Murder & Sullivan

 Murder & Sullivan (1998) by Sara Hoskinson Frommer

Oliver, Indiana is hit by a tornado which leaves a path of destruction in its wake. Joan Spencer--director of Oliver's Senior Citizen Center, musician, and sometimes amateur sleuth--has to take shelter in a ditch, protecting a young girl who had wandered away from her family. The family belongs to Judge David Putnam. Near-tragedy is followed by tragedy when David is killed while performing in a local production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore.

Putnam plays one of the "ghosts"--the family portraits on the leading characters wall. During the second act, the portraits come to life. Except for Sir Roderick (David's character). David is found stabbed through the heart. Joan was playing in the orchestra and her beau, police lieutenant Fred Lundquist, was in the audience--neither of them saw anything suspicious until David's body fell to the stage. Investigation seems to prove that only those playing the parts of the ghosts could have had the opportunity, but who had motive. David was well-liked--or so it seemed.

Further digging reveals that several of the cast members had been involved in court cases that had come before the judge...not always with the results they would have liked. Dr. Robert Cutts--malpractice suit. Christopher Eads and his wife Liz MacDonald--divorce case. Virgil Shoals--builder, over a house he had built (but settled out of court). They also find out that Chris Eads blamed David more directly for his divorce than for just the ruling. Liz has carried a torch for David for years and seems to have added fuel to the flames recently. Chris thinks they were carrying on an affair, but he still wants Liz back--is that enough to kill over? Fred and Joan keep asking questions and looking for answers. Until somebody thinks Joan is getting a little to close for comfort.

Another solid entry (#3) in the series. Good plot with plenty of red herring suspects--my only quibble is not enough time is spent investigating the possibilities of these suspects. A little more muddying of the waters would have gone a long way. Once we learned the nature of the weapon I quickly spotted the culprit. But I enjoy Joan and Frommer's portrayal of southern Indiana (being a resident of the fictional Oliver's near-neighbor, Bloomington). I look forward to the next installment sitting on my TBR shelves (Witness in Bishop Hill). ★★★

First line: Joan Spencer was on foot when the siren went off.

Last line: "I have every intention of messing with your mom for a long time."
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Deaths = one stabbed

The Charteris Mystery

 The Charteris Mystery (1925) by A. E. Fielding

Rose Charteris, daughter of Professor Charteris (more on him in a moment), is found dead from a broken neck at the bottom of a sand pit on the estate of Colonel Scarlett. Scarlett has given over one wing of his home to the Charteris family to use whenever they are in England. The professor is off in Italy somewhere in pursuit of backers for his latest project (synthetic emeralds). Rose was engaged to Count di Monti, an Italian with fascist ties. Also on hand is Scarlett's daughter Sibella (who seems jealous of Rose); his housekeeper, Mrs. Lane; Mr. Thornton, a writer and family friend; and Arthur Bond & John Cockburn, who seem to come as a set and are apparently hooked up to the Foreign Office. There's some mystery over a letter Rose received from her father with an enclosure that has disappeared. And, while the local police and doctor seem to think Rose's death an accident, Thornton feels that there's something not quite right about the scene in the sand pit and calls up Scotland Yard off his own bat.

Enter Chief Inspector Pointer. The Yard can't come unless the locals request it (they haven't), but Pointer is currently on leave and can do whatever he likes on his holiday. So, he decides to come down under the name of Brown, posing as a man in the book business so his connection to Thornton won't be questioned. He immediately finds signs that indicate murder. Now all he has to do is figure out who did it and why? Was di Monti jealous of Rose's sittings for a local artist? Was Sibella so jealous of Rose that she'd do away with her? And why was Mrs. Lane behaving so oddly the night of murder--cloaking herself in veils and driving off late into the night? And who was the man who slept in an empty room and left traces in the summer house--and where did he go? Then someone searches Rose's room as well as her father's London apartment. All correspondence from the professor goes missing. Was Rose killed for possession of the professor's enclosure? And what connection is there fascists and the Russians?

Pointer takes off for Italy in a search for the Professor...and hopefully some answers. But the trail leads him into fascist territory and straight to a couple more bodies. And what starts out as a simple whodunit rapidly takes a leap into political intrigue and the spy/thriller adventure story. Our Scotland Yard detective is apparently a James Bond in disguise (who is adept at actually disguise, by the way) with a Q of his own in the background to supply him with all sorts of nifty gadgets to use when in tight spots:

Leisurely he extracted his cigar case. A thick podgy case, looking none too well made. He touched a spot with his thumb and lifted out a shallow tray...Inside was a flat glass bottle, a file not much longer than a nail-file, but of the stoutest steel, a skeleton key, and a few other interesting and equally useful oddments.

Chief Inspector Pointer has everything he needs for a quick jail-break from the evil fascist's dungeon of doom. The only question is...Is the evil fascist responsible for the deaths in the story?

Despite the fact that this plot takes a sharp turn from traditional mystery to spy/thriller with a detective who behaves more like a secret agent or a Sexton Blake hero and I find it rather unbelievable that Pointer has an endless supply of cash to hire as many private detectives as needed to watch all the suspects and to take a tour of Europe and pay off all sorts of people to tell him what he needs to know....despite all that, I found this to be a quite enjoyable read. It's my first mystery by Fielding and I look forward to reading the other title I have waiting on the TBR shelves here on the Block. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: The conversation, judging by what he heard of it as he sauntered to the east lounge, did not threaten any great demands on his brain.

