Showing posts with label adult mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adult mystery. Show all posts

A Pocket Full of Rye

8:52 AM Nikki

A Pocket Full of Rye. Agatha Christie. 1953. 256 pages.

I really enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery. I'm not sure what more I can add to that. I mean, it's a mystery. A mystery with multiple victims. A mystery that kept me guessing until the very end--or close to it.

I always enjoy Miss Marple, she's such a delightful character. And I enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery very much. I wouldn't say it is my favorite and best Marple--but it's certainly worth a read or reread!!!

The first victim, Rex Fortescue, is a business man who dies in his office after drinking his tea. They're almost positive he was murdered--poisoned. But they're also positive the poison was not in the tea. Someone in his family--someone close to him--murdered him. But can they figure out just who the murderer is?

One puzzling clue--you may have guessed it--is a pocket full of rye in his pocket. But that's just one of many puzzling clues that abound in this novel!

I definitely liked this one!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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A Murder on the Links

9:00 AM Nikki

A Murder on the Links. Agatha Christie. 1923.  272 pages.

I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this mystery novel starring Hercule Poirot and his close friend Arthur Hastings. The novel, I believe, is narrated by Hastings, the same narrator introduced in Poirot's first novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles.

I usually find Christie's Miss Marple novels to be more delightful, more charming, more satisfying than those starring Hercule Poirot. But this one is definitely an exception. I just loved it from cover to cover.

This mystery, for the most part, occurs in France. And it just works really, really well. I don't want to say too much about the mystery itself. I mean the less you know the better...but you really should give Agatha Christie a try!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Five Red Herrings

7:36 AM Nikki

The Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1931. HarperCollins. 325 pages.

If one lives in Galloway, one either fishes or paints. "Either" is perhaps misleading, for most of the painters are fishers also in their spare time. To be neither of these things is considered odd and almost eccentric. 

The Five Red Herrings is the seventh mystery starring Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter is a character that I just love and adore. He's just one of my favorite, favorite, favorite characters ever. So I was so happy to read another mystery in this series.

In The Five Red Herrings, Lord Peter Wimsey is on vacation in Scotland. Though he neither paints or fishes, he is accepted--for the most part--by the community. It's hard to not like him, after all! Early in the novel--though I'm not sure if it's early in his holiday--a murder is committed. The "victim" is someone EVERYONE hates; threats against this guy were so common that they were hardly worth taking seriously. I mean Campbell, the victim, was just impossible to get along with. But now that he's dead, it is up to the police (the constables and detectives, etc.) to solve the crime. And since Lord Peter just happens to be very, very good at detecting, he offers to help them out.

There are six suspects--all artists. Hugh Farren, Henry Strachan, Matthew Gowan, Jock Graham, Michael Waters, and Ferguson. All had motive, all had opportunity. All of them are lying, all of them are hiding things from the police. Since there are so many suspects, since they all appear equally capable of committing the crime, it's just a matter of discerning the truth. Which theory--which plausible theory--is the truth? Which is most likely? Which uses all the clues that have been left behind?

Five Red Herrings is set in Scotland. And, for me, it was a delightful mystery.

Lord Peter Wimsey:

I was born looking foolish and every day in every way I am getting foolisher and foolisher. (52)

One of these days I shall write a book in which two men are seen to walk down a cul-de-sac, and there is a shot and one man is found murdered and the other runs away with a gun in his hand, and after twenty chapters stinking with red herrings, it turns out that the man with the gun did it after all. (114)

The essence of detection is secrecy. It has no business to be spectacular. But you can watch me if you like. (218)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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They Do It With Mirrors

9:57 AM Nikki

They Do It With Mirrors. (Miss Marple). Agatha Christie. 1952/2011. HarperCollins 224 pages.

Mrs. Van Rydock moved a little back from the mirror and sighed. 

Ruth Van Rydock wants her good friend, Jane Marple, to do her a favor. She's worried about their mutual friend Carrie Louise Serrocold. She has a feeling that Carrie Louise is in trouble or in danger. And so she's arranged a visit for Miss Marple. After a few small lies are told to smooth the way, Carrie Louise is happy to welcome her old friend into her home. Miss Marple is introduced to the STRANGE, STRANGE bunch of folks living or working on the estate. Her husband, Lewis. Her daughter, Mildred. Her granddaughter, Gina, and her husband, Walter. Her stepsons from her second marriage, Stephen and Alex Restarick. Her companion-caretaker, Juliet Bellever. Her husband's assistant, Edgar Lawson. (Carrie Louise has been married three times--and it shows. She's carried over wealth and property, but, also children and grandchildren, etc.) Her husband's pet project has him working with juvenile delinquents with part of the estate being converted into a school of sorts. I won't lie, it was a bit confusing at first to see how these characters connect to one another--if they connect to one another. It helps that almost every character seeks out Miss Marple in the days after her arrival. One by one they "unburden" themselves and complain freely about anything and everything.

Of course, it turns out that Ruth had VERY good reason to worry about her friend. And Miss Marple it seems arrived just in time for the drama. Soon there's a murder to be solved...can she solve it in time before more lives are lost?

I enjoy Miss Marple. I do. There is just something satisfying about reading Agatha Christie. While They Do It With Murders isn't my new favorite or anything, it is an enjoyable mystery. Not perfect. But definitely enjoyable enough to recommend.

Ruth to Miss Marple:
"You've always been a sweet innocent looking creature, Jane, and all the time underneath nothing has ever surprised you, you always believe the worst."
"The worst is so often true," murmured Miss Marple.
"Why you have such a poor idea of human nature, I can't think--living in that sweet peaceful village of yours, so old world and pure."
"You have never lived in a village, Ruth. The things that go on in a pure peaceful village would probably surprise you."
"Oh I daresay. My point is that they don't surprise you." (9)

Inspector Curry and Miss Marple:
"This is all very distressing I know. But we've just got to get the facts clear. Get it all clear."
"Oh yes, I know," said Miss Marple. "So difficult, isn't it? To be clear about anything, I mean. Because if you're looking at one thing, you can't be looking at another. And one so often looks at the wrong thing, though whether because one happens to do so or because you're meant to, it's very hard to say. Misdirection, the conjurers call it. So clever, aren't they?" (90)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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By His Own Hand?

12:06 PM Nikki

By His Own Hand? The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis. Edited by John D.W. Guice. Contributions by James J. Holmberg, John D.W. Guice, and Jay H. Buckley. Foreword by Elliott West. Introduction by Clay S. Jenkinson. 2006. University of Oklahoma Press. 208 pages.

From the foreword: In darker moments I sometimes wonder whether we require our most favored historical characters to die in particular ways. 

