My First Murder

 My First Murder (1989) by Susan Baker

Mavis Davis used to be a probation officer in Houston, but got tired of the bureaucracy, red tape, and those who were more interested in rules than helping those who needed help. So she got herself a license and opened up a private investigation office. Most of the work is just routine document searches to support the probation service she no longer works for. But as an investigator she sets her own rules and can own all the success earned. She never expects to get caught up in more criminal investigations.

But when Carl Singleton shows up begging for help in a murder case, she's interested. Carl owns a diner and one of his waitresses, a woman he had grown very fond of, has been strangled. The police believe Doris Jones is just the latest in what looks to be a serial killer's agenda, but Carl is certain that Doris's death was more personal. He's sure there's something in her mysterious past that led to her death. That's right--mysterious past. Doris showed up out of the blue looking for a job and was very secretive about her past. She got no mail at the apartment above the diner and didn't seem to have any friends. Mavis isn't sure what she can do that the police couldn't do better, but Carl asks that she try. Especially since the police are more focused on the serial killer than the individual women who have been strangled. If nothing else, maybe Mavis can discover where Doris came from and who she really was.

Once Mavis and her assistants start digging, they discover that Doris Jones wasn't the woman's real name. And that there was good reason for her to hide out in a town far from where she belonged. The difficulty is figuring out which of the characters from her real life found out where she was and killed her. And will Mavis be able to find out the answer before the killer decides to get rid of the nosey private investigator as well?

This is a decent debut mystery for Susan Baker, a probation officer/lawyer/judge turned mystery author. It is definitely a procedural-style rather than a puzzle plot and readers who hope to spot the clues and figure out the killer and the motive before Mavis Davis may be disappointed. If you're okay with riding shotgun with a private eye on her first murder case, then this makes for a pretty enjoyable read. For myself, I just wish I liked the main characters more. None of them were quite right. I particularly had difficulty with Mavis and her boyfriend--they didn't seem to click until the very end and by then it was a bit late for me. Ben Sorensen could have been in her corner a little bit sooner instead of coming down so heavy on her. But at least he was there when it counted. ★★★

First line: I could almost feel more freckles popping out on my face as I parked my Mustang and walked through the glaring morning sun to my office.

Last line: It was a good thing I was over two hundred miles away.

***************
Deaths = 4 (three strangled; one hit by car)

Mystery Muses (mini-review)

 Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers (2006) by Jim Huang & Austin Lugar (eds)

It is interesting to me what constitutes a "classic" for these authors. From my 55-year-old perspective, Dennis Lehane (the last author mentioned in this volume) whose referenced work was a mere 8 years old at the time Mystery Muses was published, was nothing like a classic. I still don't think I'd put him in the classic mystery section now that 26 years has passed. It seems to me that it would have been more fitting to say "100 Influential Works" or just "100 Detective Novels." The word classic, to my mind, implies a certain weight and history that many of the mentioned works just don't have. From Poe to Chandler and Christie to Sayers to Marsh and Tey--even including Dick Francis and P. D. James--we have authors who heavily influenced the mystery genre and whose influence is still felt fifty, a hundred years later. Will Lehane have that kind of staying power? Who knows. But certainly eight years out from publication it was impossible to say so. Looking at Goodreads right now, it still has a smattering of recent reviews but nothing like what you'd expect if it were a classic influencer. 

That said, I did enjoy reading about what mystery authors and works influenced some of the mystery writers whose novels I have enjoyed. In addition to talking about the books, they also told stories of how those books came into their lives--through relatives or librarians or teachers who set them on the path of life-long readers and writers. ★★★ and 1/2.

First line (1st essay): When I was just eight, my grandfather lent me a collection of Poe stories.

