Mansion in Miniature - a Signet Gothic novel

If the name Elizabeth St. Clair seems familiar, that may be because I have read and reviewed her first Zebra Mystery Puzzler (Murder in the Act) back in October of last year.  St. Clair is a pseudonym used by author Susan Lois Handler-Cohen, who wrote novels in both the Gothic and mystery genres, and this is the first of her Gothic novels that I have read.  I thoroughly enjoyed her Zebra Mystery Puzzler, so I went into this with high hopes, and I was not disappointed.  Yes, the story is told in first-person point-of-view (I much prefer third-person POV), but I quickly got over that, as the story was so engaging, and the characters, while a bit odd in many ways, definitely kept my attention.  

 

The cover art for this book is signed, revealing the artist to be Allan Kass (1917-2005), who was quite the prolific paperback artist.  Kass provided coves to any number of romance, regency, Gothic, and western novels - there is even a blog dedicated to all of his cover art (Allan Kass - Illustrator).  I did not realize how many Gothic covers were done by Kass, including quite a few that I have in my personal collection - from the many Phyllis A. Whitney mysteries for young adults to the Caroline Farr Gothic novels to various Virginia Coffman Gothic novels to The Dornstein Icon by Janet Louise Roberts, and so many others.  Kass definitely left his mark on the Gothic genre of that period.

 

Now, back to the book itself - Mansion in Miniature is the story of two sisters (and no, this is not Soap!): Karen Livingstone and her younger sister, Crystal Livingstone Fairchild.  Karen has always been the strong, sensible one, while Crystal, like her name, is the delicate one who everyone treats with kid gloves, always cleaning up the messes she leaves in her wake.  While Karen has grown to see through Crystal's manipulations and lies, everyone else seems mesmerized by her beauty and fragility.  So, when Crystal met the wealthy Lawrence Fairchild, married him, and was whisked away to the Fairchilds' private island off the New England coast, Karen thought she was finally free of the shadow her sister's needs cast over everyone around her.  But then she receives a letter practically begging her to come to Fair Island - not just to see the one-of-a-kind dollhouse she has created, but also to help her.  Karen, who owns a shop that sells dollhouses and furniture cannot resist seeing this dollhouse, as this may be what she needs to enter into the annual competition.  What she does not know is the web of intrigue she is about to step into...

 

Lawrence Fairchild is dead.  His entire estate has been left to his grieving widow - Karen's sister, Crystal.  Lawrence's sister, Carlotta, remains on the island, caring for Crystal with the help of her trusted housekeeper, Stafford.  Carlotta's two sons, Paul and Arthur, also live in the house. Paul is a successful attorney with an ambitious career in politics that his mother will do anything to foster.  Arthur is the younger brother, never truly succeeding at anything, always angry at everything, and controlled completely by his mother.  And then there is Crystal.  Sometimes she seems to be off-balance, unaware of her surroundings; yet, other times she seems not only full aware, but in complete control, manipulating those around her with feigned insanity.  Karen does not believe any of it, and when Crystal begs her to sneak her off the island, away from a family that is desperate to get their hands on her money, Karen believes it is only another ploy.  Until she finds Crystal's body washed up on the beach, dead from apparent suicide.  Or was it?

 

The destroyed miniatures in Crystal's room, which the Fairchilds insist were strewn about by Crystal in a fit of rage does not match Karen's knowledge of Crystal's love and devotion for those miniatures.  She knows Crystal would never dream of damaging a one of them.  Which means someone is lying.  And someone is a murderer.  And Karen has to figure out who it was before she becomes the next victim.  She cannot trust anyone, and even after she returns to New York with her sister's dollhouse, even after the house wins the miniature competition, and even after Karen thinks all of the horrors are behind her - she is brutally attacked and nearly killed in her own hotel room by the person she thought she could trust.  In true Gothic fashion, Karen finds herself the target of a killer who wants her out of the way, and the person she thought she could trust the most turns out to be one of her deadliest enemies.

 

Handler-Cohen a/k/a St. Clair writes a wonderfully thrilling tale of suspense, mystery, and terror. This is a story that certainly confirms why I love St. Clair's writing so much - I can't wait to read another of her books!

RATING:  10 miniature safes hiding dark secrets out of 10 for a dramatic and gripping Gothic tale that will keep you in suspense until the very last page! 

