The Mote in God's Eye: Review

The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle has been on my personal Mount TBR for almost twenty years. Back in the days when I was all about SF, my BFF sent me the sequel (The Gripping Hand) for my birthday and I hurried out and supplied myself with the first book. And then never got around to reading them. Till now. I've mentioned this a few times here on the Block....I really believe that for some books there is a window of opportunity for optimum reading moment. I must have passed it for Mote. Robert Heinlein called Mote "possibly the finest science fiction [he had] ever read." At the moment, I just can't see it.

Niven & Pournelle started with a tremendous idea: Mankind's first contact with an alien species. They then promptly take that idea and bloat it into a long, drawn-out story (nearly 500 pages!) of build-up to a "secret" that the aliens are hiding from the humans....that anyone who has paid any attention at all to the construction of Motie society should have been able to figure out shortly after second contact. Let me explain that...

So...Captain Roderick Blaine of the spaceship MacArthur (of the Empire of Man's Imperial Navy) has just rescued a Senator's daughter cum anthropologist and picked up a greedy trader from the recently retaken planet New Chicago. Sally Fowler is an honored guest; the trader is a "guest" retained at the Emperor's pleasure. On their way back to civilization, they run into an alien probe ship from the Coalsack Nebula. The view of the area from nearby Imperial colonies makes the nebula look like a hooded man with red giant star for an eye and and a yellow dwarf star embedded in it (like a "mote" in the eye of God). The encounter ends with an adult Motie and two "miniatures" taken aboard the MacArthur and the alien probe ship apparently sent by the Motie on auto-pilot for a return trip home.

The humans face a dilemma--will the Moties interpret the incident as an attack? Will mankind be able to send a diplomatic group out the Mote to make peaceful contact with the aliens? The rest of the book revolves around that mission. When the MacArthur (and accompanying warship Lenin) finally do make real contact (the second contact mentioned above), they discover that Motie society is divided into very strict castes: Mediators, Masters, Engineers, etc. Each caste has been adapted to its particularly task--Engineers don't have wasted brain space for speech. They spend their lives taking equipment apart and putting it back together (in better form) OR changing it entirely into something new. Mediators are supremely adapted for speaking and resolving conflicts among castes and helping all castes to work together for the race's good. And so on.

As mentioned, the authors had a great idea. They came up with a pretty interesting alien race. But the human characters that they sent on the mission weren't that interesting at all. Very flat, very stereotypical: the macho, hero-type Captain; the damsel-in-distress, rescued by said hero--supposedly an intelligent anthropologist and yet falls for the hero with very little cause [he barely speaks to her throughout the whole book]; the Scottish engineer [yes, really]; the blind-to-all-danger chief scientist; and so on. Niven & Pournelle then took these stock characters and sent them through a very bloated build-up to the real action--meeting the Motie society in the second encounter. Honestly--it took for-freaking-ever to get to that point. Slow-moving story plus stock characters plus enough scientific jargon to make the average reader's eyes cross. And I say this as a SF-lover and as someone who has read Robert Forward's very hard science fiction (Dragon's Egg and Starquake) and loved them. I had to gloss over huge chunks in order to move on.  The final problem was the aliens' "secret." As noted, it wasn't. Surely to goodness one of those bright humans should have picked up on it before the final scenes. Making that "secret" the entire crux of the matter made for a pretty flat finale. 

Kudos to Niven and Pournelle for building an interesting alien race. I wish the story would have taken us to them more quickly and given us more time to learn about them. Less time on the MacArthur would have managed that quite nicely. I agree that the work is ground-breaking in its take on first contact and give Niven and Pournelle all three stars for that. Better human characters and plot pacing would have garnered more. ★★★

[And...apologies to Paula, I don't think I'll be going on to The Gripping Hand.]

Challenge Complete: I Dare You To....

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The "I Dare You To" Challenge has no time limit or required commitment, so I was able do as much or as little as wanted in whatever time I wanted. I started this challenge last year and my overall goal was to read at least 70 books to meet challenges--with a sub-goal of at least 10 by the end of the year (so I ccould count it towards my 2014 challenges fulfilled). Since there is no time limit, you could still join in (click the link--you know you want to). I Dare You.

I DARE YOU TO 
(sponsored by Joanne♥~Bookworm Extraordinaire at All Challenges, All the Time)

Goal of Ten Dares for 2014 Completed: 9/28/14
Total 70 Dares Completed: 4/5/15  


Here is a list of Dares completed. For a full list of dares, please see the challenge link. I may complete a few more--but my commitment has been fulfilled.

