It’s the first Saturday of the month so that means it’s time for another Six Degrees Post. This monthly meme is hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with the book chosen for the month and connect the following six books. Where will you end up? As usual, I turn to my shelves to provide me with some inspiration.

For this month we start off with Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. I haven’t read this one but I have enjoyed several of Anne Tyler’s books before so I would like to read it.

As I start to look for books on my shelves to connect the theme of an address or place on a map starts to form in my head so my next book is On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I’ve had this one on my shelves forever. I’m not sure I’m that interested now but let me know if you’ve read it and if you recommend it.

From the road we move to The Girls from See Saw Lane by Sandy Taylor. This is a book about friendship, love and tragedy in Brighton during the 1960s. I love stories about friendship so I think I could enjoy this one a lot.

From the lane we move to The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I’ve enjoyed the works of  Sandra Cisneros and if you haven’t read any of her poetry I also recommend checking that out. This story is about a young Latina growing up in Chicago.

Next up is Murder on Trinity Place by Victoria Thompson. This is one of the most recent Gaslight Mysteries and you’ve heard me talk about this series quite a bit. I especially loved the earlier books in the series so if you want to check it out I do think this is one best read in order.

Now we’re moving on to more spacious places onto the Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. A story about book thefts at the New York Public Library. Now doesn’t that sound intriguing?

Finally we move on to a highway which is a way to connect distant and multiple cities and in The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea the author tells of a real life account of men who crossed the U.S. Mexico border via the desert of southern Arizona.

I hope you enjoyed traveling with me on this Six Degrees edition. Can’t wait to see what your connections were. Happy weekend!

“The thoughts of all present tonight,” said Mr. Birley, ‘will naturally turn first to the great personal loss – the very great personal loss – so recently suffered by the firm, by the legal profession and, if I may venture to say so without contradiction, by the British public.’ No one did contradict him; partly, no doubt, owning to the fact that Mr. Birley was personally responsible for the salaries of the greater number of those present, but also because the principal speaker at a staff dinner very rarely is contradicted; Mr. Birley, therefore, proceeded.”

Smallbone Deceased
By Michael Gilbert
Source: Personal copy

Monday evening Henry Bohun finds himself at a dinner with the solicitors of Horniman, Birley and Craine and some of their associates and acquaintances. As the speeches are delivered in honor of the late Mr. Abel Horniman, Henry looks around the tables and tries to get a picture of what his work will be like with the firm as he’s only recently joined not realizing that his work is going to be more than just deeds and trusts.

The following day, the first order of business means finding a trustee who needs to come in and sign some documents. Bob Horniman, son of Mr. Abel, sends out his secretary to look for the trustee, Mr. Smallbone. He remember his dad didn’t like him much but his signature is needed. Unfortunately, Miss Cornel isn’t able to locate him. Another day passes and the office is abuzz with work as usual until a woman’s scream interrupts all activity.

While continuing to look for documents, a sealed deed box is opened and instead of finding documents the body of Mr. Smallbone is discovered. Chief Inspector Hazlerigg, with the help of Henry Bohun, start to get a feel for inner workings of the firm and the employees, unfortunately not before another crime is committed.

This legal crime novel which was published in 1950 is listed in the 100 best crime novels of the 2oth century. I feel like the inner workings of office life of that era were on point. For example, you had secretaries taking notes and answering phones and larger, corner offices meant for senior partners. I was also delighted to see a map of the office layout included. While legal mysteries are not my favorite, and there were many characters to keep track of right from the first pages, I found myself enjoying  the characters, the red herrings and of course finding out whodunit.

**This also counts for the Back to the Classics Reading challenge, 20th Century classic category.