My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Today is my younger sister’s birthday. I bought her this book as a joke gift, never intending to read it.

But, then I read good reviews and learned that it was up for both the Booker and the Woman’s Prize. So, with the deadline of my sister’s birthday approaching, I opened it up the other week and dove in.

Korede’s sister Ayoola has the inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends, the latest named Femi:

“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.”

My Sister the Serial Killer is written by a Nigerian novelist, and is set in Lagos, Nigeria. Korede’s younger sister Ayoola is many things: beautiful, self-involved, vain, everyone’s darling, and yes, a serial killer. Korede works as a nurse and lives at home with her mother and Ayoola. She is fastidious in her job, but doesn’t really have any friends due to keeping her sister’s secrets and cleaning up her messes, literally.

We begin in the middle of the action: Ayoola calls Korede in the middle of the night for help — she has stabbed her newest boyfriend. Out of necessity, Korede has become an expert at crime scene cleaning and evidence concealment. (Bleach is the best way to remove blood if you’re wondering or know your own serial killer.) Her life has become move the body, dispose of the body, clean up after the body, and hardest of all — stop her sister from carrying on with her social media posting as if nothing happened – and advising Ayoola to at least act sad about her latest ‘missing’ boyfriend.

But, everything changes when Ayoola sets her sites on a doctor Korede’s secretly in love with. Forced to sit back and watch in utter fear as Ayoola successfully flirts with him, Korede is faced with an inner battle to save the man she loves or to protect her sister.

Driven by her passion, and the fear she and her sister might get caught ~~ because, oops, Korede confessed everything to a patient who was in a coma but is now awake—Korede makes choices she never even imagined were possible.

The sisters’ story goes back and forth from their troubled childhood, to the present, to the near past, and onward. The story becomes deeper and more nuanced than one would first assume — as more history is revealed.

Nigerian culture is sprinkled throughout. There’s the heat, the food, and the traffic. The police are portrayed as corrupt and easily bribed. Even though their dead father was cruel and abusive, the mother and daughters are expected to host the annual lavish party to remember him.

My Sister, The Serial Killer isn’t a crime novel as such – there’s no mystery and no detection. It’s really the story of sisters and their relationship — the loyalty and the rivalry. It’s often darkly funny, but also tense, and unexpectedly poignant. There’s a scene where Ayoola is happily lapping ice cream while her (murdered) boyfriend’s sister is sobbing in grief — which stopped me cold.

This is a short little novel which you could read in one sitting, but you’ll want to linger, as it’s a very artfully written book. And, as an added bonus, you’ll learn how to clean a crime scene – just in case a family member goes rogue.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister, who, as far as I know, is not a serial killer.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

I didn’t intend to read this book — it wasn’t on my TBR list or even on my radar, but read inhale it, I did.

It was a really slow day at the bookstore and I was shelving fiction when I recognized Ms. Moriarty’s name from one of my favorite TV series Big Little Lies. This popular Australian author is known for writing a book a year, and I would categorize her novels as Chic-Lit Thriller (I just made that up).

I decided to randomly pick one of her titles to browse through it – just browse, mind you – there’s a ton of books at home to read, I told myself.

Seventy two hours later, I closed Nine Perfect Strangers and looked around blurry eyed, as if emerging from a cave.

The setting is Tranquillum House, a remote health resort in Australia and nine people have gathered to revive their lives — some to loose weight, some to gain mindfulness, and others just to get a fresh start. Frances Welty, a middle-aged, romance writer whose novel sales have been dwindling, arrives at the health resort with a bad back and a broken heart. She quickly realizes that most of her fellow guests don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. The owner/director of the resort is odd, but charismatic, and Frances wonders if she should leave or stick it out. But stay she does and as she participates in the meditation, Tai Chi, and drinks the daily smoothies – Frances begins to feel a great deal better.

Several chapters go into the psyche and problems of each of the guests. We learn about their problems; marriage issues, a family recovering from the loss of a child, a has-been soccer player – all of them seeking health and bliss. But, the main focus is on Frances and Masha, the spa director. I laughed out loud at Frances and nodded in agreement at her attitude towards wellness and dieting. I had empathy for some of the characters and frustration with others, but overall I had anxiety on behalf of all of them — Tranquillum House is not all it appears to be. To paraphrase Bette Davis – fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be total nutter of a ride.

