The Heir of Starvelings - a Gothic Novel of Innocence and Evil

This book is one of those that I picked up because of the cover art.  Yes, yes, I know the saying - don't just a book by its cover.  Yet, there are plenty of times that I see cover art that just cries out for me to pick up the book, and this is one of those instances.  However, it was more than just the heavy greens and blacks and the beautiful blond woman - as it turns out, this cover appeared on at least two different gothic titles!  But I'll get into that later.  There was also that title that caught my attention - a unique title that begs the reader to open the cover to find out just want it means (although, let's face reality - I don't think any title is quite as unusual as Let the Crags Comb Out Her Dainty Hair).  Thus, the book ended up in my hands and ultimately among the stacks of gothic novels I have yet to read.  Only, now, this one has been read...

 

The Heir of Starvelings is, as the title page describes, a tale of innocence and evil. First published in 1967 (my copy is a reprinting by Dell in 1968), it was written by Evelyn Berckman, who is known for her post-war detective fiction.  She was born in the United States, but later moved to England in the 1960s.  She also wrote a number of plays and historical non-fiction, as well as horror and gothic novels.  A quick search online reveals that The Mugar Memorial Library at Boston University has a collection of the author's manuscripts, including early drafts and final proofs (The Evelyn Berckman Collection). This is the first work by Berckman that I've read, and although it gets off to a somewhat lackluster opening, the story does pick up to the point where I was glued to the pages, unable to close the book until I was done!

 

The story centers around lovely Davina Milne, the daughter of the Reverend Frederick Milne, who lives in a small English town, near a decaying old house known as Starvelings.  There are plenty of rumors about the seemingly abandoned property and its owner, Lord Stanyon. These rumors mean nothing to Davina, who is mourning the death of her fiance, Nevil Stonor, of whose death she and her father were notified from the war office. Fate plays a wicked game, though, and an attorney for distant relatives of Lord Stanyon appears on her doorstep, looking for a governess for Lord Stanyon's young son. Although the offer was not meant for her (the lawyer came to see if Reverend Milne knew of any women in town who might be hired), Davina knows this is the thing she needs to distract her mind from Nevil's death.  The lawyer, Mr. Truscott, warns her that not only is the boy wild, unbathed, and likely unlearned, but Mr. Stanyon and his servant, Porcher, are difficult men who will not make her job any easier.  Davina is insistent, giving Mr. Truscott and her father no other choice.

 

Davina is not your typical gothic heroine.  From the very start, she is determined, she is strong, and despite her grieving soul, she finds sympathy and concern for the young William Stanyon.  She quickly learns what incentives she can use to not only get him to wash, but also to practice his speech, writing, and reading.  Despite his rebellious and wild side, she manages to gain his trust while exploring the mysteries of Starvelings.  Where is Lady Stanyon?  Why is William so afraid of the Folly on the grounds?  Who struck William so hard as to cause a loss of hearing in one ear? What happened to the Staynon's fortune? And how can Davina save William from the tragic life to which he is subjected in that house?  Davina sets out to find answers to all of those questions, even though it puts her in danger, not only from Porcher, but from Lord Stanyon himself.  As for Lady Stanyon, well, she is nothing at all what Davina would have expected, and she seems to be more afraid of Porcher than of her own vile husband.  Berckman provides readers with a dark and sometimes depressing mystery that throws in a few twists and turns before it is all revealed in the end.

 

And Berckman's descriptions - she certainly sets the mood with the detailed pictures she creates of the aging house, the overgrown grounds, the moody inhabitants, and the desolation and emptiness within the halls of Starvelings.  The reader immediately sympathizes with William, roots for Davina to overcome all of the evil within the house, and is disgusted by Porcher and Lord Stanyon - especially near the end when Davina has a final confrontation with the two men in the dark recesses of the Folly, which holds some of its own mysteries.  Berckman also includes some very human aspects to the story, with William's fascination with the Queen and his ardent desire to meet the Queen, a wish that surprisingly gets granted in part thanks to Mr. Truscott's feelings for Davina.  Yet, despite having his wish fulfilled, it is bittersweet, as a part of that dream did not see fruition, bringing bitter disappointment to a young boy that could not understand the full impact of the opportunity that he had been given.  Scenes like this are what tug at the heart of the reader and make it all the more real.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected event at the end of the story, which took the characters in a much different direction than I would have ever anticipated.  I won't spoil it, but I will say that it is most definitely an ending that Davina deserved!

 

Now, some other unusual aspects about this book that are worth mentioning are the dedication, the introduction, and the epilogue.  Berckman dedicates the book "In Memory of Rupert Gunnis, Who Told Me This True Story."  This leads directly into the one-page foreward, "Rupert Gunnis, 1899-1965."  The author provides readers with a bit of background on Mr. Gunnis, who was a real person, a historian as well as collector of British sculpture.  Berckman indicates this story founds its origins in Gunnis' love of buried historical facts, and although she changed the names of the persons involved, the geography and events are said to be true.  Gunnis also appears in the epilogue, which is set nearly 70 years after the events of the story in 1855, and in which young William is now an elderly man, searching for a connection to his past in paintings now owned by another family - paintings that fate uses to bring Gunnis and the elderly Lord Stanyon together, bringing the story full circle.  I don't believe I've ever seen an author meld alleged truth and fiction together to create a story like this, and its curious nature certainly adds to my liking of this tale.

