Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32005 - Restless Obsession

"She's left her gloomy past behind - but then she discovered the future was threatened by its shadow." (cover blurb)

 

This fifth entry into the series holds up just as well as the prior four, definitely establishing the Gothic Romance line for Harlequin as a success in my eyes.  Each entry has had a super mix of mystery and suspense, filled with plenty of gothic elements and tropes, and only a hint of romance (which, for me, is an added plus, since I'm not a huge Harlequin romance fan).  This book was written by Jane Toombs, who is another actual person and not a pseudonym (although she did use her own share of pen names, such as Jane Anderson, Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, and Olivia Sumner). She has an interesting history, as her first husband did not like her writing, calling it "trash."  She ultimately divorced him and continued writing while also working as a registered nurse.  She wrote over 120 books between 1973 and 2017, including a number of gothic titles, although this was the only one published under the Harlequin Gothic Romance banner.

 

Restless Obsession is set in the "current" time period of when the book was published along the western coast of the United States and Canada - from California, to Washington, and up into Victoria.  The protagonist is twenty-something Martha Jamison, a young divorcee who is running away from her horrific past and hoping this new job as a companion to Josephine Garrard will help her escape.  Martha, who is a nurse (like her author!) has been hired to not just be a companion, but also to keep watch over the young Garrard girl, as the family says she is not mentally stable and has attempted suicide more than once in the past.  Martha quickly discovers that Josephine says she would never try to harm herself and that the previous "attempts" were actually incidents where someone was trying to kill her!  She is set to inherit a small fortune when her and her brother's father dies, and Josephine is certain someone wants her out of the picture so that they can take that money.  Is she telling the truth?  Martha cannot be certain, as Josephine has mood swings and appears immature for her age - yet, there is something not right about the people living in the house...

 

Toombs provides readers with a fantastic mystery.  Martha finds herself torn among three men - Branwell Lowery, the mystery man she meets on the ferry over to Victoria; Jules Garrard, Josephine's older brother who appears to have a tight control over Josephine and the Garrard finances; and Charn Wexler, the Garrards' more than charming cousin who resides in the house.  Martha finds herself attracted in different ways to each one, but when she is attacked in her bedroom on the first night in the house (the attacker revealing he knows all about Martha's past!), she harbors suspicions against each one of them, unsure who is telling the truth and who is not.  Besides these men, there other family members who seem to have their own motives for wanting Martha gone.  Natalie Drew, Jules and Josephine's aunt, makes it clear Martha is not wanted, as she believes Martha is only interested in Jules and his money.  Natalie's husband, Matthew, seems completely wrapped up in his research of Indian rituals and mystic lore to care what his wife does.  Cathleen is yet another cousin (Charn's sister), one who seems to have a strong desire for Jules and does not want Martha getting in her way.  The only ones who actually appear to want Martha to stay is an elderly cousin (Louella Gallion) and the very young girl, Sarah, who takes an instant liking to Martha.  But Sarah has a mysterious past, as no one will reveal just who she is or how she is related to the family - the only thing they will admit is that Norman Garrard (Jules and Josephine's father) brought her into the house and has kept her there ever since!

 

Since we are talking about Sarah, I have to admit, reading her character in the book gave me flashbacks to young Sarah Collins from Dark Shadows.   When she was first introduced into that show, she was a strange character about which little was known.  She made friends with David (who had a fascination with the occult, just like Josephine) and ultimately made friends with Victoria Winters (as the Sarah in this book does with Martha).  With the similarity in characterization and the use of the same name, I am left to wonder if the author was inspired by Dark Shadows when writing this character.

 

It is Josephine, however, that has the most mystery surrounding her.  Toombs definitely keeps the readers guessing.  Is Josephine suicidal?  Is she psychotic?  Is she paranoid? Or is everything she has been saying true?  What happened to her the two years she was missing?  Why can she not remember any of it?  Why will her father not say anything to anyone, including her own physician?  And what about this "Diego" that she insists has come back from the dead.  Is he real?  Or is someone merely playing deadly games that could end up killing not only Josephine, but Martha as well?  And just what does Martha's past have to do with any of it?

 

There are a couple of deaths before Martha is finally confronted with the truth in a very exciting and deadly game of cat and mouse in Victoria's Butchart Gardens.  And before you ask, yes, Butchart Gardens is a very real place in British Columbia (The Butchart Gardens), and Toombs does a wonderful job of describing this picturesque attraction. In fact, Toombs manages to put a number of real things into this story, including a reference to Emily Carr's autobiography, Growing Pains (p. 47), which Josephine is found reading, as well as mentioning the gold statue of George Vancouver (p. 102), along with Beacon Hill Park, Goodacre Lake, and Craigdarroch Castle (p. 102), all of which are actual locations in British Columbia.  There is also an interesting mention of Sylvia Plath (p. 109) and the very real fact that she killed herself by putting her head in an oven!

