Book Review: One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

One Was a Soldier is the seventh in Julia Spencer-Fleming's excellent series featuring Clare Ferguson and Russ Van Alstyne. 

Clare is both an Episcopalian priest and a major in the National Guard. She returns home to Miller's Kill, NY from a tour in Iraq. Like the other soldiers returning from the war, her adjustment to civilian life is difficult. To add to the harshness of going from a war zone to peace, she became addicted to pills, uppers, downers, and pain killers, while in Iraq. Now that she's home, she can add alcohol to her list of addictions. Like every addict she's sure she can quit at any time, but it is never the right time. Her nightmares increase and her waking nightmares become more frequent.

Russ Van Alstyne is the Chief of Police in Millers Kill, and while concerned about Clare, has no idea how badly the war affected her. Clare chooses not to tell him about the effects of the war on herself and the other vets. When a former soldier is found dead in a swimming pool, Russ' focus is on the case - was it a suicide as it appears or was the woman murdered as Clare wants to believe.

Spencer-Fleming has returned to the quality of writing first found in the early books of this series. She adroitly handles each of the plot lines in the book and resolves each before the book ends.

The author has a rather large cast of characters, from the members of Clare's veterans' therapy group, to Russ' staff of police officers. Spencer-Fleming has carefully drawn each character so the reader has no difficulty keeping track of who's who. 

Most impressive, however, is how well Spencer-Fleming has sympathetically captured the inner workings of the vets' minds in describing to the reader the toll the war took on each of them. Anyone wanting to know how debilitating the war is on an individual should read this book and how the war makes our vets into walking war casualties. It is insightful, sympathetic, and informative.

Book Review: The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

This is the third book in Louise Penny’s excellent series featuring Sûreté du Québec Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team. Gamache is called back to the small village of Three Pines when a woman dies of fright at a seance attended by several of the local villagers. The medical examiner rules the death a murder because ephedra, a banned diet drug known to cause heart attacks, is found in the dead woman’s system. Gamache does not lack for suspects who had both the motive and means to slip the dead woman the drug.

Not only must Gamache deal with the murder, but a series of stories appear in the Montreal newspapers accusing him of being in cahoots with Superintendent Arnot, a Sûreté officer Gamache arrested for murder. Gamache took action against the dirty officer knowing he would no longer be part of the inner circle of the Sûreté du Québec and his career would be stalled. His fellow officers either loved or hated his actions, but now someone has started a hate campaign in the newspapers against him. Gamache does not respond knowing that any response will only add fuel to his detractors. However, when the instigator goes after Gamache’s grown son and daughter, he goes toe to toe with the man he believes is behind the attacks only to find out he was wrong, very wrong.

Once again, Penny has written a wonderfully rich and detailed procedural set in a village whose residents are quirkily unique, like the renowned poet Ruth Zardo who, in this outing, has bonded with a pair of ducklings. Each time Penny returns Gamache to Three Pines, readers learn a little more about the residents and by this outing, it is as if the reader is catching up with old friends.

Penny’s writing is fluid and resonant. In every book, the reader will find sentences that compel her/him to write them down. For instance, in this book, Penny says “. . . Three Pines smelled of fresh earth and promise. And maybe a worm or two.” Added to the wonderful way with words that Penny possesses are the images she creates of her characters. Here, she has Gamache, who is a large man, tiptoeing down the village street after a rain storm trying to avoid stepping on the worms that litter the road.

This is a series that needs to be read in the order Penny wrote them starting with “A Still Life.” Reading the series in order allows the reader to get to know Gamache, his team and the residents of Three Pines. Penny is not stingy with the details of her characters’ lives, but in each book she manages to add another layer to each character so we understand them better, like them more, and even be surprised by some of them.

If you are a fan of P.D. James, Charles Todd, and Laurie R. King, you will be happy to discover this series.

Book Review: Lonely Death by Charles Todd

"A Lonely Death" is Charles Todd's 13th Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery. In this outing, set in 1920, Rutledge is sent to Sussex by Scotland Yard to solve a series of murders. Three men, all former soldiers, have been killed with a garrote and had a military identification tag inserted in their mouths. At first glance, it appears that the murders in the small town of Eastfield have their roots in World War I. While Rutledge investigates each clue, like peeling an onion, he discovers that first appearances can be deceiving. After several missteps, Rutledge determines who the killer is, but the killer outwits him and escapes each time Rutledge gets close. In the end, however, when the killer intends to make Rutledge his next victim, Rutledge traps the killer and takes him into custody. Along for the ride, as usual, is Hamish, the ghost of a Scottish soldier, who was killed in the killing fields of the Somme. Rutledge feels responsible for Hamish's death and Hamish has been his constant companion since Rutledge's return from France two years earlier.

Todd maintains the primary story while also having several subplots, including one involving a woman who Rutledge clearly cares for, but can't declare his love because he believes she will reject him due to his psychological scars. Another subplot is the unsolved murder of an unidentified man dumped at Stonehenge that was investigated by another Scotland Yard inspector and Rutledge's friend who has recently retired. Cummins' retirement opens the possibility of a promotion for Rutledge.

Rutledge is a flawed character haunted by the war and the men he sent to their deaths in no man's land. He was buried alive when a German shell fell short. When he was released from the field hospital, he was returned to the hell of the front lines. He believes that the only thing keeping him sane is his job with Scotland Yard. When that is threatened in this outing, he has to decide whether to go on living.

As with each previous book, Todd has Rutledge meticulously investigate each clue as it is presented to him. The reader never knows more than Rutledge. Todd's writing is wonderfully vivid. Their descriptions transport the reader to the countryside of Sussex or to the battlefields of France with equal ease.

