Thief Is an Ugly Word

 Thief Is an Ugly Word (1944) by Paul Gallico

Augustus Swinney, American refrigeration specialist (and ham connoisseur), is a bit mystified as to why he's been invited to a diplomatic, neutral gathering of Nazi, American, British, French, and Swiss representatives at the home of an Argentine millionaire to view the millionaire's latest art acquisition. Sure, he's a fairly high-flying businessman, but he's no art critic. And when he recognizes the painting on display as belonging to a Dutch gentleman of his acquaintance--a gentleman who at best has been displaced by the Nazi occupation of Europe and at worst.... Swinney knows good and well that the piece has been stolen from its rightful owner and, throwing caution to the wind, he says so to the company present and walks out the door with the painting. The Nazis, who are expecting financial assistance for their "glorious cause" in exchange for the painting, aren't too concerned. They are quite certain that Swinney won't make it out of Buenos Aires with painting. But Swinney comes up with a most ingenious method of sending the art piece to America...right under their noses. And even a beautiful Nazi sympathizer can't talk him out of his plan to return the painting to Mr. Jan van Schouven--if he can.

I enjoyed this short little mystery which apparently was originally written as part of WWII propaganda to get the word out about the Nazi war machine trying to fund itself through stolen artwork (see a mention of the story at H.V. Morton). Augustus Swinney is an appealing character and it's too bad that Gallico didn't write more stories about him. It's always nice to see Nazis outwitted and Swinney does it in such an interesting way. There's not a lot of mystery here. The single question is how Swinney plans to get the artwork out of Argentina. But it's handled so well that you don't really notice that there's nothing else to figure out. My only quibble with the story at all is below in my comment about the final sentence. Honestly, Mr. Swinney, I don't care how beautiful she is on the outside. ★★★★

First line: If one were to take a pencil, and upon a stereographic projection of a world map execute a series of straight lines connecting New York, Munich, and Buenos Aires, one would find oneself looking at a large isosceles triangle, the points of which are at a distance from one another that they might seem to preclude the coincidence of a certain day in early January 1944.

Last line: He reflected that only a fool bore a grudge against a beautiful woman. [Bev's take--if the beautiful woman is working with the Nazis, then a man would be a fool not to bear a grudge. Because the beauty is obviously only skin deep and she's rotten at the core.]

Murder Every Monday: Deal Me In!

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is Covers with Cards on them.

The Green Ace ~Stuart Palmer [The first Palmer I ever read--courtesy of Brad & Valentine's Day, I now own this Green Door Mystery edition.]

Death Plays Solitaire ~R. L. Goldman

Full House ~Rex Stout

The Right Jack ~Margaret Maron

The Red Widow Murders ~Carter Dickson

Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die ~Robert J. Randisi

Cards on the Table ~Agatha Christie

13 at Dinner [Lord Edgware Dies] ~Agatha Christie

The April Fools' Day Murder ~Lee Harris

The Case of the Crumpled Knave ~Anthony Boucher

Death in the Cards ~ Ann T. Smith

Cards on the Table ~Agatha Christie 

The Girl from the Mimosa Club ~Leslie Ford

Ambrose Bierce & the Death of Kings ~Oakley Hall

Death Cuts the Deck ~Robert L. Fish

Service for Two ~Kate Kingsbury

Man Missing ~Mignon G. Eberhart

The Man Who Held Five Aces ~Jean Leslie

Murder in Williamstown

 Murder in Williamstown (2022) by Kerry Greenwood

Phryne Fisher and her household are back in action. There are strange goings-on in Williamstown and Phryne is drawn in when she makes a short trip to the city. While strolling through the local park she discovers a discarded opium pipe. So far Australia has been spared the evils of opium smuggling, but perhaps that's changing. Especially since a police raid (searching for smuggled items) targets her long-time paramour Lin Chung. Since Lin is an honest man, there's nothing to find and the over-eager sergeant who led the raid receives a dressing down. Then when Phryne and her latest young man, Jeoffrey Bisset, are taking a walk along the beach they discover the body of a Chinese man who has been stabbed to death. Are all of these incidents connected? And if so, how? And why are her friendly policemen Jack Robinson and Hugh Collins, as well as Lin Chung warning her off?