I think that's just what mystery writers must do, espy human motivations and tell themselves the truth about those observations, and then convert those truths into the most deliciously entertaining "little lies" ever told: mystery stories. (Sharon Short, p. 141)

Last line (last essay): In a similar gesture, Gone, Baby, Gone and its companion books will remain on that eye-level shelf in my office, hopefully joined by new Lehane volumes soon enough, to remind me why I'm writing, and to remind me of the standard I'm chasing.

Death in a Small World

 Death in a Small World (1979) by Laura Colburn (Ian McMahon)

Carol Gates, a young artist who works as an illustrator, attends a party hosted by her friends Angelo and Ginny. While there she meets Steve McCullough who is staying with the couple as a friend of a friend of Angelo's. By the end of the evening, Steve has died--fallen to his death in the elevator shaft. Since the young man was a virtual stranger to everyone and there seemed to be no motive for either murder or suicide, the death is quickly slated as an unfortunate accident. The latch on the elevator door was faulty and it's possible the young man mistook the elevator door for something else. 

But Carol can't get an odd conversation from early in the evening out of her mind and can't help thinking that Steve's death was really murder. While glancing around the room, Steve had asked her if she believed in doppelgangers, spoke of coincidences, and wondered if you could recognize people after many years had passed. There are also a few details about the accident scene that caught her artist's eye--one which just might help solve the mystery if she could just remember what it was. And...if she can remember before the killer decides to polish her off too.

This is another in a series of "Zebra Mystery Puzzlers," a series from the 70s and 80s that featured illustrations that were meant to help observant readers solve the mystery. These are very simple puzzle plots--think slightly more advanced Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories. I read my first two in my teenage years. I do enjoy them and I enjoy the set-up, but I have to say that in my recent return to the series I haven't needed the illustrations to identify the killer. And, as smart and observant as Carol seems to be in all other areas, I'm very surprised she didn't spot them either. And that she played reckless heroine and got herself into that situation at the end where they might have added her to the body count.

I did enjoy the mystery plot itself and the various red herrings that were thrown in to cloud the issue--though I will say that I would have enjoyed it more if the primary red herring had wound up being the true answer. In comparison, the actual solution was just a bit of a let down (even if it did make sense). Overall, a fun, light, and quick read. ★★★

First line: Angelo Politano stood in the kitchen of his Soho loft, staring down at the table, his shoulders hunched and his thick gray eyebrows nearly meeting.

Last line: "But I'll tell you what," Carol added with an impish grin, "if you ask me very nicely, I might let you pay this month's telephone bill!"

******************

Deaths = 2 (one fell from height; one hit by truck)

Murder on Deck!

 Murder on Deck!: Shipboard & Shoreline Mystery Stories (1998) by Rosemary Herbert

Well, to start, I just have to get something off my chest--if you're going to give your collection the primary title of "Murder on Deck!" then it seems to me all the stories ought to take place on a water vessel of some sort. Extending it to shoreline--or even in one case to a hotel on a beach (and nobody even goes on the beach in the story)--makes it seem like you were desperate for material. Surely to goodness there are plenty of mysteries that take place on the water. Oh--and "murder" that kind of implies that somebody dies. Right? Not necessarily.

Okay. Now that I've said my piece about that. I do have to admit that the story that takes place in a hotel--"Invitation from the Sea"--is a good one. Very nice closed circle feel and I liked the hook. I did guess what the little twist at the end would be (though I didn't get everything 100% correct). But that didn't ruin it. Other good stories include "The Mackenzie Case," "Where Is Thy Sting?," "The Theft of the Bingo Card," and "With a Little Help from My Friends."

The Gabriel Garcia Marquez story does very little for me. It's one long five-page sentence--making it very difficult to concentrate on. And, as far as I can tell, not only does it not contain murder or mayhem, it's not much of a mystery. The last story is probably good noir for those who like noir--but I found it to be a quite depressing little tale to end the collection on. 

However, this collection which ranges from the early Holmes story to stories written in the 1990s expressly for the anthology contains more really good stories than not and I am glad to have read them. ★★★ and 3/4...almost a full four.