 

Going back to the cover art, depicting Davina as she walks through the halls of Starvelings, that painting of Lord Stanyon just behind her, I wish the artist was identified, as the shadows, the colors, the expression, the candles - they blend so perfectly to create the somber mood that permeates the story within.  And, apparently, Dell (who published this edition of the novel) liked the art so much, the company reused that same art just three years later in 1971 on the cover of its Gothic Romances magazine (issue 2 of the 3-issue series of magazines containing short gothic tales by recognizable authors such as Dorothy Eden, Virginia Coffman, and many others).  The larger art on the magazine cover loses a lot of the shadows from the top and left side, but it does give us a better look at young Davina's face - a face that very much resembles that of Nancy Barrett, the actress who played Carolyn Stoddard in the gothic television drama, Dark Shadows.  Makes one wonder if the author perhaps used Ms. Barrett as a model for this cover art.

 

Having read this book, my search now begins for Evelyn Berckman's other gothic novels...

RATING:  9 peer robes of red velvet out of 10 for a gothic tale of an innocent child, a vile father, an evil servant, and a strong-willed governess ... and a god-forsaken house filled with secrets and broken dreams.

The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy - the First (new) Three Investigators Mystery

As a kid, my mother introduced me to Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, knowing how much I loved mysteries (I was already well into reading Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and other series at that point).  She loved Alfred Hitchcock films, and she and I watched Alfred Hitchcock Presents... every Saturday afternoon; so, when she saw the series books with his name on them, she thought I would enjoy them.  And I did!  Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrew solved some creepy mysteries involving Terror Castle, a Whispering Mummy, a Fiery Eye, a Moaning Cave, and many others.  There were 43 books in the series (with an unpublished 44th book), along with two off-shoot series:  four "Find Your Fate" books (similar to the Choose Your Own Adventure books) and eleven "Crimebuster" books (with two additional books published only in German).  Only 10 of the first 11 books were written by the original creator of the series, Robert Arthur; he died in 1969, after which, the series continued publication with various other authors.  The series ended (here in America) in 1987, with the publication of the 43rd book, and it seemed that we would never see any more adventures of Jupiter, Pete, and Bob ... until now!

 

The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy marks the return of The Three Investigators in book form here in the States (as the series has continued over in Germany, but that is a whole 'nother story that is too complicated to go into here).  Written by Elizabeth Arthur (the daughter of the original author and creator of the series!) and Steven Bauer (Elizabeth's husband), this first book in the new series gives readers new adventures of Jupiter, Pete, and Bob for the first time in decades, and based on the references to former mysteries in this book, it would seem that it is set fairly early in the original series (the mysteries referenced are those written by Elizabeth's father, Robert Arthur).  Since they do not have the rights to use Alfred Hitchcock's name and likeness (Hitchcock was dropped from the series in 1980, following the famed director's death), Arthur/Bauer used Hector Sebastian, who took Hitchcock's place in the original series (and who was retconned into the early books when they were later revised by Random House to remove references to Hitchcock), as the investigators' benefactor.

 

The mystery begins rather benign - a friend of Sebastian's asks the boys to look into her family's history to learn more about one of her ancestors who is rumored to have discovered gold and hidden it away.  Most believe any gold found is long gone - including the client's distant cousin who lives in the Gold Country area - but Isabella Chang simply wants historical information on her ancestor and the one room school house where he attended as a youth.  Jupiter, Pete, and Bob, along with their trusted friend and chauffeur, Worthington, head north to see what they can dig up about Li Chang.  The boys quickly learn there is more to the story when they arrive to learn the one room school house, which has stood for over a hundred years, was recently torn down - and the one who gave the order was none other than Isabella's cousin!  There's also the coincidence of the Chinese talisman used to ward off demons that Jupiter's dad happened to come across back in Rocky Beach, which has a twin talisman right there in Auburn!  Some missing letters, a secret code, and some deep research at the local library ultimately reveal the truth about the death of Li Chang's father, an Irish curse, the history behind the Changs' family secrets, and the location of the hidden gold!

 

The plot is actually rather interesting, and the fact that Arthur tries to steer the boys away from depending on technology to do all their work for them is refreshing.  What I have to admit I was not particularly thrilled with was the sudden change in ethnicities of some of the characters.  Now, admittedly, it has been several decades since I read any of the original Three Investigator books; but I do not recall Pete Crenshaw's parents both coming from Hispanic backgrounds, and that his family originally had a Spanish name that was Americanized when they migrated here. I also do not recall Bob Andrews' mother being Chinese, and Bob having eyes that give others the instant impression that he is part Chinese.  Then we get introduced to Mallory MacLeod, who turns out to not only be Skinny Norris' cousin, but she is from Scotland and talks quite a bit about her heritage.  Yes, the subject of family history plays an important part of the mystery - but it is Isabella Chang's family history that is important to the case.  The fact that Arthurs spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on Pete's, Bob's, and Mallory's heritages feels out-of-place and unnecessary, and quite frankly, it bogs down a large amount of the opening chapters.  Perhaps Arthur and Bauer simply wanted to give some backstory to these characters for first time readers of the series and provide something new for longtime fans; but, whatever the reason, I wish it had been spread out over the series and not force-fed to the reader in such large amounts in this first book.

 

Those family changes aside, it was fun to follow along with the boys again on their adventures.  I do believe Arthur and Bauer worked hard to remain true to her father's original characterization of the trio.  Jupiter is the boy genius who is always one step ahead; Pete is the action guy, always looking for physical activities; and Bob is the organized one, the team secretary and recorder of all things.  Their individual strengths complement one another well, and they work together nicely to get to the bottom of things.  It is pretty clear that Mallory is going to be sticking around, most likely joining the boys as an honorary fourth investigator (although that will not happen if Jupiter has anything to say about it!).   