1. Read a book in one day: Death on Allhallowe'en by Leo Bruce (started and finished on 10/11/14) 
2. Read a book over 450 pages: Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson [482 pages] (9/27/14)
4. Read a novella (under 200 pgs): A Death for a Dancer by E. X. Giroux [180 pages] (9/28/14)
5. Read a book from a listopia list (link the list): The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1/22/15) [Best Dysopian & Post-Apocalyptic Fiction]
6. Read a book on one of your GR friend's shelf: Nor Live So Long by Sara Woods [on my friend Abbey's To-Read shelf] (10/26/14)
7. Read a book released this year (2014): Death by Hitchcock by Elissa D. Grodin [released March 2014] (10/6/14)
8. Read an ARC book: The Edison Effect by Bernadette Pajer (9/20/14)
9. Read a book with a one word title: Panic by Helen McCloy (2/22/15)
10. Read a book with at least 5 words in the title: The Curious Affair of the Third Dog by Patricia Moyes (11/24/14)
11. Read a book where the author's name is above the title on the cover: The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie (10/11/14)
12. Read a book where the author's name is below the title: Oxford Knot by Veronica Stallwood (11/20/14)
13. Read a book where the title and the author's name are two different colors: Only a Matter of Time by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley (10/13/14)
14. Read a book from your favorite genre: Sick to Death by Douglas Clark [mystery] (12/17/14)
16. Read a book whose cover is your favorite color: Tzimmes by Arthur Marshall Fell [blue] (12/31/14)
17. Read a book whose cover is a color you don't like: Poison Jasmine by Clyde B. Clason [yellow & gree] (4/5/15)
18. Read a book in a male POV: Red Cent by Robert Campbell (9/10/14)
19. Read a book in a female POV: The White Dress by Mignon G. Eberhart (12/15/14)
20. Read a book with two or more POV's (multiple POVs): Past Encounters by Davina Blake [3 POV's, Rhoda, Peter, & Helen] (11/29/14)
26. Read a book set in a country/location/state that is different from yours: Mayhem in B-Flat by Elliot Paul [set in France] (12/4/14)
27. Read a book that is set in the same hemisphere as where you live: Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier [Northern Hemisphere] (11/12/14)
29. Read a sequel: A Curtain Falls by Stefanie Pintoff [#2 in Simon Ziele series] (12/10/14)
30. Read a standalone: Guest in the House by Philip MacDonald (11/2/14)
31. Read a book with less than 1,000 reviews: Bleeding Maize & Blue by Susan Holtzer [91 ratings on Goodreads] (9/30/14)
33. Read a book that starts a new series: A Dead Man in Trieste by Michael Pearce [1st in a new-to-me series] (1/27/15)
35. Read a book that was originally written in a language that is not your own: The Dark Ring of Murder by Misa Yamamura [Japanese] (11/19/14)
38. Re-read a favorite book: Death of a Tall Man by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1/31/15)
40. Read a book by your favorite author: The Underdog & Other Stories by Agatha Christie [one of my favorites--I cannot pick ONE favorite author] (3/17/15)
41. Read a book by a new to you author: The Mind-Murders by Janwillem van de Wetering (10/30/14)
43. Read a book on your TBR list: The Pavilion by Hilda Lawrence (11/17/14)
44. Read a book that you own: Lament for the Bride by Helen Reilly (11/24/14)
45. Read a book that you borrowed from a library: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet by Harry Kemelman (9/8/14)
46. Read an ebook: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy [from Project Gutenberg] (9/21/14)
51. Read a non-fiction book: American Eve by Paula Uruburu (11/11/14)
52. Read a book outside of your comfort zone: The Witch's Grave by Philip DePoy (10/5/14)
53. Read/Listen to an audio book: Ten Little Indians (aka And Then There Were None) by Agatha Christie [read by Norman Barrs] (9/11/14)
54. Read a (auto)biography: Glenn Ford: A Life by Peter Ford (3/9/15)
55. Read a hardcover book: Two Men in Twenty by Maurice Procter (11/14/14)
56. Read a paperback book: Death of a Dutchman by Magdalen Nabb (11/18/14)
58. Read a book that will help you with a challenge: Death by Sheer Torture by Robert Barnard [final book needed for Vintage Mystery Bingo] (11/15/14)
59. Read a book recommended to you: The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum (3/22/15) [Recommended through Book Bloggers Recommend Challenge]
61. Read a book set somewhere you have gone on vacation to: The Final Deduction by Rex Stout [New York City] (11/10/14)
62. Read a book set in a place where you would like to go on vacation to: Death of a Dwarf by Harold Kemp [England] (1/25/15)
63. Read a book set in the country your ancestors are from (if your of a dual heritage you can pick whichever country yous like): Brighton Rock by Graham Greene [England] (3/2/15)
64. Read a book with a main character who has a silly/weird name: Black-Headed Pins by Constance & Gwenyth Little [character name = Berg Ballister] (12/7/14)
66. Read a book set in the past: The Lady in Black by Anna Clarke [written in 1977; set in 1882] (11/1/14)
71. Read a book with people on the cover: Words for Murder Perhaps by Edward Candy [5 people on cover] (12/16/14)
72. Read a book with an animal on the cover: The Footprints on the Ceiling by Clayton Rawson [Bunny on cover] (9/25/14)
73. Read a book with some kind of scene on the cover (beach scene, night scene, ect): The Haunted Lady by Mary Roberts Rinehart [Spooky scene] (10/19/14)
74. Read a book with an inanimate object on the cover: Roast Eggs by Douglas Clark (10/25/14)
75. Read a book with only one person on the cover: Madman's Bend by Arthur W. Upfield (10/24/14)
76. Read a book with a person from the waist down ONLY on the cover: Lament for a Maker by Michael Innes (10/8/14)
77. Read a book where the title's font is bigger than the author's name font: Alone Against Tomorrow by Harlan Ellison (11/30/14)
78. Read a book where the author's name font is bigger than title's name font: Head of a Traveller by Nicholas Blake (10/29/14)
79. Read a book (novel) by two authors: A Crossworder's Holiday by Nero Blanc [pseud. for co-authors Cordelia Frances Biddle & Steve Zettler] (12/21/14)
81. Read a book by an author who uses at least one initial in their name: Murder on Mike by H. Paul Jeffers (10/15/14)
82. Read a book by an author who doesn't use any initials in their name: Star Wreck III: Time Warped by Leah Rewolinski (12/26/14)
83. Read a book by an author who has at least 3 names (first, middle, last; middle name must be spelled out): The Unfinished Crime by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (9/8/14)
85. Read a book by a male author: The D. A. Breaks a Seal by Erle Stanley Gardner (11/16/14)
86. Read a book by female author: The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart (11/4/14)
88. Read a book by an author who has at least 10 books published: Appleby's Answer by Michael Innes [81 books] (10/17/14)
89. Read a book of short stories: Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree, Jr. (1/2/15)
90. Read a book by an author who is from the same country/state/location as you: The Secret of Magnolia Manor by Helen Wells [U.S. author] (2/24/15)
91. Read a book by an author who is from a different country/state/location than you: Death & Mr. Prettyman by Kenneth Giles [British author] (3/6/15)
95. Read a book in a series that has at least 10 books in it: The Finishing Stroke by Ellery Queen [26th in the series] (12/13/14)
97. Read a book from a series that you have been meaning to get back into or that you forgot about: Malice Domestic by Sara Woods [Antony Maitland series] (3/26/15)
98. Read a book that you just found out about and want to read: The Secret of the Gondola by David Alan Brown (12/7/14)
100. Read a book with an author whose last name starts with the same letter as your last name: Into the Valley by John Hersey (2/28/15) "H" for Hankins
101. Read a book with an author whose first name starts with the same letter as your last name: Too Many Doctors by Holly Roth (10/22/14) "H" for Hankins
102. Read a book with an author whose last name starts with the same letter as your first name: Death Takes a Sabbatical by Robert Bernard (9/16/14) "B" for Bev
103. Read a book whose title starts with the same letter as your first name (exclude A, An and The): Blood on the Stars by Brett Halliday (10/4/14)
105. Read a book of your choice: Top of the Heap by A. A. Fair (3/11/15)