Up Goes the Curtain - a Penny Parrish book

I picked up this book at Atlanta Vintage Books when we went through Atlanta this past summer going up to Kentucky to visit my Dad.  Having done community theater, I have grown rather fond of reading stories about the theater (such as the Mary Perkins, On Stage newspaper strips, the Carol Page theater stories, Terry Carvel's Theater Caravan, and the Backstagers series for young adults).  So, when I saw this cover, I did not hesitate to buy the book.  I have heard the author, Janet Lambert, mentioned in various book groups to which I belong, but I've never actually owned or read any of her books.  I had always assumed her books were simply young adult romance stories, but this book definitely proves me wrong.  This story was clearly based on Lambert's own experiences, both on Broadway as an actress and as an Army wife (both of these elements playing a large part of this story).  And what surprised me even more is that this book, while having a stand-alone story, is actually part of a series - the fourth book in a series of novels about Penny Parrish (with three prior books being published in 1941, 1942, and 1943 respectively, and two more after this book being published in 1947 and 1950).  Knowing this, I'm more than likely going to track down the other books in the series to see how the character evolves over the course of the decade in which the books were published.  (NOTE - Lambert also wrote series about Tippy Parrish, who is Penny's younger sister, as well as other characters, suich as Parri MacDonald, Candy Kane, Dria Meredith, etc.)

 

Up Goes the Curtain actually contains two separate stories, although Lambert does intertwine them a bit. The book opens with Penny excited about her part in an upcoming Broadway play (her background sounds very similar to that of Carol Page - spent a summer in a stock company training, went to New York, and finally lands a part in a play (p. 10), and, just like Carol Page, she makes a vow that not matter what, she will succeed, so she does not have to return home (p. 12)).  But, since the rehearsals do not begin for three weeks, Penny decides to visit her family, who are staying at Fort Knox, Kentucky where her father and brother are stationed, which begins the mystery that surrounds a young woman named Marcia McMain (what is with the alliteration in names?  Penny Parrish?  Marcia McMain?), who is being escorted to Fort Knox by Terry Hayes, a young man that had previously shown an interest in Penny. Penny is somewhat taken aback by Terry's attitude towards her, but it slowly begins to dawn on her that since Terry is serving in the military, perhaps the woman was a job - perhaps he was actually keeping tabs on her because she was a spy!  (What she does not know, but what the reader does learn thanks to a point-of-view switch to Penny's brother and his wife, who are fully aware of the situation, is that the woman is indeed a spy, and it is Terry's job to flush her out in the open!)  Of course, a lot of miscommunications ensue as the family tries to convince Penny to stay out of it, but Penny is determined to prove her theory - and, of course, she ultimately does through a fateful night at a movie theater when she witnesses the exchange of a note between the woman and a young serviceman.  Penny is able to get a hold of that note, and its contents end up giving the Army everything they need to capture the woman and her accomplice, as well as to foil the damage these spies intended to do.

 

The second half of the book features Penny's return to New York with her sister-in-law (whose name just happens to be Carrol), where they stay at the lavish multi-bedroom apartment Carrol had inherited from her family.  A young woman by the name of Letty, whose husband also happens to be in the military and fighting overseas, joins them in the house, keeping Carrol company while Penny begins her rehearsals and eventually opens the show.  And, in yet another similarity with the Carol Page series, Penny ends up having difficulties with a stage manager who seemingly dislikes her, going out of his way to make things difficult for her - but she eventually learns the truth behind his gruff attitude, and the two develop a friendship of sorts.  In addition (like Carol Page), she happens to personally know the big-name actress who is headlining the play, and because of that, the other actors try to get in her good graces - all except one actor, Miltern Wilde (what a name!), who makes every effort to upstage Penny in every scene they share.  Penny's courage grow, however, to the point where she turns the tables on him one night when he purposefully steps on her toe, causing it to bleed, and she steals the scene from him, getting a thunderous ovation (p. 157) that leads to her gaining his respect.

 

The book ends on a rather sad note, with Penny receiving news that a young man she knows was shot down in a plane over Germany, and it is uncertain whether he survived or not.  There is also uncertainty regarding her growing friendship with the stage manager, and no resolution whatsoever about her feelings for Terry Hayes.  Instead, the book ends with Penny putting on her makeup for another performance of the play, sighing to herself, "It doesn't matter about me - the show must go on" (p. 189).  That ending alone is enough to make me want to hunt down the next book in the series to see where Penny goes from here. 

 

While I had a bit of disappointment in the fact that entire book was not focused on the theater, I did rather enjoy that spy/mystery part in the first half of the book.  The second half that did feature the theater - well, I wish we could have gotten an entire book on that, so the reader could get more fleshed out characters and feel more of the drama and tension among the cast.  As it is, we only get touches upon each of the characters, and I, as the reader, do not really know enough about them, nor spend enough time with them, to really care about how they interact with Penny and how she treats them.  I will be curious to see if any of the other books in the series follow Penny's acting career.  Definitely not a bad read, and one that has me curious enough to read more.

 

RATING:  7 large cokes with lots of ice out of 10 for an unexpected combination of war, spies, theater, and drama - like getting two books for the price of one! 

