'14' Tracks Nashville Serial Killer

Southern setting + mystery series + female author + female protagonist = a book I am definitely interested in reading. J.T. Ellison is a Nashville writer and the creator of the Taylor Jackson mystery series. Ellison combines all of my favorite things in this series. Taylor's story began with Ellison's 2007 debut novel All the Pretty Girls. The twenty-something Nashville homicide lieutenant rose through the ranks quickly and has made a name for herself among her peers at a young age. In the first book, she and the Nashville PD were helped by Taylor's love interest, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, as they chased the Southern Strangler killer.

In 14, the second book in this series, Taylor and her team work to beat the clock and solve the Snow White murders. Taylor and Baldwin are scheduled to be married in just a few short days, and she can't bear the thought of leaving this case unsolved. The Snow White killer was a 1980s phenomenon who stopped killing and disappeared into thin air almost twenty years ago. When new victims begin popping up, the Nashville PD is determined to bring this long-term killer to justice. Things become complicated when Taylor's own father is named as a person of interest in crimes connected to the murders.

Ellison has created a strong female lead character with homicide detective Taylor Jackson. While not quite on par with experienced female mystery writers such as Patricia Cornwell and Sue Grafton, Ellison offers an interesting plot with likeable characters. This series is definitely a must-read for local Nashvillians (and those of us who live close enough that we consider it our own), and not only because it is chock-full of Nashville references.

Ellison is currently offering the first novel in this series as a free ebook download. Take advantage of the gratis reading, and jump-start your introduction to the Taylor Jackson series. Ellison has released two other Taylor Jackson books, and the series' fifth novel is set to come out in October 2010. She will be appearing in Nashville several times in the next few months; check out her tour schedule for dates.

Yachting Around With 'A Rather Curious Engagement'

In my quest to read C. A. Belmond's "Rather" series, I've now finished the second book, A Rather Curious Engagement. It was every bit as charming as Belmond's introduction to heroine and heiress Penny Nichols in A Rather Lovely Inheritance.

Penny and her cousin-but-not-really Jeremy are deeply in love after realizing their feelings for one another in the first book. With their shared inheritance gained in the first installment of this series, from great aunt Penelope, they make life decisions that will hopefully change their lives for the better. First on the list is obtaining an antique yacht Jeremy has lusted after for some time. After winning the boat at an auction, Penny and Jeremy run into more secrets and trouble. With a boat-jacking, long-lost antiques, and lots of history, Belmond sends her readers on an adventure around the Mediterranean.

Penny and Jeremy visit Lake Como, Italy; Antibes, France; and other exotic locale. Their thuggish cousin Rollo actually helps them in their first "case" to investigate as lovers and business partners -- that of a missing antique lion with ties to composer Beethoven. The elderly count and former owner of their yacht is a collector of aquamanilia (and yes, you should click on this link -- I had no idea what this was until it was explained in the book). The Count has been on a years-long search for one particular piece -- the so-called Beethoven Lion. Penny and Jeremy begin researching not only the link between this piece and the famed composer, but also the family ties that exist between the Count and the metalworker who created it.

While these aren't books that would win a National Book Award or a Pulitzer Prize, Belmond's series is consistently entertaining. She combines history lessons with romance and intrigue in her series that offers interesting characters and fun locations. Her latest was released in February, and is next on my list.

'Deadly Decisions' Offers Murderous Biker Gangs and Traitorous Loved Ones

The third installment in Kathy Reichs's Bones-inspiring series featuring Tempe Brennan began as nothing much to write home about. Halfway through, however, Deadly Decisions grabbed my attention and caused me to sit up reading half the night last night.

Think biker gangs gone wild and bones dug up from decade-old graves. That's how the novel begins, and it took a lot for me to keep going. Namely, I really like Tempe and I'm determined to read Reichs's series about her in order. That's about the only thing that made me continue to read. I think it's normal for writers to get a sophomore-slump a few books into their series. That's what I told myself the problem was. A couple of books under her belt, Reichs probably signed some sort of contract and had to continue writing, plot idea or no plot idea.

