Ms. Tree - Heroine Withrawal (The FIfth Ms. Tree Graphic Novel)

I can never get enough of Ms. Tree.  Ever since I picked up that first issue of Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures (which I still love that title, even though I'm aware Ms. Tree's creators do not - for me, it gave the book a pulp feel, which I think fit the character nicely), I've been hooked, and I was devastated when the series eventually ended after years at Eclipse, then Aardvark-Vanheim, then Renegade Press, and finally DC Comics.  So, when Titan announced it would be collecting and reprinting the entire run, I was super-excited - sure, I had all the individual issues; but now I would have easy access to reading the stories again and again and again without having to dig through my comic boxes, unseal the bags, and pull out issue after issue to read them.  Even though the collections are not telling the stories in order (they reprinted the ten DC issues first, then went back to the beginning to start with the Eclipse issues, before moving on to the AV and Renegade issues - and even those have been told somewhat out of order, collecting them by story relevance and not chronologically), I have absolutely loved curling up in my recliner and walking down memory lane with Ms. Tree, Dan, Effie, and the rest of the gang...

Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal collects issues 18-27 and 29-31 (with the title having officially switched fully to Renegade Press by issue 19).  These are some of my favorite issues, as they deal with Ms. Tree's final confrontation with Dominic Muerta and the aftermath - as well as a two-part story that dealt with the topical issue of abortion.  This is some of Max Allan Collins' best writing in the series, as they give the readers a real sense of why Ms. Tree is who she is and why the world (well, her fictional world, anyway) needs a Ms. Tree in it.  It's also extremely character driving, as most of the series is anyway - but these issues in particular give readers a greater understanding of not just Ms. Tree, but also many of the supporting characters.  Plus, we get our introduction to Dominique Muerta (gotta love Collins' play on names in this series), who turns out to be a wonderful frenemy for our favorite gun-toting crime-fighter!

"Muerta Means Death," the four-issue story that runs through issues 18, 19, 20, and 21, provides readers with a very satisfying conclusion to Ms. Tree's vendetta against the man who had her husband killed.  The title has a double meaning, since the word "muerta" is actually the Spanish word for "dead," and at the same time, it refers to the fact that Dominic Muerta is a killer, and if you cross him, you die.  I suppose it could also have a third meaning, since in the story, we learn Muerta has cancer and is on his death bed - and when Dan Green comes back to work (with a hook in place of the hand he lost in the explosion set by Muerta's men in a previous story), he's all set to take revenge on Muerta.  It all gets confusing when Dan goes to Muerta's house prepared to kill him - and when Ms. Tree and the police get there, they find Dan just waking up in the same room where Muerta and his nurse are both dead!  Dan swears he did not do it, and Ms. Tree sets about proving his innocence.  The story takes a few surprising twists, with the final one giving Ms. Tree the satisfaction she has been seeking - definitely a great read, and for astute readers (who have become accustomed to Collins' playing with names), Muerta's attorney, Dimitri A. Dopler, should give you a huge clue as to one of the biggest secrets in this story!

Following this big payoff, Collins gives readers a few shorter stories - the first being "Right to Die," which addresses the issue of abortion and readers find out that Ms. Tree had an abortion when she was younger, an act she regrets now that Mike Tree is dead, and the only child she could have had with him is gone.  The story addresses the issue without straying into preaching which side of the issue is "right" - instead, the story focuses on how various people deal with abortion and the doctors who perform the procedures.  It has a sad ending, and let's just say there are no real winners in this one - especially for Ms. Tree, as her actions in this story have serious repercussions...

Leading into the next two-parter, "Prisoner Cell Block Hell," in which Ms. Tree does time in a women's prison (with all the standard stereotypes you'd expect to see), and Ms. Tree has to face someone coming after her - after all, as the saying goes, the past always has a way of catching back up to you.  After unveiling some very corrupt prison guards, Ms. Tree then gets transferred to a psychiatric facility in the two-part "Heroine Withdrawal."  For those who remember the very first Ms. Tree story in her own comic (after her origin in Eclipse Magazine), Ms. Tree has a reason to be wary of psychiatrists - and for good reason!.  Only this time around, she manages to reveal the unscrupulous actions of a nurse and orderly, as well as a high-powered politician! And she makes a new friend who may or may not have been taken by aliens (let's just say Collins leaves it up to the reader to decide at the end of the story...)

This collection concludes with the three-issue tale, "The Other Cheek," which introduces us to a newly reformed Ms. Tree who has completed her psychiatric care and has decided to walk away from all of the violence, not even carrying a gun any more.  This, of course, forces all of those who work with her - including Effie! - to step up their game, because when it comes to Ms. Tree, danger is never far away. It's not until her stepson, Mike (named after his father), is kidnapped that Ms. Tree realizes she has no choice, and she throws off the new persona and steps back into the shoes she was made to fill - that of a female vigilante who fights for justice, and always wins!  One thing I thought was a great choice for Beatty in this story (and I don't know if it was his idea, or if Collins told him to do it), but I loved the fact that "reformed" Ms. Tree dressed so much differently - even wearing flower-print dresses!  But when she goes back to her old self to rescue Mike, she once again dons that blue overcoat that give her such distinctive style!  It makes for a nice visual aid to her change in character back and forth.

