A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #23 - Death in a Small World

Another new protagonist and another new author enters the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series with this book.  The 23rd book in the series is the first written by Laura Colburn, being followed up by books 34 and 46.  Colburn, in reality, is Ian McMahan, an award-winning author  and developmental psychologist who under his own name wrote a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the three-book Microkid Mysteries and the one ESP McGee mystery for young readers back in the early 1980s.  I was not really sure what to expect from this book, considering the author's background (but, as one might expect, it turns out one of the characters in the book is a psychologist, which provides the author with an opportunity to include his profession into the story).  However, after a bit of a slow start, the book actually turned out to be surprisingly good.

 

Death in a Small World does not refer to a ride at Disney World, but rather, to just how small our world really is when it comes to running into people from our past in the most unexpected places.  What's the old expression about being in the right place at the right time?  Only, in this case, it's about someone being in the wrong place at most definitely the wrong time.  Our amateur sleuth in this book is Carol Gates, an artist and illustrator who is a part of the '70s bohemian movement in the Soho district of New York City. She happens to be at a party thrown by two of her friends, which is attended by a number of aspiring artists, several art dealers, and a few other miscellaneous people - including Steve McCullough, a stranger known only to the hosts (or so everyone thought!), who Carol finds dead in the elevator shaft clutching a gold lighter.  Was it an accident, as the police believe?  Or was it suicide, as Carol's friend Ginny firmly thinks?  Or was it cold-blooded murder, as Carol is sure it is?  Since the police are not investigating, and no one is really questioning it, Carol takes it upon herself to find out the truth - after all, being the daughter of a retired police chief, she has an inquisitive mind and an eidetic memory, so who better to solve a murder no one believes was a murder?

 

Colburn (a/k/a McMahan) does not open the story with his main character as most of the book do; rather, he opens it with his two main suspects - Angelo and Ginny Politano, an art-loving couple who are getting ready to host a very important party for their bohemian friends.  However, news of Steve McCullough's arrival causes a massive disruption in their plans, because it seems Ginny has a hidden past with Steve, and when Angelo finds out what it is, he becomes very unlike himself.  But, the party must go on, and so it does - until Carol is ready to leave and along with a fellow guest, Bob Fletcher (manager of several local buildings, including the one in which Carol lives), they wait for the elevator to arrive.  When it does, though, it bears an unexpected surprise - the body of Steve McCullough.  Carol knows there is something off - but her roommate doesn't believe her.  Her own boyfriend doesn't believe her.  Angelo and Ginny do not believe her.  Even Steve's best friend from the army who comes to town to claim the body does not believe her.  Despite all of this, Carol knows she is right, and she begins investigating, questioning everyone she can find from the party to find out what discussions they had with this stranger that no one (except Angelo and Ginny) knew.

 

The story then follows Carol as she starts questioning everyone. Angelo and Ginny know very little about Steve, other than his past affair with Ginny.  From attorney Robert Silverman, she learns about Steve's interest in Nazis who absconded with valuable art from Germany after the war.  From Steve's best friend, Arnie, she learns about his obsession with finding one particular Nazi by the name of Hans Bruckner who disappeared after the war.  From two different art dealers, she learns just how important that stolen art might be worth and what it cost people to escape from Germany after the war.  From Bob Fletcher, the building manager who knows some art dealers, she learns that both of the art dealers have something to hide.  From Steve's own attorney, Theodore Hornby, who is handling his estate, she learns not only a lot more about Steve's past, but also that his will leaves quite a large sum of money to his former lover - Ginny Politano!  The more Carol learns, the more questions there are, and the more suspects there appear to be.  When another guest from the party turns up dead from yet another apparent accident, and when two attempts are made on Carol's life, she knows she is getting closer to the truth. With nothing else to do, and with the help of her boyfriend, Carol sets up a trap to trick the killer in to revealing himself - the only problem is, the killer turns the tables on Carol, and she is the one tricked!

 

While I was not able to get into the story at first, it quickly shifted gears and the more information Carol (and I!) learned about Steve and the possible motives and suspects, the more interested I became in the mystery.  Every time I thought I had an idea of who did it, a monkey wrench got thrown into the works, and suddenly I changed my mind and went with another suspect (however, I should always trust my first instinct, because the person my gut first told me was the killer did turn out to be the culprit!).  I have to give Colburn (a/k/a McMahan) credit for crafting a well-written mystery.

The cover art, which depicts the scene where Carol finds Steve's body in the elevator, is painted by Mel Greifinger, the same artist who provided covers for The Curse of the Golden Skull and The Final Appointment.  None of the interior illustrations identifies the artist, but the shading and drawings seem similar to some of the other books in the series, so it was likely someone who Kensington Publishing Corp. used on a fairly regular basis.  The illustrations do not, in and of themselves, point to any specific clues, but rather, they merely depict scenes that are important to the story and moments at which Carol learns (or should have learned - such as the fact that one of the suspects, who turns out to be the killer, is left handed - it's a subtle sort of thing, but it's there if you notice it) something that would ultimately lead her to the solution to this mystery.

By the end of the book, I found I rather like Carol Gates, and I'm happy to know that I'll get two more adventures with her before this series ends!

RATING:  9 heavy attache cases out of 10 for a creative plot that works overtime to mislead the reader, taking you in one direction, when the truth lies in an entirely different area!

Epilogue to a Christmas Murder - the eleventh (and final) Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

It took a lot of strength for me to finally pick up this book and read it.  Ever since I picked up the first two books in this series and began reading about Addie Greybourne back in 2019 (just six years ago???), I have been absolutely hooked.  The characters are so real, the stories so engaging, and the crimes so well-plotted - I felt like this had become a real little world of which I had the privilege to peek in and watch from time to time.  Over the past six years, I have been fortunately enough to communicate with the author, Lauren Elliott (a/k/a Linda Maureen Fowler), on any number of occasions, and I found her to be personable, considerate, and simply wonderful to chat with.  So, it was with shock and profound sadness when, back in August, I and other fans of Elliott and her books learned that this amazing woman had passed away on August 11, 2025.  I was so stunned, and it was shortly after her passing that this next book in her Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series was published - the last one she wrote before she died.  I bought the book and put off reading it, because I knew that once I did, there would be no more - that the adventures of Addie Greybourne and her ever-growing supporting cast would come to an end.  But my love of Elliott's writing and her story-telling skills got the better of me, so I picked it up, determined to take my time and relish every page for as long as I could.  Well, it only took me two days to read the book, I got so caught up in the story and just HAD to know who did it and why!

 

Epilogue to a Christmas Murder, while not intended to be the final book, is certainly the perfect book end for this series.  Over the past several books, Addie Greybourne's life has gone through a number of changes - her best friend, Serena, has gotten married and had children.  Her first love when moving to Greybourne Harbor, police chief Marc Chandler, found a new love and has settled into marital bliss.  Her bookstore and curio shop has grown so that she had two employees helping her out - Paige and Nikki.  Her most recent love and ex-fiance, Simon Emerson, has reunited with his wife and son, starting a new chapter in their life. Her mentor and mother-figure, Catherine Lewis, has married a globe-trotting man of mystery, and she is rarely in Greybourne Harbor any more.  As for Addie herself?  Well, she has returned after taking a year's sabbatical in England, where she not only solved a murder, but found her heart falling for a certain detective inspector (Noah Parker), only to leave England before it ever even had a chance.  Now, Addie is back in Greybourne Harbor, everything and everyone has changed, and Addie doesn't know where she fits in any more - but one thing's for sure, wherever Addie is, a murder is never far behind!

 

The town is gearing up not only for the Christmas gala at the museum, located just above the rocky cliffs of the harbor, but also for Paige's Christmas day wedding to her boyfriend, Logan.  But nothing is ever easy when Addie is around  first, Paige's wedding plans are disrupted when her wedding planner quits after Paige's mother (who happens to be Addie's business neighbor, Martha!) takes over planning the wedding - since she is paying for it, she will make all the decisions!  As Paige's maid of honor, it's up to Addie to try and smooth things over before Paige and Logan decide to elope!  Meanwhile, the "Twelve Days of Christmas" fundraiser and gala faces an uncertain future when all of the donations - including a first edition copy of O. Henry's The Four Million, which contains his famous short story, "The Gift of the Magi" and was delivered all the way from England - are stolen right out from under Addie's and the entire board's noses!  And when a body turns up at the bottom of the cliff, just below the museum from where the presents were stolen - well, let's just say it does not look like anyone is going to have a very merry Christmas.

