Friday Memes

Book Beginnings on Friday is a bookish meme now sponsored by Rose City Reader (who originally inspired the meme). Here's what you do: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments section. Include the title and author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you are so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line and if you did or did not like that sentence. Link up each week at Gilion's place.

Here's mine from Dancing with Death by Joan Coggin:

 

"Am in great trouble, please come at once. Duds." Lady Lupin Hastings read the telegram through twice, with a puzzled expression on her pretty face, then she handed it back to her maid. "Staines," she said, "can you make head or tail of this?"

The Friday 56 is a bookish meme sponsored by Freda's Voice. It is really easy to participate. Just grab a book, any book, and turn to page 56. Find a sentence that grabs you and post it.

 

Here's mine from Dancing with Death by Joan Coggin:

"What do you think I am likely to do? Elope with Olivia?"

Challenge Complete: Antonym Challenge

January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012

Last year Tasha at Book Obsessed asked: Are you ready to take the challenge!?!

And I said: She's kidding right? Me, not take a challenge? That's like Star Trek not boldly going. Or Holmes not detecting. Of course, I'm ready for the challenge. This one and that one and those over there too. And this one sounded particularly fun.

The goal was to read books by matching antonyms in the titles. And I went for the top level:

Doctorate: 32+ books (listed below):

1. Bland Beginning by Julian Symons (4/12/12)
2. A Finer End by Deborah Crombie (4/14/12)

3. The School of Night by Louis Bayard (11/12/12)
4. The Morning After Death by Nicholas Blake (5/14/12)

5. The Future on Ice by Orson Scott Card, ed. (2/15/12)
6. The Fire Engine that Disappeared by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (4/9/12)

7. The Devil to Pay by Ellery Queen (5/6/12)
8. Death of a God by S. T. Haymon (5/1/12)

9. Such Friends Are Dangerous by Walter Tyrer (5/19/12)
10. A Stranger in My Grave by Margaret Millar (9/10/12)

11. Silver and Guilt by Cynthia Smith (4/9/12)
12. The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (8/25/12)

13. Murder with a Past by Ellery Queen (4/27/12)
14. Future Crime by Cynthia Mason & Charles Ardai, eds. (1/23/12)

15. A Sleeping Life by Ruth Rendell (10/8/12)
16. O' Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor (6/20/12)

17. The Last Escape by E. C. R. Lorac (5/14/12)
18. Catch as Catch Can by Frances & Richard Lockridge (11/26/12)

19. The Case of the Blind Barber by John Dickson Carr (9/22/12)
20. The Confession & Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart (10/10/12)

21. Death's Pale Horse by James Sherburne (8/27/12)
22. She Woke to Darkness by Brett Halliday (10/29/12)

23.The Bone Is Pointed by Arthur W. Upfield (11/16/12)
24. Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell (11/10/12)

25. The Nine Wrong Answers by John Dickson Carr (7/7/12)
26. A Question of Time by Helen McCloy (10/15/12)

27. Slowly, Slowly in the Wind by Patricia Highsmith (11/30/12)
28. The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch (9/1/12)
 
29. New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade (5/31/12)
30. Death of an Old Girl by Elizabeth LeMarchand (11/21/12)

31. Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas (10/27/12)
32. Nothing Can Rescue Me by Elizabeth Daly (2/18/12)
33. Something to Kill For by Susan Holtzer (6/1/12)

Slowly, Slowly in the Wind: Review

Slowly, Slowly in the Wind by Patricia Highsmith is a collection of short stories that is full of oddly disturbing tales.  From the pond that comes to life and takes the life of a woman and her son to the psychopath who becomes a little too involved with a wax museum full of murderers, the world in Highsmith's stories is just a little claustrophobic and irrational.  Highsmith tackles the themes of believability and guilt; justice and injustice.  There is the man who writes a life's worth of novels in his head and the man who exacts revenge on his neighbor for slights real and imagined.  The oddest story of all is the last one--a strange, cautionary tale about ecological damage and the revenge that nature might take on humanity if we go too far.  More science fiction thriller than mystery, it reminds me of Harlan Ellison at his weakest.  I think perhaps Highsmith should have stuck to things mysterious rather than venture into things science fictional.  The theme of revenge is a good one--just a little too fantastic in this last story.

