Challenge Complete: Embarrassment of Riches

 

The Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge

This was Patricia's first time sponsoring a reading challenge and I felt it my duty as a certified Reading Challenge Addict to support her.  She is doing a fabulous job!  Thanks, Patricia for helping me keep my challenge addict list nice and full.

I signed up for the top level:
 
Platinum: Read 50 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013.


Here are the books read for the challenge:

1. The Man Who Went up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1/8/13)
2. The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (1/13/13)
3. The Puzzle of the Silver Persian by Stuart Palmer (1/15/13)
4. Slippage by Harlan Ellison (1/19/13)
5. The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield (1/21/13)
6. Four Lost Ladies by Stuart Palmer (1/23/13)
7. The Case of the Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner (1/24/13)
8. Veiled Murder by Alice Campbell (1/28/13)
9. The Cavalier's Cup by Carter Dickson (2/5/13)
10. Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie (2/7/13)
11. Aaron's Serpent by Emily Thorn (2/22/13)
12. The World's 100 Best Short Stories, Vol. III: Mystery by Grant Overton, ed (2/24/13)
13. Three English Comedies by A. B. De Mille, ed (2/27/13)
14. The Other Side of Tomorrow by Roger Elwood, ed (2/28/13)
15. The Green Plaid Pants by Margaret Scherf (3/3/13)
16. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (3/6/13)
17. The Lady in the Morgue by Jonathan Latimer (3/10/13)
18. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (3/11/13)
19. The Diplomat & the Gold Piano by Margaret Scherf (3/16/13)
20. The Lady Vanishes (aka The Wheel Spins) by Ethel Lina White (3/17/13)
21. A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield (3/22/13)
22. Unhappy Hooligan by Stuart Plamer (3/24/13)
23. Sally's in the Alley by Norbert Davis (3/25/13)
24. Black Widow by Patrick Quentin (4/3/13)
25. In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (4/9/13)
26. The Mountains Have a Secret by Arthur W. Upfield (4/16/13)
27. The Devil's Stronghold by Leslie Ford (4/21/13)
28. The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken (4/21/13)
29. Holiday Homicide by Rufus King (4/23/13)
30. A Private History of Awe by Scott Russell Sanders (4/27/13)
31. Death Has Green Fingers by Lionel Black (4/30/13)
32. Inland Passage by George Harmon Coxe (5/2/13)
33. The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet (5/6/13)
34. Sleep No More by Margaret Erskine (5/21/13)
35. Death at Crane's Court by Eilis Dillon (5/23/13)
36. The Curse of the Bronze Lamp by Carter Dickson (5/27/13)
37. Miss Silver Deals With Death by Patricia Wentworth (finished 5/28/13)
38. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (6/7/13)
39. Murder on Safari by Elspeth Huxley (6/8/13)
40. The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers (6/12/13)
41. Murder Within Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/14/13)
42. Break Any Woman Down by Dana Johnson (6/17/13)
43. The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers (6/18/13)
44. The Father's Day Murder by Lee Harris (6/18/13)
45. Death in Zanzibar by M. M. Kaye (6/25/13)
46. Jack on the Gallows Tree by Leo Bruce (6/26/13)
47. The Listening by Kyle Dargan (6/28/13)
48. Mystery Train by David Wojahn (6/28/13)
49. Death & the Gentle Bull by Frances & Richard Lockridge (6/29/13)
50. The Mummy Case Mystery by Dermot Morrah (7/3/13)

Completed Last Night: 7/3/13

The Mummy Case Mystery: Review

Beaufort College, Oxford has a problem.  First of all a couple of men pull a prank during the Commemoration Night dancing.  They promenade through the festivities with the mummy that  Professor Benchley has recently acquired--leading the college members on a merry chase that ends with the mummy being returned to Benchley's rooms and the pranksters being debagged (de-pantsed) and escorted from the premises.  Later that night, the dance is interrupted again when Benchley's rooms are consumed by fire.

The destruction is so great that the body found amongst the rubble cannot easily be identified.  If it is Benchley, then what happened to the mummy?  And if it's the mummy, then where is Benchley?  The coroner's court brings in a verdict of accidental death for the professor, but Professors Sargent and Considine are not convinced.  There are several items that are not easily explained by the accident--what are bits of an alarm clock doing in the rubble when Benchley never used one? What happened to the professor's gate key?  Why was his academic rival seen skulking away from the college? And what about his favorite pipe?  Sargent is determined that it all hinges on the pipe.

