closed up; she sees her nephew and other boys playing in an area that she deems unsafe, and gets them to move. However, part of the ceremony includes using some powerful explosives to seal up the mine; this also creates or opens several holes and Ella and her nephew start to fall down into one of them. Ella is able to save her nephew but cannot save herself. She tries to get out, but finds herself suffocating in sand and dirt from above. She then has a strange experience--she sees her husband Eugene, who died, and her father, who became a Christian minister, and was murdered a decade ago. She is told she has been given a choice: stay there with them or return to her life.

Ella doesn't want to leave; however, she cannot bear the idea of leaving her daughter behind, so she tells them that she must return. The next thing she knows, people are bending over her, trying to revive her. It seems that they had given up and pulled a blanket over her--then she sat up! For many of the Navajo who are traditionalists, there is something disturbing about this, because they are afraid that Ella has been contaminated by the spirits of some miners who died. Those who are Christians see it as a miracle. But many are afraid of her, and her family encourages her to have a singer perform a special song/prayer/blessing to lift the sense of a curse.

I found this novel very intriguing: there is a surface similarity to Tony Hillerman's stories, since both explore the culture of the Native Americans and focus on the daily lives of law enforcement officers solving crimes on the reservations of the west. However, while I enjoy Hillerman's characters, I found the Thurlos to be skilled story tellers as well, and was intrigued by the perspective of a young woman who left her family and culture behind, and then returned.

Now that I have had a chance to look at the authors' website, I see that again I stumbled onto a series late in the game; I need to work backwards and read the earlier books. The first one in the series is Blackening Song; it dates to 1995. As far as the Thurlos go, David grew up on the Navajo Reservation and taught school there until he retired. Aimee is Cuban. They live in New Mexico. If you are interested in learning more about the authors or the series, check out their website.



You can find all of their books in the Mystery section of the WPL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Damage Control by J. A. Jance

I decided to try something new and checked out one of the new playaway books--there is a display near the self check machines. I must admit, although it hurts my pride, that I was a little confused by the packaging. Looking at the side of the plastic box, which looks a lot like a VCR case, I was a little baffled when it did not easily open up--and the strange set of holes (two square, two round) further complicated things. I was just getting ready to email my personal reference librarian for help when I finally got the silly thing open. Inside there was a little device a little larger than the typical MP3 player, with the controls on one side and what looks like a miniature book cover on the other side.

Plug in the headphones and slip the lanyard around my neck and I could answer email, surf the web and straighten my desk while I listened to Damage Control by J. A. Jance (2008). If you haven't read anything by this author, you're missing another wonderful series, which is set out west. Sheriff Joanna Brady has her hands full in this book (the 13th in the series, according to Amazon); an elderly couple commits suicide by driving off the cliff of a mountain in Cochise County, Arizona. Their two daughters, in their 60s, descend on the town, demanding answers. However, when someone finds human remains in a garbage bag and one of the deputies is shot, the sheriff's department has more work than they can handle. Joanna is also juggling child care duties with her husband, Butch, trying to cope with her difficult mother, and starting to come to terms with new information about her father and his death.

This is a good read--or listen, according to your preference. While this series is definitely a little more on the somber side that some, the author does a wonderful job of developing the stories, and describing the beauty of the southwest.

Now that I know where to plug in the earphones, I can't wait to get another playaway audio book!


c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Death in Paradise by Robert Parker

I realize that I have been blogging about books written by a number of great female writers this summer. However, one of the all time great writers is Robert B. Parker, author of the popular Spenser series. Parker has another series that I also enjoy: the Jesse Stone novels. Several have been made into TV movies, starring Tom Selleck, so whenever I read one of these books, I am picturing Tom Selleck as Jesse.

In Death in Paradise (2001), Jesse has settled into his job as the police chief of Paradise, a small town in Massachusetts not that far from Boston. He is still seeing his ex-wife, Jenn and is starting to recognize that he has some issues with alcohol and moving on. Jesse once played professional baseball and enjoys a regular game with friends; one night, after their game, several men discover the body of a young girl at the edge of the water. Suddenly, Jesse is investigating a missing girl who became a victim of homicide.

Robert Parker is the master of dialogue, description, and characterization. He does a skillful job of mixing humor, real life situations and details of police procedure. Jesse works with an interesting group of people, including the ever efficient and articulate Molly, Suitcase, and a few cops from the Boston force. The extra layer of pyschological insights into troubled relationships and substance abuse adds complexity and interest.

Jesse is determined to find the person guilty of killing the young girl, and in order to do so, he has to enlist the help of other officers to gather information and do some old fashion surveillance. As he does so, he has to deal with other cases and crises.

If you are looking for another series full of interesting characters and cases, check out the Jesse Stone series. The first two books are Trouble in Paradise and Night Passage; Death in Paradise is book three. You can find them in the Mystery section of the WPL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Mummy Dearest by Joan Hess

Joan Hess is one of my favorite writers: she mixes humor, lively dialogue, and great characters into each book. She knows how to capture the feel of a small college town, and one of her series features Claire Malloy, who runs a small bookstore in Farberville, Arkansas. Claire has a teenage daughter (Caron) and is a single parent; her husband died. In earlier books in the series, Claire solves a series of mysteries and gets more than acquainted with Peter Rosen, local police officer. A romance evolves between the two, but is not conflict free.