With only one more collection go to complete the reproduction of the entire run of Ms. Tree, I hope the sales on these collections have been such that Collins and Beatty will consider telling some more stories.  With all of the controversies in the news today, they would literally have a plethora of topics to pick from to create some great tales!  And who knows?  Maybe they could even age the characters, so that Mike (her stepson) could be old enough to work along side her - what a story that would be!  Any way you say it, we definitely need MORE MS. TREE!!!!!!

10 old-fashioned dynamite bombs out of 10 for some truly dynamite story-telling, masterful twists and surprises, and some of the best artwork you will ever see in a comic!  What more could you want?

Dark Over Acadia - a Magnum Gothic original

This is one of those books that attracted me because of the cover.  Most gothic covers feature a variation on a young woman in a flowing dress running away from a dark, foreboding house in the background.  This cover, however, surprised me by featuring a young woman sitting in a wheelchair!  Yes, we still get the foreboding plantation house in the background (with the obligatory one light on in an upstairs window); however, the young woman on this cover is not running at all - rather, she is sitting, staring directly at the reader with an expression that tells you she is trapped and cannot escape whatever terror is waiting in that house.  Having never seen a gothic with an invalid such as this on the cover, I had to snag it and find out exactly what it was about!

Dark Over Acadia is written by Anne Talmage, who I discovered (after considerable searching!) is actually a pen name for Talmage Powell (1920-2000).  Powell began writing in the 1940s, his work appearing in many pulp magazines, such as Black Mask and Dime Mystery.  He has also had short stories appear in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.  He also wrote four books in the '60s as Ellery Queen.  From what I was able to learn, this book is the only gothic novel he wrote (and the only instance of his using "Anne Talmage" as a pseudonym, although he did use others over the course of his writing career).  The story is set in the swamp land of Louisiana in the early 1970s (the book having been published in 1971), and rather than a dark, unwelcoming house you find in most gothics, this book features a rather grand plantation manor known as Devereau House (and although it is not spelled the same, I could not help but think of Blanche Devereaux ever time I saw the name of the house and the last name of the family!).  

The main character is Diana Latham, a teacher from Kansas who travels all the way to Louisiana to spend the summer with Lucy Devereau, a friend she made while serving in the Peace Corps in the Peruvian Andes.  The two had become fast friends, and Diana was excited to spend the summer in the Devereau's great house.  But her excitement disappears when she arrives to find that her friend is bedridden and nearly completely paralyzed after a freak accident - a St. Joan statue in the crumbled chapel on the Devereau grounds fell over on her, leaving her unable to move or even speak. But Lucy begins to show signs of life when she sees Diana, and through a coded message (tapping out the letters of the words Lucy wants to say), she warns Diana that danger lurks within the walls of the house - and that her injuries were not the result of an accident, but rather, an attempted murder!  Diana is fearful at first, but her determination overcomes the fear as she realizes she must find out what did this to her friend and see that justice is served.

Talmage (Powell) provides readers with a number of quirky characters, any of whom could potentially turn out to be the evil behind poor Lucy's condition.  Lucy's father, Huxley, comes across as a kind, elderly patriarch, but the mere mention of Prospera Clantell sends him into a fury.  Lucy's brother, Antoine (Tony), is a hard one to figure out, since his outward appearance would mark him as a Cajun rebel, but his soft-spoken nature when it comes to Diana shows another side of him.  Lucy's cousin, Philip Lockridge, is all business, a dependable sort who takes a keen interest in Diana, much to the chagrin of his assistant, Robin Toutain - a woman determined to win Philip's hand and who makes no bones about removing anyone who gets in her way.  Then there is Myree, a housekeeper that Diana first sees as a "mangy old cat" (p. 46), but whose gruff exterior could just be a defense from a hard life lived.  There is also Clotidle (Cloty) Mathis, Lucy's governess, who has cared for her ward for  years and is praying Diana can get to the bottom of what really happened.  And one must not forget Ozar Fant, the Cajun drifter who lives in the swamps on Devereau property - a man that can be violent in one moment and tender in the next.  Finally, there is the regal woman known as Domina, who is a friend to Huxley and appears to know everything that happens in the swamp.  The Devereau family has its secrets, and one of those secrets has come back to exact a deadly price from this family!

I readily admit that I was engaged with trying to figure out which of these members of the cast could have caused Lucy's injuries and is now intent on getting rid of Diana.  A pitchfork launched at her from the upper floor of the barn ... locked in the mausoleum and left to die ... and more than once warned to leave Devereau House before it's too late.  I wavered a bit between a few of the characters, thinking each had a possible motive - but I was caught off-guard by the revelation of who was really behind the attacks; I did not see that coming at all!  Which, of course, made for a very nice surprise, as it kept this book from being predictable at all.  Thus, not only did the book offer a unique cover, but it provided a well-written tale of mystery and gothic suspense.

Along with the gothic, Talmage (Powell) provides readers with some of this history of this area of Louisiana. Lucy describes the area of Cajun country as "A world of its own, where the native dialect is a mixture of French, Spanish, English.  It's still more French-colonial than automated American. Fellow from the Indochina rice paddies could feel right at home there" (p. 9).  Diana also considers the Acadians who had first come to the area, driven south "when the British had wrested control of Canada from the French more than two hundred years ago" (pp. 9-10).  She even wonders "how the Acadians had picked such an unlikely, far-off destination ... Louisiana was French at the time, and the back-delta country offered peace and a chance to build in a land no one else wanted" (p. 10).  We even get a lesson on jambalaya, which Huxley explains, "was a ham and rice dish ... Jambon, French for ham, and a la ya, a sort of African for rice (p. 63).  In some ways, it felt very much like a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book from the Harriet Stratemeyer Adams era, when the books always seemed to include some sort of lesson on history, artifacts, or regions.  

