The Best Cellar

In 1981 scholars discovered letters and other documents that seemed to indicate that the original Library of Congress, thought to be destroyed in 1814 when the British burned the White House, Capitol Building, and the Library, may have been saved. At the time, Thomas Jefferson offered up his personal library to replace the books thought lost to the fire and was generously reimbursed. The evidence implied that Jefferson's friends may have created the need for the books, thus also creating a way to funnel funds to a man desperately short of cash.

Enter Charles Goodrum, a former director of planning at the Library of Congress. Using the story as a backdrop for his novel The Best Cellar, he decides to have a graduate student at a Virginia University make the discovery. Durance Steele comes to Washington D.C. to search for the final supporting evidence before she confronts a mysterious someone with her knowledge. She takes up residence in Crighton Jones's spare room. Crighton is the public relations officer at the Werner-Bok Library and no stranger to murder and mayhem. When Steele does not come home after leaving one morning to take revenge on the academic types who had badly burned her, Crighton is a bit worried. As Steele tells her host, "This is an important day for me. I've been working on this for two solid years. This is the pay-off....I'm off for a drive and if I've worked the puzzle right I come back rich and even." She doesn't come back...rich, poor, or otherwise.

Then Crighton intercepts a threatening phone call meant for Durance followed by a letter in the same vein. She decided it's time to try and trace the movements of her missing guest. She calls upon the services of her partners in previous crimes, Steve Carson and Edward George. Using the resources of the Werner-Bok and the Library of Congress as well as their contacts in the research world, the three are able to cut a search that took Durance two years down to size--leading them to the home of one of Virginia's oldest families. Will they be in time to find the missing graduate student? And will they find a missing library along the way?

This is a fascinating mystery--good plot and plenty of juicy historical details sprinkled throughout the narrative without giving the appearance of an info-dump. Library mysteries are almost as addictive for me as strictly academic ones and it is obvious that Goodrum has worked in the field. It's very interesting to watch the researchers do their stuff and use it to solve a 200-year-old mystery, not to mention that of the present day. ★★★

***Finished at 11:30 pm. Last review of 2016.

A Corpse for Christmas: Review

Carter Brown's A Corpse for Christmas (1965) isn't your usual Christmas fare--though there is a Santa Claus involved. Because, you see, it looks for all the world like jolly old St. Nicholas is a murderer at a fancy dress party in the days leading up to Christmas. 

Dean Carroll, dressed up like Robin Hood, wasn't exactly the beloved leader of a band of merry men. In fact jest about everybody at the party had good cause want him out of the way--from Toni, his dishy wife who hated his guts and would inherit a bundle when he was gone to Iris, a delectable little blonde who was his playmate on the side...until someone else caught her eye and Carroll didn't want to stop playing to Janice, Carroll's plump ex-mistress who didn't like being a has-been to Greg who was having a hot affair with Carroll's wife.

So, when the guests decided to play a round of the Murder Game, no one was particularly surprised to find that they had a real live corpse instead...especially when the corpse was Dean Carroll. Enter Lieutenant Al Wheeler--called to the scene of the crime by Greg Tallen who discovered Robin Hood stuffed under a bed like a bag of discarded loot. Tallen also mentions that he and Toni just happened to see Santa Claus waltz out of the bedroom just before they went in for a little of their own brand of fun and games. There's just one problem--no one at the party was dressed like Santa. So who dressed up like St. Nick and gave Carroll a surprise Christmas gift--a shiny new bullet?

Buckle up for a 1960s ride--with swingers and fast-talking cops and a very stereotypical gay costume rental dude thrown in for color. Al Wheeler has more slick one-liners than you know what to do with. Brown does provide a solid mystery which, considering the tough guy style, is pretty fairly clued. A very middle-of-the-road read, but good for an afternoon's entertainment. ★★★

Grendel: Mini-Review

Grendel (1971) by John Gardner is a retelling of the classic epic poem Beowulf from the monster's point of view. Grendel is treated as an anti-hero and to some extent, I suppose that Gardner is trying to get the reader to sympathize with poor misunderstood creature. We learn how Grendel watched the Danes in their king Hrothgar's great hall for years--envying their joy, scoffing at their heroic ballads, and mocking their boasting. He is awed by the blind poet called the Shaper and even more affected by the beauty of Hrothgar's young wife. Oddly enough the creature can understand the words of men...perhaps because, as legend would have it, he is of the cursed race of Cain. Grendel waivers between wanting to be understood by men--trying to speak to them, though his cries and screams rarely are intelligible to the warriors--and being enraged by them. 

I'm quite sure that the purpose of Grendel (in Gardner's book) is to make me think about the outsider and the outcast. To consider all the philosophies that Grendel tosses about--in his own mind and in his rarefied conversation with the dragon. Apparently, according to notations on Wikipedia, Gardner based his monster on Jean-Paul Sartre and he said in an interview: "What happened in Grendel was that I got the idea of presenting the Beowulf monster as Jean-Paul Sartre, and everything that Grendel says Sartre in one mood or another has said."