From the preface: Late in the afternoon on 10 October 1809 one of the nation's great heroes reined his horse off the Natchez Trace to spend the night at Grinder's Stand. The rustic homestead consisted of two rough-hewn log cabins a few paces apart and a distant barn. It was a pleasant fall day some seventy miles southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. What occupied Meriwether Lewis's mind we will never know, but we do know that shortly after sunup the next morning he died there. Who held the weapon or weapons that fired the fatal shots during the night? Did Lewis take his own life or did an assassin? After nearly two centuries, this remains one of the most fascinating, puzzling, and enduring questions in all of American history. 


I found By His Own Hand? a fascinating read, a true mystery.

In the first chapter, James J. Holmberg presents his case for suicide. He presents the facts of the case and argues that suicide is the most logical explanation, or the best educated guess for what happened that night. He examines several primary resources--letters, written accounts of oral testimonies or oral histories, etc. One of his main points is that Lewis' closest friends--those who knew him best, men like Thomas Jefferson and William Clark--believed that their friend took his own life. The information in the letters primarily comes from the account of Priscilla Grinder. Several men wrote letters recounting these events, but they got their story from talking to her. There were no other witnesses at the inn to verify what Priscilla Grinder heard or saw that night.

In the second chapter, John D.W. Guice presents his case for homicide. He goes over the facts yet again. He provides further context--in some areas--for readers. He argues that while it cannot be proven that it was not suicide, while it can not be thoroughly proven that it was in fact murder, enough questions remain that there is definitely reasonable doubt. Suicide may satisfy some, but for those historians on the other side, there are still so many unanswered questions that they can't just accept that it was suicide. They would need more facts, more answers. While the first chapter tried to argue that Lewis was in a bad state of mind, that he was depressed and suicidal and anxious, that he'd already tried and failed to commit suicide in the weeks leading up to his death, this second chapter tries to argue the opposite. They try to prove that while Lewis was human, while he had moments of doubts or anxieties, there were still plenty of indicators in his life to show that he had not given up, that he had every intention of living. And these rumors of previous suicide attempts are questionable. While one man writes of them, he does not give any clues at all as to the when or the where or the how. If he knew these attempts to be true, why not include at least some detail. If he really, truly thought this man was a danger to himself, why didn't he do something about it? And, of course, that is just one example. The chapter argues that the "witnesses" in the case are not infallible, and in some cases quite questionable. Priscilla Grinder's story changed, and changed quite a bit with each telling or retelling. And her story does not make that much sense even if she'd kept it the same. She claims that she heard two gunshots, when she went to investigate, she saw Lewis walking around begging for help, begging for water, begging for someone to finish the job. She did absolutely nothing...except wait for him to die. Many--if not all--primary accounts of Lewis' death depend on facts as shared by Mrs. Grinder. So William Clark and Thomas Jefferson learned of events second or third hand. Another point argued in this chapter is why would Lewis do such a horrible, horrible job at killing himself? Would he really do such a horrible job aiming twice so that he lingers for hours? Did he really linger for hours or was that Grinder adding drama to the story?

The third chapter by Jay H. Buckley is "a postmortem trial." Buckley provides summaries of the arguments from chapter one and two. He examines the strengths and weaknesses of the suicide theory and the strengths and weaknesses of the assassination theory. He does a great job in highlighting both sides. His goal, of course, is to get readers engaged, to challenge readers to think for themselves and decide which is most likely.

All of the chapters are well written. All are fascinating. Both sides argue quite well...
I really loved the mystery of this one. There are some things in history that are just mysteries. We don't know what happened--what really happened. And sometimes these mysteries are a bit hidden away. Some historians write what they think happened and leave it at that, taking some of the mystery out of life.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Dragonwyck

2:25 PM Nikki

Dragonwyck. Anya Seton. 1944/2005. Chicago Review Press. 352 pages.

It was on an afternoon in May of 1844 that the letter came from Dragonwyck. 

Miranda Wells is the foolish heroine of Anya Seton's Dragonwyck. This farm girl has much to learn, and her trusting nature combined with her restlessness is just asking for trouble. The novel opens with Miranda being invited to visit her cousin, Nicholas, and his wife, Johanna, and their daughter, Katrine, in their home, Dragonwyck. Though cousins, the two have never met. For the Van Ryn's are quite wealthy, and the Wells are at best poor relations. But the couple appears--at first--to be looking for a companion for their daughter. Someone not quite a servant, but not quite a real guest either. The wealth and luxury of their lifestyle--especially in comparison to the only lifestyle she's ever known--life on a farm has Miranda thoroughly charmed. Everything that Nicholas says and does just wows her. He seems to be so perfectly, perfect. She just can't help herself, she finds herself falling for him. On her part, I do feel it's just silliness, with more innocence to it than real intent to break up a marriage. But the wife, well, she is unhappy and uncomfortable with Miranda being there. She didn't expect her to be so young, so beautiful, so ready to be charmed by her husband.

How does Nicholas feel about Miranda? How does Nicholas feel about his wife? his daughter? How does Nicholas feel about anyone else? Well. Readers can draw their own conclusions, perhaps. But needless to say, this reader was NOT charmed by Nicholas. He didn't seem all that swoon-worthy to me. And AFTER his wife's oh-so-convenient-death, well, my impressions changed even more--but not in his favor. A true romantic hero, in my opinion, would NEVER EVER propose marriage to a young woman while his dead wife was still in the room.

So do you think Miranda lives happily ever after with Nicholas?!

It's true I was never bored with Dragonwyck. But I also never found true satisfaction with it. Miranda was a frustrating heroine, to me, because she was just too stupid immature. She wasn't all that smart, and she wasn't all that good. (With goodness being a virtue.) There was very little to love in Miranda. That being said, I definitely felt something for her. I pitied her. Miranda's choices weren't all that smart. But NO WOMAN deserves to be treated the way she was treated. And I definitely wanted Miranda to be saved--to either save herself or to be rescued by some good soul. Nicholas. Well, what can I really say about him?! I didn't find him appealing at all. It was just so easy for me to hate him. His flaws are too many to even begin to list. And his strengths? Well, I can't think of any!

Have you read Dragonwyck? What did you think of it? Did you like it? love it? hate it? Do you think it's fair to compare it to Jane Eyre and Rebecca? I definitely see how Dragonwyck is a gothic romance.

Here's how Philippa Gregory's afterword begins, "At the very opening of this far-fetched, romantic novel, Anya Seton takes a great risk with her readers: she shows a foolish young woman reading a far-fetched, romantic novel and gently mocks both the genre and the readers."