This is one of those rare gothics where we actually know the name of the artist who provided the art for the cover!  The artist was Charles Lilly, who is probably best known for his painting of "Malcolm X" in 1973, which was used for the cover of Alex Haley's novel, The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  The cover for this book must have been one of his earliest professional works, as he graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1970 (Artist: Charles Lilly), and Dark Over Acadia was published in 1971.  The cover is apparently representational in nature, since the scene never occurs anywhere in the book - Lucy is bedridden for the entire story, never sitting up in a wheelchair at any time.  The statue that can be seen in front of Devereau House on the cover likely represents the statue of St. Joan that falls on Lucy in the chapel behind the manor.  Nevertheless, the expression on Lucy's face, along with the dark green, black, and blues of the cover give it a very high creep factor that would send a chill down anyone's spine!

Just like the last Magnum Gothic Original that I read (Ravensridge), this is another gothic that I highly recommend - well written, great story, and a gothic tale that will keep you guessing!

RATING:  10 pairs of spectacles with one lens broken out of 10 for an unusual gothic tale, Cajun-style, with some of the most unusual names I've seen to date!

The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island (Hardy Boys Mystery Stories # 8)

Yes, believe it or not, I can now say I have actually read a vintage Hardy Boys book.  Growing up, I did not like the Hardy Boys, because to me, they were more adventure stories than they were mystery stories.  I was more interested in haunted houses, spooky staircases, dark attics, hidden rooms, and the like.  These were the type of mysteries I could find in the Nancy Drew books.  In recent years, yes, I've been reading the recently published Hardy Boys Adventures series, and they have not been half-bad.  Yet, I just have not been able to bring myself to go back and read those original adventures of Frank and Joe Hardy, as I simply did not have the interest.  But with the Christmas holidays, I have been urged (I would say "bullied," but in today's climate, people would jump on that and take it completely the wrong way!) to read one particular Hardy Boys book that is set during that time, and I had no other choice ... so I did!

The Mystery of Cabin Island is the eighth book in the Hardy Boys series, published back in 1929 (the year before Nancy Drew made her debut).  It was written by Leslie McFarlane based on an outline provided by Edward Stratemeyer, and it could have been more aptly subtitled, "The Hardy Boys and their Ice Boat Adventures."  The boys spend an inordinate amount of time in this book traveling in their ice boats, nearly getting run down twice by other ice boats (one from some rivals, one from their friends), and it seems the ice boats are their only means of travel between "Cabin Island" and the mainland of Bayport.  The frontis piece of the edition I have of this book is even an illustration (by someone named "Auscott") of their rivals' ice boat "booming down on the smaller craft at terrific speed" (p. 16).  It is interesting to note that this scene takes place so early in the book - normally the frontis piece of series books depicts a scene from much later in the story.  I also have to wonder at McFarlane's choice of words, since just a few paragraphs before on the previous page, he describes the boat as "hurtling forward at terrific speed" (p. 15), then reiterates the same phrase when ending the chapter with "booming down ... at terrific speed" (p. 16).  Perhaps he forgot his thesaurus when he was writing that day (sorry Pam!).

 

The story centers around the isolated cabin that stands on Cabin Island, owned by one Elroy Jefferson.  The boys visit the island with their friend Chet Morton, only to be warned away by a man they later learn is Mr. Hanleigh - a rather pushy man intent on buying the island from Mr. Jefferson.  The boys befriend Mr. Jefferson, who it turns out was one of the people that they helped save his valuable car in a previous book (The Shore Road Mystery), and he graciously allows the boys and their friends to camp out at the cabin over the Christmas break from school.  Something odd about the planning of his trip is that Chet first mentions the idea of camping out over the Christmas holidays at the beginning of the story (p 3); yet, a few chapters later, Biff Hooper makes the suggestion of a camping trip over the holidays, and the Hardys say they will think about it and discuss it with Chet (pp. 30-31) - why would they need to discuss something with Chet who already approached them with the idea?  Had they already forgotten Chet's suggestion?  Or had McFarlane forgotten already that he wrote that earlier scene?

The mystery, such as it is, comes into play after Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff take up residence in the cabin and all of their food supply is stolen!  They do eventually locate the food hidden behind some rocks on the shore beneath the cabin, along with a small notebook that contains a message written in code.  Personally, I found the code rather simple to crack, but the boys spend a number of chapters trying to figure it out (I suppose if they solved it too early, it would not make for an exciting story).  It is obvious the notebook belonged to Mr. Hanleigh, who keeps returning to the island, looking for something in the cabin.  The cover even depicts one of those instances when the boys spy the man sneaking into the cabin (pp. 113-14).  It ultimately turns out that a valuable stamp collection stolen from Mr. Jefferson many years ago was hidden in the cabin by the thief, and Mr. Hanleigh is determined to get his hands on it.  As the coded message reveals, the box containing the stamps is located somewhere near or in the chimney (which seems to be a common thing in children's series books - check out The Wooden Shoe Mystery and The Missing Formula to see what I mean).  McFarlane does provide a rather dramatic climax to the story, when a tree collapses on the cabin during a horrific snow storm, destroying the chimney and revealing the hidden location of the box (pp. 195-99).

