Review: The Murder Room (Adam Dalgliesh, #12)

P.D James creates a world around her mysteries, probably better than any other mystery writer I know. Such is the case here, when rocks the DuPayne Museum. A small, eccentric museum dedicated to the history of the interwar period, the DuPayne's showpiece is a gallery dedicated to period murders. Full of macabre displays and artifacts, "The Murder Room" appears to have provided inspiration for a serial killer. People in and around the museum are being killed in the same manner as the most notable murders displayed in the gallery. Dalgliesh and his team try to discover the killer as the body count rises.

This is a mystery with a complex plot. It has many moving parts, and numerous richly drawn characters. Set in the waning fall, the atmosphere is appropriately dark and gloomy. I figured out who the murderer was, and I suspected why, which is unusual for me with James's books. There were more direct clues to murderer and motive in this one. In sum, an excellent mystery with a richly-drawn atmosphere.

P.D. James, The Murder Room (Vintage, 2003) ISBN: 1400076099 

Review: Death of a Maid

Those who have enjoyed previous books in this series will likely enjoy this one too. It has all of the elements of the typical Hamish Macbeth mystery. A miserable person dies and everyone is relieved. Hamish investigates and finds that the local cleaner was a far more nefarious woman than anyone thought. Hamish continues to have woman problems and fights with Blair.

There are a few new elements. A new police sergeant has arrived in Strathbane. Blair seems to have worn out his welcome, and I can never figure out why he hasn't been fired yet. I'm getting a bit tired of Hamish's woman problems. He's unable to commit, and weasels out of commitment whenever he's in danger of coming too close. The mysteries are still entertaining, but the side plots are getting a bit tired. Hamish needs to get Priscilla back once and for all.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Maid (Grand Central, 2008) ISBN: 0446615471 

Review: They Came to Baghdad

I found this book to be different from Christie's usual fare. There's no murder mystery here. Rather, this book is about suspense and espionage. Former secretary Victoria Jones meets a man in the park and falls in love. When she discovers that he is moving to Baghdad, she decides to follow him. Victoria arrives in Baghdad on the cusp of an important meeting of world leaders to be held in the city, and the entire area is on high alert. Quickly it becomes obvious that it is not exactly safe for Victoria in Baghdad.

I will admit that I tend to prefer Christie's murder mystery books to those like this, on espionage. This isn't a bad book, it's just not necessarily as good as the murder mysteries. I felt like I didn't know the characters in this book, and that I couldn't get my head around the diplomacy. I did manage to figure out who the bad guy was, which was gratifying, and it was interesting to read about Baghdad at a very different time.

Agatha Christie, They Came to Baghdad (William Morrow, 2003) ISBN: 0062073788 

Review: Brigade

Trow has a fabulous sense of humor, and it is on full display in this book. In this book Lestrade goes undercover to investigate the deaths of elderly veterans who belonged to the same army regiment. His disguises include other investigators at Scotland Yard, as well as an orthodox rabbi, and his case has him traversing the country into every corner of the countryside.

There's plenty to like about these mysteries, and I enjoyed this one. Though they are based on the Inspector Lestrade character in the Sherlock Holmes books, Holmes and Watson are very marginal to this book, even more so than they were in the first in the series. It is Lestrade who is the center of London investigations. This is not a series for those who take their Holmes seriously. Trow takes plenty of liberties, and the main attraction for me is their humorous writing, not their adherence to Conan Doyle's canon.

M.J. Trow, Brigade: The Further Adventures of Lestrade (Regenery, 2000) ISBN: 0895263424 

Review: The House at Tyneford

Elise Landau, a young Viennese woman, is the daughter of a wealthy Jewish novelist. When Nazi persecution in Vienna increases, Elise escapes to England, to work as a servant at rural Tyneford House. The transition from wealth to servitude is decidedly difficult. Elise is terribly homesick, and she doesn't understand the conventions of an English country house. Life becomes more complicated as she develops a relationship with the heir to Tyneford House, Kit Rivers.

War looms on the horizon. The Second World War will completely transform life at Tyneford House and all of its residents.

This is a book about transformation and loss. Elise Landau becomes an English woman, and part of the strict hierarchy of a country house. In the process she loses loved ones. World War II will take a great deal away from everyone in Tyneford. It takes people, and it also takes customs. The war marks the end of numerous customs that have defined the lives of Tyneford's servants. This book offers a haunting look at the effects of war on rural England.

Natasha Solomons, The House at Tyneford (Plume, 2011) ISBN: 0452297648 

Review: The Case of the Missing Books

This book doesn't work. It just doesn't work. Israel Armstrong travels to rural Northern Ireland to become a librarian. He arrives to find that the library has been closed. His job is to drive the bookmobile, but all of the books have been stolen. It becomes Israel's job to search for the books in a place full of bizarre and unfriendly locals.

