FTWBooks2024

 I have been a huge fan of Patricia Cornwell, but in 2003, in Australia, I bought her then latest book, "Blow Fly" to read on the plane on the flight home. I hated it.  I loved the characters of Marino and Lucy and she changed them so much in "Blow Fly" that I didn't like them any more.  I read her next book and they were still unlikeable, so I stopped  reading her. Recently I decided to read on of her later books and found that Mario and Lucy were once again the characters I liked, so I've read the next couple of books. This book takes me back to "Blow Fly."  The characters  are OK, but the plot is boring.  The first third of the book discusses just about every leaf and footprint at the site of a double murder.  It goes on...and on...and on... There is just too much fantasizing... BigFoot? The book isn't as bad as "Blow Fly" but it's definitely not one of her better books

After reading about half of this book, I went to GoodReads to check what others have said and was (is "pleased" the right word?) to discover that so many people agreed with me. This is a boring book. She desperately needed an editor, if only to tell her that nobody cares about the history of all of her teachers throughout her education! One reviewer said that she didn't think that a book by someone she liked would make her like that person less, but I have to admit this is my reaction to this book.  Heck, even her chapter about losing her virginity was boring. I haven't decided if I'm going to finish reading it. I probably will, but I'm liking her less and less as I read it...and she has been one of my favorite contestants!  

 The Curtlees are a powerful force in San Francisco, unscrupulous billionaires who have lined every pocked in the Bay Area in pursuit of their own ascent (gee...sounds familiar, doesn't it!). When the family's heir, Ro Curtlee, was convicted of the rape and murder of a servant girl in the family home, the fallout against those responsible was swift and uncompromising.  The jury foreman was fired from his job and blacklisted.  The lead prosecutor was pushed off a career fast track and the head homicide detective was reassigned to the police department's payroll office. Ro's lawyers win him a retrial and he's released.  Within 24 hours, a fire kills the original trial's star witness and her abused remains are discovered in the ashes.  When a second fire claims another participant in the case, the detective is convinced that Ro is out for revenge. This was written in 2011.  Whoda thunk?

Joal Derse Dauer was someone who did a lot of volunteering.  She also loved animals.  One day she was delivering sheets and blankets to a local animal shelter and saw this dog who was dying.  She had been shot in the head twice after giving birth and she had been left in the woods to die.  She was in a cage and would be put down the next day.  Somehow the dog looked at Joal and there was a connection.  Joal didn't feel the dog's last day should be in a cold cage with nobody to love her.  She also felt the dog deserved a chance to live and so she took her home to take her to a vet. Joal already had a dog and two cats and was not in the market for adopting a new dog, but as she began to work with Sadie (whom nobody thought could survive) they developed a close relationship and despite the incredible work and cost ($7,000/week!) Joal decided to keep her and with a team she began to work with her, determined to have her walk again.  Two years later, Sadie had made great progress, t