Murder Before Evensong

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Murder Before Evensong: A Canon Clement Mystery by The Reverence Richard Coles

This English village mystery, the first featuring Canon Daniel Clement, is set in Champton. A reference to Celine Dion winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland establishes the year as 1988. Daniel Clement has been the rector of Champton for 8 years. He shares the rectory with his dachshunds Como and Hilda, and his opinionated and outspoken mother Audrey. She often asks the questions Daniel is too polite to ask. Daniel’s younger brother Theo is visiting, studying up for a television role as a clergyman.

Some members of Daniel’s congregation are upset that Daniel wants to remove two back pews from the church to install a restroom. The Flower Guild ladies want a room with a sink, but not a lavatory. Others claim that that the pews are very old and mustn’t be removed, or perhaps just don’t want to lose their favorite pew.

When a body is discovered in the church, followed by another death, Daniel investigates to discover what secrets have led to the deaths. Daniel and the dogs are very good company, and his mother and brother are entertaining as well. I look forward to Canon Clement’s next mystery. Murder Before Evensong will be published in July in the U.S. and is already a bestseller in Great Britain.

Readalikes include The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood, Isabel Puddles Abroad by M.V. Byrne, and Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder club series.

100 Morning Treats

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100 Morning Treats by Sarah Kieffer

Sarah Kieffer’s first cookbook, 100 Cookies, is a favorite of mine, and I especially like her recipes for Neapolitan Cookies and Cinnamon Roll Blondies. I’ve been in more of a savory baking mode than sweet lately. I’ve made and can easily recommend four recipes from her brand-new cookbook, 100 Morning Treats: Ginger Orange Carrot Bread, Toasting Bread, Crème Fraîche, and especially the Overnight Crème Fraîche Waffles. This recipe makes quite a few waffles, and there are still some in my freezer.
Next up are probably Chocolate Pudding Bundt Cake and Cinnamon Scones. There are quite a few other recipes I’d like to try, including Milk Chocolate Rye Bread and Popovers with Fig Butter. Sarah’s recipe directions are clearly written, and there are one or more color photos for most of the recipes. Many of her delicious recipes, including the Ginger Orange Carrot Bread, can be found at Vanilla Bean Blog.

Happy Baking!
Brenda

Life on the Mississippi

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Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck

Perfect reading for armchair travel and history buffs, by the author of the entertaining The Oregon Trail. With lots of help and plenty of advice, both good and bad, Rinker takes a year to build the flatboat Patience. With a varied crew, Rinker spent four months in 2016 traveling the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. Many people told Rinker that it couldn’t be done, especially navigating the mouth of the Wabash River and dealing with the commercial barge traffic on the Mississippi. Chapters about the Ohio River portion of the journey show his fondness for the journey, especially the kind folks he meets in Newburgh, Indiana, and other river towns. There are broken ribs and other mishaps, but Rinker is most worried about keeping the boat and its crew supplied with fuel and water. The Mississippi River is certainly more challenging to travel, including the rip rap embankments, but even there Rinker encounters helpful tug and barge captains. This is a compelling, memorable, and sometimes lighthearted tale.

Brenda

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard

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Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson

Maggie has a boring job selling tickets with three awful coworkers at an amazing place – The Tower of London. Occasionally she has to take the day’s ticket sales to a safe in a basement that’s almost certainly haunted. Running out of the basement one evening, Maggie runs straight into what feels like a lamp post, but is really Freddie, one of the King’s Guards, holding a wooden box. It is not a meet cute moment, though it is memorable. One day when Maggie’s ex-boyfriend Bran shows up at the Tower to try to persuade her to take him back, Freddie frightens Bran away.

Maggie actually lives in the Tower of London, as her father is a Yeoman Warder. She meets Freddie’s mates, fellow Grenadier Guards. The guys overserve Maggie and persuade her to go on five dates through a popular dating app (though not with them). Most of the dates are pretty awful. Occasionally Maggie has a hangover after these dates and runs through the Tower grounds on her way to work, with her unruly red hair, clumsiness, and tendency to blush captured on security cameras, to her chagrin. I intensely disliked Maggie’s ex and her coworkers but really like her dad and the other Yeoman Warders and the Grenadier Guards. Fun fact: the author has red hair and lives in the Tower of London. Readalikes include Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler and Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

Brenda

The Mountain in the Sea

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The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

This near-future science fiction novel is about first contact, and artificial intelligence. Evrim is the first true android, and is exiled to Con Do, a remote Vietnamese island, whose population had been relocated earlier. Dr. Ha Nguyen is a marine biologist who’s arrived on Con Dao to study a colony of long-lived octopuses. Shapesinger is an octopus, who may be a tool user, and might even write symbols. The octopuses are not entirely benign, and can defend themselves.

Corporations seem to have a lot of control in this future Earth. Artificial intelligence of all types and sizes can pilot a fishing vessel as well as deliver poison darts. There are auto monks who help sea turtles on the beach, and artificial online friends. Eiko and Son are forced labor on one of the fishing vessels, and Son tells stories about creatures from the sea. In real life, octopuses show intelligence but have fairly short, mostly solitary lives. It’s fascinating to read about what might be different if they develop a culture.

This book was not at all a quick read, and rather dark in parts, but I was fascinated by the various characters, and gradually drawn into an immersive, compelling story.

Kim Stanley Robinson also writes cli-fi, or climate fiction, but isn’t as character-focused. There are a number of recent novels featuring octopuses, but I’d suggest the non-fiction The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery.

