TITLES A - B

A Catskill Eagle
Robert B. Parker
Crime drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Delacorte Press
1985



Boston Private Investigator Spenser receives a cryptic note from his girlfriend Susan saying that his “comrade de guerre” Hawk is in jail in California, and she needs help as well. After flying to the coast, he breaks Hawk out of jail and they try to find Susan. At this point in their relationship, Susan was seeing Russell Costigan, and he didn’t want to let her go - his father had enough connections to make things extremely difficult. As fugitives, they get into a pile of scrapes tracking Costigan to his lodge in Seattle – but no one is there, so they return to Boston. At this point, Martin Quirk and the FBI get involved due to Papa Costigan’s covert dealings. He maintains a private army and munitions depot in a compound in Connecticut. Spenser and Hawk work there as training instructors, and help wreck the place for the FBI. They finally catch Papa Costigan in his hide-out in an old mine (this has the tunnel that goes into the clothes closet) and kill him there. This is a real Mulligan stew of shoot-outs, car chases, psycho-babble and advice to the lovelorn. Almost like two Spenser books stuffed together.


According To The Pattern
Grace Livingston Hill
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Griffith & Rowland Press - 1903
Bantam Books - 1985



Poor Miriam believes her marriage to Claude Winthrop is perfect, and she revels in their three children and quiet home life. Then she accidentally stumbles upon her husband cavorting with a fancy society woman, and goes completely to pieces. Suddenly she sees his “business lunches” and “late nights at the office” in a whole new light. When he tells her that he needs to take a “business trip” to Paris, she decides she needs to come up with a plan to save her marriage. She thinks Claude would be happier if they did more socializing, so she consults a ladies magazine for advice on how to launch themselves into society. She scrapes together a little of her own money, and sets about fixing up the house and making new clothes for herself and the children. Through a mix-up at church, she is inadvertently invited to a soiree at a fashionable neighbor’s townhouse, and this gives her an introduction to eligible people that she can invite to her own parties. In fact, her husband returns home to find a tea party at his own house, filled with elegant society types, and even including, to his horror, Mrs. Sylvester who he had been dallying with. (Miriam decided to invite “the enemy” so they would both know what they were up against.) Although Claude develops a new appreciation for Miriam’s qualities, and he determines to have nothing more to do with Mrs. Sylvester, he is no match for her cunning. She uses his politeness against him, so that he is obliged to treat her better than she deserves, and often at Miriam’s expense. Meanwhile, she has launched the charming but disreputable Senator Bradenburg at Miriam, both to torment Claude, and also to cause problems with Miriam’s reputation and resolve. Then comes the high point to the Season, the ball at Washburn’s. Mrs. Sylvester arranges that Claude is unavailable to escort Miriam, so she goes with Senator Bradenburg, who she feels is a kindly old man, not realizing that he has designs on her. Mrs. Sylvester makes sure that Miriam sees her and Claude together. Then the Senator makes a pass at Miriam, who slaps him, and in attempting to escape from his company, trips and hits her head. She is carried home and tended by doctors and nurses, while she hovers near death with fevers and delirium. Here the book really “chews the scenery” with impassioned, flaming passages about Miriam’s mortal peril and Claude’s anguish and self-loathing. The doctor’s brother is a minister who helps Miriam find mental peace in faith, and this helps her begin to get better. But at this critical junction, Mrs. Sylvester strikes again, arranging through her husband for Claude to lose his job. He is at last driven to the extremity of almost taking his own life, but he is brought back from the brink by the doctor’s brother. It all ends very prettily, with some of their new friends inviting them to their house at the shore, while Miriam recovers her strength. Also here they have the chance to take Claude’s full measure, and they offer him a position that is a big improvement over his previous job. Claude and Miriam reconcile their differences and vow to lead upright Christian lives in the future. At first glance, this book seems like the typical “Regency romance,” but it was actually written in 1903, so instead of being a modern book pretending to be a period piece, this is an authentic work of that period. It is as far from a modern Regency romance as night from day. The new books are all fluff and frivolity, with short, lively chapters and lots of banter. This book has long and dense chapters, dripping with melodrama and emotional intensity. It’s well-written, but hopelessly dated – as it should be, since it’s actually old and not just pretending to be. The characters are likable and sympathetic, although far from perfect, and it has a quaint upstanding morality that is totally lacking in literature nowadays.


A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Drama
Rating 4
Viking
2000
(Originally published, 1843)



Probably the most beloved of all of Dickens’ books, and generally recognized as a legitimate classic by educational list makers. Businessman Ebenezer Scrooge has an office in Victorian London and is universally despised for his grasping, greedy and inhumane ways. One Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him to change his ways before it is too late. Then Scrooge is visited in turn by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. He sees himself as a lonely young boy neglected by his family, and then as a young man who lets business come between him and his fiancee. He also sees his clerk Bob Cratchit and his family having a wonderful and happy holiday, even though they are horribly poor and their son Tiny Tim is crippled. The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come shows him the future where Scrooge has died and no one cares, except people who owed him money and they are happy. Also, Tiny Tim has succumbed to his illness, leaving his family to carry on bravely. Scrooge is so shaken by all of this, that he repents on the spot and vows to keep the Christmas spirit in his heart every day. On Christmas Day, he sends a huge turkey to the Cratchits and has dinner with his estranged nephew. He becomes a new man – generous, friendly and compassionate to one and all. He acts as a second father to Tiny Tim, who doesn’t die after all. Charming, picturesque and sentimental to a fault, winningly told in Dickens’ rambling and informal style. Famous for the phrases “Bah humbug” and “God bless us, every one!”


Adam Bookout
Louisa R. Shotwell
Drama (Juvenile)
Fiction
Rating 3
Viking Press
1967



I had to pick this book out of the flea market because of the author’s name. The story concerns 11-year-old Adam Bookout of Oklahoma, whose parents die in a plane crash. He is sent to live nearby with two maiden aunts, and he finds it hard to take. Then he finds an old flight jacket of his father’s, and an old wallet with some money and a holiday postcard from his cousins in Brooklyn, He decides to run away from his aunts, and he descends peremptorily on his cousins, who had not been notified of the tragedy. Dr. Bookout and his wife Kate (she writes children’s books) already have four children, but when they hear Adam’s story, they take him in and enroll him in the local public school. Almost without you being aware of it, suddenly he has a new Jewish friend (Saul Katz) a new black friend (Willie Weggfall) and a new Hispanic friend (Magdalena Mendota) and he also meets two other wealthy, snooty boys who go to private school. One day, Adam and his friends are out together, and when they go inside temporarily, they discover that Willie’s dog Honey has been stolen from the pole where she was tied. They swing into action to try and finder her – knocking on doors, putting up flyers and going to the ASPCA. They have no luck until Adam starts piecing together some suspicious clues that point to those two wealthy boys. He decides to investigate on his own, and he confronts one of the boys, who will only admit to “borrowing” the dog. (Adam also discovers that the boys have been shoplifting for kicks.) They agree to return the dog without admitting to anything, and not accept any reward – Willie is so happy to get Honey back that he doesn’t sweat the details. But for Adam, it becomes a coming-of-age moment, as he leaves his childhood behind and begins to accept the responsibilities of an adult. As part of that, he feels that he should return to Oklahoma and make the best of it with his aunts. This is a well-written book with a wholesome and uplifting message, without being preachy or boring. A very sweet and entertaining story, although I can’t speak for how younger readers might enjoy it.


A Deadly Judgment
Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Signet / Penguin Books
1996



Based on the hit TV series “Murder, She Wrote,” the fictional Jessica Fletcher, mystery writer, is invited by a Boston attorney to act as jury consultant in a murder trial. Bill Brannigan is accused of killing his brother Jack, who threatened to cut him out of the family trust. His alibi is promptly murdered, followed quickly by two of the jurors sympathetic to the defense. Jessica unravels such a tangle of lies, deceit, greed and betrayal that eventually everyone ends up being involved in some fashion. Lively and entertaining, but in a relaxed and cozy way.


