Tim and Sally Willows are not a happy couple. Sally thinks she deserves someone richer and more romantic than Tim; he suffers working at an advertising agency and then comes home to Sally's endless complaining. Then a little Egyptian statue switches them around ...
Smith doesn't seem to understand the concept of brevity. This would have been a clever short story. But as a novel, even a short one, it just drags and drags - that one note got hammered mercilessly, recounting Tim and Sally's experiences in a body of the opposite sex. I skipped chunks of pages again before finally giving up.
Anxious to join her husband in France, Ursula finds herself agreeing to revisit the Masons to track down rumors of a Stuart plot that may have already killed two men. But suspicious rumors, a kidnapping attempt, and a surprise visitor may keep her from being able to carry out the Queen's commission.
No dragging-in-the-middle here - poor Ursula ran from one danger smack into another. And that actually got old pretty fast. Not *everything* should be life-threatening. And it was altogether too predictable that Matthew would be involved somehow. Ursula is rather atypical for an Elizabethan lady, even a court lady, in choosing her political beliefs rather than adopting her husband's, and Buckley only halfheartedly justifies this to the reader. The cover was pleasantly related to the story, featuring a woman in Elizabethan dress working with a lock, but the title was only marginally related. I did finish the book, but if the next is as harrowingly predictable, it may finish my tolerance for this series.
Bond broker Lawrence Lamb, who annoys his adulterous wife for fun, finds himself attracted to an acquaintance of his daughter's. But a mysterious man who turns him into various animals saves him from respectability.
Tedious story with little plot, unlikable characters, and more description than anyone could tolerate. I skipped chunks of the story in case it got interesting later on. It didn't.
After being "cursed" by a vicious and self-righteous pillar of the Philadelphia community, young Benjamin Franklin fights the expectation of the community that he will shortly be ruined. It doesn't help that his new apprentice, who has been behaving in a suspicious manner, is soon found dead.
I generally don't like fiction featuring real people, and this was no exception. Franklin is presented as a 21st century man trying to enlighten his 18th century community. Nor were the characters or story interesting enough to keep me reading. I barely made it a quarter of the way through before giving up.
Book hunter Lucas Corso is set on the trail of a demonic handbook.
I give up on this author. He writes about topics that I don't enjoy (in this case, legendary books about demonic magic) in an uninteresting manner. He seems to have never heard the maxim "show, don't tell" and none of his characters are likable enough to keep me reading. Supposedly a thriller/mystery, his books feel more like self-important "literary" fiction. I found absolutely nothing to like or praise about this book.
While waiting at the Paraclete for Edgar's return, Catherine becomes attached to an injured countess and determines to avenge her death. Abbess Heloise asks Catherine to find out why so many people claim a rocky wood left to the convent by the countess. Edgar and Catherine marry but continue to pursue the mysteries.
As usual, Newman interweaves several different storylines and shows a comfortable understanding of society's rules in medieval France, especially between Christians and Jews. I'm not sure the portrayal of Heloise is accurate but I don't know the history of that time well enough to point to any particular discrepancies. This is a slow read, and the story dragged just a bit in the middle, but not enough to make me start skipping pages. But almost at the end, Newman commits the worst sin against the reader: Catherine figures out the killer and doesn't share the information with the reader, just the other characters! Newman was heading for another 5 rating until this fiasco. Also, the title had only a tenuous connection to the book. I'm still going to read the next book in the series, but another hiding-the-solution will probably get thrown across the room and the rest of the series scratched from my to-read list.
Royal clerk Edmund Beche is assigned by King Edward III to secretly find out how his father Edward II really died. Edmund's investigations reveal discrepancies between the official story and supporting documentation, but they also find him threatened by the king's henchman, and almost killed by the dowager queen's men.
Interesting take on one of the tragic tales of English royalty, in the form of letters from Edmund to a clerical friend. Some of the elements were obvious, such as who was providing information to the king. But it was still a solid tale and kept me reading to the end.
Agatha finally opens her own detective agency and tricks herself into hiring her new neighbor Emma as receptionist/detective. Initially jealous of Emma's way with people and knack for detection, she finds herself liking the woman even as reformed-wimp Emma works at out-Agathaing Agatha. Meanwhile, Agatha and company try to find the person threatening to kill a young engaged woman.
I thought this might be the last Agatha Raisin I read. By turning pro, Agatha's investigative woes have lost much of their appeal. Emma aims a vicious streak at Agatha, who is far from perfect but doesn't deserve that attack. And the title is only tangentially related to the story. But while the plot definitely turned weird, it held my attention until the end.
Amelia and Emerson interrupt their Kentish domesticity with precocious son Ramses to run the allegedly cursed Luxor dig of the late Lord Baskerville. Complicating their attempt to reach a possibly unlooted tomb are the quirks of a cast of undeniable characters, including Lady Baskerville's interest in Emerson, an American millionaire's interest in Lady Baskerville, a young English woman with an impossible mother, the men interested in Miss Mary, and an Irish newspaperman determined to milk as much copy out of the curse as he can.
Amelia seems much prissier than in the first book and less likable, although I couldn't complain about her catty comments regarding Lady Baskerville's flirting with Emerson - the woman asked for it. Amelia became less irritating as the book progressed, although her preachy comments never did add anything good to the story. The book kept me reading until the end, and with the confusion of characters I never had any idea whodunit.
eBook downloaded from www.Gutenberg.org
A malicious toymaker leads humble carrier John Peerybingle to the assumption that his young wife Dot is unfaithful, when he sees her with a disguised stranger. He must fight an urge to violence with the aid of the Cricket and eventually decides he has wrongly prisoned her in marriage.
An emotional story along the lines of "A Christmas Carol," complete with bad guy who sees the error of his ways. Not quite as much Dickensian description, with more of an emphasis on the story, but unfortunately not as much attention to making the characters believable, either.
Detective supreme Vidocq drafts non-practicing physician Carpentier to help find the killer whose victim had Carpentier's name hidden in his underwear.
I couldn't get into this book. Carpentier is a spineless wimp and Vidocq a bizarre tyrant, and I don't find either type interesting. I didn't even make it 50 pages before giving up.
Corbett is sent to Scotland to secretly unravel the mystery behind the death of Alexander III, but someone is determined that Corbett won't have a chance to report any findings. Lacking authority, he still manages to question the important characters, and discovers the secret that someone used to kill a king.