Brenda

The Road to Roswell

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The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

This is an engaging, witty romantic comedy with UFOs and an alien nicknamed Indy. Francie is on her way from the Albuquerque airport to Roswell, New Mexico, where her friend Serena is planning a wedding. This is Serena’s fourth fiancé, and Francie has talked her out of the other weddings. The wedding is delayed by a possible UFO sighting. Francie, in an unfortunate glow-in-the dark bridesmaid dress, has a close encounter with Indy, and is forced to drive an SUB out of town and into the desert. Fortunately for her, Indy collects other passengers, beginning with charming con man Wade. The others include a UFO chaser, elderly Eula Mae, who likes to gamble, and a retiree with a luxury RV. While Indy is looking for something, or perhaps someone, the group ends up in, of course, Las Vegas, then in the middle of a spectacular thunderstorm.

Francie, Wade and the others have the unexpected journey of a lifetime, full of heart and humor in this funny and heartwarming story. I’m so happy to read a new novel from the award-winning author of time-travel and screwball comedy novels such as The Winds of Marble Arch, Crosstalk, and The Doomsday Book. This is perfect for fans of Men in Black who want less violence and more humor and witty dialogue. Indy will win many hearts; I won’t attempt any description so as not to spoil the fun for readers. This will be published on June 27.

Brenda

Georgie, All Along

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Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn

Georgie, Levi, and Hank, his large dog, connect in their Virginia hometown after her parents ask Levi to house and plant sit for them. Georgie’s job as a personal assistant in Hollywood abruptly ends when her boss Nadia decides to retreat to the desert. Georgie comes home to help her friend Bel, who has just moved from Washington, D. C. to a large house nearby with her husband Harry and needs help organizing the house before their baby arrives. Georgie finds the notebook she and Bel made in 8th grade with their plans to take on high school and hopes it will help her reinvent herself. Bel has always been a high achiever, but Georgie has drifted along, skipping college to take the first job that interested her, then eventually becoming a successful PA. The notebook had a lot of fun plans that the teens somehow never completed, such as dancing at a local bar. Bel and Levi agree to help Georgie complete some of her teenage plans, which leads to some funny scenes. Levi’s dog Hank is also entertaining, as well as endearing.

Levi owns a small local business, but is estranged from his wealthy family, although he misses his brother Evan and sister Olivia. He was the family black sheep, and still has some issues to work through. Georgie’s parents are more easygoing free spirits, and love Georgie without giving her a lot of guidance, except after she has an argument with Levi. Of course, Levi and Georgie reconnect, leading to a charming ending. This tender romance is a compelling read, though this is definitely not a rom-com.

Readalike authors include Lucy Score, Emily Henry, Jen DeLuca, and Jennifer Crusie.

Brenda

The Things We Make

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The Things We Make: The Unknown History of Invention from Cathedrals to Soda Cans by Bill Hammack

This is a short, engaging read which taught me about how engineering and science differ, and the awesomeness of engineers. The stories of lone inventors of famous things are often wrong, or only a tiny part of the story. Using science, a rule of thumb, then human ingenuity, engineering moves beyond science to adapt or create something new, sometimes just tiny improvements or failed attempts that later become something practical and enduring.

Cathedrals are one example. How did the masons know how thick to make the walls of an arch? How did the beautiful white on blue Wedgwood ceramics get made. From the filaments of light bulbs to microwave ovens and color photos, little known engineers figured out how strong to build the Sears Tower, or how to design satellite propulsion systems.

Bill Hammack is a professor of engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign but is better known as an author and especially as Engineer Guy. His short, entertaining videos at engineerguy.com are part of his goal to share engineering with everyone. Readalike authors include Simon Winchester, Henry Petroski, Adam Grant, and Peter Diamandis.

I have been reading more non-fiction lately, and enjoying it, though I read non-fiction much more slowly than fiction.

I recently finished Life on the Mississippi by Rinker Buck and Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin, and am currently enjoying reading The Secret World of Weather by Tristan Gooley, Under Alien Skies by Philip Plait, and have just started An Immense World by Ed Yong.

Brenda

Death Comes to Marlow

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Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

I quite enjoyed this clever sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. Londoner Judith, 78, likes to go swimming in the Thames, in the buff. It helps clear her mind. She has just been invited to a pre-wedding celebration by Sir Peter Bailey at his home, White Lodge. They’ve never met, but Sir Peter is afraid someone will poison him, and he’s heard of Judith’s skill as an amateur sleuth. Sir Peter is marrying his live-in nurse, and his two grown children are of different opinions about his upcoming marriage.

Judith decides to attend the party, and brings her friends Suzie, a dog walker and local radio host, and Becks, the local vicar’s wife. Together, along with DS Tanika Malik, they make a good crime-solving team. This time, they are dealing with a locked room mystery. Tanika’s superiors aren’t even calling the resulting death anything but an accident. There are, of course, several suspects with various motives. What they all have in common are excellent alibis, including one that Judith, Suzie, and Becks can all confirm. The room was locked with a large, ornate key, which was found inside the room, and no copies seem to have been made. Suzie and Judith are also worried about Becks, who has been acting very secretive of late.

This cozy British mystery has lots of lovely plot twists, and the four women have pleasingly different personalities and skills. Crossword puzzles are also featured here, as Judith both creates and solves puzzles. If you like to read mysteries for a good plot but also want interesting characters, this might be your cup of tea, or, as Judith prefers, your glass of whisky.

More, please! Readalikes include The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz.

Brenda