A Place of Hiding (Inspector Lynley #12) - Elizabeth George

This was the last paperback I picked up on our trip to Half Price Books. The page count on this one was particularly intimidating. It's almost 800 pages, and I started it over Christmas break. At that time, the kids were here, so progress was slow. The book is also unwieldy, so I can't cozy up with it while I'm winding down for the night, so I wasn't able to blaze through it like I normally do. So, the time it took isn't a reflection on how good the book is.

Guy is headed down to the beach for his morning swim, but he doesn't return. Instead, he's been murdered in a gruesome way. The suspect is American, and she has connections with Deborah. Deborah's husband, Simon, is something of a detective, so when the suspect's brother shows up on their doorstep, they all head off to Guernsey to solve the mystery.

There are a lot of characters and a lot going on. Guy is a multi-layered character, and he's not an angel. The fate of a WWII museum dedicated to those who resisted the occupation of the island becomes important to the case as well as the unusual will of the dead man.

I picked this book up because the summary sounded interesting. When I saw it was listed as an Inspector Lynley, I was confused. The man was barely a side character. Upon further search, it seems that Simon is usually the side character. It's just a coincidence that I picked up one of the few books in the series that didn't have the Inspector as the main character.

Short note about Deborah. Man, she was irritating. She was a poo to Simon. She made some of the weirdest decisions, and then she'd blame him. For instance, she took a side trip before turning over evidence. This was evidence Simon had trusted her to take straight to the police. Instead, she took it to the suspects and all over town. That led to Simon getting reprimanded, which can harm his reputation. Understandably, he's upset. Deborah doesn't understand this. She's all huffy and indignant. And the crap she pulled at the end? Argh!

Okay, putting her aside, I did enjoy the mystery. Little clues were being revealed bit by bit, like an onion. What I'd like to do is read an actual Inspector Lynley. It seems like not only is Simon not the main character in the series, 800 pages isn't usual. The first book is A Great Deliverance, and it looks like it's on sale right now. It's only 430 pages, so I'd like to give it a shot. Hopefully, Deborah is nowhere to be seen. This book was really good, though and gets a Good Book! review.

The Execution of the Hangman of Riga - Anton Kuenzle and Gad Shimron

I chose this book as a birthday present for myself. It was an event I'd never heard of, and when I learned someone who was there was writing the story, I was on board. One of the great mysteries in life is the way many Nazis escaped justice. This is the story of one who didn't get away...

Anton Kuenzle is the pseudonym for Yaakov Meidad, a Mossad agent who not only assisted in the kidnapping of Adolf Eichmann but had a much bigger role in the assassination of Herbert Cukurs. A distinct difference is made between the two events. Eichmann was more "a man behind the desk," so they took him back to stand trial. Cukurs was a sadist, and his trial was to take place on site as was his sentence.

This memoir was very interesting. It covers everything from discovering Cukurs' whereabouts, testimonies of witnesses, the formulation of a plan, and the execution of that plan. I commend Meidad for being able to maintain the ruse for as long as he did. He lost both his parents in the Holocaust, so it couldn't have been easy. 

It's a shame this book isn't more easily available. 

In this particular war of wits, there was a clear winner...

The Circular Staircase - Mary Roberts Rinehart

I was in the mood for a quick mystery and decided to read this one. I didn't know anything about it ahead of time, and it was released in 1908, so it's public domain.

Rachel rents a home for six months, but her regret is real. A dead body and mysterious happenings inside the house threaten her and the young people she considers her children. Suspicions land on those she loves, and the plot has a lot of twists and turns. I don't like to say too much when it comes to mysteries.

I really liked this book. It was well written, and I had no issues following the action. I didn't have the answer figured out, which was neat. Granted, I didn't really have enough information for that to happen, but still...

I didn't realize this, but Rinehart is considered by many to be the 'American Agatha Christie.' This was her first novel, and I wouldn't mind reading more from her. Good Book!

The Secret Service: Kingsman - Mark Millar (Comic)

One of my birthday presents to myself was this particular graphic novel/comic. Honestly, I have no idea what the difference is, but if there is one and I'm mislabeling this book, forgive me! 

It's been a while since I first saw the movie Kingsman, but when I found out it was based on this comic, I was interested. A lot of the things that interest me these days seem to be based on graphic novels/comics/manga, and it's been quite an eye opener for me. That movie was super cool by the way. The action sequences were unique, and the whole approach was great.