Their investigations will lead them to Isle of Wright, the home of Professor Bonoff--the academic rival. And they will find several interesting clues in the professor's home.  Not to mention a run-in with the mummy pranksters that doesn't end quite so well for the Oxford gents. We wind up with not just one mummy, but four (or is it five) and a last-minute chase onto a steamship bound for America.  But trust the academics to worry away at the questions until they find all the answers.

This is a wonderful academic mystery--thoroughly steeped in atmosphere and brimming over with witty professors, dotty dons, and eager undergraduates.  There's a couple of mild and discreet love interests, but the romances don't overshadow the main event and the detection going on.  I enjoyed all of the characters, but most especially Professor Monitor who is apt to wander off into delightful digressions.  For instance when he's talking about his friend Benchley's planned vacation:

He was going on his holiday, yesterday, you know, and he always sent his luggage in advance. A most dangerous habit that I outgrew myself donkey's years ago. When you're as old a traveller as I, you'll know that you should never let yourself be separated from your portmanteau. I made the mistake once, and it led to my being presented to the Dowager Empress of China in khaki shorts with a scarlet patch on the seat. (p. 120)

The Bunny family is also a lot of fun.  Like Yvette at In So Many Words (click for her review), I find this large (!), eccentric family to be one of many pleasant interludes in this lovely vintage mystery.  Four stars.

John over at Pretty Sinister Books has also reviewed this one in the past.  Please click his blog name to check out his thoughts on The Mummy Case Mystery by Dermot Morrah.

Quotes:
Now look here, Humphrey, once and for all, let's make up our minds that we don't want any heavy-footed copper charging about among our clues. (Denys Sargent; p. 88)

My dear Denys, this is what comes of amateur dabbling in detective work. It's all very well to go trailing after an imaginary murderer. but when your clues start leading you to Monitor, of all impossible people in the world, I give up. Give me a nice, fat, heavy-footed, unimaginative copper. (Humphrey Considine; p. 113)

C: Yes, but what's the good of doing it? We know it's a dead end.
S: Oh, I'm not disputing that. But it's surprising what a lot you can find by exploring blind alleys. (Considine, Sargent; p. 115)

I can't conceive that a college meeting, particularly when it's disguised as a coroner's jury, should ever come to a right decision. (Sargent; p. 151)

We're trying to make an exhaustive study of the evidence. Evidence that points to an impossible culprit may be the most important of all. It's something to be explained, and the explanation may contain the solution of the main problem. (Sargent; pp. 161-2)

Clever people are always a bit queer, and when a gentleman's a professor and a foreigner at the same time, what are you to expect. (Mrs. Bunny; p. 207)

Challenges:
Vintage Mystery Challenge, Outdo Yourself, Mount TBR Challenge, Off the Shelf, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Adam's TBR Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, A-Z Mystery Author Challenge, Monthly Mix-up Mania,

Death & the Gentle Bull: Review

Death and the Gentle Bull by Frances & Richard Lockridge finds Captain Heimrich investigating an unusual murder--death by Angus bull.  And not just any Angus bull...a reputedly gentle International Grand Champion bull worth about a quarter of a million dollars (in the 1950s!).

The bull in question belongs to champion breeder, Margaret Landcraft--a woman used to getting her own way and in so doing has often rubbed others the wrong way.  It appears that she has irritated one too many.  Margaret hosts a party on the eve of a grand sale of some of her prize Angus beef cattle, but she won't live to see any profits. She is found battered to death in the stall of her prize bull and it looks for all the world as if she must have irritated him and driven him to crush her against the walls.

