East of Denver by Gregory Hill

Published by Dutton, member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Many people will find this book relate to them in some way. Who hasn't lived with or known someone with dementia or alzheimer's and seen all sides of this insidious illness? The protagonist and sometimes narrator, Stacey "Shakespeare" Williams a.k.a. "Shakes," is on his way back from Denver to the old family farm and his father. A quirky cast of old high school friends come back into Shakes' life when he arrives too, both helping and hindering.

His father is living by himself and as Shakes will find out, no one is checking on him. Though he is remarkably able to fix almost anything and is very precise in engineering, he is likely to ask in the midst of putting together amazing pieces of equipment he invented in the past, "Why are we doing this?" Of course, recent memory is what goes first, the past is the present.

The book takes us through the humour and pathos of alzheimer’s...the brilliant flashes of recognition, the sad demise of the person you once knew. But as Gregory Hill demonstrates in this exceptional book, though occasionally crude yet more realistic because of it, he shows that there is still a person there, and we can still learn from him. Although the book is fiction, I feel that the adventure was real. Well, maybe not the airplane but it sure was fun. I identified with this book in so many ways, as I'm sure other readers will, too. Shakes has anosmia and describes it well. This hit a chord as I'm an anosmiac, too (read the book).

The ending is reminiscent of old slapstick movies like the Keystone Kops, or the Pink Panther, but satisfying in a way. Hilarious and gut-wrenching, very well-written story. Gregory Hill has taken to heart the old adage of "keep them guessing."

A Winter Kill by Vicki Delany

Published by Raven Books' Rapid Reads
Review based on Advanced Reading Copy (ARC)

Vicki Delany has delivered a murder mystery in Rapid Read format that gives the reader a view of life they will find familiar. A young girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" so to speak, is found dead and no one seems to care very much. A glimpse of our perceptions, often wrong, of people we don't really know who don't fit in or are considered beneath us. In this case, a popular young boy, destined for a football scholarship, has taken the time to know her and is devastated when she is murdered.

Nicole Patterson, a new constable on the small town's force, also has taken an interest in the victim, Maureen. Her death brings back high school memories, as a former student at the same high school Maureen attended, she would as soon forget. Though not qualified yet to be on the case, she can't leave it alone. Since she is familiar with the town and her supervisor is from a big city, Nicole is compelled to ask a few questions on her own.

Vicki Delany has written with a depth of compassion not always found in murder mysteries, causing me to care who killed Maureen. This is no easy feat in Rapid Reads, short but complete stories that can be read in a day. I look forward to more from Vicki in the future.

Plan Bee - a Queen Bee Mystery by Hannah Reed

Published by Berkeley Prime Crime, New York

There is always a lot of action in the small town of Moraine, but the annual Harmony Festival is anything but harmonious. Between the usual squabbles and vendor problems, some impromptu explosions are keeping the townspeople frazzled. This book was well-written as expected, but the storyline was quite different from previous books in the series. Written in Hannah Reed's wry and witty way, some of the characters undergo surprising changes, a metamorphosis so to speak, adding an interesting and unexpected factor to the mix.

I really enjoy this series of quirky characters in a small town. A small part of that enjoyment is because I was once a beekeeper, but the author does spice her book up with some interesting honeybee facts and lore, as well as including recipes using honey. This series may come under the classification of cozy, but don't be fooled, they always have a good and surprising mystery to solve and this book was no stranger to the theme. When our heroine, Story, trips over a body in the cemetery, only to have it disappear, no one believes her. Was there a body? Was it overactive imagination in the dark? If there was a body, where did it go? The challenge is to discover if another body found elsewhere is in fact the same one, and if the perpetrator of the crime is a local, a stranger, or a team. Whose body is missing? Why are some townspeople being attacked? And what in the world do hickory nuts have to do with anything?

This is the kind of book where you can recognize some characters, relax and enjoy them, learn something new, but remain on high alert for the chase to find answers and solve the mystery. A very enjoyable book, #3 in the series, it gets better all the time.

The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis

Random thoughts, think, think, don't emerge from your mind, just concentrate. Haven't most of us done this when we were trying to avoid some other thought or action? This is the feeling I got when I first started reading this mystical, entertaining, yet odd book. I was uncertain where it was going, or perhaps especially, where it was coming from. That said, there is a story here, three young girls on the threshold of leaving childhood, a unique small town population, a church, beavers, a dog, and an unexpected mystic healer are enfolded in this book, not to mention mystery, drama, death and life. The main theme is probably that of how people relate to each others and to themselves.

In between the segments of the story of the girls are bits and pieces of small-town or rural lives and how such lives are intermingled with each other as well as the forests and animals. I really got into it fairly quickly and found myself wrapped up in life in the thin space. The author works on a different plane than the average writer, and this is what makes the story interesting and totally unexpected. A difficult book to review because it is so different. Somehow for that reason, I feel I may not have done justice to Kathryn Davis; I keep feeling compelled to read it again, I think I will get a lot more out of it in reading it again. The book has many layers, and a twist at the end. As of my first reading, I give it 4 stars.