Book & Baking Blog Entry 15

The beauty of travel....and murder.

So we're in Denmark staying with family. Late nights and eating and drinking stuff that I normally wouldn't. For me, this is no more harmful than a carafe of coffee at 4pm. Unfortunately, for a woman who doesn't usually drink more than one cup of tea per morning, this was slightly detrimental to my sleep. Or maybe I just wasn't sleepy. I didn't feel jittery. I just was enthused by my novel.

I was, I thought, about 2/3 of the way through Jane Haddam's Wanting Sheila Dead. It's a Gregor Demarkian novel for those who know and love our old, cuddly, Armenian detective with the hot, younger, wife. Well. I had to finish it. I know that when I bought it I blogged about how I HATE the publishers who set exorbitantly high prices on ebooks. I think that they are sharks. However, I couldn't resist Haddam. I only wish she got a higher percentage from the sale of the ebook. That would make it worth it to me.

Wow! What a read. Haddam never fails to entertain and in a big way. She doens't generally give away the killer, although if you think about it, it always makes sense.

SPOILER ALERT (maybe, I'll try not to, but no promises.)

Wanting Sheila Dead has 2 mysteries involved. One brought to Gregor by 'the very old ladies' and the other by a shrewish reality tv star host (or rather, her PA.) Gregor realizes that there are similarities in the cases and works them Miss Marple-like to a fun conclusion.

I did get a little irritated at the drawn out ending without explanation. There are some key pieces of information missing to make this a true 'whodunit' for the reader. But, in the end it satisfies and makes sense. Haddam, rightly, doesn't get into big relationship crap with Gregor and Bennis.

So, happy reading. I highly recommend the new Haddam.

In the cakes department, wow! I had some excellent Kringle at Gammel Estrup. The coffee was mediocre but the cake was incredible. It was a wedge that had a huge warm dollop of filling that included cinnamon and almond paste. Yummy. And worth waiting to have it warmed up. I love this country!