The Witness Wore Red

Author: Rebecca Musser/Bridget Cook
Genre:  Non-Fiction

Five Stars

 

Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, living downstairs from her father's "real" family, and concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world.  Covered head-to-toe in modest clothing, she attended Alta Academy, a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints school headed by principal Warren Jeffs.

 

In her teens, she became the nineteenth wife of her people's Prophet: eighty-five-year-old Rulon Jeffs, Warren's father, and watched as forty-eight additional wives were added to her marriage.  After she was widowed, Warren Jeffs threatened her with remarriage, so she pulled off a daring escape and sought to built a new life and family on her own terms.

 

But by 2007, though far from the church, she was no longer able to stand for the abuse and underage marriages still being perpetuated within it - ones that she believed put her own sisters at risk.  So Rebecca took the witness stand against Warren Jeffs, the new, self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS.

 

********

 

I read this book because living where I do (Nevada), we are very close to the polygamists and I was interested more in how Warren Jeffs was prosecuted.  I have seen the polygamists firsthand many times, and my sister lives in San Angelo, Texas, where the trials took place, so between us there is a slight knowledge of what goes on.

 

However, it is only slight; and this woman, Rebecca Musser, is one of the most courageous women I have ever heard of.  She could have done what others have; just left the 'cult' and gone on building a new life, but she chose to come forward and expose the abuse.  Abuse that she herself felt at a very young age; when her father's first wife would beat her and her siblings every time her mother and father were away.

 

It saddened me to hear how every one of her brothers were driven from their home and left on the side of the road to fend for themselves; we have many of these "lost boys" here in Las Vegas where they have luckily managed to find help and a new life.  Her sisters, being more valuable to the FLDS, were traded for favors, as one might trade a book for another.  While Rulon was alive, girls were married from the ages of eighteen on.  Rebecca herself was 'married' off to this old man, and while she achieved a semblance of status in the FLDS, she also had to spend nights with him - and I don't believe I need to go into detail.  Her entire life, she was taught 'boys are like snakes,' and to have nothing to do with them.  She knew absolutely nothing about sex when she married, and was horrified at some of things required; she began to find ways to avoid spending "her night" with Rulon.  After six years with him, once he died, she never wanted to marry again.

 

However, Warren had other ideas.  For years, while his father was ill, he was taking over the FLDS and instituting new 'laws.'  There would be no more television, no radio, no playing outdoors, no toys, etc.; only work and school lessons.  As horrific as it sounds, nothing compared to the fact that he decided eighteen was too old to be married.  He began giving young girls, as young as twelve, to older men, some nearly eighty.  He married a twelve-year-old himself.  

 

Rebecca's sister, Elissa Wall, (who wrote her own book, Stolen Innocence, also recommended), brought suit against Warren Jeffs because of a forced marriage, and Rebecca volunteered to help the Texas Rangers bring Warren down.  She worked with them for months on end, putting her own life, and that of her family's on hold so that Warren could not ruin the life of another young girl.

 

What is in this book sickens and saddens me.  These people blindly follow 'the prophet,' and cover pedophilia under religion.  I ask anyone if they would allow their pre-teen daughter to be 'married celestially' to someone as old as their own grandfather?  If you are in your right mind, I think not.  Her own mother saw nothing wrong, being raised in it herself. 

 

The title refers to the fact that Warren Jeffs refused to allow the color red because 'it was the color of the devil.'  To show her own independence and freedom from him and the FLDS, she wore it to court every day.  Kudos to Ms. Musser.

 

This is a powerful book, strongly written; and a compelling read.  For anyone who has any knowledge of Warren Jeffs and the FLDS, highly recommended.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Witness-Wore-Red-Brought-Polygamous-ebook/dp/B00BAXFZQK/

 

 

Iced to Death

Author:  Peg Cochran
Genre:  Mystery

Four Stars

Gigi Fitzgerald, owner of Gigi's Gourmet De-Lite, knows how to put her clients' cravings on ice.  But catching a slippery killer is more of a challenge...

Gigi's business may be hot, but her homelife is leaving her cold.  Her sister, Pia, has dropped in for an unannounced visit and, much to Gigi's chagrin, has immediately fallen for handsome bar owner Declan McQuaid.  So when Declan asks Gigi to help him prep for a big engagement party, she's not only dealing with the heat of the kitchen and her own feelings for Declan, but Pia's jealousy.

However, Gigi's rising temperature quickly chills when the host of the party is found stabbed to death with an ice pick in the back of the pub.  Now, as Gigi's beau, Detective Mertz, hones in on Declan as a possible murderer, Gigi will have to shave down the growing list of suspects quickly, before Pia's newfound love interest finds himself locked in the cooler...(from the back cover).

