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436th out of 3,451 books
—
7,986 voters
To Play the Fool (Kate Martinelli #2)
by
Laurie R. King (Goodreads Author)
Celebrated author Laurie R. King dazzles mystery lovers once again in this, her second Kate Martinelli mystery. The story unfolds as a band of homeless people cremate a beloved dog in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. When it comes to incidents like this, the authorities are willing to overlook a few broken
regulations. But three weeks later, after the dog's owner gets the...more
regulations. But three weeks later, after the dog's owner gets the...more
Mass Market Paperback, 286 pages
Published
May 1st 1996
by Crimeline
(first published February 1st 1995)
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In this one, book two, detective inspector Martinelli and her partner Hawkins (San Francisco PD) are to solve a mystery about the death of a homeless man. Their main suspect happens to be a much beloved, and learned, other homeless man who happens to be a Fool. And who also happens to only speak in quotations (from the Bible and Shakespeare).
I thought it was interesting because
1. The book made you think along with the detective. Especially the quotations. What is he quoting? What is he trying to...more
I thought it was interesting because
1. The book made you think along with the detective. Especially the quotations. What is he quoting? What is he trying to...more
To Play the Fool is the second of a series of mystery novels by Laurie King that feature the San Francisco homicide detective Kate Martinelli. The first book, A Grave Talent, was an Edgar Award winner.
This book picks up about a year after the first, and finds Martinelli and her partner Al Hawken investigating the death of a homeless man in Golden Gate Park. There are no witnesses or evidence, but an enigmatic old man called Brother Erasmus who speaks only in quotations becomes a prime suspect. Q...more
This book picks up about a year after the first, and finds Martinelli and her partner Al Hawken investigating the death of a homeless man in Golden Gate Park. There are no witnesses or evidence, but an enigmatic old man called Brother Erasmus who speaks only in quotations becomes a prime suspect. Q...more
I think this is the first Lesbian detective story that I've read where it's not heavy handed or jammed into your face with too many protestations.
Kate Martinelli is a good person, a police officer, who is working to solve a murder case while caring for her partner, who was damaged (to the point of paraplegia) in (I am guessing) the book before. They're a comfortable married couple dealing with the issues of Kate's work, Lee's work (she is a psychiatrist), Lee's struggle to heal, and aspects of a...more
Kate Martinelli is a good person, a police officer, who is working to solve a murder case while caring for her partner, who was damaged (to the point of paraplegia) in (I am guessing) the book before. They're a comfortable married couple dealing with the issues of Kate's work, Lee's work (she is a psychiatrist), Lee's struggle to heal, and aspects of a...more
"What we have here is a failure to communicate;" especially when one character is "To Play the Fool." Laurie King won the Edgar Award for best first novel, "A Grave Talent," over 20 years ago; I came to it late (and King), as I did with her Mary Russell series. After falling in love with several of King's Mary Russell series, I read "A Grave Talent," and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed it so much that I grabbed "To play a Fool," read it in two days, and am simply delighted with the book and t...more
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I liked this better at the end than while reading it. I don't know, Kate Martinelli's personality somehow doesn't catch my interest...I have read others in the series and can't remember them at all.
However, Brother Erasmus was an interesting character and his back story certainly made his choice to be "foolish" comprehensible - he was a moving character in many ways, and the use of quotations from St. Francis of Assisi at the beginning of each chapter set up a parallelism. I had mixed feelings a...more
However, Brother Erasmus was an interesting character and his back story certainly made his choice to be "foolish" comprehensible - he was a moving character in many ways, and the use of quotations from St. Francis of Assisi at the beginning of each chapter set up a parallelism. I had mixed feelings a...more
The second book in Laurie R. King's series featuring Detective Kate Martinelli explores the history and eccentricities related to "Holy Fools", men and women who expose human frailties through jests and acting out opposites to those frailties. St. Francis was one of the first and best known of the Holy Fools to emerge from religious backgrounds to construct their own orders of beliefs; he surrendered all his worldly goods to live a life of true wealth, a perfect example of the approach by opposi...more
A mystery novel where the central crime & question of 'whodunnit' is of decidedly secondary or even tertiary concern. It's mostly focused on the nature of a suspect that no one in the novel really believes was guilty. The suspect is a Fool, one of the last dregs of an odd branch of the Jesus people movement of the seventies who tried to evoke devine light through the methods of court jesters crossed with zen monks.
I suppose it might have gripped me more if I were just encountering the concep...more
I suppose it might have gripped me more if I were just encountering the concep...more
I don't tend to enjoy supermarket murder mysteries, but several things endeared me to this one, almost immediately.
