Garnethill - Book #103

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| Title | Garnethill |
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| Author |Denise Mina |
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| Genre |Mystery (Tartan Noir) |
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| Pages |349 |
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| Publisher |Carroll & Graf |
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| Copyright |1998 |
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Synopsis (from web-site)
Maureen O'Donnell wasn't born lucky. A psychiatric patient and survivor of sexual abuse, she's stuck in a dead-end job and a secretive relationship with Douglas, a shady therapist. Her few comforts are making up stories to tell her psychiatrist, the company of friends, and the sweet balm of whisky. She is about to end her affair with Douglas when she wakes up one morning to find him in her living room with his throat slit.
Viewed in turn by the police as a suspect and as an uncooperative, unstable witness, Maureen is even suspected by her alcoholic mother and self-serving sisters of being involved. Worse than that, the police won't tell her anything about Douglas's death.
Panic-stricken and feeling betrayed by friends and family, Maureen begins to doubt her own version of events. She retraces Douglas's desperate last days and picks up a horrifying trail of rape, deception...and suppressed scandal at a local psychiatric hospital where she had been an inmate. But the patients won't talk and the staff are afraid, and when a second brutalized corpse is discovered, Maureen realises that unless she gets to the killer first, her life is in danger.

Why I read It

After reading Val McDermid I was looking up her backlist and the wikipedia entry made reference to Tartan Noir - a gritty sub-genre of mystery books taking place in Scotland. Among the featured authors was one of my all time favorites Ian Rankin, and some others (Chris Brookemyre & Iain Banks) that my library system only has one book by them. Since I have liked all the books I have read in the genre so far I decided to try a few more of the authors.

The Good
Decent story and mystery. Focuses on the mentally ill not as dangerous but rather as people with problems; which is very unique (and as someone who worked in the field for a few years it is much appreciated to see a more realistic approach).

The Bad
As a first novel it had its stilted moments and the plot advanced a little too conveniently at times. Some character developments were left incomplete.

The Ugly (my opinion)
Overall I liked it and will be reading the next book in the series shortly. The only downside with reading these type of books is you are left with the impression that Scotland is the most dangerous country in the world. Even in the little seaside village of Lochdubh they are killing people like crazy.

The Truth? (other reviews)
Garnethill won the Crime Writers Association John Creasy Dagger for Best First Crime Novel in 1998.

Mormon Mentions
None

Author BiographyDenise Mina was born in Glasgow in 1966. Because of her father's job as an engineer, the family followed the north sea oil boom of the seventies around Europe, moving twenty one times in eighteen years from Paris to the Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen. She left school at sixteen and did a number of poorly paid jobs: working in a meat factory, bar maid, kitchen porter and cook. Eventually she settle in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients.

At twenty one she passed exams, got into study Law at Glasgow University and went on to research a PhD thesis at Strathclyde University on the ascription of mental illness to female offenders, teaching criminology and criminal law in the mean time.
Misusing her grant she stayed at home and wrote a novel, 'Garnethill' when she was supposed to be studying instead.

It is about the bike today

My goal is to bike commute throughout the winter - that's right, the MINNESOTA winter. I figure if I can do that I can do anything and we should be able to become a one car family again**

Anyways the last few weeks have been chilly but relatively okay. The clear skies have allowed some pretty spectacular scenery even on my short little jaunt. Here are a few shots of the geese (& ducks) who are using the local pond as a resting place on their way south.

Here is a bonus shot of our new law enforcement center/jail being built in the downtown for those of you who are familiar with the area.

Essentially you have the twin towers on one end and the Paramount on the other - everything in between was torn down for the project.

The Best of the 2000's

Saw this via BCC

The best commercials of the 2000's according to Ad Week Media. Saw a lot of old favorites, but I have included two here - the most powerful:

And the funniest:

I also vividly remember the Volkswagon Like add as well.

Please go watch them all

The Distant Echo - Book #102

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| Title | The Distant Echo |
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| Author |Val McDermid |
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| Genre |Mystery (Tartan Noir) |
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| Pages |404 |
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| Publisher |St. Martins |
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| Copyright |2003 |
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Synopsis (from web-site)
Four in the morning, mid-December, and snow is smothering St Andrews. Student Alex Gilbey and his three best friends are staggering home from a party when they stumble upon the body of a young woman. Rosie Duff has been raped, stabbed and left for dead in the ancient Pictish cemetery. And the only suspects are the four young students stained with her blood. Twenty-five years later, Fife police mount a cold case review. Among the unsolved murders they're examining is that of Rosie Duff. But someone else has their own idea of how justice should be done. One of the original quartet dies in a suspicious house fire. Soon after, a second is killed in what looks like a burglary gone sour. But Alex fears the worst. Someone is taking revenge for Rosie Duff. He has to find out who it is before he becomes the next victim. And it might just save his life if he can uncover who really killed Rosie all those years ago.