I have little interest in biker violence, especially in Canada. I'm not sure I even believed that kind of stuff really happened. During a bored moment mid-read, I googled "biker gang murders" and "bikers shot Canada" and "biker territory wars". And I found that much of Reichs's plot for Deadly Decisions was, in fact, fact-based. Browse some of the stories I found:

• "In Depth: Biker gangs in Canada" from the CBC website
• "Timeline of the Bandidos Massacre" from the CBC website
• "Shedden massacre" entry from Wikipedia.org
• "Bandidos guilty; read tweets here: All six found guilty of first-degree murder or manslaughter" article from the London Free Press website

During the course of the novel, Tempe is added to a special task force set up to investigate gang-related crimes, especially biker ones. This puts her into direct conflict with some of the toughest opponents she has faced thus far. Add her nephew Kit into the mix, and Tempe is pushed to the limit. Additionally, her new romantic interest and long-time coworker Andrew Ryan has been accused of drug involvement and embezzling stolen goods. With no one to turn to, Tempe throws herself into the investigation at hand.

While some of the plot wasn't thrilling to me, Tempe is at her best in this novel. I enjoyed the involvement during this and the previous book in the series of her family in her life in Montreal. Loved ones behaving badly ups the ante for this forensic anthropologist.

'Death Du Jour' Continues Kathy Reichs's Creepy Bones Pre-History

Bones has been on television for five years now. Kathy Reichs's Tempe Brennan series began thirteen years ago. We therefore agree that I'm a little behind on this series. However, being behind is a good thing in my opinion. I have plenty of upcoming books to read, and I don't have to wait on anything to be published to find out what happens next with the main character. Well, you now. Until I'm done.

I read the first novel in the Tempe series in February, and now I'm continuing my quest to read them all. I finished the second book this week, Death du Jour, and it is just as fantastic as Reichs's debut novel. The novel begins as forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan embarks on a request by the Catholic church in Montreal. She conducts a dig in their old burial grounds while her students at the University of North Carolina frolic on beaches for spring break. Before Tempe can finish and return following the break, another crime occurs and she is forced to travel several hours away and collect bones from a recent house fire.

After Tempe returns to Charlotte for the continuation of her spring semester, crimes occurring there begin to show ties to crimes in Montreal. As Tempe is pulled into the midst of an ever-reaching chain of events, her family is affected and things become a bit personal. This novel explores the ritual side of religion, as well as so-called religion at its worst, in the form of cults.

I read into the night several times this week; I just needed to know what happened next in this novel. It was just as scary as Reichs's first foray into the writing world. These books definitely aren't for the faint-of-heart or the easily-scared. My single issue with Death du Jour was its over-the-top plot connections. I mean, what are the chances that a case that a forensic anthropologist who works in Montreal and in Charlotte is investigating has ties to both cities? I would say very slim, if at all.

Also, while the presence of cults is a reality in our world, I have recently read and heard much about the exaggeration of their activities. Satanic sacrifice is a phenomenon which gained publicity in the 1980s, but there is little record of actual occurrences. Rather, it seems to have been a media-induced panic which resulted in public service announcements and school programs, but had little substantiated evidence to prove or disprove it. So the inclusion of cult-based killings is sensational and fiction-worthy, but not based in reality.

Watch Bones on Fox on Thursdays at 8/7 central.

'Backseat Saints' Shines With Southern Goodness to Its Last Drop

First lines, like first impressions, are always important. One of the most memorable for me is from Kaye Gibbons' novel Ellen Foster: "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." That single sentence at once entices readers and draws them in. In her newest novel Backseat Saints, author Joshilyn Jackson also throws out that sort of bait to her reader, never pausing to see what she's caught on her line. With the words,

"It was an airport gypsy who told me I had to kill my husband,"

Jackson is off and running, spinning a tale like no other I've ever read.

