Bellman & Black

 Bellman & Black (2013) by Diane Setterfield

Synopsis [from the book flap]: One moment in time can haunt you forever. Caught up in a moment of boyhood competition, William Bellman recklessly aims his slingshot at a rook resting on a branch, killing the bird instantly. It is a small but cruel act, and is soon forgotten. by the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to have put the whole incident behind him. It was as if he had never killed the thing at all. But rooks don't forget...

Years later, when a stranger mysteriously enters William's life, his fortunes begin to turn--and the terrible and unforeseen consequences of his past indiscretion take root. In a desperate bid to save the only precious thing he has left, he enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner. Together, they found a decidedly macabre business. And Bellman & Black is born.

My take: So, this synopsis and that on Goodreads which ends with "The stranger has a proposition for William..." are both misleading. The stranger in black keeps appearing whenever anyone in William's life dies. He's always there...in the background, silent, never approaching William. Until a fever nearly wipes out William's whole family and then "Black" (as William names him) says that here is an opportunity. That's it--those words. Everything about the partnership is made up by William. He comes up with Bellman & Black. He puts away a share of the profits in Black's name. But there is no deal--there is no stated proposition. It only William's idea of what this strange presence must have meant.

I went into this book thinking that the man in black was the rook come back to haunt William in a substantial way and that there was something substantive in this "proposition." William thinks he's made this deal with Black (the rook? the devil?--who knows) to save his beloved daughter Dora. But there's no real evidence of that. What happens is William works himself to death (quite literally) for a mistaken idea that he's got some sort of partnership going on. And for what? He apparently loved Dora enough to make this deal (whether that's what saved her from the fever or not)--but then spends the rest of his life pretty much ignoring her. He sets up Bellman & Black in London and leaves her back home in the country with women to watch over her. He visits her like twice in the whole rest of the book. So much for the love that drove him to the bargain in the first place.

I didn't get what I expected from this book. I expected a gothic-style haunting. The rook out for revenge and sense of menace from this deal with devil. There was none of that. What I did get out of the book was a sense of a life wasted. When he was young, William had a terrific singing voice and loved to sing. Everything changed once he took over the mill. With Dora's mother, he had love--but even then he didn't enjoy life because he spent so much of it at work. Because he was so absorbed by work--first at the mill and then even more so at Bellman & Black, he missed the essence of life--friends, companionship, the love of family, watching his girl grow up, the possibility of new love and life right under his nose in London. All that. At the end of his life, he remembers everything that happened to him and it's all over in a paragraph. His life could have been so much fuller. 

That's certainly a sobering message and even a good message, but that isn't quite what was advertised. There are constant breaks where we get little tidbits about rooks/ravens/etc. (like all the different collective nouns for a group of them, from a parish of rooks to a clamor of rooks to a building of rooks, etc.). You think there's going to be a big deal about the rook killed and some real connection made between Black and the rook. There isn't. It just feels like a plot line that was never fully developed. I wanted to like this more than I did, but in the end I just felt the whole thing was anticlimactic. There were mysteries--and they were largely left unsolved. ★★  and 1/2

First line: I have heard it said, by those that cannot possibly know, that in the final moments of a man's existence he sees his whole life pass before his. eyes.

Last lines: Incidentally, we have a collective noun for you too. You are, to us, an entertainment of humans.

****************

Deaths = 14 (twelve natural; one drowned; one kicked by a horse)

Gone West

 Gone West (2012) by Carola Dunn

It's been a long time since Daisy Fletcher (née Dalrymple) has seen Sybil Sutherby. Sybil (then Richland) was a year ahead Daisy at school and the two weren't close friends. So, when a letter arrives saying that Sybil will be in London and would like to meet up with Daisy for lunch or tea, Daisy is both puzzled and intrigued. Fellow classmate and Daisy's best friend Lucy (alias Lady Gerald Bincombe) is sure that Sybil only wants to renew the acquaintance because of Daisy's fame as a writer of magazine articles. Over lunch, it becomes apparent that writing isn't on Sybil's mind--at least not Daisy's writing. She wants Daisy to indulge in her other interest...mystery & mayhem...and come to the country house where Sybil works as a secretary to Humphrey Birtwhistle (aka Eli Hawke, author of Western novels).