 

Not sure who provided the cover art, but it features the typical gothic woman in the foreground, looking back - but instead of an old mansion or castle, we get a dark, foreboding woods with what appears to be a hooded/robed figure in the background dancing behind a blue flame (hinting at some form of witchcraft or supernatural element to the story).  This scene is taken from the events that occur at the end of Chapter Fourteen (pp. 128-29), when one of the characters decides to force Martha to face her past and reveal it to everyone!  It's definitely one of the most dramatic scenes in the whole book.

 

This was definitely another win for the Harlequin Gothic Romance line!

 

RATING:  10 stuffed killer whales out of 10 for a superbly suspenseful gothic tale of mystery and mystic lore!

Carol Goes Backstage a/k/a Carol Goes on the Stage - the First Carol Page theater story

Having enjoyed some years performing in local community theaters, it is only natural that I would pick up series books having to do with the theater.  I can't recall exactly how I came to find out about the Carol Page theater stories, but once I learned of them, I had to track them down.  I managed to get the first three fairly easy, but it was that fourth and final book in the series that proved elusive (and the completist in me just will not start reading a series until I have all of the books first!).  I did manage to track it down at last, and so I was finally able to sit down and give the series a read.  Of course, this does not account for the fact that the series was published in England, as well as here in the States, and that the book names differed depending on where they were published - so that left me with the conundrum - do I wait until I track down all of the "alternate" titles before I start reading?  Since I'm writing this post, clearly I decided not to wait (and more on those alternate titles below...).

 

Carol Goes Backstage (a/k/a Carol Goes on the Stage) is the first book in the series, introducing readers to seventeen-year old Carol Page, a high school graduate who has gotten a small taste of the theater in her senior year and has decided that acting on the stage is a career she would like to pursue - much to her parents' chagrin!   Carol, and her best friend Julia Gregg, audition for a chance to be a part of an apprentice group "connected with the Stuyvesant Theater in New York" (p. 54), where a select group of aspiring actors had the opportunity to learn under the tutelage of Miss Phyllis Marlowe, a woman Carol calls "a swell actress" (p. 55).  Of course, they are selected, and Carol is barely able to convince her parents to allow here to attend (as her father is determined that acting schools are a waste of time, and she needs to focus on a viable career).  Thus begins the journey of Carol Page to become an actress of the Broadway stage!

 

Carol Page is not like a lot of her contemporaries in series fiction of the time, as her family is not affluent, providing her the freedom to do as she pleases; while the Page family is not poor by any means, she and Julia share a room in a "respectable girls' club" (p. 88), where the room was "sunny and comfortable, and the food, as Julia pointed out, was probably better than anything they could have turned out for themselves" (p. 89).  But that does not stop one particular apprentice - Michael Horodinsky - from viewing Carol as highfalutin and taking an instant disliking to her, which leads to considerable contention between the two throughout the entire book.  Now, having watched soap operas for many years, I've learned that when two individuals begin a relationship by warring with one another, it usually leads to not only an amicable friendship, but eventually a romance - and while there is no romance in this book at all, I have a sneaky suspicion that Carol and Mike have a budding romance somewhere in their future (we shall have to see what the next three books hold in store...).

 

The story approaches theater life in a very realistic way.  While Carol has talent, she gets in her own way sometimes by thinking she knows better than others, or in thinking that she can succeed by copying the way she has seen others perform a particular role on stage.  She is called out more than once and must learn a bit of humility along the way, which often occurs with beginning actors in the theater.  And Julia, who was the one from the very beginning with big dreams of becoming a star, finds her path to stardom changed along the way, as she (and everyone around her) discover that she is far more talented as a comedic actor than in any serious role.  The story also introduces readers to all of the backstage trials and tribulations of putting together a show for the stage - from building of sets, working of the lights, learning of lines, timing of rehearsals, and overcoming differing temperaments of the actors, directors, stage managers, and set designers.  The character of Miss Marlowe reminds me of one particular director I had the pleasure of working with on a number of plays - he was extremely strict, he was direct and to the point, and he did not tolerate those who were not serious about their performance; yet, he would always offer suggestions and encouragement, and his efforts taught all of us so much about acting.  These are the things Carol, Julia, and all of their newfound friends discover during their time at the Stuyvesant Theater.

 

The book does have a few typical series book scenarios in it.  Once incident involves Carol having to hitchhike back to the high school theater after a friend convinces her to go out to the nearby river to run lines just before the show, and then his car dies.  Carol is picked up by a dazzling woman who questions her about her upcoming performance in Miss Hipkin's Descent (not a real play); it is only later when her brother Phil takes her to New York to see a play does Carol learn the woman was an actual Broadway actress, who they have the opportunity to meet backstage and who encourages Carol to pursue a career in acting!  Another situation involves the owner of a summer theater who offers a job each year to one talented apprentice, and so Miss Marlowe's apprentices put together their own show for a chance that one of them might get selected to be that person!  The only problem is, Carol's troublesome aunt has convinced her mother than Carol should be brought home and not allowed to stay in New York.  As such, Carol must find a way to convince her mother the theater is not detrimental to her future, that Michael Horodinsky is not her boyfriend, and that she has a real chance at landing that summer job with the summer program.  Obviously, all goes well and Carol is not only allowed to stay, but she - along with Julia, Michael, and two others - are selected to join the summer stock at Mr. Richards' theater (which leads directly into the second book in this series).