Rose Mae Lolley is a deep southern gal. Not a lady-like belle like the pre-war Scarlett, but a rough and tumble girl from deep-south Alabama. She escaped from her own brand of hell just after high school, and she ran until she met her match -- the cynical, strong Thom Grandee, whose only weakness is his gun-store owning daddy. Newly reinvented as Ro Grandee, Jackon's protagonist fills her days helping out in her father-in-law's store and having morning coffee dates with her elderly next-door neighbor. She cooks and cleans, and makes nice for her husband Thom. But the Grandees' marriage isn't all it appears to be, as only the nurses in the ER know all too well.

When Ro reaches her breaking point, Rose Mae reappears and begins making trouble. An encounter with a tarot-card reading gypsy leads Rose down a new path, one in which she must make a choice between herself and her marriage. The two personas living inside Rose battle one against the other, and Rose is spurred into action. Her search for self and freedom take her from Chicago to small town Alabama and back across the country to California. Never has Jackson written a novel that rings so true and holds such deep-seated interest 'til the last southern-drawled word.

I've read all of Jackson's books. As both a female writer and a southern one, she fits my ideal of the perfect genre. I enjoyed her first two novels, gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia. I had more issues with her ghost-ridden third novel, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming. However, in Backseat Saints, Jackson outdoes herself in a return visit to Fruition, Alabama, and to a minor character from gods in Alabama. Rose Mae is a character readers won't soon forget, and her tale is one that will resonate in the literary world for years to come. Backseat Saints won't be released until June, but I dare to say it is a novel that will build up quite a buzz between now and then. It may just be one the best novels I've read in years.

You can follow Joshilyn Jackson's blog Faster Than Kudzu if you'd like to keep up with the activities of this southern author. Jackson has a few upcoming appearances, with more to come when the novel is released, I'm sure. If you're thinking you might like to read a little bit of Jackson's writing before you bite the bullet and either make the drive to your local library to check out one of her books or fork over some of your hard-earned cash at a bookstore, read her short story "Little Dead Uglies". It shows off her amazing ear for our southern way of talking, and also gives an brief introduction into the world that is Fruition, Alabama.

'The Monsters of Templeton' Mixes History With Fantasy

I finished Lauren Groff's lengthy tale of a small upstate New York town, The Monsters of Templeton, just a few minutes ago. I'm quite sad to leave behind the world of Wilhemenia Upton and her secretive, cantankerous ancestors. However, since I've given the last week of my life to the book, I was also ready in some ways to be finished and leave it behind. It is an original story crafted through old letters, current events, historical documents, and imaginary narratives from people long dead.

Willie Upton has come home to Templeton, New York, to figure out what her next step in life should be. She is skinny as a rail and has short, wispy hair; she looks almost ill. The same morning of her return, a rower discovers the body of a gargantuan lake monster floating belly up in Lake Glimmerglass. As the townspeople, national media, and scientists flutter over this new-found animal, Willie tries to make sense of her own life and of what her hometown has become.

Her mother, Vivienne, is a hippie turned nurse turned born-again Christian. Willie feels she's lost her mother as Vi tools around town with the local church's pastor, a heavy cross hung around her neck. Willie's best friend Carissa is thousands of miles away in San Fransisco, ill and needing care of her own. Local boys (well, now grown men) who Willie went to high school with begin to pop up all over the place, vying for her attention. But Willie has a secret: the main reason she came home is to decide what's best for herself and the unborn baby growing inside her. In the midst of this already looming crisis, Vi surprises Willie with the news that her absent father isn't who she thought he was, and Willie sets out on a mission to find out who he actually is.

Groff set the novel in a fictional town, but it is mirrored on the town of Cooperstown, New York, the site of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Groff was born there and grew up there, prompting her to write a sort of love story to the town with this, her first novel. Although some names have changed, Groff includes many factual businesses and people.

