The Spice Shop Mysteries by Leslie Budewitz
Assault and Pepper
Guilty as Cinnamon
Killing Thyme
I won Guilty as Cinnamon, the second book in the Spice Shop mystery series, in the Save Our Cozies Read-a-Thon in July. Due to the expense of international postage, the author agreed to send the book to my housemate's parents' house, with the understanding that we would pick it up when we visited in October. During the Read-a-Thon, several books by featured authors were on sale for the Kindle, and I got the first book in the series then, but held off reading it until I could get the second, and the third, in the series while in the US. I planned to read all the books I brought with me on the trip and leave them in the US with friends and family, and then start the Spice Shop series on the return journey. I began Assault and Pepper in the airport in Dallas, the first leg of the journey, intending to finish it before I landed in Melbourne. I was good about reading in the airports in Dallas San Francisco, but then I boarded the trans-Pacific flight and all I wanted to do was sleep. I slept through most the 14 hour flight, and then almost all of the rest of the day once I finally landed. It was several days later when I picked up Assault and Pepper again. But then I made it through the book, and the next two in the series fairly quickly. They were definitely worth the time, too. I am glad I waited until I was fully awake to read them. I made some new friends along the way, and I discovered some new places to visit the next time I’m in the US. I will make it to the Pike Place Market in Seattle one day!
Assault and Pepper
This is the first book in the series, and it sets up the series well, with good introductions to the main characters and a number of the recurring supporting characters. The scene is set well and the spice shop is inviting and welcoming, just the kind of place you wish were real so you could visit. I found the mystery interesting and intriguing. It kept me guessing until the end, though I’m not sure how much of that was the fact that I was reading it on my Kindle. I do tend to flip to the end of the book when I’ve read about halfway. I don’t want to get involved with characters I have come to like and think of as friends, only to be blindsided if they turn out to be the killer in the end of the book, so halfway through I’ll flip to the end of the book and see if they are all still there on the last page. But reading books on the Kindle makes it a bit harder to flip to the end and scan the last page easily. It’s one of my big problems with the Kindle. I’m always glad when I don’t read the end of the book first, so I like reading the mysteries on the Kindle. When I have a paper copy, the temptation is too great and I do flip through to the end despite the fact that a little bit of the fun of reading through to the end is destroyed by doing so.
If I’m being totally honest, I did find Assault and Pepper was a bit hard to get into. It was easy to put the book down to check flight status, my Twitter/Facebook feed, or play a game on my phone. It could be that I was in an airport and there were plenty of distractions around, so my attention was not 100% focused on the book, but I did find it harder to get into than other new-to-me series. Being so easy to put down and pick up again the book, it was a good book to read when I was in airports and recovering from jet lag.
Guilty as Cinnamon
This was the book that sent me in search of the series. It was a fun book to read. The method of murder was unique, and not likely to be duplicated, which is always good in something as formulaic as murder mysteries. It was nice to get to know my new book-friends a bit better, and I did like how Pepper spent a bit more time in the shop and doing shop-based things than in the first book. That’s one of my biggest peeves in mysteries where the amateur sleuth has a real job. In many instances, the sleuth spends so much time investigating and chasing, or being chased by, the murderer that they never have any time left for their real jobs. In Guilty as Cinnamon, Pepper does actually do some work in the Spice Shop. I appreciated that. I hope it continues through the series.
Reading the book now in my personal timeline was good as well. My housemate had some Grapefruit & Campari sorbet while we were in the US and wanted to recreate that combination over the coming summer here in Australia. She had purchased a a bottle of Campari and was looking for something other than grapefruit sorbet to do with the the aperitif. My housemate is not a big drinker, but she loves to cook. She tells everyone she is far more likely to cook for bake with alcohol than drink it — making everything from pasta with vodka sauce to moscato cupcakes. The recipes for Negroni and Negroni Sbagliato in the book were perfect and have already been used.
I really enjoyed Guilty as Cinnamon, and felt like the series and characters are gelling a bit more, or maybe the flavors are blending a bit better in the second book. I am very happy I did enjoy this book; I would have felt awful if after I won it, and the author was so nice to me, not only by sending the book and patience in waiting for me to get it and read it, but also in sending other goodies with the book.