When Humphrey came down with pneumonia about three years ago, Sybil became more than a secretary. Humphrey was too sick to meet the deadline for the latest Hawke book and so she heavily edited what was done and ghost-wrote the rest. The editor noticed differences in the style and wasn't too pleased...until sales took off. It seems the reading public really like Hawke's new way with words. Since then, Humphrey has been ailing--he has a few good days, but then immediately relapses in weakness and tiredness. The doctor can't understand it and Sybil suspects that someone in the family is doping the elderly man so Sybil will keep writing and the extra money from the heightened sales will keep rolling in. She hopes she's wrong and, so, she hopes Daisy will come, investigate, and tell her she's imagining things.

 Except she's not. Before Daisy can really get to know the people at Eyrie Farm, Humphrey is dead from a hefty dose of chloral hydrate and everyone is under suspicion. Daisy was supposed to be "under cover"--just an old school friend of Sybil's and no one was supposed to know she was married to an inspector from Scotland Yard. But Sybil couldn't keep the secret from the doctor (who seems to be sweet on her...and vice versa) and he immediately asks the local constabulary to call up the Yard and ask for Inspector Fletcher. Alec Fletcher is none too pleased to find his wife mixed up in yet another murder...

It's also been a long time since I visited with Daisy--long before I began blogging and quite possibly 20 years or so. She's a very likeable character and the time period is definitely one of my favorites. Of course, these are cozy mysteries and I read them more for character, setting, and comfort than for intricate puzzle plots, but this one seems a little lighter than usual. I spotted the villain of the piece right away, but I can't say I'm sold on the motive. It's similar to that of another character--but I'd have to say the motive makes more sense for that character than the actual perpetrator. And speaking of character...few of the characters (beyond Sybil and Daisy) are really likeable. Humphrey's wife Ruby is pretty okay and his son Simon has his moments, but his brother and sister are a nasty pair. They resent Humphrey's return from the States to claim his share of the inheritance, but don't mind when Humphrey's book sales boost the style of living (two maids to help out around the house!). Myra, Humphrey's niece would be better if she were written consistently, but she veers from apparent air-headed flapper interested only in when her next quarter's allowance is due to kind and compassionate when Ruby needs her and back again with surprising speed. It was difficult find anyone to root for (innocence-wise) and one really wouldn't have minded if any one of them wound up guilty. ★★★

First line: The approach was not inviting.

Last line: "Darling," said Daisy, "you know very well, that's a promise I can't possibly make!"

********************

Deaths = 2 (one poisoned; one influenza)

Reading Baseball: The Abra Cadavers

 

 Rick Mills, that crafty creator of reading challenges and sometimes literary team captain, is once again calling for team members for one of the finest ball clubs around...the Abra Cadavers. If you'd like to join the team, just prove your skills by fulfilling the following plate appearances (reading requirements). You too could be an All Star! For full details, check out Rick's page: HERE

I've got my cleats on and have already started swinging.

My Plate Appearances

Single: The Angry Heart by Lesley Edgley

 

Double: 2 books by Arthur W. Upfield

Wings Above the Diamantina

Bony & the Kelly Gang

 

 

Triple: 3 books by John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson

The White Priory Murders

It Walks by Night

Nine--And Death Makes Ten

Homerun: 4 titles by Agatha Christie

The Body in the Library

The Moving Finger

Towards Zero

A Murder Is Announced

 

Cycle: completed previous four (done)

Foul:  Bunk by Kevin Young (I just wasn't feeling the deep-dive, scholarly approach to hoaxes, humbug, & whatnot.)

Bunt: "Lord Peter's Last Case" by Stephen Murray (in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine January 1996 issue)

 

Stolen Base: The Fear Sign (aka Sweet Danger) by Margery Allingham [read by Robin Retzler for the Century Club 2022)

 

Strike Out: Dead, Mr. Mozart by Bernard Bastable (originally owned, but read it and decided to donate it. Maybe someone will like it better than I did.)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

 The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019) by Hallie Rubenhold

 The five--Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Catherine Eddowes, Elizabeth Stride, Mary Jane Kelly--women who are known historically for two things (connected). They are the five women recognized as having been the victims of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. And "everybody" knows he killed prostitutes. Except...he didn't. Of the five women, there was no evidence that Polly, Annie, or Catherine every engaged in the sex trade in an effort to make ends meet. And only Mary Jane was actively working as a prostitute at the time of her death. 