After 1903 – What?
Robert Benchley
Humor
Fiction
Rating 4
Harper & Brothers
1938



The author is a well-known humorist during the 1920s - 1930s - 1940s and famous for his books, essays, newspaper columns and even screen plays. His seemingly gentle and self-deprecating humor often hides a rapier-like wit that can astound you. This collection of short pieces is no exception, as it brims with bon mots, double entendres, bad puns, keen observations and cerebral good humor of all sorts, some if it laugh-out-loud funny in its perceptiveness. The book also features the deceptively simple line drawings of Gluyas Williams, which are a constant delight and funny in their own right. The first essay about playing poker with friends was a scream, and the one about half-remembered poetry from grade school made me laugh out loud in the cafeteria. His real or imagined difficulties with banks, parlor games and slang are priceless, and his description of Gallic understatement in French newspapers is precieux. After he appears briefly in a movie, he observes that passers-by seem to recognize him without quite knowing why. His explanation of why he can’t sing Welsh folk songs is hysterical, and his take on people who can’t ask for directions is a classic. He delivers the goods on such pet peeves as Esperanto, income tax and dress shirts, and also gives us the benefit of his knowledge of word derivations, all spurious of course, but just close enough to be almost plausible. One essay, about making the calendar year into equal length segments, is something that I thought I was the only person who ever came up with that idea. He also describes some of his various phobias, such as horses, midgets, harmonicas and blue jays. Not to be missed are his pronouncements on drunk drivers, Stilton cheese, mysterious car squeaks and the suspicion that falls on any three men who go somewhere together. The book wraps up with some great ruminations on federal regulations for women’s fashions, irrepressible men wearing ladies hats, and the startling fact that his own reflection bears no resemblance to him. This is such a great book, entertaining throughout and each page, a jewel of its own. The writing is witty, literate and often arcane, and unapologetically so. Benchley makes no allowances for the low-brow reader – he writes as if he expects people to understand and appreciate his humor, and he does not pander. It’s such a pleasure to read a book that’s funny without insulting your intelligence, that’s clean and actually gives your brain something to mull over, instead of sophomoric jokes and tired slapstick. Admittedly somewhat dated, which only adds to its classic charm, and well worth the time spent in its delightful company.



A Gift for Murder
M.D. Lake
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Hearst Corp.
1992



Peggy O’Neill is a campus security guard who solves crimes in this author’s series of mysteries. In this one, an obnoxious writer has been killed in the campus building used as a home of the Tower Writers’ Collective. Everyone in the Tower is a suspect, plus their spouses, friends and University staff. In a disappointing finale, the killer turns out to be the benefactor who donated the building to the University. The writing is punchy, with a lot of snappy patter reminiscent of “Spenser” mysteries.


A Halo for the Devil
Barbara Cartland
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Pyramid / Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
1972



The wicked Duke of Accrington had lost his fiancee to the Marquis of Thane, and in revenge, cheated the Marquis out of his estates. The Marquis’ son vowed to avenge himself on the Duke, and they spent years gambling with their properties at stake. One day, a young girl arrives to see the new Marquis, and his inquiries reveal that she would be the 7th daughter of the Duke, except that the Duke switched her at birth with a neighbor’s fam boy so he could have an heir. The Marquis devises a plan to use this innocent maid in his revenge against the Duke. Of course, since this is a Regency romance, he falls in love with her instead, and everything works out in the end.


A Holiday for Murder
Agatha Christie
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Bantam Books / Dodd, Mead & Company
1938



Wealthy Simeon Lee calls all of his family together for Christmas to announce that he is changing his will. So they are all there – black sheep Harry, dutiful Alfred, M.P. George and bohemian David, plus exotic Pilar, child of his only daughter. We find that Mr. Lee made his fortune in diamonds, when the son of his late business partner shows up unexpectedly from South Africa. He is invited to stay for the holiday. Later, Mr. Lee makes sure that everyone overhears his call to the lawyer’s office about changing his will, and then he quarrels with all of them. After dinner, everyone rushes to his room after they hear a tremendous racket and screaming, and find him dead on the floor. Ironically, Mr. Lee had called Inspector Sugden about some missing uncut diamonds form his safe, so the Inspector was close by when it happened. Coincidentally, Hercule Poirot was also nearby when it happened, so he was invited to assist with the investigation. Because the door of the room where the murder occurred was locked, and all the windows and doors in the house were locked and bolted from the inside, originally the police are baffled by the crime. As they interview everyone in the house, they find some excellent motives, some shaky alibis and some very suspicious characters. Poirot inadvertently stumbles across the missing uncut diamonds, apparently tossed nonchalantly into a planter where they blended in with the pebbles. In the end, it turns out to be Inspector Sugden, who was an illegitimate son of Mr. Lee (in fact, so was the young man posing as the son of his late business partner) and who arranged to murder him earlier in the day, then lock the door so no one would discover the crime sooner. He came back at an opportune time to set things in motion, so it would sound as if the crime had only just happened, and of course, no one would suspect him because he wasn’t in the house at the time. This book is very cleverly plotted and has a satisfying resolution, unlike many murder mysteries that fall apart at the end. Although, after “The Mousetrap,” it’s so easy to suspect the police inspectors right from the beginning. But that takes nothing away from the book, which is well-written and entertaining throughout, and it even has characters who are more likable than usually inhabit her books.


A Husband Isn’t Everything
Jeanette Kamins
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
St. Martin’s Press
1966



Celia Bikman drops everything, leaving her job in New York in the lurch, when she gets a telegram from Miami saying that her mother is in the hospital because of a stroke. Since her father abandoned the family when she was little, her mother raised her alone, working as a cleaning woman, and Celia is devoted to her. Eventually her mother is well enough to be discharged to a nursing home for rehabilitation, but the hospital sends her to a rat-infested asylum that astounds Celia with is horribleness. She immediately moves her to another place, a private facility with top-notch care. Her mother continues to improve, so that she is able to return to her apartment. While Celia is in Miami, she meets Gloria Brown, a good-looking and savvy New Yorker who has come to Miami to land a rich husband. They get along well, because Gloria admires Celia (although she thinks she’s naive) and Celia is amused by Gloria’s brashness. Gloria does manage to meet a successful businessman, Martin Davis, and bamboozles him into marrying her. Even Celia meets a nice man, Bernie Wolf, and they get married and settle down in New York. Unfortunately, Bernie turns out to be a compulsive gambler, who runs through all of Celia’s money, and causes her no end of grief, before he is killed mysteriously at the race track. Meanwhile, Gloria finds her husband dull, so she spends her afternoons in casual affairs with assorted young men. One of them is Larry Bradford, a struggling actor with expensive tastes, who has the kind of good looks and magnetism that Gloria finds so lacking in her husband. When she tries to take an even bigger part in Larry’s life, and cut out all of his other girlfriends, he sends her packing – because, like her, his only interest is in finding a meal ticket, not a sweetheart. Martin will buy Gloria anything she wants, but will not give her money to squander, so she can’t afford an extravagant boy-toy. Also, Martin isn’t as stupid as he looks, and after a couple of years of her wandering ways, he divorces her with what he considers a nice settlement, but Gloria considers paltry. Then in an odd coincidence, the owner of the company where Celia works introduces her to Martin, and they begin dating fitfully. Celia wastes a year with him, but after Gloria, Martin is too bitter and paranoid about women for Celia to get anywhere with him. Then she discovers that she is pregnant. She goes to speak to Martin’s kindly Uncle Simon to ask his advice, and while there, she meets George Richmond (a former student of Simon’s) who is a real find. He falls head over heels for Celia, but she feels it’s unfair to burden him with all of her post-Martin situations. But George and Simon convince her otherwise, and the book ends with the sense that Celia is going to be happy at last. This is really a strange book that seems to go in all directions at once. In the beginning of the book, there isn’t dialogue so much as the script from some old stand-up routine from the Borscht Belt. Although it’s done in a spirit of innocent fun, after a while, it becomes a really tiresome device. After Celia is widowed, the writing style changes to a sort of hand-wringing, scenery-chewing angst. The characters are all very real, and all of them are interesting, even the ones who aren’t likable. It’s a pleasant enough book, but doesn’t seem to have any point.