The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey

In 1678 a high-profile, well-known London magistrate named Sir Edmund Godrey disappeared for five days. Last seen asking for directions to Primrose Hill, he vanishes for almost a week amid cries that he has done away with himself or, worse still, that the horrible "Papists" have kidnapped him and possibly murdered him. Then his body is found lying in a ditch with his neck broken, marks of strangulation by cord or neck cloth, and run through by his own sword...on, of all places, Primrose Hill. His chest is bruised and his body shows evidence of not having eaten for two days. Where has he been for five days? How did he get bruised? Why are his shoes polished and shiny when any path leading to the hill would have been rain-drenched and muddy? Catholics are eventually tried and executed for the murder, but it is impossible to believe that a "Papist Plot" really called for the death of Godfrey. If innocent men did pay for the crime, whose account should have been charged? John Dickson Carr examines the historical evidence and the theories of various historians and other interested parties to weave a fictionalized account of the crime.

I started out thinking that The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey (1936) by John Dickson Carr should be filed under historical fiction/mystery. By the time I finished, I realized it is more accurately fictionalized history. Carr makes no claim that his telling of the story and the final solution is the unassailable historical truth, but he does set himself the task to be historically accurate while entertaining the mystery lover. He says in the "Preface for Connoisseurs in Murder: 

That this is the true solution, of course, nobody would be presumptuous enough to declare. It is merely the solution which, while trying to meet with the full requirements of the historian, shall also meet with the requirements of the Society of Connoisseurs in Murder....This record does not presume to be history, except insofar as it tries to be true.

It is possible that some of my Vintage Mystery Challengers will cry "foul" when I claim this for the historical mystery category on the Golden Bingo Card. But Carr himself tells us that he is attempting to meet all the standards of detective fiction while giving as accurate a historical record as possible and who am I to argue with one of the masters of the field? 

