So Cold the River - a supernatural thriller

This book came as a complete surprise to me.  It was given to me by a friend who lives in French Lick, Indiana.  At first, I turned down the offer, but she insisted, indicating the book was set in her home town, and she even drove me to see the hotel where a portion of the book takes place.  I conceded and brought the book home.  I put it up on my "to be read" shelf with the intention of never pulling it down to read.  It just is not the type of book I normally read.  Recently, though, I was trying to decide what book to read next, and I saw this massive hardcover sitting there, overpowering all of the paperback novels around it, and so I figured, "What the heck.  I'll take it down, read a couple of chapters, and tell Dina that at least I gave it a shot."  So, I opened up this 503-page story and sat down to read it.  Three days later, I finished it!

So Cold the River, written by Michael Koryta, is the story of Eric Shaw, a cinematographer with a failed Hollywood career, a failing marriage, and a dead-end job video-taping weddings and putting together video-taped collages for funerals.  An assignment to put together a video for a recently deceased woman finds him focusing on a photograph of an A-frame cottage painted deep burgundy.  No people in the photo, but something about it draws Eric, forcing him to include it in the shot film of this woman's family and children.  It seems innocuous enough; but after the wedding, he learns the photo holds some important secrets that only the deceased woman's sister knows.  A woman who then hires Eric for a job - to head out to French Lick / West Baden, Indiana to research her father-in-law's life to produce a video about his childhood and history as a gift to her husband.  You see, her father-in-law is on his death bed, and no one - not even his own children - know anything about his life.  Eric declines until the woman offers him literally thousands of dollars to do the work.  So, Eric packs up and heads to Indiana, having no idea what is in store for him there!

If you are thinking that this does not sound overly exciting at this point, guess again.  That feeling Eric has about the A-frame in the photo - well, that is more than just a feeling.  And that bottle of spring water the woman gives him - the only thing her father-in-law has from his past in Indiana - it holds some very dark secrets.  Secrets that Eric begins to learn when he takes a sip from the bottle that has been closed for more than fifty years.  And then takes another sip.  And another.  It becomes an addiction, because the more he drinks, the more he begins to see things.  Glimpses of the past.  Glimpses of Campbell Bradford, the man he was sent to research.  Glimpses of the evil surrounding this man.  It becomes clear pretty quickly this is more than just a regular thriller.  There is a supernatural side to the story that turns dark really quick.  And a book that I had no intention of reading suddenly drew me in just as quickly as that bottle of water and the secret history of West Baden / French Lick draws in Eric.  

The characters in the story are superbly fleshed out, and as a reader, you find yourself drawn to each of them.  There's Kellen, the young college student working on a thesis about his grandfather's life running a speakeasy back in the day.  And his grandfather had told him some unbelievable stories about the town and about Bradford - stories that he begins to realize may not have been the imaginations of an elderly man.  There's Annie, the old woman who has been around long enough to know pretty much everyone in the town - and who has her own stockpile of bottled spring water from back in the day that has its own secrets to tell.  There's Josiah, the descendant of Campbell Bradford who is always getting into trouble - and who might very well be Campbell's path back to the real world.  There's Danny, the dimwitted best friend of Josiah who has always been loyal to Josiah - and who begins to realize that loyalty may come with a price.  And there's Claire, the spurned wife who still loves her husband despite everything - and who comes to Indiana in hopes of saving him from himself, only to find she is the one who needs to be saved!

The book is a definite page-turner, with so much tension building and so much suspense, you won't be able to put it down.  I give Koryta credit - he writes a very powerful story that will keep even a non-interested reader like me on the edge of his seat, waiting to see what is going to happen next and how it will all turn out!

NOW - all of that being said, I will give you one warning.  If you are thinking about watching the film adaptation of this book that was released back in 2022, I've got one word for you.  DON'T!!!  Under no circumstances should you watch the film if you've read the book.  I don't know what the filmmakers were thinking, but the movie is so far removed from the book, all it will do is drive you crazy and make you wish you could get back that hour-and-a-half of time you wasted watching it.  I made the mistake of watching it on a streaming channel, and throughout the entire movie, I'm screaming, shaking my head in disgust, and complaining at how much destruction the filmmakers did to this amazing tale.  The characterization is WAY off, and the story is so butchered, it's almost unrecognizable.  So, if you are thinking about watching the film, again - DON'T!  You will regret it!

Stick with the book - it is a million times better and well worth the read!

RATING:  9 tubs of sulfur-smelling spring water out of 10 for a shockingly great thriller with some unexpected twists and backstories that will leave you breathless by the end!

Whitman Mystery Stories - April Kane and the Dragon Lady (a Terry and the Pirates Adventure)

I have, of course, heard of Terry and the Pirates over the years, but honestly, I've never read it.  I know that Terry and the Pirates was a newspaper comic strip created by Milton Caniff.  Looking it up online, I see the strip ran from October 1934 to February 1973.  Caniff left the strip in 1946, however, as Terry and the Pirates was owned by Chicago Tribune New York Times Syndicate and lacking any creative control over the strip, he went on to create his own work with a strip called Steve Canyon.  Terry and the Pirates went on under other writers and artists until it ended in 1973.  In recent years, I became aware that Whitman offered up a book in its line of "Authorized Editions" based on the comic strip, so when I found a copy in dust jacket, I picked it up.

April Kane and the Dragon Lady was published in 1942, just a few years before Caniff left the newspaper strip.  As with the other Whitman Authorized Editions that are based on comic strips, the book does not attribute any writer or artist to the book; however, on the copyright page, it does indicate the internal illustrations are "adapted" from the comic strip itself.  This might hint at Caniff himself being the artist and, possibly, the writer; or, it could be that the story is taken from one that ran in the newspaper strip and the illustrations are simply panels from that ongoing tale.  Having never read the comic strip, I cannot say for sure one way or the other.  The cover makes Terry and April appear to be children; the interior illustrations, thankfully, give them a somewhat older appearance.

I was not really sure what to expect from the story.  I had always assumed the "and the Pirates" portion of the name of the strip meant that Terry had a group of pirates that he went around with; but, I quickly learned this is not the case.  The "pirates" are actually the villains he fought against, with his trusty gang: his trusted friend, Pat Ryan; his Chinese helper, Connie; his silent strongman, Big Stoop; and, of course, his love interest, April Kane.  While the title of the book is April Kane and the Dragon Lady, the story would actually be more aptly titled "Terry and the Dragon Lady."  Based on the title alone, I had expected April to be the main character of the story, but, alas, that is no the case.  Terry is actually the main character - it is he who meets up with the Dragon Lady; it is he who takes dancing lessons in secret from the Dragon Lady so he can take April to an important ball; it is he who rushes to the aid of the Dragon Lady; and it is he who gets gravely injured during a battle on behalf of the Dragon Lady.

That's not to say April is not in the story.  But she is mostly a supporting cast member who is there to play nursemaid to Terry after he is hurt, and to help Pat recover after he defeats the villainous Klang during a cliff side fight.  It was disappointing not to see more of April, and more particularly, not to see her portrayed as a strong-willed heroine who is not dependent on the men to rescue her.  In fact, it is the Dragon Lady who seems to made of sterner stuff, and while she teeters between good and evil, it is clear that she is not dependent on anyone and can handle herself in any situation.  The way she handles the men who serve her, the way she confronts the enemy, and the way she does not hesitate to punish anyone who disobeys her - she is a definite leader, not a follower.  I almost wish the author had given us readers a bit more of the back story with her and Terry's gang, as it is evident Pat is familiar with her, as he speaks so comfortably with her, like no one else would dare.  