Interesting speculation on a real event, the sudden, supposedly accidental death of the King of Scotland around the 12th century. The story moved right along as Corbett collects pieces of information. Since he had been a soldier, his almost fanatical fear of assassins didn't ring true but didn't spoil the rest of the story. A historical note from the author enlightened the reader as to the historical facts that formed the basis of the tale. The title bore only a tiny relationship to the book, one of my pet peeves.
A strange man turns up in a small English village, insisting he is the real Sir John Farnleigh, baronet and landowner. One of the two claimants is found dead and Inspector Hadley calls in Dr. Gideon Fell to determine the real baronet and find the killer. But is this murder connected with the death of a village woman a year earlier?
I found this book on a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including Frederick Dannay (better known as Ellery Queen). I wasn't sure about reading it, because I hated another Dr. Fell tale that presented him as an unbelievable know-all and relied on Fell keeping information from the reader. This book didn't offend me at all, but was still curiously unsatisfying. One critical piece of information wasn't hinted at in any way. The killer is a smug, self-satisfied con man. Fell sets up a logical scenario of the murder to trap another person but never explains why the scenario is wrong. I don't like the "now I've solved it … now I've solved it … now I've REALLY solved it" technique, either. The plot was clever enough, but the title was misleading and the style did not impress me. I found this in an omnibus of four Dr. Fell mysteries, and didn't bother to read the others.
At a country weekend, the host dies and two thugs force a forensic physician to sign the death certificate, then prevent the guests from leaving until a mysterious item is returned to them.
I got about halfway through, but the thugs are so unlikable and none of the other characters are interesting enough to keep me reading. This is the 4th Allingham book I have tried and I haven't been able to finish any of them.
In Tiberus' Rome, slave Caenis and noble Vespasian can't marry but can't keep their hands off each other either.
Caenus is so very likable that I had read halfway through before I realized there was no storyline. (Vespasian is pretty likable too, although not very believable.) It was like running into an old acquaintance that you haven't seen in a while, and listening patiently while she tells you about her life and her husband's and kids', and you may even find bits interesting - but it couldn't be called a story. According to the cover, this was "a novel of romantic suspense." Well, it wasn't very romantic and there was no suspense whatsoever by the time I gave up.
eBook downloaded from Gutenberg.org
Poor porter "Trotty" Veck works as hard as he can and cherishes his daughter Meg. But harsh Alderman Cute shatters his self-worth and challenges Meg's plan to marry Richard, a poor smith. Then MP Sir Joseph Bowley claims to be a "friend and father" to the poor, and to tell them what to do - but if they dare to question him, he blasts them as ungrateful. Seeing himself as one of the unworthy poor, Trotty dreams a future in which Richard abandons Meg before the marriage, and Meg winds up poor and desperate.
Like much of Dickens' work, this was a vicious damnation of how rich people treat the poor. Patronizing Alderman Cute sees Trotty savoring a special dinner of tripe and tells him not to pretend he doesn't have enough to eat, then helps himself to the best morsel. There are also traces of the "ghosts" from A Christmas Carol. Full of Dickensian descriptions but the story isn't as riveting as his best.
Publisher's assistant Elizabeth Jones is thrilled when she has an unexpected opportunity to assist her idol, author Margaret Rosenberg. But then Margaret disappears, and Elizabeth tries to help Margaret's hostile son Christian find her, with dangerous results.
Fast read but an odd story in which nothing particularly made sense and the characters were either unbelievable or obnoxious. I got 3/4 of the way through before I realized I didn't care if I picked up the book again, so I skipped to the end.
in omnibus The Bizarre Murders
Invited to dine at the home of an acquaintance, Ellery Queen is on the spot when a murdered man is found in his friend's office, and in a very strange condition. As the investigation proceeds, Ellery and his father NYPD Inspector Queen find answers to several mysteries surrounding the suspects, but not who the victim was or who killed him … until Ellery Queen puts the clues together.
I was curious about this book because it made a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including this one. But there was so much I disliked that I don't intend to read any more by this author. I disliked the blatant "they didn't know what was coming" foreshadowing that makes up most of the first chapter. I disliked the author interrupting the story to issue a "challenge" to the reader to identify the killer. I REALLY detested Ellery's solving the mystery, telling his father, and NOT telling the reader; instead, he pulled a "gathering of the suspects" to reveal the killer. Some of this may be period-specific style, but I think it's patronizing and obnoxious in any era, and there is simply nothing so compelling about the story or the characters as to motivate me to keep reading anyway. I finished the book, mostly to see if the ending justified the many offenses against the reader; it didn't. I'm unconvinced it even met the requirement of giving the reader all the information necessary to solve the murder.
in omnibus The Bizarre Murders
Fleeing from a forest fire onto an unfamiliar road, Ellery Queen and his father Inspector Queen take refuge in the house of a famous physician. But the Queens' sense of something evil in the house is borne out when one of the residents is found murdered. After the sheriff states he cannot come because of the fire and eagerly deputizes Inspector Queen to investigate the murder, the two wade through one disturbing relevation after another to identify the killer.
The feel of the book is dated, but the worst problem was that the Queens blundered from one proposed killer to another, and the author did not always supply reasons or evidence for the Queens' beliefs. The forest fire that supplied the time pressure to solve the murder practically required a deus ex machina resolution, and they are never satisfying. I did finish the book but do not consider it time well-invested.
Budding writer Aristide Ravel is drafted into police service in pre-Revolutionary France when Inspector Brasseur needs his deductive ability to solve a grisly murder. But Aristide may also smell out information certain high-placed personages will kill to protect.
Well-written and well-organized plot, skillfully misdirecting the reader several times and avoiding all my hot keys: no “now he knew the killer” without sharing the information with the reader, Brasseur’s drafting him into police service gives Aristide a logical reason to be sticking his nose in, and if Alleyn made any errors in French usage, they were too subtle for me to detect. And the ending was logical and satisfactory. Most of the characters were basically good people but had realistic flaws. Aristide’s ability to second-guess not only what was done but why is a little extreme, but stretching my suspension of disbelief was rewarded with a thumping good story. The only quarrel I had was with the title; the “Horseman” of the Apocalypse should be translated “Chevalier” rather than the Anglicized “Cavalier,” but if the title truly came from the apparently real item referred to in the book, Alleyn didn’t have much choice but to use the term Cavalier.
