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| B008HS9J5E
| 3.80
| 18,488
| 1950
| Aug 07, 2012
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it was amazing
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An omnibus of nine stories in the vintage mystery genre in an assortment of series. The Series "Strange Jest" (Miss Marple, SS* 15; pub: 1941) "The Tape An omnibus of nine stories in the vintage mystery genre in an assortment of series. The Series "Strange Jest" (Miss Marple, SS* 15; pub: 1941) "The Tape Measure Murder" (Miss Marple, SS 16; pub: 1941) "The Case of the Perfect Maid" (Miss Marple, SS 18; pub: 1942) "The Case of the Caretaker" (Miss Marple, SS 17; pub: 1941) "The Third Floor Flat" (Hercule Poirot, SS 27; pub: 1929) "The Adventure of Johnny Waverly" (Hercule Poirot, SS 19; pub: 1923) "Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds" (Hercule Poirot, SS 51; pub: 1926) "The Love Detectives" (Harley Quin, SS 2; pub: 1926) * SS - short story The Stories Three Blind Mice A.k.a. The Mousetrap, this is also a novella, and I swear it sounds like Christie wrote this for the stage! It's a clever plan for vengeance against those perceived as uncaring. Christie does a great job of making me think any one of the people at Monkswell Manor could have dunnit, although the behavior of one character should have stood out for me! I must say that I have no problem with that second murder. A gift to the world. Another point that makes me love it is how Christie conveys everyday life and their thoughts in the time period. Lol, you'll be thinking the story is full of cliches, but Christie invented these. "Strange Jest" This short first appeared as "A Case of Buried Treasure" in 1941 and finally as "Strange Jest" in 1950. It is the fifth short story of the Tuesday Night Club. It's a couple who have faffed about knowing their great-great-uncle was leaving them his money. Only, uncle seems to have buried it and left it to Charmian and Edward to figure it out. Luckily for them, they have a friend who knows Miss Marple. It does crack me up that this couple gets so frustrated as Miss Marple chats on and on with her village anecdotes of human nature. "The Tape Measure Murder" A.k.a. "The Case of the Retired Jeweller", this short follows "Strange Jest" and has also appeared in Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories. The story occurs in St Mary Mead where Inspector Slack (based in Much Benham) has to bite his tongue and listen to Miss Marple, as Colonel Melchett has such respect for her. He'll learn. It's a mean, greedy tale with a village of snarky gossips and a memory for past heists and a knowledge of daily habits. "The Case of the Perfect Maid" A.k.a. "The Perfect Maid" and "The Maid Who Disappeared", it was originally published in 1942. It also appeared in the omnibus Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories. Christie gave this story a nice set-up to pull me in emotionally, then it was mostly a recap of the inhabitants of Old House's four apartments with the focus on the Skinner sisters. Miss Marple takes the crime apart with her observations. Some of the Characters Edna is Miss Marple's maid. Gladys "Gladdie" Holmes is Edna's cousin, who also works as a maid. Inspector Slack appears. Dr Haydock is the village physician. Some of the gossips include Miss Wetherby and Miss Hartnell. Reed drives the taxi. Mr Meek is the chemist's assistant walking out with Clara, Mrs Price-Ridley's maid. "The Case of the Caretaker" It can also be found in Miss Marple's Final Cases. We're back in St Mary Mead where Dr Haydock has set Miss Marple a pretty puzzle of a story of the errant playboy and local son sent off to find himself. It's gossip about him and the former caretaker dissatisfied with losing her place that run through the story. Christie also twisted me up with that exchange between Bella and Mr Harry. I couldn't tell if they were talking about Bella, referring to her in the third person or about another person entirely. Using Haydock, his niece, and Miss Marple makes it seem as if the story takes place in St Mary Mead, but then Miss Marple would have known the doctor's story. It's a clever bit of deduction but not very well written. Some of the Characters Dr Haydock has some words for Miss Marple. Clarice Vane is Haydock's niece. "The Third Floor Flat" First published in 1929, it's a short story of two men and two women, friends who come back to Pat's apartment only she's lost her key. It's a look at life in the 1920s with service lifts that can be a security issue. It'll take the flirtatious Hercule Poirot to assess the flat's "invasion" and educates us on what things are always fixed in an apartment. In any building, really. It's a truth that leads us to the criminal. "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" A.k.a. "The Kidnapping of Johnnie Waverly", it was first published in 1923 and has also appeared in The Agatha Christie Collection, Poirot's Early Cases, and Hercule Poirot's Early Cases. Multiple threats are made to kidnap a couple's son until they finally begin to take it seriously. It was a well-planned kidnapping, but small clues begin to add up. "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" First published in 1940, it was a.k.a. "The Regular Customer". It has also appeared in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées. It begins in a dinner discussion with an old friend, Henry Bonnington, where another old gentleman eats dinner, on the regular on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Gallant Endeavour. Molly, the regular waitress, has observed eating habits of her regular customers and enjoys chatting. It's Bonnington's comment about men always eating the same thing that should catch your attention, and I have to disagree with his assessment of why this regular should order something different. Turns out, it's all about the timing. Some of the Characters George is Poirot's valet. "The Love Detectives" A.k.a. "At the Crossroads" and "The Magic of Mr Quin No. 1", it was first published in 1926. It's murder. At a country house that dates back to Henry VII or further. It's the "cliche" of lovers protecting the other as each confesses. Like right out of a novel. Then Harley Quin points out the truth, strictly through observation. Some of the Characters Mr Satterthwaite sounds like a recurring character, who prefers life in town. His friend, Colonel Melrose, a sportsman who prefers the country, is also a magistrate and chief constable of the county. Inspector Curtis investigates. The Cover and Title The cover is slightly gradated in gray from the bottom right above the enlarged wooden mousetrap to the upper left corner. All the text is in white, starting with an epigraph at the top, then the author's name in a script font, immediately followed by the title in a black-shadowed block text. On the right between the author's name and the title is a round badge with a thick white outline with black text and a red center with a large lowercase "a". The title refers specifically to the first story Three Blind Mice and Other Stories that follow it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Aug 05, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B008HS2GE0
| 3.86
| 10,833
| 1939
| Aug 2022
|
it was amazing
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It's an omnibus of nine short stories in the Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Parker Pyne vintage mystery series. The Series "The Regatta Mystery" (Park It's an omnibus of nine short stories in the Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Parker Pyne vintage mystery series. The Series "The Regatta Mystery" (Parker Pyne SS*-??; pub: 1936) "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest" (Hercule Poirot EX-03; pub: 1932) "How Does Your Garden Grow?" (Hercule Poirot SS-31; pub: 1935) "Problem at Pollensa Bay" (Parker Pyne SS-??; pub: 1935) "Yellow Iris" (Hercule Poirot SS-37; pub: 1937) "Miss Marple Tells a Story" (Miss Marple SS-??; pub: ??) "The Dream" (Hercule Poirot SS-38; pub: 1937) "In a Glass Darkly" (pub: 1934) "Problem at Sea" (Hercule Poirot SS-33; pub: 1936) * SS = Short Story The Stories "The Regatta Mystery" Also found in Hercule Poirot: Complete Short Stories, it was first published in 1936. It's also known as "Poirot and the Regatta Mystery". Lord knows why, as Poirot doesn't even appear in this. It's all Parker Pyne. It's a yachting party and Isaac Pointz, a diamond merchant, loves making his guests happy. Even when they want to examine his mascot, the Morning Star. It's when a bet goes wrong that Parker Pyne's skills are required. It's a third person protagonist point-of-view from Pointz' perspective as he assesses truths and pasts of his guests. I don't like Parker Pyne's emphasis on racial types and classifications, but it was considered a science at the time and too many people today still believe in it. He is good at those observational details. "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest" Also found in While the Light Lasts and The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and a Selection of Entrées, it was first published in 1932 and has been known as "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest". Poirot's ego is brought up. I do so enjoy his rationale for enjoying the adulation his intelligence brings him. And it's true. One should be honest with oneself. It is interesting that Marguerite appears to be unaware of her appeal . . . what with duels being fought and men dying around her. The frame job was well thought, but the execution, ahem, was not. Good thing for the Major! Some of the Characters Captain Hastings appears in this one. Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard. "How Does Your Garden Grow?" First published in 1935, suspicion rears its ugly head and Poirot brings his observational skills to the fore. It's amazing what clues and knowledge of a culture can do. The whole idea of that cachet was mind-boggling. I find I prefer our pharmaceuticals. Some of the Characters The OCD Miss Lemon is Poirot's confidential secretary, and it's quite interesting to read Christie's description of her, lol. Inspector Sims is a local man. Hastings is NOT in this one, and I can't tell if he simply moved on or if he died. "Problem at Pollensa Bay" A.k.a. "Siren Business", it can also be found in Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories and Thirteen for Luck! It was first published in 1935. Ah, the problems of fame. Poor Parker Pyne knows that when people are abroad and bored, they tend to read their home newspapers more thoroughly. So they know all about his skills! And, he is on vacation, dang it. It's all about prejudice, anger, and frustration with a wayward son who isn't blindly following Mama's rules. Mama's problems are the same ones every generation's mothers experience — those modern girls! I was taken aback (and appreciated) Parker's observations on how Mrs Chester was wasting her life and overly controlling her son's, and he's quite the sneak in how he helps her with the problem of her son, lol. Dolores Ramona is quite the femme fatale. "Yellow Iris" First published in 1937, it's a re-enactment of a past event, one motivated by greed. "Miss Marple Tells a Story" It's a tale of a woman who cried wolf, which played so easily into making her husband look guilty. If only one took notice of staff . . . Some of the Other Characters Raymond, a writer, is Miss Marple's nephew; Joan, an artist, is Raymond's wife. Gwen had been Miss Marple's red-haired maid. Mr Petherick had been her family lawyer. "The Dream" First published in 1937, the wealthy recluse sounds like Howard Hughes. It is a clever set-up. "In a Glass Darkly" First aired in 1934 when Christie read the story on the radio, it's a spooky tale with an unreasonably jealous man who tells the story from first person protagonist point-of-view. It's odd that he's so chivalrous at the start but such a jerk towards the end. Then there's the understanding of what he first saw in 1914. It was funny that Neil's family wasn't well-off enough to have a servant to unpack one's luggage or valet one. Hmph, lol. "Problem at Sea" First published in 1936, it was also known as "Poirot and the Crime in Cabin 66". Yep, they are passengers on a ship in the Mediterranean all right. But it could be any place where people gossip. And that's all they do, is gossip, plot, and sneak about. That Adeline Clapperton is something else. I know I couldn't have lived with her! Not even for this short time aboard ship. An insecure woman who has to brag about how fabulous she is and how wonderfully she copes despite all her ills. The two young ladies in this cracked me up with all the "rescuing" they did. Quite the charitable activity, lol. The Cover and Title The top (angled) half of the cover is a chalky blue sky while the bottom (angled half) is the white bulk of a ship with a red band between sky and ship with red boat bumpers strung along white rope. At the very top is an epigraph in white with the author's name in black script above the ship. Right-justified on the boat itself is the title. The first three words are in red while the remaining three words are in black. An info blurb relates the series info, also in black. The title relates the first story, The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories that follow. ...more |
Notes are private!