The one character in the story who kept me guessing was Deeth Crispin III.  The son of an important businessman, it is Deeth who ultimately takes April to the ball, albeit for the sole purpose of making Terry jealous (just as Terry takes the Dragon Lady to the ball in the hopes of making April jealous!).  Deeth ends up getting sucked into the adventure, as the Dragon Lady takes Terry, April, and Deeth hostage, flying them to a distant land where she plans to abandon them.  Deeth seems to lack courage at every turn - but when the final battle takes place, it is Deeth who sneaks away in the hopes of finding a way to save April, Terry, and the gang.  And it is Deeth who takes a bullet that potentially costs him his life - the only problem is, we never find out!  The book leaves so many things unfinished - does Deeth die?  Do Pat and April reunite with Terry and the gang?  Where did the Dragon Lady go?  A very unsatisfying ending to the story, that's for sure!

For an adventure story, I'd say the book was a fairly good read.  It was not a mystery, so if that's what you are looking for, you can pass by this one.  Not one of the best Whitman stories I've read, but by far, not one of the worst.

RATING:  6 glasses of poisoned punch out of 10 for not being afraid to put these characters in some very life-threatening situations and giving them the courage to make it through!

A Ted Wilford Mystery, no. 12 - The Mystery of Rainbow Gulch

As I get nearer to the conclusion of the Ted Wilford mystery series, I am beginning to notice the stories are straying further away from Ted working on a story for the school or hometown newspaper and moving into standard mystery fare.  After the last book's focus on baseball, I was hoping this book would get Ted back to his newspaper work; but, alas, such is not the case.  Instead, we get probably the most convoluted mystery Ted and Nelson have faced to date.

The Mystery of Rainbow Gulch sees Ted and his best friend, Nelson, taking a much needed vacation.  The two young men head off to stay with Nelson's friend, Bob Fontaine, who lives on a farm with his parents and younger sister, Tony.  Oh, and their dog, Cougar.  And their horses - Starlight, Meadowlark, and Blaze.  And their new farm hand, Henry Cox. And we can't forget their neighbor, Mrs. Manners.  And we definitely must make mention of that old hermit who lives way out in the hills, in Rainbow Gulch, to be exact.  Author Norvin Pallas provides plenty of characters in this story, and with the numerous characters comes the numerous mysteries that fall into Ted's lap!

MYSTERY #1 - Ted learns that Bob's little sister, Tony, is not actually the Fontaine's daughter.  They discovered her in their front yard after someone dropped her off late one night and disappeared thereafter.  The Fontaines did all they could to find relatives of the girl, but she could not even remember her own name (she was too young at the time), and the only thing she could really say was "Tony," which is why they gave her that name.  They are trying to adopt her, but their lawyer says something is slowing the process down - and that something turns out to be the Fontaines' neighbor, Mrs. Manners (yes, that's really her last name!).  Despite her name, she has no manners at all, for she tells Mr. Fontaine that she intends to adopt young Tony herself, and there is nothing he or his family can do to stop her!

MYSTERY #2 - Soon after arriving at the Fontaines' farm, Ted and Nelson join Bob on a horseback ride, only to watch a plane crash over one of the distant hills.  They report the possible downed plane, and a ranger comes to the property and has them take him to where they think the plane went down.  They discover the pilot is dead, and it appears the plane had surveying cameras aboard - but for what reason, they do not know.  And Ted discovers some very strange footprints leading away from the plane, leaving them to wonder if someone survived the crash, or if someone came to the plane and took something away...

MYSTERY #3 - Ted and Nelson also learn that a nearby house burned to the ground not long ago, and there is an auction taking place for some of the livestock and other items that survived the fire.  Bob tells them the couple who rented the property - Mr. and Mrs. Franton - died in the fire, and no one could find any of their relatives to claim the remaining property.  Bob inadvertently bids on, and wins, an old stuffed chair, which, when Ted sits in it, he discovers a paper shoved into the cushion - a paper that contains a very strange coded message!

MYSTERY #4 - A young man by the name of Henry Cox shows up, looking for work as a farm hand.  Mr. Fontaine hires him, but Ted suspects there is something off.  Henry does not appear to know much about what he is doing, and his questions raise suspicions in Ted's mind.  Then Henry takes off one day, leaving no word, and the family discovers that before he left, he used more than one roll of film to take pictures of young Tony, asking her numerous questions about what she remembers from her past and her real family.  

MYSTERY #5 - And last, but not least, there is the mysterious old hermit the boys find living out beyond Rainbow Gulch.  He lives in a beat-up old shack that no one knew was there, and he talks incoherently to himself as he wanders around.  The boys cannot figure out if he is prospecting for something, or if he is simply seeking a solitary life.  And Ted can't help but wonder if he is the one who left the footprints out near the sight of the plane crash...

Five seemingly unrelated mysteries, and here Ted and Nelson thought they were going to have a relaxing, uneventful vacation!  Of course, Pallas doesn't wait long before he starts to interweave the mysteries, and the reader, alongside Ted and Nelson, begins to get pieces of what is really going on and who all the players really are.  The disappointing thing about the book is that Ted does not do any real investigating, except to question Henry Cox.  The revelations regarding the burning of the Franton's home, the real identity of Tony, the true motivation behind Mrs. Manners' actions, the reason for the plane crash, and the truth about the hermit out in Rainbow Gulch all come to light without any help from Ted at all.  I suppose it could be proffered that if Ted had not come out to the farm, none of these secrets would have come to light; however, he is simply a catalyst and not an actual reason.

That is not to say there is no excitement to the story.  There are some rather tense scenes building up to the climax, when Tony is kidnapped, and Ted joins Bob to go in search of her.  After they find her, they get trapped out in Rainbow Gulch as a fire begins to spread around them, trapping them with no way out.  The scene of them climbing the "rainbow" shaped rock formation in order to escape the coming flames is the cover scene for the book.  I rather liked how Pallas portrayed Ted and Bob in these scenes, as they are forced to remain calm for Tony's sake, so she does not become hysterical at the thought of the fire consuming them, and even when they believe there is no hope of rescue, they stay positive for the small girl.  That writing stays true to Ted's character in the series.

Not one of the better books in the series, but definitely not the worst.  With only three more books left in this series, I'm hoping they get better before it ends!

RATING:  6 cloths soaked in water from the stream out of 10 for crafting five mysteries that ultimately tie into one rather complex mystery to be solved!

Penny Nichols - a Top Shelf Productions graphic novel

If you are a fan of vintage children's mystery series, and you know anything about Mildred Wirt, then you'll know right away why I picked up this graphic novel.  Way back in 1936, Mildred Wirt wrote a three book series of mysteries under the pseudonym of Joan Clark, with a fourth and final book being published in 1939.  The title character to this series?  Why, none other than Penny Nichols.  The daughter of a private investigator, Penny stumbles across one mystery after another that she must solve, helping people along the way.  So, when I happened to come across this graphic novel bearing the same exact name, well, there was no way I could pass this up!

Penny Nichols is the creation of MK Reed (writer), Greg Means (writer), and Matt Wiegle (artist).  Instead of a teenage amateur sleuth, this particular Penny Nichols is a 26-year old, single woman who is cynical, sarcastic, and sassy (oh, how I love her already!).  She has been meandering through life, working one temp job after another and babysitting her sister's two young daughters.  She is not looking for romance, she is not particularly searching for a career, and she is ... well, to put it bluntly, she is simply settled into a mundane life.  Until the fateful day she is stuck handing out free samples of her sister's new health juice (don't ask what it is made of - or better yet, listen to Penny's description of it:  "[a] vitamin rich, ProBio-Antijuice and professional strength floor cleaner" [p. 13]).  That should give you an idea of just how wonderfully snippy Penny is.  

