Went to explore the new location of my favourite second-hand bookshop (which I approve of, although some of the mystery is gone – along with the mustiness) and came home with this book. It’s the second in a series, with all the books titled Face Down “something” .
Author: Kathy Lynn Emerson Year published: 1998 Genre: Mystery Sub-genre(s): Historical Where got: Second-hand book store Cover image
The Story: Susanna, Lady Appleton, is sent to Madderly Castle, ostensibly to help Lady Madderly finish a book on herbology, but in reality to provide an excuse for her husband, Robert, to come there to investigate the murder of a man who was apparently involved in a conspiracy against queen Elizabeth I. Shortly after arriving, the body count starts to mount and Susanna’s young protége, Catherine, falls in love with of one of the prime suspects. Solving the crimes takes the combined efforts of Susanna, Catherine, Robert and a couple of other people working together.
Technique and plot: I have to admit that I have yet to come across a historical mystery series that equals Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, but this will do nicely.
This is a cleverly set up murder mystery that relies upon the premise so favoured by Agatha Christie: all the primary suspects being still present at the scene of the crime when the investigation takes place. It takes the investigators almost the whole book to discover whether the murders were politically motivated or not, the first victim having been suspected of treason and the murderer possibly an accomplice. An experienced reader of mysteries will have guessed the killer’s identity before too many chapters, but will still be kept in doubt as to the motive and correctness of the guess nearly until the end. The inclusion of a romance is a nice touch, especially as the reader is given ample reason to believe that the man Catherine falls in love with might be the killer. Emerson does not fall into the trap some mystery authors are wont to, namely to make the reader dislike the killer (one of the few things I don’t like about The Cat Who series).
The narrative contains some unnecessary but mouth-watering descriptions of food and likewise unnecessarily detailed descriptions of herbal remedies. Being that so much is made of the fact that Lady Appleton is a herbalist and an expert on poisons, I expected this expertize of hers to be in some way related to the investigation, but it was merely used as a device to bring her to the murder scene.
This is quite an interesting mystery – Emerson has found a niche in the mystery market by choosing a era not many mystery authors seem interested in. The language seems genuine enough, with a suitable sprinkling of archaisms and old-fashioned word order, which unfortunately sometimes leaks out into the narrative.
Rating: An interesting mystery that will keep fans of historical mysteries occupied for an afternoon. 3 stars.
I have sometimes wondered just how many great books have been passed over by critics and readers because of a misleading, boring or clichéd title. Titles are such an important selling point of books that it’s a real pity when a good book is given a bad title. A good title – whether it be catchy, original or apt, or even all three - can do so much for a book: make you pick it up, look at the cover, read the blurb, peek inside, even buy it. I have, on occasion, bought books just because they had a good title, and although there have been some lemons among them, they have been outnumbered by the good reads. However, I don’t let a bad title stop me from reading a book – it just takes me longer to decide if I want to read it or not.
The worst kinds of titles in my opinion are a) dull b) clichéd c) cheesy/cutesy.
Most non-fiction titles – especially those of manuals and textbooks - are by necessity often dull and utilitarian because they will sell better if they state exactly what kind of book is behind the title. Not so with fiction and certain kinds of non-fiction, like popular history. People who read fiction do so because they want to escape into a different world for a while. They want to be dazzled, or at least entertained, emotionally moved, inspired or made to laugh. What they don’t want is a title that suggests a computer manual. This calls for titles that will invoke curiosity and draw the reader to the book.
I have on my reading desk three books that will serve well to illustrate the point I’m trying to make. They are popular history books – a genre that often benefits from inventive titles even if it is non-fiction. All are about the same subject – women travellers - approaching it from different angles.
The first is simply titled Victorian Lady Travellers, a utilitarian title that tells the reader exactly what the book is about, but is rather dull. I probably would have passed it over it if hadn’t been sitting on a shelf in the library close to the third title.
