Challenge Complete: Meet the Protagonist

Meet the ProtagonistReading Challenge 2014

Sponsored by Joanne @ Littlequeen Rules

January 1 - December 31 2014

Joanne stepped in to the challenge-hosting waters this year with her Meet the Protagonist Reading Challenge. I, being the challenge-junkie that I am, just had to join in.

• A woman who is a mother.
• A real life person who written into a fictional story.
• A person that changes forms.
• A person who is from a country different than the one you currently live in.
• A person who lived before WW1.
• A person who lives by a body of water.
• A person younger than 18.
• A character that is in a book series.

And here is my list of books read for the challenge:

1. Mother: Sinners & the Sea by Rebecca Kanner [Noah's wife--mother of Ham, Shem & Japeth] (5/21/14)
2. Real life person in fiction: The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepherd [Sir Joseph Banks, botanist; Robert Brown, botanist; Peter Heywood, member of the crew involved in the H.M.S. Bounty mutiny; and Aaron Graham, magistrate & counsel for Heywood's trial] (3/8/14)
3. Changing Forms: Undead & Unpopular by Mary Janice Davidson [vampires] (6/17/14)
4. International Person: Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell [Sweden] (1/5/14)
5. Pre-WWI: Whispers of Vivaldi by Beverle Grave Myers [18th C] (5/21/14)
6. By a Body of Water: Plain Sailing by Douglas Clark (6/11/14) AND The Corisican Caper by Peter Mayle (6/11/14)
7. Younger than 18: Dorothy Dixon & the Double Cousin by Dorothy Wayne (4/26/14)
8. Series Character: India Black & the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr [India Black #4] (3/19/14)

 

Undead & Unpopular [...and Unbelievably Bad]

Let's start off with my short, to the point review over at Goodreads: "Rather than post what would probably come across as a rant (and possibly get my review deleted...), let me just say: This book is just incredibly not my thing. If this sort of thing is your thing, then more power to you and you'll probably love it. I just can't."

So...just as a reminder. This little ol' book blog was started as an online book journal for me--a place for me to record my thoughts about books. I'm about to go off full-tilt on this book. If you absolutely adore MaryJanice Davidson and her little band of "Undead and..." characters, then go directly to Goodreads (or some other book/review platform) and look for all the four- and five-star reviews. Do not pass through the review below. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. I'm not here to tick anyone off or step on anybody's toes. I deliberately did not post this on Goodreads--so I'm not looking to pick a fight with the author. I just need to get this out of my system....

Okay. I'll admit right here, upfront that paranormal anything isn't my usual reading fare. But after reading Gail Carriger's Soulless (and etc), I'm game to try any that come my way that sound promising and can be used for a challenge or three. Undead & Unpopular was such a one. And, yes, I realize that I entered this party in mid-stream (#5 in the Undead series)...but, honest-to-goodness I can't see that starting at the beginning would have helped. I don't particularly feel like I've missed anything because comments throughout give a fair idea of what has happened in previous books.  

The main problem: I do not care for any of the characters. Not one. They are flat and unsympathetic. And I especially do not care for Betsy Taylor--primary protagonist, Vampire Queen, and needless grump because she doesn't want to drink blood. I can't get up a lot of enthusiasm for a character whose primary response to anything and everything that happens to her is to drop the f-bomb. And repeatedly for emphasis in case you didn't catch when she said it the first time. 

And maybe it's just me, but I don't really see much of a plot here. I mean we spend a lot of time talking about the wedding she's planning with her Vampire King and fiance, Eric Sinclair. We watch her react to the news that her best friend has cancer (and rack up the highest total of f-bombs for a single scene). She has to meet with a delegation of powerful European vampires--one of whom winds up dead (re-dead? not sure how the undead becomes even more dead...but anyway). And there's a zombie. But even with all that going on....nothing really seems to happen. No plot movement. 

This was billed as a fun, delightful little bit of chick lit...witty and funny--a romantic comedy (which I'm totally claiming for a challenge because that's one of the reasons I read it....even if I couldn't find much evidence of wit, fun, or comedy lurking amongst the pages). I'm sorry, but I just didn't care for this at all--I don't know if it was the paranormal or the chick lit  portion that made it the more unpalatable, but either way, a most disappointing read. I gave it one star on Goodreads....but, honestly, I rounded it up.

