Review: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

by Carol8 Comments
The Westing Game was first published in 1978, but I had never heard of it until a couple of years ago, which is a shame. I would have loved it as a child. Of course, I still enjoyed it and was able to read it out loud with Amber, who's 11, so maybe the timing was perfect after all. It tells the story of sixteen people, mostly strangers, who are all invited to live in an all-new, exclusive apartment building. "Who were these people, these specially selected tenants? They were mothers and fathers and children. A Dressmaker, a secretay, an inventor, a doctor, a judge. And, oh yes, one was a bookie, one was a burglar, one was a bomber, and one was a mistake. (pg. 5) One thin they have in common is that by moving into Sunset Towers, they are all drawn into the mystery of eccentric paper-goods giant Sam Westing.  When Westing dies suddenly, all sixteen residents are invited to...
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“My Ghost”

by Carol14 Comments
My Ghost 346 words In the wood the slanting evening light plays with the leaves, dancing shadows flit across the path. I heard that tune again through the open window. It called me, urged me to come down the path to the old gazebo. The trail is overgrown, no one comes this way anymore, but I can't resist. The lilting melody is louder here. It's a man's voice, a rich tenor, but I can't quite make out the words. How I wish I could remember them. Michael sang that song to me the last night we met, here at the gazebo, the night before he disappeared. Ran away, they said. I couldn't believe it, couldn't bear it. I left. Now, here I am again. Home. Only now the house belongs to me, to us. But I hear that singing every evening. I can't ignore it. I gets inside me, I have to follow it. Once I reach the gazebo I sit on the...
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Thursday’s Tale: “The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima”

by Carol11 Comments
Image source: SaruDama This tale from Japan has really caught my imagination. A prince had in his household a beautiful woman, O Toyo, who was his favorite. After spending the day in the garden, the couple was unknowingly followed into the house by a large cat, a very scary cat. That night, O Toyo was wakened by the cat who grabbed the woman's next in its teeth and killed her. It then buried the body in a grave it had scratched out in the garden. Finally, the cat transformsitself, taking the form of O Toyo. The prince is of course clueless that his beautiful mistress is actually draining his blood every night. As he gets weaker and weaker, his counselors set a watch around his bedside each night to see who is harming the prince, but each night all the watchers succumb to sleep. Finally a wise old priest finds a dedicated, loyal soldier, Itô Sôda. The soldier spends the night with...
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Teaser from A Fatal Grace

by Carol9 Comments
Gamache's job was to collect the evidence, but also to collect the emotions. And the only way he knew to do that was to get to know the people. To watch and listen. To pay attention, and the best way to do that was in a deceptively casual way in a deceptively casual setting. Like the bistro. (Tuesday Teaser from A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny.)...
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