Dogeared Snippets

Denise Mina: Slip of the Knife

2010-08-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - Contemporary, Tartan Noir

Escape Experience:
Experience the gritty city of 1990 Glasgow, Scotland -- its blackened, soot-covered buildings bearing mute testimony to the daily struggles of its hardboiled, resilient denizens.

Read this if you're into...
Keeping abreast of international affairs. You start your day with a cup of Starbucks coffee (caffeinated, of course), The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. You end your day with a glass of ruby port, CNN and CNBC.

Plot:
Newspaper columnist Paddy Meehan learns that her ex-lover (also a news journalist) has just been killed. He's also left her everything in his will, including his old notebooks and photos. Then on the heels of launching an investigation into his murder, Paddy's apartment is ransacked and someone is following her every move. Is it the IRA?

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Climbing shoes -- but you're not walking: you're free-climbing up a sheer rock wall, groping for each tiny handhold and foothold, inching your way up to a summit you can't see.

Cast of Characters:

Patricia "Paddy" Meehan - A single mom and journalist known for her ranting newspaper column. Chain smoking, junk food loving (and unapologetically overweight), verbally explosive (she cusses like a fisherman with a finger caught in a hook), Paddy is an icon for the unconventional and fiercely independent woman.
Callum Ogilvy - A 19-year-old boy just released from a nine-year jail term for murdering a child, Callum gropes his way to a life outside his prison walls.

Books in the Paddy Meehan Series:

Other authors you might like:

Val McDermid - For more Tartan Noir, enter the world of journalist Lindsay Gordon in Report for Murder.
Ian Rankin - For another unapologetic and hardboiled Scottish protagonist, follow the exploits of Inspector Rebus in Knots and Crosses.

Links:

About the author - Official site; Wiki site
About Glasgow, Scotland - Wiki site; tourism
Careers in journalism

Richard Feynman: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

2010-08-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Nonfiction - Essays

Escape Experience:
Ever wonder what's it like to see the world through the eyes of a certified genius? Read this book to rediscover and reaffirm that life, with all its fleeting and often unexpected moments, is a wonderful, glorious gift.

Read this if you're into...

Wearing Sheldon t-shirts (you know: those geeky but decidedly cool looks from "Big Bang Theory"), under either a hoodie or a tweed jacket, along with vintage straight-legged jeans and tastefully tattered sneaks. On your wrist, you sport a night-glow digital watch, made from recycled materials. You also love playing on bongo drums or just about any kind of drum -- even on your sibling's head in your wild and wicked childhood (light, loving taps of course!), although not necessarily to your sibling's amusement. In short, you're an unconventional, bright, free-spirited individual (emphasis on "individual") who's got the gumption to be your own genuine self and to live life to its very fullest. Your motto is carpe every single diem!

Plot:

This is a collection of Feynman's best short essays and transcripts, delivered in quintessential Feynmanese, on a wide array of topics: Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project; science and religion; doubt and uncertainty; and a delightful set of annecdotes about his father, teaching a young, impressionable Richard about the wonders of nature, awakening in him the pleasure of finding things out.

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...

Comfortable-to-the-nth-degree Keds sneakers, strolling through the neighborhood, alert and attuned to even the faintest flutter of a dragonfly wing, beating to its own life rhythm.

Cast of Characters:

Richard P. Feynman - Winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in quantum electrodynamics. A truly lovely man who geniunely cared about his fellow man and embraced every facet of life (including the experience of his own death), yet ironically assisted in the development of the atom bomb.