Meg and the Mystery of Black-Magic Cave - Mystery #5 in a series

The penultimate book in the "Meg" series is the best one of the first five books.  One has to wonder if the ghostwriter for the previous book also wrote this one, as both books definitely have more mature themes to them than the first three books.  That, of course, is one of the reasons why I wish these book publishers back in the day had retained one author to ghostwrite a series of books, so that they stories would have a certain consistency to them, both in characterization and in tone.  Some series did (such as the Penny Parker series by Mildred Wirt Benson), while other employed any number of writers (such as Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc.).  While having a series bible may help the writers remain consistent with character names, occupations, hair and eye color, settings, etc., the rotation of writers is still noticeable in the way a story is written and how a character talks and acts.  Now, one could argue that Meg and Kerry have grown some since the first book, and therefore, after solving several mysteries, they might have matured in the way they handle them, but that is stretching it a bit, I think.

 

Meg and the Mystery of the Black-Magic Cave takes Meg and Kerry out of their home state of Virginia and places them in Merrybones, Maine, where Meg's Uncle Hal vacations each summer.  This year, he offers to take them along with him, partially to enjoy the locale, but also because there is a mystery to be solved, and he knows how much the girls enjoy solving mysteries.  And, in case you are wondering, no, "Merrybones" is a made up township in Maine, although it perhaps draws its name from Marylebone, which is in the city of Westminster in London, England.   The mystery surrounds a schoolteacher friend of Uncle Hal's by the name of Emily Hawthorne (p. 16), who has asked for his help.  Now, I have to think that the author specifically chose the name "Hawthorne" for several reasons:  (1) the name is the same as that of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the famous author who hailed from New England, and (2) Nathaniel Hawthorne's great-great-frandfather (John Hathorne) was one of the judges during the famous Salem witch trials.  And, since this particular book deals with witches...

 

The author delves into a world of witchcraft and black magic, as the girls learn from Miss Hawthorne that someone has threatened her with a curse, and her black cat, Melissa, has gone missing.  Someone wants her out of Merrybones, and it's up to Uncle Hal, Meg, and Kerry to figure out who it is.  As if right one cue, Meg and Kerry learn about a nearby cave that is referred to as "Black-Magic Cave," and while picking blueberries near the cave, the girls find a makeshift altar with a candle burning and a pentagram drawn on the floor in front of it!  This begins the girls' quest to uncover the truth about the cave, the witches' coven operating in Merrybones, and whether the women who make up the coven are responsible for threatening Miss Hawthorne and stealing her cat.   

 

The witches' coven and black magic aspect of the story are played up well, and Meg and Kerry even manage to witness a gathering of witches in what they suspect is a meeting in which the women will attempt to cast a spell to rid the town of Miss Hawthorne once and for all!  But the girls are clever, and while the witches are in the cave, Meg, Kerry, and their new friends gather up the shoes the women left outside the cave and take them with them (so that, like Cinderella, they can identify the witches by having the women try on shoes to see if they match!).  It's quite a climactic confrontation between the defeated women and the police, alongside Meg and her friends.  And the author holds back one particular surprise, which a careful reader will pick up on earlier in the story as to the identity of the specific person that wants Miss Hawthorne gone and why!  Overall, the book offers a well-plotted mystery that is very entertaining reading.

 

I did find it rather amusing that when the girls find a book of black magic in the attic of the house where they are staying, they discover the words are written rather uniquely - in Old English, where the s's are written like f's, and some words have "e" at the end, which is pronounced like our current "y" (p. 75).  And there is even a paragraph written in that styles, with Old English font!  Definitely a great way to introduce young readers as to how much the English language has changed in the last couple of centuries!

 

The paperback cover art, by Olindo Giacomini, is definitely my favorite of the two, as it has Meg and Kerry hiding behind an old tree, spying on the witches as they are marching out of the cave, holding lit candles.  Of course, the scene is in the reverse in the story, as they watch the witches go into the cave, not out of it.  The cover art on the original hardcover version of the book, by Cliff Schule, depicts the witches heading in the proper direction  (and it even accurately shows 13 witches!).  Interestingly, both covers show Kerry wearing a blue top and Meg with a red/burgundy top, thus maintaining some consistency between the two.  And for those of you who are Nancy Drew fans, you might think this cover hearkens back to the cover art for The Secret of Red Gate Farm, in which Nancy is hiding behind a tree, watching hooded figures going into a cave.

 

I have been really enjoying this series, so it's somewhat disheartening to realize I only have one Meg book left to read, and then I'll have completed the series.  It almost makes me want to put off reading that final book ... almost ... 

 

RATING:  9 stones with oddly carved pentagrams out of 10 for a menacing tale of witches, curses, and black cats!