But State Trooper Ray Crowley doesn't quite believe it and neither does his dad.  Both know cattle--not quite on the same level as the Landcrafts, but they still don't believe that the gentle giant would have turned on his owner. Crowley takes his doubts to Captain Heimrich who soon doesn't believe it either.  And when photographs taken by the Life magazine crew (there for the sale) prove that the bull must have been used by someone to kill the headstrong cattlewoman, Heimrich and Crowley get down to the business of finding out just how someone could commit death by bull.  As the district attorney says, it's the "biggest blunt object I ever heard of. A ton or so of bull, used as a murder weapon." (p. 87)

This is another fun, light mystery by the Lockridge team.  The murder method is ingenious--if perhaps a little unlikely.  But don't let that spoil your fun.  You can always count on the Lockridges for quirky characters and a fun mystery.  Not meant as heavy-duty, clue-laden, in-depth puzzlers, but perfect for an easy afternoon read. As a little bonus, they have a way of writing about animals that give cats, dogs....and bulls a lively personality of their own without making them too human.  Not my absolute favorite Heimrich story, but a good solid three stars.

Mystery Train: Mini-Review

I just mentioned in my previous review that reviewing poetry is difficult for me. It hasn't gotten any easier with David Wojahn's collection titled Mystery Train.  Wojahn's work ranges from narrative poems that reflect experiences well outside his own--showing his ability to tell stories from various points of view--to a series of imaginative snapshots from the lives of various rock 'n roll legends which combines actual events with fictional story lines.  These poetic vignettes reflect the range of human experience from comedy to tragedy, from love to despair.  An interesting and ambitious collection from a very good poet.  Three and a half stars.

A few lines that I particularly liked:

I aimlessly walked that day, and every day for six
   uneventful years. My students
find your poems "cranky and obscure." A dull-witted Brit
   has written your
unreadable life. 

* * *
                                How wrong and petty any life is.
This poem is not for you.

~from "A Fifteenth Anniversary: John Berryman (January 1987)"

     Always people say you walk 
ahead into the future, though in truth
you walk backwards towards it, and only
     the past spreads its vista before you,

     though always, my friends, it is fading.
And you try to remember what it is that you
believed in. You try very hard.
     You wait. You watch until it's gone.
~from "In Hiding"

The Listening: Review

Describing the experience of reading really good poetry is difficult.  I appreciate what Emily Dickinson said about reading poetry: "If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know it is poetry.  If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know it is poetry.  These are the only ways I know it.  Is there any other way?"

Kyle Dargan writes that kind of poetry.  The Listening was his first collection, but it doesn't read like a debut effort.  At the time the book was published, he was still in the MFA program at Indiana University but he writes with the assurance of a man who is already a master of his craft. He uses sound and linguistic gymnastics to weave his verses--mixing jazz and hip-hop to create his own lyric voice.   This is the real deal and the best news is that he has two more collections of poetry out there waiting to be read.

I always feel inadequate when I get ready to review a book of poetry.  I feel like the philistine in the art gallery: I don't know a lot about art, but I know what I like.  And I like what Dargan does with these poems.  A lot. 

A few snippets to give you a taste:

           This skin has

a deeper appetite

           for light than most.

  ~from "Of the Sun"

This is how we will find him:
on our hands and knees,
combing over flailed books--seashells
beneath a forgotten tide.
Occasionally we'll wrench  something up ,
not what we are looking for, and read it anyway.
~from "Search for Robert Hayden"

[about a squirrel]
                                                         She crawls over,
stands up to eat. Then back to four legs,
combing the ground, only to become biped again--switching
back and forth as if evolution 
is some LP you scratch and backspin.
~from "Redefinition" 

After-dinner ninjas* In the backyard,
me and my brother roundhousing
and backhanding lightning bugs
into a dim oblivion*
~from "Last Dragons" 

Ella's on a reconnaissance mission
in heaven--eyes closed,
translating things we can't see into song.
~from "Chiaroscuro"
 

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.

The Father's Day Murder: Review

The Father's Day Murder by Lee Harris is one of a series...all with holiday-related titles...about Christine Bennett, an ex-nun who has a talent for solving mysteries that others have long given up on. In this one the murder is more current, but Chris still finds herself digging into the past to find the seeds of the present crime.

The Morris Avenue Boys, nine friends who lived in the Bronx on Morris Avenue when they were children, gather every year for a reunion to catch up on old times.  This year's celebration takes place on Father's Day--one of the few times these successful middle-aged men could find time in their busy schedules to make it back to New York.  All of the "boys" show up except for Fred Beller who grew up to hate New York, left it, and never returned, and George Fried who has passed away.  The other seven have all remained close and have always enjoyed their reunion party.  Until now...