Other Books by Richard Feynman:

Other authors you might like:

James Gleick - Genius, a biography on Richard Feynman
Sylvia Nasar - A Beautiful Mind, a biography on mathematician John Forbes Nash

Links:

About Richard Feynman - Wiki site; Nobel laureate page
The Feynman Lectures Website
Drawings by Feynman
Infinity - A movie based on Feynman's life, with Matthew Broderick as Feynman
YouTube interviews with Feynman - On doubt, uncertainty and religion; on The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

Bruce Alexander: Person or Persons Unknown

2010-07-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - British, historical fiction

Escape Experience:

Go back to a time of no smart phones, cell phones, pagers or other pesky mobile devices; no text messaging, e-mail or Internet, wireless or otherwise; no telephone or telegraph; no GPS, radio, satellites or cable television -- the bliss of (almost) absolute disconnectivity. No automobiles, gas or electric stoves, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers or Swiffer mops and dusters -- the simplicity or drudgery (depending on your personal proclivities) of a pre-technological, pre-industrial world. It's 1770, London, England -- a time of nascent laws and an infant police force.

Read this if you're into...

Tuning into the History Channel and tuning out of your frenetic, hyper-connected, modern-day existence. You devour any and all documentaries on pre-Revolutionary War America and England, often imagining yourself living in that time period. You're also one of those rare creatures who still sends hand-written notes on personalized stationery .

Plot:

London, England, 1770: Scotland Yard is in its infancy and a mere 20 constables and a local magistrate shoulder the burden of preserving peace in the land. Prostitutes are turning up dead in the dark alleys of London, stabbed with a stiletto or vivisected with surgical precision. Blind magistrate Sir John Fielding and his 15-year-old assistant Jeremy Proctor lead the chase for the killer (or killers).

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...

Penny loafers, as you wander through the stacks in Oxford University Library's history room. You want to be comfortable because you'll be browsing a long while: you don't want to overlook that obscure but fascinating historical volume, tucked among dusty, leather-bound tomes.

Cast of Characters:

Sir John Fielding - The "Blind Beak of Bow Street" and co-founder of the New Scotland Yard. A blind magistrate who established and formalized much of modern-day policing procedures, including the first criminal database. Through his other (heightened) senses, the Blind Beak "sees" what the sighted often miss: the deceits and insecurities hidden under the most practiced masks.
Jeremy Proctor - Narrator and fictional character. Orphaned 15-year-old Jeremy was rescued from unjust imprisonment by Sir John Fielding and given a permanent home and the opportunity to study the law. In return, Jeremy renders whatever services are necessary in running Fielding's household and assists Fielding in his investigations.
Gabriel Donnelly - An Irishman formerly serving as a surgeon in the British navy. Donnelly pioneers the role of medical examiner, aiding in the investigations of Sir John Fielding.
The Bow Street Runners - Established by Sir John Fielding and his half-brother, novelist Henry Fielding, a constabulary force that lays the foundation for the New Scotland Yard.

Books in the Sir John Fielding Series:

Blind Justice
Murder in Grub Street
Watery Grave
Person or Persons Unknown
Jack, Knave and Fool
Death of a Colonial
The Color of Death
Smuggler's Moon
An Experiment in Treason (featuring Benjamin Franklin)
The Price of Murder
Rules of Engagement

Other authors you might like:

Robert Lee Hall - Nicolas Handy assists Franklin in Benjamin Franklin Takes the Case.
Anne Perry - Begin the William Monk series with The Face of a Stranger.

Links:

About the author
Sir John Fielding biography
About the Bow Street Runners
History of New Scotland Yard (Metropolitan Police)
London Horror Tours - Book a walking tour through London's macabre past

Carol Lea Benjamin: The Wrong Dog

2010-07-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - American, contemporary, pet detectives

Escape Experience:
You live deep in the heart of Greenwhich Village in New York City, in a cottage with a garden, buffered by the surrounding brownstones from the incessant din and urban chaos. You know every street in The City -- from the swankiest down to the seediest. You're savvy; you can take care of yourself. Day or night, you walk those gritty streets unafraid, guarded by your steadfast, stalwart dog.

Read this if you're into...

Pampering your pets. They share your bed (squeezing in between you and your significant other), eat better food than you do (they get ground steak and organic fruits and veggies, while fast food is just fine for you), play with the best chew toys (when was the last time you gave yourself a treat?), and get all the exercise they want (when was the last time you worked out?). In short, your pets are your first priority.

