Thursday, September 01, 2011

53. How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini by Heather Horrocks

I thought this looked like a cute LDS romance with a writer whose play just failed on Broadway moving to Brighma City to write a gardening column in the local newspaper.  The fact that she pulls this off when she knows nothing about gardening is a bit unbelievable.  On the whole, the plot is predictable and the main areas of conflict seem a bit forced and easily solved.   Still, the characters are likable and there is some fun LDS humor.  Rating:  3.5

52. A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block (audio)

Several years ago, I really enjoyed reading Block's "Burglar" series, but this is the first I've read of  Matthew Scudder.  It was a good enough mystery to help me stay awake as I drove to Salt Lake and back, but I found Scudder spends way too much time thinking about his drinking.  It's obvious that he is an alcoholic but he hasn't realized it yet.  I suppose that will happen in a future book, but I don't think I will stick around to read it.  Scudder is a former policeman who became disillusioned with the job and goes into free-lance detecting.  He is hired to solve the murder of a woman who was killed nine years earlier and was originally believed to be the victim of a serial killer.  Of course, he is able to solve the crime through an amazing piece of luck but loses his love interest and drowns his sorrow in the bottle.  Just so-so.  Rating:  2.75