Here's the part where I disagree with her:
Johanna is a wonderful thumbnail portrait of a woman whose death we are not going to mourn. Her greed, illustrated in the first moment we meet her when she demands to know if her husband has brought her pastries from town, is wonderfully described. Seeing Johanna, with crumbs on her gown and half-eaten dishes in her room, puts us neatly on the side of Nicholas and the guilty lovers. We are prepared for Johanna's death, and we don't mind when it happens.
By the time Nicholas comes to marry Miranda, Seton has so arranged our sympathies that we are as keen for the marriage to proceed as is Miranda. And so we forgive Nicholas for our suspicion of murder and Miranda for her desire for Nicholas and cupidity for his life. In addition, we agree with Miranda that the farm is a poor place. We forgive both Nicholas and Miranda because we are as bad as they. We don't mind that Johanna is dead, and we want to see Miranda live the high life. (339-340)
It is Nicholas who dominates the book, of course, and it is he who lingers in the mind after the book is finished. What a wonderfully gothic, nightmarish hero-villain he is! He is handsome and beautifully dressed; he is stylish and wealthy. He is absolutely exceptional, and we know this before he even enters the pages of the novel because Seton has the crowd murmur his name before he arrives. He delights us at once. He circumvents Miranda's father, which pleases us since we want to see her freed. He sweeps her away to his home, and his home is a wonder. We think, like Miranda, that he could be saved by true love. We despise his fat wife; we have hopes for his future. (341)
I don't only disagree with her a little, I disagree a LOT. (I might have exchanged a few words with the book.)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Cover Her Face

5:06 PM Nikki

Cover Her Face. P.D. James. 1962. 254 pages.

Exactly three months before the killing at Martingale Mrs Maxie gave a dinner party. Years later, when the trial was a half-forgotten scandal and the headlines were yellowing on the newspaper lining of cupboard drawers, Eleanor Maxie looked back on that spring evening as the opening scene of tragedy. Memory, selective and perverse, invested what had been a perfectly ordinary dinner party with an aura of foreboding and unease. It became, in retrospect, a ritual gathering under one roof of victim and suspects, a staged preliminary to murder. 

I enjoyed P.D. James' Cover Her Face. This mystery is the first novel starring detective Adam Dalgliesh. I'm guessing that I'll love other titles in the series even more.

As is the case in any mystery series, I think readers only grow in appreciation as they read on. There's a big difference, in my opinion, between reading your first Miss Marple or your first Rex Stout, and reading your sixth. You just grow to appreciate the little things more and more as you go on. So I do have high hopes for the series. I enjoyed it enough that I'd WANT to read more in the series.

I never know quite how much to say about any murder mystery I review. I could tell you a little bit about the victim, a little bit about the suspects, a little bit about the detectives on the case. But when it comes down to it, it's not those elements that will "sell" you on the novel itself. You either like mysteries or you don't.

Cover Her Face is a nice cozy mystery set in England. The Maxie family is at the center of this mystery. For it is their somewhat-newly-hired-maid, Sally Jupp, that is the victim. The opening chapters show just how many within the family, within the community, disliked her. Some thought this single mom had a bad attitude, an inappropriate smugness perhaps. The Maxie family definitely isn't perfect--it doesn't take the detective, Adam Dalgliesh, long to figure that one out! So many people within the family--or connected to the family--are lying! But what are they lying about? what are they concealing?

For me, what makes ANY mystery novel enjoyable is the investigative process. I LOVE to witness the suspects being interviewed and interrogated. I love to hear the detectives talk about their theories as to who did it and why. And I did enjoy Adam Dalgliesh, I did.

While I wouldn't say this novel is my favorite mystery that I've read this year, it was a good read, very enjoyable, a nice beginning.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Elephants Can Remember

12:47 PM Nikki

Elephants Can Remember. Agatha Christie. (Hercule Poirot). 1972. 212 pages.
Mrs. Oliver looked at herself in the glass. 

While I tend to prefer Miss Marple to Hercule Poirot most of the time, when Christie's Poirot novels feature Ariadne Oliver, it becomes trickier to play favorites. For Ariadne Oliver is a writer, a writer of detective fiction or mysteries. And her perspective on the genre--and on writing in general--which is shared with readers is just fun. In Elephants Can Remember, Mrs. Oliver is approached by a woman who is memorable for all the wrong reasons:
 A large woman. Ample proportions, large white champing teeth. What in French could have been called une femme formidable, but who definitely had not only the French variety of being formidable, but the English one of being supremely bossy. Obviously she either knew Mrs. Oliver, or was intent on making her acquaintance there and then. The last was how it happened to go. (8)
 Mrs. Burton-Cox is "concerned" about her son who is contemplating marrying Mrs. Oliver's goddaughter. Now, Mrs. Oliver has had many goddaughters through the decades, and this particular one has slipped her mind completely. Well, until forced to remember by Burton-Cox's persistence. Celia Ravenscroft is the goddaughter in question, the "inappropriate" young woman, that Burton-Cox does not want for her daughter-in-law. Why? Well, there was a family tragedy when Celia was just a girl. Her parents died in an apparent suicide. No one knows if her father shot her mother or if her mother shot her father. No one knows what provoked this murder-suicide. Was her mother involved with another man? Was her father involved with another woman? And though it seems almost everyone has forgotten this tragedy except Mrs. Burton-Cox, she's convinced that Celia is not good for her son.

Mrs. Oliver is annoyed by Mrs. Burton-Cox. But she is also curious. She was out of the country when the tragedy happened all those years ago, and, well, part of her wants to know the truth--or as much of the truth can be discerned or concluded--herself. So she decides that if Celia will give her blessing, she'll begin to snoop around. And she'll even call her old friend, Hercule Poirot. He may be able to connect the dots and solve this one.





I enjoyed this one. I did. I don't know that it is my favorite Agatha Christie, but it is a good read.


Favorite quote:
"Human curiosity," said Poirot. "Such a very interesting thing." He sighed. "To think that we owe to it throughout history. Curiosity. I don't know who invented curiosity. It is said to be usually associated with the cat. Curiosity killed the cat. But I should say really that the Greeks were the inventors of curiosity. They wanted to know. Before them, as far as I can see, nobody wanted to know much. They just wanted to know what the rules of the country they were living in were, and how they could avoid having their heads cut off or being impaled on spikes or something disagreeable happening to them. But they either obeyed or disobeyed. They didn't want to know why. But since then a lot of people have wanted to know why and all sorts of things have happened because of that. Boats, trains, flying machines and atom bombs and penicillin and cures for various illnesses. A little boy watches his mother's kettle raising its lid because of the steam. And the next thing we know is we have railway trains, leading on in due course to railway strikes and all that. And so on and so on." (25)
"As one journeys through life," said Poirot, "one finds more and more that people are often interested in things that are none of their business. Even more so than they are in things that could be considered their business." (117)




© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

8:30 AM Nikki

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1928/1995. HarperCollins. 256 pages.

