Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer (1953) by Molly Clavering #DeanStreetDecember25

✍🏻 Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer is an autobiographical novel on Molly Clavering's friendship with D.E. Stevenson; both were women writers at that time. Lucy Lorimer, from whose point of view the story was told, was neighbor to D.E. Stevenson, the more successful of the two, though by no means the more talented. In my opinion, both were talented, though each had her own style in writing. Molly Clavering was represented in this story by Grace 'Gray' Douglas, a spinster neighbor and closest friend of Mrs. Lorimer. If their characters did truly represent both writers, I was surprised to learn that their writings were the opposite of their true characters. I thought D.E. Stevenson (in Lucy Lorimer) would have been more meek and sweet in writing, while Gray Douglas' (in Molly Clavering) would be more intense. But I found Molly Clavering's is more suitable to Lucy Lorimer's than the other way round. Very interesting!

✍🏻 Mrs. Lorimer was married to Jack Lorimer, and on that titular summer (which was a far cry from "quiet"), was expecting her offspring and their families came for holiday. They were consisted of three married couple, and Guy Lorimer - still a bachelor who had just been broken hearted over a broken engagement. One couple and Guy were staying at Miss Douglas', since the Lorimers' was fully occupied. You might imagine the chaos on these occasion - I'm very glad that I never married, because things like these would have distressed me a lot! Anyway, Lucy had bitten off more than she could chew; what with marriage problem of her daughter, a serious illness of the other, and love affair of the son. Not mentioning, the arrival of an old flame to her door. In all that time, only Gray's peaceful company and advice (and a cup of tea at the right time) that helped Lucy to stay cool and collected. I loved their picnic on the river bank, especially, where they sit "on a grassy bank with a young river talking quietly to itself at their feet and a heather-scented breeze drifting overhead."
✍🏻 If you ask me whether this is a good story, I can't answer you. Because, frankly, this isn't the usual story with plot or structure. This is just a snippet of the three main characters' lives (Mrs. and Mr. Lorimer, and Gray Douglas) during a particular summer, with all the quiet as well as the stormy times. They, and the only outsiders in this story, the Smellies, who lived in a charming house that Mrs. Lorimer had been wanting to buy herself, but was rejected by her husband. The Smellies (what a name!) consisted of a Mr. Smellie and her daughter Nesta Rowena. She hated her name, and preferred 'Rona' as the Lorimers nicknamed her. I thought Nesta Rowena is a charming name. I would have been proud to be called that, rather than Rona, which sounds childish. It would have been a nice name for a pet, though... :)

✍🏻 All in all, this is a charming and comfortable read during the hectic days which usually happen near end of the year. I loved Mrs. Lorimer's and Miss Douglas' friendship, loved the developing romance between Guy Lorimer (my favorite of the offspring) and Nesta Rowena Smellie (I loved her unique character and sensible personality). Many thanks to Dean Street Press for bringing this book up from the dead into our current literary world!
 

Read for:

Dean Street December 2025

hosted by Liz @  Adventures in reading, running and working from home

Six Degrees of Separation, from the Sea to the Mountains

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme, now hosted by Kate @ books are my favorite and best.

On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

This month we start from yet another book I haven't read:


0. Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Summary:

Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach and scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream. When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas? Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.​​​​ Here's the Goodreads summary.

I have thought of two directions to build this month's chain. I can use seascraper, and link it to shell seeker - a rather lame connection to Rosamund Pilcher's The Shell Seekers - or I could use the horse-drawn cart to lead me to another book. And I shamelessly use the latter - a book I have used just last month. In my defense, I think it's a good choice, and this is going to be a good chain; I promise!

1. The Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild

I have mentioned in last month's post, about another kind of horse-drawn vehicle, that is a canal boat. In this case, the horse walked on the bank, while a rope from the canal boat was attached to the horse. This book's main character spent some times in this canal boat. You can read more about the book here. She was called Margaret Thursday, an orphan who's named after the days of week she was born.

This reminded me of an author whose name was associated with the days of the week.

2. The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa

T. Lobsang Rampa (T for Tuesday) is pen name of Cyril Henry Hoskin, an English author who penned The Third Eye, a story about a fictional lama in Tibet. I have read it pre-blogging era, so here is the Goodreads summary if you are interested, and as there was a dispute over the authenticity of the author, here's my post about it. And speaking about Tibet, here's my most favorite nonfiction so far...

3. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

Heinrich Harrer, the writer of Seven Years in Tibet - a remarkable book, by the way, here's my review - was a renowned mountaineer. And that reminded me of this book, with 'mountaineer' in the title..