Her interest in events is increased when she and Jeoffrey attend a party hosted by Hong, a white man born Thomas Browning who has a great affinity for all things Chinese. There's a definite tension in the air of the party. The girls of the dancing troupe brought in for entertainment most definitely don't want to be there. And then a figure dressed all in black rushes towards Hong, stabs him in full view of the party guests, and rushes out into the night. When Phryne tries to follow, a group of five men bearing weapons block her path and suggest (in Chinese) that she go back and "say nothing."

Meanwhile...Phryne's adopted daughters have, as part of their school assignments, been spending time at the Blind Institute. Ruth, with her love of cooking, is assigned to help out in the kitchen, but Jane, a math whiz, not only assists in the math lessons but is asked by Miss Thomas to give a hand in the business office. Miss Thomas believes that something is very wrong with the accounting, but isn't sure if Mr. Blake (the bookkeeper) is to blame or is being hoodwinked. She'd like Jane to see if she can get to the bottom of it without attracting the attention that a full audit would bring.

And...someone has taken exception to Phryne's lifestyle. She begins receiving anonymous notes mad up of words cut from newspapers labeling her the "Whore of Babylon" and indicating the fate of sinners such of herself. She's not too concerned until one evening she chases off a man who climbs up to her window. So she decides that some investigation is in order. She assigns Tinker the task of finding out as much as he can about the notes and their author.

It was great fun to step back into Phryne's world. I always enjoy visiting with the grown-up's Nancy Drew (as I think of her). I really like watching her adopted children (Ruth, Jane, & Tinker) take on the investigations in the side stories. They are turning into quite the sleuthing team and I can't wait to see where Greenwood takes them next. One small complaint, however--why are all the men (Jack, Hugh, & Lin) all freezing Phryne out? You'd think this was the first time they'd encountered her in a mystery and they didn't know how good she is at detecting. But they've all known her for quite a few years. I understand that the official investigation needs to be kept under wraps, but Jack and Hugh both know that Phryne can be trusted. They could at least be a little warmer in their "Sorry, Miss Fisher, but we just can't tell you anything this time" responses. The tone just seems really off for people who know each other well.

The mysteries are fairly straightforward--not much in the way of suspects and red herrings, so the reader should spot the villains in each case fairly easily. If I weren't so enthusiastic about the cast of characters and Greenwood's writing, I'd probably give this a flat three stars or possibly less if I were rating the mystery factor alone. ★★★ and 1/2

First line (Prologue): Little Bourke Street was silent.
First line (1st Chapter): The Honourable Phryne Fisher sat at her Bechstein grand piano, a frown marring her Dutch-doll features.

I know. Everyone thinks we scholars hatch out of magic toadstools. But I've had a satisfyingly chequered life. (Jeoffrey Bisset, p. 194)

Last line: Life could indeed be a lot worse than this.
***************

Deaths = two stabbed

The Last Resort

 The Last Resort (2023) by Michael Kaufman

Set in the near future (2034), Washington D.C. police detective Jen Lu and her sentient bio-computer implant Chandler are back in action in their second case. Months after the last case when Lu's partner Les (if he's given a last name, I managed to miss it) is nearly killed saving her life, she's down one human partner. Les is physically fit, but has retreated into himself and doesn't speak and only does things when told or reminded to do so. So, when Patty Garcia, a powerful lawyer on the side of the angels in the climate crisis battle, dies in what is officially filed as a freak golf accident on the eve of "an important announcement," Lu smells a rat and decides to defy her Captain's orders to leave things alone. 

She and Chandler start digging and discover that Garcia was on the hunt for the "smoking gun" in the oil industry--explicit proof that companies have known about the damage they've been doing to the planet since the 1960s. The lawyer had recently won a big case in the efforts to make oil companies pay reparations for the damage done. Proof of an earlier date would mean a bigger settlement--but the Supreme Court has put a time limit on the presentation of evidence and time was running out. Garcia's assistant claims that the lawyer had finally found evidence that the proof existed, but just hadn't gotten her hands on it yet. Did someone connected to big oil make sure she'd never find it? Or perhaps her ex-husband, who suffered professionally and financially in their break-up (he was connected to big oil as well), wanted to make sure he wouldn't suffer even more when she found the proof. With the added bonus of getting rid of the woman who had humiliated and ruined him once. [He's that kind of macho misogynist. Even has a podcast spouting ant-woman nonsense.]