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Aug 05, 2022
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Aug 06, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| 1937384314
| 9781937384319
| B00BI8CE5M
| 4.05
| 11,134
| 1938
| Dec 15, 2012
|
it was amazing
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Seventh in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series revolving around Alleyn's life. This one takes place in London, and it's early 1938. My Seventh in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage mystery series revolving around Alleyn's life. This one takes place in London, and it's early 1938. My Take Ooh, clothes shopping! Woohoo! Then comes the sad news that made me cry. Well, I did enjoy Death in a White Tie thoroughly, but the sadness continued throughout. Such a waste. Bunchy sounds like an absolute love. Enjoying himself everywhere he goes and helping out everywhere. Quite the opposite of the selfish Sir Herbert. What a jerk he was!! Oh, lol, seems Sir Herbert's nerves were shot from the war . . . which he spent in Tunbridge Wells *more laughter*. It's a combination of blackmail, unhappy debutantes, and running into debt. In particular, Lord Robert is most unhappy with Donald. Seems Donald can't survive on £4 a week. Times like these, I wish I could go back in time with my current income, lol. Seems this spoiled boy wants to have his cake and eat it too. Who'd've thunk noticing the decorations around a house could be a clue? Nor, it seems, does it pay to ignore the past. Poor Troy has her confession about love and relationships. We also learn what she has against Roderick. Poor sap. Per usual, it's a lot of talk, as Alleyn interviews everyone from the ball and discusses his observations. He's not alone however, as Marsh uses third person global subjective point-of-view from a number of perspectives, so we learn quite a bit from a number of characters. I did crack up at Fox's upset over Carewe's labors, lol. The Story With Lady Carrados bringing out her daughter and Lady Alleyn, an old friend of hers, bringing out her granddaughter, the two friends are determined to bring the girls out together. It seems the Season will be so much more exciting when they learn that there's a blackmailer about. The Characters Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is county, dahling. He was in the army, went the diplomat route, and is now a copper. Vassily is his servant ( A Man Lay Dead , 1). And yes, he has Troy's painting from Suva (Artists in Crime, 6). His mother, Lady Alleyn, has quite a few hobbies and has decided to sponsor Sarah for the Season. George is the older son and a baronet. He's married to Grace, and Sarah is their daughter who is coming out. George Alleyn had been their father and had been in Halcut-Hackett's regiment. The shy Agatha Troy is an artist with a show at the Wiltshire Galleries. Scotland Yard Alleyn's team includes Detective Inspector Fox, Detective-Sergeant Thompson, and Dr Curtis, who is the divisional surgeon. Detective-Constable James D'Arcy Carewe is a new chap who takes going undercover a bit far. Police-Constable Titheridge reported. The Assistant Commissioner (AC) weighs in. Harrington-Barr is a lawyer. Evelyn O'Brien Carrados née Curtis, a.k.a. Lady Carrados and "Donna". Her first husband was Captain Paddy O'Brien. She's currently married to the vain and pompous Sir Herbert "Bart" Carrados. Bridget is Evelyn's daughter with Paddy. The focused and touchy Miss Violet Harris, the third daughter from a large family of a Buckinghamshire clergyman, is Evelyn's new secretary. Sophie is Lady Carrados' maid. General Arthur Marsdon is Evelyn's uncle and is loaning out his house. Anthony Banks had been Paddy's dearest friend in Australia. Lord Robert "Bunchy" Gospell loves parties and society and is asked everywhere. He also enjoys helping the police. Mildred, Lady Potter, is his sister; Donald Potter is her spoiled son and Bunchy's nephew, who is interested in pursuing a medical degree — on his terms. He's dating Bridget and Carrados disapproves. Archery seems to be a house of Donald's near Edinburgh. The sixteen-year-old Broomfield is Bunchy's oldest nephew?? I'm assuming it's via a Gospell brother. The kind but not very bright General Halcut-Hackett and his mean, common wife, a much younger American actress, are bringing out Rose Birnbaum, a.k.a. Poppet, a very plain and unhappy girl. Poppet wants to be an art student; her grandfather had been Joseph Birnbaum, a known painter. The eighty-year-old Lucy, Lady Lorrimer, the Dowager Marchioness of Lorrimer, is deaf, eccentric, rich, and speaks very loudly. Sir Daniel Davidson is Evelyn's doctor on Harley Street. The Comstocks threw a bridge party for charity. The Gainscotts. Kremorn shot himself. The Debs' Delight is a reference to those gentlemen whom the ladies like. Percy Percival and Trelawney-Caper are friends. Lady Jennifer Trueman was at the ball. There is/was a hospital at Falconbridge in Buckinghamshire where Dr Bletherly attended Paddy. Miss Harris' uncle Walter Harris was the rector here; Edith is his wife. Canon Worsley of All Saints, Chipton, is a friend of Walter's. Young Hockley is in trouble. Captain Maurice Withers, a.k.a. Wits, is accepted but not universally liked, especially by Bunchy. He's running a not-so-secret gambling club in Leatherhead. Columbo Dimitri owns the very popular catering company, Shepherd Market. François Dupont is Dimitri's confidential servant. Hughie Bronx's Band plays at Lady Carrados' ball. Smithy is Miss Harris' flatmate. The Matador is a club where Cuthbert is the manager. Simmons is a cloakroom attendant. The Peeping Tom of Peckham has a surprising identity. Thomas is a medical school in London. The Cover and Title The cover is a range of toasty browns, starting with the gradient in the upper half of the cover with a reverse gradient of cream to pale brown in the title. The ubiquitous banner that seems to be blowing in the wind is the creamy brown with the author's name centered in it in its mash-up of dark brown to cream with the linear textures in the Art Deco font. On the sides, primarily in the lower half, are the one-sided scalloped lines of white that radiate from the bottom out to the sides, framing their own gradients of deep brown to toasty. The graphic centered in the charcoal gray background below the banner is a wooden hourglass with the sand running out. Crossing the bottom of the hourglass is an arched milk coffee banner with the series info in white. The title is sadly true, for he was done to Death in a White Tie. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 11, 2022
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Jul 12, 2022
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Jul 11, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| 1937384152
| 9781937384159
| B08N9W376L
| 3.83
| 3,815
| 1937
| Dec 15, 2012
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liked it
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Fifth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard copper. The story takes place in New Zeal
Fifth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard copper. The story takes place in New Zealand while Alleyn is recovering. My Take As in previous stories, Marsh relies heavily on chat to investigate crime. And I gotta confess, I got rather bored in this one. I am confused as to how the Carolyn Dacres English Comedy Company is part of Incorporated Playhouses, Ltd. Then again, maybe it's not??? You can tell that health insurance in the 1930s is much better than ours today! Alleyn got an entire year to recover from his wounds. And his job welcomed him back. Sigh . . . the goode olde days. One thing that hasn't changed, lol, is kids who think they know it all. There are all sorts of pointers to murder along the way, and most can be explained away, until you get to the end. Including the back-and-forth of Carolyn Dacres who loves Hambledon but also loves Meyer, and, and, and she's married to Meyer. It's a conflict for Alleyn — Marsh is using third person protagonist point-of-view from Alleyn's perspective. He's dying to dive in on the investigation, and yet he has no jurisdiction. Not until the local inspector finds out who he is. More conflict comes with all the lying, stories, and sabotage . . . whew. Oooh, how handy. Te Pokiha is 90% civilized. Even if he is a Maori. Yeah, it's so interesting to read of the prejudice in earlier times . . . and think of how little has changed. Te Pokiha finds it a sad state of affairs in how low his people had sunk health-wise as they became "civilized". Marsh included an interesting bit on how an object becomes untouchable in Maori culture. I do like Carolyn's preferences for actors who can fit in where needed and not just the one-acts. I also like the sound of Alfred Meyers. He seems to be a very nice man devoted to his company and his wife. Although . . . Carolyn does seem to know quite a bit about backstage . . . hmmm . . . I am confused at that chat Vernon has with Wade and Alleyn about Biggs, especially the bit about his hairdresser's shop in St Helens. There are a few references to events in Enter a Murderer , 2. And then Alleyn's last words, lol, that boy is crackin' me up! The Story Alleyn has so much time to recover that he's on vacation in New Zealand, sharing a train with the Carolyn Dacres English Comedy Company where he finds an old friend, Susan Max. At least Alleyn has one reliable witness in the crowd when a surprise goes awry and turns into murder. Luckily, police forces everywhere seem to have read his book and are excited to include him in the investigation. The Characters Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID at Scotland Yard, having been a soldier and in the Foreign Office. Alleyn is missing Detective-Inspector Fox. Incorporated Playhouses, a.k.a. . . . "the Firm" was started by George Mason, the manager, and Alfred Meyer, first as Mason & Meyer's Drama, Ltd. The Carolyn Dacres English Comedy Company Carolyn Dacres, a great actress who is the daughter of a country parson, is married to Alfred "Pooh" Meyer. Minna is Carolyn's dresser. Ted Gascoigne is the stage-manager. Hailey Hambledon is in love with Carolyn. Bob Parsons is his dresser. Bob's dad, Pip Parsons, trained his son at whistling. St John Ackroyd né Tommy Biggs is a comedian, but only on-stage, otherwise he's a regular stinker making trouble for others. Other actors in the company include Brandon Vernon, who plays characters; Courtney Broadhead, who is losing at cards; Francis Liversidge, who is not someone you want around your daughter; Valerie Gaynes is the daughter of Pomfret Gaynes, a shipping magnate, who thinks she's all that (instead, she's a bit of an idiot); and, Susan Max is an old trouper whom we first met in Enter a Murderer . (Her father had been an actor-manager in Australia.) Bert is a stagehand. Fred is the head mechanist. Geoffrey Weston, Palmer's cousin is bear-leading seventeen-year-old Gordon Palmer (who was sacked from school) whose father is the very wealthy Sir Something Palmer, hoping Weston can teach the boy some sense. Middleton, New Zealand, is . . . . . . where the Theatre Royal is located and the first stop for the comedy company. "Dismal Joe" Singleton, a former actor, is the doorkeeper. Mrs Harbottle runs Good Beds. Guests at the birthday celebration include the friendly Mrs Forrest and Dr Rangi Te Pokiha, a high-caste Maori physician. Inspector Sam Wade is gobsmacked at having Alleyn present at the incident. Superintendent Nixon is his boss. Detective-Sergeants Cass and Packer are part of the investigation and just as excited as Nixon and Wade. Felix Gardener had been an actor and a murderer. Lord Trenchard's scheme was a shake-up of how policemen were trained and scheduled. The Cover and Title The cover is consistent with previous stories with its gradated background in cafe au lait-to-dark-coffee. The ubiquitous white scalloped lines radiate out at an angle from the bottom out to the sides encasing a dark brown between them. At the top, the title is centered in a gradated cream-to-cafe-au-lait just above the light brown banner stretching across the front in a descending angle with the author's name in an art deco font with dark brown, a textured brown, and a cream glow around it. At the center bottom is the series info in the same gradation as the title, except from side-to-side. The graphic is well-suited to the story with a British passport on top of a pile of folded money. I have no idea what inspired the title unless this is a typical Vintage Murder?? ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2022
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Jul 10, 2022
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Jun 14, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1937384136
| 9781937384135
| B08N9LQ1K4
| 3.77
| 4,238
| 1936
| Dec 15, 2012
|
it was amazing
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Fourth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series and revolving around Alleyn in the London of the 1930s. The focus is on the m
Fourth in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn vintage detective mystery series and revolving around Alleyn in the London of the 1930s. The focus is on the murder of Cara Quayne. My Take A little bit hypnotism, a whole lotta lavish theatricality, gods and goddesses, the Zodiac, and a touch of magic sets the scene in Death in Ecstasy. A tidy little scheme dreamt up by three men. It's secrets, money and worldly and rapturous desires that fuel the story, which we learn from Alleyn's perspective in third person protagonist point-of-view. It gets more exciting with the dramas of jealousy, rapture, sex, and addiction. It cracks me up AND makes me hope that we're getting past that idea that Frenchmen are like this and Germans are like that and Italians are this. People everywhere are similar with the same desires, anger, frustrations, family issues, etc. Inspector Alleyn states what every police novel does, that people are under a moral obligation to help the police. Of course, we don't always know which cop has good morals, as there are so many who simply want to close the case even if they have the wrong person. And who knows which ones will "forgive" a "sin", so I can understand why people may be frightened. Then of course, there're the "personal" issues that people don't like to reveal, as it "couldn't possibly have anything to do with this crime". "The innocent are safe as long as they stick to the truth."Janey Jenkins is a bit of a nutjob. She's so insistent about telling Alleyn the truth and then she has hysterics when she actually is asked to speak the truth. She's rather typical of most of the characters. Nutty and inclined to lie. It's a good example of dialect, a fashion that has gone away today. In this case, today's publishers want to tell you in the dialogue tags how the character is speaking. Theme-wise, it's the deception of cults, the greed, and all those lies as people try to protect themselves and others. As for prose, Marsh makes use of dialect to indicate social class, a really big deal in England to this day. It is a bit slow, but then Alleyn has so much to investigate . . . and interview. I picked up the clues along the way, but Marsh has a bad habit of having Alleyn start to explain and then jump to the goodbyes among the group. I hate that, even if it is very effective, lol. As is typical for a Roderick Alleyn tale, it's mostly words without much action. It's also a tricky case with so few clues, and I'm always impressed by how Alleyn figures it out. The Story When Cara Quayne dropped dead to the floor after drinking the ritual wine at the House of the Sacred Flame, she was having a religious experience of a sort unsuspected by the other initiates. Discovering how the fatal prussic acid got into the bizarre group's wine is but one of the perplexing riddles that confronts Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn when he's called to discover who sent this wealthy cult member to her untimely death. The Characters Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID at Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard Alleyn's team includes Inspector Fox, a.k.a. Brer Fox; Detective-Sergeant (DS) Bailey does fingerprints; Mrs Beken is the female officer; DS Watkins; and, Dr Curtis is the divisional surgeon. PC Allison is gigantic. Sapineau is with the Sûreté. Nigel Bathgate, a journalist, is a friend of Alleyn's whom he constantly allows to horn in on cases. Angela, from A Man Lay Dead , 1, is his fianc&eacte;e, The House of the Sacred Flame is . . . . . . in Knocklatchers Row practically across the street from Bathgate's digs and is the headquarters for a religious cult headed up by the Reverend Jasper Garnette, a.k.a. Odin, with his worldly desires. The redheaded Lionel "Eric" Smith and the black-haired Claude "Fauntleroy" Wheatley are his gay acolytes. The Chosen Vessel is always Frigga. Congregants include old Miss Ernestine Wade (who worships Garnette); the American (he's really Australian) Samuel J Ogden (who's partnered up with Garnette) deals in gold extraction equipment and owns half of the Ogden-Schultz Gold Refining Company; the wealthy, unhappy, and unpopular Cara Quayne who has urges for exhibitionism; M Raoul Honoré Christophe Jérôme de Ravigne (and in love with Cara) had been a friend of Madame de Verne; Dr Nicholas Kasbek; Janey Jenkins, who is engaged to the excitable Maurice "Blot" Pringle; and, the jealous, lying Dagmar Candour. Colonel Quayne of Elderbourne Manor in Seveanoaks was Cara's father (killed playing polo in India. Her mother only lived a year longer then Edith took Cara to France). Madame de Verne, Cara's maternal French aunt (who died when Cara was 17 and the Shatter was sold), raised Cara in the Shatter. The extremely religious Edith Hebborn has been with Cara Quayne since she was three years old. Wilson is a parlourmaid. The shrewd Rattisbon is Cara's lawyer. Ethel Parker and May Simes were the latest witnesses of the will. Mrs Candour's staff includes Rita, a maid, and Mrs Bulsome, who is the cook. They're not impressed with her. Seems no one is impressed with her. Ogden's staff includes the very observant Elsie Prescott, the daughter of the janitor who valets and buttles, and her mother who cooks. Madame la Comtesse de Barsac is Ravigne's sister and a friend of Cara's. The Theodore Roberts trial was in The Nursing Home Murder , 3. Stanley has a little brother. S.J. Samuels had been convicted of selling drugs in Australia. The Cover and Title The cover is consistent with previous covers only the primary color is mauve in a gradation that centers itself vertically as well as horizontally. The scalloped white lines ray out on angles from the bottom framing the mauve chalice against the deep brown-mauve background with the pale pink banner arching across the foot of the jeweled chalice with the series info in the deep mauve. The stretched-out banner is above the chalice in a pale mauve with the author's name in its art deco font incorporating all the shades of mauve. The title is in the upper half in a pink to mauve gradation. The title is true, for Cara experienced her Death in Ecstasy. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 12, 2022