I'm sorry, but I'm not quite buying that the rampaging monster who crushes men's skulls and rips them apart and carries their bodies home for his mother to munch on is also a highly philosophical dude. Not to mention that a lot of his philosophical musings just turn into a bunch of rambling mumbo-jumbo. I honestly think it would have made a better book if more had been made of of Grendel's descent from Cain and the dark side of man instead of filling his head with metaphysical ramblings that spurt out in thought and speeches to himself. ★★

A Non-Fiction Round-up

It's that time of year when preparing for the holidays interrupts my reading time and especially my reviewing time and so, in an effort to catch up, I'm going to give mini-reviews of my last three non-fiction reads. All are fairly short books and don't really give a lot of room for in-depth examination anyway...

[Finished on 12/22/16]
Books: a memor (2008) by Larry McMurtry is McMurtry's attempt to make his life as a reader and a writer, as a book buyer, scout, and seller interesting to the average reader. I say attempt because he's not entirely successful. He gives us his memories in a very stream-of-consciousness, rambling sort of way. There's not a great deal of organization in his stories...one thing leads to another and he jumps back and forth in time like a regular H. G. Wells in The Time Machine. There are some interesting anecdotes and memories of particularly good finds. But overall it's just not as interesting as I'd hoped it would be. ★★

[Finished on 12/23/16]
Keep Laughing (1959) is a collection of jokes and anecdotes by Morey Amsterdam which was put together before he became well-known as Buddy Sorrell on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Amsterdam was well-known for his ability to come up with a joke on any subject, an ability that earned him the nickname "The Human Joke Machine." This collection has some very good one-liners and short jokes. Some of the longer stories don't quite meet Amsterdam's best work, a few of the jokes are dated, and the jokes about women drivers got old fast. But, overall, the humor is good and there are several laugh-out-loud moments. ★★★
    
[Finished on 12/27/16]
Those Funny Kids! (1975) by Dick Van Dyke is a collection of anecdotes and one-liners sent to Dick Van Dyke by teachers throughout the United States. It contains definitions by children who really don't know what words mean--but that doesn't stop them from coming up with a meaning--and historical "facts" from misinformed miniature historians. Readers even get a dose of kid-filtered religion from the children who attend parochial schools. Some of the stories are a bit dated, but there is still plenty of good, clean humor for today's readers. ★★★

The Making of The African Queen: Review

Bogart: Katie, what's happened to you? You're a decent human being.
Hepburn: Not anymore I'm not. If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.

The Making of the African Queen OR How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind (1987) by Katharine Hepburn is the actress's recollections of her great African adventure some thirty years after the fact. She tells us straight off that she never kept a diary, but later in life she often wished she had because "when you've lived as long as I have...you can't even remember the plot of many of the movies you've made--or the plays--really not anything about them or who or why." So, the reader might be tempted to take her memoir with a grain of salt. But she also tells us that "there are some happenings you can't forget. There they are. A series of facts--pictures--realities. This happened to me with The African Queen. I remember it in minute detail--I can see every second of its making and of me at the time...." And we know that there are, indeed, memories like that and are ready to take her at her word.

Of course, as with many celebrity books, one is also tempted to wonder if Katharine Hepburn really did write this. I don't know if she did sit down and write it all out (or type it all out...), but this is most distinctly her voice. If she didn't write it herself, I suspect she dictated it to someone who produced it exactly as she told it. Full of vim and vinegar and a spirit of adventure that comes through in so many of her characters--particularly that of Miss Rose Sayer in this movie. Hepburn tells us that she always wanted to go to Africa and she certainly didn't want to miss out on any adventures while she was there--up to and including going on an elephant hunt (she didn't shoot any and neither did any in her party) with John Huston who was a very poor shot and certain NOT to be much protection if there was any danger. 

If I have one complaint about her memoir, it is that it is less about the making of the movie than it is the use of the movie's production as a backdrop to Hepburn's memories of Africa. Not that those memories and her story aren't worth reading about--they are, but it's not quite the story the reader expects. [Which explains a four-star rating instead of five.] 

The book has an overall feel of an afternoon visit with Hepburn. The memories pour out of her like the reminiscences which might come up in a friendly chat . It makes for an enjoyable read and an interesting peek into the life of one of America's great actresses. She not only gives great descriptions of the locales in Africa, but has also given us plenty of pictures from behind the scenes on location. 
★★★★

Cold Steal: Review

Cold Steal by Alice Tilton (aka Phoebe Atwood Taylor) finds her scholarly sleuth Leonidas Witherall returning from an around-the-world tour to Boston where his brand-new, newly-built home awaits. Known affectionately as "Bill Shakespeare," "Bill," or "Shakespeare" because of his resemblance to busts of the famous playwright, Witherall has a penchant for landing himself in the most bizarre of mysteries. There he is, minding his own business on the train from New York to Boston, when he suddenly finds himself concerned with a mousy middle-aged woman hiding a brown paper parcel (containing a gun and a pair of handcuffs!) and a beautiful redhead who keeps losing a candy-striped lipstick. He gets himself biffed over the head by said mousy woman and entangled with a young man who seems determined to prevent Witherall from reaching his home. Once home he's inundated with strange men who want to trade his brand new red refrigerator for an even "newer, better one" or who want to sell him handfuls of brushes; a Judge and her entourage who insist on seeing his whole house even before he has; a gaggle of women who welcome him with tea; and what seems to be a girl scout convention. Oh...and there's a body in his new car in the new garage...killed with a pick ax from the Chief of Police's collection. 

