The Great God Pan has been on my TBR list for awhile as a classic horror book.  The book centers around a brain experiment on a young naive subject.  Her altered brain allows Pan to appear to her and impregnate her.  The child she bears wreaks havoc in London society leaving behind her a string of men who commit suicide.  Themes of paganism, sexuality, boundaries between man and the spiritual world are all present here.  A precursor to modern horror in the likes of Stephen King, however the action occurs off stage and we just see the results of it.  This is somewhere between a short story and a novella in length.  A very good read for fans of horror fiction.

Ladle to the Grave is part of the Soup Lover’s mystery series by Connie Archer.  I really am enjoying this series and this book was no exception.  In this book, a death has occurred and there is some question as to whether it was accidental or not.  Lucky’s grandfather is mixed up in the death due to his gardening and herb gathering hobbies.  Lucky is plunged into the investigation to clear her grandfather’s conscience and his good name.

Entwined with the mystery are Lucky’s budding romance with Elias, Sage and Sophie’s wedding plans, which the entire plan wants to be in on and the ski resort’s expansion plans that include land Sophie has inherited along with her estranged brother.  A second body turns up and the mystery builds.  The story is paced well and flows quickly to a satisfying conclusion.  Highly recommended to readers of cozy mysteries!

This was this month’s read at the Cozy Mystery Corner on Goodreads.  It is a cozy with a theme of natural remedies and naturopathic medicine in general.  Dr. Willow McCade ND inherits her aunt’s herbal remedy shop after the aunt was murdered.  Because she was the heir, Willow finds herself the focus of the police investigation.  She then begins her own investigation with the help of one of the store customers, a disabled policeman.

I liked the natural remedies theme and the mystery was interesting.  I did find the information and the “hard sell” approach push for natural remedies over traditional medicine a little offputting.  Willow has issues with a lot of traditional medicine (except heavy duty painkillers) and she gives unsolicited medical advice without taking patient histories.  I have an interest in natural rememedies but also a strong appreciation for modern medicine.  While I found some of the information interesting, I found that it overwhelmed the mystery itself.  I’m not sure that I would read another in the series.

This is the current month’s read at the English Kindle Mystery Club at Goodreads.  This book had rather mixed reviews on all the sources I checked.

The book begins with the death of a small boy and the dumping of his body.  In the course of the story, we meet Joanne, a typist at the village newspaper, her children, who knew the dead boy and know something about the boy’s death, McAllister, a newspaper man, Peter, a Polish man about to be married to Chiara, an Italian girl in the village, and a multitude of other characters with their own lives and stories.  The multiple stories incorporate domestic violence, feminism, the treatment of women in 1950s, catholism, corruption, prejudice and intolerance, child abuse and the murder that begins the mystery.

I figured out what the “hoodie crow” was about very early on, but that crime didn’t even seem to be to the main focus of the story.  There were just too many competing storylines and most of them are not mysteries.  I think I would have enjoyed this more if there was less going on and more focus on the mystery and the investigation.

I have been fitting in some reading but I’ve really been super busy otherwise, so no reviewing to speak of.  These are the handful of books I have read inbetween work and reading Infinite Jest.  Mini reviews:

No One Knows You’re Here was a good read and certainly, as others have noted James Patterson-esque.  The downside is that it was very “busy” with a lot going on with the main character and the storyline.  3 out of 5 stars

Ruin Falls was an excellent read and is second book I have read by Jenny Milchman.  This book explores the theme of “do you every really know someone”.  In this case a wife and mother has to face up to the fact that she doesn’t really know her husband and it could cost her her children.  4 out of 5 stars

Mate 1 & 2 were a bit of fluff, free on Amazon.  You need to suspend your disbelief, probably on par with 50 Shades.  2 out of 5 stars

The Lies that Save Us is a contemporary romantic thriller. I couldn’t really get into the story line or the characters.  2 out of 5 stars.

The Forgotten Girls is a crime novel set in a very exclusive neighborhood.  As the murder is investigated, secrets are revealed involving an old mental hospital, prescription drug abuse, love and friendship among the “ladies that lunch” set.  Seemed to rely too heavily on stereotypical characters.  2 out of 5 stars

  I just finished this mystery last night.  It is the current month’s read at the English Kindle Mystery Club on Goodreads.

In this book, we meet DC Max Wolfe, and DCI Mallory.  DC Wolfe has a reputation of a bit of a maverick and is now looking for  a clean start.  He is a single dad to a five year old and through this relationship the reader sees more of DC Wolfe the man vs. the police officer.  The mystery surrounds murders that all trace back to a very exclusive boy’s school and in particular a small group of friends from the school and the secrets they have kept. The book plays on some of the inherent class prejudices and the idea of privledge very successfully.

There are some significant red herrings to lead the reader on a merry chase through this book. The pacing is well done and and consistent throughout the book.  I enjoyed this read and look forward to reading more about DC Wolfe, I just wish the books were available on Kindle.

Three more mystery reads.  Starting off with Cruel as the Grave, which I read in one sitting when I woke up too early yesterday morning.  Excellent read.  I really enjoyed it and loved the characters and the mystery.  The plot is very reminiscent of the English Country House type of mystery a la Agatha Christie.  The characters are fully developed and engaging.  I would highly recommend this to mystery fans of all types,It is not strictly for cozy fans.  There is no gore or graphic violence to offend traditional cozy fans, but it would appeal to fans of other mysteries as well.  Currently it is selling for only $3.99 on Amazon – Kindle edition and it is well worth it.

