Set in Stone by Robert Goddard

Title: Set in Stone
Author: Robert Goddard
Publication: Corgi Books, Paperback, 2000 (1999)
Genre: Literary suspense
TBR Challenge: This is the fifth of twelve books I am determined to read by the end of the year. Thanks to Roof Beam Reader for suggesting that we focus on some of the books we own and haven’t made time to read.

Plot: Recovering from his wife’s unexpected death, Tony Sheridan goes to stay with his sister-in-law Lucy and her husband (his best friend), and becomes obsessed, as they are, with their new home in the country, Otherways. The house is strikingly designed as a circular stone house with a narrow moat but has a dark history that affects its current occupants. All three experience vivid and unnerving dreams, not only about each other but also about a murder committed there in 1939. Tony is attracted to Lucy, who reminds him so much of his wife, but leaves her to investigate the circumstances surrounding the old murder – believing it is the key to the house’s dark secrets.


My Impressions: Goddard is known for literary thrillers, usually involving a very complicated mystery with origins in the deep past, and is sometimes compared to Daphne du Maurier for his intricate plotting and storytelling. Every time you try to absorb the revelation of a secret he reveals another. Trying to keep up with his multi-layered plots can be exhausting and I am still not sure I completely understood the ending of this one or appreciated the supernatural elements.  If you read John Verney’s Calendar series in your youth, you are well prepared for this author!
 
Several publishers have got behind Goddard in the US but he has never become as popular here as in the UK, which is a pity, because there are a lot of commercial thrillers but not a lot of literary suspense and he does it very well. I have been hooked since finding one of his first books, In Pale Battalions, in Bantam’s International Department in my first week of publishing (he is still published by Corgi. Last year, when I visited Topping & Co. Booksellers in Ely, I was excited to learn they were hosting Goddard for a booksigning a week or so later. I was tempted to request a personally autographed copy of his newest book but felt it would have been more meaningful if secured in person.

Off the Blog: A most unfortunate collision between my oven and my beloved cake carrier has left my house smelling like melted plastic, with no one to blame but myself.

Source: Personal copy

The 2019 TBR Challenge

Like many avid readers, I often find myself waiting eagerly for new pubs or library books to come in, despite piles of books waiting to be read at home that I already own. But the only time I tried to deal with this was during my last year of law school when I knew I would be moving back to Boston, so I tried to read only books already in my possession with the objective of reducing the quantity I’d have to pack.  It worked to some extent because once I have read a book I usually decide whether to keep it or donate it (sadly, I still had to donate hundreds in 2006 that I hadn't had time to read).   However, lately I realized I am missing out on some great books I already own as well as purchasing more books than I have space for (this only stops me when I am traveling with already heavy luggage).  Yesterday, when tidying up for a visiting puppy, I was newly aware of my (otherwise delightful) piles.  

When I read about Roof Beam Reader’s 2019 TBR Pile Challenge, where the goal is to read at least 12 books that have been on my “to be read” list for at least a year (thus published before 2018), I decided to join in:

2019 TBR Pile Challenge

1.     Avalon by Anya Seton (1965) - reviewed 10/27/19

2.     Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett (1986)

3.     The Crystal Snowstorm by Meriol Trevor (1997) - reviewed 8/26/19

4.     Set in Stone by Robert Goddard (1999) - reviewed 8/13/19

5.     Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (2004) - reviewed 9/11/19

6.     Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambry (2010) - reviewed 2/23/19

7.     The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin (2010) - reviewed 12/12/19

8.     Sisters of Fortune by Jehane Wake (2010)

9.     Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (2013) - reviewed 8/3/19

10.  Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer-Fleming (2013) - reviewed 12/19/19

11.  A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (2014) - reviewed 7/27/19

12.  The Travelers by Chris Pavone (2016) - reviewed 7/11/19

Alternates

13.  If You Go Away by Adele Parks (2015)

14.  The Gates of Bannerdale by Geoffrey Trease (1956)

Some of my TBR came from this windowsill pile.  Sometimes
it overbalances and comes crashing down.

For my Boston friends interested in finding a good home for their "read" books, I recommend donating to More Than Words, a youth development program that trains at risk young people to work in their two bookstores.


Girl Reading borrowed from this site: https://tinyurl.com/ycxv52lq

Winter Woes

Why one should not make a TBR pile on the floor with one's new Robert Goddard books, ordered specially from England:

because when the pipe breaks due to frigid temperatures, those are the first casualties!   I am hoping they will still be readable once they dry out...   Happily, this one is bouncing back after a day on the radiator.  The old laptop from law school that was stored in that bench was not so lucky but can still be recycled.

The room is recovering but I am still traumatized.   I had that "what do you save first when the house is on fire" moment and grabbed the lower shelf of Elswyth Thanes, figuring that long before the time the water rose to the Lovelace or Weber shelves the plumber would arrive (which turned out to be the case).

The Secret Keeper (Book Review)

Title: The Secret Keeper
Author: Kate Morton
Publication Information: Simon & Schuster/Atria Hardcover, October 2012
Genre: Fiction
Plot: As her mother approaches death, Laurel Nicolson, an acclaimed actress, remembers a day and a secret from her childhood that has always haunted her – she was hiding in a tree when a stranger approached her mother, who stabbed him to death with the knife usually saved for birthday cakes. Laurel gave information to the police that supported her mother’s explanation of self-defense but is now determined to find out what really happened that summer day, causing her to leave home and never fully regain the easy, affectionate family life of her childhood.

Starting with just an inscription in a book and a photo from London in the 40s, Laurel traces the fatal friendship between her mother, Dorothy Smitham, a put-upon companion to a cranky but aristocratic old lady, and her glamorous neighbor, Vivien Jenkins. Dorothy’s sweetheart from the country, Jimmy Metcalfe, photographed Dolly and Vivien together as London faced World War II and the Blitz, providing one clue. As Laurel unlocks the secrets of the past, she finally understands what caused her mother to act so deliberately when her family was threatened and can console the dying woman.

June 2010 Reads

June was a good month for suspense fiction but less memorable in terms of the children's books I read. I recommend Robert Goddard and Linwood Barclay, and I always suggest Patricia Wentworth as a comfort read for mystery fans. Here are my June reads, and a look below at the beautiful bookplate used by the Concord Public Library many years ago. I had been there a couple times before but it is always a pleasure to be in such a historic library. Concord is a delightful town even apart from the thrill one gets from being near the homes of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Jane Langton. I drove by the Diamond in the Window House on my way home...