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Jun 13, 2022
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Jun 12, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B000FCK684
| 3.78
| 22,230
| Jun 07, 1929
| May 31, 2005
|
really liked it
| Second in the Tommy and Tuppence historical British detective mystery series (first published 7 June 1929) and revolving around the Beresfords and the Second in the Tommy and Tuppence historical British detective mystery series (first published 7 June 1929) and revolving around the Beresfords and their boredom. It's been six years since The Secret Adversary , 1. My Take I suppose you could claim this as an omnibus of short stories, as it is a slew of cases that the couple solve, but Christie weaves it together so well as a single story. Part of Christie's schtick is to use the styles of various fictional detectives. It's true. Men simply have no sense of the nuance of style. Just ask Tommy. Or, rather, ask Tuppence about her 40 hats. Seriously though, Tommy, Tuppence, and Albert are about to embark on an adventurous "vacation" with none of the requirements of earning a living at the request of Mr Carter. Using third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Tommy's and Tuppence's perspectives, Christie pokes fun at the class system and ambitions and its hypocrisy. The prejudiced view of non-English people could be part of that poking or could simply be a reflection of the times. It's action-packed with some interesting characters and a low-key humor from this pair of detectives. Tuppence and Tommy are having way too much fun in this, and yet that ending is a pip. The Story Mr Blunt has been quite the naughty boy and is currently having assorted conversations with Scotland Yard. Meanwhile, Intelligence wants the International Detective Agency to continue to operate, hoping they can intercept the bad guys. The Characters Tommy and Tuppence née Cowley Beresford have been married for the past six years. Tommy works at the dull and boring Secret Service while Tuppence is, sigh, a housewife who knits. Albert Batt, the former lift-boy at Mrs Vandemeyer’s building, now works as the Beresfords' butler, soon to be their office boy. Alice is a housemaid? Aunt Araminta gave them a patent corkscrew. The International Detective Agency is/was . . . . . . managed by Theodore Blunt. His position will be taken over by Tommy in a variety of personas. Tuppence will technically be Miss Robinson, who will also assume a variety of personas. A Pot of Tea Lawrence St Vincent, nephew and heir of the Earl of Cheriton, is looking for Jeanette, a.k.a. Nurse Jane Smith, who works at Madame Violette's hat shop. It's cute and sneaky with a bit of tension stirred in by Tuppence. The Affair of the Pink Pearl Miss Beatrice Kingston Bruce and her father, Colonel Kingston Bruce, live at the Laurels, Edgeworth Road, Wimbledon, and are concerned about a jewel theft. Lady Laura Barton is the daughter of the late Earl of Carrowway and a friend of the Kingston Bruces; Elise is her French maid. The Hamilton Betts are American friends. Gladys Hill is the parlourmaid. Alice Cummings is the housemaid. Mr Rennie is an arrant socialist. Christie was leading me into the wrong deduction! The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger Gregor Feodorsky is anxious for news of his wife. Dr Charles Bowers is frustrated with numerous false calls only to return to a ransacked office. the extravagant, idle Bertram and the hardworking Henry are the nephews living with the doctor. Detective Inspector Dymchurch claims to be a friend of Marriot's; Coggins and Vassilly are his associates. Finessing the King and the Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper Captain "Bingo" Hale is involved in the murder of the Queen of Hearts, Vere, Lady Merivale. Sir Arthur Merivale is her husband. And it all revolves around those newspaper dots. The Case of the Missing Lady A case too similar to the disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax. Gabriel Stavansson is engaged to the widowed Mrs Maurice Leigh Gordon, a.k.a. Hermione, the second daughter of Lord Lanchester. Lady Susan Clonray is Hermione's aunt. By the way, Stavansson HATES fat women. Dr Horriston runs the Grange, a nursing home. Tense and dramatic, until the end and its truth, lol. Blindman's Bluff The Duke of Blairgowrie and his friend Captain Harker. Gregory is the duke's chauffeur. The Man in the Mist Oh, oh, the Beresfords screwed up on that missing pearl necklace. Marvyn "Bulger" Estcourt is an old friend of Tommy's. Miss Gilda Glen, a famous actress, is the most beautiful (and the stupidest) woman in England. Miss Glen is engaged to Lord Leconbury. The red-haired James Reilly is a poet and a jerk. Mr Marvell is Reilly's solicitor. Mrs Honeycott runs the White House where Ellen is a maid. Another sneaky ending, and even then I had to re-read it a few times! The Crackler Major Laidlaw is into racing and gambling. I think M. Heroulade is Marguerite Laidlaw's father. Captain Jimmy Faulkener is an immature young man, easily led. Hank Ryder is extremely wealthy and is concerned with Marguerite's money worries. That bit with the chalk cross on the door was quite clever. And it reminds me of another mystery in this general time period . . . that I can't for the life of me remember. The Sunningdale Mystery Captain Anthony Sessle was a well-known golfer. Mrs Sessle is away on a trip. Mr Hollaby is his friend and partner in the Porcupine Assurance Co. Major Barnard and Mr Lecky are fellow golfers — and witnesses. Doris Evans is a typist who met a man who invited her to the cinema. This was a clever mystery and so easy to solve it . . . once I knew the answer, lol. The House of Lurking Death Lois Hargreaves lives at Thurnly Grange where they are receiving a box of poisoned chocolates. Her aunt, Lady Radclyffe, had left the house to Lois to the consternation of Captain Dennis Radclyffe, the husband's nephew. Mrs Holloway is the cook; her niece Rose is the kitchenmaid; Hannah is Lois' lady's maid; Esther Quant is the parlourmaid; and, Miss Logan had been Aunt Lucy's companion. Mary Chilcott is an old school friend of Lois'. "Mr and Miss Van Dusen" will be American friends. Dr Burton is the local medico. Phew. This was a nasty, twisty mess. The Unbreakable Alibi Montgomery Jones is a terrible speller; his mother was Lady Aileen Montgomery who married a rich man, Mr Jones. Una Drake is keen on mysteries. Marjory Leicester is her flatmate. Mr le Marchant is a friend of Jones'. Dicky Rice saw Una in Devonshire, as did the Oglanders. Mr Sago/Tapioca/? saw Una around tea time. It is a clever puzzle, but oh, lord. I'd hate to have to talk to Jones. He's so all over the place. The Clergyman's Daughter and the Red House Monica Deane and her mother are in dire straits until Monica inherits what is meant to be a fortune with the Red House when an aunt dies. Gerald is a poor engineer whom Monica loves. The well-to-do Mr Partridge has offered for Monica. Crockett had been the aunt's servant. Dr O'Neill, a member of the Society for Physical Research, suggests poltergeists and offers to buy the house. Mrs Lumley is the cook at the inn. Tuppence reminds us that she had been a clergyman's daughter. Another pip using codes, country customs, treasure hunting, and grand larceny. The Ambassador's Boots Randolph Wilmott is the US Ambassador to the Court of St James. Richards is his valet. Senator Ralph Westerham is the gentleman who noticed his kitbag missing. Eileen O'Hara is a dainty, foreign-looking lady. Cicely March, who runs a beauty parlour, Cyclamen Ltd, answers the ad. The Man Who was No. 16 Prince Vladiroffsky is concerned about a friend's daughter. Sergius could be a traitor. Tuppence, a.k.a. Miss Robinson, becomes Marise. Mrs Cortlandt Van Snyder of Detroit is supposed to be in a suite. M Paul de Vareze was an invalid Frenchman with a nurse. Detective personas used include Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson; Dr Thorndyke and Polton ; Desmond and Francis Okewood ; Bulldog Drummond and criminal genius Carl Peterson; McCarty incog and Dennis Riordan; Thornley Colton is the blind Problemist, Fee, alias Shrimp, and Miss Ganges; Sydney Thames; Edgar Wallace; Miss Polly Burton; Inspector Hanaud; Inspector French; Roger Sheringham; Dr Reginald Fortune and Superintendent Bell; and, Hercule Poirot. Mr Carter is the Chief with Intelligence. Detective Inspector Marriot and Inspector Grace are with Scotland Yard as are Constables Evans and Clydesly. Dr Brady is a friend?? General Francis Haviland is a perfect a**. The Cover and Title The cover is an even milk chocolate brown with all the text in white. A small red tab in the upper left corner contains the series info. Next to it is an info blurb. Below this is the author's name. Below this is a tumbling pair of dice with red and black dots on white with a pair of shadows. A round red badge with a white outline on the right provides authorization information. Starting over the dice shadows is the title and below that is a repeat of the series info. The title is about this pair of Partners in Crime — Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 09, 2022
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May 10, 2022
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May 09, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 193460996X
| 9781934609965
| B0062N35V0
| 3.71
| 4,059
| 1935
| Oct 15, 2011
|
really liked it
|
Third in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn British police procedural historical mystery series revolving around a Scotland Yard detective in the early 193
Third in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn British police procedural historical mystery series revolving around a Scotland Yard detective in the early 1930s. The focus is on Sir Derek O'Callaghan, the Home Secretary. My Take I'm not impressed with Sir Derek, but he didn't promise Jane anything. As for Jane, she disgusts me. One of those who claims to be all about free love and no strings, who immediately attaches chains and expects a ring. Then she gets all histrionic about it. Suck it up, you big baby. That social class divide runs throughout. It certainly cracked me up when Lady O'Callaghan almost makes that gaffe and Fox gently finishes it for her. Alleyn's status gets cemented when Ronald notes that Alleyn is in some of "Ratbane"'s cricket photos. Reading historicals, I know, this was written in the 1930s, less than 90 years ago, but as the culture and technological state were, ahem, prehistoric, I do consider it an historical. That being said, reading about Sir Derek's surgery made me appreciate today's medical tech, even as I appreciated Marsh's descriptions. It's mostly character-driven using third person global subjective point-of-view, although mostly from Alleyn's perspective. While there is a bit of action, it's primarily conversation whether it's interrogating people or chitchatting. It's effective, but Marsh does drive me a bit nuts with those mini-cliffhangers where Alleyn discusses the case just enough to let us know he knows so much more. And the next line is where everyone he's been talking to makes end-of-conversation noises! I do love it, though, for the setting and exposure to the time period, its morals, its culture, its manners, and contrast it with today. The Story Sir Derek, the Home Secretary, has been suffering for some time, refusing to see his doctor, until that day he collapses in the House. The surgery is a success, for thirty minutes. Now Sir Derek is dead and Chief Detective-Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to find many likely suspects, from a vengeful surgeon, a lovelorn nurse, an unhappy wife, and political foes. The Characters Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn, brother of a baronet and formerly with the Foreign Office, is with CID at Scotland Yard. Vassily is his servant ( A Man Lay Dead , 1). Nigel Bathgate, aka Claude, is a journalist friend of Alleyn's, his Boswell. Angela North, a.k.a. Pippin, is engaged to Nigel ( A Man Lay Dead ). Scotland Yard Alleyn's team includes Inspector Fox, a.k.a. Brer Fox; Inspector Boys is staying up-to-date on the Kakaroff crowd; Inspector Allison has been gathering info on the medical end; and, Detective-Sergeant Bailey investigated Roberts. Sir Derek O'Callaghan is the Home Secretary, who has a dotty father, Sir Blake O'Callaghan. Cicely, a.k.a. the Snow Queen, née Rattisbon, is his wife in their chilly relationship. The naive Ruth, an advanced hypochondriac, is his sister, continually pushing her quackeries at him. Nash is the butler, who has been with Sir Derek for the past 20 years. Ronald Jameson is Sir Derek's secretary. Nina is a housemaid. Mr Rattisbon of Knightley, Knightley, and Rattisbon (he's also an uncle of Cicely's) is the family solicitor. Henry Derek Samond is Sir Derek's godchild. Sir Blake and Ruth are not the only crazy ones in the family — there's also Great-uncle Eustace and Cousin Olive Casbeck. Sir John Phillips, a.k.a. Pips, is Sir Derek's doctor, who happens to be in love with Jane. He also runs a nursing-home in Brook Street. Jane Harden, a theatre nurse, is giving Sir Derek problems. Seems she couldn't be honest. Somerset Black is the doctor Phillips tries to call in. Drs Grey and Theodore "Dora" Roberts are anæsthetists. Sister Marigold is the hospital matron. Nurses Graham and Banks, a Communist, assist in the sugery. Thoms "Thomcat" is Sir John's assistant surgeon. Harold Sage is Ruth's brilliant young (Communist!) chemist who sold Fulvitavolts. Brayght works for Sage in the pharmacy. James Graham is the chemist with whom Alleyn is familiar. Tillotley is seeing about an ambulance. Cuthbert is ringing up Sir Derek's wife. Dr Wendover is also a Communist member for a North Country constituency. Nicholas Kakaroff, a.k.a. Nicolai Alexovitch, is a bad rascal and part of the Pan-Soviet Brotherhood ( A Man Lay Dead ). Members include Comrade Robinson and Marcus Baker, who is enthused about the Sterilization Bill. The Cover and Title The cover has a center vertical gradient of a deep gray-blue fading to a pale gray for a background. Scalloped white lines form an angled border radiating out and up from the close-up of the hypodermic syringe pointing up to the "a" in Marsh's name. Above the pale blue-gray banner that gets smaller as it flows right and forms the background for the author's name in its exaggerated Art Deco font in a range of deep blues to white, is the title in a faint gradation of white to pale blue-gray. An arching banner in a medium blue-gray spans the barrel of the syringe with the series information in pale gray. The title refers to Sir Derek's fatal surgery in The Nursing Home Murder. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 02, 2022
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May 08, 2022
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May 02, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1937384292
| 9781937384296
| B00BI8CE2K
| 3.82
| 7,083
| 1935
| Dec 15, 2012
|
it was amazing
|
Second in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn historical mystery series with a Scotland Yard detective and set in the 1930s. My Take Oh, boy. Actors. That Art Second in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn historical mystery series with a Scotland Yard detective and set in the 1930s. My Take Oh, boy. Actors. That Arthur is such a spoiled, unsavory jerk who thinks he's so entitled! It's fascinating to go back in history and Marsh provides the flavor of the times as well as a taste of the theatre behind-the-scenes. It helps that Marsh is using third person global subjective point-of-view with the primary perspectives through Alleyn and Bathgate. I do enjoy Alleyn. He's both erudite and self-effacing. Of course Bathgate is conveniently on the scene and volunteers to take notes during the interviews. Yep, Nigel is a nosy boy, but always wants out of the nastier aspects of detecting. Their partnership is always interesting, at least in today's light, as one wouldn't expect law enforcement and civilians to partner up. Poor Alleyn, poor police, always hoping witnesses will speak the truth and understand that no information is unhelpful. So hopeful. It does serve for Alleyn to suspect everyone. Marsh creates a relationship between Nigel, Stephanie, and Felix from school days, which also ties in Arthur with his questionable actions at school. The love triangle is one example of the drama throughout. That overly dramatic Stephanie ticks me off with her playing while Felix seems so sincere. Arthur? He's such a whiny baby, thinking he's entitled to so much that he hasn't earned. Yes, it does point to Enter a Murderer as being character-driven with all this back-and-forth. What action there is definitely relates to events with a few scenes which provide a reflection of the times. Most of the action is not on stage, although Alleyn does spend a lot of time there. Mostly the characters are flitting back and forth from lodging to hotel to flat, being dramatic. It's a reasonable pace although I did get rather bored with all the dramatics, and the prose has a combination of intellectual structure and everyday, depending on who's speaking. Some of it is affected by the time period, which is always fun to read. I do love an historical of any time due to that feel the author provides of the culture, the mores, and the attitudes. Psst, go get it from Amazon! It's on sale right now. The Story Arthur is upset with the role he was assigned, but he won't have long to regret it, for the Beaver is meant to be shot by the Rat, only neither actor expected a real bullet. The suspects included two unwilling girlfriends and several relieved blackmail victims. The Characters Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with CID Scotland Yard. Scotland Yard Inspector Fox is Alleyn's partner. Detective-Sergeant Bailey does fingerprints. Inspector Boys. Detective-Sergeants Watkins and Allison are set to watch another of the suspects. Police Constables (PC) Thompson and Naseby will be following Hickson. Dr Milner. Nigel Bathgate is a journalist with the Clarion who does get around. He's also an old Cambridge friend of Felix's. Bathgate is also pursuing Angela North ( A Man Lay Dead , 1). The alcoholic Arthur Surbonadier, a.k.a. Arthur Simes, believes he is entitled to better roles than he's getting. The Unicorn Theatre is . . . . . . one of six theatres owned by the wealthy Jacob Saint, a.k.a. Jacob Simes, who is an actor who went into management and is Arthur's uncle with a chequered past. Joseph Mincing is a footman. Sir Everard Sim is Saint's doctor. Phillip Phillips, brother to King's Counsel Phillips, is Saint's lawyer in this. George Simpson is the stage manager; Howard Melville is his assistant. Stavely is the business manager. Old Blair is the stage door manager. Albert Hickson is the property master. George Simpson "Props", damaged in the war, handles the props. Staff includes Bert Willings. Trixie Beadle is Miss Vaughn's dresser — she's Bill Beadle's daughter. Bill is Mr Gardener's dresser. The roles in The Rat and the Beaver include Carruthers, alias the Rat; the Beaver, which is a showy part; a cast-off mistress and her mother; and, a Butler who's also a gun man. Stephanie Vaughan, a.k.a. Steff, loves Felix Gardener, who plays the lead.The emotionally dramatic Janet Emerald is the "heavy" of the play. Dulcie Deamer plays the jeune fille in life and in the play. J. Barclay Crammer, a character actor, could have played the Beaver well enough. Old Susan Max has been around for awhile. Mortlake, a.k.a. Snow, Dopey, is a person of interest. Sniffy Quarles, a.k.a. Mr Charles, appears to be in the same business as Mortlake. Edward Wakeford is the literary editor on a weekly paper. Mr Reckless will be Felix's lawyer. Septimus Carewe. Daisy appears to be a friend of Susan's. The Cover and Title The cover has an Art Deco feel with a grayed-out burgundy background, gradating from the banner up. There are white scalloped lines angling up from the bottom and out to the sides with a light gray pink banner for the white series info arcing at the bottom and the same light gray-pink filling the arcing banner in the middle forming a background for the author's name in its exaggerated Art Deco font and its coloring with the dark burgundy, white, and textured paler grayed-burgundy. Framed by all this in the lower half is a smoking pistol against an almost-black burgundy background. The title plays off theatre jargon: Enter a Murderer. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 18, 2022
