ONE-LINE REVIEW: A treat for your break, even if you don’t drink coffee!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: A collection of 20 solve-them-yourself mysteries, perfect f...moreONE-LINE REVIEW: A treat for your break, even if you don’t drink coffee!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: A collection of 20 solve-them-yourself mysteries, perfect for reading on your break.
For context, the stories are all short, suitable for reading one or two on a coffee break. If you have seen the 5-minute mysteries in the back of magazines like Reader’s Digest or remember the old Encyclopedia Brown series, then you understand the premise — you read a short-short story (almost flash length) with a mystery of “who did something”, ending with the narrator announcing she or he knows the solution. Then, as the reader, you are challenged to figure out the mystery too. Turn the page, and voila, the solution from the story’s narrator to see if you’re right.
WHAT I LIKED: Sometimes when you see this type of story presented in magazines, the author doesn’t play fair — they hide a piece of evidence, or they play games with personal pronouns to trick you into thinking the character named “Chris” is a man, but really a woman. The narrator knows the “extra” fact which leads to the solution, but you’re left high and dry. When that happens, the stories can be extremely frustrating to read. Red herrings are fine, deliberate trickery by the author to hide the solution is not. Based on those experiences, I probably wouldn’t have bought this book — but I really enjoyed it (in the interest of full disclosure, I was given a copy by the author for review purposes).
In this collection, I was happy to see that all of the mysteries play out completely fairly — in almost all cases, the information you need to solve them is provided completely within the text of the story. There are three small exceptions to this (Pilgrim Thanksgiving, Poe’s Mysterious Visitor, and White House Ghosts), but they are all historical mysteries — testing your knowledge of history to find the solution. And each are presented fairly, so long as you have basic knowledge of American or literary history.
I also really liked the “Ask Martha” collection within a collection. These are all stories with the same narrator — Crusher Davis, an ex-athlete turned sportswriter who also writes a “Ask Martha” column for the newspaper on the sly. It is odd, but the continuing character really helps the stories feel more vibrant, and more easily digestible. Of the six stories with Davis, The Arsonist and the Baseball Mystery are two of the best mysteries in the entire collection.
Finally, the last story (Is It A Wonderful Life) is one of the best of the collection, except there aren’t enough suspects or meat to the story. It’s pretty obvious who the main suspect is, including a possible missed clue that the killer knows the contents of something she probably wouldn’t have seen if she was telling the truth.
Overall, here are the stories I liked the best: - The Pilgrim Thanksgiving — A holiday pageant at a school concludes with a test — which of the stories was historically inaccurate? Rating: 4.00; - Edgar Allan Poe’s Mysterious Visitor — A group of local Poe lovers want to take over the graveside vigil of the anonymous Mysterious Visitor who comes to Poe’s grave every year, but to be chosen, they must pass a test about Poe. Rating: 3.00; - The White House Ghosts — Four former Presidents decide to leave a gift for the new President’s children…but which President is represented by the gift? Rating: 4.00; - Ask Martha – The St. Patrick’s Day Mystery — Somebody spikes the drink at a fundraiser, but who turned the green celebration blue? Rating: 4.00; - Ask Martha – The Arsonist — Somebody is setting fires around town, and the tipline produces some leads…but only one leads to the firebug. Rating: 4.50; - Ask Martha – The Identify Thief — A group of friends go out for lunch, one comes home without a credit card. Rating: 3.00; - Ask Martha – The Jackie Mitchell Autographed Baseball Mystery — A dying old man has a special baseball on his mantle that goes missing as soon as he dies. Rating: 4.50; - The Miser’s Hoard — An old miser dies, leaving a small treasure hidden in the wall…but when it is about to be divided up, somebody sneaks an early withdrawal. Rating: 3.00; - The Gourmet Mystery — Who was a pig that ate the expensive truffles and didn’t want to pay for them? Rating: 3.00; - Is It A Wonderful Life? — An old man dies of an overdose — was it an accident, or a prescription for murder? Rating: 3.50;
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: All of the stories are rated PG — which is only a problem in the sense that some of the characters seem uni-dimensional, like they’re stuck in an episode of Leave It To Beaver (one involves naive students pickpocketing people, which is dismissed as a prank because they apologize). At least three of the stories rely on an assessment of character (such as a person’s religious devotion) to eliminate suspects, which hardly registers as “evidence” to the normal mystery reader (in one case, a religious devotee is cleared of stealing a religious artifact because he is too devoted to steal). The solutions aren’t that complicated, but if the nuance was added that the police/narrator would prioritize their investigation on the main suspect first, rather than the narrator declaring “I know who did it”, it would be a little softer to read. And easier to agree with the solution presented. Often times I had it narrowed down to two suspects, and agreed the “correct” one was more likely, but I couldn’t eliminate the other one on the evidence alone.