A Life on Film
Mary Astor
Biography
Rating 4
Delacorte Press
1967



Little Lucille Langhanke became actress Mary Astor for the movies, and went on to a long career before the camera. She began at age 14 in 1920, entering talent and modeling contests. She finally broke into silent films, working with many pioneers in the fledgling industry. At 17, the family moved to Hollywood for the better opportunities there. She worked with John Barrymore in a few films, and when she was a little older, they had a major love affair. She credits him with mentoring her as an actress and breaking her parents’ stranglehold over her life. She went on to star in many famous movies, and won an Oscar for “The Great Lie.” She also had a number of unsuccessful relationships, and a very happy marriage that ended tragically with a plane crash. At the height of her popularity in film, she was victimized by the unauthorized reproduction of her diary in the newspapers, which scandalized the country with its frank discussions of her sexual encounters among the celebrated. Her writing style is direct and unflinching, and somehow manages to be both terse and verbose at the same time. Extremely engrossing with celebrity gossip galore, but also a wealth of behind-the-scenes details and technical information. This is a very serious and dense book about the acting life, not a loose and schlocky kiss-and-tell quickie.


A Matchmaking Miss
Joan Overfield
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Zebra Books / Kensington Publishing
1992

The dissolute Marquess of Kirkswood dies, leaving his naive widow a mountain of debt. Her lively companion, the resourceful Martha Scott, writes to the estranged younger brother in India, requesting him to come home and assume the title. Joss and his half-Indian partner Rajana return to London, but bad feelings keep Joss from returning to his ancestral home quickly, despite repeated letters from M. Scott, who he assumes is his brother’s agent. Finally, in desperation, Matty follows him to London and kidnaps him from a ball using drugs, which convinces him of the seriousness of her concerns about the estate, where the widow is reduced to selling her own family jewels to make ends meet. Fortunately, Joss and Raj have a successful business in India, so he can afford to meet the estate’s most pressing needs. When the scheming daughter of the local odious Duke sets her cap for Joss, Matty and the widow quickly cook up a plan to marry him off to a more suitable match. But he gets wind of their plans and immediately puts his foot down on any such meddling in his private affairs. But the widow, who is more clever than she lets on, instead invites a few of her (conveniently single) friends to visit for a week, following her period of mourning. Joss also discovers inadvertently that his brother’s reckless accident that cost his life also caused his wife’s premature labor, nearly her death, and the loss of the infant who would have been Joss’s nephew and the heir of the estate. Once the guests arrive, it’s the usual collection of catty, scheming debutantes, pale dull dishrags and bright-eyed hopefuls. But there are also some of Joss’s old pals from school, and in conversations with them, he begins to recognize the need for him to marry and maintain the family name. He surprises Matty by asking her help to choose his bride. Matty recommends Lady Sarah Frampton, who she liked best among the visitors, quiet but lovely and very intelligent. Joss takes the bit in his teeth and romances Sarah for all he’s worth, but she only has eyes for his old chum Valen. Suddenly Matty realizes she’s in love with Joss, and the success of her plan is making her miserable. Then she stumbles upon Raj and the widow in an embrace, and is stunned when they announce their plans to marry. Matty throws herself into her work to help get her mind off of her troubles. One day while delivering a basket of food to a new mother on the estate, she falls in a gopher hole and sprains her ankle badly. Because she was off the trail in a pasture, she worries that no one would find her before it rained or worse happened to her. Once Joss discovers that she’s been missing all day, he rides out at once to find her, finally realizing the depths of his feelings for her after all. It also didn’t hurt that the canny widow did her best at planting some seeds of jealousy, and also enlightening Joss on the true nature of Sarah and Valen’s feelings for each other. It is only left for Joss and Matty to acknowledge their true feelings for each other, which they do very prettily, and the happy ending is assured. Well-written in a lively and engaging style, with characters that are believable and likable, although with warts and all. It doesn’t strain to include period references that stand out awkwardly, instead it all holds together consistently and enjoyably, and remains entertaining throughout.


The Americans
John Jakes
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Jove Publications
1999

This is the final book in the Kent Family chronicles – 8 books in all, covering a period from the Revolutionary War to the beginning of the 1900's. This story begins with Gideon (son of Jephtha and Fan Kent), his wife Julia and their children (from previous marriages) Carter, Eleanor and Will. The story opens in 1883, with Carter being expelled from Harvard for poor grades and bad behavior. He escapes from Boston with his life, after crossing a violent sailor, and rattles around out west trying to find himself. Timid Will is sent to Teddy Roosevelt’s cattle ranch in Elkhorn to gain some self-confidence and experience. He returns wanting to become a doctor, but falls in with a group of society swells noted for being shallow and amoral. Eleanor, who is an actress, marries Leo Goldman, who acts in the same repertory company. Leo dies in the Johnstown flood, after a performance there, and a distraught Eleanor moves back with her father in Boston. Carter goes to work for a political boss who controls the party machine in San Francisco. Will falls under the spell of Laura Pennel, and wants to marry her in spite of his father’s objections. Will feels that her family’s wealth and status will give him an entree into society that he couldn’t achieve otherwise, and make it possible for him to establish a comfortable medical practice in a good neighborhood. But he volunteers to help one of his classmates at his clinic in the Bowery, and discovers that his father was right all along – the Pennel real estate holdings in these slums make life miserable and dangerous for the immigrants in the area. He breaks off with Laura and marries Jo Hastings, the sister of his classmate, who has always wanted to be a nurse and help poor people. Eleanor finally begins getting over Leo’s death, and goes back on the stage – there she is re-discovered by Rafe Martin, who she had met in Johnstown, and they get married. Will and Carter have a falling-out over Will’s idealism vs. Carter’s cynicism, but Gideon finally feels that the next generation is on the right track at last. He dies at the end of the book, of heart problems that had plagued him for years. In the afterword, the author explains that the 8 books in the series were supposed to cover the period from 1776 (approximately) to 1976 – but the last book ends in 1891. All of the books are well written in a punchy, informal style, but tending to be overly melodramatic and confrontational. As historical fiction, they are all informative, interesting and very readable.


... And The Horse He Rode In On
James Carville
Politics
Non-Fiction
Rating 3
Simon & Schuster
1998



In 1994, Special Prosecutor Ken Starr was assigned to investigate President Clinton’s involvement in Whitewater, which was a development deal gone bad. Also under investigation were rumors of wrongdoing in the White House travel office and misuse of government files. After four years and millions of dollars in taxpayer money, all that the investigations had turned up was that President Clinton had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a White House intern and then tried to cover it up. (Congress voted to impeach the President on those grounds anyway.) The President and his family were pilloried in the media – even though his approval rating with the public had never been higher and the economy was booming. Many people wrote about this horrible, scandalous situation as if it was the worst thing that had ever happened in American politics and the office of the President would never be the same. James Carville, who is a staunch supporter of the President, wrote this book to bring some balance to the picture and correct some of the inaccuracies that were being reported. Mostly, though, the whole book is a step-by-step dissection of Ken Starr, who Carville feels is a dangerous demagogue, an unprincipled lunatic and a power-mad flunky of the far right. Although written in a folksy and primitive “grab-you-by-the-lapels” style, it spews out pages and pages and pages of Ken Starr’s conflicts of interest, underhanded dealings, dis-credited colleagues, shady tactics and outright lies. This is not so much a defense of the President, as an all-out frontal assault on the man Carville believes is abusing his position in a naked attempt to chase Clinton out of office. Not a bit staid and thoughtful like “The Death of Outrage,” which is on the opposite side of this issue. This book is brash and acerbic, full of bluster and a refreshing kind of “take-no-prisoners” “in-your-face” candor. Although it tries its best to be the sort of homey, “aw-shucks” common sense writing that wouldn’t frighten off the low-brow, it does in fact have an impressible amount of hard data and independent corroboration to back up its position. Not the book to change the mind of the President’s opponents, it is nonetheless a comfort to his supporters. (Somehow fails to explain the country expression of “Screw you and the horse you rode in on” that is the basis of the title.)


