A Question of Identity: Review

The archaeological society thought they were prepared for any remains they might find when digging in George Stebbings's back field. Of course, they expected those remains to be at least two centuries old rather than a mere two years, so they're a bit surprised and dismayed when their efforts reveal the moldering fragments of a boot and what is left of the foot within. When they realized they had a much more recent corpse on their hands, they called in Inspector Rudd (originally Finch in Great Britain) to handle the case. 

Rudd has a lot of questions as he begins the investigation. Not the least of which is who is this man? There is nothing in the shallow grave to identify the man, his fingerprints have disappeared from what's left of his fingers, he had false teeth (missing), so there are no dental records to trace. The only thing found near him is a silver-plated crucifix. And why was the man laid out as if someone had taken great care over the ceremony of his burial? Rudd also wonders about the burial site itself. It's quite a distance from both Stebbing's home and that of his nearest neighbor, Geoff Lovell as well as being well away from the road. Whoever killed the man and buried him would have had to tote the body a fair ways from any likely spot.

As Rudd and his assistant Sergeant Boyce start asking questions they find a likely candidate for the corpse. But finding enough evidence to prove their victim's identity positively winds up being trickier than they thought. It all ends with a dramatic show-down at the home of one of the farmers. But will Rudd be in time to prevent any more murders?

This is a very atmospheric piece by June Thomson. From the beginning, Rudd senses the desperation and tragedy surrounding the players in the drama. He isn't able to put all the pieces together until it is almost too late, but the clues are there for those who can pick them up. Desperation is the moving force behind the murder and the reactions of those Rudd questions. Finding the reason for the emotion unlocks the puzzle for him. A Question of Identity is another very good police procedural from Thomson with Rudd featured as an insightful detective attuned to the psychology of both murderer and witnesses. ★★★ and a half.

Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever:Mini-Review

Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever is a graphic novel adaptation (by Scott & David Tipton) of Ellison's original screenplay for arguably Star Trek's best television episode. According to Ellison's introduction, the Tipton's have done a perfect job representing his original vision: "I could not have pictured it as perfect as it has turned out." And perfect it is. Ellison's vision, per usual, is a bit darker than the televised episode, but it also digs even deeper into Captain Kirk's psyche and the loneliness he feels as the man in charge. Ellison has presented readers with an intelligent story with meaning and he does us the great courtesy of assuming that we are fairly bright people who don't need absolutely everything explained. He lets the story speak for itself. That's a great gift from a writer.

There are a few differences between the screenplay and the episode that I'd like to point out. First, there is very little McCoy here. The character who goes a bit crazy and winds up going back in time to change history in the teleplay is a drug-dealing, murderous rogue lieutenant, not our favorite doctor accidentally injected with a full hypo. McCoy shows up just once, to attend to the man Lieutenant Beckworth attacked...and then not by name. And, of course, having a drug-dealer on board the flagship of the Federation is another change. It is also nice to see Yeoman Rand represented as a competent, serious member of the crew and not just secretarial eye candy for Kirk. The other biggie is the role of Trooper, the down-and-out WWI soldier who helps Kirk and Spock find Beckworth. 

Trooper, it seems to me, was a huge loss for the televised version. The contrast between his historical value and the value of Edith Keeler is vivid and poignant. It makes a statement about sacrifice as well. Spock's sacrifice in Wrath of Kahn is important--but he makes the sacrifice for his friends and his shipmates. Trooper also sacrifices--but his sacrifice benefits strangers...and ultimately humanity's future. Hard-hitting stuff from a master story-teller.

As far as the graphic novel goes--it is gorgeous. The teleplay has been expertly adapted for the graphic novel and the artwork is impressive. Most of the regular crew members look as we expect--McCoy's brief appearance being the only exception, but perhaps since he wasn't center stage he was given quite the attention that Kirk, Spock and Rand received. Overall, a fantastic graphic novel that any Trek fan should make part of their collection. ★★★★★

Challenge Complete: A-Z Reading Challenge

It's always fun to see if I can get my reading list to complete the alphabet. I was very happy that Lori at Escape with Dollycas hosted this one this year.  And...not only did The Quiet Road to Death help me complete the Monthly Key Word Challenge, but "Q" was the last letter of the alphabet needed to complete my A-Z reading.  So, here we go...the alphabet according to my reading list in 2013:

A: Aaron's Serpent by Emily Thorn (2/22/13)
B: Break Any Woman Down by Dana Johnson (6/17/13)
C: Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie (2/7/13)
D: Death in Zanzibar by M. M. Kaye (6/25/13)
E: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (Eighty) [3/20/13]
F: Four Lost Ladies by Stuart Palmer (1/23/13)
G: The Green Plaid Pants by Margaret Scherf (3/3/13)
H: Holiday Homicide by Rufus King (4/23/13)
I: Inland Passage by George Harmon Coxe (5/2/13)
J: Jack on the Gallows Tree by Leo Bruce (6/26/13)
K: Kemp's Last Case by M. R. D. Meek (11/4/13)
L: The Lady in the Morgue by Jonathan Latimer (3/10/13)
M: Murder at Markham by Patricia Sprinkle (1/26/13)
N: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (7/16/13)
O: Once Upon a Crime by M. D. Lake (10/28/13)
P: The Puzzle of the Silver Persian by Stuart Palmer (1/15/13)
Q: The Quiet Road to Death by Sheila Radley (12/8/13)
R: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2/24/13)
S: Slippage by Harlan Ellison (1/19/13)
T: The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet (5/6/13)
U: Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood (2/11/13)
V: Veiled Murder by Alice Campbell (1/28/13)
W: The Water Room by Christopher Fowler (10/25/13)
X: The XYZ Murders by Ellery Queen (12/3/13)
Y: The Yard by Alex Grecian (9/9/13)
Z: Zima Blue & Other Stories by Alastair Reynolds (2/3/13)

The Quiet Road to Death: Review

Things are getting a bit gruesome in the village of Breckham Market.  First, a young woman's body is found in a quiet lay-by just outside of town.  The police have not been able to identify her because the murderer decapitated her and removed the head.  Then someone leaves a vicious message on Angela Arrowsmith's doorstep--her own Siamese cat, decapitated as well, and the words "Your Turn Next" spray painted on the door.  While Chief Inspector Douglas Quantrill and his new Detective Sergeant Hilary Lord are trying to track down clues in the murder and the mutilation of the cat, someone is planning another death--and soon Angela joins the tally of victims.  Did she know something about the first woman's death?  Is that why Angela had to die?  Or has someone taken advantage of the circumstances to focus suspicions elsewhere?  After all, maybe Angela's husband Simon has finally realized that he'd gotten a raw deal in the marriage market.  Or maybe her brother is tired of being her galley slave. Perhaps her brother-in-law can't stand having the family name dragged through the mud...one more time.  Or...there are those shady connections from her barmaid days.  It all makes for an interesting investigation as Quantrill tries to get used to his first female second-in-command.