4. The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

This book is a locked room mystery with a touch of science fiction. It was set in a remote inn and ski chalet. The inn had been used by mountaineers in the past - hence the name. The whole story is eccentric, yet entertaining. Here's my review if you're interested.

5. The Swiss Summer

From a remote chalet in Russia, I bring you cross country, to another remote chalet in Switzerland. What a refreshing experience to be brought to these mountainous remote chalet through books! And this one would be a contender for my most favorite reading of the year. Many people found it dull, perhaps, but I loved it, as was reflected in my review. The heroine found unexpected friends while staying on Swiss Alps, and that would be the key to connect us to my last link...

6. In the Mountains by Elizabeth von Arnim

This is a less known of Elizabeth von Arnim's books. Perhaps, it's because the first half is rather boring and uneventful. A woman found peace on the Swiss Alps, away from troubles in the real world. It sounds boring, indeed. But wait until two women who were lost on the mountain, appeared on the scene. And that's how our heroine found unexpected friends on the Swiss Alps. Though it's not von Arnim's best, it's a refreshing and entertaining read. I reviewed it here.


And so, from the sea, I have brought us to the mountains. How do you like it? ;)

Have you read those books? If you do #sixdegree too, how it works out for you this time?

Richardson's First Case (1933) by Basil Thomson #DeanStreetDecember25

👮🏻 Sir Basil Home Thomson had been the head of CID (Criminal Investigation Department) in Scotland Yard for eight years before writing a this crime detective series with P.C. Richardson as his hero. Thus, he knew inside out how the Yard was run at the time. This series, then, was written as meticulously as it probably has ever been, as a police investigation of a murder case. P.C. Richardson is a uniformed constable, and on his first day of duty. Richardson has been dreaming of one day entering the CID while standing on the corner of Baker Street, when bam! a car accident occurs, and an old man was dead. He was identified by his talkative nephew as Mr. Catchpool, an antique store owner and registered money-lander. But Richardson is failed when trying to locate the deceased's wife, to break the news. She was later on found also dead, but not by accident. She was strangled to death in a willful murder!

👮🏻 Now here's the interesting thing about this book. Instead of putting a chief inspector of inspector in lime light while the investigation is progressing, we are treated with the running of CID machinery and bureaucracy. When a clue was procured or witnesses found, the inspector dealing with the case would report it to his superior. Then he, in turn, forward it to yet his superior, until it reached the Commissioner, who would then submit the neatly wrapped up case to the Prosecutor. Thomson even gave us the acronyms of each rank, which I did not really care about. Anyway, this writing style is unique of Golden Age Detective stories, and this makes Basil Thomson stands out among his contemporaries.

👮🏻 The murder mystery involved nephews of both Mr. and Mrs. Catchpool, due to a clause in Mr. Catchpool's will: if his wife survived him even for a few minutes, his wealth would be inherited by her nephew. Whereas if the wife's death precedes the husband, then his nephew will inherit it. So, the police's first task is to establish time of death of Mrs. Catchpool, which is not an easy task. Complications arise from every angle, especially from unreliable witnesses with their own interests. But to all this, P.C. Richardson, who is summoned to help with the investigation by his superior, makes an excellent job.

👮🏻 What I liked most of this book, is the sense that we are included in a real police investigation, instead of reading a detective story. It was a rare experience too, to follow a budding career of the inspector-would-be - for Richardson will become an inspector, as the series title has implied - from the very bottom - uniformed officer. It would be interesting to see how he would progress, and so, this series would be one I would read in order. I should thank Dean Street Press for bringing this germ to resurface!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Dean Street December 2025

hosted by Liz @ Adventures in reading, running and working from home

Still Life (2005) by Louise Penny

🎨 Still Life is the first book in Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, a crime mystery series penned by Louise Penny. It introduces us to Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and some of his team of Surete du Quebec provincial police force. Gamache and his colleagues were summoned to investigate the death of a local artist called Jane Neal. We were provided a little opportunity to know Jane shortly before her death. She was a teacher with gentle, affectionate manner - the kind that is usually loved by the students. Hence, her death shocked most of the inhabitants of Three Pines, a small peaceful village - so peaceful that they don't have any local police force. Jane Neal was pierced by a hunting arrow near the deer trail. The question arises, whether it's an innocent accident or a deliberate murder.