"The Gloria Scott" ("The Adventure of the Gloria Scott") by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Holmes shares his earliest case with Watson--in which he helps his closest friend at college get to the bottom of what has terrified the man's father. (one natural)

"The Ship's Run" by M. McDonnell Bodkin: Set on the Titanic (and written before the actual ill-fated maiden voyage). An undercover detective finds an interesting way to rout a couple of gambling con men.

"The Mackenzie Case" by Viola Brothers Shore: When Mr. Mackenzie's secretary disappears overboard--an apparent suicide, Gwynn Leith (Mrs. Keats) suggests that perhaps it was murder. But why would someone want to murder their secretary? Gwynn then suggests that they're asking the wrong question. (one drowned; two auto accident)

"Problem at Sea" by Agatha Christie: In one of his rare voyages aboard ship (he hates traveling by boat...), Poirot solves the murder of a wealthy woman in her locked (from the inside) stateroom. (one stabbed; two auto accident; one heart attack)

"Sail" by Lester Dent: Oscar Sail, hard-boiled detective, is on the trail of missing jewelry and tangles with a few characters also on the same trail. (two stabbed)

"Hand upon the Waters" by William Faulkner: A Mississippi lawyer investigates a recent death and finds a plot full of money and back-stabbing. (two drowned)

"The Boat Race Murder" by David Winser: Centered on the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. Who killed the man lined up to lead the Oxford rowing team in the big race? (one poisoned)

"The Adventure of the Murdered Ship" by Ellery Queen: A war-time radio play featuring Ellery in a mystery to emphasize the "loose lips sink ships." (three in combat)

"Two Bodies on a Barge" by Georges Simenon: Maigret takes a murder that looks to be plain sailing and turns it on its head. (two hanged)

"Invisible Hands" by John Dickson Carr: An impossible crime by the master--how could a woman be strangled in the middle of a beach with only her own footprints leading to the scene of the crime? (one strangled)

"The Sailing Club" by David Ely: What do successful business men do when they no longer get quite the same thrill out of closing a successful deal? They hope to be elected to the elite Sailing Club.  A nice boat trip will certainly get the ol' blood flowing.  Somebody's blood anyway.

"Honeymoon Cruise" by Richard Deming: Dan Jackson gets more than he bargained for when he signs on as navigator and cook for an heiress's honeymoon cruise. (one drowned)

"The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A young boy watches what seems to be a ghost ship crash on the rocks one day in March. A year later he sees the same thing....and tries to get the village to believe it.

"Invitation from the Sea" by Saho Sasazawa: Five strangers are invited to a seaside hotel by someone who signs themselves as "The Sea." One of the guests, a journalist, works to figure out the connection between those in the party--and why they've been invited. (one fell from height

"Where Is Thy Sting?" by Peter Lovesey: A con man tries to take advantage of a couple on the Australian shore who are dealing with the husband's recovery from a stroke. (one stung)

"The Theft of the Bingo Card" by Edward D. Hoch: Nick Velvet and his wife go on a cruise where she believes he'll be free from people wanting him to steal things. Then someone asks him to steal a bingo card. (two poisoned)

"Rumpole at Sea" by John Mortimer: She Who Must Be Obeyed convinces Rumpole to go on a second honeymoon as an escape from the halls of justice. But the honeymoon cruise finds Rumpole and a despised judge who is also on board looking into the supposed disappearance of a fellow passenger. (one stabbed)

"Oh, Who Hath Done the Deed?" by Susan Moody: When a man witnesses the near drowning of a young boy and learns later the boy did drown in a swimming accident, he thinks he knows who did it. But does he? (two drowned)

"The Man Who Rowed for the Shore" by Catherine Aird: An inverted mystery where the only question is will Norman get away with the murder of his wife? Not if the tide has anything to say about it. (one poisoned)