Someone brings along an extra party favor and takes the opportunity to stab one of the Morris Avenue Boys to death with an ice pick.  Arthur Wien was a celebrated author and the most well-known of all the "boys."  Now he's making headlines again--this time as the victim in what seems to be a motiveless crime.  

Chris, who works as an instructor at a local college, is called in by one of her former students who thinks that her grandfather has been fingered as the most likely suspect.  As Chris begins her investigation, she is told over and over again by the "boys" and their wives that Arthur was a great guy, that everybody loved him, that they were all so proud of how well he'd done.  No hard feelings anywhere.  But if that's true, why did he wind up on the floor of the men's room stabbed with an ice pick?   Chris uses her skills as a sympathetic listener and keen questioner to sort through memories and stories of a group of closely-knit friends and discover what could turn a friend into a killer.


These mysteries featuring Chris Bennett are generally fun and light. No matter how difficult the subject matter, Harris never gets gritty when writing about it. And even though this one is a bit more intense, we definitely stay within the cozy realm and the book was easily finished in a single sitting. While it may be said that Chris seems to have a lot of "luck" in her investigations, they are always interesting and her character is very likable and believable. It helps that she really likes what she does and is very compassionate in her dealings with victims and perpetrators alike. I highly recommend this series when you want something satisfying but not too heavy.

(This one was actually finished on 6/18/13....I'm just a bit behind on my review.)

The Chinese Parrot: Review

The Chinese Parrot (1926) is the second in Earl Derr Biggers's mystery series featuring Charlie Chan.  The Charlie Chan stories were first serialized in The Saturday Evening Post.  What is interesting is that these stories were running during the same time period as Sax Rohmer's "yellow peril" Fu Manchu.  Biggers's representation of Asians may not be perfect, but it is certainly far more positive than most of the Western literature of the early 20th century.  The Chinese detective from Honolulu manages to outsmart everyone in this snapshot of 1920s America.  And he's using his intelligence for good, rather than in an evil "yellow" plot to wipe out civilization.

A society lady who has fallen on hard times (read: her wastrel son has squandered the fortune his father had left) is forced to sell her valuable string of pearls in order to meet debts and have something to live on.  Millionaire P. J. Madden is determined to have the pearls as what he calls a just revenge for how this lady looked right through him when he was a nobody bellhop.  A deal is arranged by Eden, a prominent San Francisco jeweler (and friend of the lady's family).  Charlie Chan, formerly a houseboy in the lady's home and now a detective with the Honolulu police, is asked to transport the pearls to San Francisco where he will join the jewler's son, Bob, for the journey to New York to deliver the pearls.

But the jeweler receives a phone call changing the plan--Madden has decided to visit his desert ranch and wants the pearls delivered there instead.  There are known criminals lurking about and Bob Eden--and Chan--begin to be worried about the arrangements. It is decided that the two will travel separately and Chan will disguise himself as a man in need of work in order to get into Madden's home. He masquerades as Ah Kim, a "boy of all work" who tends the fireplace, cooks, picks up supplies, and occasionally chauffeurs.  Once established on the ranch, they encounter a Chinese-speaking parrot who dies before he can tell all, someone else will be murdered, and Bob will play poker with a millionaire and one of the shady characters.  There will be tales of arsenic and Chan will find a hidden bullet hole as well as the missing gun which was responsible.

I grew up watching the Charlie Chan movies on Saturday/Sunday afternoon television and I must say that I appreciate this novel much more.  I enjoyed the mystery and the wisdom of Chan.  It didn't matter that I suspected who was responsible the entire time...there were enough twists and turns and unknowns to make for an enjoyable read.  Three and a half stars.
 

Murder Within Murder: Review

First off, this copy of Murder Within Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge is an awesome book.  I'm not talking about the read yet--just the book.  I mean, look at that cover engraved with all sorts of murder weapons.  Is that not just perfect?  I'm so glad the hubby snagged this off of E-bay for one of my 2011 Christmas presents.

Oh, and the story itself is pretty darn good too.  But then I'm biased--I have a thing for the light and breezy novels penned by the Lockridge team.


Miss Amelia Gipson (that's with a "p" and NOT with a "b" as she would most emphatically point out) is very sure of herself.  She has a high standard of morals...which practically no one can meet.  Except Miss Amelia Gipson, of course.  And she loves to point out when someone she knows has fallen short of the mark.  She's an ex-teacher who probably never gave out an "A"--because there are no perfect students, you know.