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May 18, 2022
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Apr 23, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1934609951
| 9781934609958
| B08N9LHFYQ
| 3.80
| 15,668
| 1934
| Nov 16, 2011
|
it was amazing
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First in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn historical mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard chief detective inspector in the England of the
First in the Inspector Roderick Alleyn historical mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard chief detective inspector in the England of the 1930s. My Take Marsh introduces Alleyn and his future "accomplice", Nigel Bathgate. Marsh uses third person global subjective point-of-view, as we experience events from the perspectives of a variety of characters. Nigel's perspective is primary, as he is one of the guests; Alleyn's perspective is a close second. Two rival explorers of mystery, the inspector and the journalist, compete and cooperate, building a relationship that will extend into future stories. Charles may be a nice cousin, but he's a scummy guy. I would expect loyalty when planning on marriage. The complacent Wilde is simmering underneath. While Bathgate is fascinated by the detecting, he's squeamish about the dirtier aspects of investigation. It's a romp through murder filled with red herrings in a country house whose guests are quite the assortment. Traps are set in the house and on the grounds with numerous trips up to London. Secret relationships abound. The prose is a fun combination of flirtation, worry, and Alleyn's intelligence. And it's Alleyn's explanation at the end that is so fascinating about the murderer's cleverness. The Story It starts with a house party and the parlor game of Murder with five guests. Until the fun ends with a real murder, and Scotland Yard's Inspector Roderick Alleyn arrives to find a complete collection of alibis, a missing butler, and an intricate puzzle of betrayal and sedition. The Characters Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn is with Scotland Yard although he had originally been in the Diplomatic Service. Christina Alleyn, a chemist, is his cousin. Scotland Yard Inspector-Detective Boys. Detective-Sergeant Bailey is the fingerprint expert. Detective-Sergeant Smith is in charge of the camera. Police Constable Bunce. Alfred Bliss is one of Alleyn's. Mr Sumiloff has been working with Alleyn on the Russian side of the case. Inspector Fisher is with the local police. Dr Young is the local divisional surgeon. The poor Nigel Bathgate is a journalist with the Clarion. Charles Rankin is his 20-years-older cousin. Frantock is . . . . . . the country estate of Sir Hubert Handesley, a former diplomat and current cabinet minister with a fascination for historic fighting tools, has unique and delightfully original house-parties. Vassily Vassilyevitch has been Sir Hubert's butler for the past twenty years. Mary is the between-maid. The intelligent Ethel is the second housemaid. Roberts is the pantry man. Stimson is the third gardener; his daughter is Sissy. His guests this weekend include Dr Foma Tokareff; the archeologist Arthur Wilde and his wife, Marjorie; Angela North is Sir Hubert's niece (Florence is her maid); and, Rosamund Grant. The Frantock Arms is an inn in Little Frantock. Jamison is Bathgate's boss at the Clarion . Mr Benningden is the Rankin family solicitor. Kuprin leads a seditious group, the Brotherhood; Alexis Andrevitch, Erik Yansen (a Scandinavian), and Krasinski (a Pole) are also members. Masters is the Wildes' butler. Miss Sandilands is a sewing maid who occasionally does work for Marjorie. Joyce is a friend of Rosamund's. The Cover and Title The cover is an Art Deco style with a grayed-blue background and white ripples angling up and out to the side in front of a stylized country house in a slightly darker blue with all the lights lit up. At the top is the title in a gradated white to blue. The author's name is very deco in a combination of gray and deep blue with a spread-out white shadow against a shaped pale blue banner. At the very bottom is a paler gray blue banner with the series info in white. The title is accurate, for A Man Lay Dead. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Apr 22, 2022
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Apr 23, 2022
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Apr 22, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1503955222
| 9781503955226
| B076BM2NFQ
| 4.00
| 443,509
| Jan 01, 1920
| Jan 30, 2018
|
really liked it
|
Christie's first novel and the first in the Hercule Poirot historical mystery series revolving around that famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Th Christie's first novel and the first in the Hercule Poirot historical mystery series revolving around that famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was the result of a dare from her sister Madge who challenged her to write a story and introduced the unflappable Belgian sleuth who would set the standard for the modern murder mystery. My Take It's nice and all that Emily Cavendish is so active with and loves her charities as well as taking people in, if only she didn't "insist" on their being grateful for it. I hate people like that. Hastings thinks he's all that, and Poirot goes on to show us how wrong Hastings is. Poor baby. And we know it all from Christie using first person subjective point-of-view from Hastings' perspective as he tries to get us to share his values and his assessment of his abilities, lol. It's character-driven with most of the action revolving around Poirot's assessing their motivations with alibis galore, not all of which the characters share. Some of the choices made are odd and make the person appear more guilty. And of course, the guilt is being shared all around. Back histories pop up throughout, and all of this creates gaps that make it easier for Christie to confuse me. It's all about the details. The Story Sent back to England from the First World War due to injury, Hastings is invited to spend his sick leave at beautiful Styles Court by his old friend John Cavendish. Hastings meets again with John’s stepmother, Mrs Inglethorp, and with her new husband, Alfred. Despite the tranquil surroundings, it doesn't feel right, and when Mrs Inglethorp is found poisoned, suspicion falls on the family. Luckily, an old friend of Hastings', Hercule Poirot, is invited to investigate. The Characters Hastings has been invalided out from the front and has a month to recuperate. Monsieur Hercule Poirot is one of a group of Belgian refugees whom Emily Cavendish helped to escape from their country. They're all staying at Leastways Cottage. Styles Court is . . . . . . the Cavendish country house in Styles St Mary, Essex, bought by John and Lawrence's father but left to their self-absorbed stepmother, Emily, for her lifetime. John Cavendish, a friend of Hastings back when they were boys, had been a lawyer. Mary is John's wife. Lawrence is John's younger brother who had started in medicine but decided on literary pursuits. Cynthia Murdoch is an orphan Emily has taken in; Cynthia works as a pharmacist at the Red Cross Hospital at Tadminster. Evelyn "Evie" Howard is Emily's companion. Alfred Inglethorp was recently hired as Emily's secretary, and she's since married him. Baily is the coachman? chauffeur? Dorcas is the parlourmaid; Annie is one of the housemaids; and, Elizabeth Wells is the second housemaid. Manning is the gardener; young William Earl is the under gardener. Dr Bauerstein, an expert in poisons, is doing a rest cure in Styles St Mary. Farmer Raikes has a very pretty wife. Lady Tadminster and Mrs Crosbie are potentials for opening fêtes. Mrs Rolleston is Lady Tadminster's sister. Nibs is a fellow dispenser with whom Cynthia works. Dr Wilkins is the local physician. Denby is the Cavendish accountant. Mr Wells is the Cavendish lawyer; he's also the Coroner. Ross is a caterer in Tadminster. Albert Mace is the local chemist's assistant. Amy Hill is a shop assistant. Scotland Yard Detective Inspector James Japp remembers Poirot and various cases including the Abercombie forgery and Baron Altara. Superintendent Summerhaye has never worked with Poirot. Sir Ernest Heavywether is the K.C. engaged for the defense. Mr Philips, K.C., is the prosecutor. The Cover and Title The cover is simple with an angled dividing line creating a cream upper and a grayed-green lower. In the center is a framed circle focusing on a wide-striped coffee cup on a saucer against a mottled green-and-white background. The title is centered in the top half in black. The author's name is in cream beneath the circle graphic. Beneath this is the publisher's information bracketed by a horizontal line above and below, also in cream. The title is all about The Mysterious Affair at Styles where alibis and lives are all askew. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Apr 19, 2022
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Apr 20, 2022
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B000FC2NH6
| 3.87
| 102,074
| 1923
| Nov 23, 2004
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it was amazing
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Sep 28, 2020
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Oct 05, 2020
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0425237087
| 9780425237083
| 0425237087
| 3.93
| 366
| Oct 05, 2010
| Oct 05, 2010
|
it was amazing
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Second in the Abigail Adams amateur sleuth, historical mystery series and revolving around John Adams' wife, Abigail. The focus is on Abigail investig
Second in the Abigail Adams amateur sleuth, historical mystery series and revolving around John Adams' wife, Abigail. The focus is on Abigail investigating John Knox's arrest in the Boston of 1774, ten weeks after the Boston Tea Party. Yeah, things are tense... In 2011, A Marked Man was nominated for the Macavity Award for Sue Feder Historical Mystery. My Take Hamilton is amazing! I really felt like I was there in 1774. Too bad it was winter, for I was piling the blankets on while I read. Dang, it was cold. Just reading the conditions in which Harry is held is enough to chill you to the bone. Hamilton talks about the cows coming into the spring milk, of making butter, of keeping the sabbath, of some of the *ick* habits in the pews(!), a fourteen-year-old responsible enough to prepare dinners(!!), the children's chores, and so much more that conveys life in Boston. It's family life with four young children. And Abigail feels quite guilty about shirking her work while she investigates. I LOVE that John doesn't treat Abigail like "the little woman". It's a fine line the Adamses straddle as they support insurrection against the Crown and yet try to instill right and wrong in their young children. Do read the Author's Note at the end about John Knox. I had no idea he was such an influence on our country! It certainly does ram home the need for the American Revolution...sigh...yeah, maybe we need another one. That double standard for girls and boys is too obvious and not much has changed. Men are still getting away with rape, much like Sir Jonathan, a pervert who's been allowed to get away with rape for years. Sounds #meToo-ish. Even Coldstone knows his reputation. "He was one of those men who seem to believe that servant-girls choose to be so because they're lusty, not because they're poor — even those who never choose their condition at all.Considering that that double standard existed between classes with men of a lower class being treated like women were, you'd think they'd be a little more compassionate. As for the Proprietors robbing the tenants they brought in to settle the land up in Maine...oy... Things are fraught. John doesn't dare have any visibility in investigating Harry's arrest, as his membership in the Sons of Liberty is no secret, and it's likely that the Crown would arrest John! Verbal exchanges are cat-and-mouse as it is between Abigail and Coldstone. Coldstone has his own game he has to play, for he believes in truth and justice while his superior, ahem, officer, wants easy. Mrs Sandhayes is something else. So very condescending (and humorous) about life in the Colonies. John Adams is preoccupied with a divorce case in which the husband beats his wife and has thrown her out of the house because he wants to marry someone else. "Honestly, I understand why ladies are never the heroines of anything, they simply cannot get away from their kitchens long enough to rescue anyone." The Sons of Liberty do seem to have a pretty good information network. Jesus, Fenton has been with Sir Jonathan for twenty years and he'd sack Fenton because he's sick?? What a jerk. Ah, geez, the reason why the locks are on the inside of all those doors in the hall of Pear Tree House... Cruel. Wicked. Yet so apt. It's a tale that helps push home why we rebelled against the British. What's really sad? The reality of justice that happens at the end and is so heavily weighted in politics. "Justice is justice and does not — or should not — read the political newspapers." The Story The evidence is obviously false, but the Crown wants Harry Knox dead for his political leanings. Unless they can persuade him to turn King's Evidence against his fellow members of the Sons of Liberty. It's a race against time to prove his innocence or... The Characters Abigail Adams, a.k.a., Portia, is married to John Adams, a.k.a., Lysander, a very busy lawyer as well as a Son of Liberty. Their children include not-quite-nine-year-old Nabby, six-year-old John Quincy Adams, three-year-old Charley, and eighteen-month-old Tommy. The fourteen-year-old Pattie Clarke is their hired girl and practically family, the daughter of neighbors of the family farm in Braintree. John Thaxter is John's law clerk. Semiramis and Cleopatra are the family cows. Abigail's family includes a parson father, Mary and Betsy are her sisters, and William is her delinquent brother. Silas Greenleaf is a friend of the family who will buy Sheba's children. More of the family includes the Smiths, Quincys, and Tufts. Asa Shapleigh had been murdered years ago. Sam Adams is John's cousin and a fellow Son of Liberty. Bess is his wife, and they live on Purchase Street. Surry is their servant-woman. Old Deacon Adams had been Sam's dad. The Sons of Liberty are... ...technically, a terrorist organization, battling against the Crown. The inner circle includes John; Sam; Revere; John Hancock, a smuggler; and, Ben Edes, who is the publisher of the Gazette. Paul Revere is a silversmith, the street-level organizer of the Sons of Liberty's information network, and has served as a clerk of the North Square Market. Rachel is his wife. He has a thirteen-year-old son, young Paul Revere. Henry "Harry" Knox is a bookseller who surreptitiously prints seditious broadsides written by the Sons and John. In his recent past, he was known as a fistfighter and is second-in-command of the Boston Grenadiers, a patriot militia company. His brother Billy is fifteen. The Butlers are Abigail and John's next-door neighbors. Arabella Butler lost her three-year-old son. Her cooper husband, Tom, has apprentices, including Shim Walton and Jed. Ehud Hanson is a shoemaker and the neighbor on the other side of the Adamses. The Reverend Cooper preaches. Mrs Hitchbourne attends the service. Rob Newman is the sexton at Christ's Church. Ezra Logan mans a skiff, the Katrina , to transport all manner of goods. Frederick North is a sugar purveyor. Brainert Howell rented his horse to Sir Jonathan. Dr Joseph Warren is the Adams' physician. Walter Clegg is the ferryman for the Winissimet Ferry while Obed Hussey is the ferryman for the Charles Town Ferry. Thurlow Apthorp, a real estate speculator, owns Pear Tree House and has rented it to Mr Toby Elkins of Bridgetown. Mr Stanley is a portrait painter...and not very good. Jed Paley has a fast horse. Captain Nesbitt has been anxious to set sail with the Saturn. The Salutation is a notorious Whig tavern. The Dressed Ship has terrible butter. The Spancel is the tavern frequented by the governor's footmen and grooms. The Sons of Liberty frequently meet in the Green Dragon. The Man-o'-War is a taproom on Ship Street owned by Mrs Klinker and used as an accommodation address. I think the Horn Spoon is an inn run by Mrs Nevers. The toad-eating Thomas Fluckner is a wealthy Tory merchant with lands in Maine; Hannah is his wife. Lucy Fluckner is his headstrong daughter...who's in love with Harry. Philomela is Lucy's maid. Hercules is their obese pug. Mrs Margaret Sandhayes is a down-at-heels friend of the family from England who chaperones Lucy. And she cheats at cards. Bathsheba "Sheba" is a slave woman servant who has disappeared, leaving two children behind: Marcellina "Marcie" and baby Stephen. Millward Wingate works for Fluckner and claims to be a witness. Mr Barnaby is the Fluckner butler; his wife, Mrs Emma Barnaby, has charge of the maids and the sewing. Mrs Prawle is the cook. Caroline Hartnell is having a loo party. Gwen Pugh is her woman-servant. Mrs Hartnell seems to be interested in the dashing Major Usselby. Seems a Mr Smyles from New York also caused a scandal. A Mr Vassall... Felicity Gardiner claims her husband really owns the Maine lands. Sir Jonathan Cottrell is the King's Special Commissioner who intends to be Lucy's fiancé while he collects evidence about the Sons. He's staying with the governor. David Fenton is the commissioner's valet who is sick. Governor Hutchinson is quite decent except that he hands out offices to all his cronies and only sees his own side of things. Mr Thirsk is the governor's butler. Mr Buttrick is his steward and married to Mattie, Emma Barnaby's sister. Mr Grant Sellon is his coachman. William Havisham is