Written in 1983, The Quiet Road to Death by Sheila Radley gives us a glimpse of what it was like for the male detective branch to take on female detectives.  They'd gotten used to women in uniform, but there is still a "boys club" feel to the detective service.  Quantrill wavers between feeling that Lord will be a distraction for the men to thinking that her charms might well soften up male suspects.  He's obviously trying hard to work through his rather chauvinistic views and by the end of the novel they have struck an uneasy balance.  There will definitely be some further growing pains for this working relationship in any future novels.

The mystery itself is generally okay.  There aren't a great number of suspects, so it doesn't take much to figure out whodunnit and I'm a little hesitant about the motive...but it ultimately works.  I will have to say that Angela is a thoroughly unlikeable wench and I didn't shed any tears over her death.  Poor Simon really was being railroaded.  The most interesting part of this story is watching the integration of Hilary Lord into the detective team--understanding how groundbreaking that was for women in the police force as late as the early '80s.  Not a knock-out mystery, but I will definitely be trying more to see how the relationship develops.  Three stars.

The XYZ Murders: Part III

The XYZ Murders is a 3-in-1 volume by Barnaby Ross (aka Ellery Queen aka Frederic Dannay & Manfred Lee)--the star of which is Drury Lane, retired actor and amateur sleuth extraordinaire.  Since the three novels included in this volume were originally published as separate works, I will treat them as such and review them accordingly.

The third and final novel in this collection, The Tragedy of Z, is written in a different style from the first two.  The Tragedies of X and Y are each written in the third person and center on Drury Lane with Inspector Thumm and District Attorney Bruno in supporting roles.  This third story is written in the first person and our narrator is Patience Thumm, the Inspector's intelligent, observant, and outgoing daughter.  Here, Thumm has retired from the force and is making his way as a private investigator.  He is also getting reacquainted with his daughter--who had been shipped off to Europe and parts unknown for finishing school and travels in the company of a companion.  Patience is determined to share in dear old dad's investigations and she opens her career as sidekick with murder amongst the crooked politicians of up-state New York.

Thumm is initially hired by Elihu Clay to investigate his "silent" partner Dr. Ira Fawcett, who Clay suspects of underhanded dealings in the form of crooked contracts for their marble business.  It would be no surprise if Dr. Fawcett were crooked--his brother Joel is a senator rumored to be as corrupt as they come.  The Thumms have barely begun their checks on Ira when Joel is discovered murdered with the oddest little trinket propped before him on his desk.  It is what looks to be a third of a miniature chest.  

Patience and her father quickly pick up on clues strewn about the Senator's study, but the local DA (and also, incidentally, the man who planned to run against Fawcett in the next election) fastens on a recently released prisoner with an unspecified grudge against Fawcett and hustles the poor man through the fastest trial in East.  Dow (the prisoner) is sentenced to life and has just gotten settled back into prison when he makes an escape.  And, lo and behold, if Dr. Fawcett isn't murdered that very night....with another third of the miniature chest in his possession.  Bet you can't guess who the DA picks on as suspect number one.  And who, by the way, is NOT the killer.  [That's no spoiler...anybody with reasoning skills could figure that out with the first murder.]

Patience comes up with a dandy partial solution that her dad just doesn't buy...so they toddle off to present her logic to the old master, Drury Lane.  Who absolutely agrees with her...as he says, as far as she goes.  Between the two of them, Patience and Drury will pinpoint the killer.  But it will take a grand finale in the execution chamber of the prison to bring  everything together.

This particular story was a mixed bag for me.  On the plus side, it read more quickly than the first two.  It seemed a little more action-packed, and Drury Lane didn't take quite as long to explain every little detail of the explanation.  I like Patience...but on the negative side, I wasn't as comfortable with the first person narrative.  I did like her interactions with her father--trying to convince him that she could manage in a murder investigation and didn't need to be wrapped in cotton wool and protected.  I did think it a shame that Drury was taken from the extremely fit and youthful older man in the first two novels to pretty sickly (at first) and somewhat doddering elderly man in this outing.  I'm not sure if Queen thought it necessary to make him so weak in order to have an excuse to feature the Thumms so prominently...but it was a disappointment.  Three stars only.  

For reviews of The Tragedy of X and The Tragedy of Y, please click the links.

The XYZ Murders: Part II of III

The XYZ Murders is a 3-in-1 volume by Barnaby Ross (aka Ellery Queen aka Frederic Dannay & Manfred Lee)--the star of which is Drury Lane, retired actor and amateur sleuth extraordinaire.  Since the three novels included in this volume were originally published as separate works, I will treat them as such and review them accordingly.

Part II: The Tragedy of Y is Drury Lane's second outing as recorded in print and it brings him in contact with the Hatter family--the Mad Hatters as they are known.  The Hatters are not just mad...but they are thoroughly nasty people.  The family is ruled by the imperious Emily Hatter--a woman who sowed plenty of wild oats before marrying poor York Hatter.  York had been a brilliant scientist before Emily got him in her clutches--sucking the life out of him and making him bend to her every whim.  She rules the rest of the household--three grown children, one daughter-in-law, two grandsons, a cook, a maid, and nurse--with an iron fist.  The only one she seems to have any feeling for is her fourth child--a young woman born with certain disabilities and who has acquired more.  Louisa is deaf, blind, and mute.

