Dead end

Okay, it's not very often I cannot bear to finish a book, but I'm afraid it has happened. And after holding such hopes for a good un.

Patricia Cornwell's Book of the Dead just hasn't done it for me, in fact I will go as far to say it annoyed me intensely, to the point I couldn't carry on. Which is a shame, and a waste of money on what is for others is I'm sure, a perfectly good book. I managed a quarter of it before deciding life was too short, and closing the chapter on Kay, Benton, Marino, Lucy et al.

Thank you to those who informed me that yes, I had picked up the wrong one, and the Cornwell book that is supposed to be terrific is Scarpetta. I'll need to wait a bit before I invest more money and time in it, as I'm a little wary after this last effort.

So here we are at the end of January, and I haven't got a single entry in my Books I've Read notebook (a new notebook - black with overlapping and intersecting embossed circles - lovely, thanks April) Do other people record the ones they couldn't stand and couldn't finish?

We're off to Naseby for a last hurrah before the kids start school next week so there will be silence on Overkill for a few days. There's almost no cell phone reception over there, let alone internet capabilities, so I shall have to make do with the next novel to read, the manuscript to edit, sunscreen (optimist), bikes and boardgames with the kids and plenty of Sav Blanc.

North & South - recommended reading

This month's North & South magazine has a feature on the Lundy Murders that makes for very interesting reading.

For those who have been in a news vacuum, or my overseas readers, Mark Lundy was convicted for the murder of his wife and seven-year-old daughter back in 2002. The fact he was found guilty baffled me back then as the evidence presented was rather flimsy and the time-line explanations offered by the police always seemed far-fetched to the point of physical impossibility.

At the time, nationally, popular opinion was divided, but around our dinner table the other night, a discussion of the case with our guests, based on information the general public received, our informal opinion trumped up 5-0 for Mark Lundy being innocent. As an aside, it's not our normal dinner time entertainment to discuss grizzly murder cases with the guests, it can put you of your BBQ, but then, this can be a strange household at times.

Anyway, I would recommend the North & South article as an interesting view on what was a high profile true crime in NZ.

What strange creatures we are.

My deadline is looming. By the 20th of February I have to have furnished my lovely publisher with the manuscript for Containment. That is only 26 days away.

It is school holidays, the kids are home, I've had guests to stay, the house looks like a bombsite, courtesy of my resolution to avoid housework. That resolution has driven home the realisation that if I don't do it - no one else does. Bum. I've been working frantically in snatches between the lovely demands of being Mum and host and wife and sister and friend and everything and by rights I should be freaking out about now!

But I'm not.

The freaking out sensation has been replaced by excitement.

I find myself excited by the prospect of racing towards a target, that this novel which has been, to be honest, a struggle for me is finally coming together, forming into a cohesive whole. And if I was going to be completely honest, I'd have to say I'm going to thrilled when this one is over and I can get cracking on the next one which is banging around in my head and demanding my attention more and more and I've had to say, no, get back you buzzard, wait until I've finished the other book before you take over my life.

Sometimes I think I'm a strange little critter. Maybe I'm the type of person who needs pressure to be able to really crack on and get the job done. That might explain why I let my life get rather full. What ever the reason, I find myself reveling in the fact this date is looming and I'm busy as hell, and working my butt off and still have a heap to do, and I wouldn't swap it for the world.

Odd crime bits from the news

There's the dumb and the plain unlucky in these little snippets from the news:

If you're going to lie, do it properly :

A teenager caught shoplifting decided to give a fake address to the police. Didn't quite work out as planned.

Thief caught out giving policeman's address.


This kid's a sitter for a career in law enforcement:

Little Mr Eleven-month-old had been playing with the telephone and accidently rang 111. When the police arrived, they found a little bit more than a cute toddler.

Baby dobs in dad's dope crop

Is she back from the dead?

Patricia Cornwell was one of the writers who fueled my love of crime fiction. It started with her first book, Post Mortem, way back in 1990. I had a science background, with a degree in Pharmacy and was fascinated by the science behind the forensics, this book combined all the things I loved and characters who captured my imagination. I was faithful in buying each new Scarpetta title for quite some time before I eventually grew to feel she was beginning to lose her edge and my interest wavered.

A while back I decided to give her another shot and read Predator, and was quite disappointed. That book seemed to confirm my belief Cornwell had become tired with Kay Scarpetta et al.

But lately I seem to have had all these comments from people, have you read the latest Scarpetta? It's great, she's back to her best. And when my publisher was busy gushing about it when we were chatting on the phone, and saying I must read it, I thought, hmmm maybe I'll have another shot at her after all.


It just so happened I was in the University Book Shop today (go figure) and I just so happened to see a copy of Patricia Cornwell's Book of the Dead, and it just so happened to jump into my hand and find its way, with my wallet to the counter. I just so happen to find myself feeling quite excited by the idea Patricial Cornwell is back to her best. In fact I'd give a big three cheers and a good on ya, gal to her if I find the book unputdownable.


I'll give you my post mortem of it later...


A post script - I'm now thinking did I buy the right book, or was it Scarpetta everyone was talking about?! Do I have to go and buy another?

Buried treasure

I have mentioned several times previously my tendency to accumulate piles of cra.... I mean stuff that I'm not sure where to file, or what to do with, but cannot under any circumstances bring myself to throw out.

I went looking through one such pile, and found this book, which I had forgotten I'd purchased. Out of sight out of mind, as they say.


Hard Cases by Bryan Bruce.

This is a true crime book looking into some of New Zealand's most notorious murder cases including the David Tamahere case, the Thomas murders, and the murder of Kirsty Bently, amongst others. Bryan Bruce created the television series The Investigator, and I presume this book is a follow up to that series.

Now I have rediscovered this acquisition I look forward to having a good read. There are plenty of photographs to accompany the text, and the peeks I've had look interesting.

Hopefully I'll discover a few more, ahem, forgotten purchases buried in other piles around the house.

Retail therapy - the sequel

My name is Vanda - I am a stationery-o-holic.

Today I fell off the wagon.

I looooove back to school stationery time. When the retailers have price wars and you can pick up your year's worth of goodies for ridiculously little dosh, I enjoy doing a stationery crawl around the town. In fact, I'm sure we pay less now than when I was a kid at school. I can remember my mum shuddering each year when the stationery requirements list came home from school, and her wondering which body organ she'd need to sell to fund it. I can even recall the horror at a $14.00 school stationery bill from high school. I could get a heck of a lot for that now.

Amongst today's purchases were ten of those large manilla art folios. I need them to tame the piles of newspaper clippings and magazine articles that have been accumulating. What do other people do to restore order to their newspaper articles? If anyone has some handy hints on coping with them all, please enlighten me!

I also got a cool lava lamp ruler, because every girl needs one of them.