TITLES N - O

N or M?
Agatha Christie
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 4
Dodd, Mead
1941



Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are a sensible middle-aged couple who do a little sleuthing. They find themselves, separately, in Leahampton, checking on some Nazi spies. They’re after N or M, code names for the leader. Of course, there’s a full kettle of suspects at the resort, especially Carl von Deinim who left Germany just before the war. In the end, it turns out to be Mrs. Sprot, who kidnaped a baby as the ultimate camouflage.


The Nabob’s Daughter
Dawn Lindsey
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Signet / Penguin Putnam
2000



Viscount Stone Chance and his impetuous half-sister Georgiana Hughendon attend a ball and encounter the heiress du jour, Anjalie Cantrell. Although her father is a merchant, the fortune-hunters are tripping over each other to meet her, due to her family’s vast holdings in Jamaica. Meanwhile, Georgiana wants to meet her because her erstwhile fiancé, Guy Ludlow, is in Jamaica and she has plans to follow him there, in spite of the Viscount’s objections. Anjalie has been all over the world with her father, and has only come to England out of curiosity to see the homeland of her parents, because she finds the conventions and mores antiquated and oppressive. But everyone assumes she has come for the sole purpose of making an advantageous match, with a title to give respectability to her fortune, no matter what she tells them otherwise. She decides instead to have a little fun at their expense, by seeing how much outrageous behavior society will overlook because of her great wealth, or as the Viscount maintains, her only purpose in coming was to vex him. (Her actual purpose was to buy horses for a possible breeding business back home, where she longs to return and quickly.) On a routine visit to Lord Sedgeburrow, one of Jamaica’s notorious absentee landlords, Anjalie discovers that he has taken advantage of a fallen woman and made her his virtual slave and captive after her family disowns her. Anjalie shocks everyone when she decides to rescue the young woman and infant from the odious Lord, even the Viscount who figured himself beyond being shocked any longer. In fact, when an old family friend arrives from Jamaica and helps her with her schemes, instead of being relieved, the Viscount feels strangely envious. He begins to feel more sentimental about Anjalie and appreciate her high spirits, independence and intelligence, compared to the prissy and empty-headed misses chasing after him in London. So he feels doubly betrayed when he discovers that his impossible sister has made her escape on the same ship to Jamaica as the young mother and infant, plus Adam Trelawney, Mr. Cantrell’s Agent, and roundly blames Anjalie for being the brains behind the operation, never believing his sister to have enough shrewdness on her own. Naturally he hires the first ship going to Jamaica to chase after her, and naturally Anjalie is also on board, so it promises to be a stormy voyage indeed. In fact, that’s exactly what happens when they run into a bad squall before they reach port and have to abandon ship. The longboat with Anjalie and the Viscount gets inadvertently separated from the others before the sailors can board, so they ride out the storm together, with the Viscount refusing to panic in the face of Anjalie’s rugged determination. Fortunately, the favorable trade winds land them at Jamaica, although on the uninhabited north shore. After a long and arduous trek through the interior, they at long last arrive at the Cantrell plantation. Here they discover that the boat did in fact limp into port, but with the grim report of their disappearance at sea, so it was a very happy reunion at home when they wander dirty and bedraggled out of the jungle. By now, the Viscount realizes he’s hopelessly in love with Anjalie and grateful for the adventure, after his empty and pointless existence in England. For her part, she admires his pluck through it all and realizes he’s more than just the stuck-up stuffed shirt she first met in London. So it ends very happily, with them planning to split their time between England and Jamaica, in spite of their recent mishap at sea. In an interesting sub-plot, the Viscount’s step-sister finally wises up and decides to marry Adam Trelawney, Mr. Cantrell’s Agent, rather than her former beau, which she now sees in a whole new light. Way over-plotted for the typical historical romance, but entertaining throughout. Well-written in a breezy and informal style, it moves along briskly and never flags.


Naked Came The Manatee
Dave Barry
Carl Hiaasen
Elmore Leonard
James W. Hall
Edna Buchanan
Les Standiford
Paul Levine
Brian Antoni
Tananarive Due
John Dufresne
Vicki Hendricks
Carolina Hospital
Evelyn Mayerson
Crime drama
Fiction
Rating 3
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
1995



This book is attempting to be a crime drama spoof, in itself a take-off on the earlier “Naked Came The Stranger.” The Miami Herald assembled this collection of Florida writers, and asked them each to contribute one chapter in a serialized story, which they printed in their magazine section. Like any compilation of different authors, the writing varies widely between chapters. On the whole, however, it holds together in terms of plot, more than you would expect. The story involves Fidel Castro and his look-alikes, plus a few look-alike heads in metal canisters, a newspaper reporter, small-time crooks, the Free Cuba Underground in Miami, an actor on location, local residents and a manatee named Booger. Wry without being actually funny, the story moves along in a haphazard way from one confrontation, car chase, speedboat chase or murder to another.