The old lady's preference for Louisa only ensures that the woman will be hated by the rest of the family.  And it isn't long before the family's madness and vicious streak takes hold.  York is the first to go--drowned at sea and an apparent suicide.  What follows is a rash of poisonings...all attempts to get rid of Louisa...and then, finally, murder when Emily is killed with the oddest of weapons--York's mandolin.  The police are baffled and call in Drury Lane to help them get to the bottom of the mystery.  There are clues and false clues and the first thing that must be determined is who was the real target?  Were the attempts on Louisa genuine and the old lady killed to prevent the murderer from being caught too soon?  Or will someone be wiping out as many of the Hatters as they can?  Lane discovers that there is a detailed plan being followed...but whose plan is it?  And why are there references to York Hatter when the man was the first to die?


I am enjoying these mysteries featuring Drury Lane very much.  The plots are nice and intricate and there are plenty of clues to be had.  For a fair amount of the book it looks like a dead man may be responsible and the explanation of the plot is very pretty indeed (in the short form).  My one complaint has to do with Lane's methods--he plays that brilliant amateur keeping clues from the police role just a little too well.  There are real dangers in his secrecy.  The other problem with Lane is his tendency to drag out his wrap-up.  An explanation that should take--at most--four or five pages goes on for almost twenty.  Another three and 3/4 star adventure. 

The XYZ Murders: Multi-Part Review

The XYZ Murders is a 3-in-1 volume by Barnaby Ross (aka Ellery Queen aka Frederic Dannay & Manfred Lee)--the star of which is Drury Lane, retired actor and amateur sleuth extraordinaire.  Since the three novels included in this volume were originally published as separate works, I will treat them as such and review them accordingly.

First up is Drury Lane's debut novel, The Tragedy of X. Lane is a Shakespearean actor who was forced into retirement due to deafness. As compensation for his hearing loss, he has developed an extraordinary skill at lip-reading and his acting background has given him plenty of practice at the art of disguise.  He will use both skills as he helps Inspector Thumm and District Attorney Bruno track down a ruthless killer intent on evening old scores.

The story opens with Thumm and Bruno driving up to Lane's fortress estate on a mission to solicit his help with their latest murderous puzzle.  Reference is made to the help he gave on "the Cramer case" but we, the reading public, are never enlightened with the details of that mysterious outing.  The current victim is Harley Longstreet, a wealthy stockbroker, who has been killed on an enclosed streetcar in the company of his nearest and dearest.  The method? A piece of cork stuck with dozens of pins laced with deadly poison.  And who did it? One of the people on that streetcar.  But there is no evidence and not even a clue to point the police in the correct direction.

Enter Drury Lane.  Like Sherlock Holmes, he sees and "hears" everything that the police do--but he observes all the finer points that the officials miss.  He thinks to interview those that the police miss--or give only a brief once-over.  Before long, Lane knows who the culprit is, but has no proof.  Two more men will die before Lane can help the police put the cuffs on the villain.

The story is an interesting variation on the locked room mystery.  The streetcar's windows are all shut and the doors were not opened once Longstreet collapsed.  None of the passengers were allowed off the car until the police arrived to question and search them.  And yet Lane insists that there is a certain item that must have been found if that is true.  How did the murderer kill in full view of a carload of passengers and how did she or he dispose of the crucial item?  Solve that and you'll be ahead of the police...and Drury Lane.

An interesting mystery with clues galore and twists and turns throughout.  A good fair play story--it's all there, if you're nimble enough to spot it--with (in my opinion) just one weak spot.  The wrap-up--Drury Lane gives a marathon session monologue to explain the murders.  It would seem necessary to tell us every little thought process along the way--even explaining the bits that the reader was privy to (and the police were not).  Twenty-four pages of smallish print is rather a lot of explanation.  Three and 3/4 stars...nearly 4

Kemp's Last Case: Review

Kemp's Last Case really is the last mystery featuring solicitor Lennox Kemp in the series by M. R. D. Meek.  Margaret Reid Duncan Meek was 65 when she published her first Kemp story, With Flowers That Fell, in 1983.  Kemp starts out as a disbarred solicitor turned private eye, but returns to a solicitor's practice during the course of the novels.  Kemp's Last Case was published in 2004 and Meek passed away in November of 2009.

In this final mystery, Lennox is now happily married and a doting father with a steady practice.  But he is still unable to resist the lure of a mystery.  He has been charged with the disposal of the property and earthly goods of the late Dr Ayres.  His duty to organize the property for sale to benefit her various charities.  As he clears out an ancient roll-top desk, he comes across diaries and newspaper articles referring to a twenty-year-old murder case.

Seven-year-old Rickie Fenwick had been abducted, assaulted, and then murdered and all evidence pointed to a man who died of cancer before he could be brought to trial.  There are several odd entries in the diaries which rouse Kemp's curiosity.  He had arrived in town the year after the tragedy--at which point no one was talking about it.  And no one wants to talk about it now.  Every time Lennox broaches the subject, people clam up.  Just after he discovers the materials in Dr. Ayres's desk, he is reintroduced to Lettice Warrender and her husband, Dr. Aumary.  Lettice, Tovril (or Tod as he's now known) and Lettice's brother Roger were all in the town when Rickie went missing.  Kemp tries to use his old connections to get to the bottom of what really happened on that hot August day twenty years ago...but somebody doesn't want to revisit the past and doesn't mind eliminating Kemp if need be.

***Possible spoiler ahead***

I'm in two minds about this one.  I really like Lennox Kemp.  He's a down-to-earth character.  Even though I haven't read any of the previous 13 books, I didn't feel like I needed to.  You get to know Kemp right away and Meek quickly fills in the background of why Kemp was disbarred and what he's done about it since.  Although he was disbarred for embezzlement, we instantly understand his motives and believe that at bottom he's an honest man.  He's certainly a solicitor that I would want on my side.  And he's tenacious when it comes to ferreting out the facts.  That's all to the good.  The difficulty?  I saw the solution coming from the moment the villain appeared on the page.  I didn't know quite how--but I definitely knew who.  No attempts to confuse the readers.  No red herrings.  And, honestly, it's not as if clues were thick on the ground.  It's just that what was there was telegraphed.  My other problem?  That whole child murder thing.  I don't do it well.  Fortunately, the details on the actual assault are sparse, so it wasn't as bad as it could be.  But it was enough to detract from the pleasure.  Two and a half stars.  Rounded to three on Goodreads.

