Sixty seconds with Maureen Jennings...
Maureen Jennings is best known for the Detective Murdoch series, which have been adapted to television for an unprecedented eighteen seasons. In 2011, she was awarded the Grant Allen Award for contribution to her genre. She has been nominated eight times for awards from the Crime Writers of Canada. In 2024, she received the Crime Writers of Canada Grand Master Award. She was born in the UK and now lives in Toronto with her husband, photographer Iden Ford, and her dog, Murdoch.
RTE: Describe yourself in a sentence?
Jennings: Born and bred in England; shaped by works of Shakespeare and the Girl Guides
RTE: What's the one record you'd take to a desert island?
Jennings: Collected songs of Glen Campbell
RTE: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Jennings: A veterinarian.
Sixty seconds with Rosalie M. Lin...
Sixty seconds with Dervla McTiernan...
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Home | About | Reviews | Search | Submit
November 30, 2024
We are finally at the end of what has been for many a trying month and are now faced with endless exhortations to spend pots of money on seasonal gifts. Happily, books don't cost the earth for the most part, so you might find some possible solutions among the books we read recently. I would like to apologize at the outset for the appearance of this issue. There are no covers to accompany the reviews this month for reasons far too boring to explain, but both the books and the reviews are sparkling enough to compensate.
We start with Robert Harris's PRECIPICE, a book set in the days immediately leading up to the English decision to enter the war on the side of France in 1914 and the early months of the conflict. Informed by Harris's characteristic thorough research, it focuses on the relationship between the prime minister H.H. Asquith, then in his early 60's, and a young woman of 26 as revealed in the letters he wrote her while he was also leading his country into war.
Perhaps because the year is coming to a close, but I noticed a striking theme appearing here and there among the books we read. Asquith's career and even the party he led did not survive more than a couple of years after the war broke out. And several authors of series are coping with the inevitable ageing of their detectives. Louise Penny, for example, in THE GREY WOLF which is the 19th in the Three Pines series, appears to be moving Gamache a bit outside his warm familiar milieu into a more disturbing world, Anne Corey is not completely at home with this direction but looks forward to further developments.
One way of handling the age problem is simply to end the series and that's what Peter Lovesey has chosen to do with his detective from Bath, Peter Diamond. Barbara Fister regrets the looming absence but says that AGAINST THE GRAIN is fitting end piece to a well-loved series. Craig Johnson takes a different approach to dealing with an ageing protagonist. Walt Longmire's creator has taken to inventing backstories to his hero's career and in TOOTH AND CLAW he sets the action in Alaska in 1970, when Walt has just returned from 'Nam. Sharon Mensing is enjoying these forays into Walt's past and observes they can be read happily as standalones.
Sharon also liked GATHERING MIST by Margaret Mizushima, even if it made her feel rather chilly. This one can also be read comfortably as a standalone and would be especially interesting to dog lovers as it is informative about dog training.
Neither of the two books Mary-Jane Oltarzewski read extends a series but she found things to like in both of them. One of the detectives in A NEW LEASE ON DEATH by Olivia Blacke doesn't need to worry about superannuation–she's already dead though sharing a Boston apartment with a woman who isn't. There are hints in this witty book about a possible sequel, something Mary-Jane would be happy to see. While she was a bit less impressed with Tom Ryan's THE TREASURE HUNTERS CLUB, she did enjoy parts of it but thought it needed more focus. Barbara Fister had a similar complaint about THE SAINT by Carin Gerhardsen, which employs a few too many noir staples to be altogether coherent. Part of the problem may be down to the fact that this is the fourth in the series but just the first to appear in English.
If you are feeling a bit pressed in this busy season, too busy really to settle down with a long novel, you might want to take a look at some short stories. THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE 2024, edited by S.A. Cosby, offers twenty stories by various writers, presented in the alphabetical order of their authors. They tend toward the hard-boiled, Lourdes Venard observes, but you might find some new writers to look for. She adds that all of the contributors "are pushing the envelope and crafting strong stories." There is only one author of the short stories in SHE'S ALWAYS HUNGRY by Eliza Clark. Rebecca Nesvet is very enthusiastic about this collection, saying that many are "short, sharp shockers, worth reading and never preachy. They make feminism...fresh, magical, and bold."
Or perhaps you want a novel but nothing too challenging. Meredith Frazier can suggest ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND TREACHERY, by Celeste Conally, a Regency cozy, "part bodice-ripper, part murder-mystery" but altogether a lot of fun. Or there's contemporary cozies of course and Ruth Castleberry can recommend the latest entry in the Deputy Donut series, BLAME THE BEIGNETS, by Ginger Bolton, which boasts a feline sleuth along with the carbs, Ruth was even more enthusiastic about THE LITTLE LOST LIBRARY by Ellery Adams, which she thinks is the best of its series so far.
Finally, as we will not be publishing next month, let us finish by a quick hop into the Chrstmas season. Meredith says that MADRIGALS AND MAYHEM, by Elizabeth Penney "combines every ingredient on a cozy-mystery-lover's wishlist, from Cambridge at Christmas and a bookshop to cats, a little romance, and murder." She adds that it's sure to provide a relief from the pressures of the holiday season. And finally we can wrap it all up with Mike Ripley's MR CAMPION'S CHRISTMAS of which Lourdes asks, "What better Christmas story is there than one containing a blizzard, a remote manor house, a house filled with guests—and a mystery, of course? "
And there we have it as we lurch forward into another year, hoping for the best. We wish you a happy holiday season, whether or not you celebrate any one in particular. Do please come back in January to see what we've been reading and do feel free to get in touch with us if there's something you want us to know.
The Editors:
Yvonne Klein
ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com
Rebecca Nesvet
nesvetr@uwgb.edu
P.S. If you wish to submit a book for review, please check here before contacting us. Please note that we do not review self-published books.
Our mascot and masthead is Smokey the Cat. Smokey the cat went to the great playground in the sky on April 29, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. He was about 13 years old, had diabetes and only 11 teeth left. He is much happier now. He will remain as our masthead and mascot.
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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