the head stable boy. Dr Rowe is his personal physician. Guests at the governor's ball include Mr Apthorp (Seth Balfour is his coachman); Mr Bowdoin, Sr, (Arthur Cover is his footman); Mr Vassall (Nicholas Lane is his under-footman); and, the Sumners (Belinda Sumner is married but still talked about). Boston City Jail Hoyle is the corrupt jail keeper. Castle Island is... ...a brick fortress in the bay. Colonel Alexander Leslie, the second son of the Earl of Leven, commands the Sixty-fourth Regiment that occupies the fort. Major Salisbury is Coldstone's superior officer. Lieutenant Rufus Dowling is an Army surgeon newly arrived from the Indies. Mr Purfoy is a midshipman. Lieutenant Jeremy Coldstone is the Assistant Provost Marshal of the regiment who became friends with Abigail in The Ninth Daughter , 1. Sergeant Muldoon, Farquhar, and Lieutenants Stevenson and Barclay work with Lt Coldstone. Many of those arrested by the Crown are tried in the Admiralty Courts in Halifax. Captain Dashwood commands the Incitatus , which is due from Jamaica to take Knox to Halifax. Haverhill, Massachusetts Mary Teasel, who has a prickly independent spirit, is one of John Adams' clients. Her lousy husband is Ham Teasel. Boothbay, Maine Mr Bingham is Fluckner's agent for his land in Maine. He also handles the timber shipping for several of the Great Proprietors and owns a schooner, the Hetty . Hilda Sturmer is Bingham's milkmaid, and she gets around. Quimby owns the public house. Heavens Rejoice "Hev" Miller captains the Magpie . His cousins — Eli Putnam (the ship's boy) and Matthias Brown — are the crew. Leviathan "Levi" Miller is Hev's sister. Bridgeton, Barbados Sir Damien Purcell is on the governor's council. Fanny Gill is the daughter of a mantua maker who was paid off. Cassandra Palmer ran off with a Captain Jellicoe. Her brother, Androcles Palmer, is an actor. Mrs Cherne is paying his bills in Boston. Blaylock is part of Palmer's acting troupe. Spain There's a suspicion that the Marques de Tallegas wanted to stay on Sir Jonathan's good side. London Tredgold was Sybilla Seaford's lover. Until she was raped by Sir Jonathan. Her sister, Margaret Seaford, was said to have committed suicide. The Cover and Title The cover is much warmer with its gold-trimmed, red satin draperies, pulled back and framing the multi-paned window that looks out over a nighttime city street. A red valance that's heavily embroidered in gold has a center cameo of Abigail. In the windowsill is a blown-out candle in a brass candle stick and a ball of green yarn next to a black cat sitting patiently watching out the window at a man in a greatcoat and tricorn hat walking down the street where buildings meet. There's a full moon in a cloudy sky. A heap festooned with a red scarf is piled on the street just above the window sill. The background is a wall that gradates from a really deep red-black to a medium gray at the bottom. At the very top above the valance is the series information in gold. The title is in white on the left side of the window above the cat's head. The rest of the text is in white below the windowsill, starting with a testimonial, the author's name, and then an info blurb. The title refers to Sir Jonathan, for he had made himself A Marked Man. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Apr 28, 2020
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May 11, 2020
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Paperback
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| 0062905554
| 9780062905550
| 4.20
| 5,088
| Feb 04, 2020
| Feb 04, 2020
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it was amazing
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Twenty-second in the Inspector Ian Rutledge historical mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard detective suffering from PTSD. The tale beg
Twenty-second in the Inspector Ian Rutledge historical mystery series and revolving around a Scotland Yard detective suffering from PTSD. The tale begins in February 1921. My Take Omigod! This is like, a "7", for all its impossible mystery and even worse moral entanglements. That horrifying betrayal! The Todds certainly kept me on the edge of my seat, desperate to know how Rutledge will solve the case and his dilemmas. I do love a mystery where I can't figure it out. It's such a fun voyage of discovery! In this, it's third person protagonist point-of-view from Ian's perspective with a front row seat on his thoughts and emotions. It's a nasty choice he's having to make in this. Thank god that we've come to our senses about PTSD. It makes me so furious that soldiers who were shellshocked were considered cowards. I'd like to see those accusers survive what these men did! It has to have been so much worse for the officers who had to order their men to take those stupid actions ordered by generals who were so clueless and uncaring of the damage being done to their own. "For many of us, the war didn't end when the guns stopped firing. ... We saw too much. Things that can't be shared. Things we can't forget."The Todds were brilliant in the tease, releasing all these clues but keeping them so "anonymous". I was absolutely shocked when the truth was revealed, and yet all those clues did lead right up to it. The Todds do a lovely job of creating the atmosphere of the time period with their manners, mores, and styles...including not taking women into account. Ian is driving me nuts with his self-sacrificing attitude about Kate. I suppose it's part of those early twentieth century morals *eye roll*. And I want to cry when I read about the Radleigh family's situation. That Andy sounds like a really good guy. I do wonder if Kate being affected by the volunteer work she had done during the war is a bit of foreshadowing...hmmm... A nice bit about why Ian became a cop, "because someone had to speak for the dead". And Ian does speak for the dead in some three cases. Hunting the truth, and being castigated by Markham for finding it. What. A. Jerk. Huh. Chief Superintendent Bowles had hated Ian for his university education. Then there's Brian Leslie, a strangely honorable man. The Story With the threat of Ian's unopened letter of resignation hovering, he must be perfect, and with Chief Inspector Brian Leslie's cold case in Avebury, this is Markham's chance to make Ian look bad. Only, it's a cold case with missing evidence. The Characters Detective Inspector Ian Rutledge is single, but for the ghost of the corporal he shot that summer in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme, Hamish McLeod. Fiona had been the woman Hamish loved. Frances is Ian's recently married sister. Ian is in hopeless love with Kate Gordon, Jean's cousin; Jean was the woman who broke off her engagement with Ian. But the idiot is too noble to tell Kate. Kate's mother, Mrs Gordon, despises Ian. Gwen and Meg are constantly complaining cousins of Kate's mother. Soeur Marie Andre is with the convent where Ian's previous love, Meredith Channing, joined her war-damaged husband. Scotland Yard Chief Inspector (CI) Brian Leslie had served in the trenches in World War I and is a successful interrogator who used to visit Avebury as a child when Townsend was rector, a friend of his parents. Sara is Leslie's wife. Chief Superintendent Markham hates Ian and wants him to fail. Sergeant Gibson keeps the Yard organized and running. Sergeant Richards. Inspector Bradley has a burst appendix. Inspector Kent got ahead of Rutledge. Sutton is getting married next month. Inspector Gaines is visiting his sister in Blackmon's Hotel. CI Murray. Inspector Hayes was in Maidstone. Inspector Hadley's wife is friendly with Sara Leslie. CI Stanley and Inspector Martin may have issues with Leslie. Constable Fuller was there for the hit-and-run. Mrs Gerald FitzPatrick was the victim. Mr Taverner, a prominent barrister, discovered his personal motorcar was stolen. Haldane is supposedly part of the Foot Police, a division that was in charge of Army discipline and crimes...Ian reckons he's really with Military Intelligence. Edwards is a friend of Ian's who works at the War Office. Avebury, Wiltshire, has... ...its own henge on Marlborough Down and isn't far from Stonehenge. Constable Henderson is the village copper who had also served as a sergeant with the Wiltshires. Barry is his son. Bouncer is the butcher's dog. Ben Wainwright delivers kegs to the inn. Mr Marshall is the rector; Dorothea is his wife and likes to take photographs. White is the sexton. The Green Man is the inn where Leslie, and later, Ian, will stay. It's run by Sam and Mary Bryant, who makes incredible apple tarts. The nearsighted, frightened Mary Parrish has a clue. Mrs Dunlop is a widow who now cleans houses for people in the village; her husband had been the shoemaker. Mrs Alastair Johnson has a generous seven-year-old, Tommy, who has the measles. Peggy is her even younger daughter with the pretty necklace and the stone peas. Mr Johnson had been the village farrier before the war and is now a carpenter. Mr Downing has been training a couple of young retrievers. Dr Mason is a widower. Corporal Andrew Henley Radleigh wears a donated coat. Karina Larchian had been an Armenian refugee from Anatolia, escaping from Turkey in 1915. In 1916, her son Peter died. In 1919, she had been advocating that the Young Turks be punished. Mrs Brooke-Davies is on the Armenian Refugee Committee. Sergeant Tiller had witnessed some trouble in Paris in 1916. Winterbourne, Wiltshire Miss Mott runs a tea shop. Mr Steadman is rector in the next village; he and his wife used to ride a tandem. Larry and Sadie Blake also have a tandem; he'll do a test ride with Ian. Old Mr Barlow could be counted on to drive people from the train station in Marlborough. The Nelsons lived in Stokesbury, near Marlborough, and rode a tandem bike. After they died, their house was left to cousins. Constable Benning investigated the break-in reported by Mrs Shelby. Tern Bridge, Shropshire Constable Leigh works here. Mr Grissom owns the Dun Cow where Ian will stay. Todd has quite the believable story about the inn. The farm people include Mr Wilkins, Nate Harding, Mrs Taylor who's having a boy, and Mr Ward who likes to flirt with the ladies, even though his wife tries to keep him on a short leash. Rusty is Ward's dog. Young Billy Bailey has croup. Ralph Ellis is the rector; Mariah is his wife. The eighty-some-year-old Mrs Brooks minds everyone's business. Mr Simmons is the newly deceased whose grave is occupied. Dr Allan is the village medic. Courtney Miller is the sexton; his wife, Joan, had run off eight years ago. She'd been no better than she should be. Bath, Somerset Inspector Graves is investigating the missing Serena Palmer, a schoolmistress at a private girls' school. Margaret Palmer is Miss Palmer's cousin. The port of Dover James Westin is a port official with a good memory. Manchester, Greater Manchester Patience Underwood is/was Andy Radleigh's sister. Her husband, Herbert, had been killed in the war. George is their younger brother, and they all live with their mother, trying to make ends meet. David Trevor is an architect and Ian's godfather who lives in Scotland. Ross is David's son. Douglas is a jeweler in London. Private Archie Grant had been Ian's batman during the war. Not much good with a needle but a great shot. Alan Barrington is the killer Ian caught in The Black Ascot , 21. Josh is the gentleman who stands Kate up, and Ian takes her to Baldwin's. The Cover and Title The cover is a gloomy one with its stormy dark blue sky and the stones standing amongst the golden grasses, the Long Barrow behind them with trees behind it. The author's name is at the very top in white with the title in a deep orange just above the center. The series information is in white at the bottom. No kidding! The title says it all, for Ian is suffering A Divided Loyalty, a man he knows and respects versus truth. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Mar 27, 2020
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Mar 31, 2020
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ebook
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| 1250087120
| 9781250087126
| 1250087120
| 4.15
| 1,092
| Feb 20, 2018
| Feb 20, 2018
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liked it
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Twelfth* in the Roma Sub Rosa historical mystery series revolving around Gordianus the Finder set in ancient Rome. The Throne of Caesar begins on 10 M
Twelfth* in the Roma Sub Rosa historical mystery series revolving around Gordianus the Finder set in ancient Rome. The Throne of Caesar begins on 10 March 44 B.C. * Combining my own chronological system of inserting short stories between the full-length novels and Saylor's chronological list of his books, The Throne of Caesar is number 12. My Take The story is split into Gordianus' concerns about Caesar's intended elevation for him, reflecting back on the past, and worrying over the requests made of him by Caesar and Cicero. It starts with a flashback to when Gordianus first met Tiro ( Roman Blood , 1; Tiro is now nearly sixty), Cicero's secretary, for Cicero again wants to speak to Gordianus. Unfortunately, the pace is so incredibly slow, that I kept putting it down. Another unfortunate point is how dim Gordianus seems. How could he not see all those clues Saylor kept dropping?? Yeah, we know he's clueless as Saylor is using first person protagonist point-of-view from Gordianus' perspective, so we know he's getting the same information we are. It's sweet how Gordianus notices Bethesda's pleasure in her greater status, and how she and Diana are wallowing in all this acceptance! I find it so fascinating that the men of Rome are so interested in poetry. Cinna notes that a poem is still alive in the mind of a poet rather than dead and unchangeable on the printed page: "To read a published poem is like examining the corpse of a beautiful woman."Boy, Caesar is deceiving himself about a lot of things. That law Caesar wants passed about multiple wives...hoo, boy. It is so true that absolute power corrupts... As usual, Saylor keeps us informed about the lack of women's rights while writing of their manipulations and plots. Of Diana's desire to take over her father's business in Rome. On the power of women in the ambitious Fulvia who draws a parallel between Cinna and Caesar, of their fantasies of rape and power. Only Cinna's is home-based and Caesar's are of conquest. Oh, lol! Gordianus speaks of women who have their own ways of divining. Outside the control of men! Ahh, I would love to see a Roman man's reaction if he suddenly popped up in our society today *more laughter*. It's darned handy that Saylor makes use of Spurinna as a haruspex who predicts that Caesar must be careful for a whole month, ending on the Ides of March. Keeps that tension up, for we all know about the Ides, yet we haven't any idea how Saylor plans to get through the Ides. It was the aftermath that was so sickening. The allowances that were made, even as others, e.g., Antony's speech about Caesar, made some good points to those traitors. One of the few bright spots was the books Caesar had been donating to the Library of Alexandria. It's a tale packed with characters who drive all the action — so very much action! Unfortunately, Gordianus is so absorbed in his own musings that it's a tedious read in spite of my curiosity as to how Saylor would treat Caesar's end. The Story Even though Gordianus is retired, he's suddenly inundated with cases from Cicero and Caesar. Cases that could have such impact, if only Gordianus had been paying attention... The Characters Gordianus the Finder, the last honest man in Rome, is a retired detective who now lives on the Palatine Hill, a most exclusive neighborhood. It suits his elevation to the Equestrian class. Bethesda is his wife, a slave he bought in Egypt, whom he manumitted and then married ( Catilina's Riddle , 3). Diana is their daughter who is anxious to take over her father's business. She is married to Davus, who frequently acts as Gordianus' bodyguard. Diana and Davus have two children: Aulus and Beth. Makris is the children's nursemaid. Bast is Bethesda's beloved cat. Well, not the original, but yet another. Meto is one of Gordianus' adopted sons, a former slave of Crassus' ( Catilina's Riddle , 3) and a soldier working closely with Caesar. Eco, Gordianus' eldest (adopted) son is married to Menenia. He's taken over his adopted father's business and moved to Neapolis with the twins: Titania and Titus as well as the mute Rupa, the youngest of the adopted sons of Gordianus who now serves as Eco's bodyguard, and the two slave boys, Mopsus and Androcles ( Rubicon , 6). Gaius Julius Caesar is the Dictator, the Father of the Fatherland, who rules Rome and lives in the Regia in Rome. Calpurnia is Caesar's wife, although Queen Cleopatra is his mistress installed in his country house. Caesar and Cleopatra have a son, Caesarion. Hammonius is Cleopatra's Psyllus, a snake handler, who can save a person who has been poisoned. Piso is Calpurnia's father and executor of Caesar's will. Hipparchus is Caesar's chief litter-bearer. Porsenna had been Calpurnia's haruspex, and then Spurinna came along. Gaius Octavius is Caesar's grandnephew and protégé. The Senators of Rome Marc Antony is Caesar's right-hand man who finally abandoned his affair with Cytheris, an actress. He's still too fond of the drink but is now married to the most ambitious widow in Rome, Fulvia, who has her own spy network all over Rome. (Fulvia's first husband was Clodius (( A Murder on the Appian Way , 5)); her second had been Curio, one of Caesar's most promising lieutenants (( A Mist of Prophecies , 8)).) Gaius Helvius Cinna is Rome's foremost poet particularly renowned for his Zmyrna , a tribune, an ally of Caesar's, and Gordianus' drinking buddy at the Salacious Tavern. Although, Antony is his dearest drinking buddy. Helvia "Sappho" is his only child, a daughter. Polyxo is her nursemaid. Parthenius of Nicaea is the poet who tutored Cinna. Senator Marcus Junius Brutus is descended from the Brutus, Lucius Junius Brutus, who drove out the last king and founded the republic 400 years ago. He's also been appointed urban praetor. Servilia is Brutus' rude mother. Porcia is Brutus' new wife and his cousin. Cato had been Porcia's father, Brutus' uncle, and Servilia's brother. Gaius Cassius is married to Brutus' sister and has been made praetor and appointed him as governor of Syria. Artemidorus, a famous Greek rhetorician, is tutor to Brutus' son. Marcus Tullius Cicero is a renowned politician, former, who has gone up and down too often, making him quite security conscious, but still believing in Roman law. Tiro is still working for him, but as a free man now. Sextus Roscius had been Cicero's first major trial ( Roman Blood , 1). Cicero's daughter, Tulla, had died in childbirth. Spurinna is both haruspex and newly made Senator. Dolabella is to have the consulship. Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus is a senator new to Gordianus, handpicked by Caesar to rule Gaul. Lucius Cornelius Cinna is a praetor whose sister had been Caesar's first wife; Julia, Caesar's daughter, had been a favorite niece. Calvinus will become Master of the Horse. Gaius Trebonius lures Antony away. Speculation is rife that Lucius Tillius Cimber wants Caesar to recall his brother, Gaius, from exile. Gaius Servilius Casca, Publius Servilius Casca, and Gaius Cassius Longinus are still more senators. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus is a treasured ally of Caesar's. He's married to a half-sister of Brutus'. He's to become governor of Spain. Meanwhile, his legion will invade Rome. I think an haruspex sees the future through entrails, a Roman rite of divination. Arcesilaus is a fine artist. Mamercus is the finest tailor of senatorial togas in Rome. Vulca was one of the greatest Etruscan artisans. Antipater of Sidon had been Gordianus' old tutor ( The Seven Wonders , 0.5). The Subura is Rome's most dangerous neighborhood. Simonides runs a bookshop. They can mount your scrolls and include glorious handles and/or rollers. They also make copies. It's also the only place where you can buy Cinna's Zmyrna. Marcus Artorius is a disabled centurion of the Seventh Legion. Father Liber is worshipped by Fulvia and represents Dionysus and Bacchus. The tale of Zmyrna She was the daughter of King Cinyras and the boastful Queen Cenchreis. The women of Lemnos Princess Hypsipyle had a nursemaid, Polyxo. King Thoas is her father. Bacchus had been born of a Theban princess and Jupiter. Agave was Bacchus' mortal aunt and mother of young King Pentheus, who was as rigid as Bacchus was liberal. The Bacchantes were women who celebrated Bacchus; when in a frenzy, they became Maenads who could tear apart humans. King Romulus, the first king of Rome, was assassinated by the first senators. The Furies are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. The Cover and Title The cover has a vicious brown background of men in pastel-toned togas, holding knives over their heads, coming up behind Caesar's back as he sits on this throne in a red toga over a white tunic, wearing a band of laurel leaves, his right arm crossing his chest while his left holds something, a stylus as mentioned in the book??, next to a barrel of scrolls. The text is all in white starting with the title at the very top in two different fonts and three different sizes in a marble effect. In teeny tiny print set to the right of Caesar's head, we are informed that this is a novel set in ancient Rome. The author's name starts below Caesar's waist in the same marbled font. At the very bottom is an info blurb. The title refers to The Throne of Caesar which represents the power of Rome and of Caesar. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Dec 17, 2019
