No! I don't want to join a bookclub by Virginia Ironside

Marie is a retired art teacher who lives alone and is about to turn sixty, an age that she embraces eagerly. The book, in the form of a diary, gives cranky Marie a forum in which to record her daily activities, thoughts, social encounters, and especially, her gripes. She has a great many gripes. She detests being told that sixty is young, and that it is the perfect time to go to university, try bungee jumping, and learn a new language. Why bother to learn a new language when you will have so few years left in which to speak it? What's great about being old is that it is too late to do much of anything. How liberating! 

Marie can be nasty when she chooses, but she has a soft side, as well, which she is reluctant to show. She cares for her family and treasures her circle of friends. Although she has sworn off men, there is a small part of Marie that still years for male companionship. She is a multi-faceted individual: hilarious, profane, critical, and outrageous, but also kind, compassionate, and loving. 



I'm with Marie.  Once you reach a certain age you should be able to just do what you want to do, not what others expect of you.  No seniors this and that to keep active.  Enjoy your grandchildren while they still want your company, enjoy a glass (or 2) of wine and eat what you feel like.

The Tale of Hilltop Farm by Susan Wittig Albert

it is the quiet passing of said Miss Tolliver that sets the humans and animals of Near Sawrey all a twitter. Did she die of natural causes - or was poison involved? Did her death have anything to do with her much disliked nephew, a mysterious young woman, the lost parish register, a missing painting or stolen school roof money?

it is into this busy time that Beatrix Potter, the children's writer, moves Near Sawrey prior to taking up residence in her new home - Hill Top Farm. And like the animals in her books, the animals of Near Sawrey can all talk, only the humans can't hear what they have to say.

This is a wonderful little story, a lovely cozy read, with talking animals as a bonus. The author has done a great job in blending historical fact about Beatric Potter's life with complete make-belive.

As the story progresses the point of view switches between those of the various animals to those of humans - each group having totally different ideas about what they have seen at the same events. The mystery is low key and the solution is fitting and satisfying. 




I enjoyed this cute, sweet cosy. 

Chill Factor by Sandra Brown

A bad winter storm has moved into the mountains of North Carolina and with it an end to all that has been going on for the past two years. Ben Tierney is caught on a mountainside when an ice and sleet storm hits. His car is not working and he must get off the mountain if he's going to survive. He runs into the chief of police's ex-wife Lilly. Together they find themselves trapped on the mountain with little to no chance of making it back to town alive. Knowing that time is of the essence they head back to Lilly's old cabin to wait out the storm. They have no idea that what started between them the summer before is going to finally be resolved for good or ill. But, when Lilly starts putting things together she fears that she might just be attracted to the serial killer "Blue." Will she live to see justice served? 

Ben has a lot to answer for and his secretive nature doesn't help things. The local's have him pegged as a serial killer and he knows things that he probably shouldn't. On top of that there is the burning attraction that he can no longer ignore when it comes to Lilly. Will he be able to keep his secret and help Lilly live to see another day. 

Dutch Burton, chief of Police of Cleary and he can't get over the fact that his wife Lilly is gone, and wants nothing to do with him any longer. His stubborn nature combined with the fact that his best friend Wes won't let things settle down only add to the burning in his gut. He will do whatever he must to get Lilly off the mountain and away from Tierney. He can't think beyond his jealousy and this will be a catalyst for events he can not even imagine. 


 An enthralling, multi-layered story that I couldn't put down.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

In 1940, the lives of three women could not be more different as war rages in Europe. Iris James, postmistress of Franklin, Massachusetts, believes in order and details. She takes great pride in her work. All communications in the town come through her. The whole system works because of the neat efficient system and the trust. She keeps all the secrets of the residents, but one day, she breaks with everything she has ever believed, slipping a letter into her pocket. Emma Trask, wife of the town's doctor Will Fitch, listens to all the radio broadcasts from London with her husband. When a tragedy provokes a change in her husband and a determination to go over to Europe, Emma guards herself against the tides of war raging across a distant ocean. In London, Frankie Bard, works with Edward R. Murrow. Frankie listens to Murrow's story advice, yet her spirit chafes against the all the strictures and protocol imposed on her. Feisty, fearless and somewhat brash, she wants to get out the truth and stir her listeners to action. In 1941, Frankie rides the trains out of Germany, reporting on the war, listening to the voices of the so-called refugees. As she sees the war unfolding from a different perspective, her whole idea about the story itself changes.

I didn't really care about most of the characters. Frankie's story was the one I was drawn to most. The only really emotional depth was the glimpses of some of the refugees and Frankie's broadcasts.

It was an OK read but slightly disappointing. I guess I expected more.

Flowers Won't Fax by Sarah Harrison

Isla and Richard have been married for ten years - handsome, successful and gifted, they make an admired couple. Isla knows Richard is no angel, but she is sophisticated enough to be prepared to overlook his minor indiscretions.

Jen has been Richard's mistress for even longer. The opposite of Isla in looks and temperament, she offers Richard the chance to be someone completely different.

When a chance meeting brings the two women together, each is startled by the difference between them and forced to re-evaluate the man they thought they knew. But after the shock waves of hostility have ebbed away, there begins an unlikely but enduring friendship that is to survive beyond a tragedy worse than either can imagine... 