No Holly for Miss Quinn
Miss Read
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Houghton Mifflin
1976



This is another in a series by this author, who writes charming tales of village life in the English countryside. This story begins mostly about a cottage built in 1773, which is nestled in a secluded curve of the road between the bustling town of Caxley and the quiet hamlet of Beech Green. The cottage has many tales to tell, and finally it gets to modern times belonging to a widow, and she has let out the annex (a sort of attached efficiency apartment) to Miriam Quinn. Miss Quinn is a sensible young woman, raised in the country, but now running a busy office in Caxley. She loves the solitude of the cottage, and revels in the peace of the country. She resists all efforts to rope her into the various committees and civic groups that abound in the village, and in fact, sometimes finds the widow’s friendly chattering and invitations to be an intrusion. As much as she tries to be nice, she prefers her own company, and for a young person, is very set in her ways. As it gets nearer to the holidays, more than ever she craves the serenity and isolation of her cottage, so she can enjoy the holiday in her own way, but it is not to be – her brother calls and asks her to stay with him, and look after the children while his wife is in the hospital. So she packs up and goes there instantly, for she and her brother are very close. But she finds the three youngsters very high-spirited, and the whole household is messy and disorganized, which makes her feel put-out and discouraged. But she soon has everything orderly and neat, which makes her feel better, while for the first time she really appreciates how hard mothers work, and she begins to realize that with a growing family and all the hustle and bustle, there are things that are more important than perfect housekeeping. The blissful innocence of the children helps her to see the fun of letting things go, taking it as it comes, and going where the day leads you. She and her brother do all they can to make it a happy Christmas for the children – and they reminisce about their own Christmases growing up in the country. Finally her sister-in-law comes home from the hospital, and the day helper returns from holiday, so Miss Quinn is free to go. And she does leave, but reluctantly, and with a sense that she gained more from the experience than she contributed. But after all, she is a young woman of precise and orderly nature, who enjoys her own company and likes things just so, and returning to her own quiet cottage is a special treat. Even a possibly renewed acquaintance with an old flame doesn’t hold as much appeal as a soft chair by her own fireplace. And that’s where it stops, leaving Miss Quinn alone with her thoughts. These stories are all well-written in an easy conversational style, and the characters are so real, you feel as if you know them. They are all finely drawn, but with tenderness, even with warts and all. The descriptions are effortless and genuine, so you seem to be right there with them. All of the stories are entertaining and enjoyable, without a false note or contrived plot devices. But this one seems rather wistful, almost melancholy, and certainly not the warm and sentimental “happily ever after” confection that you would want for the holidays.


North and South
John Jakes
Drama
Fiction
Rating 2
Dell Publishing / Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
1982



