Books I Read In April

 Eight books read this month - half of them written by Michael Connelly. 

The Reversal, The Fifth Witness, The Gods of Guilt and The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly are books #3, 4, 5 and 6 in his Lincoln Lawyer series featuring Mickey Haller. The first three are older books; the last one was published in 2020 and brings me up-to-date. I have now read my way through this series unless he writes another new one, but I felt like the way he left Haller in the final book made it possible that it will be the last of the series.

These books are captivating, easy reads and I'm now on to his Harry Bosch series of which there are many to enjoy.

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon is a fascinating novel based on the real life of Nancy Wake a WWII leader in the French Resistance. Shortly after finishing the novel, we happened onto a docu-drama about Nancy Wake and watched it. Neither of us had heard of her before. She was a most remarkable woman - #1 on the Gestapo's Most Wanted list. This book is a must read for anyone interested in WWII history.

Spoils Of The Dead is Dana Stebenow's fifth book in her Liam Campbell series. I really like this author and reading her books, all set in her native Alaska. My library has one other book in the Liam Campbell series, which I've read, along with all the ones the library has of her Kate Shugak series.

The Consequence Of Fear is #16 in Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. I always look forward to a new book in this series. The first books were set in WWI, then between the wars and now the setting is WWII London where Maisie is secretly working for the Special Operations Executive, assessing candidates for work with the French Resistance. (Maisie and Nancy might have worked together!) 

Eternal by Lisa Scottoline is the novel she said she has wanted to write ever since her days as an English major at the University of Pennsylvania. I have really enjoyed all her novels especially the Rosato & Associates series. But those have something of a light-hearted aspect whereas Eternal is a more sobering novel about WWII in Rome and what happened to Italy's Jewish population.  

One other remark about a favorite author, Louise Penny, though none of her books are on this month's list. We have watched more movies in the year+ of Covid-19 than any other year ever. A few night's ago we watched a 2013 movie based on Ms. Penney's first Inspector Gamache novel, Still Life: A Three Pines Mystery. It was fun seeing one of her books brought to the screen and featuring Nathaniel Parker as the Inspector - the same actor who played Inspector Lynley on the 2001-2008 mystery series based on the books written by Elizabeth George. Again, just something we happened across.