Trust No One. Sir Stafford Nye, a minor diplomat, encounters an irresistible call to adventure on a routine business trip. All his training and his common sense tell him to refuse. But he’s bored with his ordinary life, he’s curious, and he’s got a mischievous streak that he can’t help indulging. Impulsively, he takes the …
Review: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie Read More »
“Give ’em hell.” That’s tough-talking China Bayle’s way of offering encouragement. But during Halloween week in Pecan Springs, Texas, it comes perilously close to the truth. This pumpkin-spiced mystery is firmly down-t0-earth, but comes with a hot sprinkle of fire and brimstone, a sideways glimpse of Santeria, some New Agey pagan playacting, accusations of witchcraft, …
Still waters run deep. That’s the theme of this classic English country-house mystery. The village of Hazel Green is as peaceful on the surface as a woodland pond. But over the years, a series of disappearances create disturbing ripples: A lonely housemaid vanishes from her parents’ cottage. A priceless ring vanishes from an heiress’ party. …
Two victims. Two detectives. One body. That’s the basic premise of the book, and I’ll be walking on very thin ice to tell you more. The story is so tightly constructed that nearly everything in it connects to a clue, and once you figure out the plot twist, you’ll never be able to forget …
I wasn’t sure at first if I was going to like this book. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure if I could finish it at all. The most frustrating thing was that by rights I ought to love this story. The premise is fantastic: Lady Georgianna Rannoch (Georgie to her friends) is the epitome …
Review: On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen Read More »
Dick Francis is the cozy lover’s Raymond Chandler. He plunks down a hard-boiled thriller right in the middle of a cozy mystery setup, and somehow it just…works. It’s really amazing when you think about it. Francis’ books have all the trappings of a textbook cozy, right down the line: an amateur sleuth with an interesting hobby or …
Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a warm, safe, and fun holiday celebration. And I hope those who don’t celebrate Christmas were more amused than annoyed by those of us who do. I wasn’t sure whether I’d get to read and review a holiday mystery this month, because my hands were always full with work, …
…or rather, Tey for four. I’ve been on an author binge this summer, and I don’t regret a single minute of it. After reading Nicola Upson’s marvellous mindbender An Expert in Murder, I went out collecting original Josephine Teys, to refresh my memory on her effortless, masterful style. My first find was her 1950 novel, To Love and …
Warning: Nicola Upson will mess with your mind, and make you like it. This brain-bending story forces you to question reality, but not because of the mystery plot. An Expert in Murder is structured as a classic whodunnit. No, it’s Upson’s choice of character and setting that will send you into a Blair-Witch style guessing game of “did …
Ask and you shall receive. I’ve heard cat lovers speak of “Cat Central,” a mystical agency that assigns cats to their destined homes, often by opaque or circuitous chains of cause and effect. Sometimes I think there’s a version of this for books and authors, bringing a certain volume into your hands at just the …
Review: Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley Read More »