The second is Unsuitable for Ladies, and the subject matter is given in the subtitle: “An anthology of women travellers”. This is immediately better: here we have a title that perfectly captures the historical attitude towards female travellers and evokes a curiosity about the contents. (This, by the way, is a brilliant collection of excerpts from women’s travel memoirs that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in travel writing. It has led me to read in full several of the books the excerpts came from.)
The third book is Spinsters Abroad, again with the subject matter in the subtitle: “Victorian Lady Explorers”. This is, in my opinion, the best of the three titles: it’s snappy and playful, and although “spinsters” is not a very positive word, it perfectly captures the nature of the book and the attitudes these women travellers encountered. This is the kind of title that draws you in – when I first spotted it in the library the only hint about it being a history book and not a novel was its location, and I just had to pick it up to find out what it was about.
Original title: Las Piadosas Author: Federico Andahazi, translated from Spanish by Albert Manguel Year published: 1998 (original), 2000 (translation) Genres: Fantasy, gothic horror Subgenre: (dark) humour Where got: Public library
I have already mentioned the suggestive and rather tasteless cover image of this book - indeed it was the first cover I put in my gallery of bad cover art. Well, behind this tasteless cover there lurks a rather entertaining story.
The Story: In the wet summer of 1816, five people arrive at the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Leman: Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin and her stepsister, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, Byron’s secretary. Upon arriving, Polidori finds a mysterious letter in his room, written by a monster who proposes a deal with him: something of his in exchange for literary fame. Polidori, who has suffered much humiliation at the hands of his employer, accepts the deal, but not before further humiliations and events that convince the others that he is going mad.
Technique and plot: The translation is fluid and beautifully done and the book comes across as if it had been written in English. The style is reminiscent of Poe and Lovecraft, and the “monster” is indeed something that Lovecraft could have created. The mixture of third person narrative with the first person epistolatory form gives a nicely balanced account of, on the one hand, Polidori’s despair and irrationality in the company of those so much more accomplished than himself, and on the other, Annette Legrand’s story which is full of horror and strange self-satisfaction. The narrative is darkly humorous, grotesque, cheeky and disrespectful of the main character’s literary and personal aspirations. Andahazi is not kind to his poor protagonist…
I loved the ending, which is something of a twist and would advise anyone who habitually peeks at the ending of books to resist the urge with this one, at least if there is any intention of reading it. But of course the ending isn’t funny unless you have read the entire book…
I have always had problems with authors seizing historical characters and writing novels about them – why can’t they invent their own characters? For example, I hated Brian Aldiss’ Frankenstein Unbound where he writes about the fantasy of fucking Mary Shelley, but I did find this story rather good, perhaps because it is about a person who is more of a footnote in literary history than any kind of contender for real literary immortality (he did write what has been acknowledged to be the first vampire novel, but it isn’t very good).
Rating: A dark and cheeky vampire story with a difference. 4 stars.
Title:Morality for Beautiful Girls Author: Alexander McCall Smith Year published: 2001 Genre: Detective story, literature Where got: Public library Cover image
It’s easy to imagine you’re in Africa when you’re sweating away – the sun has been shining all day and the temperature inside my apartment is around 28°C and feels hotter.
The Story: The detective agency is having financial difficulties and to save money, Precious has moved the office to her fiancé’s office. Mr. Matekoni is not feeling well, but refuses to see a doctor, and Precious has to go away for a few days to find out if a client’s sister-in-law is really trying to poison her husband. Meanwhile, her assistant/secretary, Mma Makutsi, takes over both the agency and the garage and runs both with efficiency. While Precious is away, she is handed a case to solve, which relates to the book’s title.
Technique and plot: As with the other two books, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity, even poetic at times, and flows easily. These books just keep getting better, and I have begun to feel that Precious and Mr. Matekoni are real people and that Smith has merely been writing down their story.
Rating: A third, brilliant installation in the saga of Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency. 5 stars.
