Crime fiction

Review: Not Quite Kosher

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Cover image of "Not Quite Kosher by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Not Quite Kosher

Not Quite Kosher (Abe Lieberman, 7), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Forge Books (ISBN: 9781429912631) 2002

Summary: Lieberman juggles two murder cases, one with multiple deaths including a cop, a bar mitzvah, a partner’s wedding and more.

Sometimes a lot of life happens at once. At home, Lieberman is involved in bar mitzvah plans for his grandson, mainly in figuring out how to stretch the family budget to pay for everything and leave something to repair the roof. Meanwhile, his partner Hanrahan is moving up his wedding date to marry Iris Chin–to this week, with a reception at the Liebermans! This, despite Iris’s family disapproval and threats which Lieberman cleverly handles through the leader of one of Chicago’s gangs. And he even manages to book Senator Joe Lieberman (no relation) to speak for a synagogue fund-raiser.

Then there is the work. A group of young thugs attacks a depressed store owner. Only it doesn’t turn out so well. The man, Arnold Sokol, defends himself well enough to chase two of the young men off and land the other in the hospital. Lieberman and his rabbi help settle things with the young man in the hospital, or so they think. But the next day, Sokol’s badly beaten body washes up in the lake.

Actually, that’s just one of two bodies that wash up. The other is a man called Pryor, involved in Lieberman’s other case. Him and Michael Wychovski rob a jewelry store–the same one they robbed a year ago. Only this time, things don’t turn out so well. On the way out, Pryor stumbles and his gun goes off, killing the owner. Then, while Wychovski drives, he fires on pursuing police, killing one of them. But they manage to elude capture-until Pryor’s body washes up along with Sokol’s.

I love the great relationship between Lieberman and Hanrahan, punctuated with food stops and ever-present reminders about Lieberman’s cholesterol. Each has gotten the other out of trouble on more than one occasion. I also love the philosophic decency of Lieberman–his companionable marriage, his acceptance of his difficult daughter, and his loyalty to his brother Maish and the alter cockers. He’s a man people trust, from Kearney, his boss to a somewhat unstable gang leader.

The reader trusts him as well, even to catching the real killer of Arnold Sokol. My only regret is that Kaminsky only wrote ten installments in this series. Having read most of the Rostnikov and Lieberman stories, perhaps it’s time to check out Toby Peters and Lew Fonseca, his two other crime solvers.

Review: There Came Both Mist and Snow

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Cover image of "There Came Both mist and Snow" by Michael Innes

There Came Both Snow and Mist

There Came Both Snow and Mist (Sir John Appleby Number 6), Michael Innes. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781504092074) 2024 (first published in 1940).

Summary: A gathering of Sir Basil Roper’s extended family and friends is marred when his nephew is shot in his study.

Arthur Ferryman has always loved Belrive, the home of Sir Basil Roper, especially the old priory ruins. So, you can understand his delight on being invited for a holiday gathering with extended family. But city is encroaching on country as Ferryman notes, watching the Cudbury Brewery neon sign pour tall cold ones over the priory ruins. Ah, progress!

Likewise, this is not an idyllic family gathering. Sir Basil has announced plans to sell his estate to fund a science expedition. Not everyone is happy, particularly those who could lose inheritances. Furthermore, a new pastime introduces a new element of danger–pistol shooting!

Yes, you guessed it. There is a shooting. Arthur, unsettled by the family dynamics, goes for an evening walk before dinner. At one point, he notices a figure on the terrace outside Sir Basil’s study. Not able to identify the person and not thinking too much of it, he continues his walk as snow begins to fall. As he is returning for dinner, he meets another person at the door, who is none other than Sir John Appleby, a family friend and dinner guest.

When they go in, they learn there has been a shooting in Sir Basil’s study. At first, because he was in there earlier, they feared it was Sir Basil. Instead, it is a nephew, seriously wounded in the right lung. He’s hanging on by a thread as an ambulance rushes him away.

Appleby is asked to join the local police to assist. Appleby more or less invites Ferryman to be his right hand man. Convenient, since Ferryman is our narrator! Typical of manor house mysteries, while Appleby investigates, the family all come up with theories, accusing most everyone in the house. There is even a confession. One of the family is even a would-be mystery writer with her own theories.

