Mysterious Reads

 

Somehow I finished reading two books on the same day. Two excellent and mysterious books that I could not put down. Books that keep me thinking for a long time afterward. One published in 1934 and one just released last month.

The Nine Tailors 
by Dorothy L. Sayers

Another Lord Peter mystery brings us into the English countryside for a change of scenery. Lord Peter's car ditches him just before New Year's off the side of the road somewhere in the country and he and Bunter are stranded in a nearby town Fenchurch St. Paul with a majestic cathedral known for its ancient bells. Lord Peter stays with the kindly rector and gets to know many of the town's inhabitants. He is called back months later to help solve a mystery when a body is found in the wrong grave. 

This book is praised for Sayers' knowledge and research she did on church bells and the art of ringing. The intricate notes and details about ancient cast bells is remarkable and to me it feels like a different book apart from the other mystery books with Lord Peter. The characters are more developed in this story. This mystery keeps Lord Peter baffled until the very end as each of his theories is dashed when truth is revealed. The conclusion is dramatic and not what anyone in the story expected. 

Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke

This book was published last month and I kept seeing people comment on how wonderful it is. Without knowing anything about it other than reading the synopsis, I ordered it to read myself. The mysterious concept intrigued me from the start. If you decide to read it do not read reviews or spoilers of it first. Enjoy the discovery of it.

Picture a dreamlike environment with a man living in a grand house composed of many endless halls and a sea below the main level of the rooms resulting in tides that flood halls sometimes. He seems to be alone in the house other than one other man who he meets with twice per week. The narrator writes meticulous notes in his journals the details of the halls, the tides, and the statues that adorn every space he has explored. I cannot say much more without giving things away and part of the joy in this book is discovering truths that are revealed so I would never want to steal that from anyone. But this book reminded me a little bit of the movie Inception mixed with books written by Charles Williams (an Inkling and friend of C.S. Lewis). If you like mysterious, dreamlike, fantasy type books, this fits perfectly and I enjoyed it very much.