Since retiring from the fictional Ward College (a girl's school in Indiana), she has moved to New York, taken an apartment, meddled in the lives of her niece and nephew (whose trust fund she administers), and signed up as a researcher for North Books.  Her current project is to track down info on several murder cases of the near-past (near to 1946, that is) to provide facts for the authors who will write the cases up for an up-coming North publication.  She winds up poisoned while sitting in the New York Public Library, hard at work on her note-taking.

Deputy Chief Inspector Artemus O'Malley, as usual, is hoping for a simple answer.  He's thinking suicide sounds really good.  After all, how could anybody get the retired teacher to down a dose of poison at the library?  But Lieutenant Bill Weigand is quick to discover Miss Gipson's ties to North Books--which, of course, means that Pam & Jerry North are going to involved.  And O'Malley's hopes for a simple case go out the window....because as Sergeant Mullins always says, when the Norths are involved, it always gets screwy.  Miss Gipson's notes soon prove to Weigand that it's a case of murder and not suicide, but there are still some pretty simple possibilities.

Gipson's niece and nephew both have reason to want their meddling, holier-than-thou auntie out of the way.  And then there's a former fellow teacher who lost his job because of Gipson's interference and who just happens to be in NYC now as well.  And there's also Gipson's long-time friend who wrote the victim a very odd letter just days before the murder.  A letter that says what Gipson's doing "isn't safe."  It could still turn out to be a nice, simple, easily explained little murder.

But Pam has other ideas.  She's just sure that Miss Gipson's research is the root of the problem.  That Miss Gipson discovered something new on one of the old murder cases and made things too hot for a murderer who had so far gone undetected.  Is Pam right?  Or will the clues lead her...and Weigand...to an ordinary murderer?

This book is a very good snapshot of New York City at the end of World War II.  The opening has Pam trying to "churn" her own butter (with an egg beater) because she's used up all her ration points.  There is also discussion of what life was like for the soldiers returning from the war.  Mix that with the humor of the Norths and the light and breezy tone and you have a winning combination.  Four stars.

The Riddle of the Sands: Review

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers is another one of those books.  Like A Coffin for Dimitrios by Ambler, it's a big deal.  Ambler is credited with inventing the modern suspense novel.  Childers is credited by many critics as having written one of the best spy novels ever written--the classic Secret Service novel.  It's supposed to be a terrific spy novel kind of book.  I get that.  I get that Childers did something great and did it early (1903!).  But it just didn't do a whole lot for me.

Why, you may ask.  Well, I'll tell you.  Because for a large portion of the book, it's NOT about spying really.  It's about two guys on a boat.  Two guys who weren't really friends before they got on the boat together.  They just kind of knew each other and the first guy (That would be Arthur Davies) has been puttering around in the North Sea and out of the blue sends a letter to the second guy (Carruthers, minor clerk in the Foreign Office) and asks if Carruthers would like to join him on his little boat, the Dulcibella, for a late season holiday.  Carruthers comes along thinking it's going to be a jolly holiday only to find that it's a really tiny boat and there's no crew.  It's just him & Davies.  And it's a lot of work.  He spends a few days being disgruntled about this, but then suddenly has a little epiphany about how great this really is and then Davies Reveals All.  They become great chums and go off to spy out the land because England's gonna need this one day and Davies has gotten real suspicious of what might lurk out there amongst the sand and the water because of a run-in he had previously with a Bad Guy.

And I'm thinking, "Cool.  Now we'll get down to cases and the real meat of the story is on its way."

Only it's not.  Because first we have to talk A LOT about the guys sailing the boat.  And tides.  And sand. And letting the warp out (or in or something).  And calm water and not so calm water.  And running aground.  And kedging-off....and a whole bunch of other really nautical-sounding  words that I'm still not sure I understand what they are.  And more tides.  And running through the locks.  And tugboats towing them.  And lashing their little boat to a bigger boat.  And charts and channels and watersheds. And, by the way, more sand.  Lots of sand.  