There are two stories that seem out of place in the collection. The first involves a re-imagining of Oliver Twist, but I’m not entirely sure for what purpose; the second is an “embassy” style mystery involving Ronald Reagan in Geneva, and is relatively uninteresting with no real mystery to solve.
Here are my ratings for the short mysteries that I didn’t particularly enjoy:
- Who Poisoned George Washington? — George is poisoned while visiting New York, and there are four suspects. Rating: 2.50; - A Dream of Old Salem — A girl dreams of a witch trial in old Salem, but which of the witnesses is lying? Rating: 2.50; - Stealing Second Base — A baseball base is stolen from a display case and three students had the opportunity. Rating: 1.50; - Lost (Stolen) and Found — A purse of money is found in the woman’s washroom at the diner…but who put it there? Rating: 2.50; - Ask Martha – The Pickpocket — People are losing their wallets around town, and a small pool of suspects has already formed. Rating: 2.00; - Ask Martha – The Shoplifter – Four people write to Martha for help, followed by the police — and all of them are related stories about potential five finger discounts. Rating: 2.50; - What the Dickens – A Christmas Eve Mystery — A re-imagining of Dickens’ Oliver Twist and his reunion with his family. Rating: 1.00; - The Twelfth Night Mystery — The Three Wise Kings visit a little girl in modern times, bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh — and a kitten! Rating: 2.50; - The Crusader’s Robe — A ship is returning from the Crusades with treasures, and somebody pilfers one. Who was it? Rating: 2.00; - The Geneva Summit Goldfish Mystery — Reagan goes to Geneva to meet a goldfish. Rating: 1.00;
THE BOTTOM LINE: A good collection of short mysteries, easily digestible at coffee breaks or short interludes. Obviously not going to be huge on plot or character development, but that’s not their goal. 3.25 lilypads out of 5.00.
Other Information: - Source: Review Copy - Format reviewed: E-book(less)
ONE-LINE REVIEW: Vectors goes off in all directions!
* Format reviewed: Softcover
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the second of six books dealing with biolog...moreONE-LINE REVIEW: Vectors goes off in all directions!
* Format reviewed: Softcover
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the second of six books dealing with biological terrorism by an unknown foe. In this installment that takes place at the end of Kate Pulaski’s tenure on the Enterprise and before DS9 begins, Pulaski runs off to Bajor to help her ex-husband solve a plague that is infecting the Bajorans and the Cardassians during the occupation. The Cardassians believe it is the Bajorans; the Bajorans think it is the Cardassians. Again, however, the plague has an 100% fatality rate.
WHAT I LIKED: Pulaski’s character is fine, as are the “new” characters that are introduced.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Gul Dukat is far too mature, Odo is about average, and Kira Nerys is far too trusting of the Federation. In fact, her involvement makes almost no sense considering her character at the start of the DS9 episodes. The story doesn’t have the same solid medical workup as the first one in the series, and the characterization isn’t quite as good but it is also not as jarring.
THE BOTTOM LINE: A fast-paced storyline but without much depth.
Other Information: * Source: Library * Series: Star Trek / ST:TNG (52) / Double Helix (#02) * Genres: Fiction, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy (less)
ONE-LINE REVIEW: Infection suffers from its own disease!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the first of six books dea...moreWritten on January 20, 2001, updated 2011
ONE-LINE REVIEW: Infection suffers from its own disease!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the first of six books dealing with biological terrorism by an unknown foe. The story is interesting, as a planet has been infected with a plague with an 100% fatality rate — but only for those aliens who are of mixed-race. Pure breeds remain unaffected!
