bella books review: mystery

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The Dead Witness

The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories. Edited by Michael Sims. 2011. Walker & Company. (Late December 2011). 608 pages.

The Dead Witness is a short story collection that I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. Now I am not usually a short story person, I feel it's important for everyone to know that. There are a couple of authors whose short fiction I enjoy, but, for the most part I like my novels. But. I just LOVED this collection. I think it is a real MUST-READ.

Readers are introduced to twenty-two authors and twenty-two short stories. Each introduction was written by Michael Sims who did a fabulous job. There's just enough in each introduction to make you curious and eager to read their work, some of the introductions tease more than others. For example, they mention other stories, other novels, etc. The introductions are anything but boring! The authors presented are English, American, Canadian, Australian, and French. The collection includes men and women authors and men and women detectives! Some were narrated by a man or woman who just 'accidentally' got involved in the case, who just happened to put the clues together to solve the mystery. Others were narrated by amateur and professional detectives. (For example, The Diary of Anne Rodway is narrated by someone who just happens to become involved in this mystery. Her good friend, her roommate, is killed. She feels it was murder and has a clue or two to go by.)

The Secret Cell by William E. Burton
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe
On Duty With Inspector Field by Charles Dickens
The Diary of Anne Rodway by Wilkie Collins
You Are Not Human, Monsieur d'Artagnan by Alexandre Dumas, pere
Arrested on Suspicion by Andrew Forrester Jr.
The Dead Witness, or, The Bush Waterhole by W.W. (Mary Fortune)
The Mysterious Human Leg by James McGovan (William Crawford Honeyman)
The Little Old Man of Batignolles by Emile Gaboriau
The Science of Deduction by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Whitechapel Mystery by Anonymous
The Assassin's Natal Autograph by Mark Twain
The Murder at Troyte's Hill by C.L. Pirkis
The Haverstock Hill Murder by George R. Sims
The Stolen Cigar-Case by Bret Harte
The Absent-Minded Coterie by Robert Barr
The Hammer of God by G.K. Chesterton
The Angel of the Lord by Melville Davisson Post
The Crime at Big Tree Portage by Ernest Bramah
The Case of Padages Palmer by Harvey O'Higgins
An Intangible Clue by Anna Katherine Greene

Chances are you're familiar with some of these authors. But some of these will probably be as new to you as they were to me.

My favorite favorite story was "The Diary of Anne Rodway," which I just LOVED and ADORED. True, I was already familiar with his work, but, even if I hadn't been, I think I would have loved this piece. The short story is a series of diary entries by a young woman, a poor woman. She's good friends with another young woman, Mary Mallinson. The two are in similar situations--in a way--both poor, both working hard to survive, both in love but facing obstacles to their happiness. But when Mary is murdered, Anne Rodway takes it upon herself to try to solve the mystery and discover the identity of the man who killed her friend.

I also enjoyed "The Secret Cell" by William E. Burton first published in 1837--several years before Edgar Allen Poe's oh-so-famous detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." I personally preferred The Secret Cell. I read that this is the first time it is being republished since its initial publication which I thought was nice! The Secret Cell is the story of a missing woman. The narrator had a laundress who had a daughter. The daughter of the laundress became a companion to a wealthy woman, the wealthy woman favors her companion in her will, and when the daughter inherits a fortune, well, it's not long before she turns up missing. It is a very interesting story!

Other favorites include, "The Murder at Troyte's Hill" by C.L. Pirkis, "The Angel of the Lord," by Melville Davisson Post, "The Stolen Cigar Case" by Bret Harte, and "An Intangible Clue" by Anna Katherine Greene.

Read The Dead Witness

If you enjoy detective fiction, mysteries, casebooks, etc.
If you enjoy Victorian literature
If you enjoy short stories

The Yard (with slight spoilers)

The Yard. Alex Grecian. 2012. Penguin. 432 pages.

From the prologue: Nobody noticed when Inspector Christian Little of Scotland Yard disappeared, and nobody was looking for him when he was found.

What can I say about Alex Grecian's The Yard? I was disappointed. If you're expecting a mystery where suspense builds, clues are given, and you're on the edge of your seat to find out who did it, then this one will definitely disappoint. For Grecian will reveal who did it to readers within a chapter or two. Readers will get a behind-the-scenes look at the murderer almost from the beginning. The first entry or so of this murderer his identity is still hidden, but, that doesn't remain the case for long. But Grecian doesn't just reveal the identity of one murderer, he reveals the identity of another murderer. For Scotland Yard is working on two cases during the course of the novel. One, a murderer who is killing police detectives. Two, a murderer who is killing bearded men.