An Easter Bouquet
Therese Alderton
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Zebra Books / Kensington Publishing
1991



Lord Vyse, Quentin Vernon, accepts a wager from his rival Lord Thorpe, to pose as a village clergyman for several weeks before Easter. In Mickleford, one of his own properties, the old Rector has retired, so he shows up there with a friend from London posing as his Curate. He immediately runs into Lily Sterling, one of the daughters in the large and rambunctious family of the local Squire. They both try very hard not to fall in love, and he tries not to let on his secret, while she tries hard to unravel the mystery. Of course, it all works out in the end – he wins the wager and they get engaged. Even Lily’s spinster older sister gets engaged to the erstwhile Curate. Typical of this genre, but somewhat long and roundabout.


An Owl Too Many
Charlotte Macleod
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Mysterious Press / Warner Books
1991



This is apparently one in a series of books with these same characters, so it may be a little hard to follow. Peter Shandy is the local amateur sleuth at tiny Balaclava Agricultural College. During the annual owl count, one of the spotters steps into a snare trap and is killed. From that point, an awful lot begins to happen, and all of it quickly. The book jacket calls this a “screwball mystery,” and that’s not far off the mark. The writing style also manages to be breathless and precious all at the same time, which is hard to do, and gives the story a sort of rushed and head-long quality. The victim had arrived on campus recently, and introduced himself as the field engineer for the construction company building a media center at the college, which is being underwritten by Winifred Binks, the new heiress of her grandfather’s vast estate. But when they call the construction company to let them know about the accident, the company has no record of this employee. Later, when someone shows up asking for him, also claiming to be from the same company, they have the local police lock him up as being part of the shenanigans. Only in a story like this would the miscreant escape from custody by hypnotizing the chief and his deputy, and letting himself out of jail. Meanwhile, a young lady hiking through the woods is abducted, and only quick work by Peter Shandy tracks her down along the road and tied to a tree, apparently dumped by her would-be kidnapers. In the victim’s rental car, they find a notebook written in code, but they can’t make much sense of it. In a seeming aside, Winifred Binks has a testy meeting with her lawyers and trust advisers about her portfolio, because their views are at variance as far as which company shares to sell and which to buy. Inadvertently, Peter finds a reference in the victim’s paperwork to one of the companies in question, Golden Apples, which makes him wonder about why the victim was really on campus to begin with. Next, Winifred Binks gets abducted, which really throws everyone into a spin, because you obviously don’t want anything happening to your local millionaire heiresses. When the kidnapers call with their ransom demands, Winifred is able to give Peter a clue, so he and college president Svenson track her down on a tugboat on the Clavaclammer River, along with Fanshaw (the fellow who hypnotized himself out of jail earlier) and a couple of thugs. The police cart off Fanshaw (again – although Peter despairs of them holding him any better this time around than previously) but unfortunately along the way, the tugboat is cast adrift and charges off down river in a raging storm, not to mention, dam break, and only President Svenson’s steady hand at the helm brings them to safety in the morning. In a strange coincidence, they find themselves in Wilverton, home of the Golden Apples Company, so Winifred goes there to introduce herself, and finds a letter has been delivered from her lawyer saying that she is selling her shares of their company. This surprises everyone, since it was the reverse of her actual instructions to the lawyer. The letter turns out to be a forgery, and when the evil-doers take one more swipe at Winifred, they are finally apprehended for good. The ending is too complicated by half, and involves lots of accomplices in a variety of disguises. It turns out to be a stock swindling scheme all along, spear-headed by Viola Buddley (you remember the hiker who was ostensibly abducted and tied to a tree) in cahoots with Fanshaw, Winifred’s trust adviser, the original victim from the owl count (the snare trap was supposed to be how they kidnaped Winifred in the first place but went badly wrong) and people at the company that wanted Winifred to buy their shares. The ending was satisfactory enough, and even made sense, but had even more of a rushed and chaotic quality to it than the rest of the story. Well-written, although in an affected sort of way, but at least all of the characters seemed genuine and likable. Unfortunately, a suggestion of romance between Winifred and the old family lawyer is essentially tossed off in the hubbub and lost in the shuffle. And Peter Shandy doesn’t turn out to be much of a sleuth, although he has a sharp mind and good grasp of details. The book is entertaining throughout but very exhausting.


A Palette For Murder
Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Dutton Signet
1996

This story is taken from the “Murder, She Wrote” TV series with mystery writer Jessica Fletcher as an amateur sleuth. In this story, Jessica is on vacation in the Hamptons with her publisher and family. She has decided to indulge in her secret wish to be an artist, and has signed up for painting classes under an assumed name. But at her first class, the model keels over dead, supposedly of natural causes. But then a reporter investigating the story is murdered, and things begin to look pretty suspicious. It turns out to be a ring involved in art theft, forgery and murder (including the murder of an artist to increase the value of his paintings) of which the model was just an unfortunate by-product. Written in a lively and informal style, but the resolution of the plot left a little room for improvement.


A Patch of Blue
Elizabeth Kata
Drama
Fiction
Rating 4
St. Martin’s Press
1961



Selina D’Arcy is a young blind woman who lives with her mother (a part-time prostitute) and grandfather. She strings beads to make money. She meets a black man, Gordon Ralfe, in the park. They fall in love, but of course, that is doomed from the start. The writing is so immediate and engaging that it just pulls you along breakneck with it. It doesn’t seem possible that these are not actual people that you know. The ending was very disappointing, but it would be impossible to maintain the level of the rest of the book. Also made as a movie with Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters.


A Place To Stand
Ann Bridge
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Macmillan Company
1953



In 1941, American heiress Hope Kirkland is visiting Budapest with her parents, going to parties, dances and sight-seeing. They don’t seem to have a care in the world, although political tensions are heating up all around them. Hope’s fiancé journalist Sam Harrison gives her a package to deliver to some young men in the Polish underground, who are attempting to leave the country under the nose of the Nazis. This draws her into a web of intrigue and danger that her family knows nothing about. At one point, to help some people out of the country, Hope exchanges clothes and passports with a Polish girl, who escapes safely. But then Hope is picked up by the Nazis and treated very roughly, until she is identified as an American by someone from the Embassy. An extremely well-written book, told with insight and great detail, which never gets in the way of the story. Fast-moving and tense, it pulls you along from one near-disaster to the next, worrying about characters you really care about, until it is finally resolved satisfactorily.


The “Are You Being Served” Stories
Jeremy Lloyd
Humor
Fiction
Rating 4
KQED Books
1997

Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft created one of the BBC’s most enduring sitcoms with “Are You Being Served?” Set in the Grace Brothers department store, it features the interaction between the Menswear department staff (Mr. Grainger, Mr. Humphries, Mr. Lucas), the Ladieswear department staff (Mrs. Slocombe and Miss Brahms), as well as the management representatives (Captain Peacock, Mr. Rumbold, and the inaptly named “young” Mr. Grace) through various improbably adventures. This book is a compilation of seven of the stories, including “Camping In” and “The Clock.” Although much is lost without the visual element, the writing is still top-rate, and retains its hilarity. Highly entertaining, with several laugh-out-loud passages. (The group staff explanations to Mr. Rumbold are priceless.) It leaves you laughing and longing for more.


