The 9th Judgment & A Girl Named Mister

I read two quick books this week. 

 I started with James Patterson's The 9th Judgment.  This is the 9th book in the Women's Murder Club series.  It's a page-turner albeit a bit on the formulaic side...okay, a lot on the formulaic side!  But, still enjoyable.  Lindsey Boxer, with the help of her friends, must solve two crimes.  One is the theft of jewels and murder of a movie star's wife, and the other is the murder of mothers and children around San Francisco.  I did like the original way one of the crimes was "solved" since I really liked the criminal.

This morning I downloaded A Girl Named Mister.  And finished it a couple hours later!  Mary Rudine, nicknamed MR, then called Mister, decides to wait for marriage before having sex.  What she doesn't bargain for is Trey  with his long eyelashes.  Before she knows it, she has broken her vow.  Then Trey breaks up with her.  And she's pregnant.

Written in beautiful poetry, alternating with the story of the Virgin Mary, this story kept me turning the pages and even brought a tear to my eye.  Yes, it is a little heavy on religion, for my taste, but the poetry saves it. 

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Carl, Cecil, Cindy, Chabot, Cane Creek, Charles, Colin, Clyde.  I was so confused at first keeping all these C names straight!  But, I did and I'm glad!  It took me awhile to get into this book not only because of the names but because I had difficulty getting a feel for the characters.  I felt like I had sunglasses on in the house.  I could see but not well.

The writing is what kept me reading, though.  Spare and beautiful.  Every description creative and unique.  The dialogue spot-on Southern.

And then I got into the story and couldn't stop reading.  Larry Ott has been ostracized for 25 years because he was considered the main suspect in the disappearance of Cindy Walker.  No body or evidence was ever found so he was never formally charged.  However, in the eyes of his neighbors, he was guilty.

Silas Jones is a black police officer (the only officer, in fact) in the small Mississippi town where this story takes place.  As a child, he was friends with Larry for a brief time.  Now, another girl has disappeared and, of course, Larry is the first person everyone thinks of. 

In poignant flashbacks Larry's and Silas's stories are revealed and the intertwining of their lives becomes obvious.  I didn't much care for either of them at the beginning but, by the time the story ended, I was a fan.

And those C names?  They all became clear.

The Confession

I always look forward to a John Grisham novel.  He has a way of writing that keeps me turning the pages.  This one was a bit different, though.  Yes, it has to do with the law like most of his others but this one is more like a documentary.  I felt like I was watching a 48 Hours segment.

Travis Boyette is dying from a brain tumor.  He just got out of prison and decides to take responsibility for a rape and murder he'd committed ten years earlier.  He approaches Keith Schnieder, a minister, to help him.

In Texas Donte Drumm is on death row awaiting lethal injection in a few days for the crime that Travis committed.  Will Travis get there in time to save Donte?

The novel looks at the death penalty from all the different angles from the governor, to the lawyers, to the families, to the convicted.  It's very thought-provoking but the ending was a bit of a let down.

My granddaughter is visiting this weekend so I haven't been able to read much except her books and that's fine with me!  Here's a picture of her drawing in my journal.