Why I read It
Was watching Masterpiece Mysteries Contemporary on PBS and saw it was based on a book by Val McDernid. I did a little research and ended up selecting this standalone mystery (as she also has 3 different series as well).

The Good
Excellent analysis of how any involvement in a crime (in this case just finding the body) can wreck havoc on your life. It also shows how false accusations and beliefs can have endless repercussions. The plot moves along nicely and I did figure out the mystery about halfway through, but that seems more like a lucky guess on my part rather than any weakness in the book. A more literary approach too many of the themes in this book can be found in Atonement by Ian McEwan.

The Bad
Nothing except my personal preferences. What I mean by that is I cannot point to anything in particular I did not like, it just wasn’t hitting with me say like Ian Rankin does. Anotherwords it was all that but sans the bag of chips.
The Ugly (my opinion)
Well worth the read. I will be reading the rest of her backlist as time permits.

The Truth? (other reviews)
Shots Magazine

Mormon Mentions
No

Author BiographyCrime writer Val McDermid grew up in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, and studied English at Oxford University. She trained as a journalist and worked on various national newspapers for 14 years before becoming a writer. Her first published book was Report for Murder (1987), and since then, she has written a large number of crime novels.

What Would Tommy Monson Do?

I had what we in the RM business call a golden opportunity, but I let it pass unanswered.

The Set-up. I was at the Doctor's for my annual check up and was being registered by the new medical assistant. She was an extremely bubbly 50 something who talked excitedly the whole time she took my vitals. Then she began typing in ny history including my living arrangements.

I said I was married and lived in my own home. She began typing lives with wife but accidentally wrote wifes.

Her: "Oh look, I have given you extra wives" (followed by laughter)
I immediately felt like I should say "Well actually I am Mormon," and then possibly have a gospel conversation.

Instead I resisted the impression and just gave her a courtesey laugh and let the moment pass.

Missionary Fail :-(

So True

I saw this at Junior Ganymede

Juliet Naked - Book #101

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| Title | Juliet Naked |
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| Author |Nick Hornby |
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| Genre |Adult Fiction |
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| Pages |406 |
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| Publisher |Riverhead Books |
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| Copyright |2009 |
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Synopsis (from web-site)

In a dreary seaside town in England, Annie loves Duncan—or thinks she does, because she always has. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn’t anymore. So Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

She sparks an e-mail correspondence with Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanesque singer-songwriter who stopped making music twenty-two years ago, and who is also Duncan’s greatest 
obsession. A surprising connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they’ve got. Tucker’s been languishing (and he’s unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional, familial, and artistic ruin—his young son, Jackson. But then there’s also the material he’s about to release to the world, an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Juliet, titled Juliet, Naked. And he’s just been summoned across the Atlantic with Jackson to face his multitude of ex-wives and children (both just discovered and formerly neglected), in the same country where his intriguing new Internet friend resides.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a 
restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one’s promise.

Why I read ItLove Nick Hornby and have read all of his books.

The Good
It seems he is hitting a lot of his favorite topics – music and relationships. A fun story providing an inside look at a retired reclusive rock star and his obsessive and not so obsessive fans.

The Bad
What happens?? Hornby uses the open nonending so you are not quite sure what happens. I know what I want so I for me that is the ending I have imagined.

The Ugly (my opinion)
Another fun read from the master of romantic comedies for men. Well, he writes them from the man’s perspective which in itself is very unique. Great book for all you Hornby fans out there.

The Truth? (other reviews)

The Guardian
Wall Street Journal
Washington Post

Mormon Mentions
None.

Author BiographyNick Hornby is the author of the novels How to Be Good, High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down, as well as the memoir Fever Pitch. He is also the author of Songbook, a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and the editor of the short story collection Speaking with the Angel. The recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award for 1999 as well as the 2003 Orange Word International Writers’ London Award, he lives in North London.