Last lines: "When he discovers the truth, I shouldn't wonder if there was quite a storm scene." And there was.
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Deaths = 5 (one broken neck; one stabbed; one hit by car; one poisoned; one plane crash)

The Agathas

 The Agathas (2022) by Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson

Synopses (from book flap): Last summer, Alice Ogilvie's basketball-star boyfriend, Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She's not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. Because now, another one of Steve's girlfriends has vanished, Brooke Donovan. Alice's ex-best friend. And it doesn't look like Brooke will be coming back...

Enter Iris Adams, Alice's tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn't have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke's grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter's whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn't so sure, and with Iris on her side, she might be able to prove her theory.

In order to get the reward and prove Steve's innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need--the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there's anyone who can teach the girls  how to solve a mystery it's the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into.

So...if you've read one (or more of the blurbs) and believe this to be a really Christie-driven narrative. Yeah, no. There are superficial Agatha Christie connections--like the title. Is there any real reason to give it this title? No. Did anyone at any point in the book every refer to Alice and Iris as "the Agathas"? Again, no--at least not that I noticed. Beyond the fact that Alice throws in a reference to Christie and/or her detective Hercule Poirot (and his little grey cells) periodically, the girls don't really follow any of the fictional detective's particular methods. They talk about the psychology of the crime, but is it figuring out the psychology that leads them to the murderer? No. They talk about "order & method" and go so far as to draw up a list of the suspects and motives and whatnot, but that's about as orderly as they get. The only other connection (and a somewhat tenuous one) is Alice's disappearance. It gives echoes of Christie's own disappearance when she found out her husband was cheating on her.

Full disclosure--I don't read a lot of Young Adult novels. They're just not my thing, but I needed one for a challenge. I chose this one because it was a mystery and it looked like having a nice Christie connection (Golden Age mysteries are more my thing). Now, it's perfectly possible that I might have rated this one higher if my expectations for better Christie connections either hadn't been there in the first place or had been met. But they were there and they weren't met in a satisfying way. The mystery is decent and it was a quick read. I enjoyed watching Alice learn what real friends are like once she gets involved with Iris and Iris's friends (who remind me of the gang from Mystery Inc). We had a multi-layer ending and just when I thought we'd hit the final layer, we went for one more. 

If Young Adult is your genre and/or you go into this with lower Christie connection expectations than me, then you may find yourself giving this one four stars (the most popular rating on Goodreads). As for me... ★★★

First line: ALICE OGILVE IS CRAZY.

Last line: We might as well make some trouble together.
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Deaths = 3 (two hit on head; one natural)

Strong Poison

Strong Poison (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers (read by Ian Carmichael)

As I mention in my previous reviews of the audio version of the first of Sayers's books to feature Harriet Vane, this is a perennial favorite. I love listening to Ian Carmichael read the story. I love going back to the beginning of his romance with Harriet and the beginnings of the changes and growth in his character. If you would like to see what I have thought about the book previously, please see my other reviews (linked on the Revies by Author tab above).

What I like so much about Sayers is that I can reread (relisten to) the stories repeatedly and never get tired of them. I enjoy Sayers' writing and the characters--the way Lord Peter piffles and uses quotation. This time I particularly enjoyed Bunter playing the Don Juan with the cook and the parlor maid and finding out important bits of information to help the investigation along as well as Miss Climpson's "storming the citadel" to get evidence of a certain person's motive.

One thing I did notice this time that managed to escape me on the countless previous readings was a tiny little discrepancy. Miss Climpson (who is one of my favorite characters, by the way) is having a little crisis of moral regret for how she has used spiritualism to get a look at a certain elderly lady's will. She ponders whether the Almighty will forgive her actions--especially as she's doing it to help somebody "I've never even seen" Well...she's doing the job for Lord Peter (whom she most definitely seen) and in turn this bit of deception is to help prove Harriet Vane innocent. And, again, having served on the jury in Harriet's first trial...and having been the main reason it was a hung jury and a new trial had to be called, Miss Climpson most certainly has seen Harriet as well. There isn't anybody else this could be in reference to. 

 Full marks for a grand performance of a much loved detective novel. ★★★★★

First line: There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.

Last line: "If she'll have me," said Lord Peter Wimsey.

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Deaths = one poisoned

Muscle & Bone

 Muscle & Bone (1995) by Paul-Victor Winters

A beautiful but short collection of poetry by a beautiful soul--taken from us much too soon in 2020. I was privileged to know Paul-Victor in his final year of MFA work at Indiana University. His work is touching and haunting with imagery (such as the flowers and plants) that finds its way through nearly all the poems in this book. The poems cover love and loss and grief and back again...all in the space of 32 pages.★★★★

First line (first poem): Give the old man eyes, the woman says

Last line (last poem):  above us.

Two Bronze Pennies

 Two Bronze Pennies (2015) by Chris Nickson

It's Christmas Eve 1890 and DI Tom Harper is looking forward to his first Christmas with his wife, Annabelle. They'll spend an hour with her sister and then the rest of the time will be all theirs. But...murder has other ideas. When a young Jewish man is found stabbed to death with his body arranged in the form of a cross and two pennies on his closed eyes, Harper is called out on the cold night. He grew up in the area where the victim was found--an area that has slowly filled with Jewish immigrants from all over Europe. The climate had remained calm for many years, but now "No Jews" signs are popping up throughout the area and a group of young Jewish men are forming a society to push back. After all--they were born in England and are just as British as anyone else, why shouldn't they be treated equally? Harper's superiors want him to find the killer/s quickly and prevent the massive outbreak of violence that may come if tension is not relieved.

