Friday, January 24, 2025

Bud, Not Buddy (1999) by Christopher Paul Curtis




πŸ”΅ Bud Caldwell was named Bud by her mother, and before she died, she thought him to not let anyone call him Buddy. From this only, I could imagine that Bud was brought up finely by his single parent, despite of being poor. But where was Bud's father? We could only guess from Bud's point of view, of which this story was written, that he had left his wife and son on the lurch - a fact that his mother was often angry of.

πŸ”΅ Another stuff that his mother left Bud before she died was some posters of a band, her portrait, and some pebbles with dates scribbled on it. All these, and a blanket, were all of Bud's treasured belongings, put inside a worn suitcase, which he always carries with him wherever he goes.

πŸ”΅ Bud had stayed in an orphanage, then in a foster home, where he was showered by injustices, that he had had enough. Her mother also taught him that 'when one door is closed, another will open'. Bud didn't understand at first about this closing and opening of doors - he's just a ten years old boy anyway. But now that he's thirteen he began to understand. It's like when he had had enough being bullied at the foster home, that he ran away. That was closing of one door, and sure enough another door was immediately opened.

πŸ”΅ One more thing that Bud began to realize, is that the man playing saxophone in the band posters, was definitely his father - though he couldn't understand why her mother was always angry when she saw those posters (but we knew, of course). And now Bud is sure that he must find his estranged father. Can he? Is his father still a musician? And if - big if - Bud could find him, the bigger question is, would he accept Bud as his son?

πŸ”΅ I loved this book. Its strongest attraction is Bud's personality, which was built finely with love and dignity by his late mother. He's an intelligent, optimistic and funny lad, and quite self-sufficient too - no doubt due to his mother's undivided love and trust. What a simple, tender, and satisfying read it has been, set in Michigan in the 1930s during Great Depression.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

The Circular Staircase (1908) by Mary Roberts Rinehart




♦️ Rachel Innes, a spinster, related a nerve-wrecking series of incidents she must endured when she rented a Gothic-styled countryside house in summer, with her niece Gertrude and nephew Hayles. It belonged to a successful banker Paul Armstrong. Upon her arrival with her old maid, she had been warned about a ghost that haunted the house. And there it was, night after night, mysterious sounds and misplaced stuffs - even stranger's invasion - happened in the house. All seemed to happen around a circular staircase.

♦️ Gertrude and Halsey arrived later with a friend, John Bailey, who was, apparently, Gertrude's fiance. The next day, though, the two men disappeared. Inexplicable things seemed to happen almost every day, that even baffled the Inspector who's investigating the case. Everything seemed to revolve around the Armstrongs, with the house Rachel was rented became the center. What was it that they tried to find in the house? And why did the Armstrongs strongly persuade Rachel to end her lease - which she insisted not to, at least after she solved the mystery?

♦️ This was a highly entertaining mystery. A gothic house with its creaking wood and dark corners, with so many doors and windows to lock every night, is a perfect setting for a Gothic mystery/ thriller. Add that with unknown objects, and persons who seem to be in and out of the house through secret doors, not mentioning a mysterious hole on the wall or golf stick under the stairs. Financial scandal of a bank, a woman's name that created panic, an orphaned boy, and two romances, only complicated the already intricate story. A satisfying read it has been, and I know I'm going to read more of Rinehart!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Monday, January 20, 2025

The Black Spectacles (1939) by John Dickson Carr




πŸ•Ά The story opens with Marcus Chesney, a wealthy man and the owner of Sodbury Cross, who was on holiday to Greece. He was accompanied by her niece Marjorie Wills, his brother Doctor Joseph (Joe) Chesney and a few friends. Marjorie's fiance completed the group, he's a photographer called Geoege something (I forgot). Inspector Elliot from Scotland Yard was also on the same tour, and he intently watched how things get awkward with the family as soon "poisoner" was mentioned. From here we get to know that Marjorie Wills had been suspected to have poisoned some chocolates in the local shop, causing death of one little boy.

πŸ•Ά Inspector Elliot was involved in this case, and while discussing the matter with the Superintendent and Chief Constable, a news came that Marcus Chesney has just been murdered, apparently, in front of eyewitnesses. Marcus held a conviction that eyewitnesses are mostly unreliable; they wouldn't relate accurately of what they had seen. He also solved To proof his theory, he staged a test for the family and friends - all who had accompanied him to Greece. George was tasked to film the whole procedure, while Joe Chesney couldn't attend due to his being summoned by a patient.

πŸ•Ά Marcus was helped by someone who was masked and disguised, who would given Marcus a green capsule, supposedly, to contain poison. You guest correctly if you think the capsule did contained poison, and thus, a staged murder became a real one. But if the other three persons were all spectators, who, then, was the murderer?

πŸ•Ά While the story unfolds, we get to notice that Inspector Elliot is not going to be the star investigator. Especially when it's clear that he was infatuated with Marjorie, and he let his emotion clouded his logical mind. He consulted Doctor Gideon Fell, and the latter it was who would become the mystery solver.