But the more she and Chandler discover the more people die...of accidents. Chandler finds a way to reactivate Les's bio-computer and soon Les is back in the hunt as well. His patience for digging in old Senate reports comes in handy. And it isn't long before she, Les, and Chandler are close to finding what Garcia was after. But someone has killed to keep that proof out of the hands of climate activists and they don't mind adding a few more victims to their list.

So...let's start with my issues with the story. First, purely personal, it hits too close. Climate change is happening and here in American we just decided to put the lunatics in charge of the asylum and see if we can't make it happen even faster (not to mention all the other idiotic/awful/terrifying things that will be coming down the pike...but I'll get off my soapbox.). Second, I'm not keen on police procedurals where the protagonist is basically going rogue to solve what is obviously a crime and her Captain should be glad she wants to investigate. People are dying and Cap keeps telling her to mind her business and pretend it's not happening. (Sure, Chandler tells us it's really that he's encouraging her to break rules "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" while he plays it "by the book." But whatever.) This story would have been ten times better if we'd just had Lu officially on the case from the start and it had been handled like a standard investigation.

On the plus side, I really liked the new (to me, anyway) set-up with Lu having a sentient computer link in her brain. The narration toggles between Chandler and third-person...and of the two, I prefer it when Chandler tells the story. I got a kick out his observations and his efforts to sound like a tough-guy cop. And I enjoyed his conversations with his human partner. In fiction, this set-up works. In real life, I'm not sure how I feel about the implants. Character development overall is pretty good. I would have enjoyed more interactions between Lu and Les and if the series continues (and I read more if it does) I'd be interested to see how the four of them (Lu, Les, Chandler, and P.D.--Les's implant) work together on a complete case. Generally, a solid mystery--a bit violent (one of the deaths in particular seemed a little unnecessary for the story...), but enjoyable and entertaining. ★★★

First line: "I never killed anyone before."

Last line: The report with its pale-blue cover and a faded red ribbon binding the whole thing together.
*******************

Deaths = 5 (two hit on head; two shot; one fire)

Capital Crimes: London Mysteries

 Capital Crimes: London Mysteries (2015) by Martin Edwards (ed)

Martin Edwards and the British Library Crime Classics team take on the Big Smoke in this collection of mysteries set in England's capital city. We have stories set in the late Victorian period through the 1940s and a range of authors from the well-known Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to those less well-known for mysteries such as E. M. Delafield (whom I had never heard of) and Hugh Walpole (whom I don't associate with mysteries). I have to say that this is one of the strongest collections of short stories I've read yet. The weakest--and this is purely in their attraction for me--are Doyle's non-Holmesian story which is just plain cruel, the Walpole story (I just wanted to shake some sense into the heroine), and the Delafield (where no real crime happens on the page even though it's heavily implied). But overall a very strong selection. ★★★★

"The Case of Lady Sannox" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: A non-Holmesian tale of diabolical revenge exacted by a cuckolded husband upon his beautiful wife and her lover.

"A Mystery of the Underground" by John Oxenham: A serial killer takes aim at lone travelers riding the underground each Tuesday night. Our intrepid newspaper reporter and a Scotland Yard man join forces to run him to ground. (five shot; one fell from height)

"The Finchley Puzzle" by Richard Marsh: A woman who works at a deaf school and who is proficient in lip-reading finds herself the target of a murderous plot. The villain believes that she has "overheard" a conversation he had with a confederate and her knowledge of it isn't healthy for anyone. (three snake bite)

"The Magic Casket" by R. Austin Freeman: The discovery of an abandoned handbag leads Dr. Thorndyke into a mystery of stolen jewels, a mysterious casket, and a murderous Japanese thief, (one stabbed; one natural; one shot)

"The Holloway Flat Tragedy" by Ernest Bramah: Mr. Poleash comes to Carlyle with a story of a jealous lover of a shop girl he (Poleash) has flirted with and spurned when she pressed him for marriage. (He's married.) He's sure the man is out to get him. When Poleash is found dead, Carrados suspects a much deeper plot. [one beaten to death; one shot]

