FINDING NOUF (Mystery-Nayir al-Sharqi-Saudi Arabia-Contemp) – Standalone – Zoë Ferraris When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a pious desert guide, to lead the search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. But when the coroner’s office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened. He quickly realizes that if he wants to gain access to the hidden world of women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office who is bold enough to bare her face and to work in public. Their partnership challenges Nayir, as he confronts his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs.
Aimee – VG+ - Really liked it. She grew up with Jordanian friends so some of the details of Middle Eastern life seemed familiar to her. She liked that it was a window into the culture and finished it in two days. Andrea – VG – She liked the book very much but could have used a bit less of Nayir’s agonizing over women. She did like it well enough that she’s now reading the second book, “City of Veils.” Bonnie – VG – The plot was well done. She liked the use of the details, but wasn’t certain she trusted the author’s views of the characters and who the male character acted, particularly around women. Evanda – Ex – Loved it. She had seen a profile on the Middle Eastern point of view of men toward women, so the protagonist with his conflicts cam through as realistic to her. Joan – VG+ - Liked it a lot. She liked the detail and found it felt very genuine. It gave her a real feel for how women live in the Middle East. The book expressed the conflices in their lives, as well as the protagonist and his conflicts as to how he feels about women. The plot was well done and she was surprised by the ending. Libby – VG+ - She liked it a lot; found it very interesting, particularly the detail on who women were treated. She didn’t guess the mystery part. The one thing that did bother her was the it seemed Nayir’s progression in his attitude toward women seemed too quick. She would probably read another book by Ferraris. Linda F – Good – She liked it mainly for the Bedouin culture and Nayir’s character growth. She also found Katya to be a very sympathetic character. Linda S – Ex – She loved it and was surprised by how good it was. She felt it portrayed the condition of women very genuinely. She was fascinated by the details of living in that climate. The characters were fascinating. Nayir’s struggle of how to deal with women seemed real. LJ – G+ - it was a fascinating read. I felt I learned so much about Saudi culture and Islam. It was interesting to see Nayir’s struggles both with his own identify, being Jordanian and wishing he were Bedouin but feeling he didn’t really fit anywhere, and his conflicts with women. It is such a different world from what we know and/or understand. Unfortunately, I did feel those conflicts overshadowed the mystery, which was well-plotted and did have a very satisfactory twist at the end, but it held an almost secondary role to the character conflicts. I also agree with Libby in feeling Nayir’s progression in his conflicts toward women was much too fast. It served the story, but wasn’t realistic. Marcy G – G+ - Marcy really enjoyed it and was glad she had read it, but found she didn’t care much about the mystery. It annoyed her to read about the culture, but she respects it—it is just so different from what she believes. She would, however, read more in the series out of curiosity about the culture. [Marcy, thinking she wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting, also sent me her comments prior to the meeting] "Finding Nouf is as much a mystery as it is a critical look at Saudi cultural attitudes. I thought the mystery itself was just okay, but liked the development of the main characters and the foreign setting (both cultural and physical). The author, a western woman who has lived in Saudi Arabia does not hide her opinions about the society in which women are valued quite differently. Hard as it is to not judge the cultural norms from a western perspective, I enjoyed the look into this world."
Group rating average: VG
A CURTAIN FALLS (Hist Mys/Pol. Proc-Det. Simon Zelle-New York City-1906) – 2nd in series – Stefanie Pintoff The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner, Captain Declan Mulvaney, went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Ziele’s fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. While earmarked for bigger things, Ziele moved north of the city to escape the violence, and Mulvaney dug in deeper, heading up the precinct in the most crime-ridden part of New York. Yet with all of the resources at Mulvaney’s disposal, a puzzling crime compels him to ask his former partner for help. A chorus girl has been found dead on a Broadway stage dressed as the lead. There is no sign of violence. The coroner would call it a suicide, but then she’d be the second actress to die that way in only days.
Aimee – Okay – The author could have benefitted from the use of a Thesaurus as she used the word “thread bare” three times in one chapter. As soon as one particular character was introduced, Aimee knew it was the killer. She did like the history it provided of Manhattan during this time and felt the sense of place was very well done. There were a lot of cliff hangers but there was one good plot twist. However, the book did take her 3 weeks to read.
Group rating average: Okay
THE NINE TAILORS (Classic/Hist Mys-Lord Peter Whimsey-England-1930s) – 11th in series – Dorothy L. Sayers Nine strokes from an old country church toll out the death of an unknown man and call Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most baffling cases. Set in the strange, flat fen-country of East Anglia, this is a classic tale of suspense by a master of mystery.
Bonnie – VG – Read it years ago but didn’t find it very interesting. However, she enjoyed it much more on this reading. She found the young girl made her think of a young Harriet Vain, but clearly wasn’t the model for Harriet as this book was written later in the series. She enjoyed the exquisite detail and the found the ‘rightness’ of Sayer’s writing to be impressive. Sayers had a wonderful use of nuanced language. Linda S – VG - Linda is almost through it but had a hard time getting into it and found it a real struggle. One thing that strikes her is Sayers’ elitism. She isn’t enjoying it excessively as there is too much she’s not familiar with in terms of British-isms, but she appreciates Sayers’ skill. Sayers does create interesting characters and the plot is interesting but Linda has had enough of the bells.
When sixteen-year-old Nouf goes missing, her prominent family calls on Nayir al-Sharqi, a pious desert guide, to lead the search party. Ten days later, just as Nayir is about to give up in frustration, her body is discovered by anonymous desert travelers. But when the coroner’s office determines that Nouf died not of dehydration but from drowning, and her family seems suspiciously uninterested in getting at the truth, Nayir takes it upon himself to find out what really happened.
