Marie Claude Gagnon

Bonne présentation de l'autisme, et plus précisément le type d'autisme connu autrefois sous le nom de syndrome d'Asperger. Le personnage de Ludovic nous parle directement et vit ses forces et difficultés sans compromis. Portrait sensible et plein de tendresse, je le conseille aux jeunes et moins jeunes qui ont un ami ou un proche ayant reçu un tel diagnostic ou tout simplement pour mieux connaître ce monde fascinant.

Une anthologie de Taniguchi ne peut qu'être une bonne nouvelle. Entre les histoires racontant un quotidien qui, je soupçonne est très proche du vécu de l'auteur, et d'autres qui nous racontent les aventures d'Amérindiens ou de chercheurs d'or dans l'immensité du nord ouest américain, il y en a pour tous les goûts.

Personnellement, je préfère ses histoires douces du Japon de ses jeunes années, découpées comme de la dentelle. Ces histoires ne me laissent jamais indifférente, mais souvent les yeux un peu humides.

Charlie D is back for this 4th installment in the series. This time, the action takes place on Valentine's day night and Charlie's guest is an ex-escort to discuss love and relationship, paid or not. The subject is charged for a lot of callers and for the killer.

The book is an easy and fast read which renders it a good for adults learning a second language or having difficulties reading.

Based on a real case that had a big impact on France, this book tells the story of a lawyer who finds himself in an undercover mission, trying to prove the innocence of Dreyfus who is accused of treason.

Before meeting “Mr Dreyfus' good friend”, Dubon's life was simple: he had his law practice and he met his wife for dinner after a visit to his mistress. But now, all bets are off, he's late for dinner, his mistress is ready to trade him for another and he's running around the city trying to avoid people he knows. And what about his new choice of clothes?

I have always loved historical novels, and this one did not disappoint me.

A young woman who has everything to be happy, but still is not, takes a little too long to learn what life is really about.

It seems to be a trend the last few years to put over the top, clueless, sometimes really unlovable characters as heroes. Sometimes it is well done (as in Kinsella's shopaholic), and sometimes, like in this book, it leaves me a little... unsatisfied. There were some good moments, but I had difficulties with some inconsistencies, for example, how can they survive for almost 2 years without her salaries, his editing house not making money, and her spending all that money on the nanny?!?

Michael Seeley is an attorney specializing in intellectual property. His life is not going so well lately: his wife has left him, as are his paying clients, he drinks too much and an angry judge wants to see him disbarred. So maybe getting away for some days to work on an Error and omission report for a movie studio would be a good idea... But things are not so easy when he discovers that the author of a scenario in issues may not be the real author... As Seeley goes to Europe to meet with the real author so he can sign an authorship declaration, he also must face his own reality.

As an intellectual property manager, I was really interested in that book. I enjoyed it and am looking forward for the next in the series.

In a small Finland town, a beautiful actress has been brutally murdered and her body left in the snow on a deer farm. Kari Vaara, the lead detective, must answer a difficult question in racism-sensible Finland: was Sufia Elmi killed because she was a woman or because she was black? Even if her family says that Sufia was a virgin, Vaara soon finds out evidence that she had more than one lover. Among them figures the man his ex-wife left him for, which opens old wounds and may put him in a very uncomfortable position. The investigation takes place during mid-December, and the country is in the dark about 24 hours a day. Vaara's personal life is also put to the test when his new wife, an American, has a hard time adjusting to pregnancy and winter in Finland.

Having always been interested in books taking placing in other countries, I was not disappointed by the description and characterization of Finland: you can feel the claustrophobic depression brought by the absence of sunlight and the extreme cold. It is easy to understand why people drink so much and are hard. Relationships, especially couples, are sculpted by the harshness of the elements and alcohol. In the book, when a wife kills her husband, the surprise comes from the fact that she waited that long and not that she'd done it.

Sadly, the rest of the book is not as good. Too many coincidences can kill a mystery, and that's the case here. It seems that about every event in Vaara's life has a link or an impact on the investigation, from his ex-wife leaving him for a wealthy man, to his assistant's son's suicide. Also, I had a hard time believing in most of the female characters' reactions, especially Vaara's new wife. Even in such a hard environment, A woman who has grown up in a more clement climate would not react as a man would...

The Heights is about a couple, Kate and Tim, and the impact the arrival of a new neighbor has on their life. Tim is a teacher and Kate a stay-at-home mother when they meet Anna, a woman who seems to have it all. When Kate is offered to go back to work, Tim decides it's high time he works on his dissertation and it's his turn to stay home with their two sons. Anna is about to teach them what is important in life...

The novel is written in short chapters, alternating between Kate and Tim as narrator, with some incursions from other characters. I so wanted to love that novel, but it never really reached my expectations... some scenes sounded so real (especially scenes with and about the kids) while some other situations were cliché and “felt wrong”.

