And Be A Villain (1948)

And Be A Villain. (Nero Wolfe). Rex Stout. 1948. 256 pages. [Source: Book I Bought]

And Be A Villain is the first, but probably not the last, Nero Wolfe mystery I'll be reading this year. Rex Stout has created two very enjoyable, very unforgettable characters in Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. In this mystery, they are almost actually working with the police to solve a high profile murder. Wolfe has been hired by a radio personality. One of her guests was murdered--poisoned--while on her show. Awkward indeed. The radio show is sponsored by a beverage company, and the guest's drink was poisoned. There are only a handful of people in the room, at the station, that would have had access to the drink and/or the glasses. It is up to Goodwin and Wolfe, of course, to figure out which one of these unlikely suspects is a murderer; and these suspects have been questioned again and again and again by the police. But this detective team is the best, and they spot clues missed by the police...but will it be enough? Will the answer come too late?

I enjoyed And Be A Villain. Do you have a favorite Nero Wolfe mystery? Have you seen the television adaptations?


© 2014 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Black Dudley Murder (1929)

The Black Dudley Murder. Margery Allingham. 1929. 224 pages. [Source: Bought]

I'm so glad that The Black Dudley Murder was not my first introduction to Margery Allingham or Albert Campion. (The Case of the Late Pig was a fantastic introduction.)

George Abbershaw, our narrator, is a house-guest at a weekend party in a country house. (The "country house" is quite gothic in nature.) He accepted the invitation because he's madly in love with a young woman, Margaret Oliphant, and he'd heard that she was to be in attendance. A whole weekend with her, he might even work up the nerve to propose! Other than Wyatt Petrie, he knows no other guests at all. His narration reveals his first impressions, and some of these first impressions at least are quite correct.

Typically when one goes to a party, one expects to be able to leave when one wants. Even if the host dies of a "heart attack." But that is not the case in The Black Dudley Murder. The guests find themselves held hostage. They have no contact with the world, no way to alert anyone--neighbors, police, etc. of the dangerous situation. (Even if they could manage to get to the garage and their cars without being shot or caught and bound, the cars have all been drained of gasoline.)

Albert Campion is a minor character in this one. He is not the hero of the day--or the hour--and he doesn't exactly steal the scenes he's in. I had a hard time enjoying any of the characters in this one. Or perhaps it's better to say I had a hard time getting to know any of the characters. Perhaps reading Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy Sayers has spoiled me.

English detectives are a race apart. They are evident at the first glance. (87)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Wool Omnibus Edition (2013)

Wool (Omnibus Edition, Wool 1-5). Hugh Howey. 2013. Simon & Schuster. 508 pages. [Source: Library]

The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do. While they thundered about frantically above, Holston took his time, each step methodical and ponderous, as he wound his way around and around the spiral staircase, old boots ringing out on metal treads. 

After seeing Seth's review of Wool, I knew I HAD to read this book. It had me at hello. The first story "Wool" had me hooked. It was so very, very good! So incredibly compelling! And the other sections kept me hooked, kept me reading. It was so hard to put this one down. I just loved spending time with it. It was uncomfortable in places because the action was intense and one didn't know what the outcome would be, but that is a good thing. It showed I CARED about the characters.

The world-building in this novel is amazing. So well-done, so well-crafted. It felt genuine too; readers are shown what life is like in the silo; sometimes in dystopian novels, the emphasis is on the telling.

In the first story, "Wool," readers meet Sheriff Holston and learn of his wife, Allison. A few years before the novel begins, Allison learned something: something big, something secret. She thought she had all the answers. This knowledge made her appear quite mad to most. It led her to do something illegal: ask to go outside the silo. To ask such a thing clearly shows your insane. The only fit punishment is to send the person outside--in a well-protected environmental suit. The punishment also includes CLEANING the lenses; after a cleaning, those who want can look outside at the barren world...if they're willing to climb all those stairs! Most born in the lower levels (there are 149 levels, I believe) don't ever go journeying that far. After two years of mourning his wife, he thinks he has learned his wife's secret knowledge. He's prepared to follow her now...

In the four subsequent sections, readers meet several key characters. The deputy that served under Holston, the mayor of the Silo, the head of the IT department, etc. Most importantly they meet Juliette, a young mechanic working and living on one of the lowest levels. She has zero interest in being sheriff. But those in power (well, excepting Bernard from IT) have confidence that she'll do a fine job. (Bernard wants his own pick to get the job.) Juliette accepts the job, but it soon proves extremely challenging and very dangerous! It doesn't take readers long to see the power is corrupted. Readers meet a handful of characters from various levels, and the story as a whole is very compelling.