********

 



There were problems with the beginning of the book which irked me a little: Gigi has a diet meal company that she runs from home, which is fine.  She delivers her meals to clients three times day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner.)  I began to wonder: Why?  Why didn't she just make all the meals for the day the night before and deliver them all at once?  They had to be reheated anyway, so why make the trip three times a day?  It's an awful lot of extra work and driving, especially in winter.  It seemed she wasn't managing her time efficiently, and with all of the sleuthing she was doing, it must have taken only minutes in the kitchen for all of the meals, packaging, etc., and I began to think everyone lived a block away from each other.  She even added extra clients to her schedule, and had time along the way to stop and visit with all her friends in between the deliveries.  Wonder Woman does exist.  The other problem I have is bad grammar. The author kept repeating how people "felt badly" for others, when she should have said they "felt bad."  To feel 'badly' means that you are probably groping around in the dark.  This wasn't a one-time thing, it was used several times (and used correctly once). 

Aside from that, the book was a nice enough, if quick, read.   After leaving Declan's restaurant, Gigi nearly falls over a dead body in the dark parking lot.  Since the murder weapon belonged to Declan, he would naturally be the first suspected.  So when Gigi's sister Pia, who is infatuated with Declan, insist she help find the real murderer, Gigi reluctantly agrees even though she knows it won't please her police detective boyfriend, Bill Mertz.  It doesn't help that she told Mertz she wasn't able to go to the engagement party with him because she would be working with Declan, whom Mertz is jealous of, because he believes Gigi has feelings for Declan.  Not having read any previous books in the series, the only thing I can tell you is that she "blushes every time" she sees him and thinks he has a "hot body," but none of her actions in this book would indicate she has any true feelings for him; in fact, there isn't a lot of interaction between Gigi and Declan.

Gigi knows she should stay out of the investigation, but wants to help her sister, and doesn't believe that Declan is guilty.  Pretty soon, though, she has a whole roster of suspects to sift through, and all of them had a reason to want the man dead.  Just when she thinks she's found the killer and has the murder solved someone else dies, which throws her theory into the trashcan and she has to start all over again, looking for more clues and going over the ones she already has.

Fortunately, this book picked up after the first half.  There were enough red herrings to keep me interested, and although I can't say I was truly surprised when the murderer was discovered, it was a nice enough journey along the way, and one I think others will enjoy.

http://www.amazon.com/Iced-Death-Gourmet--Lite-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00EOAS0E0

A Skeleton In the Family

Author:  Leigh Perry
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback; Ebook; Audible
ISBN: 9780425255841
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
September 3, 2013

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Georgia Thackery and her daughter, Madison, move back home when she gets a job at McQuaid college as an adjunct professor.  Her parents are both full professors there, and have decided to go on a sabbatical for several months, leaving Georgia and Madison the full use of their home while they are away.  Unfortunately, they have a permanent roommate, Sid.  Sid is a skeleton.  A real skeleton.  He walks, talks, and has lived in the attic of the Thackery home since Georgia and her sister, Deborah, were children.

 One day he convinces Georgia to let him leave the house with her and Madison to go to an Anime convention dressed as one of the characters.  It is there that he sees a woman from his past, and soon decides that he wants to find out how he died-and when-and asks Georgia's help.  But pretty soon things begin to happen that convince Georgia that Sid didn't die in the usual way-he was murdered-and the murderer may be looking for Sid just the same as Sid is looking to find out who killed him.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

I picked up this book because of its title, which was an unusual premise: you read about ghosts and such, but how often do you read about skeletons?  Exactly.  So the book had me hooked right from the title.  Which is a good thing in my view.  I was hoping that everything else about it would be just as good, and I am glad to say that I was not disappointed.

Sid is a skeleton who lives in Georgia Thackery's parents' home.  He has lived there some thirty odd years, ever since he saved the life of Georgia when she was only six.  He has become Georgia's best friend, and she can't imagine being without him.  Her sister Deborah, however, has ceased talking to him altogether, convincing herself that he doesn't exist (even though she can see and hear him).  And Sid, for his part, refuses to allow Georgia to tell her own daughter Madison of his existence, so Georgia can only spend time with him when Madison is either out of the house or asleep, which turns out to be tricky.

Finding out that Madison is very into anime, Sid convinces Georgia - reluctantly - to allow him to come along to the convention dressed as one of the anime characters; and it is while there that he sees a woman who triggers memories of when he was alive.  Since Georgia has just met a reporter who is working part-time at the college, she asks to see the photos he took at the convention, and manages to track the woman down.

Unfortunately, I can't reveal any more of the book, because to do so would be nothing more than spoilers for what happens after this.  Believe me, though, when I tell you that every event after this initial discovery ties into what happened to Sid.  It begins with the woman - and I can tell you that she is a professor herself - and spirals into a series of events that pull Sid and Georgia deeper into the mystery surrounding his death.  It is a well-woven tale that surprised even me, given the subject.  Sid is humorous, and his interactions with Georgia are such that it is entirely believable that these two could have been friends for years.