 

Oh, did I mention that the book Addie was donating, which was worth quite a hefty sum, signed by O. Henry, and came all the way from England, was hand delivered personally by none other than Detective Inspector Noah Parker!  No one is more surprised than Addie, who thought she was never going to see him again. However, it's a good thing he's in town, because it turns out that the dead body is Nikki's ex-husband, Chad, who she divorced and ran away from because he was so abusive.  All evidence points to Nikki as the killer, and since she is Marc's cousin, he has to take a leave of absence while Noah is asked to step in and head up the investigation.  So, it ends up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys ... er, I mean, Addie alongside Marc and Noah ... working together to figure out who the real killer is so Nikki does not end up being railroaded by a politically-minded mayor who is running for re-election and wants this case wrapped up quickly.  As the evidence builds against Nikki, Addie is more convinced than ever that someone else is to blame, and she's determined to prove it, even if that means she has to do it on her own!

 

The book, which, I think, is probably the longest in the series, weighing in at 360 pages, splits its time between Addie trying to figure out who killed Nikki's ex-husband and Addie trying to figure out just who she is now and how she fits in with all of the changes in her friends' lives.  Anyone who has ever had some major upheavals in their life and had to make some major changes will appreciate the frustration, sadness, and constant questioning that Addie goes through over the course of the book.  And while, from the very beginning of this series, I have been a big supporter of Addie and Marc, I can admit that maybe, just maybe, our English inspector might actually be a better fit for Addie.  Thankfully, she figures this out by the end of the story, as well, after she manages to uncover the identity of the real killer, thereby proving Nikki's innocence (and proving, as she always does, that she was right all along!).

 

Elliott, who admits to being a fan of Nancy Drew, having read all her books growing up, manages to sneak a Nancy Drew reference into this book!  When Addie is at the police station, where a press conference is set up, she asks one of the reporters if she remembers her, and the reporter responds with, "My favorite bookseller and Greybourne Harbor's very own Nancy Drew" (p. 149).  Elliott also slips in a British female detective reference, when Noah refers to her as "Agatha Raisin" (p. 194), which is a British television series about an amateur female sleuth (and it happens to be based on a book series by M.C. Beaton).  I suppose Elliott wanted to give both American and British readers a bit of a nod with famous female detectives from both sides of the pond.

 

The only thing that left me a bit nonplussed with this mystery is the fact that we never find out who stole the presents (and Addie's valuable book) from the museum.  Addie kept wondering if the theft and the murder were connected, but after it turned out they were not, and the real murderer is revealed, the theft is pushed to the back burner.  There is an epilogue of sorts (perhaps where the title comes from?) where some of the stolen items show up on the doorsteps of various people in town, all wrapped up in shiny Christmas paper, with sleigh bells being heard by each person who finds the gift on their front porch.  It seems everything EXCEPT the O. Henry book is returned, and nothing further is said about it.  I realize with the Christmas theme of the book, the hint here is that perhaps "Santa" took the gifts and gave them out to those who they should go to (especially since the man who stole them was dressed up as an elf, and no one knew who he was);  however, I just feel like Addie would be more invested in finding that missing book and the thief who took it.  Maybe it was a plot thread that was going to come back in play in a future book, but now....oh, well, it's a mystery that shall forever remain unsolved.

 

And now it's over.  Addie's mystery-solving days in book form are over.  I would like to think that her sleuthing days continue, as she and Noah continue to work together to solve murders in Greybourne Harbor, as well as Pen Hollow, and maybe even Moorscrag, as well.  I have no doubt Elliott had many more ideas in mind for her book-minded sleuth, and I'll just have to imagine what they might have been (perhaps even one day solving the mystery of what book is the REAL first edition of Nancy Drew's Password to Larkspur Lane...).  Elliott will be greatly missed, as well Addie and all of her friends and family...until we meet again!

 

RATING:  10 pairs of red-and-white mittens out of 10 for providing Addie (and readers!) with one final mystery that gives us all a nice, well-wrapped conclusion to the tales of Addie Greybourne.

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32015 - Island of Mystery

"It was the perfect summer job, or so she thought - until it became a nightmare of danger and intrigue" (cover blurb) 

 

The fifteenth Harlequin Gothic Romance was written by yet another new author to the line:  Margaret M. Scariano.  Ms. Scariano (1924-2013) was the author's actual name, and she was a graduate of Fresno State who went on get a master's in English from Illinois State University.  She was not exactly a prolific writer, having only 18 books published; however, her works were of a wide variety, including stories for lower reading levels, young adult fiction and non-fiction, adult stories, and this book - her one and only contribution to the Gothic genre.  Based on this story, it is rather surprising Scariano did not write more Gothics, as she definitely has the talent for it, capturing the right mix of mystery, suspense, and romance.

 

Island of Mystery is the story of a young woman hired to help organize a wealthy family's papers to help put together a family history, and in order to do this, she must travel to an isolated island and stay in a rather foreboding house with family members who do not necessarily want her there!  If this plot sounds familiar, perhaps that is because it is a nearly identical plot to Tree of Evil, which book I just read and reviewed just two weeks ago.  I have no doubt there are plenty of Gothic novels from his era with similar plots (considering the plethora of books pushed on the market at the time, there would have to be!), but I do find it rather amusing that by pure chance I would read two books so similar this close to each other.  I mean, the opening sequence with the young protagonist on a boat, traversing rough waters to get to the island is almost identical to that of Roberta Morrison's Tree of Evil.  Both stories also feature a family member who dies from falling off a cliff, and both stories feature a locked room from which sounds can be heard (when there is not supposed to be anyone in there), as well as some secret that is held within the family papers that someone is willing to kill for. And if that were not enough, but stories have natives (Hawaiians in the Tree of Evil, and Native Americans in this one) who play an important part of the tale.  Thankfully, though Scariano eventually diverges and provides some variations that gives this Gothic some distinction from the other.

 

In Island of Mystery, Jenny Fletcher (a relation of Jessica Fletcher, perhaps?) is a grad student who goes go Lone Lake Lodge in order to help Grace Hamilton put her family papers in order so that they can be donated to the Montana Historical Society (the author likely chose Montana as the setting, since she was originally from that state and began her college career there).  From the moment of her arrival, however, there is unrest with the family.  Grace resides on the island with her two nephews - Glenn and Martin Larabie, whose mother was Grace's sister.  She took them in after their father left and their mother died in a tragic boat accident.  The brothers are at odds, however, on what Grace should do with the island when she dies, and poor Jenny gets caught in the middle.  Bobby Black Bear, the Native American who also resides on the island, warns her not to take sides, as it will not end well for her.  Jenny also learns that Grace has had previous secretaries, none of whom lasted very long.  Jenny is determined to prove them wrong, as she plans to use the Hamilton family history as a part of her thesis for grad school.  She just never realized the tension she was going to face in the great house.  To round out the oddball cast, there is Lone Willow, the companion to Grace, a young Native American who is going to college via correspondence courses (yes, this definitely shows the age of the book!), and who the family affectionately refers to as "Ruthie."  There is also Mr. Alger, the rather rough-around-the-edges cook who makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he knows the real reason Jenny is there and does not want her there.  

 

The mystery comes into play when Grace and Jenny come across an old lease that reveals the island was only leased to her family, and neither she, nor the boys, own the property.  Jenny is certain they will come across a later document that eventually transferred title, but Grace is unsure.  When Grace finds the diary of Glenn and Martin's mother, she learns a dark secret that could have very serious repercussions on the entire family, particularly with regard to who really owns the island!  Unfortunately, before she can reveal the truth, she is murdered, and the diary goes missing.  Jenny soon finds her life is in danger, as someone thinks she knows what was in that diary, and they are determined to keep her from revealing it!  The suspense really plays out in the final act of the story, and in true Gothic fashion, everyone's secrets are revealed at last, and Jenny (along with the reader) learns that not everyone is who they say they are!