The writing, the characterizations, the way relationships were handled, everything felt just right about this science fiction novel. If you enjoy dystopian novels, post-apocalyptic novels, OR mystery novels, then this one is a must! 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Death in the Clouds (1935)

Death in the Clouds (Death in the Air). Agatha Christie. 1935. 253 pages [Source: Library]

I really enjoyed this Hercule Poirot novel. In this mystery, Poirot is traveling from France to England via airplane. On his trip, one of the passengers dies. For a few seconds at least, it is suspected that a wasp sting is to blame for Madame Giselle's death. But only for a few seconds. A dart is found, a poisoned dart, no doubt. The question is which passenger is a murderer? Poirot has quite a mystery to solve. 

I definitely enjoyed this one! Readers get to know many of the passengers. In particular readers get to know a certain young lady, a hair dresser named Jane Grey. This mystery will take Poirot (and others) back and forth between the two countries. Some clues can only be found in France, for example. Can Poirot solve the crime before the police?

The more I read of Hercule Poirot, the more forgiving I am of his arrogance. Poirot can brag and boast; I'm not sure there is any of his mysteries where he doesn't have a big ego. But Poirot is impressive, and his reputation is well-earned.

Do you have a favorite Hercule Poirot novel? 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Case of the Cautious Coquette (1949)

The Case of the Cautious Coquette (Perry Mason #34). Erle Stanley Gardner. 1949. 230 pages. [Source: Bought]

I loved, loved, loved this Perry Mason mystery! Paul Drake has placed an ad in several newspapers. He's looking for information about a hit-and-run accident. He receives a letter with a key in it; the anonymous writer assures him that he will find the license plate number for the car in the accident in the desk in the apartment mentioned. The letter even tells him when the apartment will be empty. Drake is extremely suspicious as you might imagine! So, of course, he takes it to Perry Mason. Mason is curious and skeptical. Who sent the letter and the key? Being wise, he goes to see the woman in question, Lucille Barton. Almost from the moment he meets her, he feels that it's a trap, but it will take some time to know WHO set the trap and WHY. Barton knows nothing about any accident, but, she could use a lawyer in a dispute with her ex-husband. Mason declines, but he can't really escape the mess he's in. Not really. If you're familiar with Perry Mason...at all...you know that sooner or later every case turns to murder!

Perry Mason is GREAT in this one. In one situation after another, he just made me SMILE again and again. I especially loved Lt. Tragg in this one!!! There are some WONDERFUL scenes!

This mystery novel is a delight from start to finish!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Death on the Nile (1937)

Death on the Nile. Agatha Christie. 1937/2007. Black Dog & Leventhal. 352 pages. [Source: Library]

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. It is such a great mystery, very complex! Hercule Poirot and Colonel Race find themselves on board a ship on the Nile, they are in interesting company. Poirot notices the tension between some of his fellow travelers from the very start. And as he takes the time to get to know everyone, to have personal chats with almost every one, his unease only increases. He fears that before the trip is over, murder will have been committed. But who shall the victim be? And who the murderer? Meanwhile, Race is on a mission of his own before a body is even found. He is on the trail of a killer, a radical. He's not sure WHO his man is, just knows that he is almost certainly on board, that is where his clues have led him. When the oh-so-wealthy heiress, Linnet Ridgeway, is murdered on her honeymoon with Simon Doyle, there are plenty of suspects. For not all of the passengers on board are exactly strangers to her....

The first part of this one is set in England, but the rest is all set in Egypt.

This one had me from the start. It was so thrilling! Not only was the plot interesting and surprising and wonderful, the characterization was so well done!!!

My favorite quote:

"Do people interest you too, Monsieur Poirot? Or do you reserve your interest for potential criminals?"
"Madame--that category would not leave many people outside it." (96)

ETA: After reading the book, I wanted to watch the movie adaptation. I really ENJOYED the movie. It stars David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, JJ Feild as Simon Doyle, and Emily Blunt as Linnet Ridgeway, to name just a few. Feild, of course, "is" Henry Tilney. I recognized him right away. And Emily Blunt is equally "Queen Victoria." It was fun to see familiar faces in fascinating roles. If you've read the book recently OR if you remember the characters you'll guess just why. This was my first Poirot adaptation. I've seen plenty of Miss Marple, however.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

A Blunt Instrument (1938)

A Blunt Instrument. Georgette Heyer. 1938. Sourcebooks. 309 pages.

