The Keys To The Street

It's probably fitting that the picture for this book is larger than the other two - it is a heavy 585 page read full of itself. In other words, another one of those books I wish I could have made myself quit reading. A blurb on the back cover says: "Nobody writes smart, page-turning commercial women's fiction like Vincenzi." And I say, "thank goodness".
More Than You Know is about: "A privileged girl from a privileged class, Eliza Clark has a dazzling career - and the sleek Vidal Sassoon-style bob to match - as a fashion editor in 1960's London. High-fashion means a high life, jetting to Paris and Milan to take in the latest by Chanel, Balenciaga, Dior and Pucci."
I think it is the writing style I found most objectionable - that and the shallow development of characters. The book is written in very short paragraphs which jump from one character to another with no sense of continuity and seemingly no reason. You can be reading about Mark and Scarlett on the island of Trisos, jump to Sarah and Adrian Fullerton-Clark at Summercourt, their country estate, in the next paragraph and then on to Giovanni and Mariella Crespi at their palace on Lake Como.
There were some instances I enjoyed recalling London in the 60's & 70's - Twiggy, The Beatles, the fashions - but most of the time I was angry - reliving what it was like to be a woman in what was still a man's world. No more Vincenzi for me.

I wish our library had all of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak mysteries so I could read them in order.  Midnight Come Again is the ninth in the series which means a lot has happened in the lives of the characters since the last one I read (the third). Most significantly, in the book before this one, Kate's love, Jack Morgan was murdered, apparently while trying to save her, and her grandmother has died. So, in this book, Kate has disappeared. Deep in mourning and unwilling to be around her friends as she decides whether or not she wants to go on living, not even her best friend, Alaska State Trooper Jim Chopin, can find her and he needs her help solving a case he is working on.
A friend recommended this series to me. She enjoys it because the books are set in Alaska while I would possibly have dismissed them for that reason - just not one of my favorite states to read about. However, I am discovering that learning more about our 49th state and especially the native people living there is very interesting and Stabenow does write some very good, intense mysteries.

Every once in a while our library does some clearing out and sells some books. I usually find a few to buy. Last time it was a couple of Ruth Rendell's I hadn't yet read. I had been slowly reading my way through her novels so if I was going to get to read these, I'd better buy them.
It has been awhile since I read Rendell and this one is one of her best, I think. "Set in and around London's Regent's Park, where the city's wealthiest, poorest, kindest, and most vicious citizens all cross paths, The Keys to the Street tells of the deadly thanks a young woman risks receiving in return for an act of selfless generosity."
 This author is a master at interweaving seemingly disparate lives. Mary Jago is the compassionate young woman who has donated bone marrow to save the life of a young man, Leo Nash. She has taken a house-sitting job which allows her to leave her abusive boyfriend with whom she has been living. Bean is the uppity dog walker Mary deals with twice a day when he comes to walk the homeowners' dog. Hob is the drug addict who beats people up for money. Roman Ashton is one of the street people Mary extends kindness to.
After two of the homeless people are murdered and then impaled on the spikes of the park railings, police believe they have a serial killer on their hands. There is suspense because the reader just knows there is going to be another murder - but who will it be? And part of the mystery is who is the killer?
Rendell's characters are brilliantly written. They are fascinating as is the way they touch one another's lives. It is amazing how deeply she sees into her characters and the psychological insight she has as well as how neatly she pulls all their lives together. The identity of the killer at the end of the book is almost an after thought. I'm glad this is a book I don't have to return to the library because I want to read it again.