Review: The First Rule of Ten

Tenzing Norbu is not your average detective. Raised in a Buddhist monastery in India, son of a Tibetan father and American mother, hes escaped the monastery to fulfill his dream of becoming a police detective in Los Angeles. This book finds Ten having just retired from the force, ready to set up shop as an independent private detective.

And Ten quickly finds himself embroiled in a mystery. A former member of a religious cult turns up dead, and the cult's next-door neighbor, an almond farmer, is receiving threats. What follows is a complex mystery involving life insurance scams, property development, and a religious cult's demands for devotion. There is truly never a dull moment in this book.

A Buddhist monk detective is indeed a new twist to a well-worn genre. I got into this book quickly and was excited to see what happened. Ten's police connections make this much more police procedural than cozy mystery.

Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay, The First Rule of Ten (Hay House, 2012) ISBN: 1401937764 

Review: The Lost Women of Lost Lake

At the Minnesota resort of Jill Ivorson and Tessa Cornell a mystery seems to be brewing. A mysterious man has arrived looking for two aging radicals wanted for the 1960s murder of a policeman. It appears that Tessa may know something about the case. What follows is a period of intense secrecy and suspicion, as some of the people at Lost Lake try to determine what deeds others at the resort have done. Complicating matters is the arrival of Jill and Tessa's nephew, Jonah, trying to escape his parents' arguing by moving in with his aunts.

This is certainly a cozy mystery, enmeshed in a resort community, perpetuated by a restaurateur-cum-sleuth. I appreciated, though, that this book dealt with more social issues than the average cozy mystery. This book touches on domestic violence, youth radicalism, and the secrets of our pasts. I enjoyed the book, and will look for more in the series.

Ellen Hart, The Lost Women of Lost Lake (Minotaur, 2011) ISBN: 0312614772 

Review: Final Notice

When Helma's Aunt Em arrived in Washington for a visit Helma is expecting the staid, responsible woman who was Helma's role model. Instead, she finds a woman who likes to kick back and have a good time. Aunt Em is recovering from a brain injury and her memory has suffered its effects. She brings numerous odd artifacts with her, things from her past whose meaning is a mystery. As Aunt Em starts remembering Helma stands to learn a great deal about her aunt's past, and a dangerous mystery is uncovered.

Helma is her usual irritating self in this novel. It's still unclear to me why the police chief puts up with her unwillingness to commit, though a relationship in which the female half is the commitment-phobe is certainly a refreshing change. The part of the book I found most problematic was the new age chief librarian, Moonbeam's color-personality test. The library staff are required to take it- if they refuse Moonbeam will answer the questions for them. Now, I happen to live in the area where the Miss Zukas mysteries are set. This region is full of people who would be all over a color-aura-personality management scheme. What doesn't make sense is the library director answering questions for people. Perhaps this is a sign that I've lived here too long, if I'm irritated that it doesn't follow the rules of hippie logic. Whatever. In any case, there's nothing out there quite like the Miss Zukas series. Anyone who enjoys quirky, cozy mysteries should give this a try.

Jo Dereske, Final Notice (Avon, 1998) ISBN:0380782456 

Review: Clara and Mr. Tiffany

This novel is a fictionalization of the life of Clara Driscoll, the head of the women's division at Tiffany Studios. The novel looks at a broad swath of Clara's life, from the point at which she develops the design for the iconic Tiffany lamp, through her career with the company. Much of the book is about Clara's relationship to her artwork. Glass is her life, many will tell her to a fault. So much work means little time for relationships, and Clara always seems to put work ahead of love. Tiffany Studios had a policy excluding married women, and after a brief and devastating marriage Clara finds it hard to trust another relationship. Gender issues also shape Clara's work life, as the men's department at Tiffany is constantly trying to exert its superiority over the women, and desperately wants to see the women's division closed.

There were definitely things I enjoyed about this book. I loved reading about how Tiffany glass is made, and I had no idea that women were so involved in its production. It was also interesting to get a glimpse of New York City at the turn of the century.

That said, there were also problems. I began to tire of Clara's constant discussion of the meaning of art in her life. It becomes tiresomely repetitive. I also found the book's format distracting. The book is divided into a number of sections that jump across the decades, each section consisting of only a few chapters. I felt like I was always reorienting myself to a different point in Clara's life.

Susan Vreeland, Clara and Mr. Tiffany (Random House, 2011) ISBN: 1400068169 

Reading Challenge: 50 States

I didn't quite finish this challenge last year, but I had quite a bit of fun attempting, so I'm going to try the 50 States Reading Challenge again.  The goal is to read a book set in each of the fifty states.  One thing I learned last year is that I read a shocking number of books set in Massachusetts and California.

Interested in joining?  Click on the image!