Sister, Sinner

 

Why Aimee Semple McPherson, you ask? Well, it's because I watched the HBO version of "Perry Mason" that aired a few years ago for two seasons. While I loved the art deco architecture and the costumes and the actors, I was disappointed the show didn't stick to Gardner's books. The original show was great in that regard, but it was missing a lot of the fun, flirtatious banter between Perry and Della and Della and Paul. The new show didn't have any of that, either. But what it did have was a storyline about Sister Alice, which was based on Aimee Semple McPherson. 

McPherson was a Pentecostal who founded the Angelus Temple (which just celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023). McPherson was a charismatic preacher who gained a huge following, not just in Los Angeles, but around the country. She was swimming off Venice Beach one day when she vanished without a trace. Her secretary, who was on the beach with her, sounded the alarm. Divers and police tried to find her to no avail. No body washed ashore. Her mother, who worked with Aimee at the Temple, claimed she'd been "raptured" up to Heaven. 

A month later, Aimee turned up in a border town in Arizona, claiming she'd been kidnapped out of the ocean and held captive. Police were skeptical of her story for many reasons (her garments were clean, no dust or sweat stains, she had her watch and her silk hairnet, she wasn't dehydrated, no one was ever able to find the shack where she was held captive, etc.). Rumor had it that Aimee ran off to Carmel with her married lover for an illicit tryst but was discovered and came back to concoct the kidnapping story. The truth never made its way out. 

Aimee ended up having a falling out with her mother and her daughter and died relatively young. If not for the weird kidnapping interlude her story would have been inspirational. She was groundbreaking in many ways, forging her way in a life that wasn't open to women at the time. Of course she swindled a lot of poor people out of their money while she lived high on the hog, but hey. Details 😂

Karen; Louis B. Mayer & Irving Thalberg

 

I love Kelsey Grammer's Frasier character. I loved him on "Cheers", and "Frasier" remains one of my all time favorite TV shows (funny note: I mentioned to my Mom a few years ago that I was rewatching it and she made a comment about what a stupid show it was that "nobody liked". I had to tell her how it's won more Emmys than any other sitcom, so there 😊). 

When Kelsey was 20 and his younger sister, Karen, was 18, she was kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered in Colorado Springs, where she was living at the time. Kelsey's book was a lovely tribute to a bright, vibrant young woman, cut down just as her life was beginning, and an older brother who misses her to this day. He admitted that he's only been, at most, 95% happy in life because that last 5% will always be missing without Karen around. I thought that was very well put. I've felt the same way since my Dad died. Yes, I have my happy moments, but I'll never be as happy as I was before he died. There's always going to be that tinge of sadness. I feel like I know who Karen Grammer was and I think that was his hope with writing this book. 

This was a fun look at the beginning of the motion picture industry, which, like computers, has always fascinated me. Their jobs were brand new: no one had been head of Production for a studio before. There were no footsteps to follow in, everything was created as they went along. 

Thalberg was born with a heart defect and was not expected to live past the age of 30 (he made it to 37). He was referred to as the "boy genius" in Hollywood for his amazing attention to detail and his skill with seeing the potential in pictures. He and Mayer made a great team and piloted MGM to the top of the pyramid of elite movie studios in the 1920s and '30s. Mayer was unable to find anyone to replace him after his death, and MGM began a long, slow decline. Two very different men who played such a major role in defining the early days of Hollywood and shaping the industry. 

Audrey Hepburn: a Life of Beautiful Uncertainty

 

What a lovely tribute to a gracious and wonderful lady who left the world much too soon. Audrey grew up in the Netherlands and almost starved to death during WWII. She dreamed of being a ballerina and ended up in movies instead. She was her own harshest critic: thinking herself not attractive or talented (she was, of course, both in spades). 