Title:The Cat Who Blew the Whistle Author: Lilian Jackson Braun Year published: 1995 Genre: Mystery Sub-genre(s): Whodunit Where got: Public library Cover image
Of the Cat Who books I’ve read, this is probably the most mysterious mystery – although in the end it turned out I had guessed correctly the identity of one of the criminals, I did get another one wrong and was uncertain about the other right until the denouement. Unlike the previous books I have read in the series, this one definitely hints at Koko the cat being psychic rather than merely very intelligent, which is fine by me but may detract from the enjoyment by some readers who don’t like cats.
Rating: Another great mystery from Lilian Jackson Braun. 4 stars and 5 purrs.
I have been on a reading spree for the past few days – one or two books per day, so there will be an unusually large number of bonus reviews during this week. I love being on holiday!
Author: Lilian Jackson Braun Year published: 1987 Genre: Mystery Sub-genre(s): Whodunit Where got: Public library
This is the fifth Cat Who… book, and just as enjoyable as the other ones I’ve read in the series. These delightful mysteries are short enough to make a nice diversion for a couple of hours, and they never fail to entertain.
The Story: Chicago journalist Jim Qwilleran has decided to write a novel and has accepted the offer of a country cabin somewhere “up north” for the summer. The owner is Aunt Fanny, an old friend of his mother’s. Once he arrives with his cats, mysterious events start happening, a neighbour is murdered, Qwilleran may have witnessed another murder, and the locals aren’t about to let an outsider dig any deeper than necessary. Just when the mystery is solved, Qwilleran has to make a choice between going back to Chicago and accepting a job as an investigative journalist (something he has always wanted to do), or to become very wealthy and spend the next five years living in Moose County.
Technique and plot: As with the other Braun books I’ve read, this is written in an easy and flowing style, with wonderful descriptions of people and places. The plot is well laid out and not too predictable, and, this being the oldest Cat Who book I’ve read, it explains quite a number of things I had wondered about when reading the other books.
Rating: A delightful little mystery with especial appeal to cat lovers. 3 stars and 4 purrs.
Author: Neil Gaiman Year published: 2002 Genre: Horror, thriller, children’s Where got: Public library Cover image
The Story: One day, Coraline Jones opens a locked door inside her parent’s apartment and enters a world where she has another, oddly different, set of parents waiting for her. At first it’s wonderful, but it quickly becomes apparent that her other mother has no intention of letting her go. Coraline must use all her ingenuity and imagination to free the other children that have been trapped in there and rescue her real parents from this strange world and its evil ruler.
Technique and plot: Wonderfully written in the flowing lyrical style that made Stardust such a joy to read. The story is simple but good and everything is very matter-of-fact, which is why the dark subject matter never becomes too scary. Coraline is a very practical child, unlike the very silly Alice from Alice in Wonderland, to which this book has been likened by reviewers.
Rating: A wonderful, scary story for children that is destined to become a classic. 5 stars.
There is a curious snobbery going on among certain readers, and in fact among many non-readers as well. It’s quite normal for readers to shun genres they don’t like – I do that, although I’m doing less of it after I started this challenge - but a certain group turn up their noses at the people who read certain genres. The victims of this snobbery are on the one hand sci-fi and fantasy fans, and romance readers on the other. Being an avid reader of fantasy, I have noticed that that when I mention my literary preferences, these people seem to think I must be a kooky, head-in-the-clouds kind of person who doesn’t like having to deal with reality. However, fantasy/sci-fi fans seem to get off lightly compared with romance fans.
The literary snobs seem to be under the impression that all romances are formulaic, escapist, mindless and simplistic soft porn written by women for women, that no one in her right mind would read and the readers must therefore be weak minded, badly educated and lovelorn. The same persons will wax lyrical about romantic classics like Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind and Wuthering Heights. Confronted with this contradiction, they will point out that these books are “so much more than love stories”. Well, so are romances.