I do like the alliteration of the series' titles, going through the letters of the alphabet. It reminds me of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone series, which started with A is for Alibi and sadly ended with Y is for Yesterday (since the author died before she wrote the "Z" novel). This is even integrated into the story, as Bob tries to come up with a catchy way to make the documenting of the Three Investigators' cases more interesting.  He ultimately settles on the alphabet names, starting with "A."  And for those wondering, the word "Abecedarian" (pronounced "a-b-c darian") means arranged alphabetically, although it has an older meaning, of one who is learning the rudiments of something.  The name does play a part in the mystery, but I will not spoil that by revealing it here.  

The cover design for this book (and the next two, which all came together as a breeder set of three) is creative and eye-catching.  The credited artist for the cover is "Pashur House," which, when I looked this name up online, is the name of a rather famous body painter - one who has traveled the world to participate and show off his work at various events for nearly two decades.  I hope Arthur/Bauer and the publisher retain this artist for all 26 books of the series, because I would love to have a complete set of this series in a uniform style and art!

 

I am hoping that book two (the "B" book) will ease up on the boys' family histories and focus more on the mystery itself!

 

RATING:  8 Scottish music camps filled with fiddlers out of 10 for reviving these lovable investigators with a unique and interesting new series of mysteries to enjoy!

Exploring Series Books in Florida, Part 2 - the Oldest City in the United States

We had so much fun exploring the Space Coast of Florida, searching for all of the locations that the Hardy Boys, the Happy Hollister, and Nancy Drew visited (Series Books - The Space Coast), that Pam and I could not wait to visit our next destination.  With so many series books that have had books set in Florida, we certainly had plenty from which to choose.  In this case, though, Hurricane Milton made the decision for us, since the West Coast of Florida has been drastically affected by the wind and rains.  Thus, looking to stay on the East Coast, we moved just a couple of counties north of the Space Coast, up to St. John County, Florida and the oldest city in the United States - St. Augustine!

 

In this instance, we were fortunate to only have one book to explore in this grand city, and that was The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms.  This book is the fourth book in "The Moving Picture Girls" series produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and published under the author name of Laura Lee Hope.  The series follows the adventures of two sisters, Ruth and Alice DeVere, and their father, Hosmer DeVere, all of whom work in the film industry (silent films, as this series was originally published from 1914 - 16).  In this particular volume, the girls travel to Florida with their father and the rest of the film troupe to make several more movies in St. Augustine, as well as in areas in the interior of the state.  It is those chapters where the film crew stays and films in St. Augustine on which Pam and I focused our attention...

 

In the story, Ruth and Alice, along with their father and the film troupe, stay at a hotel described as having a "ladies' court, with a palm-girded garden wherein a fountain played" (p. 63).  Upon arriving in St. Augustine, we discovered that the city boasts a hotel that accurately fits that description - the Alcazar Hotel!  Built by Henry Flagler, a railroad tycoon who was wanting to create a resort city in the South, the Alcazar officially opened in 1888 on Christmas Day.  The hotel remained opened until 1931, so it would have been opened in 1914, when this book was published.  The author likely visited the hotel at some point, or was intimately familiar with it, as the descriptions certainly fit the place.

 

 The "ladies' court" (p. 63), which was the inner courtyard where the girls "strolled out under the beautiful loggia, through an avenue of palms and many tropical plants" (pp. 66-67), has gone through changes over the years, but it still has the small bridge over the fountain of water, as well as the line of palm trees and tropical plants everywhere you turn.  Pam and I nearly felt like we had walked right into the pages of the story, joining Ruth and Alice as they took in the breathtaking beauty of the hotel.

 

Within walking distance of the hotel was Fort Marion (p. 66), located on the banks of the Mantanzas River (p. 68).  It was here that the players were to film a movie titled "The Spanish Prisoner" (p. 78), and according to the book, "the background of the old fort [was] most effective" (p. 78).  The book talks about "what was once the drawbridge in front of the portcullis, near the old watchtower on the stairway that was originally an inclined way, by which artillery was hauled up to the terre plein" (p. 78).  Like the acting troupe in the story, the fort was a moment in time preserved for all to see.

Due to the heavy rains from Hurricane Milton, the inside of the fort was, unfortunately, closed to visitors, so Pam and I were not able to go in and see the old guard room and the dungeon (p. 78), which Alice and Ruth explored when not filming scenes for their movie.  We did, however, take time to walk around the outside of the fort, taking in the moat, the watchtower, and the area where the drawbridge once existed.  Again, we were able to imagine what it must have been like for the film troupe as they filmed in and around the fort, as it certainly could be used as the backdrop for a period piece of drama!

 

 As we continued to explore St. Augustine and follow in the path of the Moving Picture Girls, our next stop was the Old City Gates. In the book, the girls "reached the north end of St. George street and before the old city gates..." (p. 67).  This description is spot-on, as the end of St. George Street is exactly where we found the Old City Gates, still standing after more than 280 years!

 

The book gave a very accurate description of the gates, which (as stated in the book) were built in 1743.  And, like the story says, there is a bronze tablet set in the masonry (p. 68) that is still embedded in the wall today - although it definitely shows its age!  Pam and I were fortunate enough to have a couple take a picture of us at the gate, and as you can see, they are not only pretty tall (way taller than me!), but also considerably thick - which they would need to be, if the walls were built to protect the city.