 

And it happens to be just what Bobert and Sam are looking for!  After all, they are making a low-budget (VERY low budget, as in non-existent) horror flick, and they need someone who can help manage the books ... and help edit the script ... well, actually, write the dialogue ... and the scenes ... and organize it all ... and find some extras ... and find the costumes ... and assist in editing ... and, well, you get the drift.  Penny is suddenly thrust into a world of make-believe blood, exploding heads, excitable actresses, over-eager actors, gung-ho special effects artists, super-smooth and suave producers, and lazy, self-centered directors and writers.  And she finds that she loves every minute of it!  In fact, Blood Wedding (the name of the horror flick) is exactly the kick-in-the-pants Penny needs to find meaning in her life - as well as friends and a future!  Oh, there's plenty of mishaps, frustrations, and problems along the way, but Penny's attitude fits absolutely perfectly into all of it, and if it weren't for her, the movie would never have gotten made!

Reed and Means provide a fun story, but quite frankly, it's Penny's dialogue and quick wit that really steals the show for this book.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I smiled, snickered, and outright laughed at her comments to people.  Take the Vancome Lady from MadTV, add a little Karen from Will & Grace, and throw in a bit of Dorothy from The Golden Girls, and you've got Penny Nichols!  But what truly endears her to the reader (well, to me, at least), is that underneath all of those smart remarks likes a person who simply wants to find a place where she fits in - and find it she does amidst the group of misfits making this film.  By the end of the book, you're not only cheering for Penny, but for the entire crew.

The art by Matt Wiegle is somewhat cartoony and a bit rough around the edges, but it grows on you.  The more you read, the more you get a feel for the characters, the more you realize Wiegle has managed to capture the essence of each character in the way they look.  Penny's plain, frumpy appearance ... Bobert's slick, smooth look ... Spazzy's over-exuberant, teen image ... Sam's lazy, unkept manner ... Lix's almost-goth, grunge style ... each character truly LOOKS like their personality!  It's perfect.  And the panels that depict the movie being filmed - they are so gloriously bloody and gruesome, yet hilarious at the same time.  Which fits beautifully with the whole idea of the story.  Reed and Means definitely picked the perfect artist for this book.

I would love to see more stories of Penny and her cohorts.  This creative team needs to get back together and give us some more stories - after all, I have no doubt there are more low-budget films that Penny can help cobble together, while temping part time to pay her bills.  And who knows?  Maybe one day she can follow in her namesake's shoes and solve a mystery or two!

RATING:  9 melting and exploding heads out of 10 for utterly surprising me with a well-written, witty, wonderful tale of a woman simply trying to find her place in this world!

The Scent of Lilacs - from Ace, First in Gothics

As I have gotten more interested in the gothic paperbacks of the '60s and '70s, I find myself learning more and more about the publishers, the authors, the cover art, and the stories themselves.  It has been a great deal of fun delving into this world - ever since I watched my first Dark Shadows episode back in the 1980s (yes, I watched it in reruns - not old enough to have watched it when it first came out!), I've been hooked on gothic!  This book is a recent purchase, made because the vintage gothic group I belong to on Facebook (Vintage Gothic & Romance Paperbacks) has had some posts about how Ace publishing had helped sweep in the whole "gothic" phase of those decades, going so far as to label itself "first in gothics" on the cover of their books.  So, when I spotted a book at my local used bookstore with that tag line, I figured I had to pick it up.  I am SO glad I did!

The Scent of Lilacs may sport many of the standard gothic tropes - a young woman is brought home by her new, wealthy husband to the family home, only to discover the foreboding mansion is filled with dark secrets and people who may want to kill her - as well as a possible ghost haunted the halls!  But, it also provides readers with a truly wonderful little mystery to solve - just what really did happen to her new brother-in-law's wife, who supposedly died of a heart attack years ago?  Rumors abound within the small town of Cedar Falls, and there is talk that when she died, there was a lingering scent of lilacs in her room, and her ghost now roams the halls of the old estate.  As Laura Wainwright begins to suspect something is not right in her new home, she begins to go all "Nancy Drew" and start looking into the mystery of Deirdre Wainwright!

Quite honestly, I could not put this book down.  Once I started it, I found myself turning page after page, chapter after chapter, just dying (no pun intended!) to know what was going to happen next!  Here we start off with a very happy Laura Wainright, returning from her two-week honeymoon with the older and super-handsome Dr. Richard Wainwright, ready to begin her new life in her new home, alongside her toddler son from her first marriage (her first husband died tragically, which is why she returned to Cedar Falls in the first place).  But readers get the sense from the very first chapter that things will not go well for Laura - she arrives home in torrential downpour (always a portent of things to come), and learns from her husband that his family has issues - his brother Miles is still reeling from the death of his beloved wife, having spent a year in a mental hospital after she passed away; his sister Lydia has quite the attitude, not always welcoming to newcomers; and his sister Abby takes care of the house and family, likely the only normal one of the bunch.  

It's not long before things really do start to happen. Laura receives a note warning her it's not too late to get out.  Then she overhears the sisters debating about whether Laura married Richard for his money and how long she would last. Then the chandelier in her bedroom falls from the ceiling, missing her by mere inches.  Then she finds the typewriter in the attic that has the same type as that of the note she received.  Then she discovers the closed off chimney that leads down to a wall in her own room!  Then someone tries to chloroform her, nearly pushing her to her death off the balcony.  Then her young son disappears.   And there is that lingering scent of lilacs ... and the mysterious woman in white, with long dark hair ... and even more important, why does her own husband refuse to believe anything she tells him?   I have to give the author credit, because just when I thought I had it all figured out, BAM!  An unexpected curve is thrown into the story, and the real evil is revealed to come from the unlikeliest of sources!

Carolyn Wilson is identified as the author of this book, but quite frankly, I'm not sure if this is a real person or simply a pseudonym.  I can find no other gothic books written by a "Carolyn Wilson," and while I do find a mystery titled For Your Love written by a Carolyn Wilson, I don't believe it is the same person.  I would definitely love to know the author's true identity, as she crafted a wonderfully suspenseful tale with a fairly strong lead character. The story reads in the same way a Nancy Drew mystery does - the chapter cliffhangers, the slowly revealed clues, the determination of the lead character, and the climactic face-off between the protagonist and the villain.  Since this book was published in 1966, some 30-plus years after the Nancy Drew series began, it stands to reason the author could have been influenced by the sometimes-gothic stories of the Nancy Drew mysteries, providing inspiration while writing this one.  (And, c'mon - "Carolyn" Wilson v. "Carolyn" Keene ... The Scent of Lilacs v. The Mystery at Lilac Inn ... the cover to this Ace edition even bears a strong resemblance to the Rudy Nappi cover to the Nancy Drew title [the lilac bushes, the glowing woman, the house in the background] ... need I say more?)

 

As a quick side note, I did have to smile when Laura visited the "Ferncliff" Children's Home with her mother - "Ferncliff" is also the name of a sanitarium in the daytime soap, General Hospital, and I've seen that hospital numerous times on the show.  To see a children's home with the same name definitely made me chuckle.

This book is definitely one of the better gothics that I've read, and I'd highly recommend it not only to fans of gothic fiction, but also just mystery fans in general.

RATING:  9 unfinished letters at the back of a closet shelf out of 10 for a truly suspenseful, well-written gothic mystery very much worth the read!

Agatha, Girl of Mystery #2 - The Pearl of Bengal

I am so glad I picked up this series.  I wasn't certain what I would think of it (even though I bought all 10 books in the series before I ever read the first one), but I did rather enjoy that first one.  It was a quick, easy read, yet it had a great little mystery to it.  And sometimes, let's face it - you want to read something that is light and can be finished in an hour or less.  And the Agatha, Girl of Mystery series definitely fits that category.  Plus, it has such fun characters, all of whom bear a literary name - Agatha (after Ms. Christie, obviously); her cousin Dash (after the author, Mr. Hammett); her butler Chandler (after the novelist, Raymond); her Siberian cat Watson (I don't think I need to tell you this one); and her uncle Rudyard (after the English writer, Kipling).  Thus, anyone who enjoys mystery is sure to get a kick out o these adventures!