Book editor Edward Stevens realizes a photograph of an 1860’s arsenic murderess is the spitting image of his wife, and with the same name. Then he learns that a neighbor seems to have died of arsenic poisoning.
I did not get far into this book before giving up. The people are too determinedly unexceptional, and the whole atmosphere too determinedly reincarnation-oriented, to interest me.
A man who specializes in debunking vampire myths is shot in a locked room, apparently by a gaunt illusionist. Dr. Fell assists Inspector Hadley of Scotland Yard in finding the killer, which involved a lot of European history to unravel the victim’s past.
I was curious about this book because it made a “best locked room mystery” list put together by Edward D. Hoch from recommendations of several mystery authors, including Frederick Dannay (better known as Ellery Queen). The story is started from the point of view of someone who heard about it rather than being a part of it, which I disliked. However, once the murder occurred, the main characters were as involved as I could wish. Dr. Fell’s excessive quirkiness distracted me from the plot, and his frequent comments about knowing who the murderer was - without revealing it to the police, much less the reader - are something that ordinarily make me throw a book across the room in disgust. His all-encompassing knowledge, absolutely critical to solving the murder, did not ring true, and his frequent lectures (including one on detective stories!) were simply boring. If Dr. Fell was a recurring character, maybe he would have been more real if I’d read other books featuring him, but as a stand-alone he was not intriguing or believable. I stuck with this very slow read because so many authors had praised it so highly and I was hoping the ending would redeem the rest of the book. It was certainly unusual, and I was struck with how cleverly the author had supplied some of the clues, but it was not fabulous enough to make up for the time I wasted reading it.
American Jessica Tregarthen is enjoying visiting England when two pursuers scare her into flight. Reluctantly rescued by a Cyrano-esque British writer, the villains manage to kidnap both of them and don’t plan on sharing the treasure to which they think Jess is a threat.
Suspense rather than mystery, which is generally too scary for me, and this had too many "if I had only known" comments which I detest. I got about a quarter of the way through and then skipped to the end.
After a glorious Christmas Eve service at Sherebury cathedral, sixty-ish widow Dorothy trips (literally) over the body of a church canon. Although she has largely withdrawn from life following the unexpected death of her husband, she finds herself determined to identify the killer to save the primary suspect, a troubled young student.
The only thing wrong with this book is that it just didn’t hold my attention. Dorothy is likable enough, the canon was universally disliked, and there are lots of suspects. But I didn’t particularly care what happened next when I put the book down. I finally gave up about 3/4 of the way through.
When an expelled graduate student threatens to sue the University to return its property to the Indians, Roger and Philip are assigned to provide evidence the student participated in illegal activities such as kidnapping the chancellor.
Not at all up to the standard of previous books in the series. The book jumped around in time so much I absolutely could not tell what happened before or after other events. The only likable characters were Roger and Philip. And the story was boring as well. When I got a quarter of the way through and still couldn’t either figure out or care about the plot, I gave up.
A bright but neglected girl meets Sherlock Holmes during WWI.
I didn’t think I’d like this book. The basic concept of a young woman out-Holmesing Sherlock Holmes struck me as wrong. Then King compounded the offense with an “introduction” insisting she was just the “editor.” Phony posing really irritates me. I kept reading, hoping there would be a great story that would make up for the awful concept and cutesy comments, but when I got a quarter of the way through and there was still no story at all, just backstory and snide comments about Mary's aunt, I gave up.
Former archer Owen is sent to investigate two possible poisonings that occurred at a monastery.
I just don’t like PI stories, whether they are set in New Orleans or 1920’s Hollywood or ancient Rome or, as here, medieval England. I got 1/3 of the way through and realized I didn’t even care enough about the story to skip to the end.
When Kate’s newly-ex-husband Craig’s fiancee is killed at a spa, he calls her for comfort and to find the killer, to prevent the sheriff arresting him. But none of the other guests even knew Suzanne … or did they?
After reading a quarter of the book, that’s all I can say about the plot. None of the characters were particularly likable or even real. I wasn’t even interested enough to skip to the end.
Unsuccessful actress Rita Farmer accepts a top-secret job to coach a murder suspect to appear more likeable at her trial. Meanwhile, an insurance investigator wants to find out if the suspect’s husband was really killed.
I didn’t think I’d like this book, partiallly because I don’t like anything involving harm to children, and partially because coaching someone to fool a jury is just wrong. I was fooled by a back-cover review that called it “hilarious” and I didn’t realize until later that was a review from a different book. This was not a funny book at all and I disliked it just for the reasons I had expected. Also, Sims kept switching POVs, from first-person with Rita narrating to third-person following the investigator. I’m not wild about dual main characters, although I couldn’t think of a better way to manage the separate plotlines, but the POV switching was just distracting. I quit forcing myself to read a quarter of the way through.
Prissy Canon Hubert, fighter Ralph Delchard, and half-Saxon clerk Gervase Bret come to investigate Bedwyn in the Savernake Forest, but find their informant killed by a wolf. The examiners take on the local abbey, which may have helped itself to a rich tract of land. Meanwhile, Ralph pursues a new paramour and Gervase counsels a reluctant novice.
Complicated plots intertwine around major and minor characters, with an outstanding presentation of the Norman/Saxon conflict underlying all relations between conquerors and conquered. The story itself was a slow read and not as compelling as some I’ve read, but I did finish it.
Fascinated by a small circus spending the off-season on her neighbor’s land, Dandy strengthens her acquaintanceship with overprotected Ina Wilson to be able to visit the circus people. Then the owner’s wife asks Dandy to speak to a performer with problems. But a suspicious death starts Dandy and Alec ferreting in earnest.
Rather slow-starting and with several seriously unlikeable characters, but with enough plot twists to keep me reading.
Collection of mystery/detective short stories published in 1981.
Like any collection, of varying quality and themes. None impressed me as thoroughly terrible, and I particularly enjoyed “The Problem of the Octagon Room” by the editor and “The Absence of Emily” by Jack Ritchie. “A Token of Appreciation” by Donald Olson was cleverly vicious.
People sharing bodies and magical powers with legends of history like Merlin and Modred fight against ancient evil necromancers.
It is unusual for me to abandon a book because of my Christian beliefs, but I had no other choice with this book. Reincarnation and astral planes are just so wrong I could not continue reading.
Matthew Jenkyn narrates his uninteresting life in tedious detail.