A Zebra Mystery Puzzler #21 - You'll Die Today

There is a question of whether this book was published prematurely.  While the cover of the book shows it is clearly book 21 in the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, if you look at the inside front listing of titles for this series (which is the first book in this series to have a complete listing like this!), it shows book 21 is The Final Fair by Marcia Blair, and this book is actually book 22!  However, if you look at the number codes after the books, you will this book is listed as (475), while the Marcia Blair book is listed as (476), which gives credence to this book actually being book 21 and not 22.  Somewhere along the line, someone screwed up and listed the books in the wrong order - will be curious to see if that gets corrected in future volumes of this series.

 

You'll Die Today is Maxine Reynolds' fifth foray into the world of Zebra Mystery Puzzlers, and by far, this is the best one yet!  Martin Grove (under his pseudonym of Marjorie J. Grove) writes an superbly crafted mystery that was filled with plenty of misdirect, red herrings, and a great Agatha Christie-style reveal!  Our favorite investigative reporter finds herself sent to San Francisco to attend a movie premiere - but when Max has to fill-in on a radio talk show unexpectedly as their guest - the movie director- fails to appear, Max finds another murder dropped in her lap when a caller informs her the director is dead!  The caller even admits to being the killer and gives Max (and the listeners) a cryptic clue of where the body can be found.  It turns out the cover to this book reveals the location of the body, and, of course, Max is the one to find it.  The only clues are the pink match sticks and the colored candy wrappers left at the scene of the crime.

 

Max is determined to solve the crime (after all, solving the murder will give her an exclusive to yet another first-page story!), but she has to figure out not only who might have killed the man, but also why.  Was it the ex-wife, who claims to want nothing to do with him, yet who is still in love with him?  Or was it the angry actor who stormed off the set when the director refused to change some lines for him?  Or was it the head of the union who was furious the director was not using his union drivers for the film?  As Max begins to look into each of the suspects, she starts to find that each of them had means, motive, and opportunity!  And just when you think she might be able to figure it out, WHAM!  Another body turns up - a local columnist who met with the director on the night of his death and may very well have been the last one to see him alive.  Did he unwittingly know something about the murder, and so he had to be silenced?  Otherwise, what connection could he possibly have had with the director?

 

Grove manages to keep you guessing right up to the end - and the final reveal in this book definitely makes the entire book worth reading!  In true Christie-style, Grove has Max bring all of the suspects together in one room (in this case, it is the sound studio for the radio show), and live on-air, Max calls out each suspect, reviews each person's motive, and one-by-one eliminates them until there is just one person left - the killer!  And very careful readers will pick up on one particular clue -a simple statement made by one of the suspects that actually has a very important connection to one of the internal illustrations - I caught it immediately when the remark was said and guessed this person was the killer, and I was right!  But I give Grove credit for keeping it subtle, but laying the groundwork so that once the killer's identity is revealed, the reader can see that all the clues were there from the very beginning.  Otherwise, if you miss that one statement, then you could very well bounce around the suspects trying to figure out whodunnit.  Grove throws plenty of misdirects, and admittedly, at one point, I thought perhaps the killer was the roommate of one of the suspects (and it could have been, as there were clues that pointed to this person!), but I changed my mind when the real killer said something that I remembered seeing in one of the illustrations - which is why it is so important to pay attention to those internal drawings!

 

And speaking of which, there is no signature on the cover art, nor on any of the internals, so I have no way of knowing who provided the art for this book.  The internals offer framing for the drawings, which is something Sanford Hoffman tends to do on his illustrations for this series; however, the way in which the people are drawn in this book lead me to believe it was not Hoffman who did the art.  It's truly a shame the publishers did not credit the cover and interior artists for these books, as they do these days.  This series has offered up some pretty great art, both on the covers and inside, and it would be nice to be able to track down some of that art (if it is still in existence today and has not been thrown out or otherwise destroyed).  But, alas, I guess that was not meant to be.

 

Something I did find a bit strange with this book is that for the first time since this series began, the published provided a complete listing of every book in the series thus far (including the three books published alongside this one - books 22, 23, and 24) in the front of the book across from the title page - HOWEVER, that listing shows book 21 as The Final Fair by Marcia Blair (#476) and book 22 is this book (#475). The number in the parentheses appears to be a portion of the ISBN, and since this book has an earlier ISBN than the Marcia Blair book, it would make since that this book was published first, as book 21.  But the error does not stop there.  While books 23 and 24 are listed with their proper titles, in the back of the book, on the order form page, book 25 is listed as Who Killed Me? by Laura Allen (#497), book 26 is You'll Be The Death of Me by Miriam Lynch (#494), book 27 is Murder by the Book by Norma Schier (#495), and book 28 is The Whispering Cat Mystery by Josephine Kains (#496).  Yet, when they were published, book 25 was You'll Be the Death of Me, book 26 was Murder by the Book, book 27 was The Whispering Cat Mystery, and book 28 was Who Killed Me?  As you can see, the actual publication order followed the ascending ISBNs.  So, I'm not sure why the books were listed out of order in the front listing and on the order form page, but looking ahead, I found that this error does not get corrected until we are into the 30s for this series!

