The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton: A review

The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This series was recommended to me recently because of my interest in archaeology and my love of reading mystery series. Since this is billed as an archaeological mystery series, it certainly seemed like the perfect fit.

The Xibalba Murders, the first book in the series, seemed especially promising since it is set in Mexico and involves a mystery about a Mayan artifact and archeological dig. I've been fascinated by Mayan history ever since my long ago college days when I did a research paper about that culture for my Cultural Anthropology class. And so, I settled down to read the book with some enthusiasm.

On the whole, I found the book to be mildly entertaining. There were things that I liked about it and things that I didn't like, but considered as a whole, it was okay.

What I liked about it could be summed up as the Mayan aspects. The author names every chapter after a day in the Mayan calendar and she relates the events of that day to the characteristics which the Mayans attributed to the day. That was a clever way of telling the story.

Also, throughout the book, Hamilton gives brief dissertations on various parts of Mayan mythology, especially as it relates to the Hero Twins and their battles with the Lords of Death, rulers of Xibalba, the Mayan underworld. These explanations were to the point and clearly stated, something that can be difficult to accomplish with that very convoluted mythology. They added a lot to the story and made the fascination with the potential of discovering a  previously unknown Codex, which is at the center of the plot, more understandable.

The plot itself was pretty interesting. A noted Mexican archeologist is on to what he believes will be a great discovery of a Mayan artifact. For some inexplicable reason (and this was a weakness in the plot), instead of turning to other archeologists for help, he calls his friend Lara McClintoch, an antiques dealer in Toronto, and asks her to come down to help him. McClintoch has just gone though a messy divorce and has had to sell her antiques store and divide the profits with her ex. Now, she is at loose ends and jumps at the chance to go to Mexico, to the little Yucatan town of Merida to aid her friend.

When she gets there, she receives a message from the archaeologist delaying their meeting. Soon the action heats up and dead bodies are appearing around town - the first one discovered by Lara, which in the eyes of the local police, makes her the prime suspect.

Into the mix comes a tall, dark, and handsome British-born archaeologist and his handsome and darker Mexican friend. Lara, of course, is almost immediately besotted with the Brit, which perhaps tells us everything we need to know about her judgment in men since the guy is obviously such a rotter!

Okay, here's a thought. Why do mystery writers with women as their main characters seem to always feel they have to throw in that "tall, dark, and handsome" guy as a romantic interest for the woman? Did Miss Marple ever have a love interest? I don't think so, and yet she managed to solve mysteries just fine. Unlike Lara McClintoch who doesn't really solve the mystery so much as having its solution thrust upon her.

Do you get the idea that I didn't much like Lara? Well, you would be correct in that deduction. She really came across as much too slow-witted to ever be a successful detective. I knew who the culprit(s) was(were) as soon as I met him/her and I found myself wanting to shake Ms. McClintoch as she made bad decisions at every turn. Moreover, Lara often trusts the wrong people and distrusts those she should trust. Not a good recommendation for a "detective."

Well, this was the first in the series and it wasn't uniformly awful, just kind of meh. One of the attractions of reading series is that they often get better after the initial offering, so I think I will probably read a couple more in the series to give it every chance to grow on me. Maybe Lara will wise up a bit by then.





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Throwback Thursday: The summer of magical thinking

Five years ago, in July 2010, I wrote a commentary on the political discourse of that summer. Reading it today, I realize that the old adage that "the more things change, the more they remain the same" was never more true. Here's that post from July 14, 2010.

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The summer of magical thinking

There are certain groups in our country who seem to honestly believe that if they say a thing is true, no matter how outlandish it is, that makes it true. That, I believe, is clear proof of a faith in magical thinking that bedevils our national discourse this summer. You might also think of it as the "Tinkerbell philosophy." If I close my eyes and believe real hard and clap just as loud as I can, then I can make it true.