"The Magician of Cannon Street" by J. S. Fletcher: Paul Campenhaye meets up with his old friend Tregarthen in an attempt to capture a killer who got away from them once. [one shot; one poisoned]

"The Stealer of Marble" by Edgar Wallace: The mystery of a woman caught stealing a suitcase full of marble. Who knew that marble could be used like that? [one poisoned

"The Tea Leaf" by Robert Eustace & Edgar Jepson: In which the daughter of a disagreeable man proves her ex-fiancé innocent of her father's murder--through the evidence of a tea-leaf and the help of a dream. [one stabbed]

"The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" by Thomas Burke: Burke manages to tell a fine tale of a serial killer who gets away with murder in a story of just 17 pages or so. In shortened form, you would expect to find less tension and less room for the true horror of multiple killings. After all, the author can't build things up and taunt the reader with victim after victim. And he can't spend a lot of time letting you become attached to the victims as they're casually strangled one by one. [four strangled--plus four more not named]

"The Little House" by H. C. Bailey:  Reggie Fortune decides to look into the case of the lost Persian kitten--a "crime" too small to interest the police--and discovers a dreadful world of dope and revenge. [one died of exposure]

"The Silver Mask" by Hugh Walpole: An older woman falls prey to a young confidence man. Sometimes it is a kind heart that kills.

"Wind in the East" by Henry Wade: Burglary and murder go hand-in-hand in this Inspector Poole short story.  [one hit on head]

"The Avenging Chance" by Anthony Berkeley: A box of poisoned chocolates--sent to one man and brought home by another--kills Joan Beresford. Who was the intended victim? [one poisoned]

"They Don't Wear Labels" by E. M. Delafield: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving, but the landlady doesn't know that. Not really a crime story--that is no crime is detected. The reader knows what's going on though.

"The Unseen Door" by Margery Allingham: A very short locked room mystery in a gentleman's club. How could a man be killed in the billiard room when the the doorman swore there had been only one visitor--a man he knew well and who hadn't the strength for the crime? [one strangled]

"Cheese" by Ethel Lina White: A young woman fresh up from the country is set as bait to catch a nasty killer. If she survives, she'll earn a 500 pound reward....[one strangled]

"You Can't Hang Twice" by Anthony Gilbert: An unassuming man can offer testimony to help Arthur Crook's client escape the hagman. If he can stay alive long enough... [one strangled; one hit on head]

First line (1st story): The relations between Douglas Stone and the notorious Lady Sannox were very well known both among the fashionable circles of which she was a brilliant member, and the scientific bodies which numbered him amon their most illustrious confrères.

Last line (last story): And they tell you animals are a lower order of creation!

Murder Every Monday: Double Trouble

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is Titles with Two Words. 

Stately Homicide ~S. T. Haymon (which is totally giving off a 1980s horror novel vibe)

Golden Rain ~Douglas Clark

Bloody Instructions ~Sara Woods

Parting Breath ~Catherine Aird

Invisible Green ~John Sladek

Thirteen Guests ~J. Jefferson Farjeon

Unholy Dying ~R. T. Campbell

Blood Brotherhood ~Robert Barnard

Servant's Problem ~Veronica Parker Johns

Blind Corner ~Dornford Yates

Family Affair ~Ione Sandberg Shriber

Smooth Justice ~Michael Underwood

Devious Murder ~George Bellairs

Murderer's Choice ~Anna Mary Wells

Gownsman's Gallows ~Katharine Farrer

Colour Scheme ~Ngaio Marsh

Haunted Lady ~Mary Roberts Rinehart

Cold Steal ~Alice Tilton

Toby's Folly ~Margot Arnold

Poisoned Ivy ~M. D. Lake

Black Orchids ~Rex Stout

Drawn Conclusion ~Willetta Ann Barber & R. F. Schabelitz

Sad Cypress ~Agatha Christie

Aaron's Serpent ~Emily Thorne

Death Swap ~Marian Babson

Mister Splitfoot ~Helen McCloy

Black Widower ~Patricia Moyes

Quick Curtain ~Alan Melville

Midsummer Nightmare ~Christopher Hale

Which Doctor ~Edward Candy

Dewey Death ~Charity Blackstock

Pilgrim's Rest ~Patricia Wentworth

Night Walk ~Elizabeth Daly

The Girl from the Mimosa Club

 The Girl from the Mimosa Club (1957) ~Leslie Ford (Zenith Jones Brown)

