In Dubai we visited the Soukh, in fact 2 of them, that involved crossing the Creek on an abra.

Why MYSTERIES? Because that is the genre I read.
Why PARADISE? Because that is where I live.
Among other things, this blog, the result of a 2008 New Year's resolution,
will act as a record of books that I've read, and random thoughts.
Sergeant Carl North, with one defunct marriage, and one almost finished, seems to be a person who attracts disaster. He's a bit of a lone wolf, one who doesn't always do things by the book, and we gather that in the past he has gained a reputation for pushing the boundaries. Nor does he devote the time to relationships that he should. His actions in SNOW CANDY put the people closest to him, as well as himself, in grave danger. He's impulsive, flawed, but very likeable.
SNOW CANDY demonstrates what a soft underbelly a small town can have once it is infested by the corrupting influence of a bikie gang. The corruption isn't evident in just strip tease clubs but can reach out into the police force itself. Gang leaders who will do anything to augment their own power place little value on the lives of others, even those inside their gang.
Read an excerpt from SNOW CANDY on the author's web site.
SNOW CANDY has been shortlisted for Canada's 2008 Arthur Ellis awards for best novel.
It is the second Carl North novel.
The first, BODY CONTACT, was published in 2006, and set in another small town, Belleford. Once again an excerpt is available online.
My rating of SNOW CANDY: 4.4
Many thanks to Terry Carroll for sending me a copy of the book.
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Another hot day today: 44 degrees C.
We went on on a tour of the great Mosque, which is nearing completion. It's a stunning accomplishment of fine architecture and remarkable craftsmanship.
Tokyo detective Aoki and his team are expecting that the case they have been working on for the last seventeen months will soon be over. Along the way they have lost 3 of their team who fell under the pace of the investigation, but it will all be worth it. This case is about to break and they will all have promotions.
But that's not the way it works out. They are called abruptly to a meeting with the superintendent and the director general and told that the investigation is over, no action will be taken, the case will not be proceeding. The ex-governor with connections to the yakuza will get away with it yet again.
In the following months, the ex-governor's star rises and people begin to talk of him as the next prime minister, and Aoki's star goes into decline. A member of his team commits suicide, a journalist, and both his father and his wife die and Aoki himself is suspended from duty. And just when things really can't get any worse, Aoki is sent by his superintendent to the Kamakura Inn, a ryokan in Hokkaido, to recuperate.
The detective in Aoki is revived as he realises that the other guests at the ryokan have secrets to hide, and he wonders if he has been sent there intentionally. He remembers an unsolved mystery of the disappearance of a woman 7 years earlier, and reaslises that at least two of the other guests have connections to that case. When the ryokan is cut off from the world in a snow storm, this tale becomes a classic locked room mystery. The ryokan is a house of many secrets, built to hide as well as accommodate, and the tension grows as first of all the telephone, and then the lights fail.
All the other Marshall Browne books I've read, the Inspector Anders ones, have rated highly. This one is no exception. My rating 4.3
I bought RENDEZVOUS AT KAMAKURA INN at Adelaide Writers' Week after I had heard Marshall Browne talk, and he duly signed it for me.
Kate Charles, who was described by the Oxford Times as "a most English writer", is in fact an expatriate American, though an unashamedly Anglophilic one. She has a special interest and expertise in clerical mysteries, and lectures frequently on crime novels with church backgrounds. After more than twenty years in Bedford, Kate and her husband now live in Ludlow with their Border Terrier, Rosie.
Kate is a former Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and the Barbara Pym Society. Her favourite hobby is visiting churches, and this interest is reflected in her various church society memberships, particularly WATCH (Women and the Church) and her enthusiastic support of Music in Country Churches.
If I summed up what I have listened to so far (nearly 2 hours in), this novel is aboutLife in the clergy is quiet, respectful, peaceful or so Callie Anson believes when she begins her new job as curate to the Reverend Brian Stanford at All Saints Church in Paddington. Little does she realise how wrong she could be.
After the traumatic end of her relationship with fiancé Adam, the last thing Callie needs is any more emotional turmoil. But it seems she is not destined for a quiet life just yet. Knowing that women in the clergy are still disapproved of in certain quarters, Callie is prepared to face some criticism. But the deep-seated hatred shown by some of her respected male colleagues takes her by surprise, particularly the spiteful attack made by Father Jonah Adimola, a hard-line conservative Nigerian priest. Luckily, however, her good friend and mentor Frances Cherry is on hand to jump to her defence. But when Father Adimola is found strangled to death the next day and Frances is suspected of the crime, Callie must call upon her faith to steer her through the troubling and violent times ahead and help prove her friend's innocence. With DI Neville Stewart heading the investigation, it is not long before the ecclesiastical façade is chipped away to reveal the ugly truth of the hidden secrets of the clergy.
Things had better look up soon. I can feel things moving towards the first climax but there is a limit to how much of the day to day routine of church life that I can stand. I haven't even met DI Neville Stewart yet!BookMooch lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want.
Bloggers Unite is an initiative designed to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place. By challenging bloggers to blog about a particular social cause on a single day, a single voice can be joined with thousands of others to help make a real positive difference; from raising awareness for cancer, to an effort to better education systems or support 3rd world countries.
It is an interesting perception of the power of blogging, and reminds me a bit of Howard Rheingold’s concept of Smart Mobs.
Bloggers Unite For Human Rights challenges bloggers everywhere to help elevate human rights by drawing attention to the challenges and successes of human rights issues on May 15. What those topics may include — the wrongful imprisonment of journalists covering assemblies, governments that ignore the plight of citizens, and censorship of the Internet. What is important is that on one day, thousands of bloggers unite and share their unified support of human rights everywhere.
Previous campaigns were
The site contains information from Amnesty International about human rights.
Closer to home, people might look at information to be found on Australia’s Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). They have some excellent education pages, providing resources and information for teachers, students, media, legal services, and business groups. Their focus is what human rights are, where they come from and how they are protected in international and Australian law. Most importantly the resources encourage people to explore the relevance of human rights in their own communities.
AND JUSTICE THERE IS NONE, Deborah Crombie
BLEEDING
BLOOD REDEMPTION, Alex Palmer
CANDLEMOTH, Roger Jon Ellory
THE CRUELLEST MONTH, Louise Penny
DEATH OF A RED HEROINE, Qiu Xiaolong
GONE TO GROUND, John Harvey
THE HEADHUNTERS, Peter Lovesey
THE HOLLOW CORE, Lesley Horton
I REMEMBER YOU, by Martin Edwards
ICE MOON, Jan Costin Wagner ; translated from the German by John Brownjohn
IN MATTO'S REALM, Friedrich Glauser ; translated from the German by Mike Mitchell
THE JUDAS STRAIN : A SIGMA FORCE NOVEL, James Rollins
KISSED A SAD GOODBYE, Deborah Crombie
LYING DEAD, Aline Templeton
NAME TO A FACE, Robert Goddard
OFFICER DOWN, Theresa Schwegel
A QUIET VENDETTA, Roger Jon Ellory
S IS FOR SILENCE, Sue Grafton
SILENT IN THE GRAVE, Deanna Raybourn
SUN AND SHADOW, Ake Edwardson ; translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, Patricia Highsmith
TATTOOED MAN, Alex Palmer
THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S