Wednesday, December 22, 2010

COUGHED UP SOMETHING

I’ve been fighting a lousy cough for some time now, and while my next appointment with the pulmonologist wasn’t until early next year, Monday I was bugged enough to call to see if I could get an earlier appointment.
“Can you make it this afternoon?” asked the nurse.  Monday is an Avenidas day; in fact, this was the last for the year, and some special entertainment was planned.  “What time?” I asked.  “How about 3:15?’  “Good!  I’ll be there, “ sez I.

Now this posed an interesting logistical problem.  I’m generally done at Avenidas about 2 p.m. and the doctor’s office is about 20 minutes away.  I’d be there way too early.  Cliff suggested stopping at the library for a while.  Not a bad idea.

Let me backtrack a bit.  I have been talking about the Russell-Holmes series by Laurie King, and how much I have enjoyed these books.  But I want to savor them, and not go through them too fast, so I have been reading other stories in between.   Laurie King, in addition to the aforementioned series, has written a different detective series featuring one Kate Martinelli (no relation to the sparkling apple cider, as far as I know).  The Russell-Holmes series takes place between 1915 and 1924, while the Martinelli series is modern, taking place in the late ’90’s into the 2000’s.  Martinelli is a police detective on the San Francisco Police force.

I wasn’t too sure about this because generally I’m not too keen on detective stories, but one title and description caught my eye -- The Art of Detection.  So I bought it.  Quite a good story.  A different voice from the other series, but that was to be expected.  Quite long -- nearly 500 pages, but that was because it included an entire 135 page short story within a story set in 1924 that is relevant to the modern story.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Now back to last Monday, and the Mountain Public Library.  I have a number of suggested titles and authors on my computer, but had none of that with me when Cliff made his suggestion.  “Oh, let’s go anyway,” I said.  And as  I slowly scootered my way between the stacks, I came upon a Laurie King section.  I reached up, grabbed one volume, and lo and behold, I had a Kate Martinelli detective story,  A Grave Talent.  What I found intriguing was that the first Martinelli story I read happened to be the last in the series, so far.  The one I picked up at the library turned about to be the first in the series.  Having read the last one, I was aware of some details (no, I’m not telling!) that the author does not immediately reveal in the first.  It made for a bit more fun as I carefully watched for the author’s clues which eventually showed up.  Great read!


Cartoons -



2 comments:

  1. Good luck with the pulmonologist and the logistics-all-oh-gee!

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  2. I also enjoyed the Kate Martinelli series, but it has been has while. Do I remember correctly, does she have a physical challenge?

    Happy Holidays to you and those you love :-}

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