 

 

Now, there was one place in the book that provided a great description, but, unfortunately, no longer exists in the real world.  The Moving Picture Girls visit an orange grove, which is said to be just a short distance from the city gates (p. 70).  At one time, such an orange grove did exist just down the street from the gates - Dr. Gaernett's Orange Grove, which is likely the grove to which the author is referring - however, by the 1950s, the property had been sold, and, bit by bit, the grove disappeared as the city developed more and more.  Now, all we have to remember the grove are postcards of the past.

 

 

Being in St. Augustine, one would expect that the Moving Picture Girls would visit the famed Fountain of Youth - and, yes, they did!  The book indicates that the girls found the fountain "...on Myrtle Avenue, two block north of the orange grove..." (p. 73).  The distance is just a it off, but not by much.  The Fountain of Youth is located at the end of Myrtle Avenue, but the entrance is now off of the cross-street, Magnolia Avenue (Fountain of Youth).  I suppose, since this is a work of fiction, some liberties could be taken with distance and directions.

As the sign at the entrance to the park says, the Fountain of Youth represents the first chapter of our nation's colonial history - in 2,000 BC, the native Timucua town of Seloy thrives on the location; in 1513, Ponce de Leon landed at the location; in 1565, Menendez established the city of St. Augustine at the location; and in 1587, the First Mission Church of Nombre de Dios was built on the location.  Certainly, there have been countless changes to the park over the years, the fountain itself is still a major draw for tourists - so, just like the Moving Picture Girls, Pam and I had to check it out!

 

The book even goes so far as to describe how "near the fountain was a large coquina cross ..." (p. 75), which can still be viewed in the park today. As indicated in the book, the cross was actually found "by discovery of a silver casque, which contained documents telling of the matter ..." (p. 76).  When visiting the park, you can see the Coquina Cross, made up of 15 vertical and 13 horizontal stones that were allegedly placed there by Ponce de Leon to indicate his discovery of the fountain.  The park retains a copy of the silver container that was discovered in 1904, which contained papers that purported to be "an affidavit by a crown official to verify that [the] cross was made here by Ponce de Leon in the year 1513" (from the plaque located at the site of the cross and the silver casque inside the park).  Thus, the discovery of that cross and casque would have only taken place 10 years prior to the publication of this book!

 

 

Time escaped us faster than we anticipated as we explored the country's oldest city, and before we knew it, we had to leave.  This meant we did not have time to visit the Alligator Farm, where "[o]ne act in a play took place ... on Anastasia Island" (p. 94).  There is an actual Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, that is still open to the public today (Alligator Farm).  It is most certainly larger than it was back in 1914, and most likely more commercialized for tourists than at the turn of the previous century.  Nevertheless, tourists today can see live alligators just as Ruth and Alice did during the stay in St. Augustine.

 

The Moving Pictures Girls Under the Palms (1914), written under the pseudonym of Laura Lee Hope, offered up the most places to visit from any of the other books we explored during Pam's trip to Florida.  St. Augustine was an unexpected treasure trove of adventure for us - the Alcazar Hotel, the Fountain of Youth, Fort Marion, the Mantanzas River, the Old City Gates - it was truly like stepping back in time and stepping right into the pages of the book we had read.  

Although Pam had to head back home to Canada, it was not without hope.  Already, we were discussing our next adventure, because we were determined to get over to the west side of Florida and trace the path of a certain flight attendant who solved a mystery over there...

 

COMING SOON:  Exploring Series Books in Florida - Part 3 (Tampa Bay)!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #15 - Time to Kill

This fifteenth book in the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series introduces readers to a new author and a new crime solving young woman (yes, at this point it is pretty obvious that this series will always have a woman as the lead character).  This is author Miriam Lynch's first entry into the series, but it is certainly not her first mystery novel.  Lynch, who has written under the pseudonyms Dolores Craig, Claire Vincent, Moira Lord, and Mary Wallace, was first published in 1957, and between then and the early '80s, she wore more than 35 novels - mystery, romance, and gothic.  She only wrote two Zebra Mystery Puzzlers - this book and no. 25 (You'll Be the Death of Me).  She had books published under a number of various lines - Candlelight, Ravenswood, Ace, Paperback Library, Coventry, Lancer, Pyramid, and others.  I notice on the blogs I have read which feature reviews of her books, all of them raved about her writing. While this particular book put forth a fairly decent mystery, I'm not sure I would hold her in the same high standard as these other bloggers (although, to be fair, they were reviewing her gothic work, and this is a mystery).

 

Time to Kill (not to be confused with John Grisham's novel of the same name, which came out 10 years after this one) introduces readers to Nell Willard, a young woman working hard to make it as a reporter. Unfortunately, her editor seems to think she is only capable of handling obituaries or simple social functions and refuses to give her any assignments that could give her a chance to shine.  I suppose that even in 1979, when this book was published, women were still fighting for their equal rights in professions that had been male-dominated for so long (after all, 9 to 5 came out a year after this book, and that film was all about how men continued to hold women back from succeeding in the work place).  So much has changed since then, so in reading this story and the manner in which the men treated poor Nell, I had to keep reminding myself of the time period the book was written.  Lucky for Nell (but not so lucky for the victim), she happens to be in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on your perspective) when a not-so-famous actress' longtime friend is murdered!

