BOB (Big 'ol Book) discussion
The Witch Elm - Mar - Apr 2019
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Trudy, Thank you! Printing out the schedule now.
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Toby is a lucky guy. He found out that a guy at work was the actual painter for a down and out kid he was suppose to be representing. He helped the guy with his charade. They get caught and the guy gets fired but Toby is allowed to stay and do damage control. He is relieved at this and goes out drinking with his buddies. He is too drunk to go to his girlfriends but talks to her on his walk home. He gets home and goes to bed. He is woken up by a sound. He goes to the living room to find two guy trying to rob him. He gets beaten and left for dead.
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Toby was in the hospital. His mom or dad were with him most of the time. His head had some damage and was concussed for a while. He left side of his body was pretty messed up with 4 broken ribs and a cracked tailbone. He was in pain and had holes in his memory of that night. Melissa came and saw him a few times and he got texts from friends and family. After about a week in the hospital, a couple detectives came and asked him questions. He told them what he remembered (but he seemed to have forgotten or omitted the problems with the fraud at work).
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Sean and Dec visited Toby at the hospital and then the following week he got to go home. The police brought him home hoping to find out what else was missing and see if he could remember anything. He couldn’t sleep, was afraid to leave the house and the only person who he would have over was Melissa but he wouldn’t let her stay the night. What if they came back, he didn’t want her to get hurt. After some time, he got a call from his cousin, Suzanne. He uncle Hugo was dying and he needed someone to look after him at Ivy House. He finally said yes after Melissa said she would go with him.
Trudy wrote: "Today's Reading: Fri 3/8/2019 Sean and Dec had both P 62 - 90 28"I really enjoy the characters Tana French creates!
I'm wondering what the police are really looking for? Is this just their routine, or do they actually feel that Toby is involved in something?
I was amazed at how Toby left the hospital with no real follow up after such a head injury. Do you think this is typical in some countries?
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I really enjoy the characters Tana French creates!
I'm wondering what the police are really looking for? Is this ju..."
I thought it was weird that Toby left with out seeing a counselor at least, especially at being beat up at home.
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Toby and Melissa went to Ivy House and found that it was Sunday and all his parents, cousin, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephew were there. He took a Xanax to get through the day. He visited with his Uncle Hugo, they had matching head scars. He visited with Susanna and Leon, his cousins in crimes when they were kids. He avoided his parent and aunts and uncles which Melissa spent the day visiting with them. She loved the family dynamics as she didn’t have that growing up. They helps Hugo to bed in the evening and then went off to bed and made love and he felt at peace as he hadn’t since before the accident.
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Toby and Melissa stayed at Ivy House. Susanna wanted to contact a doctor from Switzerland about Hugo. Leon wanted Toby to talk to Hugo about the house. The three cousins wanted the house to stay in the family while their parent would sell it to make their kids lives better. Melissa and Toby had the talk he was dreading where he thought she deserved better that the be the career of he and Hugo. She said she didn’t mind, it was different from her mom, they didn’t do it to themselves. The specialist in Switzerland confirmed the local doctor’s opinion, it is not operable. Hugo told Toby he wanted to be cremated and his ashes spread over the garden. He told Hugo he really should see about a will. Hugo called the three cousins (Suzanna, Leon & Toby) to talk about the house. They send Susanna’s kids out side to did for treasures and they started their talk. There was a loud scream outside and Zack had found a scull under the oak tree.
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They all went out to see what Zack had found, Hugo said they needed to call the police and they did. The determined the skull was human and detectives came out. They said they needed to cut down the 200+ year old wych elm to see what else may be inside it. Hugo, Toby and everyone were told to stay inside. Police, forensic team, archaeologist, a tree doctor and reporters were traipsing around in the garden. Everyone in the house was on edge except maybe Hugo. At 8 PM, the detective came in and said that the team was leaving but would be back in the morning. He was leaving one officer in the garden overnight. They all went to bed early that night but no one got much sleep.
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The family all came by on Sunday for the weekly family dinner. Susanne and the kids didn’t show up which was probably a good thing. The police came in at one point to talk to Hugo and Toby to let them know that they would have to tear up the garden. The police ended up cutting down the tree and tearing up the whole garden. They came to see Toby when they were done. They found a whole body down there the tree with the exception of a hand which they found in the garden. The body was Dominic a school friend of Toby, Leon & Susanna. Rumor had it he had jumped off a cliff right before university. He didn’t get the courses he wanted and had been somewhat depresses. Toby wasn’t close friends with him but he had been at Ivy House a few times when there were parties. The interview/interrogated Toby and then they talked to Hugo. They kicked them out of the house so they could search it – they had a warrant. While they were out, Hugo suggested that Toby call Susanna and Leon. He talked to Susanna for a while but couldn’t get Leon. Finally, they went back to the house. Rafferty said they were done with the study and locked them in there. Toby couldn’t concentrate to work. Finally, Rafferty came by and said they were done and were leaving. They found a few things in the house that they asked about.