Similarities between fictional Templeton and real-life Cooperstown:

• The fictional Templeton is named after its founder Marmaduke Temple, as Cooperstown was named for first landowner Judge William Cooper
• The famous Glimmerglass Opera is nearby, which Groff references in the book often
• The Farmer's Museum is a real place in Cooperstown, attributed to Templeton in the novel
• The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is in Cooperstown, which is also discussed often in the book (especially the tourists who run rampant in the town)
• The New York State Historical Association has its library in Cooperstown, and in the book Willie Upton does much of her research there
• One of the novel's characters is heir to a large brewing company; Cooperstown boasts its very own Brewery Ommegang, which hasn't been a long-standing family company, but rather has been brewing beer for fifteen years or so
  
• In the novel local author Jacob Franklin Temple creates a legacy for Templeton and provides clues to its history, much as real-life author James Fenimore Coooper (author of The Last of the Mohicans) does for Cooperstown; Groff attributes Cooper's most famous character, Natty Bumppo, to Temple in her novel

The novel was fascinating, and I loved its characters, especially Carissa, Willie, and Vi. But it took a long time to get through. Groff went back and forth in time, from the current situation with Willie to her research involving her ancestors. Some of the historical writing was interesting, but I must admit there were also parts I simply skipped. It also seemed difficult to follow the story and/or their connection to the story at some points in the historical sections. With so many ancestor characters (I counted more than forty on a family tree Groff includes at the end of the book), it was hard to keep them all straight, even with the occasional family tree to help.

Difficulties aside, The Monsters of Templeton was a unique novel and a nice breath of fresh air after what seems like similar stories being turned out by various authors year after year. Groff has a hit with her first novel, and I can't wait to read more. She has also published a book of short stories, and it sounds like (from her website posts) she has also just finished a new novel which is in her editor's hands at the moment.

Book Blogger Questionnaire

Stolen from Julie over at Amused By Books (who found it at Alexia's Books and Such): A book survey that details everything about your reading habits...

Rules of this survey - no two answers can be the same book and all books must be fiction.

• Book next to your bed right now: 14 by J. T. Ellison
  
• Favorite series: There are literally too many to pick one. The answer would be different depending on what I've read recently. I love funny Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series... I love Sue Grafton's Alphabet series.... I love Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series (and really I would include all of his novels, as they all work together). Charlaine Harris's vampire series (HBO's True Blook predecessor). Lisa Lutz' Spellman series. Patricia Cornwell & Sara Paretsky. Wow. I could continue...
  
• Favorite book: Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies (But even that doesn't prompt me to re-read it. I NEVER re-read.)
  
• The one book you would have with you if stranded on a desert island: A short story collection by Ellen Gilchrist. I always find new characters or interesting lines, no matter how many times I crack open one of her books. (*Note: I rarely read a short story collection from front to back. Therefore, when I revisit them, I am not re-reading; just continuing to read.)
  
• Book/series you would take with you on a long flight: The newest _____ (any series I've continued reading). Again, I don't like to re-read!
  
• Worst book you were made to read in school: Dickens or Beowulf. Ugh.
  
• Book that everyone should be made to read in school: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
  
• Book that everyone should read, period: Clay's Quilt by Silas House
  
• Favorite character: I'm not sure how I could ever, ever answer this. For simplicity's sake, I'll go with Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney from Adriana Trigiani's Big Stone Gap series. But there are SO many more.
  
• Best villain: Serial killer Gretchen Lowell from Chelsea Cain's Heart series
  
• Favorite concept series: The Berenstain Bears books by Stan and Jan Berenstain
  
• Favorite invented world: Charlaine Harris's alternate Louisiana universe in which all things vampire, were, and fairy are real.
  
• Most beautifully written book: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
  
• Funniest book: Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster (or anything by her, Chelsea Handler, a lot of David Sedaris...)
  

Which of the above questions was hardest to answer? All of them. I love so many different books & authors, it is so hard to choose one answer for each question. And as you can see, I didn't really accomplish that.