The Yard has multiple narrators. Readers meet several detectives (some remain alive at the novel's end, others aren't so fortunate) throughout the novel, each contributes (to a certain degree) to solving one or the other cases. Some personal details are shared about some of the detectives. For example, readers meet Walter Day and his wife. We get a flashback to before they were married--we get to see the proposal, and, it felt to me it was a very odd proposal! We also see glimpses of their home life as she adjusts to life in London. Another detective we meet is Hammersmith (I can't recall his first name). We get flashes from him as well, including flashbacks to when he was a child. His flashbacks reveal his sensitive side and how difficult the job can be: finding the bodies of children, men, women, etc. Readers also meet Dr. Kingsley who works closely with Scotland Yard, and we meet his young daughter who helps out by sketching all the corpses. While we meet many characters, including a mystery "dancing man", I had a hard time truly connecting with any of the characters. I'll explain, while I wanted to read the book to its end, I wasn't at the edge of my seat. It wasn't that the book was super-compelling and impossible to put down. It wasn't that the book had any suspense (well, readers could perhaps wonder if Fenn would make it back home alive or if he'd end up a corpse; and if you're desperate to find more to be in suspense about I suppose you could wonder if Day's wife was ever going to tell him that she was pregnant), I finished the book because I like to finish what I start.

This one would almost have to be more of a thriller than a mystery, but, I'm not sure it's lack of suspense and uneven pacing would make it a good thriller either. Overall, I'd say the characterization wasn't the best. Some of the characters had potential, they could potentially be developed into something more, into characters that I would care about, but they weren't quite there yet. Some of the characters were incredibly flimsy and flat.

I think some of the scenes were intentionally put in there to aggravate modern readers--which worked, by the way. Having scenes where a boy goes up to a police officer (detective) and clearly states things like, help, please help me, I've been kidnapped, tied up, held prisoner, I only now just escaped, if he catches me again, I don't know what will happen, please help me find my parents. And have him respond with, move along, boy, or I'll send you to the workhouse. I suppose the intention being to highlight that women and children had no value or worth in society.

I wanted to like this one, I was even hoping to love it, but it was just okay.

Best line: "If all men were sane, we would be blacksmiths." (87)

Read The Yard

If you like historical fiction set during the Victorian period
If you like Victorian mystery/detective/suspense stories; just don't expect Grecian to write as well as the actual Victorians, his style, his characterization, his pacing, doesn't even come close to matching.
If you don't mind slightly tedious fiction, for example, he spends pages and pages each time (almost) trying to explain the concept of fingerprints. And how each fingerprint is unique, personal; how fingerprints can help establish who was at the scene of the crime, etc.

Poirot Investigates

Poirot Investigates. Agatha Christie. 1924/2011. HarperCollins. 256 pages.

I loved Poirot Investigates. Perhaps because I had low expectations? This was my first experience reading Christie's short stories. And since I'm not generally a fan of short stories, I didn't have great expectations for enjoying these fourteen stories. Each story is narrated by Captain Hastings. And he is a character that I tend to love and adore. I've found that Hercule Poirot needs a little help either from Hastings or Ariadne Oliver to help tame his arrogance. I have definitely come to love Hercule Poirot through the mysteries I've read, but, it was a long road for me. It wasn't instantaneous like it was with Miss Marple.

This collection of short stories was originally published in 1925. So it is "early" Poirot. The short stories in this collection are:

The Adventure of the Western Star
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
The Kidnapped Prime Minister
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
The Case of the Missing Will
The Veiled Lady
The Lost Mine
The Chocolate Box

It's not that any one story is amazing or incredible. That's not why I loved this collection. For me it is all about the relationship between Poirot and Hastings. Their conversations. Their friendship. Seeing these two together. There is just something DELIGHTFUL about spending time in their company.

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Mystery of the Blue Train

The Mystery of the Blue Train. Agatha Christie. 1928/2011. HarperCollins. 320 pages.

I have gradually come to appreciate--dare I say even love?--Hercule Poirot. Even so, this one took three or four chapters to take to this one. At first I thought I couldn't even finish it, I just didn't like the flow of the first few chapters, introducing all these people (often nameless), the focus on a piece of jewelry, all this big build-up before introducing the main characters, etc. The story was oh-so-slow to start. But then at one point, everything started to click, started to move, and the novel became much better.