It is quite obvious that Carr has done his research. He not only gives us what he believes to be the solution to the ultimate questions--Who killed Sir Edmund Godfrey and Why--but he also supplies the reader with eleven other possible solutions complete with historical details that might lead one to at least consider them if not actually believe them. The historical detail accurately brings to life a bawdy, brutal time period full of plots and counter-plots. He informs us of all we need to know about the reign of King Charles II. I have no quibble there and if I were to rate this book on historical accuracy and interest alone, then there is no doubt that it would earn 4 1/2 to 5 stars. But...

Carr makes the claim that the murder of Godfrey is "a very nearly perfect mystery story" (emphasis mine). And, here, for me, this book falls short. Perhaps it is the deluge of historical novels in the last decade or two that has spoiled me--breathing life into historical characters of all sorts from queens and presidents to Thomas De Quincey and Noah's wife. Carr's book, after all, is one of the very first fictional retellings of true crime and, so, is an early venture into this genre. But loving Carr's detective fiction as I do, I expected more entertainment--or at the very least to be entertained while he was providing all the historical background for Charles II's reign and his Opposition and the "Papist Plot"...etc. I never completely felt like I was reading a story. It was very much like reading a history of the events--lots of telling what happened rather than allowing the actors to take the stage, act out the drama, and speak their lines. 

And even though Carr says (again in the preface) that there should be "no nods or elbow-joggings from the author" there are moments where it seems as though there is just a bit of a wink and a nudge...little do these historical figures know, but we know....For example, when Sir Edmund Godfrey's body is found and the men are carrying news to the local magistrate, Carr notes: "They did not know, at the moment, that the sword had been thrust through the body of a man already dead from being strangled." There aren't many of these instances, but they are there and they serve to distance the reader from the story. We are no longer caught up in the tale as it happens because we have knowledge that the players do not.

Overall, a very detailed look at an interesting moment in history and a convincing argument for the murderer of choice. Carr is very good, as always, with his explanation of the crime. The foreward and afterward by Douglas G. Greene are gems--excellent and informative framework for Carr's historical narrative. But adding my personal dissatisfaction with the story-telling element....  ★★★ and a half.

As mentioned, this counts for the "Historical Mystery" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo card. It also serves as my first entry for Rich's monthly Year in Mystery over at Past Offences--this month we are looking a mysteries published in 1936.

Mount TBR Checkpoint Winner!

Such is the craziness at the university in the spring semester...I almost forgot to haul out the random number generator and select a checkpoint winner. But--just in time I remembered and after feeding in all the entries, listening to it clank and whir, we have a winner!  Our lucky climber is #6 Cath at read_warbler! Congratulations, Cath! I'll be contacting you with the prize list very soon.

Thanks again to all of you who checked in...and to all who are busy climbing with us! See you at the next checkpoint!

Poison Jasmine: Review

Theocritus Lucius Westborough, historian by trade and solver of impossible crimes by instinct, receives a telegram from world-famous perfumier Etienne LeDoux asking him to come to his home in Valle de Flores, California to investigate an attempted poisoning...of himself. Someone put a deadly additive in his pre-meal tonic, but fortunately it wasn't quite enough to kill the transplanted Frenchman. LeDoux doesn't want anyone to know Westborough's real purpose and asks him to arrive under the name of T. L. West. The historian's job is to discover which of LeDoux's family or employees want him out of the way. But when the would-be killer strikes again, it isn't LeDoux but his advertising agent, Paul Michael Charmaron, who is poisoned at table with all the suspects.

The obvious suspect--and the one LeDoux picks--is Derek Esterling. Esterling is a brilliant chemist who has developed a new perfume--which uses ingredients that can also be used as a poison. Esterling is engaged to LeDoux's lovely granddaughter (who will inherit the lucrative perfume business if grandpa dies) and he had quarreled with Charmaron the night before. But Westborough thinks the clues point just a little too conveniently to the chemist. And when another murder takes place the historian is able to unravel the tangled clues and follow the thread directly to a diabolical killer.

I read this one and felt throughout that I really ought to like it a lot more than I did. That's not to say that I didn't like it--I do. Just not as much as I thought I would. We've got a good, intellectual/academic type for our detective. I love those. The plot has a clever and effective impossible crime. There's a nice bit of misdirection and clueing sleight of hand. The story has a Golden Age country house feel to it--closed set of suspects all gathered together for murder and mayhem. All the pieces are there...and yet it didn't quite knock my socks off. I'm not sure if it's because it seemed to go a bit too long or if it was all about me and the fact that last week (when I read it) was an out of sorts kind of week. Regardless--Clason is generally a fine entertainer in the mystery realm and I suggest you give this one a try for yourself. ★★★ and a half.

Published in 1940, this fulfills the "Method of Murder in Title" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo card.

March Wrap-Up and P.O.M. Award

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I'm enjoying another year of tracking reading progress and statistics for all things bookish on the Block. I will also be contributing to Kerrie's Crime Fiction Pick of the Month. Now, what happened here on the Block in March....