Hallie Rubenhold's meticulous research provides the stories behind the women who are lost in the world's ongoing fascination with the Ripper's unsolved murders. Scores of books, documentaries, and films have investigated and portrayed the killings...always with the same question: Who was the Ripper? Until Rubenhold's book little thought was given to the women who were murdered. Rubenhold uses what sources were available--digging deep into the past to show us women who grew up in lower income families. Some received education, some started with a stable marriage or partnership but relationship difficulties and the lure of alcohol for those struggling to survive in Victoria's England soon led to poverty and Whitechapel. All faced tragedy of one sort or another well before their lives ended--from the deaths of siblings and a father to abusive relationships to undocumented reasons for loss of employment. 

Circumstances forced these women to the streets and a need to find a way to purchase a night's lodging. The assumption has always been that all five women resorted to prostitution, but there were other ways to try and come by a few coins. Rubenhold uses the newspaper reports to glean the ragged fabric which she pieces together to make up the tapestry of five lives. Most newspapers exaggerated or embellished or downright lied in order to sell copies--especially when horrible crimes such as these murders were involved. But she sifts the stories, looking for consistent details that can be worked into a telling narrative about women who are just doing the best they can to survive.

Women in the Victorian era were at a disadvantage from the day they were born. Just being female made them less valuable and less likely to be able to stand on their own two feet if there wasn't a dependable man in their lives. Women could not even get the highest paying jobs and those jobs they could get were paid less than what a man would make. In addition women on their own were automatically considered to be failures, at best--if they didn't have a husband and children; if they didn't manage a well-run household then there must be something wrong with them. At worst, they were considered less than human and not worth caring about. 

Rubenhold's book is a effort to restore the humanity and dignity to these women who were granted neither in life...or in their well-known deaths. It is a moving and fascinating look at life in the Victorian Age. ★★★★

First lines: There are two versions of the events of 1887. One is very well-known, but the other is not.

Last lines: The victims of Jack the Ripper were never just prostitutes. They were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, and lovers. They were women. They were human beings, and surely that, in itself, is enough.

Where Serpents Sleep

 Where Serpents Sleep (2008) by C. S. Harris (Candice Procter); read by Davina Porter

Synopis (from my previous review): Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin is surprised when Hero Jarvis, daughter of a man who would cheerfully have Devlin killed if he thought he could get away with it, comes to him for help. Hero is much like her father--proud, imperious, and certain to get her way, but she differs from him in one way: she is reform-minded and has been spending her time among the prostitutes doing research towards public reform for these women. Her research had taken her to the Magdalen House, a home for fallen women run by Quakers. While there one evening, men come and brutally kill eight of the women. Hero narrowly escapes after one of the women who had gone by the name of Rose dies in her arms. 

The house goes up in flames and the powerful Lord Jarvis arranges for Bow Street to be satisfied that the women all died from the fire (not murdered as Hero can bear witness). He doesn't want any scandal connecting his daughter to these women from the streets and he forbids her to go to Bow Street herself. But he didn't tell her she couldn't investigate on her own...or ask for private assistance. And she wants to find out how Rose, a young woman gently born, had wound up in Magdalen House and why she had to die. So, she makes an uneasy partnership with Devlin. On the face of it, the viscount has no reason to aid his adversary's daughter, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he can't resist an opportunity to annoy Jarvis.

Their investigation takes them from the rooms of an upscale brothel to the Mayfair mansion of a well-born family and from East End docks to the steps of the House of Commons. There are secrets in that Mayfair mansion and a plot swirling around the government. But even in what they discover, all is not what it seems and they have to make their way through layers of mystery to get to the real reason for the murders. The killers are ruthless and determined to eliminate anyone who might be able to identify them and reveal their ultimate purpose. There is an attempt on Hero's life--three times--and she and Devlin narrowly escape a water death in the rising tide. Lord Jarvis won't be pleased...especially when he discovers who had marked his daughter for murder. Fortunately for him, his adversary Devlin is very good at keeping his associates out of the grave.