There is so much about this book that doesn't work. Every instance of dialogue goes on for far too long. Israel is an absolutely pathetic character. He mopes around being miserable and refuses to do anything to improve his situation. The ending of the book is hardly an ending at all. This is one of those books that made me feel like I had wasted my time by reading it.

Ian Sansom, The Case of the Missing Books (William Morrow, 2007) ISBN: 0060822503 

Review: Murder at the Vicarage

This is the first Miss Marple book, and I think it must be the best Miss Marple I've read. I like that in this book we get an unusually large dose of Miss Marple. She's a full and important character, unlike some later books in which she is only tangential.

This book has Miss Marple working on her home turf of St. Mary Mead. Colonel Protheroe, a man no one liked, is found murdered in the vicarage. The narrator of the story is the vicar, and he is endowed with a slightly sarcastic sense of humor. In ambiance and complexity this is one of Christie's best.

Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2006) ISBN: 1579126251 

Review: Death of a Bore

Hamish Macbeth is back investigating the death of someone nobody liked. This time the victim is an arrogant author who runs writing classes solely for the purpose of taking villagers' money and telling them they can't write. John Heppel is an arrogant publicity-hound whose own book is pretentious and unreadable. Any of the villagers in Lochdubh could be the murderer.

By this point in the series I'm starting to wonder if things aren't becoming a bit too predictable. The formula is always the same: unlikable victim, many possible suspects, Hamish employs unorthodox methods that nearly get him fired. The romantic undercurrents are also the same. Hamish moons about the loss of former loves (in this book it's more Elspeth Grant than Priscilla Halburton-Smythe).

That said, it is a testament to Beaton's writing abilities that despite all this I still enjoy reading these books. What made this particular volume less enjoyable than some of the others was that it lacked the sense of danger that I've found in others. The climax, in particular, was missing that frisson of danger.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Bore (Mysterious Press, 2005) ISBN: 0892967951 

Review: Cargo of Eagles

This is the final book in the Albert Campion series; it was actually completed by Allingham's husband after her death. The book features Campion at the end of his career, and unlike earlier books he takes a backseat in the investigation of this case. Campion acts more as an adviser to a young American, Morty Kelsey, and his love interest, an attractive young doctor who has just inherited a country house in a seaside town. The town has quite a history of ghosts and pirates, among other things.

I enjoyed seeing Campion late in his career. He is world-weary in this book, happy to leave the actual investigating to younger associates. The end brings a surprising twist, and finally reveals to the reader the meaning of the title. As with other Campion books this one relies heavily on space and time- who was where when. Also like other books in the series this can get overwhelming. Still, it's interesting to see the gentleman sleuth in old age, and the books makes for a satisfying mystery.

Margery Allingham, Cargo of Eagles (orig. 1968, Felony and Mayhem, 2011) ISBN: 1934609919

Review: Her Royal Spyness

A down-at-the-heels minor royal, Lady Georgina refuses to be married off to a boring European prince. She desperately wants to escape the confines of her deadly dull sister-in-law's house. To try and gain a modicum of freedom Georgie runs off to the family's London home, finds a body in the bathtub, and sees her brother accused of the crime. To earn money and clear her brother's name Georgie engages in all sorts of schemes and adopts numerous disguises, including operating her own maid service.

This book offers a humorous look at the 'plight' of the minor royal. All of them are absolutely incompetent without servants. Georgie and her brother Binky can't run a bath, make a cup of tea, start a fire, or get coal out of the cellar. Royal protocol requires Lady Georgina to refuse private employment, but her family can't keep up their houses and servants on their too-small resources.

As this is the first in the series quite a bit of time is spent establishing the characters. This seems to frequently be the case with mystery series, and I often prefer subsequent volumes. I suspect that might be true with this series too.

Rhys Bowen, Her Royal Spyness (Berkley, 2007) ISBN: 0425215679 

Review: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

Peter Wimsey solves a classic locked-room mystery, as he tries to determine how the corpse of an elderly man came to be in the Bellona Club on Remembrance Day. The man died sometime after 10am, but the exact time of death is a mystery. It becomes a pressing mystery when it becomes clear that the time of death determines who will inherit a large fortune. The convoluted family argument and complex relationships make Wimsey's efforts more difficult. Halfway through the book the culprit seems to be apprehended, but Wimsey isn't so sure. I liked the model of a solution partway through the book that had to be unraveled.

This book had little engagement with Wimsey's life outside of the mystery. It is a book dependent upon Wimsey entering an existing situation. The details are numerous, and we get an interesting look at a London gentlemen's club in the 1920s. Overall, an entertaining classic mystery.