A Hearse on May-Day: Review

A Hearse on May Day (1972) is one of the odder stories in the Mrs. Bradley series by Gladys Mitchell. Mrs. Bradley doesn't really come into the story until about the half-way point and most of the action focuses on her great-niece Fenella. Fenella is traveling across Britain to prepare for her own wedding and by a whim decides to stop in the small village of Seven Wells for lunch. After a fairly tasty meal of chicken salad she returns to her car to continue her journey only to find that it will not start. She knows little of the inner workings of automobiles and must rely on the publican to help her see to her car. It winds up that it cannot be easily fixed and she must spend the night in Seven Wells.

She is warned by everyone she comes across that that evening is "Mayering" eve and that outsiders like her should stay put in their rooms and not even peek out till morning. Well, of course, as soon as Fenella's told not to do something she immediately does--off wandering through the village, running into the Zodiac secret society, being accosted by a young man who seems too interested in her activities to suit her, and becoming aware that the village is apparently running short of skeletons for their top-secret Mayering Eve celebration.

When she later relates her experiences to Mrs. Bradley, her aunt decides to go down to the village and see for herself. It helps that just before May Day the village squire was murdered and Mrs. Bradley is asked to investigate. She begins to suspect that the squire's death may be connected to the village's shortage of skeletons. But would someone really murder the man who had no obvious enemies just to get access to the family crypt and the ancient bones lodged therein?  When the remains of five family members come up missing it appears so. Is everything really the way it seems?

A lively late entry in the series which gives a nice view of the small village atmosphere as well as a bit of folklore in connection with May Day observances, the mystery itself is not as strong as it could be. Mrs. Bradley is, as always, fun to watch in action--but there is less of it here than in some of the earlier novels. And, honestly, there isn't much to choose from in the way of suspects, so it shouldn't be too difficult to spot the culprit/s. Great writing and interesting development of the niece and her adventures balance the deficiencies to provide a solid  ★★★ outing.  [Actually finished on 6/15/14--I'm a bit behind on my reviews.]

This fulfills the "Time/Day/Month/Etc" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.

Total Harmonic Distortion: Mini-Review

Reading this was just a whim.  My husband has been on the hunt for Total Harmonic Distortion: Cartoons from Stereo Review by Charles Rodrigues for as long as I can remember. It's come up for auction on E-bay I don't know how many times, but he never seemed to make the lucky bid. Until this year. It just arrived in the mail today and he immediately sat down and read it straight through. And as soon as he was done I decided to take a peek myself. He used to subscribe to Stereo Review (it's now defunct) and I would enjoy looking at the cartoons. 

This is a mixed bag. Some are very funny. Some are way over my head (not enough of an audiophile to understand them). Some are a bit dated. And some are a bit offensive (looking back over a 25ish year span). Overall, a decent collection of cartoons and a fun time-travel trip back to the early days of my relationship with the hubby.  ★★★

The Hobbit: Review

Once upon a time I was forced to read The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien for my junior-year college-bound English class. I hated every minute of it. Which was quite surprising considering that I was heavily into my science fiction and fantasy reading phase at the time. But I suppose there's something about being force-fed books that makes them unpalatable. I totally get what Ms. Troop was doing (now)--and I couldn't have asked for better preparation for college than what she gave us. But there are very few books from my junior and senior English classes that I can honestly look back on without fear and loathing. 1984 by Orwell, Siddhartha by Hesse, and Wuthering Heights by Bronte are pretty much the only ones to escape. Moby Dick? Ick! The Old Man & the Sea? Felt like I was dragged kicking and screaming through the eons we spent on that thin volume. The Hobbit? Just seemed like one long, drawn-out, rambling tale.

So...when one of Megan's Semi-Charmed Reading Challenge categories called for us to read a book read by another challenger and I saw that Kalyn V @ Geez, Louise was tackling Tolkein's classic, I thought it a good time to give this much-beloved book another chance. And what did I think of it this time? Funny you should ask....

Since the movie came out not too long ago and this is such a well-known story, I'm not going to bother to give a full run-down here. Suffice to say that this is a Quest novel with a capital Q. Mild-mannered, home-body hobbit Bilbo Baggins goes on the journey of a lifetime and learns that he's braver than he'd ever suspected and certainly more than adequate for all the adventures in store (just like Gandalf said). So it's also a coming of age novel and all those other high-falutin' English-majorly things we talked about back in college-bound English. There's lots of adventure, sword-fighting with spiders and goblins, and some daring trickery with barrels. A lot to enjoy. 