There is also some question of who was the intended victim. Everyone notes the family resemblance between Sir Basil and the nephew, as well as the nephew’s brother. This helps account for the variety of theories. In the midst of all that, and a house full of guns, Appleby has to find the shooter while we wait on tenterhooks to see if the victim will survive.

Not everyone appreciates Innes. I would describe his books as mysteries for the cultured, for those who like sophisticated dialogue and dry British humor. And he wrote in the 1930’s and 1940’s, a different time. But I enjoyed the plot development, the cast of characters, and how Innes employs Ferryman as narrator.

Review: Honeybath’s Haven

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Cover image of "Honeybath's Haven" by Michael Innes

Honeybath’s Haven, Michael Innes. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9780140048858) 1979 (out of print).

Summary: Little does artist Charles Honeybath think that yielding his place in a senior home will lead to an artist friend’s death.

I’ve long been a fan of Michael Innes Appleby mysteries. I did not look too closely when I picked up several Innes paperbacks with the green Penguin crime fiction spines. Therefore, I did not realize I had found an Innes book in which Appleby was not the protagonist. Instead, this is one of several featuring artist Charles Honeybath.

In this book, we learn that Honeybath had reserved a place at Hanwell Court, what today we might call a retirement community. But a visit leads to second thoughts. And then he learns of the hapless state of his artist friend Edwin Lightfoot. He’s taken to episodes in which he pretends to be a long-dead petty criminal, Flannel Foot. His art, apart from a few sketches, has taken a turn to the mediocre. It’s driving his wife, Melissa, crazy, and in the end she leaves him.

Honeybath learns of his miserable state from Melissa’s brother, Ambrose Prout. Edwin has lost their flat and lives miserably in his studio. Honeybath remembers his place at Hanwell Court and offers it to Edwin. He accepts.

Hanwell Court is a stately old estate divided into apartments, in a park-like setting. There is a resident psychiatrist, Dr. Michaelis, to attend to the mental health needs of the eccentric individuals who make their home there. Richard Gaunt has a fascination with lethal weapons like stilettoes. Colonel Dacre loves his rifles, and spending time at the rifle range (and occasionally stalking other prey). Mr. Brown, the man in the panama hat, seems to be the resident snoop, aware of everyone’s doings. Lady Munden, recently widowed, grows seaweed in the community pond, her pet project.

At first Edwin appears to do well. His paintings are mediocre but his sketches show a flair of his old genius. Most are caricatures of the residents, seemingly well-received by all but Lady Munden. However, Honeybath is uneasy about the “care” his friend is receiving from Dr. Michaelis. Then he discovers that Ambrose Prout is conspiring with Dr. Michelis to find missing works from Lightfoot’s zenith as an artist.

Honeybath gets his friend away on an artist’s excursion to Italy. While in Pisa, they run into Melissa, and Honeybath reveals Ambrose’s doings. When Edwin hears of this, he decides to immediately return to set things straight. A few days later, Hanwell Court employees find his body tangled in Lady Munden’s seaweed.

Honeybath doesn’t think it was an accident. Nor does Adamson, a Scotland Yard investigator. Yet, while several people might have motive against Lightfoot, was it enough for murder? Only the invasion of a criminal gang onto Hanwell Court’s grounds will expose the murderer and contribute to that person’s demise.

While this plot certainly had enough twists and turns to keep the reader wondering, this didn’t seem to have the elegance and flow of the Appleby stories. Honeybath seems more storyteller than sleuth. I like Innes as a writer for style and plotting. However, this was not one of my favorites.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

The Weekly Wrap: May 18-24

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woman in white crew neck t shirt in a bookstore wrapping books
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The Weekly Wrap: May 18-24

New or Used?

Twice this week, I’ve been in discussions of the ethics of buying used books. One was this morning over breakfast with a friend. The other was earlier a week after reading “Is It Ethical to Buy Used Books and Music?” in the New York Times Magazine. I invited a discussion of this on my Facebook page, eliciting some strong opinions.

I’m personally torn on this. I respect what goes into writing a book and think authors worth their hire. And I support brick and mortar stores selling new books. A significant part of my book buying does support authors and the outlets selling them. But I also contribute to the used book economy. I donate and sell books I’ve read for re-sale. And I’ve bought a lot of used books and frequented the portion of the bookselling economy that flourishes by selling used books.

