By Alan Bradley

The Short Take:

This totally charming murder mystery has a most unusual “detective:” an 11-year-old girl with a passion for chemistry, particularly poisons. How can you resist?

Why?

Judging from book binding and the young lead character, I suspect this novel is primarily intended for junior readers. Don’t let that dissuade you. Get it, read it, and then pass it on to a daughter/granddaughter/niece/any young girl. Not only will both you and your recipient be thoroughly entertained, this book may inspire some future scientists — a good thing for sure.

Set in 1950 rural England, Bradley’s mystery is awash with interesting characters. You find yourself wanting to know more about all of them (Good. Bradley is planning sequels). None are more engaging than Flavia de Luce, the bold and brainy youngest daughter of a reclusive philatelist. She is some kid — courageous, inquisitive, and engaged in a highly amusing (and somewhat alarming) feud with her two sisters. They all live in an ancient and crumbling manor, the type where the artificial lake features an island folly. There’s also a family retainer of dubious origin and an excitable cook; plus various interesting town denizens and some rather indulgent local police.

The mystery keeps a steady pace and does a good job of keeping you wondering “who did it,” without withholding information. Several times I thought I knew the line of detecting Flavia should follow, only to find out I was wrong. No wonder this book won the Debut Dagger Award. It’s a treat.

A Little Plot:

When Flavia comes across a dead man in her garden, she’s not upset. She’s so elated she considers it the best thing that ever happened to her. From then on she pursues every lead, despite (gentle) discouragement from the police. Her primary clues include a dead bird, stamps, and some connection to Norway. Not your usual set of leads, to be sure.

She occasionally uses her exceptional knowledge of chemistry to test theories and references to famous scientists are scattered throughout. But it is Flavia’s keen intelligence that eventually unmasks the murderer. Which is not necessarily a good thing.

To learn more about Flavia, this book, and Alan Bradley, click here.

By Kate Morton

The Short Take:

If you loved The Secret Garden as a child, this book is probably going to charm your socks off. A beloved walled garden, a children’s book of fairy tales, and the search for that which is lost make this real-word novel feel like a fantasy.

Why?

I did not get into this book at first. It just felt young in writing style and story line. Then I got it.

Kate Morton’s novel is a salute to classic children’s literature, such as the above mentioned novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett and classic fairy tales. Her writing style maintains a sense of the wide-eyed wonder of youth without any prancing pixies or flitting fairies.

The plot follows three different women over the course of a century. Morton chooses to tell each story simultaneously in order to reveal pivotal plot devices in an order that leads you slowly to understand the full relationship of these women. Thankfully, after setting up her story parameters, she does unwind the stories of these three characters largely in their proper order. So though you constantly jump from 1913 to 1975 to 2005, it’s not hard to keep the story straight.

The healing power of the garden (not magical, just the down-to-earth joys of planting and growing) is the link that ties the story parts together. Just in case you miss the reference, Hodgson Burnett herself makes a very brief appearance.

Morton has also created some very wicked bad guys for her novel. A part of me wishes they had gotten larger roles to play. They were as bad as any evil stepmother or tyrannical king in Grimm’s stories.

I saw the end coming rather early but enjoyed the journey. If you liked The Secret Garden you will, too.

A Little Plot:

A four-year-old girl is alone on an Australian dock, with no memory of what went before. The harbor master takes her home, and eventually he and his wife adopt her. When “Nell” learns the truth, she begins a life-long journey to discover her true identity, which finally leads her to a grand estate on the Cornish coast of England. But still leaves mysteries behind.

Her granddaughter, Cassandra, continues the search, using Nell’s notes to delve further.

Through both their efforts, they uncover the troubling story of the beautiful Eliza — the third of our three major women.

You want more? Read the book.

Want to know more about Kate Morton or her work? Click here.

By P. D. James

The Short Take:

Another intelligent Adam Dalgliesh mystery by a master of the form. As always, beautifully written without contrivances yet still filled with surprises.

Why?

What can one say? It’s P. D. James! She’s amazing at this. Her mysteries belong in a totally different class - a very classy class with rich language as well as well-paced plots.

If you are not familiar with her Adam Dalgleish, you have a treat in store. He’s not your typical quirky British crime solver (well, he does write poems — which do not appear in James’ books). Dalgleish is smart, calm, astute, reserved, observant, pretty much perfect. His team includes two other very smart, reserved, observant detectives who want to become perfect.

Does this make James’ work sound boring? It certainly is not. The crimes are complicated, the suspects are complicated, even the solutions — no matter how pat they might appear to the rest of the world — are known to be complicated by Dalgleish and his team. 