But before Harper and his men can make much headway, a young firebrand Rabbi is also murdered and left in the same fashion. In an effort to get a lead, Constable Billy Reed agrees to go undercover in a group of "England for the English" ex-military officers. Having served in Afghanistan himself, Reed fits right in. Through his covert operations, he soon learns of a shadowy leader known only as "Alfred" (most obviously not his real name) and even gets to meet him. But before he can learn Alfred's real identity, his cover is blown. He's found unconscious and severely beaten in a woods near the Jewish district. It isn't until Reed finally awakens and there is a chance spotting of Alfred in the hospital that Harper can begin connecting the dots between the killings...the killers...and Alfred. And he still has to get hard evidence that Alfred was on the spot in order to put the man away for good. Can it be done?

A nicely atmospheric, fairly solid Victorian police procedural. It leaves a bit to be desired in actual clues/evidence (the way Harper uses Reed to make the charge stick to Alfred is a bit unsettling) but overall a good look at police procedure near the turn of the century. What I most appreciated about this one is that I got the hoped-for character expansion (which I expressed in my review of the series debut). We learn quite a bit more about Harper and Reed and the women in their lives which gives a new depth to the characters. ★★★

First line: "Have you heard a word I said, Tom Harper?"

Last line: "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you, Tom Harper?"
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Deaths = 5 (two stabbed; two natural; one strangled)

Murder in Hyde Park

 Murder in Hyde Park (2020) by Lee Strauss (read by Elizabeth Klett)

 It's time for the summer fashion show and, daring the weather, the organizers decide to set up the runway in Hyde Park. Ginger Reed and Feathers & Flair are major sponsors and Ginger had taken up the job of organizing the grand do. Famous designers from Italy and France--including the unconventional Coco Chanel--have models to display alongside the British design offerings. Despite Coco Chanel's calculated late arrival (anything for publicity!), the show begins smoothly...until models begin falling on the runway. It is soon apparent that things are far more serious than clumsiness. One of the models, an up-and-coming tennis champion with hopes of Wimbledon, dies and the cause is shown to be poisoning from a blow dart. Coco Chanel's one-of-a-kind bamboo parasol is missing and the bamboo shaft would have made an ideal method of delivery. And when evidence shows that the dart must have been sent on its deadly way from the direction of the famous designer's tent, the net gets a little tighter around her and her entourage. She calls in a favor from the Great War and hires Ginger to "prove my innocence." But as the evidence mounts, it begins to look like that may be an impossible ask. And then a second British tennis player is nearly killed...can anyone really believe that Coco Chanel or one of her fashion crew is out to knock off all the rising stars of British tennis?

A decent outing in the Ginger Gold mystery series. The mystery is fair--though once we clear one bit of evidence and possible suspect/s out of the way, there really isn't many options left in the suspect department. And the use of rare "froggy poison" that our culprit just happened to have access to and manage to sneak off with (supposedly before every having murderous thoughts against anyone). Seriously? I'm also not keen on the inclusion of Coco Chanel. First--I don't like her blackmailing Ginger over the knowledge that Coco has about Ginger's nom de plume during the war and the fact that she (Coco) isn't bound by the secrets act and could blab any time she wants to. Knowing what I now know about Coco's ties to Nazis in WWII, I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her. And, even though Ginger doesn't know what the designer is going to do in WWII, I don't see Ginger wanting to make friends with a woman who would use such knowledge as leverage (this is a "hope" Ginger expresses at the end of the case). We finally got rid of one secret service thorn in Ginger's side (two books ago), did we really need to saddle her with another? And...one final quibble: Here we have Ginger putting herself and her unborn child into harm's way again. This time pretty much on purpose--and why on earth she would trust the culprit when it was suggested that they just "shake hands and be friends" I have no idea. She's just lucky the killer had decided to aim at someone else AND had run out of "froggy poison." 

On the plus side, it was nice to see a slightly different side to the fashion industry--though a bit briefer than one might like. And the addition of tennis as a backdrop was also good. As always, the descriptions of the period and locales are detailed and intriguing. ★★★

First line: The grand fashion summer show set in Hyde Park was only one day away and Feathers & Flair was abuzz with energy.

Last line: Ginger sighed. Her natural inquisitiveness was a tremendous trait when it came to her investigative work but when it came to Ambrosia her curiosity would have to wait.
***************

Deaths = one poisoned 

The Well House Reader

 The Well House Reader (2022) by Donald J. Gray

From the book blurb: What did generations of Indiana University students think about their years on campus--the faculty, courses, administration, pressing social issues, and each other? Through student writings and art featured in The Well House Reader, the Bloomington campus across the years vividly and sometimes whimsically comes to life.

Poignant and reveling, The Well House Reader offers unforgettable glimpses of Indiana University through the eyes and experiences of is students across the decades.

An interesting cross-section of student views in essay, poetic, and fictional form with comments from everyday students to IU scholars (though sometimes only briefly) of more renown such as Theodore Dreiser, Ernie Pyle, and Hoagy Carmichael. It was a bit disappointing to see so few entries from the 1960s through the 1990s. Some of the literary journals may not have been operational during all of those years and perhaps there is not nearly as much in the archives for whatever reason, but one could have hoped for some letters to the editor from The Indiana Daily Student to give more representation. Most of the material seems to come from the 1920s and 1940s--maybe students were more vocal then. But given the turbulence of the 1960s-early 1970s, I would have expected more from that time period...at least in the Protests section. However, putting aside that disappointment, this is a pleasant trip down the memory lane that runs through campus giving us a look at the students of the past as well as highlighting some of the changes that have come to the campus itself. ★★★ 

First line (1st poem/essay): Kirkwood! Thou art not merely stone and sand;

Last line (last essay): Dean was squinting in exasperation at his next customer, and the Greek girl had found a fashion magazine to look at.