The Pearl of Bengal takes Agatha, Dash, and Chandler (along with Watson, of course) to India, to not only find a missing man, but also an invaluable missing pearl!  After their first adventure an Egypt, our young detectives-in-training are called upon by one of Dash's professors to locate the famed Pearl of Bengal that has been stolen!  The only thing they have to go on is (a) a recorded phone call filled with static; (b) a few photos; and (c) a missing man.  Dash has five days to find the missing man, recover the pearl and solve th mystery - or he will be expelled!  So, what else can he do but turn to his exceptionally intelligent and skilled younger cousin who can solve a mystery, or her last name isn't ... well, Mistery!

The story is written by Sir Steve Stevenson, translated by Siobhan Tracey, and adapted by Maya Gold - so it's really hard to say exactly which of these three deserve the kudos for the writing here.  I'd go with Stevenson, with the idea that Tracey and Gold merely took what Stevenson wrote and translated it from its original Italian format into the English language for our enjoyment. But Tracey and Gold must deserve some credit, for being able to translate it in such a way as to keep Agatha's quirky nature, Dash's inept fear of everything, and Chandler's strength and loyalty.  And the illustrations by Stefano Turconi only add to the fun (because, let's face it - I'm a huge fan of internal illustrations, having grown up with them in the Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and other children's series I read growing up).

The mystery is pretty straightforward - upon arriving in India, Agatha and her crew are given four potential suspects from Captain Deshpande, the local authority.  The missing man's son, a Spanish couple on vacation, and a local who disagreed with the missing man on how the Temple of Kali should be run are the only ones who seem to have an interest in either the missing man or the pearl.  It's Agatha's job to weed through them and determine which of them had the means, motive, and opportunity to kidnap a man and steal the pearl from the guarded temple!  One by one, she begins to cross the suspects off her list, until she discovers she has no suspects left - which leaves her with the all-important question - with no suspect, how can she solve this case?

Of course, for adult readers, the solution to the mystery is pretty obvious from the get-go, but for the young readers this series is intended for, I can see this giving them cause to ponder.  The only thing I do have to wonder is this: how is Agatha capable to taking her Siberian cat with her everywhere, and how does it not run off?  Don't get me wrong, I do love cats, and there is one particular scene where Watson faces off against a much larger cat (the title to the book might give you a clue as to what kind of cat); but in reality, a cat is not like a dog, and it is very unlikely to stick around when given freedom to run!

For a quick, easy read with an enjoyable story, this is definitely a series I'd recommend!

RATING:  8 way-too-thin bamboo canes out of 10 for giving readers a story with liars, tigers, and thieves - oh, my!

The Seventh Veronica Speedwell Mystery - A Sinister Revenge

It seems like it has been a LONG time since the last Veronica Speedwell mystery was published, but looking back, it's only been a year since I read the sixth book in the series.  So, I guess it hasn't been as long as I thought.  Perhaps it is simply because I love these characters so much, I wish author Deanna Raybourn could provide me with their adventures more often!  But, alas, I will have to suffice with one book a year, and treasure each story until the next one hits the shelves.  Veronica and her paramour, Revelstoke Templeton-Vane (or, as we all know and love him - "Stoker") truly come to life under Raybourn's penmanship - both strong-willed, stubborn, determined, dedicated, and, above all else, loyal to a fault.  And after the ending of the last book, with Stoker taking off for parts unknown after finding out Veronica kept a prior marriage a secret from him ... well, let's just say, I was anxious to see where this mystery would take us!

A Sinister Revenge picks up months after Stoker left.  Veronica has filled her time by joining Stoker's brother, the Viscount Tiberius Templeton-Vane, on a traveling jaunt through Italy, enjoying an opportunity to capture and send home literally boxes of beautiful butterflies - after all, besides solving murders, Veronica is first and foremost a lepidopterist!  Veronica is determined not to reach out to Stoker, taking his long silence as a message that he does not wish to see her.  But her decision gets taken away from her when Tiberius approaches her one morning with the simple request:  "I wish to find Stoker ... I need him."

Of course, anyone who has been reading this series knows that the Templeton-Vane brothers are very independent and most certainly would never admit a weakness or a need for one another.  So, Tiberius' request throws Veronica off-guard.  Needless to say, the two head off to Bavaria, where they find Stoker (who has assumed the role of a werewolf of sorts, frightening the villagers as a means to be left alone).  It is here where the mystery really begins, as readers learn that Tiberius is concerned he may be the target of a killer, someone who wants revenge for something that happened two decades prior at the Templeton-Vane homestead when one of his friends fell to his death off the cliffs behind the grand house.  It had always been thought to have been an accident; after all, it had been a horribly stormy night, and Lorenzo d'Ambrogio had gone to the unstable cliff in an effort to try and save the dinosaur bones he had uncovered there.  But now, twenty years later, Tiberius has received a threat that makes him believe otherwise.  Two of his other friends from that same night have both died, and the message says he is next!

In true Agatha Christie style, a new dinner party is thrown, where Tiberius invites back everyone who had been at the house that fateful night - the remaining two members of Tiberius's group (the Seven Sinners), along with their spouses, and the Templeton-Vanes' neighbors, who had also been unfortunate enough to have attended the party all those years ago.  Tiberius is certain one of them is the killer, and he wants Veronica and Stoker to not only protect him, but also uncover the true identity of the killer.  Thus, despite the tension between them, Stoker and Veronica must put aside their personal problems and help Stoker's brother uncover the truth about what happened that night so long ago and stop a killer from striking again.

Raybourn weaves a truly intricate web of secrets and lies, as every guest has something he or she is hiding.  And just to keep things interesting (and keep Veronica hopping!), readers get treated to the return of J.J. Butterworth, that spunky female journalist who somehow seems to weasel her way into Veronica and Stoker's investigations.  This time, she's posing as a maid, having come to the Templeton-Vane residence with the foreign cook Tiberius has hired to prepare the elaborate meal for the dinner party.  Veronica is not pleased at all, but she knows J.J. could find out information only the staff of a grand house such as this would know, so she strikes a deal to work together with the journalist in the hope of uncovering the truth.  But one of the guests has a heart condition, and when she dies at the dinner party, Veronica and Stoker are left not only with a grieving husband, but with a ticking clock to determine who killed her and why, since she had not been present all those years ago - so why kill her now?  Trust me when I saw, Raybourn is a crafty one - just when you think you have it figured out, she pulls the rug out from underneath you, and you find you were following the wrong trail of clues all along!  I must applaud Raybourn for the excellent twists and turns - and for providing readers with an all-too-real cliffhanger for poor Veronica!

As always, we get some absolutely wonderful characters to enjoy as we make our way through this latest mystery.  We get treated to Stoker's youngest brother, Merryweather, who proves he can be up to any challenge where necessary.  We meet Stoker's Nanny, who takes an instant dislike to Veronica and gives rise to some wonderfully fun tete-a-tete between the two of them!  We have the chance to once again see Collins, the Templeton-Vane's butler who normally attends to Tiberius in his London residence - ever stoic, yet always caring.  And we mustn't forget Dr. Timothy Gresham and his wife, Elspeth - the not-quite-in-the-same-class neighbors who seem relatively out of place, and yet, they play such a pivotal role in the story.  Finally, we have the remaining members of the Seven Sinners - Pietro, the Conte di Salviati and his American wife, Beatrice, as well as Sir James and Lady Augusta MacIver, described as "the very picture of Scottish aristocracy."  The secrets these four hold ... well, let's just say, Raybourn is an expert at surprising her readers!