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Dec 19, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 0451492846
| 9780451492845
| 0451492846
| 3.87
| 9,173
| Aug 06, 2019
| Aug 06, 2019
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it was ok
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Thirteenth in the Her Royal Spyness cozy historical mystery series and revolving around an amateur sleuth, Lady Georgiana Rannoch, er, I mean, revolvi
Thirteenth in the Her Royal Spyness cozy historical mystery series and revolving around an amateur sleuth, Lady Georgiana Rannoch, er, I mean, revolving around the newlyweds, Mr and Mrs Darcy O'Mara, who are off to Africa for their honeymoon. My Take It's a sweet start that too quickly devolves into Darcy lying. Which makes me wonder how often he'll lie to Georgiana in the future. Hmmm. Nor does it take long before Georgie starts jumping to conclusions. I wanna smack her upside the head... Bowen's description of Georgie and Darcy's trip from England to Kenya was fascinating, making me appreciate the difference between travel then and travel now. Although, it does sound more romantic, in the abstract. I've always wondered about the number of days it took to get from A to B and how often people in historical novels travel! When contrasted with today and our worries about getting to our own destinations as fast as possible...those yesterdays do seem better in some ways. Hmm, there's promise in Binky's rebuke of Fig. No, it's not much of one, but it's the first time he's not accepted her nastiness! And she is not a person I'd want to spend time with. She certainly isn't interested in spending time with her son! Bowen uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Georgiana's perspective, so everything is colored through her thoughts. Not that the Happy Valley crowd's antics need any crayons! They are something else. They treat the Africans like dirt and think they're above everything, including murder. Although, I can't fault them for not trusting the government...look at ours... Action-wise, yeah, there's plenty, if you're into gossip, backbiting, and playing musical beds. I do like Diddy, though. She seems to have her head on straight. I also like the open hospitality in that people are willing to provide open-ended house room for guests. Character-wise. Hoo, boy. Yep, they're "characters" all right. And I wouldn't want to know most of them. What a boring lot they are! It's this along with Georgie's naïveté and a lack of enthusiasm in the writing that left me wanting so much more. The Story It's a desire to provide his Georgie with an amazing honeymoon that finds Darcy and Georgiana off to Africa. It's quite convenient as Queen Mary has given young Georgie yet another mission: to keep an eye on the rebellious David who is on a goodwill tour there. It seems, too, that Darcy also has a mission. Several, actually. The Characters Lady Georgiana is now married — it's the fourth day of her honeymoon — to the Honorable Darcy O'Mara, the heir to the impoverished Irish Lord Kilhenny. Queenie is Georgie's incompetent maid. Georgie's mother is Claire, an ex-actress who married the duke and then bolted. Claire had been seeing Max von Strohheim, a German industrialist, but his mama objected. Granddad is Claire's father, a retired policeman who lives in Essex. Darcy's mother was a Chatsworth. Eynsleigh is... ...the country house in Sussex that Georgie has sort of inherited from Sir Hubert, a former stepfather who prefers exploring to staying at home ( Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding , 12). Mrs Holbrook is the housekeeper. Georgie's brother, Binky, the Duke of Rannoch, is married to the obnoxious Fig, and they have Rannoch House in London and the castle in Scotland. Podge is their son and heir. Adelaide is their two-year-old daughter. Hamilton is the butler. Mrs McPherson is the cook. Rose is a maid. Aunt Esmeralda is Fig's relative. King George (Georgie's cousin) and Queen Mary are concerned about David, the Prince of Wales, who is still seeing that newly divorced (and mean) Wallis Simpson. Wallis refers to Lady Elizabeth as "Cookie"; Bertie is her stammering husband, a.k.a., the Duke of York. They have two daughters, the eldest is Elizabeth. Princess Marina, the Duchess of Kent, is expecting. Prince George is her husband. Darcy's Great-aunt Ermintrude has ghastly taste and talent. Zou Zou, the Princess Zamanska, is a friend of both Georgie's and Darcy's. Belinda is Georgie's best friend. Carter Patterson is a moving company. Roderick ?? is a rather good actor. The Wanjohi Valley in Kenya is... ...near the Rift Valley and also known as Happy Valley. Freddie Blanchford, the polo-playing district officer, is an old friend of Darcy's. Haversham, Freddie's uncle, had been an assistant governor. Trained at Barts in London, Dr Singh is a Sikh and the local medico. Diddy Ruocco is the widow of an Italian count, Giovanni, and she breeds horses. Cyril Prendergast is a houseguest who leads safaris and writes a gossip column for the Nairobi Times. Servants include Hakim. Squibs is the polo pony Georgiana will ride. One of the original white settlers, Ross "Octopus" Hartley, a.k.a., Bwana Hartley, has recently become Lord Cheriton — and he admires Hitler. That admiration is quite consistent with his lousy personality. The title comes with an estate, Broughton, in England. He's currently married to a rich American, Angel Trapp. His daughter, Rowena, is one of those "mean girls". Rupert is Rowena's equally mean twin brother. They're Ross' children through his first marriage to Lady Portia Preston. Joe is a young African man who works on the estate as Ross' right hand man. Joe's mother is a Masai. Idina, Lady Sackville-Haldeman, has been through four or five husbands and is a rival with Georgie's mother for the nickname "the Bolter". She loves to give parties at her home, Clouds. Chris Langlands, a pilot, is Idina's current lover. Servants include Farah. Diddy's neighbors also include Pansy and Harry Ragg; Major Tusker and Babe Eggerton, who live at Lancers (the major had been with the Bengal Lancers); and, Chops and Camilla Rutherford, who are all farmers. Party guests from Nairobi inlcude Pixie (he's a representative of the Crown) and Diana Atkins and Mr and Sheila Tomlinsony. Tom, Lord Delamere, seems to be a decent sort and is David's host. Jocelyn Prettibone is a third son whose father has sent him out to Kenya to make his fortune. Van Horn is an Afrikaner in the diamond business who is here for a safari holiday. Or is he in real estate? Beryl Markham raises horses and has taken up flying. Detective Inspector Windrush of the Nairobi PD will be investigating the murder. The Masai are warriors who do not serve, but advise. Sammy is one of Tusker's servants. The Handley-Page fleet includes the new Hannibal, a quite luxurious little biplane. The Cover and Title The cover is consistent with previous covers with the deep green ribbon at the bottom of the cover with its gold picot edges forming a background for the title (in a combination of a spare script and sans serif fonts in white) and the series information in a grassy green below the title. The author's name is in the same deep green at the top with the grassy green info blurb inserted between her first and last name. A testimonial is immediately below that and to the left in a rusty brown. A single picot is angled in each of the upper corners. The image itself carries on with the woodcut effect with a heated blue sky as the sun sets behind the mountains in the distance. A man in grayish green khaki pants and shirt and wearing a hat stands next to an open-sided lorry, its canvas sides rolled up. One foot rests atop a pile of reddish brown luggage, as he looks toward our heroine in her own 30-ish khaki suit and pale rose blouse and gloves, her hands clasping her elbows. Georgie's wavy blonde hair is parted on either side of her face with a stylish (and matching) cloche atop her head. It's a suspicious and nervous look on her face, as she stands amongst a clump of green plants on the right side of the cover. A leopard in profile on the left looks towards her. The ground is a dry landscape of browns and dusty greens of few plants and two acacia trees. The title is a reference to an incident while Georgiana and Darcy are on safari where they find Love and Death Among the Cheetahs. ...more |
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1
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not set
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Sep 23, 2019
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Sep 26, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 006243666X
| 9780062436665
| 006243666X
| 4.32
| 17,923
| Mar 26, 2019
| Mar 26, 2019
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really liked it
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Fifteenth in the Maisie Dobbs historical private investigator mystery series set in London, 1940, and revolving around a compassionate woman with a br
Fifteenth in the Maisie Dobbs historical private investigator mystery series set in London, 1940, and revolving around a compassionate woman with a brilliant history of detecting, psychology, battlefield nursing, wife, lady, and more. My Take War is about loss, and that seems to be a central theme in The American Agent. Loss, that is. With more loss in giving birth, in the loss of friendship, visible wounds, age-old losses, and more. It's also a fascinating look at how the English perceived Edward R. Murrow and the controversy his and other correspondents' reports raised in America. As well as the forces against those correspondents, individualized in Catherine Saxon, a woman who followed her dream, despite the cultural expectations of the times against women. Winspear also raises the specter of medical welfare, i.e., socialized medicine. It'll be interesting to see where the author goes from here! This is one of the points I love about Maisie Dobbs (the series), as Winspear addresses a number of historical points that changed during Maisie's life. And Maisie spearheads those changes, lol, using third person simple subjective point-of-view from Maisie's perspective. She has quite the unique view, having been raised in a lower class family, but bright enough to want to learn and catch the attention of several influential patrons. It makes an interesting change from Charles Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge series with the inspector hiding his PTSD. Now, twenty-some years later, progress on treating patients and soldiers is being made with Chester noting the psychological issues and McIndoe's ideas on patient recovery — which I think are brilliant! Winspear also notes that while men don't think women should have anything to do with war, women are still involved in it. Too right!! The propaganda issue with some Americans claiming that what the war correspondents were reporting on the blitzkrieg was made up. Blackmailing news editors to shut down stories that might influence their readers in the "wrong" way. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Winspear also drops some intriguing hints about Maisie's potential future. A different kind of show is involved here, and I love the sound of Murrow's reporting, that "the Americans listening can hear what's happening on the streets of London" with Murrow telling it so they can see it, feel it. My biggest niggle is this "romance". I never twigged to it. So it's a good thing Winspear out-and-out tells me at the end... Winspear may want to check that line on page 303 about Mrs Lockwood cleaning for Polly. The Story Death and destruction is raining down from the skies of Britain, courtesy of the Luftwaffe, and American correspondents are reporting to the American people. Reporting what they're seeing, relaying the experience of the British man on the street. Part of that corps of journalists is the young Catherine Saxon who is found murdered in her London digs. It's a high profile case that needs to be kept on the low down. And Mark Scott, an American agent, asks for Maisie Dobbs to help him investigate the case. It's tricky for Maisie, for she still hasn't received permission to adopt Anna. Any negative publicity could destroy their chances. The Characters Miss D, a.k.a., Maisie Dobbs, Lady Compton, had been a nurse in the last war at a casualty clearing station. Today, she runs a private investigative agency and volunteers with the Auxiliary Ambulance Service at night. Billy Beale is her assistant who works nights with ARP. His wife, Doreen, still suffers from depression. Their children include Billy who has enlisted and is based in Singapore; Bobby who has joined the RAF as an apprentice mechanic; and, Margaret Rose, their youngest. Sandra is married to Lawrence Pickering, a publisher, and Sandra works for Maisie on a part-time basis. They have a son, Martin. Chelstone Manor is... ...the dower house Maisie inherited from Maurice, which is located on the Comptons' estate in Kent. Anna Mason is the young girl, a sensitive, from In This Grave Hour , 13, whom Maisie is desperate to adopt. Emma, a giant Alastian, and Jook, a lurcher, adore Anna. Lady is Anna's pony. Frankie Dobbs is Maisie's father and married to Brenda, Dr Maurice Blanche's former housekeeper. Lord Julian and Lady Rowena Compton are Maisie's in-laws and are based on the Compton estate in the country. Their son and heir and Maisie's husband, James, died in a tragic accident. George is their chauffeur. The Reverend Harley is the local vicar. Mr Avis is quite vehemently against the Luftwaffe, lol. Mrs P, Priscilla Partridge, had been with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in WWI and is Maisie's best friend. She's married to the one-armed Douglas, a poet who works for the wartime Ministry of Information. They have three sons: Tom is with the air force; Tim lost an arm, being a hero in To Die But Once , 14; and, Tarquin is the youngest who has chosen the path of pacifism. Elinor had been the children's nanny and now works with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and still lives with the Partridges. She's Family. Mark Scott is an American agent with the Department of Justice, Bureau of Investigation, whom Maisie met in Journey to Munich , 12. Scott had used Elaine Otterburn as an informant. Robbie MacFarlane is with Special Branch. Detective Chief Inspector Caldwell, with Scotland Yard, has risen in the world, but he's still a sarcastic git. Dr Ferguson is the on-duty pathologist. Miss Hawkins is a policewoman. Welbeck Street is... ...a boarding house where Doris Marsh is the landlady, working for the owners, the overbearing Jonathan and Beryl Tucker. Their son, Jeremy, had wanted to be an artist. Their daughter, Eunice, emigrated to Canada and works as a teacher. Catherine Saxon is/was a war correspondent, moving from battlefront to battlefront, whether it was actual war or family battles. Senator Clarence Saxon is her isolationist father with a desperate need to control his wayward daughter. Amelia Saxon is her mother and the senator's second wife and estranged from the senator. The senator's sons with his first wife, Angelica, are Clarence "Scotty" Saxon, Jr, who works for the government in D.C. and Walter, who is in banking in New York. Scotty is an American airman Cath seems sweet on. Bartholomew Flannery is Amelia's father, Cath's maternal grandfather, who owns newspapers. Sanderson Brown is the bore to whom Cath was engaged. Jennifer Standridge Barrington has been Cath's best friend since childhood. Jenny now lives in London, working as a society reporter, with her banking husband, Miles Barrington. Charlie Barrington is their young son. Miss Barker is Miles' secretary. Other tenants at Welbeck Street include Miss Isabel Chalmers, a secretary in Whitehall; Mrs Pamela Lockwood, a smart-dressing widow from the first war who now works as an accountant at Derry and Toms; Polly Harcourt is an actress in the West End who also works as a waitress at Nick's bar; and, Elizabeth Drake and Helena Richardson — who supposedly have a very intimate relationship — intend to apply as Wrens. Mr G Chester is an obstetrician who lives across the street from the ladies. Miss Handle is his protective secretary. Dr Archibald McIndoe has some radical ideas about patient recovery. Reporters Edward R. Murrow was the pre-eminent American broadcaster in Britain with his London Calling broadcast. Mary Marvin Breckenridge got married a few months back, so she can't work as a broadcaster with Murrow's Boys anymore. Bob Walkinshaw is an Australian who stayed on after WWI and is the sound engineer at the BBC. J.B. Priestly did a BBC broadcast, Postscripts. Vernon Bartlett broadcast for the BBC's North American Service. Mollie Painter-Downes wrote The New Yorker's Letter from London. Helen Kirkpatrick was reporting for The Chicago Daily News. Quentin Reynolds was a journalist who wrote a letter to his father. One story was about RAF Flight Officer James "Jimmy" Trahey. America First is... ...an organization that wants nothing to do with the war. Charles Lindbergh is in the forefront. Joseph Kennedy is the American ambassador to England and very much an American Firster. Seems he's corrupt in other ways too. President Roosevelt is against them. Dr Maurice Blanche, a highly regarded doctor of legal medicine and a formidable investigator, had been Maisie's mentor. Bernard Klein is Maisie's lawyer. Dr/Mr Andrew Dene is an orthopedic surgeon and another of Maisie's former loves. The Auxiliary Ambulance Services is... ...a volunteer organization that collects the wounded while the bombs are flying. Keene and Blake are some of the supervisors on duty. Bunty is the best bus while Alice is heavy on the turns. Giuseppe "Pippo" has changed his name to Pete and owns a small Italian restaurant, along with his dad, where Scott is a regular. Ricky is one of the waiters. The police believe that Mr and Mrs Horne are suffering blitz nerves. Mrs Van Larsen is a client with fears. Nurse Simpson is quite young at the hospital where Pris starts out at. Dr Charles Hayden lives in Boston and had been great friends with Simon (Maisie's first love; Maisie Dobbs , 1). Michael Clifton had also been a Bostonian ( The Mapping of Love and Death , 7). The Cover and Title The cover is consistent with previous covers with its woodcut styling and definitely depicts the primary setting: the blitzkrieg of London and its devastating effect on the city. The colors are all browns and oranges as searchlights pierce the orange-to-brown gradated sky. Remnants of buildings form a frame around two firemen training a hose on a fire while Maisie stands with her back to us, wearing her volunteer uniform, carrying the child that Pris rescued, a red cross ambulance on her left. At the top is an info blurb in yellow with the author's name immediately below it in a soft orange, and the title of the book in a softened yellow. Below the title and centered to the right of center is the series information in deep brown. All the text is embossed. The title is not about the reporter, but The American Agent with whom Maisie gets involved. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Apr 11, 2019
