eBook – Page 13 – Carol's Notebook

Clutch of Constables by Ngaio Marsh

March 26, 2020March 26, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

This is the second boat mystery I've read recently. This one is a river cruise that Alleyn's wife, Troy, has booked on a whim. David and I have talked before about doing a cruise on the Mississippi before and I started looking at options the other day, thinking that planning a vacation is always a good way to pass the time, especially when we're all stuck inside. Looks like we could do a 5 day round trip in from New Orleans for between $2000-$3000 per person. I requested a brochure. We could plan one around Amber's school schedule I think. But, of course, the river cruise in Clutch of Constables includes a murder. All along, Troy has felt that something odd is going on. Granted, the folks on the ship are an unusual lot, as any random group of people in murder mysteries is, but even at that, she keeps getting strange feelings. I like Troy. She's a well-known painter, smart,...

The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker

March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 by Carol1 Comment

I picked up The Dark Vineyard not long after finishing the first in the Bruno, Chief of Police series. The town of Saint-Denis and the people are just so wonderful, and I'm glad this second in the series was just as good as the first. This time around, Bruno is investigating an arson at a GMO-research facility, a fire that destroyed crops and burned a shed to the ground. At the same time, an American is in town thinking about developing a large wine tourism center in the district. While it would bring jobs, Bruno is worried that it would also change his town. But the Mayor seems to be behind the scheme. Then the two bodies are found, and it becomes (maybe) a case of murder. And who wants to invest in a town where arsons and murders occur? The mystery itself was well-done. We follow Bruno as he talks to people and finds the clues that eventually lead to the...

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

March 10, 2020March 10, 2020 by Carol10 Comments

Generally, I don't read emotionally heavy books, and I don't know if I would have picked up The Radium Girls if I had known that it would have me in tears on almost every page. That being said, it was an excellent book, one I would definitely recommend. At the beginning of the 20th century, dozens of healthy, young, working-class women (some as young as 14) were employed in a newly-born business: painting watch, clock, and other instrument dials with a luminescent paint containing radium, both for consumers and the military. At the time, this fluorescent wonder was believed so beneficial for the body, that medications, aesthetic treatments, and even toiletry items had started to employ it. Everyone who came in contact with this miracle of science was amazed by its property to make everything it touched glow, even the skin, teeth and clothes of the girls who worked with it. Painting with radium was a highly desired job, as it offered...

Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

I do have a fondness for mysteries involving art. In Death of a Ghost, a young artist is killed at the showing of a painting, not his painting, one of his mentor's, Lafcadio. Lafcadio, before he died, left instructions to have one of his paintings that he had boxed up shown each year beginning several years after his death, and his wishes have been faithfully carried out by his widow- quite a strong woman by the way, the kind of woman who takes everything life throws at her, straightens her shoulders, and carries on. Campion, luckily, was at the party/showing, so even though he didn't actually witness the murder, as a friend of the family he takes an interest in the mystery. There is a lot of art talk in this one, which I find fascinating. I even took a picture of at least one page and sent it to Amber, since the description of the area where the paint was...

The Curse of Braeburn Castle by Karen Baugh Menuhin

February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Heathcliff Lennox (please call him Lennox) was in WW 1 and his butler Greggs, with whom he has an entertaining and humorous relationship, was his batman. Now back home, Lennox is having a bit of an adjustment to civilian life. He prefers solitary activities like fishing or walking his dog, Mr. Fogg, in the countryside around his slowly declining estate. However, he has friends and family that can bring him out into the world beyond his gates. Lennox is likable and intelligent, tongue-tied around women, but loyal and honest. The Curse of Braeburn Castle is the third mystery I've read featuring him and may be the best so far. This third one begins when Lennox's newly-married friend, former detective Swift, asks him to come to Braeburn Castle to help with the discovery of a centuries-old skeleton. The discovery of the skeletons has brought a team of archaeologists to the castle, a group Swift doesn't trust, and now the skull and it's...

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes published by Dover Publications

February 12, 2020February 12, 2020 by Carol4 Comments

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 16 classic detective stories from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. The detectives are not so much rivals of Holmes as contemporaries. The collection is centered around when the stories were written, but they come from a variety of regions. I've read a few of the authors before and a couple of the stories, but several were to me. There were even a couple of female detectives, unusual for the era. As with most anthologies, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others. The book starts off with "The Great Ruby Robbery" by Grant Allen which was clever and funny, a good combination and a good way to open. "Cinderella's Slipper" by Hugh C. Weir and his Miss Madelyn Mack also stood out for me. I met Max Carrados in "The Coin of Dionysius" by Ernest Braman. He's a blind detective, which is unique. Another, this one from America,...