 

The cover artist is not identified, but the art is beautifully rendered.  The scene is actually a mixture of several scenes - one scene, where Jenny is pushed down the stairs when exploring the fourth floor ballroom, and another scene where Jenny has found the diary on a stormy night.  The only thing I noticed about the art (and it's rather nit picky, I know) is that while Jenny's hair appears to be blowing from the wind, the wick of the burning candle does not appear to be affected at all by that same wind.  (And since that particular scene of Jenny occurs while she is in a room with a broken window, it would only make sense that the wind from the storm outside was blowing in, affecting both her hair and the candle.)  This is probably one of my favorite covers from this series - that half turn, the storm outside, the hands reaching out for her. It breaks the mold of the stereotypical "girl running away from the house in the background" standard scene and instead gives us a tension-filled moment where we can almost feel Jenny's fear as she is about to be pushed.

 

One thing I did want to mention was the author's choice of names for the cook.  Mr. "Alger" made me immediately think of Horatio Alger (1832-1899), who was a very prolific author of young adult novels in the second half of the 19th century.  Most of his stories are referred to as "rags to riches" tales about young lads in poverty who rise above their circumstances to make good for themselves.  Interestingly enough, one of Alger's pseudonyms was Arthur "Hamilton," which also happens to be Grace's last name in this book.  It could be pure coincidence - or, just perhaps, Scariano was actually paying a slight homage to a fellow author, albeit one a bit before her time.

 

RATING: 9 rugged mountain sheep out of 10 for spinning a slightly new take on an already established Gothic plot - and throwing in a few surprises along the way.

The Sacred Scimiter - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

And so we continue with the unusual adventures of Dave and Will Hope - the twin aviators who seem to be known around the world for having been the first individuals to make a non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.  I did not thin author William Dixon Bell could take these boys on any wilder adventures than they faced in the last book, but Bell did not disappoint.  This book finds the boys thrown smack dab into the middle of a Holy War, with warring religious factions in the Arabian deserts.  And the title?  Well, let's just say the title to this book does not actually come into play until, quite literally, the very end of the story.

 

The Sacred Scimiter picks up directly after the end of the last book. Astute readers will recall that at the end of the previous story, the Hope Twins were flying to Teheran (which, for those who do not know, is the capitol and largest city in Iran!) with Theodore Curtis and the young woman (who believed she was a goddess) they rescued from the Tibetan mountains.  Well, as this first chapter opens, the brothers and Theodore Curtis have arrived in Teheran - the only thing I was left wondering is - what happened to the girl?  There is only the briefest mention of their adventures in the previous book and how they rescued the girl; yet, there is no mention of her and Curtis falling for one another, and Curtis' decision to take her home with him. In fact, Curtis seems to have completely forgotten about her, as he chats with Dave and Will before taking off on his own.  Are readers left to believe the girl decided to take off on her own as well, or was she safely stored away somewhere, and Curtis just did not feel any need to mention her to the boys?  Whatever the reason, I must say that unresolved plot threads are always quite annoying...

 

As soon as Curtis takes off, the boys are met by a mysterious woman - a Persian woman who happens to speak English - a woman who is in desperate need of help - a woman who is being watched by a strange man with a bent nose and damaged ear - a woman who is willing to pay the boys $25,000 (which would be more than $570,000 in today's dollars!!!) to fly her anywhere and everywhere she needs to go to accomplish a mission about which she cannot tell them - a woman who, as it turns out, is not a woman at all, but a man in disguise!  Once again, the boys undertake a strange mission after being hired by a mysterious stranger (a plot element that is a commonality between the two books) - only this time, the brothers have no clue where they are heading with each flight, and they must deal with the odd bent-nosed man who keeps turning up everywhere they go.  To make matters worse, each time they land, their mysterious benefactor takes off, leaving them to fend for themselves in Arabian countries where they are looked at with suspicion and treated with less than respect.

 

The author spends a considerable amount of time talking about the Muslim religion, their religious practices, and their war against British rule.  Interestingly, this was likely taken from the real "holy war" that was going on at the time this book was written, as between 1936 and 1939, there was an Arab revolt in Palestine, fighting against the British rule and its policies related to Jewish immigration and the sale of land in the area.  In the story, Dave and Will find themselves in the middle of the war, slowly learning that their benefactor is a key player in this war.  Surprisingly, Bell does not have his twins take a side in the matter - in fact, they persistently complain about their distrust of their benefactor and their desire not to do anything illegal or that would place them in a precarious position with the laws of the lands they are forced to visit.  Ultimately, the man they are helping gets what he is after (the "sacred scimiter" that is somehow important to the Arabian cause, yet it is never mentioned or seen until the very last chapter, with its importance not explained until the very last paragraph of the book!), and the Hope twins are able to escape all of the turmoil of the area with the ability to finally get out from under the thumb of their benefactor.

 

The subject matter is a very odd one for a children's book, with a heavy emphasis on the war and the religious aspects of the people involved.  There is a certain level of mystery surrounding their benefactor's motives and real identity, and there is plenty of adventures as the boys fly from place to place; but the heavy emphasis on political and religious intrigue made this book read more like an adult story of spies and espionage than a children's mystery / adventure book.  And speaking of the religious aspect, at one point when the boys are flying over Kirkuk, which is a large oil field in Northern Iraq, their passenger points to the area that many believe to be the "fiery furnace" into which the king threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego for refusing to worship him (p. 100).  This location is, in reality, Baba Gurgur (literally "Father of Fire" - The Eternal Fire at Baba Gurgur), which contains a fire that is alleged to have been burning for more than 4,000 years!  Bell also has the boys come across a silversmith who claims he and his people "are the famous silversmiths of Amara ... in addition are the descendants of John the Baptist" (p. 138).  This is likely a reference to the Mandaeans, who revere John the Baptist and believe he was the final and most important prophet.  Later in the story, while flying over the Dead Sea, David jokingly asks, "Do you suppose that sea is the pillar of salt that Lot's wife turned into?" (p. 189).  In addition to all of this, the author also takes the twins into what is referred to as the Great Mosque - in the book it is called "Ka'ba" (p. 217), which in the real world is more commonly spelled Kaaba (Kaaba - The Great Mosque).  Bell's explicit descriptions and references to religious locations and stories leads one to question whether Bell was a student of the world's religions, or if perhaps, he was a Christian who had a good deal of knowledge regarding other religions (and I say that because in both books, the Hope Twins are skeptical and questioning of religious beliefs that do not acknowledge the one true God and the history set forth in the Bible).

 

Thankfully, there were not more adventures of the Hope Twins written after this book.  I have no idea how these books were received back in the late 1930s when they were first published, but they definitely do not hold up well, especially against today's world views, and the plot and characters in this particular book are much too intense for a pre-teen audience.  I would have to agree with the author of the University of Texas webpage on the author, in which he states that Bell never appears "to have made a great success as an author of novels for teenage readers" (William Dixon Bell) - because based on these two books alone, I honestly cannot imagine too many teens or pre-teens who would like these books!

 

I'm just glad to have both of these behind me now, so I can move on to "hopefully" better reading!

RATING:  6 magnificently jeweled scimiters out of 10 for sending these adventurous young aviators into areas and dangers around the world that most series book writers would never dream of taking their sleuths! 

The Secret of Tibet - a Hope Twins Adventure Story

This book is part of a series featuring Will and Dave Hope, two young aviators who happen to be twin brothers.  You do not come across too many series books which feature twins (The Bobbsey Twins are probably the first, and most popular, to come to mind), so when I come across any, I pick them up.  This particular series was mentioned in a Facebook group for collectors of children's series, and thankfully, the two books were not too difficult to find with dust jacket.  Published by Goldsmith in 1938 (although one website about the author indicates this book came out in 1938, while the next came out in 1939 - William Dixon Bell - however, both of my books show a copyright date of 1938), the books feature a strong continuity, as one book picks up literally right after the ending of the book before it.

 

The Secret of Tibet introduces readers to Will and Dave Hope, twin brothers who are in Shanghai, China after winning a contest by being the first flyers to cross the Pacific Ocean non-stop.  While there, they meet a stranger by the name of Theodore Curtis, who engages their services to fly him to the hidden city of Tibet, where he believes his friend, Professor Alfred Noll, is being held captive.  The Hope twins are suspicious at first, but Curtis convinces them and offers to have the National Scientific Society pay their expenses (but, sadly, no salary).  The boys' hesitation ends when a mysterious Chinaman with a scarred face appears everywhere they turn - and when Will is knocked unconscious after catching someone trying to sabotage their plane, the brothers realize they must help Curtis, as his friend (a fellow American) could be in serious trouble!