Once Upon a Crime: Review

Campus Cop, Peggy O'Neill, is back to crime-busting in M. D. Lake's Once Upon a Crime.  The fact that Peggy is represented as little more than a glorified nightwatchman hasn't kept her from landing in the middle of five murder investigations in the previous series books and being on the disabled list won't keep her out of this one.  According to Peggy, all she's supposed to do at night is walk the beat, watch out for suspicious-looking loiterers, and shepherd the inebriated undergraduates home. Detective duty is not supposed to be on her duty roster, and yet....

As mentioned, Peggy is on the disabled list--recovering from the lingering effects of her last tangle with a murderer (see Murder by Mail). In her now abundant spare time she meets Pia Austin, undergraduate Hans Christian Andersen scholar and girlfriend to Christian Donnelly--the university's star quarterback.  Her friendship will result in Peggy landing a minor role in a play adaptation of The Emperor's New Clothes and a leading role in the investigation of the murder of Pia's father.  Pia's dad is Jens Aage Lindemann, Danish scholar and the leading expert on Andersen.  Lindemann has been invited as the keynote speaker at the university's symposium on Anderson, an event meant to christen the newly built children's library and special Andersen room.

After the keynote address, Lindemann is found dead in the Andersen room--with a statue of the Little Mermaid as the weapon and a smashed display case at his side.  It looks as though Lindemann walked in a thief making off with original letters written by Andersen to a friend and paid for it with his life.  But Peggy isn't so sure.  What if Lindemann--a man who seems to have gathered more than his share of adversaries and enemies--was the target all along?  Peggy will have to wade through academic rivalries and Lindemann's past love life before the motive and the culprit become clear.

This series by M. D. Lake is a very pleasant, very cozy little take on the academic mystery.  Peggy O'Neill is a very likable character--and a very down-to-earth, believable one.  It is very nice that she is able to manipulate the case so she finally gets a guarantee from her boss that she'll be sent for detective training.  She really is wasted on that night beat.  The mystery is a pretty straight-forward one with very few bells and whistles.  There are, however, enough suspects and red herrings to keep the average reader guessing.  I spotted the vital secret--but I must say I wasn't able to spot the correct killer.

My one major quibble is having Peggy act as judge and jury at the end.  A character like Holmes or Poirot packs enough punch to carry that off....I'm just not convinced that Peggy does.  Three stars for a good solid mystery outing.

The Water Room: Review

The Water Room by Christopher Fowler is the second book in his Peculiar Crimes Unit series.  It stars John May and Arthur Bryant, the octogenarian leaders of a unit of detectives who handle all the cases that the regular detective forces won't touch or can't solve.  This one begins with a simple question: How can an elderly woman drown, fully dressed to go out, in her otherwise dry basement?  Their search will lead them through a maze of shady real estate men, racist threats, shy academic types with something underhand on the side, lectures on the city's undergound river system, and some lessons in Egyptian mythology.  There's a killer on the loose who leaves no clues and who is ruthless in a hunt for a valuable art treasure.  Bryant and May are out to locate the treasure and capture the criminal before anyone else has to die. 

The use of "water" in the title of this one is very fortuitous...in a way.  Because this story is, quite frankly (in my opinion), duller than ditch water.  There are long explanatory, historical bits about the underground rivers.  There are repeated episodes with one of the characters hearing rushing water in her house, fighting off spiders, and thinking that someone is entering her house when she's not there.  There's a long time between the first murder (that no one except Bryant and May considers a murder for quite a while) and the next.  There's a lot of talk and not a whole lot of action.  The mystery could be a quite interesting one....if the story would just move along....

I read the first of this series quite a while ago (pre-blogging days) and all I can tell you about it is that I enjoyed it enough to snatch up a couple of the books when I got a chance.  But I honestly don't think I'll be reading any more.  This one just didn't do it for me.  One star.

The Yard: Review

London is still reeling from the reign of terror brought on by Jack the Ripper.  Scotland Yard has lost a great deal of the respect the populace had in its police force--all because it could not bring the Ripper to justice.  In the wake of this failure, Sir Edward Bradford, the new Commissioner of Police, creates the Murder Squad--an elite team of 12 detectives who will take on the most heinous crimes.  The Squad is immediately put to the test when one of their own is found brutally stabbed and disfigured, stuffed into a steamer trunk and left in the Euston Square Station.  

Detective Inspector Walter Day is about to get a baptism by fire.  Fresh from Devon, he is plunged into his first murder case--as the lead Inspector.  He can't afford to fail--not only are his fellow officers watching to see how the new man will work out, but how can the public feel safe if even police officers are being struck down?  Fortunately, Day has the backing of Sir Edward and the help of Inspector Blacker, a veteran detective, Constable Hammersmith, a dedicated young policeman whose sense of justice in the death of a young chimney sweep will help lead to the killer, and Dr. Bernard Kingsley, the doctor and coroner who examines the body.

This novel is a whirlwind of Victorian era murder and mayhem.  There is the main story--the horrific killings of police officers (yes, there will be more murders).  But there is also the "Beard Killer," a murderer who shaves and then kills his victims.  There are two prostitutes who are haunted by the shadow of the Ripper....and who take their own precautions against his return.  There is a kidnapped boy and the death of the 5-year-old chimney sweep's apprentice.  

And there is atmosphere--plenty of Victorian atmosphere.  From the hansom cabs waiting at the corner, to the early days of forensics, to the elderly doctor who still believes in bleeding his patients (yikes!).  Gas light and fog.  Alex Grecian does a good job setting the stage.  He is also very adept with his characters--I instantly like Day, Blacker, Hammersmith and Kinglsey.  I enjoy them individually and I enjoy seeing their early work together.  I think Grecian has the makings of a good series in his hands--and I hope the next book (which I need to order up at the library...) fulfills the promise.  