Overall, another wonderful adventure of Veronica and Stoker - and if you are wondering whether the two make up before the end of the book well ... you didn't really think I'd give that away, did you?  The only negative thing I can say about this book is that once it's read, it's going to be a whole 'nother year before you can read their next mystery!  (Unless, of course, you're willing to go out and purchase the hardcover version of the book - and being someone who is a stickler for conformity, I will patiently await the paperback, since all of the books in the series I have so far are all paperback.)  Thus, we must bid a fond farewell to our favorite sleuthing couple - until next time!

RATING:  10 bottles of heart tonic out of 10 for yet another engaging, well-written murder mystery that further proves Deanna Raybourn's expertise as a writer!

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell - A Book By Any Other Name, No. 1

Okay, so this post will start a series of posts (not in any particular order, mind you) of books that I read, which share the same title.  Over the course of collecting books for as many years as I have, I've discovered that there are a number of titles that seem to be reused, particularly when it comes to children's mystery series.  Off the top of my head, I can think of 20 or so titles that were used in multiple series (sometimes just two different series, but there are instances where three or more series used the same title).  So, I figured if I were going to read one book with a title, I'd go ahead and read the sister book as well, then compare them to see if the stories bear any similarities.  I'm hoping this turns out to be a fun adventure, so we shall see...

The Mystery of the Tolling Bell is likely instantly recognizable by Nancy Drew fans as the 23rd mystery in the "Nancy Drew Mystery Stories" series.  Heck, if you do a search online for just the title, you will get page after page of results showing the Nancy Drew book.  What you may not realize, though, is that there is another children's mystery book by the same title.  In the 1960s, a book with this title was published by Christian Literature Crusade with permission by Pickering & Inglis, Ltd. (and for those who read this blog, you may remember I reviewed another book from the P&I publishing company, The Crooked Signpost).  I happened across this book in a local used bookstore, where it had been placed with the Nancy Drew books, likely because without a dust jacket, the book has yellow boards and would seem to the casual eye to be the Nancy Drew book of the same name.  Of course, my eye caught the name of the author and realized immediately it was not Nancy Drew - so my search began to find the book in its brightly colored dust jacket, which I eventually found on eBay.

This book is written by Ellen Jane MacLeod, who wrote more than several children's mysteries, all of which have a Christian theme to them.  Some of the titles, such as The Ski Lodge Mystery, Mystery Gorge, and The Vanishing Light, all sound rather intriguing just by the title alone.  There are several mentions online that Ms. MacLeod also wrote under the pseudonym of "Ella Anderson," which, if there is true, means she also wrote The Crooked Signpost which I read a few months back.  Based on the writing style of the two books, I could easily believe her to be the author of both.

This version of The Mystery of the Tolling Bell features three young men - Paul Maxwell, Phil Leighton, and Pat Riley (funny how all those names begin with "P") - who are returning from a weekend of camping on their own when they are forced to take shelter in an abandoned cottage overlooking a cliff during a torrential rainstorm.  One of them recalls an old story that has circulated through town about the cottage, and how is poses a danger to anyone who approaches it and hears the tolling of a bell in the distance.  Well, as fate would have it, they begin to hear the tolling of a bell - which leaves them ready to run home, despite the raging storm!  They manage to wait out the storm until the morning, and upon returning home, they find another mystery that pulls their attention - a dog named Prince has been stolen from on of their town's wealthy residents, and the boys decide they are going to find it for the reward.  The search for the missing dog and the boys' desire to help a local young outsider become the focus of the book until near the end, when the boys (along with the outsider) make another trip to the abandoned cottage, where they not only learn the secret of the tolling bell, but they come face-to-face with some dastardly criminals who are using the bell and the folk tale to scare people away from the cottage, which they have been using for their base of operations.

It is odd that the tolling bell only plays a small part at the beginning, and then in the climax of the book, and is otherwise ignored throughout the rest of the story.  The main focus seems to be more on the boys' attempts to help young Ben Anderson and his friend, Leo Alexander.  MacLeod uses the story as an opportunity to share the message of the Gospel, as the boys share their Christian faith with Ben and Leo, invite them to church, and encourage them to accept Christ as their own Savior.  The events at the end of the book are what lead to both boys putting their faith in Christ, and the book ends on a very happy note for everyone involved (well, maybe not so much for the four criminals, who are ultimately arrested and thrown in jail!).  While The Crooked Signpost had elements of Christianity woven into the story, this book relies much more heavily on the boys' faith and their attempts to share their faith with Ben and Leo.

 

Since this book is copyrighted 1960 by Pickering & Inglis, it was not published until 14 years after the Nancy Drew story, The Mystery of the Tolling Bell.   That book was written by Mildred Wirt, based on an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams.  In the Nancy Drew version, Nancy and her friends (three girls instead of three boys) travel to Candleton to solve a mystery involving a client of Mr. Drew's, who has been swindled for a lot money.  Turns out others in the coastal town have also been swindled by a woman and man claiming to be selling stock in a successful cosmetic company. While there, Nancy also tries to solve the mystery involving a tolling bell that is hear every time a cave is flooded with water, where a ghostly apparition appears, scaring people away.  While there are definite differences between the books, there are some surprising similarities - (1) both stories have three protagonists; (2) both books deal with an empty cottage overlooking a cliff; (3) both mysteries deal with thieves who are using the cottage as their base of operations; (4) both stories feature a hidden room beneath the cottage; (5) book books obviously deal with a tolling bell that is not easily seen by the hearers; (6) both mysteries feature an urban legend / folk tale that keep people away from the area; and (7) both stories appear to be set somewhere along the New England coast.  Since the Nancy Drew book was published over a decade before MacLeod's book, if there were any "lifting" of ideas or plot elements, it would have been MacLeod from Wirt's mystery.  Certainly, it could just be a complete coincidence, but seriously - how many coincidences like this do we really see outside of series books?

Overall, both books had their good points, and both stories had their drawbacks; however, I did rather enjoy both of them for what they were, and it was fun to read them with the idea of comparing the stories / plots.

RATING:  7 loose-leaf albums of stamps out of 10 for taking something as simple as a tolling bell and turning it into two different (yet similar!) mysteries more than ten years apart!

Whitman Mystery Stories - Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx

I suppose I'm a glutton for punishment, because I decided to read yet another Whitman Authorized Edition written by Kathryn Heisenfelt.  The previous three books I have read by her have been less than stellar, and, in fact, it seems the more I read, the worse they become.  I honestly cannot figure out why Whitman utilized her as a writer for these books, particularly the authorized editions that were using the names and likenesses of relatively big name stars from that time (such as Bonita Granville, Betty Grable, Ann Sheridan, and others).  I have to wonder if any of these stars actually read the books using their names, and if so, what they thought of the stories.

Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx has a fairly dark mystery to it.  Ann has come to the town of Coreyville to visit her friend, Tess Whitehouse, who owns a beauty parlor in town.  But, from the moment of her arrival, she can tell something is off.  The employees seem worried, and while Tess tries to play if off, Ann senses something is very wrong.  She quickly discovers that Tess's business partner, Gail De Lane, has given her notice and is leaving the business!  What's worse is the reason she is leaving - she is worried about her sister, who she believes to be missing!  Ann finds herself thrust into the middle of helping Tess and Gail, where she discovers that Lacey De Lane has become involved in some kind of cult that uses a poorly drawn sphinx as its symbol.  Ann is not sure who she can trust - the De Lanes' neighbor?  His rather brusque nephew?  The parlor's assistant?  All of these supporting cast come across as suspicious, and quite frankly, it's not easy for the reader to discern who is really on the up-and-up.

