Someone Always Knows by Marcia Muller ***

SomeoneAlways Knows by Marcia Muller is a PI procedural, #31 in the series. It reminded me of the cliched family holiday where the same stories are repeatedly retold. For my taste, too much of the book flashed back to past incidents. With thirty prior books, there was plenty of material, maybe too much.

The story opened with the resurfacing of the presumed dead Gage Renshaw. Renshaw is from Sharon McCone’s husband’s (Hy Ripinsky) wild days during the Vietnam War. Gage is an unsavory character and Sharon set’s out to find who he is and what he wants. Without any plot twists or surprises, she eventually figures it out.

If you are a PI Sharon McCone fan, here is another of her adventures with plenty of references to her past adventures. If you’ve never heard of her, this might not be the best place to start.

City of Saviors by Rachel Howzell Hall ****

Elouise Norton is a newly promoted LAPD Sargent, just returned from short-term disability and still suffering from PTSD, hiding her continued symptoms to avoid being put behind a desk. Her case is Gene Washington, an old man found dead in his house—full of trash, cats, and old food. Elouise, Lou, treats this as a murder investigation. The others disagree, but she’s the Sargent, so it is her call. The two lead suspects are his new, younger, girlfriend Bernice Parrish and his old friend Oswald Little, both of whom received significant bequests from his recent will. A third suspect is a local megachurch.

An experienced mystery reader would not be surprised that the ME declared the case to be murder…anaphylactic shock from a coconut allergy. It starts like an ordinary police procedural, until, halfway through, new evidence is uncovered, and the case changes entirely.

Beyond the Gene Washington mystery, Lou has an ex-husband, a couple of potential boyfriends, and maybe a couple of girlfriends. I am certain her complicated life, both love and PTSD, would have made more sense if I hadn’t started at the fourth volume in the series. My bad.

The author does a great job of uncovering new evidence that increases the scope of the crime and the mystery. What starts as a routine death of an old person succumbing during a heat wave exacerbated by air pollution (fires), keeps expanding as new evidence mounts up. This is a case where every detail raises new possibilities of additional crimes and murders, most of which turn out to be true.

One disappointment: the loose ends. While I didn’t expect her love life to be resolved, this is, after all, a series. However, his gold-digger girlfriend, who received a bequest of 375 gold coins, and is often mentioned in the first half of the book, disappears.

If you’re looking for a fast-moving mystery with lots of suspects and a few surprises, City of Saviors by Rachel Howzell Hall could be the book for you. Caveat: I started with number four of the series, so Lou’s personal life didn’t make much sense. I’d recommend starting at the beginning.

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People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks ****

Hanna Heath is a rare-book expert and conservator. In spite of her youth, she received the job to restore the Sarajevo Haggadah, an illuminated manuscript originating before the expulsion of the Jews and the Inquisition in 1492 Spain. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks follows Hanna efforts regularly by historical interludes connected to clues found in the manuscript. For example, a butterfly wing leads to the story of how the book was saved from the Nazis.

A pair of missing silver clasps leads to anti-Semitism in late 19^th century Vienna. Wine stains send the investigation to the original ghetto in early 17^th century Venice. Salt crystals are traced back to the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492. The artist, a black African slave, is discovered from a white hair. Through these clues, a broad overview of European history is traced with an emphasis on anti-Semitism.

Hanna Heath is an Australian who is struggling to find herself having grown up with no father and an over-achieving mother who was alternately unavailable and disapproving. Her passion is restoring, conserving, and researching manuscripts. Through the boo, she struggles with the insecurity and mystery of her childhood but eventually comes to peace with life.

The phrase “People of the Book” is used by Muslims to include all Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The people who rescue the Haggadah from the brink of destruction are often Muslims.

If you are interested in European history, especially anti-Semitism, this book spans 15^th century Spain, the original Ghetto in Venice, World War II, and the Bosnian conflict.

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Book Thief by Markus Zusak ****

If you can consider history as Good versus Evil. Think of Evil as Oppressors and Oppressed, and Good as liberators of the Oppressed. This is a story retold over and over. Book Thief by Markus Zusak explores a different story. The story of Germans who were not Nazis and not Jews.

World War II. Germany. The book thief is Liesel Meminger, a preteen. Her family is lost, and she is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann. They also hide Max Vandenburg who is Jewish. Her best friend is Rudy Steiner. She struggled to learn to read, but ultimately books and reading became a defining and redeeming part of her life.

The central theme is how ordinary people live within the increasing horror of World War II Germany. “To Live. Living was Living. The price was guilt and shame.”

Often the question asked those caught in the center is: are you a defender of the oppressed or a collaborator with the oppressors? This book suggests that those caught in the middle are neither. They are concerned with their own survival. When Hans Huberman dies, Liesel says, “Goodbye, Papa, you saved me. You taught me to read.” Nothing about Nazis or Jews. This is the nuance of this book about people who struggle to survive.

Another excellent book with characters lost between the Nazis and their victims is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

If you would like to explore the lives of the people trapped between the Oppressors and the Oppressed, this is an excellent book. Life is rarely black and white, good and evil, oppressors and oppressed. This is an excellent novel of grey, subtlety, and nuance.

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Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen *****

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is her first novel, but like the more popular Pride and Prejudice, it is about marriage and inheritance among the moneyed classes. Austen has a keen eye for vanities and personalities. While nineteen-year-old Elinor Dashwood is a sophisticated observer of manners and morals, most of the others are innocent of their foibles and delusions. Elinor’s opinions are often humorous and judgmental.

The plot centers around the matrimonial prospects of the two elder Miss Dashwoods. Elinor (sense, reason) falls in love with Edward Ferrars, but his mother would never approve of the match. Marianne (sensibility, emotion) falls for the dashing Willoughby, but he has his eyes on a richer match.

In many ways, the plot is repeated in Pride and Prejudice, both from the overall subject of manners and matrimony, and many details. For example, in both books, a rogue with the initial W gets a girl pregnant in Bath. (Why does Austen not like Bath?) The outcome differs, but Austen manages a happy ending regardless.

Warning: The 19^th-century style takes some getting-used-to. Names: married couples are always Mr. John Dashwood and Mrs. John Dashwood, with the given name often unused. The eldest child is Miss Dashwood or Mr. Dashwood. All younger children are referred to by their given names. This can cause confusion, and the author is aware of this and uses it. There is much discussion of different carriages and money, both fortunes and annual incomes.

Also, Jane Austen uses more double negatives than normally seen in contemporary writing. “Not so really important,” “not from any disinclination,” and “not believe it was impossible.” In general, modern readers might find the writing pedantic and wordy.

Some of the scenes show how the world has changed in two centuries. For example, the (male) doctor’s favorite color is pink. Other scenes are universal. Edward Farrars wrecks a pair of sewing scissors by using them incorrectly.

One irony is that Elinor (Austen) observes the many foibles of the privileged class. She clearly belongs to this stratum of 19^th-century society, albeit at the lower levels. However, she is blissfully unaware of the fact that these challenges are dwarfed when compared to the lower classes.

If you’d like a story lampooning Regency manners with a happy ending, this book (continuously in print for over two centuries) is highly recommended. It can also be read as an early feminist novel.

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