McKay Used Book Trip = Books, Books, & More Books

So my mom was in Chattanooga this weekend for the TNTESOL conference, and she just happened to wander in to McKay's for some books (and by "happened to wander in" I mean completely planned the entire thing and convinced other book-minded conference goers to ride along, as well). She called me to ask if there was anything I would like her to look for, and I asked her to check on their supply of Kathy Reichs novels. I read the first Tempe Brennan series book a month or so ago, and my library has a devastatingly low number of the rest of them. As a result, I haven't been able to read the second or subsequent books yet, and it's pretty much killing me. When I find a series I like, I usually read it as quickly as I can get the books in order (and that part is IMPORTANT!).

Photo courtesy of http://mckaybooks.com

Anyway. Mom found the next two or three books and bought them for me to read. I scored:

• Death du Jour
• Deadly Decisions
  
• (and possibly -- not sure how many she got) Fatal Voyage

Well, this weekend, my boyfriend and I went to Nashville for a night away and to watch Vanderbilt play their last home basketball game this season. After the game, I could not get McKay's out of my head... So I asked if he minded a "quick" trip to their Nashville location. He did not, of course, so we made a "fast" hour-run inside. My brain did a happy dance, and I came home with:

• The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
• 14 by Nashville writer J.T. Ellison
• 3 'Body Farm' series books by Jefferson Bass (Carved in Bone, Flesh and Bone, and The Devil's Bones)
• Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt (I wanted to buy his latest, but couldn't bring myself to do that until I had read the previous titles in the series about police detective John Cardinal. So this is the first.)
• The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
• Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey

I am in a mystery mood, if you can't tell. And I can hardly ever pass up Tennessee writers or New Orleans/ Lousiana writers... Bass & Ellison combine the best of both worlds (mystery writers from Tennessee), and Causey's book is a mystery-sort-of novel set in Lousiana. So I'm quite happy with my purchases. Watch soon for reviews of them all.

'Little Bee' Lives Up to Its Big Reputation

Words used to describe Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee:

• "satisfying" and "heart-rending" - The Washington Post
• "affecting" - The New York Times
• "urgent and wryly funny" - Oprah.com
• "thought-provoking" - Chicago Sun-Times
• "unforgettable" - Bookmarks magazine

Needless to say, from this glowing list of recommendations, Little Bee has been on my to-read list for some time. In addition to these professional reviews, numerous book bloggers have read and discussed the novel, as well. Cleave has written a novel which transcends genre boundaries. He is a male writer who creates two strong female narrative voices. And Little Bee is not a novel strictly of Nigeria or strictly of Britain, though it is set in and deals with both countries. Rather, it is a tale of humanity at its darkest and at its finest; of the good and evil which exists in all of us.

The only negative to the novel is the silly, insipid description inside the book jacket cover. The one thing that description does correctly is not tell the reader too much about the plot. In my opinion, in addition to the knee-jerkingly realistic characters, the careful unveiling of plot is what makes the novel so special. So I will be careful in what I say about the novel.

It is the story of two countries and two continents, and ultimately of two women: one Nigerian, one British. It is a political novel disguised as a character study. Cleave connects the lives of Little Bee and Sarah, two women as different as any two could be. He also describes conditions inside British refugee detention centers, the small skirmishes occurring constantly in Africa, and the disconnect between the modern western world and the rest of the globe.

While Little Bee is a beautiful story, it is also a heart-wrenching one. Cleave includes heavy themes in his little novel (just over 250 pages long). Themes running through the novel include: suicide, genocide, loss of family, search for self, war, infidelity, incarceration, and mental illness. I won't reveal how this all ties together, but will only say it does so masterfully. I also won't tell a lie and say the book is not sometimes difficult to read. The subject matter makes it so, but often we need to push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. Otherwise we would not learn about the horrors and heroism that exist in the world. In short, we remain modern world inhabitants who turn blindly away from reality.