As with any mystery involving a "cult," they are, in reality, nothing more than con men, determined to swindle people out of their fortunes and leave them high-and-dry!  Only, this cult intends to do more than that - they don't believe in leaving behind witnesses!  Probably the best thing about this story is the final few chapters, where Ann and the nephew, Charles Boyden (also known as "Crunch"), sneak into an abandoned hotel that was never finished and try to put a stop to the cult's actions before Lacey, and the others being swindled, are sent to their deaths in a deep pool at the heart of the hotel!  Ann has to overcome her fears to create a distraction so that Crunch can rescue the women - and boy, she definitely creates a distraction!

Now, since we are talking about Ann's fears, let me say that this entire book seems to be mostly about Ann's fears.  Heisenfelt goes on for page after page with Ann's inner dialogue and her fears -her fear of going into the apartment building where Lacey might be; her fear of going back into the beauty parlor to pick up some papers; hear fear of climbing the stairs; her fear of getting into a car with Crunch; her fear of going into the dark hotel; etc., etc.  It becomes very tiresome that in order to get to any actual scenes of action, we are forced to read pages of fear-filled thoughts and feelings running through Ann's head.  It makes me wonder if Heisenfelt believed this was the best way to create tension and suspense in her writing, by giving her title characters unfounded fears, and then just rehashing them over and over until the action finally occurs, revealing the fears to be baseless (in most cases, but not all).  It becomes almost like the boy who cried wolf, as the readers starts doubting anything is going to happen every time Ann's inner dialogue goes to work in building up fear of what might be about to happen.

 

One thing that did surprise me about the story was the fact that Ann Sheridan was actually written as the actress, rather than just a character of the same name.  In other Whitman Authorized Editions, the "star" is not actually a movie star in the story, but rather, simply a character with that name.  In this book, however, the supporting cast immediately recognize Ann as the film star that she is, and there's even comments about her stardom and how she handles it.  

 

At least one saving grace about the book is the art.  Henry E. Vallely, who did art on a number of other Whitman titles, provides some beautiful line drawings that are a few of the only redeeming qualities for the book.  The end pages show a fantastic scene of Ann and Crunch getting ready to jump into action to save the women from the cult - which, as with other Whitman books, reveals part of the climactic scene, spoiling some of the story for readers (if they actually pay attention to the end pages before they start reading!).  

Of the 23 illustrations throughout the book, though, I'd have to say my favorite is probably the one on page 175.  The drawing depicts the unfinished hotel at night, where all that can be seen is the shadowy outline of the crumbling building, with only one light shining through a slim window and a full moon in the sky overhead.  It creates an eerie scene, and certainly relies on the gothic to project fear into the reader's mind.  And while I do really love the image, I am somewhat confused as to why the publisher placed it at this point of the story.  The tag underneath the illustration reads, "The windows glowered at them."  This comes from the previous page, 174, where Ann and Crunch had come up to the Stop-Off, a food stand that was the place where they would catch the trail to lead them to the abandoned hotel.  Ann is looking at the Stop-Off, not the actual hotel, when this line is applied, and so it begs the question of why Vallely drew the hotel for this illustration instead of a food stand.  Or did the publisher merely put the picture in the wrong place, tagging it with a line they thought might fit.  In either case, it doesn't fit the story here.

The remainder of the illustrations, though, are also beautifully rendered, and Ann looks absolutely stunning.  I give Vallely props for keeping Ann's clothes consistent from the one drawing to the next, including the rather ostentatious hat she is wearing at the beginning of the story!  The drawing on page 209, where Ann and Crunch are eavesdropping on two of the cult leaders, looks like it could have been drawn for a move poster!  You can actually "feel" the action in that scene.  I think that is part of the reason I like Vallely's illustrations so much, in that they come alive in most cases, and it feels like a moving scene rather than a two-dimensional drawing.

It took me a bit longer than normal to work my way through this story, mostly because I had to force my way past all of the repetitious "what's going to happen?" and "should I do this?" and "why am I doing this?" and "I must go on, but I'm scared!"  I suppose the big finale was at least a sort-of payoff for sitting through the rest of the book - but this is definitely not one of the Whitmans I would recommend.

RATING:  4 white-robed figures carrying candles out of 10 for at least making the reader question the motive of a number of the characters, so as not to give away the identity of the actual culprits too early in the story.

Fran Frazer, Girl Reporter - an Archie Comics girl detective

It would seem the Golden Age of comic books actually had more interesting characters than I ever believed.  I'm aware there were some female characters from back in the first half of the 20th Century who were popular enough to headline their own titles, no matter how short lived - such as Jane Arden and Brenda Starr, just to name a couple.  And while I knew there are any number of male detective characters who made their comic book debut back in the '30 and '40s, I was not aware that there were some female detectives who also appeared back then, as well!  One of those happens to be a young photographer named Fran Frazer.  I was completely unaware of this until I glanced at one of those Archie digest-sized comic books in the grocery store recently (World of Archie Jumbo Comics no. 136, to be exact!).  The very first page of the first story inside was a tale belonging to Fran Frazer!

"One Shot Worth a Million" is a five page story written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Holly G! (yes, with an explanation point after the "G"), and it introduces readers of the 21t Century to the red-headed freelance photographer / journalist, Fran Frazer.  I was intrigued enough to pick it up.  The story obviously plays into the fun and humor that is Archie comics, but it also tells a brief, not too complicated mystery of how a crime syndicate is raiding Lodge industry shipments.  Archie is aiding Fran in her investigation (with hearts in his eyes), when along comes Veronica Lodge, who is assisting a reporter named Hal Davis, who is following up on the same scoop.  Of course, Archie and Veronica fight it out, since they each cancelled their date to "help" their respective reporters, and while they have a lovers' quarrel, Fran and Hal uncover the identity of the one helping the crime syndicate.  Again, it's a short, fun story, but it piqued my interest in this character, and I wanted to know if she is someone new, or if she were perhaps an old character being brought back into the limelight (such as Archie Comics did not long ago with Young Dr. Masters, who has been making appearances in various Archie digest comics).  

As it turns out, Fran Frazer is not someone knew; rather, she made her first appearance back in the October 1940 issue of Top Notch Comics, no. 9.  In an untitled story beginning on page 28 of that issue, Fran Frazer is described as a beautiful girl photographer who "lives in a constant whirl of romance, excitement, and danger ... caught in a maelstrom of Europe-at-war, Fran is given a roving assignment, by the famous magazine 'Strife,' to cover the tumultuous events of future history!"  Speeding into a war zone aboard a train that gets derailed, the fearless young woman jumps out with determination, telling herself, "I"m going to get some shots of this!"  As she stands amid the explosions and fire-fights around her, she snaps shots with her camera, reveling in the fact that "Sure as I'm a foot high, I'll get a bonus for these pix!"  A reporter by the name of Hal  Davis happens to be on the scene, and he hurls himself at Fran, knocking her out of the way of oncoming danger - to which she responds with indignation, of course, because he ruined one of her best pictures of the year! She tricks a local into driving her into town, leaving Hal behind, in the hopes she can scoop him - but instead finds a telegram waiting for her, telling her if she does not come through with "sensational news," she can find another job! In quick fashion, she sends a report that the troops have stormed a castle - something that has not yet happened!  Yet, with her womanly wiles, she convinces the general to "storm the palace like the knights used to do," and soon enough, that's exactly what they do, giving Fran a sensational scoop (even if her story was sent in BEFORE the storming actually took place!).  The credits for the four-page story are given to Irving Novick and Joe Blair.  Interestingly, the writer actually receives secondary credit, as Blair authored the tale. He was a regular writer for MLJ Comics (the publisher), and he created some popular Archie super-hero characters such as Fox and Inferno, besides his co-creation of Fran Frazer.  Norvick, who received the top credit, was a comic book artist who apparently worked for more than 50 years in the industry, serving as the primary artist for MLJ's superhero characters, such as the Shield, the Hangman, Steel Sterling, and others. 