Overall, a very good collection.  Thrilling, memorable and just a bit on the creepy side.  Four stars.

Death in the Memorial Garden Give-Away Winner!

TITLE:  Death in the Memorial Garden
AUTHOR:  Kathie Deviny
PUBLISHED BY:  Camel Press
PUBLICATION DATE:  October 15, 2012
 
ISBN-10: 1603818995
ISBN-13: 978-1603818995
 
GENRE:  Cozy Mystery   

Well, I just cranked up the CRNG machine (did you hear the whirring and clanking?) to see who the lucky winner of our E-copy of Death in the Memorial Garden is going to be. And.......drum roll, please.....our winner is.....Entry #2. That means that srvalli from Valli's Book Den will soon be hearing from our Blog Tour coordinator, Gina to discuss delivery of the e-book. Congratulations, srvalli! And thanks to all who signed up for the give-away!

Also--thanks to Cheryl and Gina, the masterminds behind the Partner in Crime Blog Tours for putting these virtual book tours together!

Reminder: Death in the Memorial Garden E-book Giveaway

TITLE:  Death in the Memorial Garden
AUTHOR:  Kathie Deviny
PUBLISHED BY:  Camel Press
PUBLICATION DATE:  October 15, 2012
 
ISBN-10: 1603818995
ISBN-13: 978-1603818995
 
GENRE:  Cozy Mystery
 
SYNOPSIS:  Just as the sexton is about to inter the ashes of one of Grace Church’s last wealthy patronesses in the Memorial Garden, he unearths a wine crate containing thashes of an unknown. Next to the ashes is a distinctive pair of shoes. Not only are the woman’s relatives furious at the interruption, but they soon have grounds for a lawsuit: yet another piece of the church’s tower comes crashing to the ground.
 
With their congregation dwindling and their world literally falling in around them, Father Robert Vickers and his colorful staff members and volunteers put their heads together to solve the mystery of the anonymous ashes and find the means to save Grace Church from the developers … all in time for the Bishop’s visit.

Go HERE to signup. Link closes Midnight to night.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a bookish meme hosted by Book Journey. It's where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It's a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list. So hop on over via the link above and join in...and leave a comment here so I can check out what you are reading.

 

 

Books Read (click on titles for review):

Death of an Old Girl by Elizabeth Lemarchad

Death in the Memorial Garden by Katie Deviny

Catch as Catch Can by Frances & Richard Lockridge

  

Currently Reading: 

Star Trek & Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant by Jason T Eberl & Kevin S Decker (eds):
Philosophy and space travel are characterized by the same fundamental purpose: exploration. An essential guide for both philosophers and Trekkers, Star Trek and Philosophy combines a philosophical spirit of inquiry with the beloved television and film series to consider questions not only about the scientific prospects of interstellar travel but also the inward journey to examine the human condition. The expansive topics range from the possibilities for communication among different cultural backgrounds to questions about the stoic temperament exhibited by Vulcans to Ferengi business practices. Specifically chosen to break new ground in exploring the philosophical dimensions of Star Trek, these articles boldly go where no philosopher has gone before. [STILL...this is a difficult read.  Good, but dense.]

 

Slowly, Slowly in the Wind by Patricia Highsmith: assembles many of Patricia Highsmith's most nuanced and psychologically suspenseful works. Rarely has an author articulated so well the hypocrisies of the Catholic Church while conveying the delusions of a writer's life and undermining the fantasy of suburban bliss. Each of these twelve pieces is a crystal-clear snapshot of lives both static and full of chaos.