Witherall's friends insist that they must track down the killer themselves. He's all set to overrule them and turn it over to the authorities, until he realizes who the corpse is. Medora Winthrop not only was his closes neighbor--a neighbor who violently opposed to his new house, but an old flame who he sortof jilted. As he says: "I began to realize the possibilities of the situation. Er--'Bearded Swain Slays Former Jilted Fiancee With Police Chief's Ax'" in all the headlines. And so they're off--tracking down a delivery truck, a painter's brush box, some missing money, and a cold-hearted killer...and incidentally helping the most unexpected person get elected as Mayor.

This is another fast-paced, hilarious romp with Witherall and company. It's the kind of silly heavy-on-the-fun and light-on-the-detection kind of mystery that one needs to be in the mood for in order to enjoy. But when you're in that mood--these are delightful. It's like getting on a roller-coaster that runs at top-speed the whole ride and when you come to a stop, you catch your breath and try to figure out if you've still got all the clues with you. Don't expect to have enough to really figure things out logically and you'll be okay. I knew who did it--but I couldn't have explained it with what I had left after the wild ride if my life depended on it. Great fun for an end-of-year read. ★★★★

Ptomaine Street: Review

Ptomaine Street (1921) by Carolyn Wells is a Jazz Age story about Warble Petticoat--who begins life
as Warble Mildew, is promptly expelled from school for putting a caterpillar done the neck of another girl (which result--the expulsion--Warble has been longing for), teaches herself to bake a mean cream pie, becomes a waitress at a restaurant, presents a prosperous banker by the name of Petticoat with a piece of a perfect cream pie, and manages to become Mrs. Petticoat. Warble is an orphan and from a very different world from the one she enters as Petticoat's blushing bride. She finds her new home and new lifestyle to be greatly at odds with who she is and decides to try adjust her new surroundings to suit her. She finds this a very hard task indeed-despite entertaining her new friends with a grand party full of cream pies--to eat and to throw!--an various other entertainments.

The story is a wry comment on what it means to be fashionable or one of the "right sort." It provides an interesting examination of society and the artificial standards that set the boundaries of what is the "done thing" and what makes one fit in. It provides the contrasts between the outer and inner man (or woman, in this case)--what really makes a person who they are. Does it matter if they are fat or thin or if they wear the right clothes or attend the right kind of entertainments? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be yes. At least in these social circles. A humorous commentary and one which is said to have been a parody of Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. A fairly enjoyable, very quick read.

Dark Lady: Review

Gilbert "Gib" Fowler heads to a cozy cottage for some peace and quiet so he can finish his graduate thesis in American Literature and then get ready to marry the love of his life. Except the cozy cottage was the scene of a ghastly murder about 80 years ago. It's not haunted exactly, but he can't avoid references to it and it does haunt him in a way. He soon discovers that he's much more interested in what happened to the beautiful, blonde Leslie Saxby after her brother-in-law Deane Saxby was tried and convicted of the bloody death of his wife than the portrait of rural American life found in the works of the turn of the century. 

Deane Saxby was a great literary light of the time period which interests Fowler. That light was extinguished when he was tried and convicted of the murder of his wife. At the time, Saxby was overheard having a terrible row with his wife. Later that afternoon, she is found stabbed to death and Deane Saxby is nowhere to be found. When he is found at the train station, he appears to be shocked at the news of his wife's murder and when charged and brought to trial his first plea is "Not Guilty." But something happened to change his plea and he eventually pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He died of a prolonged illness while serving his life sentence in prison and everyone at the time thought justice had been served. But various bits of evidence just don't seem to add up. Fowler begins reconstructing the events of 1884 through conversations with old timers, newspaper clippings, photographs, and scrapbooks. He examines the murder, the suicide of Deane's brother, the inescapable influence of Leslie Saxby, and Deane's literary stories about the mysterious "Dark Lady" to come up with a different solution to the old crime.

This reminds me of Josephine Tey's A Daughter of Time. Inspector Grant, confined to his bed as he recovers from a broken leg, becomes fascinated with the portrait of Richard III and determines to get to the bottom of the murders of the princes in the tower. Starting with his faith in his ability to read faces, he doesn't believe that Richard was a killer. He uses an American researcher to investigate what records can be found. In Doris Miles Disney's Dark Lady (1960), Fowler becomes transfixed by the portrait of Leslie Saxby. Despite the fact that Deane Saxby was an American writer whose work Fowler admired, it is Leslie Saxby's portrait that draws the young scholar into the story. Fowler is a researcher in his own right, so he is the one who follows the clues laid in the newspaper reports and other materials.

Disney writes an excellent investigative story. It doesn't matter that the murder happened over 80 years prior to the book's present day. The story is fresh and the reader is very interested in what Fowler will discover as he delves into the past. The only thing lacking--from my perspective--was sufficient red herrings and suspects to make the mystery truly mystifying. If you begin with the premise that Deane was innocent, it isn't difficult to figure out the solution given all the events of that day and those which followed. As it is, Disney gives us a good solid ★★★ story.

**********
This counts for the "Full Skeleton" category on the Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt card and it is my first entry in the 1960 edition of Rich's Crimes of Century over at Past Offenses. If you have any 1960 crime fiction hanging out on your shelves, then come join us!