 

Now, since this book does deal with the theater and Broadway, it only stands to reader the author would include real plays and actors in its pages.  Carol and her brother take in a production of Candida, which is a comedy written by George Bernard Shaw, which was performed in both London and New York in the early 1900s.  Mr. Anders, who introduces the apprentices to the Stuyvesant Theater, tells them how the theater used to be an opera house, and how famous actors sushc as Edwin Booth, Sir Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, and "the great Duse" (p. 80) had all acted on that stage.  All of those are real life actors, with the great Duse referring to Eleonora Duse, an Italian actress considered one of the greatest of all time.  In addition, readers are treated to the history of "the green room" (the backstage area were acteors wait until they must go on stage), which, in the book, is said to originate from the early days in England, when the theaters had waiting rooms close to the stage, where the doors were painted green (p. 87).  While the book references those early London theaters as "the Drury Lane and Covent Garden" (p. 87), in real life, it was likely from London's Blackfriars Theatre, in which the waiting room was painted green.  It is these type of historical facts that really breathe additional life and realism into the story!

 

One final tidbit I must mention, which has no connection to theater but which I found to be amusing and quite coincidental, is found on page 59, when Carol is trying to convince her father that she wants to pursue an acting career and go to New York to be an apprentice to Miss Marlowe.  In her argument, she finally confesses to her father, "Daddy - I don't want to go to Wellesley" (p. 59).   This is so amusing because Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, one of the major driving forces behind the highly successful Nancy Drew series, was a graduate of Wellesley (Class of 1914)!  Thus, the story has an unexpected (and unintentional!) series book reference in it.

 

The series is written by Helen Dore Boylston, who also authored the Sue Barton nursing series from 1936 to 1952.  Boylston was a nurse in real life, so her writing stories about a nurse was only natural.  Five years after her first Sue Barton book was published, she began the Carol Page series of novels.  From online sources, Boylston received advice from her neighbor, Eva Le Gallienne (a Broadway actress who eventually left that career and found the Civic Repertory Theatre - on whom the character of Miss Marlowe was clearly based).  Boylston also went backstage at the Civic Repertory Theatre to gain additional research, all of which explains why the details in her first book are so spot-on with regard to theater life!  (On a side note, the Civic Repertory Theatre was once a home for French dramas and operas, leaving one to believe that the theater was the inspiration for Boylston's Stuyvesant in the book.)

 

Now, as indicated above, this book was first published in America in 1941, but later republished in 1943 in England by John Lane The Bodley Head publishers under the title Carol Goes on the Stage.  Both books kept the same headshot of Carol on their covers, and both books featured the same beautiful internal illustrations by Frederick E. Wallace.  They also both featured a brief word of thanks from the author to Jane Ayer Cobb, "with whose help, encouragement, and staying powers have been invaluable throughout the writing of this book."  Cobb was an author of short stories and children's books, and some online sources give her credit as being a "co-author" of the Carol Page series.  An article in The New York Times written after the death of Cobb indicates the Carol Page series was "originated by Mrs. Berry, but again bore only the name of Miss Boylston" (The New York Time - Jane Cobb).  How much truth there is to this statement, I cannot say.

 

What I can say, though, is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  The characters were engaging and realistic, the portrayal of life in the theater was entirely accurate and not overly dramatized at all,  and the story itself was perfectly paced and throughout enjoyable.  I am anxiously looking forward to reading book two!

 

RATING:  10  bunches of white peonies out of 10 for a wonderful story of theater life and the start of one young woman's journey to becoming a real actress!

The Mystery of Adventure Island - a Ruby Lorraine Radford mystery

I honestly cannot recall where I picked this book up, but I do remember I bought it because of the attractive cover art (and yes, before you say it, I have ALWAYS been one who judges a book by its cover!).  Of course, the fact that Ruby Lorraine Radford wrote the book was just an added plus!  I have read several of Radford's books published in the line of Whitman Mystery Stories, and I enjoyed each of them - Nancy Craig, Peggy Parker, and Patty O'Neal.  Thus, with a title like this one, a striking cover such as this, and a story written by Radford, how could it be anything but good?

 

The Mystery of Adventure Island has a copyright date of 1928 by the Penn Publishing Company; however, the copy of the book I have was published by the David McKay Company.  No publication date is given, so I cannot say when this book was published - the dust jacket, though, does have a listing of Radford's books on the back, listing only four titles:  The Mystery of Myrtle Grove, The Mystery of Pelican Cove; The Mystery of Adventure Island; and The Mystery of the Bradley Pearls.  From what I found on Jennifer White's website (Books of Ruby Lorraine Radford), Bradley Pearls was copyright 1930, Myrtle Grove was 1933, and Pelican Cove was 1934.  Thus, going by those dates, I can assume that the book I have is a 1934 printing or later.  Regardless, it still contains the original story and illustrations.

