Mumpy's Library

The Oxford Murders

Looking for an intriguing novel to begin the New Year?

Mystery, Murders, Motivations and Mathematics.

This books has it all.

The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez is not just a fascinating murder mystery but also a puzzle that captures the reader and keeps you feverishly turning pages until the end. 

The story is told from the perspective of an Argentinian mathematics graduate student who has just arrived at Oxford and is enjoying the novelty of English subtleties and a tendency toward reserved silence until this tranquil world is upset by a series of murders.  The first murder is of his elderly landlady, Mrs. Eagleton.  He discovers her body in her parlor while accompanied by the renowned logician Arthur Seldom.  Seldom then reveals that he had received a message with the words, "the first of a series" and the address of Mrs. Eagleton with the time 3 p.m. written beneath.  The paper also contained a symbol, a carefully drawn circle in black ink.  The beginning of a logic puzzle, the solution to which may be the only clue to stopping the murders.

A Long Shadow

A Long Shadow is the newest installment in the Ian Rutledge mystery series by Charles Todd.  Rutledge, a police detective still recovering the emotional effects of what he experienced in the trenches of the Great War, sets out to solve the mystery of a bizarre shooting of a small village policeman with a bow and arrow.  What he unearths however is an unsolved missing persons case, a haunted wood that illuminates the superstitious nature of the villagers and people who may not be who they claim.  All of this while being hounded by an unknown adversary, a"dead" soldier as one boy describes him, who's attacks are escallating with no clue as to his identity.  A thrilling read!

The Unburied

The Unburied begins with a search for a lost manuscript that could make or break the academic career of the eccentric main character Edward Courtine.  While a grand mystery unfurls, with many twists and turns including a grisly murder, Courtine's tenuous grasp on reality begins to show signs of wear about the edges. 
Charles Palliser, author of The Unburied and Quincunx, is a master of character development.  The Unburied becomes an interesting illumination of obsessions and motivations.

The Company

I have just finished the first Company novel In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker.  A novel full of brilliant science fiction concepts yet surprisingly character driven. 
An excellent introduction to The Company! 

The Grand Complication

The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil is a pure work of art.  The mystery which revolves around the search for a lost historical timepiece contains all of the elements of an intriguing mystery.  The eccentric characters are an added pleasure while the construction of the text itself into a novel of 360 pages reflecting the importance of the timepiece is truly inspired.

The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon

The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon is an amazing read.  The tinder of plague, the wood of drought and the flame of religious intolerance begin a wildfire of riots against the Jews or "New Christians" in the Lisbon massacre of April 1506.  During the onset of the riots the lead character, Berekiah Zarco, discovers the body of his murdered uncle and that of a young woman.  Details at the murder scene lead Berekiah to conclude that his uncle, a kabbalist wise man, was murdered not by an "Old Christian" but by one of their own.  The novel then takes off at a feverish pace and the methodical study of his uncle's murder is all that anchors Berekiah amidst the chaos of violence and terror.  Although graphic (contains physical and sexual violence) this is an outstanding novel.

Between Myself And Them

Between Myself and Them is the best collection of disability short stories that I have ever read. Ever.
Between Myself and Them is a book that you will want to own multiple copies of; one for yourself and copies to lend out to friends, family, coworkers and yes even your doctors.  You will not only want to share the enjoyment of this book (for which there is an abundance) you will also want to spread the 'understanding.'  There are so many universal disability truths and experiences shared in Between Myself and Them that will allow the able-bodieds in our lives to 'get it', to really understand what it is to be different, and will have the crip community nodding it's collective head in agreement.

I would like to thank Second Story Press for the opportunity to review such an enjoyable literary treasure.

A Shadow On The Glass

A Shadow On The Glass book one of the The View from the Mirror series by Ian Irvine was one of the best fantasy novels that I have ever read.  I am currently finishing up The Tower on the Rift, book two of this series, and Irvine continues to keep the reader enthralled.  This series is massive without being unwieldy.  A true masterpiece.  Mumpy highly recommends!

Zanesville: A Novel

I was given the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of Zanesville: A Novel. I had some high expectations for this book, since I usually enjoy off kilter novels, however I found this one a bit lacking.  It seemed to me that author Kris Saknussemm was trying too hard to shock the reader (through often unneccessarily graphic descriptions) and not enough effort on keeping the plot cohesive.  But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself.  Zanesville will be available from Villard Publishing October 11, 2005.

Pardonable Lies

Jacqueline Winspear has created another mystery masterpiece with her third Maisie Dobbs novel Pardonable Lies.

Maisie Dobbs, female sleuth and former battlefield nurse, tackles three major cases in Pardonable Lies.  Maisie is brought in by inspector Stratton of Scotland Yard to interview a young girl suspected of murder.  Although evidence puts her at the scene of the crime  Maisie believes in the girl's innocence.  Sensitive to the loss of her own mother at a young age Maisie strives to find the truth before young Avril Jarvis is  separated from her mother permanently with a life prison sentence.  Upon arriving home to her room at the Compton residence she finds Lord Compton waiting for her with a request to assist his friend Sir Cecil Lawton prove his son's death.  Lawton's wife never believed the reports that her son had died in France during the War and on her deathbed made Sir Cecil promise to find their  son.   This leads Maisie's friend Priscilla to ask her to conduct a similar investigation into the death of her eldest brother Peter.  Priscilla lost  all three of her beloved brothers in the War yet Peter's body was never found. 

Maisie with two cases leading her back to France must face her own demons in her search for truth.  Maisie must find the strength to face her own bloody past  if she  is to  find out what truly happened to these two soldiers. 

Pardonable Lies releases August 2005 and is currently available for preorder through Amazon.  I highly recommend this novel for any fan of the mystery genre, however giving this book the mystery label does not in fact do it justice.  Winspear breaks beyond the bounds of popular mystery fiction providing us with the clues and investigations that we have grown to love while providing a rich tapestry of historical context and  introducing characters with a depth rarely found in modern fiction.