[Spoiler ahead--not the solution to the murders, but I reveal a portion of Devlin's story arc that those who want to follow his development over the course of the series won't want spoiled if they are reading in order.]

I read this about two years--even then it was a reread (but the first time reviewed), but when I needed an enemies to lovers book for one of my challenges I decided to revisit this story in the audio version. Davina Porter is an excellent reader of audio novels and I have enjoyed her narration of several other books.  I don't listen to a great many audio novels--it's difficult for me to concentrate on them if the stories aren't ones that I have read previously. So, it was a treat to listen to her voice tell the story of Devlin and his investigation at the behest of Hero Jarvis.

This novel is a particular favorite of mine (in the Devlin series) because I quite frankly prefer Hero Jarvis to Kat Boleyn and this marks the beginning of her becoming an integral part of Devlin's life. Hero is much more his equal and a better match than Kat ever would have been. The courage she shows when confronted by the armed men out to kill her (in two attempts) as well as when she and Devlin are trapped and seemingly destined for a watery grave is terrific. This is one of my favorite historical mystery series. ★★★★

First line: The girl stared out the window, one hand sliding up and down her shawl-covered arm in a ceaseless, uneasy motion.

Last line: Tightening his knees, he sent the mare flying forward across the park. Toward his father, and toward a reconciliation too long delayed.

**********

Deaths = 16 (four shot; seven broken necks; four stabbed; one poisoned--suicide)

First Quarter on the Block

 

I am woefully behind on reporting on my reading this year. In the past I have done a monthly round-up with statistics and handed out a Pick of the Month (POM) Award to the best mystery read. Here we are at April 1st and nary a POM Award in sight. Time to rectify that. Let's take a look at the overall stats for the quarter and then we'll see who the big winners for each month are for mystery fiction.

Total Books Read for the Quarter: 49

  ~I'm a bit behind my pace for last year. By the end of March 2022, I had read 67 books. Need to pick up the pace if I want to make Mount Olympus on my Mount TBR Reading Challenge!

Total Pages: 9,967

Average Rating: 3.44 stars

Top Rating: 5 stars

Percentage by Female Authors: 37%

Percentage by Male Authors: 53%

Percentage by both Female & Male Authors: 10%

Percentage by US Authors: 41%

Percentage by Non-US/Non-British Authors: 18%

Percentage Mystery: 71%

Percentage Fiction: 82%

Percentage Written 2000+: 33%

Percentage Rereads: 16%

Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% (it's easy when you do as many challenges as I do)

Number of Challenges Complete: 3 (9%)

Mysteries Read 

The Fear Sign by Margery Allingham (4 stars)

The Becket Factor by Michael David Anthony (3 stars)

The Woman in the Picture by John August (3 stars)

Dead, Mr. Mozart by Bernard Bastable (1 star)

Mysterious Invitation by Bernice Bloom (3 stars)

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian (5 stars) February

Swing Low, Swing Death by R. T. Campbell (2.5 stars)

It Walks by Night by John Dickson Carr (3 stars)

Phi Beta Murder by C. S. Challinor (3 stars)

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (5 stars)

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (4 stars) [Fantasy/Mystery]

The Crimson Clue by George Harmon Coxe (3.25 stars)

The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson (4 stars)

The Angry Heart by Leslie Edgley (4 stars)

Blood on the Tracks by Martin Edwards, ed (3.5 stars)

Tintin in America by Hergé  (3.5 stars)

A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang (4 stars)

The Genesis Secret by Tom Knox (3.5 stars)

Here Come the Dead by Robert Portner Koehler (4 stars)

The Dante Game by Jane Langton (2.5 stars)

Bats in the Belfry by E.C.R. Lorac (4 stas)

Garden of Deadly Delights by Cynthia Manson [ed] (4 stars)

The Black Cat Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin (3 stars)

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Jan. 1996 [appears on Goodreads] (3 stars)

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (4 stars

Beauty Marks the Spot by Kelley Roos (4 stars)

Sidney Chambers & the Perils of the Night by James Runcie (2 stars)

Speakers of the Dead by J. Aaron Sanders (2.5 stars)

Murder R.F.D. by Leslie Stephan (3.5 stars)

Bony & the Kelly Gang by Arthur W. Upfield (3 stars)

Wings Above the Diamantina by Arthur W. Upfield (3 stars)

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries by various (3 stars)

This year I'm going to try very hard to stick to my no repeat/reread winners policy. It may be difficult--and if doing so means I'll be awarding a POM to book that earned three stars or less then I may have to break policy. Fortunately, the first three months pose no such difficulty. While there were plenty of books that earned three stars or less (and one real stinker...Bernard Bastable, I'm looking at you), there were also a lot of really strong contenders for the glittery POM prize. 