A highly entertaining, enjoyable read. I had expected a light, fluffy read but there was more to the story. A very pleasant surprise. 

The Buried Pyramid by Jane Lindskold

Captain Neville Hawthorne had served in Egypt and participated in such archaeological expeditions. One such excursion involved a long buried pyramid of the Good King, Pharoah Neferankhotep, beloved of the gods and his people. Neville accompanied the German Alphonse Liebermann into the desert following a journal entry by an explorer who stumbled over a valley in the desert that matched the description of the buried pyramid.

During their trek, they came across the Hawk Rock mentioned in the journal, but were attacked by desert tribesmen. After a forced battle among the old ruins, they frightened away the tribesmen and escaped back to the Nile. Neville tried later to search for the buried pyramid, but was once more attacked by tribesmen and severely injured, resulting in his disability retirement from the service.

In this novel, Neville Hawthorne was added to the honors list upon retirement and is now Sir Neville. He is also a moderately wealthy man, has remained interested in Egyptian affairs, and is acquainted with many of the Egyptologists in England. Sir Neville has put off trying again to discover the buried pyramid, but the death of his sister Alice reminds him not to wait too long.

Sir Neville has just about completed his preparations to leave for Egypt when he finds himself with a newly arrived niece on his hands. Genevieve Benet became an orphan with the death of her mother and father and Sir Neville is now her closest relative and guardian. Upon learning his plans, Jenny becomes determined to accompany him on the expedition.

Jenny Benet is a child of the American frontier, equally proficient with guns and knives as well as the manners of high society. She is also a trained medical assistant, spending many years studying under her father in his practice. She is quite competent at treating gunshot wounds.

In this story, Sir Neville and Jenny travel to Egypt with Steven David Holboe, a noted scholar of Egyptian matters. On the boat, they encounter another party lead by Lady Audrey Cheshire, the widow of one of Sir Neville's Egyptologist friends. Somehow, Lady Cheshire continues to cross their path throughout the journey.

From the beginning of their journey, they have been receiving encoded notes from someone calling themselves the Sphinx. The warnings are rather vague, but ominous. Later, Jenny and Steven begin to think that they are being warned about Lady Cheshire.

In Cairo, Sir Neville contacts Eddie Bryce, one of his former subordinates and a fellow veteran of the Liebermann expedition. Eddie had married Miriam, the young native who saved that expedition. Now he is a converted Muslim with the adopted name of Ibrahim Alhadj ben Josef and the father of three sons and two daughters. With his contacts in the local community, Eddie soon arranges the details of their journey.

Later, the party is attacked in their lodgings by men wearing jackal masks and carrying knives. However, Jenny shoots her assailant and the remainder flee, but not before injuring Sir Neville. Another masked man attacks Eddie near his home, but Eddie is better with a knife. Apparently the men who had attacked Sir Neville long before are aware of their identity and purpose.

When Sir Neville and his party finally reach the desert, they find much more than they expected. The legends of Neferankhotep are much truer than they thought; someone is protecting the tomb of the Good King. Moreover, their European opponents have joined forces with the native protectors. Soon they find themselves in judgment, facing the truth about themselves and their motives.

Starts as an historical adventure, searching for a pyramid in Egypt, then turns into a fantasy.

A good read, if not quite what I expected. 

Broken Prey by John Sandford

BROKEN PREY opens with pervert (and possible murderer) Charlie Pope smelling rancid and miserably scratching out an existence as a garbageman, the only job that he could get since being released on parole from St. John's Security Hospital. Every time Charlie sees a good-looking woman he is reminded of the fact that he is tethered to an electronic ankle bracelet and constantly branded in the press as a danger to the community; after over eight years of incarceration Charlie is desperate enough to fulfill his physical desires by whatever manner necessary. 

The narrative then switches to an upscale Minnesota suburb as Lucas Davenport arrives at a truly horrific murder scene in the Porsche so familiar to the legions of fans of the PREY series by John Sandford. Even to law enforcement professionals involved, the details of the gruesome crime are almost stomach turning. (In fact, it threatens to be the crime which finally causes Lucas' long time associate Sloan to totally burn out and retire from the police force.) The victim is a young woman; her body was systematically scourged, after her throat cut the body was arranged by the killer so that the display would have maximum impact. The details of the killing are not released to the press, both so as to avoid alarming the public and to aid the police in their investigation. When a second victim (a older male who was killed and displayed in the same manner ) is discovered several miles away three weeks later, it is clear that there is not only a serial killer but a true sociopath at large in southern Minnesota. 

All the evidence that Lucas and his team assemble points to Charlie Pope, who has cut off his ankle bracelet and disappeared. And yet confusion and doubt linger. The crimes have been so meticulously plotted and carefully executed that Lucas wonders whether Charlie, a man of limited intellgence and supposedly subject to emotional impulse, could really have committed such acts on his own or is simply being manipulated in some manner by a clever mastermind. (Perhaps Charlie has somehow remained in contact with the "Gods Down The Hall", the three most dangerous prisoners at St. John's; they are all kept in solitary confinement due to the extreme danger which they pose to anyone with whom they come into contact). 

 This is my first John Sandford, but i will be looking out for more.

A rocketing roller-coaster of a ride, likeable characters (well, mostly) and I didn't work out who-dunnit.