Reading Updates

I spent most of my summer reading George R.R. Martins Game of Thrones series which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I finished the last of the 5 published books in the series last week, and have started some entirely different books.  If you're interested in my comments on the Game of Thrones you can check them out at goodreads.com

Here are my comments on the 2 books I read during the hurricane:


The Alto Wore Tweed by Mark Schweizer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After my summer of George R.R. Martin, I needed a light, humorous read and this first "Liturgical Mystery" by Mark Schweizer fit the bill perfectly!  Hayden Konig is the full time police chief of St. Germaine, NC AND the part-time volunteer organist and choir director at the local Episcopal church.  He's also a would-be author in the style of Philip Chandler.  When the unpopular sexton is found murdered in the choir loft, the investigation is on.  Was the murderer Mother Ryan, the new, ultra-feminist priest at the church?  Or was it one of the Walkers who each accuse the other of having an affair with priest?  Schweizer's book is full of wit and laugh-aloud situations.  I do think it helps to get the humor though if you are either a church musician, or a regular church goer.  And Hayden's musical creations are wonderful. We Three Queens and the Moldy Cheese Madrigal are just two of them.  (An aside:  there is apparently a website where you can hear these gems, and others that appear in later books.)  I'm looking forward to reading other books in the series.


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And this one:

Emily Goes to Exeter by M.C. Beaton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

M.C. Beaton has written a very frothy Regency romance featuring Miss Hannah Pym, erstwhile housekeeper to Sir Clarence. She is middle-aged, aching for excitement,  and out of a job when her employer dies.  However Sir Clarence leaves her 5000 pounds in his will and Hannah decides to seek adventure by traveling all over England by stagecoach.  Her first excursion takes her to Exeter. Her co-travelers include an eloping couple, a forbidding lord, a mysterious youth, a poor lawyer, and several other common folk.  The group is stranded in a blizzard and must make do in a local inn.  Hannah puts her housekeeping and organizational skills to use as she directs meals, cleaning, and romance.  It's an amusing read, and is a bit reminiscent of Georgette Heyer, although it has a more tongue-in-cheek approach to life in Regency England.  

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