January saw four stars going out to Carter Dickson's The White Priory Murder (a reread); Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (a children's fantasy/mystery); The Angry Heart by Leslie Edgley, Christopher Huang's A Gentleman's Murder; and Beauty Marks the Spot by Kelley Roos (who has previously won the coveted prize. Edgley's book was a nicely plotted mystery with an interesting look at revenge and the fantasy/mystery by Cooper was highly enjoyable (and would have been more so if I had found it when I was young), but Huang's historical mystery just had that extra something that put him over the top in the first month of the year. It was a delightful homage to the Golden Age of mystery with just a touch of thriller--lots of nods to Christie, Earl Der Biggers, Sayers, and others. Makes a GAD fan's heart happy.

There was no doubt about February's winner. Chris Bahjalian takes home all the glory with the only five-star POM for the quarter. As I said in my review at the time, it was "An absolutely beautifully written bloodbath. So many unnecessary violent deaths--so many. Generally speaking this type of book is not my type of book. I'm a Golden Age, every murder is a puzzle and "there's a discernable meaning/motive for each death" kind of girl. Not much into Russian terrorists and killing just because someone asked one question too many (some of the time, just one question is too many). BUT Bohjalian can write. Man, can he write. I was sucked right in from the beginning and even the high body count couldn't keep me from turning the pages to find out what happened next." The runner up for February was no slouch--Robert Portner Koehler's Here Comes the Dead took a familiar Christie ploy and gave it a nice little twist. But it wasn't quite enough to win the honors.

In March, the only real competition for our winner was Dame Agatha Christie. The Christie mysteries were all rereads and, of course, Christie already has pretty little POM awards stashed on shelf so she was out of the running on two counts. That leaves us with the only new four-star winner, Deanna Raybourn and her Killers of a Certain Age. I thought this was just a fun book. It's a girl-power book. I'm not saying I'm in favor of killing people (whether they seem to need it or not), but in a world where this is a thing, then I'm all about don't mess with the girls. And don't think that age is going to make them an easy target. And don't think that just because you're a guy you can automatically outsmart, out-maneuver, and out-fight women who have been in the game for forty years. 

So, there you have it...let's have a round of applause for the Block's first three winners of 2023.

January: A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang

February: The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

March: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

April Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

 

 

I don't know what went wrong with the first link-up (and it won't let me edit it). So, I have created a second one for the month.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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April Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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April Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

April Mount TBR Reviews

 

I don't know what went wrong with the first link (and it won't let me edit). So I created a second one.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Speakers of the Dead (very spoilery)

 Speakers of the Dead (2016) by J. Aaron Sanders

Synopsis (from the back of the book): The year is 1843; the place, New York City. Aurora reporter Walt Whitman arrives at the Tombs prison yard, where his friend Lena Stowe is scheduled to hang for the murder of her husband, Abraham. Walt intends to present evidence on Lena's behalf, but the police turn him away. As Lena drops to her death, Walt vows to exonerate her.

When Walt's estranged boyfriend Henry Saunders returns to New York, the two men uncover a link between body snatching and Abraham's murder: a man named Samuel Clement. To get to Clement, Walt and Henry descend into a dangerous underworld where resurrection men steal the bodies of the recently deceased and sell them to medical colleges. With no legal means to acquire cadavers, medical students are forced to rely on these criminals to advance their research, a practice that Abraham detested. Abraham's involvement with the Bone Bill, legislation that would put the resurrection men out of business, seems to have led to his and Lena's deaths--and Walt is determined to connect the evidence.