The latest book in the series, Mummy Dearest, (2008) begins with an informal wedding and an unlikely honeymoon. Claire, her daughter Caron and Caron's best friend Inez fly to Egypt, to meet Peter, who went ahead of them. Peter has received special training and is now more than a small town police officer. Claire has learned it is best not to ask too many questions, but knows that the trip is part honeymoon, part business, which is one of the reasons for bringing the two teenagers along. Now they are all staying in an elegant old hotel in Luxor, in a fancy suite, complete with balcony, fireplaces, a parlor, and servants. While having breakfast, Claire is approached by a young British man, Alexander, who invites her to a party his father (Lord Bledrock) is having that evening.

Peter and Claire are then introduced to an eccentric and lively group of people, who are in Egypt because they are working on an archeological dig. Several of the British are wealthy sponsors, helping to fund the small American college officially in charge of the dig. They also meet a couple of other guests at the hotel, including a rather obnoxious Texan, Mr. Sittermann, who seems to be everywhere.

As Peter divides his time between sightseeing and a series of mysterious meetings, Claire and the girls settle in to a routine of sightseeing, shopping, and relaxing. Claire spends more time than she would like with the socially gregarious Alexander, his father, Mr. Sittermann and the collection of people associated with the dig. Later, Peter and Claire take the girls on a brief cruise, and meet a rather mismatched young couple, Buffy and Samuel. Mr. Sittermann shows up on the cruise as well. They make several stops to sightsee, and during one of these stops something strange happens--Buffy is kidnapped by two gun-toting Arab men, right in front of them.

The author does a wonderful job of describing many of the well known landmarks in Egypt--the temples, tombs, pyramids, and desert. My parents went on a whirlwind tour of the middle east back in the early 1970s: I was a high school senior and wondered why they didn't take me along with them, but it was one of those fast paced tours that started in New York to London to Rome and then on to Egypt and Israel. I have a stack of trays of slides from that trip; my mother was a photo-journalist of sorts, and later gave presentations in the community about their travels. (After reading this book, and some of the descriptions of the two irritable, bored teenagers, I think I understand why they left me at home!)

This book also made me think of several of the pictures from my parents' trip: in one, my father (who is 6'2") is dwarfed by the massive columns of a temple while in another my mother is up on a camel, while my father stands nearby. As it turns out, he had to borrow some money from a friend to pay the camel driver more money to get my mom OFF the camel! The last picture I will post here: my parents are surrounded by smiling porters and workers at the airport.



If you can't get away for a little trip to Egypt this summer, Mummy Dearest is the next best thing. You may get thirsty, reading about all those excursions out into the hot, dusty desert to see the tombs and digs, so be sure to grab a tall glass of something icy first. You can find Mummy Dearest in the NEW books display; it has the Mystery sticker on the spine.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Poisoned Tarts by G. A. McKevett

Like greeting an old friend, I was tickled to find another one of the books in the Savannah Reid series. So, I had barely finished Murder Unleashed when I began reading Poisoned Tarts (2007) by G. A. McKevett. I've blogged about this series before: it is about a southern girl who moved to California, became a cop, and then, after leaving the force, became a private investigator. Savannah is one of those full figured women who is at peace with herself, her body, and her life; I like the series for the characters as well as the way the author unravels the cases.

This book begins shortly before the Halloween season, and Savannah gets caught up in a missing person case that Dirk (her former partner on the San Carmelita police force) has been assigned. The missing girl is named Daisy, and she hangs out with a spoiled little rich girl named Tiffany who is something of a Paris Hilton type. Tiffany has two little rich girl friends, and Daisy is just sort of the fourth member of the group, not totally accepted because she isn't super skinny and super rich.

However, the trio (sporting look alike pink tshirts with skeleton keys) is less than forthcoming when interviewed about their missing friend. Their escapades are well known to the local media--they are party girls who seem a little out of control. Savannah and Dirk are sure the girls know more than they are saying, but Tiffany's rich daddy has hired a great lawyer, and they don't have enough information to pursue things.

In the meantime, Savannah's grandmother is visiting her, and the reader gets more of an insight into the role this woman played in raising Savannah and her 8 brothers and sisters. Gran is a practical woman who reads her Bible and the tabloids with equal enthusiasm; she is lively, curious, compassionate and tough. She also ends up contributing to the investigation, as does Tammy, the young and computer savvy assistant who hacks into databases.

Once Daisy's car is located--and with it, one perfect print from Tiffany--the heat turns up on the Skeleton Key three, as the trio is called. However, Dirk and Savannah are racing against time, as more than 48 hours pass with no sign of Daisy. Back when they were partners on the police force, they had a similar case, and found the missing girl almost dead. She later died, and Maggie still haunts both of them. In spite of the missing girl, the spoiled Tiffany prepares for a big party, and transforms the mansion into a ghoulish set for a horror movie, tragedy strikes.