"Messing About in Boats" by Janwillem van de Wetering: Inspector Saito has to use a play within a play to catch a murderer. (one drowned; one poisoned)

"With a Little Help from My Friends" by Martin Edwards: A recent obituary causes Harry Devlin to dig into a wartime shipboard death. (one hit on head; one drowned; two natural)

"Ferry Noir" by Chris Rippen: A man who has gotten in over his head in some kind of nefarious doings, thinks he can escape by the night ferry from Denmark to England. (two in explosion)

First line (1st story): "I have some papers here," said my friend Sherlock Holmes as we sat one winter's night on either side of the fire, "which I really think, Watson, that it would be worth your while to glance over."

Last line (last story): Then a sweeping blaze rolled out which lifted and then sucked him down and crushed him.

Gaudy Night (Redux)

  It's time once again for me to have an annual reading of/listening to at least part of Dorothy L. Sayers novels on audio and so I've listened to the Gaudy Night (1935), the penultimate book in the Wimsey/Vane mystery cycle. I've read this one and listened to it so often that I don't have much that is new to say this time. Except that like Harriet and her ivory chessmen, I developed an unreasonable love for the Lord Peter Wimsey books over thirty years and I must revisit them regularly even though I practically know them by heart. And it is always a pleasure to listen to Ian Carmichael read the stories. If you would like a more indepth look at my thoughts on this particular book, please see the link above.

First line: Harriet Vane sat at her writing-table and stared out into Mecklenburg Square.

Last line: He primly settled his white bands and went upon his walk unheeded; and no hand plucked his velvet sleeve.

*******************

Deaths = one shot

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Nov 1958

 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Nov 1958 by Ellery Queen

Listed as a "Winter All Star Issue"--I'm not entirely sure that is a fair description. Of the thirteen stories, only seven are by well-known authors who might be considered stars. And I wouldn't say that all of stories are star-performers. This is a standard collection for Queen's mystery magazine with a few outstanding stories ("Command Performance," "All Men Make Mistakes,"Itchy the Debonair," and "The Footprint in the Sky"), a few duds ("The Absence of Mr. Glass"--not really much of a mystery at all--and "The Heirloom"--same), and the rest are decent, but not extraordinary. ★★★ for the collection.

"A Routine Night's Work" by George Harmon Coxe: A police procedural where what looks like a routine suicide is connected to a recent unsolved murder....and may not be quite so routine after all. (one hit on head; one poisoned; two shot)

"Hercule Poirot: Armchair Detective" (aka "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim") by Agatha Christie: Mr. Davenheim has vanished from his country house, The Cedars. Poirot bets Japp five pounds that he can solve the mystery of the disappearance without moving from his chair. Japp takes him up on it and agrees to share all the information he gathers--well, of course you know who wins the bet.

"Command Performance" (aka "The Statement of Jerry Malloy") by Anthony Boucher: Eugene Dakin and Jerry Malloy are a famous double-act that goes sour after Gene marries a girl named Stella. The police are listening to the statement of Jerry Malloy about what happened the night Stella gets killed and they (and the reader) get a bit of surprise. (one stabbed)

"All Men Make Mistakes" by Frances & Richard Lockridge: Corporeal Crowley has a hunch that a straightforward auto accident isn't--an accident, that is. But it isn't until Captain M. L. Heimrich makes a little driving mistake that they figure out how murder was done. (one auto accident)

"Hand on My Shoulder" by Peggy McIntyre: A playwright finds an unusual way to prevent an actress whose is too hold from playing the lead in his first  really good play. (one fell from height; one poisoned)

"The Absence of Mr. Glass" by G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown calls on a famous psychologist to help him help one of his parishioners. The young woman is in love with a young man her mother has deemed unsuitable and there are a few mysteries that need resolving before the two young people can get together. But Father Brown winds up teaching the famous man a thing or two...