1. Tortured-soul, lesbian cop. Enough said.
2. Set in my Bay Area, so I could picture everything that happened.
3. Literary allusions sprinkled through the entire thing made me want to re-read, so I could savor what I didn't know before the case was tied up.
4. Historical religious movements centered around St. Francis of Assisi, and the idea of being ridiculous as divine.
That said, so...more
1. Tortured-soul, lesbian cop. Enough said.
2. Set in my Bay Area, so I could picture everything that happened.
3. Literary allusions sprinkled through the entire thing made me want to re-read, so I could savor what I didn't know before the case was tied up.
4. Historical religious movements centered around St. Francis of Assisi, and the idea of being ridiculous as divine.
That said, so...more
I recently discovered Kate Martinelli in A GRAVE TALENT and continued reading about her police work and her private life in TO PLAY THE FOOL. And I may add that I have read the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books. Capsule-sized assessment: I really enjoy King's work. She tells what is, for me, a full, well developed story, complete with the personal bits that give life to an interesting character, without undue or distracting side issues. She knows what makes "enough" and included just that. Ever...more
Over the holidays, one of our major cleaning tasks was to pull all of our books off our various bookshelves, out from under our bed, in our dresser, in the closets, etc. and sort them. We sorted them into boxes to be donated to the library, boxes to put into storage, a pile to put into the “secondary” bookshelf, and then the honored books that would go into our living room bookshelf. These would be books that had importance to us—some child raising books, our scripts and monologue books, books w...more
A man who has been dealt a cruel blow retreats from the life that hurts him and becomes a street fool. Some how he is connected to the death of another street person but Kate can't get him to tell her what he knows because the "fool" will only talk in quotes from the bible, Shakespeare or other lyrical works. Al and Kate unravel the mystery around Brother Erasmus but not before another street person is murdered. Such an interesting portrait of a life of a "Fool". I liked that we get glimpses of...more
Kate Martinelli #2... terrific story with a FABULOUS central character, Brother Erasmus, who has reinvented himself as a Holy Fool and only speaks in literary or Biblical quotations. I'd never heard of Holy Fools before and I LOVE when a novelist introduces a subculture that's totally new to me; in fact, I learned about 2 subcultures in this book, the Holy Fools and the homeless who live in Golden Gate Park. The root mystery is about a homeless man who died and was cremated in the park. And the...more
I continue to read Lauri's Kate Martinelli mysteries because I not only think she is an excellent writer who spins a gripping yarn, she takes me to a world I would never visit without her. Two beautiful, successful career women in a committed relationship. It is just that Kate is a cop and subject to violence. Her partner Lee was shot in anothr book and is on the mend. The relationship is lovely.
I also liked the part about Fools and the work of fools. I think that maybe what the world needs now...more
I also liked the part about Fools and the work of fools. I think that maybe what the world needs now...more
Apr 05, 2009
Jay
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
San Franciscans, homeless people, theologians, classicists
I usually avoid fiction and particularly mysteries, but my dad enthusiastically suggested I read this as it combined my passions for theology, social justice, poverty/homelessness, disabled communities, and queer communities. That said, my review has little to say about the mystery itself.
I enjoyed this book, painfully at times, but appreciate the ways in which theology and feminism are woven into a complex and compelling story. As a person working in homeless communities in San Francisco, the a...more
I enjoyed this book, painfully at times, but appreciate the ways in which theology and feminism are woven into a complex and compelling story. As a person working in homeless communities in San Francisco, the a...more
The second of Laurie R. King's Kate Martinelli books, To Play the Fool, is a tightly written, thoughtful work, and was a nice re-introduction for me to the series. I'd previously read the third and then the first ones; going back to read the second filled in the blanks nicely on things that I'd missed. It'd been long enough since I'd read the previous books though that I'd forgotten much of the nuances of the series, but I recalled enough to find this perhaps the most enjoyable of the ones I'd r...more
Gotta love the set-up: Berkeley denizen, who speaks only in Biblical / Shakespearean quotes, suspected of murder.
The themes of "Fool" play right into King's talents: set up a likable if not-completely-lucid protagonist, evoke unforseen consequences through power of suggestion rather than brunt of detail, elaborately construct straw men to destroy as a practice in ironic pathos, and finally cut through the commentary with brute action.
Quick read with wide range.
The themes of "Fool" play right into King's talents: set up a likable if not-completely-lucid protagonist, evoke unforseen consequences through power of suggestion rather than brunt of detail, elaborately construct straw men to destroy as a practice in ironic pathos, and finally cut through the commentary with brute action.
Quick read with wide range.
I didn't like this as much as "Grave Talent". The plot is interesting: a "Fool" who speaks only in words of others, mainly quotes from the Bible or Shakespeare, becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. The background on "Fools" was great, and while the premise is interesting, the solution to the mystery wasn't. The eventual murderer just popped out of nowhere.
