Various Works by Agatha Christie

 I needed something different this week, so I looked up to see if there was anything available by Agatha Christie that I hadn't listened to on Libby.  I found that they have added several full cast short stories. I listened to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Triangle at Rhodes and Finessing the King.  They were entertaining and light and matched my mood for the week.  They don't have the fun character portrayal that you find in her longer works, but she does have clever plot twists. Actually, the first and last were full cast, but Triangle of Rhodes wasn't.  Still, the narrator did a good job. There are several more available on Libby. These would be a good choice for listening to on a road trip. 

The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

Gervase Frant, Earl of St Erth, has recently inherited an estate and title after the death of his estranged father.  His half-brother and stepmother are not happy that he survived the war with Napoleon, but he tries to console them by allowing them to continue to live in the castle/mansion that he now owns, but which was never his home. Then someone starts making attempts on his life.  Everyone suspects the step-brother, Martin, who is next in line to inherit, but Gervase and his stepmother's companion, the plain but canny Miss Drusilla Moreville decide they ought not jump to conclusions. Gervase is determined to stay alive while preventing a family scandal. With Miss Moreville's help, he tries to unravel the mystery of who is really responsible for the the attempts on his life. 

I checked out this book to read on the airplane on my trip to Italy.  It is not one of Heyer's most famous books and doesn't seem to be available in audio, so I hadn't read it already. It is ok, but not my favorite of the Heyer books.  Gervase is an interesting protagonist. He is wealthy, smart, and a bit of a dandy, but he is also very patient and fair with his unfriendly extended family. That being said, he doesn't let them bully him and he knows his own mind. The focus of the story is the mystery of who is trying to kill Gervase, and the character of Drusilla, and her growing regard for Gervase, almost seems like an afterthought. It is as if Ms Heyer wrote a mystery, and then someone told her she should add a romance, so she quickly added in the Drusilla character. Still, I generally like Heyer's writing style and enjoyed the book well enough to make an extra effort to finish it before the lone expired. It wasn't a bad choice for an airplane trip.

The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim

 Evie Mai's mother has just been declared dead from drowning when her car went off a cliff into the ocean, although her body was never found.  As Evie is dealing with her grief and trying to help her family cope, a strange monkey demon comes into her room and tells her that her mother isn't really dead.  Instead she had been kidnapped and taken into Diyu, the Chinese Hell, by someone trying to get her "spindle of fate" a magical item that allows her to change the fate of another person.  Evie discovers her mother was part of a group of mystical elders and had magical weaving powers.  Evie decides to, with the help of the other elders, to go into Diyu and rescue her mother.  A young son of a warrior elder, Kevin, agrees to go with her. Together they traverse all 10 layers of Hell to try to save Aimee's family. 

This is the first book of a new author, but in the tradition of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.  To me it felt like a Chinese Dante's Inferno. Since the characters are going through Hell, the story ends up being pretty dark.  At one point they are swimming through a river of blood, and there are several other rather graphic depictions of the different kinds of tortures in Diyu.  It would be too much for some young readers, but I could see certain 10-12-year-old boys liking the gross-out factor. There is some snarky sarcasm in the story that helps lighten things up a bit. The author does a good job of making Aimee a very believably flawed character, and doesn't flinch away from the complex nature of her grief. Kevin is also an interesting character, and they have pretty good chemistry (though not romantic).  The author keeps the ending open for a sequel, which seems to be coming out next summer, but I am not sure if I will read it.  (2024, 304 p)

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury

Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, this book outlines the key point of how to negotiate effectively so that both parties can reach a mutually acceptable agreement without being adversarial. The authors have four key points: Separating the people from the problem, focusing on each party's interests instead of their positions, work together to create mutually beneficial options, and how to deal with those who are more powerful or not willing to negotiate fairly. The authors use examples from both famous negotiations and day-to-day interactions to illustrate their techniques. 