One thing you should know--this is an inverted mystery.  There is no secret about the killer's identity.  We know who it is and we get to see his thoughts and begin to understand his motives long before the police figure out who it is.  This sort of story doesn't always work for me--but it does here.  I'll be interested to see if Grecian uses the same formula for the next book.  In the meantime...this one is a good, solid three-star beginning to the series.

The Night Circus: Review

Short version of my review of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Cotton candy for the mind.  Tastes good at the time, but no lasting substance.  I am quite sure that if, as in the years before I began blogging, I did not take the time to record my thoughts on this novel then I would not remember a thing about it before very little time had passed.  Except that it's about a circus.  But that's obvious.

Longer version: So, the hype on the book is that Morgenstern has written this awesome, magical, "spell-casting novel [that] is a feast for the senses and the heart." We have a circus that arrives without warning in towns and cities all around the world.  No notices, no advertisements.  Just one day you have an empty field and the next there are black and white striped circus tents all over.  And, supposedly, lurking behind all this is an ultra-fierce, deadly competition between two uber-magicians.   For high stakes--only one can win and the only way that person can win is for the other to give up....permanently.

But the two older magicians who set the competition in motion, don't take into account one tiny, little fact.  That two magicians so closely tied, so evenly matched, so absolutely complementary in every way might fall in love.  But will their love destroy everything--the game, the circus performers, the patrons....and even themselves?

Yeah, so okay.  This was a particularly intriguing premises.  An honest-to-goodness great idea.  With marvelous descriptions of the circus and scenery.  The writing managed to keep me riveted every time I sat down with the book.  It was like eating cotton candy at the circus--it read so yummy when I was scarfing it down, and yet I didn't feel like I had much to show for it afterward.  The story seemed good at the time, but there were all these niggling points.  Like....

Why the heck did we bounce all over the place time-wise?  That made no sense whatsoever.  This wasn't a time-travel book.  The plot would have flowed much better if we could have followed the story straight.  

And why the heck is it told in the present tense?  Why are so many recent books I've picked up written in the present tense?  It doesn't go down quite as well (threw the flavor of the cotton candy off just a tad).  And why did Morgenstern tell more than she showed?  That's a big rule in writing--show, don't tell.  There were lots of sentences that read, "And then [fill in character's name] told [other character] all about it [whatever we're talking about]" And we, the readers, get to take it as gospel truth.  We don't actually see a lot of it happen.  When Morgenstern actually does allow the characters to interact and show us things, the story is beautiful--it's just not sustained.

I cared more about Bailey...one of the minor characters throughout most of the book...than I did about either Celia or Marco, our two dueling magicians.  The most feeling I had about either one of them was over the unfairness of these two old magicians using anyone they could to play out their own personal duel--without getting directly involved themselves and without caring who gets hurt along the way.  I was much more interested in Bailey and his friendship with Poppet and Widget than I was on the "a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands" that's supposedly going on between Celia and Marco. 

I also cared more about Friedick Thiessen and was pretty angry about what happens with his character.

There is very little explanation of anything for 99% of the book.  Why we're battling, how long it's gone on, what exactly will satisfy the old guys ('cause it sure isn't the demise of one of their players--that's happened before and we just start a new competition), how exactly Bailey with NO experience is able to suddenly take up the reins when needed (when you consider that Celia and Marco had years of training.....).  I could go on.
 

And yet....there is something about the book.  Something addictive that made me keep reading and made it hard to put down when I needed to.  Which would be why I'm giving it three stars instead of less (which I keep feeling an urge to do--must be the magic overpowering me).


Quotes:
Tara and Lainie do a little bit of everything. Sometimes dancers, sometimes actresses. Once they were librarians, but that is a subject they will discuss only if heavily intoxicated. [p. 58]

Follow your dreams, Bailey. Be they Harvard or something else entirely. No matter what that father of yours says, or how loudly he may say it. He forgets  that he was someone's dream once, himself. ~Bailey's grandmother [p. 87]
 
"So you see every thing before it happens?" Bailey asks. He is not sure Poppet's answer is entirely what he expected, if he expected anything at all.
Poppet shakes her head.
"No, not everything. Sometimes just bits of things like words and pictures in a book, but the book has lots of pages missing and it's been dropped in a pond and some parts are blurry but other parts aren't"
[p.196]

I am tired of everyone keeping their secrets so well that they get other people killed. We are all involved in your game, and it seems we are not as easily repaired as teacups. ~Lainie [p. 256]

P: I tried to explain as much as I could. I think I made an analogy about cake.
W: Well that must have worked.  Who doesn't like a good cake analogy?
~Poppet; Widget [p. 276]

You're in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that's enough. ~Celia Bowen [p. 360]

There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue.  Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. ~Alexander (the man in the grey suit) [p. 377]

Someone needs to tell those tales.  When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. ~Alexander [p. 381]

Jack on the Gallows Tree: Review

In Jack on the Gallows Tree, Carolus Deene, Senior History Master at a boys' public school and gentleman detective extraordinaire is faced with a very odd murder case.  In the course of an evening, two elderly ladies from Buddington-on-the-Hill are found strangled and laid out clasping an Easter lily in their hands.  The two ladies did not know each other and there are tenuous links at best between them--they both sold gold to the same "gold-clapper," for instance.  While there are obvious suspects for each of their murders individually, there doesn't seem to be anyone who would benefit from both deaths.

Deene, who has been suffering from jaundice, has been sent to Buddington-on-the-Hill for a rest cure.  His headmaster strongly objected to the doctor's suggestion of a nice bit of sea air at Bournemouth or Torquay (both places recently in the newspaper for horrid murders) and plumps for the dull-sounding Buddington.  Little did he know that he was sending Deene straight into a bit of death in the countryside.  

Deene quickly recovers his strength and is soon sitting up and taking notice of the excitement in the village. The police have few clues beyond the lilies and it is up to Deene to figure out whether a madman with thing for strangling old ladies is on the loose or if there is a clever plot behind it all.  True to Golden Age tradition he holds a final wrap-up scene in which the answers are revealed.