"The Heirloom" by Patricia Knowlton: Carlotta is on her deathbed and wants to pass a family heirloom on to her daughter-in-law personally before its too late. But there's something the daughter-in-law ought to know about the pretty necklace....

"Itchy the Debonair" by Dashiell Hammett: Itchy is a fairly successful small-time crook--until a chance remark or two earn him a description as a "debonair gentleman crook." Which he resents at first. But when he learns about Raffles and other literary gentlemen in his fraternity, he thinks "There might be something to this 'gentleman crook' stuff. People had written books about them..." He decides to embrace the description. And that is his undoing.

"Murder--Early American" by Ruth Chessman: A bondwoman in Colonial America devises what she believes to be the perfect murder plot to both release her from her drudgery and capture the heart of the heir of her mistress. (one hit on head)

"The Gambler's Wife" by Charles G, Norris: The hardened owner of a gambling parlor is touched by the heart-wrenching tale of the wife of one of his patrons--a patron who has lost all the couple had. He returns the money to the woman on condition that her husband never come to the establishment again. Imagine his reaction when the man walks in the very next night....

"The Footprint in the Sky" by John Dickson Carr: Is it possible for someone to sleepwalk and bash someone else over the head and not even know it?

"Dear Mr. Lonelyheart" by Talmage Powell: Young Southern girl meets older Northern man in the Lonelyhearts column. Marriage follows. And most likely murder too... (but not on the page)

"Salesmanship" by Talmage Powell: The local mortician is not doing well. It's not that business is lacking, but the poor people who are his main customers rarely are able to pay for his services. But then he thinks up a way to sell a nice pricey crypt with all the fixings...and to someone who can definitely meet the cost. (one fell from height)

First line (1st story): Carl Broderick, first-grade detective attached to Homicide, eased the police sedan to a stop at the side of the Riverway and said. "It ought to be about here."

Last line (last story): "I'll be lucky if they don't measure me for a uniform and slap me back in harness again."

It's Not Little Red Riding Hood (mini-review)

 It's Not Little Red Riding Hood (2020) by Josh Funk

Josh Funk takes the classic fairy tale and gives readers a fun and updated version. Little Red isn't too sure about some of the rules to this story (sending a little girl off alone into the woods carrying a huge basket?), but she's willing to go along with them. Well sortof. Along the way, unexpected characters pop up and take over traditional roles (is everyone sick in Little Red's neighborhood? is something going around?). The Big Bad Wolf has to take a break and instead we get Big Bad...oops, that would be telling. And this version of Little Red Riding Hood is too much fun for me to spoil. Kids will have a good time looking for all the guest appearances by other fairy tale and children's book characters. And they'll learn a lesson or two about going off-script if the story seems a little sketchy. It's also fun to watch the back-and-forth between Little Red and the narrator (who is determined to tell the classic story with no additions or changes). The story comes with nice illustrations by Edwardian Taylor as well. ★★★★

First line: Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood lived with her family in a cottage on the outskirts of the woods.

Last line: Exactly. Maybe your next story is starting right now.

The Secret of High Eldersham

 The Secret of High Eldersham (1930) by Miles Burton (Cecil Street)

Welcome to High Eldersham, a small East Anglican coastal village. It's a quiet farming town where not much happens--unless you're an outsider. The townsfolk don't take much to outsiders and outsiders seem to have bad luck. New people who try their hand at farming find that equipment breaks down or they have a bout of unexplained illness. New shopkeepers can't seem to make a profit. When Samuel Whitehead, a retired policeman, takes over as landlord of the Rose and Crown, it seems that string of outsider bad luck may have been broken. His profits go up and the locals seem to like him well enough. 

