About Me

My photo
Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

August Into Winter by Guy Vanderhaeghe

(17. - 1200.) August Into Winter by Guy Vanderhaeghe - Connaught, Saskatchewan, is a peaceful small town near the Qu’Appelle Valley. The late summer heat of August of 1939 is heavy upon the town. Ernie Sickert is a 21 year old communi
ty eccentric. Usually wearing a bowtie, he runs everywhere and is famed for being the talented saxophonist for the Rhythm Alligators dance band. Few know that he is vindictive and has tortured family pets.

RCMP Constable Alfred Hotchkiss is frustrated by a series of minor break-ins and thefts over the summer. Ernie is his only suspect. He decides to interrogate Ernie and examine the shed in the backyard of the Sickert home. Hotchkiss prides himself on his aggressive policing techniques. He calls the meaty palm of his hand his search warrant saying it is signed by Judge Donotfuckwithme before slapping Ernest.

Locking the shed to give privacy for his search and questioning proves fatal for Hotchkiss. Ernie attacks and kills Hotchkiss, splitting his skull with a hammer and chisel. 

Ernie leaves town that afternoon in his father’s 1929 Oldsmobile Landau with his young girlfriend, Loretta, who is to be presented as his sister until they can procure some fake ID. The 12 year old Loretta is his soulmate. He proposes to her, promising to marry her when she turns 14. 

They set out to explore the world starting with Winnipeg or Minneapolis.

Oliver “Jumper” Dill had a hard war. In the 1920’s he prospered on the farm with Judy. She softened him. The Depression and drought and Judy’s slow death sent him spiralling down.

His older brother Jack has always been a bit different. He is a fervent Anglican. Having denounced WW I, he abruptly joins the Army to help end the war. He is a demon on night raids. After the war he lives in a room at the Connaught hotel where he studies and reflects on Christianity and works upon an opus setting out his vision of the Celestial City.

Vidalia Taggart, a 32 year old teacher, banished from the Winnipeg public school system for her affair with a married man, Dov Schechter, has come to the one room country school, Clay Top, near Connaught. She is desperate for a job and the school trustees are desperate for a teacher.

After bitter quarrels, Dov had left Canada in 1937 to join the Mackenzie-Papineau brigade to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. 

He died and Vidalia has received the accounting ledger in which he journaled his experiences in Spain. In its opening he is overjoyed with his welcome in Spain after trekking over the Pyrenees.

Ernie’s relentless running had been part of his commando training regime so he could be ready for the coming war.

His getaway is foiled by a huge thunderstorm. They slide off the road descending into the Qu’Appelle Valley.

During the pursuit of Ernie and Loretta, Jack and Oliver return to their WW I experiences as front line soldiers. With officer Cooper they send a barrage of “plunging fire”, co-ordinated shots designed to arc into the area Ernie is shooting from at them about 1,400 yards away. They miss.

Oliver, after the RCMP spends days floundering around searching for Ernie, leads them to Ernie’s hideout, a tornado shelter. Through plain language and credible threats Oliver captures Ernie.

In the meantime, after Loretta burns down the schoolhouse and teacherage, Miss Vidalia moves into Oliver’s farm home. She hates being beholden to him. Wrestling with tortured emotions from the War and Judy’s death Oliver finds himself glad to have a woman in his house.

Vidalia reads Dov’s journal in small chunks for when she is done she will have nothing further from him.

The relationship between Miss Vidalia and Oliver is compelling. Two lonely people whose lives have been hard. Each is a good person. Each has suffered great loss. Each is seeking the meaning of life. Miss Vidalia is a fierce humanist. Dill does his best to be a realist. Each struggles to make friends. Love is even more difficult.

August Into Winter is rich in characters, language, emotions and setting. Vanderhaeghe has been a gifted writer for decades. I wish I had read him sooner. We were at the University of Saskatchewan at the same time in the 1970’s but I never met him. The book, with unflinching clarity, outlines the challenges of life in rural Saskatchewan as the Depression winds down and WW II is about to erupt. Vanderhaeghe drew me deeply into life at Connaught. August Into Winter is a great book.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver

(16. - 1199.) The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver - The opening crackles. A tower crane operator perched  218 feet in the air is confronted with the front jib tilting forward. Unable to correct the tilt he shifts from electronics to manual controls but cannot stabilize the load of flanges. Desperately trying to move the load to fall in an open space he stays in the cab. The tilt is too much and the crane breaks apart.

Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are investigating  a theft from the NYC Department of Structures and Engineering - “a trove of infrastructure documents, blueprints, engineering diagrams, underground maps, plats, permit requests”.

Medical advancements and new technologies have allowed Rhyme “had restored most movement to his right arm”.

News arrives of the crane collapse and demands made to the city with the threat “if they don’t get what they want, they’re going to do it again in twenty-four hours”.

The Kommunalka demand the City of New York convert various city owned properties to public housing or have a “disaster” every day.

Charles Vespasian Hale, the Watchmaker, has come to New York to kill his nemesis - Rhyme. Loving the precision of clocks, especially watches, he is a dangerous adversary. He has created the Kommunalka.

I do not see many modern works of crime fiction with a brilliant villain challenging the brilliant sleuth. The modern day Moriarity is a worthy opponent for the Holmes of today. There will be no luck only skill involved.

Hale uses a powerful chemical, hydrofluoric acid, with which I am unfamiliar in my decades of crime fiction reading. It can kill with astonishing quickness.

Hale and Rhyme appreciate the elegance of watches and the “complications” (“any function of a watch or clock other than telling the time” including “dials indicating the phases of the moon, tides, seasons”) with which they are adorned. A watch with many features were called “ ‘grande complications’ “. 

Deaver drives the suspense. Hale stalks a couple who have seen too much and sets up a device to kill them in their home. On T.V. we know they would be rescued. With Deaver the tension is real for, in earlier books in the series, victims have been killed not saved.

The skill and dedication of young criminalist, Ron Pulaski, has achieved Rhyme’s admiration to the point that he Pulaski is listed as Rhyme’s successor.

A weakness of Hale is that he loves elegant complex killing schemes - plots that have grande complications. Not for Hale to simply shoot, knife or strangle. He wants people to admire his plans, appreciate his intelligence and be dismayed by his wicked plans.

Most important Hale’s killing modus is to have death caused throught a remote to programmed means of killing so that he is not in the vicinity of the murder. His approach has the weakness of a million books, movies and T.V. shows. The killer does not actually see whether the intended victim is dead.

The book hurtles forward. Most, not all, of Hale’s schemes are detected and thwarted. Can Rhyme and his team stop Hale’s ultimate plan and prevent him from escaping again?

The tension is so high and the reading compelling that clues were overlooked by me. Deaver drives the reader to read in haste to find out what happens upon the next page. Rhyme never seems rushed as he contemplates a villain’s plans.

A clock is constantly ticking down to disaster when the Watchmaker comes to town. Deaver’s plots are grande complications.

****
Deaver, Jeffery – (2000) - The Empty Chair; (2002) - The Stone Monkey; (2002) - Mistress of Justice; (2003) - The Vanished Man; (2005) - Garden of Beasts; (2005) - The Twelfth Card; (2006) - Cold Moon(Tied for 3rd Best fiction of 2006); (2008) - The Broken Window; (2010) - The Burning Wire; (2013) - The Kill Room; (2014) - The Skin Collector; (2017) - The Steel Kiss; (2019) - The Burial Hour; (2021) - The Never Game and Handwritten Notes Are the Best; (2023) - The Midnight Lock

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Rain by H.N. Hirsch

(15. - 1198.) Rain by H.N. Hirsch - Professor Marcus George is startled when one of his graduate students, Kenny Glick, is worried about being charged for murder. His girlfriend, Cathy Yaeger, had died. It was reported as an “accidental death”. Marcus takes Kenny home to meet his partner Bob Abramson who has a solo criminal law practice. Reluctantly, Bob says he will talk to the police and prosecutor’s office.

Before he can investigate Kenny is called in for an interview. It is a setup for his arrest. A second autopsy has determined Cathy was strangled.