 

The story centers on soon-to-be fifteen-year old Joyce Barnard, who has been sent to Rosemonde Island to spend the summer with Bruce McHenry and his wife (affectionately referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Mac).  Her father died when she was only a year old, and her mother has a difficult time returning to the island, due to the memories it brings back.  The McHenrys have maintained the family home during those years, and they have remained loyal to Mr. Barnard's wife and daughter.  But there are secrets on the island, and before you know it, Joyce begins to uncover one hidden truth after another that lead her and her newfound friend, Donald Elliott, to finding a uniquely hidden hermitage with an odd man living therein, as well as an old shipwreck that they cannot wait to explore.  But there are those who would love to know about that hermit and the shipwreck, and Joyce and Donald must work hard to keep both a secret.

 

At 298 pages of story, the book is a bit longer than many of the children's mystery stories of that time, but the plot never lags.  The pacing is such that the reader will keep turning page after page to see what happens next, and Radford makes good use of storms, swampy bogs, and treacherous sand dunes to keep Joyce and Donald from achieving their goals too quickly.  And there are plenty of characters with quirky dispositions to leave the reader wondering who can be trusted, who is telling the truth, and who has ulterior motives for what they do.  Mr. Mac is cranky and disappears for hours on end, driving his wife crazy; Frances Stafford is a whiny little thing and a sneaky tattle-tale; Edwin Stafford is a conniving thief who is crazy to find a supposed treasure on the island; and that odd hermit seems nice enough, with his little sea-life experiments, but Joyce cannot shake the feeling he is hiding something important.  Those who have been reading mysteries for any length of time will be able to figure this one out fairly early on, but it's the ride of getting there with Joyce and Donald that is all the fun!

 

Now, I would be remiss if I did not mention that this book was written in the 1920s, and one must remember that society had different opinions of people in that day than we do now.  As such, there are some references in the book (the "n" word) that appear numerous times, said casually and in some instances by the black characters themselves.  Thus, when reading the book, it is important to read the story in the context of the time period it was written and not try to force it into today's societal standards. 

The book features a beautiful frontispiece by Katharine McCollum, depicting the scene where Donald takes Joyce to see the old shipwreck that he discovered.  McCollum also painted the gorgeous cover, featuring Joyce and Donald along the coast during a storm, when Joyce gets her first taste of how exciting it can be to experience a storm on the island.  It appears she also provided illustrations for other children's books, including The Mystery of Sun Dial Court by Martha (Josephine Chase) Wickes.  From what I could find online, McCollum was not only an illustrator, but also an author, teacher, and, of all things, a puppet and marionette maker!  Clearly, the woman was talented in many areas!

 

One last comment - there are a couple of lines in the book that made me immediately think of other series books.  When Joyce and Donald first come across the hermit's abode, Joyce refers to it as a "hermitage," which made me think of the Dana Girls' book, The Secret at the Hermitage.   And the hermitage in this book definitely had some secrets!  Later, when Mr. Mac is coerced into talking about Joyce's father and his boyhood, Mr. Mac mentions a boat captain who encouraged her father and his friends to search for a supposed buried treasure - "Seems he got some papers about it from an old Chinese junk" (p. 140).  This, of course, brought to mind the Hardy Boys book, The Mystery of the Chinese Junk.  Obviously, this book was written many years before the Dana Girls or the Hardy Boys books, but it brought a smile to my face to see similar plot devices.

 

I enjoyed the stories and the characters, and it definitely piques my curiosity about her other mystery stories (which I am going to have to track down now!).

 

RATING:  9 baby jellyfish in a jar out of 10 for a great story filled with mystery, treasure hunting, and a few more surprises along the way!

Teen Angst - a Treasury of '50s Romance comics

If you had told me ten years ago that I would be reading and enjoying romance comics of the 1940s, '50s, and '60s, I would have told you that you were nuts.  Romance comics were just something I was never interested in growing up.  As an adult, however, I have learned to appreciate them - not just for the pretty art, but also for the historical context of the stories, the moral high ground taken by some of the authors, and the crafty way that the stories more times than now showed the female lead in a bad light, having to learn her lesson when it comes to love, being chaste and honest, and remaining true to one's self.  Rarely do you come across romance comics with a male lead character, and perhaps that stems from the fact that these comics (at least, back in the days when they were published) were aimed at the female readers.  Yet, reading them today, these stories that were considered too racy and a bad influence on kids back then are definitely tame compared to comics that you will find published in the 2020s!

