January 7th, 2014 Meeting Recap/Reviews

[LJ]

Due to health issues, the December meeting was cancelled. We moved those selections to to be the...
Books for JANUARY 7th were:

A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL (Pol Proc-Inspector Singh-Bali-Contemp) – 2nd in series – Shamini Flint
Inspector Singh is back, but this time on assignment to Bali. A bomb had been let off in the most touristy part of the island and Singh has been sent to help with security and anti-terrorist measures. But very soon the Bali police realize Singh has little to offer them in terms of experience in this field. He's much better suited to doing what he's good at - solving murder. Simple! So when a body is discovered in the wreckage, killed by a bullet before the bomb went off, Singh should be the one to find the answers. But simple murders are never as simple as they seem - and this one has far-reaching political consequences?

Christine – VG+ - She really enjoyed it. Found the character rather quirky. She liked the Aussie detective but not the way it ended.
LJ – VG - There is an immediate charm to Inspector Singh. Although he’s not always likeable, he is self-deprecating and an old-fashioned cop who follows the clues. Brownyn, an Aussie cop assigned to work which him is a complete mystery to him. It is interesting to learn the issues of immigration and race from the perspective of Muslims and Hindus in other countries and the different priority murder has to the Singapore police. There is a wonderful description of the Balinese arts. It was a very good book and a series of which I’d read more.

AVERAGE GROUP RATING: VG+


THE COOKOOS CALLING (PI – Comoran Strike – London – Contemp) – Standalone - Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office. Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

Aimee – VG (so far) – She’s about half-way through and is really enjoying it. She loves the use of language. The descriptions really remind her of when she was in London. The writing is wonderfully descriptive. She likes the interworking between Strike and Robin and the fact that the author does dialects so well.
Cindy – DNF – It just never quite grabbed her. She liked the same things others did about the book—descriptions, use of language, characters—but the mystery just didn’t compel her so she stopped.
Corona – Ex – Loved it. Love the characters and the way it worked. Liked how different it was from Rowling’s previous work. She felt Rowling has grown up and can’t wait for the next book.
LJ – VG – Wonderful descriptions! Strike is a bit of the classic PI except he is too PC toward women to be Golden Age. I really enjoyed the interaction between him and Robin, his temp. Galbraith/Rowling’s use of language is such a pleasure and I appreciated the way she incorporates a famous figure into the story so that it is appropriate and seamless. The mystery should have been stronger but I’d love to see this become a series.
Marcy G – VG – She really liked it but not particularly as a mystery. However, the writing and the two main characters that she really enjoyed reading. She loved the storytelling.

AVERAGE GROUP RATING: G+


KINDNESS GOES UNPUNISHED (Pol Prod-Sheriff Walt Longmire-Philadelphia-Contemp) – 3rd in series – Craig Johnson
Walt has been the sheriff in Wyoming's Absaroka County for twenty-four years, where his wit and charm have helped him solve many crimes. But that can't prepare him for the savage attack on his daughter, Cady, a Philadelphia lawyer who has unwittingly become embroiled in a political cover-up. As Walt and his best friend, Henry Standing Bear, scour the city for clues, he gets help from his deputy Victoria Moretti and her family of Philly police. But Longmire wasn't born yesterday. He's willing to pull out all the stops to find Cady's attacker and show the big city that this old-timer has a few moves left in his saddlebag of tricks.

Christine – Ex – It was her first Longmire book. She loved al the characters, particularly Henry Standing Bear, and the relationships. She definitely wants to read more.
LJ – VG+ - Okay, so it starts with one very big coincidence, but who cares. There are wonderful characters; Walt, Henry, Myra the dispatcher, Dog the…dog, and the entire Moretti family; great dialogue; excellent sense of place both Wyoming and the fun of experiencing Philadelphia with Walt and Henry. Add in some flirtation, a dash of sex, the emotion of Walt fearing for his daughter’s survival, some Indian mysticism, and the action of tracking down the bad guys and there you have one really good book.

AVERAGE GROUP RATING: EX

[Shomeret]

So we are not reading the Walt Longmire book, Kindness Goes Unpunished or A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul? I have placed them both on hold and they are both available to me now.

[LJ]

Thank you. I forgot to include them. Oops. What can I say, it was early.