Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery that Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens

 "We started out wondering who killed Hazel Drew; we wound up just as immersed in another, even more rudimentary mystery: Who was Hazel Drew?"

(Photo of Hazel Drew and Laura Palmer, fictional character from the television series "Twin Peaks.")

I hadn't read a true-crime mystery in quite a while and chose it from among the Amazon First Reads selections. I got through it but didn't really enjoy it. For one thing, I had to endure pages of "Dramatis Personae," as the authors introduce all the people involved in this icy-cold case, over 100 years old---the victim, Hazel Drew, the detectives, doctors, family, employers, friends, townsfolk, the press. As the story is told, they end up repeating many of these descriptions. There are SO many characters it is difficult to remember who's who.

I must admit the authors did an amazing amount of research, apparently 5 years' worth. It started when David Bushman heard an interview with Mark Frost, cocreator of the TV series, "Twin Peaks."  After hearing about the inspiration for the series, Bushman became compelled to delve into the 100-year-old unsolved mystery of the murder of Hazel Drew. Frost has even written the Foreword for the book. Unfortunately, I was completely unfamiliar with "Twin Peaks" so many comparisons of Hazel's death to the fictional one of Laura Palmer were lost on me. Perhaps, if I had seen the show I would have gotten more out of the book. 

The reader is forced to make it almost to the end of the book to find out WHO murdered Hazel Drew, in the opinion of Bushman and Givens. Obviously, the book held my interest since I finished it; there were parts I found interesting, but many were tiresome. I am rating it a 2.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

"At first, passing seemed so simple, she couldn't understand why her parents hadn't done it. But she was young then. She hadn't realized how long it takes to become somebody else, or how lonely it can be living in a world not meant for you."

          -Stella's thoughts, from the novel

This Page Turners' January selection was highly recommended by at least 2 members, and it did not disappoint. It was a family drama unfolding over about 20 years (1968-1988) and told from different perspectives. 

In a small black community in the South, we meet Desiree and Stella Vignes, twin daughters of Adele, all of whom are light skinned enough to pass for white. When the sisters run away at age 16, Stella decided to "pass over" while Desiree does not. Stella ends up marrying a wealthy white man and having a blonde, blue-eyed daughter, Kennedy. Meanwhile Desiree had wed a black man with very dark skin and has given birth to Jude, a daughter with her father's coloring. The twin sisters lose touch for almost 20 years, but their daughters fatefully connect in some interesting ways. (Almost incredibly so.) The chapters alternate in telling Desiree's, Stella's, Jude's and Kennedy's stories, making for a real page turner.

I finished this novel in the same week I saw 2 plays involving race issues. "Sweetwater Taste" was about a black man facing mortality who wants to be buried in the family cemetery which is segregated although the family tree has both black and white branches. "The Mountaintop" involves an intriguing (fictional) look at Martin Luther King, Jr.'s last night before his assassination at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. I can only hope I am a bit more enlightened about the black experience.

I am rating The Vanishing Half a 5. It should provide a rousing discussion for our book club when we meet this week. More then....

There is a good chance I'll eventually read The Mothers by this author.

----------------------

I was forced to miss the meeting to discuss The Vanishing Half due to a COVID exposure. That was not easy! May have been only the second I have missed in 13 years.

I had 3 awesome helpers filling in the facilitator duties. Here is what was reported: 

The discussion centered on the characters in the book, their gender and racial fluidity and the all-consuming task of trying to be someone or something you are not.  The group had lively conversations related to some of the questions provided. 

The novel was well-received with an average rating of 4.3, mostly 5's and 4's. I'm so appreciative of folks carrying on without me! Hope that doesn't happen again for a longgggg time!

Deep Sleep by Steven Konkoly

My Kindle says I read 54% of this book. That is all I could stand. I am a little surprised I made it that far! I will rate this spy thriller (far from thrilling to me!) a 2. I didn't feel there was a worthy quote to start with and I had no desire to make the effort to add a cover image.

This was a free Amazon First Read that was admittedly ill-chosen. Good Reads had it rated 4.06 and Amazon, a 4. Those folks giving high ratings must be a lot smarter than me because I was confused the whole half of the novel as to who was chasing who and why. I almost never give up on a book I have started but this time I had to make an exception. Life is too short to struggle through a novel when there are so many great ones out there!

If you decide to tackle this one, good luck!

Blood Hollow by William Kent Krueger

 "It would be easy if we all had visions, or if we all believed in those who did. My own feeling is that faith was never meant to be easy."

                            -Father Mal Thorne, from the novel

This is my fourth in the Cork O'Connor mystery series---another winner! It is "creme de la crime" to borrow a term from the author's acknowledgments. I have no doubt I will eventually read every novel in this series. Cork and his family are like good friends now.

Charlotte Kane, a lovely teenage girl is found dead, her body frozen near Cork's town of Aurora, Minnesota (a place I know well by now). Solemn Winter Moon, a young Ojibwe who has a reputation as a wild and reckless teenager, is charged with her murder. Cork had been a close friend of Solemn's father, now deceased, and fervently believes in his innocence. He persuades his wife, Jo O'Connor, a lawyer who often gives legal assistance to the Ojibwe people, to defend Solemn. She, in turn, enlists her husband, the former sheriff, to investigate and hopefully find other suspects. And boy, does he ever find some! Just when you think Cork's found the murderer, the plot jerks you back into turning more pages.

