Sepulchre by Kate Mosse

Bestseller denotes a book that has sold many, many copies. However, does anyone ever track how many books have been read? That is, just because I buy a book and set it on my shelf doesn't mean I ever pick it up and read it. Nor does bestseller acknowledge the books that look good and get lots of hype but just don't live up to expectations. Recently I talked with friends about a memoir that had been heavily touted in the media. Two people separately told me they started the book only to put it down because it was boring and badly written. I wonder if in the future e-readers will allow statistics about how many people actually spend time with every page of a book...

These were my thoughts as I put down Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. A few years back a friend sent me Labyrinth which I read and enjoyed. But I wasn't over the moon about it. I feel very similar about Sepulchre. I liked the book. Mosse writes a compelling, detailed, historically accurate story. But in the end, I was disappointed. I felt like the book was 500 pages of hype for a relatively simplistic and facile ending.

Sepulchre, in the recent tradition of historical suspense stories, tracks the lives of two individuals in different eras whose worlds intersect. Leonie Vernier lives in 1890s Paris. Meredith Martin is a present day historian tracking down both biographical information about Debussy and historical information about her murky past. Needless to say, there is a connection between the two women - at the very least, the fascinating tarot cards they both possess.

Mosse presents a well-researched historical reality. Her knowledge of Languedoc France at the turn of the century create a believable world. But her character of Victor Constant - the bad guy - is remarkably one-dimensional. The present day villain is not well enough fleshed out. For all of the immense detail Mosse includes, she needed to spend more time giving her villain a motivation for his obsessions.

In the story, Mosse's characters talk about Dan Brown and links to the Templars. Needless to say, Mosse is attempting to separate her story from Brown's formulaic pop fiction. Yet, Mosse falls into some of the same traps. All of the drama is easily explained away. The suggestion of more is never really fulfilled.

According to Goodreads, this is the second book in the Languedoc Trilogy. I can't find a link between the stories aside from the geographical location. I am curious whether she intends to write a third book which brings all of the characters together. If so, it seems relatively far fetched.

All in all, I'm glad I read it. I learned a few things. But I would have rather spent the past couple of weeks on something better.

The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

I have loved the Maisie Dobbs series since I read the first book. I was thrilled to realize I had an unread book in the series on my shelf: don’t know how I could have missed that earlier. I have heard people call the series “light” because they are mysteries, but really I think there is an incredibly depth to Winspear’s writing. She takes on topics that are weighty and in no way fluffy. She also has created an incredibly real, detailed world which is eminently believable. Winspear is not cozy mystery machine who churns out a new book every season. There is an analytical depth and research background which undermines the descriptions of a mystery as “light.”

In the latest Maisie Dobbs book, Winspear introduces Americans. The soldier who has been killed is an American cartographer who joined the War because he had unique skills and his father was British. Like all Maisie Dobbs books, the plot is more intricate than first perceived.

This book would be terribly hard to pick up without foreknowledge of the series. By the seventh book in the series, Winspear assumers her readers are up-to-date on Dobb’s friends, relationships, and past. This story brings back Maurice, her mentor who has been a foundation of the series. It also reintroduces James Compton and adds a heretofore untold back story which fleshes out the world of Maisie Dobbs. Winspear does an amazing job of combining the mystery and the personal story in a balanced way. She does not go too far astray on either side, losing track of one plotline of the other.

When all is said and done however, I didn’t like this book quite as well as others in the series. The only problem for me was the way the mystery wrapped up. There were too many moments when Maisie knew information which Winspear did not share with the reader. And the denouement was muddy. One character was “sort of” guilty, but I did not feel it was explained as well as it could have been.

Despite the shortcomings, I would wholeheartedly recommend the series. It is easy to get lost in Jacqueline Winspear’s world. And I always learn something new.

Death Swatch by Laura Childs

I have read most of Laura Childs’ books in all three of her series. Death Swatch is the sixth book in the scrapbooking series. And as much as I enjoy Childs’ series I am beginning to feel as though she is spread too thin. For the first time I found inconsistencies and problems in this story.

Laura Childs excels at light cozies with strong female characters. She chooses locales with personality and depth. Her themes – scrapbooking, tea, cooking – all offer great opportunities for creativity and useful tips at the back of the book. In Death Swatch Childs combines Mardi Gras and paper stamping techniques.