But then...one night someone sneaks into the pub near closing time and stabs Whitehead in the back. The Chief Constable immediately thinks (since a former policeman is the victim) that this is a case for Scotland Yard. And when Detective Inspector Young arrives and gets the lay of the land he immediately thinks the case has a strange vibe that will appeal to his brilliant amateur detective friend Desmond Merrion. As he writes in the letter asking Merrion to join him at High Eldersham:

There is something mysterious about the whole of this countryside, something which I cannot possibly fathom, but which seems to me is more less in your line, and may possibly interest you. I can't get away from a wild and insane idea which I dare not even hint to you, lest you should think I have gone clean off my head.

Needless to say, his letter intrigues Merrion and the wealthy young bachelor comes along to see what's what. He immediately picks up on what Young had hinted at and, to the DI's consternation, confirms his wild idea. There is a nasty hand guiding all the events in High Eldersham, but to what purpose? And had the ex-policeman stumbled across the plot? Or is the murder more personal than that? 

So...for most of the book you've got to wonder if DI Young is merely a vehicle to get Merrion into the case. Because Young really doesn't behave much like a Scotland Yard detective. Once he passes on his "this place is weird and something unpleasant is going on" ideas to Merrion he pretty much gives up and disappears for 75% of the book and only shows up again at the end to save the intrepide amateur from a watery grave and to bring in the police reinforcements to round up the bad guys. He does a spot of investigation on the side (but we don't really learn about what he's been up to until he meets up with Merrion again). Merrion is the star of the show and what starts out like a straightforward mystery rapidly turns into a thriller. He tracks the bad guy to his lair, saves a damsel in distress, gets bashed, tied up, and nearly drowned...and, of course, as the hero winds up with said damsel. 

Now don't get me wrong...it's a fun thriller and I enjoyed myself immensely as I was reading it. It's full of ancient folklore, folks running around in hooded cloaks, and sacrificial rites--all to provide cover for the evil deeds. There's a speed boat chase. There's a mysterious boat that runs through shallow water and shoots off guns at specific points. Merrion gets lost in a fog, discovers a hidden steel box, and manages to lose not one, but two dinghies. But he also manages to identify the man behind cloaks and help Young put an end to his nefarious doings. I do wish there had been more of a mystery plot and that we'd seen more of what Young was doing in the background. A solid read. ★★★

First line: Nobody knew better than Mr. George Thorold, the senior partner of Thorold and Son, the well-known Gippingford brewers that in those days of highly-taxed beer it would not be an easy matter to find a tenant for the Rose and Crown.

Last line: "Things haven't changed much since those days, have they?"
******************

Deaths = 4 (one stabbed; two natural; one hanged)

The Phoenix Crown (spoilerific)

 The Phoenix Crown (2024) by Kate Quinn & Janie Chang

Please note that spoilers abound! If you plan to read this and don't want hints about the mysteries involved (though not all solutions), then you might want to give this review a miss.

Gemma Garland, a beautiful, silver-voiced opera singer, has come to San Francisco hoping for a fresh start. Migraines interfere with her ability to keep a schedule for the big roles, but she hopes her luck is going to change. Her friend Nellie Doyle, a gifted artist who paints under various names, has invited her to stay with her at her rooming house. Suling Feng, orphaned young and now under her uncle's thumb, works at what was her parents' laundry, but embroiders exquisite pieces in her spare time. When her uncle insists that she must marry a man who is funding the uncle's gambling habit, Suling decides she must find a way to escape. She had been hoping to marry her lover Reggie, but Reggie disappeared after leaving the patronage of Henry Thornton, a wealthy man who has established himself as a supporter of the arts. Suling can't understand why Reggie has abandoned her. Alice Eastwood is a respected botanist and the head of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences. Her life's work has been to record and collect samples of rare plants. She would love to see Thornton's Queen of the Night, a rare flower that blooms only once a year, and, even more, she would love to have a cutting. 