WHAT I LIKED: This is definitely different from most TNG plots where they steer away from racial relations that aren’t easily solved. The plot is interesting and the medical portion is solid.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Unfortunately, the problem with this novel is that the characters are written similar to those of the first few books in the TNG series — when the characters weren’t quite developed yet or as well-defined. When you read those early books now, you can’t help but say to yourself “But THEY wouldn’t do THAT!”. Such divergence from the real characters they become was understandable early on in the series, but now that there have been seven years worth of episodes, fifty odd books, and a couple of movies, going back to the “not yet defined” characters seems too far out of the fold. The characters fit the timeline in the series, but are not true to who the characters become.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Readable entry in the TNG universe but fans of the later seasons of the TNG series may have trouble relating to the earlier versions of the characters.
Other Information: * Source: Library * Series: Star Trek / ST: TNG (#051) / Double Helix (#01) * Format reviewed: Softcover * Tags: Action, Adventure, Book Review, Fiction, Sci-Fi, Star Trek, TNG(less)
ONE LINE REVIEW: The Conquered doesn’t put up much of a fight!
Originally posted on March 4, 2011 Format reviewed: Softcover
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is t...moreONE LINE REVIEW: The Conquered doesn’t put up much of a fight!
Originally posted on March 4, 2011 Format reviewed: Softcover
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: This is the first of a 3-book series dealing with a time when Bajor takes over the station for a trial period of 60 days. Kai Winn is in command, and her past is revealed through a series of flashbacks to the Occupation and her actions to help the resistance. Worf, Sisko, O’Brien, Quark and Odo are stranded on a planet where all the citizens have advanced technology that has reduced them to a complete dependency relationship. Renegade Cardassians have invaded the planet and have no trouble picking off the inhabitants — all they have to do is cut the power to the technology. Dax and Bashir are also on the planet in a different environment.
WHAT I LIKED: Dax and Bashir’s trials and tribulations aren’t bad and there is interesting interplay with some cadets.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Kai Winn’s character comes off far too “mature” for the period, and belies the changes when she actually reached power. Major Kira’s character is barely fleshed out, and mostly appears as a caricature of the real character on the series. None of the four stranded characters are worth reading about here, and are pale imitations of the real characters on the series.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The Conquered are indeed defeated and the book doesn’t put up much of a fight to be interesting.
Other Information: * Source: New * Series: Star Trek / Rebels Trilogy / Deep Space 9 / Order: 01 (Rebels), 024 (DS9)(less)
ONE-LINE REVIEW: Kill me twice if I run out of Parker stories to read!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: Sunny Randall is back, and she has a new part-time job as adv...moreONE-LINE REVIEW: Kill me twice if I run out of Parker stories to read!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: Sunny Randall is back, and she has a new part-time job as advisor to the love-lorn. Her first customer is Mary Lou Goddard, a prominent feminist (à la Rachel Wallace, from the Spenser series) who thinks she’s being stalked. When Sunny figures out who the stalker is, Goddard wants to drop it all and fires her. Doesn’t stop her from continuing to investigate, even though she has no client. The second customer is her sister — who hires her to catch the sister’s husband in the process of cheating. Which Sunny does, and then spends the rest of the book dealing with the dysfunctional sister. And the third and final customer is her normal confidant and best friend, Julie, who runs into marital problems in this book.
WHAT I LIKED: This is a first-rate mystery, with typical Parker twists and turns and links to criminal types. It provides a different spin on the normal Spenser series, while still staying within the same ballpark.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: The storyline with the sister is hard to take because you just want to slap her; which is okay because Sunny wants to slap her too, although I can’t figure out why she doesn’t. The third storyline with Julie is okay, but started to grate near the end.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Overall, a good story, and first-rate mystery. Plus a different spin on the normal Spenser story, as Parker continues to carry on writing the best in detective fiction. Some of the characters are 1:1 match-ups with Spenser characters, but they work well in both contexts. 4.00 lilypads out of 5.00.
Other Information: - Source: New - Format reviewed: Paperback - Original date of review: March 2001, updated 2011 - Series: Sunny Randall / Order: #002(less)
ONE-LINE REVIEW: Deadly Decisions — do I read this or Scarpetta?
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: In this third installment in the Dr. Temperance Brennan series, the...moreONE-LINE REVIEW: Deadly Decisions — do I read this or Scarpetta?