Perhaps the most interesting response on my book page was from several authors who were glad to see books get into people’s hands via either route, particularly if people talked about the books! They realize that word of mouth sells a lot of books and more of people reading their books, however they (legally) obtain them is beneficial.

For many, libraries and used books are the only way they can afford books. And things like library book sales fund a variety of library programs while passing along books very cheaply.

I also think the ecology of book printing suggests that there may be a value in passing along books to multiple readers, until they fall apart. It seems a tragedy to find perfectly good books in a waste or recycling bin. I also wonder if there is a tragedy of books sitting on shelves for decades after one person has read them if they won’t be used for reference or re-reading. I find myself looking at my own shelves this way more and more.

The best answer I’ve come up with is to set aside a portion of my book budget for new books to support my local booksellers and authors while buying backlist titles (and public domain titles) on a used basis. Sometimes, this is a necessity when a book is out of print. And I try to pass along both books and the word about them.

I’d be curious how others have thought about this!

Five Articles Worth Reading

There is nothing like a good mystery or crime novel for a summer beach read, wherever your “beach” is. Crimereads posted a list of 80 books in “The Most Anticipated Crime Fiction of Summer 2025.” Stock up!

One of the things I love about children’s books is the art. In “The Beauty of Imperfect Children’s Book Art” award-winning artist Elisha Cooper takes us behind the scenes, discussing both his influences and practices.

For many of us, A Prayer for Owen Meany was our introduction to the writing of John Irving. How many of these “13 Facts About John Irving’s ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’” are new to you?

Now we come to the shameless promotion department. Matthew Carey Jordan is a friend from the days when he was a doctoral student in philosophy at The Ohio State University. Since then, he has taught at Auburn, then returned to his home turf in the Cleveland area to head up an innovative humanities program at Cuyahoga Community College. More recently he became Vice President of Academic Affairs at St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. He has also followed figures like John Henry Newman from evangelical Christianity to the Roman Catholic Church. All this is background to introduce his Substack newsletter, Less of a Theory, which is about “reflections on issues in philosophy of religion, theology, and American culture, written for laypeople rather than scholars.” I’m a grateful subscriber. Here’s a sample, In illo Uno unum, which is Pope Leo XIV’s motto.

Finally, this Monday is Memorial Day in the United States, when we remember those who died in service to our country. “What Veterans’ Poems Can Teach Us About Healing on Memorial Day” allows war veterans to use their own words to speak to the service, loss, and healing this day represents.

Quote of the Week

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born May 22, 1859. He not only gave us Sherlock Holmes but this piece of pithy wisdom applicable in many contexts:

“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I don’t recall requesting this but the folks at Penguin Random House sent me a copy of the new John Hancock by Willard Sterne Randall. I read and loved his biography on Jefferson years ago. So, I look forward to John Hancock becoming more in my understanding than a flourishing signature!

I’ve been troubled by the incessant offers from institutional buyers to purchase my house, not to re-sell, but to rent. Then I hear what rents go for in my area and I’m not sure if I would be able to rent, let alone buy a home in my area today if I were starting out. In Brian Goldstone’s No Place for Us, I’m learning this is just the tip of a much larger national problem. Unfortunately, for many working poor, affordable housing is out of reach or simply unavailable. Increasing numbers are doubling up, living in extended stay hotels or rooming houses. I’d like to think we are a better country than this, but the facts in many communities suggest otherwise.

Our local Barnes & Noble is opening in a new location on May 28. Thy are taking over a bigger retail space in a shopping center across the street from their old location. My membership just renewed with them so I’m entitled to a new tote bag. I wonder if I’ll get any other swag to put in it (or maybe a book or two). At any rate, I’m delighted that they continue to have a presence in our part of town.

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Tuesday: George MacDonald, Gutta Percha Willie

Wednesday: Liz Charlotte Grant, Knock at the Sky

Thursday: Bruce Herman, Makers By Nature

Friday: Rachel G. Jordan, If the Ocean Has a Soul

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for May 18-24, 2025!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page

Review: Lieberman’s Day

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Cover image of "Lieberman's Day" by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Lieberman’s Day, Stuart M. Kaminsky. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781480400207) 2013 (first published in 1994).