Flavia de Luce is back!

Flavia is a precocious little girl whose passions are chemistry and... mystery solving. In this second installment, she meets a puppeteer who may have more secrets than tricks in his bag. His visit to town brings joy to all the children, small and tall, but also wakes up the sad memories of the death by hanging of a local boy.

I love Flavia! She's smart, curious and have great observation skills. And is still having problems with her big sisters. This second novel in the series is a little different from the first in that the murder does not happen for some time and so we know more of the victim when he dies. It was also interesting to meet more of Flavia's neighbors.

I read the first in the series a few months back because the title intrigued me and was really excited that the Flavia was back. And my excitement was not for nothing. This second installment is as fun as the first and I cannot wait for my next meeting with Flavia and company. I warmly recommend this series.

Chet is not only a dog, he's Bernie's partner at the Little detective agency. And more importantly he's the narrator of the story.

Having a dog telling the story makes for an interesting ride: he doesn't understand everything, falls asleep during conversations and have his own set of priorities. And then there's the problem of communicating with humans. Because Chet is not the kind of dog who can read, uses morse code to communicate or other humanizations that can be often found in books where an animal investigates.

I really enjoyed that book and will read the next hoping this was not only the novelty of the tone that hooked me. Seeing how people talked about the author at Bouchercon, I guess it was not just a fluke.

I so wanted to love that book since I enjoyed the movie. I was waiting for more connections between the stories, to better understand what I did not in the movie... but no! It didn't happen. But what happened was I enjoyed a couple of storylines and had to find ways to keep me awake during others.

If Mitchell wanted to show that people are linked and that more things change more they are the same, he could have done it in way less than 500 pages!

In a Winter Kill, Vicky Delany tells the story of rookie constable Nicole Patterson, back in her natal county, and her investigation in the murder of a young high school student. The victim being born on the wrong of the track and having a reputation for sleeping around, the fingers immediately point to the father as the killer. Even though she is not part of the investigation team, Nicole soon asks questions to students and others who knew the victim.

I read the book in one seating; it was a fast and easy read. Which is, for a book part of the “Fast Reads” collection a good thing. Naturally, such a short book does not allow for a lot of character development and twists and turns in the plot, but I thought that Vicky Delany did a good job in keeping the interest in the story and characters. I would recommend this book to occasional readers and those learning English.

Life is not easy for white witch bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, she lives with a vampire, her boyfriend has the bad habit of calling a demon, her clients don't always pay, and her demon mark reacts really strongly to vampires. And now ley line witches are killed...

I just love that series :o) Action, suspense, humor and a little romance... everything is there! Rachel is a white witch with principles but she has to face reality and must accept to sometimes go against her values to survive and, as importantly, help her friends survive. In this book, she also learns more about her past and her father. I can't wait to read the next installment in that series (but I have to wait until my books are unpacked)...

A Young Argentinian mathematician is going to Oxford on a grant. Sometime after meeting is new landlady and her grand-daughter he finds her death. A note listing her death as “first in the series” is left for a math professor. Will the mathematicians be able to find the solution and stop a killer.

Even if maths and series are an important part of the story, knowledge of advanced maths is absolutely not necessary to understand and even solve the mystery. It is a good and fast read (less than 200 pages).

Meg's grandfather has hired a private detective to find his long lost lover and Meg's grandmother. But, he's sadly too late, she had been murdered, just a few months ago. Her surviving cousin requests the detective and Meg to find the murdered in exchange of information about the family.

This new installment has funny moments, like other books in the series, but also runs deeper into emotions and family sentiments that other books. I had to dry my eyes a couple of times... I enjoy this series, but, as a mother, I always catch myself thinking that Meg is pretty absent from her sons' lives, at least when mystery calls! She's lucky to have a big extended family who's always ready to take care of her kids and stuff! ;o)

Disclaimer: I received this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program

This is the kind of book you should read as a teenager, and then later on in life. Up here in Québec, this book rarely appears on mandatory or recommended reading in school, so I did not get to it for a really looooong time. I saw the movie in my late twenties, and kept telling myself I should read the book. I finally got to it, right in the middle of the noise around its “sequel” (which I have no intention of reading)...

I enjoyed reading Scout's voice and perception of the world around her and all that adults say or don't say around kids. Now I have to put this book in my daughters' hands (one is 22 the other 17) to be able to discuss it with them :)

Tricia Miles is brand new in Stoneham, NJ and when Doris Gleason, the owner of the cookbook store, the neighbor of her own mystery bookstore, is killed, Tricia soon becomes the first suspect.

I enjoyed reading this book since I felt I learned a lot about Tricia, her sister and other characters that will, I am pretty sure, be back in next books. I would really like to visit a place as the one described in this book: a town where many used bookstores offer different genres of books. I look forward to read the next in the series.