 

The story takes some rather unusual and, well, rather unbelievable turns as it progresses.  While the fancy, trick flying could be possible, the number of instances that the plane takes off and lands in places with little runway space is a bit far-fetched.  And when the twins, along with Curtis, find the hidden village, they come across a young woman - who happens to be Caucasian! - who thinks herself a goddess (actually, she believes she is a mixture: half Drolma, goddess of mercy, and half Dordjelutru, the god of the highest mountain [p. 126]).  And she happens to be quite fluent with the English language.  And she happens to believe the scar-faced Chinaman is a ruler of the people who can be trusted.  I cannot imagine what Bell was thinking when he wrote these elements into the story.  Plus, for this to be a book aimed at "boys and girls," as the back of the dust jacket proclaims, the fact that this girl is "almost naked" (p. 123), as can be seen on the dust jacket cover art, is a bit too risque for young readers!

 

As one might expect, the story does feature a lot of flying, and there is even a battle in the sky when the Chinaman and his villainous cohort chase our twin heroes in their speedy yellow plane, shooting a machine gun at the Hope twins!  Despite the damage done to their plane, the boys manage to climb down into a wooded area in the middle of nowhere, between the mountains, to find exactly the type of wood they need to make the necessary repairs.  How convenient is that?!  Of course, the boys ultimately outwit the villains, and not only do they rescue Prof. Noll (who they find to be naked as well [p. 177] - what is it with Bell and his naked characters?), but they also manage to sneak out the young goddess girl, who takes an instant liking to Curtis and agrees to leave her home where she is worshiped to start a new life in the outside world with Theodore Curtis!

 

One thing that did surprise me (and it was a pleasant surprise, considering some of the material in this book!) was the twins' refusal to believe in reincarnation when the young "goddess" tells them she has been reincarnated a thousand times.  Dave firmly tells the girl, "...you should be ashamed to claim to be a goddess.  There is only one God - the God who moved upon the face of the waters and gathered them together.  To Him only I pray" (p. 132).  It's not very often you see a series book character so bluntly express their belief in God and to stand strong like Dave does with his conviction of there only being one true God.  Sure, other series characters make vague references to attending church on Sundays, but outside of Christian books, I cannot recall another series that states a belief in God so firmly as this one does.  It rather made up for some of the other nonsense that goes on in this story.

 

While some online sites negatively critique Bell's writing, particularly with some of his dialogue, I actually enjoyed the banter between Dave and Will - it was fun and, to a certain extent, felt natural, with the boys constantly making snarky comments to one another.  Some of the "native" language and pidgin English is rather off-putting at times; however, the depiction of the Chinaman and the other characters the Hope twins meet along the way are nothing more than a reflection of the time in which the story was written (remember, the book was published nearly 90 years ago, and American views on foreigners, particularly between the two World Wars, were not exactly respectful).  Thus, I simply put them in that context, and they did not bother me as much.

 

One thing to note - I had assumed that this book and the next one were the only two books in the "Hope Twins" series; however, it appears there was an earlier book, The Lost Aviators (published more than ten years prior in 1924) that is the first book to feature the flying brothers.  Since this book makes considerable reference to the boys' famous flight across the Pacific, and the prize money they won for making the flight, one might assume that story is told in The Lost Aviators (which, ultimately, would make this a three-book series). Yet, some online research reveals the plot of that book involves three boys who start out on a hunt for some army aviators who were lost while traveling from San Francisco to Panama (sadly, I don't find reference to the names of these young boys, so I can't be sure if two of them are the Hope twins or not!).  Therefore, until I can snag a copy of that book and read it, I cannot be sure whether it truly is a prequel to The Secret of Tibet or not.

 

Nevertheless, the next book is a direct sequel to this one (picking up literally where this one left off), so I will be curious to see what strange adventures await the twin brothers in their next adventure!

 

RATING:  7 bridges made of slender bamboo rope out of 10 for sending two teenage boys on some crazy and unbelievable adventures into unexplored terrain between the mountains of Tibet!

Ripped to Shreds - a retro-'80s horror graphic novelization

I am a HUGE fan of '80s horror/slasher flicks.  Ever since I watched my first Friday the 13th film on cable TV back in the early '80s, I was hooked.  As the years went by, I watched every slasher film I could get my hands on - Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Prom Night, My Bloody Valentine, Terror Train, New Year's Evil, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Happy Birthday to Me, Final Exam, The Funhouse, Chopping Mall, and the list goes on.  Some were great, some were good, some were bad, and some were just plain awful. The love of this genre has continued on till today, with films like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Happy Death Day, Wrong Turn, and so on - but, honestly, nothing compares to the zany stories that made up those '80s films.  I mean, anyone who has ever seen the Sleepaway Camp films knows exactly what I'm talking about.  So, when I saw the Kickstarter for this graphic novel, there was no doubt that I was going to get it.

 

Ripped to Shreds is a love letter to fans of those '80s slasher films.  In fact, it was originally supposed to BE one of those '80s slasher films!  Ripped to Shreds is based upon a screenplay written by Michael Johnson, which was initially advertised to begin filming in late 1980.  Unfortunately, the project remained in what is affectionately referred to in Hollywood as "development hell" for three years, and ultimately it was scrapped, thought to become just another in a long line of "lost" slasher films never to be made.  Flash forward more than forty years later, and a collector happened to come across the one and only surviving copy of the Ripped to Shreds script - a copy that Apostrophe Comics has brilliantly turned into a beautifully bound, fantastically drawn, and superbly scripted graphic novel that captures the true essence of the film and the genre!  Adapted by Scott Alan Gregory (writer), Thiago Motta (illustrator), and Karla Aguilar (colorist), the graphic novel is the ultimate must-have for die-hard fans of 1980s' slashers!

 

The story is actually a mix of elements that would have turned out an amazingly great film!  An opening flashback to a campfire, where teens are getting drunk, and where three girls take off in a car, only to pick up a lone hitchhiker - a man who slashes them with his metal claw, causing them to crash - and only one girl survives!  Years later (the present - 1980s), another group of teens are around a campfire, talking about the legend of the clawed killer and the fatal car crash.  Some people believe if you drive that same road at night, the ghost of the murdered girls will appear in your car and force you off the road.  Needless to say, one young couple have to put the legend to the test - and they pay the price for it.

 

The two main characters - Madeline (modeled after Lauren Marie-Taylor from Friday the 13th, Part 2) and Richard (modeled after Russell Todd from Friday the 13th, Part 2) set about to uncover the truth.  Is the legend true?  Is there a clawed killer our there?  Or did their friends merely die as a a result of a freak accident?  Like any good slasher movie, there are any number of suspects - the suspicious gardener who is uber-religious and is keeping his daughter (the only survivor of that original accident all those years ago) captive in her own home; the juvenile crime detective, who seems to have an unhealthy interest in the investigation and the teens; or even that girl who survived the original crash, whose mind is now fractured.  Before you can say "booze, sex, and drugs," the bodies start to pile up, ripped to shreds by that deadly claw (hence, the title!), and Scott and Vickie ... er, I mean Madeline and Richard have to work harder to uncover the truth.

 

Fans will enjoy the ultimate revelation and backstory, as you learn the truth about what really happened all those years ago and who was really at fault for the death of those girls.  Madeline gets a fantastic final girl battle against the killer in a darkened house, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her (she was, after all, in the shower when the lights went out!).  I love the ingenuity the character uses to lure the killer into a deadly trap, so just when you think he has her, she turns the tables and kills the killer!  There is a nice wrap-up scene as Richard accompanies Madeline in the ambulance to the hospital, explaining to her the truth about the killer identity and why the murders were taking place ... only to get that one final shock at the end - a surprising twist that would have left the door open for a sequel (of course, that would have necessitated the first film ever being made in the first place!).  

 

The hardcover book contains no only the full adaptation of the script, but plenty of special features in the back to make you feel like you were enjoying a DVD / BluRay version of the story.  From an interview with the original screenplay writer, Michael Johnson, to interviews with both actors (Russell Todd and Lauren Marie-Taylor) about their involvement in the project, to production designs of the killer claw, as well as commentary about the overall production of the graphic novel, character design pages, and a cover gallery.   

 

This book deserves the greatest of all accolades for successfully bringing back a 1980s film in a format that is both visually and artistically pleasing, and will satisfy any fan's appetite for a "new" '80s slasher!

