The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe

The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan Poe
1841, 1995, Penguin, London
0146001915
56p.

A woman and her daughter are found murdered in a house in Paris. The daughter throttled and jammed up a chimney, the mother's throat slashed. As Paris reels from these horrific murders, an amateur detective and his friend go through the evidence to solve the crime.

A great little murder mystery from Edgar Allan Poe. I like reading these old mysteries, they give a feel for the time in which they were written. This story is quite clever and the solution unpredictable.

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Home Truths by David Lodge

Home Truths
David Lodge
1999, 2000, Penguin, London
0140290133
135p.

Novella treatment of a screen-play written by David Lodge and set in 1997. Retired author Adrian Ludlow is convinced by his old friend screen-writer Sam Sharp to get back at a reporter who wrote a negative article about Sharp.

I knew the ending was coming from nearly the beginning of the story, and it made me not want to read it. I got very upset on page 5 when I saw what was coming, but I did continue on. This was very well written, I can see it as a play. It has a great depth of character, and the exploration of the themes of media and celebrity was brilliantly conceived. And knowing what was coming in the end just heightened this.

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The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time
Josephine Tey
1951, 1995, Scribner, New York
0684803860
206p.

While recovering in hospital, Scotland Yard Inspector Grant begins to research the story of Richard III, popularly believed to have murdered his nephews. But upon looking deeper into the history of the time, cracks in this otherwise established fact begin to appear.

What a brilliant little book! I didn't know anything about this story, and I find British royal history confusing at the best of times, but this was written so well. And we never left that hospital room ... I thought that was a clever literary device. Purely academic detective work.

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The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

The Tiger Rising
Kate DiCamillo
2001, Scholastic, Cambridge
043938995X
116p.

Rob lives in a motel in Florida with his father after his mother died from cancer. One day he finds a tiger locked in a cage just behind the motel, and also meets a new girl on the school bus. They become friends and decide to let the tiger go free.

This is a lovely little story, if a bit sappy. I liked how the characters had to work through their problems, and that it showed that it's ok to change. The imagery of the little green bird flying free at the end was beautiful.

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City in Love: The New York Metamorphoses by Alex Shakar

City in Love: The New York Metamorphoses
Alex Shakar
1996, 2002, Perennial, New York
0060508838
164p.

Book of short stories set in the city of New York. Included stories are The Sky Inside; A Million Year from Now; Waxman's Sun; Maximum Carnage; On Morpheus, Relating to Orpheus ...; A Change of Heart; City in Love.

This is a whimsical collection of stories, showcasing a vast imagination and true understanding of the human beast. The characters were very real, and I found myself not wanting to leave them. Waxman's Sun was especially poignant.

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Body Double by Tess Gerritsen

Body Double
Tess Gerritsen
2004, Random House, Sydney
0593050509
339p.

When Boston ME Dr. Maura Isles returns home from a holiday in France, she is faced with a murder which occurred right outside her front door. And the victim is her exact double.

Another great thriller from Gerritsen. What it lacks in believability, it makes up for in sheer pace, twists and gruesomeness.

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Animals in Translation: The Woman who Thinks like a Cow by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson

Animals in Translation: The Woman who Thinks like a Cow
Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
2005, 2006, Bloomsbury, London
0747566690
307p.

Temple Grandin is an autistic woman who works with the meat-packing industry to ensure animal welfare standards. This book talks about her research into animals of all kinds, and her findings and ideas on how they think, feel and act, and how that relates to humans both with and without autism.

This is a very special book. It contains oodles of information, mostly of an academic nature, about animals and their behaviours. It is written as though Grandin is standing up giving a lecture, which means it tends to be a bit repetitive. However, it is easy to understand, and the content is interesting enough to keep the reader hooked.

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