DOUBLE DEXTER by Jeff Lindsay, 2011.

Dexter Morgan is back and in fine form in this sixth novel in the series. Dexter, the professional blood spatter specialist who's always been so careful with arranging his playdates with bad guys to send them into oblivion has been seen in action, but he hasn't a clue who the witness is. And what's worse, someone is pounding cops in the Miami Police Dept. into pudding, and the heat's on his sister, Sergeant Deborah, to find the beast behind the murders ASAP. Dexter, meanwhile, is also having to deal with family matters: his wife Rita is having issues concerning finding a new house for their family and suspiciously imbibing too much wine, Astor is rebelling against braces, and Cody is beginning to need Dex's guiding hand. And then when Dexter realizes that his Witness has become a monster, mirroring himself, and not only that, he has decided to expose Dexter for what he is and kill him, he knows he's in up to his neck in trouble. Dexter is stalked, manipulated, and tormented, knowing all the while that his double is out to do him in. A trip to Key West with his family to attend a home foreclosure auction (at Rita's insistence) leads to a riveting climax that involves not just Dex and the killer, but the kids as well. Lindsay writes with a fast pace and keeps the pages turning--it's dark and witty and wickedly entertaining, if gruesome. Even though Dexter is a horrendous psychopath who murders all these people (but only evilly bad people), he is just so damn likeable, you can't help but root for him. I totally enjoy his banter with his sister (not as much of it in this book, though), his smart comebacks are great, and the whole Cub Scout camping trip episode with Cody was so funny (poison ivy and mosquito bites, anyone?). Some readers have not liked this book as much because Lindsay has made Dexter more human here, but I think this novel adds layers and dimensions to Dexter, Rita, and several other characters, which made it more enjoyable for me. If you haven't given these novels a try, by all means do so, but be warned, Lindsay's powerful mix of black humor and enormously grisly descriptions are not for everyone. I give this one kudos for being a fast read, keeping me totally interested, and for continuing to make Dexter an intriguing character.

DEATH AND THE VIRGIN QUEEN: ELIZABETH I AND THE DARK SCANDAL THAT ROCKED THE THRONE by Chris Skidmore, 2010.

Skidmore's nonfiction work provides a somewhat startling new look at the mystery surrounding the sensational death of Amy Robsart, wife of Lord Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth's well loved favorite, as well as a readable recounting of the matrimonial games of the Virgin Queen. One of the earliest and most troublesome issues after Elizabeth's accession to the throne was finding her an appropriate husband: candidates were sought far and wide and at home, too, and ranged from Edward Courtenay (a Plantagent claimant to the throne) to Prince Eric of Sweden and Archduke Charles of Austria. Elizabeth's deeply personal relationship with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is discussed in great detail, and Skidmore carefully outlines how much Dudley cared for the queen and how high his ambition was in terms of wanting to be her husband. However, Dudley was already married: to Amy Robsart, a well connected Norfolk squire's daughter, whom he saw very seldom and mostly kept buried in the country.They had married young (they were each 17), and Skidmore posits that they were a love match. Well connected but with little wealth, the couple spent more time apart as Dudley's star began to rise with his appointment as Master of the Horse; Amy receded more into the background. With Dudley's huge involvement in Elizabeth's marriage business, rumors began circulating in 1559 that Amy was ill, that she had breast cancer. Skidmore notes that it was also quite openly stated in correspondence and in conversations that Amy was fearful of being poisoned and that the queen was aware of it. It was even discussed that once his wife was disposed of, Dudley and the queen would then marry.When Amy, who was staying at Cumnor Place for an extended period, was found dead at the bottom of a staircase with her neck broken on Sept. 8, 1560, foul play was immediately suspected, and Dudley and Elizabeth scrambled to save their reputations. And although it was all highly suspicious, Dudley was cleared and Amy's death declared an accident by the inquest, but Elizabeth's relationship with Dudley was forever changed by the event. Skidmore, having access to the recently discovered forensic report, provides an explanation of what it revealed: that Amy not only had a broken neck, but gashes (dyntes) in her head as well, which further fuels speculation. For those unfamiliar with the case, this book reads well and Skidmore does a fine job covering all the points and providing context; for those who know the story, it still will be of interest. While not solving the mystery of Amy Robsart's death, Skidmore's work gives a good account of the facts and opens new avenues of exploration concerning an event that certainly affected Elizabeth I's life profoundly and has intrigued historians and Tudor fans for over 450 years.

DARK PASSAGES by Kathryn Leigh Scott, 2011.

Scott's sly send-up of her days as a Bunny at the Playboy Club and actress on the popular daytime spook-opera, "Dark Shadows" is a quick and fun read. Young, attractive, just-in-from-Minnesota Meg Harrison wants an acting career in 1960s New York. She finds a job as a cocktail Bunny at the infamous Playboy Club, goes on auditions, hoping to get cast on a new soap called "Dark Passages." Unbeknownst to anyone, Meg is a vampire, but of a different sort--she was born to a vampire mother/human father, sunlight doesn't bother her, she can shape shift, and she doesn't have to drink blood, well, not much anyway. She also has a guardian spirit, Haddie, one of the Club's late clients, watching out for her. Trying to make it without using her vampire powers, she's thrilled when she's cast as Margie, the waitress, on "Dark Passages," gets a small apartment, hangs out with friends, loves exploring New York (both in her human and vampiric forms), and enjoys her co-workers (especially Ian, who's playing the soap's new vampire character, Sebastian Stanhope). But all is not peaceful: her life is complicated by booze, drugs, her back home boyfriend, Eric (who ships out to Vietnam), an unexpected pregnancy, and a beautiful blond witch from Memphis named Camilla Nesbitt. For some reason, Camilla has had a grudge against Meg's family for a long time, and now she's gunning for Meg. When the show becomes a smash TV hit and the cast excitedly begins filming a movie based on it, the pressure intensifies in the continuing drama of Camilla's and Meg's battle. Will Meg's powers be strong enough to vanquish the lethal Camilla? Tune in and see! This is at once silly and nostalgic, filled with insider info and humor. Just plain fun!