This is quite a fun little mystery.  Bruce's books are pretty fairly clued, filled with wonderfully eccentric characters, and make for a nice cozy evening of reading. Lots of good British humor too.  I had the wool pulled over my eyes...all ready to suspect someone who didn't seem to be getting quite enough attention and was fooled.  A good three and a half star read.

Death in Zanzibar: Review

Dany Ashton is an innocent abroad.  Brought up by a very strict, ultra-protective aunt, she has seen very little of the world and this story is about her first excursion alone.  And it just might wind up being her last.  

Dany's mother hasn't been much of one.  She has made her way through several husbands and is currently married to the famous author, Tyson Frost.  They decide to invite Dany to Zanzibar where Frost (through his father, the rakish Emory Frost) has rights to Kivulimi: "The House of Shade", a house bestowed up Emory as a gift from a local potentate. Dany is thrilled at the chance to finally see the world and has great plans to have a good time.  

Before she leaves she has been commissioned to stop by Frost's lawyer's house and pick up an important envelope.  She changes the appointment time from afternoon to morning and that's when her planned vacation begins to fall apart.  The lawyer is killed not long after Dany's visit and the police are interested in finding the "mysterious young woman" who was seen leaving the scene.  She obstinately refuses to identify herself with the authorities because she doesn't want her chance at an exotic trip to be cancelled.

Her hotel room is ransacked, her passport is stolen, and she manages to lock herself out of her hotel room in the middle of the night.  Enter Lash Holden--handsome and impetuous son of a friend of her stepfather's--who is also in the hotel waiting to leave for Zanzibar.  Lash is spending his last hours getting thoroughly drunk in response to being jilted by his fiancee and comes across Dany in the hotel hallway on his return from his binge.  He comes up with a plan for Dany to impersonate his secretary (who conveniently has the mumps and who Dany happens to vaguely resemble--enough to get by on her passport).

With a quick dye-job turning Dany into a rather dowdy looking redhead, they manage to smuggle Dany past the airport officials and are on their way.  But danger follows them.  A fellow passenger is poisoned on the journey and then one of her step-father's house guests falls to her death from a stone staircase.  Clues are constantly being planted to frame Dany even after the envelope's contents disappear, but they manage to foil the murderer's plans.  Will they manage to unmask the villain before s/he decides to eliminate Dany altogether?

This is a fun, light, romantic mystery.  Dany is a shade too babe-in-the-woods.  Honestly, I don't drink and hadn't been out amongst people who did much--but I recognized my first drunk when I saw him.  It does seem a bit unlikely that she had no idea that Lash was plastered when she first met him.  But--I suppose it's necessary to suspend one's disbelief in order for the story to proceed as planned.  The cast of characters, witty dialogue, and spectacular descriptions and local color (based on Kaye's notebooks from her trip to Zanzibar) all make the read well worthwhile.  Three and a half stars.

Break Any Woman Down: Review

Break Any Woman Down by Dana Johnson is a modern classic.  Winner of the 2001 Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction, these stories are authentic and honest.  Sometimes honest in the most painful of ways, but all the better for it.  Johnson easily captures the voices of black women of all ages--from the earliest days of elementary school to the older woman sitting on her porch and reminiscing about her child- and young adulthood.  These stories are raw and emotional and will strike a chord with anyone who can sympathize with what it's like to struggle to find your place in the world or to navigate the rocky roads of relationship.

I find it more difficult to review short story collections.  I feel like I ought to give a brief write-up on each story--but it's sometimes difficult to do that without  giving the plots away.  Let me just say that these are finely crafted stories and well worth the read.  My favorites are the title story and "Mouthful of Sorrow."  The characters are strong and dynamic.  Four stars for a terrific collection.

Challenges: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Adam's TBR Challenge, Back to the Classics, Monthly Mix-up Mania, Mount TBR Challenge, Off the Shelf, Outdo Yourself, A-Z Reading Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches

Inland Passage: Review

Well-known for his hard- to semi-hard-boiled crime novels and characters created in the Black Mask pulp magazine, George Harmon Coxe's Inland Passage would seem to be a stand-alone, more straight-forward crime fiction novel.  Sure, there are some gangster-types lurking about, but the focus of the mystery is more of a simple whodunnit than most gangster-oriented stories.

Knox Randall had taken a bruised heart and three thousand dollars with him to Florida.  His plan included wine, women and song (well...good times, anyway)--enough to help him forget the girl back in New York who had bruised his heart.  He is down to his last three dollars and forty cents when a newspaper ad catches his eye.  A Mr. Perry Noland is looking for an experienced sailor to run his boat up north--payment of a small sum up front and whatever Randall can earn from taking on passengers for a pleasure cruise up the coast.

It sounds ideal to Randall and soon he has hired first mate/steward/cook to help with the duties and has rounded up a full complement of passengers.  But all is not what it seems--from the initial hire to passengers traveling under assumed names to gangster-types following the boat by land.  The owner of the boat is found shot to death and the first mate isn't long for this world either.  Randall, an advertising businessman by trade, begins to wonder just what kind of a job he's taken on.  He knows that there is some sort of sleight of hand going on beyond the murders and, having fallen for one of the passengers, he makes it his business to get to the bottom of things.

And get to the bottom, he does.  This was an interesting, fun, and fairly light crime novel from the '50s.  Randall is a great character and most of the other characters are flushed out with few mystery stereotypes.  He plays his final wrap-up scene well--with a nice bit of action thrown in.  A pretty fairly clued mystery--I had my suspicions about the villain of the piece, but didn't quite put it all together.  Three stars for a solid mystery.

Challenges: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Outdo Yourself, Vintage Mystery Challenge, Mount TBR Challenge, Off the Shelf, A-Z Reading Challenge, Mystery/Crime Reading Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, Monthly Mix-up Mania

Holiday Homicide: Review

While most of New York City rings in the New Year with parties and hoop-la, Death celebrates the changing of the calendar with a party of its own.  But instead of laughter and drinking, murder is on the agenda in Rufus King's vintage mystery Holiday Homicide. Real estate magnate, Myron Jettwick, invites friends and family to his boat on New Year's Eve in preparation for a yachting trip to Tortuagas. He invites his ex-wife and step-son, his sister, a rival in real estate and her daughter, and is joined by secretary and the boat's captain and crew. 