This author is famous for his historical novels, especially the multi-volume Kent Family Chronicles. This story begins, as these stories often do, in 1686 Scotland with young Joseph Moffat and his poor widowed mother – when his evil step-father inadvertently causes his mother’s death and he then kills him, it becomes necessary for him to flee to America, pretending to be Joseph Hazard, the nephew of a close neighbor. Meanwhile, Charles de Main leaves France due to religious persecution, and settles in the new Carolina colony, with a small trading outpost. In 1844, George Hazard and Orry Main (one from a wealthy Pennsylvania manufacturing family and the other from a sprawling Southern plantation) meet as new plebes at West Point. Among their classmates are people who would later become famous during the Civil War, for instance, Grant, Pickett and Jackson. Once their class graduates from West Point, they are sent to Mexico, where the two countries are fighting over Texas. Orry, who had wanted to be a career soldier, loses an arm in battle and is sent home, disillusioned and bitter. George’s father dies suddenly, so George resigns his commission to return home. On the way, he stops to visit Orry, but while he’s there, they have a falling out over a runaway slave. When George gets home, he finds his sister Virgilia has become an ardent Abolitionist. George’s mother splits the responsibility for running the family iron business between George and his brother Stanley – this doesn’t sit well with Stanley and his wife Isabel, especially when George marries Constance Flynn, an Irish Catholic he met in Texas. Eventually, the brothers have a falling out and George takes complete control of the company, while Stanley angles for a political appointment. Over the years, the Hazards visit the Mains at Mont Royal, and the Mains and Hazards summer together in Newport. During a visit to Mont Royal, Virgilia helps a runaway slave named Grady escape from a neighboring plantation, and this causes some bad blood between the families. Meanwhile, young Billy Hazard is nearly seduced by the scheming Ashton Main, but instead pledges himself to her sensible younger sister, Brett. Ashton then marries James Huntoon and pushes him to be a success, with the intention of her becoming a great Southern lady with power and influence. Without knowing it, Billy and Brett have a dangerous enemy in Ashton. When they are old enough, Billy Hazard and Orry’s cousin Charles Main enlist at West Point, one year apart. Billy graduates with honors and is posted to the Engineers in New York. Charles is no scholar, but an excellent equestrian, so he finds himself assigned to the 2nd Cavalry in Texas. There, he runs afoul of the evil Captain Bent, who had previously bedeviled George and Orry when they were together at West Point. In 1857, on a visit to Pennsylvania, George and Orry’s differences of opinion about slavery finally erupt into a full-blown fight; as a result, Orry withholds his permission for Billy and Brett to marry, especially after the Harper’s Ferry incident. With the abysmal timing typical of these types of stories, George visits Mont Royal and Orry gives his permission for Billy and Brett to wed, just as South Carolina approves the Proclamation to Secede from the Union. After Lincoln is inaugurated, other Southern states follow suit, and in the military, Southern soldiers are torn between their obligations to the Union and loyalty to their home states. Charles resigns his commission and heads home, while Billy and other Engineers are virtual prisoners at Fort Sumter, since the federal sovereignty of the fort is no longer recognized by the seceded states. When Billy is ordered to Washington with important dispatches, he and Brett take the opportunity to get married first and then travel north together. Unfortunately, Ashton picks this time to exact her revenge on the hapless couple, and sends an accomplice to ambush them on the road. Luckily, Charles gets wind of it and breaks it up. After that, the story lurches to a halt, with a sort of pseudo-epilogue that shows all of the various characters preparing for war, and their tortured concerns about the future. Apparently, it’s only in the Afterword that you find out this is Book One in a series of three about the Civil War – it says nothing about that on the cover, or in the front, and the jacket leaves no doubt that this book is about the war, not just the period leading up to it. Because the villains are so miserably despicable, and even the supposedly heroic characters are so unlikable, it’s hard to believe that anybody would want to follow these people through 3 books. It also suffers from a common malady among books of this type, that the writing is so crammed with details, background, anecdotes and descriptions, that it takes scores and scores of pages for the story to get anywhere. This is a true potboiler in every sense of the word. This author has apparently lost the ability to write with any sense of proportion or understatement, and every page screams with hyperbole and melodrama. There’s so much gratuitous sex all over the place, you think it’s a modern-day Harold Robbins novel instead of a supposed period piece. Drawn-out, uninteresting and not up to the standard of his previous Kent Family Chronicles.


Oh Sir, You’ve Shot Her!
Benjamin Jacobsen
Biography
Non-Fiction
Rating 4
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
1958



This is an adorable and delightful memoir of a family in turn-of-the-century Copenhagen, very reminiscent of “Life With Father.” The escapades of the Jacobsen family, as recounted by the oldest son, are alternately charming and hilarious. The characters are all finely drawn, in a sweetly humorous way, but with warts and all nonetheless. The anecdotes range from the whimsical, to incomprehensible, to laugh-out-loud hysterical. My favorites included the boys’ attempt to sell their annoying sister to a supposed white slaver, the inadvertent chocolate-covered boar misfire and the tame lion who stopped by for hazelnuts. Jolly and eccentric, like a favorite uncle, full of holiday calamities, failed schemes and travel disasters, related with wit and disarming candor. Written in a lively, engaging style (even the grandmother’s demise is treated in a light-hearted way) it leaves you wishing for more.


The Old Curiosity Shop
Charles Dickens
Drama
Rating 3
Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
1998
(Originally published, 1841)



Little Nell Trent lives with her grandfather who runs a “curiosity shop” (what we would call a thrift shop) in 1800's London. They are poor, but dear Nell is happy just to be of service to her grandfather. Kit Nubbles is a neighbor who cares for Nell and looks after them, though his family is just as poor. There is some trouble with the shop’s landlord, evil Mr. Quilp, and Nell and her grandfather flee out of town at night, and take their chances traveling in the country. Her grandfather loses his grip somewhat, and feels that he can only provide for her future by winning money at cards – but of course, he loses instead, and they must keep running ahead of trouble. Meanwhile, Mr. Quilp and some lawyers named Brass, plus Dick Swiveller keep watch on a shadowy gentleman who seems intent on finding the missing pair. As usual with Dickens’ serialized works, the story bogs down in meandering sub-plots, superfluous characters and excessively wordy descriptive passages. In the end, Quilp drowns, the lawyers are ruined, Dick Swiveller comes into an inheritance, Kit marries into a good family, and the gentleman at last finds Nell and her grandfather – but just too late, as poor Nell has passed away from years of hardship. This book is typically long-winded and rambling – it would have been more depressing except that the surprise of Nell’s demise is revealed in the foreword of the book!