🎨 I don't usually like mystery with too many characters, but it somehow fits nicely in this one. The police force itself has several characters. Jean Guy Beauvoir is Gamache's sidekick, with opposite personality from Gamache. Then there are a few other agents, and Yvette Nichol, a rookie agent in the Surete whose first assignment is to work under Gamache's command. She tends to show off her knowledge, which leads usually to blunders instead of appreciation. Near the end of the case Nichol is finally sent back to Montreal by Gamache, after he has been patient enough to try to guide her without avail. Her appearance in the mystery offers more of hilarious moments than anything else, and as her faith isn't conclusive, I am hoping that she will return in the next cases.

🎨 The more the case progresses, the more we get acquainted with the characters and the village itself. In the end, I even feel like visiting it myself. I can picture myself staying at the B&B owned by a gay couple Olivier Brulé and Gabriel (Gabri) Dubeau. They are charming chatty-duo, the foods are scrumptious, and the B&B itself seems a jolly place to stay. My favorite character is Clara, Jane's most intimate friend, who's an artist, just like her husband Peter. Jane was actually murdered (of course it turns out to be murder) just after she invited her friends to her house - where hitherto no one had ever been farther than the kitchen and mudroom (why had she been secretive of her inside house; what had she been hiding?) Gamache soon realizes that the key to the murder is in Jane's painting titled Fair Day, which is going to be exhibited at the gallery. The painting is depicting the end of a fair day, the day her friend, Timmer Hadley, died of a longtime illness. Was Jane's murder related to that other death? Or was it triggered by an assault aimed to the gay couple, in which Jane scolded the perpetrators?
🎨 I loved it that the murder is all about art and artists. I have a little suspicions of that from the title: Still Life. Armand Gamache is your perfect chief inspector too; they way he led his subordinates is exemplary. I guessed the murderer correctly - I think it's quite clear after Gamache settled that the murder is all about the painting. There was a red herring, but I know instantly it's a false trail. All in all, it's a nice mystery with a little suspenseful action in the end. I might like to continue down the series, if not to appease my curiosity over agent Nichol's future, then to read more of the eloquent Chief Inspector Armand Gamache (I love the sound of his name too!)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: DECEMBER

And here we are, in the last month of the year. I need to start thinking about next year - but for now, let's focus on the last two stories we're going to read for 2025:

THE THUMB MARK OF ST. PETER

(a Miss Marple story)

So far, every member of the Tuesday Night Club have contributed some of their stories. And on every story, Miss Marple has successfully solved the case. But Miss Marple herself had never offered her own story. So, here, on our last month of #AgathaChristieSS25, she would tell the only story she would ever contributed to the Club. It's concerning her niece Mable, who married a violent man with insanity history in his family, and who later died suddenly. When arsenic is found in the house Mabel claims to have been intended to commit suicide, but who is telling the truth?
In this story Miss Marple describes what may have been the very first murder she solved. The story was published in the Royal Magazine in the UK in 1928. It was included in the 1932 collection, The Thirteen Problems, Miss Marple's first short story collection.

A FRUITFUL SUNDAY

(a non-detective story)

A young couple discover a ruby necklace at the bottom of their fruit basket, worth fifty thousand pounds. Well, it sounds like a promising story of what-may-happen - a kind of story I always love to read, it can be very exciting or the opposite, but I'm certainly looking forward to! The story was included in the UK collection The Listerdale Mystery, 1934, and was published in the US in the collection The Golden Ball and Other Stories in 1971.

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So, tell me, are you excited to do Agatha Christie Short Stories for another year? Or do you think we should take a break and come back the next year? Let me know what you think, and if you are eager to continue, what or which stories you'd like to read more?

Picture Miss Seeton (1968) by Heron Carvic

🌂When a middle-aged semi-retired art teacher called Miss Seeton was walking out of an opera performance, she encountered a young man hitting a girl. She can't stand that kind of behavior, so she poked the young man's ribs from behind, with her umbrella. The man was astonished, but he vanished into the night before Miss Seeton recovered, but not before she saw his face. But lo and behold, the girl was not only fainted, she's dead! The young man had stabbed her, and what Miss Seeton has witnessed wasn't a quarrel, but a murder.