Read for the 12 Challenge and recommended by Buddy (Adam) Burgess on Facebook. I'm sorry, Adam, but I'm just not feeling this one. It's about 90% a me problem--I can't get my head around this guy

being a rough and tumble journalist taking on the bad guys. I mean, it does make sense that he's not very good at it when you have the classic picture in mind. Because let's face it, in this book he's not a good detective. Several of the suspicious characters get the drop on him...not just once, but repeatedly. His former boyfriend gets killed because of his inept style of investigation. And he doesn't really "solve" anything because he knows who killed these people--he watched the guy in action.

I can definitely see the makings of Walt Whitman, the poet. Some of the language is just beautiful--especially attributed to Walt towards the end. I appreciate the research and attention to detail. The history behind the American version of the "resurrection men" and the early days of dissection and women's medical colleges is all interesting (and gives the book what star-power I'm handing out). But as a mystery it leaves a lot to be desired. I can't say I'm eager to read another if this is indeed the beginnings of a series (as Goodreads seems to imply).  ★★ and 1/2 If it had been more of a straight novel and my expectations weren't looking for a good mystery, then it might have been higher. I think it fair to judge it as a mystery novel and not as a picture of Walt Whitman's metamorphosis into a poet or as a picture of the historical period, because in the author's note Sanders says, "Speakers of the Dead is first and foremost a mystery novel...."

First line: In the dream, Elizabeth Blackwell sits opposite Jane Avery's deathbed.

Last line: So Walt return to the present, to Abby on his lap, to the mourners in the other room, to the chorus of voices rising from the street, to the materiality of the real, and he holds on tight.

************************

Deaths: 9 (two hanged; two shot; two poisoned; three natural)

Killers of a Certain Age

 Killers of a Certain Age (2022) by Deanna Raybourn

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie were all recruited in the 1970s as part of the first-ever all female class of elite assassins. Known as the Sphinxes, the group work for an organization referred to only as the Museum. All activities are coded with museum references--the assassins work in Exhibitions. The Museum first opened after WWII with a mission to hunt down the Nazis who escaped justice. It later branched out to take on despots and dictators, human traffickers and drug cartels. The ladies got to be part of the last mission to take down a Nazi. Now, 40 years later, their methods are a bit old-fashioned and it's time to retire with a nice pension. But before they completely settle down, the Museum sends them on a fancy all-expense paid cruise.

They discover mid-voyage that the cruise has a price tag after all--a bounty placed on their heads by their own company. Why on earth would the Museum want to get rid of four sixty-year old women, all of whom were put on prize Exhibitions? Targets are named by the board--a three-man team--and all three must agree for a termination to be authorized. So, the ever-resourceful ladies decide to turn the tables and go after the men the who placed the target on their backs. Getting information on how things stand and where those men are involves making contact with the Museum, but who can they trust? The Sphinxes are about to find out whose loyalty can be bought if the bounty is high enough. But that's okay, they know they're the best female field agents the Museum ever had and they're about to show the board that they've still got what it takes to plan an extraordinary Exhibition.

Jumping off of my previous review (The Genesis Secret), this is how to do it if you want a high body count (though, again, it would have been nice if every corpse had been named...). These ladies are assassins--they kill people. When their fellow assassins start hunting them, people die. The book is littered with bodies and they all serve a purpose in moving the story forward. And it's not too grisly. Bonus points for that. Overall, this is just a fun book. It's a girl-power book. I'm not saying I'm in favor of killing people (whether they seem to need it or not), but in a world where this is a thing, then I'm all about don't mess with the girls. And don't think that age is going to make them an easy target. And don't think that just because you're a guy you can automatically outsmart, out-maneuver, and out-fight women who have been in the game for forty years. 

The book follows two timelines--we see the beginnings of the Sphinxes. The first few years when they are learning their trade. These scenes are alternated with the present day when the women have retired and find themselves fighting for their lives. The method works--and there are clues in the flashback scenes that can help the reader figure out who is after them and, more importantly, why. It would be fun to see this made into a movie with some feisty actresses of a certain age. ★★★★

First lines: Some of the dates are misleading; some of the names are lies. I'm not trying to protect the innocent. I'm trying to protect the guilty. You'll understand soon enough.

Last lines: People have died for less. I know; I was there.

