REVIEWS FROM BOB WALCH

After spending nearly four decades in the classroom Bob Walch
has "retreated" to his study where he reads, reviews and reminiscences about the good old days (the 1960s).

POSTED OCTOBER 30, 2011

CITY OF WHISPERS         
MARCIA MULLER         
Grand Central Publishing   October, 2011

This latest Sharon McCone story hits close to home as the San Francisco private investigator gets an e-mail from her estranged half-brother which suggests he is in deep trouble.

Darcy Blackwood has been more than just the family black sheep. Plagued by drugs and living on the streets, the emotionally disturbed young man has found his way to California from Idaho and he's gotten himself mixed up with something that could well cost him his life.

Well on her way to recovering from a near life ending gunshot to the head, McCone doesn't need this type of distraction, but family is family. Using the resources of her private investigation agency, McCone connects Darcy to the murder of another street person whose body was found in one of the city's better neighborhoods near the Palace of Fine Arts.

As the investigation widens, the dead woman is connected to a small group of misfits befriended by a young heiress who was subsequently murdered. The unsolved crime apparently has much to do with what is now happening to Darcy and turning his life into a nightmare.

Muller's short chapters and alternating narrative that switches between the central characters quickly moves this story along. Condensing the action to just seven days also intensifies the action and heightens the tension.

A long time resident of a Northern California community just a short distance from San Francisco, Muller knows the city intimately. Her masterful use of San Francisco's environs makes this a special read for those who know the city by the Golden Gate well and love atmospheric suspense stories.

The loyal fans who have followed this series over the years and read the previous twenty-eight novels know that not only has McCone endured some rough times but some of the stories have been a little uneven as well. Rest assured that not only is Sharon McCone back to her old form but so is her creator! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

PIRATE KING           
LAURIE R. KING            
Bantam Books   September, 2011

I really wanted to like this novel because not only am I a huge fan of Laurie King, but I have also thoroughly enjoyed the long running Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series.

Unfortunately, as much as I want to, I can't give this new Russell adventure a thumbs up. I have to admit I really tried, but I could never get into this story. Perhaps it was a little too clever or perhaps it was a matter of not clearly seeing where a serious "crime" had been committed and needed to be solved. Whatever...

Playing off Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, a British moviemaker intends to make a film about pirates shot on location in Portugal and Morocco. Ostensibly because there have been seemingly illicit activities connected with the film company's previous productions and a young woman associated with the company has gone missing, Mary goes undercover to figure out what's going on.

Hired on as the assistant to the director's assistant, Mary will have, supposedly, the perfect vantage point to watch what really happens on location. Left back in England, Sherlock does not appear until almost the midway point of the story and then he is, of course, incognito also.

As much a farce as the famed musical it is based on, the movie "The Pirate King" turns into a disaster as the men hired to play the fictional pirates turn out to be real pirates.

Finally, an actual crime is committed when this rag-tag band of buccaneers actually kidnaps the movie crew and cast. The situation is more bizarre than dangerous and actually, like Gilbert & Sullivan's work, has its humorous moments.

King displays her wit and wry sense of humor here plus the scenario, as convoluted as it is, does enable her to create some deliciously eccentric characters but, overall, this novel doesn't cut it.

The story doesn't offer the tension and action that made previous titles in the series so exciting. And sadly, there are times when I found it all too easy to set the book aside and switch to something else. This was never the case in the past when I sat down to follow Mary Russell's adventures!

I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS         
A Flavia de Luce Novel
ALAN BRADLEY         
Delacorte Press   November, 2011

The holidays are rapidly approaching Buckshaw, but it doesn't look like it is going to be a terribly festive time for Flavia de Luce's family. Short on money, Flavia's father has allowed a film production crew to take over the estate for a movie shoot which will feature iconic star Phyllis Wyvern.

Flavia's two older sisters, Feely and Daffy, along with the residents of Bishop's Lace, the nearby village, are all agog having a movie crew and famous actress in their midst, but Flavia, having other fish to fry, is only partially taken up with all the excitement.

The eleven-year-old is upstairs in her home chemistry lab whipping up a concoction that should settle once and for all the question of whether or not there really is a Father Christmas. Of course, Flavia's sisters say no!

The vile mixture she is making, once spread on the chimney and roof, will ensnare the midnight visitor and stop him dead in his tracks. Father Christmas will be stuck to the slate roof and unable to move until Flavia rescues the old fellow. So, one way or another, the mystery will be solved!

As the filming progresses, tempers flare and old grudges surface. With Christmas Eve rapidly approaching things become very testy at Buckshaw. Then the holiday spirit is totally destroyed when Miss Wyvern is found strangled in her bedroom with a length of film.

Being provided with the opportunity to solve another murder is not one of the things Flavia has scribbled on her Christmas gift list, but no matter. Naturally, the precocious youngster doesn't mind a bit of a diversion and is able to, once again, test her considerable deductive skills.

Frankly, at this point, Inspector Hewitt of the Hinley Constabulary is so use to the young girl's informal assistance, he doesn't even try to rein her in as much as he has in past investigations.

Oddly enough, Flavia's plot to foil Father Christmas, plus her plan to provide the villagers with a very memorable Christmas fireworks display, merges with the apprehension of the killer. The novel's climatic grand finale unfolds on the snow covered battlements of Buckshaw where the young heroine nearly becomes the person's next victim.

There is no actual crime committed in this fourth Flavia de Luce novel until you are over a third of the way into the story, but that really does not pose a problem.

Becoming reacquainted with the series' large cast of eccentric characters and enjoying the process of setting up the events which will lead to mischief and mayhem are so entertaining that the reader won't mind.

Even though this is a new installment, there are some things that remain constant in the novel. For example, Flavia continues to pursue her interest in chemistry and she is still fascinated with poisons. Her two sisters continue to pick on her while Dogger, her father's faithful, albeit mysterious, valet, remains close by to assist Flavia and act as her confidant.

There are a few interesting new wrinkles here as well. The reader will learn more about the past of Flavia's Aunt Felicity and some of the secrets about Dogger's former life emerge.

The continued references to Flavia's mother, who supposedly died far away in the Himalayas when she was quite young, make one think Alan Bradley may have a few major surprises awaiting his readers down the road. We'll have to see.

Needless to say, this very special juvenile sleuth has lost none of her charm and this story is just as captivating as any of the previous ones.

Bradley won a sack full of awards when Flavia made her debut in THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE.

Fortunately, the promise of that first novel has been more than realized. Everyone who encounters this remarkable character falls in love with her; thus, the Flavia Fan Club is getting larger and larger. And, no doubt, Alan Bradley is getting wealthier and wealthier!