 

RATING:  10 mutilated bodies hanging upside down out of 10 for a true '80s classic - the perfect horror / slasher flick that, sadly, was never made!

Tree of Evil - a Paperback Library Gothic

This is one of those books where, from the very first page, there is tension and suspense that holds strong throughout the entire story!  I was not familiar with the author Roberta Morrison prior to picking up this book, and it turns out this is Morrison's only book - although it is NOT the author's only book.  How, you ask, can that be?  Well, obviously, "Roberta Morrison" turns out to be just one of many pseudonyms used by prolific author Jean Francis Webb III (1910-1991), which is a name I have seen before.  Webb wrote mysteries (1930s), nurse romances (1950s), and a number of Gothics (1960s), using not only the pen name Ethel Hamill (his mother's name), but also his own name (which many probably mistook for a woman's name).  He also wrote a short story for the first issue of Dell's Gothic Romances magazine published in 1970.  You can find out more about Webb from this vintage nurse romance novel blog page (Jean Francis Webb III).

 

Tree of Evil was published in 1966 by Paperback Library, Inc. as "A Paperback Library Gothic."  This is the only Gothic that Webb wrote using the pseudonym Roberta Morrison, which was  play on his maternal grandfather's name (Robert Morrison).  The story is set on a remote island in Hawaii, where young Nell Jordan goes to perform research for a book she has been hired to write about the history of the Drakewood family.  The family patriarch, Calvin Drakewood, has hired her to go through all of the family's papers and compile a comprehensive history - but upon her arrival at the isolated Drakewood mansion, she is met with outright hostility by members of the family who clearly do not want her there. Calvin is back on the main island, and the only person who could possibly help Nell, Roy Walker (a friend of Calvin who ferried Nell through the treacherous waters to the remote island), is unable to stay on the island.  Thus, our poor heroine is left to face the regal yet austere Cornelia Drakewood, her adopted son Dr. Horton McGrath, and her niece Bernice "Bunty" Drakewood, all by herself.

 

Despite the resentment towards her intrusion into their private lives, Nell is determined to move forward with her work.  But, from the moment she arrives at the dark estate, she is plagued by uncertainty and fear.  The horrific screams that haunt the night ... the cloaked figure that seems to stare up at her room from the garden ... that dark, foreboding tree on the lanai that seems to keep the house in darkness ... the strange drums that sound at night, frightening the native staff ... and the ghost of Bunty's dead sister, Lila, who seems to haunt the halls of the mansion.  Nell realizes there is a deeper mystery to be solved here on the island, and the longer she stays in the house, the more danger she finds she faces!  Soon enough, Nell starts to suspect that accident that took Lila's life was not necessarily and accident - and perhaps it did not even take her life at all!

 

Webb (a/k/a Morrison) truly plays up Nell's fears throughout the whole story, using the bumps in the night, shadowy figures, and the menacing tree to increase the terror of what his main character faces.  The isolation she feels in a house where she is not wanted, surrounded by strangers who seem to menace her at every turn - the morbid curiosity that continually grows within her concerning Lila Drakewood's death and the possibility that the girl may be alive, yet somehow mentally damaged by her accident - and the mystery surrounding the Drakewood's history and exactly what it is within those family papers that could warrant the deadly attacks on her person - all of it combines to make for a very suspenseful tale of true Gothic terror.

 

The author does a nice job of misleading the reader in a number of ways; however, any true fan of these '6s and '70s Gothic novels will immediately start to pick up on the clues and figure out that the real villain or villains will not be the most obvious suspects (rarely does it play out so conveniently in these books). The  mystery surrounding Lila Drakewood (is she, or isn't she, alive?) is very well done, and the climax provides the readers with some nice and somewhat unexpected surprises.  

 

The cover, with its heavy use of black shadows, features Nell looking back tentatively at a house barely visible through the branches of that ever-menacing tree.  A light is visible in an upstairs room (of course, what Gothic cover would not have that?), and the sky is a dark shade of blue.  There is no signature on the cover art, and the copyright page does not identify the artist.   

 

I definitely want to find more of Webb's books, as this was a fantastic read, and I suspect his other books will be just as enjoyable.

 

RATING:  10 garnet-colored, velvet gowns out of 10 for a wonderfully crafted tale of Gothic horror and mystery that keeps the readers on the edge of his or her seat until the very end! 

 

The Mystery of the Brobdingnagian Beast - the Second (new) Three Investigators Mystery

It has taken me a few months, but I finally picked up the second book in this new series of The Three Investigators.  Elizabeth Arthur, the daughter of Robert Arthur (the writer of the original series), and her husband, Steven Bauer, are clearly trying to re-establish these characters and this series in the 21st century, and it is evident from the stories that they are making certain changes in the hope to appeal to today's readers.  In some ways, I am fine with that.  Obviously, the use of technology (cell phones, internet, etc.) makes obvious sense, since kids today would likely not know how to function without these things.  But other changes, such as the change in heritage for each of the investigators, feel forced and unnecessary, as if the authors are making the changes simply to show that Pete, Jupiter, and Bob are not simply "white, American boys."  Whatever the reason, I hope the authors move away from the constant emphasis on their family heritage and move back to what made these stories great back in the day - the great mysteries and the fun interaction between the boys!

 

The Mystery of the Brobdingnagian Beast picks up not long after the conclusion of the first mystery.  The three boys are excited at the prospect of receiving money from Isabella Change, for whom they helped clear up some mysteries surrounding her family's past (and find some long-lost gold in the process!) - see the previous book, The Mystery of the Abecedarian Academy.  They have ideas on how to not only save that money for college, but to use part of it to buy a car and hire a chauffeur (since their time with Worthington was now over).  But fate has a way of keeping these boys busy, and before the first chapter is over, Pete's father, who is working a set construction supervisor for a historical film about John Fremont, and his impact on California and the old west, wants Pete, Bob, and Jupiter to come visit the set with him to help solve a mystery.  It seems ever since a man named Daniel Hernandez has published a book that disputes the claims of Dr. Phillipa Paxton, upon whose book the film is based, the movie has been plagued with problems.  Small mishaps, such as stolen equipment and break-ins, have been happening, and there is a group known as OUTLAW (Outing Lawbreakers from Past Centuries) that has been loudly protesting at the film site.  The Three Investigators are only more than happy to look into it!

 

From the beginning, it is not really hard to see who is causing all the problems, and even the three boys are fairly certain who the criminal is - it's just a matter of proving it.  Thus, the mystery is focused less on who is committing the crimes and more on how and why he is committing the crimes.  John Fremont, who is the central figurehead of the mystery, was a real person (January 21, 1813 - July 13, 1980), and as related in the book, he did, with the help of Kit Carson, explore the new country, deep into the western area - and, just like stated in the book, there was an incident where three unarmed men were murdered by Carson and a couple of other men, and it still remains a mystery today whether they murdered the men of their own volition, or if it were on the orders of Fremont.  Elizabeth Arthur and her husband use this as the focal point of their mystery, as Dr. Paxton is said to have two letters in her possession from Kit Carson that exonerate Fremont, while Hernandez has a letter that lays the blame right at Fremont's feet.  Someone has a forged letter, and it is up the Three Investigators to figure out who.

 

Not all of the historical information in the book is on point, however, so one has to be careful to take all of the "history" given in the story as factual.  While Mallory (remember that Scottish girl the boys met in the first book?) tells Pete that John Fremont's wife made a bear flag for him as a present, measuring 15 feet by 20 feet; however, the legend is that his wife made him a flag with an eagle in the upper corner, which Fremont carried with him on his first expedition into Wyoming.  Thus, Arthur and Bauer fudge the facts a little bit to keep in theme with the mystery (and her alleged 15 x 20 flag does play an important part of the mystery, as the boys are commissioned with locating someone who supposedly has a replica of the flag, which, when they find it, turns out to be the original and not a copy!).

 

I did enjoy the reference that Pete makes to "an old science fiction TV show he'd seen a couple of times on late night TV" (p. 157); although, I'm not sure if I like the idea that it is considered an "OLD" science fiction show!  Pete describes it as "a show in which the aliens looked just like regular human beings, though if you ripped off their skin, they were really lizards underneath" (p. 157). That's a great way of describing the NBC television show V without actually naming it. Again, I just hate the idea that the show is labeled as "old" (although, looking at the facts, the show did come out in 1984, which was over forty years ago now!).  Yet, despite omitting the name to this show, Arthur and Bauer had no problem name-dropping Jurassic Park, The Terminator, The Fifth Element, and The Deer Hunter as movies Pete had seen with his father.