But...it is also one long, drawn-out rambling tale. Tolkien is a story-teller. I'll give him that. But there were quite a few points where my attention was wandering...and most particularly in the last quarter of the book where you'd expect the action and the wrap-up to be at its most riveting. I found myself skimming over whole sections and apparently not missing anything because the story kept making sense. 

I will say that I enjoyed myself much more without Ms. Troop constantly at my elbow asking about motifs and metaphors and symbols and meaning. I do wish it hadn't been so long and drawn-out. ★★★ for a nice adventure story. I had hoped to give it more. The edition I read was really quite lovely. I adored the illustrations by Michael Hague.

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Reads So Far

It’s been quite a while since I’ve jumped on board with a “Top Ten Tuesday” meme. These are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and they always have great topics.  This week’s topic is “favorites of the year so far.”  I thought it would be a good moment to stop and take stock of what has been on the Reader's Block review block so far this year.

I've read a lot of mysteries (no surprise there) and science fiction this year. And, just glancing through the list, it looks like my favorites are breaking down between those two categories.  Let's see what we get:

Science Fiction:
Angels & Spaceships by Fredric Brown
Triumph by Philip Wylie  
Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka/The Fiction of Harlan Ellison by Yerka & Ellison
Other Times, Other Worlds by John D. MacDonald 

Mystery:
India Black & the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr
The Mammoth Book of the Lost Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes by Denis O. Smith 
Where There's Love, There's Hate by Adolfo Bioy Casares & Silvina Ocamp 
Gambit by Rex Stout

Other 
Beyond Uhura: Star Trek & Other Memories by Nichelle Nichols  (autobiography)
Sinners & the Sea by Rebecca Kanner (fiction)
 

The Corsican Caper: Review

Billionaire Francis Reboul has a gorgeous coastal estate that is just perfect for hosting vacationing friends like private investigator Sam Levitt and his lovely lady Elena Morales--as well as hosting an auction benefit for the lovely city of Marseilles. But Reboul isn't the only one who thinks his estate is perfect. Oleg Vronsky, a Russian tycoon, has been cruising up and down the French coastline looking for the villa of his dreams. When his binoculars fill up with the wonders of Le Palais du Pharo, he knows he's found it. He immediately contacts his realtor and tells him he wants it. But Reboul isn't in the market to sell. At any price. 

Unfortunately, the man known as "The Barracuda" isn't used to taking no for an answer and he certainly doesn't intend to start now. Vronsky has contacts in the underworld and he isn't afraid to use them to put pressure on the current owner of his house. And, if it comes down to it, he's prepared to make Reboul disappear in order to create a vacancy. But Vronsky hasn't encountered Sam Levitt before. Nor has he tried any of his under hand tricks amongst the close-knit Corsican community. He's about to find out that neither Sam nor the Corsicans take kindly to his treatment of Francis Reboul.

But don't be misled...just because Sam and Elena are on guard against the machinations of the Russian baddies that doesn't mean this is a tough guy, shoot-em-up story. On the contrary, Sam and Elena swan about the countryside sampling restaurant fare and doing a bit of house-hunting of their own. In fact, despite the appearance of a private investigator and the involvement of underworld characters, this book fits firmly in the cozy genre. There's no blood, no gore....and finally, no murder. It's a story about a caper and how Sam manages to keep the evil mastermind from winning (that's no spoiler--surely you know the bad guy can't possibly win in a book that features such delights as velouté d'asperges and roast duck breast stuffed with green olives).

This was a fun little reading escape. Not quite my usual fare in the mystery genre...because, really, there's no mystery. You know who the bad guy is from page one. You're given his M.O. straight up, so you know what he's going to do. And it's no surprise when Sam foils his plans. But the writing is crisp and the characters engaging. A nice little outing.  ★★★

Plain Sailing: Review

Detective Superintendent George Masters and DCI Bill Green of Scotland Yard are off to a small seaside town near Durham expecting to enjoy a well-deserved holiday with their wives. But true to detective fiction standards (busman's holiday and all that)--after enjoying a few days of pure holiday they are called upon to investigate the sudden death of an Essex police colleague's son. This is more than just a murder of one of their own's own as it were. Masters and his team had worked closely with DCI Matthew Cleveland on a case the previous November...so this one is even more personal.

