Clara Maynard's blog

Hardly Knew Her

Submitted by Clara Maynard on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:29pm

laura lippmanI love reading Laura Lippman's books. Her popular Tess Monaghan series is great and her stand alone novels are intriguing. This book, Hardly Knew Her, is a collection of new short stories.  I found her short stories to be just as well written as her novels. The stories are set not just in her home city of Baltimore but also New Orleans, Dublin, and Washington DC.

Frozen Mummies?

Submitted by Clara Maynard on Wed, 03/03/2010 - 3:53pm

mooseAlaskaWith our cold weather, it was time to read another mystery set in Alaska! So I picked up Shaman Pass. In this novel, Nathan Active is called to investigate the murder of an Eskimo leader, stabbed to death with an ivory harpoon. Turns out the harpoon was stolen along with an Eskimo mummy nicknamed “Uncle Frosty.” Nathan explores his people’s past to find clues leading to the murderer. Again, I enjoyed the setting, learning more about modern Eskimo culture, and seeing the hero become more comfortable with his heritage.

More Edgar Nominees!

Submitted by Clara Maynard on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 3:29pm

Last week we looked at the 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Award nominees for Best Novel. The category of Best First Novel looks interesting also. When you get a chance check out one of these titles to see which book you think will win!
• The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano

The Edgars

Submitted by Clara Maynard on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 4:11pm

The Mystery Writers of America will be announcing the winners of the 2010 Edgar Allan Poe Awards on April 29. Awards are listed for several categories, but I’m always most interested in the best novel.

White Sky, Black Ice

Submitted by Clara Maynard on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 4:44pm

eskimo icefishingeskimo sledIn White Sky, Black Ice, Alaskan state trooper Nathan Active is stationed in his birth village, Chukchi. However, he doesn’t fit in, since he was adopted at birth and raised by a white couple. The locals call him nalauqmiiyaak (almost white) since he knows almost nothing about the Eskimo culture. Still he is toughing it out, hoping to get stationed back in Anchorage where he was raised.

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