🌂 Superintendent Delphick from Scotland Yard led the murder investigation, in which Miss Seeton produced her sketch of the murderer's identity as César Lebel. He's a criminal involved ina drug gang, whose identity had never been known before - not until Miss Seeton poked her umbrella onto his ribs, that is. As an important eyewitness to the Scotland Yard, Miss Seeton must leave her house for safely (Lebel stole her purse, and hence, knew her address). So, she's staying in a village cottage she'd just inherited in Plummergen, in the Kent countryside. There we were introduced to several other quirky but interesting characters that were bound to people a small village, complete with gossips, prejudices, and all. The arrival of Miss Seeton, whom they've read in the newspaper about, and following her steps, the Scotland Yard team, stirred and excited the quiet village like never before. 🌂 To call this book a cozy mystery is a bit misleading, because there's almost no mystery in it. A murder happened, and our 'heroine' witnessed it, but the police wasn't solving that case. The identity of the murdered girl wasn't even revealed. No, Scotland Yard were, partly, after the criminal, and partly protecting their eyewitness. And they didn't do their job very nicely. Miss Seeton had been abducted (with sack thrown over her had), and enduring a few murder attempts during her stay in Plummergen, while the police couldn't even keep with her movements - they always lost her. Still, she survived, partly with the help of her umbrella (the heroine's weapon!), and her naivete. The funniest element of this book (and its most attractive point) was Miss Seeton's naivete. She seemed oblivious of the attacks thrown at her, and almost always even felt sorry for the chaser. On one occasion she nearly helped him, and would have done it had she not fallen into the pond.

🌂 In short, this books is more about a funny little adventure with a funny quirky heroine. You'd appreciate it more when you read it on some gloomy rainy days (we are in the middle of monsoon season here..), but would be disgusted with it if you'd hope of some crime-mystery.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1961) by John Steinbeck #NonFicNov25

🐩 When the itch of travelling came to John Steinbeck in the 1960s, he began a plan for a road trip journey around America. A camper-truck was made specially for him, which he named Rocinante - after Don Quixote's horse. For a companion, he brought Charley, his old French poodle (his real name was Charles - pronounced in French). The purpose of the trip, is to get to know more of his country, which he has written a lot, but not quite sure he has captured the true nature. Steinbeck started from Long Island, New York, then followed the outer border of the United States. In total, he encompasses 10,000 miles.

🐩 After furnishing Rocinante with everything he might need to be comfortable during the journey - he ended up bringing way too many - he started right away. The first transit was Maine. From there, he headed towards the Pacific Northwest. One of his (and mine) favorite is White Mountains 'with the prettiest villages in the whole nation'. While in Maine, Steinbeck observed that mobile homes was a new trend, he found many of them, parked on the open country (immune from town taxes). The park men only charged small ground rent plus fees for water and electricity. Steinbeck invited one of his 'neighbor' camper, a performing street actor, for a cup of coffee, and they had a very interesting conversation. He did that several times during the road trip, conversing with people, to get to know their views on many things.

🐩 Another interesting observation made by Steinbeck was how the writing of city signs reflected the character of the city. But his more important discovery was the lost of regional speech with local accents. He blamed television and radio broadcasted to the whole nation as the cause. People everywhere heard the same accent, and it immersed in theirs. "For with local accent will disappear local tempo. The idioms, the figures of speech that make language rich and full of the poetry of place and time must go. And in their place will be a national speech, wrapped and packaged, standard and tasteless." 

🐩 Although Steinbeck's main desire was to learn about America, he also made a not less important discovery. It's about Charley. I loved Charley! For me, he is the main attraction of the book (sorry, Steinbeck!) I loved the way he said 'Ftt', while waking up his master or attracting his attention. A truly French gentleman he is, always polite, gentle, and dignified. It was painful for him (physically and mentally) when he got prostatitis. It must have been humiliating for him every time he needs to pee, poor Charley! Anyway, Steinbeck got to learn an unknown side of Charley after an encounter with bears on Yellowstone National Park. It was a quite tensed moment. I, too, have had an interesting discovery. If you have read East of Eden, you might remember a secondary but not the least important character: Lee - the household old Chinese intelligent servant. Lee was actually the name of Steinbeck's childhood cook!

🐩 At last, Steinbeck's travels with Charley went beyond Steinbeck's dream (whose travels ever match one's expectation, right?) He wanted to learn about America, but could he conclude in the end, who, what, or how America was? It's not that easy. Steinbeck experienced one last shock before ending his travel; he experienced first hand the intense racism towards Negroes in the South. The amount of hatred he felt was enough to disgust and enraged him to, finally, soured his journey to and end, long before he arrived home. For me, the travels provided a first hand glimpse to America in the 1960s, but what pleased me the most is John Steinbeck's writing - incisive, eloquent, and witty.

Some quotes:

"It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The scale is huge but not overpowering."

- John Steinbeck fell in love with Montana!

"You can't go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory."

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb