The 15 books of March

 I just read my previous blog to see what I was reading then and realized I have binged on reading since then. 15 books in March!  Almost all the books were cozy mysteries but some were Louise Penny mysteries which, although cozy by definition, are not fluffy. 

On the first of March, I was reading Louise Penny's A Rule Against Murder.  A little later in the month I read her A Brutal Telling, Bury Your Dead and A Trick of the Light.  The books follow Chief Inspector Gamache as he and his staff solve murders which happen to occur at or near the fictional village of Three Pines.  Although the books could probably be read as stand-alones, I believe it is better to read them in the order they were written.  The characters you meet in the first book grow and develop in the series and this is one of the attractions of Penny's work:  her characters are many and complex.

In A Rule Against Murder, while vacationing at a lodge, Gamache is drawn into the workings of Peter Morrow's disfunctional family and then into a murder investigation.  Although you know in your mind the locations are fictional you can almost picture yourself there, so compelling are Penny's descriptions.

A Brutal Telling, returns us to Three Pines and more of the villages' inhabitants have their pasts revealed, not always a pleasant  thing.  Unlike many cozy writers, Penny is not above throwing a recurring character under the bus.  Her plots are twisted and sometimes dark.  No happy endings here, but she writes so well, you don't really mind.

Well, maybe you do mind, because in the next novel, Bury Your Dead, Gamache is trying to get his center back after a grueling police operation that left him and his second in command badly injured and a many others dead.  We grieve along with him as that story is told in flashbacks while Gamache is solving a murder in the present while visiting and recuperating at his old mentor's home.  This is the most intense and sorrowful of all the Penny books I have read to date.

Lastly, I read A Trick of Light.  We are back again with the denizens of Three Pines and a murder which clouds a triumphal exhibit by painter Clara.  By now one feels one can identify the people of Three Pines if met on the street.

If you don't read any of the other books I may talk about, at least read Penny's Inspector Gamache series:  fine writing, complex plots, three dimensional characters and beautiful descriptions.
See http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ to get the list of books in the correct order.

Next I read Taste of Magic, by Tracy Madison.  I don't remember what it was about.  I even questioned myself on why I felt like I needed to finish it.   Don't bother with it.

I read the first two books in Shanna Swendson's Kate Chandler series.  Fluffy, mostly romance.  I wasn't tempted to read further into the series.

I read Joanne Fluke's latest Hannah Swenson book.  Blueberry Pie Murder.  Fluke was one of the first cozies I had ever read.  This is number 18 in her series and I am sad to say that Fluke has run out of steam.  Her characters are flat.  Her recipes, however, are what makes the books fun.  These I don't buy; I get them from the library.  I do have her Lake Eden cookbook and have baked some of her cookies.  If you wanted all the cliche's in cozy mysteries, they are in these books.  Working woman (has her own business), cop boyfriend, loyal sidekick and loyal sister, slightly crazy mom who wants her to get married, blah, blah blah. Oh yes, and she keeps finding bodies.

I read Diane Mott Davidson's latest book in her Goldy Schulz series (no. 17), The Whole Enchilada, and she has not run out of steam (although I was a bit worried at first).  Her characters are more interesting and grow a little in each book.  Her plots have sufficient twists and turns that she surprises me.  I liked this author and this book.  She has recipes, too!

Last, but not least, I am reading the The Cupcake Bakery Mystery series, by Jenn McKinlay.  I am just starting the most recent book (no. 6), Sugar and Iced.  Yes, there are recipes.  Yes, all the cliches listed above are here but I kind of liked the characters (although Olivia is a bit over the top).  I am afraid she might lose me after this book.  Fluke has a annoying thing going on where her character can't choose between the two guys who love her and, unfortunately, that might be happening here, too.  It seems that the romance story is taking over the mystery story.  That might be a problem. I read the other five books in this series this month.  Once I get started on a series, if I like it, I read straight through the list.

Well, gentle reader, it looks like the Cardinals rain delay may be over so I am going to sign out and watch the game