Book of Madness and Cures

by Regina O'Melveny, 320 pages

A "road" novel set in 16th century Europe, Madness follows Gabriella Mondini as she travels across countries in search of her physician father. He left the family some years ago to complete research for his book of "madness and cures." Gabriella is also trained as a physician and worked on the book with her father. When he disappears into the north, she goes to look for him with her two loyal servants. They travel from Venice all the way to Scotland, and then back south to Morocco. Gabriella has to hide her profession most of the time, and the fact that she's a woman as well. While the descriptions are lovely, the action and character motivations are chopped and muddy. When a certain body turns up, I was sure there was another mystery to solve, but nothing ever came of it. Much of the action in the story seems pointless and sad.

In ways it reminded me of Ariana Franklin's Adelia Aguilar series (Mistress of the Art of Death) because the main character is also a woman physician who must hide her profession. Yet there is a warmth and sense of humor in Franklin's books that Madness lacks. I think the cover sucked me in  because it's so obviously based on Leonardo DaVinci's portraits.

Cold Vengeance

Special Agent Pendergast series
by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 356 pages

If you like puzzle books and fast-paced thrillers, meet Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast. For me, Pendergast has the mind of Sherlock Holmes and looks like a strong, lithe Elf Lord. He always wears Italian tailored black suits (unless he's in one of his myriad disguises) and happens to live in the Dakota just off Central Park. Oh, and he sometimes works for the FBI.

More frequently we find Pendergast involved in his own investigations with his sidekick, Lieutenant Vincent D'Gosta, a sometimes NYPD detective. Quite often these investigations have a paranormal element which can be delightfully creepy or bordering Lovecraftian territory. Pendergast made his debut in the 1995 thriller Relic about an Amazonian monster let loose in the Museum of Natural History in New York. His subsequent cases have ranged over the globe, from the sewers of New York, Africa, the edge of a volcano in Italy, and a lost Tibetan monastery.

In the volume before this one, Fever Dream, Pendergast finds out that his wife's death while on safari in Africa was not a tragic accident. Someone had put blanks in her rifle. What Pendergast finds next is a vast web of conspiracy which crosses continents. NYPD Captain Laura Hayward, D'Gosta's lover, tells Vincent that Pendergast is reckless and lethal. More than once she reminds Vincent that Pendergast's perps rarely ever make it to court. They die.

In Cold Vengeance, Pendergast's brother-in-law Judson Esterhazy thinks he's murdered the FBI agent, but the Scottish police can't find Pendergast's body. This begins a cat and mouse game between Esterhazy and Pendergast which leads them back to the United States. Pendergast believes his wife might still be alive, somewhere in hiding. When he delves deeper into Helen's origins, he finds troubling ties to a Nazi doctor/war criminal. The climax comes when a German black ops assassin comes to New York to murder Pendergast and anyone else involved in the investigation. Have the Nazis gone underground in Germany only to re-surface in New York sixty-six years later?

Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance appear to be the first two novels in a trilogy within the Pendergast series, as Preston and Child did with their earlier trilogy about Diogenes, Pendergast's brilliant, criminally insane brother.

Though some fans haven't liked their recent novels as much as the earlier ones, I still think Preston and Child are the best paranormal thriller writers around. Pendergast has his own website and there are fan illustrations on the Internet as well. Some think Paul Bettany would be the best actor to play Pendergast. This earlier post by another book blogger explains why she thinks Agent Pendergast is the modern Sherlock Holmes. So, the game is still afoot!

Winter Sea

by Susanna Kearsley, 536 pages

This story has 2 main threads: a novelist who is drawn to the Scottish coast and one castle in particular as she researches a historical novel loosely based on her family history. The other is the historical setting seen through the eyes of the author's characters.

Kearsley does a good job of tying the two stories together, though the patterns are strong enough to give an alert reader clues to where the story is ultimately headed. The historical parts in particular were compelling and well-researched. Kearsley is a talented story teller who has enough faith in her readers to avoid hurrying the intricate setting and plots.