Kenny’s father writes a cheque for the $2,000,000 bail.

While there are no errors in describing Bob’s early interactions as a lawyer they did not feel quite right. I doubt a reader who is not a lawyer would have that feeling. As the book went on Hirsch’s portrayal of Bob’s work building the defence got better.

Life is good for Marcus and Bob in San Diego in 1995. Their relationship is excellent. They have a loving dog, Oscar. Marcus is an accomplished professor, an expert in political rhetoric. Bob has a thriving practice. They live in a neighbourhood called Normal Heights - a name they “thought hilarious when they first heard it”. They are thinking about adopting a child. I was glad to read about a loving couple in a long term relationship. It is uncommon enough in crime fiction to be memorable.

Not everything is positive in their personal lives. Every family has its challenges.

Bob looks into Cathy’s life. She was a method actor who was “serious about it, and wanted every kind of experience in life” to aid her. Experiences included exploring “some unusual sexual scenes”. Kenny encouraged her to be with other guys. There was “some kink”.

Bob thinks the case for the prosecution is weak. The primary issue is how Cathy received the Demerol that was in her system plus alcohol.

It was interesting to read the interviews of witnesses. It does not happen often in Canada. I have never interviewed the parents of a crime victim. It is a rare case where the victim’s family is not angry towards the accused.

To Bob’s frustration, Kenny doles out the truth of his sexual relationship with Cathy. Kenny ignores Bob’s exhortations to be honest with him. Trying to conceal information from your lawyer is so foolish.

Bob understands he needs an alternative to Kenny being the killer. If there is a trial Bob will have a difficult decision on whether Kenny should testify. A client who is careful with the truth is susceptible on cross-examination.

There are competing investigations by the police and Bob’s investigator but readers are not given much information on the police efforts beyond the initial disclosure.

The trial tries for drama but with modest success. The evidence of witnesses was abrupt. I had to grit my teeth over the dramatic licence that was taken.

Bob and Marcus are good men with genuine emotions. They are likeable characters. They remind me of a real life gay couple I know well who are a teacher and a lawyer and very likeable. Both the fictional and the real life couple survived the AIDS decimation of gay men in the 1980’s. 

I was reminded of Gail Bowen (a university professor) whose books feature Joanne Kilbourn (a university professor) who has had two husbands who are lawyers. She has a loving family with the difficulties of real life families. In most of her books she includes the lawyers of her life but limits their involvement.

It is a nice book that moves briskly. I would have preferred that it focused on university life.

Friday, February 23, 2024

Suspect by Scott Turow

(12. - 1195.) Suspect by Scott Turow - Pinky, Sandy Stern’s granddaughter, is back. She appeared in The Last Trial helping her grandfather, who was featured in over a generation of Turow’s books. Stern was a suave distinguished lawyer. Pinky is a raucous reckless young woman who was cast out from the police academy. She has tattoos spread around her body. While an unlikely figure to aid lawyers she has a vital aptitude for an investigator. In her words “I love to snoop and pry”.

Beyond the ink Pinky, now 33, has a striking presence with a “magenta Mohawk (and a blue undercut on one side)”. Much of the time she has a nail in her nose (it is Goth jewelry in that it breaks apart rather than going through her nose).

She spends hours on YouTube looking to “master” PIBOT:

It means the Private Investigator’s Bag of Tricks. That started with a concealed carry permit, training included in my private investigator’s course. Now I’m always reading about and practicing skills - surveillance techniques, disguises, clever ruses to get people to talk.

She is working for Rik (he has removed the “c” in an unsuccessful attempt to be cool) Dudek who is at the opposite end of the criminal defence spectrum from Sandy. He handles “bar fights and first-time DUIs and drunken stunts by teenagers”.

Now 52, Rik is hoping a new case “might help him finally step up”. Highland Isle Police Chief Gomez is “accused by three officers of demanding sex in exchange for promotions on the force - “sextortion”. A friend of Rik’s since childhood, Chief Lucia Gomez-Barrera has a big personality. She denies the accusations of her male accusers.