All goes well until his stepson Bruce (who is incidentally also his nephew) gets a telephone call at 3 am.  The voice says that it is Jettwick and asks Bruce to come to his cabin.  When Bruce gets there he finds Jettwick dead from a gunshot wound in the head. Rather than raise the alarm, Bruce goes back to his room to wait for someone else to discover the body.  Once the murder is discovered, he belatedly remembers that he has left fingerprints on a mirror in Jettwick's cabin (a mirror which he used to see if the man was still breathing) and this sends him out on deck to have a good think while waiting for the police to arrive.

On the yacht anchored nearby is Cotton Moon, a wealthy private detective with a weakness for exotic nuts who will immediately put the reader in mind of one Nero Wolfe and his prize orchids.  Moon comes equipped with a wise-cracking right-hand man--Bert Stanley, a jewel of a cook, and team of investigators that he can call on for extra legwork.  Bruce absent-mindedly throws a rare sapucaia nut and hits Moon with it--gaining the detective's attention on two counts...the nut itself and the early morning antics of his neighbor dressed in pajamas and a robe while pacing in the New Year's snow.

As soon as Moon hears the set-up...and Bruce's aunt Emma Jettwick dangles $30,000 plus expenses in front of him...he's on the case.  There's a curious collection of botany books, hard and icy spots under the newly fallen snow, nut shells where they shouldn't be, and a mysterious black box that isn't where it should be.  There's an ex-lover of Jettwick's ex to find and complainant in a robbery case to track down.  Moon will hire a diver and filch a few important papers....and in the end will decide that the group really needs to take that trip to Tortuagas in order to bring the mystery to a close.

This is an excellent pastiche of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin and it's so well-done that one doesn't even mind the comparisons to a far more famous detective duo.  King has his own brand of humor and a slick writing style that makes reading this adventure a real pleasure.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Moon and Stanley and watching how they dealt with suspects and policemen alike.  Like, Wolfe, Moon is completely sure of himself and doesn't mind sailing a bit close to the wind when it comes to methods.  He's sure the D.A. won't mind if he bends the rules just a bit.

I have just a couple of quibbles with King's plot.  The first is fair-play....well, there isn't as much as I'd like.  There's one major clue that the reader doesn't even know about until the end.  There's a hint that Moon has somebody on hand to track down that particular sort of clue, but the reader isn't shown it and has no way to hook it up with a suspect.  The second is the big reveal of the culprit.  I can't explain properly without giving it away....but I just don't see how the who was where they were. Not unless they had an accomplice.

But, overall, a fun little jaunt with a couple of detectives that I wouldn't mind seeing more of.  Four stars.

Quotes:
Walter brought in the hot spiced rums, and Moon told young Jettwick to drink one of them and calm down, and under no circumstances ever to admit to a willingness to have committed a murder which has just been done. (p. 11)

Her face had the regulation number of features, and would have been a distinct pleasure to look at if she had wiped off the careworn, haggard look of seventeen which, she later told me, was imperative for a girl's first season. (p. 23)

Well, I have always said that nothing can be more lethal in a nice way than a nice woman when she turns tiger in defense of her young. (p. 36)

Everybody's a little screwy here or there, don't you think? (Jepson McRoss, pp. 43-4)


Challenges: Vintage Mystery Challenge, Outdo Yourself, What's in a Name, Mount TBR Challenge, Off the Shelf, 150 Plus Reading Challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, A-Z Reading Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, Mystery/Crime Challenge, A-Z Mystery Author Challenge, Monthly Mix-up Mania

84, Charing Cross Road: Review

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff is an absolutely delightful book.  It is one of those rare things--a book that is not a vintage mystery that, having now read it from the library, I simply MUST get my hands on and own as soon as possible.  Yes, it's that good. It speaks directly to the soul of every book lover.

It begins in October of 1949 when Hanff, a poor proofreader and budding scriptwriter, first writes a letter to Marks & Company in London.  She is in search of inexpensive antiquarian books of good quality--something she can't find in her native New York. What begins as a search to quench her literary thirst turns into a twenty-year correspondence with Frank Doel (and other staff members at the British bookshop).  Although Helene writes often about her dream of visiting London one day, the two never meet and their correspondence becomes a lovely friendship based on their common love for the written word.  

This is a charming book that immediately won over this long-time bibliophile.  I can certainly understand Helene's raptures over receiving a perfect copy of a book long sought after.  I share her horror at finding that Marks & Co. wraps its shipments in pages from dismantled books (although I am dismayed to discover she had no problem tossing some of her lesser valued books in the trash to make room for more beloved books).  At just 100 pages, it seems hard to believe that two personalities could take such a firm hold on the imagination.  It is wonderful to read these letters from an era when one could get three antiquarian volumes (yes, THREE) for about $5.00 (and it doesn't make me too envious....).  Once I get my hands on my very own copy I will most definitely be rereading to discover any gems that were overlooked on this go-round.  Five stars--absolutely.  Filmed version is next on the docket.  Review to be added soon.

3/21/13: The film

Oh my.  How often does a film version of a book live up to expectations?  Not very.  But, oh my goodness, this does. Anne Bancroft is marvelous as the brash American looking for rare books in all the wrong places....until she discovers that ad for Marks & Co in London.  And Anthony Hopkins is perfect as the reserved British bookman who can't help smiling over the outrageous notes he receives from overseas.  The movie perfectly captures the time period as well as the camaraderie that develops between the two book lovers who never have the chance to meet.  I don't tear up often over movies, but I did when Helene had to cancel her plans for a trip to London in favor of necessary dental work and then again when she finally makes it "across the pond" after Marks & Co is closed and Frank Doel has passed away.  A touching, charming, delightful movie that breathes life into the letters that passed between these two.  A five-star movie as well as a five-star book.