 

Teen Angst is a collection of romance stories from various issues of Realistic Romances, Romantic Love, Teen-Age Romances, Wartime Romances, and Teen-Age Temptations, all published between 1951 and 1953, before the Comic Code Authority put a kibosh on tales such as these. They were collected and published by Malibu Graphics back in 1990, at a time when independent comic companies were really hitting their stride in the industry.  Collected and edited by the company's Creative Director, Tom Mason (who also provided a short introduction to the collection), the book showcases a number of great artists, including legends Matt Baker and Everett Raymond Kinstler.  Baker was one of the first known African-American comic book artists, probably best known for his work on Phantom Lady.  He has been called one of the best "Good Girl" artists in the industry.  Kinstler was drawing comic books from the age of 16 and eventually graduated to portrait painting, including U.S. Presidents such as Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.  During their careers, both artists spent some time doing work on romance comics, and this collection is a nice representation of their work.

 

The stories are not collected chronologically, as there is really no need, since each six to nine page story is unrelated to any of the others.  While the table of contents identifies the comic each story is pulled from, as well as the year of publication, it sadly does not specifically identify the artist of each story.  Kinstler signed the first story, so that one is easily identifiable; as for the rest of the stories, I had to do some digging online to discovery who drew the remaining tales:  Kinstler (pp. 1 and 38); John Rosenberger (pp. 8, 14, and 29); Rafael Astarita (pp. 21 and 71); Maurice Gutwirth (p. 98); Luis Zansky (p. 127); and Baker (pp. 54, 61, 80, 89, 119, and 139).  The stories on pages 45, 104, and 112 do not have credited artists, and I was unable to locate any information online as to who might have drawn those tales.  In addition, the three pages preceding the first story on page 1 offer up  some absolutely gorgeous frontspieces drawn by Kinstler for issues of Realistic Romance and Romantic Love - the black and white images are captivating!  These frontspieces were collages that gave readers a brief glimpse into the stories that were waiting for them in each issue.

 

And speaking of stories, let's talk about the tales that are collection in Teen Angst.  After all, the art may be beautiful to look at, but without the story, the comics do not really mean much.  Tom Mason has to be given credit for picking a wide variety of stories, which offer up great examples of pre-Code comics that dealt with divorce, violence, and a lot of sexual subtext.  There is a story about a woman so in love with her man, she enlists in the military so she can follow the love of her life onto the front lines in "Our Love was Battle-Scarred!"  Then there is a story about a woman who believes she is a jinx to any man who loves her after the first two men she loves are killed in strange accidents in "Jinx Girl."  Another story finds a young woman determined to rise above her poor childhood, even if it means killing the rich, elderly man she married in "Dangerous Woman."  If that was not bad enough, next up is "Fatal Romance!" in which young woman gets hooked up with the wrong man from a carnival and speeds off on a crime spree that ends in death!  In "Make-Believe Marriage," a young woman pretends to be married in order to get a job, only to have her make-believe husband show up and nearly spoil everything!  "Thrill Hungry" is a tale about a woman who ends up believing the wrong man and nearly causes a spy to get away with government secrets, while "Deadly Triangle" features another tale of a woman making the wrong choice in men, leading to her nearly dying when the crook uses her as a human shield against the police!  One of my favorites is "Borrowed Love," a dying woman wants more than anything to be truly loved, and when she finally meets the man who could be that love, he tears her away from the housekeeper that has raised her, she learns a startling secret about her illness!  That story is probably the closest to a soap opera mystery, which is likely why I enjoyed it so much.

 

There are plenty of other stories - "Triumphant Kisses" and "I Craved Excitement" and "Fast Company" and "I Was a Love Gypsy" and a number of others that deal with young women who are looking for love in all the wrong places and in too many faces and ultimately must face the consequences of their actions.  The collection is truly a treat for comic fans and those who love tales of romance, as it offers up such diverse stories - no two are alike, and not every story has a happy ending!  I guess the only thing they really have in common is that the woman in these tales all learn their lesson by the end of each story, some with much more dire consequences than others!  I would love to know who the authors are for these stories and what other work they did; it would be interesting to see if any of the writers went on to become big names in the comic industry (or elsewhere!).

 

In addition to these comic reprints, there are three short prose stories from Teen-Age Romances #20 and #22 (published in 1952).  I cannot say these stories were all that interesting, as they did not feature the intensity of the drama that the actual comic tales did.  In fact, I think I got more of a kick seeing some of the original ads from these romance comics interspersed throughout the collection than I did the prose tales.

 

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves great storytelling filled with plenty of drama and in some cases violence.  And the art is most certainly something that can be appreciated in these stories, if nothing else.  Huge thanks to Malibu and Tom Mason for putting this together back in the day, and grateful there are still copies available out there for purchase!  (And if you want a bit more info, check out the interview with Tom Mason at the Malibu fan Facebook page - Interview with Tom Mason.)

RATING:  10 peek-a-boo lace negligees out of 10 for preserving some classic romance comics that are worth more than just a second glance!

Karamour - a Fawcett Gold Medal gothic

I purchased this book a number of years ago, not because it was a gothic novel, but because the cover had some resemblance to the third cover art of The Bluebeard Room, the seventy-seventh Nancy Drew mystery. Both covers feature a man and a woman on a stairwell with a stone wall behind them, the woman higher on the stairs holding an oil lamp.  While not identical and published approximately twenty years apart, the similarity was enough to get me to pick it up.  Now, though, as I am avidly reading through all of my gothics, I thought I would pick this one up and see just what story lies behind that ominous cover...