When the newly-minted young lawyer Johnny Brayton is sent to represent the girls from the Mimosa Club, he doesn't expect to fall in love with one of them.. But life is funny that way. His uppercrust family doesn't really approve of his relationship with Kerry O'Keefe, a "sitter" (hostess expected to sit with and entertain gentlemen at the club), but he doesn't care. Then his father is found shot to death in his study. His mother is suspect number one. And Kerry is a star witness for the prosecution.

Unknown to Johnny, Kerry is an undercover policewoman working as a sitter to investigate vice. All he knows is she seems determined to send his mother to the electric chair. Of course, it doesn't help that his mother seems equally determined to wind up there. She does nothing to make a black situation any less bleak. Her reactions in court only make her look more guilty. Johnny knows his mother could never have shot anyone, but how can he prove it was anyone else when Kerry testifies to sitting outside the house and seeing no one else go in? And then an unexpected witness pops up...just in time.

I've finally decided that I'm just not a big fan of Ford's standalone thriller/suspense mysteries. This is a perfectly fine example of one of those and I have no real complaints about the mystery itself. I just found the romance a bit forced as well as the difficulties thrown in their way. And why on earth Johnny's mother had to behave in such a guilty manner is beyond me. If she didn't want to say anything to implicate someone else, fine. If she wanted to play society madam and "this is all beneath me," fine. But to start and stare like a guilty thing? Really? Too much melodrama to no good purpose. I much prefer her Grace Latham and Colonel Primrose mysteries. They are fun and filled with witty comments between the two protagonists. But--if you like suspense and mysteries where an obviously innocent person is in danger of conviction with last-minute revelations that save the day, then this just might be the book for you. ★★★

First line: Johnny Brayton squeezed his car in to the curb between a snowball stand and a beat-up cart of canteloupes (sic), sweet corn and lima beans, turned off his engine and put the keys in his pocket.

Last lines: They started over. But not from scratch.
*****************

Deaths = one shot

The Book of Killowen (spoilerish)

 The Book of Killowen (2013) by Erin Hart

The fourth book in the Nora Gavin series finds Nora and Cormac Maguire back in Ireland after Nora returned to the United States to try and finally bring her sister's murderer to justice. This time they are drawn into forensic case that combines the discovery of an ancient "bog man" with a modern-day murder. 

An excavator digging in the peat bog near Tipperary, discovers a sunken car. When the peaty turf is removed from the boot (trunk), it reveals the remains of a ninth century (or thereabouts) man. Nora, Cormac, and Niall Dawson, all experts in archaeology and pathology, are called in by Detective Stella Cusack and the local authorities to examine the remains. But the real question is how did a ninth century man wind up in the boot of a modern day vehicle? 

As Nora begins her examination of the body in situ, she realizes that there are one too many feet. There's another body underneath the bog man--and it winds up being Benedict Kavanaugh, a well-known philosopher and TV personality who has been missing for a few months. Why are the two bodies together? What was Kavanaugh doing in the area? And why didn't anyone see him and/or come forward when appeals were made at the time of his disappearance? All trails seem to lead to Killowen, a local artist's colony. Kavanaugh's wife and her "assistant" often stayed there. All of the inhabitants seem to be a bit skittish on the subject of Kavanaugh. And...once upon a time the philosopher that Kavanaugh was most interested in stayed at a local monastery. Nora, Cormac, and Stella Cusack find themselves in the middle of a mystery with ties to blackmail, treasure trove, secret identities, and ancient heresy. The past and present mingle and it's sometimes difficult to discern how much the past has influenced the murder of Kavanaugh. And why does the killer seem to be able to anticipate their every move?