 

 

Books that spark my interest:

These are the remaining books needed to finish off challenges:

Cover-up by Anthony Olver

The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas

Dancing with Death by Joan Coggin

Murder Christmas by Agatha Christie

Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke

The Cat Who Came For Christmas by Cleveland Amory

A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry

 And Library books that need reading:

The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester

Below Stairs by Margaret Powell 

Women of Mystery by Martha Hailey Dubose 

Challenge Complete: 150+ Reading Challenge

During 2011 Amy at My Overstuffed Bookshelf sponsored the 100+ Reading Challenge. Then in 2012 she decided to up the ante to 150+....just today I hit 151 books read.  So, chalk up another challenge completed!  I'll still be reading (there's still a little over a month left!) and adding to the list, but officially the fat lady has warbled on this one.

My List:

1. Murder Has Its Points by Richard & Frances Lockridge (1/2/12) [221 pages]
2. My Name Is Legion by Roger Zelazny (1/4/12) [213 pages]
3. The Problem of the Green Capsule by John Dickson Carr (1/7/12) [168 pages]
4. The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (1/9/11) [220 pages]
5. Prayers to Broken Stones by Dan Simmons (1/14/12) [403 pages]
6. The Masks of Time by Robert Silverberg (1/16/12) [252 pages]
7. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett (1/19/12) [400 pages]
8. Future Crime: Anthology of the Shape of Crime to Come by Cynthia Manson & Charles Ardai (eds) (1/23/12) [275 pages]
9. Proust & The Squid: The Story & Science of the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf (1/28/12) [308 pages]
10. Murder & Magic by Randall Garrett (1/28/12) [266 pages]
11. The Black Seven by Carol Kendall (1/29/12) [275 pages]
12. The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells (2/3/12) [284 pages]
13. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2/5/12) [174 pages]
14. The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2/7/12) [256 pages]
15. Imagined London: A Tour of the World's Greatest Fictional City by Anna Quindlen (2/10/12) [192 pages]
16. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (2/14/12) [270 pages]
17. Future on Ice by Orson Scott Card, ed (2/15/12) [432 pages]
18. Nothing Can Rescue Me by Elizabeth Daly (2/18/12) [181 pages]
19. A Spark of Death by Bernadette Pajer (2/19/12) [208 pages] 
20. Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, & New York's Trial of the Century by Mike Dash (2/25/12) [449 pages]
21. The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2/27/12) [256 pages]
22. The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert & Bill Ransom (2/29/12) [432 pages]
23. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (2/29/12) [394 pages]
24. The Greenwell Mystery by E. C. R. Lorac (3/3/12) [256 pages]
25. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (3/3/12) [181 pages]
26. Champagne for One by Rex Stout (3/5/12) [153 pages]

27. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (3/6/12) [128 pages]

