INTERESTING SUMMER READS

Readings outside of the Who Dunnit Book Corner

This summer I had an opportunity to read some mystery related books I thought I'd share with you.  From time to time we will share mystery titles members have read that are not part of our reading list.

Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century
by Peter Graham

On June 22, 1954, teenage friends Juliet Hulme--better known as bestselling mystery writer Anne Perry--and Pauline Parker went for a walk in a New Zealand park with Pauline's mother, Honora. Half an hour later, the girls returned alone, claiming that Pauline's mother had had an accident. But when Honora Parker was found in a pool of blood with the brick used to bludgeon her to death close at hand, Juliet and Pauline were quickly arrested, and later confessed to the killing. Their motive? A plan to escape to the United States to become writers, and Honora's determination to keep them apart. Their incredible story made shocking headlines around the world and would provide the subject for Peter Jackson's Academy Award-nominated film, Heavenly Creatures. ...more

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Kai's comments

This book is a fascinating look at the background of one of the most notorious and horrific murders of all time. It didn't answer all the questions I had but then again the only people who can truly answer those questions are the murderers themselves; Anne Perry ( a master story teller ) and Pauline Parker (who refuses to speak to the press).  It was very fascinating to read the details and get a glimpse of  New Zealand in the 1950's.  I've read Anne Perry novels almost since she began publishing them in the late 1970's.  I've always found her insight and take on murder fascinating and when I learned of her past I began to look at her books very differently.  For those of you unfamiliar with her novels, she writes murder mysteries set primarily in Victorian England.  Her stories examine the depravity hidden beneath the veneer of Victorian respectability.  They are well written and very emotionally charged books.  As with most series the novels build in complexity and depth as the series progresses.  The main characters also mature and evolve as time goes by.

Reading this book offers some unique insights into the themes and ideas expressed in Anne Perry's novels.  Graham spends an entire chapter outlining some of the dialogue and events and relating them to the murder or the investigation and trial that followed.  I'd like to say that after finding out about her past I was disturbed enough to stop reading her novels but that didn't happen.  Her books are interesting, complex and sometimes frightening.  Whether or not you are an Anne Perry fan I highly recommend Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century by Peter Graham.

A More Lighthearted Romp

The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

Neither Sir Tristram Shield nor Eustacie, his young French cousin, share the slightest inclination to marry one another. Yet it is Lord Lavenham's dying wish. For there is no one else to provide for the old man's granddaughter while Ludovic, his heir, remains a fugitive from justice. More...

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Kai's Comments

I'd always heard of Georgette Heyer's Regency Romances and was surprised to find she wrote a series of mysteries as well.  We will be reading her first detective novel No Wind of Blame this year in the Who Dunnit Corner but I thought I'd include The Talisman Ring because while it is primarily identified as a romance there is a real mystery for the characters to solve.  The writing is amazing, but it is the characters that make this novel.  They are hilarious, ridiculous, endearing and clever.  There is the stereotypical feather brained aristocratic ingenue who is disappointed her uncle rescued her from the French Revolution.  Now, no one will get to see her all dressed in white, so beautiful, being transported to the guillotine.  Then there is the handsome young misunderstood lord who might be a smuggler, a murder or was he framed for murder?  And of course there are the level headed hero and heroine who try to keep these two from blowing things up or getting themselves killed or guillotined. All this while trying to find the elusive missing talisman ring.  It's a fun fast read that is very cleverly crafted.

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