Todd is a mother/son writing team who have been publishing together for 14 years. Their story telling is seamless, their plotting interesting, and intense. There is little doubt that Charles Todd is one of the best mystery authors writing today. They are in the company of P.D. James, Laurie R. King, and Louise Penny.

If you want an intelligently written procedural, and haven't read the first 12 books in this series, start with the first book, "A Test of Wills," in which the damaged, conflicted, and complicated Ian Rutledge is introduced. Reading this series in order allows the reader to see both the writers and their character grow and evolve.

Book Review: Fatal Grace by Louise Penny

Fatal Grace is the second in Louise Penny’s excellent series featuring Sûreté du Québec Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Gamache returns to the small town of Three Pines when one of its residents is electrocuted during a curling match. It soon becomes clear that this was no accident, it was murder. Gamache discovers the victim, who is not liked by anyone, including her family, is not who she said she was. Slowly, but surely Gamache peels back layer after layer in his search for the killer. As each layer is stripped away, he learns something new about the residents of the small town, about the deceased, and about the murderer.

As with all the books in this series, there are recurring characters. While you don’t necessarily have to read the series in the order it was written, you will miss the joy of getting to know them as Gamache speaks with each one. While Gamache heads the investigation, his team, including a spy working for the head of the Sûreté du Québec, is instrumental in turning up pieces of the puzzle that Gamache finally puts together in order to discover who the killer was.

One of the things that readers will savor in Penny’s books is her ability to turn a phrase. One of my favorites from this book is when Gamache speaks about his deceased dog, “Gamache had had the impression it wasn’t that his old heart had stopped, but that Sonny had finally given it all away.”

Penny’s descriptions of the winter weather will have the reader inching up the thermostat so vividly does the author make the reader feel the bitter cold of a winter’s day in Three Pines. Better yet, though, is the author’s ability to evoke the winter scenes in our minds allowing us to see what Gamache sees as he sits in the local bistro watching the residents hurrying by to get out of the cold, all except the elderly and curmudgeonly poet Ruth Zardo who sits on a bench in the park every day at 5:00 p.m. regardless of the weather.

This is one of the best series being written today. Penny is in the same league with P.D. James, Charles Todd, and Laurie R. King. Don’t miss this author and her series starting with Still Life.

BOOK REVIEW: Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny

Every once in a while a book comes along that keeps you reading into the wee hours of the morning and faster than you’ve ever read a book before and all the while telling yourself to slow down so that you can prolong the pleasure. This is such a book.

“Bury Your Dead” is Louise Penny’s sixth mystery featuring Armand Gamache, Chief Inspector of the Surete du Quebec.

She has crafted a beautifully written mystery with characters so skillfully drawn they come alive for the reader. When this book ends, you’ll want to read more about the characters because they feel like friends.

The city of Quebec is as much a character in Penny’s hands as Gamache and the other who populate this book. Penny beautifully describes the city so much so that you can almost believe that you, too, know the city as well as Gamache as he walks the cobblestoned streets. As Penny describes the effects of winter on the city, you may find yourself drawing covers over you to quell the cold even as the the temperatures rise to the 90s outside your home.

Penny has written a multi-layered mystery with three story lines. She deftly intertwines each plot line. She is skilled at building and maintaining the tension in each story. The story opens with Gamache having gone to Quebec to visit with his mentor after having been wounded in an attempted terrorist attack on the La Grand dam. He is drawn into an investigation of the murder of an amateur archaeologist who is on a quest to find the burial place of Champlain. While Gamache tries to recover his equilibria, he sends his assistant back to the small town of Three Pines to reopen a case that Gamache solved and saw the murderer convicted. The author follows each of these plot lines with such skill and so seamlessly that the reader barely notices the switch.

The ending is satisfying and all the loose ends of each of the plot lines are niftily tied up without being contrived or rushed.

It has been many years since I laughed out loud when reading a mystery. Penny had me guffawing when a seventy-something dignified English woman tries to speak French and ends up speaking gibberish

Do not start reading this book if you have to work the next day. This is one of those books that we long for, but only comes along once in a great while - you know, the one you can’t wait to get back to, the one you’d miss your best friend’s wedding for, the one that you forget to eat while you’re reading it.

Researching Poisons

As I wrote a scene in my second Leah Samuels mystery, I killed off a tertiary character with a poison. After writing the scene, I knew I had to, at some point, identify the poison and how it was used. What I know about poisons is next to nothing.

I do know that hemlock was used by Socrates, but on my world there are no hemlock trees. I guess the killer could have imported enough hemlock to make a poisonous drink, but then I'd have to explain how he/she did that. Too complicated.

I also know that foxglove is poisonous. However, the plant is native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa on Earth. The real killer here (pardon the pun) is that while every part of the plant is toxic, it takes too long to kill its victim. Besides, it is not indigenous to the planet in the book.

Since those are the only two "exotic" poisons I know, it was time to stop writing and do a bit of research to find the perfect poison. Easier said than done I found. As I Googled poisons, I wondered if anyone at Google was keeping track of such things. Did I just get put on a list of some sort so that if someone ends up dying of poison in my town, the police will be at my door? Surely, not she said, with more bravado than confidence.

Next, I'm off to Amazon to see what books on poisons might be of assistance. I found one, Howdunit - Book of Poisons by Serita Stevens and Anne Bannon that looked interesting. A quick perusal of its table of contents confirmed that it was what I needed.

I hit my local library's website and looked up "poisons" in the catalogue. They have several books with the word poison in it, including my favorite, Poisons Make You Sick. Ya think? But they don't have any books on how to use poisons or what are the results of using poison.

Back to Amazon. I ordered the Stevens book and now the waiting begins. I'm only hoping that by the time the book arrives that I haven't changed my mind and have the character who started all this research die of natural causes or, worse, I decide to let him/her live.

I love writing!