So what is this one about? Well, let's start with the victim, Ruth Kettering. She's in a very unhappy marriage. She's in love with someone else, her husband is in lust with someone else. (Well, to be fair, I think she's in lust with someone else too. Except I think she honestly thinks that that lust is love, while I think the husband, Derek, is more realistic and realizes it is what it is.) Her affair being somewhat mostly private and out of the public's eyes, his not so much, he's "in lust" with an exotic dancer. Ruth's father is an American millionaire, and he is pressuring her to divorce her husband and start over. When the novel really opens, he's gifting her with some very, very, very expensive and oh-so-rare jewels, rubies. These are gems with a PAST and then some. Several weeks, if not several months, go by, and the novel next opens with a train trip. Ruth is on her way to meet her lover, her husband and his mistress just happen to be on the same train, and yet supposedly no one knows this. But perhaps it isn't right to start with the victim? Since the main character, the main character besides Poirot, is a young woman who's just recently inherited money. Katherine. This is truly more her story. For she's on the train as well, and she met Ruth just hours before her death. The two took a liking to one another, and Ruth confided in her a good deal. Even told Katherine how uneasy she felt about this trip, like something horrible was going to happen to her.

It was easy to see why Katherine was so likable. It really was. This Agatha Christie novel was good. I wouldn't say that it's one of the best, best, best mystery novels ever. Christie wrote so many, so many GREAT novels, that it would be hard for this one to make the top five or top ten, but it is definitely a good novel. I liked it!!!

Read The Mystery of the Blue Train

If you're a fan of Agatha Christie
If you're a fan of Hercule Poirot
If you're a fan of British mysteries, especially British mysteries set on a train

Mrs. McGinty's Dead

Mrs. McGinty's Dead. Agatha Christie. 1952/2011. HarperCollins. 272 pages.

I definitely LOVED Mrs. McGinty's Dead. I really, really, really LOVED the surprise appearance of Ariadne Oliver. But, of course, the main star of this one is Hercule Poirot. The novel starts off rather unpleasantly with Poirot thinking to himself how wonderful he is, how marvelous he is, and how much he needs someone to talk to so he can show off how wonderful he is. So when he receives an unexpected visit from Superintendent Spence who is asking him to take on a closed case, well, he can't resist. Spence was one of the men who helped convict James Bentley of murder, but, he's having doubts, strong doubts. He believes that if Bentley is executed, well, they'll be executing an innocent man. He's not sure who killed Mrs. McGinty, but he knows that Poirot can solve this case better than anyone else. So Poirot travels to the village of the crime and he learns what only he can learn...

I LOVED this one!!! Loved hearing Mrs. Oliver talk about her writing, loved seeing her "work with" someone who is adapting her character, her main detective, into a play. Loved hearing her grumble and complain about her Finn detective.

This one is a great mystery, and, it was just so much fun to spend time with Christie's characters.

Read Mrs. McGinty's Dead

If you're a fan of Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, or Mrs. Oliver
If you're a mystery lover

The Man in the Brown Suit

The Man in the Brown Suit. Agatha Christie. 1924/2012. HarperCollins. 320 pages.

While I'm not sure it's exactly fair to say that this is one of my least favorite Christie novels, I'm tempted to say it anyway. Because I just didn't care for this one. The narration was a bit strange to me. Most of the novel is narrated by a young woman whose father has just died, Anne Beddingfeld. She's left with practically nothing except her good looks and charm. There's just something about her that makes everyone want to take care of her and trust her. She by chance witnesses an accident, and the "doctor" on the scene of the accident puzzles her greatly though it took her a few hours to figure out just why. A little while later (either that day, or the next) a woman's body is discovered in a house. The house was for sale or for rent, and she had dropped by to see it. There are very few reasons why anyone would connect the two cases together, but, our narrator Anne does. And she takes it upon herself to solve this mystery and discover the identity of the "man in the brown suit." This mystery leads her to a ship bound for South Africa. And it's a trip with danger and risk for both on the ship and off, a number of attempts are made on her life. Along the way, she seems to make a new best friend and fall in love. I didn't exactly like the diary chapters provided by Sir Eustace Pedler. I'm not sure how helpful they were in adding to the story, they proved more distracting than anything else, which I think was the point. The ending, however, is what disappoints me most. The statements the narrator makes about the murderer almost infuriate me.

Read The Man in the Brown Suit

If you're a big, big, big fan of Agatha Christie and want to read every mystery she wrote
If you're expectations are low and you're looking for just something--anything--to read to pass the time

One, Two Buckle My Shoe

One, Two Buckle My Shoe. Agatha Christie. 1940/2011. HarperCollins. 240 pages.

I have such a hard time rating Agatha Christie novels. Do I rate it based on how it compares to just any book? Or do I just rate it based on how it compares to other mysteries? Or do I just rate it based on how it compares to other Agatha Christie mysteries? Or do I rate it based on how it compares just among the Marple mysteries or the Poirot mysteries as the case may be?

The truth is, I find Christie incredibly readable. I pick up one of her mystery novels, and, I'm almost always hooked. True, some mysteries may take two or three days instead of just one. Depending on so many factors. But. It's oh-so-easy to read Christie's mysteries in just one sitting. To just DELIGHT yourself in the experience of reading a good mystery.