Like most of King's stories, it is well written with interesting characters and great interaction between the characters, but the book...more
Like most of King's stories, it is well written with interesting characters and great interaction between the characters, but the book...more
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I love it when an author can combine some real character insights with obscure academic studies and tell an interesting mystery at the same time. It is nearly as much a juggling act as playing the fool itself.
King managed to write a book this is well written, entertaining and informative. I confess to being a fan of her writing in general, and her Mary Russell books have much the same quality.
King managed to write a book this is well written, entertaining and informative. I confess to being a fan of her writing in general, and her Mary Russell books have much the same quality.
Really good. What I like most about the Kate Martinelli stories is how matter-of-fact they are about the protagonist being a lesbian. It's not an "issue", it's just part of who she is. The way her relationship with her partner Lee is depicted is natural, often sweet and romantic - it feels truthful. Beyond that, the mystery here is interesting, particularly if you live in the Bay and know all the places mentioned in it. A book made of well-constructed, interesting storytelling.
Glad Carolyn recommended this mystery set in San Francisco [and partly on Holy Hill where the divinity schools are:].
I would benefit from a study group session on holy fools [I believe Jesus is said to be one, and St Francis another:]; quite an interesting topic.
And one gets a glimpse of the homeless scene and the people who may get themselves in that situation.
I would benefit from a study group session on holy fools [I believe Jesus is said to be one, and St Francis another:]; quite an interesting topic.
And one gets a glimpse of the homeless scene and the people who may get themselves in that situation.
This one was kind of a disappointment for me. I loved the first one so much--this one was just a bit too convoluted for me to enjoy. I am both a history and literary buff; however, her use of quotes just did not gel for me the way her use of art did in the first novel. I am hoping her next installment will be more on par with her first book in this series.
I am giving this three stars only because it is billed as a mystery and that part of the plot is really secondary. But Brother Erasmus is a wonderful character as is the interesting details that lead him from who he was to who he is. It is also a striking commentary on homelessness and makes me think that I need to look a bit closer at the people around me and their realities.
I really enjoyed this book. I was looking for another mystery from Ms. King after reading A Grave Talent and this one kinda was but not really. You don't really know who the killer is until the end but this book is more about the process of a tragic human being. But I was fascinated with the characters. Ms. King writes such rich, complex characters. Throughout this series she has been letting you see more and more into the characters. I agree with others that I had hoped that Al was in this book...more
Loved this book even more that A Grave Talent! Loved, loved, loved getting to know Brother Erasmus and learning of his past. Such a unique reveal and such well written characters. Bravo to Laurie R. King. I am definitely turning into a fanatic! While there are aspects of the Russell/Holmes series that I struggle with, I whole-heartedly embrace the characters in the Martinelli series. Can't wait to read more! (but will have to as I am currently reading Folly one of her stand alones. Highly recomm...more
This is the second Kate Martinelli I have read. While the mystery procedural was okay, what really captured me was the concept of the Holy Fool. Saint Francis was a Fool, and modern clowning is descended from this movement.
I'm not sure whether Laurie King is continuing with her Kate Martinelli books but I would like to read more.
I'm not sure whether Laurie King is continuing with her Kate Martinelli books but I would like to read more.
This one starts slow, but I love the philosophical/literary discussion of the Fool as an agent for social change. Also, the Fool in this story was one of the most interesting and intriguing characters I've ever come across. The murder mystery part of the book is okay, but not as good as the exploration of the Fool.
This is a fascinating book in which King obviously draws on her theological experience. Being a fool for God is an interesting concept. As with all of her books, I could not put it down and have actually read it twice (which I never do; there is hardly enough time to get through everything I want to read once!).
This was another Kate Martinelli mystery, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. It revolved around a homeless man who played the part of a fool and spoke only in quotations usually taken from the Bible or Shakespeare. I still like the character of Kate, but found this one a little too weird.
An interesting detective novel, where the emphasis is on a particular character rather than solving the mystery. It mostly works. I certainly wanted to keep reading, and I will probably go on and read the next book in this series. But definitely not as gripping as the first book in the series.
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Edgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum, the LRK Virtual Book Club, is here on Goodreads, so please check there to join in the book-discussing fun.
King's next novel The Bones of Paris, will be out in September 2013, seeing Touchstone's Harris Stuyvesant and Bennett Grey find the darkness beneath the light of 1929 Paris. In the Russell se...more
More about Laurie R. King...
King's next novel The Bones of Paris, will be out in September 2013, seeing Touchstone's Harris Stuyvesant and Bennett Grey find the darkness beneath the light of 1929 Paris. In the Russell se...more
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