DeKok & the Somber Nude

 DeKok & the Somber Nude (1967) by A. C. Baantjer

Inspector DeKok of the Amsterdam police and his right-hand man Vledder are pulled into a search for a missing young woman. Nanette Bogaard's cousin Kristel van Daalen comes to report her as missing. Nanette is Kristel's partner in a flower business with Nanette creating beautiful arrangements while Kristel handles the business side of things. At this point the beautiful young woman has been missing less than twenty-four hours and Vledder can't understand why DeKok feels such an urgency about it. The cousin insists that Nanette has never stayed away overnight before and that she is certain that something awful has happened. As the two men begin their investigation, they find that they aren't the only ones looking for the flower-arranger. There's her morphine-addicted cousin, Frank Bogaard and journalist Barry Wieler who says he loves her but seems more like a reporter in search of a hot story, and Mr Staaten, a fiftish art collector and stockbroker who insists that the seventeen-year-old Nanette had agreed to marry him. In the background, there is Staaten's son Ronald who definitely did not care for the idea of a stepmother--especially one about his own age. There is is also the mysterious Brother Laurens, who may or may not have been Frank Bogaard's supplier, and  Pierre Popko, who painted a portrait of Nanette nude on the late Mrs. Staaten's couch.

The painting showed up at an art dealer's shop near the canals and seems to be very much in the center of the mystery. Once it's discovered, things move very quickly with Nanette's dismembered body found by the men at the Municipal Garbage Dump. A dirty one-legged doll helps lead DeKok to the location of Nanette's murder...and eventually to the culprit in this fairly grisly and cold-blooded murder.

I have such a mixed reaction here. On the one hand, I thoroughly enjoy Baantjer's style and the excellent translation work by H. G. Smittenaar. The read is smooth and fast-paced and the descriptions of Amsterdam make for a terrific background for the story. The murder is a little more violent than I tend to like, but we don't dwell on the imagery too long. And I thoroughly enjoy the relationship between DeKok and Vledder. My main frustration (which I share with Vledder) is that DeKok keeps things close to his chest--like Holmes. I guessed part of the solution. But the key word there is guessed. There are a number of observations that DeKok makes (to himself) that we're not privy to. He can't believe that Vledder (and we) didn't catch those things. But how could we? But for that I would be giving this four stars instead of ★★★ and 1/2.

First lines: It was raining. It had been raining for days, endless long July days.

Last line: "Yes," he said, "a snake in the shape of an angel."
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Deaths = 2 (one natural; one strangled)

Murder at Brighton Beach

 Murder on Brighton Beach (2020) by Lee Strauss (read by Elizbeth Klett)

Ginger and Basil take the household--adopted son Scout, sister-in-law (loosely defined) Felicia, grandmother (loosely defined) Ambrosia, and two maids--for a family vacation at Brighton Beach. And even though she's four months pregnant, often nauseous, a bit foggy-brained at times, and often tired, Ginger can't help getting involved in a mystery. When they arrive, they immediately find out that Austin Bainbridge, the brother of one of the guests, had disappeared in the last week or so. He apparently went for a swim and never came back. The authorities have determined (without a body) that it must be accidental drowning, but neither his brother nor his sister-in-law believe it. They are sure there's more to the disappearance than meets the eye. The brother had a way of backing uncertain...even sometimes shady...ventures. Could he have disappeared on purpose? Or perhaps something more dreadful than an accident has occurred?

Meanwhile, Felicia is finally making her grandmama happy by getting interested in a man with a title. Lord Davenport-Witt, is a member of Bainbridge party and a charming man. Felicia is immediately attracted and sure that this time he really is the one. (She has a history of "falling in love" at first sight...). Ginger, on the other hand, doesn't feel quite right about him (is it only pregnancy hormones talking?). She has this niggling feeling that she's met him before and there's no good vibes associated with that meeting. Felicia also has competition. Film star Poppy Kerslake has already made a claim on Davenport-Witt and is all-out to keep Felicia from knowing him better.

But...Davenport Witt is invited to join Basil, Ginger, Scout, Scout's new friend--the youngest Bainbridge, and Felicity on an afternoon sailing excursion. While Felicity meets the lord's charm with her own, Scout and his friend spy something floating near the boat. It winds up being a large trunk and Ginger and Basil suspect that they've found the missing man. They're proved right when the trunk is later opened (sans the youngsters) and now there's a murder to be solved. The local authorities ask the visiting Yard man to investigate and Basil and Ginger are off on another mysterious adventure.

The trunk belonged to Poppy Kerslake--is she involved or did someone just find her trunk to be a convenient size? When Poppy winds up dead from a tumble down the stairway and evidence points to a push rather than an accident, it looks very much like the latter. Motives begin to pile up--Austin had been frittering away the family fortune on bad deals, giving his brother a motive. He'd been throwing wrenches in the works of his latest deal, giving his business partner (also on hand) a motive. He'd had an illicit (albeit short) affair with his brother's wife, giving each of them a motive. The more Ginger and Basil dig, the more motives emerge. Ginger makes one last discovery that will solve the case...but when the murderer finds her before she can tell Basil will it actually be her last discovery for all time? [Well--of course not, she is the heroine after all. But it does look dire for a bit...]

