The Paris Lawyer by Sylvie Granotier

Translated by Anne Trager
Le French Book

Book Review 

This is another award winning psychological thriller from LeFrench Book.

 

In this story Sylvie Granotier introduces us to Catherine Monsigny a young, ambitious lawyer and a rising star at a major Parisian law firm. Catherine finds herself with a major felony case and sees an opportunity for her career to take off.  She has to defend a black woman accused of murdering her rich husband in a pastoral village setting on the outskirts of Paris.  The journey to the village to meet her client and investigate the case becomes a journey of self-discovery for the young lawyer.

Always close to the surface of Catherine’s mind, is the unsolved murder of her mother that happened when Catherine was a toddler; she often finds herself in a whirlwind of questions, memories or dreams related to this traumatic event. Unfortunately, she has a father unwilling to provide any answers that might help ease her mind. As Catherine attempts to uncover her past, she is unknowingly being manipulated in the present and complicating her future.  Happening in parallel is the story of her client, a woman who quite deftly hides her past and ingeniously manipulates the present to ensure she has a future.   

As we meet the many characters in this story who provide insight into both the murder of Catherine’s mother and the case of the murdered husband, we witness different types and different aspects of love and relationships.  There is the passion of lovers, the love of husband and wife, and the love, devotion and loyalty between parent and child.  We also see happy marriages, marriages of convenience, the fallout from divorce, and the ramifications of lovers betrayed. 

 

As there is a lot going on in Catherine’s mind and life, there is also a lot going on in the story line.  Some readers will find the back and forth between past and present, dream and reality, a little confusing but it reflects the main character and makes this book so much more than just another procedural thriller.  Some readers may not like that the ending to the Paris Lawyer, isn’t neatly wrapped up and tied with a bow. However, you are left with a feeling of closure for the past and a sense of hope for the future.

This Morning Sam Went to Mars by Nancy Carlson

A book about paying attention.

Free Spirit Publishing

Book Review - Children's literature

Poor Sam.  He is so busy enjoying his daydreams that he is late for school, does poorly on tests, and has people yelling – Focus! at him all the time.  He feels so dumb and sad.

His dad knows he isn’t dumb and takes him to a doctor.  A plan is developed to help Sam become organized, eat better etc. and soon Sam hears that word Focus! a lot less.

This is a wonderful little book, both enjoyable and helpful. The author illustrates how easily a child can be distracted and provides realistic measures to help the child cope at home and at school. Even though the emphasis is placed on learning to focus and adaptive behaviors, the creative aspect of daydreaming is given positive acknowledgment, something that is sometimes forgotten. The tips for parents and educators at the end of the book are also helpful.  Nancy Carlson manages to educate and help while creating an enjoyable read.  My six year old granddaughter truly enjoyed this and has requested to reread it several times.

Laidlaw by William McIlvanney

Canon Gate Books

Book Review

 

This book starts off with the murder of a young woman in Glasgow, Scotland.  We know immediately who the murderer is, where he is hiding and who is trying to help him and why.  Each character that we meet, leads us to another character until we find ourselves caught in an intricate web where numerous story lines intersect.     

Most of the individual characters are sad personae from a hard gloomy neighbourhood.  Not the least of these is Jack Laidlaw, one of the detectives assigned to the case.  He is somewhat of a philosopher and his thinking gives him an insight into people that the other policemen don’t grasp.  He uses wits and intuition to navigate the moral code of the hard men and low life that live in the shadows of the city.  Think part Inspector Morse, part the Singing Detective and part Kierkegaard.  

The moral concerns and social issues encountered weigh down Laidlaw and his partner Harkness. I found they could also make for heavy reading.  Overall, this is an intriguing book and I would recommend it.  The Scottish English, while it made for tedious reading in some places (at least for me) also adds an authenticity to the atmosphere and you feel as if you are right there.

Anonymous Sources by Mary Louise Kelly

Book Review

A fast paced thriller that takes you from Harvard University, to Cambridge University, London and to Washington D.C.  Alexandra James is a young Boston reporter for the New England Chronicle, who is assigned to cover the death of the son of a prominent, powerful man from Washington.  Her instincts tell her that the pursuit of this story might result in her byline on a front page scoop.

She chases leads that bring her to Cambridge, England.  Alex soon begins to realize that the death of Thom Carlyle, her original story, is just the tip of the iceberg. Through persistent investigative reporting, she unwittingly discovers a nuclear terrorist network and begins to realize that the murder of Thom Carlyle might actually have been a cover-up for a Washington conspiracy.  Spies, assassins and terrorists are soon on her trail and they are as intent on finding Alex as she is at finding answers. 

The author has created a great character in Alexandra James.  Alex is presented to us initially as    the fearless nothing left to lose type.  Through great storytelling we are witness to Alex’s vulnerabilities and how they have shaped her.  The cross that she has to bear is in the end what gives her the strength to survive.

I am looking forward to more books by Mary Louise Keller.  I hope they will include Alexandra James as a character because there is more to her story and I want to hear it.

Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries by Vanita Oelschlager

Book Review - Children's literature
Illustrations by Robin Hegan

This book is subtitled A Book of Food Idioms and Silly Pictures. 

 

I have read this one to my 6 year old granddaughter at least three times now in the space of one week.  She just loves the illustrations, they are so colorful and amusing, and she has taken the book to bed with her just to look at the pictures.

 

The sayings themselves, Couch Potato, Pie in the Sky, Don't Cry over Spilled Milk to name a few, have all lead to a variety of discussions. We have talked about what words can really mean and how we use them to say one thing when we really mean something else.  We've also discussed which foods are good for you and which ones aren't. 

 

The picture of the couch potato is hands down her favorite.   That one led to a discussion on how important it is to be active and not just watch tv and have your thinking done for you. 

 

This book is a great teaching and learning tool for home and classroom.http://vanitabooks.com/

My Kindle and me

Well about a month ago I decided to do the dirty deed and buy a Kindle.  Yes, I know.  True book lovers still want to feel the paper, turn a real page and smell the book etc. I still enjoy those aspects of reading and I can't imagine not having the pleasure of looking through a new cookbook and drooling over some great food photography.   But things change and you have to move on.  I've also learned a sad lesson recently; it's hard to find homes for old books. 

 

This lesson came about from inheriting the task of cleaning out my parents’ home.  No word of a lie, there were well over 500 books in that house.  My parents are from that generation that never threw anything out.  (Oh the stories I could tell.)  I have found a home for many of their loved and sometimes forgotten possessions, but books turned out to be a challenge, something I never would have imagined. 

 

It was easy to take some to a second hand book store, a seniors residence, a library and give some to friends.  But those books were only the tip of the iceberg.  Then there were the leather bound Condensed Readers Digests, apparently these have become the scourge of the earth - nobody wants them.   What do you do with old encyclopaedias, travel books, medical books?  All these books are too old to be of any real use and yet not old enough to be collectibles.  So do I keep them and maybe they become collectibles, or do I get rid of them now while I can?

 

Then there were the paperbacks that were bent and torn, printed over 10 years ago and had original price tags of less than $5.00.  They went into the Gasp!  recycling bin.  It physically hurt to do that but if I can’t find a home for these things, and I can’t keep everything, then recycling is a better answer than the garbage bin. 

 

Books have always seemed like old friends to me.  Some are always sitting on the shelf waiting for you to discover or re-discover them.  Some pique your interest, some educate, others entertain, some are annoying and some you wish you had never discovered, but there are variations and varieties to suit your every mood. 

 

So now that I have my Kindle, my children will be spared the daunting book disposal task. (I have other things planned for them - but that's another story.) Pressing delete is a lot simpler than running all over town in search of homes for orphaned books. Who knows, maybe one day we will be able to absorb a novel via some sort of osmotic process, but I don’t think I want to live that long.  I’m happy with my Kindle.

Crashed – by Timothy Hallinan

Book Review
 

This is the first book I have read by Timothy Hallinan and it definitely won’t be the last.  His writing is very clever and amusing at the same time.

Junior Bender is the main character, a crook, obviously living on the wrong side of the law.  Bender however, is a crook with ethics and a sense of justice who is more on the right side of the law than the law enforcement officials that we meet in the story. He is in fact, in this story at least, a modern day Robin Hood rescuing a damsel in distress and righting some wrongs along the way.

The plot line is well written and will keep most mystery fans enthralled until the end.   Throw in a little blackmail, a dash of mafia, a child tv star whose star is not only faded but fallen from the sky, an ex-wife and a teenage daughter,  and murder – well it all adds up to Junior having a lot on his mind.  Mostly, what he has on his mind is staying alive and getting himself and the has been tv star out from under the thumb of one very scary mob boss.  

Personally, I couldn’t put the book down and had no trouble envisioning a tv series based on this character.

Invitation to Die – by Helen Smith

Book Review

What a wonderful setting for a murder mystery – a murder at a Romance Writers of Great Britain conference.  A cast of eccentric writers as the main characters and suspects, a British hotel as the setting, and a young female as the happenstance sleuth.  Throw in a hint of romance and some humour and you have the recipe for a classic great read.  One would think. 

 

I only started to like this book about half way through.  The way the characters are introduced at the start of the book just doesn’t work for me.  The introduction of each character, one at a time, bringing them all together at the conference didn’t work.  This is a method that I find works well in a movie or television show but not as well in writing.  It leaves me with a kind of stop, go, stop, go feeling.  You are just getting into one character and that character’s story when you are abruptly brought to the next character.  As the old saying goes, it is a bit like eating Chinese food, one minute you are full and then a half hour later you are starving. 

Once past the rather lengthy intros, the story line and cast of characters keeps you amused.  Since this is a about a conference for authors and bloggers, there are some discussions around the ethics of writing, issues of race and the writing method. 

If you like the Mrs. Pollifax stories by Dorothy Gilman or enjoy Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple,  you will probably like this book.  I prefer my murder mysteries to be a little less sedate and a little more intense.