 

A few tidbits worth nothing: first, Rob (Max's boyfriend) offers to take Max to the Blue Boar Inn (p. 68), which was a real restaurant in San Francisco.  Interestingly, you can find for sale on eBay matchbooks from that restaurant (which I say is interesting, but matches play an important role in this mystery!).  We had a Blue Boar restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, where I grew up, but it was nothing like the one described in this book.  The second thing is when Max comes across the column typed up by Shelby Duncan, she notes the column "had been completed because the -"30"- the mark newspaper people use at the bottom of their last page of copy - had been typed" (p. 78).  I smiled when I read this, because I had previously learned about this when I was reading the Penny Parker series by Mildred Wirt (Benson), as the title character in that series helped her father, who owned a newspaper.  Lastly, during the big reveal, Max references a play that is mentioned in Shelby Duncan's column: "a new topless production of The Iceman Cometh..." (p. 170).  That is an actual play, written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill, which premiered on Broadway in the 1940s (some 30 years prior to the publication of this book). I cannot begin to imagine what a "topless" production of this play would have been like!

 

Without a doubt, this is my favorite book in the series, and most certainly, the best plotted and written of them all!  This one certainly sets a very high standard for the 39 books to follow in this series!

 

RATING:  10 unstruck pink wooden matches out of 10 for superb plotting, excellent execution, and fantastic fun in trying to solve this one! 

 

The World of General Hospital - Six Decades of Drama in Port Charles

Back in the late '70s and early '80s, I watched the daytime drama, General Hospital, with my mom each afternoon.  I remember the whole Cassadine island / Ice Princess story, the romance and wedding of Luke and Laura (and yes, I watched that episode when it aired!), the death and later resurrection of Laura Spencer, and so many other great stories of that era.  But I fell away from the show, and it was not until decades later, when ABC cancelled its other soaps (All My Children and One Life to Live), that I picked up on the show, as I loved the idea of Todd Manning, Starr Manning, and John McBain coming over from One Life to Live to continue their stories on General Hospital.  Thirteen years later, and I'm still watching the show, even though those three characters (and the actors who played them) have been long gone.  I've been very fortunate in recent years to meet in person a number of the actors who have been on the show, and so when I saw this book listed on Amazon, I picked it up, thinking it would offer up a great history about a television drama that has aired daily for more than 60 years!  Sadly, I could not have been more wrong...

The World of General Hospital offers very little when it comes to any specific history of the show.   Written by Jesse Shanks, whose biography on Amazon indicates he has "shown talents for writing, genealogy, programming, and research," this book reads like a fluff piece that provides general information about a show that has been on television for more than six decades.  While I was hoping for some decade by decade look at the various stories and characters, as well as, perhaps, some cast listings and character profiles, and maybe even some synopses of various major stories over the years, I instead got a book that repeats itself often about the importance of Steve Hardy and Jesse Brewer, the revitalization of the show with Luke and Laura, and the current emphasis on Sonny Corinthos.  We get some brief mentions of the different families that have appeared on the show (the Hardys, the Quartermaines, the Conrinthos, and the Spencers) and some quick references to some of the locations on the show; but there is very little in-depth look at either the characters or the locations.

 

This show has been on the air continuously for more than 60 years!  While I do realize a full, in-depth look at the show for that length of time could very well take up 600 pages or more, I do think Shanks could have spent some more time on some of the major highlights.  As he indicates in the book (more than one, I might add), the wedding of Luke and Laura was a major network event that garnered more viewers than the royal wedding around that same time!  One would think he would spend some time looking at the relationship of these characters, and how they evolved over the years - from Luke's vicious rape of Laura, to their unconventional love on the run story, to their magnificent wedding, to Luke's loss when Laura disappeared in the fog, to her shocking return (and with it the beginning of the life-long conflict with the Cassadine clan), to their children, their divorce and various other loves (Luke with Tracy and Laura with Kevin).  I mean, for years, "Luke and Laura" truly defined the show!  So, why was their story given only a few pages scattered throughout the book?

 

I have to wonder if the author even watched the show prior to the 2000s (or, possibly, the '90s).  Many of the more lengthy descriptions of stories (such as the text-message killer) are from the more modern era; however, there were plenty of great stories back in the day:  the murder of Diana Taylor; the Prometheus disc / Grant Putnam story (talk about a revelation when viewers found out he was really a Russian spy!); the murder of Phil Brewer; Heather Webber accidentally injecting herself with LSD; even the outrageously crazy Ice Princess story and the Cassadine weather-control device.  These, and so many more, deserved some attention and some details; instead, most do not even get mentioned, and when they do, it is only in one or two sentences before moving on to something else.

