Review: Irma Voth

I always want to like Toews's books more than I do. The plots always sound so interesting, but then I try and read them and am completely disinterested. That was the case again for Irma Voth. The plot sounds imaginative and compelling. Nineteen-year-old Irma lives in Mexico with her Canadian Mennonite family. She has been shunned by her father for marrying a Mexican man, who has since fled the scene. When a documentary filmmaker arrives in the community Irma gets a job as a translator, and her work allows her to make plans to break free from her highly restrictive family.

Undeniably the best part of the book is Irma's flight to freedom. Her exodus with her sisters reveals some deeply held and damning family secrets. The early part of the book, when Irma is working on the movie, is comparatively dull. One would think that conflict between some angry sectarians and famous filmmakers would be interesting, but somehow it manages to be extraordinarily dull. Toews describes every little quotidian event in Irma's world in minute detail. There's description of dialogue that simply couldn't keep my attention. The payoff is in the second half of the book, so if the reader can last through the first part they'll probably find the second easier going. That said, I keep having this experience with Towes's books. We'll see if I've learned my lesson.

Miriam Toews, Irma Voth (Harper, 2011) ISBN: 0062070185

Review: Whose Body?

Lord Peter Wimsey, sometimes sleuth, and constant man-about-town, began his sleuthing career here. Lord Peter is called in when an unassuming man finds an unidentified dead body in his bathtub. Police suspect that the body might be that of a missing businessman, but Lord Peter is not so sure. The body's attributes don't seem to match those of the missing. According to police the prime suspect is the owner of the bath. Again, Lord Peter is not convinced, and it becomes his job to clear the innocent man's name.

Lord Peter's aristocratic eccentricity is on full display in this novel, more so that in some of the later books in the series. There were definitely times when I started to get annoyed at the preponderance of "What Hos," and similar. Still, Lord Peter solves the mystery quite admirably.

Dorothy Sayers, Whose Body (Harper Collins, 2007, orig. 1923) ISBN: 0739405292

Review: Death of a Glutton

A conference descends on Lochdubh's hotel, and shenanigans abound. The conference is a matchmaking weekend, a dating agency's attempt to match up its most difficult clients. Things seem promising to the potential lovebirds. All hope turns to despair when the agency's unpopular co-owner, Peta Gore, arrives and ruins everyone's good time. Peta is an enormous glutton, shoveling in all edibles within a hundred foot radius. She manages to disgust everyone. When Peta turns up dead, trussed like a roast pig with an apple in her rmouth, no one is particularly sorry. Still it falls to Hamish Macbeth to investigate.

I found this installment in the Hamish Macbeth series quite entertaining. Peta Gore is an amusing character, and I was excited to discover who had actually killed her. Beaton manages to maintain a comic tone while creating an killing off an entirely unsavory character. I would certainly recommend this one.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Glutton (St. Martins, 1993) ISBN: 0312087616

Review: Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death

Straight-laced librarian Miss Zukas is a bit of a dark horse. In addition to being a prim and proper librarian, she has a history as a canoeist. But her efforts to train for the big race and help the library's team beat the city planning department are interrupted. A dead man is found outside Miss Zukas's friend's house, and said friend Ruth becomes the prime suspect in the subsequent investigation. In her efforts to clear Ruth Miss Zukas finds herself in danger.

This is by all accounts an entertaining, quick read. Miss Zukas is starting to look a bit more human by this third book in the series. It's still not clear to me why all men in the general vicinity seem to have a crush on Helma Zukas- perhaps it's the stuffy/sexy librarian trope? Still, I suspect I'll be reading more in the series. These are fun books.

Jo Dereske, Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death (Avon, 1995)

Review: Spooky Little Girl

After the worst week of her life Lucy Fisher wakes up dead. She's in ghost school, in a class on haunting for those who died suddenly. Lucy, it seems, has been run over by a bus, and is marked to be sent back to the world of the living to complete an unknown task before being allowed into heaven.

While this is a cute and charming story it is also entirely predictable. I knew exactly where Lucy's ghost would be sent. Notaro is a funny writer, but I think her talents are better used on non-fiction. This was quite an easy read, but too predictable to really be satisfying.

Laurie Notaro, Spooky Little Girl (Villard, 2010) ISBN: 0345510976

2nds Challenge 2011

I've participated in the 2nds Challenge for the past two years, and was delighted to see that it's being offered up again in 2011, courtesy of A Few More Pages. I'm jumping in again. I'm not sure which level I'll end up achieving. If past experience is any indication, I'll probably wind up at "A Few More Bites." I'm not making up a list in advance, I'll just see where the challenge takes me.

Want to sign up for this challenge? Click on the image above.