Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Enjoying this immensely. I have to say, though - Piper is intent on mentioning just about every gun that ever existed. Several gunrooms are actually in play, here - proud owners giving tours, discussing gun histories, condition of guns, it’s borderline disturbing if one isn’t in to gun culture. But okay, it is called Murder in the Gunroom, and Piper was an expert. Jeeves got mentioned, so that was cool!

After I spotted this book, bought it, and salted it away, I somehow got the notion it was from Philip Jose Farmer, not H. Beam Piper. Got a surprise when I went to get it for reading. Next - I did not know Piper's life details at all, and the Introduction was a sobering, saddening short version. Finally - off to a decent start, so I'm back to happy. I don't think Piper has other books like this. Oh well.

All I can do is hope it’s better than N.Y.P.D. 2025 by Hal Stryker (….a book I never think about, and as I was typing this, I thought “Oh! Right! We’ve caught up to that book!”).

Hunh! This IS turning out to be like Angelus!, by Peter Tremayne. That’s not an immediate buzzkill; Fracassi is a better writer - that’s the first thing to mention - but Angelus! was pretty darn terrific. So, better and more engaging style aside, this is gonna be a bit of a battle - one I wasn’t expecting - between two SOMEWHAT similar “remote, creepy boys’ school meets sinister possessive force” plots.

Excellent start. The premise, and general aura in the opening chapters, takes me right back to Angelus!, by Peter Tremayne - isolated boys’ school - but I suspect this will go in a different direction.

I have had a theory for a little while, and am probably pages away from the wrongness of it shoved in my face. Very exciting.

A few notes on this wonderful book: (a) It does seem the most like a Nesbo book - Redeemer meets The Snowman - than any other by MacDonald (of course it's a later one, late 1950s); (b) it's also a bit like reading The Alienist, which I didn't love at the end, but which was gripping a lot of the time (this one is more consistent); (c) I can see why this one is highly revered, always gets mentioned.

So far, it’s terrific. I never thought there would be a Mystery novel that would remind me - even if only somewhat - of one of my Top 5 favourites: The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo. But that’s what’s happening - I guess mainly because of the scenes where we cut to “Smith Brown-Jones”. Something like that went on in The Redeemer…and the complexity at play here might end up mirroring the complex premise of Nesbo’s great book.

Wow. Just by sheer coincidence, it seems that I'm on a hunt to see how many novels I can accidentally string together in which Toronto is mentioned. Miro, then A Sweet, Sweet Summer, and now this in its opening chapter. And Toronto came up, just as I was digesting the fact that the name Pamela seemed to be occurring in every book I read! Anyway, here again we'll see if he can top The Polferry Riddle.

Ready for the first story - it is called 'The Wax-Work Cadaver', so it should be good. Right?

A unique reading experience; and it has gotten better as it has gone along. Scarier stuff, now.

This is like listening to 'Sex and Candy' over and over again...and suddenly noticing the lyrics are about sex and candy, but also about an alien invasion. It sounds like Ringo Starr is guesting on drums...but then suddenly, he's not...

I was surprised to find a copy of this book in a Used bookstore in Toronto, this past weekend. And for cheap! I’m not an expert on the publishing history of this book - but I don’t think it was distributed in Canada…and my inexpert take on chasing down copies - particularly in North America - is that the book is rare and usually expensive. I think I caught a break, this time.

I have no idea what to expect - but I sure am curious. I only know this author through her Fantasy series, and I can't see this as being quite the same...

A decent read - and I like the Canadian connection (weird to think of the scenes taking place in a Toronto the year I was born…the city would look completely different!). But overall, this has been a rather average spy novel. Pace is acceptable, style is strained and trying too hard.