Yet another “when I was born” boring autobiography. I don’t know what Doherty was thinking.
Old and rich Sir Roger Shallot recollects his life.
No more interesting than most books that start with the narrator’s birth. I waded through 30 pages of boring life details intermingled with poisonous and probably libellous comments on historical persons from Richard II through Elizabeth I before I gave up. Especially annoying because Doherty knows how to write an interesting story, he apparently just didn't bother here!
Included in omnibus The Complete Uncle Abner
Second collection of short stories about the narrator’s “Uncle Abner,” who fights for right and uncovers dark deeds.
A shorter book with only four stories, but otherwise more of the same. Abner has had a change of heart and now stands for letting the law judge.
John suspects the simultaneous fiery deaths of three stylites were engineered by a new self-proclaimed messenger from God, who expects his followers to force him in as co-emperor with Justinian. But the malicious Empress Theodora charges John’s friend with the murder of his annoying house guest, distracting him from the dangerous Michaelites. And Justinian makes his own contribution to John’s difficulties.
A complicated storyline with heavy doses of court intrigue. I’m not sure I understood what happened, but I did read it all the way through. I also didn't see any connection between the title and the story, one of my pet peeves.
Letty arrives in 1930’s Crete to run an archaeological dig, but finds a former crush there as well. Then a questionable suicide distracts her from the promising dig site and she must defend herself against a powerful enemy.
Rather slow-starting with a heavy dose of unlikeable characters, but it kept me reading anyway. Much better handling of the romance than most writers manage. I wasn’t totally happy with the resolution but it was believable.
Young and dreamy British barrister Julia visits Venice and is accused of killing a fellow traveler.
Why do some writers feel obligated to start their books so as to make the characters seem as unlikeable as possible? This one starts with Hilary praising her own detective and authorship abilities in such an obnoxious way I almost gave up on the second page. I might as well have; by the time I got a quarter-way through the book, I’d suffered through a couple of Julia’s letters, written in a decorative style that would have shamed Dickens, and a number of other “by then, although we didn’t know it” diversions. And none of it was particularly interesting. I gave up.
Young-adult novel about three high school seniors involved in a school shooting.
This book lost me in the first 30 pages. First there was a diatribe about the girl putting her gun in a backpack, then a scene where a teacher notices the fat arms of a school secretary … for several pages. I threw the book down in disgust. Lippman seems to specialize in unlikable characters, which removes my interest faster than anything.
Shakespeare “confesses” to getting mixed up in something that left a loved one dead.
I absolutely could not get into this book. First, I don’t like fiction featuring real people. Second, this book started with an “if I had only known” foreshadowing that I detest. It’s pure laziness on the author’s part to avoid having to work to foreshadow events in a more subtle way. After 20 pages or so of this heavy-handed breast-beating, I gave up. If there was a good story in this book, it was hidden too well for me.
Amilou finds the body of her philandering soon-to-be-ex-husband in a flowerbed the night after he returned to town and she threw him out of their house. She and the homeowner, one of Greg’s questionably former paramours, accuse each other of the murder. But Amilou is hiding something, and her partners Janey and Korine want to know what before Janey’s police-chief husband arrests Amilou for Greg’s murder.
Very layered story, and a great example of how to provide backstory without slowing down the main storylines. All three women have family problems and Herman takes her time in revealing the details, piquing the reader’s curiosity for more. However, the three main characters ran together in my mind, I had trouble keeping all the different stories straight, and the storyline was moderately interesting rather than compelling.
In this “sequel” to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, “Feste” learns of Orsino’s death and travels to Illyria to find his killer, who he suspects to be Malvolio.
I really wanted to like this series, as the idea of fools influencing history was so attractive. But the uninteresting people and uninvolving plot left me with no reason to keep reading, and I gave up halfway through. However, hoping that it simply depended too much on the Twelfth Night tie-in, which is arguably my least favorite Shakespeare, I’m going to try the next book in the series anyway.
Lord Gilbert calls in surgeon Hugh de Singleton when a decomposed girl’s body is found in his cesspit. After Hugh is able to identify the girl, Lord Gilbert asks him to find the killer.
This book started well, with the finding of the skeleton, but then deteriorated into a LONG flashback revealing far more than I cared to know about how Hugh became a surgeon, and I almost gave up right there. But the book concept intrigued me, and I read to the end. As a story, it was adequate. But as a historical mystery, it committed terrible errors. I can’t go into details without giving away the plot, but Kathy Emerson made the point in her excellent “How to Write Historical Mysteries” that murder wasn’t the most heinous sin in medieval times, treason was (which included almost any act other than complete cooperation with a social superior). So this book was not true to the period. The story held my interest enough that I’ll read the next book in the series, but if Starr continues to ignore the rules of the period, I will lose interest fast.
Master Sean is arrested for the murder of a fellow sorcerer who had been researching the same topic as Sean. Lord Darcy, of course, is determined to free Sean, even if he has to find the real killer. Darcy and Sean eventually must unravel a Polish plot to steal a top-secret magic device and identify a dangerous traitor.
After enjoying a book of Lord Darcy short stories, I wondered how it would hold up as a full-length novel. I was pleased to find it held up very well, with an involving story featuring mostly likable characters and lots of red herrings as well as the information needed to identify the guilty parties (although I didn't manage to). The only annoyance was a longer explanation of the alternate universe history than Garrett put in the short stories, but it was just a few paragraphs and quickly over.
Old Silas Kane is found dead the morning after his 60th birthday party. Was it an accident? Or did someone want him out of the way?
So full of unlikable people I couldn’t make myself care whether any of them had killed also-unlikable Silas and gave up less than a quarter of the way through.
Collection of short stories featuring superthief Nick Velvet, most of which first appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Nick only steals items of no particular value, such as all the water in a swimming pool or a cheap toy being used on a motion picture set.
I was somewhat lukewarm about the idea of a clever thief who never gets caught. I prefer to see justice win. But Velvet has his own sense of justice and I found myself enjoying the stories, even through my distaste for his casual live-in relationship that keeps being dragged into the stories for no particular reason.
Collection of short stories by various authors about the “deadly sins” of lust and greed.
Chilling tales, especially the first one, closer to horror than what I consider murder mysteries. Well-written, though, and avoided too much description (one of my pet peeves). I got about halfway through but gave up because I don’t like horror.