Pinky obsesses a bit on her adjoining apartment dweller. (Their combined apartments were once a single apartment.) She thinks of him as “the weird guy next door”. He is a “creature of unvarying habit”. Every night he gets takeout from a small Mexican restaurant. Lacking a name she dubs him “TWO”. Pinky does live in her own world.

The City of Highland Isle (HI) is on an island in Kindle County and was long controlled by the mob. Their presence lingers.

My reader’s heart stopped for a moment when I read that Sandy is now in assisted living. Her Pops gives her his Cadillac CTS when he goes to the facility.

Pinky is tasked with finding the evidence that can discredit the accusers. She looks up a past lover, Toyo (Toy) Eo, who has been an HIPD officer for 12 years seeking to make her a personal confidential informant. 

Pinky has no filter. Wanting to know what is in a trunk in his locker she breaks and enters but her pick breaks in the lock. She escapes the situation but has risked her future to satisfy her curiosity.

Two weeks before the Chief’s hearing they still have no evidence to shake the accusers. Somehow a local real estate tycoon, Ritz Vojczek, whom she fired from the police department early on as Chief, has something on the complainants.

At the first stage of the hearing Rik has the rare experience of evidence that allows him to destroy the credibility of an accuser on cross-examination. I did wonder if Turow was, not so subtly, showing how crucifying an alleged male victim of sexual harassment produces nary a complaint.

I realize it is a challenge to identify a character whose identity is unknown to Pinky but “TWO” felt so artificial.

TWO is identified as Koob and becomes an important character. 

I was never comfortable with the TWO / Koob subplot. While connected I found it more of a distraction.

It took 150 pages but the book took off when the hearing is turned upside down. Sudden death, possibly a murder complicates the sextortion proceedings.

While the key evidence is not found by accident the circumstances defy credibility.

The conclusion is classic thriller though the landscape is not littered with bodies. The ending has nothing to do with lawyers and legal proceedings.

The book is really about Pinky as an investigator for the lawyers. The lawyers play a secondary role. The court proceedings are well done as always with Turow. While Pinky is fascinating I prefer Turow's books that concentrate on law and lawyers.

I have found Turow’s books vary in quality. Suspect is not one of the best. It is a well told mystery but I know he can do better.

****

Turow, Scott – (2000) - Personal Injuries (Third best fiction of 2000); (2003) - Reversible Errors (Tied for the best fiction in 2003); (2007) - Ordinary Heroes; (2011) - Innocent; (2012) - One L (My Review) and One L (Michael Selnes review) and Thoughts on Reviews of One L by Myself and Michael; (2014) - Identical; (2018) - Testimony and Lawyers and Opportunities in International Criminal Courts; (2020) - The Last Trial - Opening and Mid-Trial and Closing

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward

(8. - 1191.) In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward (2015) - Detective Inspector Francis Sadler (“rangy restlessness”) and Detective Sergeant Damian Palmer (“cropped hair and stocky build”) and Detective Constable Connie Childs (“diminutive” with “attitude”) are called to the death of an elderly woman, Yvonne Jenkins, at the Wilton Hotel in Bampton, Derbyshire. She is an apparent suicide from pills and vodka. Near the bed is a photograph album with newspaper clippings about her young daughter, Sophie, kidnapped 36 years earlier. The anniversary date of the kidnapping was the previous day.

The case had never been solved. Sophie was never found. Yvonne never moved from the tidy modest bungalow which she shared with Sophie until the kidnapping in 1978. It is a home frozen in time.

The case has haunted the local police. Superintendent Llewellyn travels to the hotel before Yvonne is moved. He looks at the album. Though decades have passed since he was a young officer involved in the investigation, he is moved by emotion. He instructs Sadler to re-open the case.

Sophie’s friend, Rachel Jones, still lives at Bampton. In 1978 they had gotten into the back of a car to get a lift to school from a lady. How or why Rachel was freed or escaped those decades earlier has been a mystery.

Rachel works as a family historian, a personal genealogist, creating family trees. She has searched out her family’s past listing only female ancestors. 