Was One, Two, Buckle My Shoe the best, best, best mystery I've ever read? No, not really. This isn't by any stretch my favorite-favorite Agatha Christie mystery. It isn't even my favorite Hercule Poirot mystery. (And, yes, I do LOVE Poirot, just not as much as Miss Marple.) Yet. When I consider how unwilling I was to put it down, how much I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it, then I can definitely say it was a good book, a good mystery. Even a not-quite-the-best Christie mystery is better than many books...

Hercule Poirot visits the dentist in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Hours after his appointment, he receives a call from the Inspector. His dentist, Mr. Morley, is dead. At first, they weren't quite positive if it was murder or suicide. Poirot knew that it was murder--his instinct said it was. But others aren't ready to go that route--they feel suicide is a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence. But Poirot can't fathom why his dentist would do such a thing in such a way?

So Poirot conducts his own investigation, interviews all the patients that were there that day, etc.

This one may not be the best introduction to Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot, but it is definitely worth a read.

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Seven Dials Mystery

The Seven Dials Mystery. Agatha Christie. 1929/2012. HarperCollins. 304 pages.

That amiable youth, Jimmy Thesiger, came racing down the big staircase at Chimneys two steps at a time. So precipitate was his descent that he collided with Tredwell, the stately butler, just as the latter was crossing the hall bearing a fresh supply of hot coffee. Owing to the marvelous presence of mind and masterly agility of Tredwell, no casualty occurred.

Oh, how I LOVED The Seven Dials Mystery!!!! It was such a great book. I loved the tone of this one--the tongue-in-cheek-ness of it. It was just one of those books where you could almost open it to any page and find something to smile about. The characters. The characters' names. The dialogue. Some of the situations. The Seven Dials Mystery is one of those rare books that combines comedy or humor with drama and suspense. There is danger and suspense. There are murder victims. The murderer does manage to avoid detection, for most of the novel. And the reader knows that the murderer could strike again. So the threat is real, but, at the same time The Seven Dials Mystery does not read like a horror novel. It's not weird enough, creepy enough, scary enough. I don't think the point of this one is to scare you, I think it is all about entertaining you.

This Agatha Christie novel features several characters that I loved. The inspector from Scotland Yard is Superintendent Battle. And I definitely enjoyed him. Not quite as much as I enjoyed Eileen "Bundle" Brent. But still, I was glad to meet him. Bundle was one of a handful of young people who involve themselves in this case. They are working with Battle to solve the case. And there is a tiny bit of romance going on behind the scenes in this one.

The setting of this one, for the most part, is Chimneys. The novel opens with a houseguest being murdered. Well, that's not exactly true. The novel begins with all the other houseguests making fun of the would-be-victim's bad habit of sleeping way too late. Their teasing even takes it the next level--a big practical joke is planned and plotted for the next day. But the victim of the joke becomes the victim of a murderer. Who killed Gerry Wade? Was it one of the other houseguests?

Read The Seven Dials Mystery

If you're a fan of Agatha Christie
If you're interested in reading Christie's earlier works
If you enjoy mystery/suspense novels
If you enjoy a little comedy with your mystery/thriller
If you want to smile

The Secret Adversary

The Secret Adversary. Agatha Christie. 1922/2012. HarperCollins. 352 pages.

I enjoyed The Secret Adversary. I have read Agatha Christie's novels out of order, without much of a plan. So I've read many of her later novels first. This is my first Tommy and Tuppence novel, however.

I definitely liked it. It has a certain charm to it, I suppose. This first novel introduces readers to the two characters, and introduces a romance between the two. A romance that perhaps seems obvious, but, a somewhat sweet romance nonetheless.

World War I has not been over that long when the novel opens, and both Tommy and Prudence (Tuppence) are continuing to make adjustments now that the war is over and their service has ended. (She was a nurse, I believe.) These two happen to bump into one another one day. And they happen to have a conversation. Their conversation is overheard by a gentleman, a man who assumes Tommy and Tuppence know more than what they in fact do, know a BIG secret somewhat connected to the early days of the War. A secret concerning the identity of Jane Finn. When this man approaches Prudence, all of their lives are changed...

Essentially, Tuppence and Tommy team up (with a few others for help now and then) to solve a mystery, to find out about a woman's identity, to trace her, to trace some important documents. Their adventure is dangerous. Both will risk their lives to find out the truth.

I liked this one. I didn't quite love it. But I did like it.

Read The Secret Adversary

If you're a fan of Agatha Christie
If you love mystery/spy novels
If you want to read one of Christie's earlier novels
If you love mysteries with a historical feel to them

The Lord is My Shepherd

The Lord is My Shepherd. (Psalm 23 Mysteries) Debbie Viguie. 2010. Abingdon Press. 320 pages.