Genre: historical romance/mystery
Sir Tristram agrees to marry young Eustacie to satisfy his dying uncle’s wish. But Eustacie stuffed herself full of romances and decides her mysterious cousin Ludovic sounds much more interesting. Can the cousins find the missing talisman ring and prove Ludovic didn’t commit murder?
Interesting combination of Regency romannce and murder mystery, but it palled on me halfway through and I skipped to the end.
Genre: murder mystery/police procedural
An obnoxious child lifts the visor of a knight’s armor and finds a dead body. With the dubious aid of inexperienced D.C. Crosby, Inspector Sloan questions eccentric family members, servants, and neighbors to find who killed an old archivist who claimed to have discovered evidence that the present Earl was not the rightful holder of the title.
Lightweight piece-of-fluff mystery, but enjoyable nonetheless with lots of amusing class conflict and an ending that sent me into gales of laughter. I'm not sure to what the secondary title applies, though.
Deirdre’s perfect life is falling apart. The company behind the launch of her new cookie line is disappointed with the focus group’s reactions. Her best friend is withdrawn and antisocial after a heart attack. And while her boyfriend Kevin remains perfect, his socialite sister is dangling his ex-fiancee to tempt him away from Deirdre and a tabloid reporter has made Deirdre gossip her reason for living.
Not the most intellectual story I’ve ever read, but it kept me reading, the only book by this author to do so. Deirdre is an engaging heroine and definitely not wimpy. Kevin is a one-note character but it’s a nice note. Good travelling or doctor-visit book, when you need something not particularly challenging because you’ll be picking it up and putting it down over and over.
After the planet blasting that should set Pern free of Thread forever, holders and dragonriders look towards the end of the last Pass. But some Pernese want to see the end of the Aivas-given changes, and a planet-wide disaster elicits extraordinary efforts from the dragonriders and points them in a new direction.
McCaffrey keeps surprising me with new developments in the Dragonriders series, with involving plots that more than make up for simplistic endings with holes in them.
Genre: SF
Earthmen come to a planet and co-opt the local religion for their own purposes. After a young Nidorian sees his research stolen to credit a mentally limited fellow student, he tries to organize a revolt against the Earthmen.
I like good SF, but this wasn’t it. The plot wandered all over the place and the various Nidorians were just earth-types with a little more hair. I wasn’t interested enough to finish it.
Genre: historical fiction
Yet another retelling of the saga of Troy, starting with the parents of the main figures.
Nothing particularly wrong with this book unless you object to switching the POV with each chapter - I'm not thrilled by it but an entrancing story will keep me reading anyway. However, I'm very familiar with the Trojan legends and don't like them enough to read yet another version, so I only made it through the first few chapters before giving up.
Genre: fantasy
Undisguised retelling of “The Cloud Minders” from the original Star Trek, only the cloud-people have developed psi powers.
I didn’t particularly like the story because I don’t like seeing evil get the upper hand for most of the book, and I particularly object to blatantly ripped-off plots, but I couldn’t stop reading even though the plot followed McCaffrey’s usual over-simplistic “once the bad guys see they are doing wrong they will stop” philosophy. (Obviously, if I objected strongly to that oversimplification, I wouldn’t have read so many of McCaffrey’s books.) And the title had nothing to do with the story, a common McCaffrey problem.
Marcus Didio Falco, private informer in first-century Rome, rescues a beautiful young girl and investigates who wanted to kidnap her.
Just another hard-boiled PI story, which I don’t like so I gave up quickly.
After witnessing a dying acquaintaince scrawl a number in the dust, Jean Suttman becomes awfully accident-prone. New friend Jacqueline Kirby is only one of Jean’s friends who are suspicious that someone might be trying to get rid of Jean as well. But the police have decided the death was a suicide.
Involving story, but with flaws. The reader does not know what Jacqueline has found. The focus is on Jean, so technically it’s not hiding clues from the reader (in fact, the reader did have all but one of the clues Jacqueline had), but it *felt* wrong. The mutual attraction between Jacqueline and the students doesn’t feel valid, more like the author thought they should like each other so she says they do. I don’t mind a gather-in-the-drawing-room resolution, but this one felt very contrived. But with all that, it kept me reading until the end.
Just what the title says, a history of the Knights Templar, from their formation and establishment as an order to fight the heathen in the Holy Land, through the mangled and ego-ridden Second Crusade, the legends of Richard the Lionheart, through the dissolution of the order and the arrests of its members, concluding with a discussion of some of the Templar legends.
Slow read but definitely goes into well-researched detail about the knights and how the order was run. Also has some great lines; if more historians wrote like Newman does, history wouldn’t have the reputation of being boring. Unfortunately, the structure of the book was disjointed, switching from chronological order to various subjects. Several important events were discussed repetitively. It also isn’t a book to sit down with and just read; it took me weeks to read because I could only manage a few chapters at a time.
Expert falconer Thomas serves his master Sir Robert well but adores Lady Margaret. After her brother is killed and she tells Thomas she is facing ruin, he determines to identify and remove the threat to her.
This was just unbelievable and not particularly interesting. Given the social milieu of the time, there was no reason for a rich knight to marry a middle-class woman with no dowry, no matter how beautiful. Then Thomas conveniently meets a man who can find out the backstory of the attacks … I don’t mind suspending disbelief, but Pilkington took too much for granted. I gave up halfway through and skipped to the end. The resolution was just as obvious as I had expected and I'm glad I didn't waste any more time reading.
The life of a sad woman who occasionally works at the convent deteriorates further when her alcoholic husband is brought into the convent badly injured. As infirmarian and family tend him, Dame Frevisse must defend the players who rescued him. But another tragedy unites the villagers and may result in the lynching of a player.
Superb demonstration of the hard lives of villeins in medieval times, as well as the riveting story I expected. And I guessed whodunit. This book introduced the Bassett players, who Frazer later gave their own series.
An unnamed man is killed while robbing a primitive British grave. Then a novice lawyer is sent to Salisbury on unspecified business.
If the plot description made no sense to you, all I can say is there was no plot as far as I could tell. Details about the lawyer’s girlfriend and train trip might have some relevance, but it’s the author’s job to show the reader the relevance or at least make the description interesting enough to keep reading. Gooden did neither. The final straw was an “if such-and-such hadn’t happened, Thomas Ansell would never had gotten involved with the Salisbury manuscript,” especially since at that point in the story there WAS no Salisbury manuscript. I threw the book down in disgust after only 38 pages.