But…

She is not a historian. Within one chapter she confuses the era of Jean Lafitte badly. She talks about the 18^th century, then she says he lived “over 100 years ago” and then she makes some other claim about the Battle of New Orleans in the early nineteenth century. It was more than a slight editing gaffe. For me it was a sign of someone who is over-extended and not reading or researching as carefully. Aside from flummoxing her dates, she clearly was not overly familiar with the timeline she was writing about. This plot just went too far off the scale to be even remote believable. I realize cozies are not about accuracy and believability, but the authors usually fact check and try to keep their plots vaguely realistic.

All in all, not one of Childs best efforts.

State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy

When reading a cozy mystery series there is suspension of disbelief and then there is "so far fetched I am having trouble with my disbelief turning into laughable disdain." What can I say; I applaud Hyzy for her attempt at a novel fun locale for her series. I think writing a series about the White House chef is creative. She admits in her acknowledgements that she can't have all the details concerning the White House kitchen completely accurate because of privacy and security. That actually wasn't what bothered me overmuch.

The plot of State of the Onion revolves around Olivia Paras, the assistant chef in the White House who gets involved in a security breech involving the president. With an inability to keep out of harms way, Ollie ends up the target of an assassin's wrath because she is the one person who has seen him and can identify him. As a chef, the book of course revolves around cooking and the kitchen. There are recipes in the back. So far, typical cozy.

My frustration came from the subplot which involved two warring Middle Eastern nations who come to the United States for a joint meeting. Hyzy could not logically put Palestine and Israel into the book so instead she created two made-up nations with "very different backgrounds." That destroyed it. By definition she had to write in generalizations. Her perceptions of Middle Easterners were stereotyped and one-dimensional.

Furthermore, I found the "rah rah the President is perfect we're so patriotic it makes everyone gag" to be over the top. Obviously someone who works in the White House has a healthy respect for our government and the office of the President. But to suggest that we are the only great nation who has all the answers is overstated.

Now, other people I know liked this book a lot more than I did. I'm a harsh critic when it comes to accuracy and realism. If you want a light fun story, Hyzy's not bad. I did get invested in the climax and discovery of the bad guy. It was also the right book to have when I needed something light, fluffy, and not too deep.

The Girl Who Played with Fire AND The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Last night I refused to interact with anyone in the house. I was bound and determined to finish Stieg Larsson's trilogy. On the one hand, I really wanted to know the outcome - how was he going to wrap up all of his story lines? On the other hand, I just wanted to finish the damn series!

Stieg Larssoon loves details! He goes into amazingly explicit minutiae for the sake of the story. In the long run I understand why he included every single aspect. Nothing was extraneous. It all tied together in the end. And all the sideline stories were crucial to bring the people together how and when he did. But... 250 pages into The Girl Who Played with Fire he *finally* set up the plot. It was somewhat laborious to keep reading and wonder where in the world he was going with his stories. Similarly, in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest I had to wonder why I was spending so much time reading about Berger and her personal problems. It all made sense in the end, (there was one particular moment in the story for which it was necessary for Berger to implicitly trust Salander) but I don't know that that much space was needed for some of the information.

It is an amazing series. Larsson has combined police procedural, John LeCarré style spy intrigue, and current social gender intrigue into an intricate and intriguing storyline. I won't debate the merits of Larsson's trilogy. Instead, I am going to take a minute to debate a few small issues I had with the series.

In the beginning of The Girl Who Played with Fire Salander is wandering around the Caribbean. As I said before, I understand the logic of setting up the story in the way Larsson does. But, given the character he had described in book one, I had a hard time buying some of her character traits in book two. Suddenly this sullen, untrusting girl is sitting chatting casually with a bartender and helping people out. It didn't fit for me. It was too abrupt of a change.

My husband and I have been having an ongoing conversation about the role of sex and violence in the series. We've debated why Bloomkvist has to take so many women to bed - is it necessary for the storyline to set him up as an individual who is very casual about relationships? is it indicative of Swedish society? or is it sheer selling value to include lots of sex?

My mother and I discussed why the series has gained so much popularity recently. Her conclusion: it's about Sweden which is currently "hot," and its for sale at Costco which seems to dictate bestseller list these days. I agree with both of her statements, but I would add that the intrigue of Larsson adds to the power of the series. Knowing that Larsson is dead and can't write anymore allows readers to wonder what was supposed to happen next.