 I hated A Blunt Instrument. I loved a Blunt Instrument. Blunt Instrument stars one of the most ANNOYING (and offensive) characters I've ever found in a mystery: Constable Malachi Glass. What makes him annoying? He only speaks in Scripture. Almost every single sentence out of his mouth--no matter the situation or context--is a quote from Scripture. So his coworkers--Inspector Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway--could be asking a perfectly logical question extremely relevant to the murder case in question, and do they get a logical response? No! They are stuck with Glass who is more of a puzzle than a help. (If Glass is supposed to represent a "Christian" I'd be very offended! Glass is anything but.) Glass is the main reason I "hated" this mystery novel.

However, there were plenty of reasons why I LOVED it as well. There were two possibilities for romance in this one, and I happened to care about both couples! Some of the suspects in this murder mystery were so fascinating! Helen North, a neighbor, is one suspect, as is her husband, John. (The two are separated.) Helen's sister, Sally Drew, lives with her and she's a detective writer, I believe. Another memorable character and another big suspect is Neville Fletcher, the nephew-and-heir of the victim. And I really have come to enjoy seeing Inspector Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway work together!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

They Found Him Dead (1937)

They Found Him Dead. Georgette Heyer. 1937. Sourcebooks. 325 pages

Some books should be read in a certain order. If only I had read They Found Him Dead before reading Duplicate Death, I think I would have enjoyed Duplicate Death SO much more if I'd met Jim Kane and Patricia Allison and Timothy Harte first in the pages of They Found Him Dead!

This mystery novel is vibrant and busy! Silas Kane died on his sixtieth birthday party--a tragic accident, so everyone believes except for the exuberant Timothy! He sees MYSTERY and CRIME everywhere he looks. But when Silas Kane's heir, Clement, is murdered just a short time later, others join Timothy in thinking that there is a killer in their midst! Jim Kane is the next heir, and Timothy and Miss Allison are worried that he'll be the next victim. And it appears the danger is very real as several attempts are made on his life...

Can Inspector Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway solve the case in time? Will Timothy be a big help or a hindrance?

What I loved about this mystery novel is the characterization. Even when the characters were despicable--and a few of them were--there is something about them making them a joy to read about! This novel has so many QUIRKY characters. A few of the characters I really did love!

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Behold, Here's Poison (1936)

Behold, Here's Poison. Georgette Heyer. 1936/2009. Sourcebooks. 330 pages.

I definitely LOVED this mystery by Georgette Heyer. Gregory Matthews has been poisoned. At first, the family assumed his death was of natural causes, but one insistent aunt sees differently. The aunt's instincts proved correct: he was poisoned by nicotine! Inspector Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway are assigned the case. I have come to appreciate Inspector Hannasyde very much! (I also LOVED seeing Giles Carrington again!)

The entire family is on the list of suspects. And to be honest, the family is that dysfunctional so it would make sense that the suspect list would be a long one.

I enjoyed this one for the characters. (I loved Stella, and Randall definitely grew on me!!!) I found this one oh-so-satisfying.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Death in the Stocks (1935)

Death in the Stocks. Georgette Heyer. 1935/2009. Sourcebooks. 314 pages.

Death in the Stocks may just be my favorite Georgette Heyer mystery so far. I really enjoyed Why Shoot A Butler, and, Envious Casca had its great moments. But. Death in the Stocks was so enjoyable throughout. Some murder mysteries take too long to introduce the corpse, that is NOT the case in Death in the Stocks! Readers get a chance to know all the suspects and work alongside the detectives in solving the mystery. Of course, not all the characters were lovely people that you'd want to spend time with. But were they CHARACTERS? they were! And sometimes that is just what I need in a good book!!!

My favorite characters were Giles Carrington and Inspector Hannasyde.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Five Red Herrings (1931)

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.

