Agatha, Girl of Mystery #4 - The Heist at Niagara Falls

It's been over a year now since I read my last Agatha, Girl of Mystery book, so I figured it was about time to pick up the next book in the series.  This truly has been a fun series to read thus far, and I have to smile with each character's name - author Sir Steve Stephenson is clearly having loads of fun using names associated with many well-known crime-solving literary sleuths!  Agatha (as in Christie), Dashiell (as in Hammett), Mr. Marlowe (as in Philip), Chandler (as in Raymond), Watson (as in that certain doctor of Holmes fame), Scarlett (a game of Clue, or perhaps Cluedo, anyone?) and the list goes on!  It's literally a smorgasbord of famous sleuths, and the stories remind us that of all them, none can hold a candle to the queen of crime herself - Agatha Christie!

 

The Heist at Niagara Falls follows Agatha and her inept brother, Dashiell, along with their butler, Chandler, and Agatha's pampered and obnoxious Siberan cat, Watson, as they cross the Atlantic to stop a jewel thief on the Canadian border.  As always, it is starts with poor Dashiell, as he receives an urgent message from Eye International, sending him on a new mission - there has been a theft from the Overlook Hotel at Niagara Falls, and Dashiell is to get there, find the culprit, and recover the stolen jewels (p. 24).  Of course, Dashiell knows he could never do it himself, so he rushes to Agatha and asks for her help (and, as an aspiring mystery writer with a mind just chock-full of information, she's more than willing to help!).  Thus, it's a rush to the airport to catch the next flight to New York, where they are picked up by their cousin, Scarlett Mistery, who just happens to be a journalist and joins them on their quest to catch the crook.

 

What I found amusing is that the "Overlook Hotel," which is the scene of the crime where Madame Hofstetter's jewels were stolen (Hoffstetter?  Any relation to Leonard?), is the name of the hotel from Stephen King's horror novel, The Shining.  That book came out in 1977, while this book was originally published in Italy in 2011, so there is a possibility that the author used that name for the hotel as a nod to King.  There is no actual "Overlook Hotel" in Canada.

 

Stevenson has Agatha utilize her exceptional skills of observation and deduction to pick up clues and connect the dots that most people miss, and she soon comes to the conclusion that the thief was none other than Ratmusque, Canada's most notorious thief (who is actually a man named Rick Moriarty - hmmm, that last name sure sound familiar, doesn't it?).  But according to sources, he gave up his criminal activities years ago, so why start back up now?  Agatha and her crew are determined to find out.   They track the mastermind to a secluded cabin, where they nearly run down a Canadian Royal Mountie, who agrees to help them find the culprit.  The trail leads them to the Dark Sky Preserves, which is an actual location in Canada that allows you to get away from the bright lights of the city and gaze up at the stars free from any distracting lights (Dark-Sky Preserves).  Thus, without any distractions, it is here that Agatha realizes they have been chasing after the wrong crook all this time, and she reveals the identity of the true thief before he can disappear with the fortune in jewels!

 

These books are not meant to be heavy reading - at just a little over 100 pages in length, they are simply fun mysteries starring a young Agatha (Christie?) tracking down criminals in order to help her brother succeed at his school for spies.  They are similar to the 10-book Greetings from Somewhere series by Harper Paris, which also features a brother/sister team of kids who travel around the world solving mysteries everywhere they go - only the Agatha series is aimed an audience with a bit high reading level.  As the blurb on the back cover says, "With the smarts of Nancy Drew and the charm of Eloise, Agatha is an exciting addition to the girl-detective canon." (School Library Journal)  If you are looking for something light and quick to read, these are the books for you!

 

RATING:  9 stolen magnetic key cards out of 10 for mystery and adventure in Canada, from the Falls to the Muskoka, and plenty of places in-between! 

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32005 - Restless Obsession

"She's left her gloomy past behind - but then she discovered the future was threatened by its shadow." (cover blurb)

 

This fifth entry into the series holds up just as well as the prior four, definitely establishing the Gothic Romance line for Harlequin as a success in my eyes.  Each entry has had a super mix of mystery and suspense, filled with plenty of gothic elements and tropes, and only a hint of romance (which, for me, is an added plus, since I'm not a huge Harlequin romance fan).  This book was written by Jane Toombs, who is another actual person and not a pseudonym (although she did use her own share of pen names, such as Jane Anderson, Ellen Jamison, Diana Stuart, and Olivia Sumner). She has an interesting history, as her first husband did not like her writing, calling it "trash."  She ultimately divorced him and continued writing while also working as a registered nurse.  She wrote over 120 books between 1973 and 2017, including a number of gothic titles, although this was the only one published under the Harlequin Gothic Romance banner.