 

I do give Shanks credit for giving at least a brief look at the various changes the show has undergone over the years - from one-half hour to one hour in 1976 (I did not realize it had become an hour show only a couple of years before I started watching it!); from medical drama to adventure stories with the hiring of Gloria Monty in 1978; the inclusion of more social issues when head writer Claire Labine came on board in 1993; and even how the show has been filmed (from black and white to color, then to HD, and how those changes affected the way the sets were designed).  Shanks also takes a few pages to look at how the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Writer's Strike affected the show, and how these events affected the way the show was filmed and the stories written.  So, despite the overall "general" information provided for most things, the author does give readers a bit of technical history that can be appreciated.

 

But, other than that, there is absolutely no behind-the-scenes look at the show.  There is no discussion of the actors' interactions with one another and with writers and/or directors; no talk of how the actors dealt with certain stories or were affected by cast changes around them; no look at how long-term actors have grown with the show (such as Leslie Charleston, Genie Francis, Jane Elliott, Mauirce Bernard, Rebecca Herbst, Finola Hughes, or others who have been on the show for 20 years or more!);  no real list of famous actors who got their start on GH, such as John Stamos, Amber Tamblyn, Demi Moore, Mark Hamill, and others); and no mention of the various actors who made a real impact on the show and who have passed on in real life (such as Anna Lee, John Ingle, Peter Hansen, John Reilly, Tyler Christopher, Billy Miller, Susan Brown, Shell Kepler, and the list goes on).  

 

On top of all of this, there are glaring errors in the content of the book.  The book indicates Aurora Media was founded by Drew Cain and Jason Morgan (p. 116) - which is wholly incorrect, as the company was established by Drew Cain and Sam McCall after they acquired it from Derek Wells Media back in 2017.  Jason was never involved.  The book also references the revenge porn story, indicating it took place from 2017- 2018 and it involved Oscar Nero (p. 116). I have no idea where this came from as Oscar was never involved in any revenge porn story, which did not occur until 2022 (four years after his character on the show died!) and involved Joss and Cam, with Esme Prince setting up Trina to take the blame. In addition to that, the book states that Port Charles' newspaper, The Invader was run by Julian Jerome, "and later Martin Grey..." (p. 116).  While The Invadeer has been run by a number of people on the show (Shawn Butler, Valentin Cassadine, Nina Reeves, Adrian DeWitt, and Alexis Davis), Martin Grey was never the head of that paper.

 

With the huge reliance on AI for so much these days, I'm left wondering if this book was not a product of AI.  It is lacking in any real depth, and it glosses over so much that has taken place in the 60-plus years of General Hospital's history, plus it contains some very glaring mistakes, that I find it hard to believe that Shanks put a whole lot of time into researching and writing this book.  With so many rich storylines, so many great characters, and so many years of amazing history to draw upon, this book is a disappointment in its lack of specifics and detail.  Longtime fans of the show will be extremely let down by this book, particularly with the $15.99 hardcover / $8.99 softcover prices (I bought the hardcover).  I would not recommend this book at all, unless you are someone who simply must have ever book out there about General Hospital - in that case, it might be worth it to you.  As for me, this will go on a shelf and likely never looked at again.

 

RATING:  3  hospital corridors echoing with hurried footsteps out of 10 for at the very least mentioning one of my favorite characters, Nelle Benson (although not at all mentioning my other favorite, Sabrina Santiago, even though she was instrumental in bringing the Nurse's Ball back to GH!).

 

 

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32013 - Lord of High Cliff Manor

"She vowed to conquer the malevolent forces surrounding her - and found death lurking in the shadows" (cover blurb)  

 

Lucky number thirteen!  This is the thirteenth Harlequin Gothic Romance, published in September 1986 - and this marks thirteen great Gothic reads out of thirteen for the series!  I am amazed that I have yet to find a book in this series that I have not really enjoyed (but I probably should not say that, or I'll end up jinxing it!).  This is author Irene M. Pascoe's first of two books in this series, and based on this one, I cannot wait to read her second one.  I was not able to find out anything about the author, but it appears the name may be her own and not a pseudonym, as the copyright is in her name, and the dedication at the front of the book is given to her mother and father, Mary and Arthur Kasa (which is confirmed in an obituary I found online for Irene's sister, Nancy).  This book actually marks Pascoe's first of five Gothic novels she has published between 1986 and 2004.