I enjoyed rereading The Five Red Herrings. This one is not a particular favorite of mine. But it is always fun to spend time with Lord Peter and Bunter! In this mystery, Lord Peter is visiting a small community of artists in Scotland. One of the most obnoxious artists gets murdered within the opening chapters. There are plenty of suspects, plenty of motives, plenty of opportunities. Hardly anyone in this community has a good, believable alibis. It seems like most of the suspects are keeping back things from the police. Can Lord Peter solve the crime? If anyone can do it, he can. For it was his detective instincts which showed this death was murder and not an accident. He KNOWS that there is a huge clue to solving the crime, a clue that the police don't place the same importance on. Which is why Lord Peter may just be one of the best!

Favorite quotes:

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)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Strong Poison (1930)

Strong Poison. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1930/1995. HarperCollins. 272 pages.

There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.

I am rereading Dorothy Sayer's mysteries this year. Strong Poison was one of the first mysteries I read, and it was great fun to return to it! Strong Poison introduces Harriet Vane into Lord Peter Wimsey's life. She is on trial for murder, suspected of poisoning an ex-boyfriend. Lord Peter falls in love with her almost instantly, and decides to trust his instincts that she just has to be innocent of the crime. In a very short time, her fate will be decided. So if Lord Peter is to have a chance of a happily ever after, he must get his new love acquitted! He needs to solve this case quickly! He has quite a bit of help in gathering together clues and evidence and building a strong case to prove Harriet's innocence and another person's guilt.

  I really enjoyed this one cover to cover! I love Lord Peter and Bunter and Inspector Charles Parker and the Dowager! I think I was able to appreciate the characters more since I've become familiar with the whole story now.

Favorite quotes:

I have been reading one of her books, really quite good and so well-written, and I didn't guess the murderer till page 200, rather clever, because I usually do it about page 15. So very curious to write books about crimes and then be accused of a crime one's self, some people might say it was a judgment. (27) -- The Dowager to her son

Wimsey sat down and waited, a prey to curious sensations. Presently there was a noise of footsteps, and the prisoner was brought in, attended by a female wardress. She took the chair opposite to Wimsey, the wardress withdrew and the door was shut. Wimsey, who had risen, cleared his throat.
"Good afternoon, Miss Vane," he said unimpressively.
The prisoner looked at him.
"Please sit down," she said in the curious, deep voice which had attracted him in Court. "You are Lord Peter Wimsey, I believe, and have come from Mr. Crofts."
"Yes," said Wimsey. Her steady gaze was unnerving him.
"Yes, I--er--I heard the case and all that, and--er--I thought there might be something I could do, don't you know."
"That was very good of you," said the prisoner.
"Not at all, not at all, dash it! I mean to say, I rather enjoy investigating things, if you know what I mean."
"I know. Being a writer of detective stories, I have naturally studied your career with interest."
She smiled suddenly at him and his heart turned to water.
"Well, that's rather a good thing in a way, because you'll understand that I'm not really such an ass as I'm looking at present."
That made her laugh.
"You're not looking an ass--at least, not more so than any gentleman should under the circumstances. The background doesn't altogether suit your style, but you are a very refreshing sight. And I'm really very grateful to you, though I'm afraid I'm rather a hopeless case." (37)

"I quite see that," said Wimsey. "Such a Victorian attitude, too, for a man with advanced ideas. He for God only, she for God in him, and so on. Well, I'm glad you feel like that about it."
"Are you? It's not going to be exactly helpful in the present crisis."
"No, I was looking beyond that. What I mean to say is, when all this is over, I want to marry you, if you can put up with me and all that."
Harriet Vane, who had been smiling at him, frowned, and an indefinable expression of distaste came into her eyes.
"Oh, are you another of them? That makes forty-seven."
"Forty-seven what?" asked Wimsey, much taken aback.
"Proposals. They come in by every post. I suppose there are a lot of imbeciles who want to marry anybody who's at all notorious."
"Oh," said Wimsey. "Dear me, that makes it very awkward. As a matter of fact, you know, I don't need any notoriety. I can get into the papers off my own bat. It's no treat to me. Perhaps I'd better not mention it again."
His voice sounded hurt, and the girl eyed him rather remorsefully.
"I'm sorry--but one gets rather a bruised sort of feeling in my position. There have been so many beastlinesses."
"I know," said Lord Peter. "It was stupid of me--"
"No, I think it was stupid of me. But why--?"
"Why? Oh, well--I thought you'd be rather an attractive person to marry. That's all. I mean, I sort of took a fancy to you. I can't tell you why. There's no rule about it, you know."
"I see. Well, it's very nice of you."
"I wish you wouldn't sound as if you thought it was rather funny. I know I've got a silly face, but I can't help that. As a matter of fact, I'd like somebody I could talk sensibly to, who would make life interesting. And I could give you a lot of plots for your books, if that's any inducement."
"But you wouldn't want a wife who wrote books, would you?"
"But I should; it would be great fun. So much more interesting than the ordinary kind that is only keen on clothes and people. Though of course, clothes and people are all right too, in moderation. I don't mean to say I object to clothes."
"And how about the old oaks and the family plate?"
"Oh, you wouldn't be bothered with them. My brother does all that…" (39-40)