More than anything, Cindy Preston hated Mondays.

I was skeptical about this book, I'll be honest. I had no idea if it would be something I'd like. But I like to challenge myself to take risks...occasionally. And I am definitely glad I took a chance on Debbie Viguie's The Lord Is My Shepherd. This one is mystery-suspense-thriller. Cindy Preston, the heroine, is a church secretary who discovers--literally stumbles upon--a dead body in the sanctuary of the church one Monday morning. But it isn't just any Monday, no it's Holy Week, it's the Monday of Easter week. Her screams draw the attention of the Rabbi next door, Jeremiah Silverman. Together they meet the police detective...and so it begins.

I really, really, really enjoyed this one!!! It was so hard to put this one down. I definitely liked the heroine, Cindy Preston. I thought she was a good balance. On the one hand, she's terrified and in shock, on the other hand she's strong and strong-willed. She may be afraid--and she may have good reason to be afraid--but she isn't going to be ruled or enslaved by that fear. Not that she's careless. And as for Jeremiah Silverman, well, I loved him!!! I did. I just loved him!!!

Read The Lord Is My Shepherd

If you like murder mysteries OR thrillers OR suspense novels
If you enjoy "Christian fiction" on the light side; there is nothing heavy-handed or preachy about this one.

The Secret of Chimneys

The Secret of Chimneys. Agatha Christie. 1925/2012. HarperCollins. 336.

I definitely enjoyed The Secret of Chimneys. I picked this one up because I accidentally read The Seven Dials Mystery first. When I learned that Seven Dials Mystery starred so many characters first introduced in The Secret of Chimneys, I knew I would have to read this one right away!!! If I loved Seven Dials so, so, much, I knew I would probably love this one too. And I did enjoy it. And I definitely loved the characters, I probably would have loved them anyway even if I hadn't already known them, so I would definitely recommend these two books--and to recommend them in the proper order. Read Secret of Chimneys first.

The Secret of Chimneys is a bit over-the-top, I won't lie. I suppose you could call it a silly book that isn't exactly meant to be taken seriously. But it was a fun book, for the most part. I probably loved Seven Dials Mystery more than this one. But still, I liked it.

Anthony Cade travels to England as a favor for a friend. If he delivers a certain manuscript--a memoir--by a certain person (recently deceased) living in exile to a particular publisher by a certain day, he receives a good sum of money. Money that will be divided between them (Anthony and Jimmy). But that isn't the only package he's taking with him, he's also got a bundle of letters from a married woman to her lover. Jimmy has told him that these letters have been used (in the past) to blackmail the woman. He's gotten a hold of the letters, and he doesn't want to blackmail her, he wants to see them returned safely to her. Will his mission succeed? Well, it sounds easy enough, in a way, until you factor in all the different political factions that want to see him fail and the manuscript be destroyed.

The setting of this one is an estate called Chimneys. And we do meet many, many lovely characters. Including Eileen (Bundle) Brent, Superintendent Battle, Lord Caterham, George Lomax, Bill Eversleigh, Virginia Revel, Anthony Cade.

Read The Secret of Chimneys

If you love Agatha Christie
If you love British mysteries, classic mysteries
If you like a little humor/sarcasm with your mystery/suspense

Too Many Women

Too Many Women. Rex Stout. 1947/1985. Bantam Books. 176 pages.

It was the same old rigmarole. Sometimes I found it amusing; sometimes it only bored me; sometimes it gave me a pronounced pain, especially when I had had more of Wolfe than was good for either of us.

With Rex Stout, it's merely a matter of determining if I liked a book or loved a book. There was never a question of if I would like it at all. For I've never read a Nero Wolfe mystery that I didn't at least like. There's just something enjoyable and wonderful about the detective team of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. I love and adore both characters. In Too Many Women, Archie is the dominant character. While Wolfe is present in the novel, to a certain degree, it is Archie who is doing most of the work. (Now Archie would probably be the first to point out that he's always the one doing all of the work.) Too Many Women sees Archie Goodwin going undercover (well, at least at the start) at a company. He's been hired to investigate a death. One of the company's employees was killed in a hit and run accident. A few fellow employees at least feel that this was intentional and no accident. So Archie's job is to talk with just about all the employees--well, the ones who had dealings with the victim--and find out if it was murder, to catch the murderer if he is to be found. (The premise of this one reminded me of Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers, in that mystery the detective, Lord Peter Wimsey goes undercover at an agency to find a murderer.)

Was it enjoyable? Yes. Definitely. I never regret spending time with Nero and Archie.