Quotes:
I don't add too well in plain American. I haven't a prayer of ever mastering bilingual arithmetic. (p. 3)

Savage Landor arrived safely and promptly opened to a Roman dialogue where two cities had just been destroyed by war and everybody was being crucified and begging passing Roman soldiers to run them through and the agony. It'll be a relief to turn to Aesop and Rhodope where all you have to worry about is famine. (p. 7)

I do love secondhand books that open to the page some previous owner read oftenest. The day Hazlitt came he opened to "I hate to read new books," and I hollered, "Comrade!" to whoever owned it before me. (p. 7)

I require a book of love poems with spring coming on. No Keats or Shelley, send me poets who can make love without slobbering-- (p. 10)

WELL!!! All I have to say to YOU, Frank Doel, is we live in depraved, destructive and degenerate times when a bookshop--a BOOKSHOP--starts tearing up beautiful old books to use as wrapping paper. (p. 17)

WHAT KIND OF PEPYS' DIARY DO YOU CALL THIS?  this is not pepys' diary, this is some busybody editor's miserable collection of EXCERPTS from pepys' diary may he rot...i enclose two limp singles, i will make do with this thing until you find me a real Pepys. THEN i will rip up this ersatz book, page by page, AND WRAP THINGS IN IT. (p. 31)

you better watch out. i'm coming over there in 53 if ellery is renewed. i'm gonna climb up that victorian book-ladder and disturb the dust on the top shelves and everybody's decorum. Or didn't I ever tell you that I write arty murders for Ellery Queen on television? All my scripts have artistic backgrounds--ballet, concert hall, opera--and all the suspects and corpses are cultured. Maybe I'll do one about the rare book business in your honor, you want to be the murderer or the corpse? (p. 47)

First, enclosed find $3, P-and-P [Pride & Prejudice] arrived looking exactly as Jane ought to look, soft leather, slim and impeccable. (p. 58)

Don't remember which restoration playwright called everyone a Varlet, i always wanted to use it in a sentence. (p. 61)

Why is it that people who wouldn't dream of stealing anything else think it's perfectly all right to steal books? (p. 61)

I'd love to have the Macdonald edition--or any nice edition. If it's Reasonable, of course. Nothing's cheap any more, it's "reasonable." Or "sensibly priced." There's a building going up across the street, the sign over it says:
     "One & Two Bedroom Apartments
     At Rents That Make Sense"
Rents do NOT make sense. And prices do not sit around being reasonable about anything, no matter what it ways in the ad--which isn't an ad anymore, it's a Commercial. (p. 69)


Challenges: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Outdo Yourself, Library Books Challenge, Book to Movie Challenge, Book Bingo, A-Z Reading Challenge, Book Blogger Recommendation, 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Monthly Mix-Up Mania

The Lady in the Morgue: Review

My copy

The Lady in the Morgue is the third book in Jonathan Latimer's series starring detective William Crane.  Crane is a fast-talking, hard-hitting, hard-drinking private eye who finds himself in the middle of the mystery of the missing corpse.  

The story opens in a Chicago morgue.  The detective agency that Crane works for has been called in by a prominent and wealthy New York family to find out if the remains of an apparent suicide under the name of "Alice Ross" is actually those of the daughter of the house.  Before any positive identification can take place, "Alice's" body has been "kidnapped" and the morgue attendant killed. The District Attorney, who seems to have a grudge against Crane, would love to saddle the private detective with the murder and the theft of the body. Two rival mobsters also believe that Crane is responsible for the corpse's disappearance and are willing to use whatever means necessary to make him reveal where she is.  Crane spends the rest of the novel trying to track down the missing body, find out who she really was, and--incidently--who killed both her and the morgue attendant.  He hooks up with two other operatives from the agency and spend a wild couple days--digging up graves, attending pent house parties, visiting dance halls, and being pushed around by mobster heavies.  The story comes full circle when Crane & company finally track down the missing lady and bring her back to the morgue for a final showdown with the culprit.

Written in 1936, there is a lot of ultra-non-pc humor and references that some readers may not be able to overlook. And, for me, there seemed to be way more swearing going on than I'm used to in my vintage mysteries.  All that aside, this is an action-packed, fast-paced example of the screwball hard-boiled mystery. Crane is successful in his investigations, but one would be hard-pressed to say that it was expected.  The man spends more time downing whatever alcoholic beverage is handy (even mistaking embalming fluid for a delectable drink!), sleeping (or wishing he were sleeping), and wise-cracking with his colleagues than he does in actual detective work.  But when the going gets tough, he does use his brains and deliver the goods.  And the story is fairly clued, too--a bonus for a hard-boiled outing.  But the highlight of this story is the interaction between Crane and the other operatives. Their antics in the car when they transport the missing body back to the morgue are not be missed.  Three stars.


Quotes:
They assured him positively, on their honors, that they had not. Did he think they were the sort of characters who would dream of drinking anything before lunch? Did he think that? They both were deeply hurt. (p. 70)

"I suppose one of you even now has some of this deadly, habit-forming drug concealed about his person." [Bill Crane]  They looked at him solemnly, protesting their innocence. O'Malley, in all fairness, said, yes, he did think he had a small potion somewhere about him. There was no telling when a man would be overcome with faintness; it was foolish to take a chance. (p. 71)

I solve 'em, drunk or sober ~Bill Crane (p. 82) [Apparently his motto....]

To Crane the scene looked like one of those horror movies in which mad scientists bring monsters back to life. In the flickering blue-white light O'Malley's face was fish-belly white; the girl's serene, peaceful, terrible. O'Malley held her away from the wall, let her drop. "Good catch," he said, and turning to Crane and Williams, watching bug-eyed, added, "Come on, you mugs."
In the space of a dozen major claps of thunder they were beside the rented car. "How're we going t' get her inside?" Williams wanted to know. " You can't bend her."
They finally angled her in the rear door and propped her up in one corner. Crane got in beside her, asked dubiously, "I wonder if she'll  act as a conductor for lightning?" (p. 204)

All the best people have tried to kill me at one time or another. ~Bill Crane (p. 237)

Challenges: 150 Plus Reading Challenge, A-Z Reading Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, Monthly Mix-up Mania, Mount TBR Challenge, Mystery and Crime Challenge, Off the Shelf, Outdo Yourself, Vintage Mystery Challenge, Book Bingo, A-Z Mystery Author