THE DARWIN AFFAIR

Jun 20 at 3:49 PM

    

     As a voracious reader and frequent reviewer I'm most often eager to finish a book and begin the next - not so with Tim Mason's remarkable, incomparable The Darwin Affair.  No moving forward I am simply going to reread this amazing book to enjoy again the author's impeccable prose and revisit some of the most fascinating characters to be found both in real life and fiction.  This Victorian-age thriller gives us a full color portrait of London in that day as well as those who inhabited it - compelling characters all and real-life events that surrounded the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

    Of course Darwin's book caused an immense hue and cry from scholars and the all important English clergy.  In spite of this Darwin's name was now on the list of men to be knighted by Queen Victoria.  History tells us that was not to be.  Readers follow the ensuing events though the eyes of London police inspector Charles Field.  (

A real life policeman known to  us as Inspector Bucket via Charles Dickens novel Bleak House.)  It is Field's task to protect the royal family, a task made difficult by an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria and a murder.   Believing that these two events are somehow connected to the Queen's nomination of Darwin for knighthood, Field pursues a heinous killer known as "the Chorister."

    By cleverly combining actual historical characters and fictional characters Mason has given us a historically accurate can't-put-it-down detective story that is educational and pulse-pounding until the final paragraph.

    - Gail Cooke

THE BODY IN THE WAKE BY KATHERINE HALL PAGE

    

   It's time for a celebration - indeed it is!  One of Katherine Hall Page's riveting Faith Fairchild mysteries is always signaled by lines at book stores and online orders and her twenty-fifth tale is no different (simply more intriguing if that is possible.)

    The Body In The Wake finds Faith luxuriating in the warm, sunny weather at her summer cottage in Penobscot Bay, Maine.  As if that weren't enough she also has time for herself for the first time in ages.  Her husband Tom has secreted himself in a pal's empty house across the way in order to finish a book.  Her son is employed by his professor in Rhode Island, and her daughter is up to her elbows in a summer job at Sanpere Shores.  At last Faith is able to see to some of her own projects - don't believe it!

     Kind-hearted Faith is distracted by her friend Sophie who is worried because she isn't pregnant yet. And she needs to help plan the wedding of her friend Pix's daughter.  But at this point Faith is shocked to find a body in the lily pond - not just any body but one with a puzzling tattoo.  Any thoughts of Faith's own projects fly out the window.

     Congratulations to Katherine Hall Page on her 25th anniversary (so to speak) and terrific reading for us!

    

TUCUMCARI

"There was a young woman named Mary
Who had lived all of her life in Tucumcari,
Mary vowed to marry rich,
But there was one hitch:
The well-heeled didn't tarry in Tucumcari." - GC

SUNBURN by Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman is back with another can't-put-down thriller.  Thank goodness!  The best yet from this award winning author Sunburn is a dark noir tale, a wonderful novel powered by psychological suspense that grabs readers from the opening sentence and doesn't let go until the startling finish.

   Set in the small town of Belleville, Delaware a pair of lovers to be meet at the High-Ho, a bar/restaurant.  She  (Polly) is an attractive redhead with a bad sunburn "pink, peeling."  He (Adam) is tall, strong, good-looking ("a Ken doll kind of guy.")  Each has secrets that cannot be shared.  Yet they are inexorably drawn to each other and soon are having an affair.

   Polly takes a job as waitress at the High-Ho and carefully hoards her tips.  Adam soon becomes the chef and much to everyone's surprise prepares outstanding dishes that brings in customers.  This seemingly peaceful

arrangement is soon interrupted by a fire that consumes Polly's apartment and takes the life of Cath, a High-Ho waitress who had eyes for Alan.   Was this an accident or murder?

   Adam and Polly continue their affair, apparently devoted  but each still holding secrets from the other.  What if they were both completely honest - would that strengthen their love or cost them their lives?

   As is her wont Laura Lippman is a thorough researcher corroborating facts when insurance is involved and  double checking streets in Delaware.  But even more outstanding than her accuracy is her keen observance of human nature.  She more than deserves every major mystery prize she has won.  Sunburn is one more feather in her cap.

     Enjoy!

   

SAN MIGEL - SMILES

"There once was a girl in San Miguel
Who made boys swear not to kiss and tell,
But she kept a long list
Of the boys she had kissed,
And wrote a book that surely did sell." -

JUARA COCONUT HAND AND NAIL BALM

This highly effective hand and nail balm comes in an attractive 2.5 oz. tube that slips easily into purse or pocket. Delighted it does as I never want to be without it. In addition to softening and protecting hands it wages war on brown spots. The scent is subtle and sweet. Very reasonably priced for a balm that also strengthens nails!

Works for me!

THE HOLLYWOOD DAUGHTER by Kate Alcott (Softcover!)

Hollywood stories abound but perhaps none are as unique as this one.  It's easy to forget how many people, some on the periphery of the movie industry are affected by the life of a major star.  Case in point is the poignant story of Jesse Malloy.

     She is the daughter of Gabriel Malloy, a studio publicist whose career was skyrocketing along with that of his most famous client, Ingrid Bergman.  Thanks to Gabriel's promotion of the movie Casablanca he was able to buy a Beverly Hills mansion complete with pool.  Jesse's mother was a
devout Roman Catholic and enrolled her daughter at Saint Ann's, an all-girls Catholic school.  Her time there was peaceful and trouble free.  What was outstanding in Jesse's adolescence were her brief contacts with Bergman who her father was grooming as not only beautiful and talented but also saintly (thanks to the two movies The Bells of St. Mary's and Joan Of Arc.)  Jesse's admiration for Bergman verged on adoration when Saint Ann's was chosen the location for The Bells Of Saint Mary's.  Bergman was rapidly embraced, endorsed by the Catholic Church and the dreaded Legion of Decency.

     In retrospect one can only imagine the brouhaha when Bergman leaves her husband for director Roberto Rossellini not just for a dalliance but also bears him a child.  What effect could all of this have had on the adolescent Jesse?  In addition to the young girl's personal response we follow her as her family tries to adapt to a dramatic change in Gabriel's career.

     Absorbing reading!

     Kate Alcott is the pseudonym for journalist Patricia O'Brien who is a New York Times bestselling author.