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Leon and Susanna both got questioned by the police and came by the following day. Leon seems to be on edge and Susanna like to make everything dower. Leon and Susanna were there more often and they were getting on Toby’s nerves. Hugo had his last radiology session and seems to be fading. He is losing strength and ability to concentrate. He is sometimes short tempered. Melissa has been a little off also. Martin, the detective on his break in case showed up. He was asking if his break-in and assult could have anything to do with the Dominic murder. He said he liked Toby and told him that people were saying that Toby had a beef with Dominic. Maybe someone assaulted Toby as revenge for Dominic. Martin left with saying: “If you had nothing to do with this, then at least one of your family or your mates did. Any they’re trying to drop you in the shit. And if I was you, I’d be putting all my time into finding out who and why. Like, starting right now.”
My guess would be either Leon or Dec.
Fri 3/29/2019 After he left P 251 -277 27
Toby tried to think what might have happened and who might be out for revenge. Melissa came home and asked about the candlestick. Toby said that Martin came over to return it. He didn’t tell her how Martin thought the break-in may have been connected to the murder. He found the candlestick in the trash the next morning. He invited Sean and Dec over for a visit. The conversation was avoiding any talk of the murder. Finally, Toby asked about the tree and it came out that Dominic was a bully to Dec and Leon. He was OK with Sean and Toby and wouldn’t say or do anything to Dec and Leon when they were around. He told of a really bad incident with Leon and his being gay. Hugo asked if Toby knew anything about it, he didn’t. Hugo went to bed and then Sean and Dec talked about the night they had before Toby got beat up. He thought more about Leon, how he knew about the camera and taking pictures at the party, about Leon not wanting to call the police and how he wanted to throw the skull away. Melissa was quiet for a bit after the guys left. She asked why he was asking questions and he just said he wanted to know so Hugo could have some closure. Melissa didn’t want him to go there. She said he was doing so well, she didn’t want him to get involved.
Tue 4/2/2019 Ch 8 P 279 - 304 26
Rafferty and his partner showed up. Hugo was upstairs but they wanted to talk to Toby. They found a cord in the hole with Dominic that they thought had been used as a garrote. Then they showed him a picture of a sweatshirt that they took from the house the tie was missing. The showed him a picture of him wearing a sweatshirt like on the one they took with the cord still intact. The cord looked like a match from the sweatshirt. They are accusing him of murder. He has had enough an tells them to
leave. (Where did they get the picture of him in the sweatshirt – from the camera that was stolen???) The evening while Hugo, Melissa and Toby are playing cards, Hugo has a seizure. Melissa says it’s wasn’t his first and that when he had faded out before, they were seizures. This one was worse that normal. He said he had one like that before when he was in bed. After Hugo went to bed, Melissa told Toby that Rafferty went to talk to her. They wanted her to tell them that he was a violent person. She wouldn’t and they finally left. She asked him again to stay out of the investigation and he said he couldn’t. (I hope this doesn’t break them up). He is starting to feel like his old self after his got beat up – does she want him to go back to being that beat up person.
Fri 4/5/2019 Ch 9 P 305 - 328 24
Toby decided to invite Leon and Suzanna over and see if he could get anything out of them. He asked for Melissa’s help. He wanted her to ask questions about him in school and what he was like and to ask about Dominic. Leon and Suzanna showed up with Tom in tow. Tom wasn’t in Toby’s plan but he left early. Hugo went to bed early but before he did, he announced that he was leaving the house to the 6 of them, the three cousins and their parents. Leon wasn’t happy about this, he wanted nothing to do with the house now, a 180 from before when he didn’t want the house sold). He blamed it on the skeleton in the garden. They drank G&Ts and when Tom left Suzanne brought out some hash and they smoked it in the garden. Toby played up his memory lapses. Melissa started asking questions. Her interpretation of how he figured Toby was at 18 was different than what he expected. (Could she have had something to do with the break-in) Toby asked them what the worst thing they had ever done, Susan said she might has killed a man and told of her confrontation with the OB for Zack. He did some things to her that he shouldn’t have done. She threatened him and then he died of a heart attack.
The Witch Elm by Tana French
Fri 3/1/2019 Ch 1 P 1 - 34 34
Tue 3/5/2019 Ch 2 P 35 - 62 28
Fri 3/8/2019 Sean and Dec had both P 62 - 90 28
Tue 3/12/2019 Ch 3 P 91 - 122 32
Fri 3/15/2019 Ch 4 P 123 - 163 41
Tue 3/19/2019 Ch 5 p 165 - 190 26
Fri 3/22/2019 Ch 6 P 191 - 226 36
Tue 3/26/2019 Ch 7 p 227 - 251 25
Fri 3/29/2019 After he left P 251 -277 27
Tue 4/2/2019 Ch 8 P 279 - 304 26
Fri 4/5/2019 Ch 9 P 305 - 328 24
Tue 4/9/2019 Susanna though about that P 329 - 352 24
Fri 4/12/2019 Ch 10 P 353 - 384 32
Tue 4/16/2019 Ch 11 P 385 - 149 35
Fri 4/19/2019 Happy Easter
Tue 4/23/2019 "Hugo spotted that I was covered in Dirt P 420 - 453 34
Fri 4/26/2019 Ch 12 P 455 - 488 34
Tue 4/30/2019 Ch 13 P 489 - 509 21