“DEEP IN DECEMBER”
We’ve been told that the lovely warm weather we enjoyed in October and the first part of November was not the norm for the Triangle Area. For the Chief Penguin and me, it was reminiscent of balmy Florida in the fall. Now that the weather has shifted (and not just here!), we feel like it’s winter and, like the song, “Try to Remember” (sung by Jerry Orbach), we are deep into December. But not really.
Yesterday, after a chilly 28 degrees before dawn, the thermometer climbed only to 42 and stayed there. We burrowed in, staying cozy, and never went outdoors! Taking advantage of the fitness center down the hall, we exercised on the treadmills, enjoyed lunch and dinner in two of the downstairs dining venues, and then retreated to our nicely warm apartment for reading and the next episode in Season 2 of The Diplomat.
ESCAPIST READING
Post election, after writing hundreds of postcards, and now getting caught up in pre-Christmas preparations, I find I have less time for serious book reading. I’ve been more drawn to mysteries. Having finished Deborah Crombie’s latest (noted in last week’s blog post), I decided to try one in Ann Cleeves’ new detective series. I’m a huge fan of Shetland, one TV series based on her books, but didn’t warm up to Vera in the one episode of that series I watched.
STRAITLACED DETECTIVE VENN
The Heron’s Cry by Ann Cleeves
The Heron’s Cry is the second book featuring Detective Matthew Venn, the first being The Long Call. I read recently that a TV series is in the works. And a third mystery, The Raging Storm, was published in 2023. The setting for all of them is coastal North Devon in southwest England.
Venn is an unusual detective. He was raised in the evangelical Brethren Church which he left behind and is married to Jonathan, who runs a community center called the Woodyard. When Nigel Yeo, a local doctor, is murdered with a shard of glass, Matthew is called to investigate. Jonathan is a friend of the deceased’s glassmaker daughter Eve and becomes tangentially involved. Dr. Yeo had been looking into the handling of a recent suicide, bringing him into contact with the members of a prominent local family. When another death occurs, Matthew and his colleagues must carefully pick apart the tangled strands of connections between artists, friends, tenants, and landlord to determine the culprit.
Initially, I found the book slow going; I was learning about Matthew and his colleagues Jen and Ross as individuals along with keeping straight the various suspects. Ultimately, I got more caught up in it, enough to be surprised by the outcome and ready to read the next title in the series. Worth considering if you like mysteries by Elizabeth George and Deborah Crombie.
WATCHING—COZY BRITISH CRIME SERIES
Whitstable Pearl, Season 3 (Acorn)
I don’t know if you call a TV mystery series “cozy,” but Whitstable Pearl comes close. Set on the English coast in the real Kent town of Whitstable, it features a set of local characters. Pearl Nolan and her mother Dolly jointly own and run an oyster bar and café where Ruby Williams is their rising young chef. Pearl’s grown son Charlie has fled the nest and is away in Canada. On the side, Pearl is a private detective who gets hired to find missing persons and who often assists (sometimes without invitation) police chief Mike McGuire in solving other cases. Add in the underlying romantic interest between Pearl and Mike and the ever-present wannabe boyfriend, math teacher Tom, and things are complex.
Season 3 has the usual number of missing persons, one being Pearl’s son Charlie, along with the death of a restaurant critic and scary Halloween pranks. This is a tame series free of gore or gruesome scenes. I think it’s even better than the earlier seasons. Recommended!
Note: Late autumn light header photo and bookshelves photo ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)
