“The Christmas Train,” by David Baldacci

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 7

2.      Prose 8

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 7

5.      Overall 8

This book is a departure from Mr. Baldacci’s usual crime and political suspense novels.  Being a Christmas novel, this one is relatively tame, though the tensions late in the story build nicely.  Its seems he also attempted to make a more personal statement about things like love, faith, and truth, sliding into triteness on occasion, and almost getting heavy-handed regarding religious belief.  Hey, it’s a CHRISTMAS story, so maybe we should expect that.  As a bonus, there is a lot of train lore thrown in; just enough to be informative without bogging the story down.  And even though the characters often come across as rather stereotypical, there are some touching scenes.  I enjoyed it enough to recommend it AS a Christmas read, realizing that most people will get more out of it than I did.  It does make me want to read more of his works, but I’m glad I have this one behind me.

“A Highland Christmas,” by M. C. Beaton

FM’s ratings:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 9

3.      Plot 7

4.      Characters 7

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

“Hamish did not want to visit Mrs. Gallagher.  But the idea that someone had been living in solitude and fear on his beat nagged at him.  The wind had come back and as he drove off, a ragged cloud of crows rose up from the field behind the police station and scattered out over the loch.  Low clouds scurried over the mountaintops.  Hamish wondered if the Romans had held their Saturnalia at just this time as a sort of drunken wake to the death of the year.  On such a day it seemed as if the grass would never grow again or the sun shine.”  The prose is the highlight here.  As understated as it is, its effectiveness is all the more impressive.  At 128 pages, we don’t expect a lot from this novel in the way of plot or character development, but there are several moving scenes nevertheless, and we relate to these people in spite of the terseness.  The cultural references are fascinating as well, especially the practice of keeping Christmas celebration “behind closed doors,” so to speak.  The very religious disdain the relatively heathen aspects of Christmas, but tolerate it as long as it isn’t flagrant.  What a contrast to the ridiculous overkill we experience in the U. S.!  The idiosyncrasies of small town life, particularly among the nosey Scots, are cogent here, with everyone knowing about everyone else’s business almost immediately.  This author strikes me as superb without even trying; which has kept me coming back on a regular basis.

Here’s the January line-up!

“An Ice Cold Grave,” by Charlaine Harris [1-7-17]

“The Assembler of Parts,” by Raoul Wientzen [1-14-17]

“The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner,” by Stephenie Meyer [1-21-17]

“Midnight’s Children,” by Salman Rushdie [1-28-17]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“Twelve Drummers Drumming,” by C. C. Benison

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 8

4.      Characters 7

5.      Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is a pretty good Mystery flawed by oddly phrased prose and mostly indifferent characters.  The most interesting character is Sybella, the victim of the first body found who never appears in the story alive except in memories.  She is described as a “Goth” teenager on the inside of the sleeve, and I was hoping for some interesting exploration of that theme, especially since the protagonist is a priest and the title hints at a Christmas-related story.  But these elements are only briefly alluded to, and we are treated to small-town relationship issues and quirky personalities instead.  Still, the plot keeps us guessing, keeps our interest from flagging and the sum total is a clever whodunit worth the time to read if that’s what you’re looking for.  

“Six Geese A-Slaying,” by Donna Andrews

FM’s ratings:

1.      Premise 10

2.      Prose 10

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 9

5.      Overall 9

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

This is so close to a “10” on sheer entertainment value.  The prose combines the best elements of sit-com humor, deductive crime reasoning, and lively description.  Any author who can put together a good story AND make me laugh out loud every few pages is an author I will want to read again soon.  This is a series, and I started with the first one, but this novel is number 10 in the sequence and I don’t feel that I have missed a thing.  (The love interest in the first book has become a married couple by this one, but we kind of saw that coming.)  The accumulation of clues – a staple of any mystery – is depicted in original ways, so that we don’t feel we are reading a formula piece.  The Premise is a fun one; our protagonist has been put upon to organize the annual Christmas parade in her small town.  The description of the juggling act that this entails is very reminiscent of the parades (and there are very many) that I have been involved with.  The difference is that this one is happening during the beginning of a major snow storm.  Oh, and there’s a murder.  This setting gets us about halfway through the book without growing stale; a major feat of story-telling in itself!  If you read mostly for fun, as I do, pick up some of these Donna Andrews novels with birds in the titles.  Wonderful stuff!

“The Naming of the Dead,” by Ian Rankin

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 7

2.      Prose 8

3.      Plot 7

4.      Characters 9

5.      Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

It could just be me.  I have read somewhere around 10 different John Rebus Series books by Ian Rankin, and might be getting just a bit jaded.  The characters, as always, are compelling; not the least of which is Rebus himself.  The premise here is almost run-of-the-mill murder mystery content with some mildly interesting twists.  The prose, especially the dialog, is very good, but there is a sense of aimlessness that I didn’t notice so much in other books in this series.  Rebus’s intuitive flashes of insight are here, but not as dramatic as usual.  These novels, especially the later ones, tend to be a little long, as if the weight of the book lends weight to the story.  I think that actually works for many readers, but I like my fiction a little more streamlined.  A book this long needs to have some extremely unexpected plot twists to keep me interested, and they just aren’t here.  If you have never read a Rebus novel, I wouldn’t start with this one.  Try the very first one, “Knots and Crosses” or, more recently, “Standing in Another Man’s Grave.”