A Moment on the Edge edited by Elizabeth George

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Mysteries are my go to books. They have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, starting with Encyclopedia Brown. I have always loved reading them, both as novels and short stories. However, almost all of the books I read are by male writers. I have visited the worlds of a few women mystery writers, and Sara Paretsky is one of my favorites, but I have never read a lot of their work. So, when my wife told me about this collection of short mysteries, I was intrigued.

Edited by Elizabeth George, the creator of the aristocratic Inspector Lyndley, one of wife’s favorite detectives, the book presents a comprehensive overview of history of mysteries written by female writers. Her choices range from women who are well known, such as Dorothy Sayers, Ruth Rendell and Joyce Carol Oates, to some lesser known writers including Lia Matera and Minette Walters. All are excellent, and they provide a wide variety of examples of the mystery genre.

One of my favorite stories is A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell. A writer of fiction and plays, Ms. Glaspell (1876-1948) was a member of the Provincetown Players. A Jury takes place out on the plains. The story revolves around the women of a small town and how they react when the husband of one is found, hanged, in his home.

In Murder-Two, Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938) presents a deep and dark look at the psychology of a young man whose mother has been found murdered. The tale is told through the eyes of his lawyer, a self-assured young lady, who quickly forms doubts about her client and herself.

It is no real surprise that my favorite story comes from my favorite author in the collection – Sara Paretsky (b. 1947). In The Case of the Pietro Andromache, she takes to the short story form and still presents her detective – V.I. Warshawski, with her usual mix of social class awareness, politics and, in this case, she even throws in art history and holocaust for good measure. She does all of this without losing the thread of the mystery or the interest of the reader.

If you love mysteries, especially short ones, and you want to expand your knowledge of women writers, pick up A Moment on the Edge. It is an excellent collection.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

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I was motivated to read this classic mystery after watching the newest film version of the book. In this story, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate a murder while riding on the famous train. In this interpretation of the famous novel, Kenneth Branagh, who stars and directs, portrays M. Poirot as having a crisis of morality. The character is forced to choose between what he feels is just and what he knows is lawful. Having read a few of Agatha Christie’s novels, I was having a hard time reconciling what I know of her writing with what was presented in the movie.

I really enjoyed the film, but it made me wonder. How much of that crisis of conscience came from Agatha Christie? She has always presented a black and white world view in her novels. The more I thought about the movie, the greater the incongruity between it and what I knew of her writing. So, I went back to the novel, and unfortunately, the book lived down to my expectations.

I love mysteries, but I want more than just a puzzle. I want a book that explores character. One that goes beyond archetype. That is why I gave up on Christie’s books years ago. Having watched this and the other versions of the Orient Express, I thought that maybe I missed something in this novel.

I was wrong. Christie shaped Poirot’s character in his first novel – The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and it never changes. In the book, Murder on the Orient Express, there is no crisis of conscience. Poirot goes about solving the mystery step by step, and when he gets to the end, he just goes along with the decision made by other people, opting for a unilateral and conventional reaction.

There have been two film versions and two tv English language versions of Murder, and while they all present some internal conflict for the Belgian detective, none is as heart wrenching and nuanced as in this newest version. Mr. Branagh has never been shy on camera. His portrayal of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander is a tour de force of a man falling into despair and eventually dementia. Poirot also wrestles with his view of the world.

In this movie Branagh forces Poirot to look at the gray areas in between positions he has always viewed as black and white. I give a large “thank you” to Mr. Branagh and writer Michael Green for creating a Poirot with more depth and nuance than ever existed in the novels. As for reading any more books by Agatha Christie, well, let’s just say I am waiting for Branagh’s upcoming version of Death on the Nile.

My Mother's Kitchen by Peter Gethers

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Imagine growing up as part of the family that owns one of New York’s iconic restaurants. It is a life where food becomes the main reference to most major events. That is the story that Peter Gethers tells in My Mother’s Kitchen, but it is not his story. It is the story of his mother, Judith Gethers nee Harmatz. She is one of the children in the family that founded Ratner’s, one of New York’s most famous Kosher restaurants.

Judith Harmatz was born in 1922, in New York, and grew up in and around Ratner’s restaurant, co-owned by her father and her uncle. This was her life until she married Steven Gethers, a television writer. His work eventually took the family to Los Angeles, where she was mother and wife. At the age of 53, with both of her sons out of the house, Judith decided that she wanted to do something more. She wanted to learn how to cook like a chef. So, she took an unpaid position at Ma Maison, one if LA’s swanky-ist restaurants at the time. She worked with Wolfgang Puck, Jonathan Waxman and Nancy Silverton, among other top name chefs. Eventually, she became an instructor at Ma Maison’s cooking school. She has also written six cookbooks.

By Wes Washington (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In her eighties, Mrs. Gethers suffered two strokes and several bouts of cancer. As she was reaching the end of her life, Mr. Gethers decided to put together a day’s menu of his mother’s favorite dishes, breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is the structure that he has given this exploration of his mother’s life. He has used this format to include the recipes for the dishes that his mother chose.

Breakfast covers Mrs. Gethers early life. Her family history and growth of Ratner’s as a cultural icon are explored. Ratner’s was a kosher dairy restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It became one of the most famous kosher establishments in the city, and a hang out for many of New York’s celebrities. Mr. Gethers also gives us a recipe for one of my favorite childhood dishes – Matzoh-brei. This is a mix of moist matzoh pieces cooked with scrambled eggs. My mother served it with maple syrup, a wonderous dish of sweet and savory flavors.

Lunch covers the early years of Mrs. Gethers’ marriage, and Peter’s life. Starting with an apartment in Peter Cooper Village, in lower Manhattan, and then a house in Rockland County, Mr. Gethers explores the ups and downs of his mother’s life. He explores the family issues as Ratner’s ownership change generations, and her desire to be away from pressures from her siblings.

Dinner brings us to life in California. Here we follow Mrs. Gethers blossoming into a chef, a teacher and an author. We meet some of the many chefs that came into the Gethers’ family. We watch her blossom into a social fixture among the restaurant set in Los Angeles. As her life experiences grow, the recipes given become more complicated that are included. But as the food becomes more interesting, so does the tale of Mrs. Gethers’ life.

My Mother’s Kitchen gives us a fascinating look at the story of a woman who led a quiet, but amazing life.  Mr. Gethers does a great job weaving together food and life experiences, just as it happens to us all every day.