I suppose I should have known that sand was important.  After all, it's in the title, right?  But honest to goodness, I was so tired of all the details about sailing the boat and all the mentions of sand and whether the sand was showing or whether it was covered in water that by the time we did get around to the actual spy/thriller action of the story I was too sand-bound to be terribly impressed.  Norman Donaldson tells us in the intro to the Dover edition (which I read) that "the richness of technical detail, especially in the yachting sequences, would have made it an outstanding and unforgettable volume of adventure even if the intelligence -gathering episodes had been replaced by, say, a treasure hunt or a search for the great auk."  Um.  Yeah.  If the reader's really into the finer details of yachting (and hearing about them for pages on end), then, yep, it's a riveting little adventure novel.  

As for me, a little bit of detail on how to sail the boat would have gone a loooooong way.  And a quicker route to the action would have made this a much better read for me.  I wasn't expecting the Victorian novelist's penchant for describing things in incredibly minute detail to be so prevalent in a spy novel.  Not that I can't read Victorian novels with the best of them--but I sort of expect that sort of thing from a Dickens or an Eliot or even a Collins.  Not from a spy thriller.

I must admit that I did like the main characters and I enjoyed their camaraderie (although as I briefly mention, I think it was a bit quick off the mark considering how they started).  More of them doing something other than sail the boat or talk about sand would have been a welcome treat.  Two and a half stars (rounded to three on GoodReads) for the characters, their interactions....and for this being a big deal kind of book.


Challenges: Outdo Yourself, Monthly Key Word, Mount TBR Challenge, 1001 Books Before You Die, Off the Shelf, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Mystery and Crime Challenge, Embarrassment of Riches, 150 Plus Reading Challenge, Monthly Mix-up Mania, Vintage Mystery Challenge [Catergory #34: Somebody Else's Crime--book also read by Rich @ Past Offenses]

Murder on Safari: Review

I had seen various copies of Elspeth Huxley's mysteries numerous times at our Friends of the Library bookshop.  I had also read a lovely review of Murder on Safari penned by Sergio over at Tipping My Fedora back in 2011.  I eventually picked up a copy for myself in June of 2012 and here I am now with my own take on Huxley's book set in Kenya, Africa.  I'm afraid that TomCat over at Beneath the Stains of Time will be most disappointed to find that I lean more heavily towards Sergio's rating of the book than I do his.  While this is an interesting example of a Golden Age (1930s) mystery in an unusual setting, I wouldn't put it on my all-time Best 100 list.

The story takes place on (surprise!) safari in Africa.  Lord and Lady Baradale have paid good money for a luxurious outing in the African veldt for themselves, Lord Baradale's daughter Cara from a previous marriage, and her fiance, Sir Gordon Catchpole.  Along for the ride are a mechanic (who is, incidentally, Lady Baradale's toy-boy lover) and a maid.  They have hot baths, a top-notch chef, a well-stocked liquor cabinet, one of the best white hunters around--Danny de Mare, an aviatrix to spot game for them--Chris Davis, and more servants in their entourage than might be found at most good hotels.   Oh, and Lady Baradale, who wears Chanel No. 5 in the jungle, has brought along her safe full of fabulous jewels.  And then seems surprised that someone might relieve her of the choicest pieces of her collection.

Superintendent Vachell of the Chania Police is brought in by Lady Baradale to hunt down the culprit.  The assistant to Danny de Mare is let go--both to provide a cover story for Vachell who takes on the position as a disguise and to remove temptation from Cara Baradale's sight. It takes very little time for Vachell to reveal how little he knows about the white hunter business as well as to be faced with the murder of Lady Baradale.  Lady Baradale wasn't exactly the most beloved of people.  She liked her own way--and had a way of getting it no matter who she had to hurt or anger in the process.  So the question is was the murder a result of the jewel robbery or was it more personal?  It will take another murder and a couple of attempts on the Superintendent's life before Vachell will be able to put all the pieces together--and even then he won't have enough evidence to prove it without the culprit making a get-away that's as good as a confession.