Killing Thyme
First off, let me say I am bit over using thyme as a homophone in book titles. It seems forced and predictable — it is pretty much guaranteed that if thyme is in the title, it is either going to be a flashback book or something from the past is going to be vitally important to the present plot. I fully expected that going in, and as it turns out, I was not wrong. The past returning was mentioned in the blurb, so it wasn’t that much of a guess, though I did buy and read the book without reading the blurb first.
(As it turns out, not only should I have read the blurb, but I should have flicked through the book rather than just picking it up in the bookstore. My copy was missing pages 21-52, so I had to buy a second copy for my Kindle to be able to finish the book while the rest of the series was still fresh in my mind.)
Of the three books in the Spice Shop series, this was the weakest in my opinion. It seemed to be a more of a transition for the continuing story of the regular and recurring characters, moving them in role, scope, and/or place. I suppose every series needs that to continue, but it seems early in this series to have or need that kind of character refocus. And I thought the mystery was a bit lame, in that it featured similar plot devices to both Assault and Pepper and Guilty as Cinnamon.
One of the things I dislike about mystery series books is the tendency to bring in characters merely for the purposes of making them either the victims or the killers. This book was a bit different in that it brought in a number of new characters, some that were neither victim nor killer. I hope those characters stay around, rather than being just single episode guest stars. It’s probably hard to write books with a large ensemble cast, just as it's hard for television shows to include the entire ensemble cast equally in every episode. There is no need to include every character in every book, just bring them back here and there because readers got to know them and like them, and they want to see more. It seems like there is never enough time for all our friends in our lives, and that transfers to all the friends we meet in books, but I hope the author makes time for the new friends in other books.
Overall the series is quite fun. The Spice Shop seems to be a fantastic place, the kind of place you would go for something specific, just to browse what’s new and different, or to rediscover the old and familiar. The characters are fun, and they quickly become friends. I would love to have dinner with them, and while I would prefer to share a few episodes of Jeopardy rather than a favorite movie, I think we could work something out were I invited for the Tuesday get-togethers.
One Bear’s Opinion: Four cups of Spice Shop Signature Tea, with a huge plate of sweet frosted spice cookies
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Thursday, December 8, 2016
One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
This book was incredibly interesting. Both my fellow bear, Spencer, and I got caught up in the story. And then we got angry because the story was not fiction, it was history! It all really happened!
Destiny of the Republic is subtitled “A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of the a President.” It’s an interesting look at the assassination of President James A. Garfield. I knew very little about President Garfield before I read the book. Of course, I knew he was the 20th President of the United States, and I knew he was assassinated, but beyond that I knew very little, not even remembering that he was president for short 7½ months from March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881. History in schools have a finite amount of time to impart the important events on eager (or not so eager) young minds, so the details of less important events are often glossed over. Garfield’s presidency was important, but not so important that it would have any more than a passing mention. Yes, he was president; yes, he was assassinated; very good, moving on — was what I learned about him and his administration in my history classes.
But the truth of Garfield’s story is so much more interesting. And so interconnected with other people and other events. I’m not saying that we need to devote a whole class period to Garfield in schools, but we need to devote a bit more time and leak a few more truths to spark the imagination, and anger, of students. History only comes alive when we make it, where we change it from boring lists of dates to memorize or facts to be committed to permanent memory. History is so much more than that dry litany. It’s exciting, unbelievable, and amazing. There are connections between events and people that are never tied together for students. We need to rethink the way we, as a nation, teach history. It is important to understand, not merely know, the events so we can learn from them, and prevent the same mistakes being made again and again.
Okay, I’ll step off my soap-box and get back to the book.
The author’s premise is that had Garfield’s doctor listened to experts, the President may have been able to be saved. This is not a unique theory, many others have held it, even others treating President Garfield at the time. But the connections made by the author were interesting, even if they were not unique. Lines are drawn connecting Joseph Lister, Alexander Graham Bell, and James A. Garfield. These were connections that could have been made in any History class. But they are not. No hint of these awesome connections is even given in history classes, not even enough to spark students to investigate on their own.