The story of Little Bee was personal for me in a way. My brother and sister-in-law moved last March to Tanzania to do missionary work there. They are home in the U.S. at the moment (so that my nephew -- who is now a whopping ten days overdue! -- can be born), but in April they will return for several more years. Since March, I have avoided all mention of any negative aspects of Africa; in other words, no watching Hotel Rwanda, or reading about civil wars. Nigeria is on the other side of the continent from Tanzania, but still I found myself having to pause in my reading of this novel at times. I'm glad I overcame my fears. I think that having loved ones closer to the novel's action brings the point home even more for me.

Read the first chapter of the novel, to prompt yourself to run to the library or bookstore immediately and find it.

Cleave is the author of one other novel, Incendiary, which needless to say I'll be reading soon. He writes a regular column in the London newspaper The Guardian. He will be touring in the United States this winter/spring. Check his tour dates to find out if he'll be close enough to answer your questions in person.

'Bitter Is The New Black' Prompts Me to Say: O Jen! My Jen!

Get it? In the spirit of "O Captain! My Captain!" from Walt Whitman -- but more importantly, the line from Dead Poets Society (which is from Walt Whitman)? After reading Jen Lancaster's first memoir (which has since been followed by three others and a soon-to-be-published fifth), I just have to say: Jen is my hero. Thus, the reference to "captains" which evokes (I hope) feelings of idolizing someone, which (in the case of Jen Lancaster) I do.

In her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office (no, seriously -- that's the title), Lancaster writes about her fall from grace. Grace being a several-thousand-per-month penthouse apartment in a swanky Chicago neighborhood, and the "fall" landing her and boyfriend Fletch in a $1600 per-month 2 bedroom in a lesser neighborhood which is truly more of a 'hood. And therein lies the loving her/ loathing her conundrum that is found in all of Lancaster's memoirs. She's hilarious (loving her). She is also, however, a "condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered smartass" (loathing her). And seriously -- can I feel sympathy for a person who lives in an apartment that cost (almost ten years ago) almost four times my own rent? Granted, I live in small town America, while Lancaster lives in big city Chicago. But really? I'm expected to believe $1600 = the 'hood, just because the neighbors speak languages other than English? Lancaster needed a second wake-up call -- a second fall, period.

And she gets it. Although I would NEVER (can I say that again? NEVER) say I was hurting for money while having a lavish Vegas wedding at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (I've never even been to Vegas! Well, okay. I was in their airport once for an hour or two.), Jen gets a bigger reality check when she and Fletch are almost evicted. And she has to sell all her former fashion "prizes" on eBay to keep them in food and electricity. Somewhere along the way, she realizes that her $800 handbags and $600 pairs of shoes were a wee bit much. In other words, things that no one would ever need. She comes to hate the Prada bag she once loved because it represents all that went wrong for them. As she and Feltch scramble to find jobs first at big firms, then at Starbucks and Pottery Barn to no avail, you begin to feel a little bit of sympathy for her. That, and she's really, really funny. And abundantly able to make fun of herself.

Why, you might ask, is Jen Lancaster my hero? She's funny. I get it. She learned an important lesson (maybe). I get that, too. But hero? Well, at the end of the book, Lancaster makes an important decision. She decides to embark on chasing her dreams -- real dreams, based on what she enjoys, not on a quarter of-a-million-dollar salary at a marketing firm. And she succeeds (as evidenced by her now-five published books). That (and the sense of humor) makes her idol-worthy in my opinion.

Pick up a copy of Bitter is the New Black and prepare to have your socks knocked off because you're rolling around on the chair/floor/couch/bed laughing so hard.

For your enjoyment, a video interview with Jen:


(**Note: Remember when I liked but didn't love Jen's second memoir Bright Lights, Big Ass? And I said that she had obviously grown as a writer, making her last two books a bit better than that one? Yeah, forget that. It must have been an off week when I read memoir #2, because this first one rocks just as much as the last two did.)