Book Reviews – Page 109 – Carol's Notebook

Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh

April 7, 2018April 25, 2018 by Carol5 Comments

I do love a good vintage mystery and in Enter a Murderer, Marsh takes us behind the scenes in a theater, which she does so well. In addition to a mystery writer, she was a theater director and knew the habits of everyone from actresses to stage managers to dressers. Our Inspector Alleyn is attending a performance of a play with his friend from the first in the series, Nigel Bathgate. During the play, one of the characters kills another, but this time the gun goes off for real, leaving an actor dead. The play does go on, as they say, but after the curtain closes, Alleyn, is immediately called up and begins his investigation. Once again, Bathgate is Alleyn's Watson. Fox has a bigger part here, I'm glad to see. I'm hoping by the next one he's the permanent sidekick. I like Bathgate, I just like Fox more. Here, Bathgate is kind of stuck between a rock and hard place. He...

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

April 6, 2018April 13, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

"I don't like time travel and I don't read much science fiction." Apparently I'm a liar. Just One Damned Thing After Another is my third science fiction-ish book of the year and deals pretty much solely with time travel and I though it was a blast. Our historian is Madeleine Maxwell (Max) and I have to say I love her. She's smart and funny in that snarky way and she really does seem to be a bit of a disaster magnet. St Mary's is a "secret" organization that specializes in time travel, going back and observing history - not interfering. They take assignments from a university that they are connected with. There aren't very many historians (time-travelers) in part because they end up getting killed on assignments, so the few that there are get to cover all sort of times, not just those they specialize in. You have to suspend disbelief here and just go along for the fun ride. Yeah, probably sending a non-paleontologist...

A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh

April 4, 2018April 6, 2018 by Carol10 Comments

Marsh's Inspector Alleyn series is one of my favorites, but I've been reading it all out of order. I finally got around to picking up the first in the series. While obviously don't think this is a series that needs to be read in order, it was nice to read this first introduction to Alleyn. A Man Lay Dead is a country house mystery and we have seven suspects, the host, his niece and five guests. Actually a couple more than that, because you have to count the servants, especially the missing butler. As always, Marsh is good with giving us clues and red herrings, even if the actual "how" the murderer did it was a bit far-fetched.This time around there's a side plot involving the dreaded Bolsheviks that really shows the era of the book. Alleyn's personality is not quite cemented yet, but this is the first. One of the guests, Nigel Bathgate, a journalist, becomes his assistant. He's kind of...

A Well-Timed Murder by Tracee de Hahn

March 30, 2018March 29, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

This is the second in the series featuring Agnes Lüthi, but I didn't read the first and felt like this one worked quite well on its own. I do think reading #1 first would give you more insight into Agnes and what she's been though. It took me a while to connect with her, and I think if I had read the first, I would have already been invested in her when I started this one. Agnes feels like a real person, calm and intelligent, juggling work and life. She's a widow with two children and while I usually prefer my detectives to not have children, unless the children are adults with their own lives, I didn't find it too distracting here. Agnes is asked to investigate the death of a well-known watchmaker, Guy Chavanon. His death has been ruled an accident, a result of contact with peanuts, which he's allergic. Of course, it's not a simple accident and we find that...

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 by Carol11 Comments

A Wrinkle in Time was a re-read for me, but I read it first back when I was like 10 or so and remembered absolutely nothing about it. I've been seeing the commercials for the new Disney movie too, but they're not really a good representation of the book. Meg is a smart kid, but has trouble fitting in at school. Everyone thinks Charles Wallace, her little brother is dumb, but really he knows so much more than anyone. Calvin is a popular kid in school who never feels like he fits in, but he fakes "normal" well enough. The three of them go on a mission to save Meg's dad, a scientist who went missing, with the help of a trio of beings, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which. This is a middle school book that deals with physics and religion, belief and identity, but it does so lightly. It's a fantasy/sci-fi story and the three kids have been thrust into...

Murder on Saint Patrick’s Day by P. Creeden

March 17, 2018March 21, 2018 by Carol4 Comments

Murder on Saint Patrick's Day is a quick little mystery, perfect for today. Emma and her dog Molly are picking up a friend's teenage daughter after a concert at a local cafe when the lead singer of the band collapses and dies on his way to the hospital. Emma's observational skills once again help out her dad, the Sheriff, and they figure out who the killer is. The mystery was good. It's a short story, so everything moves a bit quickly, but I like the characters and the clues fit in well. I liked a band being involved in the mystery this time, it made it feel very St. Patrick's Day-ish....