An interesting entry in the Ginger Gold mystery series with an interesting motive for the murder. I have to say though--Ginger puts herself (and her unborn child) into danger when she really has no business doing so. She should have gone back to Basil, told him of a certain confrontation she witnessed as well as her suspicions, and let him handle it from there. But then she does have "baby brain" and isn't thinking quite as clearly as she might. I also had high suspicions of the culprit long before Ginger did (based entirely on an earlier episode when X was somewhere unexpected). Real clues though? Not until Ginger finds them in the last (dangerous) scenes. This is a fun, historical series though and I'm looking forward to the next installment with Coco Chanel. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Mrs. Ginger Reed gripped her husband's arm.

Last line: Ginger pulled back to stare at Basil, feigning offense, "As if I could."
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Deaths = 4 (two broken necks; one shot; one mining accident)

Winds of Evil

 Winds of Evil (1937) by Arthur W. Upfield

A strangler is at work at Wirragatta Station in the far reaches of the Australian outback. The killer operates during violent windstorms that last more than one night--all the better to cover any traces he may have left behind. Enter Joe Fisher (aka Detective-Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte) who offers his services to Martin Borradale, owner of the station, as a hired laborer. Though the last murder took place a year ago, Bony is convinced that he can track the killer--after all, he's not left a crime unsolved yet. When there is another attack--this time leaving the victim alive, but with a dangerous head injury, Bony finds himself next on the killer's attack list. Fortunately, the wily detective is able to escape with only a bruised throat. 

He starts with a list of eleven men as possible suspects and with patient questioning he's able to whittle the list down to five. He believes he knows who the man is and why he behaves as he does, but there's no proof. Meanwhile, a clueless detective from the nearest city has arrested a man whom Bony is sure is innocent. He decides to prepare a trap that will be sprung during the next violent windstorm....but will it catch the right man?

Another excellent mystery from Upfield--full of excellent descriptions of the outback and details enough of the windstorms to make you feel the sand stuck to your skin. Bony is good at slipping into the skin of an itinerant laborer (with Borradale's full knowledge of his true identity), though he doesn't manage to fool the landowner's sister for long. I was quite pleased with myself that I spotted the killer and his backstory well before Bony did--at least before Upfield allowed us to know that Bony did. I don't often get to the solution before the good detective. 

If you want a mystery that will give you a run for your money with great descriptions of place as well as a real feel for Australia in the 1930s, then you can't go wrong with Upfield. Just remember when these were written and that folks weren't exactly PC at the time. ★★★★

First line: It was a wind-created hell in which the man who called himself Joe Fisher walked northward towards the small township of Carie.

In, general, murderers are the most stupid of criminals, prone to commit a hundred mistakes. They are more stupide than embezzlers. I believe that it is the fear of the rope which upsets the average murderer and makes him make mistakes. Even the really clever murderer, the odd one in the hundred, will make at least one vital mistake. Not always, however, does the investigator see, or recognize, the mistakes, so that it is always the investigator who fails to sheet home a crime and not the cleverness of the criminal to get away with it. (Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte; p. 45)

Last line: "And you," loudly asserted Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, "are another!"
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Deaths =  7 (two strangled; four natural; one shot)

Titanic Captain

 Titanic Captain: The Life of John Edward Smith (2011) by G. J. Cooper

From the book blurb: The definitive account of the life and career of the respected and popular captain of the Titanic includes original research drawing on the ship's logs, crew lists, newspapers, and first-hand accounts. Edward John Smith's career had been a remarkable example of how a man from a humble background could get far in the world, and this biography tracks the fascinating career and many voyages of a seasoned captain. Born to a working-class family he went to sea at the age of 17 and rose rapidly through the ranks of the merchant navy, serving first in sailing vessels and later in the new steamships  of the White Star Line. By 1912, he was their senior commander and regarded by many in the shipping world as the "millionaire's captain." In 1912, Smith was given command of the new RMS Titanic for her maiden voyage, but should have been among the crowning moments of his long career at sea turned rapidly into a nightmare following the Titanic's collision with an iceberg. In a matter of hours the supposedly unsinkable ship sank, taking more than 1,500 people with her, including Captain Smith. This account dispels myths about the man and tracks his movements and motives in detail on that fateful night.

To be clear, the ship's logs in question are not the Titanic's--those went down with the ship. And honestly--so much of what is given in the logs from the other ships Smith served on and captained are very dry, business logs. Very little is learned about Smith from these document other than where he and the ships were and ship's business--but telling us anything new about the man himself, not really. And when the logs or letters or newspapers don't tell us something, Cooper loves to speculate. The log doesn't tell us that Captain Smith did X, Y, or Z, but we can suppose that he did because "reasons." We get that a lot--a lot more than a well-researched book should be giving.

The best of the research comes from letters that Smith wrote to various people and primarily to his nephew. Kudos to Cooper for giving us a more balanced look at Smith and for giving us more of his background growing up. It was good to see his record as a sailing man and captain prior to his taking the helm of his last command. And it was interesting to see his interactions with the elite of the Gilded Age. There is quite a bit that's new about Smith's life before the Titanic and that made the book as interesting as it was. But giving us new details about that last fateful voyage? Not so much.  ★★★--just

First line: Hanley in North Staffordshire, where Edward John Smith, the future captain of the Titanic, was born in 1850 was one of six tons that by the time of his birth were known collectively as the Potteries.

Last line: With her death Ted Smith's line and story had finally come to an end.