 

Restless Obsession is set in the "current" time period of when the book was published along the western coast of the United States and Canada - from California, to Washington, and up into Victoria.  The protagonist is twenty-something Martha Jamison, a young divorcee who is running away from her horrific past and hoping this new job as a companion to Josephine Garrard will help her escape.  Martha, who is a nurse (like her author!) has been hired to not just be a companion, but also to keep watch over the young Garrard girl, as the family says she is not mentally stable and has attempted suicide more than once in the past.  Martha quickly discovers that Josephine says she would never try to harm herself and that the previous "attempts" were actually incidents where someone was trying to kill her!  She is set to inherit a small fortune when her and her brother's father dies, and Josephine is certain someone wants her out of the picture so that they can take that money.  Is she telling the truth?  Martha cannot be certain, as Josephine has mood swings and appears immature for her age - yet, there is something not right about the people living in the house...

 

Toombs provides readers with a fantastic mystery.  Martha finds herself torn among three men - Branwell Lowery, the mystery man she meets on the ferry over to Victoria; Jules Garrard, Josephine's older brother who appears to have a tight control over Josephine and the Garrard finances; and Charn Wexler, the Garrards' more than charming cousin who resides in the house.  Martha finds herself attracted in different ways to each one, but when she is attacked in her bedroom on the first night in the house (the attacker revealing he knows all about Martha's past!), she harbors suspicions against each one of them, unsure who is telling the truth and who is not.  Besides these men, there other family members who seem to have their own motives for wanting Martha gone.  Natalie Drew, Jules and Josephine's aunt, makes it clear Martha is not wanted, as she believes Martha is only interested in Jules and his money.  Natalie's husband, Matthew, seems completely wrapped up in his research of Indian rituals and mystic lore to care what his wife does.  Cathleen is yet another cousin (Charn's sister), one who seems to have a strong desire for Jules and does not want Martha getting in her way.  The only ones who actually appear to want Martha to stay is an elderly cousin (Louella Gallion) and the very young girl, Sarah, who takes an instant liking to Martha.  But Sarah has a mysterious past, as no one will reveal just who she is or how she is related to the family - the only thing they will admit is that Norman Garrard (Jules and Josephine's father) brought her into the house and has kept her there ever since!

 

Since we are talking about Sarah, I have to admit, reading her character in the book gave me flashbacks to young Sarah Collins from Dark Shadows.   When she was first introduced into that show, she was a strange character about which little was known.  She made friends with David (who had a fascination with the occult, just like Josephine) and ultimately made friends with Victoria Winters (as the Sarah in this book does with Martha).  With the similarity in characterization and the use of the same name, I am left to wonder if the author was inspired by Dark Shadows when writing this character.

 

It is Josephine, however, that has the most mystery surrounding her.  Toombs definitely keeps the readers guessing.  Is Josephine suicidal?  Is she psychotic?  Is she paranoid? Or is everything she has been saying true?  What happened to her the two years she was missing?  Why can she not remember any of it?  Why will her father not say anything to anyone, including her own physician?  And what about this "Diego" that she insists has come back from the dead.  Is he real?  Or is someone merely playing deadly games that could end up killing not only Josephine, but Martha as well?  And just what does Martha's past have to do with any of it?

 

There are a couple of deaths before Martha is finally confronted with the truth in a very exciting and deadly game of cat and mouse in Victoria's Butchart Gardens.  And before you ask, yes, Butchart Gardens is a very real place in British Columbia (The Butchart Gardens), and Toombs does a wonderful job of describing this picturesque attraction. In fact, Toombs manages to put a number of real things into this story, including a reference to Emily Carr's autobiography, Growing Pains (p. 47), which Josephine is found reading, as well as mentioning the gold statue of George Vancouver (p. 102), along with Beacon Hill Park, Goodacre Lake, and Craigdarroch Castle (p. 102), all of which are actual locations in British Columbia.  There is also an interesting mention of Sylvia Plath (p. 109) and the very real fact that she killed herself by putting her head in an oven!

 

Not sure who provided the cover art, but it features the typical gothic woman in the foreground, looking back - but instead of an old mansion or castle, we get a dark, foreboding woods with what appears to be a hooded/robed figure in the background dancing behind a blue flame (hinting at some form of witchcraft or supernatural element to the story).  This scene is taken from the events that occur at the end of Chapter Fourteen (pp. 128-29), when one of the characters decides to force Martha to face her past and reveal it to everyone!  It's definitely one of the most dramatic scenes in the whole book.

 

This was definitely another win for the Harlequin Gothic Romance line!

 

RATING:  10 stuffed killer whales out of 10 for a superbly suspenseful gothic tale of mystery and mystic lore!