You can get books listed as romances where the focus is on social manners and adventure and hero and heroine don’t even acknowledge their love or kiss until the very end of the book (for example most of Barbara Cartland and many Regency and historical romances). You can also find romance books where nearly all the protagonists do is jump in and out of each other’s beds between arguments (many bodice rippers). Most romances take the middle ground, mixing romance with other plot elements, the nature of which depends on the sub-genre.
There are many romance sub-genres that are as different from each other as crime thrillers are from inspirational stories, and in fact these are both well-known romance sub-genres. Other sub-genres include medical, supernatural, fantasy, science fiction, historical and baby romances. Take any of the classics I mentioned, and you will find that although they are not pure romances, romance is a sub-genre of all of them.
Now, on a certain level I understand these snobs – they have been taught that certain kinds of literature are better than others, and in fact they probably wouldn’t admit that paperback romances are literature. I know some of my old English Lit. teachers think like that. But what I really don’t get is when people who profess to read popular literature authors like Stephen King and John Grisham really think they have a right to look down on people who prefer Nora Roberts and Nicholas Sparks.
Author: Alexander McCall Smith Year published: 2000 Where got: Public library Genre: Detective story, literature Cover image
Had a sleepless night and rather than allow myself to be frustrated over it, I decided to read a book and picked Tears of the Giraffe, the second of Alexander McCall Smith’s books about Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only lady private detective. The first one was the wonderful The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
The story: Precious has been handed her most difficult case to date: to find out what happened to a young American who disappeared on the edge of the Kalahari desert 10 years ago. In the meantime, Mr. Matekoni gets talked into taking on a pair of orphans, and his maid plots to get rid of Precious so she can continue to meet her male “friends” at Mr. Matekoni’s house during the day. Last, but not least, Precious’ secretary, Mma Makutsi, gets promoted to assistant detective and gets her first case.
Technique and plot: As in the previous book, there are multiple plots in this one, although not as many. The previous book was a collection of stories with only a vague narrative thread. This one has a clear narrative thread with the occasional independent story thrown in. The narrative is written in the same beautiful, fluid and simple language as the first book, and there is a good deal of philosophy in the story. I love how, without going into too many details, Smith can make the reader feel as if she is in Africa.
Rating: Another great Precious Ramotswe story, even better than the first. 4+ stars.
The late Georgette Heyer is usually considered to have been the mother of that very popular romance sub-genre, the Regency romance. As the name suggests, those stories take place in England during the Regency period and Regency social customs, manners and language play an important part. The Regency is of course also the period when the books of Jane Austen take place, which perhaps partly explains the popularity of this sub-genre. I will now turn the explaining over to those dedicated ladies at All About Romance:
Author: Monique Ellis Year published: 1999 Where got: public library Genre: Romance, Regency Cover image
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to add a bit of romance to my reading list. Well, I posted a request on a romance readers message board and got oodles of suggestions. Guess what – the city library has maybe 2 out of about 40 recommended books, and those are located in branches out in the suburbs. Did I mention I live in the city centre and I don’t have a car? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. After all this is Iceland and I can’t expect the library to have every foreign book I want.
So I went back and picked up some likely looking books that looked as if they weren’t too torrid – no bodice rippers for me, at least not yet…
Anyway, Dauntry’s Dilemma was one of the books I came home with.
The story: The year is 1813 and former British army officer Quintus Dauntry has been called home to the ancestral estate in order to deal with the family ghost which has reappeared after an absence of a century or more. His parents and older brother and his family have decamped, leaving Dauntry alone with the servants, in full control of the estate finances and with the instructions to do whatever it takes to get rid of the ghost before it causes irreparable harm. Suspecting the servants of conspiring to scare the profligate viscount into doing his duty by the parish – which he has been neglecting in favour of trying to be fashionable – Dauntry sets out to make amends. His first action is to visit the parish priest where he is instantly smitten by the priest’s widowed sister – Cecelia Walters - and charmed by her son, Thomas. When he discovers that Cecelia and Tommy have been cheated out of their inheritance by her harridan of a mother-in-law, Dauntry and his band of merry friends set out to regain the inheritance for her. This he does even though it means he will not be able to ask her to marry him because it would look like he, a penniless younger son, had married her for her money, an action which would carry great negative social consequences for him. Of course the ending is a happy one and with the ghost’s help Dauntry is able to marry his love without any social stigma.