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Apr 14, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 0062678744
| 9780062678744
| 0062678744
| 4.19
| 4,785
| Feb 15, 2019
| Feb 05, 2019
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it was amazing
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Twenty-first in Inspector Ian Rutledge, the British historical detective mystery series that revolves around a Scotland Yard detective who struggles w
Twenty-first in Inspector Ian Rutledge, the British historical detective mystery series that revolves around a Scotland Yard detective who struggles with PTSD and is haunted by the ghost of the corporal he had to shoot. This story starts in June 1910 in England. My Take It's all about the pursuit of truth, no matter what. It's an intriguing start — and reminds me of Alex Grecian's The Yard (Scotland Yard's Murder Squad, 1), with its initial inciting incident. It also demonstrates Rutledge's compassion for his fellow man. A good turn that results in another. We see the investigation through Ian's eyes in third person simple subjective point-of-view, hearing his thoughts, his emotions, his interpretation of the clues that begin to open up. And The Black Ascot drove me mad as Todd dribbled out these itty, bitty clues that started the wheels turning, making me wonder which way this revival of a cold case would go. How Ian would find Alan Barrington, and if he'd remember what actually happened at his front door. It's some cast of characters! A few scummy ones, one who was truly evil, and quite a few decent ones. Along with a number who never spoke out, which doesn't say much for their characters. And I found it very interesting that Sergeant Gibson actually stood up for Rutledge several times...since Gibson doesn't like Rutledge. I'm with Ian when it comes to wondering why the Yard didn't put some investigative feet on the ground when he "shot himself". Makes me wonder about that murder investigation during Black Ascot as well. I do have a niggle. Sort of minor. But Todd was rather vague in a number of minor areas, including what Jane Warden was doing in that first house, and these little things drove me crazy. The Story It's the little things, the impressions that rouse Inspector Ian Rutledge's curiosity...and suspicions. Yes, the little things that begin to add up once Rutledge re-opens a ten-year-old murder case and re-examines the facts, the feelings. Those that didn't make it into any report. Then his sanity is suddenly brought into question by a shocking turn of events. His sister Frances, Melinda Crawford, and Dr Fleming stand by him, but there is no greater shame than suicide. Questioning himself, he realizes that he cannot look back. The only way to save his career — much less his sanity — is to find Alan Barrington and bring him to justice. But is this elusive murderer still in England? The Characters Inspector Ian Rutledge is a roving detective for Scotland Yard. Corporal Hamish McLeod is the soldier he was forced to shoot near the end of World War I. Frances is his beloved sister who married Peter a short while ago. Melinda Crawford is an old family friend with high (and mighty) connections who lives in Kent. She also appears in Todd's Bess Crawford series. Shanta is her Indian housekeeper. Jason is the butler. Angeline is a gullible friend of Melinda's. David Trevor is an architect and Ian's godfather who lives in Scotland. Morag is his housekeeper. Young Ian and Fiona are his grandchildren. Ross Trevor had been David's son and almost a brother to Ian. Jean is the woman who broke off her engagement with Ian. Kate Gordon is her cousin ( No Shred of Evidence , 18); Mrs Gordon is her mother and despises Ian. Alan Barrington and two others, college friends, were all in love with Blanche Richmond. Only Alan is remanded for her murder. Ellis lives in Kenya and is the cousin who is Barrington's heir. Hathaway had been the old steward. Jonathan Strange is one of the partners at Broadhurst, Broadhurst, and Strange, the law firm that oversees the Barrington estates. Arnold Livingston is the current steward for the estate. Blanche first married Mark Thorne. Harold Fletcher-Munro, a financial wizard, is her second husband. His London housekeeper is Mrs Shaw. Franklin is his driver. St Mary's The Richmonds were the squires of the village. The Hollands bought the Richmond home. The Ramseys were close friends of the family; their daughter, Louise, had been one of Blanche's friends. Louise married Donald Villiers who was killed in the war. Elizabeth works as a waitress at an inn. Ullswater, Cumberland Jane Warden was one of Blanche's best friends. Her fiancé, Robin, died. Mrs Davenport is the cook; Mrs Jordan is the housekeeper. During the war, Lieutenants Darling, Browning, and Clive Maitland and Captain Austin recuperated at the house. Mrs Rhodes is the housekeeper at Jane's own house. Near Chichester, Sussex Lorraine Belmont and her family have always been Catholic. Maud is the housekeeper? cook? Mark's father had been a solicitor. The bitter Sara Thorne, Mark's sister, still lives in the village. Sandwich Julia is Jonathan's sister married to a local solicitor, Gardener. Jonathan's father runs a jewelry store. Jonathan owns a house here which is run by Mr and Mrs Billingsley. The blind Alfred Morrow is a frequent visitor to the house. Mrs Porter is an aunt, I think. Oliver Ranson is the vicar. Wendover, outside Dover The overprotective Morrows live here. Rollins is their driver. Mrs Parkinson is their housekeeper. Williams is the lady's maid. (Lizzie is Williams' eldest sister. Nan is a sister who is housekeeper for an MP; Josephine is lady's maid to a barrister's wife; and, Marie had been a nursing Sister during the war and now works in Harley Stret.) Inspector Windom is investigating a murder and a beating. Sister Stevens is the nurse on duty that night; Sister Marvin in the morning. Jenny Harold had been a hooker with a heart. Near Ascot Frank and Sally Bradley had had a farm where the accident occurred. Nate Bradley is a third cousin who married Felicity Bradley, Frank's daughter, and now runs the farm. Freddy had been Frank's nephew, Felicity's cousin. Tommy is one of the farmhands today. Helmsley, Gloucestershire Constable Biggins takes offense. Mr Waters is a solicitor and Nell's uncle. Her father is the Vicar...and a coward. Bramley, Worcestershire Harold was the grandfather, John the father, and Clive Maitland the son who went to war after dying in a climbing accident. Dorian Alders is the rector at St James. Jasper is the family dog. And the Maitland home was sold to the Barnards who also took on the Maitland law firm. Mr Seton had been the previous rector. Scotland Yard Chief Superintendent Jameson is Rutledge's superior, and he hates Rutledge. Sergeant Gibson is Rutledge's contact at the Yard. Inspector Kendall is working a case. Chief Inspector Telford is assigned to the investigation at the end. Dr Fleming is the psychiatrist who treated Rutledge after the war. Sister Peterson is one of the nurses at the clinic. Policemen who have died or retired since include Chief Inspector Hawkins, Inspector (Lieutenant) Johnson investigated Thorne's disappearance, Chief Superintendent Bowles was Rutledge's previous jerk of a boss, Constable Grant was the cop who was first on scene, and Inspector Putnam is the man Ian's father hoped could dissuade his son (Sally is his welcoming wife). Jimsy Poole is a retired and famous journalist who now runs a bar. Millie "M.R." Hill wants to follow in her father's footsteps as a journalist. Eddie Wade is an ex-convict, recently released. Mary is his wife, and they had two children: Timmy and Ellie. Sadie Milling is his nasty mother-in-law. His sister married Hans. Cousin Maude was also ashamed. Danny was a fellow inmate. The Cover and Title The cover is a misty grayish green of a stormy sky in the background. In the foreground, the silhouette of a jockey atop a horse clears a hurdle. At the very top in yellow is a very tiny testimonial while an info blurb, in yellow, is at least twice as big below that. The authors' name is below this in white, and the title is in yellow, slightly overlapping the horse. The title refers to an event, The Black Ascot of 1910, when all the attendees at Ascot wore black in mourning for King Edward VII. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Feb 20, 2019
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Feb 21, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 0399176101
| 9780399176104
| 0399176101
| 3.91
| 2,247
| May 17, 2016
| May 17, 2016
|
really liked it
|
Fifth (and last, I think) in the Scotland Yard's Murder Squad British historical detective mystery series and revolving around Inspector Walter Day. I
Fifth (and last, I think) in the Scotland Yard's Murder Squad British historical detective mystery series and revolving around Inspector Walter Day. It's set in spring 1891 in London. My Take Omigod...you'll crack up at Grecian's re-appearance in the world. I gotta say Day was quite the entrepreneur, in his recycling business. Don't ask. It's disgusting. There is plenty going on. Walter is lost in his head, needs to earn a living, and is afraid of his kidnapper who keeps popping up. Newly widowed, Hatty is embracing the possibilities and having such fun being a detective. Claire is coping with four children and no husband and dealing with her cretin of a father. Grecian gets Nevil's frustrations across quite well. The Parkers...eeek...Grecian has created a truly nasty couple in the Parkers. All those thoughts Mr Parker has are terrifying, particularly with reference to his partner, and yet he loves, loves, loves her, even as he ties her up to keep himself safe. Interestingly, we don't get Mrs Parker's perspective but her words, and those are even more terrifying. As for Jack...as horrible as he is, he is surprisingly not as creepy as Mrs P. "Because he's no doubt off doing something more fun ... Something gooey, like slitting open a serving wench and turning her on a spit over a crackling fire. Watching the fat roll down the skin of her thighs and sizzle on the coals."Day's inability to remember his past was annoying, if only because he was in such denial and because of that ending... Nor do I understand why Jack wants him. Oh, I have plenty of guesses, but I want to know what Grecian thinks. There are a number of points where I'm confused. Day sounds as if he's truly lost his memory and yet later on in the story, it sounds a'purpose. Then there's the end with Dr Kingsley, and I'm wondering which was the end. The one in the alley or the one in his bed? It's interesting that Grecian does so well in conveying the manners and mores of the time period, until he slips up with Beatrice Kingsley being at university. It's pretty radical for a woman to attend college in this time. Nevil is an idiot. And his actions make me think that Grecian isn't actually done with this series. He's done so well in tidying things up, but Nevil's proposal — to the wrong woman and for the wrong reason — makes me think Scotland Yard's Murder Squad still has life ahead. It's that third person global subjective point-of-view that provides perspectives from so many different characters, providing so much background into their thoughts and emotions. And all those secrets... The Story Employed by the parent-beleaguered Claire, Nevil has been spending every minute of every day searching for Walter, even as Jack is busy brainwashing Walter and tidying up members of Kartsphanomen. A Jack who hides in plain sight. The Characters Inspector Walter Day went missing one year ago. Claire is his wife who had given birth to twins — Winifred and Henrietta — shortly before Walter disappeared. She has also published a book of poetry under the pen name Rupert Winthrop. Her adopted boys are the worried Robert and Simon ( The Harvest Man , 4). Tabitha is the new governess...who probably won't last. Arthur Day is Walter's father and a valet. The manipulative and wealthy Leland Carlyle, her absolute jerk of a father, is from Devon. His wife, Eleanor, bends to him. Anna is the heroine in Claire's new story, The Wandering Wood. Other characters include Peter; Marionette Puppet, a.k.a., Mary Annette; Babushka is a Russian doll; the Kindly Nutcracker; Rocking Horse; and, Jack. Esther Paxton, Walter's new landlady, is a draper running a clothing shop. Ben is her deceased husband. The bright Ambrose is a fourteen-year-old homeless boy, brilliant at chess. Jerome is another one of the gang. Former Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith was fired and opened his own detective agency, the Hammersmith Agency. He employs the affordable Eugenia Merrilow as a secretary; the thrilled Hatty Pitt becomes a detective (both ladies appeared in The Harvest Man ). Timothy Pinch is Hammersmith's roommate and working with Dr Kingsley. Blackleg, who has aided Nevil in the past, is at the center of certain crime rings in London. Plumm's Emporium is... ...modeled on Harrod's and owned by John Plumm, entrepreneur. Joseph Hargreave, a.k.a., Kitten, is his lieutenant/manager. Mr Oberon is the manager who takes Hargreave's place. The very deaf Alastair Goodpenny sold his kiosk and invested in Plumm's ( The Harvest Man ). Mr Swann splits. Gregory is a guard. Dr Richard Hargreave is Joseph's worried brother. Ruth Ruskin is a neighbor of the Hargreaves. Scotland Yard Sir Edward Bradford is the commissioner of police; Elizabeth is his wife. The number of inspectors on the Murder Squad have doubled in this past year and include Jimmy Tiffany, Michael Blacker, and Tom Wiggins. Sergeant Kett continues to act as liaison between the constables and inspectors. Sergeant Fawkes can stand in for him. Dr Bernard Kingsley is the official forensics examiner for the Metropolitan Police, busily introducing scene of crime methods, and teaches at the University College Hospital. Fiona Kingsley, the doctor's daughter, is a brilliant artist who once worked for her father and now sketches witness descriptions for Scotland Yard, and she has been illustrating Claire's books. Catherine had been Fiona's mother; she died of consumption. There is an older sister, Beatrice, away at university. Constable Colin Pringle had been murdered in The Yard , 1. The Kartsphanomen are… …a society of men from all levels of society dedicated to meting out justice…with eye-for-an-eye punishment along the way. The naive and hypocritical high judge takes too much into his own hands. Jack the Ripper, a.k.a., Saucy Jack, is terrifying. Mr and very psychopathic Mrs Parker are a cold pair of fish...and assassins. There is some confusion as to if the missus is his daughter, his partner, and/or his lover. Hmmm, she can't be his daughter as he mentions early in the story that they played together as children. Jim has an in with a puppet show. Potter-Pirbright is a valet at Carlyle's gentlemen's club. The Cover and Title The gray cover is a fog, a metaphysical reference to Claire and Walter, as they stumble through the mists, and may be Lost and Gone Forever. It's also a scene from within the story, of chairs scattered in the fog, a man's silhouette on the right. The title is at the top in a white ghostly serif font, a chalkline underlining each word. Below that, in black, is the series information. At the bottom is the author's name using the same white font as the title. Beneath that, in white, is an info blurb. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Feb 18, 2019
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Feb 18, 2019
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0399166440
| 9780399166440
| 0399166440
| 4.07
| 2,858
| May 19, 2015
| May 19, 2015
|
it was amazing
|
Fourth in the Scotland Yard's Murder Squad historical mystery thriller series revolving around the newly formed Murder Squad with the focus is on Dete