"What in the world, Wimsey, are you doing in this Morgue?" demanded Captain Fentiman, flinging aside the "Evening Banner" with the air of a man released from an irksome duty.

Lord Peter Wimsey's skills will be tested in The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club. For a great deal of money depends on his preciseness, his thoroughness. General Fentiman, a ninety-year-old man, died at his club (and Peter's club). No one thought anything of it at all.

Until they learned that the General's sister, Lady Dormer, had also died that morning. Until they learned that there was some question as to inheritance.

If the General died first, then Ann Dorland would inherit most of Lady Dormer's money, Major Robert Fentiman and Captain George Fentiman would receive a little money. If Lady Dormer died first, then the General would have inherited most of his sister's money. And with the General being dead too, well, that leaves his two sons quite a bit wealthier.

But who died first? The Lady's death was discovered first. But that doesn't necessarily mean she died first. For nobody is quite sure when the General died. No one suspected him of being dead. He was just sitting still in his chair holding a newspaper for hours and hours.

So Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to help 'solve' this mystery. And at first, it is just a matter of determining when he died naturally. But some of the clues just don't make sense unless he died by unnatural causes.

Was it murder? Can Lord Peter Wimsey solve this case?

I love Lord Peter Wimsey. I do. I love him. And I enjoyed The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club. I thought it was an interesting mystery.

Lord Peter Wimsey to Mr. Murbles:
"Acid man you are," said Wimsey. "No reverence, no simple faith or anything of that kind. Do lawyers ever go to heaven?"
"I have no information on that point," said Mr. Murbles dryly. (15)

Marjorie Phelps to Lord Peter:

"Peter Wimsey! You sit there, looking a perfectly well-bred imbecile, and then in the most underhand way you twist people into doing things they ought to blush for. No wonder you detect things. I will not do your worming for you!" (162)

"Moral certainty is not the same thing as proof." (205)
Other books in the series:
  • Whose Body (1923)
  • Clouds of Witness (1926)
  • Unnatural Death (1927)
  • The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
  • Strong Poison (1931)
  • Five Red Herrings (1931)
  • Have His Carcase (1932)
  • Murder Must Advertise (1933)
  • The Nine Tailors (1934)
  • Gaudy Night (1935)
  • Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
  • Complete Stories of Lord Peter (1972)
  • Thrones, Dominations (Dorothy Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh) (1998)
  • A Presumption of Death (Jill Paton Walsh) (2002)
  • The Attenbury Emeralds (Jill Paton Walsh) (2010)


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Nemesis

8:38 AM Nikki

Nemesis. Agatha Christie. 1971/2011. HarperCollins. 304 pages.

In the afternoons it was the custom of Miss Jane Marple to unfold her second newspaper.

I wouldn't say that it's essential that you read A Caribbean Mystery before reading Nemesis. But. If you have read it, you might appreciate Nemesis more.

Nemesis opens with Miss Marple reading about the death of Mr. Rafiel in the newspaper. She met him in the Caribbean, and he was her greatest ally there when she was busy solving that mystery. She liked him a good deal, even though they never reconnected in England afterward. And Mr. Rafiel had great respect for Miss Marple!

One day Miss Marple is contacted by Rafiel's lawyers. They have something important to tell her. It seems that Mr. Rafiel left her a final challenge, a final mystery to solve.

Have you read the book of Daniel? Do you remember when King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed something disturbing and wanted help interpreting that dream. He asked all the wise men for help. But. He refused to tell them the dream. They must come up with the dream and the interpretation. If they weren't able to do both, then they'd be killed.

Nemesis reminded me of this Bible story. For Mr. Rafiel has not provided Miss Marple with any details. Not a where. Not a when. Not a how. Not a who. Not a why. Her greatest chance for solving this one and earning the money he's left her, is for her to go on the vacation he's planned for her: a tour group traveling by bus through England visiting beautiful, historic homes and gardens.

Can Miss Marple do the seemingly impossible?

I enjoyed this one. I wouldn't say it is my favorite Miss Marple mystery. But I'm very glad my library got a copy of this one! (And very happy that HarperCollins has recently published such lovely editions of the Miss Marple mysteries.) If you don't mind a couple of small spoilers, I have something to discuss at the end of this post.

Professor Wanstead and Miss Marple:
"I don't think I know exactly what you mean."
"You are being careful. You are quite right to be careful."
"I have made it a habit," said Miss Marple.
"To be careful?"
"I should not put it exactly like that, but I have made a point of being always ready to disbelieve anything that is told to me." (127)
S
P
O
I
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E
R

I was disappointed with the way rape was presented in Nemesis. The discussions about rape in the novel were unsettling to say the least. Now, these words weren't coming from Miss Marple herself. So I don't blame the character of Miss Marple for these careless and harmful words.

Professor Wanstead:
"That told against him, of course. Not in the jury's mind, because of course they did not hear about that until after the judge's summing up, but certainly in the judge's mind. It told against him, but I made a few enquiries myself afterwards. He had assaulted a girl. He had conceivably raped her, but he had not attempted to strangle her and in my opinion--I have seen a great many cases which come before the Assizes--it seemed to me highly unlikely that there was a very definite case of rape. Girls, you must remember, are far more ready to be raped nowadays than they used to be. Their mothers insist, very often, that they should call it rape. The girl in question had had several boyfriends who had gone further than friendship. I did not think it counted very greatly as evidence against him." (136)
Mr. Broadribb:
"Well, we all know what rape is nowadays. Mum tells the girl she's got to accuse the young man of rape even if the young man hasn't had much chance, with the girl at him all the time to come to the house while mum's away at work or dad's gone on holiday. Doesn't stop badgering him until she's forced him to sleep with her. Then, as I say, mum tells the girl to call it rape." (165)
These passages made me angry! They did. I wanted to shout at the book. So it's only rape if the woman is a virgin? So the fact that a woman says yes to one man means that she doesn't have the right to say no to any other man...ever? So women are "ready" to be raped? In fact they are out pursuing it?! They are "badgering" and "forcing" them to have sex. Yes, that's right, these poor guys are the victims. Accusing someone of rape is SO MUCH FUN that the women just can't help themselves. They're just begging to be assaulted and raped so they can tell their story to anyone and everyone dumb enough to believe them. What kind of crazy logic is this? It's just wrong on SO MANY levels.



© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Clouds of Witness

9:09 AM Nikki

Clouds of Witness. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1927/1966. Avon. 224 pages.

Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the Hotel Meurice. After his exertions in the unraveling of the Battersea Mystery, he had followed Sir Julian Freke's advice and taken a holiday.

Lord Peter's holiday is disrupted by shocking news! His sister's fiance, Captain Denis Cathcart, has been murdered, and his brother, the Duke of Denver, Gerald, is the number one suspect. He was spotted standing over the dead body at 3AM outside his home. Lady Mary Wimsey, the sister, was too shocked to make much sense in her statements to the authorities.  Lord Peter Wimsey (and Bunter) arrive to help decipher the clues in this case, in this investigation.