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that I felt Georgia showed little emotion for anyone outside of Sid or Madison.  There was a love interest of sorts, but I never felt that there was any real connection between the two of them, although that may have been deliberate on the author's part.  At any rate, I think we'll be seeing more of Ms. Perry, and I am grateful for that.

http://www.amazon.com/Skeleton-Family-Mystery/dp/0425255840

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3386455578

More on Leigh Perry's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/leigh-perry/

Lending a Paw

Author:  Laurie Cass
Genre:  Mystery

Four Stars

 

Minnie Hamilton is a librarian in Chilson, Michigan.  She has convinced the library to purchase a bookmobile - with the help of an extremely large donation from a resident, Stan Larabee - and, of course, as the library's assistant director, she is the one who will be driving the bookmobile from location to location.

 

She also has a 'assistant' in her voyages; a cat named Eddie that followed her home one day and insists on going everywhere she does, especially when she doesn't want him to.  When he sneaked aboard the bookmobile one day, she decided to make the best of the situation and determined it would be his last trip with her.  But not only did the town's residents take to the little guy, he darted out the door when they were at a stop, and when Minnie chased after him, he led her right to the dead body of a local. 

 

At first she is going to let the police handle the investigation, but Eddie seems determined to keep her on the case, and when an employee at the library, Holly, believes she is the main suspect, she asks Minnie to help her find the real killer. 

 

********

 

I wanted to read this book because it had two things going for it that I really love - books and cats.  So for me, it had already started out well and I was hoping not to be disappointed.  I was happy to find that for the most part, I wasn't.  Eddie was quite a character, and being a cat owner myself, I can relate to some of his antics.  I enjoyed the fact that throughout the book Minnie began to grow closer to him, which, as all pet owners know, you can't help but do.

 

We have a basic description of Minnie - dark hair and eyes, short - but that's about it.  We also know that she moved to Chilson three years ago at the age of 33 when she received her degree in Library Science.  So she's 36, and one would think she had a previous life before moving, but we never learn much about it.  Only that in the summer she lives on a houseboat, and in the winter she lives with her Aunt Frances, who owns a boarding house (which is another story in itself).

It did seem odd to me that when she was out on a date everyone in town (at least everyone we learned about in the book) seemed to be out and about also and stopped to say 'hi' to her.  It was sort of funny, but also rather unbelievable.  The other thing was that even though I love cats, everyone in this town wants to be with Eddie.  I started to get the feeling that there were no other cats anywhere around this area. 

There were times I felt that the book should have been titled 'Eddie the Psychic Cat,' because he seemed to know everything that was going on, and I felt that unless the dead man were his owner, he probably wouldn't have run as far as he did to find the body (although I will concede it is possible) and gave Minnie so many clues that he practically solved the murder by himself.  Aside from that, the mystery was very good.  I'm pretty good at figuring out mysteries, but the murderer wasn't expected.  The thing is, even though a lot of people didn't like the man, I didn't feel that any of them had reason enough to kill him.  So I really didn't know why or who the murderer was, which is a good thing, because it keeps you interested along the way.  In the end, I would have liked to have seen more resolution with her Aunt Frances and her guests, but perhaps Ms. Cass is saving that for the next book.  

http://www.amazon.com/Lending-Paw-Bookmobile-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00C5QUM0U





Gone Girl

Author:  Gillian Flynn
Genre:  Mystery

One Star

 

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

 

********

 

Okay, I'll admit I started reading this book because of all the hype regarding it.  After the first few pages - where a creepy Nick is describing his wife's skull - I began to wonder why I was still reading it.  Yes, folks, it began to bore me.  Really, really, fast.

 

You see, Nick and Amy are a perfect couple.  A perfect, beautiful couple.  With money.  And parents who think she is absolutely wonderful, and nothing bad that happens could ever be her fault.  And when Amy mysteriously disappears on their fifth anniversary, it is her perfect husband Nick who is suspected of the crime - and although we all know that the husband is always the first suspect when a wife disappears - after Nick begins to read through Amy's diary you realize this isn't such a bad thing that she's gone.  Mainly because Amy is a psychopath. 

 

All you have to do is read her diary - which we do - to figure that out.  And her husband isn't as perfect as he's supposed to be.  Both of these people are hateful, nasty, and just unhappy human beings.  And they're about as toxic as you can get, which means together they're twice as toxic.