The unstoppable photographer appeared again in the very next issue of Top Notch Comics, cover dated December 1940.  In another untitled tale, which begins on page 29 of this issue, this time attributed to Irving Norvick and Harvey A. Biern, Fran is described as having "proven that, in spite of her sex, she is a better man that any of her male revivals."  For this story, Fran is sent off to Murania to get a picture interview with King Farol, only to discover that her competition, Hal Davis, is also heading to Murania - "for his health," he claims.  By pure coincidence, Fran saves a dog from being run over by a plane taking off, and it turns out the dog is the favorite dane of the crown Prince Miklas.  Upon meeting the prince, he offers her a ride to the palace, leaving a frustrated Hal behind!  At the palace, the prince confides in Fran that one Madame Mupescu has been wrongfully influencing the king to turn over his country's oil fields to the Nazis! Before you know it, Fran finds herself kidnapped, right along with Hal - but through a fortunate hole in the floor of the cell where she is being held, Fran manages to snap some pictures of the enemies plotting against the king!  She tosses the film out the window, where Prince Miklas' dog is waiting - who then carries the film to the prince, who shows the photos to his father, and the criminals' plans are thwarted!  All thanks to Fran Frazer and her photographs!  Once again, she saves the day in a simple, four-page story that packs more story in it than four issues of today's comics!  As far as the writer goes, I could not find much information on Biern, other than the fact that he is credited with writing a number of stories for Top Notch Comics, and at least one story in Blue Ribbon Comics (another MLJ title of that time).

Fran Frazer continued to take photos and stop criminals in every issue of Top Notch Comics from October 1940 through issue 25, published with a cover date of March 1942.  This final four-page story starts on page 25 of this issue, and it provides no credits as to writer or artist.  The art, however, is plainly different from that of the earlier stories, leading one to believe that Norvick was no longer providing the art by this point.  This tale opens with a German military man parachuting down behind Russian lines - where, it just so happens, Fran Frazer and Hal Davis are bicycling back from the war front, where they failed to get any story.  Hal spots the parachute, and the two race to intercept him.  Sadly, they don't find him, but wehen they report the incident to general headquarters, Fran is observant enough to spot the mud on the general's boots - and soon enough, the two are being arrested! Thinking quick, Fran tricks the general, and she and Hal sneak into the general's office, where they find a secret staircase into the cellar - where they discover a German about to do away with the real general! Hal dukes it out with the German, and Fran uses her wits, and a pair of tongs to pull a coal from the furnace and drop it into the back pocket of the German's pants, giving him a real hot seat!  Hal and the real general quickly overcome him, where Fran reveals it was clear the German intended to kill the general and take his place!  This last story ends with no final caption and no tagline as to seeing Fran Frazer in any future issues.  Thus, Fran Frazer's career seemingly ended in 1942...

Flash-foward 82 years (literally! from March 1942 to March 2024!), and Fran Frazer was given new life (and a fresh new look, to boot!), as she was brought into the modern world in that issue of World of Archie Jumbo Comics discussed above.  But she did not stop there.  The very next month, Fran Frazer made her second modern appearance in the April 2024 issue of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics issue no. 322.  "Only Mysteries in the Building" is the name of the story, obviously a take-off of the popular television drama, Only Murders in the Building.  The writer and artist for this second modern tale are not the same as the first, as this time, Tom DeFalco provides the story and Bill Golliher provides the pencils.  DeFalco is a long-time comic writer, usually associated with his tenure and work at Marvel Comics, having written long runs on titles such as Amazing Spider-Man, Thor, and Fantastic Four.  I did not realize he did work for Archie Comics, but doing a bit of quick research reveals that he has provided stories for Archie going back as far as 1974!  Golliher is an unknown to me, but apparently he has been doing work for Archie for several years now.  His art is definitely the standard Archie-style, with the characters looking like what you would imagine Archie and his gang to look.

Strangely, DeFalco changes Fran's occupation from a freelance photographer to a young woman who "beautiful, brave, and resourceful, she lives in a whirlwind of excitement, solving mysteries for her true crime podcast."  Which is quite odd, considering the history of the character as a news photographer, and her appearance just one month prior as a freelance journalist and photographer.  The change is jarring, but the story is still full of silliness that is Archie Comics.  The mystery begins when Ms. Grundy is unable to find her English final exam - who took it and why?  Betty and Veronica trail along with Fran as she questions suspects - Reggie Mantle, Simon Silverstein, Principal Weatherbee, Coach Clayton, and even Big Moose!  But none of them have any information on the missing final exam - leaving the girls only one final suspect, Mr. Svenson, the school custodian, who happens to be dumping trash that he has collected from all of the classrooms into the garbage compactor.  It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it, and Fran Frazer is never afraid of getting her hands dirty if it means solving a case!  Of course, digging through all that garbage leaves them with quite a mess to clean up after.  

I haven't seen any indication of any Fran Frazer stories in any of the upcoming Archie Comics releases, but I'm holding out hope that this is not the last we've seen of Fran Frazer.  In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing an entire comic devoted to our intrepid journalist / photographer / podcaster!  This is too good of a character for Archie to let fall by the wayside.  After all, they brought her back after 80 years, so surely she deserves more than just two stories!  (And let's see some friendly competition between her and Hal Davis - after all, he's had 80 years to sit around and think about all the times she scooped him on stories back in the early 1940s!)

 

 ***A special acknowledgement to The Digital Comic Museum, who has preserved the Golden Age issues of Top Notch Comics and made them available for readers like me who could otherwise never read the stories contained therein!  You can find the Fran Frazer stories in those issues at their website (Fran Frazer in Top Notch Comics).

RATING:  9 episodes of a true crime podcast out of 10 for breathing new life into a Golden Age character that deserves a second chance in the comic world - and introducing new readers to a female crime-solver worthy of attention!

The Dornstein Icon - an Avon Gothic original

I have to make a confession about this book before I even start this blog post.  The sole reason I bought this book is because a friend of mine had shown me the cover to the book, and we laughed about the comparisons it has to the second cover art to the Nancy Drew mystery, The Hidden Window Mystery.  Yes, the similarities are slight, but there are enough common elements that when I happened across the book in my local used bookstore, I went ahead and picked it up.  It has been sitting on my shelf for several years now, and I finally decided it was about time I read it.  

 

The Dornstein Icon provides that tagline that "[a] young American becomes a terrified prisoner and an unwilling bride in a castle in Austria" on its cover.  It tells the story of Caroline Dudley, who work for an American art dealer, Greg Alpert.  She was a student of art in college, and she has just started in her career with Greg.  The two are in Vienna, where Greg is hoping to return some very valuable art objects to their rightful owners, including an extremely old "icon" to a prominent Austrian family.  Now, I'll admit, I wasn't sure what an "icon" was in art world terms, so I had to look it up.  It turns out an icon is a religious work of art, usually a painting of a sacred image - in this instance, it is a small painting of the Holy Mother, Mary.  Caroline is excited about being in Vienna, and she is anxious to meet the Graf Rudolf von Dornstein, whose home they will be visiting so Greg can show him the numerous items in the hopes of returning some of the lost items to their rightful owner.

The mystery that presents itself as soon as Caroline and Greg arrive at the Dornstein manor is actually pretty dark.  There's a strange old man who seems to dance erratically in the garden and around the grounds' fountain.  Soon enough, he attacks Caroline, nearly choking the life from her.  He is revealed to be Rudolf's uncle, who became mentally unstable after the war with the Turks.  Then there's Rudolf's mother, the Countess von Dornstein.  She is friendly enough, yet when shown the Dornstein Icon, it is clear that she recognizes it immediately - so why does she deny its authenticity after her son sternly tells her to reconsider?  And then there is Rudolf von Dornstein himself.  Like hot and cold running water, he switches from the kind and considerate lord of the manor to the brash and domineering despot who demands obedience from those around him.  Caroline is not sure what to think, but she and Greg begin to realize something is wrong when Rudolf sends Greg's car down into the village to be "repaired," leaving them stuck at the castle.  Are they truly guests, or have they become captives with something much more sinister in mind?

