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JANUARY - FEBRUARY REVIEWS DEATH
BEFORE WICKET
Second, Phryne
learns that the safe in the office of the Dean of Arts has been broken into and
a number of items are missing: the
Dean’s wife’s jewelry, some money, certain exam papers, a valuable
illustrated book, a bit of Arabian papyrus, and an important hand axe.
Which are the most important thefts?
Who broke into the safe – and how?
And where are these items, on which the careers of a number of the
faculty men’s careers depend? The
two young men who initially escort Phryne to the university both have unforeseen
experiences. EVEN
CAT SITTERS GET THE BLUES
This third in the Dixie Hemingway series is intelligent, at times
humorous, believable, and sound in both animal and human psychology.
A small calico kitten shows promise of becoming a permanent resident in FINAL
CURTAIN
While Polly is
snooping around, her own life is several times threatened.
Her friend, Detective Randal Archer, is concerned for her.
Meanwhile, several company members come under suspicion:
The bossy artistic director; A woman who can imitate anyone’s voice –
male or female; The artistic director’s squeeze; A Japanese actor who was
recently fired; The murdered
director’s male friend; and so on. An oddity in a
show business tale, both Tim, who gives Polly an elaborate house party at Pepper
Plantation with its Scarlett O’Hara Memorial Staircase, and Placenta, (plainly
her name shows she is necessary to Polly) are crazy about Polly and concerned
over her safety. (The house party,
by the way, includes spiders and a panther.) Jordan, a senior
publicist with the Walt Disney Studios, cleverly propels the hilarious plot
briskly, pointing out that one can seldom, if ever, believe what show business
people say. “And there’s a chance
that Harry Connick, Jr. will let me iron his underpants.”
Actual -
Janet Overmyer THE
PURRFECT MURDER
Sneaky Pie,
Brown’s feline co-writer, sees to it that the animals are a delight.
Along with the Hairsteen’s owl, snake, possum and another Corgi, there
are the “First Rats of Virginia,” small creatures who live in Thomas
Jefferson’s former home. One of
them gives an important clue to the cats. And,
near the end, Harry’s animals literally save her life.
No wonder they have their own Cast of Really Important Characters list. Brown, as in her
many other books, has some difficulty deepening characterization of her people,
and the political views of many tend to predominate.
Abortion is the major issue here. But
the plot moves easily and those non-humans who speak to each other, if not to
their people, are a real pleasure and well worth one’s time.
NOVEMBER - DECEMBER REVIEWS CRIES
AND WHISKERS Theda
Krakow of Cambridge, A woman,
Gail, a feral cat rescuer, dies after being hit by a car down by the old
bottling plant where she was hunting missing felines.
Theda and her friend Violet search the area where Gail was killed,
hunting futilely for the cats she had been trying to rescue.
Theda is introduced to Animal Rights, the organization to which Gail
belonged, whose leader, Ruth, believes that rescuing feral cats is “one of
humanity’s mistakes.” A friend
of Theda’s, Tess, who had been acting strangely for a time is involved in a
serious accident and must be rushed to the hospital.
Developers want to place condos where there is now an industrial building
– and an area where feral cats are found.
Some groups are opposed to them. Several
folk are unwittingly fed drugs at clubs and become very sick.
Theda is asked to write about a new group, Swann’s Way (no, not Marcel
Proust) that seems quite young and inexperienced.
And the Musetta is kidnapped. (She
survives.) Not to mention that a
dramatic conclusion makes Theda’s important newspaper article late. For this,
her third novel, Simon raises several serious, intelligent problems facing many
cities today. The characters are
well-drawn and believable, even Musetta, who is a believably real, live
character. The story is convincing
and keeps the reader reading – and hoping for the best, which may not
necessarily arrive. A well-told
mystery which provokes thinking. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. CAT
DECK THE HALLS Kit
sees the remains of a murder. The
tortoiseshell cat, on the roof of the late-night The three
felines find a six-year-old girl, who had originally been in the victim’s
arms, in a small plaza pump house, and turn her over to the cops.
The child is silent – out of fear or inability to speak?
The police take her under their protection.
The tale also follows the murderer as he hauls the dead man away and
tries to cover his tracks. Meanwhile,
Kit, Dulcie and Joe face other situations. They
check on why a couple in their eighties keep hearing running water in their
house when there is none. An elderly
woman sees her long-lost male cousin return and immediately ingratiate himself
into the neighborhood. There are
three break-ins in various studios. The
cats see the cops find a clue when a perpetrator’s fingerprints are found on a
piece of broken crockery. The cats
enjoy watching two young girls making a child’s playhouse to enter in a
contest. The three
major residents of Molena Point lead a very, very active life as they race
around town and help the police. In
this, her latest Joe Grey mystery, Murphy adroitly sends these lovable,
clue-finding felines into their usual suspenseful, exciting adventure.
A must-read for ailurophiles. Read
this while your own purrers meow at you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. GETTING
OLD IS TO DIE FOR Gladdy Gold
is back! In this, her fourth tale,
the seventy-five-year-old Floridian private eye is coping with several problems.
Her seventy-three-year-old sister, Evvie, is depressed over the end of
her love affair. Gladdy is upset
with her close friend, Jack, who will not get in contact with her.
A couple in their nineties ask Gladdy and her detectives to discover why
their daughter will not agree to come to their anniversary party. Gladdy
is, herself, in New York City
visiting her family. She does not
know that Jack, a retired cop, is in This
clearly written novel, written from several points of view, is, in some ways,
even better than Lakin’s others, if such a thing is possible.
There are amusing bits – such as the three friends adventures in
NORWAY
TO HIDE Emily
Andrews is the “official” escort for twelve Not to
mention the problems on the trip, both on land and at sea.
First, the body of a murdered woman turns up on Finnish soil.
Then that of a Pulitzer Prize winner following a ship excursion.
Emily must sort through her long list of suspects.
Among them: The married
couple who keep predicting the imminent end of the world; A difficult woman whom
everyone hates; Two sisters, April and June, whose sister May is missing,
presumably with a dark secret. Of
course, Emily’s grandmother Nana and the latter’s one-legged boyfriend,
George, are innocent. The
first-person narrative takes off fast and trots along the same, like the herd of
reindeer the troupe spots at one point. The
dialogue is rife with interruptions, as in real life.
The reader, even with the author’s attempt to keep the characters all
straight, might lose track of some. Who
is that person? And is the
conclusion truly believable? Still,
this is a speedily-moving, amusing vacation most of us have never experienced. On the PAPERBACK PAGE you will find Janet's review of |