Do Not Murder Before Christmas: Review

In Do Not Murder Before Christmas (1949) by Jack Iams somebody doesn't heed that advice. Toymaker Piet Van Der Vant, known as Uncle Poot to children who have grown up in Shady Hollow's underprivileged neighborhood, is killed on Christmas Eve--apparently for the wads of cash he has trustingly kept stuffed in the drawers of his toy shop. Uncle Poot's toy shop is a favorite of all the kids--because his store is the first place their parents take them and because each year on Christmas Day he opens his shop for a Christmas party and lets the kids from the town's poorest families pick out any toy that is left in the shop after the Christmas buying rush.

Uncle Poot has a quaint ritual for the kids when they come to visit--they either sign their name in his registry books or leave some other mark if they can't write (fingerprints and sometimes even sweet little kiss marks from tiny lips). And upon each visit the kids make he records in those books whether the children have been good or not (for Santa). But when Uncle Poot is found dead in his shop late Christmas Eve, it becomes apparent that he must have known a little too much about somebody. There is a hint of a connection to a wealthy family, but these are the days where money could buy anything, including a quick hushing up of inconvenient stories...and, of course, it helps that a pipe with the fingerprints of a dim-witted young man is found to be the murder weapon. A quick, easy solution that will permanently hush up the wagging tongues.

Enter Stanley "Rocky" Rockwell, crusading newspaperman with a permanent grudge against the wealthy, but corrupt Malloys. Originally, sent to Shady Hollow to interview the new social worker at the Malloys' "generously" gifted community center--given to the poor section of town, he remembers stopping by to see Uncle Poot and the old toy maker's comments about a mysterious visitor to whom he may have said too much. Rocky starts digging and with the help of Lt. Bill Hammer, the only policeman who's not in the Malloys' pockets, he manages to find evidence that Loppy (the poor, dim-witted young man) has been framed. But with pressures on Hammer from above and a street brawl between Rocky and Marty Malloy threatens both Hammer's badge and Rocky's freedom. Will they be able to catch the real killer before Hammer is out of job and Rocky finds a temporary home in the local jail?

There is also a nice little love interest (and romantic triangle--Rocky-->Jane Hewes-->Marty) to distract our crusading hero and add a bit of suspense. At one point Jane disappears, apparently held captive. But it isn't Rocky who comes to her rescue--it's Debbie Mayfair, the society columnist (also known as Mrs. Pickett, 40-something and not nearly as staid as people might think). Mrs. Picket hides in a rumble seat and beards lions in the den of iniquity (a local hot-spot with nearly naked show girls) in order to rescue our damsel in distress. It's worth the price of admission just to hear Mrs. Pickett's story of her adventures.

Jack Iams is a brand-new author for me and I'm glad I have two more of his titles sitting on my TBR stacks. I plan to savor them. This is an extraordinarily fun American mystery from the 40s. I caught on quickly to the motive behind the murder and the culprit, but Iams does such a good job with his characters and the narration that it doesn't matter so much. This is a perfect mystery for the holiday season--set at the right time and a quick, fun read that fits nicely between all the seasonal activities--present-buying, card-writing, decorating, etc. Highly recommended for those looking for an interesting, light mystery for the holidays. ★★★★

******
This counts for the "Christmas Decoration" category on the Golden Vintage Scavenger Hunt card. The book has also been reviewed by Curtis over at The Passing Tramp. Stop by and take a look at what he has to say.

Cocktails & the Killer

Cocktails and the Killer (aka Ladies Won't Wait; 1951) by Peter Cheyney is purportedly (according to the back cover blurb) "an intoxicating trail of intrigue, murder and deadly romance through the bistros and boudoirs of the world's worst underground!" Michal Kells is a British secret agent hanging out in France and waiting for his next assignment when he comes across a beautiful woman--almost too beautiful to be true--who seems extraordinarily interested in him. Lucky fellow! When he finally has a chance to sidle up beside her, he's a bit surprised when she works the current code phrase into her conversation. "Ladies won't wait." They arrange a less public rendezvous, but Kells arrives to find his fellow agent dead. 

Following up what few leads he has, he discovers links to the disappearance of another agent, a possible German defector who has been working for the Russians, a highly-sought scientist, and a deadly female agent who will stop at nothing to get what the Russians want and keep the German with thoughts of the West where he belongs. Kells talks to everyone (and I do mean everyone) who might be able to assist him as he unravels the international threads. He will have to outwit the Russian lady if he's to keep the remaining players alive in this most dangerous of games.

This is a spy story that doesn't even come close to the thrills of James Bond. A LOT of talk--very little action. Kells is an agent who, quite frankly, doesn't seem to be trying to hide the fact that he's an espionage agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service. He tells at least three or four people over the course of the book what he does for a living. Shouldn't that be a bad thing? Of course, I suppose when you talk as much as Kells does in this book it isn't surprising that he spills this information. I was pretty under-whelmed by the whole thing and it should have been a dandy plot. By the time we get to the grand finale--explosion and all--it was hard to muster much enthusiasm. Especially when the big bang got so little air time. 

The odd thing is, Kells is an interesting character who is vastly under-used as an agent. The man should be having WAY more adventures with action in them. The various women that he interacts with are also interesting and could help make a great plot. If everybody would just shut up for a while and DO things instead of talking about things that have been done, are being done, or will be done.  ★★--all for characterization.

