Book Log 2019 #25: Blood & Ivy by Paul Collins

In 1849, Dr. George Parkman went missing after making a visit to the Harvard Medical School. While the search focused on where he may have gone after the visit, the school's janitor had the thought that Parkman may have never left the school. What followed is a classic true crime story, complete with the sort of investigative twists and legal drama that helps flesh out the whodunit.

I enjoyed this more than expected, possibly due to the case being local and thus involving locations and people with which I have some familiarity. It's well-paced and doesn't delve into hyperbole as some true crime books do. If you're interested in historical crime it's worth picking up.

 Book Log 2019 #24: The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes, and this book represents the last case of Gordianus the Finder, the Roman detective who has been involved in most of the major events in the last years of the Republic. Fittingly for the last book in the series, this one is set during the assassination of Julius Caesar.

At this point Gordianus has moved into a kind of semi-retirement, and is about to be made a Senator. He is summoned by Caesar a few days before the Ides of March to see if there are any plots brewing, and while Gordianus does get the sense that trouble is brewing, he (spoiler alert!) doesn't uncover the full conspiracy, with the history-making results we all know. 

This isn't a mystery in the same vein as the previous Gordianus books, but rather the assassination story as seen through Gordianus and his investigations. This is an effective approach to the killing, as you can't change what happened, and any case created to run parallel to events would always pale in comparison.

I was surprisingly moved by finishing this series, sad that I would no longer enjoy the exploits of Gordianus and his family. I had been hopeful at one point that the finding would be taken up by Diana, Gordianus' daughter, but that wasn't to be. This series gave me great joy over nearly 30 years (!) of reading, which I suppose I can only recapture by starting the series all over again.

 Book Log 2019 #23 Masyryk Station by David Downing

It's 1948, and postwar Berlin is still unsettled. Still occupied by the four Allied powers, there's a sense that this arrangement can't last much longer, and that if it does collapse it will be in favor of the Soviets. Journalist and spy John Russell continues to play the major powers against each other by working for both the NKVD and the new CIA, trying to keep both at bay while he tries to figure out a way to free himself from both.

Aiding him in this quest is his Soviet handler, who appears to be looking for his own way out. Together they put together a plan where they gain the sort of intelligence that will buy their freedom from one service and the silence of the other. 

This is the last book of the series, and is a fitting finale. 

 Book Log 2019 #22: The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian

If it wasn't enough that Jack the Ripper is back on the streets, there's now a second serial killer working in London, putting maximum pressure on Scotland Yard's Murder Squad to capture both. This gets Walter Day back on the case after being deskbound due to an injury. Neville Hammersmith isn't quite so lucky, as he's off the force, but as a private detective he enlists his own motley crew of helpers in the pursuit of Jack.

I had mixed feelings about Jack the Ripper making a reappearance, and was further concerned about grafting a second high-profile serial killer onto the existing story, but it turned out better than expected. At least for me as the reader; it's a decidedly mixed bag for Day and Hammersmith. 

 Book Log 2019 #21: Cover Her Face by P.D. James

A summer church fete and the personal intrigues of the family whose manor hosts the event combine when, on the day after the fete, the fiancée of the family's son turns up dead. With the locals a bit overwhelmed at investigating a murder, they call in Adam Dalgliesh, who uses his powers of detection to solve the case.

This is the introductory novel for Dalgliesh, and to be honest it's a little underwhelming. I didn't feel like he did that much detecting, but waited until the pressure on the family caused enough of the truth to come out that he just needed to finish the job. It's not a bad book per se, it was just a little surprising when compared to someone like Morse, who seems much more involved in his cases.

 Book Log 2019 #20: Through Darkest Europe by Harry Turtledove

In this alternative history, changes in both Islamic and Christian theology see the Islamic world become what we would consider the First World, while Europe stagnates and becomes a breeding ground for fundamentalist groups. Into this, a couple of investigators go to Rome to protect an Italian duke and the Pope in the hopes of keeping the violence common in their part of the world from spreading into the Middle East.

There's not much to recommend about this book. The plot isn't particularly interesting, and while the investigative duo are entertaining they don't do that much actual investigating. It's all a bit ham-handed and clumsy. You'd be much better off reading The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (which I apparently read before starting the Book Log), which approaches a similar idea with much better results. 

 Book Log 2019 #19: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

In 1862, 11 year old Willie Lincoln died after contracting typhoid fever. He was interred at a cemetery in Georgetown, and Abraham Lincoln reportedly visited his crypt often. It's from this start that we get a story of how Willie's soul is in peril, and may be potentially stuck in this transitional space between death and whatever comes after death known as the bardo.

I don't think any explanation I can give here is going to do this book justice (not to mention it's been too long since I've read it to comment on it accurately). So I'm just going to recommend it highly.