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An Ivy League school confronts its history with slavery
Paul O’Connor, longtime newspaper journalist, reviews a history of Yale University’s relationship with the institution of slavery, the result of an academic investigation. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor YALE AND SLAVERY: A History. By David Blight and the Yale and Slavery Research Project. Yale Press. 448 pages. $35, hardcover. Audiobook also from Yale Press, read…
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Murder and philosophy on a Greek isle
Need an entertaining mystery to read? Bob Moyer has another suggestion, this one set on one of the isles of Greece. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE FURY. By Alex Michaelides. Celadon Press. 320 pages. $28.99. “Character is Fate.” That’s a heady premise behind a classic mystery novel with seven people trapped on a Greek island. Does…
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Murder, mystery and wit in the Australian wilds
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT. By Benjamin Stevenson. Mariner Books. 336 pages. $30. Benjamin Stevenson has a lot of nerve. It’s not every writer who would be so bold as to produce a modern spin on Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie’s masterpiece starring the inimitable Hercule…
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News, intrigue, mystery and wit
Bob Moyer reviews the sixth in a series of mysteries starring a woman TV news reporter. Don’t worry: He says you don’t have to read the other five before trying this one. But at some point, you might want to try those too. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer BROADCAST BLUES. By R.G. Belsky. Oceanview Publishing.…
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Mystery and suspense, with a bow and a cup of tea
Bob Moyer reviews something that is new to me: I’ve never read a Japanese police procedural. It sounds as though it’s worth a try. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE FINAL CURTAIN: A Mystery (The Kyoichiro Kaga Series, Book 4). By Keigo Higashino. Minotaur. 400 pages. $29. Don’t worry. It will all become clear. The reader…
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From chaos, violence comes a brilliant novel
Bob Moyer reviews the latest novel by one of his favorite authors. One note: Despite what Bob writes, not all Southerners called the conflict of the 1860s the War Between the States. Some – I think particularly of an elderly woman who owned a historic house in downtown Charleston that a group of graduate students…
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A gift for mystery lovers: Hercule Poirot, on the case
HERCULE POIROT’S SILENT NIGHT. By Sophie Hannah. William Morrow. 362 pages. $30. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Yes, that’s right. Just in time for Christmas, there’s a new mystery out starring Agatha Christie’s inimitable Hercule Poirot, the eccentric, dandified little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head, turned-up moustache and busy “little grey cells” that solve…
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Facing the challenges of our times
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson STARDUST AND SCAR TISSUE: Rambles, Ruminations and the Search for an Authentic Culture of Life. By Mick Scott. Opine Press, an imprint of Press 53. 201 pages. $19.95, paperback. Reading Stardust and Scar Tissue, Mick Scott’s new collection of essays, is good for the soul in these challenging times. First,…
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Barbs of truth, from a woman
Rob Moyer reviews a brief but powerful book by Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux,. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE YOUNG MAN. By Annie Ernaux. Seven Stories Press. 64 pages. $13.95. In 2022, Annie Ernaux became the first French woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. She earned it by writing books in French…
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Past and present collide in Bruno’s Perigord
Bob Moyer and I share a love for Martin Walker’s Bruno novels. Once again, he got hold of the new one before I did. I must catch up. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer. A CHATEAU UNDER SIEGE: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel. By Martin Walker. Knopf. 308 pages. $28. Every Bruno, Chief of Police…