πŸ•Ά This was my first Carr, and I was thoroughly impressed. No wonder too, since The Black Spectacles is daubed to be Carr's masterpiece. The plot is genius, with minimum suspect, and lack of clear motive. There are two cases of poisoning too, the chocolate poisoning seems to be a random case. No one could predict who's going to buy the poisoned chocolate among the harmless others. So, what's the motive? And Marcus' murder, is it to prevent him revealing the chocolate poisoner? Or something else? On the whole, it's an ingenious mystery, a perfect read for true murder mystery/detective novels lovers, highlighted the psychological aspect. One slight problem for me is the lengthy explanation from Doctor Fell on the psychological theory; it's interesting, but a bit too long to be entertaining.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Friday, January 17, 2025

The Bird Found the Body (2023) by Bailey Booth




🦜 As I love birds, naturally I was drawn to read a cozy mystery where the bird has significant role in the investigation. Moreover, I have read Bailey Booth's cat-themed novella a few years ago. It was okay, a promising debut, at least. And I was curious whether her writing would be improved in this new series. Well, it is not, significantly. I found it just another okay, but a very cute story if you are a bird lover.

🦜 Keela arrived at a tropical island of Half Moon Cross with her cockatiel, Chicken. She was summoned by her Aunt Astrid, to take over her business, a bird-pirate-themed tour company called Parrots of the Caribbean. However, just on her first day of leading a tour, Chicken, her cockatiel - dressed in cute pirate costume, no less - led the group into finding a dead body. It belonged to a former employee of Parrots of the Caribbean too. It was a terrible way to start a new job. Worse still, the police suspected Aunt Astrid to have committed the murder, since the deceased had been seen quarreling with her before she left the company. Keela couldn't let that happen. First of all, Aunt Astrid is a kind, compassionate person, and secondly, if her aunt went to prison, what would happen to Parrots of the Caribbean, and where she would stay, considering that she has just left her former painful life behind?

🦜 But who had the motive and opportunity to murder Vanessa, the former employee? Keela is a newcomer, and she needs more time to know everyone. Especially Ruby, the scarlet macaw belongs to Aunt Astrid, who is the mascot of Parrots of the Caribbean. It is more attached to another employee, whose ambition makes him one of Keela's suspects. The other is the owner of Parrots of Caribbean's competitor. But not only them, Keela even, at one point, had a little apprehension whether her new friend - also employee to the company - might have done it. The same applies to a handsome bartender and ex-police who has a crush on her. 

🦜 All in all, it's a cozy mystery which is too cozy for my taste. The premise is cute and refreshing - the birds, the sanctuary, even the pirates-themed tour, but I couldn't get my myself absorbed into the mystery. It's entertaining enough, but not a cozy mystery series I'm going to follow closely.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (2013) by Hisashi Kashiwai #JapaneseLitChallenge18




🍜 Tucked away in a quiet backstreet of Kyoto is an unusual Diner. No sign appears on the outside of the unassuming buiding, but once you open its sliding door, you'd find a cozy restaurant. Run by Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter Koishi, it's a special restaurant combined with a detective agency in the back office. How can a restaurant be mixed up with a detective agency? Well, the agency doesn't take the usual criminal cases, it deals with food - recreating food, in particular.

🍜 A potential customer would first be served with a set menu curated by the Chef, Nagare. After enjoying the meal (every customer do!), he or she would be directed to the office, where Koishi would interview the client of what dish he or she wants them to recreate. It could be a childhood dish, or a memorable dish important for the client. She would ask some further questions concerning the background, location, etc. And based on these information will Nagare then track and investigate the dish concerned, and try to replicate it for the client in a fortnight.

🍜 This book is a compilation of these cases, or shall we say, these dishes. Each dish isn't only centered on the food only - they all met, or perhaps, even, exceeded the clients' expectations - but more than that, Nagare's investigation usually reveals deeper aspect of emotion behind a plate of delicious food - memory, loved ones, forgiveness, understanding, and new hope. All in all, it's a collection of heartwarming stories with mouthwatering foods, with a sprinkle of mystery.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Japanese Literature Challenge #18
hosted by Dolce Belleza


Monday, January 13, 2025

#MurderEveryMonday: Same Book, Different Editions




Murder Every Monday was created by Kate @ Crossexamining Crime and @ArmchairSleuth. Put simply, the plan is for readers to take a photo of a crime fiction book (novel or short story collection) which meets a given week’s theme criteria and to then share it online, using the hashtag #MurderEveryMonday.

This week's theme is:

Same Book, but Different Editions

My first mystery books are of Agatha Christie's. My late father used to take me to our favorite bookshop, and let me choose one (sometimes two) Agatha Christie's to take away. Those were happy days!! And he even do the covering for me, his were always so neat and clean. I still keep some of those with me, and I will share here two of my most favorites (Indonesian translations), along with the e-books in English which I have read as adult.













Have your read any of them? Which cover(s) do you like most?

If you want to participate, here's the list of the weekly theme.

Friday, January 10, 2025

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2025




I think I have participated in this challenge once years ago, but failed completely. This year seems to be a perfect time to re-enter the challenge, as I think my reading will be more organized, and (hopefully) less frantic than before. Cloak and Dagger reading Challenge is hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook. Click the link to find more details on the challenge. It runs from 1 January to 31 December 2025.

I am aiming the Detective Level (16-25 books). And here's my list (I'll add titles after I've read and reviewed it), and this would be my goal post, to add links to my reviews.

1. The Bird Found the Body by Bailey Booth (2023)
2. The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr (1939)
3. The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1908)
4.
5.
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7.
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16.
17.
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19.
20.