At 89, James remains at the top of her game. This is her 19th mystery (not all feature Dalgleish). She also wrote one sci-fi book, Children of Men, which was made into a pretty good movie a couple of years ago, plus she’s written some non-fiction. It’s all good.

If you haven’t tried any P. D. James and you like smart mysteries, you have a real treat coming. Don’t worry about reading them in order. Yes, there are some continuing threads, but they’re simple and somewhat minor parts of her books. Just enjoy.

A Little Plot:

Investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn decides to have a major facial scar removed at a private, rural estate by a famed plastic surgeon. Shortly after successful surgery, someone kills her. Is it someone with a grudge against Rhoda? A money hungry friend? Someone hurt by her previous reporting? A person who would like to destroy the surgeon’s reputation? A stranger?

Rhoda’s life was so private, determining any motive is beyond difficult. But you-know-who never backs down.

One thing in particular I really like about this mystery: Even when the case is “solved,” we readers know that some things that should be known will never come to light, and some assumptions made were totally incorrect. It’s touches like this that make James so great.

By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

The Short Take:

This engaging novel about a young man who becomes embroiled in the fast-money world of Nigeria’s email scams delivers a fresh and fascinating reading experience. Insights into Nigeria’s family,  societal, and governmental structures simply add more interest to an already mesmerizing tale.

Why?

At first you might feel you are reading the first cousin of Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective series. Not so. Nwaubani’s first novel possesses a subtle but decidedly wicked sense of humor. She cites as her influences P. G. Wodehouse and Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. That might seem quite the odd couple of writers, but — believe me — it works.

Family obligations, the struggle to escape poverty, thwarted love, and criminal pursuits might not sound like light-hearted reading, but Nwaubani’s work has such a gentle touch you never feel weighed down by the circumstances her characters find themselves in. You just can’t wait to discover what happens next.

Part of this is due to her characters. Even the most debauched criminal is ultimately likable to a certain extent. And you never stop caring about Kingsley, her central character, the young university graduate who enters the email scam world.

If you have an email account, you’ve probably gotten one of those bogus emails offering a too-good-to-be-true business opportunity or asking your help in claiming a substantial fortune (with a hefty commission to  you, fo course). Nwaubani talked extensively to email scam operators, called 419ers in her native Nigeria. Her research shows just how these complex and surprisingly sophisticated operations work. Giving you yet another reason to enjoy her work.

Judging from this, her first work, Nwaubani has the potential to be the Jane Austen of contemporary Africa. She frankly addresses the problems of her country but with a sly sense of humor and obvious genuine affection. Sounds a lot like Jane to me.

A Little Plot:

Eldest son Kingsley did all the right things: made excellent grades, earned a chemical engineering degree as his father wished. His parents have sacrificed everything for his education and it’s now his turn to do the same for his younger siblings. However, he can’t land a job. When his father becomes deathly ill, a dire situation turns desperate.

Kingsley’s only hope for his family’s future lies with his Uncle Boniface, better known as Cash Daddy. An email scam operator of epic proportions and bottomless pockets, Cash Daddy is the ultimate persona non grata to Kingsley’s family. However with no other resource, Kingsley must turn to him for financial assistance. Naturally, it’s not long before Cash Daddy offers Kingsley a career with him that will not only sustain his family but provide previously unknown luxuries.

It’s an offer too good to refuse. But that doesn’t make life any easier with his mother, who desperately wants Kingsley to stick to the honorable career and life she and his father envisioned. And it reshapes Kingsley’s life in ways he never imagined. It’s both uphill and downhill from there.

Nwaubani does not have a website (yet), but I did find an interesting interview on line. To check it out, click here.

By David Grann

The Short Take:

Death defying adventures in the Amazon jungle! Victorian explorers risking health, sanity, even their very lives! Hostile native tribes, blood sucking insects, and deadly snakes abound! It’s the perfect book to read in air-conditioned comfort! And it’s all true!

Why?

I apologize for all the exclamation points, but this book offers all the thrills of a vintage True Adventures-style magazine while delivering the real deal. As a staff writer for The New Yorker, David Grann brings a wealth of research to his book (including many new sources), plus goes on his own trek through the Amazon in search of the truth. 

What truth? The fate of famed explorer Percy Fawcett, his oldest son, and his son’s best friend. These three set out (alone!) to find the legendary city of El Dorado, which Fawcett referred to as “Z.” They disappeared in 1925, and literally scores of other explorers died trying to find them. That’s not counting the hundreds that barely survived the effort.

Grann makes all this come to vivid life. While never lurid, his retelling of these deadly jungle journeys quickens the pulse and gives you plenty of squirmy moments. He mixes the adventuring with equally compelling information about other explorers of the area, Fawcett’s personal history and motivations, and how conventional views of the Amazon, its peoples, and its cultures have changed.

The Lost City of Z is one fascinating book: probably the most thrilling non-fiction book I have ever read. Plus, it thoroughly convinced me I have no business going where these explorers dared to go.

A Little Plot:

Percy Fawcett was a household name in the Victorian era — a legendary explorer in an era of great explorations. Boldly going where no European had gone before, he helped define the borders of Brazil and Bolivia, established first encounters with secretive jungle communities, and survived to tell the tale — again and again. The book covers all Fawcett’s explorations, where he seemed to thrive in this hostile environment (until the final, fatal one). Others (lots of others) weren’t so fortunate.

Ultimately Fawcett was determined to find the lost city of Z, the El Dorado of legend. Insistent that a small party had a better chance of survival, he set out with only his son and his son’s closest friend.

The catalog of dangers they faced each and every day included everything mentioned earlier plus flesh-eating piranha, a toothpick-thin catfish that can creep into bodily orifices, even the impossible heat.

Was Fawcett’s search for a lost civilization of grandeur and gold a lost cause?  Was he delusional? Maybe even mad? The answer is both yes and no. Discovering out why is an adventure in itself.

To learn more about Grann and his book, click here.

By Bernard Bestett

The Short Take:

This slim novel packs a pretty strong punch. Yes, it is set in the future and has robots and holograms, but I wouldn’t call it sci-fi any more than I would Orwell’s 1984. Genesis gives you a lot to chew on. And it’s a pretty tasty meal.

Why?

You think you’re getting the retelling of a crucial event in the history of the self-isolated Republic. But in fact, this book examines what “thinking’ and self-awareness really are. Plus it includes intriguing observations on the evolutionary existence of ideas.

Twice the dust cover comments refer to Genesis as a thriller. The pages keep turning for sure, but my mind was just as engaged as my curiosity. I thought I knew what the surprise ending would be. But this novel is more subtle than that. My foresight encompassed a fraction of the ultimate revelations. 

A Little Plot:

The entire book consists of the four hour, oral examination of a young girl who hopes to enter The Academy, a prestigious group that basically rules the Republic. Her subject matter is Adam Forde, a figure of legendary proportions who altered the community’s future. This examination reveals Adam’s story along with her own unconventional insights and opinions.

Doesn’t sound fascinating? Guess again.

For more information on Genesis and Kiwi author Bernard Beckett, click here.

By Abraham Verghese

The Short Take:

Complex, passionate, maybe even transforming, Dr. Verghese’s first novel is a saga of love, loss, and redemption — not just for one character but for many.

Why?

As soon as I finished this book I went to Verghese’s website. I had to know just how much of this book came from his own experiences. Upon reading his bio, my appreciation for this novel grew even more. That’s not to say this is the best book ever written. But it is fascinating, informative, and very eye-opening.

The narrator, Marion, is arguably the central character, yet there are so many other tales of love, loss, and redemption intertwined with his that the transformative power of love ultimately trumps Marion’s own journey. Every major character has his or her own story and they all play a role in the creation of Marion, both child and man. Marion’s birth parents, adopted parents, his twin brother, the staff of Missing Hospital, practically every character introduced in this book adds to the depth of Cutting for Stone.

Anyone with an interest in medicine or the history of Ethiopia will find added pleasures. Though I must admit I somewhat skimmed the surgical procedures. Frankly I suspect I did myself a disservice — Verghese’s passion as a doctor shines in these segments — but I have a very low blood tolerance.

I love books that teach me something without making me feel lectured to. With this one I learned more about Ethiopia, medicine, foreign doctors coming to America, and how important it is for doctors to care for their patients beyond the medical. Of course, all this was merely incidental to the deeply personal and appealing story of Marion and his family.

A Little Plot:

Joined twin brothers — Marion and Shiva come into this world as their mother, a nun, leaves it. Distraught by the death, their physician father abandons them. Fortunately for the twins, two other doctors, Ghosh and Hema, create a loving home for them. Ghosh and Hema come from India, but they live and practice medicine in Ethiopia, at a small hospital the depends on donations from American churches.

The book traces the lives of the twins, but also the lives of both their adoptive and birth parents. In each life passion plays a prominent role, whether for another person or a profession. The book reveals each story in turn as it moves backward to India and forward to America. 