His family isn't exactly helping him. His brother won't say a word in his own defense. Won't let anyone--not even his brother--know where he was on the night of the murder. And his sister? Well, Lord Peter has his suspicions--as does Parker (Scotland Yard)--that she's not telling the whole truth. In fact, her story is a string of lies. So Lord Peter begins to expand his search to the surrounding neighborhood...

Can Lord Peter find a way to free his brother? Can he find a way to help his sister? Can he solve the case so that justice prevails?

I love Lord Peter Wimsey. I do. I just LOVE him. (Just don't ask me to choose between Archie Goodwin and Lord Peter Wimsey--because at the moment, I don't know that I could!!!!) I would have loved to read all the Lord Peter Wimsey books in order, but, I didn't own them all when I first began my adventure into vintage mysteries. So I'm catching up now! According to Wikipedia, the proper order of the books are:
While I wouldn't say that Clouds of Witness is as good as say Strong Poison or Gaudy Night, I must say it is still a fun read!

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"True, O King. Well, you've sat on all my discoveries so far. Never mind. My head is bloody but unbowed. Cathcart was sitting here--"
"So your brother said."
"Curse you, I say he was; at least, somebody was; he's left the impression of his sit-me-down-upon on the cushion."
'That might have been earlier in the day."
"Rot. They were out all day. You needn't overdo this Sadducee attitude, Charles. I say Cathcart was sitting here..." (38)
Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"I say, I don't think the human frame is very thoughtfully constructed for this sleuth-hound business. If one could go on all-fours, or had eyes in one's knees, it would be a lot more practical." (48)

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"Did you ever read The Lay of the Last Minstrel?"
"I learnt a good deal of it at school," said Parker. "Why?"
"Because there was a goblin page-boy in it," said Lord Peter, "who was always yelling 'Found! Found! Found!' at the most unnecessary moments. I always thought him a terrible nuisance, but now I know how he felt. See here." (52)

Sir Impey Biggs to the Dowager Duchess:
"Lawyers enjoy a little mystery, you know. Why, if everybody came forward and told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth straight out, we should all retire to the workhouse." (62)
A solemn Peter...
With that instinct which prompts one, when depressed, to wallow in every circumstance of gloom, Peter leaned sadly upon the hurdles and abandoned himself to a variety of shallow considerations upon (1) The vanity of human wishes; (2) Mutability; (3) First love; (4) The decay of idealism; (5) The aftermath of the Great war; (6) Birth-control; (7) The fallacy of free-will. (71)

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"Mother said--well, I told you what she said. By the way, how do you spell ipecacuanhna?"
Mr. Parker spelt it.
"Damn you!" said Lord Peter. "I did think I'd stumped you that time. I believe you went and looked it up beforehand. No decent-minded person would know how to spell ipecacuanha out of his own head. Anyway, as you were saying, it's easy to see which side of the family has the detective instinct."
"I didn't say so--"
"I know. Why didn't you? I think my mother's talents deserve a little acknowledgment. I said so to her, as a matter of fact, and she replied in these memorable words: 'My dear child, you can give it a long name if you like, but I'm an old-fashioned woman, and I call it mother-wit, and it's so rare for a man to have it that if he does you write a book about him and call him Sherlock Holmes.'" (97)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Fer-de-lance

8:20 AM Nikki

Fer-de-lance. A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Rex Stout. 1934/1997. Random House. 304 pages.

There was no reason why I shouldn't have been sent for the beer that day, for the last ends of the Fairmont National Bank case had been gathered in the week before and there was nothing for me to do but errands, and Wolfe never hesitated about me running down to Murray Street for a can of shoe polish if he happened to need one. But it was Fritz who was sent for the beer.  

Fer-de-lance is the first Nero Wolfe mystery. It introduces readers to two private detectives, Nero Wolfe, and Archie Goodwin. I'm tempted to add in two of the BEST DETECTIVES in the world. But, I suppose that's just my opinion!

In Fer-de-lance, Fred Durkin introduces a woman to Nero Wolfe, Maria Maffei. This woman is worried about her brother, Carlo Maffei, who has gone missing. Archie Goodwin is sent to investigate. First he interviews those in the boarding house where Carlo lived--those that overheard Carlo's phone conversation; he then looks at Carlo's room, goes through his room looking for clues. He learns from Miss Anna Fiore that Carlo often gave her his newspaper after he was finished with it. The newspaper she got that Monday afternoon had a big hole in it--an entire article had been cut out. Nero Wolfe wants to know what article it was Carlo took such an interest in. After discovering the article was about the death of a golfer, Peter Oliver Barstow, he becomes interested in that death. Soon after Carlo Maffei is no longer missing at all--his body has been found. Though there is no obvious reason to link the two deaths together, to investigate them at the same time--especially since Barstow's death has been accepted as natural--Wolfe is convinced that the two are related. That Barstow was murdered. That his body should be exhumed and tested for poison. He's convinced that finding the murderer of one will lead him to solving the other murder. Who killed Peter Oliver Barstow? Was it poison? Who had motive and opportunity? And did Carlo know it was murder? Did Carlo know who killed Mr. Barstow? Is that how he ended up dead?

So Archie and Nero have plenty of work to do, plenty of clues to follow!

I enjoyed Fer-de-lance. It was fun to read the first mystery in this series. Archie and Nero are great fun in this one. Their dialogue still satisfies me. It's just so delightful to spend time with these two!

Nero Wolfe:

"A pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant." (3)

Nero Wolfe:

"Some day, Archie, when I decide you are no longer worth tolerating, you will have to marry a woman of very modest mental capacity to get an appropriate audience for your wretched sarcasms." (54)

Nero Wolfe:

"People often find it difficult to think in my presence, I do not leave enough space." (96)

Archie Goodwin:

"Everything that the doctor could tell me I had read three days earlier in the newspapers except for a bunch of medical terms which the papers hadn't tried to print for fear of a typesetters' strike." (139)

Archie Goodwin:

"You know what my boss says? He says that skepticism is a good watchdog if you know when to take the leash off." (143)

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin:

"Tell Fritz there will be guests at lunch. What do boys that age eat?"
"They eat everything."
"Tell Fritz to have that." (165)


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Oscar Wilde and the Death of No Importance

9:22 PM Nikki

Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance. Gyles Brandreth. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 368 pages.