Summary: Abe’s nephew is killed and his wife shot in a mugging while a murderer stalks the abused ex-wife Hanrahan is sheltering.

Moments after walking out the door from a dinner party on a cold winter night, David Lieberman and his wife Carol confront two muggers. Things go awry and one mugger shoots David, the other, Carol. David dies, but Carol, critically wounded and pregnant, survives. Abe Lieberman, who hasn’t yet fallen asleep gets the call at 12:02 am. David is Abe’s nephew.

The book chronicles the next twenty-four hours as Abe, and his recovering-alcoholic partner Bill Hanrahan track down the killers. At the same time, Abe must try to comfort his brother and sister-in-law in the loss of their son, drawing on the help of his tight-knit Jewish community, including the Alter Cockers, a group of older men who hang out at his brother’s diner.

Abe relies on his street connections, cutting a deal with El Perro, a drug kingpin, to find the killers. Shooting a pregnant woman is an offense even to them. Meanwhile Hanrahan learns that the violent ex-husband of an abused woman and her son, who he has sheltered, is back in town. Will Hanrahan find him before he finds them?

Both men also struggle with domestic issues. Abe’s daughter’s marriage has broken up but now she struggles as her former husband is seeing another woman. Abe is loyal to his daughter while liking the father of his grandchild. He’s met the woman he’s seeing and likes her as well. Bill’s wife walked out some time ago. Despite a relationship with an Asian woman who is ready for more, he cannot let go.

Meanwhile the plot is building toward double climaxes in Bill’s apartment and Carol’s hospital room. For one of the killers, Carol, while alive, is a threat.

This is a relatively short novel. The fast-paced double plot unfolds in the span of one very long day during a very cold Chicago winter. Amid all this, I enjoyed Lieberman’s street-savvy wisdom combined with the restraint that accompanies others in their grief, never saying the stupid thing.

Review: Boundary Waters

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Cover image of "Boundary Waters" by William Kent Krueger

Boundary Waters (Cork O’Connor #2), William Kent Krueger. Simon & Schuster (ISBN: 9780671016999), 2000 (link is to a different edition in print).

Summary: A young country-western singer hiding in seclusion in a Boundary Waters cabin is pursued by a man claiming to be her father, FBI agents, a father and son from an organized crime family–and a couple of cold-blooded killers for hire.

Cork O’Connor is living in Sam’s old house, running Sam’s burger concession. His girls help in the summer but he and Jo remain apart. Unbeknown to him, a country-western singer, Shilohm, whose mother and Cork had been friends has used an Anishinaabe guide to hide away in a remote cabin in the Boundary Waters to seek clarity about her life.

A man known as Arkansas Willie Ray, who raised her and helped her build Ozark Records, shows up and hires Cork to help find her. She had been communicating and all communication had stopped. Then the FBI shows up at Sheriff Schanno’s office, also searching for her. They use strong arm tactics to compel Cork to help them along with Stormy Two Knives and his ten-year old son Louis, whose uncle, Wendell Two Knives had taken him when he brought supplies to Shiloh. Louis is the only one with any idea where she is.

They set out on a journey into the Boundary Waters as the weather transitions from fall to winter. Meanwhile, back in town, another “father” arrives, an aging organized crime boss and his son, also wanting to find her. Meanwhile, the search party doesn’t realize two other ruthless hired killers are also hunting for Shiloh. Already, they have tortured and killed Wendell Two Knives, without extracting any information. They also don’t know that Shiloh, tired of waiting for Wendell, has started back, using a map Wendell gave her. Something else is following Shiloh–a mysterious wolf who doesn’t attack.

While Cork and his party hunt Shiloh and realize they are also being hunted, Jo and the Sheriff figure out that all is not as it seems with the party that went out. Danger may not only be stalking Cork and the others but traveling with them. All this makes for a page-turning account where we wonder whether anyone but the killers will come out alive.

Meanwhile Jo struggles to believe with the support of her sister Rose, that all will come right, even as bodies are found (but not Cork). One senses that though their relationship was badly damaged, there is love that remains, to be explored if Cork survives. All this, along with Krueger’s well-drawn descriptions of the wilderness, make for a novel rich in its character relationships, setting, and thrilling plot.

