The Tenderness of Wolves

I saw this one sitting on our Interlibrary Loan desk waiting to be returned to the Grant County Public Library. The title, The Tenderness of Wolves, caught my interest. I don't know why, because I hate cold weather, but cold weather settings intrigue me so I read the blurb and the opening paragraph and decided I wanted to read it. Stef Penney is British but the novel is set in Canada in the 1860's. More than simply a mystery it is a historical drama set against the ethnic difficulties that faced the Indians, French, English, Scottish, and Norwegian settlers as they faced life in the New World.

A brutally murdered trapper is discovered as the book opens by a mother whose 17 year-old adopted son goes missing. Crime, clues, treks, hostile weather, unforgiving landscape, and privation face those seeking answers to the various unknowns introduced by author Stef Penney.

The first novel has won several European awards and Penney is working on her second novel set in England.

After finishing Pete Hamill's latest, North River, I still wanted more of a taste so I picked The Gift off the shelf for a quick read. The novel is slight, but,

"A powerful short novel that's vintage Hamill-an evocative, emotionally involving tale of fathers and sons, loss and yearning, forgiveness and approbation-is restored to print..."
--according to Amazon.

Robert B. Parker, yet again

The master at the top of his game, Robert B. Parker keeps turning out novels fast enough to keep fans busy reading them. There are 36 Spenser novels, 7 Jesse Stone's, 7 Sunny Randall's, and 6 others for good measure. Parker's output spans four decades.

Now & Then is number 36 and involves all the usual suspects, Susan, Hawk, Vinnie Morris, and villains to suit the skills of Spenser and the needs of plot. Spenser is as witty as ever, Susan as beautiful, Hawk as useful, and Vinnie as accurate with a gun. Nothing in excess in a Robert B. Parker mystery except clever repartee. No surprises await but fans and faithful like us will cuddle up to this one just like the last one and just like the next one. We'd be fools not to.

I'm reading North River by Pete Hamill right now and I am thoroughly enjoying the story and Pete's skill with language, plot, characters, and the period. Set in the winter of 1934, Dr. James Delaney finds his 3-year old grandson left to him by his daughter who has gone to Spain to find her errant Mexican husband. With a Hamill inspired crew of immigrants, cops, gangsters, WW1 vets, and Dr. Delaney's sick, hurt and poor neighbors a heady brew is made. Always rich in language and detail, Hamill is delivering a sound story of honor, courage, and redemption, who could ask for more.

This is Pete Hamill's 24th book spanning five decades. Dues paid in full.

Next on my nightstand is Tallgrass by Don Coldsmith. He is a native of Iola, Kansas and was schooled in Coffeyville, Baldwin City, and UMKC. He has taught at Emporia State University and won numerous awards from the Western Writers of America. His name came up at this morning's book discussion group and I had to confess my ignorance of this prolific native author. Many of his titles are out-of-print but IPL has 33 titles (of the 45 he has written) in our collection. His fans swear by him so I'll give him a read to find out for myself.