October Line Up

Hello, hello, hello!

Welcome back! I hope you are ready for things that go bump in the night. October is one of my very favourite months: I love seeing the leaves changing, the nights getting longer, and there is something about an October moon that is equal parts eerie and enchanting. Winter is not quite upon us, Halloween is creeping in, and I start to feel that pull to find a cozy chair, curl up in a blanket and read some scary stories. Maybe you are like me and as a kid you stayed awake reading late into the night by flashlight because the book you were reading was just too scary and you couldn’t possibly go to sleep. I still love that shiver of fear that I get when I read a good mystery or thriller so this month for some All Hallow’s Eve fun, the theme is mystery and murder.

October 6: A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders. One of my best friends gave me this for my birthday and I’m really looking forward to reading it. I love mystery novels that feature a good amateur sleuth. I still get excited  (like, too excited) if someone brings up Nancy Drew. Seriously, do not mention Nancy to me unless you are ready for a chat: consider yourself warned. This book follows in that tradition. Its main character is middle-aged Samantha Clair, who works in publishing. One of her authors is about to release a tell-all on a scandal within the fashion industry and someone is willing to go to desperate lengths to make sure that doesn’t happen … and – you guessed it – Sam has to get to the bottom of it. As a bonus, this book is supposed to be really funny. What’s not to love?

October 13: Fear by Dirk Kurbjuweit. This book seems reminiscent of Herman Koch’s The Dinner, another clever and disturbing mystery which definitely had me up reading way past my bedtime. Fear begins with the father of the main character, Randolph, being imprisoned for murder. The narrative then follows the events leading up to the father’s incarceration. The story line is unsettling and questions the moral codes of middle class life. I like stories like this because they push the expectations of the genre and this often makes them resonate longer with me. (And if that hasn’t sold you, there is an obsessive neighbour named – wait for it – Dieter. I’m assuming you’re sold now.)

October 20: in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware. Okay, this one I just want to read because of the title. I confess that I am someone who will pick up a book because I like the cover, or the title, or even the endorsement (in this case, Reese Witherspoon). But listen to that title: in a dark, dark wood. There is something about the notion of a dark forest that elicits the unknown, the fear that you are not alone and that unseen eyes are watching – that something is coming. That fear that makes you want to turn on the light and double-check that you locked the front door. This book features a reclusive writer, an eerie glass house in the middle of the woods and mystery … just perfect before Halloween.

October 27: The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray. I have read several excellent historical novels based on real crimes: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, and Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue to name a few. I am always interested in how the authors were able to weave together the actual events in such a way that brought history to life and that interest lead me to The Massey Murders. This book is non-fiction and recounts the murder of a member of one of Canada’s wealthiest families in 1915. His eighteen-year-old maid quickly confessed and what followed was a sensational trial. The history buff in me couldn’t leave this one on the pile.

So, that’s it for this coming month. Please let me know if you plan to read along with any of this month’s books, or if you’ve already read them – I love hearing what you think! Bonus points for anyone who can recognize the end papers in the picture below – post a comment! Happy reading, everyone – don’t stay up too late…