Review: The Delicate Storm

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The Delicate Storm (John Cardinal and Lise DeLorme #2), Giles Blunt. London: HarperCollins, 2004.

Summary: A gruesome murder in the woods is soon followed by another, leading to an international investigation, a terrorist plot from the ’70’s, and a shrewd murderer on the loose, climaxed by an epic ice storm.

The call comes for John Cardinal when a local living near the woods reports a gruesome discovery. His dog has retrieved a severed human arm. The investigators retrieve more parts traced back to a cabin where the body was hacked apart to be eaten by bears. It’s an American scouting out ice fishing possibilities. The Mounties, are called in, including a former nemesis of Cardinal’s.

Meanwhile, Cardinal’s father’s heart condition is worsening. The one bright spot is a young woman doctor, Winter Cates, recently arrived and quickly embraced for her ability to connect with patients, including Cardinal’s father. Then she goes missing. Soon her naked body is found in the woods. That case goes to DeLorme, but they soon begin to wonder if the murders are connected. They wonder more when they discover a fifteen year old case of a woman murdered under similar circumstances, strangled with signs that made it look like she had been raped.

The only evidence they have is that Cates’ murderer apparently sought her out to treat a gunshot wound, leaving signs of type AB blood in her office, but nothing else. Then Cardinal goes to New York where the first murder victim lived to learn that the supposed victim is very much alive and that the real victim is a former CIA agent using his identity. But what was he doing in Canada? And why are Canadian Security Intelligence Services making it hard to track down the story behind this man?

While this is all going on, Cardinal is getting veiled death threats from a criminal he put away, due to be released from prison soon. They are coming to his home. A buried secret connected to the case is putting his family in jeopardy.

Further clues from the case of the murdered CIA agent lead to Montreal and a terrorist plot that resulted in the death of a hostage in the 1970’s and a mysterious figure, Yves Grenelle, who disappeared after the death. Could Grenelle be the killer who has left three bodies in the forests of Algonquin Bay, perhaps under another identity? Who is he and why Algonquin Bay?

An artist skilled in taking images and “aging” them gives DeLorme and Cardinal a clue to the identity of the killer, but there is not enough evidence to make an arrest, let alone convict, leading Cardinal to make a risky move to confront the suspected murderer amid a hundred year ice storm.

DeLorme and Cardinal work well while respecting boundaries. But they clearly notice each other–she appreciating Cardinal’s maturity and integrity, he noticing her attractiveness. Then they are thrown together, sharing a hotel room but in separate beds, when DeLorme’s room is flooded and none are available. Nothing happens, except in Cardinal’s mind, as he struggled to sleep. It’s awkward, and we’re left wondering how the two will work it out. At least Cardinal doesn’t keep it secret from his wife.

The book is one you don’t want to put down. There are threads left dangling for future books in the series. And having lived through ice storms with power outages, and frigid weather, Blunt captures the creeping dread one has in these kind of storms and the deeper frustration and ominous foreboding when one knows who a killer is but cannot find the way to prove it.

Review: Forty Words for Sorrow

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Forty Words for Sorrow (John Cardinal and Lise DeLorme Mystery #1), Giles Blunt. New York: Berkley Books, 2000.

Summary: When a missing teenager’s body is found in a mineshaft, John Cardinal is re-assigned to a case he’d been pulled off of and is joined by Lise DeLorme, who is also investigating him for corruption. Meanwhile, facts point to a serial killer when another body turns up and another missing youth is traced to their community.

John Cardinal had been investigating the disappearance of a girl, Katie Pine, that he’d linked to another missing youth. When the search threatened to absorb most of the Algonquin Bay police department resources, he was taken off the case. No other leads developed until now. Then a body was found, frozen in ice in an abandoned mine shaft. and identified as Katie Pine. He is put back on the case. We learn the depths of how much Cardinal cares about his work, and about the victims of crime in this interior monologue after he tells Katie’s widowed mother that her body has been found:

“Eskimos, it is said, have forty different words for snow. Never mind about snow, Cardinal mused, what people really need is forty words for sorrow. Grief. Heartbreak. Desolation. There were not enough for this childless mother in her empty house.”

