“An East End Murder” is a short story mystery set in London, England in 1865 featuring the detective Charles Lennox. He is a high class kind of guy who is solving the murder of Phil Jigg, a low class guy. So we follow Lennox, the gentleman, as he interacts with street people in rough neighborhoods familiar with Jigg.

I found the period stuff quite interesting but the basic story was less than compelling. I give the book two stars out of five. Interesting to a degree but I am not led to try another of this series.

“Bird Cloud” is a non-fiction book by Ms. Proulx that concerns itself with a section (640 acres) of land that she purchased in Wyoming and the house (named “Bird Cloud”) that she built on the property. She covers everything in this book. She speculates on the American Indians who lived on and moved through the property and the chain of title once the white man got his hands on it. She spends a good deal of time on the design of the house, both what she wanted, and what she ended up with, the construction and the many problems that entailed. She also writes at length about the various birds (including both bald and golden eagles), elk, deer, coyotes, mountain lions, and fish that she sees. She also finds time to talk about her ancestry and all the places she lived as a child, and some of the houses she lived in as a child.

So, this is quite a book. I found it fascinating. She is the author of my favorite short story of all time, “Brokeback Mountain.” Her writing is very direct, spare, and opinionated. She is also full of herself, which is fine. Writing a book (or writing a blog!) is a very egocentric activity. I mean you have to believe somebody out there wants to hear what you have to say.

I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5, which means that it is a good read. Its short at 234 pages so I got it at the library.