A further point of the book is that Garfield’s assassin was crazy. This is not unique to this study of the events either. Charles Guiteau honestly believed that God had told him to “remove the President.” He interpreted that message to mean that he should kill the president, at which time his dream of being given a consular position would be reached, because then President Chester A. Arthur would be so thankful that he would want to reward the person who enabled his ascension to the presidency. Guiteau was deluded in more ways than one with that thinking. He was not qualified to be consul; he was barely qualified to be anything. Further, his delusions were not limited to desire for government positions. Prior to shooting President Garfield, Guiteau actually wrote a letter to General William T. Sherman asking the general to storm the jail in which he would be held. Charles Guiteau honestly and truly believed that the country, and the world, would applaud his actions.
The story of the assassin was only part of the book though. Most of the book is devoted to the medical (mis)treatment that more than likely caused the President’s death, rather than preventing it. The leading US medical community at the time felt that Joseph Lister’s theories of antisepsis were wrong, and that there was no reason to worry about invisible infectious agents. Dr. Bliss, who was the self-appointed physician in charge of the President's care, in particular thought that what we now know as signs of infection and/or sepsis were actually signs of healing. He saw nothing wrong with quarts of pus and fluid flowing out of the President's wounds daily. He saw the increasing numbers of pus-filled blisters all over the President's body quite a good sign of healing. And he thought nothing of continually probing the President’s wounds with instruments that had not been sterilized or unwashed fingers in a effort to find the bullet. In fact, the bullet had come to rest behind the President’s pancreas and had already begun the natural process of encysting. In today’s world, it would be quite likely that Garfield would have survived his wounds and lived a long, productive life. Actually, if Garfield had been one of the soldiers he commanded on the Civil War battlefields, he would have more than likely survived. It is amazing that the soldiers who were shot survived because they did not receive medical treatment, while President Garfield died because he did!
The last part of the story brought in Alexander Graham Bell as a central character. Bell developed a metal detector that he believed would find the bullet and save President Garfield’s life. Bell believed that his invention was a failure because he failed to find the bullet. But Bell’s invention worked; it was just the self-important, pig-headed Dr. Bliss that stopped the bullet from being found. Dr. Bliss refused to allow a complete examination of President Garfield with the metal detector, instead allowing Bell to search only in the are where Dr. Bliss believed the bullet had come to rest. Following the perceived failure, Bell tested the invention on other patients with bullets in various parts of their bodies. It worked. The bullets were found an successfully removed. Bell's invention was a success. Nothing, short of forcibly removing Dr. Bliss from the case, could have saved the president.
While the President could not be saved, there were other things that came from his assassination -- good and much needed things. The White House received a much needed renovation and remodeling. The “Spoils System” that the assassin believed would reward him was scrapped by President Arthur in favor of the merit-based Civil Service system the US still uses today. And in one of the most interesting things, the first, very crude air conditioner was installed in the White House.
I highly recommend this book. It’s not a new theory, or even a unique one. But it does make the history come alive in ways that textbooks do not. And it tells a story that is often relegated to one or two paragraphs in classes. President Garfield was so such more than the source for the name of a cartoon cat!
One Bear’s Opinion: Five glasses of brandy, because, trust me, you’ll need them!
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
This book was incredibly interesting. Both my fellow bear, Spencer, and I got caught up in the story. And then we got angry because the story was not fiction, it was history! It all really happened!
Destiny of the Republic is subtitled “A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of the a President.” It’s an interesting look at the assassination of President James A. Garfield. I knew very little about President Garfield before I read the book. Of course, I knew he was the 20th President of the United States, and I knew he was assassinated, but beyond that I knew very little, not even remembering that he was president for short 7½ months from March 4, 1881 to September 19, 1881. History in schools have a finite amount of time to impart the important events on eager (or not so eager) young minds, so the details of less important events are often glossed over. Garfield’s presidency was important, but not so important that it would have any more than a passing mention. Yes, he was president; yes, he was assassinated; very good, moving on — was what I learned about him and his administration in my history classes.