 

When Nell is assigned to interview an aging actress who has returned to her small town after years in Hollywood, Nell expects to have to sit through photo albums of memories and hours of boredom.  Instead, she meets an agitated older woman who seems nervous about something.  When they discover the body of the actress's friend at the bottom of the cellar stairs - shot in the back! - Nell goes into action, calling the police and the newspaper.  Suddenly, Nell is thrust into the limelight as a possible witness for the murder investigation.  Nell feels sorry for the actress and takes time off from work to stay with her so she is not alone in the house.  From there, things only escalate.  A strange man is seen watching the house from the shadow of the trees out back.  The actress disappears for hours at a time without any explanation (or, at least, without explanations that make sense).  And Nell is knocked unconscious by an intruder in the house - was it because someone mistook her for the actress, or is someone wanting Nell to stop looking into the murder?  And how does any of this connect to a young teenager who disappeared years ago after attempting to rob a bank, a case that the local police were never able to solve?

 

Lynch does provide readers with a determined young detective in Nell Willard, as nothing deters her from getting to the bottom of all the mysteries thrown into her lap.  A grouchy detective who does not want her interfering ... a self-absorbed actress who does not want Nell to leave for even one second, yet disappears herself without explanation ... a chauvinistic editor who is making snide remarks about Nell at every turn ... and a house that holds more secrets than Nell can possibly count.  A torn up photograph, a hideous lamp, some old receipts, and a secret staircase provide important clues that lead Nell (and the reader!) to figure out what is really going on in that house - but will she put it all together before it is too late and the killer strikes again?

 

While the cover artist is not identified, the interior illustrations are signed simply by "Hoffman."  A little research reveals this interior artist to be Sanford 'Sandy' Hoffman (1937 - 2017), who was a commercial illustration in New York for most of his life.  Hoffman did the art for a lot of album covers back in the late '60s and into the '70s, as well as concert posters of that era.  This is the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler for which he provided interior illustrations, and they are very distinct in their style.  Hoffman tends to "box in" his images, and the characters are defined with dark lines and shading, with considerable detail in the picture itself.  Interestingly, the clues in the illustrations are pretty straightforward (when viewed in conjunction with the story), and so it does help in solving the mystery (which, honestly, was not overly difficult to figure out - like any good Nancy Drew book, the two mysteries that appear unrelated are ultimately tied together at the end).

 

The story does contain a number of gothic elements, leading me to believe Lynch was more comfortable with the gothic romance tales than a straight up mystery story.  We have the dark house where the protagonist goes to stay; we have the two men fighting over the young protagonist; we have all of the secrets surrounding the house and its inhabitant; we have the secret panels and hidden staircases, the stranger outside watching, and the creepy attic filled with cryptic clues as to the past of the aging actress.  I could easily seen this book having been published as a gothic story just five or ten years prior (and with only a few minor revisions, such as Nell's relation to the actress).

 

While not exactly the best book in the series, it was still a decent enough read, and I am curious as to where Lynch will take Nell in her next mystery (10 books from this one...).

 

RATING:  8 bouquets of red roses out of 10 for a fast-paced mystery that provides the necessary clues to figure it all out before the end (although several are a bit too obvious).

Murder on the White Cliffs - A Posie Parker Mystery, Book 8

I really need to pay more attention, because it has apparently been more than a year and a half since I read my last Posie Parker mystery novel, and I am already way behind on this series - I mean, here I am just now reading book eight, and and according to Amazon, there are sixteen published books in the series!  Which means, I am only half-way through the series.  Egads!  But that's okay, because it seems a number of other series I read have either already ended, or are coming to an end, so at least this gives me some comfort in knowing I still have eight more books to go with this one (and how know how many more L.B. Hathaway will write while I'm trying to get those eight read?!).  This book is considerably thicker than the seven prior books, but the larger page count was definitely needed for Hathaway to tell this story.

 

Murder on the White Cliffs provide us with a prologue to murder - a young woman heading off to a clandestine meeting on a dark, stormy night, high atop the cliffs overlooking the treacherous rocks and ocean below.  A mysterious man meets her, and they fight, the man accusing her of having written to Posie Parker for help.  Help with what?  The next thing you know. the young woman is pushed, sent flying over the edge of the cliff, and the last thing she hears is someone crying out her name ... Elsie .. or was that Elise?  With that cryptic crime, Hathaway then switches to Bloomsbury, London, where Richard Lovelace has been left getting his fiance's top-floor flat ready for him and his two daughters to move it.  Yes, the marriage of Posie Parker and Richard Lovelace is still on, but the question is - does Posie have cold feet?

 

Just when they are preparing to wed, move in together, and share their lives, Posie heads off to St. Margaret's Bay to look into the mysterious circumstances surrounding Elise Moncrieff's death.  It may at first glance appear to have been an accident, Posie's gut tells her otherwise.  Why else would the woman have written to her months before, asking for her help?  She had not gone to help her, and now the woman was dead.  For Posie, something did not add up.  The fact that St. Margaret's Bay is also the location of Maypole Manor, the site of another murder three years prior that Posie and Richard had solved ... the site where Posie first met the mysterious secret agent, Max ... a man she had been strangely attracted to ... a man who she had learned died in service of his country ... a man who, oddly enough, turns out looks nearly identical to the now deceased Elsie Moncrieff!  Yes, the stage is set for a superbly written mystery that connects the present to the past, interweaving a story of spies, secret love, deceit, murder, and hidden identities (as well as a scheming little maid who manages to learn quite a bit about everyone at White Shaw - perhaps too much, since she winds up dead before the end of this tale!). Not everyone in this story is who they say they are, and the more you read of it, the more you realize why Hathaway needed nearly 400 pages to write the story.