 

I also agree with the authors' view on news reporting, which is expressed by Mr. Andrews (Bob's father) when he and Bob's mother are discussing how everything has become politicized - from teaching at universities to news reporting.  "News reporting at least used to try to be objective, but now every article reads as though it belongs on the Opinion page," he says, going to say that journalists "need to work as hard as we can to present facts, not opinions - to stick to the objective truth" (p. 197).  Mrs. Andrews even pipes in with the comment that "Anything else is basically propaganda" (p. 197).  This is clearly a commentary on the state of teaching and reporting in today's society, and quite frankly, I could not agree more.

 

What I do have to question about the authors' choices, though, is the imprinting of previously never stated ethnic backgrounds for the boys.  As we learned in the first book, Bob's mother is Chinese, and people have sometimes commented that they see it in Bob's eyes.  In this book, we learn that Jupiter's mother had been Serbian, and, thus, he was able in this mystery to determine that a particular character was Serbian and how to pronounce his name (p. 125).  We also find out that Pete's father is Mexican-American (p. 90).  The author's webpage (The Salvage Yard) reveals that she wanted to build upon the boy's backgrounds, to more fully flesh out the characters as befitting of the "melting pot" nature of America, and therefore, Bob, Jupiter, and Pete suddenly have a mixture of ethnic heritages.  Unfortunately, the expression of these ethnicities feels forced and does not read naturally within the stories.  Nor does the fact that Pete's family is Catholic, yet his mother is caught up in "other interpretations of the invisible world" (p. 1), such as I Ching, serve any real purpose.  I am all for diversity, and I love for the stories I read to represent the reality of different people that exist in our world; but I am not overly thrilled when new authors take existing characters and change them simply for the sake of wanting to promote "diversity."  If there were a compelling reason to reveal these "new" backgrounds (say, for instance, a mystery was to take the boys to Serbia, where they had to solve a mystery involving one of Jupiter's distant relatives), that would be one thing.  But imprinting the boys with these new backgrounds without reason feels unnecessary and forced.

 

Oh, for those wondering about the title - the word "Brobdingnagian" comes from the book, Gulliver's Travels, which Mallory reads during the course of the story.  "Gulliver goes to another country called Brogdingnag, which has a race of giants, and where everyone is huge," she tells the boys (p. 87).  At the end, when Bob is trying to come up with a "B" word to go with Bear or Beast, Pete suggests the name.  Bob likes it, commenting, "in a way, it's been there all the time ... something large and menacing..." (p. 310). 

 

Aside from that, the mystery itself was fairly entertaining, and the boys do retain their natural instincts for working together to solve a crime.  I have the third book in the series (I bought the first three at one time when they came out), and I'm going to give the series another chance - but, to be completely honest, I'm not really overwhelmed by the stories, and they do not have the same feel that the originals had.  The next book will determine whether I continue buying and reading the books, or whether I shelve these alongside the originals and simply re-read the originals for my TI fix!

 

RATING:  7  Ghost-to-Ghost hookup e-mails out of 10 for navigating the worlds of movie-making, history, publishing, and social media and mixing them into a relatively enjoyable mystery to read!

Meg and the Mystery in Williamsburg - Mystery #6 in a series

Alas, with this book, we come to the end of the Meg Duncan series by Holly Beth Walker (or whatever ghostwriter actually wrote this final mystery).  It has certainly been a fun journey, trailing along with Meg and her best friend, Kerry Carmody, as they stumble across one mystery after another, no matter where they are. The mysteries have become a bit more complicated and more mature in theme as the series has progressed, and the character of Meg certainly acts like someone much older than a girl barely in her teens.  And despite the likelihood of different ghostwriters for the books (especially for this one, whose writing style and sentence structure definitely differs from the previous books), the characters have, for the most part, remained consistent.  It's a shame the publisher did not commission more books, either during the series' first run or when it was later reprinted by Golden Press.

 

Meg and the Mystery in Williamsburg sees Meg and Kerry join Meg's Uncle Hal on a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia to help out at a vintage toy show.  This obviously caught my attention right away, having a house full of vintage and collectible toys myself!  But the toys that are the focal point of this mystery are dolls and a doll house that date back to the colonial days.  The girls are staying with Lucy Cameron, a friend of Meg's now-deceased mother, and she introduces them to one Miss Mariah Collins (yes! Collins! a shame more of the Collins' family didn't enter the story...), a quirky old woman who has agreed to allow her family's toys be displayed at the show.  Only, her toys come with a story - and a mystery!  It seems many years ago, when Mariah's cousin came for a visit (back when Mariah was a little girl), her cousin brought her two small children with her. The children had a quarrel and ultimately wrecked the play room, breaking toys, smashing the dollhouse her grandfather had built, and pulling the arms and legs off of Mariah's special doll named "Paris."  But worst of all, when the room was cleaned up, it was discovered that two clothespin dolls that had been carefully displayed in a glass cabinet were gone (p. 31).  Miss Mariah's grandfather did eventually find the two dolls, but he hid them away so they could never go missing again.  And so begins the mystery...

 

Miss Mariah has spent most of her life searching for those clothespin dolls.  She keeps the upstairs toy room locked so no one else can enter.  She has searched the secret room just off the toy room.  She has looked through the doll house.  In fact, her father told her if she turned the house upside down, she would find them - but she has searched her plantation home from basement to attic, and she has never found the dolls. Meg and Kerry are excited with the idea of another mystery to solve, and they are determined that before they leave Williamsburg, they will do their best to locate those dolls.  In the meantime, they must put on colonial-style costumes and greet guests at the toy show, giving memorized speeches about the toys themselves, and answering questions from the visitors.  What they do not expect is that the mystery of those missing dolls will cross over into the toy show, as strangers begin to start asking very pointed questions - about the dollhouse, about Miss Mariah's doll "Paris," and ab out the Collins' collection of toys.  The mysterious Mr. Adam, who takes an intense interest in Paris.  The friendly but overly-curious Stephen Anderson, who is more than determined to get a closer look at the dollhouse.  Then there is the unknown man that the girls see talking to both Mr. Adam and Stephen Anderson.

 

Someone tries sneaking up the stairs of Miss Mariah's house to her playroom.  Someone enters the toy show during lunch and makes a mess of the toys, which are in a roped-off room that no one is allowed to enter.  Someone steals Paris, but then leaves her at the door to the playroom.   Someone chases Meg and Kerry through the woods, determined to get their hands on that doll.  What has caused the roof of the dollhouse to not seal properly?  Why does the secret room in the dollhouse, modeled after the one in the real plantation, not have a door knob?  What has caused Paris to no longer say "Mama" like she did years ago? And why is Meg so certain the clue to unraveling this whole mystery has been in front of her face the entire time?

 

This was definitely a mystery worthy of Nancy Drew and some of the other "great" teenage detectives. If the series had to end, this was definitely a fantastic way to close it down.  The author integrates a number of real Williamsburg sites into the story - from the Duke of Gloucester Street (p. 16) to the Brush-Everard House (where the toy show is) located next to the Governor's Palace (p. 20); from the Raleigh Tavern Bakery (p. 52) to the holly maze located on the grounds of the Governor's Palace (p. 83).  You have to love it when an author includes actual locations in the book, providing readers with an opportunity to explore the same locations in the real world and truly follow in their favorite sleuths' footsteps!

 

The artists for the covers and the interior remain the same as the previous five books - Cliff Schule provided the cover for the original hardback edition, as well as the interiors for both, while Olindo Giacomini provided the cover for the later paperback edition.  Both covers depict the scene where Meg and Kerry are running back to River House Plantation to escape the man chasing them, and are ready to sneak in through the chimney door.  It is interesting that while they both depict the same scene, and both accurately portray Meg and Kerry in the correct costumes they are wearing in the story, the hardback gives us a perspective from above, looking down them as the come around the chimney to the door, while the paperback gives us a perspective from the side, watching the girls run around the corner of the house and directly into the door located in front of the chimney. 

 

On a complete side note, when Meg reads an article giving the history of the two clothespin dolls, which were said to have been made by George Washington for his sister, Betty, the article reveals that "when Betty was a grown woman, she had given the dolls to a girl named Nell Benson..." (p. 92).  I had to laugh out loud at that name, because there was a character by that very same name on General Hospital a few years back - a character who turned out to be quite a dastardly villain, but one who I grew to love immensely!  Funny coincidence!