While the mystery itself was not overly thrilling and seemed to be a smaller portion of the story, I do have to say the book contains quite a few dated references in it (and considering it was published in 1929, one would have to expect it to!).  The most obvious one was when the Hardys discover the notebook, and Frank find written on one of the pages "October, 1917") - to which he exclaims, "Why, that's eleven years ago" (p. 101).  This is the first actual date reference I've seen in any of these series books, where a character specifically sets the date (since that eleven years would place the story in 1928, the year prior to the publication date).  It was my understanding that the Syndicate specifically avoided these type of references, so as to not fully date the books; but, perhaps, since this was still while Edward Stratemeyer was in charge, he was not as stringent about these type of things as his daughters became.  There is also the reference to Frank and Joe receiving "two small caliber rifles, each with a box of ammunition" for Christmas presents from their father (p. 46).  You would DEFINITELY not see rifles given to teenagers as gifts in today's books, that's for sure!

There's also the overuse of the word "queer" in the book (which, back in the time when this book was written, would have meant "strange" or "odd" - it did not have the same connotation that it does today).  In just a few paragraphs, one of the characters refers to Elroy Jefferson as "very queer" and "a queer old chap," even saying he had "a heart of gold, specially where boys is concerned.  But queer - mighty queer in some ways..." (p. 86).  People reading those lines today would probably have an entirely different take on what was meant!  And speaking of word use, McFarlane used a rather interesting term to describe poor Biff - he was described as "pugilistically inclined" (p. 79), which refers to someone fighting with his fists, specifically used when talking about boxers.  I have to wonder how many young people would have known what that word meant - heck, I did not even know what it meant until I looked it up!  Then there's the reference to the two foxes killed by Frank and Biff in the story - McFarlane writes that "the boys cut the brushes from the two foxes ... and placed the prizes in a place of honor above the fireplace" (p. 132).  I honestly cannot figure out exactly what the author is referring to here.  I was unable to find a definition for the phrase "cut the brushes" in this context (most of what I found referred to cutting paint brushes); speaking with my friend Pam, who is a McFarlane expert, it seems "cut the brushes" refers to the fact that the boys cut off the fox tails and kept them as trophies of their catch.  I had never heard this before, so perhaps it is a Canadian turn of phrase.

McFarlane also makes reference in the story to Edgar Allen Poe's short story, "The Gold-Bug" (p. 105).  That particular story involves the deciphering of a secret message (written as a cryptogram) that is supposed to lead the characters to a buried treasure. He clearly used this as a comparison to the Hardys attempting to figure out the cryptogram written in the notebook they discovered.  Frank even tries to follow the character's suggestion in the story of looking for the most frequently appearing letter in the message and substituting it with the letter "e," which is said to be the most frequently used letter in the English language (p. 105) - sadly, though, that substitution method did not work for the Hardys.  At least McFarlane did not make it too easy on them (although, in reality, the solution to the code is fairly simple - reversing the alphabet, i.e. A=Z, B=Y, C=X, and so on).

The only other thing I thought was note-worthy was the fact that Chapter XX in the book has an entire change in the point of view.  That particular chapter is told completely through the eyes of Mr. Hanleigh, as he faces difficulties with his henchmen, Carson and Nash, who have been ferrying him back and forth to Cabin Island aboard their own ice boat.  It is rather fun to read part of the story from the villain's point of view, as you see how easily he gets riled up and how he intends to double-cross his own men!

While I understand that a number of Hardy Boys fans like this particular volume, I have to admit that I did not find it all that great.  Sure, it has plenty of adventure in it, but I like mystery, and the book fell rather short on that (in my opinion).  I tried to go into it with an open mind, and not let my distaste for the Hardy Boys series to color my reading of the story; but, I suppose, I'm just not a Hardy Boys fan, and for me, this story is a reminder why I prefer Nancy Drew and the other female sleuths to boys' series such as this.

RATING:  6 precious rosewood boxes out of 10 for giving me a cryptogram to solve (I love those type of puzzles!) and showing how dangerous ice boating can be!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #11 - Death on the Slopes

With the eleventh Zebra Mystery Puzzler, we are treated to a new author to the series, Norma Schier.  This is the first of four books Schier writes for this series, all of which feature the young assistant district attorney, Kay Barth.  From what I have been able to learn, Norma Scheir was the author's actual name, and aside from these Zebra Mystery Puzzlers, Ms. Schier has also authored some very unique short stories over the years in which she parodies well-known mystery writers, using anagrams throughout her tales.  In fact, many of the pseudonyms used for these short stories are anagrams of actual authors, many of which are collected in Schier's book, The Anagram Detectives (for more about this, see Norma Schier - Anagam Detectives).  However, other than these Zebra mysteries and the short stories, I was unable to find any other books by Schier.

