Two Months of Reading

A few years ago I read several of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr Burglar series. They are filled with tongue in cheek tales of Bernie the Burlar. I had not, although owning several, read any of the Matthew Scudder series. This series falls into the hard boiled classification, but are alight with bits of humor sprinkled throughout. The one I have now read, though it was on tape, is A Walk Among the Tombstones. I read it during a four airports, three airplanes each way trip and often received odd looks from people around me when I laughed out loud (including my husband).

I read in book form Caleb Carr's second book in his series about early 1900's New York City psychiatrist and children's advocate, Laslo Kreitzler, The Angel of the Darkness about the murders of several children committed by Elsnor (Lizzie) Hatch. In giving you the name of the murderess, I do not give away the details of the story, as it proceeds with the assumption of Lizzie's guilt and sets about to prove it. If you have not read the first book in the series The Alienist, I suggest that you do, as the second book assumes facts not in evidence and knowledge of the characters makes the understanding of this complex story, much easier to comprehend.

On the lighter side, I have been reading several of Charlotte MacLeod's books. I have just finished , a Sarah Kelling Bittersohn mystery. MacLeod is brilliant. Her books provide humor due mainly to her use of long and unusual words, the meanings of which can easily be understood in the context, but which would be difficult to introduce into our own conversations. Her penchant for ridiculous names also adds to the fun. Jeremy Kelling, called Uncle Jem, Callpurnia Vickery (Callie), Adolphus Kelling (Cousin Dolph) and so on. After the complexity of Caleb Carr's work, Charlotte MacLeod was a delightful dessert.

I have begun to read, on tape, Dennis Lehane's book, Sacred. I have met Mr. Lehane and his conversational skills are witty, quick and irreverent. This wonderful sense of humor does not show itself in this tale of Boston PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. This is strictly of the hard boiled PI genre. The presence of a female partner makes some concession to the classic male chauvinistic, rough talking, hard drinking PI, but does not make enough of one. I am truly sorry

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