Book Review: A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C.A. Belmond

A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C.A. Belmond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the fourth book in this series and I really enjoyed it. Penny and Jeremy return from their honeymoon only to find they have a request from Prince Charles himself and it involves Grandmother Beryl’s house.

The house is in danger of being razed and a local historical society, with some pull with HRM, is trying to save it. The house is located in Cornwall, so off Penny and Jeremy head to Cornwall. There they discover the house has secrets as do some of the locals.

While in Cornwall, they rent a cottage from one of the locals and settle in to find out what is going on. And, happily, cousin Rollo, shows up to help them out a bit. The story meanders a bit, but all in all, I found this to be a top notch entry in this series. I look forward to the next one.

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Book Review: The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson

The Baker Street Letters by Michael Robertson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book. The premise: brothers Reggie and Nigel Heath rent (well Reggie does and Nigel works for him there) 221B Baker Street which comes with the responsibility of replying to the multitude of letters that are still sent to Sherlock Holmes. Usually, by a form letter. How awesome could that be?

Reggie is the responsible brother while Nigel is painted as the somewhat flakey, not quite black sheep, brother. While waiting to hear whether he can continue with his career, he’s working in Reggie’s law office and is responding to the letters. He comes across several letters that aren’t what they seem and tracks down the original. He then harks off to the U.S. to find the letter writer and try to help her.

That’s the last we really see of Nigel. The rest of the book, which is most of it, focuses on Reggie’s search for Nigel and he is the one who ends up working on the case from the letter that he really didn’t want to know about. His girlfriend, Laura, helps him out, but that’s a relationship that’s a little on the weird side at the moment. Reggie and Nigel do cross paths briefly a couple of times, but in the end it’s Reggie, not the brothers together, who works out the solution to the problem. However, he’s left with his own problems for doing this and nothing involving Reggie, Nigel, Laura, or Reggie’s problems are resolved in the end.

Not only do we not get the brothers, but we also get cops, on both sides of the pond, that are written as the typical know it all and “don’t need to hear you side of the story” cops. Obnoxious both of them. We also don’t really get to know the letter writer or her current story, though apparently Nigel does.

Overall, the mystery was okay, but, it didn’t deliver the story one thought it would and in the end it was a bit disappointing. Still debating as to whether or not I’ll read the second book in this series.

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Book Review: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first discovered Agatha Christie in high school and read right through all of them. Lately, I’ve been watching various adaptations of the Mrs. Marple mysteries from PBS Mystery! and decided I wanted to see how they compared to the books. I started with the first Mrs. Marple. An enjoyable read. Not anything that left me sitting on the edge of my seat, but a good mystery. It, however, did not focus on Mrs. Marple, she was almost secondary. The mystery is narrated by the vicar, whose home (the vicarage) is where the murdered occurred. I did have a gap in reading this and was able to pick up where I left off, however, there are a lot of characters and sometimes I had to think about who was who (but, this could be due to the gap in reading).

Overall, it’s a good mystery with an unanticipated ending and Mrs. Marple did do the big reveal. And, yes, the PBS Mystery! did stay true to the novel -- at least the movie with Joan Hickson as Mrs. Marple (who, in my opinion, is by far the best Mrs. Marple).

I will be adding another Mrs. Marple to my to-read list just to see if the narration continues to be done by someone other than Mrs. Marple. Really, though, in the end, you can’t go wrong with Agatha Christie.

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On Moving to a new city....

It has been almost two weeks now since I moved to my new city in Georgia.  It has not been an easy move.  Big lesson learned - House Hunt!  If I had of, I probably wouldn't have moved. 

I moved into the apartment a week ago this past Friday.  It wasn't easy to find an apartment and this one does not feel like my home.  I have never felt this disconnected with any place that I have lived in.  It's a nice apartment and I simply don't like it.  I don't really "match" my neighbors as there aren't many professionals here.  Not bad, per se, but I don't feel like I fit in.  I don't care for the drive I'll have to work and I don't really care for the city as a whole. 

If you haven't guessed, this has been hard and I'm pretty sure it's probably one of my more poorly made decisions on a host of fronts.  If I stay here in this city, I'll have to move to another apartment in about 6 months.  People are moving out of this one in droves and I'm not too sure I can learn to ignore the trains.  Yes, trains.  They come through all hours of the day and night and the freight trains shake the apartment.  That's how close I am.  I can't imagine being in one of the apartments that's closer to the tracks.  You can't really see them as the tracks are hidden by trees. I did hear the train when I was looking but didn't realize how often they come through and how bad it would be.  Course, we had two whole days to find something and constant calls from the movers asking if we had an address.  

Add to all of this, the apartment is a cave.  Most that we looked at were.  The living area is nice sized, but I can't arrange my furniture to my liking.  The patio is nice (covered which I'm sure doesn't help with the light), not screened, but none of the screened porches I saw did much for me either.  I still overlook a tree (2nd floor) but I really, really miss all of the natural light I've had in my previous dwellings.

My Mom (who came with) is tired of hearing me lament what I've given up.  I fully accept I made this decision, but that doesn't mean in hindsight it wasn't a bad one.  It also will take me time to truly mourn what I gave up in in my previous city.  Job included, with all the crazy people and the lack of processes and the warts that came with it.  I think I convinced myself I should want this type of opportunity instead of really looking at where I was in life and was I happy/content.  Nothing in this apartment inspires me to do anything, especially cook or bake.  And, it's all electric.  And, since it's hotter here, the A/C is already on and I can't get comfortable.  So, second lesson learned - if you  are happy/content, the rest is window dressing.  Don't try to change what is working.  Think with your heart not with your head or what you think you should be doing.  Do what is right for you.  

Anyway, this is not a happy post and I apologize for that.  I keep hoping that by writing it out and talking about it, I'll find a way to move on.  I think  I have by the evenings, then I wake up in the morning and realize where I am and that it just feels wrong.  I thought I'd taken into account all my lessons learned from moving to back to Texas a few years ago and apparently I didn't.  I know I had it hard when I moved the last time, but I have never experienced anything like I'm experiencing with this move.  

I hoping that after I start work, things will be better.  Though, the longer I'm here, the less I like it.  So, sadly, I've got at least two moves left to go because I can't see living here for any extended period of time.  Never occurred to me I would not like the city I moved to as I've heard nothing but great things about it and everyone I told said, "oh, you'll love it."  I certainly didn't expect this level of dislike, but that's what I've got.  I'm just hoping working makes it a little better until I can somehow either really embrace being here or I can undo what I've done.  

Hopefully, my next post won't be such a downer.