---Spoiler ahead!!!---

I thoroughly enjoyed Hart's Haunted Ground, the debut novel in this series. I found her combination historical/modern mystery very intriguing and well done. The second novel, Lake of Sorrows, wasn't quite as captivating and I never could bring myself to read False Mermaid (which tells the story of of bringing Nora's sister's killer to justice). The blurb on that one indicates that once again the more recent murder had ties to a more historical one in Ireland and I just couldn't see how that would work. I was glad to see that Nora and Cormac were back at work in Ireland for this one. The tie-up between the ancient philosopher's murder and Kavanaugh's made sense and, for the most part, the mystery works well. The characterization is strong and vibrant--even more so than the debut novel. And it was interesting to meet the various inhabitants of the artist's colony. But.... (here's where the spoilery bit comes in)

I was disappointed that there was more than one killer involved. Generally speaking, I like there to be plenty of motives to go around so the reader has to sift the evidence and figure out which one is the one that pushed someone to kill. Nearly everyone at the colony has a skeleton in their closet which gives us a nice set of suspects to think about. But it makes things a bit too murky when there are several murderers to go along with the several motives. If it weren't for that little quibble, I'd give this a full four-star rating for sure. ★★★ and 3/4

First line (Prologue): The oak wood was still.

First line (1st Chapter): Kevin grasped the twin joysticks and thrust the right one forward, feeling the fierce hydraulic power in the arm of his backhoe.

Stella was fond of books. She liked holding them, savoring their inky, wood-pulp smell. She especially loved wasting a whole weekend whenever she could manage it, holed up with a glass of wine and a juicy potboiler. (p. 164)

Blackmail, if that was Claffey's game, was like playing with a serpent: in order to profit, you had to get close enough to risk a deadly bite. (p. 170)

Last line: She leaned forward and laid her head on his shoulder, and he could feel her heart beating, through solid flesh, in quiet double rhythm with his own.
****************

Deaths: 6 (one stabbed; one smothered; one hit on head; one fell from height; one poisoned; one suicide)

Murder Every Monday: Clothe Me in Murder

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is crime fiction with a type of fabric in the title.

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers ~Peter Lovesey

The Grey Flannel Shroud ~Henry Slesar

The House of Silk ~Anthony Horowitz

The Case of the Velvet Claws ~Erle Stanley Gardner

The Velvet Fleece ~Lois Eby & John C. Fleming (two for the price of one!)

The Clue of the Velvet Mask ~Carolyn Keene

The Mystery of the Velvet Gown ~Kathryn Kenny

The Secret in the Old Lace ~Carolyn Keene

Dying in the Wool ~Frances Brody

Bury Me in Gold Lamé ~Stanton Forbes

Died in the Wool ~Ngaio Marsh

The Silk Stocking Murders ~Anthony Berkeley

The Snow Queen

 The Snow Queen (1980) by Joan D. Vinge

On the planet Tiamet, a far-flung outpost planet of the Hegemony (a league of eight worlds, things are about to change. For eons, the Winter folk have held sway for 150 years while the Black Gate was open and trade could be commenced between Tiamet and the other worlds of the league. The Winters prospered, taken advantage of technology and the means to make their lives comfortable. The richest also take advantage of the "water of life," an agent harvested from the mers who swim the ocean, an agent that provides long-life to those who can afford it. Meanwhile, the Summers lived a simpler life--fishing and working the land. But after 150 years, the Gate closes and Tiamet is cut off from the other worlds. Offworlders leave and many of the Winters with them. They take all technology with them and leave the world in darkness. And the Queen of Winter, who has reigned (benefit of the "water of life") the entire 150 years gives place to the Summer Queen who rules according to Tiamet legend and Summer practices.

But this time, Arienrhod, the Winter Queen, has plotted to circumvent the descent into technological ignorance. She wants to live on--through a carefully chosen clone, outwit the Hegemony's officials, and keep technology. Does she want to do this to benefit the people of Tiamet? Not really--she just can't stand the thought of the Summers taking over again. And if she can't be the one to rule as Summer Queen, at least her clone can be groomed to take her place. That's almost the same thing...