A Conspiracy of Poisons

 A Conspiracy of Poisons (1977) by J. G. Jeffreys (Ben Healey)

Synopsis (from book flap): The ace of Bow Street Runners, rollicking, resourceful, womanizing Jeremy Sturrock, and his dreadful clerk Master Maggsy, are back again, this time called on to investigate a Napoleonic plot which may threaten the safety of Britain in an ingenious and carefully worked-out mystery.

The year is 1804, and the trail leads from a beautiful but mysteriously poisoned prostitute to the grisly digging up of a still more mysterious corpse, back to the salons of a fashionable brothel, and on to a headlong ride to the wilds of Savernake Forest.

Once upon a time, a young Bev read A Wicked Way to Die (the second book in the Jeremy Sturrock series) and pronounced it good enough to put Jeffreys on the TBF (To Be Found) list. This resulted in my picking up both the current read (book #4) and Suicide Most Foul (book #5) along the way. I've not come across the first or third in my book hunts. And now, having finished, A Conspiracy of Poisons, I'm left wondering just what the heck young Bev was thinking. Sturrock has a fine head on his shoulders for detective work in these early days of the Bow Street Runners, I will give him that. But you'd need to do a hefty bit of detective work yourself to find a more unsavory cast of characters (every single one of them, from the "good" guys to the bad guys) in a piece of historical detective fiction. 

With the language of the book (which does its best to give us early 19th Century speech and writing patterns), it's a bit of a slog to make one's way through to the essential details. And with several characters running around under more than one name, it's a bit difficult to keep up with the players (with or without a scorecard)--especially keeping track of which ones might be minions of the chief villain. That's the good news. Once the chief villain is introduced, there's no problem remembering who they are. Unless you were looking for a good old-fashioned whodunnit and wanted to try and figure out the villain from clues. Then it's bad news, I suppose. 

We've also got a run of pretty senseless murders. The first one makes the most sense--we're afraid the woman is going to give away the whole plot against the British crown. But one is pure mistake and another is for reasons I still haven't gotten clear (and I read that bit twice). All in all, a fairly disappointing read. I can only suppose that either A Wicked Way to Die was a much better mystery or that young Bev wasn't nearly as jaded as she is now. I'll probably go ahead and read the last Jeffreys book I own--but unless it's much better than the ★★ outing I've just had, I won't be seeking out any more. 

First line: "Pray, Mr. Sturrock," said my publisher, tapping his fingers on the desk, "pray," says he, "let us have a work of more weighty matter."

Last line: I cheered as loud as Master Maggsy when His Majesty emerged from the sea.
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Deaths = 6 (four poisoned; one stabbed; one shot)

Murder in the Mystery Suite

 Murder in the Mystery Suite (2014) by Ellery Adams

This is the first in a series of  "Book Retreat Mysteries" set at Storyton Hall in the hills of western Virginia. Storyton Hall and the town which has grown up around it is a retreat for book lovers. The Hall is full of books and quiet nooks where those who love to read can come for a nice restful vacation with the printed page. There's a bookstore in town, a lovely little cafe, and, for those who want a bit of outdoorsy adventure as well, a place to rent horses. Which brings us to our first death--a beautiful young woman (whom nobody knows), comes careening through town on a runaway horse. A handsome young man, brother of our heroine Jane Steward's best friend, follows in a mad attempt to stop the horse. He manages to do so, but the young woman falls off--dead. Mystery number one--who is she? Why did she come to Storyton? Who shot the arrow that spooked the horse? And why did she did? The police can find no answers.

Meanwhile, Jane, who has taken over the management of Storyton Hall from her late husband's Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius, is planning the first-ever themed event in an effort to boost the Hall's financial situation. It will be a Mystery & Mayhem Week for mystery fans to gather for role-playing, scavenger hunts, mystery plays, and fantasy crime-solving. The big prize will be a first edition by the late Adela Dundee, creator of the great Italian detective Umberto Ferrari. Little does Jane know that there will be some real-life Murder & Mayhem, the loss of a far more valuable Dundee first-edition, and the discovery that her husband's family have even more valuable treasures at risk...and a number of people at Storyton Hall are not exactly what they appear to be. She will need to sharpen her own detective skills to find a killer, prevent more deaths, and return the missing book to its rightful place....

Spoilers Ahead!!!

Cannot fully discuss without letting a few cats out of bags.

So...first off. This is just plain fun for someone who loves books and mysteries. A resort devoted to books? A retreat where you can read to your heart's content, surrounded by books and by other people who love books? Sign me up! Having the owners devote a whole week to mysteries with a mystery-related scavenger hunt, amateur productions of mystery plays, a costume ball to dress up as your favorite detective? Yes, please. A good mystery plot that revolves around a deceased mystery writer's secret and a special edition of a book? Even better. Interesting characters? You betcha. 

And now...we get to the cats escaping from bags. So....we have a family of book guardians plopped down in the hills of Virginia in a transplanted English country house and they have a bunch of ninja/special agent/what-have-yous on staff to help them protect the secret stash of incredibly valuable and unknown works by famous authors. Okay. Fine. I can go with that. Maybe. But....you're telling me that Aunt Octavia, one of the guardians, would leave a valuable first edition with a top-secret letter from the author (so top-secret that it's been left sealed and no one has read it) stashed in the dust jacket just lying about where it could get mixed up with an almost identical, not-so-valuable first edition? That we wouldn't stash that in the hidden vault with all the other treasures?? Seriously? I mean, I realize that we lose a chunk of the plot if we're not playing hunt-the-missing book for 2/3 of the story and we might not have as many murders (or any at all), but after the crash-course in book guardianship that Jane Steward, our newest guardian, gets which drills home the idea that we have to protect the books at all costs...well, you'd think Aunt Octavia would have been a bit more cautious.