The Old Testament For us
Gustav K. Wiencke
Charles M. Cooper
History
Non-Fiction
Rating 4
Lutheran Church Press

This is actually a text book in the LCA Sunday Church School series, but the writers are to be congratulated for making it interesting, coherent and eminently readable. It explains the Old Testament in chronological sequence, and also the historical context in which the events happened. It begins by explaining that in 587 BC, the Babylonians (or Chaldeans) under King Nebuchadnezzar, attacked Jerusalem after a long siege and destroyed it, carrying the inhabitants off to Babylon as captives. It was during this captivity that scribes began writing the pages that would become the books of the Old Testament, so the younger generations, growing up in a foreign land, would understand their religion, history and heritage. Chronologically, the writers of the Old Testament began with Abraham around 2,000 BC, who was famous for his unswerving faith in God. His story includes his nephew Lot, the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, and his only son Isaac. Isaac and his wife had twin boys named Jacob and Esau. Even 2,000 years ago, there was sibling rivalry, and Jacob cheated Esau out of his inheritance. But the story goes on to show that even with flawed and rebellious people, God can accomplish His purposes through them. For instance, Jacob had twelve sons, including his favorite, Joseph. His older brothers detested him, and secretly sold him into slavery. He ended up in Egypt, second in power only to Pharaoh. When years of famine overtook the land, his brothers came to Pharaoh to beg for grain, and imagine their surprise finding their little brother willing to help them. Next we come to Moses, when the Hebrews were living in Egypt. Because the Egyptians were treating them badly, God called Moses to lead them out to the Promised Land, and he made a covenant with them. Of course, they didn’t obey, and faced many trials and obstacles with the Egyptians and in the wilderness. In spite of amazing signs (like parting the Red Sea, or “Sea of Reeds”) the people were still rebellious, even after the Ten Commandments had been given to Moses. Finally, after the Exodus and 40 years in the wilderness, they arrive at Canaan, the Promised Land. Luckily they had Joshua (interestingly, his name in Hebrew is the same as Jesus’) and he was a skilled campaigner who quickly routed the locals. Even after thy settled in Canaan, they continued to have problems with nearby inhabitants, and during this time between Joshua and Samuel, the “Judges” or military leaders kept the Hebrews safe. Perhaps too safe – without depending on God’s protection, the Hebrews became lax in their practices, and even worshiped other gods. After the Judges began the reign of Kings, beginning with Saul and David. It was at this time that the kingdom split into two parts, Judah in the south and Israel in the north. David established his capital in Jerusalem, which was in neither territory. (Eventually, only the southern kingdom of Judah remained. Israel was over-run by the Assyrians in 721 BC.) After David were hundreds of years of Kings, both good and bad. It was at this time that the prophets gained importance, reminding people of God’s covenant. Usually no one listened to the prophets, but their written records are an important witness. It was the prophets who wrote down the stories of the Creation, the Flood, Cain and Abel, and the Tower of Babel, as instructions for the Hebrews. Describing the prophets together, it shows their similarities and differences in a very interesting way. Suddenly it’s 587 BC, and the Babylonian captivity. One good thing to come out if this is the written records that became the Old Testament. In about 525 BC, a small band of Hebrews went back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, and turn the “Remnant” back into God’s chosen people. Here is when they instituted their most stringent and exclusive practices, to keep their members pure and unsullied by foreign influences. Unfortunately, over time the strict adherence to the Law became more important than God, and it was into this haughty and intolerant environment that Jesus’ message could not gain acceptance. There are also chapters about the Psalms and Proverbs, explaining their significance and meaning. The very last part of the book is the most interesting, and concerns the Apocrypha, books written between the end of the Old Testament (around 500 BC) and the beginning of the New Testament (approximately 50 BC) which are included in ancient Latin and modern Catholic Bibles, but not Hebrew or Protestant Bibles. They include many wonderful stories of heroism and great faith, including the Maccabees and the beginning of Chanukah. There are also collections of proverbs and prophecies of things to come. Even though this is a historical reference work, it is anything but dry and boring. On the contrary, the facile writing makes the characters leap off the page and engage the imagination. The style is never pedantic or verbose, and somehow manages to be concise without leaving out vital information. It excels at explaining ancient situations in modern context, and doesn’t try to “explain away” the distasteful aspects. It may still be too abstract for young people to grasp completely, but I found it fascinating, comprehensive and edifying throughout.