To find out what happened to Daisy -- and what happened at Tiffany's mansion, check out Poisoned Tarts. You can find it in the WPL mystery section.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Murder Unleashed by Elaine Viets

After reading my first book in Elaine Viets' Dead End Job series, (Clubbed to Death), I was eager to find another book. Fortunately, the WPL's mystery section delivered--and I just finished Murder Unleashed (2006). Helen, the divorced woman taking bottom of the barrel employment to avoid supporting her ex-husband is back. This time, she is the "hey you" assistant at the Pampered Pet Boutique; she waits on customers, picks up and delivers dogs, stocks shelves, and does just about anything else she's asked to do.

She is still living at her shabby but cozy apartment at the Coronado, where Margery is not only her landlord, but her surrogate mother and friend. She is also still involved with Phil, one of her neighbors, and a private investigator who is also one of the rare "good guys."

As the story begins, Helen is working hard to please the rich, spoiled customers bringing their pooches in to be groomed. As part of her routine, she must pick up a dog--who has a lavish birthday party later in the day and needs a haircut and new outfit. However, when she arrives at the customer's huge mansion, no one answers the door, so she finally enters and finds Tammie, the owner, naked by the pool; Helen takes the dog and makes a speedy escape. Later, she returns the dog--or tries to, but again, no one answers the door. Determined not to encounter the naked owner again, she grabs a robe on her way to the pool area--only to find that Tammie is dead, with a pair of dog groomer's shears sticking out of her chest. In a panic, Helen runs back out, clutching the poor dog, and wipes down the door knob. She doesn't want to call the police from the house because she is afraid of being drawn into the investigation, and being revealed as someone using a new last name to avoid her ex-husband.

So she does something stupid--she throws the robe into a dumpster (note: don't do this. They have cameras everywhere!) and makes an anonymous call, taking the poor little dog back to the boutique and saying that no one came to the door. Things go from bad to worse when next a dog goes missing, when Helen lets a husband pick up his dog, not knowing that the poor animal is the subject of a custody battle. The dog also happens to be a valuable media star--the poster pooch for a local department store.

So Helen is in trouble--the hysterical wife accuses her of giving the dog away, the police from two different jurisdictions are asking her lots of questions, and she is starting to wonder about the guilt or innocence of the two dog groomers at the store. There is a lot of tension between Todd and Jonathan; Todd seems to attract a lot of the older, single rich women, who give him lavish tips. Jonathan is unapproachable: flamboyant in appearance, he is extremely talented but does not tolerate people well. He is annoyed by Todd kissing the pooches and does not want to share space. When it turns out that the murder weapon happens to be a pair of Jonathan's scissors, the police take an interest in him as well. Soon, Helen is trying to hunt down a killer and find a missing dog in order to take the heat off of herself and her place of employment.

Add in a hurricane, some colorful chsracters, and some tension between Helen and Phil, who only wants to help (but starts asking a lot of questions about Helen's past), and the book is another good read. However, it is also interesting for the sub plot about Helen's relationship with Phil. She has to confront her own fears, insecurities, and decide whether or not she can trust Phil with all of her secrets.

If you can't make it to the beach in Florida, this book will help you to escape your daily routine for awhile. You can find it in the Mystery section of the WPL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Clubbed to Death by Elaine Viets

I've stumbled onto another new series with an intriguing title--A Dead-end Job mystery. The author is Elaine Viets and she claims to have worked all of the jobs featured in the series. Clubbed to Death (2008) is the story of Helen, a divorced woman who quit a lucrative job and moved to Florida after her ex-husband's divorce lawyer proved to be more ruthless, and got the judge to declare that half of her earnings should go to Rob. (This decision was done in spite of the fact that Rob was an unemployed womanizer who had contributed little to the relationship). So Helen changes her last name, finds a cheap apartment and ends up working in the customer care area of a snooty country club, where she deals with cranky, rude rich people all day--and gets to know her coworkers, a rather eccentric lot.

Just when Helen thinks she is getting her new life together--settling into her apartment with her cat, enjoying a romance with Phil, one of her neighbors (and a private investigator)and becoming closer to her landlord, the feisty Margery--Rob shows up. He has married one of the richest women around, whose nickname is The Black Widow--with good reason. Marcella (aka Black Widow) turns out to have "lost" five husbands, all under mysterious circumstances. When Rob shows up, in the parking lot, near Helen's car, she is surprised and angry; he seems nervous and actually has the nerve to ask for her help. He is growing tired of the demands of his much older wife, and now he is afraid he may be on the verge of being "retired." When he reverts to the jerk that he has always been, Helen feels a surge of rage and punches him in the mouth--to his surprise.

Unfortunately, two employees walk up--one is her friend Jessica and the other is Brenda, the hard to please assistant manager. Fighting is grounds for dismissal; however, Rob actually defends Helen and claims he is okay, that it was his fault for scaring her, and asks them not to report it. The next day, however, Rob goes missing--only his bloody shirt is found, and it becomes clear that Brenda did report the incident. Helen is taken in for questioning, arrested, told she has been fired, and sit in jail, bewildered. Then one of the most famous lawyers in the country shows up at the jail and in a matter of minutes arranges for her release and puts her into a limo: he tells her that they are taking a drive to see Marcella.