A journalist shows up at Rachel’s home and shouts through the slammed front door an offer of more money than Rachel made the previous year if Rachel will talk to her.

With little, if any, new evidence to be found the investigators decide to focus on a pair of “whys”. Why did Rachel survive and why did Yvonne kill herself now? My favourite questions in a crime fiction. 

Rachel is asked by Sadler if anything has come back to her over 36 years:

‘I told you no. Nothing. Can you imagine how that feels? I’ve lain awake night after night trying to remember, but nothing comes back.’ 

The police muse on whether the woman abductor was the perpetrator or an accomplice?

Gradually secrets, not thought important or considered private or concealed or felt irrelevant, emerge to reveal the past. 

A current death, a murder, complicates the investigation. How are the disappearance and recent two deaths connected? They cannot be coincidences.

Rachel must find out the truth of her past to understand the kidnapping. She is sent tumbling back in her memory to the kidnapping by touching and feeling an innocent item. 

Generations of women in Rachel’s family are crucial but how and why are devilishly difficult questions. With Mary, her mother, gone she must look to the uncertain recall of Nancy, her grandmother .

The police search, at the same time. from another perspective the life of the woman who was murdered.

It is striking how solitary or unsettled are the lives of the main characters. Sadler, Connie, Rachel, Yvonne and the last victim all live alone. Damian lives with his fiancee but is terrified about their impending marriage. There is not a significant character in a happy stable spousal relationship.

Ward is skilful at creating characters, whether they have small or great roles in the book. She creates people not just one or two dimensional characters.

The book started slowly with the pace increasing and tension building until it was a race within the plot between Rachel and the police to the solution.

In Bitter Chill is an excellent mystery with satisfying complexity. The reader is as challenged as the police.

Friday, February 9, 2024

ALANNA

I have been thinking about the meaning of life this week. Sharon’s niece, Alanna, died last week. On Saturday we attended a celebration of her life.

After a difficult pregnancy Alanna had profound challenges from birth. She could not see. She could barely walk. Her brain was a fraction of the size of an average brain. A doctor thought she would not survive longer than a month. She lived 33 years.

For her last 18 years she lived full time in the Sunshine home in Osler where she truly lived in a home not a house. The Sunshine home is a bright spacious inviting place. 

Her memorial card powerfully sets out her life:

For those who knew Alanna, she will be forever remembered for her captivating smile that invited others to be near her.  Music has always been an important part throughout her life. She listened to oceans waves, drumbeats, Lady Gaga and acoustic guitar that caregivers played for her.  Her favorite was caregivers singing softly in her ear, “You Are My Sunshine”, and “Jesus Loves Me”. She often joined by clapping or play her bells.

Alanna loved sunshine and coffee. Being able to sit on the deck on the warm, sunny days with her coffee brought her great joy. She enjoyed the solitude and peacefulness. She also enjoyed her warm, cozy room and long sleeps. 

Alanna loved her family and friends. Her best friends being Elena, Jesse and Josh. All the people at her home, past and present, made sure she had the best of everything and had special bonds with each of them. She has hosted many celebrations, events and visits for all her Sunshine friends. Alanna’s favorite was talking to her family and friends on the phone and listening to the voices on the other end.  Alanna loved having her hair combed and braided by dad and staff. She enjoyed meeting up with her mom and having a coffee together. 

Alanna was born November 9, 1990 at Yorkton Union Hospital to Bob and Vi Hartl. Alanna had 2 sisters Rebecca and Raylene. In her younger years she lived in Esterhazy where she attended school at P.J. Gillen Elementary School. In 1998 she moved to Warman with her family and attended Venture Heights School in Martensville. That year she also started transitioning to Sunshine Housing Inc. In 2006 Alanna moved permanently into her forever home where she resided until she passed away. 

Her Dad texted me about the importance of donating to care homes such as Sunshine Housing Inc.

Sharon and I did not have a role in her life. We admired and are humbled by the dedication and love given to her by her parents, her sisters and all the other caregivers for those 33 years.