A Season For Murder
Ann Granger
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Avon Books
1991



The story begins slowly, with diplomatic corps person Meredith Mitchell sub-letting a cottage in quiet Pook’s Common. After years abroad, the Foreign Office was recalling her to a desk job in London. She also renewed her acquaintance with Alan Mackay of the C.I.D. (from previous books) and introduced herself to her nearest neighbor, Harriet Needham in the cottage across the way. Alan’s match-making sister Laura hatches the plan to invite Meredith to join the family for Christmas day. The following day is the locally famous Bamford Boxing Day Hunt, and the opening ceremonies are disrupted by some animal rights activists. The ring-leader, Simon Pardy, spooks Harriet’s horse, which throws her off and she dies from the fall. When the Coroner finds evidence of tranquilizers in her blood, everyone who knew her is sure it’s some kind of mistake. When Harriet’s cousin Fran arrives as executor of the will, she and Meredith find no evidence of pills in the cottage while they are cleaning out closets for Goodwill. The investigation proceeds slowly with Alan interviewing local people, but there’s no actual evidence to suggest foul play. Meredith feels obligated to explain to Alan that their relationship has no future, but he will have none of that. This is all the encouragement that cousin Fran needs, and she sets her cap for him, but he won’t give her a tumble. Meanwhile, Meredith accidentally stumbles across the information that tycoon Stanley Green was involved with Harriet, and in fact, was at her cottage the night before she died. It is generally assumed that whoever was at Harriet’s cottage for breakfast must have slipped the pills into her food. Alan is concerned that the upcoming inquest will render a verdict of accidental death, since there’s no evidence to suggest that Pardy was deliberately trying to kill Harriet. Suddenly Pardy turns up dead, after a fall down the stairs, but Alan determines that he was first hit over the head and then fell down the stairs; and in fact, the trash collectors find a hammer in the garbage. As a result of these new developments, the inquest is postponed. Then Meredith goes to Harriet’s cottage to do some packing up, and is confronted with the murderer, who turns out to be Colin Deanes, a local social activist and writer. It seems that he and Harriet and cousin Fran go back a long way, and in fact, the ladies believe that he killed his wife, their best freind Caroline, for her inheritance. When Harriet found him living near her in Pook’s Common, she threatened him and planned to discredit his new book with her accusations. So in the guise of befriending Simon Pardy, Deanes inveigles the youth with helping his scheme to get rid of Harriet. Then he kills Pardy to keep him from saying the wrong thing at the inquest. After he explains all this to Meredith, he tries to kill her also, but fortunately, Alan and cousin Fran turn up just in the nick of time. (They had just put 2-+-2 together on their own, after Alan let slip that Colin Deanes was representing Simon Pardy.) This is an interesting and well-written book, although with a more leisurely pace than most murder mysteries. The characters are all true-to-life and interesting, but a little too cynical and world-weary for my tastes. The writing is so genuine and engaging that you feel like you’re really there, and you really know these people. But for a story set in the English countryside, it totally lacks whimsy, and in fact, has an overall dreary and depressing aspect. Even Alan and Meredith’s so-called relationship, which should be sweetly tentative, is instead awkward and more sad than bittersweet. A nice enough book, but it wouldn’t make me want to read another one of these.


A Suitable Connection
Cindy Holbrook
Romance
Fiction
Rating 4
Zebra Books / Kensington Publishing
1990



Spirited young Mary Castleton is being forced to marry the odious Squire Jameson, by her evil step-father, who owes the Squire large gambling debts. Mary decides to run away, taking her chances finding a position as a governess or companion in London. She cuts her hair and dresses as a young boy to elude any pursuers. But she doesn’t count on Alistair Ravenstoke, the Duke of Denfield, who discovers her in a tree on his estate. The young Duke’s reputation as an incorrigible rake makes it easy for him to discern immediately that she is no boy, even from a distance. After much wrangling, he finally gets her story out of her, and decides to protect her from the horrible men in her life. But since they must travel together unchaperoned, she continues her masquerade as a boy, and the Duke explains that she is his cousin. This creates a number of very amusing vignettes, as they stay over at inns and at the Duke’s house. It especially comes in handy when Ravenstoke is nearly tricked into a compromising position with the scheming Lady Jane Pelham – but the young “cousin” breaks that up neatly, and unfortunately makes a dangerous enemy in Lady Jane. Ravenstoke decides the only solution to all of Mary’s problems is for her to be safely married. He brings her to London (she is obviously irritated by his heavy-handed interference, but inconveniently, lost a bet to him) and prevails upon his doting grandmother, Lady Sophia, the dowager Duchess, to present Mary for the season so she can find a suitable husband. Ravenstoke also pays off her step-father’s debts, so as to release Mary from any “understanding” with Jameson. But this only infuriates the Squire more, and he and Lady Jane plot to kidnap Mary so that Jemeson can have his way with her, and Lady Jane will have a clear field with Ravenstoke. Fortunately, the Duke rescues Mary and “persuades” Jameson and the Pelhams to go abroad on extended journeys. Even though everyone in the world can tell that Mary and the Duke are hopelessly in love with each other, they are both convinced that they are exactly wrong for each other. Mary feels she is doing Ravenstoke a favor when she accepts a proposal from Viscount Brestfort, a vapid and dull-witted young twit from a dull and respectable family. Both Mary and the Duke try to put the best face on this, but they are obviously both miserable. In desperation, Lady Sophia offers Mary a chance to escape, but Mary feels honor-bound to marry the Viscount. But at the last minute, she leaves him at the altar, and he feel relieved at the narrow escape. Mary makes good her escape, and even Ravenstoke can’t find her. When he finally admits to his grandmother that he wants to find her so he can marry her himself, she lets him know where to find her, and everything ends up happily. Well-written in a lively, informal style, and very entertaining for this type of book. The characters are interesting and engaging, and the story is fun and interesting throughout. A very enjoyable book and better than these romances usually are.


At Bertram’s Hotel
Agatha Christie
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Dodd, Mead
1967



Bertram’s Hotel is a very old-fashioned expensive establishment, hidden away in London where the privileged few gather. Miss Marple’s nephew sends her there for a vacation. Things begin getting interesting at once, and the doorman is murdered. It turns into a wild and woolly mish-mash that doesn’t quite hold together. The doorman is killed by his unknown daughter, who fears for her inheritance, and her mother dies trying to protect her. A very unsatisfying ending.


A Time To Kill
John Grisham
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Dell
1989


A black man in rural Mississippi kills the white rapists of his young daughter before their trial. He turns to Jake Brigance to defend him. This was actually written before “The Firm,” and has the unfocused meandering typical of early novels. The story drags in the ACLU, the KKK, the NAACP, blasts the political spectrum from left to right, and somehow even manages to introduce a love story. Has tension, but no one to care about, and the ending is expectedly precipitous.


A Tradition of Victory
Alexander Kent
Historical Drama
Fiction
Rating 4
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
1981