 

Lord of High Cliff Manor is a period story, set in 1882, and follows young Jennifer Shanley as she travels to the cliffs of Puget Sound in the Washington territory, where she has been hired by Mark Kennecott as his young nephew's tutor.  But, as with any good Gothic, when Jennifer arrives, she is met with resentment and distrust.  Mark's stepmother tells Jennifer she is not right for the position and tells her to leave; however, Jennifer has no place to go (having used up all her savings to pay for the trip to High Cliff Manor), and to her relief, Mark Kennecott is determined that she will stay on to tutor young Kirk, as well as Melinda, the daughter of the manor's housekeeper.  Thus, the story is set for poor Jennifer to face the terror and danger that comes with living in High Cliff Manor...

 

The manor comes with a tragic history.  It seems not that long ago, one of the Kennecott's tug boats exploded, leaving only one man alive - Daniel Hennessey.  In that explosion, Caroline's husband, as well as the husband of the housekeeper, were killed, leaving both women widows with small children (Caroline with her son, Kirk; and the housekeeper with her daughter, Melinda).  A series of tutors have come and gone, mostly because of Kirk's horrific nightmares and his troublesome nature.  But Jennifer begins to build a friendship with the young boy in a way no one else has been able, and Mark knows he made the right choice in hiring her.  But Mrs. Kennecott and her daughter, Caroline Ramsay, are making life difficult for Jennifer so she will leave the house - or, so it seems.  First, it's a dead rat found on her pillow.  Then, a strange man appears in her room in the middle of the night.  But from there, the danger escalates.  A metal iron is dropped from an attic window, missing Jennifer by mere inches.  Then Jennifer is locked in an abandoned cabin deep in the woods, left to rot within its rat-infested walls.  It is clear someone in the house wants to get rid of Jennifer, but the question is: who?

 

Rumors in town speculate that Mark Kennecott blew up his own boat for the insurance money, as his business was floundering.  Jennifer wonders if perhaps Caroline's obvious desire to have Mark all to herself is not motive for the mysterious and deadly events.  There's always Mrs. Kennecott, who has made it clear from the first day that she does not like Jennifer and does not want her there - especially when Mark begins to show amorous intentions towards her.  And what about Daniel Hennessey?  He claims to have amnesia and wanders aimlessly through the estate - but does he have a more deadly side that no one has seen?  There plenty of suspects and more than enough motives.  Jennifer considers leaving, but she knows she cannot leave the children behind to face whatever terror haunts the great house.

 

One thing I am left wondering - the name of the character, Daniel Hennessey. In the television show, Dark Shadows, there is a character by the name of Daniel Collins when the show traveled back in time, and that character is portrayed by the actor, David Henesy.  Was this name a play on the Dark Shadows' character and its actor, or is it merely a coincidence?  I'd like to think it was a small homage to Dark Shadows, since the show epitomized Gothic tales in the late '60s and early '70s, which is the heyday period of these Gothic paperbacks.

 

Pascoe writes an excellent mystery, with a bit more romance that I've seen in most of these Harlequin Gothic tales, but not so much that it overpowers the story.  She gradually builds the suspense, dropping small hints here and there as to the identity of the one terrorizing Jennifer, and provides a tense and exciting climax that will leave the reader breathless.  This is definitely a top-notch example of what a Gothic mystery should be, and I cannot wait to read Pascoe's next book in this series!

 

RATING:   10 balls bouncing down the stairs out of 10 for the perfect mix of suspense, mystery, and romance to tell a Gothic story worthy of some of the greats!

The Curious Cat Spy Club, Book 7 - Hunt for the Silver Dragon

Sometimes, life throws you some really wonderful surprises, and this is definitely one of them!  I have thoroughly enjoyed all six books in the Curious Cat Spy Club series written by Linda Joy Singleton, and when the series ended more than six years ago, I was devastated.  The stories were enjoyable, the characters were fun, and the mysteries all involved animals, which how could anyone not help but love!  Sadly, though, the series was not picked up for additional books, and so the adventures of Kelsey, Becca, and Leo came to an end.  I never though I would see them again ... until a couple of weeks ago, I saw a post from Singleton showing the cover of a brand new Curious Cat Spy Club mystery!  Say what?!?!  Yes, to my great joy, Singleton has provided fans of the series with one final mystery, a love letter to the fans that gives the CCSC one final mystery to solve - and boy, is it a doozy!

 

Hunt for the Silver Dragon is the story of a search for a kidnapped cheetah and her baby cub. But unlike the Club's previous cases, where their search for animals merely brought them up against kidnappers who were looking for profit or some such, this case pits them against en enemy who is deadly - one who is taking pot-shots with arrows at animals all throughout the community!  Kelsey and her friends become involved when they are chasing after a lost dog and come across an injured sheep, who has been shot by an arrow.  Kesley catches a glimpse of a shadowy figure in green and black, but her attention is called away to help save the animal before she can take any action.