 

And with that, we reach the end of the Meg Duncan series.  One can only wonder how many unrecorded mysteries Meg and her best friend, Kerry, solved, and whether either of them went on to find boyfriends (as none whatsoever are mentioned in these six books) and went on to college and careers...

 

RATING:  10 fresh-baked ginger cookies out of 10 for ending the series on a high note, with a well-plotted mystery with a great mix of real and fictional history!

 

 

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #22 - The Final Fair

Everyone's favorite nurse-turned-sleuth (and, no, I'm not talking about Cherry Ames!) returns for her sixth Zebra Mystery Puzzler.  Author Marcia Blair (in reality, Marc Baker) brings back Victoria "Tory" Baxter for another murder mystery - only, for the first time, the murder is not in any way connected to a patient for whom Tory is caring.  And that is not the only unusual thing about this book - there are a couple of other "firsts" in this one.  Oh, and this book also sports the misnumbered titles in both the front listing and the order from at the back of the book.  I'm guessing since books 21, 22, 23, and 24 were published simultaneously, they all contain the same errors in the listings.  When I read the next two books in the series, I suppose I'll find out whether that holds true.

 

The Final Fair does open pretty much the same way as all of the other Tory Baxter books in this series - the murder takes place right there in the opening pages. Which means, the reader has absolutely no opportunity to meet any of the characters prior to the killing, and therefore, we know nothing about anyone as the story progresses.  That honestly is okay with me.  I think it adds a certain nuance to the story, because the readers goes into it without any preconceived notions about any of the characters that the author may have inadvertently put into them.  In this instance, Tory and her coworker, Dr. Sandy Brockman (oh, he of the flashy red hair!), are attending a renaissance faire, all decked out in costume, when she hears a scream.  Before you know it, a jester gets up on stage and asks if there is a doctor in the house (and, of course, there is - literally).  Tory and Sandy follow the costumed clown to where a man is lying on his back with a knife protruding from his chest.  The dead man is Dr. Michael Peters, another resident at the hospital where Sandy works.  And the knife in his chest belongs to none other than his date, Nurse Leanne Davis, a women who Terry generally knows.  She claims someone took the knife and did this - but, as it turns out, only her fingerprints are on the hilt of the knife.  So, if she did not do it, then who did?  And how?

 

This is quite the challenging mystery, I will admit. There are not a tremendous amount of suspects.  There is Leanne, obviously, who was being blackmailed by Dr. Peters into marrying him.  There is also Leanne's father, who has been the one shelling out the money to protect his daughter's reputation.  And then there is Dr. Jeremy Jones, a married doctor with whom Leanne was once having an affair - an affair that Dr. Peters walked in on by accident and then used that "accident" as a means to get money.  And we must not forget Dr. Peters wife, who is so obsessed with social climbing, she stares daggers at any woman who comes in contact with her husband.  All of them have motive for killing Dr. Peters, but not all of them have the opportunity.  Dr. Jones and his wife happened to be out of town the weekend of the renaissance fair.  And oddly enough, Leanne's father does not even make the suspect list for the police.  So, was it Leanne?

 

Well, when Leanne turns up dead of an apparent suicide (complete with a typed-up, but unsigned suicide note right beside the empty pill bottle), the police think the matter is all wrapped up.  Tory is not so sure.  She is convinced Leanne was innocent, and for her, the girl's death only proves it.  She keeps looking into it, and suddenly she finds her own life in jeopardy, as she is nearly run down by a racing car and almost pushed into the path of an oncoming train!  Just when she has convinced her friend, Lieutenant Jay Thorpe, that the case may not be so clear cut, another body turns up.  With another typed suicide note.  Jay is convinced now that it really is all over, and he warns Tory to let it go.  Of course, anyone who knows Tory Baxter knows she is like a dog with a bone - she will NEVER let it go.  Not until the real murderer is caught.  Only this time, the murderer catches up to her in a dark parking lot with no one else around.  It makes one wonder just how she is going to survive this one...

 

As mentioned above, this book features several "firsts."  Not only is it the first Tory Baxter story to not have Tory taking care of someone, it is also the first Zebra Mystery Puzzler to NOT feature the title character on the cover.  This cover art, by none other than Sanford Hoffman, who has provided internal illustrations for a number of the books in this series (including this one), features the scene of Leanne having the knife taken from her by the masked man in the dark colored robe.  Hoffman even gets the minor detail right about the hint of blond sideburns peeking out from under the hood of the monk!   While Leanne is prominent, front and center, on the cover, our sleuthing nurse, Tory Baxter, is nowhere to be seen!  (Something else of note about the cover is that one the white car in the background, there appear to be some words written in red along the side of the car; however, I am unable to make it what they say, even when I try to enlarge the image. I would be curious to know what words the artist tried to sneak on to that cover!)

 

Another "first" for this series deals with one of the internal illustrations.  In all of the prior books, all of the illustrations have been included in the story before that final sealed chapter. Not so in this book.  The last illustration can be found on page 197, four pages into the last chapter!  And what is odd about it is that it holds absolutely no clues to the murder mystery at all - it merely shows the backside of Tory as she makes her way to her car in the dark parking lot (see above illustration depicting the scene just before the killer comes up behind her with a gun!).  I'm not sure why the publisher elected to have an illustration done from the last chapter, instead of adding another one to the main story, which might have provided another clue to the identity of the killer.  Which would have been helpful, as quite frankly, only one of the illustrations from the story had any sort of clue that would direct the reader to the killer.

 

Despite the lack of illustration clues, there were enough in the story to lead you to the killer - although, I will admit, there was some misleading ones as well, which took me in one direction, before I caught on the other ones.  I think I figured it out just before Tory did in the story - meaning Baker a/k/a Blair did a pretty good job keeping me guessing.  One big plus for this story is that Tory and Jay's relationship got pushed a bit further along, particularly right there at the end when Jay accidentally blurts out some things he never intended to say out loud, leaving him all flustered before he storms off - and leaving Aunt Tildy with a great big smile!

 

The author makes reference to Toll House cookies in the story (p. 20), which I found surprising, as these type of books usually avoid name brand references.  I could not even recall if Toll House cookies were popular back then, but apparently they have been around since 1938, so by the 1970s, they would be pretty well known.  The author also references the Cow Palace, which I first mistook for the name of a steak restaurant from back in the day when I lived in Kentucky (their slogan was "take ol' Alice to the Cow Palace!"); however, it is actually an historic exhibition hall where they host a "Dickens Fair" annually.  In the story, Aunt Tildy takes Tory to see the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace, making it another non-fictional reference in the book.  As I've noted before, these type of references to real places and things ground the story, to keep it a bit more "real" for the reader.

 

Another good one is a series of good mysteries!

 

RATING:  9 enormous pieces of apple pie out of 10 for keeping the mystery challenging and the friction between Tory and Jay even more challenging! 

A Rather Curious Engagement - second in a series of "Rather" mysteries

It has been a year since I read the first "Penny Nichols" mystery, written by C.A. Belmont.  I still can't get over the name of the title character - I cannot believe it is merely a coincidence that her name mirrors that of Mildred Wirt Benson's character from her series of children's mysteries published back in the late 1930s, especially since the title character's mother wrote a series of book about "Penny Nichols, Girl Detective" (named after her daughter), and Penny's mother's name happens to be Nancy (after an even more famous girl detective, perhaps?).  I tried reaching out to the author via her website to inquire as to the names, but I never got a response, unfortunately.  Perhaps now that I have read the second book in her series, I'll try again and see if I have any better luck this time (you know the old saying: if at first you don't succeed....)

 

A Rather Curious Engagement picks up not too long after the last book.   Author C.A. Belmond drops us into a rather ritzy auction, where Penny and her step-cousin / boyfriend, Jeremy Laidley, are waiting to bid on an item - THE item - that Jeremy was willing to splurge on and sink a large chunk of their combined inheritance to win.  But rather than reveal that right away, Belmond instead turns back the clock to that exact moment when the last book ended - and Penny walked into Jeremy's apartment, only to be met with a rather snooty woman who believed she was the one and only Mrs. Laidley.  Fortunately, Penny was already aware of the former Mrs. Laidley, now the ex-Mrs. Laidley, and so she set about to show this woman that she would not be intimidated.  And thus begins a subplot that manages to maneuver its way through the entire book, pitting the current love of Jeremy's life against his former love - and poor Jeremy is stuck in the middle!