When Gemma reaches San Francisco, she finds that Nellie has left with no warning. If any message was sent, it missed her. She becomes acquainted with Miss Eastwood who lives in the same boarding house and settles in while waiting for the rest of the opera company to arrive. She may only be singing in the chorus, but she will be performing with the great Caruso himself. And then her luck seems to change...while practicing at the opera house, she is overheard by Henry Thornton who decides her voice is exquisite enough to merit his patronage. He arranges a society debut performance for her and even buys her a more exalted role in the opera. All goes well until Gemma and Suling meet...

Suling has also received the attention of Thornton. Miss Eastwood, who knows of Suling's skill with a needle, helps the young Chinese girl bargain for an unbelievable sum to restore the embroidery work on Thornton's Dragon Robe, one of his many Chinese acquisitions. She begins coming to Thornton's mansion to work on the restoration and meets Gemma--not for the first time. On Gemma's first day in San Francisco, Suling--garbed as a boy for safety--had carried her luggage to the rooming house. When the women realize that they have met, they talk and then Suling notices a sketch that Gemma has. How on earth did this woman from the East coast get a drawing from Reggie. They realize that "Reggie" and Nellie are one and the same and then the questions begin. What really happened to Reggie/Nellie? And who is responsible. On the night of Gemma's triumphant performance...hours before the earthquake and fires are destined to ravage San Francisco, they find out. And Gemma, Suling, Alice Eastwood and Reggie vow to make Thornton pay.

This is an excellent historical novel with enticing elements of mystery. Quinn & Chang bring San Francisco just before the 1906 earthquake to life with a vibrant story that touches on various levels of society. Each of the main characters shine upon the page and I'm left wanting to hear more about every single one of them. As far as mysteries go, there isn't much of the "whodunnit" element--but it is very much about has he escaped justice and, if not, how will it be served? I appreciated the strong female characters the drive the storyline and the way they took care of themselves during and after the disaster. Great story-telling. ★★★★

One suggestion: given the first and last lines of the novel, I think a more appropriate title would have been Queen of the Night in recognition of the flower whose scent and presence runs throughout the book. Yes, mention of the Phoenix Crown gives the four women the clue that tells them that Thornton is still alive, but the flower is at the center of the story. All four women are given seedlings and keep them alive after they survived the earthquake and fire. All four were present for its once-a-year blooming directly after the disaster. It--even more than the crown--represents Thornton's greed and need to own the exotic. And the fact that the women saved it and became the flower's caretakers represents their ultimate victory over the man. 

First line: "A rose by any other name," someone quoted, and Alice Eastwood was hard-pressed not to roll her eyes.

Last line: She saw them all again in a San Francisco boarding house, four women who had come through earthquake and fire, pausing for a moment of peace as a white flower opened and softened the smoky air with its honeyed scent, a fragrance richer, deeper, more intoxicating than any rose or jasmine.
********************

Deaths = 6 (two drowned; two natural; one stabbed; one shot)

July Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

July Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

July Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

July Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Still Life

 Still Life (2005) by Louise Penny

Jane Neal, retired teacher, was much loved and respected in her small community of Three Pines (a suburb of Montreal). She was a good teacher, a kind woman, and someone you'd want on your side in moral battles. When a group of masked boys threw manure at a cafe owned by a gay couple, Jane stopped them. When someone needed an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on, Jane was there. So, why was Jane killed by an arrow one early morning? At first it looks like it may have been a hunting accident, but when Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Montreal-based force takes up the case and makes it clear that it would be better to admit the accident--no one comes forward. And it soon becomes clear that no one using the type of bow that was used could have possibly have thought Jane Neal was anything but a human being. So, murder it is. Now Gamache just needs to find out why Jane was out on that trail early in the morning without her dog; why she finally decided to submit her artwork for the local competition and what that has to do with her death; and why she suddenly let her friends come further into her house than the kitchen. Oh--and of course, he needs to find out who had access to the older-style bows and who could shoot them. And who could have had such a deep grudge against this apparently harmless old woman.