Thus we have highly placed members of the Republican Party claiming with a straight face that reducing taxes for the richest people in the country will not increase the nation's deficit and that it will stimulate the economy. They make these statements in spite of the fact that all empirical evidence points to the conclusion that any tax reductions received by these people go straight into their own savings. They have no effect on the economy at large - except to depress it by increasing the deficit. Furthermore, it is self-evident to anyone who is not a complete idiot that if you reduce a country's income, while continuing to spend at the same rate, you will increase the deficit. But Republicans still insist that isn't so and that is the philosophy they will run on this year.

Then we have the case of the tea partiers. Their rallies are full of signs with racist innuendo and sometimes unmistakable racist expletives. Their ranks are virtually 100% white. Many of the groups that are their strongest supporters, both financially and with personnel, are outright racist groups - groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens, the successor to the notorious White Citizens Councils of the '60s and '70s. And yet they reject any implication that they are in any way racist. This week, when the NAACP passed a resolution calling on them to repudiate racism and the racists in their organization, this is what one of their leaders, Mark Williams of the Tea Party Express, had to say about that:

You’re dealing with people who are professional race baiters, who make a very good living off this kind of thing. They make more money off of race than any slave trader ever. It’s time groups like the NAACP went to the trash heap of history where they belong with all the other vile racist groups that emerged in our history.

No, no, nothing racist or historically incorrect in that statement. Just squint your eyes and believe as hard as you can and clap those little white hands and it will all be true.

Like I said, magical thinking. But it is very likely that both the Republicans and their cohorts, the tea partiers, will get away with it because there are not enough journalists in this country who are willing to call them out on this utter stupidity. I think it's going to be another long, hot summer of lies.

   

Backyard Nature Wednesday: Rue the caterpillar!

On my inspection walk through of my garden a couple of days ago, I noticed that my little rue plant was looking decidedly the worse for wear. I looked for the reason for its disheveled appearance and it didn't take long to find the culprit.

And here he is - a big, fat Black Swallowtail caterpillar! It was obvious that he had been feeding on the plant, unnoticed, for several days, and he is now very near to the end of his life as a caterpillar. Soon, he'll find a place to spin his cocoon and pupate. And then, with a bit of luck, I may meet him in the garden in his new form as a beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly.

  

  

This was a Black Swallowtail that visited my garden earlier this year. Perhaps he was an antecedent of my present-day caterpillar.

The rue will grow new leaves and the caterpillar will move on to the next stage in its development. And so the circle of life continues.

The throwaway kitten

We have lived in this neighborhood for 27 years. During those years, especially the early years, there have been a number of animals, mostly cats or kittens, that have been abandoned here or have found their way here after being abandoned. I came to think of them as throwaway kittens, a prime example of humanity's inhumanity. They were animals that had been betrayed and abandoned by the humans who should have cared for them.

We did our best to care for them and adopted many of them. When our children were growing up, hardly a spring or summer went by without them bringing another throwaway kitten home. The last of those adoptees finally died last year at the age of 16.

Four years ago, we adopted Beau and Bella who had been rescued by our younger daughter along with one of her friends when they turned up, abandoned, near that friend's house. Since then, we have not had the occasion - or the necessity - of adopting another animal. Until last week.

Last Tuesday, as I was getting ready to go to an appointment, my husband told me he had seen a kitten in our driveway earlier. As I pulled out of the driveway, I noticed that there was a kitten-shaped lump lying under the front end of his pickup. When I came back, more than an hour later, the lump was still there, so I went to investigate.

The lump was a tiny gray tabby kitten. It looked to be not more than five or six weeks old. There were no siblings, no mother anywhere in sight. It appeared to be all on its on. I'm sure it didn't get there by itself. No doubt it had had human help.

When I picked it up, I could feel that it was just skin and bones and very limp. I brought it inside and opened a can of cat food, unsure of whether or not it would be able to eat. I needn't have worried. The kitten fell on the food and, small as it was, devoured a good portion of it. Over the next couple of days, eating, drinking, and sleeping comprised its major activities.

After spending some time with him, my husband announced that the kitten had told him his name was Bertie. That made it official: He's been named, so that means he's been adopted. Beau and Bella are not amused.