 

The mystery centers around the fashion design house known as White Shaw, and its owners - the American heiress, Petronella Douglas, and her Scottish husband, Anthony Stone.  The lavish parties thrown, the high-profile guests who attend, the alcohol and drugs that flow freely at those parties, and the scientist who goes missing at one of those parties are all a part of the mix, as Posie slowly discovers as she digs deeper and deeper into the death of Elsie Moncrieff - a woman who, as it turns out, has no past.  In fact, she does not seem to exist at all.  So, who was she?  Why did she reach out to Posie?  What involvement did she have with Douglas & Stone fashion house?  How did she create her own network of spies within the house without anyone knowing?  When did she decide it was time to leave?  And, most important of all - what information did she discover that led her to her not only receiving a letter of termination from Petronella Douglas, but ultimately led to her death?  The housekeeper ... the cook ... the chauffeur ... the handyman ... the escort ... an entire crew of people, each hiding secrets regarding Elsie and the day her body was found.  Plus, Posie has a very unexpected visitor in her hotel room ... a ghost from the past who is trying to give her the clues she needs to solve this mystery before she becomes the next victim, as there are forces at work far beyond the fashion world.  Spies, traitors, and secret agents play a huge part of it, and someone Posie thought she could trust turns out to be the worst villain of them all!

 

Hathaway does integrate Guy Fawkes Night into the story, and as I read mention of this celebration, I had to wonder where I had heard of this before?  Had a prior Posie Parker story mentioned it?  Well, looking back, it seems those precocious pre-teen sleuths, Wells & Wong, happened to have a mystery that involved the same celebration (Jolly Foul Play).  It seems those night time bonfires are the perfect place for a murder to happen!  And for those who don't know (which included me, until I looked it up), Guy Fawkes Nigh, also referred to as "Bonfire Night," is an annual event in November that commemorates the failure of Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James I.  

Something else that caught my attention in this story are the references to Posie's prior boyfriend, the adventurous Alaric Boynton-Dale (who died in a previous book).  While I had not thought about the name before, when I was reading this story, it suddenly struck me as funny how similar Alaric's name is to the author of the Sue Barton and Carol Page series for young adults - Helen Dore Boylston.  It made me wonder if Hathaway was giving just a minor nod to that author; perhaps Hathaway even read some of Boylston's books growing up.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, and as Posie begins to put the pieces together, if the reader has paid close attention throughout the story, one will be able to figure out who is who and what really happened that fateful night. It is a well-plotted tale of murder and intrigue, and it not only puts to rest a part of Posie's past, the final chapter sets the stage for Posie and Richard's wedding, with a huge surprise thrown in to boot!

 

RATING:  10  blue, fake-silk headscarves out of 10 for a post-war, spy-filled murder mystery spattered with fashion and bonfires!

 

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32007 - The Fourth Letter

"She thought the past was laid to rest - only to discover that it threatened to destroy her future" (cover blurb).

 

I can't believe I am already seven books into the Harlequin Gothic Romance series.  Even more shocking, I can't believe how much I am thoroughly enjoying each and every one of the books in this series!  But here I am, and I have no intention of slowing down - although, I will admit, I'm beginning to already feel a bit of sadness at the idea that the series only had eighteen books in it.  That means I only have eleven left to go.  Oh, well, there are plenty of other gothic books from the '60s, '70s, and '80s out there waiting for me to read them, so I suppose I should not be too disheartened.  But, honestly, I don't know that any of them have as beautiful art and as creative titles as this series does, and the uniformity of the covers is a huge plus to someone who loves uniformity and consistency, particularly in series books.  And this one has its series books moments, believe me!

 

The Fourth Letter is written by Alison Quinn and is her second (and final) book in the series.  As previously indicated in my review of her first book (The Satyr Ring), which also happens to be the first book in the series, Quinn is likely the real name of the author and not a pseudonym, since the copyright page on both books indicate the copyright is owned by "Alison Quinn."  Other than that, and the fact that she wrote the first and seventh book in this series, I am not able to find anything else about the author.  I can saw, however, that she is a very talented writer and definitely knows how to write a great gothic mystery.  In this instance, the mystery involves a young woman named Nicole Lord, whose father has died and she has left her home in Paris, France to fulfill her father's dying wish - see her grandmother and resolve the issues that caused him to leave home so many years ago.  The only thing is, Nicole is not prepared for the various secrets and machinations that exist within the walls of the Lord mansion in the hills of Vermont!

 

While Quinn integrates a number of standard gothic tropes - the isolated mansion, the secrets held by pretty much every member of the household, the dangerous cliffs, and the mysterious sounds in the dead of night - she also manages to sneak in some twists into the story and challenge what the reader thinks they know or have figured out.  Quinn throws a couple of very unexpected curve balls that have great impact on the story and the relationships among the characters. Nicole arrives to find a grandmother that is at first resistant and distrusting; a housekeeper and confidant that makes it clear Nicole is not wanted there; a housekeeper's son who is hot and cold - distant at times, friendly at others; and a doctor who is a renowned ladies' man and has set his eyes on Nicole.  The poor girl does not know who to trust, and all she wants is to pass along her father's message and move on to New York.  And therein lies the problem...