Blunt, p. 37

Cardinal has been assigned a partner from Special Investigations, Lise DeLorme. Sharp, observant, and strikingly attractive, it turns out she is investigating Cardinal on the quiet. After several frustrated attempts to bust a major credit card fraud operation, it becomes apparent someone is tipping off the suspect, a man by the name of Corbett. Cardinal suspects the investigation though DeLorme denies it. And there is something suspicious about this apparently diligent, caring cop. His wife is in an expensive psychiatric facility and he has a daughter in an art program at Yale. And all this on a cop’s salary. Yet as DeLorme comes to work with him, it seems out of character.

Their investigation leads them to see a link with one and possibly two other missing youth. They find another body. Then the girlfriend of another young man shows up. He had been headed to Algonquin Bay and had failed to stay in touch. It looks like they are hunting for a serial killer. Will they find the killer before there is another victim? They may have some time, but not a lot–it appears that the killer likes to play with the victims before administering slow, torturous deaths.

Unbeknownst to Cardinal and DeLorme, they are looking for two people, a twisted young man who already has a record as a child for killing animals and a needy, unattractive young woman who has been taken in thrall with both the man and his cult-like fascination with torture and murder. As DeLorme and Cardinal investigate, tension rachets up as we follow the killers in their plans to “party” with Keith London, the missing young man. The plot moves back and forth between the killers and the detectives, with the investigation DeLorme is pursuing on Cardinal in the background and Cardinal’s own troubled conscience raising further apprehensions.

Blunt plots this masterfully, developing the relationship between Cardinal and DeLorme from initial distrust to growing admiration that stays professional. Cardinal is faithful to his wife–even when she thinks herself worthless in her illness. We find ourselves rooting for them, not only to catch the killer(s), but for Cardinal to be cleared and for them to be able to trust each other. Blunt combines a fascinating police procedural with characters we care about and a psycho-thriller with truly evil killers and a young man with a girlfriend who loves him who we desperately want to survive.

[BTW, thanks BT for the gift of a great read!]

Review: A World of Curiosities

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A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny. New York: Minotaur Press, 2022.

Summary: The arrival in Three Pines of a sister and brother involved in a murder case that brought Armand and Jean Guy and the opening of a sealed room and the strange painting found within confront Gamache with two of his greatest fears.

Bricks. They are all over this story. The instrument of murder in a case that brought Armand and Jean Guy together. The means used 160 years ago to seal up a room filled with strange objects and a copy of a famous painting altered in sinister ways signifying to Gamache that an old nemesis is on the loose.

The murder case and the room summon two fears in the mind of Gamache. The murder was of a drug-addicted prostitute who prostituted her children. Jean Guy, languishing in the basement of the district detachment under a corrupt boss, is called on to assist Gamache. As the mother had deteriorated, the children took over, and then murdered the mother. With a brick. The older girl, Fiona Arsenault, confessed, but Gamache was never certain. There was a chilling something about her brother Sam, something deeply broken and disturbing. And while Sam bonded with Jean Guy, he hated Gamache for ending what he and his sister had.

Fiona, against Gamache’s wishes, went to prison. While there, he sponsored her when she discovered an aptitude for engineering. He and Reine Marie became mentors to her. Sam survived, first in a foster home, then in a variety of jobs, traveling about, becoming a strikingly handsome young man.

In the present, Myrna’s niece Harriet is graduating, as is Fiona and they are all present. Fiona, now out of prison is staying with the Gamaches. Only Sam shows up as well, staying at the B & B. The contempt for Gamache is still there, and all his fears and instincts are aroused, even as Sam wins Harriet’s heart. Myrna, in her previous life as a Montreal psychologist, had interviewed Sam. She shared Gamache’s concerns that he could be a sociopath, or worse. Jean Guy disagrees.

Converging with all this, a 160 year old letter to Billy Williams reveals the existence of a hidden room bricked up by Billy’s ancestor, a stone mason. It is connected to Myrna’s loft and could make a great extra room for Harriet. Yet the reasons for bricking up the room and why this came to Billy at this time raise suspicions. And indeed, what they find in the room is “a world of curiosities.” There is an old grimoire, a book of potions, of herbal remedies, and more, that could get a woman killed for witchcraft. There is a statue that had gone missing after a strange guest stayed at the B & B, covered with strange markings. And there is a painting, a copy of The Paston Treasure with menacing additions from the present. It is the additions that increasingly disturb Gamache, as he figures out they are meant for him.