Plot:
Sophie Gordon is devoted to her dog Blanche, and with good reason: for nearly a decade, Blanche has been her seizure alert dog and an essential, critical part of her daily life. But at 11 years old, Blanche is slowing down. Although she continues to alert Sophie when an epileptic attack is imminent, Sophie is desperate to find another Blanche. So when someone approaches her about cloning Blanche, Sophie asks no questions and jumps at the chance. The organization seeks no compensation, just the opportunity to create three clones of Blanche, one for Sophie and two for others with similar needs. A year and a half pass without further contact before Sophie receives word about a successful clone. Enter Bianca, Blanche's perfect DNA match. The only problem is that Bianca isn't alerting. Unable to track down the organization to report the issue, Sophie hires Rachel Alexander, private detective, and her canine sidekick Dash. A day later, Sophie is dead, evidently from an epileptic seizure -- or is it murder? Rachel and Dash sniff out the truth.

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Clarks mary janes, so you can keep up with your dog, dodging around the throngs of people in Manhattan, while trying not to look like a secretary schlepping to work in the movie Working Girl or like an open-mouthed tourist ogling the window displays at Barneys.

Cast of Characters:

Rachel Alexander - A savvy, no-nonsense, cuts-to-the-chase kinda gal; a private detective and former dog trainer. Gives excellent tips on dog care and training.
Dash - A pitbull terrier and Rachel's partner in private detection. Dash finds clues overlooked by his human counterpart and frequently saves Rachel's neck. His favorite trick? He can open doors.

Books in the Alexander and Dash Series:

Other authors you might like:

Laurien Berrenson - A Pedigree to Die For kicks off a series featuring single mom and teacher Melanie Travis and an ever-present pack of canine companions.
Carol Nelson Douglas - Meet Temple Barr and Midnight Louie, a 20-pound black tomcat with an attitude, in Catnap.
Lee Charles Kelley - Meet dog trainer and retired NYPD homocide cop Jack Field in A Nose for Murder.

Links:

Author's website
About Greenwich Village: Wiki site; The Village Voice; tourism (Greenwich Village NYC; Village Alliance)
New York publications: New York Magazine; The New Yorker; New York Times
About service dogs: Wiki site; Assistance Dogs International; International Guide Dog Federation; International Association of Assistance Dog Partners; Therapy Dogs International; medical response dogs; seizure response dogs; mobility assistance dogs; guide dogs; hearing dogs; autism service dogs; psychiatric dogs
About dogs in law enforcement

M. C. Beaton: Death of a Witch

2010-07-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - Scottish, contemporary, a traditional cozy

Escape Experience:
Home is a quaint and tidy croft in the Scottish Highlands, nestled amidst mountains and a loch. You spend your days tending sheep and chickens. You take long rambles around the loch with your dog in the mornings, followed by leisurely strolls through the quiet village in the evenings. You know and love every inch of the land and every eccentric inhabitant of the village. Happy and content, you wouldn't trade your idyllic existence for all the Crown Jewels.

Read this if you're into...
Wearing L.L. Bean from head to toe (almost): woolen caps, flannel shirts, corduroy trousers, cozy fleece pullovers, outerwear and footwear. A frugal consumer with a casual, sometimes rustic, but always appropriate style, you indulge in one luxury: cashmere socks by Pringle of Scotland to keep your tootsies toasty on those early morning scrambles through moors and mountains.

Plot:
Beautiful Catriona Beldame, a practitioner of the black arts, has moved into Lochdubh and is dealing Spanish fly to middle-aged men, sending their shocked wives to the local pastor in droves to seek advice and voice complaints -- generally driving the town folk into a frightful tizzy. So at Mrs. Wellington's request (she's the wife of the local pastor), Constable Hamish Macbeth tries to put a stop to the nonsense. Then ding-dong the wicked witch is found dead, and poor Hamish is the prime suspect.