As the plot unspools, the transformative spa treatments start to take a dark turn. Masha gets weirder and the guests start to have strange interludes. I’ll stop there and won’t divulge any more. Just know there are lots of plot twists and some Agatha Christie-type scenes — all of which kept me turning the pages and turning the pages…

Nine Perfect Strangers is not high literary fiction, instead it has a ridiculous plot with some cliché characters, but it is also quirky, fun, and entertaining. The ending is a bit over the top, but the final chapters nicely tie up each characters’ story. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the book — Ms. Moriarty certainly can write a page turner and I now understand why she is a best selling author.

But now, afterwards, I think the experience was akin to eating cotton candy. Lots of fun — but why?

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I’ve read that Nicole Kidman bought the rights to Nine Perfect Strangers and is planning a series. Come to think of it, she would make the perfect Masha.

A Better Man by Louise Penny

A Better Man is the latest installment in Ms. Penny’s bestselling mystery series. If by chance, you’ve been banished in Siberia and aren’t aware of this series, please drop everything and start with her first Still Life – you should read them in order.

Don’t start with this one as you’ll just get confused. A Better Man, uses many references from her previous novels.

It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the Surete’s homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his second-in-command, and son-in-law, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. There’s massive flooding in Quebec and the mystery begins when a father reports his daughter missing. Sadly, the daughter is found dead in the flood waters and it becomes clear that she had been abused by her husband and was also pregnant. So, of course the main suspect is this abusive husband…but perhaps not.

Ms. Penny takes us through plot twists and sub plots, scattering suspects as we go along. There are surprising dynamics that lead to the crime(s) committed here — from the psychology of spousal abuse — to the Surete’s highly questionable manipulation of a suspect’s social media account.

I always look forward to the cozy time back in the village of Three Pines, where the characters (and the reader) can gather sustenance from the community. But we only get short respites in the village and its characters. Clara deals with harsh critique of her latest art — all brutally served up via social media. Ruth meddles where she shouldn’t and Myrna has a sweetheart.

I will take a short break here to quote the New York Times on this book:

“a constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves”

And there it is – A Better Man (like her previous two installments) is deeper and darker and for this reader that takes some getting used to. 

 Ms. Penny’s still writes beautifully and deftly takes the story in multiple directions, always building the tension.  But it is darker world for Three Pines and our beloved characters. 

Spousal abuse is only part of the dark story — Gamache’s past still haunts him and his career. Social media is used to hurt and maim. Global warming is causing unprecedented flooding. And is Gamache or Jean Guy the better man?

Yes, the series is turning darker, more brooding, but perhaps just more reflective of today’s societal influences. I still maintain that Ms. Penny delivers some of the best mystery writing out there.

And, true to form I found myself furiously caught up in A Better Man with much late night page turning.

Ms. Penny, I’m your biggest fan.

A Bitter Feast by Deborah Crombie

It’s a well known Book Barmy fact that Deborah Crombie writes one of my favorite mystery series.  My gushing affection for her novels is documented in past posts HERE.

This rainy morning with a nice cup of tea, I finished the latest, just released series installment — A Bitter Feast.

As the book opens, Ms. Crombie takes the London-based police team of Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James on an idyllic escape to the English Cotswolds.  With their children and fellow police detective, Doug, all are invited to spend a restful weekend in the village of Lower Slaughter. 

A village called Slaughter? Well played Ms. Crombie — what could possibly go wrong?   Actually it’s a double entendre — Slaughter comes from the Old English word ‘slothre’ meaning muddy place.  Just part of the wonderfully sly writing style Ms. Crombie brings to all her books.

A Bitter Feast starts off slowly with all the elements of a cozy mystery –  a picturesque village, a warm English pub, and the lovely manor house to which Melody has invited her fellow police crowd to stay for the weekend.  The manor house has a spectacular garden, the pub boasts a wonderful chef, and there’s a sense of tranquility around Duncan and Gemma’s getaway to the Cotswolds.

But, as to be expected when there’s an assembly of police officers — their restful holiday soon goes awry with car wrecks, murders, poisonings, and illicit village affairs.

But, here’s what separates A Bitter Feast (and all Ms. Crombie’s novels) from traditional cozy mysteries — her sly (there’s that word again) introduction of simple details that become vital later in the story.  Only later does the reader realize that clues were being scattered while the characters stroll in the garden or are enjoying a delicious meal. 

As always, Ms. Crombie’s characters are well-developed, as they have been over the course of the series. All my favorite characters are here, I know them well.  But interestingly, Ms. Crombie puts both Duncan and Gemma somewhat in the background (after all they’re on holiday remember?) and lets others to take the lead in the investigations of the crimes befalling Lower Slaughter.  Melody’s upper class background comes into full spotlight as we are introduced to her titled parents and manor house.  Especially interesting was to see Duncan’s 15 year old Kit acting well beyond his years and stepping into adulthood.