Technique and plot: This is for the most part a rather slow narrative, only picking up speed in the second half when Dauntry and friends go to London to try to solve Cecelia and Thomas’ problem. The romance element is subtle – we are basically watching a man falling in love and trying not to show it. It is for the most part well written, but I found some of the dialogue completely unintelligible – I think the author may have been trying too hard to use phraseology that sounded authentic. As to Dauntry’s dilemma: not being able to marry Cecelia once she’s restored to her riches because he will be considered to be a gold-digger; it comes across to me as a case of foolish pride – if he really loves her so much, who does he even care if he ruins his gentlemanly reputation for her? Marriages for money were hardly an uncommon occurrence in those days, even among the gentry and nobility, some of whom married people of lower social status merely for money. In Regency society it would have been practically expected of someone like Dauntry – a younger son, not entitled to inherit title, land or property – to marry for money. The author tries her best to convince us that Dauntry loves Cecelia with all his heart and is at the same time such an honourable man that he will not ruin his reputation by marrying her, but this plot device isn't quite convincing. Mind you, it does make a good story anyway, and it’s perhaps wisest not to expect too much historical accuracy from a narrative that is meant to entertain rather than educate.
Rating: A sweet, romantic story with a supernatural element and a bit of action. 3 stars.
I finished reading Stormy Weather last night. I have listened to three Hiassen books on audio (this is the first one I have read) and this one has a lot in common with the others: multiple main characters, corrupt officials, murder, mayhem, inventive nastiness and poetic justice. Like the others, it's also very funny in places - explosively funny in fact and definitely not the kind of book you want to read on public transport if you want to avoid funny looks from your fellow passengers.
Hiaasen has developed certain stock characters that he recycles in his books. In those books I have read or listened to (Stormy Weather, Strip Tease, Native Tongue, Skin Tight) the only difference is in their names, appearance, profession and age. Their thought processes and actions are much the same. There is the physically deformed goon who only goes by a nickname, the tough good guy who doesn’t know what to do with himself, the corrupt official who will do anything rather than get caught, the sweet and pretty damsel in distress, the bad girl who uses men like tools, and of course the minor cast of people whose role it is to die in stupid and spectacular ways worthy of the The Darwin Awards. Corruption and corrupted officials and criminals getting their comeuppance is a common theme in all of these books. There is a quite a lot of rather graphic violence, sometimes grueling but occasionally quite funny in a visceral sort of way.
I think that for maximum enjoyment, you need to give yourself a break between Hiaasen’s books. Otherwise you will quickly get tired of the stock characters.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t read Hiaasen because of these repetitive characters - quite the contrary. After 2-3 books they become like old friends and it’s fun to recognize them when they appear. I think Hiaasen’s books have great plots and they just keep getting funnier.
I participate in link exchanges, but only with book and reading websites. Requests for link exchanges can be posted in Comments. I DO NOT exchange links with commercial websites, so don’t ask.
About me
What this blog is about:
Reading and books.
If you’re wondering about the name 52 books, it stems from a book-a-week reading challenge I set myself. The challenge is over, but I'm still reading, and will continue to blog about the books I read and my reading experiences, and other stuff connected with books and reading.
I rate the books (if I feel like it), giving them stars ranging from zero to 5.
Books I have already read (sporadically updated):Cover gallery
Note: Some of the entries are linked to the months the reviews appeared in, because I made several entries for each book. I have marked those reviews with an asterix (*). If you want to read the whole review from beginning to end, you must scroll down and read from the bottom up (but you probably already knew that ;-) >