This is another in this series of naval adventures by this author, and featuring Richard Bolitho in fictionalized tales based on actual historical events. In 1801, the war between England and France has dragged on for 8 years. Just after the massive naval engagement known as the Battle of Copenhagen, the Admiralty sends Rear-Admiral Richard Bolitho out to sea in a last desperate effort to force the French to accept terms of peace. Because these characters appear in a whole series of historical adventures, there is a lot of exposition, to provide the necessary background information to anyone who is new to these stories. Although helpful, this tends to make the beginning of the book seem a little hard to get off the ground. But finally their small flotilla sails off to the Bay of Biscay, where other ships are blockading the French ports there. Using secret information, his flagship Styx and another frigate attack the French ships at Ile D’Yeu, where they have been secretly massing men, supplies and small ships. Unfortunately, the other frigate Phalarope flees, and Bolitho has Styx sunk beneath him and the survivors huddled together in long boats. When word gets back to Plymouth, he is feared dead by his colleagues and fiancee, but actually he and about 100 others were taken prisoner by the French land troops. It’s in prison that they discover the full extent of the French preparations, and the semaphore towers that were able to warn of all their ships’ movements ahead of time. While being transferred to a different prison by ship, they instead find themselves in a gun battle with Bolitho’s old chum Captain Herrick of the Benbow. He rescues the captives from the French and they sail back to Gibraltar, where they find Bolitho’s fiancee, Belinda Laidlaw, who never gave up hope for his return. The fleet skirmishes with French ships disguised as fishing boats. Realizing that the French fleet continues to build up in the area, preparatory to some sort of operation, they hatch a desperate scheme to attack the French ships before they sail. The first part of the plan calls for sending some of their men on what amounts to a suicide mission to destroy the most outlying semaphore station, thus removing the French advantage of advanced notification. Then the smaller frigates sneak into the harbor just before dawn and demolish the ships at anchor there. The bigger French ships come after them and outweigh them in quantity and size, but fortunately, the British also have bigger ships nearby to protect them. In fact, it’s the Phalarope that comes to Bolitho’s rescue when all seems lost, and the day turns into a decisive British victory. This in turn increases the likelihood that peace terms will be accepted by both sides. It all ends happily with Bolitho and Belinda at the little country church, and even the sailors from the suicide mission somehow got home safely. Interesting and lively throughout, and written in an easy informal way that makes you feel like you’re really there instead of just reading about it. The characters are all genuine and likable, although drawn with warts and all. The story is not told at a breathless pace, all fast and furious screaming melodrama. It also doesn’t have explicit battle scenes with blood and gore, and considering the rough and tumble nature of the men involved, it doesn’t have gratuitous violence, immorality or bad language. But it’s still very entertaining while taking the high road, which is a refreshing change in modern literature. Well-written in the vernacular of the times and people, which never seems forced and makes everything that happens all that much more realistic.


A Tramp Abroad
Mark Twain
Travel
Non-Fiction
Rating 4
Harper & Row
1977



In 1869, Mark Twain wrote his first travelogue, “The Innocents Abroad,” which was one of the funniest and most entertaining books I have ever read. This book was published originally in serial form during 1880 and is a very different animal altogether. For one thing, the author is older and famous, compared to the youthful naivete and exuberance of the first journey. Another problem was the pressure from his publisher for the work to be successful and to conform to length and style requirements. Because the finished work was considered overly verbose (even for him!), meandering and inconsistent, it was never a popular success. In 1976, a scholar of his works compiled this abridged version that excised a lot of the worst excesses, trimmed out what was unnecessary and re-arranged the rest into a more cohesive whole. The result is much more accessible, enjoyable and the humor is much more immediate and compelling. Even with the editing, the beginning of the book seems labored and somewhat arch. But the middle of the book really hits its stride, skimming along effortlessly, shooting off comic sparks in every direction. Some of the best sections appear in “The Awful German Language,” “The Great French Duel,” and “Ascending the Riffelberg,” all of which really show the master at work. There are two recurring themes which are used to great comedic effect, and never fail to amuse, no matter how often they are presented. One is that, although this is supposed to be a “walking tour” of Europe, they never fail to hire a carriage or take a train wherever they are going. The other is that whenever there is a need to get going on a particular excursion very early in the morning, they invariably oversleep until all hours. (In the Alps, while attempting to enjoy the renowned sunrise, they manage to sleep all day and only get up in time to watch the sunset instead!) This middle part of the book really smacks of the old brilliance and made the whole experience much more enjoyable. Toward the end of the book, it tends to bog down again in dour passages and forced humor. But overall, it is very entertaining and never dull. It may not be his best work, but he is such a good writer that it is impossible not to be amusing and engaging. For the most part, jolly and lively in a punchy and informal style – although most of the humor is slyly dead-pan, it also has its laugh-out-loud moments. A very enjoyable book.


Band of Brothers
Alexander Kent
Historical Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Arrow Books / Random House
(Bolitho Maritime Productions - 2005)
2006

This author is famous for writing a series of historical fictionalizations of British naval adventures, and featuring the stalwart Richard Bolitho from a rank midshipman on forward. The book “Midshipman Bolitho” begins in 1772 when he is 16 on the Gorgon with Captain Conway. The book after that was “Stand Into Danger” set in 1774 when he was a 3rd Lieutenant on the Destiny. In my notes for it, I actually wrote: “Somewhere between the previous book and this one, he managed to lose his best friend, Martyn Dancer and also his sister Nancy’s delight. His brother Hugh, last on his way to an official inquiry about a botched mission, is now back at sea, and his father has lost an arm in battle and been mustered out of the Navy.” Apparently this book, instead of being the newest in the series, fills the gap between those two early books, taking up when Bolitho and Martyn Dancer left the Avenger, and Hugh was returning to the Admiralty’s inquiry, with the intention of tying up all of those loose ends and missing plot pieces, before the next book starts. This slim volume (130 pages) would have fit in between the first two books, where a full-size book should have been, and might very well have been skipped over originally due to the actual historical period not offering an actual conflict worth building a story around. But modern readers demand more continuity in their serialized collections, so this book was added later to satisfy the need of moving the narrative along seamlessly between volumes, and explain the subsequent changes in rank, personnel and circumstances. This book begins in January 1774, with two of Gorgon’s midshipmen, Richard Bolitho and Martyn Dancer, preparing to be interviewed to be considered for a Lieutenant’s commission. This is a nerve-wracking episode for a midshipmen, and fraught with unknown dangers for their future hopes. The board reviewing the candidates consisted of Captain Proby, Captain Maude and the odious Captain Greville. Coming from a seafaring family is no help, but judged on his own merits, the board approves Bolitho for a commission, and Martyn Dancer also, leading to a merry celebration in the midshipmen quarters. Later, Captain Conway tells them they will be joining 1st Lt. Verling and a small crew responsible to bring the schooner Hotspur from her berth to Guernsey to join the fleet, and he asks them to specially keep a watch on new Midshipman Sewell, son of a family friend. In fact, Bolitho happens upon poor Sewell being abused by the evil new Lt. Edgmont, but as a mere midshipman, there is nothing he can do about it. Taking this routine transit past Jerboug Point, they are surprised to hear cannon fire, and when they go to investigate, they find a small cutter completely destroyed and sunk with all the casualties still caught among the wreckage. Lt. Verling decides to detour from their original mission, and search the channel islands for the supposed smugglers who attacked the cutter, and he sends Edgmont and Bolitho ashore to reconnoiter. They sneak up on two ships smuggling guns (presumably for the new rebellion in the American colonies) and send Edgmont and a small party back to Hotspur to report. Bolitho takes his tiny group and captures the small lugger, while most of the crew is loading crates of guns on the bigger boat. They sail out of the bay, surprising the bigger boat, which cuts its cable and attempts to outrun them, but instead, runs smack into Hotspur, and is subdued in a quick but fierce attack. When Bolitho gets back aboard Hotspur, Verling congratulates him, but has to break the tragic news that Martyn Dancer was killed in the action. It’s at this defining moment that the small and frightened midshipman becomes the strong and capable officer that we know from later books, and there’s no turning back and pining for former days. Back on Gorgon, Captain Conway commends him for a job well done, and gives him his commission papers, and instructions to report to the frigate Destiny. The story ends there, on the doorstep of the book that follows it in chronological, if not numerical, order. It’s not much of a story, it’s true, but it satisfactorily fills in some of the gaps that existed without it, and it would be impossible for this author to write a bad book, so it’s not nearly as bad as some critics complained. Admittedly, it does seem that parts of it are a little too facile, being told from the perspective of hindsight, but that’s a small quibble. It’s well-written as all of them are, and consistently interesting throughout, especially as our hero matures virtually before our eyes. This book, which was released by a different publisher than the others from McBooks Press and does not utilize the same volume numbers, also features a very handy chronology in the front of the book that describes events in Bolitho’s life and career, plus the novels associated with them. Although he enlisted in 1768 on Manxman, and in fact, this is referred back to in later books (notably “To Glory We Steer”) there is no book about that period of his life, as the first one begins in 1772 on a different ship. (The chronology also divulges the unwelcome information of when he gets killed, ruining my idyllic fancy of his retiring with full honors in the comfort of his country estate with his wife and children around him, and thanks not! Apparently the series continues with Adam Bolitho, who must be explained along the way.) I was glad to find out about this book after the fact, and I enjoyed it on its own merits, without expecting it to be something else.