In our present world I fear that Alana would not have been thought to have a meaningful life. I fear that a meaningful life currently requires good health, a full time job and not being dependent. I fear we do not respect and do not see dignity in the life of all.

Over 50 years ago in 2nd year university one of my classes was the Philosophy of Religion taught by Father Martin Biztyo. In that class I learned of Viktor Frankl, a Viennese psychiatrist and philosopher who thought deeply about life.

I subsequently read and reviewed in my blog his book, Man’s Search for Meaning

In my review of the book I said:

Frankl said it “does not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us”. If suffering is your task in life it is necessary to face it with dignity. All life has meaning. He said those with religious faith understood their sacrifice.


I continued in my review:


A dying inmate cheerfully faced her death saying she was grateful that the brutal camp life had forced her spoiled pre-camp self to “take spiritual accomplishments seriously”.


A couple of years ago I read Louise Penny’s work of fiction The Madness of Crowds, a book in her long running series featuring Inspector Armand Gamache. I wrote several posts about the book.

In one of those posts I set out the philosophy of a statistician, Abigail Robinson, who was one of the primary characters: 

She has analyzed massive amounts of information on societies, trends and the Covid pandemic. She has taken a phrase of hope for recovery from the pandemic, All will be well, and twisted it into a phrase supporting her thesis that for the world to recover from the pandemic and thrive there needs to be “mercy” killings, especially of the aged, and abortions of the deformed unborn. Those who burden society are to be removed.


In another post I said:


Robinson does not value individuals. It is society - “people” as a group - which is valued by her. The greater good requires sacrifices.

By contrast, Gamache sees “people” as individuals. He sees persons not categories of worthy and unworthy members of society. 


Gamache has a beloved granddaughter, Idola, who has Down Syndrome.

I appreciate there are prospective parents who face difficult decisions on whether to continue pregnancies. I respect their individual choices. I abhor those who would create government programs that would condemn the aged and the unborn they consider unworthy.

Recently I read another work of crime fiction, The Discourtesy of Death by William Brodrick, in which a paraplegic young woman, Jenny, with terminal cancer dies. The book explores whether she died a natural death or someone assisted her to die or someone caused her to die.

In the book Jenny, a dancer until a devastating fall, initially thinks after becoming a paraplegic that her life has no value. She re-considers and passionately explains why she wants to live:

‘Now? she replied. ‘I want my life. I was ready to die before but now I want my life. I know that in one way it’s broken, disappointing, limited, worthless, empty and insignificant … but it’s mine. It’s all I’ve got. I’m still me. And I know it will soon become messy and painful and frightening, but I still want it. I want to live what I’ve got … do you understand? It’s as valuable to me now as it ever was. I’m still … full of something … and it can exhilarating, despairing, violent and peaceful - every state you can think of - and I just want to keep hold of it … for as long as possible.’

The song, This is Me, from the movie, The Greatest Showman, emphasizes the meaningfulness of every life. A link to a magnificent performance is below.

Alanna’s Dad sent me some thoughts after reading this post:

One thing that I have pondered.  Alanna lived 33 years, 2 months and 18 days.  Not once did she commit an act of greed or malice or hatred to another being or animal.  She liked some more than others but she could not be mean or jealous.  Not many humans I have met in my life can measure up to her character.  A human being incapable of being "bad". If there ever was an angelic human, it would be her.

As a practising Catholic and as a lawyer who has dealt with the challenges of people for almost 49 years I see all life as meaningful. Your life was meaningful Alanna. Rest in peace. 

****

The initial singing of This is Me by Keala Settle for the cast of the movie is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLFEvHWD_NE

Friday, February 2, 2024

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

Working on, I should say reading several books, but have not finished any recently. Thus I am putting up a post of an early Walt Longmire book that I wrote in 2008. It was a good story with depth to the mystery. There was a precursor in Death Without Company of the more recent Longmire books when body counts have become extreme.