28. Dead as a Dinosaur by Frances & Richard Lockridge (3/8/12) [185 pages]
29. Hare Sitting Up by Michael Innes (3/9/12) [215 pages]
30. The Murder in the Stork Club by Vera Caspary (3/10/12) [127 pages]
31. Five Passengers from Lisbon by Mignon G Eberhart (3/11/12) [168 pages]32. Wake for a Lady by H. W. Roden (3/12/12) [164 pages]
33. The Doctor Dines in Prague by Robin Hathaway (3/12/12) [198 pages]
34. From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy by Terry Lee Rioux (3/14/12) [362 pages]
35. Strange Murders at Greystones by Elsie N. Wright (3/16/12) [284 pages]
36. The Ink Dark Moon: Love Poems by Onon no Komachi & Izumi Shikibu, Women of the Ancient Court of Japan trans by Jane Hirshfield w/Mariko Aratani (3/17/12) [212 pages]
37. The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (3/19/12) [175 pages]
38. Nantucket Soap Opera by S. F. X. Dean (3/20/12) [259 pages]
39. The Curious Cape Cod Skull by Marie Lee (3/21/12) [213 pages]
40. The Clue in the Old Album by Carolyn Keene (3/22/12) [192 pages]
41. The Rose Window & Other Verse from New Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (3/22/12) [149 pages]
42. Full Moon by P. G. Wodehouse (3/23/12) [215 pages]
43. The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes (3/24/12) [181 pages]
44. A Good Death by Elizabeth Ironside (3/28/12) [340 pages]
45. The Case of the Grinning Gorilla by Erle Stanley Gardner (3/30/12) [274 pages]
46. A Sprig of Sea Lavender by J. R. L. Anderson (3/31/12) [218 pages]
47. The Golden Scorpion by Sax Rohmer (4/2/12) [308 pages]
48. Swan Song by Edmund Crispin (4/3/12) [190 pages]
49. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (4/4/12) [145 pages]
50. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore (4/6/12) [192 pages]
51. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (4/6/12) [217 pages]
52. Star Trek Vol 1 by Mike Johnson (4/5/12) [104 pages]
53. Venetia by Georgette Heyer (4/7/12) [355 pages]
54. Morgue Drawer Four by Jutta Profijt (4/7/12) [231 pages]
55. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B Hanna (4/8/12) [471 pages]
56. Silver & Guilt by Cynthia Smith (4/9/12) [245 pages]
57. The Fire Engine That Disappeared by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö (4/9/12) [221 pages]
58. Titanic 2012 by Bill Walker (4/10/12) [286 pages]
59. Bland Beginning by Julian Symons (4/12/12) [238 pages]
60. A Finer End by Deborah Crombie (4/14/12) [336 pages]
61. The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart (4/14/12) [224 pages]
62. The Gemini Man by Susan Kelly (4/15/12) 221 pages]
63. Chancellorsville & Gettysburg by General Abner Doubleday (4/15/12) [243 pages]
64. The War of the Worlds Murder by Max Allan Collins (4/19/12) [378 pages]
65. Dracula by Bram Stoker (4/25/12) [512 pages]
66. Murder With a Past by Ellery Queen (4/27/12) [154 pages]
67. Death of a God by S. T. Haymon (5/1/12) [262 pages]
68. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (5/4/12) [240 pages]
69. The Devil to Pay by Ellery Queen (5/6/12) [200 pages]
70. The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories by Michael Sims (ed) (5/12/12) [576 pages]
71. The Morning After Death by Nicholas Blake (5/14/12) [212 pages]
72. The Last Escape by E. C. R. Lorac (5/14/12) [128 pages]
73. The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart (5/15/12) [192 pages]
74. A First Class Murder by Elliott Roosevelt (5/16/12) [218 pages]
75. A Dram of Poison by Charlotte Armstrong (5/17/12) [160 pages]
76. Such Friends Are Dangerous by Walter Tyrer (5/19/12) [224 pages]
77. Garden of Malice by Susan Kenney (5/21/12) [279 pages]
78. The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun (5/22/12) [249 pages]
79. The Lady in the Loch by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (5/23/12) [258 pages]
80. The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman (5/24/12) [253 pages]
81. So Many Steps to Death by Agatha Christie (5/25/12) [168 pages]
82. The Strange World of Mr. Mum by Irving W. Phillips (5/27/12) [125 pages]
83. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (5/29/12) [306 pages]
84. New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade (5/31/12) [303 pages]
85. Something to Kill For by Susan Holtzer (6/1/12) [230 pages]
86. A Slip of the Tong by Charles Goodrum (6/3/12) [180 pages]
87. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (6/3/12) [84 pages]
88. Standford White: Letters to His Family by Claire Nicholas White, ed (6/5/12) [152 pages]
89. Pearls Before Swine by Margery Allingham (6/8/12) [240 pages]
90. A Dark Time by Dennis Bradford (6/9/12) [292 pages]
91. The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer (6/12/12) [194 pages]
92. Timeless by Gail Carriger (6/16/12) [386 pages]
93. Ahmed & the Oblivion Machines by Ray Bradbury (6/16/13) [64 pages]
94. The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholas (6/17/12) [382 pages]
95. O' Artful Death by Sarah Stewart Taylor (6/20/12) [278 pages]
96. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (6/30/12) [214 pages]
97. And Four to Go  by Rex Stout (7/1/12) [222 pages]
98. The 39 Steps by John Buchan (7/3/12) [120 pages]
99. Fatal Induction by Bernadette Pajer (7/4/12) [225 pages]
100. The Nine Wrong Answers by John Dickson Carr (7/7/12) [186 pages]