Beverly Gray's Mystery: Review

Beverly Gray's Mystery (1948) by Clair Blank features an intrepid girl detective in the mold of the original Nancy Drew. Unlike Nancy who seems to forever be in her mid- (earliest version of her stories) to late-teens, Beverly's story is a progressive one. Her fictional career begins in college, takes her through some adventures post-college, and then finds her taking on a job (as a reporter) and becoming a government agent at times. Having stumbled upon Beverly during one of our antique mall rambles, I've landed in the middle of her series at a time when she is already established as an investigative reporter.

In this adventure which occurs around the Christmas holidays, Beverly sets out to interview an Indian prince who is visiting the United States and who has given a valuable horse named Star of the East to his American friend, Mr. Mengle. She has her friend newspaper photographer Lenora Whitehill with her to take pictures of the horse and the two friends. But before Beverly can ask her first question, the prince's groom discovers that the Star of the East has disappeared. A weekend feature turns into an investigative piece as Beverly and Lenora look into the mystery of the missing horse. Things turn a bit ugly as Max Mengle is hit over the head and hospitalized, a young actress disappears (thought to be kidnapped), and Beverly finds herself nearly run over by a car and locked in an abandoned house. Did the horse-nappers attack Max? Was it the prince's groom? Or perhaps it was his younger brother--in an argument over his engagement to the actress? It all becomes clear to Beverly in the end--she finds the horse...and, incidentally, a valuable stolen jewel in the process. And the story wraps up with Christmas in Beverly's apartment with TWO Santa Clauses!

Beverly Gray is another heroine that I wish I had met when I was young. She's resourceful and independent and a good role model for young girls. From what I read of her online, she's a bit more realistic than Nancy Drew--going to work and living away from home in the big city. Of course, she still has way more adventures than most of us do in everyday life, but the stories wouldn't be nearly as exciting without them. 

Beverly uses her investigative skills to get to the bottom of this mystery--following clues, asking penetrating questions, and tracking down the missing people and the horse. It was fairly obvious to me what happened to the animal, but Blank did a good job spreading the suspicion around so it wasn't as clear who the culprit was. A fun read that would have been even better if I had read it when I was younger. ★★★ and 1/2.

The Dream Detective: Review

While The Dream Detective (1920) by Sax Rohmer does not feature his most famous creation, Dr. Fu Manchu, there is still the mystery of the orient and the occult about his work. It is a collection of ten short stories which features the antique dealer Moris Klaw who not only knows his stuff when it comes to the origins of relics of various kinds but also is an expert on Ancient Egypt, mystical oriental phenomena, the occult, and the supernatural. He detects using the "science" of the mental negative and the theory of the Cycle of Crime.

The mental negative refers to the idea that men and women leave their impressions behind them when gripped by powerful emotions--such as the emotions stirred up when murderers act or thieves have an obsession with a particular object. These impressions can be picked up by someone (like Klaw) who is sensitive to such things. Klaw receives these impressions best when he is able to sleep in the room where events have happened--sleeping undisturbed upon his red cushion which has been "odically steralised" so that he may have the purest impressions.

His theory of the Cycle of Crime says that certain incidents will continue to happen at various times throughout history. It may be something like a valuable jewel with a history of murder or accidents attached to it such as occurs in the "Case of the Blue Rajah" or just a type of crime that keeps occurring in specific places such as the "Case of the Whispering Poplars." He claims that the cycle is "as inevitable and immutable as the cycle of the ages. Man's will has no power to check it." Using his knowledge of historical crimes tied to objects and the history of the artifacts themselves, he's able to solve current mysteries.

The mysteries involved are somewhat in the Holmesian vein. Klaw often keeps secrets from his "Watson," the narrator of these stories, and the reader doesn't always have enough clues to find the solution. But they are full of unique personalities and interesting theories and whether you subscribe to any of Klaw's theories isn't really important to the enjoyment. One just needs a little bit of belief suspension. ★★★ for solid stories with good characterization and intriguing plots.

"Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room": death invades the room where an ancient Athenian harp resides. Is it a curse or is there a human agent?

"Case of the Potsherd of Anubus": An ancient vase was said to be able to summon great powers for the owner. But it was broken long ago. Will it still work if all the pieces are brought together?

"Case of the Crusader's Axe": An axe with a bloody history has claimed one final victim. But the axe is too heavy for most modern mortals. Was a supernatural power involved in the murder of Mr. Heidelberger?

"Case of the Ivory Statue": A very large and heavy statue of an ancient Egyptian statue disappears from the artist's workroom. No one could have stolen it. Did she come alive and dance away?

"Case of the Blue Rajah": The best of the locked room stories by Rohmer. A valuable diamond disappears from a locked room with a room full of men. Klaw discovers how the theft was accomplished.

"Case of the Whispering Poplars": A man bent on revenge uses the haunting of a house known as "The Park" to try and kill his target. Klaw's knowledge of the hauntings comes in handy.

"Case of the Headless Mummies": No stealing this time....the villain isn't stealing mummies he or she just beheads them. Is there some ancient rite involved? Some secret of the past? Klaw will find out.