Death on the Slopes was published at the end of 1978, just one year prior to her book, The Anagram Detectives - leading me to believe that her short story fiction was published prior to her first Zebra Mystery Puzzler (and those stories may have been why Kensington asked her to write some of the mysteries for this series).  The book opens in rather unique way, with readers being dropped into a scene just moments before the murder occurs, as seen and heard through the eyes and ears of a witness who does not come back into play until considerably later in the book.  We even get our first interior illustration in that barely three-page prologue - but it is definitely enough to set the stage for all that comes after!

The first six chapters introduce readers to the vindictive, self-absorbed victim, Valerie Mayne, as well as the large cast of suspects - from Jason Ryder, newly transplanted from New York to Colorado to teach as the college in Aspen; to Drew Courtney, the tenured professor who will determine whether Jason is hired; to Alicia Courtney, the professor's wife who spends more time in the bottle than anywhere else; to Tammie Courtney, the professor's daughter, who is not thrilled her boyfriend is paying more attention to Valerie than her; to Anton Duval, a Frenchman who is a member of the ski patrol and thinks himself quite the ladies' man; to Charlie Winstead, the head of the ski patrol on the Aspen slopes, who is still getting over the fact his wife left him - with the exception of Valerie, who showed up on his doorstep in New York claiming to be an old friend of his dead wife who was in need of a place to stay before following him to Colorado, Jason known none of these people.  When Valerie turns up dead, and Jason is the prime suspect, he can't help but wonder if one of these people is the real killer?

And that is the very question to which Kay Barth, the young assistant district attorney with shiny black hair that tumbles to her shoulders, wants to find an answer!  Our protagonist of the tale finally makes her appearance in chapter 7, well after the other characters, the murder, and the setting are all established.  Schier provides readers with a very strong female lead, one who goes up against the chief of police, Mark Field, in an effort to solve this murder.  She quickly realizes that Jason Ryder is not the killer, but Field thinks it is only because she has developed feelings for the guy.  Determined to show Field that she is more than just a pretty face (and the mother of a young girl), Kay sets out to uncover the truth about what happened to Valerie Mayne - the only problem is, Valerie Mayne doesn't exist!  None of her back story that she told Jason checks out, and no one has come to claim her body, despite news reports showing her picture all over the place.  Kay realizes that in order to solve the murder, she is going to have to figure out who Valerie Mayne really is!

The mystery is very well written, and Schier does manage to throw out there a number of clues that will lead the reader in different directions.  However, when Kay ultimately tracks down Valerie's real identity and begins to put the pieces of her past together, there is one piece of that puzzle that made it clear for me who the killer was (and yes, it is definitely one of those suspects listed above - only not the one you would expect!).  And I found it interesting that Schier changes point-of-view a number of times throughout the book, switching between Jason and Kay, and even among some of the other cast as well - but she is careful not to give away anything too early in the story, which makes for a great read.

The internal illustrations are nicely done, but one again, no credit is given, and there are no signatures on any of the drawings.  They are quite detailed, reminding me a great deal of Ruth Sanderson's work in the Nancy Drew books published by Simon & Schuster back in the early 1980s.  (And speaking of which, as an aside here, Schier does manage to sneak in a Nancy Drew reference in there, when Kay tells her daughter she is investigating a crime, and her daughter asks, "Like Nancy Drew?" [p. 83])  I just wish the books had given a list of the "clues" that were supposedly in the illustrations, as I looked at all eight internal illustrations, and I honestly did not see any clue at all in them.  The cover, on the other hand, does have one rather subtle clue.  And speaking of the cover, Bruce Emmett (who painted the covers of the Marcia Blair books in this series) provided the art for this book - which gives this book another "Nancy Drew" connection, as Emmett provided the second cover art for Nancy Drew 68 - The Elusive Heiress.  (I won't even mention the "Ski Jump" sign in the internal illustration on page 85, which made me immediately think of Nancy Drew 29 - Mystery at the Ski Jump!)

This ranks among the best in this series, and it makes me look forward to Schier's future entries into the Zebra Mystery Puzzlers.

RATING:  9 blue Pontiac Bonnevilles out of 10 for mixing murder and mystery in the snow-covered mountains of Colorado and introducing readers to a great new sleuth!

Trouble Vision - the 3rd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

What better way to start off the new year than reading a great murder mystery?  Well, to be honest, I read this book and am writing this blog post before the New Year - but since it's not going up before 2025 begins, I figured it would be a great way to ring in the new year!  And thus far, I've enjoyed the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mysteries by Allison Kingsley, the first two books in the series having some great mysteries to them - and the fact that one of the main characters has a psychic ability is just an added plus.  As the blurb on the back cover says, "Delightful ... [A] winning addition to the cozy paranormal mystery realm" (from bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn) - and I could not agree more.

Trouble Vision is the third book in this series about cousins, Clara and Stephanie Quinn.  After having solved two previous murders in their small coastal town of Finn's Harbor, the only excitement the new year has brought with it is a town uproar concerning the new resort being built along the coast.  The townspeople are fearful the resort will take away a lot of their summer tourist business, but the mayor believes it will only bring in more business for everyone.  The town meeting is heated, and a number of people are extremely irate - but the question is, was someone mad enough to kill the foreman in charge of the construction, Scott Delwyn?  Clara's "Quinn Sense" visions sure think so!