One Fine Day the Rabbi Bought a Cross
Harry Kemelman
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 3
William Morrow & Company
1987



Here is another in a series of books by this author, featuring Rabbi David Small as an amateur sleuth in his spare time from tending his flock in Barnard’s Crossing, Massachusetts. When an elderly congregant asks the Rabbi to join him in Jerusalem and perform a proper bar mitzvah for him at the Wailing Wall, he refuses – but then finds himself vacationing in Israel anyway, as the guest of his wife’s aunt Gittel. Meanwhile, the Arab Professor of Islamic Studies at Harvard is trying to help some group of Arabs dig up a hidden stash of munitions using a hapless colleague from North Haven as his stooge carrying messages to Israel. Naturally, many players in the drama are being watched by covert agents of Mossad and others. This story has a little trouble getting off the ground, and by page 100, there’s still no crime to solve. But it’s interesting nonetheless, with many informative discussions about religion, philosophy, politics and history. Then an American businessman named Skinner, who lives next to a radical Yeshiva, has some plumbing excavation in his back yard, and later, who turns up dead in the filled-in trench but the North Haven professor. The Shin Bet (like the FBI) believe they know who he is, because he was reported missing from his hotel, but they can’t seem to find anyone who can identify him independently. Knowing he was from Barnard’s Crossing, the Shin Bet head (who knows David Small from previous books) calls on the Rabbi to see if he can identify his photo. Rabbi Small explains that their town has over 20,000 people and he doesn’t recognize the man. He tells the Chief of some other people in Jerusalem from Barnard’s Crossing that he might also ask, including a young man at the Yeshiva, who conveniently had a falling out with the professor at school years ago. Although the autopsy shows an aneurysm as the cause of death, the Police believe it was precipitated by an altercation between the two men, so they hold the student in custody while they conduct their investigations. In the end, it turns out to be Skinner, of course, whose presence on the plane, at the Yeshiva, hotel and secret meeting place were all too coincidental to be coincidence. Apparently he was trying to intercept the message coming to the professor and when he leaned on him a little too hard, and the professor unexpectedly dropped dead, he decided to impersonate him at the hotel to pick up the letter. The ending is more complicated than it needs to be, involving a lot of political wrangling and inter-departmental rivalry. The congregation pitches in to send the student back to his family (although he gets waylaid by a bunch of Hassids along the way) and even Rabbi Small makes an effort to mend some fences with the members. Good of this type and well-written enough with a sort of folksy charm and no sharp edges. Although interesting, it is slow to get under weigh and the central characters seem to be only peripherally involved in the main plot. The characters are genuine and likable enough, but the story is not completely engaging and instead comes across as confusing, over-populated and unnecessarily complicated. Not quite a match for the best of this series.


Only A Dream
Barbara Cartland
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Jove Books / Berkley Publishing
1988