But...putting that quibble aside. This is a delightful new series debut. I can't wait to see where things go with Jane and her new duties in the next book (though I must say if we're going to have an endless parade of murders--there's nine books in the series that I see online--then I'd think folks would get a bit leery of staying at Storyton Hall). ★★★★

First line: There were books everywhere.

Last line: "My next chapter has just begun."
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Deaths = three poisoned

A Particular Eye for Villainy

 A Particular Eye for Villainy (2012) by Ann Granger

Mr. Thomas Tapley, an eccentric, scholarly, older man is found bludgeoned to death in his sitting room in the lodgings he rents from a Quaker lady. Fortunately, Inspector Benjamin Ross of Scotland Yard is a nearby neighbor and is quickly on the scene. But it's difficult to discover a motive or even a suspect for the death of a man with no apparent connections or past. But then Mr. Jonathan Tapley, QC, hears of the death and comes to identify him. It seems that Thomas Tapley had left England for France in the wake of scandal that threatened his family's good name. But what brought him back to England now? And who knew he was here and might have wanted to kill him? 

Coincidentally, Ben's wife Lizzie had seen Thomas earlier that day--and is convinced that a man dressed as a clown was following him. She also learns that he had a mysterious visitor a few days before his death. There's also the foreign couple who showed a great deal of interest in Tapley's country property. The list of suspects slowly begins to mount and when Ben realizes that the killer must have run off with Thomas's latch key, he knows that he will have a way to tie the culprit to the crime...if he can find him. And if the killer holds on to the key.

I seem to have jumped into the Inspector Ross series mid-stream, but that didn't affect my reading pleasure one bit. Granger doesn't seem to have a long story-arc going on as seems to be popular with so many series, so while it might be nice to see Lizzie and Ben meet for the first time and then settle into married life, nothing is spoiled in their life story by starting with book four. 

I quite liked the set-up: reclusive scholarly man who loves his books (and apparently spends what money he has left after lodging costs on the written word). The man has a mysterious past, no visitors (generally speaking), and there's no apparent reason for anyone to wish him dead. It's interesting to watch Ben and Lizzie each dig in their own ways to find out more about their mysterious neighbor. Granger also does a good job with the historical details and I enjoyed my visit to her version of the Victorian period. Once we learn certain details about Thomas's past, it's not difficult to figure out who killed him, but it makes for an interesting story nonetheless. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: A fine spring day in London isn't to be compared with spring in the countryside but the city does its best.

Biddle now turned even redder and I feared his head would burst into flames in the only case I'd ever seen or was likely to see of spontaneous combustion. (p. 55)

Maidservants operate a sort of telegraph system of their own by which anything like that [gossip] runs round like like wildfire. (p. 69)

"You always had a funny sort of interest in corpses. Ladies do have hobbies, I know. Only generally it's painting flowers or bothering the poor with their good works. But your pa was a sawbones, I recollect you telling me. So I suppose it runs in the family. You certainly have a particular eye for murder." (Mr. Slater; p. 86)

Last lines: "Then she'll be truly happy..." Lizzie reached out and took my hand..."like you and me."
*****************

Deaths = 2 (one hit on head; one natural)

[Finished on 6/17/26--just got the review done.]

The Case of Cabin 13

 The Case of Cabin 13 (1999) by Sam McCarver

Synopsis (from the back of the book): Passengers are dying on the White Star Lines transatlantic ocean liners. Three mysterious suicides, on three different ships--all in first-class cabins numbered 13. And with the maiden voyage of their newest ship imminent--an incomparably lavis vessel called the Titanic--the cruise line can't afford a fourth. With the police stumped, Professor John Darnell, the world's first and only "paranormal detective," may be their last hope of debunking rumors of a murderous ghost. Soon the famed skeptic has agreed to be the next occupant of cabin 13--and he's sure it's no spirit he's after.

As the world's largest and purportedly safest ship sets sail, neither Darnell's sixth sense nor his investigative skills can protect him from the twin perils he is about to face. Can the American-born Englishman possibly survive the deadly forces of both nature and man? Because somewhere on the icy sea, a killer is lurking...

Okay...I've got to get a couple of things off my chest at the outset. First there's our hero, the "first and only 'paranormal detective.'" Really? I believe (if we're sticking to fictional characters) that Sheridan Le Fanu's Dr. Martin Hesselius (from the 1870s) and William Hope Hodgson's Thomas Carnacki (first written of in 1910) would like a word. And then, like the historical mysteries that are littered with strong-minded women and the men who love and encourage them, the Titanic seems to be bursting with fictional detectives who are hot on the trail of murderers and who manage to find one of the limited spots on a lifeboat to live to tell the tale. As I said in my review of the Holmes pastiche which finds Holmes and Watson onboard the ill-fated ship:

...if all the fictional people who have sailed on the Titanic and lived to tell the tale had actually been there and done that....well, none of the real, live people who survived the tragedy could actually have made it. There wouldn't be room on the survivor roll call. 

Now that we've got those two quibbles out of the way...I am enthusiastic about this take on a mystery set on the Titanic as well as the mystery itself. The plot has a few flaws (like Darnell not actually deducing who the killer is and only finding out when the culprit sneaks into his cabin to see if the poison in his sherry had done the job), but Darnell is a charming character with a lot of promise and potential. The motive for the crimes make sense and could have been deduced, so there's a definite attempt at fair play here. It was interesting to see that McCarver gave some of the reported actions of Lightoller and Ismay to Darnell and the killer respectively, but it was done in good faith to service the fictional murder plot. This is a good debut to a series that has five more entries. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: Professor John Darnell smiled as he poked his way along through the clammy opaqueness of the thick, moist fog, using his black umbrella as a walking stick.