Since her husband’s unexpected death ten years earlier, Anjali has devoted her energy and taste to the family sari shop in New Jersey. But decreasing business has led her father to ask his older brother for help, and the helper he brings along is unexpectedly fascinated with Anjali.
Sadly, this was at core just another stupid romance. Absolutely gorgeous, rich man pursues fabulously beautiful, talented young widow who is still grieving her husband. But the setting, an Indian conclave in New Jersey, and the cultural elements unique to an Indian-American family, kept me reading anyway. No plot surprises and only romance fans and those who share my fascination with different cultures will enjoy it.
Vatican agent Lorenzo Quart is assigned to investigate a rumor of murder at a Spanish church after a message pops up on the Pope’s personal computer.
What a disappointment, to expect a historical mystery and find a modern religious-political thriller. Especially since I don’t like thrillers anyway. I gave up quickly.
Widowed Ursula Blanchard takes a position as lady-in-waiting to young Queen Elizabeth and is sent to care for Robert Dudley’s ailing wife Amy. She suspects Amy is right that someone is going to kill her so Dudley can marry the queen, but is helpless when pain-wracked Amy orders all the servants as well as herself to a local fair. Later, Ursula stumbles across what may be a Catholic plot against the queen and must take drastic steps to protect her country.
Interesting take on one of the true mysteries of Elizabethan England, and one of the few books in a long time that I read in a single sitting. It was a fairly fast read but I didn’t want to put it down. After I was finished, I realized there were a lot of structural weaknesses to the book. The plot did not move purposefully towards a conclusion, there were really three sequential plotlines. But the engrossing story overcame the flaws and kept me reading.
Book holder Nicholas Bracewell is the glue that holds together the acting company Lord Westfield’s Men. When a generous but tempestuous actor is killed in a tavern brawl, Bracewell determines to find his killer. What he finds is that he knew very little of his friend, while the killer leaves a trail of beaten and murdered prostitutes. Meanwhile, he believes someone is trying to destroy the acting company and the deaths are connected.
Fairly authentic representation of the theater as far as I can tell, with multiple storylines well-managed so I didn’t feel confused by them. Mostly likeable characters and a particularly appropriate title.
When a dead nun is found in the cellar of a convent, Inspector Sloan is assigned to find her killer. Is there a murderess among the black-and-white habits? Or did someone manage to get into the private areas?
Kept me reading in spite of being a police procedural. The nuns are neither set up as saints nor mocked for laughs. I’m not sure the reader was given all the clues, but I didn’t throw the book across the room in total disgust, either.
In 1851 London, Inspector Robert Colbeck, of the new Detective Department at Scotland Yard, is assigned to identify and catch the criminals who executed a daring mail train robbery and almost killed the engineer.
Standard police procedural, which I don’t particularly like. I got halfway through and skipped to the end.
In Elizabethan England, Matthew Stock discovers his election to constable is no sinecure when a young actor is brutally killed. He suspects the murderer but when he allows a young maid to escape town following another death, the magistrate fires Matthew and leaves town himself. Unable to accept the immunity of the murderer to prosecution, Matthew attempts to enlist another noble in the case, and accidentally piques his interest with the news of a fourth death.
I had trouble getting through this one. It was a pleasant change to have as main characters a happily married couple, but the story dragged and the characters didn’t get me involved. It was a “how will he prove it” rather than “whodunit” but I ordinarily like both. The cynical attitude that the nobility can literally get away with murder is probably authentic but I didn’t enjoy it, and the ending wasn’t really a resolution. I didn’t hate it, I was just disappointed in the story.
Aging, unexpectedly divorced TV newsman steps into the singles scene.
Brett really seems to enjoy creating unlikeable characters. This time, it’s a man who recognizes and is content with his own shallowness. He was so boring I couldn’t work up any interest in his post-marriage sexual odyssey and barely made it a quarter of the way through before giving up.
Orphaned as a young girl, Jane Popyncourt is raised as a “child of honor” in the household of Henry VII’s youngest daughter Mary. Uninteresting to courtiers as a marriage partner because of her poverty, she falls in love with Henry VIII’s prisoner, the Duc de Longueville.
Although this is a fictionalized biography of a real woman, it has everything that I despise in fictional romances: incredibly beautiful but poor heroine, who falls in love with and incredibly handsome man … you know the drill. I gave up pretty quickly.
Benedictine novice Thomasine is almost ready to take her final vows when her possessive aunt visits the convent, raving and insisting on Thomasine leaving with her immediately. But when two women die suddenly and Thomasine is the prime suspect, Dame Frevisse has little time to uncover the “why” to find the “who.”
Not the most coherent mystery ever, but it kept me reading and was set in a proper Benedictine convent.
Dominican Friar Athelstan was assigned by his prior to a parish in the worst part of London, and to assist the London coroner Sir John. When the coroner must investigate a murder-suicide of a prominent London goldsmith, Athelstan thinks something is fishy.
I gave up halfway through, still unable to find a plot after three questionable deaths and endless description (mostly nauseating) and emotional self-flagellation.
Having destroyed the robber band that wiped out Tarma’s Clan, she and Kethry go adventuring. First Tarma helps Kethry overcome the crippling fear inculcated by a forced marriage, then they return to the Dhorisha Plains and acquire battlesteeds, and then they tackle a deadly demon.
This is what Lackey does best: not a cohesive novel but an enthralling series of connected stories. Fast, involving read.
Harrison Hull and ornithologist Alexander Wilson investigate the alleged suicide of explorer Meriwether Lewis.
Even though I normally dislike fiction about real people, I tried to give this a fair shot. But it wasn’t interesting enough to hold my attention, and a long flashback to Jefferson’s presidency just killed any willingness I still had to finish reading it. I gave up a quarter of the way through.
Devoted to goddess of truth Ma’at, Lord Amerotke is a high judge in ancient Egypt, used to sifting truth from confusion. But he needs all his deductive skill to unravel the mystery behind the murder of several court officials.
Complicated plot covering actually several different puzzles and a title with a flimsy relationship to the story. Amerotke is honest and dedicated, with a loving wife and two active sons. His attempts to carry out the direction given by the queen in spite of life-threatening court machinations kept the story moving along. My only quibble is that the great secret was completely unbelievable and reeked of the author having his own agenda. I don’t know enough about ancient Egypt to say whether the details of everyday life and court life were authentic, but they didn’t contradict anything I did know and they felt right.
