HEART AND SOUL by Maeve Binchy

Publisher: Knopf
Date issued: February 2009
ISBN: 978-0307265791
Woman’s Fiction
Hardcover
Reviewed by Valerie



Maeve Binchy has set this story in a Dublin Heart Clinic. Here Clara Casey has been given the job of establishing this clinic. After a humiliating separation from her philandering husband, she gets down to work and devotes all her time and energy into it. At home, she has two adult daughters who seem to still need her as would children. Who said the teenage years were the worst?

Although the story is basically about Clara, Ms. Binchy introduces a host of equally interesting characters and tells their equally interesting stories. We meet Declan Carroll, a young doctor who is striving to become a general practioner. He meets and falls in love with another worker at the clinic. Clara meets Ania, a Polish immigrant and gives her a job and one of the clinic’s patients, Carl Walsh is attracted to her.

I found there was hardly a dull moment in this story as Ms. Binchy interweaves everyone’s lives together in this heartwarming and delightful story. Each character had conflicts to overcome, internal and external and I found myself rooting for everyone to find their happy ending. Ms. Binchy writes a really down to earth story that pulls you in and holds you captive. Her characters are normal, everyday people, with normal and everyday problems and she weaves their lives together and produces a story that will warm your heart, have you cheering and maybe even have you shedding a tear. I don’t usually pick up this kind of book on my own to read, but I am glad I had the opportunity to read this one. I can highly recommend it and I have it on my shelf to pick up and read again. I’m sure I will savor the story and characters even more the second time around.

SKELETON JUSTICE by Michael Baden, Linda Kenny Baden and Mycroft Baden

Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4000-4432-0
Cozy Mystery
Paperback
Reviewed by Gina



Bouncing back from their last forensic mystery, Deputy Medical Examiner Jake Rosen and his partner in romance and crime solving, Philomena “Manny” Manfreda are settling into their relationship. More or less. Manny still enjoys her high fashion and ultra neat and clean one room apartment and Jake’s four story brownstone has acquired even more artifacts. Their day to day peace is suddenly broken with a new villain on the loose. Dubbed the Vampire by the press, this baddie subdues his victims with a dose of ether and proceeds to take a vial of their blood. Odd, curious, and increasingly dangerous when first he uses a bit more ether than necessary and then, a body turns up. With Jake on the case Manny is prepared to help out where she can. After all, she’s assisted in an autopsy and been learning Jake’s craft along the way. Before she can slip on her Jimmy Choos, Manny receives a call on an exciting new case. This one the press has dubbed the Preppy Terrorists. Her client is a student at an exclusive New York prep school. Arrested because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, Travis does as little as possible to help Manny defend him. Manny knows Travis is hiding something, but just what is much more than she ever expected. Could Manny and Jake’s cases some how be woven of the same cloth?

SKELETON JUSTICE is the second Manny and Jake mystery by husband and wife writing team, Michael and Linda Baden. Oh, and let me not forget a key member of the team, who is also one of the major characters of SKELETON JUSTICE, the real life Mycroft Baden, a spunky poodle. There is a subtle shift in this story away from the indepth forensic investigation readers were treated to in REMAINS SILENT. It is more than made up for with not only the development of Manny and Jake’s relationship but with learning more about Jake’s brother, Sam. Rather than the laid back neer-do-well brother he is hinted at in REMAINS SILENT, his own intelligence and dedication to his brother is clearly demonstrated.

There was one part I struggled with. When Manny is put in a position of having to harm a dog, I almost put the book down. I understood the reason why and once I got past the initial emotion of what she had to do to survive, I realized that in the same situation, I would probably do the same. I give credit to the authors for the compassionate way they handled the scene and kudos on the outcome. They redeemed themselves in my eyes for starting down an intensely difficult path.

The Badens do a fabulous job weaving the layers of the mystery and then bit by bit unraveling them. If I have one true complaint it is that it was several years between REMAINS SILENT and SKELETON JUSTICE. While I was not aware of this talented team before I received SKELETON JUSTICE for review, now that I am, I hope I do not have to wait two or more years for the next installment. Manny, Jake and Mycroft are three memorable and engaging characters.