Linwood Barclay is one of my favourite authors, and his latest book The Accident is destined to be as big a hit as his previous ones. He writes suspenseful thrillers. Unlike most mystery novels where the focus is on the police solving a crime, his books don’t lean in that direction, making them just a bit different and more intriguing than the usual. In this book Glen Garber, a contractor in Connecticut, waits for his wife Sheila to get home from an accounting course she’s taking at night. But she never shows up. Frantic with fear, he gets in the car to see if he can find her, and comes upon a road block where an accident has taken place. It doesn’t take long for him to recognize the car and learn that Sheila is dead. But it soon becomes evident that things just don’t add up… Sheila never went to her class that night, and police reports indicate that she was drunk, and is responsible for killing 2 people in addition to herself.  Glen knew this was so unlike her that he found it hard to believe. When one of her best friends also dies in a strange accident, Glen takes it upon himself to see if there isn’t more to the picture than meets the eye. Illegal activities soon surface in their placid little Connecticut neighbourhood, adding to the complex set of circumstances surrounding both deaths. The story is really gripping, and the book flows so easily that you’re hooked and half way through before you know it. Barclay is definitely the master of suspense. He has hoards of fans and you will be one too if you read this book… or his previous - Never Look Away, Fear the Worst, Too Close to Home and No Time for Goodbye. They’re all fantastic!

The Lost Daughter is the second book I’ve read by Lucretia Grindle in as many months. It follows a similar path to her first, The Villa Triste - it’s set in Italy, the book alternates between the present and the past, and once again features Alessandro  Palliotti, one of  Florence’s most senior policemen. This time he is called upon to investigate the disappearance of American student Kristen Carson. Thinking she’s just another student gone off on a wild weekend, Palliotti and his team don’t seem too concerned until they discover she has been seeing Antonio Tomaselli, a member of the notorious Red Brigades who has recently been released from prison where he was serving time for his role in the 1978 kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, one of Italy’s most famous politicians. When her step-mother Anna also disappears everyone sits up and takes notice and Palliotti and his team realize they have to move quickly to find two missing Americans. The story is multi-layered, like her first, and the complexities add to the intrigue and depth of her writing. She’s a ”beautiful” writer… I love this sentence “For the poor at least, for those who labour with their hands, childhood is a modern invention.”  and now she’s definitely on my list of favourites. Pick up both of her books and hunker down under a quilt for a great winter read.

It’s nice to start a new year with Jeffrey Archer. I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since I read Kane & Abel many years ago. When I heard he had a new book out I didn’t give it a second thought, I just went and bought it. Then I put it aside to read in winter, and now it’s winter. I’m always eager to read what he’s written. He’s a reliable storyteller, easy to read, yet always comes through with something that will grip you til the very end. Only Time Will Tell is no exception. This is the first in a trilogy called The Clifton Chronicles, and I can’t wait to read the next two installments (part 2 is due out in the spring). This book spans from the Great War to the outset of WWII. Set in Bristol, England, it is the story of Harry Clifton from before he was born when his Dad worked on the docks in Bristol, to the moment Harry lands on the shores of New York City at the outbreak of the Second World War. I love how Archer has titled each chapter after one of the leading characters in the book. We get a look at events from that character’s perspective, each chapter adds layer upon layer to the fascinating saga of Harry, from the time he skipped school to accompany his uncle to the docks when he was a wee lad, to his adventure crossing the Atlantic during the outbreak of the Second World War. And leave it to Archer to end the book with a sentence that no one could have seen coming. A definite “now what?!” moment. Don’t peak!! So of course you’re hooked and need to follow up with book #2. Smart thinking, smart writing, smart story. I loved it!

You probably don’t care, but I’m writing this anyway… the winter is long, cold, and dark, plus icy and… can you tell I’m not a fan? Like a squirrel hoarding away nuts to make sure he survives the winter, I stack books to get me through the doldrums of  despair while I check off the days on the calendar til spring. And this year I’m so lucky because some of my favourite authors recently released new books. So, sitting on my coffee table waiting to be read are: 

• Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
• I’ll See You in My Dreams by William Deverell
• The Accident by Lynwood Barclay
• Tell It to the Trees by Anita Rau Badami
• The Betrayal of Trust by Susan Hill
• Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

George Whitman died at the grand old age of 98 this week in Paris. He was the owner of one of the most famous English bookstore in the world. Situated on the left bank of the Seine River, Shakespeare and Company was home to many a wandering bibliophile for more than half a century. Whitman allowed would-be writers and travellers in need of a bed to crash in the store in exchange for some help around the shop. One such person was Jeremy Mercer from Ottawa who ended up writing a really great book based on his “adventures” in Shakespeare and Company. The book is called When Time was Soft There and it’s a great and timely read.

I can’t resist wandering into every bookstore I see. It drives my friends crazy. And I love it when I discover a new Canadian author, which sometimes happens when you just wander up and down the isles. Erasing Memory is Scott Thornley’s first book. He’s well known in the design industry. He designed the Gemini Award for the Academy of Canadian Television, as well as the logos for Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid. He’s obviously very creative, and his creativity has translated really well into his first mystery novel. Set in the southern Ontario industrial city of Dundurn (hmmm… it sure smells like Hamilton to me) senior police detective MacNeice (Mac to his buddies in the force) and his team are called to the discovery of a murdered young woman. Lydia Petrescu’s body is found in a summer cottage, dressed in an evening dress, with the Schubert Piano Trio playing in the background. Right away he is reminded of his wife’s recent death… they both had the mark that distinguishes dedicated violinists – that telltale bruise under the chin. Lydia was very talented, and had just graduated from the Conservatory. The appalling, gruesome circumstances of her murder lead the team to uncover her family’s connection to longstanding grievances in Eastern Europe, and MacNeice and his team set out to discover who killed Lydia and why. All the characters are well written and interesting, but as hard as I tried I could not remember MacNeice’s first name, and I couldn’t find it when I flipped through the book afterwards. Maybe he doesn’t have one – yet. I’m hoping there will be many books in this series.* This first book is great start to a new career path for someone who is obviously very talented.

