Sherlock Holmes Sunday: The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr

The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr

This is by far one of my absolute favorite Sherlock Holmes' stories outside of the canon. Carr is a masterful author (of another of my favorite books, The Alienist), so I could not have been more excited when I found out he would be writing a Sherlock Holmes novel.

This book also holds a special place on my favorites list because, after reading the book, I was able to visit the room in Scotland where the slaying of David Rizzio took place. This really made the book come alive for me, to be able to stand in a place where so much of the story takes place.

Carr does an excellent job of weaving together true crime, history, and the famous Sherlock Holmes. The dual mysteries of present murders and past horrors are gripping and full of twists and turns. The past resonates deeply in this story, and Carr explores just how much Rizzio's murder (and the possible supernatural effects, a notion Holmes scoffs at) could possibly influence a very-much alive Victorian murderer.

True Crime Thursday: People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry

It quickly becomes clear why this book was shortlisted for so many awards. Parry spent ten years researching the case, interviewing involved parties, attending trials, and talking with the police.

All this research made it possible for him to create an in-depth, thorough account of Lucie Blackman, a young British woman who went missing in Japan. She was working as a hostess in the Rappongi district; her job involved making conversation with Japanese men. When she went missing, many believed her disappearance must have somehow been connected to her job, to the fact that she was a beautiful foreigner-or, as a mysterious phone call claimed, because she had joined a religious cult.

This was a case I knew nothing about, but by the time I finished this gripping read, I felt completely informed and emotionally invested. The only time Parry went awry was in the very last chapter, when he abandoned his research to wax philosophically on life and death.

This is a book about a terrible crime, but it is also about family ties, culture, the role of women, the legal system, and how one act can have reverberations for generations to come.

4/5 stars

(Read for Readers Imbibing Peril)

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten of My Favorite Agatha Christie Novels

(Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish: The Broke and the Bookish )
As this Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie week, and today is what would have been Agatha Christie's 125th birthday, I had to talk about ten of my favorite books from my favorite author.

1) And Then There Were None

Mix a terrifying island cut off from the rest of the civilization, ten strangers all accused of various horrific crimes, mysterious deaths that match a nursery rhyme, and the very scary realization that the murderer is somewhere among them, and Agatha Christie had an absolute classic on her hand. This is a book that stands up to repeated re readings. Just writing this makes me want to pick it up again.

2) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Christie sets the precedent here for one of the greatest, most shocking twists to ever be written. This is another one where you want to re read it as soon as you finish it.

3) Endless Night

This is another Christie with an epic twist. Christie also creates an incredibly creepy and haunting atmosphere that you won't soon forget.

4) Peril at End House

This novel has a very colorful cast of characters, plus Hercule Poirot, plus a masterful use of red herrings.

5) A Murder is Announced 

This one will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the first Agatha Christie I ever read. I still have the copy my Bubbe gave me. Plus, it is a fascinating concept, where a murder is actually advertised before it occurs.

6) Cards on the Table

What happens when a true crime aficionado decides to collect the acquaintance of people he believes got away with murder?

7) The Tuesday Club Murders

This is a collection of interconnected short stories. The concept is that a group holds meetings where each member is responsible for sharing a true crime that only they know the solution to, and the other members must try to figure out the solution themselves.

8) The A.B.C. Murders

In this novel, Christie truly proves why she is the mistress of misdirection. Plus, the idea of a murderer choosing his victims alphabetically is very creepy.

9) Murder on the Orient Express

A snowbound train is naturally a tense and frightening place, and Christie adds in an expertly done mystery from the past to compound the murder in the present. This novel truly has one of Christie's best endings.

10) The Mysterious Affair at Styles

It's hard to top the original!

Mystery Monday: A Few Cozy Favorites

Sometimes I need a mystery that is light, fun, and cozy. I'm usually up for trying any genre mystery, but these are some series that I have had a lot of fun with so far.

*The Bad Hair Day Mysteries by Nancy J. Cohen

The protagonist, Marla Shore, is a beauty salon owner who keeps finding herself entangled in mysterious murders. The Florida setting is very vivid, and Cohen has a great sense of humor in her stories. The characters are unique and fun as well, and the romance is one to root for.

*Heather Wells Mysteries by Meg Cabot

Heather Wells is one of my favorite cozy mystery protagonists. She is funny, real, and smart. She is also a former pop star who now is an assistant dorm director at a New York college. You will fall in love with Heather, and the mysteries are really creative too.

*Sophie Katz mysteries by Kyra Davis

Davis' protagonist is a mystery writer herself, addicted to caffeine and tough as nails. She's like a modern noir heroine in my opinion, able to take care of herself, solve mysteries, and throw back Frappuchinos like they're water.

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny

I love the Inspector Gamache novels. I love everything about them, from the relationships (platonic, familial, and romantic),to the Three Pines setting, to the way Penny just gets emotions and what makes a human being tick.

And then there are the mysteries. Penny's mysteries are always unique, clever, unexpected, and multi layered. The mystery in The Nature of the Beast wasn't my favorite of hers, but it was still incredible-and Penny definitely did her research, as is revealed in the author's note.

In The Nature of the Beast, Penny explores the concept of the boy who cried wolf, and what it means for a community when that child is finally telling the truth and still no one believes him. Monsters are more real than the characters, or readers, want to believe, and history creates a trail that can cause destruction in the present.

4.5/5 stars

(read for novel dream's reading challenge-this week's challenge was to read a book over 300 pages that came out in 2015)

True Crime Thursday: Mystery on the Isles of Shoals by J. Dennis Robinson

On Smuttynose Island, in 1873, two women were brutally murdered. The third woman, Maren, escaped, spending a harrowing night hiding on the island from the man she would identify as Louis Wagner.

It seems a straightforward tragedy. But ever since the crime, despite all the evidence against Wagner, there have always been theories floating around that Maren herself did the killing. Anita Shreve's The Weight of Water, while highly fictionalized, has been used by some theorists as proof that Wagner was innocent and Maren guilty.

Robinson makes it very clear from the beginning of his book that he firmly believes Wagner was the killer. Robinson carefully and clearly lays out the evidence against Wagner, building the story, through the murders, the trial, the public execution, and the way modern society continues to view the case.

Robinson has clearly done his research, and this book reads as the definitive account of a murder that still fascinates us to this day.

4/5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday-Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine (http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/ ) where book bloggers can showcase an upcoming release they are particularly excited about.

For my first Waiting on Wednesday, I chose Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Publication date: September 22, 2015

From Amazon:

"In Furiously Happy, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea.

But terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

Furiously Happy is about "taking those moments when things are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence. It's the difference between "surviving life" and "living life". It's the difference between "taking a shower" and "teaching your monkey butler how to shampoo your hair." It's the difference between being "sane" and being "furiously happy." "

I am a big fan of Lawson's previous book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. I also have Generalized Anxiety Disorder and moderate depression. Lawson's books not only entertain me, but speak to me as well.