A typical Hercule Poirot tale set in Jerusalem and Petra.
Not her best.
But Christie did keep me guessing on the killer in Appointment with Death.
Category: books
Boys of Biloxi by John Grisham
The city of Biloxi, Mississippi beachfront lies directly on the Mississippi Sound,
We heard about it during Hurricane Katrina. Biloxi was one of the places most devastated. 53 died there during that storm.
It’s the setting of Grisham’s 2022 book, the Boys of Biloxi.
Classic Grisham, I’d say. Long. It spans decades. Legal wrangling.
I enjoyed the book though some feel it’s not quite up to his highest standards.
Grisham was born in Mississippi. He was a lawyer. Once again, he writes what he knows.
In this one two good friends from Biloxi, both baseball all-stars, become enemies for the rest of their lives.
One goes into the law. The other into crime.
During prohibition, Biloxi had plenty of illegal booze. Prostitution. Gambling. It was called the “poor man’s Riviera.”
Grisham is a Baptist. And a Democrat. He opposes Capital Punishment, which is a theme in this book.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. A very entertaining interview.
Roxanne by Peter Grainger
This is the 3rd book (2020) in the Kings Lake Investigation series.
Nothing written by Grainger is bad, but for me these books are lacklustre because DC Smith — the lead character — is not in them much.
I can’t say anything really stuck with me from this one.
For the Love of Europe by Rick Steves
Though I claim to dislike Europe — I’ve sure spent a lot of time there over the past couple of years.
When European guidebook author Rick Steves was age-14, his family dragged him to Norway to visit relatives.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t want to go.
YET he documented what he saw and experienced on the backs of postcards which he numbered sequentially. He still has all of those cards stored in a wooden box.
I’m the same age as Rick Steves. And did much the same thing. My first trip was to West Berlin, age-16.
He studied European history in University. And is today one of the main speakers on European travel for the North American audience.
His 2020 book called For the Love of Europe: My Favorite Places, People, and Stories compiles some of his most vivid memories from budget backpacking when he was young through to producing his television shows.
It’s fast paced and entertaining.
Rick likes the food culture best in France and Italy.
In fact, I’d say he spends more time in Italy in this book than any other nation. Beware the womanizing gondoliers of Venice, for example. 😀
Watch Steve preview it on YouTube.
11.22.63 – TV miniseries
I wasn’t much of a fan of the book.
And I’m generally dubious about anything involving time travel.
However, I did get through the TV series, charmed by Jake Epping (James Franco) and Sadie Dunhill (Sarah Gadon).
Daniel Webber was certainly crazy enough to be Lee Harvey Oswald.
The book is too long. The miniseries too long. Both would have been improved by more editing.
Still. I recommend the TV show 11.22.63.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
Excellent! Ingeniously plotted and superbly executed.
The author calls it ‘crime travel’, not merely time travel.
One of the most talked about books of 2022 is set in Liverpool.
Can you stop a murder after it’s already happened?
Late October. After midnight. You’re waiting up for your eighteen-year-old son. He’s past curfew. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn’t alone: he’s walking toward a man, and he’s armed.
You can’t believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your son is now in custody, his future shattered.
That night you fall asleep in despair. All is lost.
Until you wake . . .
. . . and it is yesterday.
And then you wake again . . .
. . . and it is the day before yesterday.
Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. With another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lies an answer. The trigger for this crime—and you don’t have a choice but to find it ….
Amazon
The Peripheral – season 1
Some very cool ideas.
However — as with all time travel fiction — it’s difficult to make sense of the story.
AND aside from time travel, the rest of the plot itself was not nearly clear enough for me.
… loosely based on the 2014 book of the same name written by William Gibson. …
Set roughly a decade in the future, with some new technology that has changed society in subtle ways, a VR gamer is delivered a connection to an alternate reality, as well as a dark future of her own. …
I did like the cast. All good.
Especially Chloë Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher.
76% on Rotten Tomatoes sounds about right.
There will probably be a season 2.
I’ll probably end up watching it.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Treasure State by C.J. Box
I waited months for the audio book to finally be available to me from my local library.
Unfortunately for me, this is the 6th book in his Cassie Dewell series. NOT another Joe Pickett, who I much prefer.
Montana Private Eye Cassie Dewell has two interesting sub-plots here:
- What happened to J.D. Spengler, a PI from Florida who went missing in Montana?
- Where is ‘Marc Daly’, a conman who’s been swindling wealthy widows?
At the same time, folks are searching nearby for “Sir Scott’s Treasure” ➙ hidden gold. Treasure hunters are scouring the area based on clues in a poem.
Though it’s not Joe Pickett, this is a good read.
Despite the rather simplistic ending, I’d say it’s the best of the Cassie Dewell, so far.
Recommended.
Rick Mercer – an Autobiography
Talking to Canadians: A Memoir was published Nov 2021.
It’s recommended. Very funny.
One of the best lines (by Greg Thomey) …
Heavy is the head that wears the lampshade.
I’d rank Rick Mercer the funniest Canadian of my lifetime.
He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer Report … which ended 2018 after 15 seasons.
Mercer’s two-minute “rants”, in which he would speak directly to the camera about a current political issue are what I remember best.
Like many of Canada’s best comedians, Rick is from Newfoundland. Understand?
I downloaded the audio book from the library — ideal, as Rick is the narrator.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick interviewed Kyle Shewfelt. Funny.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths
Book #2 in the series featuring DS Harbinder Kaur, a badass murder detective.
Harbinder is in her 30s; still lives with her parents; and hasn’t come out to them that she’s Gay.
An interesting premise.
That said, I felt the second book was not nearly as good as the first.
Solving the Postscript murders was not Agatha Christie ingenious.
Peggy Smith had been a ‘murder consultant’ who plotted deaths for authors. When Smith died unexpectedly, Harbinder felt obliged to investigate.
Rick McCharles 