 

I recently read some commentary about the author, Janet Louise Roberts, who was dubbed "The Mistress of Romantic Mystery," and who wrote quite a number of gothic and romance novels under her own name, as well as under pseudonyms such as Louisa Bronte, Rebecca Danton, and Janette Radcliffe.  According to an interview she gave to Publishers Weekly, Roberts used pseudonyms "to avoid embarrassing her father, a missionary in a rather conservative church."  Another blog I discovered gives some background information on Roberts (The Compleat Janet Louise Roberts), including a quote from essayist Barbara E. Kemp from the book, Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, in which Kemp opines that Roberts portrays women in her novels "as ineffectual beings, subject to much degradation," and that the men are"rough and overbearing..."  I have to say, that is a pretty apt description of the characters in this book.  

The manner in which Roberts writes poor Caroline is extremely submissive.  In the beginning, I thought Caroline was going to be a strong character, who would prove herself by overcoming and solving whatever mystery lie ahead at the Dornstein's estate.  Instead, she gets drugged repeatedly, to the point where she willingly subjects herself to a very unusual wedding in the family's crypt under the house.  And yet, despite Rudolf von Dornstein's actions, she still wavers back and forth between loving him and distrusting his action!  I mean, c'mon, seriously?  What woman is going to be knowingly poisoned by a man who is holding her captive and still believe he is a good person?  I think that takes the whole "suspension of disbelief" way too far.  And the overbearing, controlling manner in which Rudolf treats poor Caroline, I just can't imagine any woman falling for that kind of man (or, at least, if she does fall for him, why would she continue to accept such treatment?).  Thus, based on this story, I'd have to say Kemp gives an accurate description of Roberts' portrayal of women and men in her novels.

Regardless of the characterizations, however, I will say the mystery does resolve nicely.  Are the treasures truly the Dornstein's missing heirlooms, or are they fakes?  How does Rudolf's actions tie into the answer to that question?  And what is Greg's part in this whole drama?  The final revelation results in a rather tense cliff-side battle where two of the characters meet their untimely demise!

The cover art is beautifully rendered, with Caroline running through the Dornstein's manor, the only lights streaming through a stained-glass window behind her.  The emptiness and gloom of the manor, with its rock floor and walls, the empty dining room in the background, and the look of desperation on Caroline's face give the reader a clue as to the intensity of the story that is held behind the cover.  I'm not really sure the import of the stained glass, though, as the only mention of stained glass in the story is the fact that one of Caroline's artist friends actually did work with such glass. It does not really play into the mystery at all, particularly since the "icon" in question is a painting of the Virgin Mary.  I guess it was simply used to make a beautiful cover.

RATING:  6 pairs of sapphire drop earrings out of 10 for creating a dark and sinister mood of fear, dark motives, and desperation - all necessary elements of a good gothic tale!

Mystery in Hollywood - A Cassandra Mystery #3

It's been a bit since I read the second Cassandra Best mystery, so decided it was time to pull down the third book off my "to be read" stack and see whether it measures up to the previous books in the series.  I have been enjoying the series more than I anticipated, and I find the character is a bit of an in-betweener - somewhat in-between Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew.  She's not as perfect as Nancy Drew, but she's not quite as down-to-earth as Trixie Belden.  She's somewhere in the middle, hailing from a midwestern town, without the financial resources to just go taking off whenever she pleases to solve a mystery.  Hence, author Jennifer Austin provides her with a wealthy best friend (a/k/a Alexandra Bennett, whose name I still love and have to wonder if it comes from two of the main stars of Dark Shadows...), who is not only the source of the mysteries Cassandra loves to solve, but she also provides all the necessary finances for Cassandra to go where she is needed!

Mystery in Hollywood ... well, the title pretty much gives away everything you need to know about this one.  Cassandra Best (actually, for those who do not recall, it's Cassandra B. Jones, but she calls herself Cassandra Best when she's solving crimes!) is called out to Hollywood by her friend, Alex, who is there on assignment for her father's newspaper.  She is there to get a story involving rock superstar Rod Taggart, who is acting in his very first film - but if the accidents keep happening, it may also be his last!  Yes, it appears to be a case of sabotage, which apparently was already becoming a trope of mystery stories even back in the early 1990s.  Thankfully, the author does give it some interesting twists, because all of the "accidents" seem to be focused on Rod himself, making Cassandra and Alex wonder if someone is truly out to end the star's career.

At only 157 pages, it's not like we can have a lot of details, so sadly, we don't get a lot of in-depth description of the Hollywood sets and soundstages, nor of the majestic homes of the rich and famous; yet, the author does not leave out all details.  We do get some limited descriptions that do remind the reader just how "fake" the movie sets are - such as the styrofoam grave stones, the mock streets from various time periods, and the hustle and bustle of the crew working on a film.  Plus, with a shorter story like this, the action moves along pretty quickly - so we get overhead lights that fall down unexpectedly; poisoned tea; a prop gun loaded with real bullets; a warehouse set on fire; a near-drowning in a jacuzzi; and a stand-off where Cassandra has to prove just how good of an actress she can be.  As such, you can definitely say the story is a page-turner, as it keeps you moving from one chapter to the next, just to see what could possibly happen ... well, next!

And lest we forget about him, Peter Wentworth makes an appearance (albeit via telephone), when Cassandra calls him for aid in getting information about the rock star and his ex-girlfriend. I suppose the author wanted to keep Cassandra's love interest in the picture so that readers did not get the mistaken idea she might be falling for Rod Taggart or any of the other Hollywood types.  His appearances are basically plot devices used to provide Cassandra with the information she needs to move the mystery forward to its conclusion; although, without the internet and handy-dandy cell phones, I suppose Cassandra would have needed someone else to find the information, since it's not like she had easy access to a library while investigating the sabotage on the set.

Now, as those who recall my post about the second book in this series, Race Against Time, that book seemed to mirror elements regarding the stolen horse from Nancy Drew's 66th mystery by the same name.  Oddly enough, this mystery pulls elements from the same Nancy Drew book, only with regard to the movie being filmed.  Both mysteries deal with a horror movie being filmed; both stories have jealous ex-girlfriends; both cases involve sabotage; both tales have a deadly fire set by someone to cover their tracks; and both books have a famous individual (a cinematographer in the Nancy Drew story, a rock star in the Cassandra Best story) who helps move the mystery along.

Nancy Drew's Race Against Time was published in 1982, while this series was not published until 1990, so it is feasible that the author (or whomever created the outlines / plots for these books) may have read the Nancy Drew novel and some of those plot elements stuck in their mind.  Then again, it could be written off as mere coincidence, which we all know plays heavily into the children's mystery series world, so why not in real life as well?

 

On a final note, this book has a special thanks given to Robin Stevenson, just like the first book did.  At first I wondered if this was the same person as the author of the "Murder Most Unladylike" series that I read, but it turns out that author is Robin Stevens (less the "on" at the end).  So, not sure who this person is, but apparently the author appreciated them enough to give them a nod on the copyright page!

Overall, I enjoyed the story, although probably not as much as I did the first two books in the series.  There's only one book left to read, so here's hoping the final book in the series ends on a high note!

RATING:  6 black terrycloth bath robes out of 10 for at least sending Cassandra and Alex to a locale that is a perfect setting for a good murder mystery, as in Hollywood, you never know what's real and what's not!