It turns out that Marcella needs Helen's help, too--Marcella thinks that Rob is dead but that he was up to no good, and she wants Helen to use her contacts at the Superior Country Club to find out what he was doing. Marcella has also discovered that he stole some of her jewelry. Marcella tells Helen that she is confident that Helen did not kill Rob, and that Helen has her job back, with any note of the "incident" expunged from her records. So she goes back to the Customer Care department, and starts searching her coworkers' desks after hours and quietly asking questions.

Reading this book made me think of the worst job I've ever had -- as a telemarketer years and years ago. My daughter, Mikki, was 16 and she and her best friend Desarae decided it was time to get jobs and earn some money; I went along with them, thinking it might be an easy way to supplement my rather meager earnings at the time. I was a single parent and had a couple of summer school classes to teach, but two growing kids needed more clothes, school supplies, and "stuff" each year. We worked that summer together, and it was the only job I've ever had where you had 15 minutes to eat a sandwich, had to plan bathroom trips carefully, and talked to the strangest people over the phone. Making matters worse, there were motivational posters up on the walls. Somehow, they didn't fit with the atmosphere; the computer randomly dialed the numbers, and you had to be prepared to jump into your spiel at the drop of a hat. Then, if you did not do a good enough job of countering the customer's resistance, you might hear the disembodied voice of a supervisor in your headset--"So why didn't you use #34?"

As a college teacher it made me crazy that our scripts were often filled with grammatical errors; I even talked to my boss once about fixing them, for free--and was told solemnly that "the clients want us to say it just like that." We sold products like Death and dismemberment insurance--I remember one man asking, "So how much would I get if I lost a couple of toes and fingers?" I sort of worried about that guy. Others were just rude or gave stupid excuses about why they couldn't talk. We made it a game to collect the cool names of people we called--Elizabeth Taylor, for example. And we commiserated with each other about the rude comments. At the end of the summer, I was more than ready to quit that job--the only one worse than telemarketing would be subbing for 9th grade math classes, but that is a story for another review!

So I could relate with Helen, putting up with cranky customers amd obnoxious bosses. If you are looking for a new series, check out Clubbed to Death. You will find it in the NEW fiction display at the WPL. Earlier books in the series can be found in the Mystery area. You may also be interested in checking out the author's website at http://www.elaineviets.com

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Moving is Murder by Sara Rosett

I just finished a book by a new author--and I think I'm going to like her series! The book is titled Moving is Murder, and the author is Sara Rosett. The series is called "A Mom Zone mystery" and features Ellie Avery, whose husband is serving in the Air Force. Ellie has moved four times in the past five years, and she includes helpful tips with every chapter.

Moving is Murder (2006) begins as Ellie and Mitch are unpacking the moving boxes in their new house--they've just made the move to Washington state with their newborn daughter Livvie. Thinking they found a great house off the base, they soon learn that many of their neighbors are in Mitch's squadron. Fortunately, they are friends with one couple already--neighbors Abby and Jeff. As they settle in, and meet more neighbors and attend some get togethers on base, it becomes clear that not everyone gets along. One of the more outspoken spouses is Cass, who is something of an activist; she protested against a big Walmart coming in, because she thinks it will ruin the area. Cass is also one of the people who organizes events and before Ellie is even unpacked, she finds herself volunteering to help with the upcoming garage sale.

However, when Cass dies after being stung by wasps while driving home from a party on base, it is Ellie who finds her, and Ellie who is convinced that someone Cass knew killed her. Police investigate a series of minor break-ins in the neighborhood and Ellie finds herself noticing strange behavior on the part of several neighbors. Joe, Cass' husband, leaves to take Cass back to her hometown to be buried, and Ellie ends up watching the house--and Mitch agrees to keep an eye on Rex, the dog.

As the story continues, Ellie finds herself asking questions--sometimes of the wrong people, and getting drawn into the investigation, in spite of being cautioned by the military investigator. She finds herself unraveling several stories, with surprising results: things are not at all how they appear. As she finishes unpacking her boxes and settles into her new house and routine, she gains confidence in her mothering skills, but increasingly concermed that whoever killed Cass is going to get away with it.

Reading this book was most enjoyable; I liked the way the author captured the anxiety and wonder of a first time mother. Ellie takes good care of her baby, worries about Livvie's first cold, experiences the fatigue any new mother feels after a long night without much sleep--and yet is filled with joy when she watches her baby sleeping. Livvie is a rather demanding baby: Ellie goes through a carwash at one point because the motions seem to soothe the baby, and does a lot of jiggling to soothe her. She also has a baby carrier--one of those great cloth things you can strap to yourself that holds your baby close to you.

The author is a military wife herself and thoughtfully includes a glossary of military slang at the end of the book. Having spent 11 years in Newport, R. I.--which has a large Navy base and the Naval War College--I felt almost nostalgic reading several passages. My first husband and I were in the ministry, and were fortunate enough to get to know a number of military families. I was struck by several things as I reflected on those years and read the book. I had never met such organized, motivated, jump in there and get acquainted folks in my life! While there are the sad cases of military families split by spousal abuse, alcohol abuse, or other problems, the vast majority of the families we met were solid. I loved to go on base to see them, and enjoyed going to the base movie theatre or Officers' Mess.
So I could relate in a strange way to the characters in the book, because several of them made me think of some of the military wives I had known. I also realized again that the military is one of those careers that is more of a lifestyle than just a job.