I so wanted to love that book, and it soooo missed the mark!

Someone named Kinsey Millhone, but who doesn't share that much resemblance with the character we love, is obviously trying to find things to do now that she does not have to work as hard as she used to after she inherited money in the previous book. Three stories are told throughout the book, none of which really interesting, but more importantly, none of which demonstrating any detecting talent in Kinsey. In fact, in some occasions, I really had the impression she was new on the job and naive...

And the end... not only it left me unsatisfied, but I could have done without the little morale speech...

I will probably read the next one since I have been a fan of Kinsey for over 20 years now, and that I have been happily surprised by a book in the series following a disappointing book. Let's hope Y will do the same for me :)

In this chapter of the Harris family's story, murder strikes a little too close to home, since the victim is the ex-fiance of the hero's daughter Laura. When Laura herself becomes the target of the murderer's attacks, there's no way Charlie and Diesel will stay on the sidelines...

Like most cozy mysteries, this is an easy and entertaining read. I enjoy this series, particularly because of the relationship the humans share with Diesel, a really “talkative” cat who has always an important part in the investigation. But be reassured, this is not the kind of cat who can read books and give clues. He has instinct and the trust of his humans. In fact, he reminds me a lot of my first cat; he “talked” a lot, comforted me when I was sad, and I could trust his instinct about people...

I received this book for free in exchange for a review from Mysteries & Crime Thrillers

Rating : 3,5 *

Being a woman has never been easy, but being a woman, living alone with one's sisters, on an isolated farm in 1915, becomes even more complicated for Constance Kopp.

After a young, rich and belligerent silk factory owner hit their buggy with his motor car, the Kopp sisters bill him for damages. What should have been a simple manner of reimbursing them 50$ for the reparation turns into a year of kidnapping threats, flying bullets and cops camping in the sisters' barn. To convict the culprit and his accomplices, the sheriff recruits Constance in the investigation. Along the way, a chance encounter forces Constance to confront a family secret and face their uncertain financial future.

Based on true events, this novel introduces us to Constance Kopp, US's first female deputy sheriff. She is depicted as a strong and stubborn woman who is determined to get reparation from the gang who recklessly damaged their buggy. After all, why should she accept another resolution than a man would! Her interactions with other characters illustrate clearly society's expectations about “simple woman” and how she should act. The well-meaning, but oh so patronizing, “isn't there a brother or an uncle who can take care of you?” question, asked more than once in the novel, is evidence of the place women occupied in society.

Even if a little stereotypical, Constance, Norma and Fleurette Kopp take life in this novel. Norma, dependable and more conservative has a passion for pigeons, and Fleurette, childish and a little spoiled likes to design and sew new clothes. After some time, I felt like I could predict how they would react to new situations. Other secondary characters, such as the sheriff, are also well-fleshed and coherent. In fact, the less detailed characters are the villains of the book. Obviously, the author did not want to spend much time with them, or the documents she used did not offer more information about them. The gang felt like an ominous and ill-defined presence throughout the book, which was a really effective way to transmit the oppressive feeling felt by the sisters to the reader.

I came to this book without knowing it was based on true events (in fact I discovered this information in the postface of the book). So, I was expecting a fast-paced story, with a gun-bearing too-modern heroin. What I discovered instead was a slow-paced book based more on the ambiance and social dynamics of the era than the action of the story. It was for me a good and a bad surprise: good because I took away a lot more from this book than I would have from a “simple” mystery, but also bad because some sections seemed to lag a little.

All in all, I thought it was a good portrait of an era and of an exceptional woman and the circumstances that helped her show the world who she was and that she would not sit back and take the beating in silence. Constance Kopp is a model that should be known and followed by many young, and less young, ladies nowadays.

Georgie is one of Queen Victoria's great-grand-daughter and 34th in line for the throne. But like a lot of aristocrats, she has the title but no money. So when the Queen asks her help to match the Prince of Whales with the young princess of Bavaria who is visiting, Georgie, as everybody, cannot say no. The problem is, the young princess, just out of a convent, is a little out of control and the prince is a lot more interested in Mrs Simpson. And naturally, death is once again on Georgie's path.

Georgie is a nice character: while she has been educated to being a lady, she also lives by her family's principles, never to run or surrender. What interests me most in this series is that it is set in the 1930's England, and mixes historical characters (such as the royal family) with fictional characters. It gives a good look at how people from different status traveled around, ate, clothed, in a word, lived in that era. I warmly recommend Rhys Bowen's books to all who love historical mysteries!

Sadly, I guessed one the responsible parties pretty early on in the book :o(

I received this book at Bouchercon 2013 where I had the pleasure of meeting the author.

Loved the book and the characterization. It was particularly interesting to see people from different cultures meeting each other in a setting so different from the one I know.

I look forward to read other books from this author.