********************

Deaths = 9 (one natural; two shot; one suffocated; two stabbed; two beaten; one neck broken)

The Genesis Secret

 The Genesis Secret (2010) by Tom Knox

Rob Luttrell has just recently witnessed an ugly suicide bombing in Baghdad while reporting on the war in the Iraq. His newspaper had ordered him out for some recuperation time, but now he wants to move on. Either to a new assignment or let him go home so he can see his daughter--if his ex will cooperate with his schedule. His editor decides to send him to Turkey for a "soft" job--just report on some stones and bones that are being dug up at place called Gobekli Tepe. If he turns in an informative, intelligent piece, then he can come straight back to England. He's not too keen, but once he gets to the site, meets the archaeologists (and one by the name of Christine in particular), and learns that the team has discovered the oldest known temple in the history of humankind. The details of the dig are interesting enough...but then he also learns about sabotage on site and Franz Breitner dies horribly in what looks like an accident, but Rob and Christine are sure was murder.

Meanwhile, back in the UK a series of incredibly grisly ritualistic murders has begun and DCI Forrester and his team are looking for connections. The rituals used are from different ancient religions and in each case it looks like the murderer was hunting for something as well as getting his sadistic jollies. When a link is discovered between the murders back home and what is happening in Turkey, things suddenly get much more personal for Rob and Christine--because the murderer has spotted the link as well. And that link, the object of the murderer's search, just might change the world's views on man's origins if it isn't destroyed first.

So, the archaeological premise of this was very interesting. I enjoyed the way Knox wove all the threads together to create a plausible theory of humankind's origins based on archaeological discoveries and also weaving Biblical stories into that theory. All the points for this novel go for that and the primary characters--Rob, Christine, DCI Forrester, and Officer Kiribali (in Turkey). I wish we had seen more of Isobel Previn and Professor Hugo De Savary because they were also interesting and quite distinct characters even in their brief moments in the plot. 

Now on to my difficulties with the plot--first up, all the grisly details. I'm not a big fan of blood and gore all over the page. And I really need to feel like it's driving the story when it appears.* Here, I just felt like we were being drenched in blood for the sake of killing. Which, I suppose does work into the ritualistic theme and the psychotic nature of the killer, but it still seems far more gratuitous than necessary. Not to mention that if you're going to put characters through that sort of thing (as spectators--especially at the end), then once the killer is caught and those forced to watch the gruesome deeds released then you can't just make everything hunky-dory at the end. There's got to be some serious therapy in store for at least one (if not more) of these characters. But it's simply addressed in what is almost a throw-away conversation: "She's amazing. She seems to have, basically, forgotten it all. A little frightened of the dark. Think that was the hood." Right.

I won't say much about my take on Rob and his ex and her immediate friendship with his new girlfriend. Just that (as another reviewer on Goodreads says) only a man would think this was a natural outcome especially when Knox set the ex up as such a pain in the fanny about allowing Rob to see his daughter. And on top of it--that the ex would not go into a murderous rage when the girlfriend puts that daughter in danger. Sure, she gets mad at Rob for not instantly rescuing the girl--but doesn't even get a little upset at the new woman in his life? Again...Right.

I wanted to love this book. I like mysteries with an interesting historical or research twist. And the beginning chapters were very promising. It just didn't live up to that promising beginning. ★★ and 1/2

(*The books by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child are good examples--usually have high body counts, but I always feel like the deaths were necessary to move the plot along.)

First line: Alan Greening was drunk.

Last line: But his sense of loss was touched by something else, something much more surprising: the faint and fleeting shadow of happiness.

******************

Deaths = 6 (one fell from height; three stabbed; one natural; one drowned)

[All I've got to say is if Knox was going to litter his book with so many deaths, the least he could have done is given every corpse a name so I could count them all towards the Medical Examiner Challenge.]

Beyond (mini-review)

 Beyond (1960) by Theodore Sturgeon

A collection of short stories from science fiction's Golden Age by a man whose name I first encountered as the writer of Star Trek episodes ("Amok Time" and "Shore Leave"). His science fiction often has a dark side and may veer more towards fantasy at times. A fairly interesting collection with two stories having mystery connections as well. I wasn't really taken by "Nighmare Island"--it needed to be more nightmarish or have a different title. My favorites are "Need" and "The Bones." ★★★

"Need": A man named Gorwing can "hear" the needs of his fellow men all around him. He does his best to attend to those needs and enlists the help of others in his quest. But it becomes difficult when two persons' needs conflict with one another....