I'm glad I read The Millennium Trilogy, as it has been dubbed. It's a fast-paced, interesting series that raises a lot of questions about how society views outsiders. But I also am glad I read it because it keeps me abreast with current trends. Now I'm ready for something without a lot of sex, violence, or coffee drinking. :-)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo is an international phenomenon. I have to believe everyone in the literate world has heard about this book in the past six months. My mom has read the series, my husband has read the series, friends have read the series. I finally decided I would bite the bullet and read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Too many recommendations tend to leave me cold; I find overwhelming praise often means I am disappointed in a book so I started reading with considerable trepidation.

Happily I can report I liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as much as alluded to by other readers. Larsson writes a compelling book. His characters are not archetypes and yet he describes them well enough to make them believable. All things considered, Larsson does not lack for descriptive detail. Reading the second book in the series I find that he overwhelms with detail, but more on that later.

For anyone left who has neither heard of the book nor seen the movie, the plot revolves around a 30-year old mystery surrounding a teenage girl who disappeared from an island without a trace. Mikael Blomkvist, a veteran journalist suffering from professional problems, is brought in to reanalyze the facts and try one last time to discover what happened. Eventually he needs a researcher to help with his search and brings in Lisbeth Salander, the infamous girl with the tattoo. Lisbeth’s back story ultimately becomes the plot of the Larsson trilogy. In this book Blomkvit and Salander solve the immediate mystery. But Larsson sets up the conundrum for the next two books.

So many people have commented on this story that I don’t feel it necessary to once again rehash the merits of Larsson’s story or writing ability. Let me just reiterate a thought I had when I read Camera: the Swedes are a DARK people. The literature that I have read involves sex and brutality in concrete, detailed terms. I have no idea if this is a fair assessment of the population or merely the books which have been translated to English as having a cross-cultural interest. But either way, it is not a book to be read by the faint of heart. Sexual deviance is an assumed narrative in Larsson’s storylines.

As I write, I am halfway through The Girl who Played with Fire. So far, I like the first book better. But I’ve been told I have to finish all three before I can make any conclusive statements.

The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White

Jenny White's first novel in the Kamil Pasha series, The Sultan's Seal, was far and away one of my favorite books this year. White has the uncanny ability of imparting a ton of knowledge about the Ottoman Empire, a subject of which she is well versed, without lecturing or falling into a litany of facts. The plot remains the most important aspect of the book.

The Abyssinian Proof, White's second entry in the nineteenth-century mystery series, tells a nuanced story of a little-known religious group living in the middle of Ottoman Istanbul. The information White has at hand about this leftover Byzantine Christian sect is fascinating. There was a tenuous moment when the story veered into a mention of Templars and I feared White had fallen into the trap of writing another derivative Christianity gone bad novel, à la Dan Brown. But, she saved herself and didn't go there. Thank goodness.

It is easy to lose oneself in White’s novels. She tells a compelling story with plenty of interesting twists and intrigues to keep me reading. The mystery is not overly straight-forward but she does throw in clues throughout to keep me guessing. However, White is also knows her history. She is not writing about stereotypes and overused characteristics of the Ottoman Empire. Her depth of knowledge allows me to learn relevant, genuine historical information within the scope of a fictional story.

Moreover, White tends to throw in some subtle social commentary about our own world. The intrigue between the Christians, the Muslims, and the Jews; the distrust of differing religious beliefs; the debate over political and cultural power based on ethnicity all ring as remarkably true today as they did 150 years ago. White manages to point out that the Ottoman Muslims were not some evil religious offshoot with nothing but bloodlust in their hearts. Her characters are somewhat universal.

I look to disappear into my books. But I don’t mind learning something along the way. Jenny White is one of the best current authors who allows me to do both of those things at the same time. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the third book in the series. (Oh, and I heard a rumor she may attempt to discuss the Armenian Genocide in a future story. That would capture plenty of attention.)

Murder in Miniature by Margaret Grace

Murder in Miniature is a true cozy mystery. Nothing violent happens on screen - it is like reading a classic play. The only people who die, die offstage. The characters hear about what happened to them but never actually see any gore. Even the main character is never put in real danger - no gun toting or kidnapping. It is very sanitized.

After finishing The Shipping News which is not plot-driven I needed a story with a bit more to lead me through it. Margaret Grace succeeded on that front. The plot revolves around a temporarily kidnapped friend, a murdered drifter, and a found sapphire. The main character is an aging widow and her ten-year old granddaughter. The theme is building dollhouses. The characters are always on the looking for ways to incorporate found objects into their dollhouses. The sapphire is found inside a craft tote bag of dollhouse making materials.