Dapper but manly Inspector Alan Grant investigates the knifing of a man waiting in line to see a London show. As he identifies victim and his killer, he is stymied by characters who aren’t what they seem to be.
Third-person omniscient police procedural tells the reader whodunit, but not why. And the awful ending showed Tey was not a party to the mystery writers’ code of “no coincidences” and “no deus ex machina endings.” Too bad, because the story held my interest through the book. Tey refers to an earlier case in which Grant met one of the characters in this book, Ray Marcable, but everything I found on the Web indicates this was Tey’s first published work.
Watson and Sherlock Holmes head for Scotland, where two murders reminiscent of the murder of Rizzio centuries earlier may be linked to a plot to kill Queen Victoria.
I have yet to read a really good Holmes reproduction, and this ain’t it. (And yet people keep trying … it’s right up there with writing a sequel to “Pride and Prejudice.”) First, all the authors who try to write a new Sherlock Holmes story all feel compelled to up the ante. Simple murders threatening innocent people aren’t enough, they have to put all of civilization at stake; in this case, killing the Queen who wasn’t really ruling the country anyway. Second, long pages of boring exposition don’t automatically become interesting because they are set in a Sherlock Holmes story. Doyle got away with an awful lot of exposition in the guise of having the potential victim explain why he/she was asking for Holmes’ help, but the mimics don’t seem to be able to pull this off. In this book, I gave up after pages and pages of Mycroft explaining the situation to Holmes and Watson; it was just too boring to force myself to read any further.
Sarah organizes a wedding quilt for Sylvia, while several of the camp regulars apparently have their own problems.
I think I’m giving up on this series. I’ve been reading it because I felt I ought to (since I quilt), rather then because I enjoyed it. And it’s a great example of nice people not necessarily leading interesting lives. It’s too bad, because Chiaverini does a wonderful job making the quilts an essential part of the stories.
Aurora and Martin marry, but Roe worries about Martin’s reluctance to share his past, as well as the two people who he puts in their garage apartment. Meanwhile she is determined to find out what happened to the Julius family six years earlier.
Oddly enough, although this book started with a brief explanation of Aurora and Martin giving each other real estate as wedding gifts and then went into a long flashback of Aurora buying Martin’s gift, it didn’t annoy me as flashbacks usually do. But the rest of the book was confusing. The two separate major plotlines were not related and just seemed discordant somehow. One part of the ending surprised me and one part didn’t.
A small Washington logging town barricades itself in 1918 to keep away the influenze epidemic, but many of the townspeople are ambivalent about using force to protect themselves. Meanwhile, the men running the nearest town fear that Commonwealth is using the quarantine as an excuse to hide anti-war activity.
Great idea but did not result in an interesting story. Mullen actually did an excellent job of bringing to life the beliefs and fears of WWI America. The characters all behaved consistently with their backgrounds and thoughts. But so much time was spent on flashbacks and following so many characters that it left the story disorganized, and I wasn’t even halfway through when I realized I just didn’t care how it came out.
The original collection of non-MZB Darkover short stories
Most of the stories are pretty decent if not very polished. Still, the plots are involving, and the authors often take advantage of known Darkover characters with which the Darkover reader is already familiar. Fast read.
Catriona lives for her family horses, but her mother is determined to turn her into a proper lady. Lovely Mrs. Healy is a complete lady but also a superb horsewoman.
Disorganized coming-of-age story. Logically the focus should be on Catriona, but McCaffrey distracts the readers by following various characters around her, including sexual antics of the adults. I realized her Pern stories are similarly disorganized, but in them it doesn’t seem as distracting.
Child prodigy Robinton is adored by his mother Marelan and ignored by his father Petiron. Having made journeyman, he practices diplomacy as well as music at several Holds, preparing to be elected Masterharper.
I was disappointed that McCaffrey made young Robinton such a collection of all the virtues. The Mozart-like musical precocity was not necessary or substantiated by his later activities. OTOH, she did provide history for his negotiating skill and championship of the Weyr, and took the reader up to through the F’lar/Fax duel in Dragonflight.
Godmother Bella invites Elena to become her apprentice. Elena learns to work with magic and the Tradition to bring good and fight evil. When she encounters a rude and dangerous questing prince, she turns him into an ass and undertakes to teach him to value all people, human or not. But the Tradition is still determined to mate her with a prince, and when Elena finds herself attracted to Alexander, she challenges the Tradition to bring them together as equals.
Slow reading but an involving storyline. Lackey personifies the oeuvre of fairy tales as “The Tradition” and applies it consistently to the situations Elena encounters.
With a volcano about to erupt and destroy the Southern Continent settlements, the colonists need the dolphins’ help to move belongings and people out of danger.
Short book, fast read, simple plot, but a pleasant look at human/dolphin cooperation on Pern.
Her mother-in-law and husband plan to burn beautiful Megha to death because her father has not paid the promised dowry. She manages to escape and find shelter with her husband’s cousin, but her vicious mother-in-law is determined to eliminate her.
Fascinating story and an excellent example of presenting a different culture without letting the explanations defuse the story. The occasional flashbacks slowed down the story, as always, but there were only a few of them. I literally read this in one night because I couldn't put it down.
Young Readis has been fascinated by dolphins since they rescued him from a shipwreck. As he learns more about their needs and how they keep the ancient pact between man and dolphin, which men have long forgotten, he becomes more determined to re-establish that bond, no matter the cost.
This book somewhat overlaps the time period of “All the Weyrs of Pern.” McCaffrey seems a little confused over the development of the Southern Continent, between who wants what and who controls what, and never explained what the illegal new settlers were going to find at their designated new homes. Otherwise, nice story focusing on the marine settlers from Earth.
One of Heyer’s Regency romances, with a beautiful noblewoman obliged to marry a rich rake for the sake of the family finances, even though she loves a charming young lieutenant. Not being a fan of romances, I gave up as soon as I realized this was one.
Rich, fashionable Richard “Beau” Wyndham is almost ready to give into family pressure and marry the daughter of a spendthrift nobleman when he agrees, on a whim, to help a young girl escape her own marital pressures and find her childhood love. When the two stumble on a stolen diamond necklace, Wyndham realizes his intended’s brother has resorted to theft to finance his desired lifestyle. But Wyndham’s attempt to prevent a scandal leads to a murder, an elopement, and a refused offer of marriage.