He quickly realizes that if he wants to gain access to the hidden world of women, he will have to join forces with Katya Hijazi, a lab worker at the coroner’s office who is bold enough to bare her face and to work in public. Their partnership challenges Nayir, as he confronts his desire for female companionship and the limitations imposed by his beliefs.
Aimee – VG+ - Really liked it. She grew up with Jordanian friends so some of the details of Middle Eastern life seemed familiar to her. She liked that it was a window into the culture and finished it in two days.
Andrea – VG – She liked the book very much but could have used a bit less of Nayir’s agonizing over women. She did like it well enough that she’s now reading the second book, “City of Veils.”
Bonnie – VG – The plot was well done. She liked the use of the details, but wasn’t certain she trusted the author’s views of the characters and who the male character acted, particularly around women.
Evanda – Ex – Loved it. She had seen a profile on the Middle Eastern point of view of men toward women, so the protagonist with his conflicts cam through as realistic to her.
Joan – VG+ - Liked it a lot. She liked the detail and found it felt very genuine. It gave her a real feel for how women live in the Middle East. The book expressed the conflices in their lives, as well as the protagonist and his conflicts as to how he feels about women. The plot was well done and she was surprised by the ending.
Libby – VG+ - She liked it a lot; found it very interesting, particularly the detail on who women were treated. She didn’t guess the mystery part. The one thing that did bother her was the it seemed Nayir’s progression in his attitude toward women seemed too quick. She would probably read another book by Ferraris.
Linda F – Good – She liked it mainly for the Bedouin culture and Nayir’s character growth. She also found Katya to be a very sympathetic character.
Linda S – Ex – She loved it and was surprised by how good it was. She felt it portrayed the condition of women very genuinely. She was fascinated by the details of living in that climate. The characters were fascinating. Nayir’s struggle of how to deal with women seemed real.
LJ – G+ - it was a fascinating read. I felt I learned so much about Saudi culture and Islam. It was interesting to see Nayir’s struggles both with his own identify, being Jordanian and wishing he were Bedouin but feeling he didn’t really fit anywhere, and his conflicts with women. It is such a different world from what we know and/or understand. Unfortunately, I did feel those conflicts overshadowed the mystery, which was well-plotted and did have a very satisfactory twist at the end, but it held an almost secondary role to the character conflicts. I also agree with Libby in feeling Nayir’s progression in his conflicts toward women was much too fast. It served the story, but wasn’t realistic.
Marcy G – G+ - Marcy really enjoyed it and was glad she had read it, but found she didn’t care much about the mystery. It annoyed her to read about the culture, but she respects it—it is just so different from what she believes. She would, however, read more in the series out of curiosity about the culture. [Marcy, thinking she wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting, also sent me her comments prior to the meeting] "Finding Nouf is as much a mystery as it is a critical look at Saudi cultural attitudes. I thought the mystery itself was just okay, but liked the development of the main characters and the foreign setting (both cultural and physical). The author, a western woman who has lived in Saudi Arabia does not hide her opinions about the society in which women are valued quite differently. Hard as it is to not judge the cultural norms from a western perspective, I enjoyed the look into this world."
Group rating average: VG
A CURTAIN FALLS (Hist Mys/Pol. Proc-Det. Simon Zelle-New York City-1906) – 2nd in series – Stefanie Pintoff
The careers of New York City detective Simon Ziele and his former partner, Captain Declan Mulvaney, went in remarkably different directions after the tragic death of Ziele’s fiancée in the 1904 General Slocum ferry disaster. While earmarked for bigger things, Ziele moved north of the city to escape the violence, and Mulvaney dug in deeper, heading up the precinct in the most crime-ridden part of New York. Yet with all of the resources at Mulvaney’s disposal, a puzzling crime compels him to ask his former partner for help. A chorus girl has been found dead on a Broadway stage dressed as the lead. There is no sign of violence. The coroner would call it a suicide, but then she’d be the second actress to die that way in only days.
Aimee – Okay – The author could have benefitted from the use of a Thesaurus as she used the word “thread bare” three times in one chapter. As soon as one particular character was introduced, Aimee knew it was the killer. She did like the history it provided of Manhattan during this time and felt the sense of place was very well done. There were a lot of cliff hangers but there was one good plot twist. However, the book did take her 3 weeks to read.
Group rating average: Okay
THE NINE TAILORS (Classic/Hist Mys-Lord Peter Whimsey-England-1930s) – 11th in series – Dorothy L. Sayers
Nine strokes from an old country church toll out the death of an unknown man and call Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most baffling cases. Set in the strange, flat fen-country of East Anglia, this is a classic tale of suspense by a master of mystery.
Bonnie – VG – Read it years ago but didn’t find it very interesting. However, she enjoyed it much more on this reading. She found the young girl made her think of a young Harriet Vain, but clearly wasn’t the model for Harriet as this book was written later in the series. She enjoyed the exquisite detail and the found the ‘rightness’ of Sayer’s writing to be impressive. Sayers had a wonderful use of nuanced language.
Linda S – VG - Linda is almost through it but had a hard time getting into it and found it a real struggle. One thing that strikes her is Sayers’ elitism. She isn’t enjoying it excessively as there is too much she’s not familiar with in terms of British-isms, but she appreciates Sayers’ skill. Sayers does create interesting characters and the plot is interesting but Linda has had enough of the bells.
Group rating average: VG