This would be a perfect book for your great aunt who doesn't like things that are too messy. Or for your 11 year old niece who wants to read more grown-up books but doesn't need all the gore or sex so many books can have. It is innocent - while still a murder mystery.

Great literature? No. A good summer diversion? Yep.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

My eldest son picked up Chasing Vermeer and read the first two chapters. By itself that sentence should not be breathtaking. However this is the first (non-picture) book he has ever voluntarily picked up and read. I don't know if he will get much farther, to be honest. He is starting first grade and is just jumping into the world of chapter books and I think Chasing Vermeer is over his head for now. But it will stay on the shelf for another day.

In the meantime, I had heard about Blue Balliett's first book somewhere along the way and was more than happy to pick up a copy at the library book sale for under a dollar. I decided to read the story first to see if it was appropriate for my 6 year old but also because I love a good kid's book. I'm glad I did.

Chasing Vermeer is the story of Petra and Calder, two socially-awkward kids, at a lab school attached to the University of Chicago. Their enthusiastic teacher introduces them to the art museum and the idea of debating with the meaning of art. They both discover an affinity for Vermeer when a famous Vermeer is stolen launching them into a mystery to uncover what really happened. The idea of coincidences, hidden messages, and questioning the truth lie at the heart of Balliett's book.

The story has an appeal at many levels. The main characters have interesting backgrounds and idiosyncrasies which speak to children who don't always fit in. The illustrations in the book and parts of the plot revolve around hidden messages and breaking codes which I know my boys both love. But the plot is both genuine and well-enough-crafted to appeal to a parent. I don't know that I will run out and buy Balliett's other books. But I will leave Chasing Vermeer for my boys on another day and will happily buy the other stories at their request.

Ruby in the Smoke A Sally Lockhart Mystery by Philip Pullman

Once upon a time I loved reading Gothic Mysteries. Somewhere in that junior high era I discovered Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart Series. I read Ruby in the Smoke eons ago. When my husband rediscovered the series he picked up the first book. Although his connection to the story was not based on personal memory. He got Ruby in the Smoke because Pullman is the well-known author of The Golden Compass series.

Ruby in the Smoke was written first and while it is a good book and shades of Pullman's later characters are evident in the story I would argue that Golden Compass is the better series - he extends his nuances and side plots in intricate detail with The Dark Materials books.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed re-reading Ruby in the Smoke. To be honest, I know I read the book before but I did not remember anything about the story. Written as a young adult book, it does deal with death and violence in a way that would keep me from giving the book to anyone younger than maybe 10. Pullman's plot revolves around an Indian ruby, an orphaned girl, and piracy all located in soot-filled Victorian England: classic Gothic at its finest. One of Pullman's strengths as an author is his ability to create strong relationships between his young characters: Ruby in the Smoke is no exception. Each of the book's main characters is young, unique, independent, and strong. I appreciate his books for the message of independence and strength of character he sends.

I will likely hang on to my copy of Ruby in the Smoke for my boys. However, it is not a story I will read to them in the next couple of years. The themes (as Pullman seems interested in in general) are a bit dark and heavy for a younger child. He acknowledges the dark side of people and is willing to have a character suffer a beating to further the plot. This book does not hold place amongst my favorite books that I will re-read for nostalgia sake. However, it was a good light romp through my literary past.

Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse #2) by Charlaine Harris

I looked at all the books on my bookcase and had no desire to read any of them. Nothing peaked my interest despite the fact that I bought most of them. Instead I put the second Sookie Stackhouse book on reserve at the library. I read Dead Until Dark out of sheer basic curiosity; I saw part of a True Blood episode and found myself intrigued.

It turns out Harris writes a pretty good paranormal mystery and I was happy to read another one. I am not running out to buy the next six books in the series nor am I pushing True Blood to #1 on my Netflix queue. However, I will continue to read the books and one of these days I will get around to watching the series.

Harris does a few things I really appreciate which makes her series worth picking up. The heroine does not fit any stereotype. She is neither the stereotypical middle-aged protagonist of many cozies, nor is she the heavyset yet cute heroine of the chick lit genre. Sookie makes no apologies for being lower middle class, rural and relatively uneducated.

She isn't afraid to introduce as many paranormal creatures without apologizing for how and why she includes them. The world she creates is standard Americana with a twist: it is neither overly fantastical nor is it overly shocked by the creatures that appear.