"Case of the Haunting of Grange": Sir James invites a party, including Moris Klaw, to The Grange to experience the spooky goings-on for themselves. But an evil force is at work--again trying to use the haunting for purposes of their own.

"Case of the Veil of Isis": An obsessed man is determined to summon up the goddess Isis and has gone to great lengths to duplicate an ancient ceremony exactly in order to do so. You know what they say...Be careful what you wish for....Martin Klaw is on hand to try and dispel the effects of thoughts becoming real.

TNB -- History & Mystery: The Jekyll Revelation

This month at our Tuesday Night Bloggers meetings we will be examining mysteries within a historical context--either historical mysteries (written, say in 1930 but set in the Victorian period, for example) or which take place during or around a historical event or which address historical issues. The field is wide-open so if you have historical mysterious thoughts to share, please stop by for group discussion and I'll add your posts to the list. We tend to focus on the Golden Age of crime fiction--generally accepted as published between the World Wars, but everyone seems to have a slightly different definition and we're pretty flexible. Essays on more recent crime fiction are welcome as well.

This week's Historical Experts:
Brad @ Ah Sweet Mystery Blog: "History Crosses Paths: The Picture from the Past"
John @ Pretty Sinister Books: "The Longbow Murder (a rerun)"
Moira @ Clothes in Books: "Anachronisms Ahoy"  
Kate @ Cross Examining Crime: "Favourite Historical Novels & Writers"  
The Puzzle Doctor @ In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel: "Tudors, Stewarts and that Cromwell Chap -- 1485 to 1714"  
JJ @ The Invisible Event: "Meta-Fictional Historical Deconstruction in Magpie Murders (2016) by Anthony Horowitz"

Week #1 Post  
Week #2 Post

**************************
Fortunately my latest read fits right into our chosen theme. Just released in November 2016, it's a little outside my usual vintage fare for this meme but in The Jekyll Revelation Robert Masello revisits one of the big draws in historical mystery fiction: the identity of Jack the Ripper. Just when you think every possible solution has been given for who the Victorian killer was along comes Masello with his fictional take on certain aspects of Robert Louis Stevenson's life. It's interesting to note that the true to life, the Ripper murders began just at the time that Stevenson's story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde opened as a play in London.

Massello's story straddles two time periods--modern day California and Victorian London. An environmental scientist Rafael Salazar is on patrol looking to track tagged coyotes when he discovers an antique steamer trunk. It's primarily full of old clothes (an opera cape and other Victorian finery), but nestled among the clothes is a journal, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. As he deciphers the Victorian script, the secret origin of Stevenson's famous story of Jekyll and Hyde is revealed...as well as an explanation behind the brutal murders which had been laid at the feet of Jack the Ripper. The story of Jack doesn't stop there, however. There's another item in the trunk and it falls into the wrong hands, unleashing a terrible force in Rafe's modern world.

The story is a bit fantastic--requiring a definite suspension of disbelief to buy the basic premise behind the Jekyll/Hyde story as well as the solution to the Ripper's identity. But there is a mystery to be solved and one isn't quite sure about who the Ripper is until the very end. It certainly makes for a unique solution to the question of Jack's identity. The historical portion of the novel is very strong and it sweeps you right into the Victorian time period. I much preferred reading Stevenson's journal entries to the modern day story framing the journal. Honestly, I think it would have been a much stronger book without the connection to the 21st century--or at the very least if Rafe had discovered the trunk and then settled down to read the journal, allowing the story to unfold for the reader without the constant interruptions from current events. It lost some of the historical flavor each time we returned to 2016. ★★★

Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

The Choose Your Own Adventure series was a staple of my young reading life. I read the first ones from the local library and went on to collect numerous more of my own. They were terrific stories--bringing the reader into the story even more directly than the usual experience because the reader becomes the protagonist and is regularly presented with choices to determine their next action and the plot's outcome. The stories covered every sort of adventure from mysteries to science fiction tales to journeys under the sea and through the air by hot air balloon. When I was trying to find likely books to interest my son, I loaned out my collection and bought more. I'm not sure that he was ever as fascinated with them as I had been, but they did help my reluctant reader.

I recently decided to go back and read one that I had collected, but never got around to. Prisoner of the Ant People (#25) by R. A. Montgomery ventures into the science fiction genre. You, the protagonist, are described as a genius who has been brought into the Zondo Quest Group II. The Zondo group are working on a way to defeat the Evil Power Master who is destroying planets one by one. Your computer skills are vital to the group's research. When members of the research team begin disappearing, you and two other members (a robot and a Martian) set out to discover what has happened to them and rescue them if you can. It involves the use of a miniaturization ray and encounters with Ant People.  

Okay...so this isn't one of Montgomery's all-time best story lines. After emphasizing what a genius the reader is with computers...computer skills have pretty much zero to do with any of the possible story lines. And the tie-in between the Evil Power Master, the disappearing team members, and the Ant People is flimsy at best when the connection is made at all. Some of the story lines seem to forget that the main point was the Evil Power Master at all. The stories I remember reading, while perhaps not having indepth plots did at least have consistent ones and all of the story lines were tied to the central story. ★★ for a fair outing. The choices are interesting and there are a good number of possible endings even if they don't all tie directly to the Evil Power Master theme.