 

Nicole's father had previously written his mother three times before, but never received a response.  Nicole has in her possession a fourth and final letter her father wrote just before he died, telling Nicole to give it to her grandmother when she feels the time is right.  But Nicole cannot determine when, or even if, there will be a right time.  And why does her grandmother have this irrational hatred of art of any kind?  Why is the house filled with mirrors on the walls rather than works of art?  And what is that constant tapping she hears at night, coming from the small patroon house at the edge of the woods?  The answer to that final question ultimately leads to a deadly encounter which results in Nicole being locked in the burning building, left to die!  And I suppose there is one more question that must be answered - why in the world does everyone get so distraught when Nicole and Mark announce their engagement?  What secret could their families possibly be hiding that would prevent them from consummating their love?  Well, let's just say that Flowers in the Attic could take a queue from this story!

 

I love the fact that Quinn does not even try to hide who the villain of this story is; nor does she give readers a clear line of good and bad when it comes to Nicole's two suitors - instead, we get plenty of gray areas with both of them.  And the contents of that mysterious, sealed fourth letter, the burning of the patroon house, the threats to Nicole's life, and the secrets that everyone in the house is hiding - well, they all add up to a great gothic mystery that, in some ways, reminds me of a good Nancy Drew mystery.  In fact, the cover art (by yet another unidentified artist) is similar to the original cover art of the Nancy Drew mystery, The Clue in the Diary, by Russell H. Tandy.  Both covers feature the burning buildings in the background, both covers feature a young woman in the foreground - one reaching down for a book, the other clutching a sealed envelope. 

 

Then again, the cover also resembles a much later Nancy Drew mystery, Race Against Time, which cover art was provided by the very talented Ruth Sanderson.  In this particular cover, we see the burning building in the background (as with this book), and the young woman is now facing the fire, her hand raised up to her mouth, similar to how the young woman on the cover of this book has her hand raised up to her chest as she looks back at the burning building.  Perhaps it is mere coincidence that all of these covers feature similar aspects; I mean, after all, the Nancy Drew mysteries have always incorporated a lot of gothic elements into the stories, so why should it be any surprise the covers should not also mirror certain gothic themes?  

One thing I did find odd about the book has nothing to do with the story or cover art; rather, it is the two-page spread in the back of the book advertising the various Harlequin series.  The advertisement urges readers to "Indulge in the pleasure of superb romance reading by choosing the most popular love stories in the world."  Below this tag are six different Harlequin series:  Harlequin Romance, Harlequin Presents, Harlequin Temptation, Harlequin Superromance, Harlequin American Romance, and Harlequin Intrigue.  Surprisingly, the very series in which the ad is placed is not mentioned at all. One would think they would want to advertise the Harlequin Gothic Romance series as well, but apparently it did not make the cut for this particular advertising campaign.  Perhaps that might be part of the reason the series did not last beyond 18 books - without advertising, one cannot expect a series to succeed!

 

This was yet another fantastic addition to the world of gothic romance/mystery novels, leaving me excited and anxious to read the next one in this series!

 

RATING:  10 seven-eights leopardskin fur coats out of 10 for a superbly-written gothic tale of secrets, suspense, and soap-opera style surprises!

Carol on Broadway a/k/a Carol Goes to Broadway - the Third Carol Page theater story

First, she served as an apprentice at the Stuyvesant Theatre under Miss Marlowe.  Then, she was able to play summer stock at the Richards Village Theatre in Winasser, Maine.  Now, after a year of theater training, Carol Page is ready to head for Broadway - the ultimate goal of all theater actors!  This is the third book in Helen Dore Boylston's series about a young woman whose love of acting and the theater is awakened after participating in a high school play and getting the opportunity to serve an apprenticeship under an experienced actress.  The series has followed Carol, and her two friends, Julia Gregg and Mike Horodinsky, as they have pursued their careers - Carol as a series actress; Julia as a comedic player; and Mike as a director.  Thus far, the series has given a pretty accurate portrayal of theater life, and so I was anxious to see how Carol's attempts to get a part on Broadway would play out.

 

Carol on Broadway (a/k/a Carol Comes to Broadway) opens as Carol is packing, ready to begin her new life in New York City as an aspiring actress.   Carol and Julia already have a room reserved in a "brownstone on a dingy side street west of Eighth Avenue" (p. 20).  It is there we get to meet our new cast of characters, with whom Carol and Julia will share their New York and Broadway adventures!  And these characters are some of the most fun and unique ones to appear in this series to date.  The first is Mrs. Garrentt, who runs the boarding house. Aldred Dean, who was the leading lady at Richards Village Theatre in the previous book, recommended  the place as a "respectable, old-fashioned theatrical boardinghouse" (p. 21).  Mrs. Garrett (and, yes, the first person I pictured is Charlotte Rae from TV's The Facts of Life - in fact, her image pretty much stuck with me during the whole book!) is a real hoot.  When she opens the door to Carol, Julia, and Mrs. Page, Boylston describes her as an "enormous woman dressed in purple filled the doorway like a sequin-embroidered mountain.  Her frizzed hair was dyed a color between red and blond which could only be classified as nasturtium, and in it she wore an artificial red rose" (p. 22).  With this description, my mind pictured a cross between Charlotte Rae's Mrs. Garrett and Audra Lindley's Mrs. Roper, from Three's Company.  She turns out to be a very caring person, who looks after and protects her tenants as if they were her own children.