****

2. - 412.) Death Without Company by Craig Johnson – The title comes from a Basque proverb – “A life without friends means ....”. Former sheriff, Lucian Connally, shakes Walt Longmire to his core when he claims fellow resident of the assisted living home, Mari Barojas, was murdered and follows up that she was his wife. It turns out they had briefly married before her father and brothers forcefully broke up the union. Her granddaughter, Lana Barojas, has opened a bakery in Durant. While skeptical Walt finds a way to order an autopsy. To his surprise she was poisoned. About the same time an effort is made to kill Dr. Issac Bloomfield by damaging his brake lines. Suddenly others are attacked. Motivation becomes clear when Walt learns of the millions in revenue coming from methane gas extraction on the Barojas property. A new deputy, Santiago Saizarbitoria, helps with translating the Basque language of the Barojas clan. It turns out the solution goes back 5 decades to the man Mari was married to after Lucian. Henry Standing Bear is a stalwart friend. The action flows swiftly. It is a vivid story that utilizes Wyoming geography and weather. Fierce winter Christmas storms are woven into the story. Walt is very believable. The solution could be determined by the bodies left standing. Excellent. Hardcover. (Jan. 7/08)

****

Johnson, Craig – (2007) - The Cold Dish(Best Fiction of 2007); (2008) - Death Without Company; (2008) - Kindness Goes Unpunished (Third Best Fiction of 2008); (2009) - Another Man’s Moccasins; (2011) - The Dark Horse; (2011) - Junkyard Dogs; (2012) - Hell is Empty; (2013) As the Crow Flies; (2013) - Longmire T.V. Series; (2014) - A Serpent's Tooth; (2015) - Radio in Indigenous Mystery Series; (2015) - Any Other Day;  (2015) - Where is the Walt Longmire Series Headed; (2016) - Musings on the 5th Season of Longmire; (2017) - Dry Bones and Is the Largest T-Rex in Saskatchewan?; (2018) - An Obvious Fact; (2019) - The Western Star; (2021) - Depth of Winter 

Saturday, January 27, 2024

The Plantin Polyglot Bible in Fiction


In
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk the mystery is about the disappearance of The Plantin Polyglot Bible which has been purchased for $500,000 by Department Director, Christopher Wolfe.

There are 6 volumes to the Bible and they are not in the safe at the Department. Jurczyk creates a wonderful book around the missing volumes of the Bible.

I had certainly heard of the Gutenberg Bible, the book that heralded the age of print in the Western world, but I had not known of the Plantin Polyglot Bible. A quick Google search revealed the stunning Bible.

It is Polyglot as it is written in multiple languages - Hebrew, Chaldean (Aramaic), Greek, Latin and Syriac. Printed between 1568-1572 in Antwerp the Bible is a magnificent work of book making. Plantin’s goal was, as stated in Christie’s who were selling a vellum copy in 2018, to “produce the finest Bible in all Christendom”.

There were 1,200 copies printed on paper and 12 copies on vellum. The vellum copies were for King Philip II of Spain. The skins of 8,000 sheep were needed to print the vellum copies.

Christie’s says:

Plantin devoted 5 years, up to 4 presses and 40 workment to print the Bible. He had been acquiring types from the best type-cutters and designers of the day - Guillaume Le Be and Cornelis van Bomberghen for Hebrew and Brobert Granjon for Greek and Syriac … 

Between financial issues and strife in the Netherlands the last two volumes, the Apparatus Sacra, were only printed on paper.

The vellum copies, because of weight, were bound into 11 volumes instead of 6 volumes.

In the book it is the paper version which has been bought by the library.

It was not until I saw the photos from Christie’s, which in 2018 auctioned the only vellum copy in the world in private hands, that I appreciated the majesty of the Bible as described in Jurczyk’s book.

It would be an amazing experience to hold and look at a volume.

Christie’s sold the vellum Plantin Polyglot Bible for 488,750 pounds (Canadian $836,101)!

****

My review is at The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

Here is a link to a wonderful video from Christie’s auction information.

Eva had an interesting conversation with John Shoesmith, the Outreach Librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto about her book and her work at the year. The Fisher Library is the inspiration for the library in her book. Here is a link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mkaGbdAfa0&t=246s