Young Isla takes care of her ne’er-do-well father in Regency London – he’s a music hall performer who tends to drink away all the money he makes, especially since his wife’s death. Isla’s mother very carefully protected her from her father’s acquaintances, and the seamy underside of his profession, sending her to private schools and exposing her to classical art and culture. But one evening, there is a special benefit show, and her father’s regular partner falls ill, so she persuades him to let her fill in for his specialty number. They are a great success, and the extra money helps her pay off a number of their debts. Even though he rushed her right home after the show, she has made a big impression, especially on the men in the audience. One of the more odious ones, Lord Polegate, insists that her father attend his party after the show – but it proves too much for him, and he collapses there. Lord Polegate rounds up Isla and brings her to his townhouse, where her father is resting. He appears to show the utmost concern for Isla and her father, but it is obvious to the meanest intelligence that his intentions toward Isla are abominable. Since her father is unconscious and under the care of a well-respected doctor, Lord Polegate persuades Isla against her better judgment to join him for a ride to his country house. Although she tries to be polite and enjoy his attentions, she would prefer to remain at her father’s bedside. Suddenly after dinner, his lascivious intentions become all too clear, and Isla barely escapes from the house with her virtue intact. She jumps into the first carriage to come along, and throws herself on the mercy of the Marquis of Longridge. A neighbor of Polegate’s, the Marquis is already familiar with his unsavory behavior. Longridge immediately feels protective of Isla, and determines to shield her from all unpleasantness. After spending some time together, he realizes her beauty, her innocence and her strength of character have made him fall in love with her. At once, he realizes it would be an impossibly unsuitable match, since she is, after all, the daughter of a music hall performer. Suddenly, they get the news that Isla’s father has died without regaining consciousness, and there she is, left all alone in the world. Longridge promises that he will take care of all of the arrangements, and sends her back to her little house to collect her belongings. While cleaning out the writing desk, she finds an envelope addressed to her that says to be read in the event of her parents’ deaths. It turns out to be a letter from her mother, explaining that she was in fact married to the Earl of Strathyre, who is actually Isla’s father, and she ran off when she fell in love with Isla’s supposed father, the famous performer. Of course, the family was scandalized, so Isla never had any contact with any of her relatives. But, her mother writes, if she is orphaned and needs help, she should present herself at the Earl’s townhouse, and presumably some arrangements would be made for her. At this bizarre turn of events, Isla sends a note to Longride saying that she no longer requires his protection, and not wishing to be a burden to him, she sets off for Strathyre House by herself. There she meets her long-lost brother Iain, the new Earl, and he is delighted, because he has always known about her, as she has not known about him. He gets carried away with great plans of her helping him re-decorate the manor house and all sorts of parties they will have. She tries hard to be as enthusiastic about it as he is, but she realizes with a pang that she has fallen in love with the Marquis, and can think of nothing but him. And then suddenly he appears (the sensible thing would be for him to have found the driver who brought her there, but instead, there’s some incomprehensible claptrap that makes no sense) but anyway, they finally recognize that their love is far greater than whatever obstacles there might be, and it all ends very happily. Barbara Cartland is famous for her wide-ranging activities, apart from being a prodigious writer, whose output is celebrated in record books. Her writing style is somewhat breathless, with some trite devices that tend to wear thin. But still, you can’t argue with success, and this is a very sweet book with a nice story and a happy ending. Of course it’s formulaic, but it is all one can ask for in a Regency romance.


Orchid Beach
Stuart Woods
Crime Drama
Fiction
Rating 4
Harper Collins
1998



Holly Barker, a career Army officer, runs afoul of a superior, and when she brings him up on charges of sexual misconduct and he is exonerated, she has no choice but to resign her commission. A friend of her father’s picks her to succeed him as Chief of Police in sleepy Orchid Beach, just off the eastern coast of Florida. Unfortunately, just as she reports to work, she finds the Chief has been shot and critically wounded, plus a close friend of his has been killed. The police arrest a vagrant who they find with the Chief’s pistol, but can’t make any charges stick. In the bargain, the Chief’s dead friend (also another Army buddy of her father’s) leaves behind Daisy, a highly trained Doberman, who Holly takes in. Daisy turns out to be a rare find, warning Holly of danger – especially when someone tries to burn down her house trailer. The Chief had warned her that he didn’t trust everyone on the police force, so Holly is afraid to confide in anyone, and does a lot of her own sleuthing. She discovers Palmetto Gardens, a very isolated community ostensibly for wealthy vacationers, but she finds they have their own water, electricity, telephone and security force, heavily armed. In a sweetheart deal with the city council, they were allowed to cut themselves off from all community service, close adjacent roads and use non-local contractors. All of the staff stays inside the complex, except the domestics, who are bussed in from the slums. Holly wangles an invitation out of Barney Noble, head of security, for a cursory tour and a round of golf for her and her father. Ham Barker, suddenly retired from the Army and moved in with his daughter – when the Chief dies of his injuries without regaining consciousness, they discover the Chief’s property falls to his dead friend and then Ham. So he moves into the Chief’s house determined to “help” with the investigation. Holly also finds herself romantically involved with Jackson Oxenhandler, the public defender who cleared the vagrant accused of shooting the Chief. Together, they stumble across the fact that the staff at Palmetto Gardens licensed for firearms have clean records in the Florida state files, but serious criminal records in the national crime files. Jackson contacts a friend at the FBI and they start taking a closer look at Palmetto Gardens. When monitoring their communication transmissions, they discover encrypted micro-bursts between seemingly ordinary messages. The FBI sends an agent in disguised as a domestic, but she gets caught planting a recording device and is killed. This makes the FBI mad, so they launch a full-scale assault on the complex, cutting the power and back-up power, jamming radios and telephones, and taking everyone by surprise. It turns out to be an elaborate international system of drug pay-offs, not smuggling, and the complex was hiding details on all of the transactions plus several billion dollars in cash and gems. Somehow, Barney Noble escapes and Holly knows that he killed the Chief and his friend, because one of her detectives squealed. Later, she realizes the other leak was Jane, the Chief’s secretary, who was Barney’s ex-wife. When she goes to Jane’s house to confront her, she finds Barney there – he kills Jane before Holly and Daisy can subdue him. This book, like all of this author’s work, is a wild ride – it grabs you by the lapels on the first page, and drags you along, tense and breathless, all the way to the very end. A taut and gripping page-turner, it is so well-written that it seems like you’re watching it instead of reading it. All of the characters and realistic and interesting, and the story has no false notes or excess baggage. It even has a happy ending, as Holly and Jackson decide to get married.


