1

“Last Ditch” ©1977 by Ngaio Marsh

Young Adult Ricky Alleyn (son of Chief Superintendent Roderick Alleyn) takes a working summer vacation on a small island to start writing his novel.

He meets with some friends of his parents and they all hit it off very well.  One day they all rent horses from a local stable for a day of riding.  When they get back to the stable, the owner’s niece is found dead after trying to jump a horse over a fence.

Was it an accident? Or murder? In the course of the local police questioning, several other oddities are discovered including a drug smuggling operation.  The drug trafficking causes alarm with the higher ups in the police chain and Inspector Alleyn arrives on the island to follow-up.  He and his faithful Inspector Fox crack the drug case and investigate and solve the girl’s death as a matter of course.

Good read!  It was fun to read about Ricky and his dad’s relationship as adults.

“Lost Pueblo” ©1954 by Zane Grey

I did not finish this book.

I love the look and feel of these old pocket book softcovers.  The gold spine, the red page ends, the cover graphics and the little kangaroo designating it as a “pocket book”.  I like them.  And this one is near pristine condition.

I was hooked just by the physical book.  I don’t tend to read many westerns and I had never read Zane Grey so I thought this might be a fun book.

I was wrong.

A rich father and young adult daughter (Jane) take a vacation to the southwest where the father wants to visit the son of an old college friend.

By page 20 this is what is happening: Jane’s father offers to give/sell her to Randolph, the young man who is the son of the father’s friend.  If Randolph marries her, he’ll have his career financed as an archeologist and a very nice inheritance. The father suggests getting lost in the desert overnight on purpose to ruin his daughter’s reputation.

The quote from page 26:

“Be as nice as pie to Janey. Then at an opportune time just throw her on a horse and pack her off to one of your ruins in the desert. Kidnap her! Keep her out there a little while – scare her half to death – let her know what it is to be uncomfortable, hungry, helpless. Then fetch her back.  She’d have to marry you. I would insist upon it…Then we’d all be happy.”

I made it to page 29.  I so rarely not finish a book, but I just couldn’t.  I was so appalled and angry and disgusted. I know this was copyrighted in 1954, but there is just no excuse.

DNF

3

“Pride and Prejudice” ©1813 by Jane Austen

This is a good book!

After not finishing the Zane Grey story, I felt the need to read something well written and fun.

I have read this book so many times.  The last time I read it was in February – March of 2019 when I was with my dear friend Lori (Lori Lyle films) as part of her film crew for her movie “Permitted”. At that time, “Pride and Prejudice” was like comfort food.  Something to send me off to sleep after an event filled day.

While I always find Jane Austen to be a bit like comfort food, this time what stood out to me was how both Elizabeth and Darcy came to realize that their own personal pride and their own personal prejudices had gotten in the way of their becoming friends.

Darcy had pride in his social standing and wealth.  He was prejudiced against anything or anyone who might make him seem or look less than grand.

Elizabeth had pride in her intelligence and her self-perceived notion of being able to judge other people’s character. She was prejudiced against people who were silly or stupid and those who thought themselves better than her.

Both Darcy and Elizabeth overcame much of their individual faults and when they did, and made amends, they could do nothing but appreciate and love each other.

Sigh. Plus, the language is so fine.

“Cover Her Face” ©1962 by P.D. James

I had read a book of P.D. James’ short stories in December 2022 and thought I might enjoy her novel length books.  I did! This is the first in her series of Inspector Adam Dalgliesh books.

Sally is an unwed mother who got a lucky break working as a live-in maid for the Maxie family.

The Maxie family are a prominent generational village family with a large old house. They host an annual festival on their property. During the festival, Sally and the oldest Maxie son, Stephen, who is a doctor, become engaged. When Sally blurts out the news, the family is shocked. The next morning, Sally is found dead in her room by strangulation, with her infant son still in his crib next to her. 

Who had access? Who had motive? Was it a stranger? And who exactly was Sally anyway?

Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh arrives with his detectives who question and probe and finally a confession.

Quite a good mystery with enough false trails and side stories to keep you on your toes.  I wish to know more about Chief Inspector Dalgliesh.  He was there, but hasn’t become a beloved character yet. I will read more of the series.

5

“Black Elk Speaks Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux” ©1932 as told through John G. Neihardt

While John G. Neilhardt wrote and published this book, it is Black Elk’s story told in his voice.

Black Elk was an Oglala Sioux who was born around 1863. He was about 70 years old when he related the life changing vision he had had when he was nine years old to John G. Neilhardt. During his life Black Elk lived in Eastern Wyoming, Southern Montana and western S. Dakota in the Black Hills. As a young man, he spent two years traveling around Europe with the Buffalo Bill Cody western show and another show.

Black Elk was a boy and teen during the Indian Wars and witnessed and participated in many key battles including the Wagon Box Fight, near Fort Phil Kearney and Custer’s Last Stand.

His retelling of his first vision at nine years old and several subsequent visions throughout his life were fascinating. He did not act on what his vision was telling him for many years, but as he grew into his vision, he became a Holy Man and could heal people and guide them. He was also a witness to the religious renewal of the Ghost Dance and participated in it.

Black Elk felt that somewhere he and his people had left the path and the center and the sacred tree died.

Gosh, what a book!

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“The Whisper in the Gloom” ©1954 by Nicholas Blake (pen name of C. Day Lewis)

In this detailed and twisty mystery, we are given several groups of people.  Three boys who are adventurous. A Russian Delegation to England. Three levels of criminals: Puppet Master who lives a privileged life as a Lord, Crime Lord whose legitimate business insulates him from prosecution, and Thugs for Hire. Then there are the Police, a Private Investigator and an ex-criminal turned informant.

One of the boys (Bert) is in the park when the informant is cleverly murdered.  But before his last breath he tucks a piece of paper in Bert’s small remote-control boat. Unfortunately, this act is witnessed by the bad guys and the chase is on to retrieve it from Bert.

Bert confers with his two friends and they try to outwit the bad guys and solve the mystery themselves. They soon land in hot water.  The problem is larger than they imagine, and not knowing who to trust they decide to only trust each other, therefore, confounding both the good guys (Police and the PI) as well as the bad guys.

Really enjoyable mystery! I liked how the boys stayed true to their understanding of the events of the story and of how the world works.  They stayed boys.

“On Writing” ©2000 by Stephen King

This book has two parts.  The first part is mostly memoir and quite interesting. Stephen King has always loved to write and has spent a good bit of his time doing it from a very early age. As a teen he started sending his stories to magazines and various publishers, mostly without success, but he kept sending in his stories. Locally, he was recognized enough as a writer to get jobs at the school and town newspapers.

He goes on to share his first publishing successes and his journey through alcohol and drug addiction to sobriety.

The second part of the book is about Mr. King’s process of writing and it was very informative. He gives good examples and background of his various subjects. I especially enjoyed his section on grammar.  He mentions the book “The Elements of Style” so often that I had to pull my old copy from my college days off the shelf and read that too.

Good Read!

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“The Elements of Style” ©1979 (third edition) by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Seemingly too short to be of value, this book has a wealth of information. Yes, I know the authors would hate how I used the adverb “seemingly”.

It starts with very basic grammar, then covers basic composition of sentences and paragraphs. The authors included a nice list of troublesome words that are easily mis-used.  The last section covers style, giving good advice without taking away freedom.

I know this book was required for one of my very first college courses.  I wish I had reviewed it more often during those years.

As an interesting addendum, E.B. White is also the author of “Charlottes Web”, “Stuart Little”, “The Trumpet of the Swan” and etc.