Dorothy Sayers, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (orig. 1928) ISBN: 0061043540 

Review: A Small Fortune

The saga of an Anglo-Pakistani family, this book shows how family members face their demons under the premise of acquiring some of a small divorce settlement. The prodigal daughter has quit medical school, a nephew is falling in with a dangerous crowd, and a brother is desperate for help. At the center of the family is Harris, who is trying desperately to reconstruct his family and to reconstruct happier times. Harris has lost interest in the life he once relished. When he receives his divorce settlement he is torn asunder by the competing needs of his family members.

While the blurb and title suggested that the book was going to focus on Harris's efforts to get rid of his money, that really is not the major issue. Money is the background, really a premise to get the family members to work out some long-festering problems. This was an interesting enough book. I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Harris and his new love, the professor. Other parts of the story were more predictable. Still, a well-written tale of a believable family.

Rosie Dastgir, A Small Fortune (Riverhead, 2012) ISBN: 159448810X 

Review: My Life on a Plate

This novel tells a tried and true (and perhaps somewhat tired) story: the woman who supposedly has it all finds parts of her life to be significantly lacking. Clara Hutt has the home, the husband, and the children. She's always wanted the children, and she and her husband are the best of friends. But, as is the modern woman's dilemma, Clara is worried that her life and her marriage lack passion. And Clara is left with the question of whether she can rightfully expect passion in the long term. Complicating this is the fact that Clara seems to have it so much better than so many of her friends. Her friend Tamsin is miserably single, Naomi's husband is cheating on her with his secretary. Is it reasonable for Clara to want more?

Clearly, this plot is neither innovative nor unusual. Still, the book was enjoyable. Clara and the other characters are well-developed, and have enough quirks so that they defy clear stereotypes. With an engaging twist at the end this was, ultimately, a book I enjoyed.

India Knight, My Life on a Plate (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000) ISBN: 0618093974 

Review: Mrs. Malory and Any Man's Death

In rural England Mrs. Malory engages village politics and solves mysteries on the side. When local gossip Annie Roberts dies everyone in the village seems much more relieved than upset. Minor investigation reveals that Annie wasn't just a busybody, she was a nasty piece of work who used people's vulnerabilities for her own gain. Mrs. Malory faces the unfortunate task of investigating the murder of someone who made life miserable for everyone in the village. She can continue to investigate, or she can let the village enjoy its new-found peace.

This was not necessarily the best place to jump into this series. There was little information on who Mrs. Malory is and what her relationship is to the village. Even jumping into the middle of the series, there were some quirky and interesting characters. What really made the book less than satisfactory was the fact that Mrs. Malory was investigating deep, dark secrets, and we never really find out what many of them are. In the case of many of the characters we never know for sure what their ties were to Annie Roberts.

There are many elements here that suggest that this is a series I would enjoy, and I plan to read more of them.

Hazel Holt, Mrs. Malory and Any Man's Death (Signet, 2009) ISBN: 0451229665 

Review: St. Peter's Finger

Mrs. Bradley is called in to investigate the death of a student at a convent school. Ursula Doyle is found dead in a bathroom. Her death is ruled a suicide, but the nuns are not convinced. Mrs. Bradley is given full run of the convent, and it becomes clear that the death is likely murder. Mrs. Bradley's own life is clearly in danger, as are those of Ursula's two cousins, also students at the school.

This was a rather delightful mystery. It is complicated, and there are numerous characters. I didn't figure out the solution in advance, but looking back I could see that Mitchell provides the clues. She offers plenty of red herrings.

I've read a number of books about convent life and schools during this periods, and the characterization of this one is decidedly different. Mitchell's convent is a warm and benevolent place. The children receive plenty of affection from the nuns, and students and nuns alike are generally happy. Even the orphans who are being groomed for domestic service content. That's a far cry from the cold and miserable convent schools that appear in so many other early-twentieth century novels and memoirs. Admittedly, Mitchell is primarily interested in crafting a mystery, and that she does well.

Gladys Mitchell, St. Peter's Finger (orig. 1938) ISBN: 0312001924 

Review: The Private Patient

A journalist dies at a plastic surgery clinic after what should have been a routine operation with a renowned surgeon. Investigation proves that the clinic is staffed by a rather odd group of individuals, all of whom seem to have issues. The dead woman, Rhoda Gradwyn, is a London journalist, and she has a nosy best friend who proves to have strange ties to the clinic.

As is always the case with James, the history and back-story of the characters is very important, and becomes essential to solving the mystery. What's really kind of sad for me is that this appears to be the end of the Dalgliesh series. Dalgliesh is ready to retire from Scotland Yard, and his two junior associates are tying up their loose ends. In reading this I couldn't help but think that James's heart was more in writing her Scotland Yard characters than in producing an actual mystery. This one didn't live up to the level of depth or suspense of the earlier volumes in the series.

