The Dry by Jane Harper ****

The Dry by Jane Harper is set in Kiewarra, a rural town dying from drought, in Victoria Australia. The story begins with four teenage friends: Aaron Falk, Luke Hadler, Gretchen Schoner, and Ellie Deacon. The friendship breaks up when Ellie Deacon is found drowned and her family (father Mal Deacon and her cousin Grant Dow) blamed the Falks and drove them out of town.

Twenty years later Luke, his wife Karen, and his son Billy are found murdered. Aaron returns to help solve the mystery. The town still remembers Ellie’s death and still blames Aaron Falk. In addition to failing farms, Kiewarra has an underfunded school with a new principal, Scott Whitlam, and a pub, the Fleece run by David McMurdo. Falk assists Sergeant Raco.

An intricately plotted mystery set in small-town misery and politics.

Karen is found with a note that says, “Grant?” This connects back to a note written by Ellie which said, “Falk.” Mal Deacon and Grant Dow used Ellie’s note to pin her death on the Falks. Twenty years later Falk used Karen’s note to cast blame on Mal Deacon and Grant Dow.

All the clues point to the murderer, but it is impossible to put them together until the last clue is uncovered at the end.

This book presents the very worst of small-town life.

"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie *****

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie opens with Mrs. Bantry’s maid Mary announcing, “Oh, ma’am, oh, ma’am, there’s a body in the library.” She awakens old Colonel Arthur Bantry. No one in the Bantry house has ever seen the dead girl dressed in a white diamanté dress. The girl turns out to be Ruby Keene, a professional dancer from the Majestic Hotel, identified by her cousin. Mrs. Bantry immediately calls Miss Marple.

Introducing Mr. Conway Jefferson. He is confined to a wheelchair following an airplane accident where he lost his wife, his son, and his daughter. He lives with his in-laws Mrs. Adelaide Jefferson and Mr. Haskell. Mrs. Jefferson has a son, Peter Carmody, from an earlier marriage. Mr. Jefferson was infatuated with Ruby Keene and intended to adopt her, thus cutting off his in-laws from their inheritances.

An Agatha Christie novel (Miss Marple #2/17) with many suspects and a surprise ending.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

On Gold Mountain by Lisa See ****

It is said, “History is written by the victors.” On Gold Mountain by Lisa See reports the history of Chinese immigration to the United States (aka Gold Mountain) from the transcontinental railroad to the post-WWII era. She builds this memoir around her great-grandfather Fong See (1857-1957) who arrived in 1871. While the author reports on Chinese Exclusion legislation and discrimination, Fong See and his family managed to thrive despite these obstacles. The result is a positive history of the family’s experience, mostly in Los Angeles.

While Fong See had four wives in the United States and China, the emphasis is on Leticie Pruett. Ticie ran away from the farm in Oregon when she was 18 and ultimately met Fong See in Sacramento. At that time, he had a business making crotchless panties for prostitutes. Together they expanded but eventually got into the antique business. They successfully combined his business skills and her understanding of the American market.

Throughout this period the U.S. society and laws were opposed to Chinese immigrants. However, the family succeeded despite these obstacles. They took advantage of loopholes. At various times exceptions were in place for family members and merchants. Fong See exploited these opportunities, legally, when possible, but through fraud when necessary.

The climate changed every decade or so. In the 1920s and 1930s when Hollywood was making films about China, they rent plots. During WWII they manufactured munitions. In the post-war boom, they designed and built furniture.

This is a success story of Chinese immigration.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles ****

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is about Odile who worked in the American Library in Paris during World War II and Lily who grew up in Montana in the 1980s. After the war, Odile married Buck Gustafson and moved to Montana where she eventually met Lily. The book is an intertwined pair of coming-of-age stories. Odile growing up in occupied Paris and Lily in small-town Montana. In parallel plot lines, Odile leaves for Montana and Lily leaves for Paris.

Another of many recent novels with a balanced treatment of the Allies and the Germans.

This is an extensively researched novel based on the people who kept the American Library in Paris open during the German occupation and the people who used the library during those years. Maybe as a by-product of the research process, most of the characters survived the war.

The importance of books.

“But seriously, why books. Because no other thing possesses that mystical faculty to make people see with other people’s eyes. The Library is a bridge of books between cultures.”

Volunteering at the library.

“You should volunteer here.”

“I haven’t any training. What if I make a mistake?”

“It’s a library, not a surgery! No one will die if you put a book in the wrong place.”

The power of books

“How can you stay?”

Gently, she cupped my cheek. “Because I believe in the power of books—we do important work, by making sure knowledge is available, and by creating community. And because I have faith.”

“In God?”

“In young women like you and Bitsi and Margaret—I know you’ll set the world right.”

Delivering books to Jews who are forbidden from the library.

“Delivering books will be our way of resisting,” Bitsi said.

“We need to do this,” I said.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Boris said.

“Then let’s get to work,” Miss Reeder said.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.