Having been a bit disappointed with the Ant People. I decide to go back to the book that first introduced me to the series and which was always my favorite: The Mystery of Chimney Rock (#5) by Edward Packard. I wanted to see if it still held up nearly 40 years later (has it really been that long?!). I checked this out of the library and fell in love with the idea of choosing my own fate in the stories I was reading. I wound up buying a copy of my very own just to have ('cause that's what I do with books I love) and foisted it upon my son in the hopes that he'd fall in love with them too. So, what's the verdict?

Chimney Rock finds you visiting your cousins, Jane and Michael, in Connecticut. Nearby is a huge stone house with turrets, walled terraces, and a square tower that looks like a chimney. Windows are boarded up and vines and bushes are growing all over. Your cousins tell you that Chimney Rock (for that's the name of the house) is rumored to be cursed and that people who have gone in have never come out. When you scoff at the idea that Mrs. Bigley, the last owner, died and put a spell of some sort on the house so her cat could live there without anyone bothering it, your cousins dare you to go in the house. Your first decision--do you take the dare or not? Depending on your choices you might fall under the curse, lift the curse, become the heir to a fortune, lose a cousin or two along the way, or never be seen again. 

Packard maintains his primary story while offering the reader multiple endings--both good and bad. There is a grand feeling of suspense and mystery and, despite being several years older, I found myself wrapped up in the mystery just as much as when I was young. I definitely would recommend this series to young readers looking for a bit of adventure--particularly the earlier offerings. ★★★★★ when I was young and ★★★★★ now.

Miss Jane Marple and The Body in the Library

Before the events of this past week, I had every intention of doing a really in-depth look at my two most recent reads. But the aftershocks of the election are still rolling the ground underneath me, so I'm not sure how this is going to go....

Twice a year Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life runs the Semi-Charmed Reading Challenge (Summer and Winter editions). Winners get to suggest categories for the next round and my suggestion for the Winter 2016 Challenge was to read two books: a nonfiction book and a fiction book with which it connects. For example: A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie and one of Christie's mystery novels that features poison, or The Monuments Men and All the Light We Cannot See. Having suggested Agatha Christie as an example, I couldn't resist using her--although I've already read the Arsenic book. Fortunately, I had The Life & Times of Miss Jane Marple, a biography of Christie's sleuth, and several unread editions of Miss Marple stories hanging about on the TBR stacks. I hooked up The Body in the Library with the biography and I was all set.

Anne Hart has done an excellent job mining the Miss Marple series for details about our favorite sleuthing spinster. She carefully read all of the Marple stories and tells us every little tidbit that she has found--from who Miss Marple's relatives are to what might have been her very first case to what a day in the life of Miss Marple is like. Sprinkled throughout are bits of Marple wisdom on life, her fellow man....and the wickedness of the common man.

The trouble in this case is that everybody has been too credulous and believing. You simply cannot afford to believe everthing that people tell you. When there's anything fishy about, I never believe anyone at all.

Hart manages to give readers an in-depth look at Miss Marple's career without revealing too much about her cases (in case anyone hasn't already read them all). This is an excellent book for any Christie fan to have upon the shelf. ★★★★

Once finished with the fictional biography of Miss Marple, I plunged into The Body in the Library (1942), the second of the novel-length stories to feature her. Colonel Arthur Bantry and his wife Dolly wake up one fine morning to discover their usually well-ordered house in disarray (or at least their household staff to be dismayed). Mary, their maid, on her usual morning rounds had opened the curtains in the library, letting the sunshine in to reveal the body of a blonde woman on the hearth rug. The Bantrys have a difficult time believing that they didn't just dream that Mary came in and announced she'd found a body, but Dolly finally convinces Arthur to go and see. And then when it's proved that there really is a body in the library, the first thing to be done after ringing up the police is to get Miss Marple over as soon as possible to begin sleuthing like mad. Dolly very naturally wants to play detective--after all it's her very first dead body--but she knows that she won't be able to make heads or tails of it. Jane Marple will take care of that and Dolly can play Watson to Miss Marple's Sherlock Holmes.

What I feel is that if one has got to have a murder actually happening in one's house, one might as well enjoy it, if you know what I mean. (Dolly Bantry)

Of  course, it's not all just fun and games. Dolly is also very worried about how her husband will take the police scrutiny and she knows that the village gossips will be hard at work offering up theories before any official investigation begins. She's hoping that Miss Marple will have the crime solved before the tongues can begin wagging.

But it's not quite that easy to discover how a cheaply dressed dance hostess from the Majestic Hotel wound up on floor of the library at Gossington Hall.  While there are no real connections to the Bantrys (other than the fact that Colonel Bantry had lunched at the Majestic just the week before), there are several leads that come to light during the course of Miss Marple's investigations--alongside those of the official police--Inspector Slack and Chief Constable Colonel Melchett. There is  Basil Blake, a local young man with connections to the film industry. Blake has been the subject of local gossip due to his frequent parties and the platinum blonde who has been living with him. And he's been known to dance with Ruby Keene--was she making trouble for him with his own blonde?