They signal that a nemesis thought to be locked away is afoot. How did these contemporary objects get into a sealed room? Only a meticulous mind could do this, a master of disguise. But he is locked away in a high security prison. Or is he?

Two who hated Gamache. Two with access to Three Pines. Even the home of the Gamaches, endangering all he loved. They both seem to know everything about Gamache. Can he get into their heads as they have his? And can he go deeper, and walk into his fears? And will it be enough?

So much has turned on the kindness of Gamache, especially to Fiona. Early on, a mentor had cautioned him with the words of Matthew 10:36, “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Yet the Gamaches make themselves vulnerable in their care for Fiona, their tendency to take in the needy. They’ve also done this for Amelia Chocquet, even as years ago, they did so with Jean Guy, who has tried to show kindness to Sam. So much turns in this story on whether this is weakness, foolishness, or strength.

We also see two ways and their fruit: the way of a deep bitterness and how this consumes, and the way of facing one’s brokenness, the admission of wrongs and the power of forgiveness. Armand is forced by the evil that threatens to look in and wrestle with these two ways in his own life.

All I will say about the ending of this book is that if you have a heart condition, you may want to seek your physician’s advice before reading it. This is Louise Penny at the top of her game.

Review: Tied Up in Tinsel

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Tied Up in Tinsel (Roderick Alleyn #27), Ngaio Marsh. New York: Felony & Mayhem Press, 2015 (Originally published in 1972).

Summary: Hilary Bill-Talsman is the subject of a Troy portrait and host of a Christmas house party that includes a Druid Pageant, marred when the chief Druid disappears. Alleyn arrives from overseas just in time to solve the mystery.

Hilary Bill-Talsman, an entrepreneur and nouveaux riche is rehabilitating an old manor house, Halberds, to which Troy has been invited to paint his portrait, and if he can persuade her, his fiancée, Cressida Tottenham. The holidays are approaching, Alleyn is away on assignment, and Hilary has persuaded Troy to stay for the Christmas pageant on a Druid theme, along with his house guests, Colonel Fleaton Forrester, Hilary’s uncle and his wife, along with their “man” Moult, formerly under the Colonel’s command, Bert Smith, an expert on antiques, and the aforementioned Cressida.

It’s an interesting lot, to be sure, but even more interesting is the household staff, all former murderers who have done their time. Staffing a manor house in the 1970’s, when this is set, is difficult. Hilary covers this with his social experiment. Particularly disturbing is Nigel, whose mental state is questionable, seeing “sinners” behind every bush, as it were. Yet the house seems to run smoothly, they get along and the only conflicts are between them and Moult, who has a streak of unpleasantness mixed with being prone to excess, and Cressida, who is averse to Cooke the cook’s cats.

Colonel Forrester is set to play the chief Druid, the counterpart of Father Christmas, whose appearance with gifts is the climax of the pageant. But he has a propensity for spells, and worked up as he is, he succumbs to one. Unbeknownst to everyone except for Cressida who helps him with his costume, Moult takes his place and pulls it off. Only after helping him remove the beard in a cloakroom, does Cressida inform Mrs. Forrester of the Colonel’s indisposition. Only afterwards do they notice that Moult has disappeared. A search of the house and grounds is made but he is nowhere to be found.

It’s at this juncture that Alleyn, having finished up an overseas assignment early, turns up, advises contacting the authorities, and stays on to help with the investigation. It turns into a murder investigation, when he spots four of the house staff moving a large box in the middle of the night, a box that contains Moult’s body. Yet despite the protests of the guests, Alleyn is not inclined to suspect the former murderers.

Marsh is a master of the “murder at a house party” genre but I have to admit that this one wasn’t my favorite. It takes half the book to get to the murder, a lot of stage setting, a series of malicious messages and pranks intended to incriminate one or more of the staff. And the identity of the murderer did not come as a surprise, only the motive. At the same time, the setting of the mood during Troy’s walk in the country and the later search during the storm, the description of the pageant, and the fascinating character of Hilary were all masterfully done.

This was one of two Marsh novels to be nominated for an Edgar Award, the other being Killer Dolphin. I’m not sure I understand the nomination of this book, which I did not find nearly as well-written as Killer Dolphin or some of her other works. It may just have been the year.