The Bartholomew Fair Murders
Leonard Tourney
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Ballantine Books / Random House
1986



This is one in a series of Elizabethan-age mysteries by this author, using the characters of Matthew Stock and his wife Joan to solve the crimes. Matthew has a successful clothier business and is also County Constable, which brings him into contact with a variety of crimes. In this story, it is August and the great and famous Bartholomew Fair is in full swing in Smithfield. A puppeteer on his way to the Fair is murdered by a vagrant, and his body is marked with mysterious symbols. Matthew is called to investigate, although without witnesses or clues, he doesn’t expect to find anything. He and Joan head off to the Fair, to sell their cloth in a booth. The murderer, Gabriel Stubbs, also goes to the Fair – he kills a man who works for a bear keeper, and has no trouble taking the victim’s job. Gabriel is in the thrall of religious zeal, and feels called to expose and destroy Satan in his many forms on Earth. He has become convinced that Queen Elizabeth is the personification of the Devil, and he has formulated a plan to kill her at the Fair. Next, the remains of someone (this turns out to be Simon Plover, the former bear keeper’s assistant) are discovered in a trash heap, and the authorities assume that the bear was to blame. However, since the bear was never seen loose, they cannot blame him for the crime. The next victim is Jack Talbot, a wine seller, and his body was discovered in an alley before Gabriel can dispose of it. He then goes into hiding and takes Rose Dibble, a serving girl, in his confidence. Since Talbot was stabbed and mutilated like the puppeteer, the police agree that the bear is not a suspect. It begins to look as if the Queen’s visit will have to be called off for her own safety, so her assistant asks Matthew for his help in apprehending the perpetrator. After Gabriel disappears, suspicion falls on him, and they discover among his belongings the offending pamphlet that has sent him on the path of righteous retribution. Everyone who knows Gabriel by sight combs the Fair looking for him, but with no luck. Then Matthew’s friend Babcock is killed, and his body is discovered in the bear cage along with the knife. Finally Matthew figures out what is going on. When Gabriel is in hiding, he is discovered by the local Sheriff, Grotwell, who kills him and hides the body. This gives Grotwell the (almost) perfect alibi to kill Babcock (they had a falling-out over some blackmail scheme) and make it look as if it was all the work of the same murderer, since only he knew that Gabriel was already dead. But Matthew knew that Gabriel wouldn’t have left his knife with Babcock’s body, if his plan was to kill the Queen. It’s Joan who discovers where Gabriel’s body is hidden, and eventually all the details come out. But Rose, who had been infatuated with Gabriel, has also been infected with his fervor, and has an opportunity to carry out his mission as one of the Queen’s special retinue for her appearance at the Fair – fortunately, Joan foils that at the last minute. This is an interesting book with a different premise from most mysteries, but it has more the air of a modern “Renaissance Festival” than something that’s actually from the 1500's. The characters, the dialogue and the writing style do nothing to give a sense of olden times. Although well-written, it suffers the common and modern drawback of being cluttered and humorless, plus the characters are generally vague and unlikable. Because the plot goes so far afield to find a wholly unexpected murderer (another modern conceit) the ending is necessarily precipitous. Rather disappointing overall.


Baseball For Brain Surgeons and Other Fans
Tim McCarver & Danny Peary
Sports
Non-Fiction
Rating 2
Villard Books / Random House
1998



Tim McCarver is renowned as one of the best baseball announcers and analysts on television, and certainly my personal favorite. A former major league catcher with four teams from 1959-1980, he then joined the New York Mets broadcast team, as well as doing national games for ABC and FOX. He is a true student of the game, able to analyze the strategy and also the nuances. On air, he is funny, insightful and very interesting, with a folksy down-home charm and a great sense of humor, and not afraid to make fun of himself. His first book, “Oh Baby, I Love It” was uproarious, stuffed with wonderful anecdotes and laugh-out-loud misadventures. Unfortunately, this book is more like a reference work for people to study, in order to understand offensive and defensive strategies, percentages and coaching options. It’s dense and uninviting, with pages and pages and pages crammed with thick prose that is almost impossible to slog through. Even for someone who cares about baseball, this book is so incredibly uninteresting and extremely difficult to read. There are no funny stories, and the writing manages to be entirely without humor or spark. If I hadn’t read it, I would have thought it would have been impossible for him to write a book that was so dull, turgid and stultifying. Somehow in 330 pages, it manages to have nothing at all interesting to say, and almost put you to sleep doing it. This is a perfect example of someone being too close to their subject, and too knowledgeable – it really cried out for someone with some sense of objectivity, to cut out the miles of excess verbiage, punch up the writing style, and make the layout of the subject matter more accessible. A very disappointing book, especially with that title, which indicates that this would be a funny book.


The Beaux of Bayley Dell
Dorothea Donley
Romance
Fiction
Rating 2
Zebra Books, Kensington Publishing
1995



Sir John Eland inherits the title and Bayley Manor on the sudden demise of his older brother in a riding accident. Unfortunately, he also inherited his gambling debts, so he leased the Manor to Mr. Hanger, a wealthy merchant, and moved into a nearby cottage with his maiden sisters and young daughter, Laurel. The sisters despair of Laurel ever meeting anyone suitable in sleepy Bayley Dell, but her father can not afford a season in London. Suddenly, a handsome stranger is carried into the local inn and Laurel looks after him while the doctor is away. He is suffering from various scrapes and bruises, some serious, and he also can’t seem to remember anything. Shortly after, another gentleman appears, Lord Harry Guinn, and he stumbles across the invalid and recognizes him as his friend Gordon (in fact, his sister Pamela has designs on Gordon) but Gordon prefers to stay anonymous and try his luck with the fair Laurel. Meanwhile, her doting aunts decide that she must make her debut in nearby Wells, and the household is agog with preparations for evening clothes and accessories, albeit on a reduced scale for financial reasons. Laurel has been reading to the invalid while the doctor insists he remains immobile, and although her father has accompanied her, she wonders if the stranger has been flirting with her, since she has no experience with these matters. Out of the blue, one day he tells her who he is (Gordon Rand, son of a Viscount) but he doesn’t want anyone to know, or they would whisk him away from her and he doesn’t want that. Unfortunately, he is not well enough in time to attend her debut in Wells, but the family considers it a great success, even if only on a small scale. Their sponsor, Mrs. Walden, arranges for Laurel to meet a number of suitable young men, and while her nature is very kindly, Laurel is not exactly smitten with any of them. She also feels snubbed by Lord Guinn, who “neglected” to introduce her to his snooty sister Pamela, knowing the latter would have no patience with the simple country miss. Then the Vicar, Mr. Appleton, surprises everyone by proposing to Laurel’s Aunt Mirabelle, and she accepts with amazement. The next surprising turn of events is when Mr. Hanger proposes to Aunt Frances, which astounds her even more than the Vicar’s proposal astonished her sister. To the wonder of all, the next one to jump on the marriage-go-round is Laurel’s father John, who finds that Mrs. Walden suits him perfectly. As much as she is happy for them, poor Laurel can’t help feeling left out and wonders where she will live when all of them move away with their new spouses. It’s finally Gordon’s turn to take matters into his own hands, which he does by inviting his parents to meet her, settle his debts at the inn, and make an offer for her if his parents approve. Unfortunately, the Viscount can not travel, but the Viscountess arrives and meets all of the Elands and likes them well enough. But because Laurel has no dowry, she can’t encourage Gordon to think that the Viscount will think much of the match, and that’s how it ends! Although jaunty and entertaining throughout, it’s certainly not much of a romance, since Laurel and Gordon spent practically no time together, or in fact, any of the other couples. When the young lovers are together, it’s often awkward or constrained by circumstances. The story is well-written in a lively and engaging style, but it’s ultimately disappointing and the ending is an outrage.