What really got me was how genuinely kind she was to everyone. She never had a bad word to say, even about people who said terrible things about her. She ensured that her sons had good relationships with their fathers and said nothing but nice things about them in front of them. She wanted to be a mother more than anything so when her first son, Sean, was born, she scaled back her acting career and was happy to do so. She didn't make very many movies, but for the most part they were all well done. Later on in life she devoted herself to UNICEF and helping children around the globe. In a culture where vulgarity is rewarded, we need more people like Audrey Hepburn. 

Another Fine Mess

Ryan's sequel to "Bless Your Heart" was super fun and she ended it on a cliffhanger, so I'm happy there will be more. I love the Evans ladies!

After "Bless Your Heart", there are only two Evans women left: Lenore and her granddaughter, Luna (Ducey and Grace both died at the end of the first book). Lenore hires Kim, a young lady who went to cosmetology school, to help out in the funeral parlor. Kim is the first non-Evans woman to be taken into their confidence regarding their special obligation of putting down the restless dead. The new sheriff, Roger Taylor, who was in love with Grace, also understands what's going on. He is dismayed when just a month after the end of the last mess, more strange killings start happening. The official line is a rabid ghost wolf, but then a wolf expert visits town and casts doubt on that line. Lenore is at a loss as to what could be so viciously attacking people. 

It was really good and really, really gory (shouldn't have read it while trying to eat dinner, seriously). I love her unique way of describing things.  
 

Lemons Never Lie

 

Alan Grofield is an actor who owns and runs a small summer stock theater in Indiana. During the off season, he commits robberies to help fund his theater. He goes to Vegas to meet with a guy named Myers who has an idea about ripping off a brewery in upstate New York. Since the plan involves killing some people, Grofield says "no thanks" and leaves. A friend of his, Barnes, also walks out. Barnes ends up winning a nice amount of money while gambling and Grofield is attacked in his hotel room later on that night because Myers thought he won the money (he was with Barnes). Grofield goes home to Indiana and Barnes shows up, nearly dead, after being beaten and robbed by Myers. 

Things go off the rails for Grofield, who tries to go after Myers. It was a good, quick read, I like Westlake's books. 

John & Paul: a Love Story in Songs

 

I thought I might cry after the last Mike Hammer novel but I *did* cry at the end of this one. So tragic. Not just John's murder at such a young age but the fact that he and Paul, who were pure magic together, never fully reconciled before he died. 

I love the Beatles. John and Paul were both enormously talented songwriters and musicians on their own but together they were lightning in a bottle. The world had never experienced anything like them before and I don't think we will again, at least not in my lifetime. 

It's strange to try to think of a male friendship as them "being in love". We tend to equate that with a sexual relationship but as Leslie points out, it doesn't need to be. John and Paul were more than just best friends, it was a deeper connection than that. They communicated without words. They brought out the best and the worst in each other. They expressed their love for each other in their music, their intensely personal lyrics, and they way they often emulated each other. That's why there are still raging debates online regarding certain sections of songs: is it John singing or is it Paul trying to sound like John? Or is it John trying to sound like Paul trying to sound like John? Because they were so adept at imitating each other sometimes it's impossible to tell. It was a moving and beautiful story about two young men, cast adrift, who found each other at just the right times in their lives and captured something magical that they shared with the world. We're all better off for having had them, even if it was all too brief. 

Baby, It's Murder

 

Oh man. The last Hammer novel. I think I might cry. Collins did an excellent job with this series. I'm totally in the mood to go back and reread "I, the Jury", though. I just might, it's been years.

At Velda's funeral (another reason to cry), Mike is reminiscing with Pat Chambers about a time when he went to Long Island to help Velda out with her younger sister, Mikki. Their mom broke her hip and is in a nursing facility, and seventeen year old Mikki has undergone a radical character change. She's dropped out of tennis, which she used to love, and lost a lot of weight. She stopped dating the long haired, motorcycle riding bad boy and is now going with upstanding society boy Second (he's named after his dad, so everyone calls him Second, instead of Garrett). The twists weren't very twisty (I saw them both a mile away) but they were fun nonetheless. 

It's the end of an era. RIP, Mickey, Mike, and Velda.