Author: Andrew Taylor

This book came to me from Deloise. It was on the shelf on Texada and I kept putting off starting it; it’s big and you know the rules. The book is actually three books in one, hence the size of it.

The Last Four Things

The story starts out when Michael and Sally Appleyard’s daughter, Lucy, had been taken. Michael is a Detective Sergeant and Sally is a Deacon in the Church of England. Could the kidnapping be related to either of their professions? There were always those who wanted revenge for an arrest and there were certainly many who did not believe women had a place in the church hierarchy. Shortly before the kidnapping, during Lucy’s first service, an unhinged woman disrupts the sermon with obscene curses. By the end of the book we know who the kidnapper was and the unhinged woman is also identified.

The Judgement of Strangers

In this book, a prequel to the previous one, Michael is a young boy and living with his godfather, David Byfield, for the summer. David is also a minister in the Church of England but is very much opposed to the ordination of women. As a widower, David is raising his daughter, Rosemary, on his own. But when he meets Vanessa he is smitten and the two wed. After a few mysterious animal deaths in the community, and some very un-ministerial conduct on the part of David, Vanessa is murdered by Rosemary during a summer party at the neighbours.

The Office of the Dead

Going even further back, we meet Rosemary (Rosie) as a young girl living with her mother, Janet, and David. Janet’s recently-divorced friend, Wendy, has come to stay with the family while she sorts herself out. Janet’s father, who is slipping deeper and deeper into senility, completes the family living in the house. When David decides that Janet’s father must move to a nursing home the news doesn’t go over well. One morning the father is found dead and it is believed to be suicide. When the police aren’t satisfied with that explanation Janet overdoses on sleeping pills and takes the blame. But was it really her?

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Author: Andrew Taylor

I picked this book up from a free shelf in the waiting room at BC Ferries in Comox as we were returning from Asher’s grad. I had started an electronic book but I wasn’t enjoying it so thought I’d switch to this one.

Two young boys have started a club where they imagine a world set in ancient Rome. They reluctantly add two more players to the core team but the power starts to shift and, eventually, a tragic accident kills one of them. But was it an accident? Many years later the past creeps into the present and one of the boys is searching for answers.

I was able to figure out the mystery shortly before the ending. I found the characters and their relationships to one another confusing; there were siblings, step-siblings, parents, husbands and ex-husbands.

Goodreads Rating: * *

Author: Winston Graham

This is the second book of the Poldark series and covers the time between the birth and death of Demelza and Ross’s daughter, as well as the beginning and end of Ross’s copper smelting endeavour.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

Author: David Grann

I saw the previews for the movie that was inspired by this book but I thought it might be violent and upsetting. I borrowed the book from the library and was surprised that the story was very different from what I had imagined. I think I might be ready to see the movie now.

This book tells the true story of a series of murders of First Nations people in order to take control of their oil rights.It confirms how ill-treated and disrespected the Osage tribe were. Solving these murders was the first case of the very newly-formed FBI under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover.

Goodreads Rating: * * *