P.D. James, The Private Patient (Knopf, 2008) ISBN: 0307270777 

Review: Death of a Poison Pen

Hamish's troubles with women continue. Jenny Ogilvie, one of Priscilla's friends, has come north to Lochdubh to try and seduce Hamish. Her inroad is Hamish's latest case- the double murder of the postmistress and former schoolmistress, who had been sending poison pen letters around the village. Finding someone who would want to murder both women proves to be a difficult task for Hamish.

One thing that strikes me about all the books in this series, but particularly this one, is that everyone seems to exist outside the present time. Though the books are presumably set in the early twenty-first century, people seem to have the sensibilities of the 1950s. I realize that Lochdubh is supposed to be in the far corners of the Highlands, but the people just don't seem to fit with the time period. Rural or not, they can't really be decades behind the times, can they?

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Poison Pen (Mysterious Press, 2004) ISBN: 0892967889 

Review: Union Street

Barker's book looks at the lives of women in a working-class neighborhood in northern England. Seven episodes examine the lives of women at every stage of life, from childhood to old age. It offers an unflinching look at the struggles of poverty and unrelenting work. Sexuality is often dangerous, and the women of Union Street are subjected to sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Their lives revolve around trying to take care of families and stretch resources.

Each story is compelling, and I was touched by the stories of women barely holding body and soul together. This is a book that makes the reader feel deeply, feel thankful, and recognize much about women's lives, feelings, fears, and responsibilities. Through these stories the reader sees the sum total of a life- the hopes and fears, the pains and celebrations. This is a deeply moving book, and one that is well-worth reading.

Pat Barker, Union Street (Trafalgar Square, 1987) ISBN: 0860682838 

Review: Lark Rise to Candleford

Written in the 1940s, this semi-fictional account of the Oxfordshire villages Lark Rise and Candleford looks back at the 1880s, a time of transition in the English countryside. Work, social relationships, home life, schooling- all of these things changed in the last years of the 19th c. Thompson examines these changes through the story of Laura, a girl who comes of age in the 1880s and 90s. But truly, in this work Laura's story takes a back seat to description. Thompson is clearly using this book to capture a lost world, and the book includes whole chapters describing the countryside and the traditions of its people. The writing is almost anthropological. While the description is interesting, and it is a very easy read, I found myself longing for more plot, more discussion of what happened to Laura. I also found that the book seemed to romanticize what must have been, by all accounts, grinding poverty. That said, the descriptions Thompson offers are engaging and vibrant, and the book is a quick, and dare I say, relaxing, read.

Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford (Crown, 1984) ISBN: 0140074546

There is such a thing as too much travel...

Apparently there is such a thing as too much travel. I have been on the road or hosting visitors on and off since mid-May. That's pretty much two solid months of travel and such. Right now I'm in Boston on a research trip. Now, to be fair, I love Boston. I grew up in it's suburbs, so it's my "home city." I love the architecture, I love the shopping, I love the libraries and colleges, and I even love the accent. Whenever I'm in Boston I feel a certain energy that I don't feel anywhere else. Usually, there are few other places I want to be. I appreciate Boston even more now that I have spent the past ten years living in other places-- places much more rural, and places with vastly different cultures, weather, and local quirks. All of that said, and as much as I love it here, right now what I really want is to be back in my house in Washington, with my bed, my books, my furniture, and my normal day-to-day life. I have, after all, traveled to Boston three times in the past two months, for a family function, a conference, and now a research trip. I'm feeling a bit disconnected.



So, today I'll be reviewing a book that deals heavily with themes of disconnection, Clare Morrall's Astonishing Splashes of Colour.




This book tells the story of a woman on the verge of nervous breakdown, precipitated by a recent miscarriage that has left her unable to have children. The main character, Kitty, proceeds to do all sorts of irresponsible things, and it quickly becomes evident that her life is hurtling towards tragedy at warp speed. In the background of all of this is Kitty's disintegrating career, an unusually distant relationship with her husband, and an unusual ability to see and feel colors with great intensity. While I found the book interesting, Kitty was not an entirely sympathetic character. All too frequently, all the reader can do is cringe at Kitty's activities, as they are so obviously misguided, and she is so clearly in need of help. It's difficult to discuss the plot in more detail, as it would definitely give away too much that the reader will want to discover while working through the book. This book presents an imaginative plot, and was an enjoyable read, in spite of the issues raised above.

Clare Morrall, Astonishing Splashes of Colour (Harper Perennial, 2005) ISBN: 0060734469