WWW.WEDNESDAY

WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly. To participate, and to see how other book lovers responded, click here. 

PS I no longer participate in WWW.WEDNESDAY via that link because her blog won't accept Blogger comments. I mention this only to save you the frustration I experienced trying to link up.

1. What are you currently reading? Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger. As the jacket says, "A dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare." Three couples rent a secluded cabin. It's not rustic and they aren't into roughing it. They're looking forward to relaxing days in the hot tub and nights on the high thread count bedsheets. But then a massive storm hits and people start getting dead.

Yes, this an oft-used premise, but it's one I'm totally into. I was also really into Lisa Unger's Confessions on the 7:45, so I have high hopes for this one. I also like that it starts immediately after Christmas dinner, and captures the letdown that often accompanies it. Perfect timing!

 

2. What did you recently finish reading? Santa's Little Yelpers by David Rosenfelt. Chris Myers spent more than a year in prison for manslaughter. While there, he participated in a program where inmates trained dogs. This endeared him to crusading lawyer/dog advocate Andy Carpenter, and when Chris is paroled he gets a job with Andy's dog rescue organization. Chris is working on weaning and homing a litter of eight golden retrievers when he is accused of murder. Andy is planning a Christmas trip to the Magic Kingdom with his family, but he puts it on hold to defend his friend.

This was a good mystery. The prosecutors have so much solid evidence against Chris that, instead of disputing it, Andy chooses to develop alternate scenarios of how the murder have been committed. None of these theories has to be true, just plausible enough to raise reasonable doubt in jurors' minds. Yet as they take shape, one in particular is intriguing. It leads Andy and team from their cozy homebase in Patterson, NJ, to a small, depressed and depressing town in PA. Andy realizes he is not just formulating an acceptable theory for the jury, he's on track to finding the real murderer.

 

It sucks as a Christmas book, though. I wanted more ho-ho-hoing, but here, the holiday is really incidental. So are the puppies! I wanted to know more about their eight little personalities. That's why, ultimately, I was disappointed.

3. What will you read next? I think it's time for a biography.