101. File No. 113 by Emile Gaboriau (7/11/12) [246 pages]
102. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (7/12/12) [180 pages]
103. DeKok & Murder on the Menu by A. C. Baantjer (7/13/12) [180 pages]
104. Compartment K by Helen Reilly (7/15/12) [192 pages]
105. North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell (7/18/12) [451 pages]
106. The Four Million & Other Stories by O. Henry (7/21/12) [189 pages]
107. The Fifth Man by Manning Coles (7/22/12) [190 pages]
108. Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien (7/24/12) [249 pages]
109. The Lieutenant's Whistle by Fred Stemme (7/26/12) [371 pages]
110. Murder at the Portland Variety by M. J. Zellnik (7/29/12) [317 pages]
111. Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis (7/31/12) [238 pages]
112. The Key by Patricia Wentworth (8/5/12) [236 pages]
113. Mysterious Incidents at Lone Rock by Rajendra Pillai (8/6/12) [248 pages]
114. Gideon's Month by J. J. Marric (8/8/12) [158 pages]
115. The Anatomy of Death by Felicity Young (8/10/12) [307 pages]
116. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (8/13/12) [462 pages]
117. Crime on Her Mind: Fifteen Stories of Female Sleuths from the Victorian Era to the Forties by Michele B. Slung, ed (8/18/12) [380 pages]
118. Mrs. Jeffries Stands Corrected by Emily Brightwell (8/19/12) [215 pages]
119. The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (8/25/12) [248 pages]
120. Death's Pale Horse by James Sherburne (8/27/12) [199 pages]
121. The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch (9/1/12) [306 pages]
122. The Edgar Winners: 33rd Annual Anthology of the Mystery Writers of America by Bill Pronzini, ed (9/5/12) [420 pages]
123. The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin (9/7/12) [229 pages]
124. A Stranger in My Grave by Margaret Millar (9/10/12) [289 pages]
125. Vincent Price: The Art of Fear by Denis Meikle (9/13/12) [240 pages]
126. The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes (9/16/12) [353 pages]
127. The White Forest by Adam McOmber (9/18/12) [303 pages]
128. The Case of the Blind Barber by John Dickson Carr (9/22/12) [253 pages]
129. Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman (9/24/12) [269 pages]
130. History of the Millennium (So Far) by Dave Barry (9/30/12) [208 pages]
131. The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor (9/30/12) [412 pages]
132. Murder at the MLA by D J H Jones (10/3/12) [217 pages]
133. Sherlock Holmes & the Treasure Train by Frank Thomas (10/6/12) [241 pages]
134. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (10/8/12) [849 pages]
135. A Sleeping Life by Ruth Rendell (10/8/12) [180 pages]
136. The Confession & Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart (10/10/12) [253 pages]
137. Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart (10/14/12) [328 pages]
138. A Question of Time by Helen McCloy (10/15/12) [220 pages]
139. The Adventure of the Ectoplasmic Man by Daniel Stashower (10/16/12) [203 pages]
140. The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Peter Haining, ed (10/21/12) [208 pages]
141. Murder Most Puzzling by Lillian S. Robinson (10/23/12) [312 pages]
142. The Foods of North Italy by Luigi Veronelle (10/27/12) [120 pages]
143. Some Danger Involved by Will Thomas (10/27/12) [290 pages]
144. She Woke to Darkness by Brett Halliday (10/29/12) [191 pages]
145. The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime by Michael Sims, ed (11/5/12) [321 pages]
146. Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell (11/10/12) [303 pages]
147. The School of Night by Louis Bayard (11/12/12) [338 pages]
148. The Bone Is Pointed by Arthur W. Upfield (11/16/12) [288 pages]
149. Death of an Old Girl by Elizabeth Lemarchad (11/21/12) [218 pages]
150. Death in the Memorial Garden by Katie Deviny (11/23/12) [141 pages]
151. Catch as Catch Can by Frances & Richard Lockridge (11/26/12) [186 pages]

Catch as Catch Can: Review

It started with little things, with things of no real significance.  