* I’ve just discovered that book #2, The Ambitious City, is due out in May 2012.

Wow, Wow, Wow!! What an amazing woman and what an amazing story. I can pat myself on the back for finding this book all by my lonesome. What made me choose it? A comment from a reader on the web said “In 5 years of our book club… this was only the 2nd book that was unanimously loved by our whole group.” The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor is written by Sally Armstrong. You probably recognized her name from Homemaker’s Magazine. More recently, she’s an author and human right’s activist, reporting from Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda and Afghanistan. Her great, great, great grandmother,  Charlotte Taylor, was one of the very first women to settle in what is now New Brunswick. As a young girl she fled from England to Jamaica with her family’s black butler, causing such a rift in the family that she never heard from any of them again. When Pad, her lover, dies she’s alone in this far off land with no prospects of a decent life anywhere near what she left behind in England. Through the grace of Commodore George Walker she ends up on a ship bound for the east coast of Canada where she’s told she can soon catch another ship back to her family in Britain. But she never sets foot on that ship. How can she, she’s pregnant with a black servant’s baby. From the moment she sets foot on Canadian soil, her life story becomes mingled with the history of New Brunswick. She lives among the Mi’Kmaq for awhile, marries 4 times (all husbands die tragic deaths) and manages to raise 10 children. It is a totally engrossing story that at times made me think that all generations of women since are slightly wimpier than the last. I just can’t imagine the hardship, loss, vulnerability, and back-breaking work that she was forced to endure. This is a riveting book. It’s found in the fiction section of the bookstore, but based on fact. Armstrong did a huge amount of research into her family tree to pull it all together, and she does it really well. She’s a wonderful writer. I can see why any book club would unanimously agree that it is one of their favourites.

Thanks to Leslie at my favourite local bookstore for recommending this book. She was bang-on – I really liked it. The Villa Triste by Lucretia Grindle (published by McArthur & Company) is divided into two parts, one takes place in the past ( during the war in Italy in 1943) and the other in present day Italy. It’s like reading two books in one. Usually I don’t like books that flip back and forth in time, but this one is so clever – the past is written in a different typeface than the present so you automatically know where you are in time when you see the print. Smart, and helpful. Which is what you need when you’re reading a book that is 562 pages long. During the war sisters Isabella and Caterina Cammaccio become part of the Partisan movement in Italy helping people escape the Nazis. They become very skilled at their efforts, Caterina is a nurse and is able to move about a little more freely than most people and Isabella uses her love of hiking and knowledge of the outdoors to the movement’s advantage. Fast forward to the present day and 3 members of the Partisan movement are killed, one by one, and Alessandro Pallioti, a senior police officer in Florence  soon realizes that their deaths must have something to do with their involvement in the Partisan organization during the war. It’s the only thing the 3 have in common. He sets out to find as much as he can about the past and how it could be connected to the present. At one point in the book, about 2/3 along I though it began to drag a bit (remember it’s 562 pages), but by then I was so intrigued and hooked on knowing what was going to happen, I kept going. And I’m glad I did because the story picked up, and definitely didn’t disappoint in the end. My only criticism was that many people had aliases during the war, and I got a bit confused with who was really who, especially with all the Italian names, but that didn’t matter. This is really a wonderful book. I’d never heard of Lucretia Grindle before, but I’m desparate to read her other book called The Faces of Angels - it was chosen by BBC’s Front Row as one of the six best thrillers of the year.

P.D. James, the “grand dame” of detective fiction, has a new book coming out before Christmas (think presents!)… she’s 91!! and still writing.  It’s called Death Comes to Pemberley, and it’s a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. James said that it that combines her two great passions: Jane Austen and crime stories. I can’t wait!! Mark your calendar for Dec. 6th.

Take note… Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (published by Vintage) is one of the best books I’ve read all year, and I’ve read some amazing books. It’s the story of Shiva and Marion Stone, twins whose parents are an Indian nun, Sister Mary Joseph Praise, and British surgeon Thomas Stone. Their mother dies in childbirth and their father flees the country leaving Shiva and Marion to be adopted by Hema, the gynecologist who delivered them, and Ghosh, a surgeon in residence at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (It’s really Mission Hospital, but how it ends up being called Missing Hospital is a story all on it’s own.)  The book spans decades (46 years and 4 months), and takes the reader from Addis Ababa to New York and back again. Quite naturally I guess, the twins have a shared fascination with medicine and this is one of the themes of the book. It’s also about love and hate, belonging and longing, history and revolution. It is a grand book, and Verghese has pulled it off magnificantly. There are so many interesting characters and sub-stories to this book that I can’t even begin to write about them. His description of how the meskel flowers turn the hillsides into gold on page 1, and how “It was Matron’s intent that Missing resemble an arboretum, or a corner of Kensington Gardens, or Eden before the Fall.” set the stage for the reader’s imagination to fall victim to the well crafted, very intriguing, really well written 667 pages to follow. Verghese is himself a doctor so the medical facts are intricate and really fascinating, and I can only imagine the research and amount of info on Ethiopia he had to sift through to cull everything into this really, really well written story that will stay with you long after you’ve read it. Now, the hard part is finding something to read after this. ***** for this book!