Kingsley provides a superb mystery here, as the foreman's fall from the scaffolding appears to be nothing more than an accident.  No one saw anything, there are no signs of a struggle, and the cause of death is attributed to the damage sustained from the fall.  There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the fall at all.  So, why, then, does the Quinn Sense keep nagging at Clara that there is a lot more to this death than it appears?  She can't go to the police with what she suspects, because who would believe her hunch is based upon a psychic impression, especially when Clara is determined to keep her abilities a secret from everyone except her cousin.  Thus, she and Stephanie, along with their assistant at the Raven's Nest bookstore, Molly, set out to uncover the truth of what happened that night.

The mystery is intriguing through pretty much the entire book.  Kingsley provides only the slightest of hints / clues as to the identity of the killer, and it becomes even more confusing with someone robs the local bank right in the middle of mid-day and gets away without anyone knowing who it was!  Clara's second sight suddenly changes, and she sees the ghost of Scott Delwyn outside the bank, convincing her that his death and the bank robbery are connected.  Clara also finds herself being pulled (psychically) into the past to witness his murder (but not the murderer) and the robbery (but not the identity of the thief).  She even tries to convince the chief of police the two incidents are connected, but he will not listen and warns Clara that she and her cousin better stay away from this or he will throw them both in jail!

And not only does the reader get treated to the evolving powers of Clara's psychic abilities, but we also get treated to Clara's evolving relationship with Rick Sanders, who owns the hardware store across the street from the Raven's Nest.  After what happened in New York, Clara has been ambivalent about whether she has been ready to enter into another relationship - but in this book, she finally takes a step in the right direction, and readers who have been enjoying this series will all breathe a sigh of relief - finally!

The only drawback to this book is the final revelation regarding the killer's identity.  There's no clue anywhere in the story as to the killer's motive, so when it is revealed, it almost feels the same as when Mrs. Voorhees is revealed as the killer in the first Friday the 13th film - absolutely no way the viewer (or in this case, the reader) could have known based upon everything that has been revealed up until that point.  I took a look back through the book, and although there are things that point to the identity of the killer, there is nothing that gives even the slightest hint as to the motive.  For me, that was a let-down, as I have been enjoying this series so much, and I felt Kingsley owed it to her readers to at least give us some tidbit of a clue prior to the final reveal.

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth (and sadly, final) book in the series, and hopefully it goes out on a high note!

RATING:  7 gift certificates for a day at the spa out of 10 for a great combination of psychic abilities and mystery crafted into a nice tale of murder!

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32003 - Castle at Jade Cove

"She had become the focus of an evil she couldn't see, hear or feel - until it reached out its icy fingers to touch her ... " (cover blurb)

 

Well, with this book, it's three for three so far in this Harlequin Gothic Romance series of books.  All of the first three books in the series have been great reads.  And despite the first person point of view, of which I am not a big fan, the stories have been engaging, suspenseful, and while utilizing many standard gothic tropes, filled with just the right amount of mystery.  I could not find any information on the author, Helen B. Hicks, other than the fact that she (he?) wrote two other books in this Harlequin Gothic series, as well as a gothic romance published by Kensington under their Zebra line (Riversbend, published in 1987, a year after her last Harlequin was published).  Thus, I am not sure if Hicks is the actual name of the author or a pseudonym, as so many gothic authors are.  In either case, this book definitely has me looking forward to the other two books she wrote in this series!

Castle at Jade Cove is set in the 1800s and follows the journey of eighteen-year old Laurie Westfall from Massachusetts to California, where she has been sent by her now-deceased grandfather to live with the Howards.  It seems he had made a deal with Matthew Howard to look after Laurie should anything happen to him.  The only problem is, when Laurie arrives in Coventry and makes her way to the great house known as Jade Castle, she learns that Matthew is dead and his son, Jason Howard, is now managing the house and family business.  To make matters worse, Laurie has no money available to her, as her guardian back in Boston had control over her funds, and she may have accidentally killed him after he made inappropriate overtures toward her!

As with any good gothic, Jason permits her to remain at Jade Castle, as he wishes to honor his father's contract.  But Laurie quickly learns there are sinister secrets hidden within the walls of the great house.  The housekeeper, Mathilde, makes it no secret that she does not like Laurie and does not want her there.  The ranch manager, Ben Hollister, cannot hide his jealousy of Jason's wealth and position.  The woman who runs the boarding house in Coventry, Mrs. Speers, is blunt in her warning to Laurie to stay away from Jade Castle.  The cook, Yang Lee, is overly protective of his kitchen, with more than a hint of a threat behind his eyes at anyone who enters his domain.  The young lady, Annalee, is more than obvious about her intentions to win Jason Howard's heart - at any cost.  And then there is Jason Howard himself - a man who is said to care little about business and more about enjoying the pleasures of this life; yet, he is repeatedly leaving for San Francisco for days at a time for reasons he refuses to disclose.  Then there are the mysterious sobbings that Laurie hears at night - a woman's cries that everyone in the house insists are not real. Are they really a part of Laurie's imagination, or does the house harbor some dark mystery?