"What a clear mind you have," said Miss Climpson.
"When I die you will find 'Efficiency' written on my heart. (47)

"Oh, and Bunter."
"My lord?"
"It seems that I am being obvious. I have no wish to be anything of the kind. If you see me being obvious, will you drop me a hint?"
"Certainly, my lord." (70)

It was natural that the conversation should turn to the subject of murder. Nothing goes so well with a hot fire and buttered crumpets as a wet day without and a good dose of comfortable horrors within. (85) 

"If anybody ever marries you, it will be for the pleasure of hearing you talk piffle," said Harriet, severely. (111)

"Damn it, she writes detective stories and in detective stories virtue is always triumphant. They're the purest literature we have." (115)

"Oh, God! Shall I ever live down this disastrous reputation for tom-foolery?" (150)

"Anything a Wimsey does is is right and heaven help the person who gets in the way. We've even got a damned old family motto about it…" (213)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Red Box (1936)

The Red Box. Nero Wolfe. (Nero Wolfe #4) 1936. 266 pages.

I really enjoyed The Red Box by Rex Stout. It is the fourth mystery in the Nero Wolfe series. In this one, Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe are trying to solve a murder. A young woman has been murdered--death by chocolate; the almond candy in a box of luxurious candy was poisoned. No one is admitting knowledge of where the box of candies came from. So was this young woman, Molly Lauck, the intended victim? Wolfe doesn't think so. He's convinced the killer will make another attempt. Can he solve the crime in time to prevent a second death?

I really love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series. I love Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe. The series is very enjoyable. I would definitely recommend! 

Others in the series include: The Doorbell Rang,  The League of Frightened Men, The Rubber Band, Black Orchids. Silent Speaker. Some Buried Caesar. The Golden Spiders. Death of a Doxy. Three at Wolfe's Door. Too Many Cooks. Fer-de-lance. Too Many Women. Champagne for One.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Detection Unlimited (1944)

Detection Unlimited. Georgette Heyer. 1944/2010. Sourcebooks. 378 pages.

This is the fourth Georgette Heyer mystery I've read. I really loved the first two I read: Why Shoot a Butler and Envious Casca. I had a few issues with Duplicate Death, though it wasn't awful. I enjoyed Detection Unlimited much more than Duplicate Death. But I still can't say that I loved it as much as Envious Casca and Why Shoot a Butler.

Inspector Hemingway is called to solve a murder case. The victim was VERY unpopular in his neighborhood. And there are plenty of likely suspects from all sorts of backgrounds. The neighborhood has more secrets than one might expect. Each suspect has a theory of who did it. And they're all most cooperative to point out why everyone else has a better motive and/or better opportunity. But the Inspector doesn't need each suspect to play detective as well!

Many scenarios are presented in this one, but the solving of the mystery is so sudden and rushed that I didn't find it satisfying.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Duplicate Death (1951)

Duplicate Death. Georgette Heyer. 1951/2010. Sourcebooks. 352 pages.

I didn't enjoy Duplicate Death quite as much as Envious Casca. I thought the description on the back of the book was deceptive and confusing. The back of the book mentions a certain "Timothy Kane" and the book itself is clear throughout that it is Mr. Timothy Harte. Since this character is first introduced in chapter two as YOUNG MR. HARTE, it can be confusing until you realize that the book description is off. (The description also asserts that this character is friends with Inspector Hemingway; I found this not quite true. Inspector Hemingway apparently met this person when he was a teenager--14--and they've not seen each other in over a decade. Not exactly how I'd define a friendship. It is true that Inspector Hemingway is on friendly enough terms with Timothy once they're reacquainted on this case, which is something since Mr. Harte is technically one of a handful of suspects that had the opportunity to murder the victim.) I also didn't enjoy the ODD narration of the first and last chapters. While it isn't exactly an unsatisfactory beginning, it definitely didn't work for me as an ending.

