A road trip to Ontario gave me some riding time for reading. Here’s what I got through in March; four of the ten are by Canadian authors.

1. Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey
Set in 1929 in London’s theatre district, the first in the Inspector Alan Grant series. Grant is presented with an unidentified body found in the ticket line for a musical comedy. He must first discover who the victim is before he can find who killed him and why. My review is here.

2. Alligator: A Novel by Lisa Moore
You can read my review of this novel set in modern-day St. John’s Newfoundland here. I just picked up Moore’s February from the library and I’m looking forward to cracking it open next week.

3. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Set in modern-day Mumbai India, this story of family patriarch Nariman Vakeel, an elderly widower of the Parsi minority, who lives with his two middle-aged stepchildren gives us a good look at that city. Although quite interesting, it’s not up to A Fine Balance.

4. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
1899 classic set in and around New Orleans, this chronicles the cultural and sensual revolution that takes place inside one society woman.

5. Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard by Richard B. Wright
The latest from the author of award-winning Clara Callan, this book is set in 17th century Oxfordshire & London, England. You can see what I thought of it.

6. An English Murder by Louise Doughty
Also called Honeydew, this story is set in modern-day rural England and involves the murder of a middle-aged couple by their teenage daughter. Said to be a soft spoof of English murder mysteries, it didn’t satisfy as either that or a real mystery.

7. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Compared by critics to Tolstoy, this book is one of the richest I have read. You can find my review here.

8. Building the Pauson House: The Letters of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rose Pauson – foreward by Allan Wright Green
A beautiful win from the publisher. See my review here.

9. Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran
Non-fiction analysis of the notebooks that Christie used in plotting many of her books. Fascinating – and one I want for my own bookshelf. Here’s my thoughts.

10. The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards
First in the Lakes District series featuring DCI Hannah Scarlett and historian Daniel Kind, this modern-day crime mystery is oddly named but enjoyable. I’ll likely read more in the series.

Links for my Canadian readers:
The Man in the Queue
Alligator
Family Matters
The Awakening
Mr. Shakespeare’s Bastard
An English Murder
A Fine Balance
Building the Pauson House: The Letters of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rose Pauson
Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks
The Coffin Trail

Or better yet, buy from a independent book seller.
Buy from an independent book seller by searching this site that has links to independent booksellers across North America.

P.S. If you click through the affiliate links in the book titles, you may notice a different cover. I like to see the cover that’s on the copy I read – and it’s usually different than Amazon.com because they display the American release, and I read the Canadian. Again, the links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.