Ordeal By Innocence
Agatha Christie
Mystery
Fiction
Rating 4
Dodd, Mead
1958


Wealthy Rachel Argyle is murdered in her house. One of her adopted children is convicted of the crime. He is sentenced to prison, where he becomes ill and dies. Two years later, Dr. Calgary returns from a polar expedition, and realizes that he would have been the young man’s alibi, making it impossible for him to have committed the crime. The police re-open the case, throwing the family into a spin, since no one is now sure who the murderer was. After another murder and near-miss, the perpetrator is revealed as Kirsten Lindstrom, the Swedish housekeeper. It even has a surprise happy ending.


The Other Side of Midnight
Sidney Sheldon
Drama
Fiction
Rating 1
Dell Publishing
1973



Beautiful Noelle Page, born in France, becomes famous as a sometimes actress, courtesan and jet-setter. She falls in love with American Larry Douglas, who leaves her and marries someone else. She devotes her life to destroying him. She takes up with Greek tycoon Constantin Demiris, who hires Larry as a pilot. Noelle and Larry fall in love again, and plot to murder his wife, however they do not succeed. Unbeknownst to them, she is spirited away to a convent by Demiris, while Noelle and Larry are tried and convicted for the murder. They are executed in the end. I consider this a pointless and wasted excuse for a book. A co-worker talked me into reading it, saying it wasn’t a typical potboiler (which I can’t stand) but that’s exactly what it is, and in spades. It also has a companion book that delves deeper into the backgrounds of the characters before and after this part of the story. Good for people who like this sort of thing, and they’re welcome to it.


Our Hearts Were Young & Gay
Emily Kimbrough
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Biography
Non-Fiction
Rating 5
Dodd, Mead & Company
1942



The authors are famous writers, performers, fashion editors and high society bon vivants. In the early 1920's, when they were 19, they scraped together $80.00 for a very inexpensive passage to Europe so they could spend three months abroad. Cornelia says Emily “attracts trouble the way blue serge attracts lint,” but it was the Skinner’s who decided to go abroad at the same time – although on different ships, so as not to cramp the girls’ style. Their adventures begin before they even sail, when Emily inadvertently enters the wrong hotel room and walks in on an older man, completely naked. Their first day out aboard the Montcalm from Quebec, the ship runs aground and all the passengers are removed by tenders. But not before a man falls overboard and Emily trying to be helpful, knocks him unconscious by throwing him a deck chair. They spend a week in Quebec enjoying the hospitality of an old friend of the Skinner’s, until the Empress of France was ready to sail. Once under weigh, they have what for them is an uneventful passage, apart from Emily hitting a titled gentleman in the face with a deck tennis quoit. Somehow Cornelia comes down with measles just before they dock, and must be smuggled ashore or else face weeks in quarantine. They spend a boring two weeks in Southampton while Cornelia recovers from the measles in her parent’s care. Then they head off to London, where they have arranged to stay in what turns out to be a grimy flat in a bad neighborhood, while the Skinner’s are staying in a luxurious hotel. It doesn’t take long for the girls to realize they would be better off staying with them, and joining them for meals as well. They take in the sights, and even visit the estate of writer H.G. Wells, who knows Mr. Skinner. Next, it’s off to France where the girls enjoy the countryside in St. Valery and Rouen before going on to Paris. Once in Paris, they keep running into people they know from home, as well as old school-mates. They spend the summer in France, seeing all there is to see. They also take some summer courses at the Sorbonne, and even have a few elocution lessons with some famous French actors who take private students. During their sojourn, they had many of their usual mishaps, for which they were becoming famous, and all of them amusingly recounted in vivid detail. Finally, the summer draws to a close, and they realize wistfully that not only do they have to go home again, but if ever they go abroad again, it would never again be like this first time. And that makes them sad, so the end of the book is a little bittersweet. But it’s a wonderful book, delightful and entertaining throughout, a wild and rollicking ride with laugh-out-loud anecdotes. (My favorites might have been Emily eating a sandwich including the decorative ribbon around it, trying to explain their problem with bedbugs, or when they inadvertently lodged at what turned out to be a “house of ill-repute.”) The writing style is lively and informal, and pulls you breathlessly along from one misadventure to the next. When it’s over, you can’t believe you have to leave these fascinating people, and all of their acquaintances, because you feel that you really know them. A true gem, where everything comes together to make one perfectly delectable treat.


