I put a book on hold at the library-wish I could remember where I heard of it! It may have been one of "Pearls Picks"-Nancy Pearl-longtime head of The Library System-wrote a couple of books-nationally known. Anyway, it was great choice. The Ha-Ha by Dave King. His first, and I hope, not his last.

Howard is a war vet who has not been able to speak for 30 years because of a severe blow to his head during war. He is of normal intelligence and, in his mind, can respond to everything he hears. However, he no longer has the ability to transform those thoughts into verbal or written words. He also cannot read.

A note at the beginning of the book describes a ha-ha as a boundary wall concealed in a ditch so that it does not intrude upon the view. Howard is a gardener at a convent and they have built a berm at the edge of their property with a ha-ha concealed in it. Howard, against the nuns wishes, likes the almost weightless feeling of driving the lawnmower almost to the top and controlling the curve and descent-very dangerous.

Howard finds himself as temporary guardian of the son of his highschool girlfriend and his life is not only turned upside down but, in a sense, re-opened. He has led a quiet, relatively solitary, peaceful, life since coming to terms with his situation-a life closed down because it seems much too difficult any other way. Only now is he realizing how lonely, sad, frustrated, and filled with rage he was. We hear all of Howard's thoughts and feelings while also seeing the limited way he can communicate with others. A beautifully written book.

I have a daughter who is planning on attending The University of St. Andrews in Scotland next year so I have been interested in all things Scots! While browsing the mystery shelves at my local used bookstore I found,just by accident, Ian Rankin-Set in Darkness. Detective Inspector John Rebus in Edinbourough Scotland-grumpy, loner, alcoholic, brilliant with intuition, somewhat of a loose cannon, not trusted or liked by the higher-ups. This seems to be a common charcteristic of police detectives in mystery literature. Although I lived in Ireland for several years, Scotland is a land unto itself and I am not very familiar with its vocabulary, customs, etc. I'm going to have to find other novels set in Scotland which aren't quite so dreary (also, hopefully set in summer rather than winter!). Although I did find Rebus and his protege Siobhan Clarke compellingly written and will look for the beginning of the series-this one is already several books along.

Frustrating-I posted a few days ago and obviously forgot to hit publish post because it doesn't seem to be here!

Oh, well. Another Dick Francis I found that I hadn't read-Decider. As usual-any Dick Francis is superb.

Also Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry S., writes a series called the Capital Crimes mysteries. Murders set in different places in Washington D.C. Always a fun read with a couple of terrific on-going characters who, nevertheless, don't figure prominently in the books-Mackensie and Anabelle Smith. The one I just finished was Murder at Union Station.

I'm going to hit publish post NOW!