Holiday reading

Geez, these holidays are infringing on my retirement. I try to get my stuff done when people are supposed to be working. Just when I thought it was safe to go out again after the Christmas crowds, here they are again, with a day off, milling about and closing important places like the library.

I finished my two books. The first was Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman. A youngish woman leaves her marriage of 20 years and stumbles onto a murder scene. She becomes rather obsessed with the murder and worms her way into a job as a newspaper reporter covering crime and pretty much focused on solving the crime.

It was a good story, but a couple of things bothered me. The protagonist, Maddie, was not particularly likable, although she had a kinky side I found engaging. In addition, every character is featured in a separate chapter, telling the story as they see it. Kind of a weird format for me, but overall, I liked the book, which also deals with racial conflict in 1960s Baltimore.

The other novel I finished was The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. The detective is Carl Mørck. The setting is Denmark. I had previously tried reading a Norwegian crime novel but got stuck on the names. As Steve Martin said, it’s like they have a different word for everything!

For some reason, maybe it’s just a better translation, but I hardly noticed a difference between this book and any of the other crime novels I read. Carl is a contrarian, much like Harry Bosch, and also like Harry, Carl is assigned to investigate cold cases.

He reluctantly investigates the disappearance and presumed murder of a female politician and ends up dealing with some very creepy people. The book was kind of dark, but Carl is a great character. Despite his flaws, you can’t help but like him.

Carl has a sidekick named Assad, who is supposedly a refugee from Syria. But there’s more to Assad than meets the eye, and I am ever hopeful his character will reappear in the next book. I think there are seven in all.

I need new books, but the library was closed for a three-day weekend. I’m sure they don’t make much money working there, but the hours are good. Still, I love the library!

When they reopen, I’m planning to get the next Department Q book, The Absent One. Another one on my list is Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna. This is the first of two novels featuring Alice Vega, a bounty hunter who partners with a disgraced former cop to find missing people. Sounds right up my alley. I’m betting there’s whiskey involved!

Fortunately, I’m on my 30-day free trial of Netflix, so I have Outlander and the new season of Grace and Frankie. Plus all the other excellent recommendations you shared in a previous post. I even made a spreadsheet!

My sister watched the whole season of Grace and Frankie the first day it came out. I don’t usually binge, but the library is closed, it’s cold outside and I have a stack of clean jammies. Who knows what will happen? Is this the seedy underbelly of retirement lifestyle?

By the way, I tried to add a Goodreads “What I’m Reading” sidebar to the blog but ran into technical issues. I’m resting up before trying again.

8 thoughts on “Holiday reading”

  1. My wife and I discovered Grace and Frankie a few weeks ago and are now on season 3, not too distant from the formula on Kaminsky Method, great writing and phenomenal actors plus great cameo spots. We started watching Virgin River last night, reminds us of Northern Exposure

    1. Looks like I will have to add Virgin River to my spreadsheet! Thanks for the recommendation.

    1. Another one for the spreadsheet. I love the entertainment choices these days. Thank you!

  2. I liked “The Imposters” on Netflix. Ran across it by accident. It is about 3 seasons long. – I enjoy your blog!

  3. Thanks for sharing your list of authors. I went to the library and checked out a couple of Jussi Adler-Olsen books based on your recommendation. I liked them and now have a whole new series of books to read.

    1. So glad you like them! Those books were a tip from my favorite Scandiphile, Carole. I’m about to start my second one.

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