 

There are too many questions surrounding the pregnancy - and none of them make any sense.  But what is worse - and anyone who has read the book understands - is there is no resolution.  No good guy wins over bad. The book just ends.  (I don't feel this is a spoiler, because if you want to read the book, you will; if you have, you already know; if you're not interested, it really doesn't matter anyway).  Sorry, I can't recommend this book and doubt if I will read any more by this author.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Gillian-Flynn-ebook/dp/B006LSZECO



The Cuckoos of Batch Magna

Author: Peter Maughan
Genre:  Literature

Five Stars

 

 

When Sir Humphrey Strange, 8th baronet and squire of Batch Magna passes on, he leaves an entailed estate to his relative known as Humph, an amiable, overweight short-order cook from the Bronx.

Now known as Sir Humphrey Franklin T. Strange, 9th baronet and squire of Batch Magna, he is persuaded by his Uncle Frank to turn the property into a theme-park for people rich enough to afford it.  However, in doing so, he learns he will have to evict the tenants (pensioners) of the estate's houseboats to leave.  This is easier said than done once Humphrey actually meets them.

 

********

When I first started reading this book I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought it started slow; but soon I realized that I was being given a look into the daily lives of the tenants of Batch Magna:  Phineas Cook, the Lt. Commander James Cunningham, Jasmine, Owain and others meet to discuss what to do about the new Sir Humphrey - deciding that they could find various ways to kill him - in order to stay in their beloved homes, the houseboats.

 

This book takes place over a very short period of time; time in which we get to know each person who lives on the boats and the people around them.  Time to learn how they view their lives, their relationships, their families, their friends.  It is a wonderful book, giving one the chance to see what life is like in a quaint English-Welsh border village with people you want to see the best for; and people you know deserve the worst.  I grew to like these people - Phineas and Sir Humphrey the most - and if this is what Wales is like, I must certainly add it to my places to visit someday.

 

It is a journey for Humphrey - a small-time cook who believes he has just hit the jackpot with his title, landing not only that but the hand of a Wall Street wizard, Sylvia, as his soon-to-be bride.  It is a journey that changes not only him, but the people around him.  For example, Phineas, not knowing who Humphrey is, takes him "on a spin" in his auto while Phineas is attempting to escape 'certain death' from a jealous boyfriend of a waitress he ill-advisedly slept with (you will have to read the book to find out the details, but it is quite humorous).  Throughout the course of the day, they have an adventure, spend an afternoon drinking with each other and come to like each other, even after he discovers Humphrey, wracked with guilt, tells him who he is.

 

Humphrey's journey to find himself and what he wants out of life takes him from the United States to Batch Magna, and it is indeed quite enchanting to travel with him as he makes his way from being unsure of what he wants to knowing what lies ahead. 

 

The author provided a copy of this book in return for an honest review, but this in no way affected the review.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Batch-Magna-Peter-Maughan/dp/1904492460

A Christmas Treasure

Author:  Elizabeth Mansfield, Holly Newman, Sheila Rabe, Ellen Rawlings
Genre:  Regency Romance, Christmas

Five Stars

 

A book of Christmas stories, "A Sneeze on Tuesday" by Elizabeth Mansfield; "The Rocking Horse" by Holly Newman; "A Memorable Christmas" by Sheila Rabe; and "The Baby Shoppe" by Ellen Rawlings.

 

 

A Sneeze on Tuesday: A broken engagement and a miserable cold were not in Elinor's holiday plans.  But her spirited heart found its own remedy: a true and lasting love...

The Rocking Horse: The handmade toy was Lord Tarkington's gift for his young daughter.  But his labor of love touched the heart of a lady - who knew she had found her heart's desire.

A Memorable Christmas: A tumble down the stairs turns the Colby household upside down - in a madcap scheme to forget the past and mend a marriage!

The Baby Shoppe: Fallen upon dire circumstances, Penelope Archer makes a business of selling her beloved doll collection.  But she gains the world when her heart is made rich-with love...

 

********

 

I was looking for something light and "Christmasy" to read, and I certainly found it in this book.  It is a series of short stories by four Regency authors.  The kind of Regency authors who don't feel the need to put sex in every other page to get their story across.  I know that there are those out there who enjoy those kinds of books, but I honestly don't see what love and romance have to do with sex in any way.  You have romance, which leads into love; and then sex.  You DON'T have sex, which leads into romance and then love.  (I'm sure it can, but I'd rather know that the meeting of souls occurred before the meeting of bodies).

 

Anyway, these stories are warm and comfortable.  All, of course, take place at the holidays, but three in the country and one in the city.  Naturally, there really isn't a lot of time for massive character development, since each is roughly 67 pages, but you still get a feel for the main characters, and, in a couple of the stories, the secondary characters as well.

 

All I can truly say is that for anyone who enjoys traditional Regency novels, this is a Christmas book worth reading.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Treasure-Elizabeth-Mansfield/dp/0425135047