The characters we get to know best are Timothy Harte and his girl, Miss Beulah Birtley. Miss Birtley is employed by the oh-so-disagreeable Mrs. Haddington. It is at one of her bridge parties that the first murder occurs.

There are two murders to be solved in this one; there are also additional crimes to be handled. This was one of the first mysteries I've read that deal with drug dealing and drug addiction. I didn't enjoy the characterization in this one as much as in Envious Casca, and some of the dialogue didn't work for me.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Envious Casca (1941)

Envious Casca. Georgette Heyer. 1941/2010. Sourcebooks. 396 pages.

Envious Casca is locked-room murder mystery set during the Christmas holidays! Joseph Herriard has taken it upon himself to invite the whole family to his brother's house for Christmas. His brother, Nathaniel, is quite upset by the party, even before it gets properly started! And many of his guests are just as unenthusiastic as he is! The guests include Nathaniel's longtime business partner (Edgar Mottisfont), Nathaniel's niece (Paula) and her guest--a playwright (Willoughby), Nathaniel's nephew (Stephen) and his fiancee (Valerie), and a distant family cousin (Mathilda). Joseph and his wife, Maud, already live with Joseph at his estate, Lexham Manor. It soon becomes apparent to the reader that few of the guests can tolerate one another. Oh, some are better at pretending they can, but, the truth is all the guests are disgruntled for various reasons. (Most of the group HATE Stephen's girlfriend. Most of the group have little interest in hearing Willoughby read his new play aloud; and most definitely they have NO interest in giving him money to produce it!) It is several hours after this (unpleasant) reading that Nathaniel's body is discovered behind locked doors.

I definitely enjoyed this mystery. I enjoyed Heyer's writing and characterization. There were many little things that made me love this one! (For example, Maud and her library book!!!) This was my first introduction to Inspector Hemingway, and I enjoyed meeting him very much! I definitely want to read more in this series. And a locked room mystery can be quite enjoyable.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Rubber Band (1936)

The Rubber Band. (Nero Wolfe #3) Rex Stout. 190 pages.

I threw down the magazine section of the Sunday Times and yawned. I looked at Nero Wolfe and yawned again. 

 I was slightly disappointed in my most recent Nero Wolfe read, The League of Frightened Men. But I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED The Rubber Band. It reminded me of why I enjoy the Nero Wolfe stories so much. It had plenty of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin! It also featured plenty of interaction with Inspector Cramer.

Nero Wolfe has plenty of potential clients in this one because several people have come to him with their problems. But which client will he accept, and why?!

This murder mystery has multiple victims. I could try to summarize the mystery, but why spoil the fun?!

Favorite quotes:

There's just as many honest men here as the other side of the mountain. And just as few. I'm one. I'm so damn honest I often double-cross myself. Nero Wolfe is almost as bad. (19)

It is not always practicable to sneer at mud; there's too much of it. (31)

The avoidance of idiocy should be the primary and constant concern of every intelligent person. It is mine. I am sometimes successful. (44)

Okay. I'll gargle my milk. It'll probably be my last chance for that innocent amusement before they toss us in the hoosegow. I remember you told me once that there is no moment in any man's life too empty to be dramatized. (76) 

No guy who knows he's right because he's too conceited to be wrong can be expected to go into conference about it. (167)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The Daughter of Time (1951)

The Daughter of Time. (Inspector Grant #5). Josephine Tey. 1955/1995. Touchstone. 206 pages.

I reread books. I do. I can't help myself. If I truly love a book, then I'll reread it again and again. I've now read Josephine Tey's mystery novel, The Daughter of Time, three times. I've wanted to reread it even more than that. But I've shown some restraint.

The Daughter of Time is an unusual mystery novel for the hero, the detector, Inspector Grant, "solves" the case in a hospital bed. He has visitors bringing him books, bringing him copies of portraits, and he has assigned people to do research on his behalf, seeking answers to his questions. But he never leaves the room. What case is he trying to solve? It's not a current case, a contemporary one. It's historical in nature. He's trying to solve the case of WHO murdered the two princes in the tower during the reign of Richard III.