Whether you're looking for some packing/moving tips or just want to discover a new mystery series, I recommend Moving is Murder. You can find it at WPL in the Mystery section.

You may also want to check out the author's website, http://www.sararosett.com.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Corpse Suzette by G. A. McKevett

One of my favorite series features plus size Savannah Reid, a southern girl turned Californian who used to be a cop and now works as a private investigator. I found a couple of books in the series that I hadn't read yet, including Corpse Suzette (2006). Back in May I found Fat Free and Fatal--another good read.

In Corpse Suzette, Tammy, Savannah's young computer genius, has company coming--her insecure, grumpy cousin, Abigail. Tammy has a big surprise for Abigail; Tammy won a big makeover for her at a nearby spa. However, Abigail turns out to have a major attitude problem, with a king size chip on her shoulder, and all but alienates everyone she meets. She thinks everyone is making fun of her weight.

Unfortunately, before she can have some of the procedures done, the spa's hotshot surgeon disappears, and her playboy exhusband hires Savannah to find the good doctor--and a chunk of money he claims she stole. Savannah works with Dirk, her former partner, who has been assigned to the missing person case and together they begin the investigation, wondering if it will turn into a homicide case. John and Ryan, the resourceful and drop dead gorgeous former FBI agents, and Savannah's good friends, are back in this book.

As the story progresses, Savannah and Dirk discover more than a few good suspects--and then one of the suspects turns up dead. At the same time, the ugly duckling cousin makes a friend at the spa and he inspires her to try a different approach to her personal style.

All in all, this is an enjoyable series: the characters are often funny, the stories interesting, and the dialogue and description engaging. In many ways, the cast of regular characters is sort of a big family, and many of the books feature a shared meal at Savannah's house, with her fabulous southern cooking described in great detail (definitely not weight watcher approved). I curled up on my bed to read for a couple of hours this morning and it was a good break. It's hard to feel sorry for yourself on a rainy day when you're reading about a woman with a strong sense of herself who loves chocolate and finding the bad guys.

You can find Corpse Suzette in the Mystery section at WPL.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

Like a junk food junkie who goes looking for that last Little Debbie Snack Cake, I was delighted to see that the Waterloo Library had the newest Stephanie Plum book -- Plum Spooky. I had to have it--and finished it off in under a day. Evanovich began her writing career as a romance writer, and there is something about her writing style that retains some of those qualities. However, her characters are fun, plots sometimes take some crazy twists and turns, and the mini series of novels "between the numbers" are developing something of their own personality. The setting is also fun: Trenton, New Jersey.

For the uninitiated, Stephanie Plum works as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie; she is not the caliber of Dog the Bounty Hunter, however. She is more like a work study bounty hunter--who doesn't like guns and seems to blow up cars and lose her hand cuffs. What she does have is determination, some good friends, and dumb luck. She has a cute boyfriend, Joe Morelli, who is a cop but they seem to both have some commitment issues, so the relationship heats up and cools down. She also flirts with danger in the form of Ranger, a professional bounty hunter with other business interests, a crew of helpers, lots of tech toys, and a soft spot for Stephanie. From time to time, he rescues her or provides her another car or helps her take down a tough guy; sometimes, he uses her talents to get closer to a bad guy.

Stephanie hangs out with Lula, a plus size former hooker turned clerical worker and side kick at the bounty office. Connie,the office manager, is good with computers, stays cool, and has an endless supply of handcuffs and file folders with "perps" needing to be brought in by Stephanie. Stephanie also visits her family, especially at meal time. Her mother is a little upset by Stephanie's unusual career but is a good cook; her father mumbles a lot and seems like a nice man driven crazy by Grandma Mazur, who lives with them. Grandma is a handful, to say the least; she likes going to the funeral home for viewings, and if it is a closed casket, she wants to take a peek.

In Plum Spooky a mysterious man named Diesel shows up; he has some remarkable powers and has appeared in previous between the numbers novels. Diesel has some special powers, and is on the hunt for a bad guy, and needs Stephanie's help; it just so happens that one of her current fugitives is hanging out with the bad guy that Diesel is tracking. So they work together. At the same time, a friend of Stephanie's leaves her pet monkey at the apartment door; Carl needs to be babysat while his "mommy" goes on her honeymoon. Since this was not pre-arranged, Stephanie is rather surprised and not sure how to care for Carl. As it turns out, however, Carl becomes rather important in the story.

I liked the book, but it made me hungry for junk food; Stephanie could really use some of my Weight Watchers literature, to learn about the basic food groups and incorporate a little more fresh fruits and vegetables in her diet. I woke up today craving chocolate cake. If you're craving a good read, check out Plum Spooky. You can find it in the Express Books display; I promise it is going back tomorrow.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Nailbiter by Sarah Graves

Nailbiter (2006) is a bittersweet story in many ways; Jake and Ellie are faced with the challenge of finding a missing girl after a man is found murdered in a rental house they co-own. At the same time, Jake notices that something is going on with Victor, her ex-husband, who is a surgeon. Victor moved to the island to be closer to their son Sam and opened a clinic; since then, Victor's skill has saved a number of residents and he has become a part of their lives again. Sam is getting older, still struggling with some of the problems of the past, but maturing.