From the prologue: My name is Robert Sherard, and I was a friend of Oscar Wilde. We met in Paris in 1883, when he was twenty-eight and already famous, and I was twenty-two and quite unknown. "You must not call me, 'Wilde,'" he said to me at that first encounter. "If I am your friend, Robert, my name to you is Oscar. If we are only strangers, I am Mr. Wilde." We were not strangers. Nor were we lovers. We were friends. And, after his death, I became his first--and his most faithful--biographer. I knew Oscar Wilde and I loved him. 

I was curious about this mystery series starring Robert Sherard, Oscar Wilde, and Arthur Conan Doyle. The novel is set in 1889-1890, in London, for the most part. Oscar Wilde discovers the body of a young boy, Billy Wood, a male prostitute of his acquaintance. Wilde was his tutor, of course. This murder angers him and he turns to his friends, Robert and Arthur, for help. (Arthur, if I remember correctly, is a new acquaintance.) Arthur suggests that they go to his friend Inspector Aidan Fraser for help. Surely this Inspector of Scotland Yard will take on the case and see that justice is done. But sadly no, to everyone's surprise, Billy Wood's death just isn't "big enough" to investigate. But Oscar Wilde is determined and inspired by the fictional Sherlock Holmes, he decides to solve the case himself. He'll follow each and every clue, he'll get the help of some of his friends, and, using his logic and intuition, he'll solve the case. Robert, our narrator, is a little skeptical. How can Wilde solve this one? It's not like they even have a dozen clues to follow. Just a clean floor in a clean room and a missing body. Will that be enough?

I am not sure I liked this one. In fact, there were elements of this one that I didn't really like at all. It is one thing for a murder mystery to have clues hidden subtly and not-so-subtly throughout so that when the big reveal does happen, you feel like you should have seen it coming. Or to admit that though you didn't see it coming, it all makes perfect sense now that all the dots have been connected. But with this one...I don't know if surprise is a strong enough word. Even though Oscar Wilde was quite proud of himself for piecing it all together, even though his version of events, we're led to believe, proved true, I'm still unsatisfied. I don't know if that is because Oscar Wilde did not share ANY of the clues, any of the leads, any of the theories, with our narrator so that Robert remains completely clueless from the first chapter to the last chapter. Or if Robert just didn't have his eyes and ears open. Or if Robert was so obsessed with the Inspector's fiancee that he wasn't thinking at all--let alone thinking logically. Was Robert clueless on purpose so the reader would stay clueless so the big reveal would hold one surprise after another? Or were readers supposed to be solving this case along with Oscar Wilde? Because if readers were supposed to pick up on the 'clues' left by the author...well, I'm only one reader, but it didn't work for me.

I did like the writing, for the most part. There were passages that I really enjoyed. I just wasn't satisfied enough with the mystery of this one.

It is curious how little we remember--even of experiences that seemed so vivid at the time. The mind's eye is not a camera: it is an artist's brush. It provides no photographic record, alas. It can bring back the colour of the day, the feeling of the moment, but the detail is all gone. It's an adequate instrument for poets and painters, but for detectives--useless! (215)

For most of the journey home his nose was buried in a book. We all read--or pretended to. I leafed slowly through my vade mecum--my annotated edition of the maxims of La Rochefoucauld. Veronica pored over a scientific journal devoted to Louis Pasteur's work on immunisation against anthrax. Aidan Fraser read Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men In A Boat--but not, I think, with close attention. He did not laugh once. (270)

It is important to understand others if one is to understand oneself. (295)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Cat Who Played Brahms

10:56 AM Nikki

The Cat Who Played Brahms. Lilian Jackson Braun. 1987. Penguin. 256 pages.

For Jim Qwilleran, veteran journalist, it was one of the most appalling moments of his career.

Jim Qwilleran has had many jobs at The Daily Fluxion, and when the novel opens, he's on his way to being offered a new job as an investigative reporter. But. For Jim that might not be enough. For he's a little unsettled. And what he wants, what he really wants, is time away. He asks for three months vacation. He wants to spend some quiet time in the country at his aunt's cabin by the lake. He may even do a little writing. So he says. But the country may not prove all that quiet and peaceful. And, no, it's not because Koko and Yum Yum, his Siamese, are too lively. (Though to see them in action is something! For example, when someone tries to break into Jim's place, Koko can hold his own and then some!) No, there's something strange going on in this lake community.

For starters, the not-so-hidden messages on cassette tapes...

Even on vacation it seems Qwill and Koko are in demand to solve a mystery! I am enjoying these Cat Who books so much!!! I would definitely recommend them to cat-lovers or mystery lovers!



© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Cat Who Saw Red

2:11 PM Nikki

The Cat Who Saw Red. Lilian Jackson Braun. 1986. Penguin. 250 pages.

Jim Qwilleran slumped in a chair in the Press Club dining room, his six-feet-two telescoped into a picture of dejection and his morose expression intensified by the droop of his oversized mustache.

Jim Qwilleran has just been designated the paper's food critic. Unfortunately, Jim has just been placed on a diet by his doctor. When he gets the news that the paper is going to be paying him to eat at all the local restaurants, he's reading over his diet sheet.
No potatoes
No bread
No cream soups
No fried foods
No gravy
No sour cream
No desserts
No wonder Jim is feeling down! His first assignment takes him to Maus Haus where he crosses paths with an old girlfriend--now married, now a potter. He also learns that there's an apartment to rent. True, Maus Haus houses some very eccentric people, but there's also a great cook and housekeeper. (I'm not quite sure how to feel about Jim moving in every book!) His two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum seem to like this move. And his two cats especially love all the food he's bringing home--since Qwill is on a diet, since he's restricting himself to three bites per dish.

But it isn't long before Jim and Koko are back at work solving another mystery. His ex, Joy Graham, has gone missing, and though her husband claims she's run off--again--this time to Florida--a state Jim knows she hates--it may take him a while to really discover the truth.

I enjoyed this one. I did. I am just loving the Cat Who mysteries. I love Koko and Jim. (I still don't feel like I "know" Yum Yum.) These books are just very satisfying, very cozy.

Qwilleran tried to entertain the group with tales about Koko and Yum Yum. "They can smell through the refrigerator door," he said. "If there's lobster in there, they won't eat chicken, and if there's chicken, they won't eat beef. Salmon has to be a nationally advertised brand; don't ask me how they know. In the morning Koko rings for his breakfast; he steps on the tabulator key of the typewriter, which jerks the carriage and rings the bell. One of these days I think he'll learn to type." (40-41)


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Cat Who Turned On and Off

4:53 PM Nikki

The Cat Who Turned On and Off. Lilian Jackson Braun. 1968. Penguin. 265 pages.

In December the weather declared war. 

I believe this is the third mystery in the Cat Who series by Lilian Jackson Braun. Unfortunately, my library did not have the second book in the series. So it is still a mystery to me how Jim Qwilleran came to have a second Siamese cat. (Koko and Jim became good friends in the first novel, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. The second cat is named Yum Yum. As you'd expect, both cats have PERSONALITY.)