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: In this third installment in the Dr. Temperance Brennan series, there are biker gangs in Montreal, and they are killing each other. Most of it happens in Montreal, which is an improvement over the bopping around in previous books.
WHAT I LIKED: The story is interesting, and Reichs is still above average.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Some of the characters are fast becoming clichés. And if you don’t figure out a sub-plot (spoiler alert!) about her love interest being a dirty cop, you need to take Mystery Fiction 101 again. Temperance also gets to play Mommy again, this time to a nephew, but it isn’t particularly exciting. More of a Scarpetta rip-off. Again, too, Reichs plays fast and loose with a couple of clues that make Brennan look like an idiot to any intelligent reader and really detracts from the story. The final ending is almost surreal, and reads more like a script for an action TV-series than reliable fiction..
THE BOTTOM LINE: Not up to the standards of the first book. 3.00 lilypads out of 5.00.
Other Information: - Source: Library - Format reviewed: Hardcover - Original date of review: March 2001, updated 2011 - Series: Temperance Brennan / Order: #003(less)
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: An amazing collection of 36 shortstories from a master storyteller combining romance, hist...moreONE-LINE REVIEW: An excellent collection!
THE PLOT OR PREMISE: An amazing collection of 36 shortstories from a master storyteller combining romance, history, danger, twists, international intrigue, and domestic angst.
WHAT I LIKED: Obviously with 36 shortstories, one cannot simply provide a generic list of key elements. A really nice mix, particularly some of the ones with twist endings. Here is an overview of each of the stories and the ratings for each.
* NEVER STOP ON THE MOTORWAY: Woman driver is chased by a van down the motorway, with the context backlit by recent rapes and murders. Fantastic twist. 5.00 * OLD LOVE: Two competitors, one boy, one girl compete against each other in everything including who loves the other more and are inseparable throughout life. 4.50 * SHOESHINE BOY: Mountbatten (sic) pays a visit to St. George’s where a drastically underfunded Governor rolls out the red carpet. 4.50 * CHEAP AT HALF THE PRICE: Mrs. Rosenheim wants a bauble from the jewelry store but has to play hustle to get the men in her life to commit to buying it. 4.00 * BROKEN ROUTINE: A man whose routine is unflappable is somewhat disturbed by a brash youth on the train who wants to read his paper and smoke his cigarettes. Nice twist. 4.50 * AN EYE FOR AN EYE: A woman has an alibi for the death of her husband: she was not only in the hospital (although the time is shaky) but also blind…or is she? 4.00 * THE LUNCHEON: A up and coming man takes an attractive (married) woman to lunch to try and get business favours. Unfortunately lunch is expensive and he has no budget. 3.50 * THE COUP: Two business rivals are stranded in Nigeria during a coup, and they end up resolving their differences and being the real coup. 3.50 * THE PERFECT MURDER: A man commits an accidental murder of his mistress after finding out she was also stepping out with another man, and manages to frame the man for the murder. Cute twist at end. 4.00 * YOU’LL NEVER LEARN TO REGRET IT: David is dying of AIDS and leaving everything to Pat. They trick the insurance company despite his condition and collect handsomely on David’s death. But insurance companies are sometimes trickier than one might think, as are their brokers. 3.75 * THE FIRST MIRACLE: A cute twist on an old tail has an historical figure running errands around the birth of Christ. 3.50 * THE LOOPHOLE: Two friends get into a heated argument at the club and not only engage in slander but also physical fighting, leading to a legal battle and an eventual settlement, yet the two remain friends. 4.00 * THE HUNGARIAN PROFESSOR: An Englishman visits Hungary for the Olympics and meets a Professor who knows all about England and wants to practice his English and talk about all the sites in London. 4.25 * THE STEAL: A tightly-budgeted couple takes a vacation and are forced to endure the overblown ramblings of an obnoxiously rich couple, up to and including the purchase of an oriental rug. 4.75 * CHRISTINA ROSENTHAL: A strange story of a Jewish marathon runner and the gentile woman he fell in love with, and the strange stories of their love over time. 4.25 * COLONEL BULLFROG: A Colonel becomes a POW in Asia shortly before the end of WWII and the strange relationship that develops between the captive and the captors. 