Finally, Harris seems to have fun writing and doesn't take herself too seriously. She uses light fun humor throughout her book.

In Living Dead in Dallas Sookie and Bill fly to Dallas, stay in a vampire hotel, and infiltrate an anti-vampire Fellowship. Sookie gets kissed by Eric, wonders about Sam, and meets a slew of mythical creatures. Fun, light, enjoyable.

Camera by Eva-Marie Liffner

Strange yet uninspired.

Camera is sort of a mystery, sort of a suspense. Add a touch of literary fiction. The book has possibilities. Yet oddly enough the blurb on the back of the book gives away too much information. There is no real climax, no a-ha moment, no sense of resolution. I felt like I knew exactly what the plot was from page one and was waiting for some sort of surprise to tell me more. But the surprise never came. The outcome was exactly what the blurb on the back of the book said it would be.

Needless to say, the book revolves around cameras and photographers. Both the character in the present - an unhappy, antisocial woman who has inherited her uncle's estate - and the character in the past - a young Swedish photographer living in turn-of-the-century London - are photographers. Liffner has an interesting way of describing her scenes, often incorporating excruciating detail which is not always related to the plot. But her descriptions read like visual photographs. I don't know if that makes much sense, but I got the impression of a picture with the way she used her descriptive talents. In that regard alone, Camera was a remarkably fascinating book.

Camera is translated from the Swedish. I have not read many Swedish books but I know of a couple of other Swedish authors besides Liffner and I have this to say: The Swedish are dark people.

Murder in the Sentier by Cara Black

Paris must be one of the most written about cities in literature (alongside New York and London). Who can think of Paris without thinking about romance and fine art and culture? But the famous city of so much literature is not the Paris of Cara Black's books. And I find her lack of idealism about Paris refreshing. She writes stories that explore the seedy underground of Paris. There is still a nostalgic appeal to her descriptions of the historic city, but they are not idealized and utopian.

Murder in the Sentier is the third in the Aimée Leduc mysteries. I enjoyed it - like I have enjoyed all of Black's books so far. But I enjoyed it less than the first two books in the series. I felt like Black had so much description to set the neighborhood that it took over for the plot.

Black's strength is the ability to interweave historically important moments in French history with modern problems. Leduc, a cyber-detective ends up solving crimes involving events from 50 plus years ago. In her first book Murder in the Marais, Black tackled anti-Semitism, collaboration and the Holocaust - amazing and well-written. In Murder in the Sentier Black tackles 1970s reactionary terrorist groups. Historically interesting? Yeah, I suppose. But it didn't grip me the way her other books have.

I also felt like Black worked too hard to incorporate Leduc's tortured past into the novel. The readers know from other books about Leduc's missing mother and now dead policeman-turned-detective father. Yet in this book dad has a black mark for possibly aiding and abetting his wife (Aimée's mother) who collaborated with reactionary terrorist groups. It didn't jive with the other stories in my mind.

The reason I will continue to read all of Black's books? Her descriptions of Parisian neighborhoods. Black has done painstaking research to describe each quarter of Paris as unique and distinct from any other neighborhood. But she also throws in historical bits which demonstrate a strong knowledge of the city's past as well.

An enjoyable read - much heavier than a cozy --> prostitution, drug use, bits of blood and guts. Worth the time if you love books about the City of Lights.

Thai Die by Monica Ferris

I returned to a familiar cozy series after finishing a book I didn't like (see below, if curious). I knew that Monica Ferris would not disappoint - and she didn't. Thai Die is the twelfth! book in the Needlecraft series (I think I may have missed a few in the middle as I can't remember eleven other stories). But for a cozy series to make it that long is a good sign of reader appeal.

One of the appeals of Ferris' books is the theme - needlework. Whether an occasional flurry of activity or a regular weekly hobby there are lots of people who knit, crochet, needlepoint, or cross stitch. Ferris' stories appeal to all of these individuals. And she is good to always acknowledge that needlework is not exclusively a women's hobby.

But I've been pondering more and more what the appeal of the cozy is in general. As odd as it may sound to someone who has never read a cozy:

They're innocent.

Yes, the main plot revolves around murder. However, there is no blood and guts. There is no incest and rape. The good guy always wins. The bad guy always gets caught. And somewhere in the middle of the book, you may actually learn a fact or two.