Or is it? Of the nine clones implanted during the last cycle's festivities (masked revellers drinking and paring up in the grand finale), only Moon Dawntreader Summer is suitable. Moon doesn't know she's the Queen's clone. She doesn't know that the Queen has plans for her. She only knows that she wants to be a sibyl--one of Summer people's wise women (and men) who see visions and answer questions. But when she begins her journey, she learns that there is more behind the sibyls than a connection to the Lady (the Summers' goddess of the sea). Her knowledge brings her to the realization that she should be the Summer Queen....but not the Summer Queen that Areinrhod has planned. There is battle coming--not of weaponry--but a battle nonetheless for the future of Tiamet. Oh...and there's the battle for Moon's pledged love, Sparks, who was convinced to turn to the Queen when he thought he'd lost Moon forever.

I fell in love with this book when I discovered it back in the '80s. I had worked my way from Star Trek novelizations to Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov and other male science fiction authors and was finally finding the women of science fiction. Vinge is one of the early feminist SF writers and she writes a powerful story. The world-building is terrific and my teenage self connected with the young Moon and Sparks as they tried to find their place in the world. I was rooting for them to find each other again and live the life together they had dreamed. Reading it today, I appreciate the nuances of the story which reflected the tensions in late 1970s/early 1980s society...tensions that haven't gone away as we hoped they might. There are still the haves and the havenots. People are still judged by where they come from or who their parents were. The rich still get richer and everyone else has to make do...or live without. I still like the hope that's given at the end. A hope that if everyone works together we can make the future better...for everyone. Currently, it's not looking likely--at least not in the near future. But maybe one day.

The other thing that really draws me in is Vinge's characters. She gives each one, even those who are peripheral characters, a depth and reality that make the reader feel like they know them. Some, like Arienrhod and the first Starbuck, we may wish we didn't know--but Moon and Sparks and all those they meet along the way we are glad to have met. Most of them we'd want on our side if we were going to take on an oppressive government and those who wanted to keep us down.  

I gave this ★★★★ when I first read it and I see no reason to change that now.

First line (Prologue): The door swung shut silently behind them, cutting off the light, music, and wild celebration of the ballroom.

First line (1st Chapter): Here on Tiamet, where there is more water than land, the sharp edge between ocean and sky is blurred; the two merge into one.

There are two tragedies in life. One is never getting your heart's desire. The other is getting it.

Most people simply aren't unhappy enough with the known to trade it for the unknown.

Maybe everything we do is meaningless. But we have to try, don't we? We have to go on looking for justice...and settling for revenge.

"I love you," he whispered again, wonderingly, as he understood at last how a lifetime together with someone that you loved could seem like an eternity, and yet not be long enough.

Indifference, Gundhalinu, is the strongest force in the universe. It makes everything it touches meaningless. Love and hate don't stand a chance against it. It lets neglect and decay and monstrous injustice goe unchecked. It doesn't act, it allows. And that's what gives it so much power.: (Commander Geia Jerusha PalaThion; p. 462)

Last line: He smiled, and then he began to laugh; and together they started back through the abandoned halls--returning to Carbuncle, going home.

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Poison for Teacher

 Poison for Teacher (1949) by Nancy Spain

Miriam Birdseye (the Miriam Birdseye, former actress), has set herself up as a private investigator after a few episodes of mysterious adventures (Poison in the Play; Death Before Wicket; Murder--Bless It; and Death Goes on Skis). Business isn't particularly booming, but then her frequent partner in crime, Natasha DuVivien (ex-ballet dancer), leaves her husband and comes to live and work with her. She's barely arrived when the headmistress of Radcliff Hall School for Girls Miss Janet Lipscoomb arrives seeking detective services.

Someone is playing the most disagreeable tricks on the headmistress and the school. Flowerpots crash down near her when she's walking. Blackboards are wetted so they squeak horribly when written on. A hedgehog is put in her bath. The stairs are greased. Rude pictures drawn. And now, it's taken a more diabolical turn. Someone had frayed the gym ropes just before Miss Lipscoomb was to demonstrate "Flying Angels" to the fourth form girls. So, she wants Birdseye et Cie (Miriam's detective agency) to investigate. 

