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? Miami, It's Murder by Edna Buchanan. Britt Montero is a dedicated crime reporter in 1990s Miami. It's summer in the city and she has plenty to do. There's the bandit with body odor who is robbing banks. There's the rapist who stalks white color women in major office buildings. And there's little Mary Beth. She was raped and murdered 20 years ago and her case is still unsolved. Britt wants to see justice finally done.

 

I like Britt and her best bud, a photographer named Lottie. That's important in a series like this, which is too dark to be called "cozy."

2. What did you recently finish reading? Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie. I am a Royal Watcher, but have always found Andrew and Fergie among the least interesting. This book shows that there is a story here that needs to be told. It's sad and ugly, but it was worth reading.

 

They're both depressing figures. She's "needy and greedy," a damaged woman with few coping skills who was easily seduced wealth and attention. He's worse: not bright, not talented, and a moral vacuum. Unlike the other "spares" I've read about – second born heirs to the throne who find themselves displaced as soon as their nephews were born – Andrew seems to be a uniquely empty vessel. Troubled though they seemed, Princess Margaret and Prince Harry displayed greater substance. Margaret honestly loved her sister and mother and was extremely loyal. Harry wants to be true to his mother's legacy and do good. But Andrew? He seems to want to golf and get laid.

 

Yes, there's a lot of Epstein here. It was illuminating to see how he operated. Not everyone ensnared in his web was a sex offender. They all do seem to have been, like Sarah, vulnerable to blackmail. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but there seems to be plenty of evidence that Epstein had ties to intelligence all over the world. Perhaps Congress should look into that, as well into whatever the hell it is that Donald Trump so desperately wants to keep hidden. 

3. What will you read next?  Something lighter.