SARUM by Edward Rutherfurd, 1987.

Sprawling, compelling and entertaining saga of the area of England famous for Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. I'd read another couple of Rutherfurd's novels before this one. His books remind me a lot of James A. Michener's in the way they are constructed: he generally takes an area and begins his story with prehistoric times and moves forward, providing episodes of the area's history, usually involving multiple families and characters. In this case, Rutherfurd draws on the splendid history of Salisbury Plain, and intertwines the lives of five families through several thousand years. I found it a dense read, but very involving, and for the most part, quite interesting. I enjoyed learning about how Stonehenge was likely created and the likelihood of human sacrifices being held there; the early burial sites of the tribes (called barrows); about sheep herding and breeding; the rise and development of fulling mills; the effect of the Black Death on the area; how the English Civil War divided area families; the occupations the families took up, like stonemasons, farmers, and fullers, etc. At 900 pages, it's a huge investment of a reader's time, but it honestly is totally worth the effort. The best and worst of humanity shows up in these pages: dishonor, betrayal, murder, acceptance, love, witchcraft, heresy, lust, double-dealing, wars, piracy, religious persecution, social activism, political upheaval, greed, outright manipulation, etc. It was interesting to see the Shockley, Mason, Godfrey, Porteus/Porter and Wilson family fortunes rise and fall, based on cunning, laziness, greed, misperceptions and misinformation, as well as secrets and lies. Some episodes were better than others: I particularly liked the section in which the cathedral was built; the period of Roman rule of the various tribes was informative; the time of the brutal Viking raids on the land was quite thrilling; Bloody Mary's reign saw Abigail Mason and her husband Peter caught up in the terror of heretic burnings; the Civil War era had Margaret Shockley and her brothers divided into Cavalier and Puritan sympathies; the Industrial Revolution brought about huge changes in the fortunes of the Shockleys, and the Wilsons morphed into the Forests and gained a baronetcy. Filled with hundreds of characters, thank goodness the author included a family chart by time period to help keep them straight. Plenty of period details and historical events provide ample background and opportunity for his characters to come to life. An enormously rich and detailed narrative of a massively important area of Britain. Recommended.

Watched "Gettysburg" over the past weekend, based on Michael Shaara's prize-winning novel, Killer Angels. Odd when I realize that it came out on the big screen in 1993, and I had never seen it; couldn't believe it had been that long a time. It's an enormously LONG movie (over 4 hours), but well worth the investment of time. I actually watched it in two parts, which I think it was a good idea to have a break in there. An extensive rendering of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, this was filmed entirely in Gettysburg and Adams County, Pa., which greatly added to the authentic feel of the movie. Several storylines intertwine among both the Federal and Confederate troops, and the viewer comes to know Colonel Joshua Chamberlain of Maine and his brother Thomas, General James Longstreet, Major General George E. Pickett, and General Robert E. Lee, among others. Primarily, though, the movie is about the great battle, which was truly a turning point of the war. Much screen time was expended on the horrors of Devil's Den and the various issues that existed in Chamberlain's troops--a lack of men, lack of ammunition, lack of supplies, and the knowledge that they were the very end of the line and could not under any circumstances, retreat, or all would be lost. So many men died on that battlefield, and that loss was clearly portrayed with shots of dead and dying men, some blood shown, but definitely restrained in terms of gore (when cannons are fired, you don't see someone's head get blown off--I know it happened, but I don't really need it to be that graphic). The film is fairly well cast, with many familiar faces: Jeff Daniels and C. Thomas Howell are entertaining as the Chamberlain brothers, Tom Berenger is good as Longstreet. Daniels' portrayal of Chamberlain is outstanding and sympathetic and one of the better characters in the movie. I was not impressed by Martin Sheen's portrayal of Lee--it just didn't sit right for some reason, not sure why. Perhaps my idea of Lee's personality just isn't the same as the screenwriter's. Stephen Lang as Pickett was awesome, if a little over the top, but definitely entertaining whenever he was on screen--his huge shock and fury at losing most of his men in the famous charge is totally compelling, and Richard Jordan as Brigadier General Armistead gave a rather touching portrait of a man definitely in conflict over a friendship with a colleague fighting on the opposite side. I enjoyed seeing Billy Campbell, Patrick James Stuart, George Lazenby, Sam Elliott, and Buck Taylor in good supporting roles. And Kevin Conway was excellent in the role of the Irish sergeant fighting alongside Col. Chamberlain. The accuracy of the costumes, the care taken with the battle depiction, the shifting points of view, the depth of characterization, the powerful emotional struggles, were all evident in this film. All in all, a very well done picture, accurately depicting a pivotal battle during the tumultuous era of the Civil War, well worth the time. Best of all, the viewer really doesn't have to be a Civil War authority/nut in order to enjoy it and maybe learn something from it.