The typical gothic trope of the female protagonist's uncertainty between two men is played up well in this story, as Laurie falls head over heels for Jason, yet, at the same time, questions his motives and wonders if perhaps she should allow Ben to win her heart.  We also get the near-empty mansion with hidden rooms, a musty attic filled with relics of the past, and an almost soap opera-style secret that connects Laurie's own past to the history of this house and its family.  I also like the fact that the main character has a co-conspirator of sorts in the young maid, Jennie, with whom she finds not only a confidant, but also a willing helper with all of her plans (particularly the one to turn the tables on Annalee, who is dead-set upon keeping Jason out of Laurie's grasp!).  And I will admit, the mystery of the mysterious barges out in the cove, the secret tunnel leading from the house down to the cave on the shores below, and the plaintive cries in the night did turn out to have a rather unexpected resolution - not something I saw coming.  However, once Laurie learns what is really going on, she takes on an almost Nancy Drew-style "can do" attitude in wanting to put an end to the horrors taking place, even if that means putting an end to the man that she loves!

Hicks writing is strong, with the ability to build suspense and keep the reader wavering back and forth just as Laurie does in the story.  And when Laurie's connection to the Howard family does come out, it throws quite the monkey wrench into everything, leaving the main character in quite a quandary as to what to do next!

For once, we actually know who the artist is who provided the cover for the book, thanks to his signature on the art.  Leonard M. Goldberg gave us this beautiful illustration of Laurie running away from Jade Castle (a scene that is very reminiscent of Ruth Sanderson's cover art for Captive Witness, the 64th Nancy Drew Mystery Story which was published in 1981, three years prior to this book).  Goldberg was known for his covers to the Fun Manchu books, as well as many Harlequin novels and movie posters, and he even painted an iconic Camel cigarettes billboard in Times Square back in the day.  His talent is obvious, based on the magnificent cover to this book!

A good, solid read that was enjoyable from start to finish - looking forward to reading Hicks' other books in this series!

RATING:  10 silver and jade necklaces with matching earrings out of 10 for superb gothic suspense, mystery, and romance all rolled into one great story!

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #24 - The Clue iin the Old Album (Original Text)

This Nancy Drew Mystery Story is a rather unusual one, containing a convoluted plot, tons of characters, and a rather unusual high number of places visited by Nancy and her friends.  Written by Mildred Wirt (Benson) based on an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the book was published in 1947 - the same year as the final two Penny Parker books written by Wirt.  According to correspondence between Wirt and Adams (thanks for Pam Hancock for sharing these!), Wirt began work on the book in May of 1946 and completed it nearly six weeks later in June 1946.  The correspondence between the two also reveals that Adams was "rather disappointed" with the manuscript, although she readily admits she was not blaming Wirt - she concedes there may have been too much material in the outline to reasonably fit into the story.  And having now read the book (the original text), I would have to say that is likely the case!

The Clue in the Old Album is the twenty-fourth Nancy Drew Mystery Story.  The plot centers around a gypsy violinist, Romano Pepito, and his young daughter, Rose.  The mystery is, as said above, convoluted and not easily described in a few words.  Basically, Rose's mother, Enid, ran away from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Struthers, to marry a gyspy, of whom her parents did not approve.  Circumstances arose that brought Enid and her daughter Rose back to live with her parents - Enid died, as did her father, leaving Mrs. Struthers to care for her young granddaughter.  Mrs. Struthers did not want Rose to know of her gypsy heritage, and so she worked hard to keep it a secret.  Nancy and her father happen to meet Mrs. Struthers in the first chapter while they are attending a concert by renowned violinist, Alfred Blackwell (p. 1).  At the concert, Nancy observes a pickpocket steal Mrs. Struther's purse, so she chases after him - she ultimately recovers the purse, but not its contents.  Needless to say, Mrs. Struthers has a mystery and asks Nancy to come to her house to help her solve it.

Mrs. Struthers reveals to Nancy that on her deathbed, her daughter told her, "The doll! It's gone! Oh, Mother, you must find it for Rose!" (p. 18).  Now, this is an important plot point, because it turns out Mrs. Struthers is a serious doll collector, having a room filled with them on glass shelves - including some original peddler dolls from the 19th century (p. 15).  Now, here, let's stop for a moment and look at this aspect of the plot.  Throughout the story, Wirt not only mentions a number of various dolls, but she goes into considerable detail to describe them - from the peddler dolls (which are real dolls made between the 16th and 19th centuries, crafted to resemble Old London peddlers) to a doll on a velvet-colored music bos that moves from side to side with the music (p. 16) to dolls made of cornhusk and horsehair (p. 29) to ancient Chinese dolls carved from hard ink cases (p. 29) to even a doll in a quaint evening dress (p. 30) that Mrs. Struthers indicates is Jenny Lind (who happens to be a famous singer in the real weorld, known as the "Swedish Nightingale").  There's a French swordsman doll with a tiny steel saber posed as if to duel (p. 30); a king with a jeweled robe (p. 59); a doll with a violin in its hands (p. 80); Civil War dolls that were hollow, used to carry messages and medicine across enemy lines (p. 95); early American rag dolls with shoe button eyes and faces painted with vegetable dye (p. 118); and even a whole set of mannequin dolls dressed up as a full wedding party (p. 148).  The amount of detail given to the description of the various dolls indicates some level of research, which the correspondence between Wirt and Adams confirms when Wirt thanks Adams for the "doll material," which she found very interesting and used as much as possible (informing Adams she had to let some of it go, as she could not fit it all into the story!).