"Abreaction": A bulldozer operator accidentally crosses through a tear in the fabric of the universe. Can he get back to his own reality? And will he remember who he is when he gets there?

"Nightmare Island": An island of intelligent, telepathic worms make a god of an alcoholic shipwrecked sailor.

"Largo": A musician composes his masterpiece--a largo meant to seek revenge on the man who ruined the perfect woman and to ensure that he (the musician) got her back and never lost her again. [three crushed to death] Who knew that you could murder through music?

"The Bones": An inventor (who reminds me for some reason of Doc in Back to the Future) creates a machine that can allow someone wearing headphones to experience the life connected to any bone used in the invention. The Sheriff ask him to use the machine to help get justice for a woman who died in a car accident. But what if the wearer stays connected to the point of the bone's owner's death? [two deaths]

"Like Young": The last remaining humans decide to leave behind lasting records of the sum of humanity's knowledge--a gift to those that will rise to take mankind's place. The animals most like to do so? Otters. But the otters have other ideas about what is important. A parable about man's arrogant view of humanity's importance. 

First line (1st story): Some towns seem able to defy not only time, but change; when this happens in the hinterland, one hardly amazed.

Last line (last story): But me, I'm a joyful throwback...I'm one with my ancestors:--I'm going hunting.

Bony & the Kelly Gang

 Bony & the Kelly Gang (aka Valley of the Smugglers; 1960) by Arthur W. Upfield

Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte goes deep undercover in Cork Valley, New South Wales. He's looking for the murderer of a government excise officer who was killed while searching for illicit stills. The Superintendent is sure that inhabitants of Cork Valley have a lot of illicit activities going on, but none of the policemen or excise officers who have investigated could find a thing...and men who tried to go undercover before just disappeared. Bony is warned of the danger as well as the impossible nature of the assignment...but Bony has never failed at a case he's taken up and danger doesn't scare him.

So, he's given a false background full of horse thievin' and other small crimes, and appears in the Valley as a man anxious to leave his past and any snoopy policemen behind him. The Kellys and Conways are the principle families in the Valley--they control all trade and keep a close eyes on who comes and goes. And they don't suffer strangers easily. But they take a liking to "Nat Bonnay" and he gradually earns their trust and is treated as one of their own. He discovers the source of the illicit trade and...being Inspector Bonaparte...he also tracks down the killer. But his loyalties are put to the test because he grows very fond of the families who wander just the other side of the law.

I had a strong feeling that I had read this one before. But I have no record of having done so. I can only assume that it is because Bony follows his common practice of going undercover in order to solve the mystery. He's posed as fence mender, a horse breaker, and a ranch hand on sheep farms to name just a few. He seems to melt right into the roles he takes on and must be a pretty athletic/strong man because he takes on jobs heavy in manual labor. This time he starts out as a "spud digger" which sounds like back-breaking work as it is described in the book. 

Upfield manages to bring the Kellys and Conways to life and it's easy to see why Bony begins to have such affection for these people that he is investigating. He has to remind himself that he's there on a job and that there is a murderer somewhere in the Valley. Much as he may like the families, he cannot let a murderer go free. He might be tempted to look the other way on stills and smuggling (after all, that's not what he was asked to investigate), but he can't possibly forget his duty when it comes to murder.

While I enjoyed Upfield's descriptions of the Valley and its inhabitants and, like Bony, became fond of many of the Conways and Kellys, the mystery itself didn't interest me as much as previous installments have done. Perhaps it was because Bony's method has become pretty formulaic--go undercover, dig up secrets, solve the mystery. And, really, once Bony was on the spot the mystery didn't stay mysterious very long. It became pretty obvious who must have done away with the excise man. The real question was how Bony was going to bring that person to justice without causing a great deal of damage to the people he had come to like so well. ★★★

First line: The secondary road was ruler-straight across the narrow coastal lowlands to the base of the Southern Mountains of New South Wales.

Last line: "To the divil with English," Bony said, producing a gum leaf. "I know the Gaelic for 'Danny Boy'."

***************

Deaths = 8 (six shot; one neck broken; one natural)