But the truth of Garfield’s story is so much more interesting. And so interconnected with other people and other events. I’m not saying that we need to devote a whole class period to Garfield in schools, but we need to devote a bit more time and leak a few more truths to spark the imagination, and anger, of students. History only comes alive when we make it, where we change it from boring lists of dates to memorize or facts to be committed to permanent memory. History is so much more than that dry litany. It’s exciting, unbelievable, and amazing. There are connections between events and people that are never tied together for students. We need to rethink the way we, as a nation, teach history. It is important to understand, not merely know, the events so we can learn from them, and prevent the same mistakes being made again and again.
Okay, I’ll step off my soap-box and get back to the book.
The author’s premise is that had Garfield’s doctor listened to experts, the President may have been able to be saved. This is not a unique theory, many others have held it, even others treating President Garfield at the time. But the connections made by the author were interesting, even if they were not unique. Lines are drawn connecting Joseph Lister, Alexander Graham Bell, and James A. Garfield. These were connections that could have been made in any History class. But they are not. No hint of these awesome connections is even given in history classes, not even enough to spark students to investigate on their own.
A further point of the book is that Garfield’s assassin was crazy. This is not unique to this study of the events either. Charles Guiteau honestly believed that God had told him to “remove the President.” He interpreted that message to mean that he should kill the president, at which time his dream of being given a consular position would be reached, because then President Chester A. Arthur would be so thankful that he would want to reward the person who enabled his ascension to the presidency. Guiteau was deluded in more ways than one with that thinking. He was not qualified to be consul; he was barely qualified to be anything. Further, his delusions were not limited to desire for government positions. Prior to shooting President Garfield, Guiteau actually wrote a letter to General William T. Sherman asking the general to storm the jail in which he would be held. Charles Guiteau honestly and truly believed that the country, and the world, would applaud his actions.
The story of the assassin was only part of the book though. Most of the book is devoted to the medical (mis)treatment that more than likely caused the President’s death, rather than preventing it. The leading US medical community at the time felt that Joseph Lister’s theories of antisepsis were wrong, and that there was no reason to worry about invisible infectious agents. Dr. Bliss, who was the self-appointed physician in charge of the President's care, in particular thought that what we now know as signs of infection and/or sepsis were actually signs of healing. He saw nothing wrong with quarts of pus and fluid flowing out of the President's wounds daily. He saw the increasing numbers of pus-filled blisters all over the President's body quite a good sign of healing. And he thought nothing of continually probing the President’s wounds with instruments that had not been sterilized or unwashed fingers in a effort to find the bullet. In fact, the bullet had come to rest behind the President’s pancreas and had already begun the natural process of encysting. In today’s world, it would be quite likely that Garfield would have survived his wounds and lived a long, productive life. Actually, if Garfield had been one of the soldiers he commanded on the Civil War battlefields, he would have more than likely survived. It is amazing that the soldiers who were shot survived because they did not receive medical treatment, while President Garfield died because he did!
The last part of the story brought in Alexander Graham Bell as a central character. Bell developed a metal detector that he believed would find the bullet and save President Garfield’s life. Bell believed that his invention was a failure because he failed to find the bullet. But Bell’s invention worked; it was just the self-important, pig-headed Dr. Bliss that stopped the bullet from being found. Dr. Bliss refused to allow a complete examination of President Garfield with the metal detector, instead allowing Bell to search only in the are where Dr. Bliss believed the bullet had come to rest. Following the perceived failure, Bell tested the invention on other patients with bullets in various parts of their bodies. It worked. The bullets were found an successfully removed. Bell's invention was a success. Nothing, short of forcibly removing Dr. Bliss from the case, could have saved the president.
While the President could not be saved, there were other things that came from his assassination -- good and much needed things. The White House received a much needed renovation and remodeling. The “Spoils System” that the assassin believed would reward him was scrapped by President Arthur in favor of the merit-based Civil Service system the US still uses today. And in one of the most interesting things, the first, very crude air conditioner was installed in the White House.
I highly recommend this book. It’s not a new theory, or even a unique one. But it does make the history come alive in ways that textbooks do not. And it tells a story that is often relegated to one or two paragraphs in classes. President Garfield was so such more than the source for the name of a cartoon cat!
One Bear’s Opinion: Five glasses of brandy, because, trust me, you’ll need them!
Happy Reading Everyone,
Oliver
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