Total Books Read: 11
Total Pages:  2,450
Average Rating: 3.18 stars  
Top Rating: 4 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 45%
Percentage by US Authors: 27%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery:  82% 
Percentage Fiction: 82%
Percentage written 2000+: 18%
Percentage of Rereads: 0%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's easy to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}    
Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: 4 (10%)


AND, as mentioned above, Kerrie had us all set up for another year of Crime Fiction Favorites. What she was looking for is our Top Mystery Read for each month. March was a big month for mysteries with nine coming from that field and two in non-fiction. And one of the non-fiction was all about poisoning, so it could almost count. Here are the books read:

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (3 stars)
Death & Mr. Prettyman by Kenneth Giles (3 stars)
Top of the Heap by A. A. Fair (3 stars)
Night Train to Paris by Manning Coles (4 stars)
The Underdog & Other Stories by Agatha Christie (3 stars) 
Playground of Death by John Buxton Hilton (2.5 stars)
Malice Domestic by Sara Woods (3 stars)
Murder Fantastical by Patricia Moyes (4 stars)
Dine & Be Dead by Gwendoline Butler (2 stars) 

This month three books earned four stars out of five but only two of them are mysteries: Night Train to Paris by Manning Coles and Murder Fantastical by Patricia Moyes. The Coles book is a fun outing. Spy thrillers aren't my usual fare, but this particular series is breezy, witty, and humorous. There are more coincidences and unlikely events than you can shake a stick at--but you don't care, dead bodies accumulate at an alarming rate, and there is, of course, no real mystery about who did what to whom, but it's a rollicking good yarn. The Moyes novel is a fun, humorous and very cozy take on the police procedural.  Yes, we're following Inspector Tibbett around, but the focus isn't on tracking down clues in the conventional way or gathering up evidence to send to the lab. The focus of the story is on Tibbett's interactions with the Manciples and various other characters connected with the crime. A very interesting character study and a delightful read. Both novels are fun to read--making a P.O.M. Award selection difficult this time around. But I do have to choose...and, that being the case, I'm going to give the nod to Murder Fantastical by Moyes.  

The book is worth it for the description of Bishop Manciple’s visit to a new neighbor to borrow some margarine. He arrives dressed in “an old-fashioned bathing costume... Wellington boots... carrying a flowered Japanese sunshade, a clarinet, and a string bag” while on his way to the river for a swim and a little musical practice.

 

Challenge Complete: Reading Through Time

 "Reading Through Time" Challenge

January 6, 2015-December 31, 2015

Amy, our hostess for the Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge, was in search of a historical reading challenge and didn't find precisely what she was looking for...so she decided to put together her own. It's pretty simple...just read historical fiction. She's left the definition up to us and given us different levels to shoot for. There will be monthly link-ups and prizes. For full details, see her link above.

I started small and signed up for the lowest level:

Anthony Doerr = 5 books

I may read more historical fiction this year, but my commitment has been met with the following 5 books.

1. A Dead Man in Istanbul by Michael Pearce [set in 1911] (1/14/15)
2. Rod Serling's Twilight Zone Revisited adapted by Walter B. Gibson [various time periods from the Civil War era to turn-of-the-century (1900) to World War II] (1/20/15)
3. A Dead Man in Trieste by Michael Pearce [set in 1910] (1/27/15)
4. Playground of Death by John Buxton Hilton [framed with a story from 1920s-1950] (3/18/15)
5. The False Inspector Dew by Peter Lovesey [1920s] (4/1/15)
Challenge commitment complete!

 

The False Inspector Dew: Review

The False Inspector Dew (1982) is a stand-alone historical mystery by Peter Lovesey, known as well for his historical mystery series starring Sergeant Cribb and Bertie the Prince of Wales, a modern series with Peter Diamond, several other stand-alones, and short stories. My first introduction to Lovesey's writing was his Victorian series with Sergeant Cribb. These are delightful historical novels with fine plotting and a good deal of fun and humor. I had heard of the Inspector Dew novel for years--it is a Golden Dagger award winner and has been featured on various "Best of" lists. Julian Symons has described it as “one of the cleverest crime comedies of the past few years" in his book Bloody Murder. And it is quite clever and entertaining, indeed.

The book takes place primarily in the early 1920s--with a bit of background filled in with scenes from the sinking of the Lusitania. Alma Webster, a romantically-inclined woman of 28--full of romantic sensation novel plots and no real experience with the opposite sex, falls madly in love with her dentist. The dentist, Walter Baranov, is married to a demanding, self-centered actress and comes to appreciate the unswerving devotion of Miss Webster. There is just one obstacle to their grand passion--Lydia Baranov. When Lydia announces her plans to give up the stage in England for an imagined career in the growing American film industry...and that those plans involve Walter leaving up his dentist practice (which she paid for) and joining her in America, Walter and Alma hatch a plot to remove the obstacle. 