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Practical, sturdy L.L. Bean boots , rambling around the perimeter of a blue mountain lake with your dog Midget, a lumbering, slobbering Newfie-Rottie mix.

Cast of Characters:

Constable Hamish Macbeth - This local bobby is devoted to his little hamlet of Lochdubh: he'll do anything to avoid getting promoted out of his village. For long, lanky, red-headed Hamish is not your run-of-the-mill bobby: he solves homocides like nobody's business, accompanied by his furry side-kicks (a dog named Lugs and a wildcat named Sonsie). A wickedly sharp intuition, a penetrating eye, a compassionate understanding and an innate ability to coax the truth from people are powerful tools in his crime-solving arsenal. (Read more about Hamish.)

Chief Inspector Blair - Hamish's supervisor and archenemy, the alcoholic, apoplectic Blair is ever alert to ways of discrediting his direct report. Much to his consternation, however, Macbeth always manages to outwit and outmaneuver him.
Detective Inspector Jimmy Anderson - One of the best examples of operant conditioning in man: Hamish plies Jimmy with whiskey to get Jimmy to reveal case information not readily available to the local bobby.
Priscilla Hallburton-Smythe - Lovely, graceful and gracious, yet emotionally cool, Priscilla is Hamish's one-time fiance and one true love. For the women who harbor romantic aspirations about Hamish (like Elspeth below), Priscilla becomes an insurmountable barrier to capturing Hamish's heart.
Elspeth Grant - Hamish's on-and-off-again (when Priscilla isn't around) romantic interest, Elspeth is a newspaper reporter with a gypsy heritage and a flair for clairvoyance. She'd run into Hamish's arms at the slightest wiggle of his forefinger (if he'd only bother).
A recurrent assortment of colorful, eccentric villagers - Angela Brodie, Hamish's pet-sitter and the most undomestic wife of the local physician; Jessie and Nessie Currie, the town's gossiping spinster twins; Willie Lamont, Hamish's former direct report and a neat-freak with a propensity for malapropisms; Angus Macdonald, a crusty septuagenarian and the local seer; Mrs. Wellington, stentorian spouse of the local minister -- just to name a few.

Books in the Macbeth Series:

Other authors you might like:

Agatha Christie (of course) - For traditional, well-plotted cozies, dip into the Jane Marple series with The Murder at the Vicarage.
Catherine Aird - Discover the Sloan and Crosby series in The Stately Home Murder.
Caroline Graham - Sample the Tom Barnaby series in Death of a Hollow Man.

Links:

About the author: Official site; Wiki site
Hamish Macbeth TV series: About the TV series; buy the DVDs
Although the village of Lochdubh is fictional, the TV series was filmed in Plockton, in the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Sutherland.
Tourism websites: visithighlands.com; visitlochalsh.com; plockton.com
Local cuisine: Haggis, blood pudding
Fishing holidays in Scotland

Rennie Airth: River of Darkness

2010-07-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - British, historical fiction

Escape Experience:
You're a romantic, melancholy soul--a noble, heroic figure scarred by past experiences, struggling to rebuild your life in picturesque, rural England in the shadowy aftermath of World War I.

Read this if you're into...
Wearing Liberty of London dresses with a vintage WWI trench watch that you inherited from your great-grandfather.

Plot:

Someone's prowling the storybook villages of Surrey, shattering the quiet sanctuary of homes and butchering unsuspecting inhabitants. (Far from being a "cozy," the violence is depicted in full graphic detail, not tucked away behind the scenes.)

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Wellington boots, while hunting for wild morel mushrooms in the woods.

Cast of Characters:

John Madden - "A grave and good man," scarred by the horrors of trench warfare and the loss of his wife and daughter in the great flu pandemic of 1918, Detective Inspector Madden struggles to repair and rebuild his life in post-World War I England.

Dr. Helen Blackwell - Beautiful and charming, beloved by all creatures great and small, a physician and woman ahead of her time, the paragon that is Helen Blackwell gives John Madden a reason for living.