This particular story revolved around the theft of artistic objects from Bangkok. There were a few holes in the story. I would not describe Ferris' books as fine literature. But I doubt Ferris would either. That's not why she wrote them.

All in all a good escape.

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

World War II has long held fascination for Western audiences. Every year countless books and movies appear analyzing obscure facts about World War II history. Hitler and the Holocaust have been done and redone. An intriguing topic, undeniably. However, World War I has long gotten short shrift. If overarching impact on the Western world is the question, I would be hard pressed to state that one war had a greater impact that the other.

In the past five years I have noticed a growing shift. More and more people are writing, watching, and talking about World War I. Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series is an incredible addition to the field of World War I books. While the stories take place in the 1920/30s, each story further develops the impact of the War on the people of Britain. I am continually amazed at how well Winspear examines and understands the mores, expectations, and disappointments of post-War Britons. With each one of her books I feel as though my academic understanding of twentieth-century Europe is deepened by her work.

In Among the Mad, the most recent Maisie Dobbs novel, Winspear tackles psychological repercussions of war and depression in general head-on. I rave about all of her books but this one blew me away. Winspear is remarkably sympathetic to her characters who have all suffered from the War in some way. She brings back topics from earlier books to help demonstrate how unexpected events can return and cause psychological distress years later. The "criminal" in the story suffers from PTSD - although post-traumatic stress was not coined and recognized until generations later - and mental trauma due to World War I nerve gas exposure. Rather than criminalize the criminal, Winspear creates an empathetic character who has found himself in an unforgivable situation. Winspear's outcome brought up another excellent aspect of her books.

While writing about a period seventy years in the past, Winspear addresses very cogent contemporary debates. What role do scientists play in War? Who is responsible for military technology and how should responsibility for destruction at the hands of the war machine be handled? Does society have a responsibility to acknowledge the traumas of soldiers and how can those issues be reconciled? I walked away from Among the Mad pondering any number of current military/political situations. I can't say that is true about many historical or mystery books.

I think there is something for everyone to enjoy in Winspear's novels. She pens a great mystery. She is amazingly historically accurate. She addresses deep questions worth revisiting. A definite two thumbs up.

If you like World War I read:

• Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear - you should really read this series in order to appreciate and understand the characters

and see:

• A Very Long Engagement - there are amazing trench scenes if you've ever wondered
• Joyeux Noel

The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White

Wow!! This is one of the most amazing first in a series novels I've read in a long time. The information and accuracy is incredible. Unlike certain unnamed academic authors, White does not fall into the trap of telling information she knows just to prove how smart and knowledgeable she is. Every gleam of detail is necessary to forward her story. Just wow! I'm in love.

Author Jenny White is a professor of Anthropology and has written academically about the Ottoman Empire. Her knowledge of Turkey, the complicated workings of the political system, the debates surrounding nationality and identity, the innerworkings of power in the harem, and the political maneuvering of the European nations all combine to make this a historically accurate but also well-developed murder mystery.

The main character Kamil Pasha is a Turkish magistrate who trained at Cambridge. As such he straddles his familiar Turkish world and the modernizing British scientific method world. He wants to see his country survive and flourish but he does not ascribe to some of the "traditional" organization of Turkey.

The plot revolves around the discovery of a young British woman who is found drowned. She is wearing a locket that ties her to the sultan's palace. Kamil Pasha works with the daughter of the British ambassador to attempt to discover the identity of the woman and learn how and why she was killed. The story is twisted and interwoven. It is not straight-forward and at the end the resolution is not a neatly tied-up package. White leaves a lot of questions to be answered, which I think is more honest than many mystery novels.

After reading the book I found myself thinking about a criminal investigation in such a society. When men have no access to most women how are they expected to investigate the death of a woman? He had to have the assistance of someone who could breech the inner circle.

One review I read suggested the British character was too flippant and well, dumb. I didn't see that. I thought that White painted a stereotypical character for the time. She used Sybil as a representative Brit who wanted to understand Turkish society but could not divorce herself from her Britishness.

There are two very nitpicky things I disliked about the book:

The chapters with Kamil Pasha were in present tense. Personally I prefer reading books written in past tense. But I understand her literary choice as it separated those chapters from the ones written from another character's perspective that were often about past events.

I would have liked one more chapter to wrap up the story. I felt that she ended a touch too quickly. There is the obvious motivation of having the reader pick up book #2. Yet, I still wanted a little resolution. What happened when the sun rose?