Fourth in the Scotland Yard's Murder Squad historical mystery thriller series revolving around the newly formed Murder Squad with the focus is on Detective Inspector Walter Day and his former partner, Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith. The story is set in London in the spring of 1890. My Take There's plenty of action for everyone in The Harvest Man what with hunting down surviving children, Jack the Ripper inserting himself and threatening Day's family, another serial killer murdering families, and compatriots being led astray. The Harvest Man uses third person global subjective point-of-view, which means we learn the thoughts and emotions of a variety of characters, including a scary look inside the mind of an insane murderer, trapped in his parental fantasies. The people who died...the families destroyed... The way he decides a family is his or not is chance. Do they have an attic or not. It's too easy to imagine how other serial killers could have lived the same "dreams". And poor Walter. It's hard enough to have twin newborns to cope with, but Walter has his hostile in-laws making waves, hiring staff, and expressing their disdain for their son-in-law. Their judgments and interference are driving Walter crazy. It doesn't help when Carlyle is so disrespectful of Walter when he suggests Walter leave his wife and babies. And Claire is haunted by her memories of Constable Rupert Winthrop's murder in her home. Poor Fiona has no clue how to behave properly in society, and now that her father has refused to allow her to help him, she's at loose ends. Ooh, ouch, Kingsley lets Tiffany know what he thinks of him. Kingsley also introduces new methods and tools for assessing a crime scene, including rubber gloves, no interference with a crime scene, and envelopes for clues providing a record of everything. He is quite the generous man, treating the murdered prostitutes like people and paying for their funerals. He sure does impress Blackleg! And then that ending. Geez. Horror with a soupçon of hope for Nevil. The Story It's that murder that pulls Day away from his desk. Children who escaped the slaughter. Slaughter that will continue as the Harvest Man continues his search for his parents, removing their masks only to find he was wrong. He's not the only active killer, for Saucy Jack has an admirer. One that Jack coopts for his own purposes, but only one of them, for Jack is quite busy with a myriad of plans, all intended to terrify. And Fiona gifts Hammersmith with twenty calling cards. The Characters The tortured and injured Detective Inspector (DI) Walter Day, the son of a valet, is one of the new detectives on the Murder Squad. He's married to Claire Carlyle who just gave birth to twins — Winifred and Henrietta — and who loves to write nursery rhymes. Miss Harris is the new head of housekeeping. She, along with the new governess/nanny Miss Powell; cook; and, scullery maid have severely stretched Walter's budget. Leland and Eleanor Carlyle are Claire's wealthy, judgmental, interfering parents. Retired Inspector Augustus McKraken has volunteered for guard duty on the Day household. Former Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith, who lives above a confectionary shop, has been fired from Scotland Yard. Nevil has an uncle Bamford who brought chaos wherever he went. Blackleg is a criminal who has aided Nevil in the past. Scotland Yard is... ...about to move to new quarters on the Victoria Embankment. Sir Edward Bradford is the commissioner of police who insists on Day keeping to his desk. Other DIs include the jokey Blacker, the close-minded Jimmy Tiffany, and Wiggins. Sergeant Kett, one of the middlemen in the police force, liaising between constables and inspectors, and Constables John Jones and Bentley are in on the hunt. Inspector Gerard had arrested Ridgway. Molly is one of the police horses. Sarah works the Exchange. Gregory Little is a young message runner. Dr Bernard Kingsley is the forensic examiner at the Yard. Henry Mayhew, a former street person, is Kingsley's assistant..who's learning. Oliver is his magpie ( The Black Country , 2). Fiona Kingsley, an artist who had been helping Claire, has been sent back to her father's home. Dr Halsted at Johns Hopkins sent Kingsley some rubber gloves. Her Majesty's Prison Bridewell Bill Pycroft is a warder on the take. Adrian March, Day's mentor, had lost his way in The Devil's Workshop , 3; now he's a prisoner. The Harvest Man was but one of the prisoners who escaped in The Devil's Workshop . Everyone but Day, March, McKraken, and Hammersmith believe Jack the Ripper, a.k.a., Saucy Jack, is dead. Simon and Robert, an eight- and ten-year-old, are the only survivors. Seventeen-year-old Hatty and John Charles Pitt (a real jerk) are newlyweds. The Merrilows are fascinated by theatre. Their daughter, Eugenia, who used to see John Charles is now seeing Frederick who works at the museum. Their son, George, also participates in the nude tableaus. Lucy Hebron is another participant. Pritchard is their butler. George Bristol designs their sets. Alistair Goodpenny has hearing issues and sells stationery and jewelry. He partners up with Andrew Parks of Parks and Sons, Hatters, at times for those trips to Cornwall. Hannah Parks works with her father. Haun, Moore, and Peck are the solicitors with whom Day has been meeting at the Chalk Farm Tavern. Liz is a whore with a baby, Michael. Some of the dead hookers include Little Betty, Betty, and Alice. The Kartsphanomen is a secret society of men who don't believe criminals can be rehabilitated. Alan Ridgway, who lives in a boardinghouse, is attempting to emulate Saucy Jack. The Cover and Title The cover is DARK with a fainter blackish gray of a bricked walkway heading into blackness. At the top is an info blurb in white followed by the author's name in red. Spanning most of the cover is the title in a chalky white while at the bottom — thank you, God — we learn that this is a novel (in white) with the series information in red. Um, don't mind those flies on the edges, they won't brush off... The title is the escaped, insane killer, The Harvest Man. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Dec 06, 2018
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Dec 07, 2018
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0698410262
| 9780698410268
| B077CNY4P9
| 4.16
| 10,624
| Aug 07, 2018
| Aug 07, 2018
|
liked it
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Twelfth in the Her Royal Spyness historical British mystery series involving an amateur sleuth, the Lady Georgiana Rannoch. My Take At last! I was begin Twelfth in the Her Royal Spyness historical British mystery series involving an amateur sleuth, the Lady Georgiana Rannoch. My Take At last! I was beginning to wonder if Georgie and Darcy would ever get married!? Although, just because Georgie has to renounce her claim to the throne, how does this suddenly make her not family? And I still don't understand her blasted mother. Why hasn't she ever taken Georgie shopping for some decent clothes!? Georgie does make me a bit nuts at times with her insecurity. I do get that she has major esteem problems, but how many times do we have to go through her angst — it's that first person protagonist point-of-view that ensures we have a ringside seat — only to find there's a perfectly reasonable explanation? There is one explanation I'd love to know, just what does Darcy do? He claims to be a fact gatherer, and I suspect he's more of a spy. Hmmm, once we get through the initial sorting out, Darcy and Georgie go flat hunting. Oh. Boy. Things are looking grim. On the other hand, Georgie has enough good news that upsets Fig so much that it takes all Georgie has to keep from dancing. While I appreciate Georgie growing a backbone, I do wish her smarts would have increased along with it. I will concede, however, that the servants' roadblock against Georgie being able to do anything is quite effective. Although, why Georgie hasn't been to the solicitors or immediately sent off a letter to Sir Hubert has me wondering. And I'm frustrated with her wanting to handle it all herself. Yes, she does need to handle the servants, but not at the cost of her life! "Lady Plunkett keeps birds." I thought she was supposed to be Lady Anstruther, Sir Hubert's mother? And that Plunkett was the butler? They giveth and they taketh...it's a blessing when Sir Hubert makes his offer, but deathly when Georgie meets the servants at Eynsleigh. They're nothing like they should be and the house and grounds are a mess, creating a nasty conundrum for Georgie as she tries to sort it out. Forty pounds a month. Forty pounds. That's all it takes to keep up an estate like Sir Hubert's and pay staff and the bills. I want to rob a bank and go back in time. Then there's Queenie. You know how bad the servants are if Georgie and Mummy are thrilled to have Queenie around, lol. As for thinking butlers are snooty, that's hypocritical of Georgie with all that she says about Hamilton! The Story So much for a small wedding, for Queen Mary is expecting invitations for the family and Georgie's great-aunts at Kensington Palace, besides the European royal relations...and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret will be in the wedding! Nor is Georgie's the only wedding, for marriage is in the air for Grandad — that Hettie Huggins has finally got him in a corner — and Mummy is finally marrying Max. The Characters Lady Georgianna Rannoch had been thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but if she's marrying a Catholic, she'll have to give it up. Queenie, her disaster of a maid, is learning to be an assistant cook with Darcy's relatives, Aunt Oona and Uncle Dooley, in Ireland. Belinda Warburton-Stoke is her best friend and is making the wedding dress. Francesca is/was her daily in Italy. Camilla, an "old friend" from schooldays, is married to Paolo, the Countess and Count di Marola and Martini; they have adopted Belinda's baby (Paolo is the father, after all). Florence had been the maid Belinda employed in England. The hideous Huddlestone will be her new, very proper maid in London. Darcy O'Mara, a Catholic and Georgie's fiancé, is the son of an impoverished Irish lord, and he "gathers facts" for the British. Thaddeus, Lord Kilhenny, is his father who managed to buy back the ancestral home. Princess ZouZou, who loves to fly her aeroplane, is in love with Darcy's dad who runs her racing stable on his estate in Ireland. Clotilde is the princess' maid. Eynsleigh, Haywards Heath, Sussex, is... ...Sir Hubert Anstruther's country home; he's another of Mummy's ex-husbands. He'd wanted to adopt Georgie at the time, and he has made her his heir. He's currently mountain climbing in Chile. Rogers was the butler. Turns out that Charles Plunkett is the new butler. Mrs Holbrook had been the housekeeper, and she hasn't been replaced. McShea is the footman. Joanie is the housemaid. Molly is an Irish scullery maid. Fernando is said to be the cook...and he's awful. Bill Bagley and Ted Hoskins are the inept gardeners. Mrs Pritchard looks after the Dowager Lady Anstruther who ran away from her retirement home, Downsview. Charlie and Rani are her birds. Although the lady at Downsview said she had white Persians, Rajah and Rani. Ben Wayland used to be the assistant head gardener. Eaton and Harris are Sir Hubert's family solicitors. Miss Tompkins is the secretary. Lady Mountjoy, a neighbor, lives at Farlows, a mile from Eynsleigh. Detective Inspector Travers is with the Sussex Constabulary, as is Sergeant Willis. Detective Chief Inspector Garland is with Scotland Yard and had been trained by Grandad. Queen Mary is quite fond of Georgie, who is cousin to her husband, King George V (Queen Victoria was Georgie's great-grandmother). Lady P is one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting. Bertie and Elizabeth, the Duke and Duchess of York, have two children: Lillibet and Margaret. David is the Prince of Wales who's seeing that ghastly Wallis Simpson woman. Marina, the Duchess of Kent, is married to Prince George, the fourth son, and she is friends with Georgie. They really must invite Nicholas of Bulgaria and his wife, Maria. The beastly (and stingy) Hilda "Fig", Duchess of Rannoch, is married to Georgie's brother, Binky. Podge is their son — he'll be a page boy — while Addy is their daughter. Mr McTavish plays the bagpipes at Castle Rannoch. At Rannoch House in London, Hamilton is the aged butler. Mrs McPherson is the cook. Cousins Fergus and Lachlan have RSVPd. Georgie's mummy, the guilt-inducing Claire, is still engaged to Max von Strohheim, a German industrialist who's quite pally with the Nazis. But they're planning on a wedding next month in Berlin. Mummy is actually forking out some dough for Georgie's trousseau! Claudette is Mummy's French maid. Noël Coward is a friend of Claire's. The now retired Sergeant Albert Spinks is Grandad, a former policeman who lives in a row house in Essex. His brother? son? Jimmy was killed in World War I. Hettie Huggins is the next-door neighbor (and Queenie's great-aunt) who has been keeping her eye on Albert. Her son Stan has a daughter, Jewel, who'd love to be in Georgie's wedding. Prince Siegfried, a.k.a., Fishface, had been one of her potential grooms. Mrs Callendar has a famous stallion for stud, King's Ransom. Madame Chow makes the most luscious undies. Elsa Schiaparelli is a clothing designer. Father Dominik is a sweet Polish priest. Plunkett had worked for Lady Malmsbury before she died. Cecil Peregrin, Earl of Malmsbury, is her son with some answers. Arthur Broadbent is a financial advisor for Harrison and Weekes in the City. Annabel is his wife. The burglary ring in London was... ...led by Phil "Birdman" Vogel. Looney Lopez and Joan Parsons are some of his crew. The Cover and Title The cover is quite soft in its graying pastels with the lilac walls, the crystal chandelier, and the gray-shadowed white staircase winding upwards, bunches of pink roses tied to the newel posts. The blonde-bobbed Georgie is in her wedding dress in profile to us with her head turned our way and holding more roses in her gloved hands. The author's name is in the top quarter in a pale yellow-orange, the same color used for the background of the ribbon that spans Georgie's legs as a background for the purple script font for the title and the series information. Naturally there is a picot edging in a dusky pink on both edges of the ribbon with a single picot in each of the top corners. I suspect the besuited gray-haired gentleman behind the pillar is Sir Hubert, Georgie's benefactor. The title refers to the grim ends of four as we hope that Georgie and Darcy's wedding actually takes place with Four Funerals and Maybe a Wedding. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Nov 13, 2018
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Nov 18, 2018
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Kindle Edition
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my rating |
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| 3.80
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it was amazing
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Aug 05, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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| 3.86
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it was amazing
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Aug 06, 2022
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Aug 05, 2022
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| 4.05
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it was amazing
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Jul 12, 2022
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Jul 11, 2022
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| 3.83
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liked it
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Jul 10, 2022
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Jun 14, 2022
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| 3.77
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it was amazing
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Jun 13, 2022
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Jun 12, 2022
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| 3.78
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really liked it
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May 10, 2022
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May 09, 2022
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| 3.71
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really liked it
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May 08, 2022
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May 02, 2022
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| 3.82
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it was amazing
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May 18, 2022
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Apr 23, 2022
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| 3.80
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it was amazing
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Apr 23, 2022
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Apr 22, 2022
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| 4.00
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really liked it
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Apr 19, 2022
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Apr 20, 2022
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| 3.87
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it was amazing
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Sep 28, 2020
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Oct 05, 2020
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| 3.93
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it was amazing
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Apr 28, 2020
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May 11, 2020
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| 4.20
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it was amazing
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Mar 27, 2020
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Mar 31, 2020
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| 4.15
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liked it
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Dec 17, 2019
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Dec 19, 2019
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| 3.87
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it was ok
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Sep 23, 2019
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Sep 26, 2019
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| 4.32
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really liked it
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Apr 11, 2019
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Apr 14, 2019
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| 4.19
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it was amazing
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Feb 20, 2019
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Feb 21, 2019
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| 3.91
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really liked it
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Feb 18, 2019
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Feb 18, 2019
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| 4.07
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it was amazing
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Dec 06, 2018
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Dec 07, 2018
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| 4.16
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liked it
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Nov 13, 2018
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Nov 18, 2018
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