I like how the author's name is TWICE AS LARGE as the title. Ellie meets up with the truly evil family of developer Prior.
Words I Had To Look Up:
slag (pg. 52) -- Brit. slang for tart, whore, a loose woman. Save the mark! (pg. 139) -- An exclamation of humorous astonishment, irony, contempt, etc. Often prefaced with "God".
Ellie is involved in finding the lad whose pit bull killed a woman in the park. Ellie's house is burned, and aunt Drusilla is in very poor health.
Words I Had To Look Up:
maisonette (pg. 31) -- An apartment / flat on two levels with internal stairs, or which has its own entrance at street level. from Wikipedia. treacle sponge (pg. 122) -- A treacle sponge pudding is a British dessert dish consisting of a steamed sponge cake with golden syrup or molasses cooked on top of it, sometimes also poured over it and often served with hot custard. from Wikipedia. [Diana] having a high opinion of her deserts (pg. 88) -- I thought this was a typo of "desserts", but found this on Wikipedia: Desert, in philosophy, is the condition of being deserving of something, whether good or bad.
Quote:
He seems to think laughter comes from god. (pg. 74) I like that phrase!
"Tough titties," said Ellie... (pg. 167) Language, Ellie!!
Lee takes the identity of Russell, his landlord. Tries to plant Russell is some old lady's garden. Ellie discovers the body. Diana eventually bops Lee over the head, and is the hero, for once.
Words I Had To Look Up:
secateurs (pg. 3) -- Brit. Eng. for pruning shears, or hand pruners. winceyette (pg. 49) -- A kind of cotton flannel. Baxi fire (pg. 26) -- An
underfloor draught fire, some sort of home heating device. it's en suite (pg. 196) -- Brit. Eng. for including a bathroom. donkey jacket (pg. 198) -- Brit. Eng. for a type of jacket worn by manual workers.
Dr. Lynn Wyman tries to teach a CEO how to communicate with women, while having communication problems of her own.
QUOTE:
"...Do you remember the words Tom Cruse's character used to tell Rene Zellwegger's character he loves her?" He shook his head. "I must have put my hands over my eyes at that point. I do that when movies have scary parts."
Deborah and her sister Sharon don't get along, putting it mildly, so when a doctor they both have the hots for get murdered, guess who is under suspicion?
Ann Roth is fired from her job as a Hollywood journalist, goes back home to Missouri, becomes a hospital volunteer, runs across the actor who caused her to get fired, blah blah. No, I enjoyed this romantic sorta comedy, like all the rest the books I've read by this author.
I read this book because I see his stuff on various great books lists. I did not care for it. I probably will not read any more of his stories, unless they are VERY short. Anyway, this one is about some war, a newborn baby dies, the mother dies, it is a metaphor for war or something, oh crud, I gave it all away!
Missed this 2002 book from the Jessie Arnold series. She is building a new cabin in place of the one burned by arson and a skeleton is discovered after the foundation hole is dug. It turns out to be related to an old serial killer series, and a new one. Jessie seems to have broken up with Alex Jensen.
Words I Had To Look Up:
gamine grin (pg. 236) -- A girl or woman of impish appeal.
Jessie runs across a body on the trail near her house while taking her dog team on a run after the first snow of the winter. Alex investigates, even Maxie shows up. Quite a few earthquakes take place. Jessie pushes some biker's motorcycle into the rough.
Words I Had To Look Up:
...skift of new snow... (pg. 204) -- An old southern term for a light dusting of snow.
Jesie Arnold visits friends who are restoring a lighthouse, runs into a strange woman named Karen and...DANGER! Interesting lighthouse stuff, and a map!