Holiday Reading

I got through two books this holiday season. I finished reading "Defiance". This is the book that the movie, Defiance, was based on. It is a tremendous film, if you have not seen it yet. Defiance deals with a little known account of a Jewish "Ostriad" or Resistance group, that chose to fight the Nazis.

This true story focuses primarily on Tuvia Bielski, the oldest of three brothers, that created this Jewish resistance group and provided a refuge for Jews escaping from the various ghettoes in Poland and Belorussia, before being shipped to concentration camps. The book is well written and researched by Nechama Tec.

Drawing on wide-ranging research and original interviews with survivor partisans--including charismatic leader Tuvia Bielski himself, two weeks before his death in 1987--Tec reconstructs the lives of those in the community and tells how they survived in a hostile environment.

Read the book and then rent the movie.

Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander

Two of my favorite genres to read are historical fiction and mysteries. This book is a combination of the two. Alexander recreates London in 1768 with a cast of characters that will remind you of Dickens' list of colorful characters.

This is the first of a series featuring Sir John Fielding, a magistrate who in the 18th Century co-founded London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners. Sir John Fielding, the brother of the author Henry Fielding, is blind.

Sir John is a brilliant, compassionate magistrate of London's Bow Street Court. The book is written in the first person, with the narrator being one of the main characters. He is Jeremy Proctor, a 13-year-old orphan who serves as Fielding's eyes. The series opens with the "suicide" of a lord known for his gambling and extra-marital affairs. While the scenario of his death is not unique to mystery readers, in which Lord Richard Goodhope is discovered shot through the head, gun at his feet, behind the locked door of his library. So is it suicide or is it a murder?

Alexander also employs the standard resolution of a murder mystery, where all of the suspects are brought together to 'smoke' out and resolve the mystery at the scene of the crime.

This was a relaxing, enjoyable read wrapped around a great story brought to life during a fascinating time in history. Now all I need to do is research the Bow Street Runners and the history of law enforcement in 18th century London.

Bruce Alexander was the pseudonym for Bruce Cook, who died in 2003. He was the author of eleven novels in the Sir John Fielding mystery series. Now that I have been introduced to Sir John Fielding and Jeremy, I believe I will investigate this pair of 18th century London crime fighters further.