Lydia sets about selling the dental practice and their home, packing up their belongings, and booking passage on the Mauretania, but Walter tells her he refuses to go. He then books his own passage under a false name--choosing by a quirk of humor to sail under the name Walter Dew, the name of a retired famous Scotland Yard Inspector. Alma, who fortunately resembles his wife, will sneak aboard and stand ready to take Lydia's place once Walter kills her and stuffs her through a convenient port hole. Things seem to have gone smoothly--Lydia is gone, Alma slips into her shoes, and Walter prepares to spend the voyage in the obscurity of second class. But then their plans fall apart...a woman's body is spotted in the water, a couple of card-sharpers get involved, "Inspector Dew" is called upon to help the captain and his crew get to the bottom of things, and someone takes a potshot at the "detective" as he does his best to live up to his namesake's reputation. Lovesey provides plenty of twists and turns as it seems that few people on board the Cunard vessel are really who they seem to be. It will be a clever armchair detective, indeed, who anticipates the final twist.

This is a terrific, near-perfect mystery in the traditional mode--it has everything: murder, ship-board romance, small-time crooks, mistaken identity (several), and a closed set of suspects. Lovesey expertly sets the reader up for certain scenarios and then, with a quick flick of the wrist changes things up in the most logical manner. He also seems to be having a great deal of fun playing with all the standard tropes of both detective and romantic fiction--from the passion of the romance-obsessed Alma to the Inspector who isn't really an inspector to the doting mother who's bound and determined to marry off her daughter. ★★★★ and a half stars for near-perfection.

This fulfills the "Man in the Title" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo Card.

All challenges fulfilled: Vintage Mystery Challenge, 100 Plus Challenge, How Many Books, Mount TBR Challenge, Password Challenge, A-Z Reading Challenge, Cloak & Dagger, Men in Uniform, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, My Kind of Mystery, Reading Thru Time

April Read It Again, Sam Reviews

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April Vintage Bingo Reviews

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April Mount TBR Reviews

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Mount TBR Check Point #1

Wow!  Three months into the year already. Well, you know what that means...Your mountaineering guide is calling for the first quarterly check-in post. Let's see how our challengers are doing. Made it a couple of miles? Camping out in a cave 1/3 of the way up the mountain face? Taking refuge in a mountain hut along the way? Let us know how you're doing. For those who would like to participate in this checkpoint post, I'd like you to do two things:
 

1. Tell us how many miles you've made it up your mountain (# of books read).  If you're really ambitious, you can do some intricate math and figure out how the number of books you've read correlates to actual miles up Pike's Peak, Mt. Ararat, etc. And feel free to tell us about any particularly exciting adventures you've had along the way.

2. Complete ONE (or more if you like) of the following:

 A. Post a picture of your favorite cover so far.

 B. Who has been your favorite character so far? And tell us why, if you like.

 C. Have any of the books you read surprised you--if so, in what way (not as good as anticipated? unexpected ending? Best thing you've read ever? Etc.)

 D. Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? Or tossed it off the edge without reading it all?

And what do you get for all that hard work (and distraction from the actual climb)? The link will close at 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 5.  On Monday, April 6,  I will crank up the Custom Random Number Generator and pick a winning climber. He or she will have the chance to add to their TBR stack via my gently-used book vault (prize list will be sent). Just think, if you win a book you can start up a pile for next year's Mount TBR Challenge. 

Even if you're not in the mood for a prize or if you've only got one leg of the journey under your belt, I'd love to have you check in and tell us how your climb is going!

***Please note--the linky is for Checkpoint posts only.  The link must be to a specific Checkpoint post (not your blog's home page in general). Links that are not Checkpoint-specific will be removed--to make it easier for me to track a winner.

Sign in below with your Checkpoint post.

 

Dine & Be Dead: Review

Dine and Be Dead, originally published as Death Lives Next Door (1960), is the sixth mystery in Gwendoline Butler's John Coffin series--but it takes the reader back in time to Inspector Coffin's first case. It also takes us to the highly academic setting of Oxford for a little murder and psychological drama among the dons. The story centers on Marion Manning, an Oxford scholar who has been successful in more than one field--most recently anthropology, which she gave up after the unexpected death of her husband. Also central to the plot are her spiteful charwoman, Joyo Beaufort, and her friends Ezra Barton (a ``perpetual scholar''), his girlfriend Rachel (who comes from a family of dotty academics), and her gossipy neighbor, Major Nickols.

The action begins when "The Watcher" as Dr. Manning calls him shows up. He doesn't approach her; he doesn't ever do anything overtly threatening. He's just always there. Standing outside her house...watching. Appearing at her lectures...watching. Following her to the train station...watching. Ezra and Rachel tell her she should report him to the police, but she says they'll only think her a silly woman. Because the man hasn't done anything. Then he gets inside her house and there's a death. Only it isn't Dr. Manning who dies...but the man. Dr. Manning insists that she didn't stab him in the back with a knife and that no one else had been in her house. If she didn't kill him, then who did? And who was this mystery man who was dogging her every step?

