Miami, Seville, and Oregon

I usually visit my library when picking up the various books I reserve, but sometimes I have time to browse the stacks as well. Last browsing event I came up with an author I like, Gail Godwin, and a new book "Queen of the Underworld". The link will take you to Godwin's home page with a synopsis of the book. I enjoyed the story of a Miami that will never be seen again - that of the late 50ties - when everyone thought that it was only a short time before Fidel would be brought down (and here we are 50 years later and he's still there).
Another way to track books is to "tag" them at your local (or not so local) internet book store. This way I got the latest Javier Falcón book "The Hidden Assassins" by Robert Wilson. The book starts a bit slow and heavy, but it becomes (as many of Wilson's other efforts) un-put-downable. All the characters from the earlier books are there - it makes you want to start the series again. This is a good book or at least I thought so.
The Oregon in the title is from the "really light weight" book of the week. One of the local book stores is selling out English paperbacks and with the low price and the "take 4 pay for 3" deal, I got some reading material. "Wild Justice" by Philip Margolin was among the books I bought for all of 3 dollars. I've read Margolin before and his previous books are okay. This one was okay too - except for the fact that I figured out the "clever twist" before I was even half way through the book - kind of takes the edge off.

L.A. and St. Louis

My library has provided me with the fourth book in Qui Xiaolong's Inspector Chen series: "A Case of Two Cities". In Case Inspector Chen finally gets to take a trip to the USA, starting in L.A. where he poses as a Buddist monk/fortune teller and naturally ends up in St. Louis where Catherine lives. Bittersweet ending (as per usual) - wonder if there is to be more Inspector Chen? The link to Qui's home page (on his name above) is worth exploring.

Back to China

As I mentioned in a previous entry (1 April, no fool) I read a book by Qiu Xiaolong. I quite liked the cadre poet/policeman Chen. So I ordered the other two books my local library has and bought the second in the series (which obviously my library doesn't have, for some unknown reason). The second book "A Loyal Character Dancer" has an American US Marshal of the feminine sort as a main character (reminds me of Peter May's China books). The third book "When Red is Black" features the loyal Sergeant Yu (and his wife who helps him by reading books and making literary comments) who investigates the murder of Yin who was in love with Yang (is this a transparent kind of thing?). Both books are enjoyable and full of the atmosphere of China moving away from the destruction of the cultural revolution towards the economic-wonder status many see in today's China. I like the characters very much. They are quite different from those in more "normal" detective novels. Now I have to wait until my library gets the last book back from its current borrower, but always something to look forward to!

Duluth - Vegas - Philadelphia

Brian Freeman has written a rather clever thriller called "Immoral". The new detective is Jonathan Stride of Duluth (not a usual venue in detective novels) , ends up meeting a girl cop in Vegas (a rather common venue, at least on TV) and I guess that he (and she) will be back for more. This was one I enjoyed while I was reading it - but can't remember much of the story. A good airplane book perhaps.
A second book about Kevin and Jessica in Philadelphia is "The Skin Gods" by Richard Montanari. Kevin, who got shot at the end of the last book, is back for more punishment and Jessica is looking at a ESPN2 boxing match. As the book above, not real memorable but it kept me reading.

Good Friday and the movies

Yesterday was Good Friday. We had sunshine, but it was cold and windy - not uncommon weather for this time of year. I recently received a free movie pass because I am a good citizen and pay my unemployment insurance. So I decided I would finally go see Martin Scorsese's "The Departed". Last Good Friday (2006) I also went to see a movie, I guess it must be a tradition now. I really enjoyed the film, with Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen it is hard to do too badly. The surprise was Leonardo Dicaprio, who I haven't liked in any film I've seen him in since Gilbert Grape. He was very good. The contrast between the two old guys (Jack and Martin) and the two young guys (Matt and Leonardo) (are names a sign of the times, obviously) was well done. The only thing I'm kind of wondering about are all the Boston accents, they're better when they're genuine.

New Iberia & Baltimore

I do like books that come in series. One great series by James Lee Burke is the Dave Robicheaux novels. The latest out in paperback i "Pegasus Descending". Many of the old friends are there including Tripod the three-legged racoon. The violence and carnage are there also, as usual, but I guess it wouldn't be D.R. if it weren't so. The picture to the left is Bayou Teche, just outside of New Iberia, Louisiana. Burke writes well and in this novel there are many impressive descriptions of the people who inhabitat that area of the world. Dave is getting older and living (or cleaning up) in the past. Even the previous book was linked to the past. I guess I may be due to start at the beginning and read through the whole series again soon.

The other series is by Laura Lippman and features Tess Monaghan. We are at book number nine - "No Good Deeds" (yes, go unpunished). Boyfriend Crow is rather prominent in this one, I miss some of the other characters like Aunt Kathy who has been central in other books. More of Tess' history emerges in this book. The next Lippman book out will be her third stand-alone. The two first were well worth reading, but not like slipping into an old friendship - which is what writing series is all about.

Shanghai

"Death of a red heroine" by Qiu Xiaolong takes place in China. The main venue is Shanghai. The date is 1990, which makes it more interesting for me because I was in China in 1992 and probably recognize the country in the book better than the country today. It is always interesting to find a new author and this book is his first in a series that is now 4 books long (3 of which my library has - how did they miss the fourth?), all featuring Chen Cao, a poetry writing detective inspector with the Shanghai police. (does anyone recognize the poetry writing cop - PD James, Adam Dalgleish perhaps?). There is an interesting interview with Qiu Xiaolong to be found here ( by another mystery writer Cara Black) or here (NPR, more recent of the two).