This is the first book in the Inspector Gamache series and Penny's debut book. It was also my first introduction to the series after hearing many of my friends say how good it was. I read somewhere that Gamache is a modern-day Poirot. Well...I wouldn't necessarily say that. Gamache is a good detective. He has an eye for detail and he knows how to read people. He gets to the heart of the matter without being caught by distractions and without jumping to conclusions (unlike the little trainee who's with his team and is both insecure and very full of herself at the same time--and very annoying to boot*). He really sells the mystery and he's surrounded by good people (with the one exception just mentioned) who work well together.

Penny also does a good job with the plot. It's intricate enough to keep the reader guessing till the end and she leaves no loose ends. A really strong debut novel. ★★★★

*Gamache has enough of her attitude and sends her back to Montreal. I really hope she doesn't come back into the series.

First line: Miss Jane Neal met her maker in the early morning mist of Thanksgiving Sunday. [Canadian Thanksgiving]

Last lines: Life was far from harried here. But neither was it still.

*********************
Deaths = 3 (one stabbed; one poisoned; one logging accident)

Fer-de-Lance

 Fer-de-Lance (1934) by Rex Stout [read by Michael Prichard]

This is where it all began...at least as far as Rex Stout was concerned. Robert Goldsborough has written a book telling about how Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe met--which I have, but haven't read yet--but Fer-de-Lance is the first book in Stout's series about the crime-solving duo of West 35th Street. This debut sets up many of the Wolfe/Goodwin tropes--from Wolfe's love of orchids to his habit of storing the beer caps in his desk drawer; from Archie's needling Wolfe about putting his genius to work to make ends meet to his ability to report verbatim; from Fritz Brenner's superb cooking to Theodore Horstmann's tender-loving care of the orchids in Wolfe's plant rooms; and Wolfe's main three operatives Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin, and Orrie Cather. The only thing missing is Inspector Cramer (who doesn't show up until The League of Frightened Men).

Fred Durkin arrives at the brownstone to ask a favor of Wolfe. His wife's friend Maria Maffei is certain that something terrible has happened to her brother, Carlo. He had been telling her of good fortune and promised to meet her and pay back a loan she had made to him. But he never showed. Wolfe suggests that Carlo has run off with all the cash, but Maria insists she knows her brother better than that and manages to convince him the case is worth checking out--at least superficially. He sends Archie to Carlo's rooming house to look for clues, but it isn't until he gets an answer to a chance question from Anna Fiore, a maid in the house who overheard Carlo's last phone call, that he really believes there may be something to investigate. What he and Archie learn during this initial investigation leads Wolfe to suspect a connection to the recent death of Peter Barstow, president of Holland College. All he has to do is convince the officials to dig Barstow up and prove him right. Then maybe he can get someone to pay him to find the murderer. 

This is a great introduction to the Wolfe stories even though the characters are still a little rough around the edges--Wolfe is more pompous and apt to use the largest word in existence than in later books (not that he can't be/do both then too) and Archie is far less polished. And the story goes on a bit longer than necessary; we really don't need Wolfe to take a little vacation in the middle. But even with that, it's a good story with interesting characters and a nice murder method. Would it really work? Maybe--but it is chancy. 

I've read this before (long ago and far away) and had a great deal of fun listening to Michael Prichard read it to me this time. I have listened to several of the Wolfe stories as read by Prichard and his voice is what I hear in my head for Goodwin when I read. I've seen the series with Timothy Hutton in the role (and enjoyed it as well), but Prichard's voice is what sticks with me. Good mystery and even better audio edition. ★★★★

First line: There was no reason why I shouldn't have been sent for the beer that day, for the last ends of the Fairmont National Bank case had been gathered in the week before and there was nothing for me to do but errands, and Wolfe never hesitated about me running down to Murray Street for a can of shoe polish if he happened to need one.

Last line: "Indeed," Wolfe murmured.
********************

Deaths = 4 (one poisoned; one stabbed; two plane crash)