Enter Inspector Coffin who is hunting for a missing person who finds that his search is somehow tied to Marion Manning's problem. When various people close to Dr. Manning are hospitalized for poisoning, he begins to wonder what forces are at work in the scholarly community. The attacks seem to be aimed at Dr. Manning, will Coffin be able to unravel the mystery and save her....and her friends?

  This is an odd little book. It wins points with me for the unexpected academic ties (I bought this one blind--it had no dust jacket and I grabbed it up because it was a U.S. first edition of an author I was familiar with). There are some apt descriptions of the scholarly life and we all know how I love mysteries with an academic twist to them. But the academic points don't quite balance out the odd psychological feel of the book. The first half to two-thirds (without Coffin, I might add) are pretty dismal and full of a sense of impending doom. We all know that something is going to happen to Dr. Manning--but what? And then when it does, it's kind of anti-climatic because it doesn't actually happen to her. The final psychological twist is a bit of a let-down as well. Most likely because I've already read the classic rendering of this particular twist by....well, I can't tell you because that would give it all away. Let me just say that author X used it in such a masterful way that anyone else is bound to seem second-rate in comparison. I will give Butler kudos for keeping the possibility of the twist hidden as long as she did--the twist itself was a surprise to me even if not used to full effect. The other drawback, in my opinion, is that Coffin doesn't show up until the book is nearly two-thirds done. Knowing that this was supposed to be an Inspector Coffin case, I kept waiting for him to appear.  ★★ for the academic connection, as well as for interesting characters and relationships.

My copy = no dust jacket

This fulfills the "Published Under More Than One Title" square on the Silver Vintage Bingo card.

Quotes:
He and Ezra swopped detective stories. have you read Ransome's latest? Pretty good you know. What about the new Punshon? No Daly for a long time. Is she dead? And the new Innes? Not up to standard. (p. 47)

"My ideal university," said the Professor dreamily, "would be one without any undergraduates in it. A quiet, scholarly, happy world where one need never see a young face again." (p. 66)

Ezra...was sitting at his work-table contemplating the whole corpus of his thesis spread out in nicely typewritten sheets before him; behind were arrayed row upon row of books, authorities he had consulted, would consult, and hoped to consult; Ezra was a slow quiet ruminative worker, chewing over his thoughts as contented as a cow. Morning was just as likely to discover him, still one shoe on and one shoe off, having written two words, crossed out three, and discovered some fifty books that must be consulted before he wrote another one.... (p. 86)

He was not a great believer in coincidences. In his own work, where they occurred, they were usually the result of an error, and however they started out they usually ended in a trap. (p. 91)

Murder Fantastical: Review

Patricia Moyes was a practitioner of the traditional English mystery with a focus on the solution and the characters rather than the crime itself and psychology of its villain.  She was dubbed early on by Vivian Mort of the Chicago Tribune  as “the writer who put the ‘who’ back in the whodunit.” Her Inspector Henry Tibbett is described as a man easily overlooked--"mild-looking, sandy-haired" and "middle-aged"--but his mild appearance allows him to follow his "nose" for clues without unduly ruffling any feathers along the way. 

However, as cozy as Moyes's stories tend to be, she occasionally makes me think of Michael Innes. Most of her plots are fairly straight-forward, traditional mysteries, but every once in a while she, like Innes in some of his more fantastic plots (see The Open House and The Weight of the Evidence), seems to take us for a ride down Alice's rabbit hole. Murder Fantastical (1967) is aptly named--for a more fantastic bunch of characters would be hard to come by. The book is worth it for the description of Bishop Manciple’s visit to a new neighbor to borrow some margarine. He arrives dressed in “an old-fashioned bathing costume... Wellington boots... carrying a flowered Japanese sunshade, a clarinet, and a string bag” while on his way to the river for a swim and a little musical practice.

The Manciples have always been known in the village of Cregwall as a very eccentric family indeed.  From Great Aunt Dora, who at ninety-plus is interested in the astral manifestations of animals, to the cryptic Edwin Manciple, clarinet-playing and crossword-loving former Bishop of Bugolaland to Major George Manciple himself who loves to take potshots on his private shooting range using a home-made clay pigeon flinger of his own design, they each have their quirks and fancies. And after one conversation with any of the Manciple clan one can't help but think that the citizens of Wonderland would feel right at home at the Manciple tea table.

Tibbett is brought into the case when Raymond Mason is shot through the forehead in the Manciple driveway. Sir John Adamson, Chief Constable, and Major Manciple both feel that the situation calls for the Yard instead of local constabulary. Mason, a social-climbing bookmaker who had recently moved into the neighborhood, had set his sights on buying the Manciple estate and when turned down flat (no matter how much money he offered for it) had begun making a nuisance of himself. He had tried to get the Major's shooting range shut down as a public nuisance; he had taken the Major to court over a long disused right-of-way; he had paid unwelcome court to Maude Manciple--the youngest and most beautiful of the family. The village, while remaining loyal to their favorite wacky family and refusing to comment directly to the police, are quite certain that the Major has accidentally shot Mason in an over-exuberant bit of shooting on his range.