I will say that this is the best mystery yet that I've read which was set in Africa.The safari setting was interesting and unusual and provided much of the exciting elements of the story--from encounters with elephants, lions, and a wounded buffalo to rains that cut the safari off from outside help to a plane crash.  It managed to provide some of the "closed society" feel of the Golden Age novels.  And I did appreciate how fairly clued the mystery was.  So much so that Huxley provides footnotes to refer readers to where the clues appeared in the story.  I didn't find this nearly as distracting as Sergio did.  What I did find a bit annoying was that after being hit over the head and important evidence removed from Lady Baradale's safe right under his nose Vachell didn't seem to give any thought to leaving all his evidence locked in his evidence case in his tent while he went wandering around the camp and hunting areas.  A safe is much more impregnable than a locked evidence case and yet he just assumed that all his little accumulations would be fine in a tent that he repeatedly notes has no door to lock.  Even if someone didn't force the lock and take the evidence (which they did), all they had to do was grab the case and go hide it out in the jungle somewhere or drop it in the river full of crocodiles.  At the very least, I'd be carrying those items around with me....

I didn't really care for most of the characters either.  It was hard to have sympathy for any of them, even our intrepid Superintendent...the best of the bunch is Chris Davis, a very independent woman for the time period.  I like the way she so easily spots that Vachell is no white hunter and the easy repartee between them--and I can appreciate her difficulties as revealed in the denouement.

Overall, this was a pleasant read and good puzzle--but I rate it middle of the road at three stars.

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

The Sense of an Ending: Review

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes is another book that I had eagerly anticipated but which has let me down a bit.  Up till now, I had really enjoyed every book I'd read by Barnes--except for Arthur and George (an over-rated, over-long book in my opinion). The Sense of an Ending was okay....a decent read...a three-star, average read, but Barnes's best work?  I don't believe so.

What we have here is Tony Webster, a pretty self-centered teenager who never really grew out of it.  In middle-age he is finds himself the recipient of a bequest given to him by the mother of an ex-girlfriend.  This is a woman he met once and she has left him a monetary gift as well as the diary of one of his friends from school and young adulthood.  Except he doesn't get the diary.  It's in the hands of his ex-girlfriend--who by the way was the girlfriend of Adrian (the diary's author) until he (Adrian) committed suicide--and she refuses to hand it over to him.  

The entire story revolves around Tony--what he remembers, what he has forgotten, what he doesn't remember correctly, and what he just doesn't get at all.  And Veronica (the girlfriend) reminds him repeatedly that he "just doesn't get it and never will."  Of course, as he points out to her, she isn't giving him a whole lot to go on.  She could actually talk to him and explain a few things--but where's the fun in that?

On one level, this is an interesting look at memory and how we as individuals tend to edit and rewrite our personal histories as we tell them over the years--whether we're just telling the story to ourselves or repeating it to others.  But it is also a rather tedious story about a man who really hasn't learned much in his 50-60 years on the planet.  And when he starts to learn things about his past and how he may have misinterpreted events, he doesn't learn from that; he doesn't really try to understand.  He's just worried about what other people think of him.

The best thing I can say about this one is that it has provided me with a lot of quotes for my collection.  That's rather unusual....normally when I snag a large number of bon mots from a work, I tend to rate it much higher.  Ending has a fair number of snaggable thoughts....just not an overwhelmingly spectacular overall effect.

Embarrassment of Riches: May Check-in

 

The Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge

  May Check-in
 Here I am, hanging my head in shame, to join in the May check-in.  Somehow, I managed to totally miss the fact that there were check-ins for any other months.... 

I signed up for the level below:

Platinum: Read 50 TBR books between Jan 1 and Dec 31 2013

So far, I've managed to read 37 books towards my goal.  Even though I'm rapidly gaining on the magic number 50, I've felt like this year of reading and blogging has been off...I'm not getting near as many books read as I planned and my blog posting has fallen off too.  That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying my reading, though.  I've had some really good reads--Slippage by Harlan Ellison, Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie, and A Private History of Awe by Scott R. Sanders being the favorites.  Here are links to all my reviews:

1. The Man Who Went up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1/8/13)
2. The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (1/13/13)
3. The Puzzle of the Silver Persian by Stuart Palmer (1/15/13)
4. Slippage by Harlan Ellison (1/19/13)
5. The Web Between the Worlds by Charles Sheffield (1/21/13)
6. Four Lost Ladies by Stuart Palmer (1/23/13)
7. The Case of the Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner (1/24/13)
8. Veiled Murder by Alice Campbell (1/28/13)
9. The Cavalier's Cup by Carter Dickson (2/5/13)
10. Corpses at Indian Stones by Philip Wylie (2/7/13)
11. Aaron's Serpent by Emily Thorn (2/22/13)
12. The World's 100 Best Short Stories, Vol. III: Mystery by Grant Overton, ed (2/24/13)
13. Three English Comedies by A. B. De Mille, ed (2/27/13)
14. The Other Side of Tomorrow by Roger Elwood, ed (2/28/13)
15. The Green Plaid Pants by Margaret Scherf (3/3/13)
16. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (3/6/13)
17. The Lady in the Morgue by Jonathan Latimer (3/10/13)
18. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (3/11/13)
19. The Diplomat & the Gold Piano by Margaret Scherf (3/16/13)
20. The Lady Vanishes (aka The Wheel Spins) by Ethel Lina White (3/17/13)
21. A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield (3/22/13)
22. Unhappy Hooligan by Stuart Plamer (3/24/13)
23. Sally's in the Alley by Norbert Davis (3/25/13)
24. Black Widow by Patrick Quentin (4/3/13)
25. In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (4/9/13)
26. The Mountains Have a Secret by Arthur W. Upfield (4/16/13)
27. The Devil's Stronghold by Leslie Ford (4/21/13)
28. The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken (4/21/13)
29. Holiday Homicide by Rufus King (4/23/13)
30. A Private History of Awe by Scott Russell Sanders (4/27/13)
31. Death Has Green Fingers by Lionel Black (4/30/13)
32. Inland Passage by George Harmon Coxe (5/2/13)
33. The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet (5/6/13)
34. Sleep No More by Margaret Erskine (5/21/13)
35. Death at Crane's Court by Eilis Dillon (5/23/13)
36. The Curse of the Bronze Lamp by Carter Dickson (5/27/13)
37. Miss Silver Deals With Death by Patricia Wentworth (finished 5/28/13)

Miss Silver Deals With Death: Review

I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of blogging.  As I mention in the note above, last week was a bit of a trial and I had no internet access at all.  Unfortunately, that means my review of this one is going to be a bit sketchy, particularly when it comes to my thoughts...I had just finished it (May 28) when I had to head to my parents' house.



Miss Silver Deals With Death (aka Miss Silver Intervenes) is one of Patricia Wentworth's early outings with the former governess turned private investigator.  The sixth in the series, this story focuses on the inmates of Vandeleur house and the murder that takes place on its once grand upper floors. The house was once a showplace of the Victorian era--home to a famous court painter.  Since then it has been divided into eight flats with secrets behind every door.

There is the woman whose circumstances have changed and who is steadily selling off her possessions just to have money to live.  There is the secretive gentleman who won't tell anyone what he does for a living.  There is the downtrodden daughter who is a virtual slave to her overbearing mother.  There is the apparent invalid and her tiny entourage.  There is the victim-to-be, Carola Roland, a member of the theatrical community who is currently taking rest and waiting for a possible future husband to divorce his current wife.  There is Mrs. Underwood who is being blackmailed and her sleepwalking maid....and then there is Mrs. Underwood's niece (by marriage, "not that I make any difference about that"), Meade Underwood.

Meade has come to stay with her aunt in order to recover from a disastrous shipwreck resulting from an enemy torpedo.  Meade not only needs to regain her strength, but she also must recover from the loss of her fiance, Giles Armitage who disappeared when the ship went down.  One evening Meade is on her way home after running errands for her aunt when she runs into Giles.  She immediately recognizes him--but he has lost memories from the months prior to the torpedo attack through to the time of his rescue.  Their courtship had been a short one, so all memory of Meade and their engagement are gone.

As Meade and Giles start to get to know one another again, the secrets in Vandeleur house start trickling out.  Carola Roland claims a prior acquaintance with Giles....a very close acquaintance....and she begins to act very sly and nasty indeed.  Meanwhile, Mrs. Underwood consults Miss Silver about the blackmail but before much can be done Carola is murdered and Giles becomes a chief suspect.  Hot on the trail of the blackmailer, Miss Silver manages to uncover all of the secrets lurking behind the closed doors of Vandeleur house....including the identity of the murderer!

Miss Silver is good comfort, cozy reading.  I'm not entirely sure how well the temporary, partial amnesia is portrayed...and that does seem to be a favorite plot device for various vintage mystery writers...but it does make for a nice little storyline.  I enjoyed the way Wentworth handled her characters and let us in on the secrets behind the flat doors.  Three stars for a comfortable read.