After the somewhat bleak tone of her previous novel, A Bitter Feast has a more cheerful atmosphere — the murders and poisonings notwithstanding.  No seriously, it was lovely to join everyone at cozy pub in the evenings, to partake in a charity luncheon on the magnificent grounds of the manor house, and to look on as children played with dogs on the lawns.

But don’t be seduced by the lovely setting with its quaint cottages and gardens.  There is always a overshadowing — a quaint and cheerful cottage during the daylight becomes creepy and sinister at night. A meticulously maintained showstopper garden could be the source for a poisonous substance.  Nothing is as is a idyllic as it seems.

The food — oh did I mention the food?  The food dishes are described in luscious detail and the inside of the house restaurant scenes are fascinating.  Ms. Crombie has long said she chose England as her setting, so she could go every year to do research for her series.  In A Bitter Feast, she obviously took much pleasure in exploring food and the restaurant scene.  The descriptions of how a Michelin star restaurant menu is created, one painstaking dish at a time, is some of her best writing ever.

So entranced by the setting, I Googled Lower Slaughter and here’s a video of its beauty HERE.

A Bitter Feast is a purely wonderful, chunky book and well worth buying in hardcover right now.  As is custom, Ms. Crombie and her publishers include a hand drawn map of the setting on the flyleaf (hardcover only – worth the price alone).  Here’s just a sample:

As you can tell, I highly recommend any of Ms. Crombie’s series, but A Bitter Feast has to be one of my favorites so far.

Now comes the hard part – waiting for the next one. 

Many thanks to Harper Collins for providing an advanced readers copy.

 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

My other corking* good vacation book was Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.

Ursula Todd is born on a stormy winter night in 1911. Because of the snow storm the midwife doesn’t make it on time to deliver the baby, so the baby dies. End of story.

Not quite.

Life After Life, as the title implies, is all about  ‘do overs’.  Ursula is born again and this time she survives. But only for a few days. So the ‘do over’ button is pressed again. And again, and again, and again. And in a real twist, these lives aren’t at all  linear.  In one life Ursula may live into her twenties, the next life, she only lives until her teens. Then, we’re moved forward to another life when she’s in her thirties. Then, we go back to when she’s still a schoolgirl. 

Each time Ursula retains something from her prior life, a forewarning, something that could change the future outcome of events, perhaps even history.  We are introduced to characters who go unexplained until later.  Little images and scenes come back later with greater meaning and you nod your head as you recognize the significance after all.

Crazy and confusing right? 

Trust me it’s actually not. 

Yes, Life After Life is an unusual book, and if you’re like me it will take a few chapters to get into the perplexing style — but once once you settle in — it’s an amazing read.   You have to be willing to recalibrate and I often had to flip back to see when and where I was (For that reason alone, I recommend reading this in physical book form, it would be hard to navigate in e-book format).  Once the pace of the book becomes familiar, you won’t be able to put it down. 

Ms. Atkinson is a sophisticated writer with an impressive vocabulary and uses bits of Latin, French phrases, and entire paragraphs written in German (sometimes loosely translated, sometimes not at all).  She also references obscure books and quotes philosophers such as Nietzsche and Camus.  But please don’t let this dissuade you — Life After Life is not overly intellectual — trust me I got most of it and I don’t have a PhD — just a good dictionary.  Here’s an example (I’ve provided the definition):

Time isn’t circular,’ she said to Dr. Kellet.  ‘It’s like a … palimpsest.’
‘Oh dear,’ he said. ‘That sounds vexing.’
‘And memories are sometimes in the future.’

 Ahh, I can hear you saying that’s the oldest premise ever (thinking Groundhog Day aren’t you?), but trust me dear Barmy readers, Ms. Atkinson’s imagination and creativity takes Life After Life to a whole new level.  She goes an unusual route to show that our character and choices don’t matter much either way. At times, Ursula gets killed in the exact same place and in the same way whether she’s a coward or a hero; a British secretary or high level civil servant; or even a German hausfrau. 

There is an impending feeling of dread as we wait to see what happens next to poor Ursula, but this is interspersed with humor and tenderness — mixing poignancy with a wry insights.  What I found most fascinating was this book took me everywhere from country village life, to 1960’s London, the Blitz and even (and somewhat unbelievably) Hitler’s Berchtesgaden.

There is literary genius in the manipulated narrative, but at its heart, Life After Life is simply a wonderful story, with many, many layers, tipped upside down and strewn about.  This book still has me thinking about possibilities and the role both choice and chance play in our lives.