He starts with simple history textbooks, and moves on to look at other sources. He QUESTIONS the material at hand, always curious as to where they got their information, and IF that information would be admissible in a courtroom. Would there be enough real proof to convict the prime suspect Richard III of the crime. What he reasons is that most of the source material that has been taken for granted--to a degree--was all written decades after the crime, during the reign of Henry VII or even Henry VIII. Tudors have tempers! To upset a Tudor king (or queen) is NOT a good idea. So were these books written to please the crown? Perhaps! The historian Grant questions most is Thomas More. More was just a boy--five years old--when Richard III was struggling to keep his kingdom. He may have talked to many who were still alive, who still remembered, but his facts are uneven in their believability. (You might have to read the book to learn the details!) Grant struggles to find genuine closer-to-primary-documents to recreate the events. He looks at ALL the key players, all the men and women, and traces their steps, their whereabouts. He also examines motives. Who has the most to gain and who has the most to lose? Once Grant has all the information he can, he pieces together a case showing that Richard III should not be the primary suspect after all.

I love the subject of this one! I also love the writing!

Alan Grant on popular fiction authors:

The Sweat and the Furrow was Silas Weekley being earthly and spade-conscious all over seven hundred pages. The situation, to judge from the first paragraph, had not materially changed since Silas's last book: mother lying-in with her eleventh upstairs, father laid-out after his ninth downstairs, eldest son lying to the Government in the cow-shed, eldest daughter lying with her lover in the the hayloft, everyone else lying low in the barn. The rain dripped from the thatch, and the manure steamed in the midden. Silas never omitted the manure. It was not Silas's fault that its steam provided the only uprising element in the picture. If Silas could have discovered a brand of steam that steamed downwards, Silas would have introduced it. (13)

Did no one, any more, no one in all this wide world, change their record now and then? Was everyone nowadays thirled to a formula? Authors today wrote so much to a pattern that their public expected it. The public talked about "a new Silas Weekley" or "a new Lavinia Fitch" exactly as they talked about "a new brick" or a "new hairbrush." They never said "a new book by" whoever it might be. Their interest was not in the book but in its newness. They knew quite well what the book would be like. (14)

The Rose of Raby proved to be fiction, but at least easier to hold than Tanner's Constitutional History of England. It was, moreover, the almost-respectable form of historical fiction which is merely history-with-conversation, so to speak. An imaginative biography rather than an imagined story. Evelyn Payne-Ellis, whoever she might be, had provided portraits and a family tree, and had made no attempt, it seemed, to what he and his cousin Laura used to call in their childhood "write forsoothly." There were no "by our Ladys," no "nathelesses" or "varlets." It was an honest affair according to its lights. And its lights were more illuminating than Mr. Tanner. Much more illuminating. It was Grant's belief that if you could not find out about a man, the next best way to arrive at an estimate of him was to find out about his mother. (59)

Alan Grant on Sir Thomas More

He came to the surface an hour later, vaguely puzzled and ill at ease. It was not that the matter surprised him, the facts were very much what he had expected them to be. It was that this was not how he had expected Sir Thomas to write. "He took ill rest at nights, lay long waking and musing; sore wearied with care and watch, he slumbered rather than slept. So was his restless heart continually tossed and tumbled with the tedious impression and stormy remembrance of his most abominable deeds." That was all right. But when he added that "this he had from such as were secret with his chamberers" one was suddenly repelled. An aroma of back-stair gossip and servants' spying came off the page. So that one's sympathy tilted before one was aware of it from the smug commentator to the tortured creature sleeping on his bed. The murderer seemed of greater stature than the man who was writing of him. Which was all wrong. Grant was conscious too of the same unease that filled him when he listened to a witness telling a perfect story that he knew to be flawed somewhere... (71)

He was five. When that dramatic council scene had taken place at the Tower, Thomas More had been five years old. He had been only eight when Richard died at Bosworth. Everything in that history had been hearsay. And if there was one word that a policeman loathed more than another it was hearsay. Especially when applied to evidence. He was so disgusted that he flung the precious book on to the floor before he remembered that it was the property of a Public Library and his only by grace and for fourteen days. More had never known Richard III at all. He had indeed grown up under a Tudor administration. That book was the Bible of the whole historical world on the subject of Richard III--and it was from that account that Holinshed had taken his material, and from that Shakespeare had written his--and except that More believed what he wrote to be true it was of no more value than what the soldier said.... Grant had dealt too long with the human intelligence to accept as truth someone's report of someone's report of what that someone remembered to have seen or been told. (81)

Other favorite quotes:

"One would expect boredom to be a great yawning emotion, but it isn't, of course. It's a small niggling thing." (16)

"I'm feeling like a policeman. I'm thinking like a policeman. I'm asking myself the question that every policeman asks in every case of murder: Who benefits? And for the first time it occurs to me that the glib theory that Richard got rid of the boys to make himself safer on the throne is so much nonsense. Supposing that he had got rid of the boys. There were still the boys' five sisters between him and the throne. To say nothing of George's toy: the boy and girl. George's son and daughter were barred by their father's attainder; but I take it that an attainder can be reversed, or annulled, or something. If Richard's claim was shaky, all those lives stood between him and safety."
"And did they all survive him?"
"I don't know. But I shall make it my business to find out. The boys' eldest sister certainly did because she became Queen of England as Henry's wife." (105)

It was brought home to him for the first time not only what a useless thing the murder of the boys would have been, but what a silly thing. And if there was anything that Richard of Gloucester was not, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it was silly. (137)

"Of course I'm only a policeman," Grant said. "Perhaps I never moved in the right circles. It may be that I've met only nice people. Where would one have to go to meet a woman who became matey with the murderer of her two boys?"
"Greece, I should think," Marta said. "Ancient Greece."
"I can't remember a sample even there."
"Or a lunatic asylum, perhaps. Was there any sign of idiocy about Elizabeth Woodville?"
"Not that anyone ever noticed. And she was Queen for twenty years or so."
...
"Yes of course. It's the height of absurdity. It belongs to Ruthless Rhymes, not to sober history. That is why historians surprise me. They seem to have no talent for the likeliness of any situation. They see history like a peepshow; with two-dimensional figures against a distant background."
"Perhaps when you are grubbing about with tattered records you haven't time to learn about people. I don't mean about the people in the records, but just about People. Flesh and blood. And how they react to circumstances." (151)

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

The League of Frightened Men (1935)

The League of Frightened Men. Rex Stout. 1935. Bantam. 320 pages.

This is the second novel in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mystery series. I am not reading the series in order, and I have preferred some of his later books in the series to the first two in the series. In this mystery, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin are trying to satisfy a large number of clients, members of the 'league of atonement.' These men were less than saints in college, and one of their pranks went horribly wrong. The victim was crippled, and lives were impacted. So why is this league 'frightened'? Well, it starts with the death of one or two of its members. After the first death, an anonymous letter--a poem, I believe--was sent to the others. It was a poetic, rambling threat. Another member dies unexpectedly, another letter was delivered. This causes alarm. At first Rex Stout did not take the case seriously, this was when one of the members turns up at his house alone and acting very strange. But weeks later when this man has gone missing, well, Stout decides to invite the other members to his house and take on their case. Many fear it is this 'victim' that has turned dangerous, wild, unpredictable. If Wolfe can alleviate their fears, then he'll be paid. 

I found this case to be confusing and a bit strange. But it does star Nero Wolfe and Archie, so even though it was confusing at times, it had its moments of delight. I am so glad I didn't try to read this series in order or I'm not sure I'd have bothered reading on.

I do recommend Rex Stout as a mystery writer. This may not be my favorite Nero Wolfe, but overall his series is great. 

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews

Speaking from Among the Bones (2013)

Speaking from Among the Bones. Alan Bradley. 2013. Random House. 400 pages.

I've enjoyed each of the Flavia de Luce mysteries written by Alan Bradley. This young detective is quite original, though her mystery novels have, in a way, become more predictable. I mean that readers know almost exactly what to expect of the series, of the main characters, of the writing. (Not the details of the actual mysteries, the murder mysteries.) If you love the character of Flavia de Luce, it can be a good thing--comforting, satisfying--to know that nothing ever changes. Still, a little character growth wouldn't be a horrible thing in any of the main characters. (There are two significant things readers learn by the conclusion of this book. These potentially could change things up a bit.) It probably won't surprise anyone that Flavia discovers a dead body in this newest mystery. She found it in an ancient tomb they (the church) were getting ready to excavate. There were plenty of peculiar details about it, plenty of clues for a young girl detective to follow. These clues lead her into great danger, perhaps the greatest danger she's known thus far in the series.

If you have enjoyed the series in the past, this one is worth reading. Others include: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, A Red Herring Without Mustard, and I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.

© 2013 SukaYuka.com of SukaYuka's Book Reviews