A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma Tucked Inside a Murder Monday
What I Bought on My Trip
I am very excited about this item:
[Every day is a mystery]
For those of you unable to view images, or in case I am bad at taking pictures, this is a bundle of books in brown paper, with the label "Six Mystery Paperback Novels, No Duplicates, $2.00" I couldn't resist the opportunity to be surprised, for only two dollars; it's a major victory of willpower that I only bought one of these.
Here's the beautiful first book in the stack:
[BEHIND A GARISH DEATH MASK OF FROZEN VIOLENCE LAY THE ANSWERS]
I love this cover! Who is this gigantic man walking away from the corpse chair? I hope it's our detective. So far, no one has died; we've just had a bitter Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-esque conversation between a young prematurely estranged married couple at one of those deceptively bucolic little colleges with rotten swarming hearts. Well, academia will do that to you, if it doesn't just stab you in the neck straight off. Stay safe!
What I Didn't Buy But Am Reading Anyway
I can't exactly say that I like The Keeper of Lost Causes, but I'm still reading it, so make of that what you will. The grisly details of the fictional politician's bizarre torture and captivity are not really my favorite form of entertainment, and Carl Mørck, Allegedly Great Detective, is never going to get on my good side if he can't be bothered to read the report of the case he's supposed to be working on. I'm terribly sad that you have PTSD and your wife is a bitch, Mørck! My eyes are brimming with tears of sympathy! But if you aren't going to do your job, you should probably find a different one, maybe something low-key with no murders and no kidnapped women who are depending on your task force to get them un-kidnapped somehow.
The translation, or possibly the original prose, continues to be clumsy, but the chapters are short and go by quickly, and there's enough suspense to keep me turning pages. Probably that means it's at least ok? I won't know until I've finished it. I am enjoying all the Danish place names, which are obviously being made to carry a lot of meaning and imagery in the text but for which I have no context at all.
Also: FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett.
Is it possible for me to love Watch Commander "Sir" Samuel Vimes any more? Probably the answer is always, because I have thought the same thing in every book in which he appears, and yet the bar keeps on getting raised. In today's episode: Vimes hates toffs, but circumstances have conspired to weight each of his victories generously with embarrassment, and now for some reason he is one. That is, he's exactly the same as he always was, but people keep trying to shave him, or assassinate him, and his life is pitted all over with awkward parties and moral nausea. Will he ever be able to play cards in peace again? (Has he ever been able to do anything in peace?)
This book has golems! I love golems! I hope they don't get mixed up in one of Ankh-Morpork's perennial attempts to restore the monarchy, but the back cover strongly suggests that they will. Carrot is still writing letters home, and his partnership with Angua has gotten even more adorable. In keeping with plans to establish a department of Looking at Clues and Things (official name pending), they've hired a dwarf alchemist named Cheery Littlebottom - I like Vimes' attempts to be culturally sensitive (or maybe just to throw Cheery off by not laughing at his name) and Littlebottom's feat of Sherlockian cigar detection:
"I want someone who can look at an ashtray and tell me what kind of cigars I smoke."
"Pantweed's Slim Panatellas," said Littlebottom automatically.
"Good gods!"
"You've left the packet on the table, sir."
Also, will Sybil ever be as magnificent again as she was in Guards! Guards!, or has she been permanently demoted to occasional plot device? I guess I'll find out!
What I Plan to Read Next
I don't know what's next in my mystery bundle, but I know I'm going to read it! Plus the next Ngaio Marsh, whatever we're up to now.
I am very excited about this item:
[Every day is a mystery]
For those of you unable to view images, or in case I am bad at taking pictures, this is a bundle of books in brown paper, with the label "Six Mystery Paperback Novels, No Duplicates, $2.00" I couldn't resist the opportunity to be surprised, for only two dollars; it's a major victory of willpower that I only bought one of these.
Here's the beautiful first book in the stack:
[BEHIND A GARISH DEATH MASK OF FROZEN VIOLENCE LAY THE ANSWERS]
I love this cover! Who is this gigantic man walking away from the corpse chair? I hope it's our detective. So far, no one has died; we've just had a bitter Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf-esque conversation between a young prematurely estranged married couple at one of those deceptively bucolic little colleges with rotten swarming hearts. Well, academia will do that to you, if it doesn't just stab you in the neck straight off. Stay safe!
What I Didn't Buy But Am Reading Anyway
I can't exactly say that I like The Keeper of Lost Causes, but I'm still reading it, so make of that what you will. The grisly details of the fictional politician's bizarre torture and captivity are not really my favorite form of entertainment, and Carl Mørck, Allegedly Great Detective, is never going to get on my good side if he can't be bothered to read the report of the case he's supposed to be working on. I'm terribly sad that you have PTSD and your wife is a bitch, Mørck! My eyes are brimming with tears of sympathy! But if you aren't going to do your job, you should probably find a different one, maybe something low-key with no murders and no kidnapped women who are depending on your task force to get them un-kidnapped somehow.
The translation, or possibly the original prose, continues to be clumsy, but the chapters are short and go by quickly, and there's enough suspense to keep me turning pages. Probably that means it's at least ok? I won't know until I've finished it. I am enjoying all the Danish place names, which are obviously being made to carry a lot of meaning and imagery in the text but for which I have no context at all.
Also: FEET OF CLAY by Terry Pratchett.
Is it possible for me to love Watch Commander "Sir" Samuel Vimes any more? Probably the answer is always, because I have thought the same thing in every book in which he appears, and yet the bar keeps on getting raised. In today's episode: Vimes hates toffs, but circumstances have conspired to weight each of his victories generously with embarrassment, and now for some reason he is one. That is, he's exactly the same as he always was, but people keep trying to shave him, or assassinate him, and his life is pitted all over with awkward parties and moral nausea. Will he ever be able to play cards in peace again? (Has he ever been able to do anything in peace?)
This book has golems! I love golems! I hope they don't get mixed up in one of Ankh-Morpork's perennial attempts to restore the monarchy, but the back cover strongly suggests that they will. Carrot is still writing letters home, and his partnership with Angua has gotten even more adorable. In keeping with plans to establish a department of Looking at Clues and Things (official name pending), they've hired a dwarf alchemist named Cheery Littlebottom - I like Vimes' attempts to be culturally sensitive (or maybe just to throw Cheery off by not laughing at his name) and Littlebottom's feat of Sherlockian cigar detection:
"I want someone who can look at an ashtray and tell me what kind of cigars I smoke."
"Pantweed's Slim Panatellas," said Littlebottom automatically.
"Good gods!"
"You've left the packet on the table, sir."
Also, will Sybil ever be as magnificent again as she was in Guards! Guards!, or has she been permanently demoted to occasional plot device? I guess I'll find out!
What I Plan to Read Next
I don't know what's next in my mystery bundle, but I know I'm going to read it! Plus the next Ngaio Marsh, whatever we're up to now.