Was it the best, best, best Wolfe mystery ever? Not really. I mean it was a good book, a good mystery. I think for those who like to see Archie flirt with women--he does have a way with women--this one will appeal, or not. (I did find it a little odd that so many women were begging for Archie's favors.) For those looking for great banter between Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, well, this one isn't as good as some of the other novels I've read. In fact, it's probably my least favorite of the Stout novels I've read.
I don't regret reading this one. Perhaps because I would LOVE to read each and every Nero Wolfe novel, novella, short story ever published.

Read Too Many Women

If you're a big fan of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. If you already love the characters and are just looking to spend more time with them. This wouldn't be my first choice for a first introduction to Nero and Archie.
If you're a fan of mysteries and are looking for an office/company setting.
If you're not bothered by the stereotypical representations of women--especially secretaries.

Champagne for One

Champagne for One. Rex Stout. 1958/1995. Random House. 224 pages.

If it hadn't been raining and blowing that raw Tuesday morning in March I would have been out, walking to the bank to deposit a couple of checks, when Austin Byne phoned me, and he might have tried somebody else. But more likely not. He would probably have rung again later, so I can't blame all this on the weather. As it was, I was there in the office, oiling the typewriter and the two Marley .38's for which we had permits, from the same can of oil, when the phone rang and I lifted it and spoke.

Last year I discovered mysteries, and I also discovered that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. While I haven't spent as much time in the mystery genre this year as I did last year, I do plan on reading some this year. I have got plenty of Rex Stout mysteries that I just can't wait to read!!!

Reading Champagne for One was an interesting experience for me since I had already seen the adaptation of it. (I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Nero Wolfe series--that show ended much too soon!!!) To read a mystery when you have a vague remembering of the details--the clues--is a different type of experience. Not a bad one necessarily. Just different.

In Champagne for One, Archie Goodwin attends a party in the home of one of Wolfe's former clients, Mrs. Robilotti. The dinner party is to "benefit" four single unwed mothers that had (in the past year) been helped by the charity (Grantham House) started by the woman's first husband, Mr. Grantham. Four gentlemen are invited to entertain the four young "unfortunate" women. Archie Goodwin was substituting at the last minute. Dinner and dancing. That's what is supposed to happen. Unfortunately, this year it is dinner, dancing, and murder. Of course, Archie Goodwin is the only one that KNOWS it was murder and not suicide. Why? Well. He was warned by one of the ladies that Faith Usher had a bottle of cyanide in her purse, so he keeps his eyes on that purse throughout the evening. Faith never goes near it. Yet, she still ends up dead--poisoned.

Who is the murderer? Can Goodwin and Wolfe outwit the murderer?

I loved this one. I think this is a GREAT Nero Wolfe mystery. It would be a great choice if you're new to the series. (The series can be read in any order, for the most part, I've been told there is a trilogy that go together, but the rest do stand alone.)

Read Champagne for One

If you're a mystery fan
If you're looking for mysteries set in the U.S. (as opposed to all the BRILLIANT British mysteries written by Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers)
If you're a fan of Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe, and Archie Goodwin
If you're a fan of books set in the 1950s
If you like some comedy (banter) in your mysteries

Presumption of Death

A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy Sayers. 2002. St. Martin's Press. 384 pages.

'Whoever, for example, Lady Peter,' said Miss Agnes Twitterton, 'is that?"
'You do have a point, my dear,' said Mrs. Goodacre, the vicar's wife, who was standing with the two women behind a trestle table at one end of the Village Hall, pouring out Miss Twitterton's parsnip wine into rows of assorted sherry glasses. 'There was a time, as you say, and not so long ago, when we would have known everybody we could possibly meet here--when any stranger was a seven-day-wonder--and now here we are organizing a village hop, and we don't know half the people here. They could be anybody, indeed I expect they are.'

A Presumption of Death is set in 1940. Lord Peter and Bunter are in Europe on a secret-mission. Lady Harriet is in the country at Talboys with the children. Her and Peter have two small sons, Bredon and Paul, and she's also taken Charles and Mary's three children, Charlie, Mary, and Harriet. Harriet is not the only woman thinking of the safety of her children, no, many families are trying to send their children to the country for safety. The villagers are opening their homes, and, are willing to their duty for the war. The village IS preparing for war. They've been working on air raid shelters and organizing themselves to prepare for the worst. It is during the rehearsal of an air raid that a murder is committed! A woman is found dead. Almost everyone was accounted for in one of the two shelters. But someone murdered the young woman...can the local police with a little aid from Lady Harriet solve this crime?