Getting back to the story itself, Wirt had a lot to work with, some of which is not particularly normal for a Nancy Drew book.  For instance, there's a scene where Nancy is poisoned when she pricks her finger on the point of a doll's sword - and Carson is worried the poison may be fatal (p. 33)!  It's not every day we find Nancy on the verge of death.  But miraculously, the doctor who is called out to Mrs. Struthers' home not only recognizes the poison simply by its smell, but is able to create an antidote in mere minutes right there at the house (p. 34).  That is definitely some doctor!  We also get treated to the revelation that Ned has plans for his future that include his desire to "go into business, prosper, and marry a certain golden-haired young lay named..." (p. 37).  I don't recall any other book where Ned so blatantly reveals his romantic intention to marry Nancy!  There is also a hinted death threat by one of the gypsies, who, when talking with Nancy about Rose, remarks, "when her grandmother dies..." (p. 201).  When Nancy gasps at the idea that they would kill Mrs. Struthers, the gypsy backtracks and indicates that the loss of Rose would leave her with a broken-heart that would lead to her death - but still, that's some pretty terse stuff right there.  Finally, there is also the gypsies' ritual of marrying off their daughters very young - in chapter six, Ned and Nancy are witness to a gypsy wedding, where Nancy sees the young girl is "very frightened and could not have been more than fourteen years old" (p. 43); however, before you get too shocked to read this in a Nancy Drew book, the gypsy performing the ceremony makes it clear to all of the attendees (and the reader) that while their girls marry very young, they "have complied with all the laws of this state" (p. 42).  One can only assume Wirt (or Adams in the editing process) threw in that line to keep readers from thinking this marriage was an unlawful act against a minor.

Two of the gypsies - Anton and Nitaka - play a pivotal role in the mystery, and they make a number of appearances, mostly as thieves.  They are also right-hand helpers of the gypsy king, Zorus (whose name is actually from Green mythology, a Trojan warrior who participated in the Trojan war), and they enforce his will upon all of the gypsies in their group, including extortion of money.  What is sad is that the gypsies, for the most part in this book, are not portrayed in a good light.  The one gypsy who helps Nancy and warns her on several occasions turns out to be not a gypsy at all, but someone who married a gypsy and pretended to be from another tribe so as to not cause trouble for her husband (p. 205).  What surprised me was that when one of the gypsies offers to tell Nancy's fortune, her first question is, "Have you a license to tell fortunes?" (p. 113).  I was not aware that a license was required to be a fortune teller, but some quick research online reveals this was actually the case - and in some instances, fortune telling was outlawed altogether, license or no license!

A couple of interesting tidbits worth noting - first is the mention of the Taylor Department Store, where the mannequin dolls are to be on display (p. 148).  This same department store was first referenced in The Secret of the Old Clock, where Nancy goes to buy a new dress.  It's not often you see continuity of places like that in this early series.  Second, Adams may have been right in her disappointment in the story when it comes to Nancy's character.  Adams tells Wirt in one of her letters that Nancy "does not see like the courageous, untiring person she always has been ... she feels like a defeatist, ready to give up ..." And that is certainly true in some instance in the story.  When Nancy is kidnapped at the end of the book, being tied up and on the floor of the truck "made her feel quite ill" (p. 209).  She then thinks, "If only Dad could have reached me in time..." (p. 209) - and when he does arrive and rescue her, her first words are, "Oh, Dad, I thought you'd never come" (p. 209).  Later, when asked by Bess if she were scared, she laughs, "I'm afraid I was" (p. 212).  These are only a few examples, but they show the frame of mind of Nancy's character pretty much throughout most of the book - which, as Adams says, is not typical of Nancy Drew.  Third, Wirt specifically used a couple of real musical pieces in the book - the Hungarian Rhapsody (p. 38) and The Gypsy Airs (p. 149).  One can assume these pieces were chosen because of the focus on gypsies in the story.  Finally, a couple of plot points are never actually explained - such as "the cause" (p. 198) that Zorus is forcing all of his gypsy tribe members to support, as well as the mysterious "substance" inside of Enid's doll (p. 201), that Romano's father discovered in Bear Claw Mountain.  I suppose with so much going on in this story, those points just sort of got lost along the way.

Russell Tandy provided the art for both the cover and the internal frontis.  The internal scene is from page 186, when Nancy, Bess, and George are in the small town of Aiken, where Nancy spots one of Mrs. Struthers' stolen dolls in a store front window.  The cover scene comes straight from page 195, when Nancy sneaks up on the gypsy camp, hoping to locate both Rose and her father, Romano Pepito.  I did notice on the cover art, as well as on the internal, Nancy has a red bow in her hair, something that one usually sees in Penny Parker's hair on the illustrations for many of her books.  

The book is not bad, but it is definitely a lot to take in - I mean, let's face it, I didn't even mention the whole River Heights Yacht Club sailboat race and all of the trouble that comes along with that - including the purchase of a sail boat, the sabotage of that boat, and the ultimate race.  None of it has anything whatsoever to do with the mystery, so one is left to wonder exactly why that material is in the story at all.  (And in case you are wondering, yes, of course, Nancy and her friends do win the race - which, by the way, is called the "Dixon Cup" - hmmmm, perhaps named after another author name used by the Syndicate for a certain boys series?)

8 poisoned "witch dolls" out of 10 for some rather strange plot elements, unusual characters, and the revelation of Ned's true intentions for Nancy!