Cleveland's son James was at the seaside resort to take part in a week of sailboat racing and collapsed while more than two miles out to sea. The difficulty with the investigation is that James was poisoned--and with such a fast-acting agent that he must have swallowed or come in contact with it mere minutes before the collapse. The obvious suspect is the other man in the boat...the only one close enough to James during the relevant time period. But Masters and Green know better than to settle for obvious, especially when the obvious just doesn't seem to fit.

Their investigations lead them to an examination of the other members of the sailing circle and soon everyone on the team from assistants, Detective Sergeants Tippen and Berger, to their own wives are ferreting out motives for murder. But whose murder? And the question that remains even after the motive and intended victim are sorted is....how was the poison administered? Once Masters and Green figure that out all that remains is to set a trap to catch the poisoner.

Even twenty-six stories into the Masters and Green series, Douglas Clark manages to serve up a darn good police procedural. The focus this time, as mentioned, is on how. Not that the who and why are so very obvious--but the real puzzle at the end of the day is how was James Cleveland poisoned? He didn't eat or drink anything directly before the collapse and tests show that the poison was ingested. It takes some pretty careful observation on George Masters' part to find the solution. 

As I've mentioned before, I always enjoy the camaraderie and rapport of Masters' team. Even though younger member come and go (as they receive well-earned promotions), each new member fits in well without being a cookie-cutter underling just filling in a position. Each character is well-defined and brings something different to the mix. It was also nice to see the wives doing a bit of undercover work--even though Wanda Masters insists that she won't "spy" on these people. What Masters wants is her and Doris Green's impressions--just a general feel of the climate amongst the racing crown. And those impressions prove very useful as well. ★★★ and 3/4 stars

This fulfills the "Involves Water" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card. (I'm zeroing in on my first Silver Bingo....)

Challenge Complete: Bookish TBR

Challenge: TBR Pile
Dates: Jan 1, 2014 - Dec 31, 2014. 
Hosted by: Bookish
For more information and to sign up click here

Basic Requirements: Read the unread books already on your shelf. Nothing from 2014. No ARCs. Any format, any length.

 

There were six levels to this TBR Challenge, and I'm signed up for . . . Married with Children . . . and planned to read 50+ books.  I have just finished the 51st book from my TBR stacks and met my commitment. Since I've got my own Mount TBR Challenge to meet (100 books), there will be more coming from the stacks--but for now I can check this one off as done.

 

 

 Books Read:

1. The Poison Belt by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [on TBR since 8/11/12] (1/2/14)
2. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell [on TBR since 11/3/11] (1/5/14)
3. Shakespeare's Planet by Clifford D. Simak [on TBR since 1980s] (1/6/14)
4. The Skeleton in the Clock by Carter Dickson [on TBR since 6/27/12] (1/8/14)
5. Dangerous Visions #3 by Harlan Ellison, ed [on TBR since 5/13/13] (1/11/14)
6. Angels & Spaceships by Fredric Brown [on TBR since 11/3/11] (1/12/14)
7. Triumph by Philip Wylie [on TBR since 5/16/13] (1/18/14)
8. Seven Footprints to Satan by A. Merritt [on TBR since 5/16/13] (1/22/14)
9. The Winter Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine [on TBR since 10/12/13] (1/23/14)
10. Death on the Aisle by Frances & Richard Lockridge [on TBR since 10/13/12] (1/24/14)
11. The Adventure of the Eleven Cuff-Buttons by James Francis Thierry [on TBR since 10/3/13] (1/26/14)
12. Other Times, Other Worlds by John D. MacDonald [on TBR since 1/19/93] (1/26/14)
13. Too Much of Water by Bruce Hamilton [on TBR since 10/4/13] (1/27/14)
14. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick [on TBR since 12/30/11] (1/29/14)
15. Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White [on TBR since 12/31/12] (1/30/14)
16. Exit Actors, Dying by Margot Arnold [on TBR since 6/23/09] (2/4/14)
17. Shelf Life by Douglas Clark [on TBR since 12/31/11] (2/6/14)
18. Gambit by Rex Stout [on TBR since 9/27/09] (2/8/14)
19. Death Walks on Cat Feet [on TBR since 4/13/13] (2/12/14)
20. Made Up to Kill by Kelley Roos [on TBR since 10/12/12] (2/18/14)
21. Ellery Queen's 20th Anniversary Annual by Ellery Queen, ed [on TBR since 1/19/13] (2/22/14)
22. The Purple Parrot by Clyde Clason [on TBR since 10/4/13] (2/25/14)
23. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick [on TBR since late 80s] (2/27/14)
24. The Darker the Night by Herbert Brean [on TBR since 5/16/13] (3/3/14)
25. India's Love Lyrics by Laurence Hope [on TBR since 6/12/89] (3/4/14)
26. Murder in the Vatican by Ann Margaret Lewis [on TBR since 10/3/13] (3/5/14)
27. Vicious Circle by Douglas Clark [on TBR since 12/31/11] (3/11/14) 
28. Harlan Ellison's 7 Against Chaos by Harlan Ellison [on TBR since 12/25/13] (3/17/14)
29. The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout [on TBR since 3/23/13] (3/23/14)
30. Tut, Tut! Mr. Tutt by Arthur Train [on TBR since 8/18/11] (3/24/14)
31. Grimms' Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm [on TBR since 12/12/09] (3/28/14)
32. The Clue of the Leather Noose by Donald Bayne Hobart [on TBR since 1/5/13] (3/31/14)
33. The Coral Princess Murders by Frances Crane [on TBR since 10/4/13] (4/5/14)
34. A Hangman's Dozen by Alfred Hitchcock, ed [on TBR since 12/31/10] (4/7/14)
35. Naked Is the Best Disguise by Samuel Rosenberg [on TBR since 11/14/09] (4/8/14)
36. Gale Warning by Hammond Innes [on TBR since 2/16/13] (4/15/14)
37. Murder at the Museum of Natural History by Michael Jahn [on TBR since 7/12/14] (4/18/14)
38. My Antonia by Willa Cather [on TBR since 3/5/11] (4/20/14)
39. Dorothy Dixon & the Double Cousin by Dorothy Wayne [on TBR since 9/29/10] (4/26/14)
40. For Old Crime's Sake (aka Lucky Jane) by Delano Ames [on TBR since 6/29/12] (4/29/14)
41. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain [on TBR since 9/28/11] (4/30/14)
42. Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer [on TBR since 12/18/11] (5/1/14)
43. Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell [on TBR since 7/30/11] (5/16/14)
44. Bed-Knob & Broomstick by Mary Norton [on TBR since 12/17/11] (5/16/14)
45. Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka/The Fiction of Harlan Ellison by Yerka & Ellison [on TBR since 12/25/14] (5/22/14)
46. By the Watchman's Clock by Leslie Ford [on TBR since 2/8/13] (5/23/14)
47. Red Herring by Edward Acheson [on TBR since 6/1/13] (5/25/14)
48. Beyond Uhura: Star Trek & Other Memories by Nichelle Nichols [on TBR since 12/25/14] (5/29/14)
49. Invisible Green by John Sladek [on TBR since 6/26/12] (6/2/14)
50. Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell [on TBR since at least 2011--but I know it was longer, just didn't log the date on this one for some reason] (6/5/14)
51.The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo [on TBR since 3/29/12] (6/8/14)

 

The Laughing Policeman: Reviw

A cold rainy November night in Stockholm finds every available on-duty policeman facing off with a mob of anti-Vietnam protestors. The crime underworld and the riffraff of the city take advantage of the force's preoccupation to carry out plans of their own as well as random vandalism. And one unknown man climbs aboard a late-night double-decker bus and shoots nine people. Eight people, including the bus driver and a member of the force's detective squad, are killed instantly....one man's life hang's by a thread and Martin Beck and his fellow officers hope he'll live long enough to give them a clue to the killer's identity. Because other clues are rather thin on the ground.

The press and their superior officers are ready to call this the work of a psychotic mass-murderer--despite that being more typical elsewhere than in Sweden--but the longer the investigation goes on, the more convinced Beck and Lennart Kollberg become that an unusual amount of planning went into this murder spree. As they take a closer look at each of the victims, searching for a possible key target, they keep asking themselves:

Why was Åke Stenström, a young detective in Beck's squad, on that double-decker bus? 

That question leads them to an unsolved murder and when they find the answer to that, then the pieces begin to fall into place on this more recent crime.

This novel, a 1971 Edgar award-winner (originally written 1968), is a knock-out police procedural and a fine example of Swedish crime fiction from the late 1960s. The books are advertised as the Martin Beck series, but this novel focuses more on Kollberg than on anyone. Kollberg is the one who gets to know Stenström's girlfriend and really begins to put together the clues that will lead to the solution. The investigation is definitely a team effort--many others are out gathering clues, but Kollberg takes the lead. It was good to get a closer look at Kollberg and his home life and to understand a bit better what makes him tick.