All in all, a big thumbs up. If you like historical mysteries and have any interest in the Middle East - an amazing read!

If you liked The Sultan's Seal, try these books:

• The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
• The Aimee Leduc mysteries by Cara Black
• The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye (not a mystery but a classic British imperial novel)

The Winter of Her Disontent by Kathryn Miller Haines

I recently read Kathryn Miller Haines' first novel in the Rosie Winter Series and enjoyed it. A touch of film noir spiced up with theatre and cozy-mysteryness all added up to a fun light diversion. I picked up The Winter of Her Discontent after putting down Inkheart and found that the second novel in the series is even better.

As a hopeful aspiring writer, I enjoy reading the first book in a series. I am curious how authors set up their characters and their worlds. The descriptions that they employ and the worlds that they create capture my imagination. In many cases I think the first book in the series is the best. Authors work so hard to set up a world that they too often rest on their laurels and the books quickly go downhill and become derivative. However, in the gap between first and worst, there are great mysteries and Haines' second Rosie Winter story is one of those.

One of the best changes in the two books is Haines' willingness to drop the excessive use of film noir slang. While I liked her accurate terminology in War Against Miss Winter I did want her to stop using "jawing" and occasionally write, "she said." In this novel she does just that. Haines incorporates the occasional slang to liven up the story and remind the reader that it is 1943 New York City. But the occasional dab is significantly more effective than the excessive glop from the first novel.

In addition, I read until page 380 before I knew the whole plot. It is rare for a regular mystery reader to not have a decent clue whodunit and why within the first half of the novel. I admit, I had a good sense of who was overly suspicious, but I didn't find out until Rosie did exactly what the mystery entailed. I liked having the gasp of understanding that a good mystery creates.

Last, but most assuredly not least, I respect Haines for putting out there the negative aspects of World War II on the homefront. So many movies and stories have appeared in the past ten years which show the horrors of the war and the optimism of the homefront that I can't keep track of them. Haines shows the horrors of the homefront. Life was not pleasant. Everyone was not perfect. People took advantage of their fellow man and their government. And Haines does a good job showing the complicated world of navigating patriotism, greed, and practicality.

All in all, if you like historical mysteries, a good read and a good addition to the mystery genre. Now I'm going to have to add the third book to my to-read list.

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If you would like more Historical Mysteries try:

• Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series
• Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series
• Anything by Anne Perry (she has multiple GREAT series)

The False-Hearted Teddy and The Crafty Teddy by John J. Lamb

I rarely read two books in the series back to back. I like to try and vary my book choices. But a holiday bout of the flu left me on the couch and ready to read the next two Bear Collector mysteries by John J. Lamb. I finished The False-Hearted Teddy and picked up The Crafty Teddy next. Lamb's series has been described as a police procedural cozy. Those two terms seem at odds for a conventional cozy mystery reader. But after reading The Crafty Teddy I better understand the designation.

It is refreshing to read a cozy mystery written by a man. I would argue that the vast majority of cozies are written and read by women. Lamb's stories add a fun twist with a sarcastic, punny, ex-cop for the main character. He loves to insert sexual innuendos and groan-worthy puns throughout the story - characteristics that I haven't found in the typical cozy.

As the series progresses the stories have become more police procedural as the main characters become involved with the local sheriff's office and work in an official capacity to assist with criminal investigations. But, given that the plots revolve around the teddy bear making world the stories are firmly entrenched in cozy-land.

The False-Hearted Teddy takes place at a bear show in a hotel in Baltimore. Brad and Ash Lyons have set up shop to sell their homemade bears when one of the other vendors is murdered. Confrontational cops cause Brad to investigate on his own. By the middle of the book he allies forces with the police and the book becomes a more familiar police procedural with rules and regulations, car chases, and witness interviews making up the bulk of the story. However, Lamb convincingly remains wedded to the cozy style of writing and does not fall into too much heavy police lingo.

I like this story, but it wasn't my favorite. I found the good cop/bad cop a bit heavy handed. And the transition to allies was too easy. Nonetheless, it was a fun, light read. Oh, and a pet peeve, the blurb on the back cover. In this case, it was flat out wrong. It says the cops thing the murder was not a murder - which is not true. Who writes those things?

In The Crafty Teddy Brad and Ash are back at home in the Shenandoah Valley. The book opens with the theft of two of their antique bears. In a seemingly unconnected fashion three Japanese Yakuza (gangsters) show up in town to visit the local history museum. Brad, questioning the motives of Japanese businessmen being interested in quaint Virginia history, he follows them and finds a dead body.