Silent Scream is this month’s read at the Kindle English Mystery Book Club.  The mystery surrounds a child buried at the site of an old state home/orphanage many years previous to the current action.  One by one the people involved or who tacitly ignored the crime meet their ends. The case lands in the hands of D.I. Kim Stone, who is either a particularly good fit for this crime or a particularly bad one depending upon your point of view.  D.I. Kim Stone has her own history with state homes and brings this personal history into her handling of the case investigation.  There is some well done foreshadowing of the villain and the ending has an unexpected turn to it. There are also well written supporting characters in the book.  I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it for mystery fans.  The protagonist did remind me in some ways of Maureen O’Donnell from the Garnethill series albeit a higher functioning version.

Geared for the Grave is by Duffy Brown the author of the Consignment Shop Mystery series that I really enjoy.  I will admit that I was not that interested in this series even though I like the author because bicycles aren’t really my thing.  I did pick it up though but perhaps my view is biased due to the theme of the book.  I couldn’t really get into this one.  It felt really rushed, so much so that I didn’t really connect with the characters.  On the plus side, there was a lot of humor.  In fact it reads more like a comedic novel than a mystery due to the pacing.  The setting is charming and there are some interesting “zany” character types.  On the whole, it just wasn’t really my kind of book.

Read all of these this week, even though it has been a rough week.  Lost Czar, the angry grey cat, last Tuesday and then had a rough week at work, enough to make me want to climb into bed and pull the covers over my head.  Anyway, adopted a new rescue kitty this week so things are looking brighter.

A Taste of the Sun by Elizabeth David is one of the Penguin Books’ Great Food releases, which I received for Christmas and have been enjoying reading off and on.  This is a top quality foodie read packed with history and interesting recipes from a writer who brought French and Italian influences to British cooking.  The recipes are easy to follow and still relevant today such as recipes for Ragu, Bolognese and Tian.  The sections are varied and make for interesting reading as one finds chapters devoted to picnics, wine in the kitchen, potted meats and fish and even toast.   A great read for those interested in food writing and food history.

Can’t Find My Way Home by Carlene Thompson is a thriller that is based upon an 18 year old “solved” crime involving the protagonist, Brynn’s father.  Her brother has always been convinced of their father’s innocence and on a mission to uncover new evidence he disappears this brings Brynn back to the scene of the crime, exactly where she never wanted to be.  There are twists and turns here, but although I can’t point to any specific clues I solved this relatively early on.  Still it was an engaging read, well paced and it even was satisfying to discover my guess was correct in the end.  The cover blurb read, ” Mary Higgens Clark fans, take note” and that felt fairly accurate to me.  The novel does read much like Ms. Clark’s books.

Kill ‘Em With Cayenne by Gail Oust is the second book in the A Spice Shop Mystery Series.  In this book, Piper continues to struggle with her business and her teenage daughter, her ex is planning his wedding, and two romantic opportunities compete for her attention.  Becca is not well liked and especially by Maybelle, one of Piper’s customers and friends and when Becca turns up dead, the police look to Maybelle as their number one suspect.  Piper ups her sleuthing game to prove Maybelle is innocent.  A BBQ festival in town widens the pool of suspects for the murder.  A fun mystery read for cozy fans.

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders was an impulse checkout at the library.  The cover caught my eye and I added it to my pile.  THis was not quite a cozy mystery but I don’t exactly know where else to categorize it.  There was a lot of humor primarily aimed at the publishing industry as the protagonist is an editor and the mystery surrounds a book she is to publish by a friend of hers.  Turns out that it is a piece of investigative journalism that some people do not want published.  The author goes missing and Sam uses her intelligence and her contacts to investigate with considerable help from others among them, her mother, an attorney of considerable talent.  The money laundering plot line is somewhat convoluted but I guess that is the point of money laundering.  Several strong female characters and the characters in general are well drawn and fully fleshed out.  A very good mystery with humor along for the ride.

Just finished this new cozy mystery, Assault and Pepper, A Spice Shop Mystery  by Leslie Budewitz, who also writes the Food Lovers’ Series.  I enjoyed this mystery particularly for the sense of place that is developed.  The setting is Seattle and the book is “peppered” with references to Seattle landmarks and lifestyle references.  The main character, Pepper, is interesting and intelligent and there is a rather large cast of characters, the staff of the spice shop, Pepper’s girlfriends, and the local homeless community.  Pepper has a couple of love interests but not in the sense of the love triangle common to cozy mysteries.

Pepper gets involved in a murder investigation because she discovers the body on her shop’s doorstep and then one of her employees is arrested.  Pepper makes it her mission to clear Tory’s name irritating her ex-husband, a local policeman, and putting herself in danger.

I will be reading more of this series as they become available!

This is the current read over at the Cozy Mystery Corner on Goodreads.  This is the first book in a well established cozy mystery series currently on book 17.  The protagonist, Skye, is a school psychologist who is being forced to return home to a small town Scrumble River and in the process needs to eat some humble pie over statements that she made when giving her valedictorian speech and leaving town for greener pastures.

I liked the main character, Skye, when she dealt with school officials in her capacity as a school psychologist. Other times she seemed to regress and behave immaturely, usually when dealing with her family members.  The really interesting thing here that the author seems to go against the basic norm of cozies, that is the small town = good, big city = bad trope.  Everything that caused Skye to flee Scrumble River is pointed out through her interactions with the people in the town and particularly the school system, racism, sexism, lack of privacy, intolerance, and lack of compliance with ADA and FAPE (for non-teachers these acts apply to special education in schools among other issues).  It is really unusual, at least in my cozy reading, to have the the setting of the book and the characters, other than the lead, painted in such an unflattering light. The author took a huge risk that she would alienate her audience, but it paid off.  As a reader, you end up rooting for Skye, to solve the mystery and one up the small minds she is dealing with in the town.

I did enjoy this and will read more in the series to see what happens to Skye.