It's also discovered that Ruby had insinuated herself into the lives of a wealthy family by making herself agreeable to the patriarch, Conway Jefferson. He had taken such a shine to the girl that he had decided to adopt her and add her to his will to the tune of 50,000 pounds. That didn't go down so very well with his son-in-law and daughter-in-law. Did they do away with a young woman they felt was a gold digger before she could get the gold? Then there's Ruby's cousin, Josie Turner. When Josie is called upon to identify the body and then visit Gossington Hall (so Slack can see if she recognizes Bantry), Miss Marple notices that she seems more angry with her cousin than sorrowful at her death. Did Ruby get mixed up with a young man and ruin her chances with Jefferson? Was Josie depending on a share of the winnings and do away with her cousin in a fit of anger? And what about the missing Girl Guide, Pamela Reeve? Miss Marple is convinced that she fits into the puzzle somewhere. It will take several parallels with village life and a cunning trap devised by Miss Marple to capture the villain.

Miss Marple is at her inquisitive best. She sips tea at the Majestic and listens to the suspects chatter away about poor Ruby. She goes round with her collection box to check in on Basil Blake. She's comfortably cozy to have around, but shrewd as all get out when it comes to analyzing the crime. As she says about one of the suspects, 

Yes, I do [like him]. Most women would. But he can't take me in. He's a very attractive person, I think. But a little unwise, perhaps, to talk as much as he does.

No, they can't take her in. And that's one of the things we like so much about Miss Marple. Most people think she's led such a sheltered life in St. Mary Mead, but her everyday experiences give her a view direct to the heart of the matter. An excellent vintage mystery that, like so many of Christie's words, takes what is now a standard of detective fiction (the body in the library) and gives it a merry twist. ★★★★ and a half.

Black Widower

Mavis Ironmonger, wife of Sir Edward Ironmonger, the newly appointed ambassador to the United States from the recently emancipated Caribbean island of Tampica, is making quite a name for herself amongst the Washing diplomatic corps. Not necessarily a nice name, mind you. She's rumored to be overly-friendly with male Senators and diplomats...and even, gasp, married embassy staff. It's also said that she goes back to her music hall roots when she had a few more drinks than she ought to. And when the Ironmongers host their first diplomatic reception at their brand-new home/embassy, she manages to insult the Israeli ambassador and must be hustled off to her room before she can make an even bigger spectacle of herself. Despite having promised to behave herself and drink only straight tomato juice, she seems to have gotten herself thoroughly sloshed--to the point of passing out on her bed when she's taken upstairs.

That's when Mavis Ironmonger becomes front page news. Sir Edward sends his right-hand man Michael Holder-Watts to bring his wife back downstairs to say farewell to their guests, but Mavis has already made her final farewell...she's dead. With a gunshot in her head and Sir Edward's gun lying close at hand, it gives the initial appearance of suicide. Not the most savory of deaths for a diplomat's wife, but certainly better than the alternative...murder. And murder is just what it is. The Ironmongers' physician, flown in from Tampica, proves that Mavis was drugged (giving her the appearance of intoxication) and would have been out cold when the shot was fired. In an effort to keep things as quiet as possible, Sir Edward refuses to allow American officials to investigate a murder on what is Tampican soil and seeks help from Scotland Yard. He asks specifically for Chief Superintendent Henry Tibbett, a modest, self-effacing man whose gentlemanly demeanor masks a shrewd mind. His investigation takes him to Tampica and after interviews and a collection of clues he meets with Miss Pontefract-Deacon, known as the Queen of Tampica and a woman who knows everything there is to know about Tampica and its inhabitants. Between the two of them, they spot a pattern in the evidence and Tibbett will have to rush back to Washington to prevent a final murder.

Black Widower (1975) is not the best example of Patricia Moyes's detective fiction. The plot is serviceable and Henry Tibbett and his wife Emmy are their usual congenial selves, but transplanting them to Washington and the Caribbean doesn't work as well as their British adventures or even those that take place in Switzerland. And this time around the reader is hit over the head (repeatedly) with the primary clue. I didn't stop to count how many times it's mentioned, but I would think even the dullest of readers would pick up on the fact that was a most important item indeed. You might miss the connection with the suspect (although I kind of doubt that too). 

There is a bit of interesting commentary built into the story on race relations. Modern readers will wince at the attitudes towards the islanders (or if they don't, they should), but having lived through the 70s, I definitely recognize the attitudes. It was very reassuring to see Emmy Tibbitt's reactions to the behavior, though. 

Emmy felt her stomach turning over, and instinctively drew away from Pauline. Is it possible, she thought, that the woman really imagines that Francis can only hear her when she's actually talking to him? Is it possible that she is so insensitive as not to realize what she's saying? Doesn't she think he's human? Oh God, let's get away from them....

A book that's definitely of its time and perhaps it doesn't wear so well because of it. It would fare better if the plot were a little stronger and the clues not so obvious. Also, there is a political and financial theme running throughout the story that could have had more made of it, but I don't think Moyes was comfortable enough with the subject to use it more strongly. A decent read at ★★ and 3/4 verging on a full three.

*********
11/9/16: For a different take on this one, please see Kate's review at Cross Examining Crime. And, contrary to my remarks about the clue and readers above, I can assure you she's one smart cookie. It just proves that two people can read the same book with very different results.

*********
This counts for the "Bottle/Glass" category on the Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt card. It is also my first entry in the 1975edition of Rich's Crimes of Century over at Past Offenses. If you have any 1975 crime fiction hanging out on your shelves, then come join us!