Last line: "I think you know," he said, smiling into her eyes, "which cabin we won't take."
****************

Deaths = 18 (two overboard; one poisoned one shot; one natural; thirteen drowned)

Spellbound

 Spellbound (apa The House of Dr. Edwardes; 1927) by Francis Beeding (John Leslie Palmer & Hilary St. George Saunders)

This is the novel that the Hitchcock movie featuring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck was adapted from. It revolves around a "House of Rest" (for which, read a mental asylum) which serves as a haven for the imbalanced rich and a place where Dr. Edwardes, who owns the castle on the on mountain, can study interesting cases without worrying about money. The house, a literal fortress, sits in a circle or rock surrounded on three sides by the sheer slope of a desolate mountain in Switzerland. When night comes, it is a great crouching black hulk which the townspeople claim is the home of the Devil himself.

Constance Sedwick is a recently qualified doctor. Dr. Edwardes is an old friend of her father's and Edwardes offers her the position of his assistant. But before she arrives, Dr. Edwardes was sent away by his own doctor for a much needed rest and she finds a young Dr. Murchison, a doctor brought in from England, in charge of the asylum. At first all seems well, but Murchison has some odd quirks--reading books about the Devil and flinching when the shadow of a cross falls on him. There is also the funeral of one of the attendants at the hospital--murdered by the newest inmate. And a tale told by the villagers of blood which appears on the white stone in the black wood whenever the Devil is about. 

Things get worse...the inmates, who were fairly docile and benign in their own delusions begin to act in strange, more menacing ways. They talk about a wedding to come and begin patrolling around Constance's room at night..."to protect her." But she believes there is danger coming. Can she escape it--and take the innocent with her?

A very interesting read. I haven't actually seen the Hitchcock film (one of several of his films that I have yet to see), so I didn't have any preconceptions going in. Quite suspenseful, though I was a little disappointed that Constance didn't catch on to what was going on a little sooner. The characters are great--particularly the patients at the asylum. Beeding does a great job making each one distinct so it's easy to keep track of who is who. 

This is very much a "how will the heroine get out of this?" and "will the villain get away with it?" kind of story rather than a whodunnit. It's pretty obvious (to the reader, if not to Constance) pretty quick what's going on here...it's just a matter of how will everything be resolved. Now I want to go watch the movie. ★★★★

1st Line (Prologue): Dearest Helen, How delightful to get your letter, which we found waiting for us at Thonon.

John is an angel, but I shouldn't care to take a honeymoon with anybody; so don't be rash, and if ever you feel in the consenting mood, which so often happens, pull yourself together and think it over. Fortunately, John and I agree about all the most important things. What I mean is that we both like to sleep with the window open. (p. 7)

1st Line (1st Chapter): Constance Sedgwick, M.D., aged twenty-six, was staring at herself critically in the long mirror.

Fortunately for Doctor Edwardes, lunacy is not confined to the poorer classes; and he had treated in his time more than one poor gentleman who, if ha had not been sitting so comfortably in Chateau Landry, might have been sitting rather less at his ease, though possibly quite as much at home, in the House of Lords. (p. 13)

Last Line: I must stop now or I shall be losing the post. We are moving on next week to Bordighera and Alaisso. My best love to you all, Always your affectionate Susan"
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Deaths =6 (two fell from height; two stabbed; one natural; one in war)

IU Summer Reading Challenge

For the first time ever, Indiana University, my alma mater and current employer, is hosting a summer reading challenge. The challenge runs from June 1 - Sept 1, 2026. And you know me--I can't resist a reading challenge. So here I go...

To complete the challenge, you can go for the usual across, down, or diagonal bingo OR you can complete the IU trident symbol (red squares) OR you can try to cover the card. I'm currently working on the trident. 

1. The Harlot of St. Cecelia's by Darcy Graves (Debut Novel)

2. A Case of Life & Limb by Sally Smith (Historical Fiction Novel)

3. Spellbound by Francis Beeding (One-Word Title)

4. The Case of Cabin 13 by Sam McCarver (Book with Number in Title)
5. A Particular Eye for Villainy by Ann Granger (Told from Multiple POV)
6. Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams (From My Own Shelves)

7. A Conspiracy of Poisons by J. G. Jeffreys (Cream & Crimson on Cover)

8. Titanic Captain by G. J. Cooper (About Grief, Loss, Or Change)

9. Winds of Evil by Arthur W. Upfield (Set in Different Country--Australia)

10. Murder at Brighton Beach by Lee Strauss (During a Vacation)

11. DeKok & the Somber Nude by A. C. Baantjer (Translated from Dutch)

12. The Well House Reader by Donald Gray (About IU History)

13. Murder in Hyde Park by Lee Strauss (Set in Summer)

14. Two Bronze Pennies by Chris Nickson (Color in Title)

15. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (Unreliable Narrator)

16. Muscle & Bone by Paul-Victor Winters (Book of Poetry)

17. Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (Reread a Favorite)

18. The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow & Liz Lawson (Young Adult)

19. The Charteris Mystery by A. E. Fielding (Classic novel--a classic Golden Age Mystery)

20. The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine (Made Into a Movie--1930)

21. Murder & Sullivan by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (Set in Indiana)

22. Dandy Gilver & an Unsuitable Day for Murder by Catriona McPherson (Mystery/Thriller)