Karamour, published in 1968 by Fawcett Publications under their "Fawcett Gold Medal" imprint, was written by Ariadne Pritchett.  I found next to nothing about the author, other than the fact she wrote four other gothic novels between 1968 and 1976.  If this book is any indication of her writing style, I would have to say that her books certainly do not follow the standard gothic form.  Yes, we still get the young woman in the spooky mansion, and yes, we still get the two men fighting over her, one of whom is good and the other is evil (but which is which?); however, the young woman is not the main focal point of the story.  Pritchett alternates points-of-view for this story numerous times throughout the book.  It changes from one person to another without warning, and even though we do follow each of the characters at some point, the author does manage to keep the secrets from being revealed too early in the story so that there are no major spoilers to ruin the story.

From the opening chapter when a boat carrying Lord Dunsan, his wife, his two children, and their governess, Enid Garth, is dashed against the rocky shore during a horrific storm, one is under the impression that young Enid will be the protagonist of the story.  After all, the cover blurb tells readers that "[s]aved from the angry sea, she became the innocent prey of a danger even more terrifying than the horror she had just escaped."  Even the synopsis on the back of the book leads one to believe Enid is the main character.  However, Pritchett spends little time on Enid during the first act, when Enid lies in bid recovering from nearly drowning at sea.  Instead, we follow Daniel Hawks as he takes Enid from the local town minister and moves her to his own great house, where he expects his Haitian slave, Hanna, to take care of her.  But Hanna is wary, claiming the girl will bring nothing but trouble.  Then we switch gears and follow Leigh Rainey, the local schoolmaster who is definitely more than what he claims to be.  Unlike the rest of the town, he is not fearful of Hawks and has no problem standing up to him - especially when it comes to Enid's welfare.  

Pritchett also gives readers a taste of Nancy, who is Hawks' mistress and who makes it crystal clear she does not want Enid in the house, as well as Mrs. Whipple, who is Rainey's landlady and for a short time Enid's nurse.  Then there is the pirate, Keen, who is always looking for treasures to steal and will do whatever it takes to accomplish the goal.  All of these characters - and I do mean ALL of them - are connected in ways that the reader does not discover right away.  But as the story progresses, we learn each of their secrets and soon discover that the threat to Enid is not the one she thinks it is!  I give the author credit for weaving a rather complicated web, and honestly, I think the constantly changing point-of-view helps to keep the reader from being left too much in the dark, but at the same time, providing just the right amount of information about each character at the right time to feed into the suspense.  And I am happy to say that my suspicions about Rainey proved to be correct, which definitely made me a happy camper!

There is a small amount of voodoo in the tale, and Pritchett plays up the whole terror connected with the storm several times throughout the book.  And while she is young and somewhat weakened by her near-drowning, Enid ultimately proves to be much smarter and quicker on the draw than anyone gives her credit for, as she ultimately solves the mystery of what is really happening in this small town along the Cornish Coast of England - a revelation that puts her life in jeopardy from more than one person.

The cover art is provided by Harry Bennett (Harry Bennett - Artist), who did a number of paperbacks in several genres for various publishers over the years.  If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you might remember I mentioned he did the cover for Hurricane Nurse and that I own one of his cover paintings for a young adult novel published in 1972.  I have to say that while this cover definitely sets the mood for the story, the woman is not depicted with any beauty whatsoever.  I definitely prefer his work on Hurricane Nurse and The End of Innocence far better than this one.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, and it offers up a different style than most of the gothics from that period. It does provide a rather intriguing mystery, and one should be warned that it pushes the envelope somewhat (for its time) with the sexual content (poor Enid is revealed naked on more than one occasion).  This is something the standard gothic shies away from, but Pritchett has no problem depicting the characters in very harsh situations.  I suppose that only makes the story that much darker, as the reader begins to worry that one of these characters is more violent than we first assume.  The book is worth the read, and the cover blurb describes the story with 100% accuracy!

RATING:  9 tankards of mulled wine out of 10 for daring to put the book's heroine in far more danger than just someone trying to frighten her away from the dark house, and yet still giving her the strength to come out on top!

Nancy Drew Diaries, No. 26 - Superstitions of "The Scottish Play"

The Nancy Drew Diaries continues with the 26th entry into the series, pushing it past the 25 books of the Hardy Boys Adventure series (which, sadly, has not seen a new book in two years, leading one to believe that Simon & Schuster has closed that series - whether there will be another reboot with the upcoming 100 year anniversary in 2027 remains to be seen...).  Since reducing the series to only one book per year, there was hope that perhaps we might see a bump up in the length and quality of the stories.  Yes, many of the plots of this Diaries series have been interesting, but with the super-large font and low page count, it has definitely not measured up to the original series.  Now we are getting books that are 190 pages in length or longer; yet, when the font size is considered, we are likely only getting 160 pages or so of actual story content.  This book weighs in at 197 pages, and with its story centered around the theater, I was truly hoping for a great mystery ...