As is the case so often, Jake and Ellie unravel the mystery only to learn that things are not always as they seem, and that applies to several of the characters in the book as well as some of the plot twists. Through it all, Jake and Ellie must rely on each other, and come to recognize the gifts of the strange young woman they rescue.

You can find Nailbiter on CD Books at the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

My book club is reading Three Cups of Tea: One man's mission to promote peace one school at a time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. There is also a version for younger readers, and I read both.

Greg Mortenson is a remarkable man in many ways; his parents were missionaries to Africa, and he spent a chunk of his childhood there. His father took Greg mountain climbing and that became his passion, along with studying to become a nurse. His younger sister had a lot of health problems and Greg wanted to find cures for her disease. Christa died and in 1993 he decided to climb K2 and leave her necklace at the top as a way to honor her; however, only 600 feet from the summit, another climber became ill. Greg helped the man get down to safety and then got separated from his climbing partner. He wandered-- lost -- before being found by his guide Mouzafer, who guided him down the mountain. However, they got separated again and Greg ended up in the village of Korphe, a Balti village, where he was greeted by the chief and given tea and a place to sleep.

Greg rested for several days and then wandered through the village; he asked Haji Ali to take him to see the village's school. The village was poor and could not afford a teacher and had no school building: Greg saw a group of children (mostly boys) kneeling on the ground, studying lessons without a teacher and using sticks to draw in the dirt. Greg decided that the best way to honor his sister's memory was to build the children a school. However, Greg was not a wealthy man and did not know how he would get the money to fulfill his promise.

The book traces his efforts to raise money, writing letters and speaking to groups. He gets help from some unexpected sources along the way--other mountain climbers and a wealthy man named Dr. Jean Hoerni who gave Greg the money to build a bridge so that they could get the materials to Korphe to build a school. In the process, he gains the respect and friendship--and fierce loyalty--of many people in Pakistan, and one of the amazing things about the book is seeing their country through his eyes.

He also describes meeting his wife at a dinner honoring one of the most famous mountain climbers of all time, Sir Edmund Hillary; Tara was there and noticed Greg standing in the back of the room. They began to talk, and discovered a connection. Six days later, they got married. They now have two children and live in Montana, where he continues to direct efforts to build schools. The book jacket reports that his organization has now built 55 schools, many of them for girls.

If you have not read this book, you need to read it! He describes being in Pakistan when September 11th took place, as well as being there shortly before the start up of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He talks about the extreme poverty of the people he met, and yet how willing they were to help him. He also gives insights into the origins of the Taliban, the very intense dislike of Osama Bin Laden by many Pakistanis, and the role of education in building a better world and a better relationship with the west.

You can find the book at the Cedar Falls library, listen to it on CD book from the WPL, borrow copies from the WPL book club collection, or WPL@HCC.

You may also want to learn more about the book, Greg, and his organization, Central Asia Institute (CAI).

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
The book's website

http://www.gregmortenson.com
Greg's website

http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html
Greg also founded Pennies for Peace; one of his first contributions came from children at his mother's school, who collected pennies.


c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves

Like a junk food junkie, I'm on a Sarah Graves kick. Mike brought home The Dead Cat Bounce, which is the first book in the series. Jake has only lived in Eastport for about a year, but all of the familiar characters are there--her friends Ellie and George have not married yet, however. Jake has gotten involved with Wade, who she later marries -- a solid, tough man who works as a harbor pilot, and her son Sam is finding his way as he decides to follow his own wishes, and not those of his father.

As the book opens, Jake and Ellie are talking in her kitchen when Jake walks into her storeroom and finds a dead man. Of course, they call for the police, and George is the first to arrive--among his other jobs, he works as a part time police officer. He checks the murder scene and takes pictures, and then he and Jake discover that the murder weapon--an ice pick--is missing. Jake also realizes that only Ellie could have taken it. Things get worse when Ellie confesses to the crime to Police Chief Bob Arnold.

The dead man turns out to be Threnody Mellwaine, a local boy who grew up with Ellie's father, Alvin. However, while Alvin stayed on the island and ran a lumberyard, Thren went off to the big city and became a wealthy businessman. He had an argument with Alvin the morning of the murder and it is not clear how he ended up in Jake's storeroom. Ellie seems to be protecting someone, but who? As the obedient only daughter, she lives with her parents and cares for her mean spirited mother, who was once a beautiful young dancer but is now a bitter, crippled old woman. Ellie broke off her engagement with George after concluding that she could not break a promise to her father, who is the one who really raised her. Now Ellie will not defend herself but tells Jake that it is up to her to find out what happened.

As the book progresses, we get a better sense of the characters and their relationships--as well as the setting. Victor, Jake's ex-husband, makes an appearance and the contrast between Victor's self-centered personality and that of Wade could not be greater. Jake puts herself in danger unwittingly, while she tries to solve the mystery of who killed Thren and why Ellie confessed.