If you want to know more about Cutting for Stone or Abraham Verghese (and I highly recommend it) click here.

He may be too soon gone but I hope he is never forgotten. To label Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide  series of books as science fiction does them no justice. They are fiercely funny, outrageous delights. Outer space might be the setting (sometimes), but these treats have nothing else in common with the genre.

How to describe his writing? How about this sample: “Flying is easy — all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground and miss.” This absurdist attitude shines on every page. The description of earth in the eponymous guide consists of two words, “Mostly harmless.” 

Don’t think for a moment Adam’s works are much like the fairly recent (and fairly bad) movie of the same title. Though Adams was helping with the script, I can’t help but feel that his untimely death led to an inferior product. After all this was the man who said, “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly past.” So he probably was procrastinating more than writing. At least that’s what I chose to believe.

Besides taking you to the end of the universe and back again, Adams also created a couple of equally imaginative and impossible detective novels starring Dirk Gently. Other works include The Meaning of Liff, a dictionary of words Adams felt were missing from the English language and therefore invented for us.

To get a bigger sampling of his creativity, check out this website. It’s a group of quotations, some from his books and some from life. If that doesn’t convince you that Douglas Adams is a first rate humorist… well, I just have to wonder about your sense of humor.

You can check out his official website by clicking here, but I don’t think it’s worthy of the man. Do read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the first book in the series. The journey it takes you on may be short but it’s packed with pleasure. You’re sure to want to read the next installment.

I know I’m still pining for more. If only…

By Peter Ackroyd

The Short Take:

The second of Ackroyd’s Brief Lives biographies, Poe feels even-handed in its treatment of the oft maligned yet seminal writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe. In just under 200 pages, it provides substantial detail about Poe’s life yet doesn’t bog down in a lot of psychobabble. When you’re writing about Poe, that’s no easy pitfall to avoid.

Why?

My son insisted on reading a biography about Poe to fulfill a grade school requirement. I tried to dissuade him, to no avail. His final opinion: Poe was the saddest man who ever lived. Everyone he ever loved died.

Ackroyd would probably agree with that assessment. In his concise biography he reveals all the tragedies of Poe’s 40 short years — both happenstance and of Poe’s own making. But this book reveals no romantic tragedy, it points out again and again the dichotomy of Poe’s nature: Insecure yet haughty. Starving for approval yet a savage critic of others. Precise in his writing yet careless almost beyond belief in his personal life.

E. A. Poe’s influences on other writers is also noted. Arthur Conan Doyle himself said no one could improve upon Poe’s detective in Murders in the Rue Morgue, the very first detective mystery. Poe is also credited with writing the first horror story and of influencing writers as diverse as H. G. Wells and James Joyce. All this from a man who spent quite a bit of his adult life “under the influence” himself.

It’s a fascinating portrait, made all the better because Ackroyd does not judge. He occasionally speculates as to cause and effect, but maintains his role of reporter throughout. If you were ever interested in learning more about the enigma that is Edgar Allan Poe, this is a perfect place to start.

A Little Plot:

You probably already know the general story. Orphaned at an early age, Poe spent the rest of his life trying to compensate for that loss. This biography traces the arc of his life, from tragedy to continuous disappointments to death. Yet the haunted brilliance of this man transcends circumstances to create literary works that are still treasured at home and abroad.

The Short Take: 

If you like your thrillers with a touch of the macabre, the books of Preston and Child are custom made for you. Particularly the ones featuring the eccentric FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast.

Why?

For me, Agent Pendergast is one of the most fascinating mystery solvers of the last 20 years. While he is supposed to be a FBI agent, he seems to do exactly what he pleases with little or no supervision. Unbelievably rich, emotionally flawed, and totally brilliant, his past is a Gothic as his present is dramatic.

Pendergast was introduced in Preston and Child’s first collaboration, The Relic. For some reason the authors chose not to develop him further for their next six books. But in their seventh collaboration, The Cabinet of Curiosities, he took center stage with a vengeance and has never turned it loose. He’s been the central character in their last six thrillers, with the seventh, Cemetery Dance, scheduled for release on May 12th.

It’s best to read them in order, starting with the above mentioned The Cabinet of Curiosities. They aren’t all of equal merit, ranging from “can’t put down” to “pretty darn good.” But if you enjoy mystery thrillers where the action depends less on guns and chases than it does on brilliance and the bizarre, I simply don’t think you can do better than this dangerously prolific duo.

Want to know more about them and their books? Just click here.