Murder in the Marais
Book by Cara Black
Read, read, read… get too busy or get depressed or something… stare at pile of books and feel a deep-seeded apathy; re-sort the books and come back to them later; go to the library and stare at all the books… lie down on the sofa and watch something awful…
As much as anyone I know, I like to read, listen to music, watch shows and performances, and check out art. But then something happens and all of it leaves me empty. I don’t think it’s the fault of the artists in any way, shape or form. Moods rise and fall over the course of a day and over months. Sometimes, I just can’t muster the effort needed to consider whatever is being presented.
Fortunately, the cycle has never bottomed out permanently because someone somewhere creates something that jars me free from the rocks in my socks holding me down. Years ago, Folkways: A Vision Shared set me free from a terrible funk and reminded me how much I loved music. That’s equivalent to the gift of life and it’s a debt that can never be repaid.
Mysteries had been
a staple portion of my literary diet ever since Gregory MacDonald had reintroduced me to the form I first fell in love with via Donald J. Sobol. But it has always been difficult to know what to try next. I read all the available MacDonald and P.D. James. Rex Stout books were always catch as catch can. Walter Mosley and other currently active favorites did not write enough. This was before Amazon was really a thing and eBooks were science fiction.
Add another phase of not feeling so enthusiastic about reading to the lack of obvious choices. Somehow, Cara Black’s first Aimée Leduc mystery entered our house, but I’m sure it was not intended for me. I probably nudged the book a couple times before even turning it over to read the summary. I devoured it like a starving man rescued from weeks alone on an island attacks his first meal back among humanity.
The art that reminds me to come back from that long swim out to sea consistently surprises and amazes me . The work that reels me back is never predictable- by me especially. My gratitude to artists who make the links and heal the souls cannot be fully expressed. In the end, the private moments when we find ourselves redeemed are between us and the work. I fear a world in which any voice is stopped because that might be the artist who makes the work that saves someone else.
What’s it all about?
You’ve Got to Check This Out is a blog series about music, words, and all sorts of artistic matters. It started with an explanation. 163 more to go.
New additions to You’ve Got to Check This Out release regularly. Also, free humor, short works, and poetry post irregularly. Receive notifications on Facebook by friending or following Craig.
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