Wholly unbelievable Keystone Kop-like series of errors and coincidences. If it hadn’t been such a fast read, I’d have given up.
Simeon, the shellperson running a space station, dislikes his new brawn, especially when she manages to force Simeon to adopt the scruffy orphan who has been living in the station maintenance tunnels. Meanwhile, when pirates attack a theocratic planet, the few extremist escapees can’t make their original destination.
This was as far as I got in the book. The story was disjointed, the characters weren’t particularly likeable or believable. If there was a story there, it took WAY too long to develop. When I put the book down and for several days didn’t have any urge to pick it back up, I just quit.
Disabled Scotland Yard investigator Jack Tarrant and his girlfriend Maria are delighted but surprised to receive an all-expenses-paid trip to a country inn for Christmas. Then another of the guests is found dead, and they realize the serial murderer who crippled Jack and escaped is feeding them puzzles predicting future murders and tantalizing hints of the murderer’s identity.
There were numerous problems with this classic cozy mystery, and they boil down to not giving the reader the info needed to figure out what is going on. That Brett revealed the clues the couple unravelled doesn’t make up for not giving the reader the info to unravel it herself. The worst reader mistreatment of all was not giving the reader more than a single hint of the murderer’s identity. Yes, I figured out who it must have been, but not how. Not recommended to read, although it would be a great Christmas gift to a murder mystery fan that you don’t like.
When former nun Christine Bennett visits a country church that has been under a reservoir for 30 years, she naturally stumbles across a long-buried skeleton. Disappointed that the local police don’t seem to be putting much effort into identifying the woman and finding her killer, Christine investigates. But the town residents are hiding something, and Chris cannot break the wall of silence.
Why does an author whose main character is a former nun feel compelled to include lots of sex? It has nothing to do with the story, and Chris’ attempts to defend her extramarital sexual activity reek of “the lady doth protest too much.” Too bad, because otherwise the story was pretty good and nicely complex, although I’m not sure the reader is given all the information to identify the killer. But the excessive irrelevant sex has put me off completely.
Odd collection of writers’ attitudes towards their cats.
I’m a dog person but I’m also an animal person, and my kids’ cats know it and treat me as their personal bed. And while some of the stories were moderately interesting, such as Lilian Jackson Braun’s claim that her story ideas come from watching one of her cats do something and wondering how that could reveal a murderer, even this slim volume outlasted my interest.
New Yorker Faith Fairchild follows her new pastor husband to small New England town Aleford, but feels a misfit. When she finds a murdered much-disliked young woman, she is determined to prove the fiance innocent by identifying the real killer.
I really wanted to like this book. A pastor who tries to preach the Gospel and serve his parishioners, and a pastor’s wife who loves and tries to help her husband sound like people I would enjoy knowing. But I just couldn’t. The people weren’t real and the story dragged. Page starts with a flashback to Faith’s New York background, always a strong minus in my book even though it was only a few pages long. Later she added another flashback giving the state detective’s background. Faith starting acting sensibly for someone determined to investigate a murder, such as notifying the police immediately when she found something relevant. But she wasn’t sensible about the crucial visit and the deus ex machina ending made me glad I had skipped to the end rather than wading through the whole book. Page's "New York is great" attitude irritated me as well. I've lived there; it ISN'T a fit place to live or raise children.
A cynical WWII operative and a Greek woman follow the clues in a dead archaeologist’s notebook. Overtaken by a British agent and an archaeologist, the unlikely team seek a meteorite that may contain one of the missing elements of the periodic table.
Not at all up to his Demetrios Askiates series, with stereotypical and uninteresting characters. Any of the Indiana Jones series did the storyline better.
Collection of what Munro calls stories related to her research into her ancestors.
Munro’s stories are definitely different but usually interesting. These weren’t. I forced myself to read halfway through, hoping to read something interesting, before I gave up.
Dinah Fawcett’s weekend at her sister’s home turns into a nightmare when Sir Arthur’s despised son arrives with a dancer fiancee. Sir Arthur is found stabbed and Scotland Yard sends Detective Harding to investigate. And Harding finds Dinah even more intriguing than the murder.
Part of the problems I’ve had reading Heyer’s books is simply that the style is dated. The emphasis now is on showing rather than telling; in Heyer’s time, it was de rigeur to provide a detailed background on all the major characters. It was also quite obvious that Sir Arthur would be the victim and Heyer provided a long list of people who wanted him dead: the browbeaten wife, her would-be lover, the about-to-be-disinherited son, the self-obsessed fiancee, the ne’er-do-well nephew, the flirty visiting wife, her jealous husband, and even the servants tired of his dictatorial ways. But the story progression was disjointed: the focus of the first part of the book was on Dinah Fawcett, but once the detective arrived the story focused on him. Other than that, once I had adjusted my expectations I enjoyed the story, and I guessed the wrong murderer.
Mirelle has devoted herself to her family, letting her career as a sculptor take a very back seat. Then, one fall, she is attracted to a man who appreciates her gift.
It seems McCaffrey has to write science fiction or adultery. I don’t accept the “irresistible urge” plot so this book lost me pretty early on. Maybe I should stick with McCaffrey’s sf stories.
Trust fund baby Carrie is tired of men more interested in her money than herself. Poor boy Rocky finds her intriguing but obviously out of his league. Both desire to draw closer to the Lord, but people have them pigeonholed, Carrie as a rich girl with every blessing, and Rocky as the bad boy of his past. Carrie’s stepfather has pressured her to pursue a marketable college degree, interferes with her desire to attend church activities, and intends to kick her out of his mansion once she turns 25 and gains control of her inheritance. And her mother never interfered. But Rocky's assumption about Carrie's intentions may tear them apart.
I generally dislike romances because they are so unrealistic. But this one avoids the stereotype of the perfect man who magically knows everything the woman really wants. Too bad it doesn’t also avoid the stereotype of gorgeous woman/incredibly hunky man. However, in seeing both Carrie and Rocky focusing on God more than each other, it was a pleasant change.
Another short story collection by various fan authors, edited by Bradley.
I’m starting to enjoy these collections more than the actual Bradley novels. The various authors bring a wide range of viewpoints, and because they are short stories, they don’t drag on. Nice mix of characters and eras, with even a humorous story included.