And so opens Catch as Catch Can by Frances & Richard Lockridge.  The whole mystery starts with the little things....Linda Parks comes home to the apartment she shares with Joyce Holbrook expecting to share a dinner of pork chops and salad with her roommate.  She finds the door unlocked (expected) and the apartment empty (not).  She's not too concerned at first--after all the women have a rule that if something else comes up (like a casting call or a man), then "something else" comes first, and so she believes that something else must have come along.  But then she finds the note.  A note addressed to "Lindy," a name that no one has ever used for her--ever.  A note which makes a big deal about Joyce going away for the weekend with Nicholses, a couple that Joyce emphatically believes Linda remembers.  Only she doesn't--she doesn't believe she's ever met anybody by the name of Nichols.  And it seems that Joyce has packed her autumn suit for a weekend away during a summer heat wave.  And Joyce has grabbed Linda's robe by mistake, a robe that couldn't possibly fit the taller, bigger boned woman.  As more and more little things add up, Linda becomes very uneasy about her missing roommate and decides to consult someone unofficially.  

She decides to lay all her little things before Geoffrey Bowen, a young man who works in the District Attorney's Office and whom Linda definitely does remember meeting at a party.  She contacts Bowen and, after overcoming his reluctance to get involved (he's afraid that this will be one of "those" situations), they arrange to meet at the train station so she can ride out to the country with him and tell the story on the way.  That's when the real fun begins--because somebody does not want Linda to talk to Bowen and that somebody will go to a great deal of trouble to make sure she doesn't.  What happened to Joyce?  Why did a Fuller Brush man stop by their apartment and only their apartment?  Who is the man masquerading as Linda's father?  And why does he think Joyce told Linda something before she disappeared?  These are all questions that must be answered before the mystery is solved.

This is one of the few non-series mysteries of the more suspenseful type written by the husband and wife team.  Most of the stand-alone titles were written by Richard after Frances passed away in 1963.  This, I think, is also one of the best stand-alone titles with the Lockridge name on it.  Richard tended to write the stand-alones with a lot more of a thriller flavor once he was writing on his own.  While Catch as Catch Can does have a bit of the thriller feel to it, it is still owes quite a bit to the cozy.  I really like Linda Parks as the heroine, particularly in the last half of the book.  Not to spoil anything, but Geoffrey comes to her rescue only to find that (for a 1950s kind of girl) Linda is perfectly capable of helping rescue him when needed.  

A light, fun, very engaging read.  Easily managed in one sitting.  And I enjoyed every minute.  Four stars.


Quotes:
It started with little things, with things of no real significance. (p. 7)

When Geoffrey Bowen, lawyer, an assistant attorney among many, had first become a commuter the previous May he had treated commuters' trains with the respect due trains--had arrived at stations with time to spare.  But now a train was not really a train. (p. 27)

There was no point in letting the same thing happen twice. Having let it happen once had not increased his popularity. He was a man who liked to be popular. (p. 44)

Because you can't walk out on people. Not if you know things--even things that form a cobweb only--which nobody else knows. (pp. 45-6)

He was thus to become bait--live bait, it was to be hoped....They had killed once already, if Stringer was right. Why would they hesitate to kill again? Or even, if it came to that, a third time. That was a pleasant thought. Bait--live bait--may lead to a catch, but the bait had to be swallowed first. (p. 100)

Challenge Complete: Back to the Classics

Back when I signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge, I optimistically thought that I would read more classics than I have.  Taking stock with just a little over a month left in 2012, I realize that I'm not going to get through all the books I originally planned for this challenge.  So....I looked over the classics I have read and I discovered that I have already read a classic that will cover what was my last remaining category [Country I'm Unlikely to Visit].  And, so....the Back to the Classics Challenge is officially complete

Categories and the classics read for them:

