Library Limelights 318

 For continuation of the book reviews go to this blog's new name: https://mostlycrimefiction.blogspot.com/.

Jane Smiley. A Dangerous Business. Ebook download from TPL, Borzoi Books. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2022.

Mysteries in a historical setting generally do not appeal to me, but this one sounded too interesting to ignore. Back to the "wild west"in the 1850s in this case means California and the Monterey peninsula, where everyone comes from somewhere else, where sailors and gold miners make up a large portion of a brothel's clientele. And Monterey has its share of brothels. Eliza Ripple is a prostitute in Mrs Parks' establishment, since her abusive husband died prematurely. The entire brothel subject is treated as factually and respectfully as the girls and women who provide its services. Eliza lives in a regular boarding house run by Mrs Clayton, eats her meals out, and reliably attends her shifts at Mrs Parks's. Any customers perchance seen outside are not acknowledged by either party.

Modest in appearance, as most prostitutes dress in public, Eliza is quite content with her job; she has a great friend, Jean, who works at another establishment. Jean's often outlandish garb and behaviour speak of her self-confidence. Their friendship grew from a mutual enjoyment of Mr A.E. Poe's dramatic murder stories. Now, rumour is that two girls went missing from other brothel houses. The two friends wish to investigate because, really, no one else cares. They rent horses from time to time, for exploration of the beautiful countryside. Doing so, they find one body, then another, of the missing women, evidently stabbed to death. But as expected, they are of little importance or interest to the sheriff. Observing the men she services and the men around town, Eliza builds a Poe-influenced profile of a killer, suspecting one man after another. Until she sets herself up as bait. No wimps, she and Jean.

You can guess the novel is not a thriller. Of equal interest as the mystery are Eliza's interactions and empathy with the men who come to her to "do their business," as she calls it. The gentle humour makes it entirely engaging—these women are practical and efficient. Along with inviting descriptions of town and country, and reference to contemporary events across the continent, A Dangerous Business brings a refreshing perspective to a developing yet still relatively lawless society.

Bits

▪ But Mrs. Parks was strict about keeping the girls apart: they were not to gossip about their customers, or say much to one another. (20)

▪ The best thing about having Jean as her friend, Eliza thought, was the number of times a laugh popped out of both of them at the same moment, whether one of them was telling a story or they were watching something in the street. (39)

▪ "We're going back to that river, and we are not going to be afraid to look around." (60)

▪ "Everyone knows this is a dangerous business, but, between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." (92)

▪ "My friend Jean, she rides astride, and she often wears trousers and a big hat. If a man stares at her, she snaps at him in a deep voice." (141)

▪ Eliza explained what a pessary was, and then told him what little she knew about nutmeg and Queen Anne's lace. (188)

▪ She said to Jean, "I've suspected so many fellows. Remember the evangelical who wept and puked and passed out?" (228)

▪ But this time she was impressed with how Mr. Poe was thinking, how he understood 'analyzing.' (239)

▪ In their endeavor, it was her role to be temptress and Jean's to be the protector. No surprise in that. (243)

▪ He wanted to do his business more than he could do his business, but he was clean and decent, so Eliza spent a while with him, doing this and that. (253)

Terri Parlater. All the Dark Places. Ebook download from TPL. UK: Kensington Books, 2023.

Molly Bradley throws a fortieth birthday party for hubbie Jay. Three couples are invited, their closest friends—Calvin and Laken Ferris, each an enterprising business owner; Kim and Josh Pearson, Kim being Molly's oldest and best friend, Josh employed by Cal; Dr Elise Westmore who is Jay's partner in a psychology practice, and her husband Scott, a landscaper. Missing is Hayes Branch, owner of the bookstore where Molly works. Everyone gets pleasantly pissed, the guests leave by midnight, and Jay goes to his home office in their garage to attend to something regarding his book project. Where he is stabbed to death, and the office dishevelled, by person/s unknown. Molly finds him in the morning, rending her almost mute with terror and grief.

Rita Myers is the lead detective, a woman of older years and vast experience; she's mentoring her young partner Chase. It's a tough case. Everyone loved Jay, Molly repeats often; there are no clues at the scene but a shadowy image on a neighbour's webcam in the middle of the night. Molly berates herself constantly, could she have saved him somehow, if she'd been awake? Was Jay's book-in-progress ‒ about abnormal psychology and criminal behaviour ‒ the motive for killing? Molly begins to receive threatening emails that could change everything by revealing her traumatic childhood. Then she and Alice, Hayes' eleven-year-old daughter, make a horrifying discovery at the Bradley's mountain vacation home, one that will move the police in a strange new direction.

Told by Molly and Rita in turn, Parlater turns up the suspense to overdrive. Alas, I found the climax and what follows not up to the same level of credibility. Maybe it will convince you!

Molly

▪ My life is collapsing around me and I feel like I've fallen into a dark pit. (18)

▪ Trouble seems to find me was her mantra when I was growing up. (42)

▪ "I slept through my husband's murder. I'll never forgive myself." (53)

▪ If other people can have emotional support animals, I surely can. ((125)

▪ He's in prison. He can't get out, or can he? (152)

▪ "What if Jay only wanted to marry me because of who I am?" (214)

▪ I remember feeling like they were trying to make Melinda go away, as if my parents wanted another little girl in my place. (226)

▪ This won't be over until I confront him. (237)

Rita

▪ Even after so many years, it's easy to get lost in the pain and evil we witness. (24)

▪ I'm too old to get shit-faced and function the next day. (37)

▪ That changes things. Dr Bradley hid the necklace recently. (108)

▪ It sticks in his craw that the chief gives me the most high-profile cases. (138)

▪ Now we have a job in front of us: reconstructing a week with ten people in one house and a missing woman in the vicinity. (147)

▪ "I think he got the job done overnight when he was sure everyone was sleeping." (284)

▪ "And they haven't seen or heard from their father since Friday is what they told us." (352?)

For continuation of the book reviews go to this blog's new name: https://mostlycrimefiction.blogspot.com/.