4.00 * DO NOT PASS GO: A political refugee resettles in America, but during a return flight to the area of his birth, his plane is forced to land in Iraq, where there is a bounty on his head. 3.50 * CHUNNEL VISION: A strange tale of a man about to be dumped by his latest fling, where the woman runs up expensive charges at a restaurant where the man explains to an old friend a detailed plot of an upcoming novel. The old friend, also a novelist, is horrified as the plot is the plot of his latest best seller, and the man doesn’t know. 4.00 * DOUGIE MORTIMER’S RIGHT ARM: A story of rowers and the mysterious cast of the arm of one of the first rowers which keeps disappearing from the rower’s club. 3.75 * CLEAN SWEEP IGNATIUS: A Nigerian Minister of Finance wants to cut out the heart of corruption and flys to Switzerland to get the names of the citizens in his country who have Swiss bank accounts. 4.00 * NOT FOR SALE: An up-and-coming artist gets swept off her feet by a gallery owner who wines and dines her to finish some stunning paintings for her first showing, with initially tragic results. 4.00 * ONE-NIGHT STAND: Two male friends are inseparable until they meet a woman that impresses both of them, despite each being already married, and they both pursue her with reckless abandon, cutting each other off in each attempt until one finally succeeds. Neat feminist twist. 4.50 * A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS: An art hustler likes to borrow paintings and then return them, while at the same time picking up the nearest available wife for a turn around the studio. Burned twice, a gallery owner plots a terminal revenge. 4.00 * CHECKMATE: An elaborate plan to trick a woman into bed revolves around a game of “strip”-chess. But the plan goes too well for awhile, and then a final twist to set things right. 4.00 * THE CENTURY: A sports tale of an elaborate cricket match of Herculean competition between two giants at Oxford and Cambridge. 3.50 * JUST GOOD FRIENDS: A strange bar tale leading to a new companion for a recently-bruised male ego. 4.00 * HENRY’S HICCUP: A rich man tries to hold on to his comfortable life despite the impact of the Great War in Europe. After the war, he’s disappointed to find privilege doesn’t return to the owner. 4.00 * A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE: An upright (and uptight) businessman tries to export his business values to Mexico when he tries to get a construction contract. 4.50 * TRIAL AND ERROR: More of a short novella than a short story, this is the tale of a man convicted of murder who hires the straightest arrow at Scotland Yard to find the corpse which he thinks is still walking around very much alive, and that his wife was in on the frame. 4.50 * THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN: A publisher visits a club in NYC and grabs hold of a story of a backgammon championship from the 1930s and how a non-player apparently beat the world champion despite numerous setbacks that week. 4.50 * À LA CARTE: A boy wants to follow his father’s footsteps working at a car factory, but his father makes him work for a year in London to see if he can find something more upwardly mobile, and he does: chef! 4.00 * THE CHINESE STATUE: A man travels to China as a diplomat and is given a statue of some value by a peasant, and has to try and find a way to repay the debt. 4.50 * THE WINE TASTER: A wine taster is challenged to a duel of palates by an unscrupulous rich upstart. 4.00 * TIMEO DANAOS…: A bank branch manager with pretensions to grandeur takes his wife on a Mediterranean cruise, and she wants to buy a new dinner service. 4.00 * NOT THE REAL THING: A strange combination of foreign governments, an engineer who helps rebuild their basic services, a woman with two suitors who marries the engineer, and the desire of the engineer to show up his now important former rival (despite the fact that the engineer won the girl). All in all, a story worthy of medals (a subplot of the story). 4.50 * ONE MAN’S MEAT…: A story told in two parts. The first part is the intro — a man sees a beautiful woman entering a theatre, and finagles a seat next to her. Then, he asks her to dinner and the story diverges into four possible endings. * RARE: Everthing goes perfectly, all too well in fact, and the ending is a depressing twist. 4.00 * BURNT: The woman’s husband turns up, so the night is a bust and goes downhill from there. 4.25 * OVERDONE: Everything goes horrible between the two, and the woman is basically a shrew and the meal feels like a battlescene. 4.00 * À POINT: An amazing combination of optimism and lightheartedness that outshines the other three endings by far. 5.00
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: That there weren’t even more stories or that some of the really good ones weren’t longer!
THE BOTTOM LINE: A good collection of stories. 4.25 lilypads out of 5.00.
Other Information: - Source: New - Format reviewed: Hardcover - Original date of review: July 2003(less)
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