The Maestro Wore Mohair

The Maestro Wore Mohair: A Liturgical Mystery
Mark Schweizer
St. James Music Press Books
Tryon, North Carolina
ISBN: 978-0-9844846-8-3
July 2015
$ 13.95
206 pages

"The Maestro was a terror: a choral genius with an AA, a BME, an MME, a Ph.D., and a DMA in conducting from Florida State, which is not a diploma mill.  I don't care what they say.  The letters trailed after her name like educated baby ducks, waddling advertisements of her brilliance.  When she sneezed ( as she often did, being allergic to Eric Whitacre) all the letters flew out her nose and nearby singers gleefully wiped them up with bath towels and sold them on eBay.  This case was coming together like two things come together and make one thing, and there you have it, one final thing. "
These are the words written by Hayden Konig on his old 1939 Underwood typewriter that was once owned by the legendary Raymond Chandler.  Among his many artistic gifts, he writes these almost undecipherable short mysteries to keep his choir members entertained during the sermons on Sunday mornings at St. Barnabas Episcopalian Church in St. Germaine, North Carolina.
Hayden is the police chief of a small law enforcement department in this little Southern town.
St. Germaine does attract one unusual crime.  Murder at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church.   To prove it, he has a loaded gun hidden in the organ bench.
A skull is discovered by two teenaged boys.   One of the boys picked it up, brought it home and even ran it through the dishwasher before placing it on his bookshelf, still having hair hanging off of it.
It would still be there if the other boy hadn't revealed the discovery to his prayer group at St. Barnabas.
Logically, law enforcement went back to the site to reveal most of the skeleton. The local doctor decided the body had been killed about thirty years previously.
How do you solve a thirty-year-old mystery?  The first thing is to identify the body and to figure out what life was like during that time.  With diligence and patience, the police of St. Germaine always solve their cases.
The Maestro Wore Mohair is the thirteenth no.vel in Mark Schweizer's Liturgical Mystery series featuring Hayden Konig and the community of St. Germaine.   Yes, I have read every one of these musically based mysteries.
The author, Mark Schweizer is a musician, composer, author and publisher while residing in Tryon, North Carolina.  He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona.
Throughout the years, the characters have grown and aged, similar to real life, so it is not a good idea to read these books without understanding the characters.  I highly recommend, to begin the first one in this series, The Alto Wore Tweed.
Part of the reason I enjoy these books is the interweaving of musical history, a light mystery, characters who are unusual and memorable enough to feel like family and I care about how they have changed,  superb choral and organ music suggestions, humor all gathered into a reading event that is fun.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
Vintage Books
Penguin Random House
New York, New York
ISBN: 978-0-8041-7244-8
Trade Paperback
2014
$ 15. 95
352 pages


"I'm talking about these people who've ended up in one life instead of another and they are just so disappointed.  Do you know what I mean?  They've done what's expected of them.  They want to do something different but it's impossible now, there's a mortgage, kids, whatever, they're trapped...You probably encounter people like him all the time.  High-functioning sleepwalkers, essentially."
And so it begins.
How often is the world we live in one step away from annihilation?   No, not a comet hitting the Yucatan peninsula, but one choice, one small event or virus that could change the way we live.
Have you ever seen an actor who left a lifetime impression on you?  For Kirsten Raymonde, that person is Arthur Leander, who is a famous Hollywood actor.  Unfortunately, she remembers Leander having a heart attack during a production of King Lear. 
That same night was an unlucky night for many.  As Leander is dying, many are just receiving a flu bug that will quickly become a global pandemic, ending the world as we know it, leaving alive only 1% of the global population.
After twenty years, Kirsten is part of a traveling group of actors and musicians sharing their art with the chosen ones who have survived.  Life has changed substantially in twenty-years, deteriorating from a global world of communication and travel to basic day-to-day survival with the influence of a prophet.
Station Eleven is the fourth novel written by Emily St. John Martel and was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pen/Faulkner Award.
Station Eleven is about the people in how they interact in attempting to rebuild civilization.  The idea of sharing music and theater in a survivalist society provides a bit of hope and light in this dim post-apocryphal tale.
The characterization in Station Eleven, I found hopeful with these diverse people who are often shallow to incredibly deep while learning to rebuild humanity, transportation, civilization, and a sense of belonging.   The importance of being a part of a community and the need to be needed are embedded as the story alters between the past and the present.

Time and Trouble

Time and Trouble
An Emma Howe and Billie August Mystery
Book 1
Gillian Roberts
Untreed Reads
San Francisco, California
2014
Kindle Edition
366 pages