Superstitions of "The Scottish Play" provides readers with some new insight into not only Ned Nickerson, but also Nancy Drew and Bess Marvin.  We discover in this mystery that Ned is wanting to spread his wings and try something new, so he auditions for a role in the University's upcoming production of Shakespeare's Macbeth.  At the same time, we find Bess Marvin stepping out of her comfort zone to try not only songwriting, but also singing as well!  All of which leaves Nancy pondering the question - is solving mysteries all she really wants to do for the rest of her life?  Should she not go out and try some other hobbies to expand her experiences in life?  Definitely a question the Nancy Drew of the 1900s would have never even considered; but we are living in the 2000s now, and as society changes, it is inevitable that our favorite teenage sleuth might start to evolve as well.

And speaking of "teenage sleuth" ... there are shades of fourth-wall breaking in this book, as several times Nancy makes mention of her status as a teen detective.  "...if you google 'teenage detective,' my name might come up" she muses on page 4.  Of course, in that same paragraph, she also mentions that "this girl in California named Veronica Mars" is also a teen detective, with whom she tried to get in touch!  I guess this places Veronica Mars and Nancy Drew in the same universe, according to this author anyway.  We also get references to Katharine Hepburn and Meryl Streep (p. 72), along with playwright Lynn Nottage, who slipped and said the name of "The Scottish Play" in the theater, and the next day her mother died (p. 60) - which is a true story.  This, of course, supports the superstition that one never, never, NEVER says the name of the actual play (Macbeth) in a theater, even moreso when you are doing a production of the play.  It is always referred to simply as "The Scottish Play."  Hence, the title to the book.

And this sets up the supposed mystery in this book, which, I must say, is very weak at best.  Ned, who does get a part in the play, slips up and says the word Macbeth during a rehearsal, which infuriates the overly dramatic director (who is quite the diva!) and nearly causes the show to be cancelled.  But the director will not get paid if he doesn't direct, so the show must go on.  But then a stage light falls from above (depicted somewhat on the cover to the book), giving everyone the idea that perhaps the play is now cursed.  Then the director himself falls through the trap door on the stage, which is not easily opened.  Then on the night of the play, all of the costumes are covered in mud.  The director is convinced the play is cursed, but Nancy knows otherwise.  Someone is trying to sabotage the play, but the question is who?  To be honest, there are no real clues in the story to point to any one suspect, and the ultimate revelation of the culprit comes a bit out of nowhere.  There is no way the reader would be able to figure out the identity of the saboteur just from reading the story, which is a bit disappointing.  I prefer when there are clues, no matter how subtle, that lead the reader, right along with Nancy, to solve the mystery.

Now, with regard to that new insight into Bess mentioned above.  Well, in this story, Bess suddenly has the inspiration to not only write songs, but sing them as well.  This leaves George and Nancy in a bit of a quandary, as Bess' voice is not exactly what one would call stellar.  But how can they tell her and burst her newfound dreams?  This subplot is a bit out there and really has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the story, other than to provide Bess with the reason to pester Nancy about finding a new hobby for herself.  She gives a shot at set decorating, which, of course, allows her to be close to Ned and also to be in the theater to solve the mystery when it arises.  Otherwise, the whole "songwriter/singer" part of the book feels more like filler than anything else.

As usual, we get very little characterization when it comes to the supporting cast (other than the director), and so it makes it all the more difficult to actually feel anything for any of the characters.  Sure, the author provides some surface information - Simon is British, Cassie is a hairdresser, Ricky has a boyfriend, Dale has been an actor before, etc. - but the author spends very little time on any of the characters, so the reader knows way too little about them to sift out any possible motives for the sabotage.  While the plot itself is a good one (having done theater for some years, I am familiar with how superstitious actors, directors, and crew can be!), it simply is not executed as well as it could have been.  Whether this is because of a word-count limitation by the publisher or lack of passion on the part of the author, I suppose we will never know.

I will say that the book ends on a note that could easily be seen as the conclusion to this series.  As the girls discuss their various hobbies, Nancy makes the remark, "It's good to stretch outside your usual things ... It may not be your life's work ... but you just might find something that makes you happy" (p. 197).  And in her closing diary notation (you know what I'm talking about - how each of these books opens and closes with a "diary" page), Nancy writes, "...I really did enjoy helping to design and build the sets of Ned's play.  But you know what? I loved solving the mystery more.  Maybe I will try to do some more drawing and sketching.  But I think I've already found my true calling..." (p. 198).  And since there is no ad for the next book, but instead, and ad for the previous book in the series (which, by the way, Nancy makes reference to a couple of times in the story), one could easily see this as the last of the Nancy Drew Diaries.  I suppose only time will tell...

