“The Glacier Murders” by Cristian Perfumo

 Overall I enjoyed this book, though the translation was sometimes sketchy. Parts of it took place in Barcelona, which was fun because Ray and I were on a tour of Spain at the time I was reading it. Normally I don’t like books that jump back and forth in time and change points of view, but Perfumo handled these features very well.

‘Busman’s Honeymoon” by Dorothy L. Sayers

 I read yet another Peter Wimsey book because it continued the tv series I watched on YouTube with actor Edward Etherbridge. I wanted to learn more about Peter and Harriet, his fiance. The book was a pretty good read, but it had far too many quotes by Shakespeare and other famous old English writers. The  interactions between Peter and Harriet were amusing, until they turned serious due to Peter’s WW1 PTSD and guilt over sending criminals to the gallows. At the end, all the psychological tribulations were nicely resolved. Banter, as usual, was perfect, except for the letter to his mother, which made him sound quite ordinary.

“Clouds of Witness” by Dorothy L Sayers

The second Peter Wimsey book was better than the first, I think, but once again, I probably missed a lot of the humour because the writing is so very English. I have a feeling it would be easier to capture the humour in audiobook form.

“Whose Body” by Dorothy L. Sayers

 It was an interesting enough read because it is from the golden age of detective stories, and set in the 1920’s, so it includes interesting historical tidbits. But I can’t say that I was impressed by either Dorothy Sayers or Lord Peter Wimsey. The author’s writing style is so very British that it tends to overshadow the story and is not always comprehensible. I did get used to it after awhile, but it required careful attention to be fully appreciated, and some references were too esoteric for me to understand. Likewise, Peter Wimsey is entertaining, but a cliche in this day and age. He did have a nice relationship with the detective Parker and with his valet Bunter. The mystery was so so.

“Entanglements “Tomorrow’s Lovers, Families and Friends” “Twelve Tomorrows””” by Sheila Williams et al

 This group of short stories was worth reading, if for no other reason than the interesting ideas it presented about the impact of future technologies on relationships. From a literary point of view, some stories were, of course, more effective than others.

“Christine Falls” by Benjamin Black (audio book)

 A very dreary, but psychologically interesting mystery, which takes place in 1950’s Ireland, and has to do with sending babies to Boston so that they can be bred for the Church. The antihero, Quirk, is suitably complex. I very much disliked the sections about Andy, an unpleasant, mentally unstable young man, who shook a baby girl to death, and violently raped Phoebe, who was in shock because she had just found out that Quirk was her father.

“The City and its Uncertain Walls” by Haruki Murakami

 Considering the author, this was, of course, a strange book, with an uncertain definition of reality. The apparently concrete reality plane included a small town library visited by the ghost of its former head librarian. In the other plane, there was a grim, timeless town, where the protagonist worked in a library reading old dreams. I’m guessing you could write volumes analyzing the meaning of the book. I’m too lazy for that. I can say that I enjoyed the book, which seems to deal with the importance of joining our conscious and subconscious selves.

“The Hunter” by Tana French

I enjoyed this book quite a bit less than “The Searcher”.  It was twice as long as it needed to be, with much too much dialogue. The characters were just cliches, and the story of the returning conman father and his brutal boss was very unpleasant. I had to skim a lot of the book because otherwise I would not have finished it due to its being nearly unbearably boring.

“Old God’s Time” by Sebastian Barry

 I enjoyed this very Irish book and read it fairly quickly, despite the dense language and unreliable narrator. I had had no idea that it was about feckin priests, and the descriptions of child (orphan) abuse were quite horrific. 

Basic story… It’s about a retired policeman who was an orphan and physically abused by priests. He fell deeply in love with an orphan girl who was sexually abused by a priest to the extent that her colon was ripped. After their marriage, it seems the priest is going to escape justice despite damming evidence, which is buried by the archbishop. The wife and/or husband stabs the priest to death and throws him down a ravine. They have 2 beautiful children, whom they vow to protect. Wife commits suicide by burning herself up in the park. This act causes the children to die due to addiction and escaping to the States where murder awaits. Most probably, the policeman commits suicide at the end, after finally achieving atonement. Not surprisingly, the book contains hints of Job’s story.

“There But For The” by Ali Smith

 I have to say that I ended up disliking this book by an acclaimed author.

I learned very little about the man, Miles, who locked himself in the room. I enjoyed the description of the unpleasant dinner party, and of significant life events of several people connected to Miles. But the last section of the book, about the very smart little black girl, Brooke, totally took me out of the story. The entire section, including the numerous puns and historical references, did nothing for me. It felt contrived and pretentious.