Tibbett's famous nose, however, leads him to suspect that this solutions will not satisfy all the questions raised by the puzzle. His search for the truth will take him through the secret files of the British government, a letter from a long-dead physician, and a hunt for a missing book of Homer. And, although he tries to arrange a happy ending for Maude, he finds that sometimes the standard happy ending isn't what one might think.

This is a fun, humorous and very cozy take on the police procedural.  Yes, we're following Inspector Tibbett around, but the focus isn't on tracking down clues in the conventional way or gathering up evidence to send to the lab. The focus of the story is on Tibbett's interactions with the Manciples and various other characters connected with the crime. A very interesting character study and a delightful read. ★★★★

With the central character of Edwin, former Bishop of Bugolaland, this fulfills the "Involves Clergy/Religion" square on the Silver Vintage Mystery card. It also serves as a second entry for Rich's monthly Year in Mystery over at Past Offences--this month's year has been 1967.

Library Bookstore Clearance Sale!

So...any thought that I might actually clear more books off my TBR mountain range than I buy this year promptly went out the window. Our local library had their Spring Clearance sale and some generous soul (or souls) had obviously done a bit of vintage mystery spring cleaning. I had already missed two days of the sale and--based on my experiences of the last two year (very slim pickings in the vintage mystery category)--I didn't expect to find much. Boy, was I wrong! I walked out with forty new-to-me books and if I hadn't exerted what little self-control that I did I could easily have carted out twice to maybe three times that many. The heavy favorite was Erle Stanley Gardner--tons of pocket-size editions of his books (under both the Gardner name and A. A. Fair). I resisted the urge to  put ALL the books in my bag....But it's quite possible I may go back for more.

The best find was a David Frome Dell Mapback edition. I am always pleased to find those.

And the most interesting has to be Some Beasts No More by Kenneth Giles. Tucked in the pages is a "Preview Copy" review request form...from 1985! The book looks brand new--not a crease in the spine, like it's never been opened. I'm thinking somebody didn't send back the requested "two copies of your review."

Here's the complete list of what came home with me:

The Bitter Path of Death (Pierre Audemars)
Death Beside the Sea (Marian Babson)
The Corpse with Sticky Fingers (George Bagby)
The Paton Street Case (John Bingham)
Death by Hoax  (Lionel Black)
Malice in Wonderland (Nicholas Blake) lovely Penguin edition
Or Be He Dead (James Byrom) bought vintage Penguin to replace 1980s reprint
The House without the Door (Elizabeth Daly) Superior Reprints (WWII edition)
Aristotle Detective (Margaret Doody)

Cats Prowl at Night (A.A. Fair/Gardner)
Shills Can't Cash Chips (A. A. Fair/Gardner) Pocket Books (1st printing)
Experiment with Death (E. X. Ferrars)
All for the Love of a Lady (Leslie Ford) Popular Library edition
The Town Cried Murder (Leslie Ford) Bantam pocket size (1st printing)
The Hammersmith Murders (David Frome) Dell Mapback
The Seventh Mourner (Dorothy Gardiner) Popular Library (Crime Club selection)
The Case of the Perjured Parrot (Gardner) Pocket Books (1st WWII printing)
The Case the Shoplifter's Shoe (Gardner) Pocket Books (3rd WWII printing; fine condition)
The Case of the Sulky Girl (Gardner) Pocket Books (25th printing--but near-fine condition)
The D.A. Breaks an Egg (Gardner) Pocket Books Cardinal edition
The D.A. Calls It Murder (Gardner) Pocket Books Cardinal edition
The D.A. Draws a Circle (Gardner) 1st WWII Pocket Books edition
The D.A. Holds a Candle (Gardner) Pocket Books Cardinal edition
The D.A. Takes a Chance (Gardner) Pocket Books (2nd printing)
A Hole in the Ground (Andrew Garve) Dell Publishing (1st printing)
Some Beasts No More (Kenneth Giles)
Death on the Broadlands (Alan Hunter)
Gently Between Tides (Alan Hunter)
The Tick of Death (Peter Lovesey)
The Doberman Wore Black (Barbara Moore)
Add a Pinch of Cyanide (Emma Page)
Every Second Thursday (Emma Page)
Follow Me (Helen Reilly)
Mr. Smith's Hat (Helen Reilly)
The Darlington Jaunt (Angus Ross)
The Suicide Club & Other Stories (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Find a Crooked Sixpence (Estelle Thompson)
The Metropolitan Opera Murders (Helen Traubel)
Murder on the Thirty-First Floor (Per Wahlöö)
This Little Measure (Sara Woods)