Jim Qwilleran, our human hero, is in search of a heartfelt story with the potential to win a contest at the paper. It's Christmas time, and, well, his cats have gourmet taste in food. And at the start he's living in a hotel room. So does he need the extra money? Of course he does! So he has a moment of inspiration. Why not do a series of articles about Junktown? This neighborhood has become a bit shabby looking in recent years, though to hear things from the residents' point of view, it's because they can't get treated fairly. They would rebuild and repair--if they were allowed to. (But that's a whole other story.) So this district has more than its fair share of antique stores. And so even though Jim Qwilleran isn't especially fond of antiques, he's going to do everything it takes to win this prize. Visiting these stores, talking with their owners, attending their auctions, it's not quite enough. He decides to live there, to see this community from an insider perspective. And this leads him into yet another mystery! For he discovers that the previous tenant of his new apartment was murdered in his antique shop. So he's curious and then some!

I liked this mystery. I am just loving the Cat Who series. I know it's only the second novel I've read in the series, but, well, it feels like love to me!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

11:11 AM Nikki

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. Lilian Jackson Braun. 1966. Compass Press. 227 pages.

Jim Qwilleran, whose name had confounded typesetters and proofreaders for two decades, arrived fifteen minutes early for his appointment with the managing editor of the Daily Fluxion. 

Jim Qwilleran is a new reporter in town. His days of working at a big paper in a big city are behind him--at least for now. And his new assignment, well, it wouldn't be his first choice, or second, or third. For his new job will have him covering artists. And Jim, well, he knows very little about art--especially "modern" art. Since there is already an art critic on staff, one who writes "reviews," he's a little confused about what this new job would require of him. Turns out, he's supposed to focus on the human-interest side of the art scene. So even though he'd rather be writing bigger stories, better stories, money is money is money.

Qwilleran only thought the local art scene would be boring. For within weeks of his taking the job, the owner of a local art gallery is murdered! And this murder is soon followed by an "accidental" death of another local artist. And then by the art critic himself! Can Jim Qwilleran, with a little help from a Siamese cat, solve these crimes?!

I loved this one. I did. I just loved it. I enjoyed Jim Qwilleran right from the start. And as soon as Qwilleran began taking care of his landlord's cat--his landlord having gone out of town for the week--well, I knew it was love. I loved Koko. I did. I thought the mystery was well written and playful and fun. Just something cozy and satisfying about it cover to cover.

Cats have many gifts that are denied humans, and yet we tend to rate them by human standards. To understand a cat, you must realize that he has his own gifts, his own viewpoint, even his own morality. A cat's lack of speech does not make him a lower animal. Cats have a contempt of speech. Why should they talk when they can communicate without words? They manage very well among themselves, and they patiently try to make their thoughts known to humans. But in order to read a cat, you must be relaxed and receptive. (69)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Three At Wolfe's Door

5:34 PM Nikki

Three at Wolfe's Door. Rex Stout. 1960. Viking. 186 pages.

First sentence from Poison a la Carte: I slanted my eyes down to meet her big brown ones, which were slanted up.
First sentence from Method Three for Murder: When I first set eyes on Mira Holt, as I opened the front door and she was coming up the seven steps to the stoop, she was a problem, though only a minor one compared to what followed.
First sentence from The Rodeo Murder: Cal Barrow was standing at the tail end of the horse with his arm extended and his fingers wrapped around the strands of the rope that was looped over the horn of the cowboy saddle.

Three At Wolfe's Door--a Nero Wolfe Threesome--contains three novellas: Poison A La Carte, Method Three for Murder, The Rodeo Murder. Two of the three entertained me: Poison A La Carte and Method Three For Murder. (The third, well, let's just say that Rex Stout's blending of cowboys and cowgirls into New York City wasn't quite to my liking.)

In Poison A La Carte, Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe set out to solve which one of the twelve waitresses (or servers) poisoned Vincent Pyle. The evening was supposed to be pure pleasure. A gourmet meal served by lovely young ladies. Each young woman assigned to a guest. But this evening turned deadly, and it is up to these detectives to find out which woman had the greatest motive to commit murder. It's quite a puzzle, but if anyone can solve it...you can trust Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin!

Method Three for Murder is perhaps my favorite of this threesome. For it begins with a heated argument of sorts between Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe. An argument that ends with Archie leaving Wolfe's employment! On his way out the door, Archie meets a young woman, Mira Holt, who wants to consult with him. She has this question. She tries to make it hypothetical. What if a woman cab driver came back to her cab and discovered a dead body? Of course, Archie, even before seeing the taxi parked in front had his suspicions. But. He takes the case anyway--rushed into a decision perhaps by the arrival of some cops! Can Archie--with the help of Nero Wolfe--solve this mystery?

Rodeo Murder is my least favorite not only of this collection but of all the novels I've read so far. I'm not sure it's worth mention at all.

I enjoyed this one. I'm not sure I loved any of the novellas. Not when comparing them with the other Nero Wolfe novels I've read. Like The Golden Spiders. Like Some Buried Caesar. But I am glad I read it!

My favorite quote from Method Three For Murder:
Over the years at least a thousand people have asked me what the police think, and I appreciate the compliment though I rarely deserve it. Life would be much simpler if I always knew what the police think at any given moment. It's hard enough to know what I think. (95)
My favorite quote from Poison A La Carte:

A young woman to Archie Goodwin:
"I've seen you and I've seen your picture. You like yourself. Don't you?"
"Certainly. I string along with the majority. We'll take a vote. How many of you like yourselves? Raise your hands." (7)


© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Death of a Doxy

7:39 AM Nikki

Death of a Doxy. A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Rex Stout. 1966/1996. Chivers Press. 202 pages.

I stood and sent my eyes around. It's just routine, when leaving a place where you aren't supposed to be, to consider if and where you have touched things, but that time it went beyond mere routine. I made certain. 

Orrie Cather asked Archie Goodwin to 'sneak' into his mistress' apartment to see if he could 'find' certain items that she is holding against him. She is demanding marriage; he is refusing. He is not only in love with another woman, he is going to marry this other woman, a flight attendant named Jill Hardy. But when Archie Goodwin enters the apartment--using Cather's key--he discovers a body. Isabel Kerr has been murdered. Of course, Archie makes a hasty exit, not wanting to be 'the one' who discovered the body. For how could he justify being there without making a mess of things? (This isn't the first time Archie has let others be the one to take credit for finding a body he's already found.)

So a few days later when Orrie Cather is arrested, it is time for Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin (along with a few other associates) to make a decision. How likely is it that their friend, their associate, committed this murder? How likely is it that he is innocent? If they believe he is innocent, they must do what they can to help their friend. They must find enough evidence to stop their friend from being convicted or even from going to trial. The police have stopped looking for other suspects, but Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, well their search for other suspects is just beginning! And so it begins...