As it turns out, the title of the book is stock market jargon "for a small, temporary rise in a stock's trading price after a sharp drop." (from the book's backcover). Part of the unraveling of the mystery is finding out more about the financial dealings of Alvin and Thren.

Every time I read one of these books, I can smell the salt air, picture the harbor and recall the sound of the ocean waves crashing up on the shore. Having lived in Newport, Rhode Island for eleven years, I came to appreciate the wild beauty of the ocean and having lived in Newport, I understand something of what it means to live on an island. There were only a couple of routes off the island-- a very high bridge to Fall River and a toll bridge to Jamestown.

My first husband and I took a camping trip to Bar Harbor, Maine and I remember that trip with great memories of little fishing villages, wonderful food, and magnificent mountains and scenery. After reading this series, I want to take a road trip!

You can find The Dead Cat Bounce in the Waterloo Library's mystery section.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Mallets Aforethought by Sarah Graves

One of the problems of discovering a great series is that you get so excited over each NEW book you don't always think to go back and read all of the earlier ones. So, I just finished yet another one of Sarah Grave's books in the Home Repair is Homicide Series--Mallets Aforethought. The series features best friends Jake and Ellie in Eastport, Maine. Ellie is in the last trimester of her pregnancy, but she and Jake are hard at work on restoring a local landmark, the Harlequin House. They discover a secret room--and an unpleasant surprise of two bodies inside that secret room. One of the bodies is that of Eva, an infamous flapper who was once involved with the owner of Harlequin House, an ancestor of Ellie's. Eva has apparently been there for at least 70 years; however, the other body seems like a fairly recent arrival.

It turns out that someone has killed Hector Gosling, a local businessman with shady ethics and a list of enemies--including George, Ellie's husband. When evidence seems to suggest that George killed Hector, he's put in jail and Jake has to support her friend through childbirth classes and try to investigate the case, all the while worrying that Ellie will give birth at any minute.

Published in 2004, this is the seventh book in the series, and another great read. I love the characters and relationships in this series, the description of the small town in Maine, the attention to details, quirky home repair advice, and clever storytelling. You can find Mallets Aforethought in the mystery section at the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

I just finished a great book by an author new to me: David Baldacci's Simple Genius. The book is about two former Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, who now work as private investigators. They are good friends and partners; however, Michelle is exhausted and troubled and enters a rehab facility while Sean scrambles to find a case that will help him pay for it all. He gets hired to investigate the mysterious death of a brillant scientist, Monk Turing, at Babbage Town, a secretive facility that just happens to be across the river from Camp Peary, once a naval station and now a CIA training camp.

Michelle settles into her new routine, meeting with Psychologist Horatio Barnes, while Sean settles into his assignment. However, answers to his questions are not easily obtained, and after he arrives, the one man who speaks with him ends up dead himself. After meeting the local sheriff and M. E., Sean next meets Turing's young daughter, Viggie, who has a fascination with manipulating numbers but problems relating to people. Viggie is being looked after by another scientist named Alicia, and Alicia soon begs Sean for his help keeping Viggie safe. Sean continues to investigate, but feels as though he is getting nowhere.

In the meantime, Michelle struggles to resolve her resistance to therapy and makes friends with another woman at the facility; she also notes some strange behavior at night, and discovers that one of the workers is sending mysterious packages from the facility, so she begins her own investigation. Horatio gets permission to speak to Michelle's older brother and becomes convinced that her current problem stem from something traumatic that happened many years ago. When he has a week of vacation, Horatio decides to do some investigation of his own and visits Michelle's girlhood home town and talks to one of her old neighbors. While he's gone, Michelle is able to prove that the creepy worker is committing a crime and contacts the authorities; she is able to avert a tragedy as well. Feeling back on top of her game, she checks herself out of treatment shortly before Horatio returns; she is determined to join Sean and resume their partnership.

Sean has already decided he needs help and has contacted Horatio about coming down to meet Viggie, who has been called autistic because of her strange way of behaving around other people. However, Sean is convinced that Viggie knows things that will help him determine what happened to her father. Thus, both Horatio and Michelle arrive at Babbage Town and the book's action really takes off.

The book has all of the ingredients I need for a good read: authentic characters, plot twists, good dialogue, a little history, a mix of action and mystery, and a very contemporary feel. However, like the cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae, the book also includes other elements: the scientists at Babbage Town are trying to develop a quantum computer, the C. I. A. is in the throes of the war against terrorism, and much of the action relies on the the cooperation (and sometimes the competition) between various law enforcement agencies.

You can find Simple Genius in the WPL adult fiction area as well as in large type and CDbook. Check it out: you won't need an advanced degree in Quantum Physics to appreciate it!

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

The Secret of Lost Things

The Secret of Lost Things is the story of Rosemary, an 18 year old orphan who comes to New York City after the death of her mother; she grew up in Tasmania, in a little apartment over her mother's hat shop. She never knew her father. Her mother's dearest friend Chaps buys her a ticket and gives her some money, and Rosemary is off on her great adventure.