Angus Sinclair - Madden's mentor, supervisor and friend, benevolent and supportive Chief Inspector Sinclair plays second-fiddle to Madden in work and in love--with nary a trace of a competitive edge.

Billy Styles - Refreshingly human, young Billy displays all the insecurities of a newly appointed Scotland Yard constable. He makes mistakes and harbors feelings we can all relate to.

Books in the Madden Series:

River of Darkness - Set in the immediate aftermath of World War I.
The Blood-Dimmed Tide - Set at the start of World War II.
The Dead of Winter - Set at the conclusion of World War II.

Other authors you might like:

P.D. James - Meet Adam Dalgliesh in Cover Her Face, the first book in the series.
Martha Grimes - The Man With a Load of Mischief kicks off the Richard Jury series; Melrose Plant nicely counterbalances Jury's melancholy and moodiness.
Anne Perry - No Graves As Yet launches her World War I series featuring Joseph, Matthew and Judith Reavely.

Links:

About the author - Official site; Wiki site
History of New Scotland Yard
On location in Country Surrey, England - Municipal site; Wiki site; tourism (www.VisitSurrey.com)
Post-World War I era - Aftermath of WWI; Roaring Twenties; British culture; fashion reform; music
Flu pandemic of 1918

Patricia Cornwell: Book of the Dead

2010-07-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Genre:
Mystery - American, contemporary

Escape Experience:
You're brilliant, intense, successful and highly respected--albeit a loner. Your career is your life; your life is your career. You live a high-end lifestyle in the Deep South and stay in luxury accommodations atop the Spanish Steps in Rome (and you're wealthy enough to barely notice these things).

Read this if you're into...
Wearing Armani suits with a Breitling Navitimer watch that you gave yourself on your last birthday, and you never go out without your iPhone.

Plot:
The murder of a Sharapova-esque tennis star in Rome begins the hunt for the "Sandman"--a serial killer with a penchant for replacing eyeballs with balls of sand.

Pace: Reading this is like walking in a pair of...
Cole Haan pumps, briskly and with purpose.

Cast of Characters:

Dr. Kay Scarpetta - Beautiful, brainy, workaholic medical examiner who solves crimes while whipping up lavish meals in her gorgeous gourmet kitchen (and she gardens, too). Wrestles with her relationships with Benton Wesley (sustaining a romantic relationship while nurturing a career in over-drive) and Pete Marino (sustaining a close friendship while avoiding romantic entanglements).
Lucy Farinelli - Scarpetta's bold and beautiful, impossibly brainy and high-achieving (of the Bill Gates variety), super athletic (of the Lara Croft variety), lesbian niece who zips around in a Ferrari and pilots her own jet and helicopter. To her, no computer is unhackable. Offspring of a neurotic, self-centered mom, Lucy harbors personal demons too complex to describe.
Dr. Benton Wesley - Intense and driven, astute to the point of prescience, former FBI profiler and Scarpetta's long-time and long-distance lover. Viewed through Scarpetta's astigmatism, Wesley is often an enigma.
Pete Marino - Middle-aged, chain-smoking, hard liquor-drinking, former cop and Scarpetta's bulldog of a side-kick. Tortured by an unrequited love for Scarpetta. Surrounded by over-achievers like Scarpetta, Lucy and Benton, ya gotta feel for Pete.

Books in the Scarpetta Series:

Other authors you might like:

Kathy Reichs - Deja Dead is the first book in the Temperance Brennan series.
Sarah Lovett - Discover a Scarpetta-esque heroine in Dr. Sylvia Strange (Dante's Inferno).
Linda Fairstein - Final Jeopardy is the first book in the Alexandra Cooper series.

Links:

About the author - Official site; Wiki site
About forensic science
On location in Charleston, SC - Municipal site; Wiki site; tourism (Charleston CVB)
On location in Rome, Italy - The Spanish Steps; Hotel Hassler
Cook like Kay - Scarpetta's Winter Table; Food to Die For: Secrets from Kay Scarpetta's Kitchen