Bewitched
Barbara Cartland
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Bantam Books
1975



A bit unusual for a Regency romance, as a young gypsy woman is injured on the estate of the Marquis of Ruckley. As she recovers at his house, he is so taken with her spirit and intellect that he decides to utilize her to play a trick on some of his friends – a la Pygmalion – to pass her off as nobility. However, the joke is on him when it is discovered that she is not a gypsy after all, but the lost daughter of a famous family with a tell-tale birthmark. Fortunately, her gypsy upbringing allows her to rescue the Marquis from his rotten nephew’s attempts on his life. A bit of a cultural polemic, since the author is deeply involved in government and private organizations dealing with gypsy affairs.


The Body in the Library
Agatha Christie
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Dodd, Mead
1941



The body of a young lady is discovered in the library of Gossington Hall, home of the Colonel and Mrs. Bantry. IT was identified as a dancer from a nearby dance hall, however, the Police were baffled as to the murderer, since there was no motive. Enter Miss Marple, a friend of the family, trying to clear the stigma from them. It turns out the dead body was someone else dressed to look like the dancer, who had been killed and discovered elsewhere. This is one of those convoluted tales that collapses on itself when it gets to the end, because the original premise was wrong.


The Bonfire of the Vanities
Tom Wolfe
Drama
Fiction
Rating 2
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
1987



Sherman McCoy is a Wall Street bond trader, and his wife Judy is an interior decorator. His world falls apart when he and his mistress, Maria Ruskin, leave the scene of an accident in the Bronx, where a black youth is mortally wounded. This is an epic story with a cast of thousands, each one slimier than the last. Tom Wolfe, who usually writes non-fiction, has an engaging style. The book is interesting all the way through, although depressing, especially the ending, which is pathetic. Also made as a movie with Tom Hanks.


Born in Wedlock
Margaret Echard
Drama
Fiction
Rating 4
Doubleday
1956



This purports to be an auto-biographical novel assembled from the diary of a young girl, but it is actually fiction. Katie Linda and Jean Fairchild are sisters whose mother works in a burlesque show. Katie’s diary describes the varied and scandalous events in their lives with the innocence of a child. When their widowed mother marries a prosperous widower, under the stern disapproval of their paternal relatives, the small Southern town is turned inside-out. Charming, humorous and well-written, a very enjoyable book.


Brandy & Bullets
Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Penguin Books
1995



This story is taken from the “Murder, She Wrote” TV series, wherein mystery writer Jessica Fletcher turns sleuth to solve murders. In her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine, the last of the Worrells sells the old family mansion to developers who turn it into an artist retreat - cum - psychiatric center. Then, among the high-strung and neurotic artistic residents, occur attempted suicide, murder and disappearances. Jessica moves into the center temporarily, seeking their help with her writing, and falls victim to their hypnosis and brainwashing techniques that cause the residents to harm themselves or others. Fortunately, she is rescued without incident, and the retreat is instead turned into a community center and park. Well-written and entertaining enough, and consistent with this series.


Brat Farrar
Josephine Tey
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 4
MacMillan Company
1949


Patrick Ashby at 13 disappears, leaving a cryptic note on the shore. He is believed drowned, leaving behind his sisters and twin brother Simon. Cousin Alec Loding discovers Brat Farrar, an orphan with an uncanny resemblance to the twins. He coaches Brat on all local and family history, and then introduces him back into the family just as Simon is about to inherit the estate on reaching 21. Being the older twin, Patrick would inherit it instead. Brat soon gets the impression that Simon killed his twin, and he was just looking for a chance to knock off this imposter also. After all, Brat can’t expose Simon’s crime without exposing his own impersonation. Fortunately, Brat confides his concerns to the Rector, so when both of them fall over a cliff, the Rector has the Police follow-up on Brat’s hunch. They discover the remains of the young Patrick, but as Simon was killed in the fall, the Police agree that hushing things up would be the best plan. Brat, facing a long recovery period, is still welcomed by the family, once they ascertain that he is probably the illegitimate son of no-good cousin Walter. This author has nothing but well-written books, and this is no exception. It manages to be taut and gripping, while at the same time, having a prosaic view of the English countryside. A real page-turner from beginning to end, and the ending is no let-down.


The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart
Lawrence Block
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
Onyx / New American Library, Division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
1995



This is another in a series of “The Burglar Who” books by this author, featuring Bernie Rhodenbarr as that staple of mystery writers everywhere, the gentleman cat burglar. When Hugo Candlemas comes to his bookstore and asks him to pinch a briefcase from an apartment, it seems easy enough, but he is interrupted mid-way and as he is hiding in a closet, someone leaves with the briefcase. Later, the police show up in his bookstore with his own briefcase, which he had inadvertently left in Hugo’s apartment, and who is now considerably dead. Meanwhile, he meets the alluring and mysterious Ilona and they spend every evening together at the Humphrey Bogart film festival, although their relationship doesn’t progress further than that. When they become friendlier and he finds out where she lives, he knows where to look for her when she stands him up, but the place has been cleaned out to the bare walls. Then a small crazy foreigner barges into his bookstore with a gun, trying to out-bid someone else for some documents he thinks Bernie has, but doesn’t. When the police ask him to identify Hugo’s body, he does so, but doesn’t tell them it isn’t Hugo, but instead the poor stooge who snuck him into the building to steal the briefcase. With nowhere else to turn, he introduces himself to Charlie Weeks, the victim’s old Special Ops buddy and who signs on to help track down the killer. When Bernie tries to break into the briefcase apartment again, he instead finds Ilona there with another foreigner calling himself Michael Todd. When he finds his apartment is under surveillance, he stays with his friend Carolyn and she sits with his bookstore in case anything interesting happens there. Sure enough, a couple of foreigners turn up and leave their phone numbers, and the police seem agitated as well. It should come as no surprise, but it does, when the real Hugo Candlemas turns up dead in an abandoned building, and still carrying three fake passports including the Candlemas one. Now the police know that Bernie lied about identifying the first victim’s body, but not why. Toward the end, things really start to pick up speed, and the plot goes rushing along headlong while leaving us behind, as these types of stories often do, so the resolution seems uncomfortably rushed and precipitous, as well as confusing. It turns out that Michael Todd is the grandson of King Vlados I of Anatruria, a semi-mythical Balkan principality that almost enjoyed a brief burst of independence between the World Wars. Patriots like Ilona are trying to re-create the country and put him on the throne. Opportunists like Weeks and Candlemas (who turns out to be Charles Wood, another Special Ops agent) were mixed up in it from the beginning, protecting American interests, as well as their own. The foreigners were trying to get their hands on authentic Anatrurian documents, like property deeds, government bonds or stock certificates, that might make them the rightful owners of valuable real estate or successful businesses. The small crazy foreigner from the beginning of the book admits to “accidentally” killing both Hoberman and Candlemas, but for some reason, the police decide to let him get away with it, as long as he leaves the country. They also look the other way (and in fact, accept a $50,000 bribe) when Bernie gives the documents (which may well be worthless) to Weeks and the foreigners to see if they can make anything out of them. He saves the official postage stamp proofs for Ilona and the King, so they can raise some money for their nationalist ambitions. This book is well written enough and certainly goes charging right along, although often at the expense of moving right along without you. It also includes many Humphrey Bogart-type elements for entertainment value, which also help. Its biggest problem is that all of the characters are uniformly unlikable, and so you not only don’t care what happens to them, you don’t care to spend any time with them either. More arch than funny, and more eccentric than interesting, the story is diverting enough, but entirely fails to engage.