"People were incredibly stupid, Emma thought.  Which was good new for her.  She'd never entirely lack for business because human beings would inevitably, irresistibly screw up, lie, cheat, pose, and in general, wreak havoc.  And at some point during that process, someone who still believe life could be brought into alignment would want help from a person like Emma. "
A fifty-year-old female private investigator is not usual.  For Emma Howe, it is her life.  Unfortunately, she expects her assistant to be highly competent.   Competence is hard to keep for what she is paying.
Billie August wants to prove herself as Emma's new assistant.  She has no experience, but Emma is desperate.   She has no actual work experience. 
Billie does have something special in her background.  When her ex-husband took her son, she successfully tracked him.  Yes, she found her missing son.
Billie is driven to do well, smart, quick to learn, and ambitious.  She wants to be successful and become a private investigator.  She needs a substantial number of working hours under the direction of a licensed private investigator.  The number seems humongous but doable.
Sophie Redmond has many problems.   Her most immediate concern is her troublesome teenage daughter, Penny, who is missing from their home.
Penny is independent and rebellious.  Is she a runaway?  Why?  Is her step-father causing a problem for her?
As life would have it, these answers are no simple with many hidden issues overlapping the investigation.
Also, Penny is a high-school senior and is eighteen years old.  So does anyone call this a runaway since she is considered an adult be the law?
Wesley is Penny's little brother who has the misfortune of being left at home.  What is going on in this home?  Are they abusive parents?  Some things just don't  make sense.
Sophie believes Penny has joined a cult.  She is with a group of young adults who are devoted followers of Renaissance Faires.  The other members of the troupe are slightly older than Penny and resent her attracting the attentions of one of the male members.
While in a field, Penny discovers a heart-shaped pendant and the bones of a long-deceased baby. Eventually, the police uncover a woman's skeleton nearby.
What has Penny stumbled upon?  Is she in any danger?  Who?  Why?
Untreed Publishing offers an unusual service.  Time and Trouble was originally published in 1998.   They rediscovered these discarded and forgotten novels and republish these fortunately chosen hidden gifts.
Time and Trouble is a fast-paced story revealing depth into family problems with flawed characters who do not always make the wisest choices.  The combination of the fast-paced experienced investigator in Emma contrasting with Billie who has such big dreams of being independent creates an authenticity creating a wealth of emotions for both.  The objectivity in presenting Penny and her mother is outstanding with the reader constantly revising their impressions of both making this a fascinating read.
Time and Trouble is a great read from the past that fortunately has been revived for today's adult mystery readers.

If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England, Renaissance Italy, Colonial America, Ancient Greece

If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England
Illustrator: Paula Tabor
ISBN: 978-1523229369
If You Were Me and Lived in Renaissance Italy
Illustrator: Silvia Brunetti
ISBN: 978-1523234271
If You Were Me and Lived in Colonial America
Illustrator: Sarah Wright
ISBN: 978-1523234073
If You Were Me and Lived in Ancient Greece
Illustrator: Mateya Arkova
ISBN: 978-1523234295
Carole P. Roman
Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
North Charleston, South Carolina
Paperback
2016

Imagine residing in England around the year 1578.  Queen Elizabeth is the ruler.  You would be in one of the richest times in history. The Renaissance period when art and literature excelled with writers like William Shakespeare. 
Much has been written about Elizabeth.  What about the ordinary people?   What was life like for them?
Imagine the regular life for most London residents.   With dark and filthy streets covered in waste and overcrowded conditions, life was simple but hard working.   Even with this being a time of wealth, life was difficult for the everyday people. 
Roman masterfully compares life as the wealthy, but also showing how the commoners enjoyed their homes.
It is hard to imagine life inside their house.  Carole Roman excels in explaining life indoors.   From sharing beds to straw rushes covering the floors to herbal scents, to their clothing, to toys, and community fairs.   There is also a light discussion about money and the prices of standard items as well as the school system.  There are even pages about the theaters and religion customs.
Carole Roman's book If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England illustrates and tells the tale of this time and place.
If You Were Me and Lived in Renaissance Italy focuses on living in Florence, Italy while the Medicis were ruling.  Roman takes the perspective as being a youngster in a well-to-do house working for the Medicis.  The status of wealth is directly discussed and illustrated with simple and clear explanations.  Explaining the Renaissance and the changes into the culture is shown throughout this book.
If You Were Me and Lived in Colonial America begins with your birth in London.  You are born into a Puritan family and traveled to the Dutch Netherlands where you lived for a short while.  Then you begin your adventure in establishing a new nation.
In If You Were Me and Lived in Ancient the year is around 350 B.C.  You would probably worship the Greek gods like Zeus and worship in the various temples.  
All of these short books, around 32 pages are avenues to time travel to both another place and time.   Whereas Roman's books are visiting countries are wonderful introductions before visiting, this new series of different times and places accomplishes more with the information and illustrations intended for children but educational for all ages.
Carole P. Roman is a retired social studies teacher who has written numerous award-winning books in multiple series.  She continues to educate everyone with her delightful series.
Have you ever considered a time machine?  The safer journey would be transported with one of these excellent Carole P. Roman books.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah
St. Martin's Press
New York, New York
ISBN: 978-0312577223
Hardcover
2015
$ 27.99
449 pages

Living in France before the invasion by the Germans at the beginning of World War II is difficult to imagine.   Were the people ready?   What should they buy and store?  Were their clues of the impending invasion?  Why didn't the citizens leave the country while they were allowed to travel freely?
From our perspective, today, looking back in history,  we often cannot understand why the French people didn't all leave the country.  Of course, where would they go?
The Nightingale is a masterful tapestry interweaving the tale of two sisters, Vianne, and Isabelle.  The two live in the same place but have very different lives.
Vianne has just said goodbye to her husband as he leaves to fight with the military on the frontlines.  Both of them feel and or naively hope as if this will be a quick battle and he will return home within the next few weeks.   When her husband doesn't return life changes for Vianne.   A German captain has taken possession of her home.  How can Vianne live and support her daughter?
Isabelle is younger at the age of eighteen and has all the idealism of a world ready to welcome her.   She meets Gaeten, who believes that France can beat the Germans.   Isabelle is devastated when he betrays her, and she decides to join the French Resistance. 
Kristin Hannah has written more than twenty novels including her best-sellers Winter Garden, Night Road, Home Front, and Firefly Lane.
The Nightingale beautifully portrays the women's perspective and behind the scenes contributions to their defense of France.  The sisters' differences perfectly framed the movements by the Resistance with only a few of their actions that were all dangerous in an occupied country.
Kristen Hannah shows the war through these two women combining the history into an action-adventure with romance and mystery into a captivating literary drama. 
The Nightingale excels with an unusual setting immersing the readers into France during the year 1939.   You honestly feel as if you are transported to both time and place through this masterful storyteller, Kristin Hannah.