7 footprints in the dust out of 10 for at least attempting to take the characters in some different directions and giving us a mystery in one of my favorite places - the theater!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #12 - Sing a Song of Murder

I've reached the twelfth Zebra Mystery Puzzler, and with it comes a new female lead sleuth from a new writer to the series.  Jan Michael is the seventh author in the series thus far, and from what I was able to dig up, the name is yet another pseudonym, this time for Jan Milella, who also wrote books under the pen name "Jan Mathews," as well as under her own name.  She only wrote two books in this series - this book and also book 14.  Milella also wrote books in the Harlequin Intrigue line of books, as well as the Silhouette Intimate Moments line and the "Second Chance at Love" line of romance novels.  Her first entry into the series was not bad at all, and I rather liked the lead character...

Sing a Song of Murder features a young country singer Darby Castle, who has hit it big and is just coming off a national tour with her band.  As they return to Nashville for one final concert, Darby learns from her boyfriend/manager that her new accountant has discovered Max Kingston, her promoter, has been skimming money for years, basically stealing tens of thousands of dollars that should rightfully be Darby's.  Upon arrival at the Nashville area, Jimmy (her manager/boyfriend) and Joe (her new accountant) confront Kingston, which sets off a chain of events that ultimately lead to Darby discovering Kingston dead in his office after the concert, strangled by a patch cord belonging to one of her musicians!  While there were plenty of people in the arena and backstage, it seems that the only real suspects who had the opportunity to kill the promoter are all members of Darby's tour group.

Milella a/k/a Michaels writes a rather fast-paced, but well-plotted murder mystery.  With only 174 pages, and the murder not actually occurring until page 63 (well, that is when the body is discovered), leaving less than 100 pages for the investigation to take place, since Darby reveals her knowledge of the killer's identity on page 161, the final page before the sealed last chapter.  The suspects include her maid, Bernadette, who dated Kingston before he dumped her for the next girl in a long line of flings; her guitarist, Billy, whose patch cord was used to strangle Kingston; her bandleader, Stan, who has some big time gambling debts and who could use the money Kingston stole; her boyfriend, Jimmy, who was allegedly sleeping off a drunken stupor at the time of the murder (but no one actually saw him during the time period in question); her accountant, Joe, in whose room the missing money was found; and even her other three band members, who claim to have been playing cards at the time, but who could easily be giving each other an alibi for the crime!  The obvious motive is the money stolen from Kingston's safe and lock box; however, Darby is intelligent enough to realize there is more to this mystery than meets the eye.

The character of Darby Castle reads somewhat like an adult Nancy Drew.  She is determined to help her friends and prove they are innocent of the crime, and she is quick to pick up on clues that the even the police do not seem to see (such as the lack of marks on the hands of one suspect who is arrested for the crime - marks a cord would leave when used to strangle someone).  She even has no problem getting cooperation from the police, who not only allow her to investigate and share information with her, but go so far as to give her a police pass to permit her to visit the crime scene without any supervision!  I would say that is probably the only drawback to this book, as no police force would be this accommodating, even where Darby is a big, multi-million dollar star in the music industry.  However, Darby is the star of the book, so I suppose the author felt the need to keep her at the forefront of the investigation, regardless of the unrealistic relationship between Darby and the police force.

There is no clue as to the identity of the cover artist, nor for the internal illustrations either.  I do like the internals, as they are full page illustrations, with the exception of a white space at the bottom of each one to allow for the page number.  The only one I found a bit off is the one on page 107, which depicts Darby and Lieutenant Hanson testing a theory regarding the marks that a cord would leave on someone's hands.  In the story, the two of them are at the police station, in the lieutenant's office; however, in the illustration, there are records clearly visible on the wall behind Lieutenant Hanson, which would have been hanging on the wall of one of the dressing rooms or perhaps in the promoter's office back at the arena (such as in an earlier scene as depicted to the left, here).  This, of course, begs the question on how much detail the artist is given when provided scenes to be drawn for the book.  Otherwise, the rest of the illustrations stay consistent with the story, and a few of them do provide some subtle clues regarding the identity of the killer (and, no, I'm not going to give them away here and spoil it for anyone!).

Finally, as indicated above, the story is mostly set in Nashville, Tennessee, and the author references quite a number of streets, rivers, and other locales throughout the story.  From the mention of taking U.S. 40 up to Nashville (p. 1), to Elm Hill Pike melting into Lafayette Street (p. 25), there are numerous references to actual places, including the Cumberland River, Hendersonville, and Sumner County.  The author's use of "King's Town" Arena is likely referring to the Bridgestone Arena, as both the fictional and real arenas are located on Broadway in the heart of the city.  Milella's use of actual locations tends to give the story some grounding that gives readers a sense of "reality" to the mystery, as those familiar with Nashville can easily picture the places described in the book.

Another solid read in the series, and leaves me a bit sad to know there will only be one more Darby Castle story to read!

RATING:  8 new Sony cassette recorders out of 10 for some great red herrings, some well-placed misleading clues, and a good over-all read!