This is an old classic in the library of business self-help books, but there is a reason has gone through multiple editions.  The advice is common sense and really useful.  The writing is clear, and the authors use interesting examples.  Since it is an older book, younger readers might not remember some of the famous examples, like the Iran Hostage Crisis, or the Egypt Israel treaty of 1979, but the authors explain them well enough to still be illustrative. In this third edition, the authors include a few comments about how the internet has influenced negotiations, but mostly to warn people not to try to negotiate solely via texts or emails. I checked out the book because of some upcoming negotiation I will need to do at work, and I felt like I gained some good ideas from it. (240, 2011)

Ring of Secrets by Roseanna M. White

 Winter lives with her loyalist grandparents. They urge her to play the dumb beauty at social events, but she is really a patriot spy.  Most men don't see past her beautiful but witless façade, except awkward Harvard professor Bennet Lane. He is convinced that there is more to Winter than her beauty, and is determined to find out what it is.  His attentions make it harder for Winter to pass the information she gleans from her many admirers, but Winter's grandparents urge her to encourage Lane's attentions since he is set to inherit a large English estate. As they are thrown together, Winter begins to feel as attached to him as her grandparents wish, but how can she fall in love with a loyalist, continue her spy work, and let the man she is starting to love see the real her. 

My dedicated readers know how much I loved Ms White's Christian spy romances that were set in WWI.  They have been some of my favorite all time Christian historical romances. I also really enjoyed this one but it has a slightly different flavor. As I read it I wondered if it was one of Mrs White's earlier books, and it is. Her writing just wasn't quite as refined as in the Codebreakers series.  The religious elements are quite a bit more heavy handed.  Every chapter has the characters praying out-loud of spouting scripture. It could be off-putting to some, but it was actually just right for me this week (despite the less than ideal cover). I like her characters, and her plot was well crafted. I wonder how much reflects actually Revolutionary War history? I have already put the second in the series on my wish list and will check it out next time I need some biblio RX. (352 p. 2013)

12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep

 When Clara Chapman was left abandoned at the alter, her life changed forever.  Not only did her fiancé leave her, he also embezzled money from her family's business.  Clara goes from being a debutant to being a poor dependent relation living off an aunt's generosity. Then one day, right before Christmas, Clara receives a mysterious invitation. If she can go to a house party at Bleakly Manor, and stay there for the full 12 days of Christmas, she will receive enough money to give her a modest independent living. When she arrives there are other guests that have been promised similar boons if they can last out the 12 days, including Ben Lane, her estranged fiancé, but no host for the party.  As each day passes, strange and dangerous events occur which threaten the guests, but slowly bring Clara and Ben together.  Can both of them forgive the pain caused by their misunderstanding, while surviving Bleakly Manor?

One of the patrons at the library recommended Michelle Griep to me as a good Christian Historical Romance writer, so I picked one of her books to try.  It ended up being pretty good.  Griep is a decent writer and likes a clever turn of phrase.  The characters, though not terribly deep, where still well drawn and sympathetic, The ending was a little contrived, but I liked it anyway.  I will definitely be putting Ms Griep on my Good Clean Romance Writer's list. (2017, 192 p.)

The Unselected Journals of Emma Lion V. 6 by Beth Brower

 Emma's relationships with Islington, Pierce, and Hawkes becomes closer and more complicated.  They pass Christmas together and Emma reaches her 21st birthday, when she legally gains her majority.  A lot of good it does her, since she barely has any inheritance left, so she takes a job as a lady's companion and tutor. That doesn't go so well, due to some mishaps with some pets. The whole fiasco is nearly worth it because she gets to share the story with her new friend, Mrs. Penury. 

This is just more of the writing confection that is Emma Lion.  The characters are all brilliant, and Brower comes up with some really delightful moments, both happy and sad. It is such a lovely story of a shattered young woman and the three men who decide to hold her gently while she gradually mends. (247 p. 2022)