I liked this one. I can't really say too much about it. It is a mystery after all. And the less you know, the better it will be! But I enjoyed it. I think Jill Paton Walsh has done a good job with the characters, keeping them true to the originals, yet giving readers more of what they love.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Thrones, Dominations

Thrones, Dominations. Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh. 1998. St. Martin's Press. 312 pages.

'I do not,' said Monsieur Theophile Daumier, 'understand the English.'
'Nor does anybody,' replied Mr Paul Delagardie, 'themselves least of all.'

Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet return to London after their honeymoon, Harriet hasn't been unconditionally accepted by all of Peter's family--at least not yet. And let's be honest, she may never be welcomed by Peter's sister-in-law, Helen. But she is happy as a new wife. Though she'd admit it feels strange to not have to write detective stories anymore. She still wants to write, but her writing is not prompted by absolute necessity. And so she's still trying to figure out what that means to her writing, how to get focused on her work--or should I say stay focused on her work. She's being introduced to new people all the time. Some of these new acquaintances she welcomes, some are more forced upon her. The Harwell couple, for example. Neither Lord Peter or Harriet "enjoy" spending time with Laurence Harwell and his wife, Rosamund Harwell; and it should be said that Laurence Harwell and Rosamund Harwell don't truly "enjoy" spending time with them either. But. Society is society and the connection may prove useful at some point.

Thrones, Dominations provides an intimate (not that kind of intimate) look at two marriages. Peter and Harriet and Laurence and Rosamund. The two marriages do share certain similarities. Husbands who at some point in the past 'rescued' their wives. The husbands being of higher social class than their wives. But a closer examination proves the differences outweigh any similarities. For it becomes clear that Lord Peter and Harried LOVE each other truly--with a forever-kind-of-love. And for Rosamund and Laurence, what love might have existed is buried under disinterest, neglect, and manipulative games. She wants her husband to be jealous of her, possessive of her, to want her to be his and his alone. And he just doesn't care who she talks to, who she dines with, who she goes about with in town, etc.

Halfway through the novel, once the reader gets a chance to know both couples and the society they share, the mystery begins. Lord Peter is once again called upon to solve the mystery and find the murderer.

I enjoyed this one. I did. I particularly liked seeing Harriet and Peter together. I thought she did a great job with their dialogue and the development of their relationship. I would recommend this one to those that can't get enough of this couple!

Harriet and Lady Severn

"Well, how do you like it?"
"Like what, Lady Severn?"
"Being part of the Wimsey Estate."
"Peter doesn't treat me as part of the estate."
"I suppose not. He always had good manners. An excellent bedside manner, too, or so they tell me."
Harriet said gravely, "I don't think they ought to have told."
In spite of herself, the corners of her mouth twitched and the vulture chuckled again.
"You're quite right, my dear, they oughtn't. You won't tell, I can see. Never tell me anything; I always repeat it. Are you in love with him?"
"Yes. I don't mind having that repeated."
"Then why didn't you marry him sooner?"
"Obstinacy," said Harriet, and this time she grinned openly.
"Humph! You're probably the first woman that ever kept him waiting. What do you do with him, now you've got him, hey? Lick his toes, or make him sit up and beg?"
"What do you advise?"
"Honest dealing," said the old lady, sharply. "A man's none the better for being fretted to fiddle-strings. You're going to amuse me. Most of these young women are very dull. They either take offence or think I'm a scream. What do you think?"
"I think," said Harriet, feeling she might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, "you are behaving like a character in a book. And I think you are doing it on purpose."
"That's rather shrewd of you," said the vulture.
"When I put you in a book," pursued Harriet, "I shall make that aspect of your psychology quite clear."
"All right," said Lady Severn. "I'll take six copies. And I'll promise to live till it's published." (41-42)

Lord Peter to Harriet on her writing:

"How I envy you your capacity to take facts or leave them," said Peter. (51)

Harriet to Mr. Amery:

"You should never say thank you for a good review," said Harriet. "That would imply that one had done a favour to the author, whereas one has simply done justice to the book." (101)

Lord Peter and Harriet:

"It is perfectly possible, I suppose," said Lord Peter to his wife, over breakfast, "for someone to be murdered while doing something she does not usually do, or behaving in a way unaccustomed to her. But it is an affront to the natural feelings of a criminologist, all the same."
"It has a feeling of lightning striking twice in the same spot, you mean?"
"It does rather. I would greatly prefer it if in every tiny break in precedent was in some way connected to the crime. And therefore could be constructed as a clue by a brainy enough person."
"Well, if this were a work of fiction, one would certainly make sure that was the case," said Harriet. "But in real life, Peter, don't people usually do unusual things? Aren't they always going to places for the first time, mildly surprising their friends by little switches in behavior, suddenly getting bored, or headachy, and dashing out to parties, or going early to bed, or buying a red dress instead of a blue one, or suddenly marrying, at the age of forty-five, a highly unsuitable person?"
"Do you mean that unpredictable behavior may simply reveal the secret truth of someone's inner man or woman?"
"In a novel, of course, it would. Things have to be connected or the reader would not believe them."
"It's odd, that, isn't it?" said Peter. "If unconnected and spur-of-the-moment things keep happening in the real world, why shouldn't they be plausible in novels? Shouldn't the most plausible picture of life be a portrait of reality in all its bizarre and incoherent confusion?"
"I think a novel has to deal in a different kind of truth," said Harriet. "For example, if poor Rosamund's death were in a novel, readers would know at once that the Sunbury attacker who so alarmed Laurence Harwell could not have done it. If a wholly unconnected stranger arrived in a story just in time to commit the crime and disappear, there would be no plot."
"But in real life random things occur, and there may actually be no plot, in that sense of the word," said Wimsey, thoughtfully. (137-38)

Lord Peter to Inspector Parker

"I wish you wouldn't get so obsessed by motives, Charles. Motives are ten a penny. There's always a motive for anybody doing anything. Just find out who had the opportunity, and you can make up the motive."
"I don't really agree with you," said Charles. "Juries like motives, you know." (141)

Lord Peter and Harriet

"Frivolity can give a good deal of pleasure," he said, mildly. "But I don't like to hear you call detective stories frivolous."
"But aren't they? Compare to the real thing?"
"What do you call the real thing?"
"Great literature; Paradise Lost; novels like Great Expectations, or Crime and Punishment or War and Peace. Or on the other hand real detection, dealing with real crimes."
"You seem not to appreciate the importance of your special form," he said. "Detective stories contain a dream of justice. They project a vision of a world in which wrongs are righted, and villains are betrayed by clues that they did not know they were leaving. A world in which murderers are caught and hanged, and innocent victims are avenged, and future murder is deterred."
"But it is just a vision, Peter. The world we live in is not like that."
"It sometimes is," he said. "Besides, hasn't it occurred to you that to be beneficent, a vision does not have to be true?"
"What benefits could be conferred by falsehood?" she asked.
"Not falsehood, Harriet; idealism. Detective stories keep alive a view of the world which ought to be true. Of course people read them for fun, for diversion, as they do crossword puzzles. But underneath they feed a hunger for justice, and heaven help us if ordinary people cease to feel that." (151)

Dowager Duchess in a letter:

Sent Franklin to Hatchards for copy of War and Peace, thinking today good time to start long book...Silly woman came back with Anna Karenina, saying it was the nearest thing she could find. Got as far as first sentence, then stopped to think. "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Great author has got that the wrong way round. I think unhappiness is much the same whatever the reasons for it, and happiness is a quirky odd sort of thing... (312)

The Five Red Herrings

The Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1931. HarperCollins. 325 pages.

If one lives in Galloway, one either fishes or paints. "Either" is perhaps misleading, for most of the painters are fishers also in their spare time. To be neither of these things is considered odd and almost eccentric.

The Five Red Herrings is the seventh mystery starring Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter is a character that I just love and adore. He's just one of my favorite, favorite, favorite characters ever. So I was so happy to read another mystery in this series.

In The Five Red Herrings, Lord Peter Wimsey is on vacation in Scotland. Though he neither paints or fishes, he is accepted--for the most part--by the community. It's hard to not like him, after all! Early in the novel--though I'm not sure if it's early in his holiday--a murder is committed. The "victim" is someone EVERYONE hates; threats against this guy were so common that they were hardly worth taking seriously. I mean Campbell, the victim, was just impossible to get along with. But now that he's dead, it is up to the police (the constables and detectives, etc.) to solve the crime. And since Lord Peter just happens to be very, very good at detecting, he offers to help them out.

There are six suspects--all artists. Hugh Farren, Henry Strachan, Matthew Gowan, Jock Graham, Michael Waters, and Ferguson. All had motive, all had opportunity. All of them are lying, all of them are hiding things from the police. Since there are so many suspects, since they all appear equally capable of committing the crime, it's just a matter of discerning the truth. Which theory--which plausible theory--is the truth? Which is most likely? Which uses all the clues that have been left behind?

Five Red Herrings is set in Scotland. And, for me, it was a delightful mystery.

Lord Peter Wimsey:

I was born looking foolish and every day in every way I am getting foolisher and foolisher. (52)

One of these days I shall write a book in which two men are seen to walk down a cul-de-sac, and there is a shot and one man is found murdered and the other runs away with a gun in his hand, and after twenty chapters stinking with red herrings, it turns out that the man with the gun did it after all. (114)

The essence of detection is secrecy. It has no business to be spectacular. But you can watch me if you like. (218)

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