 

I applaud Singleton for making this final CCSC mystery a really doozy!  There are a lot of blurred lines with regards to the suspects, and the threat level is so much higher in this book than any other.  From the get-go, it is made clear Kelsey's and Becca's moms are fully aware of the arrow attacks (because Kelsey happens to "hear" the Sheriff mention that the sheep was just "another"attack!), and the girls are warned in no uncertain terms that they are not to be involved - in fact, they are given an opportunity to help out with a mobile pet adoption project as a distraction.  The only problem is, that distraction turns out to bring the three crime-solvers further into the case.  The baby cheetah cub mysteriously turns up in the back of the adoption van, and Kelsey is certain that the young man who is volunteering at the animal sanctuary owned by Becca's mom is somehow involved.  But Becca refuses to hear about it, because she has become enthralled with the young man, and it ultimately causes a strain in the girls' relationship.  And when Leo announces he is going to spend a week with his father, Kelsey suddenly finds herself alone and under strict orders NOT to investigate the arrow attacks.

 

But, c'mon.  This is Kelsey Case we are talking about, and there is no way she is going to give up on helping lost or injured animals!  And, as luck would have it, her past successes makes her the perfect person for Sheriff Fischer to use to go undercover in the hopes of finding that missing cheetah.  The only problem is, her assignment is to find out whatever information she can about an archery range in a nearby city and she is not doing it alone.  Yup, that's right, she gets partnered with the young man who has caught Becca's eye.  The same young man Kelsey is sure is involved with the missing cheetah.  And the same one who has been lying to everyone and has been disappearing at the most inopportune times.  He is hiding something, and Kelsey is absolutely sure whatever secret he is keeping, it will give her the clue she need to find the missing animal.

 

A missing cheetah ... an archer on the loose targeting animals ... a juvenile delinquent with important secrets ... and a high-stakes, illegal hunt for endangered animals - all of this leads up to a rather intense conclusion that leaves Kelsey the target (literally!) in a deadly game.  If Singleton wanted to end this series with a bang, this book certainly did the job!  After six books, the reader already feels a connection with these characters, so when there is a rift between Kelsey and Becca in this book, and when it seems like the Club is falling apart, the reader feels the loss almost as much as Kelsey does.  Thankfully, all's well that ends well, and by the end of the book, not only do the kids reunite and make their friendships stronger than ever, but they catch the criminals and rescue the missing cheetah (as if there was any doubt).

 

Now, a CCSC book would not be complete without some nods to other series books out there - such as Kelsey's bunny, "Trixie," and her kitten, "Honey" (p. 32).  These are clear nods to Trixie Belden and her best friend, Honey Wheeler. There's also the "hidden staircase" that leads up to Kelsey's room in the family's new house, which would be a reference to Nancy Drew's second mystery, The Hidden Staircase.  It's always a treat when an author is a fan of series books from our youth, as invariably, it leads to plenty of Easter Eggs within their books for readers like me to find!

 

On the other side, there were a few snafus in this book, that I have to wonder if they got through because the book was self-published rather than distributed through a publishing house.  The first is the reference to the number of animals attacked by the archer.  After finding the injured sheep, Kelsey's mom says the sheep makes the third attack (p. 35).  Yet, after a fourth arrow is found in a playground, the sheriff informs Kelsey that "...you know about the arrow attacks.  Three so far if we include the rogue arrow found in a tree by a playground" (p. 123).  If the sheep was the third attack, then the arrow in the playground would have made the fourth, not the third, attack.  In addition, later in the story, when Kelsey, Becca, and Leo are helping with the mobile pet adoption van, it is said when the day ends that "[t]en animals now have forever homes" (p. 97).  Before they can leave, a man who had been looking at a dog earlier comes back at the last second to adopt the dog - bringing the total up to eleven animals adopted (p. 98).  However, after the van returns to the pet center, Becca's cousin Danielle, remarks, "Things went so well today - nine wonderful adoptions..." (p. 103).  Does this mean she forgot about two of them, or were two of the adoptions not really so wonderful?  Yes, I realize this is probably being just a bit nit-picky, and the inconsistencies did not really reduce my enjoyment of the story - but my OCD kicked in when I realized the numbers were not being consistent.

 

That aside, the Hunt for the Silver Dragon was a wonderful book-end for the Curious Cat Spy Club series, and it gave fans (like me!) one final chance to spend some time with Kelsey, Becca, Leo, their families, and their furry friends before closing the book on their adventures once and for all (or ... until perhaps Singleton gets inspired to write a second farewell novel in another few years ... hint! hint!).

 

RATING:  9 slices of double cheese and pepperoni pizza out of 10 for upping the ante to give the CCSC an exciting and dangerous final adventure for all of their fans to enjoy!