The writing is spare and clean, yet very gripping. Even though there is a lot of waiting and sifting through false leads in this story, the reader is never bored. It is easy to see why this novel was an award-winner. I thoroughly enjoyed another visit with Beck's crime team.
★★★★

This fulfills the "Man in the Title" category on the Silver Vintage Bingo card. Changed my mind (since I've claimed no Silver Bingos, I can do this)--This now fulfills the "Made Into a Movie" category on the Silver Bingo card.  The movie was released in 1973 and transported the action to San Franicisco. Starring Walter Mathau, Louis Gossett, Jr., Cathy Lee Crosby, and others.

12.21: Review

For years leading up to December 21, 2012, people were getting their end-of-the-world mojo on. It seemed like everywhere you looked someone was putting out a book taking advantage of the reading public's interest in the supposed doomsday predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar. I read a few myself just to see what was up. I missed 12.21 by Dustin Thomason (Aug. 2012). That's not too shocking given the fact that I'm not, generally speaking, all that into thrillers--particularly medical thrillers. In fact--without scanning through my books read list--I believe the last medical thriller I read was Coma by Robin Cook....in the 80s. But you know how I am with challenges...I can't resist them. So, when Shellyrae at Book'ed Out called for a medical thriller in her Eclectic Reader Challenge and the Goodreads Literary Exploration Challenge also called for a thriller, I couldn't say no.

And the premise for 12.21 grabbed me when I went hunting in the library website for a medical thriller that I thought might do ('cause I just don't have those hanging about the house...). See?:

In Los Angeles, two weeks before the end of the Mayan Long Count clalendar, all is calm. Dr. Gabriel Stanton takes his usual morning bike ride, drops off the dog with his ex-wife, and heads to the lab where he studies incurable prion diseases for the CDC. His first phone call is from a hospital resident who has an urgent case she thinks he needs to see. Meanwhile, Chel Manu, a Guatemalan American researcher at the Getty Museum, is interrupted by a desperate, unwelcome visitor from the black market antiquities trade who thrusts a duffel bag into her hands.

By the end of the day, Stanton, the foremost expert on some of the rarest infections in the world, is grappling with a patient whose every symptom confounds and terrifies him. And Chel, the brightest young star in the field of Maya studies, has possession of an illegal artifact that has miraculously survived the centuries intact: a priceless codex from a lost city of her ancestors. This extraordinary record, written in secret by a royal scribe, seems to hold the answer to her life’s work and to one of history’s great riddles: why the Maya kingdoms vanished overnight. Suddenly it seems that our own civilization might suffer this same fate.
 
With only days remaining until December 21, 2012, Stanton and Chel must join forces before time runs out. [from the back of the book]

Lots of interesting historical tie-ins which Thomason uses to put a twist on the usual Mayan end-of-the-world thing (shifting of the poles, great earthquakes, and all those other climatic earth-related disasters).  I really enjoyed learning about the Mayans through the ancient codes. The plot line itself is good--believable and a bit scary if prions really could turn that dangerous. It is a fast-moving, quick read that I enjoyed on a a lot of levels. However, like several others on Goodreads, I did find it a bit difficult to connect with the characters. I just never got invested in most of them as people and the one character that I found the most intriguing (and I can't tell you why without a spoiler) winds up dying. Ain't that always the way? Overall--a darn good read for something so far out of my comfort zone. ★★★ and 1/2.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered: Review

COVER NOTES:  DEATH IN VENICE. For young barrister Julia Larwood, it was to be a vacation in pursuit of eros, in flight from the tax man .... An Art Lover's Holiday to Italy. Reduced to near penury by the Inland Revenue, Julia could hardly afford such a luxury, but she'd be in hock to the Revenue either way, so why not have a holiday? Poor, hapless, incurably sentimental Julia. How could she know that the ravishing young Art Lover for whom she conceived a fatal passion was himself an employee of Inland Revenue Or that her hard-won night of passion would end in murder-with her inscribed copy of this year's Finance Act lying a few feet from the corpse...
(©Dell Publishing)

Julia's intrepid friends--consisting of her colleagues in chambers as well as Oxford don and sometime sleuth Hilary Tamar are the recipients of Julia's letters from abroad and soon learn that she is suspect number one in the murder of the beautiful Ned Watson. They determine to track down clues and haunt the fellow Art Lovers until proof can be found to persuade the Italian authorities of Julia's innocence. Somehow just the fact that the murder was too tidy for Julia to be responsible is just not as convincing to the Italian police.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered reads like a cross between Jane Austen, British drawing room comedy, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest written as a murder mystery. There are so many scenes that make up this upper-crust-sounding, yet slightly slap-dash amateur investigation so much fun to read. From the letters written by Julia that give us a firm idea of her intellectually sound but common sense starved self as well as the background for the murder to the barristers' shameless pumping of art aficionado Benjamin Dobble to Cantrip's interview with Major Linnaker, a shady art and antiques dealer, there are delights all along the way.

