The Casebook of Constance and Charlie, Volume 2

Constance and Charlie #2, 4, 6.5

by Kate Wilhelm

Charlie, a retired fire investigator, and Constance, a retired psychologist, go out together on harrowing adventures and uncover interesting mysteries.

Volume Two includes:
Sweet, Sweet Poison,
The Dark Door
Torch song
Christ's tears
An imperfect gift.

Genres: Mystery

ebook

First published January 10, 2000

About the author

Kate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.

Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit,  Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,  Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.

Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.

Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction. 

Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.

Reviews

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Sweet Sweet Poison independently, but could not find a standalone of The Dark Door in my local library, so I checked out the omnibus edition. My complaint about the omnibus editions is that Dark Door falls in the midst of volume one's publication schedule, but all of the Constance and Charlie mysteries can be read as stand alones. The Dark Door was one of the more science fiction influenced of this series, where Constance has to give up a scientific perspective as the only means of perceiving reality. This malignant influence shows up in older abandoned wood hotels, whose doorways are wide enough to accommodate the Dark Door. In nearby towns people start acting crazy, especially if they have strayed into a one mile radius. Crazy is not entirely accurate, they behave in ways that can only be described as evil. Charlie and Constance are hired by an insurance agency to track down an arsonist who is torching these building, but soon they discover the man might actually be performing a public service. Residents and local firefighters have been complacent about the fires given that the occurrence of mayhem subsides after the burns. Ultimately they meet this vigilante and foil the government which is interested in isolating and studying the phenomena. The last torching is one of the cinematic scenes I have ever read in Wilhelm's work. Aside from my favorite anthology of her works, Children of the Wind.
Torch Song is about the imperfection of justice, in a nut shell, or perhaps a nut case. There are no science fiction overtones, and Constance is almost brought down by a woman with a sprayer of gasoline. Here her akido skills are of little use.
I loved Christ's Tears, because it is Constance who figures out the clue is botanical. This is a historical mystery treasure hunt story. I found the ex cons character somewhat weak, and the major thrust is Charlie's desire to bring down an old opponent, which he does with several bits of theatrical misdirection. Cynical laughter follows.
An imperfect gift is about a family desire to regain a picture stolen in the flight from the Germans. The Grubers were thanked by a traveling artist who fell ill at their inn, the Gruberhaus. When they fled they took the picture with them to remember their home, but it was stolen when their escape went awry. Now an old man, Mr Gruber is obsessed with a similar painting he saw in a documentary, but the owners disawoy they are fellow fugitives. Constance remembers some interesting information about traumatized war children and Charlie is able to construct a trap for the Wall family. Botany again comes into play when a liberated stutterer sends Constance a box of bulbs. I have seen a very similar plot in a television series recently, but I suppose restored art has some very common themes, mostly the ability to evoke memories of better times, a time before the War. I enjoyed the humanity of the detectives response to the Wall's situation.

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun assortment of mysteries. Shows Wilhelm's wide variety of writing genre.