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Little Pixie`s Bookshelf 2013


Little Pixie

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Book # 106  Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart     TBR 738

 

Amazon Synopsis :  Edited for spoiler...

 

.....Very soon Gianetta Brooke, a guest at the deceptively idyllic Camasunary Hotel nearby, finds herself tangled in a web of rising fear and suspicion. When she discovers that her ex-husband has booked into the same hotel, the peaceful holiday for which she had hoped takes on quite another complexion.

 

Gianetta - London model - goes on holiday to de-stress on the Isle of Skye. She finds herself staying in an isolated hotel where everyone seems to have a secret, then she discovers that her ex-husband is a guest at the hotel, there`s a storm coming in and there`s a Big Mystery. Gianetta feels unsafe, which doesn`t stop her investigating and snooping about. There`s a big scene where she ventures downstairs in the middle of the night to retrieve her headache pills left in her handbag which resulted in me having a hand-to-mouth moment. ;)

 

Escapist fun. :smile:

 

I loved Mary Stewart. :)  Read most of them when I was a teenager, and early 20's.  Should go back for a reread of some.

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It's not going to work, is it? :giggle2:

 

The past few weeks have seen a new book pile on the dining room table. A pile which has spread into other piles. And I`ve just done my 2014 wish list in my new thread and realised that I still want to buy lots more books. Uh-oh... :hide:

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Book # 107    Night and Day by Robert B Parker    TBR - ermmmm....

 

Amazon Synopsis :

Jesse Stone is an ex LA cop who has taken the job of police chief in Paradise, Massachusetts… and things are getting strange in Paradise. Stone is called to the junior high school when reports of lewd conduct by the school's principal, Betsy Ingersoll, filter into the station. Ingersoll claims she was protecting the propriety of her students when she inspected each girl's undergarments in the locker room. Jesse would like nothing more than to see Ingersoll punished, but her high-powered attorney husband stands in the way. At the same time, the women of Paradise are faced with a threat to their sense of security with the emergence of a tormented voyeur, dubbed "The Night Hawk." Initially, he's content to peer through windows, but as times goes on, he becomes more reckless, forcing his victims to strip at gunpoint... And according to the notes he's sending to Jesse, he's not satisfied to stop there. It's up to Jesse to catch the Night Hawk, before it's too late.

 

This held my attention and there were some exciting scenes, but it felt somewhat lacking in the usual wisecracks - and this was such a downer of a book that it really needed some comic relief. :smile:

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Book # 108     Twelve American Detective Stories edited by Edward D. Hoch       TBR - ?

 

Amazon Synopsis :

Murder, kidnapping, and theft are the principal crimes committed in these 12 American detective stories. The victim may be an innocent baby or a double-crossing mobster, the setting a department store or death cell at the state prison, but the detective's intellectual or intuitive powers must be unfailing, whether the important clue is a single bullet or a tiny splinter of wood. With stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Craig Rice, Ellery Queen, and Raymond Chandler.

 

Pretty decent selection of whodunnit-and-howdunnit style of detective stories. I especially liked the Carter Dickson one ( he specialised in locked room mysteries, and this is a cracker ). :smile:

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Book # 109                Sins Out of School (A Dorothy Martin Mystery) by Jeanne M. Dams           TBR - ?
 
Amazon Synopsis :

Dorothy Martin wanted to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for her husband, Alan and some of her friends – a real taste of home. Then came the call from the school, asking Dorothy to fill in because teacher Amanda Doyle hadn’t shown up. Three days later, on Thanksgiving, the second call came: John Doyle had been murdered and Amanda was the suspect. Would Dorothy mind caring for their daughter Miriam for the day?

Dorothy had already sensed that something was not right in the Doyle household: John was clearly emotionally abusive, and the church they belonged to held some very strange ideas about sin and punishment. Now Amanda and Miriam need her to prove Amanda’s innocence, and Dorothy unravels a nasty knot of family secrets.

 

Excellent thriller. Dorothy puts herself in peril by investigating a mystery she keeps being warned away from ; the whodunnit is a real shocker. There are lovely descriptions of a small cathedral town,  and Dorothy`s usual friends and neighbours make appearances. :smile:

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Book # 110   Ghost Story by Jim Butcher   TBR - 736

 

Synopsis far too spoilery.

 

I liked the Dresden Files TV show and wanted to try the books ; I found #13 in a charity shop, so gave it a go.

 

I can say nothing about the plot, `cos it`s such a big spoiler. What I can say is that I loved the book - it`s a real page tuner, it`s funny, it`s touching, the last 100 pages or so have a real `wow!` feeling to them, and there`s a line towards the end that knocked my socks off. :D

Edited by Little Pixie
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And the 2013 Pixies go to... ;)

 

Best overall : Haruki Murakami`s 1Q84

 

Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. It`s the book I sent friends for Xmas this year. Beautifully written and a real page-turner.

 

Best New Authors : Mary Stewart, Donna Leon, Jeanne M Dams, Catherine Aird. 

 

Hmm, all female mystery writers. :smile:

 

Funniest book : Donna Andrews` Some like it Hawk 

 

The latest in the Meg Langslow series. :smile: Fun for the titles alone ( though my favourite must still be The Penguin who knew too much :giggle: ).

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Book # 110   Ghost Story by Jim Butcher   TBR - 736

 

Synopsis far too spoilery.

 

I liked the Dresden Files TV show and wanted to try the books ; I found #13 in a charity shop, so gave it a go.

 

I can say nothing about the plot, `cos it`s such a big spoiler. What I can say is that I loved the book - it`s a real page tuner, it`s funny, it`s touching, the last 100 pages or so have a real `wow!` feeling to them, and there`s a line towards the end that knocked my socks off. :D

 

Ooh, so I've only got another seven of the series to read till I get to that bit, then :lol:

 

Do you think you'll go back and get the others now?  :smile:

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