T is For Trespass

I'm having a hard time being excited about Christmas this year, but this morning I won two tickets from a radio station to go see a play at theater in Green Bay with Jesse tomorrow night. That was definitely a boost for my day. Then the doctor called back. His nurse actually. I called yesterday because I'm having so much trouble sleeping, and this flare-up doesn't seem to be getting better. Here's our conversation:

Her: Obviously the Enbrel hasn't kicked in yet, and Doctor says the rest of the pain is your fibromyalgia, and that's not going to get any better.

Me: So what do I do about the pain.

Her: Doctor wants you to take your hydrocodone.

Me: I'm already taking as much as I can of it, and it's not helping anymore.

Her: Well, that's the fibromyalgia, and he said that that's pain you're going to have to live with. Merry Christmas.

I'm editing, but not by much. So apparently I have fibromyalgia too? There was no compassion or caring at all, just matter of fact: this is your pain; deal with it. And telling me to take my pain medication for my pain, excuse the sarcasm, but really, I hadn't thought to take that for the pain!

Merry Christmas, I'll be finding a new doctor after the new year.

T is For Trespass by Sue Grafton is the newest book in the Kinsey Millhone series. Kinsey is investigating a suspicious car accident and delivering eviction notices when she's asked to look into the background of Solana Rojas who has applied to be a caregiver for Kinsey's elderly neighbor Gus. Kinsey doesn't notice anything unusual and gives Solana the A-OK, unknowingly committing Gus to a living hell, because Solana is not who she claims to be. Grafton tries a new trick from her authorial bag by switching narration between her usual 1st person Kinsey and 3rd person Solana. Kinsey doesn't investigate mysteries that are going to change the world, but she does help make the world around her a better place. I love Kinsey: her love of olive loaf lunchmeat, peanut butter & pickle sandwiches, her need for small spaces and solitude, her attachment to Henry, William and Rosie. Kinsey, now in her twentieth appearance has become an old friend, and Grafton continues to write thrilling, taut suspenseful stories filled with rich characters and moral dilemmas. Solana's systematic abuse of Gus is horrific to behold, and I couldn't put the book down as I waited for Kinsey to come to his rescue. Solana recognizes a kindred spirit in Kinsey, but where she is dark, Kinsey is light, and each are frighteningly good at what they do. Kinsey is so honest about her hang-ups and flaws that it's hard to believe that she isn't real. Another pitch perfect entry in this series guaranteed to satisfy mystery lovers everywhere.

I used to read Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell religiously, but I've been skipping Cornwell's recent books because the writing has gone so far downhill. If you read the first few books in her Kay Scarpetta series and compare them to the most recent, including Book of the Dead, you'd be hardpressed to recognize that it's even the same author. If you read other reviews on Amazon of Cornwell's recent stuff, I'm not alone in my opinion. But instead of Cornwell realizing that she needs to tone up her writing, she's blaming it on a conspiracy and the Pentagon. Apparently she wouldn't speak at a pro-war, pro-Bush event, and now she believes that all of the negative reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the result of the White House organizing a barrage of bad press. That's ridiculous! There's no conspiracy, just a lot of atrocious writing. Grafton pours carefully over each book, and while we readers wait with bated breath for each edition, I'd gladly wait another two-three years for the 21st book than get one each year that was so bad as to be unreadable.

I'm done bah humbugging, have a great weekend!