I really must share this tidbit from Cantrip (about the interview):

Was it really only two hours? It seemed much longer than that. Much longer. Much, much longer. The Major's known a lot of women. English women. Italian women. Arab women. Serbo-Croatian women. The right sort of women, the wrong sort of women. Women who would, women who wouldn't, women who might have. He told me about them all. Are you sure it was only two hours?

The light touch and light banter between the barristers make for a quick and entertaining read. I thoroughly enjoyed the dry British wit and sarcastic humor. There are also several very apt descriptions of the academic life and mind. Very appealing, fun, and interesting.

Back in 2011 when I read The Shortest Way to Hades, I made mention of the fact that nowhere in the story do we learn whether Hilary Tamar be male or female (and that I didn't really notice this until John at Pretty Sinister Books pointed it out). I had assumed that Hilary was a woman because Hilary is generally a feminine name in the US.  And certain ways in which the other characters addressed our law-type scholar made me think s/he was female as well. This particular reading makes me think that Hilary is a man. There's something about the way s/he addresses fellow characters. Darn it. Caudwell is pretty good at this keeping a secret and mystifying the reader business. Now I'm curious to see which way I lean in book number three.

I love the Edward Gorey covers on these....one of the main reasons I first grabbed them up. I'm so glad that the stories live up to the covers. ★★★★

Quotes:
Julia's unhappy relationship with the Inland Revenue was due to her omission, during four years of modestly successful practice at the Bar, to pay any income tax. The truth is, I think, that she did not, in her heart of hearts, really believe in income tax. It was a subject which she had studied for examinations and on which she had thereafter advised a number of clients: she naturally did not suppose, in these circumstances, that it had anything to do with real life. 

On my first day in London I made an early start. Reaching the Public Record Office not much after ten, I soon secured the papers I needed for my research and settled in my place. I became, as is the way of the scholar, so deeply absorbed as to lose all consciousness of my surroundings or of the passage of time. When at last I came to myself, it was almost eleven and I was quite exhausted: I knew I could not prudently continue without refreshment.

Julia did very well,' said Selena, 'not to fall into the lagoon. How beastly of that woman to suggest she'd had too much to drink.'
'Most uncharitable,' said Ragwort. 'Julia, as we all know, needs no assistance from alcohol to make her trip over things.

I had already established, as you know, that it was logically impossible for Kenneth to be distressed by anything that might occur between Ned and myself; but Kenneth, being an artist, has perhaps not studied logic and is unaware of the impossibility. (p. 139)

 I would think it odd, he said, that he had never married. I did not, in fact, think it at all odd--the statistical chances against any woman being prepared to endure both the hairiness of his legs and the tedium of his conversation seemed to be negligible. I did not express this view, but said sympathetically that the military life must be difficult to combine with the domestic. (p. 142)

I now realize that to see the Major when he isn't really there must at least be preferable to seeing him when he really is there. (p. 157)

One doesn't like to appear vulgarly inquisitive. But if everyone one knows has suddenly started murdering everyone else, it would be terribly nice to know about it. (Benjamin Dobble; p. 206)

Eleanor was charming. That is to say, her manner seemed designed to merit that description: she displayed towards us a sort of girlish archness, such as a doting father might have found captivating in an only daughter at the age of eight. The effect was as of attempting to camouflage an armored tank by icing it with pink sugar: stratagem doomed to failure. (p. 220)

If you're going to go and buy a load of stolen goods, you can't take a whole crowd of friends with you. The presence of third parties reduces the prospective seller to a clamlike condition. (p. 230)

This fulfills the Lawyer/Courtroom square on the Vintage Silver Bingo card.

Teaser Tuesdays

MizB of Should Be Reading hosts Teaser Tuesdays. Anyone can play along. Just do the following:

*Grab your current read.*Open to a random page.
*Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.

*BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! You don't want to ruin the book for others.

*Share the title and author too, so other TT participants can add it to their TBR lists if they like your teaser.

Here's mine from Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell (142): 

I would think it odd, he said, that he had never married. I did not, in fact, think it at all odd--the statistical chances against any woman being prepared to endure both the hairiness of his legs and the tedium of his conversation seemed to me to be negligible. I did not express this view, but said sympathetically that the military life must be difficult to combine with the domestic.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a bookish meme hosted by Book Journey. Every week we check in with what we read, what we're reading now, and what's next on the reading docket.  Here we go....

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Books Read Last Two Weeks (click on titles for review): 

Sinners & the Sea by Rebecca Kanner
Whispers of Vivaldi by Beverle Graves Myers
Mind Fields: The Art of Jacek Yerka/The Fiction of Harlan Ellison by Yerka & Ellison 
By the Watchman's Clock by Leslie Ford 
Red Herring by Edward Acheson 
Beyond Uhura: Star Trek & Other Memories by Nichelle Nichols 
Steampunk Poe by Edgar Allan Poe; illustrated by Zdenko Basic & Manuel Numberac
Invisible Green by John Sladek 

 

Currently Reading: 

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sara Caudwell: The first mystery in Caudwell's popular series featuring amateur investigator Hilary Tamar and a cast of clever and trouble-prone young London barristers. When a young man is found dead in Julia Larwood's bed, her barrister friends are the only ones who can uncover the truth of this masterpiece of murder.

 

 

Books that spark my interest:
Plain Sailing by Douglas Clark

Copper Gold by Pauline Glen Winslow

The Demon Device by Robert Saffron

Introducing C. B. Greenfield by Lucille Kallen

12:21 A Novel by Dustin Thomason

The Corsican Caper by Peter Mayle

 

Invisible Green: Review

For years up till World War II the Seven Unravellers, a loosely-knit club of mystery fans and crime hounds, had lived for the perfect crime. Each of them had their favorite type of mystery from the military man who dabbled in espionage to the policeman who preferred his detectives hard-boiled to the lawyer who was primarily interested in the facts of the case to the only female member who had a liking for the fairly-clued, but suitably obscure, sometimes filled with witty play on words classic crime. But each secretly thought they could solve one with the best of them if just given the chance. The club has long been defunct when they finally get their opportunity--but it may not be as amusing as they imagined. Because the victims in their personal mystery are the Unravellers themselves.

Dorothea Pharoah has decided after thirty years that it may be time for a reunion of the group. She has no sooner mailed the invitations than Major Stokes contacts her to say that he mustn't attend--the spies are on to him and  their leader, the mysterious Mr. Green, is out to eliminate him at any moment. She doesn't take him seriously as regards the spies, but she does sense that he is genuinely frightened so she asked Thackery Phin, a rather flamboyant private detective, to look into the matter. Phin settles down to keep an eye on the Major and his house...and the old boy dies right under his nose. The police are happy to call it natural causes--but Phin is not convinced. And when the other members start receiving strange clues in a spectrum of colors and then two more are killed, Phin is convinced that there is a conspiracy of sorts behind it--not international spies, but someone out to permanently unravel the Unravellers.

Invisible Green is an interesting take on the locked room or impossible crime novel. As our intrepid private detective, Thackery Phin tells us in his grand wrap-up scene, we have not one...not two...but three variations of the impossible crime.  The first is pretty standard--Major Stokes is found dead from apparent natural causes in a house that is locked up tighter than the crown jewels. The only access to the man was through a vary small window that would allow admittance to no one. Next up is a man who is murdered while all the suspects are milling about outside his home--but one door is locked and all other doors and windows are under observation. And, as a twist on the locked room/house, our last victim is killed while all the suspects are virtually "locked up in another house, miles away at the time of the crime."
 
It's a shame that John Sladek thought he needed to abandon the mystery genre for science fiction. In addition to this novel, he wrote only one other (The Black Aura) and two short stories before changing genres.  This was an entertaining tribute to the Golden Age that managed to pull off the classic crime feel in the 1970s. The wrap-up at the end is a bit long and convoluted--but overall a fun read and Sladek makes a decent effort at John Dickson Carr's locked room territory.  ★★★ and 1/2.

For more insight into Sladek's novel, be sure to visit Tipping My Fedora--Sergio reviewed this one as well back in 2012. 

This fulfills the Locked Room square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.