Rosemary arrives in New York in the rain, with her few possessions. She finds a room in a shabby hotel and soon finds a job at a very unusual secondhand bookstore called the Arcade; owned by the eccentric Mr. Pike and managed by Walter Geist (an albino), the Arcade is filled with used books of all sorts, and has a Rare book room. As Rosemary settles in, she develops a friendship with Pearl, the cashier,and a crush on Oscar, who is in charge of Nonfiction. As the story progresses, Rosemary stumbles onto a mystery when Walter Geist, who is growing blinder by the day, asks her to read him a letter about a lost manuscript by Herman Melville--and an offer by an unknown party to sell the manuscript to the Arcade.

Sheridan Hay has a wonderful writing style: richly descriptive, she captures not only the feel of a large city like New York, an eccentric cast of characters and a variety of settings, but she also gives the reader a sense of what it would feel like to lose a parent and set off on a journey and huild a life for oneself. The power of friendship, the betrayal of passion, and the enduring love of family (including those friends who become family, like Chaps and Pearl) all make this a satisfying read. Literature lovers will be fascinated by the inclusion of actual correspondence between Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

You can find The Secret of Lost Things in the WPL Adult Fiction section.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

A Face in the Window by Sarah Graves

One of the very best new series I've found is the "Home Repair is Homicide" by Sarah Graves, featuring Jake Tiptree. Jake (Jacobia) is a former high finance hot shot from New York who was married to a successful surgeon; after he repeatedly cheated on her, Jake divorced him and took their son to a small island in Maine, where she bought a lovely old house in need of repair.

She soon makes friends with Ellie, her neighbor and long time resident of the island; the remark is made that Ellie's ancestors were pirates, and she is a very strong, resourceful and hardworking person. Ellie is married to George, a man of few words who knows how to deal with home repair, critters, and fires with equal competence; he is the local fire chief, among other things. Ellie and George have one child, three year old Lee. Jake and Ellie have become known in the area for their abilities to investigate local crimes, so she has become good friends with Bob Arnold, local police chief. Jake has also since remarried: Wade is Eastport's harbor pilot, and another hardworking person. Her son Sam has grown up a great deal and has recently moved to Portland.

In this book, however, Jake is drawn into her own past as the man who killed her mother is about to stand trial. Even though it has been over 30 years, Jake still remembers the events of that night; she was a small child but recalls details too vividly. She has been asked to write a victim's impact statement, which is shared with the defense--and then Ozzie Campbell goes missing. Jake's father, Jacob, and her longtime housekeeper Bella recently married and are off on a trip. Ellie and George have also gone on a trip, leaving her with three year old Lee. Even her faithful dogs are off at obedience camp, and Wade is away on a job, leaving her and Lee alone in the big house.

When two thugs come to town and kidnap Lee and her teenaged babysitter, Jake realizes that Campbell is behind their disappearance, and decides that it is up to her to get the child back. The story is both a test of her own strength and determination, as well as an opportunity to come to a better understanding of her parents. There is also an interesting subplot about the young babysitter who is taken with Lee, and her efforts to protect her young charge.

Along with her efforts to find Lee and put Campbell back behind bars, Jake has to deal with more home repair challenges. Each chapter opens with one of her tips: for example, "When replacing a broken lamp switch, replace the cord and plug, too."

I love this series for its cast of characters, strong storylines, and wonderful description of life in a small town on the East coast. Having lived in Newport, Rhode Island for eleven years, when I read these books I can shut my eyes and smell the ocean, feel the grit of the sand between my toes, and see the harbor, with the fishing boats down at the dock.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008

Fat Free and Fatal by G. A. McKevett

I'm recovering from foot surgery, so I have PLENTY of time to catch up on my reading. Fortunately, I made a trip to the library to grab a few of my favorite authors' new books. One of those is by G. A. McKevett--Fat Free and Fatal. It features private investigator Savannah Reid, a southern girl who is no skinny little thing and a former cop now living out in California. Savannah has a group of loyal friends who are characters in their own rights: Dirk, her former partner; Tammy, her computer savvy and health nut assistant; and former federal agents Ryan and John, life partners and still very connected to government sources.

When a celebrity's young assistant is brutally murdered, Dirk gets Savannah on the case, as the woman's bodyguard. Since the assistant was wearing one of her fur coats and getting into her big car, it seems that she was mistaken for Dona Papalardo, her boss. Dona lives in a lavish estate but doesn't seem to get much pleasure out of life; she gained weight and then had controversial weight loss surgery which left her thinner but not well. As Savannah and Dirk investigate, they find several suspects including an ex boyfriend, a clingy best friend, and a former agent. Just as things are heating up on the case, one of Savannah's younger sisters shows up, along with her new husband; they met in Las Vegas and got married rather impulsively, and now think that a honeymoon at Savannah's should prove entertaining.

I love this series for the interesting storylines, likeable characters, and lively writing style. The author does a nice job of satisfying my "sweet tooth" for mystery stories with some humor, a mix of wonderful characters, and conflicts that seem true to life.

You can find Fat Free and Fatal in the WPL mystery section. While you're there, you may want to grab one of the other books in the series.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008