Lambs explanation for the presence of the Japanese is an amusing twist in cozy-land. I found myself smiling at the image of a Japanese gangster wandering through Boyds Bears in Pennsylvania picking out cute teddy bears.

In this book Lyons becomes an employee of the local sheriff's office and the percentage of police focus in this book has grown exponentially since the first. He successfully blends the two styles by giving weight to the investigation and legitimacy for the characters to have guns and be tramping through suspects homes. Yet he interjects a light fun air and a focus on teddy bear making that places the series firmly in cozy land.

My only complaint about this book is Lamb's description of the UVA History department. But that could be because I know too much about that particular school and faculty.

I have to say, while I originally dismissed a teddy bear making series as bad fluff in the world of cozy mysteries this has actually become a preferred series. I will happily recommend it to other mystery readers.

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If you liked the Bear Collector Mysteries try:

• The Monica Ferris Needlecraft Mysteries (another craft series)
• The Rita Mae Brown Sneaky Pie Brown Mysteries (another Shenandoah Virginia series)
• Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt Novels (not mysteries, but about quilting and also take place in nearby Pennsylvania)

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear

I have waxed poetic more than once about Jacqueline Winspear. She is one of my favorite mystery authors. No, she is one of my favorite authors, genre notwithstanding. Winspear does incredible research when writing her books to create one of the most accurate and realistic settings for a novel that I have read. As an author of historical fiction she has a better ability to create 1930s England than any author who was not writing during the 1930s.

The plot in this novel was easier to deduce than some of the other Maisie Dobbs stories. Nonetheless, the plot was no less fascinating for the easier deduction of the plot. In this story Maisie is researching a small town's brickworks that a client hopes to purchase. There is something off about the town which leads Maisie into a search of the towns past. Like her other stories the mystery resides in World War I. As with her other stories Winspear has an ability to get to the heart of the War and the difficulties it created for the European population. (I will openly admit, I have used situations in Winspear's books to create a plausible and identifiable setting in my history classes before. That's how genuine her research is.)

This is one of the first books in which Winspear sets up the coming world - although book four I believe also alluded to growing concerns on the Continent. While her stories continue to focus on World War I, she is beginning to allude to the growing problems in Germany. I am curious to see if in future books Winspear begins to incorporate fascism and Nazism into the stories. I would love to read her perceptions of right-wing politics in 1930s England. I have no doubt she will create an undeniably accurate and realistic world.

There is one more Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs book on my shelf waiting for me to read - Among the Mad. There is another to-be-published in 2010, The Mapping of Love and Death. I try not to read them too quickly as they are like candy - best savored over time.

Mansions of the Dead by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Mansions of the Dead is the second Sweeney St. George mystery. Taylor has created an extremely unique premise for her series. The main character is an art history professor who studies funereal art. She spends significant amounts of time in cemeteries studying the gravestones.

This book, unlike the first O Artful Death, takes place in a university setting. The murder victim is a student of Sweeney's who is taking her funeral art course. He also happens to be the son of an extremely well-connected Boston family causing distinct problems for the police. The family throws up roadblocks left and right to keep their own lives private.

Taylor crafts a good story. She gives significant detail without drifting into telling facts just to show off what she knows. She inserts historical tidbits that are pertinent to the story without being too heavy-handed. Her main character is a complex person with a past and foibles that are realistic. The policeman in the story has depth and flaws without being the stereotypical useless cop. Boston is an important third character in the novel with the city's personality and quirkiness playing into the character's interactions.

Like the first book, I feel like the university setting gives the character a reason for knowing history without being the most realistic depiction of life in a university. Sweeney St. George grades an entire set of papers in a short hour span. Any professor knows how long a set of papers really takes to grade. And she seems to be able to drop in and out of class at will and drops in on student dorms without anyone so much as wondering about his professor's presence at his doorstep.

Taylor also likes to give her characters a lot of alcohol which is not unrealistic. Except that two of the characters who drank quite heavily in this book both have alcoholic parents. From what I've seen of the world (which is not comprehensive by a long shot, but still...) children of alcoholics tend to be particularly careful about what, when, and how much they drink.

Do these minor flaws destroy the story? Not in the least. I find myself engaged in the characters and the plot in Taylor's books. They are a nice addition to the world of historical, academic mysteries.