• Any 19th Century Classic: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (2/29/12) [1859]. Also, although not linked up: North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell [1855]
• Any 20th Century Classic: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (7/12/12)  Also, although not linked up: Full Moon by P. G. Wodehouse and The Four Million & Other Stories by O. Henry
• Reread a classic of your choice: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (6/3/12)
• A Classic Play: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (6/30/12)
• Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (4/4/12)  Also, although not linked up: Dracula by Bram Stoker; The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; The 39 Steps by John Buchan; and The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells.
• Classic Romance: Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (8/13/12) Also, though not linked up: Venetia by Georgette Heyer
• Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your language (To clarify, if your native language is NOT English, you may read any classic originally written in English that has been translated into your native language.): The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (3/19/12) [French]. Also, although not linked up: File No. 113 by Emile Gaboriau [French]
• Classic Award Winner (To clarify, the book should be a classic which has won any established literary award.): The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin [Newberry Award Winner] (4/6/12)
• Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime (To Clarify, this does not have to be a country that you hope to visit either. Countries that no longer exist or have never existed count.): King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (5/29/12) [South Africa]

2013 Mount TBR: My Signup

Here I am signing up for my very own Mount TBR Reading Challenge (click link for rules and sign-up page). I'm such a bookaholic that I'm going straight for Mt. Everest with the hopes that I'll be able to build a rocket ship when I reach the top and shoot on up to Mount Olympus on Mars.  But the official sign up is to try and knock out 100 of my very own books that just happen to be in gigantic piles of TBR books stacked up around my backroom. I don't have a TBR shelf. Oh, no. I have "Mount TBR"...possibly a whole mountain range.

Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s

1. The Man Who Went up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1/8/13)
2. The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (1/13/12)
3. The Puzzle of the Silver Persian by Stuart Palmer (1/15/13)
4. Slippage by Harlan Ellison (1/19/13)
5. The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield (1/21/13)
6. Four Lost Ladies by Stuart Palmer (1/23/13)
7. The Case of the Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner (1/24/13)
8. Veiled Murder by Alice Campbell (1/28/13)
9. The Cavalier's Cup by Carter Dickson (2/5/13)
10. Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie (2/7/13)
11. Aaron's Serpent by Emily Thorn (2/22/13)
12. The World's 100 Best Short Stories, Vol. III: Mystery by Grant Overton, ed (2/24/13)
13. Three English Comedies by A. B. De Mille, ed (2/27/13)
14. The Other Side of Tomorrow by Roger Elwood, ed (2/28/13)
15. The Green Plaid Pants by Margaret Scherf (3/3/13)
16. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (3/6/13)
17. The Lady in the Morgue by Jonathan Latimer (3/10/13)
18. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (3/11/13)
19. The Diplomat & the Gold Piano by Margaret Scherf (3/16/13)
20. The Lady Vanishes (aka The Wheel Spins) by Ethel Lina White (3/17/13)
21. A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield (3/22/13)
22. Unhappy Hooligan by Stuart Palmer (3/24/13)
23. Sally's in the Alley by Norbert Davis (3/25/13)
24. Black Widow by Patrick Quentin (4/3/13)
25. In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (4/9/13)
26. The Mountains Have a Secret by Arthur W. Upfield (4/16/13)
27. The Devil's Stronghold by Leslie Ford (4/21/13)
28. The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken (4/21/13)
29. Holiday Homicide by Rufus King (4/23/13)
30. A Private History of Awe by Scott Russell Sanders (4/27/13)
31. Death Has Green Fingers by Lionel Black (4/30/13)
32. Inland Passage by George Harmon Coxe (5/2/13)
33. The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet (5/6/13)
34. Sleep No More by Margaret Erskine (5/21/13)
35. Death at Crane's Court by Eilis Dillon (5/23/13)
36. The Curse of the Bronze Lamp by Carter Dickson (5/27/13)
37. Miss Silver Deals With Death by Patricia Wentworth (finished 5/28/13)
38. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (6/7/13)
39. Murder on Safari by Laura Lippman (6/8/13)
40. The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Sanders (6/12/13)
41. Murder Within Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/14/13)
42. Break Any Woman Down by Dana Johnson (6/17/13)
43. The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers (6/18/13)
44. The Father's Day Murder by Lee Harris (6/18/13)
45. Death in Zanzibar by M. M. Kaye (6/25/13)
46. Jack on the Gallows Tree by Leo Bruce (6/26/13)
47. The Listening by Kyle Dargan (6/28/13)
48. Mystery Train by David Wojahn (6/28/13)
49. Death & the Gentle Bull by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/29/13)
50. The Mummy Case Mystery by Dermot Morrah (7/3/13)
51. Dead Man Control by Helen Reilly (7/6/13)
52. The Hollow Chest by Alice Tilton [Phoebe Atwood Taylor] (7/12/13)
53. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (7/14/13)
54. Spotted Hemlock by Gladys Mitchell (7/18/13)
55. London Particular (aka Fog of Doubt) by Christianna Brand (7/22/13)
56. The Case of the Careless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner (7/23/13)
57. Mist on the Saltings by Henry Wade (7/26/13)
58. The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers (7/31/13)
59. Till Death Do Us Part by John Dickson Carr (8/2/13)
60. The Long Farewell by Michael Innes (8/3/13)
61. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (8/6/13)
62. Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (8/20/13)
63. The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart (8/22/13)
64. Poems & Prose by Christina Rossetti (8/27/13)
65. A Bullet in the Ballet by Caryl Brahms & S. J. Simon (8/28/13)
66. This New & Poisonous Air by Adam McOmber (9/3/13)
67. Murder & Blueberry Pie by Frances & Richard Lockridge (9/3/13)
68. The Croquet Player by H. G. Wells (9/4/13)
69. Malcolm Sage, Detective by Herbert Jenkins (9/8/13)
70. Famous Ghost Stories edited by Bennett Cerf (9/13/13)
71. The Temple of Death by A. C. & R. H. Benson (9/16/13)
72. The Dreadful Hollow by Nicholas Blake (9/19/13)
73. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (9/24/13)
74. Death Knocks Three Times by Anthony Gilbert (9/27/13)
75. The Mystery Lovers' Book of Quotations by Jane Horning (9/27/13)
76. The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson (10/1/13)
77. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (10/4/13)
78. The Haunted Dolls' House by M. R. James (10/9/13)
79. Murder at Cambridge by Q. Patrick (10/15/13)
80. Dead of a Counterplot by Simon Nash (10/20/13)
81. The Water Room by Christopher Fowler (10/25/13)
82. Gently Go Man by Alan Hunter (10/27/13)
83. Once Upon a Crime by M. D. Lake (10/28/13)
84. Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy (10/29/13)
85. Mystery & Crime: NYPL Book of Answers by Jay Pearsall (10/30/13)
86. By a Woman's Hand by Jean Swanson & Dean James (11/2/13)
87. Maid to Murder by Roy Vickers (11/3/13)
88. Shell Game by Richard Powell (11/4/13)
89. Kemp's Last Case by M. R. D. Meek (11/4/13)
90. The Murder Stone by Charles Todd (11/8/13)
91. Death Is in the Air by Kate Kingsbury (11/10/13)
92. Evidence of Things Seen by Elizabeth Daly (11/12/13)
93. Check-Out Time by Kate Kingsbury (11/13/13)
94. The Small Hours of the Morning by Margaret Yorke (11/15/13)
95. The Dorothy Parker Murder Case by George Baxt (11/19/13)
96. The Patient in Room 18 by Mignon G. Eberhart (11/20/13)
97. The Tragedy of X by Barnaby Ross [Ellery Queen] (11/25/13)
98. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (11/27/13)
99. The Tragedy of Y by Barnaby Ross [Ellery Queen] (11/30/13)
100. The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin (12/1/13)

Yippee!  Complete!

101. The Tragedy of Z by Barnaby Ross [Ellery Queen] (12/3/13)
102. Murder Your Darlings by J. J. Murphy (12/4/13) 
103. The Quiet Road to Death by Sheila Radley (12/8/13) 
104. Maigret's Christmas by Georges Simenon (12/12/13)
105. A Habit for Death by Chuck Zito (12/17/13) 
106. A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry (12/20/13) 
107. Wycliffe & the Guilt Edged Alibi by W. J. Burley (12/21/13)
108. Ransom Game by John Buxton Hiltom (12/23/13)