I enjoyed Death of a Doxy. The more of these Nero Wolfe mysteries I read, the more I love them. I am just loving these characters. And I am finding Rex Stout's writing style to be completely delightful and charming. A near-perfect cozy mystery.

Archie waiting to speak with Isabel's sister and brother-in-law:

There are a lot of interesting things to do while you're waiting in an upper hall of an apartment house for four hours and twenty minutes. You can count spots and decide which has more, the left wall or the right wall. You can try to sort out smells and decide how many different flavors there are in the over-all effect. You can listen to the wails coming through the door of 7B and decide whether the little lamb is male or female and how old it is, and what steps you would take if you were inside. When people arrive or leave you can look straight at them and notice which ones look back and which ones pretend they haven't seen you. When a hefty, broad-shouldered woman turns after inserting a key into the lock of 7C and asks, "Are you waiting for someone?" you can say pleasantly and distinctly, "Yes," and see how she reacts. On the whole, it was time well spent. My one regret was that I hadn't brought along a chocolate bar, five or six bananas, and a quart of milk. (49)

Archie contemplating the 'nothingness' of his searching:

Of course anything is possible. It was possible that one of the women had thought that Isabel had pinched her lipstick and had gone to get it and got mad and bopped her, or that one of the men hated Rudyard Kipling and couldn't stand a woman who had him bound in leather, but you need something better than ten billion possibles to get your teeth into. Any little piece of straw will do, but you have to have something. For instance, statistics. There are two kinds of statistics, the kind you look up and the kind you make up. (95-96)

Archie on Nero Wolfe's "battle" with the TV:

I had had a long walk. Wolfe had had the Times and a book, and probably, while I was out, his weekly battle with television. That may occur almost any evening, when he has got disgusted with a book, but usually it's a Sunday afternoon, because that's when TV is supposed to be dressed for company. He turns on one channel after another, getting grimmer and grimmer, until he is completely assured that it's getting worse instead of better, and quits. (168)
Other Nero Wolfe mysteries that I've enjoyed: Some Buried Caesar. The Silent Speaker.  The Black Orchid. The Golden Spiders. 

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Too Many Cooks

1:50 PM Nikki

Too Many Cooks. A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Rex Stout. 1938/1993. Bantam. 240 pages.

Walking up and down the platform alongside the train in the Pennsylvania Station, having wiped the sweat from my brow, I lit a cigarette with the feeling that after it had calmed my nerves a little I would be prepared to move the Pyramid of Cheops from Egypt to the top of the Empire State Building with my bare hands, in a swimming suit; after what I had just gone through. But as I was drawing in the third puff I was stopped by a tapping on the window I was passing, and, leaning to peer through the glass, I was confronted by a desperate glare from Nero Wolfe, from his seat in the bedroom which we had engaged in one of the new-style Pullmans, where I had at last got him deposited intact. He shouted at me through the closed window: "Archie! Confound you! Get in here! They're going to start the train! You have the tickets!"
I yelled back at him, "You said it was too close to smoke in there! It's only 9:32! I've decided not to go! Pleasant dreams!"
I sauntered on. Tickets my eye. It wasn't tickets that bothered him; he was frantic with fear because he was alone on the train and it might begin to move. He hated things that moved, and was fond of arguing that nine times out of ten the places that people were on their way to were no improvement whatever on those they were coming from. (1-2)
Too Many Cooks starts off great. The first chapter provides so many laughs! As readers witness Archie and Nero Wolfe at their absolute best. Nero being made so vulnerable through his fear of the train ride ahead. Nero being so pathetic as he pleads for the recipe of his favorite-and-best sausage. And, of course, readers witness Archie's weakness as well--as he meets a beautiful young woman. (The daughter of a famous chef, the chef Nero is pleading with so enthusiastically!) Both Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are on their way to a West Virginian spa. Nero Wolfe is even the guest of honor. He'll have the privilege of making a speech on American cuisine.

Ten of the world's greatest chefs will be gathering at Kanawha Spa. These chefs are elected members of Les Quinze Maitres. Among the celebrating, the speech-making, the tasting, the drinking, the dancing, the gossiping, they'll be electing three new members to replace those that have died since the last big gathering. (I believe they meet every five years?) There is much jesting, much teasing, much quarreling between members. And this leads to one making a boast and setting up a game--a test. It seems to be all in fun.

But then, this chef ends up dead.

Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are on vacation. And at first Nero has no interest at all in 'helping' solve this one. But when this investigation complicates his plans to return to New York, his return to routine, he becomes more cooperative. Can Archie and Nero solve this one before anyone else gets hurt?

I liked this one. I just LOVED the first chapter or two. But this one has its squirmy moments, its awkward moments. You could say it shows its age in race relations. The use of the n-word, for example. The way African Americans are treated with hostility, disrespect, and mistrust by the local police and with condescension and kindness by Nero Wolfe. The way Archie is shocked or startled by the appearance of fourteen African-Americans outside Wolfe's door, they are there to be "questioned" by Wolfe as he tries to solve this one. He doesn't trust the police to do it right. And the way the murderer uses blackface as a disguise when he commits the crime. But it isn't only the treatment of one race or ethnicity that makes this one squirmy. The matter-of-fact way they speak about the Chinese wife of one of the chefs, an eyewitness to the crime. (The police may or may not believe her story. She is Chinese after all.)

There are many things about Too Many Cooks that I did enjoy. There were many things that made it a pleasant read, a satisfying read. It's a good mystery. And the dialogue between Archie and Nero is not to be missed. These two are so much fun! They are two of my favorite characters ever created. But I can't say that it's a perfect read.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Archie Goodwin to Nero Wolfe:
"I am not deaf, sir. And while you can beef as much as you want to, because it's your own breath if you want to waste it, I do object to your implying either in word or tone that I am in any way responsible for your misery. I made this speech up last night, knowing that I would need it. This is your idea, this trip. You wanted to come--at least, you wanted to be at Kanawha Spa. Six months ago you told Vukcic that you would go there on April 6th. Now you regret it. So do I. As far as our engine is concerned, they use only the newest and best on these crack trains, and not even a child--" (3)
Archie on love at first sight:
It takes a long time to know people. How are you going to tell about anyone until you know them? Take love at first sight, for instance, it's ridiculous. That's not love, it's just an acute desire to get acquainted. (23)
Archie being surprised by Nero:
For ten years I had been accustomed to being as sure of finding Nero Wolfe where I had left him as if he had been the Statue of Liberty, unless his house had burned down, and it was upsetting, not to mention humiliating, to find him flitting around like a humming bird for a chance to lick the boots of a dago sausage cook. (34)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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