 

But this is not a romance novel!  Or, well, at least, the romance side of things is not the main story.  No, the main story is supposed to be a mystery, and I had to bide my time until I was nearly 200 pages into the story before I finally reached the point of the mystery - the ever elusive and more-than-likely mythical Beethoven Lion.  It seems that the gorgeous yacht that Jeremy and Penny won at the auction (yes, that was Jeremy's dream - to own a yacht) comes with a backstory.  The previous owner was a collector, and one of his most precious items was an aquamanile known as the "Beethoven Lion" (because the sculptor crafted the bronze lion to look like the great composer!).  The lion seems to have a sordid history, changing hands from one family to another, back and forth, and Count von Norbert, the previous yacht owner, had finally got his hands on it - but upon returning home in a horrific storm, the Count's health not only deteriorated under unexplainable circumstances, but the lion also disappeared.  Now, it is up to Penny to put her research skills to use and see if she and Jeremy can locate the missing lion!

 

 The story takes our sleuthing couple from England to France  to Italy and some little islands along the way - from the apartment house of Penny's aunt to the villa Jeremy inherited to a foreboding castle to a small grave to the stormy seas - Penny finds herself following up one clue after another, digging into the history of not only the Beethoven Lion itself, but also its creator's family and the sad love story that goes with it.  Belmond takes readers on a ride, because just like with Penny, the reader is constantly changing direction as to who might be the one currently in possession of the lion.  As we learn more about the family history of the lion's sculptor, the more complicated the story becomes.  Plus, there's a seer who gives out dire warnings, a blind woman who can sense the truth, a photographer who wants nothing more to do with the lion after accidentally photographing it, and a dangerous antique dealer whose connections are less then reputable.  And on top of all of that, there is plenty of fun and moments of humor along the way to keep the story from becoming too dark.

 

Oh, and did I mention that the Beethoven Lion holds another secret within its empty shell?  A secret that is literally worth millions and could very well be the reason why so many are after the famed sculpture...

 

I mostly enjoyed this story, as I did the first book; however, I was a bit annoyed that a couple of plot threads were never resolved.  The first is the Count's strange illness.  His family reveals that the Count went away to buy back the lion, but when he returned, he was ill and was no longer his former self (which is why the family sold the yacht).  There was never any explanation as to what the illness really was, how he contracted this unnamed illness, and why it affected him the way it did.  The second is the shooting that takes place in Calvi, on the island of Corsica.  As Penny and Jeremy are heading back to the yacht after meeting with the family who once kept the lion, someone takes several shots at them, forcing them to run through the thickets to get down to the docks.  They never really follow up on this, and it is never revealed who took those shots (while Penny's other cousin, Rollo, suggests it was someone hired by the antique dealer, that is never actually confirmed).  It is almost as if these elements were put into the story to strengthen the mystery elements, but without any explanation for them.  Oh, well, I suppose there is plenty that happens in the real world that goes without explanation, so why not in fiction, too?

 

The book ends with a phone call that Penny is about to answer - but before she does, she breaks the fourth wall and tells the reader, "But that, I'm afraid, is entirely another tale."  Which, one can assume, is the perfect lead in for the next book.

 

RATING:  8 small Chinese sailor clocks out of 10 for a good European mystery that takes the reader from country to country, while also moving the story of Penny and Jeremy's personal life forward, as well! 

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32014 - The Devereaux Legacy

"She had never believed in ghosts - then she came face-to-face with their deadly omen" (cover blurb)

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the books in this Harlequin Gothic Romance series just keep getting better and better.  Despite the number of various authors who have contributed to this series, the stories all have been strong, they all have featured great protagonists, and they all have mixed the elements of Gothic and mystery perfectly, sprinkling the stories with just a touch of romance.  This book is Carolyn G. Hart's one and only entry in the series, and it is a superb one!  Hart is the author's actual name, a mystery and suspense writer who has had more than 63 books published under the name of Carolyn Hart and Carolyn G. Hart.  After this book was published, Hart began her own series of mystery novels (the Death on Demand series, which lasted 26 books), alongside another series about a required newswoman turned sleuth (the Henrie O series, which lasted 7 books).  Her most recent series actually featured a ghost as the protagonist (the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series, which lasted 9 books). It's rather a shame she did not write more Gothics.

 

When I first saw the title to The Devereaux Legacy, my mind automatically went to The Golden Girls.  After all, Blanche Devereaux was a true Southern belle, and since this book is set in South Carolina, she would certainly fit in!  But, alas, our resident seductress is not at all related to the family in this book; rather, the title character, Leah Devereaux Shaw, is the granddaughter of an aging matriarch - a granddaughter everyone thought had been dead for the past 19 years!  It's actually a pretty great premise to start the story, much in the vein of a soap opera.  A long-thought dead character suddenly shows up decades later, and everyone is scrambling to determine (a) whether this person is who she says she is and (b) what impact her re-appearance will have on the family dynamic.  In this instance, it comes down to the fact that Leah is a direct descendant of Carrie Deveraux, while the other three members of the family residing on the Devereaux Plantation are merely adopted and not actual blood relations.  The story develops from there, as the ghost of the Whispering Lady is seen - a forewarning of death to come to the Devereaux family!

 

Hart integrates a number of great Gothic and mystery elements into the story.  There is the family history, where the Devereaux women have been thought to be mad.  One woman killed her husband and herself, and it is said that Leah's parents followed that same pattern two decades before.  There is the Whispering Lady, a ghost that has appeared off and on through the years, each appearance heralding doom for someone in the Devereaux family.  Recent appearances have coincided with mysterious accidents on the property, leading everyone to take the warning seriously.   There is also the mystery surrounding the locked tower on the property.  Her cousins and grandmother tell her the tower is dangerous and not stable, which is why it is padlocked; but Leah suspects there is more to the story and wonders if the tower holds the clues to what really happened to her mother and father that fateful night.  Then there is the enigmatic Kent Ellis, an archaeologist who is digging and researching the history of the land surrounding the Devereaux Plantation.  Just what danger does he pose to the family and their secrets?

 

The story manages to build the suspense slowly and effectively.  Leah, of course, does not believe in ghosts, so she discounts the story of the Whispering Lady. But then she sees it for herself.  And then she hears the howling dog that turns out to belong to Kent Ellis and is found brutally murdered.  Then she witnesses an accident that nearly leaves Ellis as dead as his dog.  Then a heavy planter falls from the second story veranda, crashing down where Leah had stood only a moment before.  Then she overhears a conversation that reveals how one of her cousins has been using her - a cousin she had grown to trust and care for - in fact, she was falling in love with him.  Betrayal and danger surround her at every turn, and Leah finally realizes that one of her own family is out to remove her - permanently!

 

As can be expected with any good Gothic, there are two men who could be potential suitors for our lovely heroine, and Leah struggles to know who she can trust and who she can't.  Even I have to admit, I wavered back and forth as to who the culprit could be that was so desperate to rid Devereaux Plantation of Leah's presence - and the climactic reveal and crazed attack on Leah Devereaux Shaw is a fantastically written payoff for readers.

 

The gorgeous cover art is provided by Len Goldberg, who has provided art for several other books in this line (Castle at Jade Cove, The Blue House, and Shadows Over Briarcliff).  Goldberg perfectly captures the fear and shock on Leah's face as she sees what could be a ghost of the Whispering Lady on the back side of the bridge in the Plantation's massive gardens.  It is funny, this cover has a certain resemblance to the third cover art by Rudy Nappi for Nancy Drew's 15th mystery, The Haunted Bridge, which was introduced to readers in 1972.  Both cover feature the protagonist in the foreground, turning to look back across a bridge what appears to be a ghost in the background at the end of the bridge.  This is the second time Goldberg's cover art mimics a Nancy Drew mystery, the first being the cover to Castle at Jade Cove.   It almost makes you wonder if Goldberg was intentionally honoring the Nancy Drew series, paying homage to the Gothic elements of that series.

 

This book is a definite winner and a must-read.  

 

RATING:  10 gigantic curtain of cobwebs out of 10 for thriller readers with a suspenseful mystery and glorious Gothic tale of ghosts and secrets!