In true appreciation, this goes on the keeper shelf for a second read.

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*Corking:  A British term:  extremely fine —often used as an intensive, especially before good — I had a corking good time.

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Hello all.

I read two corking vacation books – both were long, involved, and wonderful.

The first, The Cottingley Secret is a rather clever fictional take on the famous true story of the Cottingley fairies. Back in 1917, when photography was still fairly basic and people were less cynical, two young girls took photos of fairies they claimed played at the bottom of their garden.  The public was fascinated and divided on whether the photos were real or a hoax.

The novel opens in  2017 with Olivia who works as a bookbinder in London and is engaged to a man she knows is not right for her. After her mother died when Olivia was young, she was raised by her grandparents in Ireland where her grandfather owned a secondhand bookshop.  Now her beloved grandfather has died, leaving her the family cottage and his beloved shop.  She heads back to Ireland to see to the bookshop and check on her grandmother, who’s living in an assisted living home, suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Just before her grandfather died, he sent her a manuscript — ‘Notes On a Fairy Tale’  by Frances Griffiths — a family heirloom that’s been handed down to the women in her family over the years.  Olivia pulls it out to take with her to Ireland and begins reading.

Via the manuscript, we go back in time and learn about nine-year-old Frances Griffiths and her mother—both newly arrived in the UK from South Africa in 1917.  They are staying with Frances’ aunt and 16 year old cousin Elise in the village of Cottingley in West Yorkshire, while Frances’ father is fighting in WWI.

The cousins played together beside the beck (stream) at the bottom of the garden, much to both mother’s annoyance, because they often came back with muddy feet and wet clothes. Frances and Elsie said they only went to the beck to see the fairies:

I know that the best time to see them is in that perfect hour before sunset when the sun sinks low on the horizon like a ripe peach and sends shafts of gold bursting through the trees. The ‘in between.’ I call it. No longer day, not yet night; some other place and time when magic hangs in the air and the light plays tricks on the eye. You might easily miss the flash of violet and emerald, but I see their misty forms among the flowers and leaves. I know my patience will be rewarded if I watch and listen. If I believe.

To try an prove their story, Elsie borrows her father’s camera.  The resulting photographs allegedly captured images of fairies and the girls think the matter settled within the family.  But a few years later, the photos come to the attention of author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who featured the story in a 1920 issue of  ‘The Strand Magazine’.  Because the renowned Arthur Conan Doyle was convinced that the photographs were proof that fairies existed, the story gained wide coverage and interest.   The girls are thrust into the limelight and the photos are scrutinized and tested  — experts hoping to prove a hoax.

Meanwhile we follow Olivia as she starts to appreciate the slower pace of the seaside village and begins to feel at home. The bookshop has brought back wonderful memories and she is rediscovers her love of reading books, not just binding them.  The manuscript has given her a magical piece of history that connects the Cottingley fairy photographs to the mother she lost when she was young – possibly with a hint of fairy magic.  She begins to reassess her life and decides to stay and manage the bookstore, unable to bring herself to sell it — also she has made friends with a widow and his young daughter — who happily believes in fairies.   Olivia herself is experiencing some strange occurrences with fairies appearing in her dreams and unexplained flowers being left by her bed.

I won’t give away any more of the plot but I have since done a few Google searches on the Cottingley fairies. It’s an amazing story that captured the public’s imagination for decades.  After years of Frances and Elsie sticking to their story of the fairy photographs being real, they finally revealed in the 1970’s that the photos were faked — they used cut out paintings of fairies drawn by Elsie and used hat pins to pin them to the ground.  All except for the last photo which they’ve claimed was the only real photograph out of all of the pictures they took over the years.

Here are the original photographs from 1917:

 

And the one photo claimed to be of real fairies.

 

With today’s photo-shopped images it is hard to believe that once people saw photos as truth.. But then again, this was a time right after WWI when people wanted desperately to believe in the possibility of fairies and spirits

The Cottingley Secret is a book of imagination and make-believe made even more fascinating because it’s based on the true tale behind two young girls and their fairy friends.  At the end of the book, Ms. Gaynor shows us the actual photos with her own author narrative and there’s even a letter from Frances Griffiths’ daughter – delightful.

I finished this book with a smile on my face.

I’ll close with my favorite quote from the book:

“There is more to every photograph than what we see-more to the story than the one the camera captures on the plate. You have to look behind the picture to discover the truth.”

 

Advanced readers copy provided by Harper Collins via LibraryThing.

Thank you