The Outrageous Lady
Barbara Cartland
Romance
Fiction
Rating 3
Bantam Books
1977


Just after their marriage, old Lord Roysdon suffered a stroke, leaving the young and pretty Galatea adrift in society. She was taken under the wing of the worldly D’Arcy, Earl of Sheringham, and although he sometimes led her into questionable pursuits, his standing was sufficient protection against public censure. But after five years married to an invalid, Galatea realizes this protection has come with a high price – the Earl treats her as if she belongs to him, and will marry him when her husband dies. One night at a party, she escapes from the Earl by taking her carriage through a back road, and is held up by a well-dressed highwayman. He takes her jewels, except for a ring of her late mother’s, which she wears for sentimental reasons. He seems uncommonly well-bred and polite, and when he unexpectedly kisses her, she realizes later that she can’t stop thinking about him. When she finds out that her dear but penniless friend has had her only valuable necklace “appropriated” by her dastardly brother-in-law, Galatea tracks down the highwayman and gets him to steal it back for her. This he does and more besides, and she uses the extra booty to set up a trust fund for her friend and two daughters, so they won’t be at the mercy of her late husband’s rotten brother. Galatea is so taken with the highwayman that she agrees to meet him secretly for dinner. She finds out that he is actually Sir Just Trevena of Cornwall, and has been following her escapades for years, since he first saw her and became smitten with her good looks and high spirits. In fact, he placed one of his gang in her household as a groom (Jake) to make it easier to hold up her carriage and meet her at last. The next day, she discovers that the Earl of Sheringham has been trailing her, and had his henchmen pick up Sir Just and hold him captive. Galatea has to think fast to get him sprung, and then helps him escape back to Cornwall before the Prince of Wales’ soldiers can arrive. Shortly after, she gets a message that her husband’s condition has worsened, and she returns to London, where he dies quietly, and she does the appropriate things for the funeral, and working out details with the new Lord Roysdon, her husband’s nephew. Once a suitable time passes, she packs up her few personal belongings, wipes the dust of London from her feet, and heads for Cornwall as fast as horses will carry her. She and Just are married by the Vicar in the chapel at Trevena Priory, and who can doubt but they will live happily ever after. This was a strange and almost unsettling book, which is not uncommon with this author. It manages to be tedious and over-plotted by turns, which is not easy to do. It’s far too mawkish to be a good adventure story, but it’s also too hectic and scary to be a good romances, and manages to combine the worst elements of both genres in one sorry hash. The writing has that over-blown, breathless quality that fails to engage, and the story is alternately so deeply bogged down in details, or else completely oblivious to them. It has moments of interest, but disappointing overall.


Over The Gate
Miss Read
Drama
Fiction
Rating 3
Academy Chicago Publishers / Houghton Mifflin
1988



This is another in a series of books by this author, which depict English country life in the small village of Fairacre. The stories do not follow consecutively, but rather fit together like a tapestry made from the details of ordinary lives. This book is not exactly a novel, but more a series of vignettes, tied together by Miss Read, the Head Mistress of the tiny village school. As she goes along in her daily routine, certain events recall tales from the past, which are recounted by neighbors or visitors. The church Sexton, Mr. Willet, tells the tale of stout Sally Gray, who believed that she uncovered an old recipe for weight loss – but instead, it made her weightless and she floated around. Miss Clare recalled two neighbors, Bertha Foster and Polly Norton, who had a famous falling-out because Mrs. Norton copied everything Mrs. Foster ever did, from her furniture and garden, right down to the children’s clothes. Mrs. Willet dives in with the story about war-time Londoners billeted in Thrush Green, and the pitched battle between local Mrs. Pringle and visitor Mrs. Jarman, culminating with Mrs. Jarman contriving to ruin Mrs. Pringle’s Christmas pudding. In between these recollections, Miss Read describes life around the village and happenings at the school throughout the year. These books are uniformly lively, well-written and engaging, and reading them is like having a jolly visit with a good friend. Although idyllic, they are never idealized, and while the characters are treated with kindness, they are sharply drawn with warts and all. Some of the vignettes are sad, and some of them are funny, some of them are fantastic, but all of them are interesting. The characters are all true-to-life, and the descriptive passages make you feel as if you’re really there, without being dull or intrusive. This is a great series of books and all of them are charming and enjoyable.