Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews

 ★★★¾

GENRE: Fiction
SUBJECT: self-assertion, family, political corruption
SETTING: Guthrie GA
CHARACTERS: Dempsey Killebrew, T Carter Berryhill III, Carter Berryhill, Ella Kate
DATE READ: November 9 - November 27
NO. OF PAGES: 680
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   no, Public Library Large Print
CATEGORY: Extra curricular activites

PLOT:..........................................3.5
CHARACTERIZATION:..................3.5
TOPICS:......................................3.5
STYLE:.........................................4
ORIGINALITY:..............................3.5
ADDICTIVENESS:.........................4
OWNERSHIP:...............................4
THRESHOLD QUALITY:..................4
Average.....................................................................3.75


Dempsey Killebrew, Georgetown Law grad, has been caught up in a DC scandal at the lobbyist where she was employed.  Fired and without means to get a good job for the near future, Dempsey heads to her father's ancestral home (he just inherited) to hide out and make the house ready for sale.  Her arrival in the small town of Guthrie GA  is not met with applause (not that she was expected it but she didn't expect hostility either.)

While nursing her wounds, she is tracked down and threatened by the FBI to cooperate in a sting to catch the head of the lobby (her old boss) and a dirty congressman.  At the same time, the house needs not just a coat of paint but major renovations which don't make an irascible elderly cousin/squatter very happy.

The book was fun and entertaining  and caused some very heated discussion at my book club.

The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough

  ★★★¾
GENRE: History
SUBJECT: Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge
SETTING: New York, NY
CHARACTERS: Washington Roebling, Emily Roebling,
DATE READ: November 21 - November 25
NO. OF PAGES: 608
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   no, public library
CATEGORY: History Class

PLOT:...............................................4
CHARACTERIZATION:........................3.5
TOPICS:...........................................4
STYLE:..............................................4
ORIGINALITY:...................................4
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................3.5
OWNERSHIP:....................................3
THRESHOLD QUALITY:.......................4
Average......................................................................3.75

The Brooklyn Bridge - just the words conjure up the image of a stately icon with twinkling lights and a spider-like web of cables.  But it is so much more.  The Brooklyn Bridge completed in 1883 replaced nearly all the dozens of ferries that had been used to transport goods and people from Brooklyn into New York City.  At the time of its construction Brooklyn was not part of the city, but due to the connection and constant traffic eventually Brooklyn became one of the 5 boroughs of the city.

The construction was the greatest of its day but not without its difficulties.  The caissons built for the massive spans resulted in 12 deaths due to "caissons disease" or what we now call the bends.  Men worked deep below the river in areas using compressed air and without knowledge of the effects, no decompression was used for the workers.  In fact, the General Engineer, Washington Roebling, suffered from the debilitating effects of the bends for over 30 years and because of it, he was unable to be present at the open ceremonies or be the first to cross the bridge (his wife had that honor).

This book is an engaging chronicle of the efforts of Washington Roebling and the men who struggled to create and build this masterpiece of engineering.  The author makes it seem like a love story as well as a documentation of a building of a Landmark.

Rumpole Misbehaves by John Mortimer

 ★★½

GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: British Legal system
SETTING: London, UK
CHARACTERS: Horace Rumpole
DATE READ: November 25
NO. OF PAGES: 183
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   no, Public Library
CATEGORY: English Lit

PLOT:................................................2
CHARACTERIZATION:........................3
TOPICS:............................................2.5
STYLE:..............................................3
ORIGINALITY:...................................3
ADDICTIVENESS:..............................2
OWNERSHIP:....................................2
THRESHOLD QUALITY:.......................2
Average...........................................................2.44

Thus book is a short collection of anecdotes surrounding the main character, Horace Rumpole, an irascible British barrister (lawyer) who listens to no one and does his own thing but is a very competent defense attorney.

I read these books (actually audio versions) with my husband who loves Rumpole.  Personally, I can take him or leave, but they are quick and somewhat entertaining.

The Hangman by Louise Penny

Fourth Overlap Replacement

 ★★★¾

GENRE: Mystery/Novella
SUBJECT: Revenge
SETTING: Three Pines, Canada
CHARACTERS: Armand Gamache, Jean Guy Beauvoir
DATE READ: 11/23/2012
NO. OF PAGES: 73
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   yes, Kindle for PC
CATEGORY: Class Schedule

PLOT:.....................................4
CHARACTERIZATION:..............4
TOPICS:..................................3.5
STYLE:....................................4
ORIGINALITY:.........................3
ADDICTIVENESS:....................3.5
OWNERSHIP:..........................3.5
THRESHOLD QUALITY:.............3.5
Average....................................................................3.6

In this short story Inspector Gamache is summon to the area of Three Pines because a body has been found hanging in the woods, an apparent suicide. But Gamache thinks otherwise. No identification on the body doesn't stop the police, his effects have been found in at the nearby B&B.

Investigation into the victim's history reveals motive  as well as direction to the killer.

A fascinating short story that held all the same ingredients of Penny's full-length novels but not all the complexities.

Doctored evidence by Donna Leon

  ★★★¾
GENRE: Mystery
SUBJECT: blackmail, reclusiveness
SETTING: Venice, Italy
CHARACTERS: Commissario Brunetti, Maria Battestini, Signorina Elettra, Inspector Vianello, Signora Gismondi
DATE READ: November 20 - November 23
NO. OF PAGES: 321
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?:   No, Public Library
CATEGORY: Speech Class

PLOT:.................................4
CHARACTERIZATION:.........4
TOPICS:.............................3.5
STYLE:...............................4
ORIGINALITY:.....................3
ADDICTIVENESS:...............3.5
OWNERSHIP:.....................3.5
THRESHOLD QUALITY:.......3.5
Average......................................................3.63

Commissario Brunetti has taken a holiday and when he returns he finds that Lt Scarpa has overseen a murder and closed the case without apparent due diligence. So when Brunetti is confronted with a witness whose evidence Scarpa ignores, Guido sets out to clear the reputation of the alleged killer and find the true culprit.

The clues in this mystery were well-hidden and the characters involved were not necessarily like-able but did appear as they needed to be.  I really liked this installment,  maybe one of my favorites.