By the weekend, Bertie was taking more of an interest in his surroundings, and my daughters, who were both excited at having a new "brother," came to meet him. My younger daughter weighed him on the food scale and found that he weighed 12.03 ounces. My older daughter took several pictures with her phone to record the event of their meeting.

And here's Bertie, sitting on the coffee table in our den on Sunday and wondering what all the fuss is about. Another throwaway kitten who has found a home with us.

This should never happen, of course. Please, if you have cats - or dogs - have them spayed or neutered. And if you have cats, in particular, keep them indoors. Cats who are allowed to roam can do inestimable damage to wildlife and they themselves are vulnerable to attack by dogs, other cats, coyotes (in some areas) or humans and their automobiles. The safest place for a cat is inside where he can entertain his humans and be cherished by them. The world does not need any more throwaway kittens.

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indriðason: A review

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indriðason
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm being generous in giving this book three stars. Two-and-a-half would probably be closer to the mark.

I think much of my problem with the book lay with its translation which seemed particularly ungainly and clumsy. So, I guess I'm giving the book the benefit of a doubt in thinking that I might have liked it better if I could have read it in the original Icelandic.

I don't think I would have liked Inspector Erlendur any better though. Really, every time I begin to warm up to the man, he does something stupid and outrageous which just makes me want to punch him in the face. He suddenly gets hostile and angry for no apparent good reason. He is cold toward his adult children who just want him to be a part of their lives. He makes assumptions about people and evidence presented to him on his cases - assumptions which blind him to being able to see clues that are right in front of his face. Frankly, he's not a very good detective and not a very good leader of his team. It's a wonder he ever solves any mystery.

The primary mystery of Arctic Chill involves the death of a child. On a cold January afternoon, the body of a young boy, about 10 years old, is found lying in the garden area outside the apartment building where he lived. The investigation reveals that he has been stabbed. The wound from the murder weapon penetrated his liver and he bled to death. However, he was not stabbed where the body was found. He was attacked elsewhere and apparently tried to make his way home before he collapsed and died.

The murdered boy's mother is Thai and his father Icelandic. The parents are divorced and the boy lived with his mother and older brother. Erlendur immediately assumes that there must have been a racial motive behind the stabbing.

The boy's older brother is a full-blooded Thai, born in Thailand. Following the discovery of his brother's body, the teenage boy cannot be found. A search ensues. Again, Erlendur assumes that he may have been involved in the murder or that he has information about it. Eventually, Erlendur discovers him in a storage building near his mother's flat, but he is in shock and will not speak.

Erlendur and his team interview neighbors, teachers, and classmates of the murdered child, attempting to discover the reason for his death and how it happened. They make little progress.

Meanwhile, Erlendur continues to be preoccupied by another case he is handling. It's a missing person case of the type with which he is obsessed. A woman has disappeared. It is suspected that she may have committed suicide but no trace of her can be found.

In the middle of investigating the murder, Erlendur stumbles upon a possible case of child molestation that happened long ago. The alleged perpetrator was a neighbor of the murdered child and he becomes a potential suspect in the murder case. There is never any satisfactory resolution to this red herring detour.

Yes, there are red herrings and distractions galore here, but it is hard to see how any of them really contribute to the overall plot or the furtherance of the case. In the end, the solution to the mystery is more a matter of the detectives stumbling across the answer rather than actually working it out through deductive reasoning or following the clues.

Again, as it has been throughout this series, Iceland is portrayed as an insular, one might even say closed, society. The population has historically been homogenous to a very high degree. But lately, the country is receiving more immigrants, particularly from Asia, and this is causing stresses and conflicts among some elements of the population. There is considerable exploration of that cultural phenomenon in the book, particularly concerning the trials and barriers faced by the immigrants and the resentment that bubbles up from some of their Icelandic neighbors. It is an old, old story, of course, one that is certainly not unique to Iceland.  


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Poetry Sunday: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Searching for a poem on the theme of summer, I found the Bard himself. 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. 

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 

And often is his gold complexion dimmed; 

And every fair from fair sometime declines, 

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; 

But thy eternal summer shall not fade, 

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, 

Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, 

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. 

