The Sentence Is Death by Anthony Horowitz

This absorbing mystery novel is full of vim and vigor. So many mysteries follow a tried and true pattern. This book thankfully steps outside the typical mystery novel box. The author becomes a significant character who is accompanying the freelance detective, he is writing a book about, as the detective works to solve a murder mystery. Layers of intriguing details are tantalizingly revealed as both the author and the reader struggle alongside the detective to figure out "who done it". The detective often irritates the author with his smug close-mouthed pursuit of the murderer that at times leaves the author floundering as he encounters one suspect after another. Recommended. 

That Wild Country by Mark Kenyon

Wow! This is a wonderful book extolling the beauty of our public lands, and advocating passionately for all of us to protect our incredible heritage, so carefully preserved over more than a century. It is filled with detail about the evolution of the Public Lands preservation movement, and the current horrific assault by some rapacious corporations and politicians to privatize, exploit, and to sell to developers our incredible natural legacy. The author is an avid outdoorsman, a hunter of meat to feed his family, and also a hiker and backwoods camper who loves the serenity and beauty of wild habitat. Admittedly, I am uncomfortable with the occasional brief description of a hunt (I am a vegetarian, leaning toward vegan) yet I unquestionably have an admiration for this man who writes so beautifully about his forays into the wilderness, and advocates so eloquently for everyone to join together to protect our public lands. The author presents a clear case for people of all backgrounds and beliefs to join together to preserve our common heritage of public lands for future generations. Highly recommended!

Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming

I have enjoyed other titles in this series, and this was also very good. Three separate but definitely copycat or serial murders over a fifty-year period challenge the Millers Kill Police Department even as they in the present face a budgetary threat to their very existence. The narrative weaves back and forth from 1952, to 1972 and to the present, revealing the eerie identical circumstances of the murders of young women, the efforts to solve these cases and potential suspects. Russ Van Alstyne and his wife, the Reverand Clare Fergusson are great characters that draw the reader into their lives and community. Recommended.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

I really enjoy this series, featuring a nurse usually on the WW2 front lines in France trying to save lives. However, whenever a murder takes place she succumbs to her abundant compassion, curiosity, and sense of justice that drives her into solving the mystery. Much of the action takes place back in England, where her family lives so the historical context includes not just a war zone, but also the Homefront where ordinary citizens are struggling with the resource shortages of a war economy, but also the frightening consequences of enemy bombings. Recommended.

An Elephant In My Kitchen by Francoise Malby-Anthony

This is an incredible sequel to The Elephant Whisperer which I read less than a year ago and loved. Written by the widow of Lawrence Anthony it expands and updates on the unimaginable reality of running an animal reserve dedicated to providing a wild habitat for endangered African animals like elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippos, protecting them from relentless poaching, and more recently providing an orphanage for young animals whose mothers have often been brutally slaughtered for their horns. Delightful descriptions of the escapades of the young rescues are interspersed with frank details about the horrific daily struggle to keep these marvelous creatures safe from greedy, amoral poachers who will kill animals and their human protectors without compunction. It trumpets the devotion and commitment of the many wonderful people who staff the reserve, those who provide funds for its operation, and the growing effort to educate young Africans about the need to protect the marvelous creatures that inhabit their beautiful continent. I hope this book and its predecessor are widely read because they make it clear that wild animals not only deserve to exist, but also just how diminished our Earth will be if they are destroyed. This remarkable narrative reveals the majesty of wild creatures that display feelings and intelligence that we humans have too often denied they could possibly have, mostly I think to enable us to use and abuse them rather than embrace them as fellow travelers on our singular planet.

The Dutch House by Ann Pachett

I have enjoyed many of this author's books but found this one disappointing. The house is a character and drives much of the plot, however, the denouement was just mediocre. It just absolved the house of all its imports.

A Duty To The Dead by Charles Todd

Bess Crawford is a young nurse struggling to keep wounded soldiers alive during the horrific years of WW1. When tending a dying soldier, she promises him she will deliver a message to one of his brothers back in England. Keeping this promise proves to be an arduous task as she is embroiled in the secretive miasma of his very troubled family.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Really enjoyed this story. A love story set in a fascinating historical context. It is about a young woman who is a WPA packhorse librarian who brings books to isolated folks in Kentucky. She is also a blue-skinned person who endures a tremendous amount of racism. I immediately googled what a blue-skinned person is, and that story is captivating. The third issue comes up at the end of the book, and I will not spoil the tale by mentioning it. Bluet is a developed character who exhibits dedication, love, and compassion for her profession and the people she serves. Recommended.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

The story begins in the early 1950's Iran when a fledgling Democracy vies against U.S. Sanctioned monarchy. A young woman raised by progressive parents visits weekly a stationery shop that also sells books. There she meets a young man whose life path has already been determined by his mother. Despite this, they fall in love and determine to marry.  Then a sad, eventful day in 1953 leads to their separation for multiple decades. It reveals the pain and anguish which can extrude from the past to manipulate and damage the future of a beloved child. It is a poignant story of enduring love that tugs at the heart and explores the capriciousness of fate and the implacable existence of the evil intent of a terribly damaged soul.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

What a wonderful story. I feel like I took up residence in an ordinary yet also extraordinary English village during the early years of WW2 that was left occupied by mostly women since so many of the men were off fighting the Nazis. A woman newly arrived to live in the Village urges the reconstitution of the village choir, now with only female voices and leads them to triumphant success. As this marvelous narrative unfolds in the various voices of the members of the choir, the remarkable lives of women left on the home front are revealed with poignancy and heart. Their resilience in the presence of daily struggles and periodic bombings is conveyed so well leading the reader to a new level of understanding of an oft unimaginable time in history. Savor!

Never Victorious, Never Defeated by Taylor Caldwell

This was a difficult book to read. I read an Ann Rand book in high school. This reminded me so much of that book. I felt despair because it encapsulated so much of what I fear. Corporate greed controlling our government, no longer a Democracy. Was it ever? The Robber Barons robbed our country of its Democracy. This book was published in 1954 and provides a story of the Gilded Age. And yet, as I watched a PBS documentary about the Gilded Age, I realized not much had changed. Still the 1%, the lobbyists, government for the wealthy, the working poor, an unfortunate majority supporting the rich in 2019.