Not a Typical Mystery

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly (Pamela Dorman Books hardcover, 21 February 2013) .

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.


Erin Kelly's third novel is an atypical mystery in that it doesn't begin with a murder, the solution of which is investigated throughout the story and solved by the end of the book.  Instead, it explores complex themes like obsession, love, hope, and desperation. 

The story opens with MacBride family matriarch Lydia discovering she has a fatal illness, and deciding not to share this information with her the rest of the clan.

Fast forward to the following autumn.  Lydia's three adult children Sophie, Tara and Felix meet their father Rowan at their weekend home in Devon, where they plan to scatter Lydia's ashes.  Sophie, who had been nine months pregnant with her fourth child when her mother died, is accompanied by her husband Will and their three sons, as well as infant Edie.  Tara brings her son Jake and her fiancé Matt, and for the first time youngest brother Felix brings a girlfriend, a quiet young woman called Kerry.

The family drives into the village one night for a bonfire, and Kerry offers to stay with the baby so that Sophie can join her family.  Returning home early with her youngest son Charlie, who is overwhelmed by the crowds, Sophie finds an empty house.  Sophie is understandably frantic, no less because she's unable to call for her:  cell phones don't work in the area, and the house phone is inexplicably dead. 

The distraught family searches for Edie and her kidnapper, and in attempting to determine why Kerry would have taken the baby, they discover all sorts of secrets their mother has kept from them. 

This absolutely absorbing and somewhat spooky tale  (definitely not horror), should appeal to fans of Debra Ginsberg and Emily Arsenault.   Make sure you set aside a block of time to read this, because once begun, you won't want to put it down.



FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.

A Mystery of a Different Sort

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple (Little, Brown trade paperback, 2 April 2013).

Reviewed by Marlyn Beebe.

This novel is not marketed as a mystery story, but rather as

an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are.  It is also a riotous satire of privilege and an unsentimental but powerful story of a daughter's unflinching love for her imperfect mother. (From the book jacket.)

The "Bernadette" of the title is a Seattle housewife whose husband, Elgin, works at Microsoft and whose teen-aged daughter Bee goes to a private school.   Bernadette and Elgin, both very intelligent with strong personalities, have a mostly good relationship. Bee, also very smart and self-assured, adores her mother, and thinks of her as her best friend.

Bernadette hates Seattle, in fact she's certain she's allergic to it. The other parents at the Galer Street school, which Bee attends, think Bernadette is not only a snob but a horrible mother, mostly because the only way she helps out is by donating money rather than doing any physical volunteer work.

Bernadette and Elgin have promised their daughter  a trip to wherever she wishes as a reward for getting perfect grades throughout middle school, and Bee chooses Antarctica.   Bernadette decides that she can't handle complicated details of planning this trip on her own, so she hires a "virtual assistant" from a company in India.  She leaves everything in the hands of their representative, Manjula Kapoor, giving her carte blanche to make reservations and order supplies for the trip.

I HAVE ATTEMPTED NOT TO GIVE AWAY ANY DETAILS THAT ARE NOT ALREADY ON THE BOOK JACKET OR OTHER PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS.  
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SPOILERS, PLEASE READ NO FURTHER.

During the weeks leading up to the trip, which is scheduled for Christmas vacation, the family's next door neighbor, whose son also attends Galer Street, decides to have a fund-raising event at her home, and, determined that Bernadette must assist, begins to harass her.

At the same time, Elgin has a major project due at work, and throws himself into it completely.  Between seeing little of her husband, and being hounded by her crazy neighbor,  Bernadette becomes overwhelmed by the stress, and just before the planned trip to Antarctica, she disappears. 

Of course, herein lies the mystery.  What happened to Bee's mother?  How could Elgin's wife have vanished without a trace?   The efforts of Bernadette's family to find her are amazing, and heartwarming.  This book is, as the cover blurb proclaimed, ingenious, no matter how it's classified.



 FTC Full Disclosure:  I borrowed the hardcover edition of this book from my local library.

Broken Detective?

Broken Harbor (Dublin Murder Squad #4)  by Tana French (Viking hardcover, 24 July 2012).

Two years ago, we met Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy in French's Faithful Place.  Frank Mackey, the protagonist of that book, thought Kennedy was a "pompous, rule-bound, boring git".  Of course, he's more complicated than that, as we learn in Broken Harbor.

Like Faithful Place for Frank Mackey, Broken Harbor (now known as "Brianstown") is a part of Kennedy's past.  He remembers it as the location of idyllic summers when he was a teen, renting a caravan on the beach with his family.  Now, it's a failed attempt at an upscale housing development, begun at the top of the real estate boom, and unfinished as a result of the recession.  Only a few of them are inhabited, and most of the others are half-built and used by children and teens to "play" in.

Along with his trainee partner Richie Curran, Mick Kennedy is assigned a multiple murder case, where victims are a father and his two young children.  The mother is alive, but critically injured.
Although it first appears to be a straightforward murder-suicide, there are too many pieces that don't fit the puzzle, including evidence that someone broke into the house.

On top of having a life-consuming case, Kennedy suddenly has to deal with his psychologically troubled younger sister Dina,  who is spinning out of control as she does periodically.  Since they have an unspoken agreement that they will care for Dina themselves, Mick and his older sister Geri take her in when her illness takes over.  Unfortunately, this time Gina's husband and daughter have the 'flu, and she's too overwhelmed to take on an unbalanced sister.

This story is written in the first-person, from Scorcher Kennedy's viewpoint, and French inhabits him masterfully.  Although we can only see what he allows us to see, we are definitely using his eyes and mind, and only at the end of the book can we sit back and attempt to be objective.

 

It's not necessary to read the Dublin Murder Squad books in order, but if you enjoy one, however, you must definitely read them all!


*FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher, who sent me a copy of the book for review purposes.