Not only does Krueger develop characters you care about (and some you can hate!), but he also weaves a compelling mystery and paints vivid pictures of the natural environment of Northern Minnesota.

This book deserves my 5 rating, but I am bidding farewell to Cork for a while to go back to some of my favorite genre, historical fiction. I will return soon to Mercy Falls, book 5.

Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger

 "You have a choice, Corcoran O'Connor. You can keep company with despair, or you can choose a different companion."     -Henry Meloux, from the novel

I would rate this one a 5+, one of the most exciting novels I have read in ages! This is number 3 in the Cork O'Connor series and my favorite so far. I have come to love this author.

Former sheriff of Aurora, Minnesota, Cork O'Connor cannot help getting involved in local crimes. This one starts out with a protest against cutting trees and a fire, leaving one man dead. It turns out the death was not accidental. Cryptic messages from someone calling himself "Eco-Warrior" have local law enforcement and even the FBI stumped for a time. A secondary plot has casino worker, John LePere, struggling with emotional problems caused by the drowning death of his brother.

The kidnapping of the wife and son of Karl Lindstrom III, lumber magnate, adds to the suspense but not only those two, but Cork's wife and young son, as well. As you would imagine, this adds to Cork's desperate efforts to find and rescue them. The perpetrators have different intentions, and the plot twists and turns to offer surprises and keep one turning pages. I could barely put the book down 3/4 through.

One of my favorite characters, other than Cork, who I feel like I know well by now, is Henry Meloux, an old Ojibwe medicine man. He is quoted above, and I think I quoted him in another post. He has such great wisdom and Cork consults him often.

If you like a great mystery, give this one a shot. I will be on to book 4, Blood Hollow. After that, maybe I will take a break and read something else. Maybe...

The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper by Jean Van Leeuwen

 "It's the perfect place to spend the winter. Besides all the comforts of my own little house, there is plenty of food just an escalator ride away, TV to while away the long winter nights, the electric train for excitement. And with the cop around, just enough danger to keep life interesting. Yes, I have made my decision. I will not set foot out of the store until spring."

              -Marvin the Magnificent, from the novel

This is one of my favorite books to read aloud to kids at Christmas time. Remembering my fondness for it, I wanted to share it with some new children at our church. (Sadly, my grandchildren are way too grown up and I am not sure I ever shared it with them.) It is out of print so a bit difficult to find. I did manage to order two used copies.

I reread the book in short order since I wanted to loan it out. Although I knew the plot quite well, I enjoyed it so much---an easy read and lots of laughs! Illustrations by Steven Kellogg are wonderfully detailed and comical. The book gets a 5 rating from me. Fantasy is not a favorite genre, as a rule, but when it comes to children's literature there are several exceptions. 

Marvin the Magnificent is the main character, a mouse with plenty of bravado. To get out of the cold New York December, he steps inside a store which turns out to be Macy's. As you see in the quote, he finds it the perfect home for a mouse. He soon decides to fetch his gang: Raymond the Rat (the smart one) and Fats the Fuse (well-named because he is "pleasingly plump" and has a fondness for explosives). 

The much-beloved Santa Claus of the Macy's toy department discovers the mice living in the doll house and is kind to them. When he goes missing, the gang decides he has been kidnapped and they must find and rescue him.

If I revealed anymore, I'd spoil the surprises. Just read and enjoy! (If you can find a copy!)

Merry Christmas! 

The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark

"A very special chorus of gratitude to the folks at Rockefeller Center for the joy they have given to countless millions of people over the past seven decades with their tradition of finding and decorating the most beautiful Christmas tree in the world."

                 -from Acknowledgments in the novel

This is the 2nd novel of one volume---both Christmas mysteries by Mary Higgins Clark, "America's Queen of Suspense," and her daughter.

Private investigator Regan Reilly returns in this novel, now engaged to Jack Reilly, head of Major Case Squad of NYPD, whom she met in Deck the Halls. The two are planning a long weekend in Vermont along with Regan's father and mother, Nora, a mystery writer, as well as friend and journalist/amateur detective Alvirah Meehan and her husband.  A new character is introduced, Opal Fogarty, a former lottery winner whose millions were scammed by Packy Noonan. Alvirah invites her friend Opal to come along on the trip.

If the protagonists are familiar, the antagonists are new. Packy Noonan's release from prison is imminent, after 12 years of incarceration for cheating investors out of almost $100 million dollars, Opal having been one of the victims. His accomplices are Jo Jo, Benny and the unsuspecting Milo. Their roles are arranging a getaway car for Packy's escape from parole and a hideaway until they can retrieve the hidden millions, long since converted to diamonds and secreted away. And wouldn't you know the hideaway is near the lodge where the Reillys and others are staying!

The third part of the plot is the well-publicized cutting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree from a property in Vermont, very close to the vacationing Reillys and friends. So, you guessed it: the title refers to the theft of THAT tree---all 80 feet and 3 tons of it! Sounds crazy, huh? I'll let you read to find out why and how that comes about.

I will rate The Christmas Thief a 2.5, pretty far-fetched but it kept me reading until the end.