Even Money by Dick Francis

Ned Talbot is a bookmaker. And bookies are not exactly well loved in English society to say the least. A necessary evil more like. Ned is used to that, but when a mysterious man presents himself one evening after the races and claims to be his long thought-to-be-dead father, then is murdered right in front of him he has lots of explaining to do to a skeptical police audience. And, he has one very puzzling question to answer- Was this man really his father? Why would his grandparents, who raised him, have lied to him his entire life? It also seems that this father of his has really murdered his mother as well.
While Ned is off to find out the answers to his questions we watch as he struggles with his book making business and the large corporations set on swallowing him up. Dick Francis' newest Racing book, Even Money is similar to many of his other books in that it is connected in someway to English Racing. Francis gives a great deal about betting, horse identification and RFID chips, and though the information is great, it doesn't really matter if the reader 'gets it'. It is, after all, the story, the mystery that counts. The story picks up as we head to the end and we see loose ends coming together. Though, I admit, I am partial to horse racing ever since my first bet was placed on a Kentucky Derby winner and I won myself a cherry pie, and the likeable characters of Dick Francis' novels. This is Dick Francis and English style racing at its best.

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

This is book number 11 in the Jack Reacher series by Child. It was my first one. I love to start in the middle of a series and see if the book will stand on its own as a 'good' one. This one fits the bill! It seems the hero, Jack Reacher, has no home, no worldly goods and no place to lay his head, but he's part of a special team that 'No one messes with special teams' seems to be in a serious trouble. Half the team assembles and they begin to try to solve the riddle of what has happened to their compatriots. Terrorism, violence, murder. Everything points to an attack on US commercial airplanes. The bad guy is not just a part of some terrorist cell, he's, well...maybe that's giving away too much. If you don't want to start with number 11 I still recommend Lee Child. Go ahead, pick up the first Jack Reacher book and work your way to this one. If you're already a fan, you will enjoy this one as well.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

Oooh, this was a delightful story! It's written for students from about 5th-9th grades, and any mystery or Sherlock Holmes lover will enjoy this story. Sherlock Holme's mother has gone missing and his 14 year old sister, Enola is left alone and confused. Enter Sherlock and brother Mycroft. Neither one of them are able to make headway on the case and they decide to send Enola off to a proper girls finishing school. This is not what Enola has in mind, so she runs away. On her way she gets involved in another local mystery and the fun begins! This is the first of many Enola Holmes mysteries and once you get through this one, you will surely want to read another. I loved this story and along the way you learn about 19th century London and the Victorian age as well as customs, dress, and speech. This is a great mystery for beginning mystery lovers!

Petropolis by Anya Ulinich

This month's book club discussion is about Ulinich's book Petropolis. The story is about young Sasha Goldberg, a half jewish, half black Russian Teenager living in depressing, post communist Asbestos 2 in Siberia. That her life is filled with abject misery is plain, and so is the life of almost every character we meet in the book. I did not find much redemption in this story, even in the crippled Jake, or the reunion of Sasha with her daughter and most especially not in the way Sasha ends up in America. To say that I did not enjoy the book is an understatement, but then, I don't think I was supposed to enjoy it in the traditional sense. It did, make me think, especially about our perceptions about culture and immigration. I had to force myself through the first 100 pages, but it was a bit easier after that fortunately. I will be interested to hear what others thought of this story.