 

As for the other tenants - Mitzi Katherine Malloy is another aspiring actress who is somewhat shy and who is beholden to the whims of her boyfriend, "who wants her to dress like those girls in the Russian Drama School" (p. 24); Miss Iverson is an aged actress, who is a bit high-strung and a bit jaded; Charlie Anders is a pasty-looking young man who is quite sure of himself, as well as a self-proclaimed ladies' man; and then there is Billy Beaseley, the former clown and current comic, whose sidekick, Herbert, makes the most unexpected appearance on the stairs of the boardinghouse, startling Carol, Julia, and Mrs. Page alike - for you see, Herbert is a skunk!  Thankfully, the girls soon learn his scent glands have been removed, and he has been trained to be a part of Billy's act,  The girls make fast friends with all of the other tenants (well, except maybe Charlie), and Carol especially gains some valuable knowledge from each of them, in their own way.

 

Boylston does not go easy with the girls.  Carol and Julia are both excited as they head out their first day to "make the rounds," as the saying goes.  They hit up every casting agency they can find, only to discover that no one is willing to see an unknown.  It seems that in order to see a casting agent, one must have experience on Broadway; yet, the only way to get experience is to get cast in a play through a casting agent!  The girls are discouraged, but they remain determined. For a while, at least.  Billy ends up providing Carol with some much needed advice, which ultimately gets her in to see one casting agent - Arthur G. Sweetster Theatrical Enterprises.  While he does not get her cast, he does provide some encouragement that eventually leads her to taking a job doing a radio commercial.  Eventually, just as Carol is about to give up hope, she falls into the good fortune of getting a small role in a play at the Valencia Theater - which, by the way, is an actual theater in New York City, located in Queens, New York.  The real Valencia Theater opened its doors in 1929, which means it would have been in existence at the time this book was written and published.

 

One thing I enjoyed about all of the tension that Carol discovers while rehearsing for this play is how realistically it is portrayed.  As a professional Broadway play, rather than just a community theater production, it's less of a family-generating atmosphere where everyone pulls together and more of a dog-eat-dog arena, where everyone is out for themselves and looking to prove they are better and more talented than everyone else.  At one point, as the cast are heading to New Haven (which is about four hours away from New York City) for the opening performance, one of the other cast members makes the snide remark that "it really won't matter how many mistakes you make, really.  After all, just remember you haven't got an important part" (p. 166).  Carol, already frustrated, replies with a stupendously catty remark, "Thanks so much.  I hope you'll be able to get some reset.  That part must be an awful strain on you.  You're looking terribly tired" (p. 166).  The insinuation that the other woman is old and tired looking would certainly strike hard to any actress, and Carol, being the nice person she really is, immediately regrets the comment.  Me, on the other hand, was happy to finally see her strike back a bit!

 

Boylston keeps Carol on a timeline that she has established with her father - if she is not steadily employed as an actress within one year, then she will return home and go to college.  Boylston builds some suspense for the reader, as the production in which Carol has a party is shut down, leaving the poor girl with very little time to find another role before she must return home.  Just as she has given up hope and is packing to leave, she gets a call from none other than Miss Marlowe, who is back at the Stuyvesant and ready to put on a new production written by a friend of Mike Horodinsky.  It is a big chance she is taking, but since the theatre is being converted to one showing films, Miss Marlowe believes she has nothing to lose.  Carol, of course, is cast in a large role opposite Miss Marlowe herself, and on the opening night, Carol is surprised to find her parents and brother were in the audience.  And, as fate would have it, so was Mr. Sweetster, who is so impressed with the play that he is going to have it produced on Broadway!  Thus, Carol finds herself in a guaranteed production just in time to beat that deadline, and it leaves us all wondering - just where will Carol go next?

 

While Carol's good fortune in getting in to see the casting agent, falling into the radio commercial gig, lucking into the role of her first Broadway play, and the instant success of her performance with Miss Marlowe reek of series book coincidences, the one realistic thing about it is that in order to truly make it, it all boils down to who you know.  And in each of these cases, that is exactly how Carol managed to succeed in each circumstance. 

 

There are plenty of other subplots that move the story along - Julia managing to land a role in a touring show; Mike meeting a young woman who is an aspiring playwright and who clearly has eyes for Mike; Mitzi's controlling boyfriend and her efforts to change; and Billy's desire to get back to performing in the circus like he and Herbert used to do.  The art in this book is once again provided by Major Felton, who did the illustrations in the previous book.  They do not really depict any exciting scenes (one is simply Carol pointing theater-goers to their seats, which another simply shows Carol taking bows at the end of a performance); however, they are clean and a little more refined than those in the second book.  Plus, the one illustration depicts the scene where the girls first meet Herbert!  And, just like the first two books, this book was also published in Britain, where it underwent a slight name change - instead of Carol simply being "ON" Broadway, for the British edition, the title tells reader that Carol "COMES TO" Broadway.  It follows the format of the first two books, with that same headshot of Carol, only it is outlined in blue, instead of the yellow of the second book or red of the first book.

 

One final thing worth mentioning is the dedication at the beginning of the book.  Boylston dedicates the book "FOR BUSHY - Who Was No Help at All."  I had to snicker when I read this, as Bushy Trott is the name of a villain from one of the Nancy Drew Books (Old Attic),  and it is also a nickname of a very good friend of mine.  The fact that Bolyston dedicates the book to Bushy with the comment that he was "no help at all" certainly keeps in line with the villainy of the Nancy Drew crook; as far as my friend?  Well, let's just say he would definitely get a kick out of this dedication!

 

RATING:  10 tattered, disreputable tramps on a park bench out of 10 for giving readers a taste for the darker, more difficult side of professional theater work - it's not all glamour and stardom!