The comic is kind of the basis for the movie. The nuts and bolts are the same, but some of the details are different (I expected that). The main premise is a secret agent takes his streetwise nephew under his wing and tries to make him into a man. It's not an easy ride. For a number of reasons. It's also a bit gory for those that are super squeamish. I had to laugh at the beginning, though. Great rescue!

I really liked this story. It was kind of what I expected and totally surprising at the same time. There are a few other comics in this series, but they aren't that easy to find (not that this one was super accessible). I might try to track down The Red Diamond, but it has a different author and illustrator, so I'm holding my breath on whether or not I really want to pursue it. Sometimes a change in art style bothers me. Not because it looks bad, just because it's jarring to me for continuity's sake. 

This particular book easily earned a Good Book! review. I wish there was a lot more, and that it was in print. I snooze. I lose. To the used book market!

The Angel of Zin - Clifford Irving

This is one of the last books I have from our trip to HPB. I picked this one up because it sounded super interesting. I gravitate toward WWII stories, and this one was so different, I had to get it.

Zin is a concentration camp where death is an everyday occurrence. Some of the Jews help the Germans, and a few of them show up dead with strange notes attached to them. Those in charge don't really care too much until one of the dead is an SS lieutenant. That brings an investigator from Berlin.

Paul has lost an arm but not his humanity. He's one of those who have pretended they didn't understand what was going on, and they were just one person. He wasn't able to do anything. Paul's investigation into the Angel of Death is going to lead him to learn about himself and face facts. His plan is to solve the murder and get back to Berlin. All around him, though, the prisoners of the camp have a plan of their own...

This was one of the most unusual murder mysteries I've ever read. I'm not even sure I'd label it as a murder mystery, since there's so much more to it. The writing is superior, and I can't believe I only paid $1 for it! I'm happy to say this book is available on Kindle. It's well worth a read if you're at all interested in a book that will make you think. I will warn you that you're not getting a happy ending here, but it's an appropriate ending for the story. Great Book!

Incredible Victory - Walter Lord

This book is a detailed account of the Battle of Midway. Changing perspectives between the Americans and the Japanese, it follows the timeline of the decisions made on both sides that led to the fate of the tiny atoll and multiple ships.

While the book was well written, there were so many characters I couldn't follow them. Even if they popped up a lot, I'd have to wrack my brain to try and remember their role in the battle (unless they were an obvious figure e.g. Nimitz, Yamamoto). A lot of the bombing groups came from different carriers, but they had similar names. Some came back, some came late, and some came not at all.

Overall, I believe if you already have some background knowledge of the battle, you'd be able to follow this better than I did. If you're connected to it in some way (family member, research), I think this would be a good reference for you. There is a collection of pictures at the end that didn't really look super good on my Kindle Paperwhite, but they might look better on a different device. It wasn't one of my favorite books, but it wasn't unreadable. I just don't think I was the correct audience.

 

Memoirs of an Effort to Unlock the Mystery of Severe Storms - Tetsuya Theodore Fujita

Tornadoes are fascinating things. Living in the Midwest for my entire childhood, the sound of weekly tornado sirens was common. At least during the school year. Once we moved to the country, we weren't close enough to one to hear anything. Personally, I remember seeing one when I was pretty young, but it was pretty far away. When our kids were little, we also didn't have a siren close, so we relied on the radio/TV. The interesting thing about that was we lived very close to an elementary school. I never understood that. I remember taking the kids to the inner bathroom one night, but we were fortunate to never experience any damage.

Fujita was a fascinating character to me. He created the scale that we use to determine how destructive and deadly a tornado is. I wondered how he did that, so I wanted to read this memoir.

This was one of the strangest "memoirs" I've ever read. The first half of it reads like a meteorological paper. I was interested while he was talking about tornadoes (which surprised me), but when he started going into other weather phenomena, I was lost. There are tons of pictures, graphs and charts in there that I couldn't understand. I just skipped them.

About halfway through, the actual memoir of Fujita's life began. He talks about where he comes from, but he goes back and forth between his childhood and then referring to visits later on. There were a lot of pictures there, which I appreciated. Those were nice. Later on, Fujita goes back into weather topics, and I was lost again.

Shoutout to the very last page of the book. Fujita liked photography, but I never expected to see a full page of praying mantis pictures. That took me by surprise and made me smile. Other than that, there were bits and pieces of this I liked, but I don't think I'd call it a memoir. It feels like it's written for weather enthusiasts, and if you want to learn about Fujita as a person, you get a little glimpse of that here and there. An interesting man with an interesting journey into fame, but I wish it had focused more on the person and less on the weather.