Whew, I knew I was behind but holy cow, I had no idea how bad! And I'm sure I missed one or two, I'll have to double-check my records. At any rate, let's get this done!
"Fatal Throne" was written by various YA authors. It was an interesting conceit: each one picked a wife of Henry VIII and wrote her story, with whining, petulant Henry rebutting after each chapter. No real new revelations here (I think even casual fans of the Tudors would know it all) but it was still nicely written and a quick read.
I am loving the current resurgence in horror fiction popularity! There are so many good books coming out that I can't wait to read. This one was super creepy, I enjoyed it. Middle aged siblings Marion and John live together in their ancestral family home. They have "family money", so neither of them has to work. Marion has actually never held a job, while John lost his job teaching after getting into trouble with an underage student. At first I felt very sorry for Marion, she seemed very sad and pathetic, but it didn't take long before you realize she isn't as innocent as she seems. Her brother is even worse, but at least I knew from the start he was a slimeball.
Bentley Little's collection of short stories was actually better than I thought it would be. It's a good format for him, I think. Most of this collection was written in the early 1980s, and then the last few were from 2016-2017. They were all at least decent, and some were pretty good. There was one story, about a bullied girl who finds she has the power to make bad things happen to her bullies simply by writing it down in a special book resonated with me :)
I think I'm finally caught up on the Hangman's Daughter books by Oliver Potzsch. Jakob and his family travel to Bamberg for his younger brother, Bartl's, wedding. Jakob and Bartl haven't spoken in years, and neither of them is anxious to mend the rift, but their family would like them to. Simon is eager to consult with a medical colleague but gets pulled into a strange case. The city of Bamberg seems to be being stalked by a werewolf, and the citizens are in a panic as the dead bodies turn up. Barbara, fed up with her family, runs away to join a troupe of actors and is heartbroken when one is arrested on suspicion of being the werewolf and locked up. As usual, a lot going on but it was very well done and all tied together.
And now it's time for the rereads! I don't know what it is about this time of year. No matter how many library books I have checked out, no matter how many of my own books I've bought and never read, I always have the urge to reread some of my old favorites. This year it's Perry Mason, I guess. Could be worse. "The Case of the Terrified Typist" starts off with Perry needing a typist and fast. When a girl shows up at their office who can type like lightening, he puts her to work, only to discover she's smuggling diamonds. Whoops. Of course she wasn't really guilty of anything (Perry's clients never are) but it was a fun ride to get to the conclusion.
"The Case of the Grinning Gorilla" has a great scene with Perry being chased by a crazed gorilla in a mansion while the gorilla's owner lies dead, having been stabbed. Unfortunately, the gorilla didn't kill him, although he certainly had cause to: the owner was performing cruel experiments on the beasts he had in captivity, trying to induce them to homicide. What a whacko. Perry's client, the woman accused of murder, was fired by the guy for stealing. When Perry proved she didn't steal anything, the guy rewrote his will, leaving her a good sum of money to apologize for besmirching her good name, which, of course, the D.A. interprets as motive.
"The Case of the Velvet Claws" is the first Perry Mason mystery. Perry takes on a client that Della absolutely cannot stand and is positive she is going to get Perry into a lot of hot water (spoiler alert: Della is right. Life lesson, folks. Listen to Della). Eva Belter is worried her husband will find out about her boyfriend after they were seen together in a night club. She's afraid a local scandal rag will blackmail her and wants Perry to handle it. Perry refuses to pay blackmail and decides to get to the bottom of the thing by determining who owns the rag. Turns out it's Eva's husband, George. Hmm, the plot thickens! George is murdered and Eva basically throws Perry under the bus. The solution to the murder was wildly improbable, but not
nearly as crazy as some of Mason's later adventures.
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