After hearing about how there is bad blood between Miss Lipscoomb and her ex-partner, Miss bbirch, after the latter left and took the elocution and dancing instructors with her, Miriam is sure that Miss bbirch is behind it all. But they need to find proof. So, Miriam and Natasha go undercover as the new elocution and dancing instructors with the hopes of discovering the trickster. What they don't anticipate is that they will soon be looking for a murderer as well. The first victim of the murderer is Miss Theresa Devaloys, the French mistress. She had a nasty, sly sense of humor and her nose in everyone's business...and little notebook with what looks like a list of blackmail victims. She's poisoned during the rehearsal for the school play (in which her character drinks from a fresh bottle) and the finger of suspicion soon falls on Peter Bracewood-Smith, who provided the bottle and whose name figured prominently in the woman's little notebook, as well as on Dr. Lariat, who has access to poisons and who had an affair with her. An affair that he wanted ended and she didn't...Of course, when they discover that Devaloys was behind the nasty tricks at the school then suspicion falls on Miss Lipscoomb as well. How far would she go to protect her school? The police choose their favorite and our detectives choose theirs, but which way will the evidence point?

This works much better as a period piece and study of standard character types than it does as a mystery. The culprit is obvious even though Spain tries very hard to give us red herring alternates. I never seriously considered the other contenders--especially when Sergeant Tomkins latches so firmly onto one of them.What Spain does do well is provide the reader with a solid look at what the reading public of the 1940s considered standard character types (whether they would pass muster today or not) and then lampoons them--she sends them over-the-top and manages to make readers (this one, anyway) believe that she didn't agree with the stereotypes at all. She also creates an atmosphere where sexual attraction of all sorts are represented and no one (well, nearly no one--Johnny DuVivien is a tad uncomfortable at one point) bats an eye. 

I hunted this down because it was an academic mystery and I do love those. I found it interesting because of the snapshot we get of the 1940s academic scene as well as the descriptions of the characters and the village where Radcliff Hall is located. But what I'm going to remember from the story is Natasha. She is a fervent little detective in the making and a delightful character all around. If anything makes me look for more Nancy Spain books, it will be Natasha. ★★★

First line: "Of all the stinking, boring, belly-aching tunes," shouted Johnny DuVivien passionately, "that one jest about takes anyone's cake!"

"A curious thing about champagne, madam," said Bracewood-Smith, "is that one can usually find someone who does not mind drinking it." (p. 44)

It is a curious fact that novelists, when presented with romantic facts in real life, usually refuse to believe them. (p. 74)

He was intelligent and hard-working, untroubled be high-brow considerations. He had four shaming pen-names to which he admitted...he even wrote love-stories, calling himself Mavis Clare, for the women's magazines. He wrote very fast and glibly straight on to the typewriter, in double spacing on quarto sheets. He sent his manuscripts straight to the publisher as he typed them. There were seldom errors in spelling, punctuation, or typing. P. Bracewood-Smith's errors were all errors of taste. He wrote excruciatingly badly. (p. 82)

[about borrowing books]
"Can I take two, please, Miss Fork-Thomas?" said Molly Ruminara. "I do read ever so fast. Although it is against your rules."
"If you like," said Gwylan vaguely, still looking out of the window. "which two do you want?"
"...May I take Strong Poison, by Sayers, and Death and the French Governess, by P. Bracewood-Smith?"
"Do," said Gwylan, even more vaguely. "The Bracewood-Smiths aren't in the same class as the Sayers, of course, though." (p. 120)

"But, Miriam, we are supposed to be detectives, darling. You too should be interested in the contents

of handbags. It is the very first thing." (Natasha; p. 142)

[about murders happening at the Radcliff Hall school] "Shouldn't let that put you off, dear, about Joan....I should think your daughter will love them. Children always love a good murder." (Henry, a waiter; p. 166)

Natasha's instinct always worked in this disorderly way, flinging up startling messages to her sensitive and receptive mind. I had now presented her with a gambler's certainty without a shadow of evidence or proof. (p. 189)

Natasha was suffering from a fever of conceit, based on her immediate past [involvement in previous mysteries]. She was sick of enforced confessions and spectacular and unresolved endings. She wanted no more murderers committing suicide or leapong screaming into Broadmoor. Nothing short of the Old Bailey and a darling judge in a black cap would satisfy her. (p. 191)

Last line: The violent, unmistakable rash of scarlet fever had risen there, and was still rising.
*********************

Deaths = 4 (one fell from height; one natural; one poisoned; one shot)