    So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, 

    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

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Now, where I live "summer's lease" is decidedly not too short. In fact, our "summers" are sometimes six months long and quite often "too hot the eye of heaven shines." But Shakespeare surely had it right in extolling the summer of our lives. Our wish is that our "eternal summer shall not fade" but linger far into our old age. That our lives will be as pleasant as a perfect summer day.

Well, we can hope. 

This week in birds - #165

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment:

The Red-tailed Hawk may be the most ubiquitous raptor in North America. It lives virtually everywhere on the continent in many different types of habitats and feeds on diverse types of prey. It is almost equally at home in urban, suburban, or rural areas. It is the raptor that you most often see sitting on utility posts as you are traveling along highways and byways throughout the country, and it is perhaps the most easily identifiable raptor. Although it comes in many different color phases, from almost black to almost white, each one of them will always have that eponymous red tail.

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Moth lovers, rejoice! This is your week. It is National Moth Week, July 18-26, a week set aside to celebrate these often overlooked critters. There are citizen science projects going on in which you can participate. And just in time for their week, a new family of moths has been discovered and described.

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The drought along the Pacific flyway, one of the major routes for migrating birds on the continent, is having a devastating effect. Many birds are sickening and dying as they search fruitlessly for fresh water.

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The endangered Tibetan antelope bears fur that is more valuable than gold. That makes it a prime target of poachers. Thus, it seemed to be well on its way to extinction, but China, which controls the Tibetan plateau that is its habitat, has exerted extraordinary efforts to protect the animal and preserve it from extinction. It now seems firmly on the path to recovery.

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That invaluable website for birders, All About Birds, is launching a new and (they hope) improved version of their website in early August. They are inviting the public to try it out and leave comments about their experience. 

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Ed Yong of "Not Exactly Rocket Science" writes about a beetle and bacteria that, in combination, are a threat to our favorite breakfast - and, for some people, throughout the day - drink. 

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House Sparrows are one of those birds that are so common that we tend to take them for granted. If we think about them at all, it is often to curse them because of the problems they cause for some of our beloved native birds, like bluebirds. But House Sparrows are gritty survivors and they have very interesting life histories that contribute to their ability to survive.

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Spiders of all kinds are some of the most valuable critters in Nature and in our backyard habitats. Thin-legged wolf spiders are among the most common of these and Bug Eric profiles them in his blog this week.

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Good for forward-thinking Minnesota! The state has instituted a conservation program to try to help one of our most endangered warblers, the Golden-winged Warbler. Selective logging is designed to help preserve appropriate habitat for the bird. Loss of habitat is its greatest threat.

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'Tis the season for cicadas and Cicada Mania is loving it!

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A new study finds that birds that have been introduced into Hawaii do not disperse native seeds as efficiently as do the native birds that evolved with the plants.

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Urban wildlife actually bring many benefits to the towns and cities where they roam, a recent scientific study argues. Most urban wildlife, especially predators and scavengers, are undervalued by society for the benefits that they provide.

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The Oriental Honey Buzzard is a bird of prey and some birds of prey and scavengers are known to have at least a rudimentary sense of smell. The Honey Buzzard seems to be able to sniff out pollen balls that are traditionally put out for Asian apiaries. They home in on these pollen balls and devour them.

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Scarlet Macaws have been reintroduced to Palenque, Mexico, an area of their former habitat from which they had disappeared. The reintroduced birds are adapting well and would seem to be able to survive and thrive there.

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In recent years, Colombia has made strenuous efforts to preserve and protect its native wildlife. In their latest move, they have expanded the El Dorado Nature Reserve to try to conserve a population of the endangered Santa Marta Parakeet.

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President Obama this week used his executive power to preserve three more areas for public lands. Mr. Obama designated as national monuments the Berryessa Snow Mountain in California; a paleontological site in Texas known as Waco Mammoth; and the Basin and Range in Nevada, which includes rock art dating back 4,000 years. This brings to 19 the number of monuments which he has designated or expanded during his presidency.