FIRE, BURN! (MurderMys/TT-D.S. John Cheviot-London-1950s/1829) – Standalone – John Dickson Carr A woman is killed in a well-lit corridor, dying before the eyes of three witnesses who, impossibly, detect no foul play. For more than a century, this baffling murder lies cold in the files of Scotland Yard until it is discovered by Detective-Superintendent John Cheviot, who yearns to apply modern scientific policing to the grisly old case. He is about to get his chance. Taking a cab to Scotland Yard, Cheviot steps out in front of Old Scotland Yard and sees a beautiful woman beckoning him. Suddenly it is 1829 and Cheviot is a member of the newly organized London police force. He might now have an opportunity to solve the most puzzling murder in the Yard’s history, but in a time before fingerprints and ballistic analysis, he will find police work to be far more baffling and brutal than he is used to.
Gabriel – NR - The idea is interesting--the kind where the detective finds himself in the past, has to adapt in order to solve the mystery. I found it boring in execution. Maybe it was the characters. The appendix was also interesting in theory but not in practice. Helen – DNR – The pacing was too slow, the characters flat and stereotypical. There was nothing original, and the story didn’t move well. LJ – Good – The female character seemed vapid by today’s standard but Carr cleverly researched the language, social morays of the time, which I found fascinating. Marcy – DNF – She was intrigued by the description of the book, and the idea of being able to use his current knowledge of forensics in the past, but the story didn’t really go there. Nancy - Okay - Clearly, the objective of this historical crime novel was to be creative, not historically accurate. But it was still enjoyable to read Carr’s imaginary version of the very early days of Scotland Yard and how a bewildering murder came to be investigated and almost magically solved by a time traveling policeman in the 1800’s. I could envision most of the book’s very well drawn characters as well as all their detailed clothing and physical settings. The plot vehicle of time travel and vocabulary was fun and book’s simple and cliched ending felt almost secondary. “Fire, Burn!” kept me interested and reading, but really might have worked better as a shorter novella. Ron –Good--Well written and researched time travel mystery with a good sense of time and place about the early days of Scotland Yard. I liked the sense of the protagonist actually slowly forgetting details of his previous life as he becomes accustomed to his new one. I also didn’t guess the real murderer as even a possible suspect, although this was clearly due to no discernible clues given by the author even in terms of his character. The main problem I had with the book was the illogic of much of it, even aside for the time travel aspect—Lady Cork’s going to the police about stolen birdseed when she knew Margaret Renfrew stole her jewelry yet never even confronted her, the fact that Hugo Hogben didn’t come forward earlier to accuse Cheviot and the he was believed by Mayne without ever questioning him about how he happened to be in the upstairs room or seeing him as a suspect himself, and the almost superhuman abilities of the protagonist.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: Poor
FAIRIE TALE: A NOVEL (Mys/Fantasy-Phil Hastings-Pennsylvania-Contemp) – Standalone – Raymond E. Feist Phil Hastings was a lucky man-he had money, a growing reputation as a screenwriter, a happy, loving family with three kids, and he'd just moved into the house of his dreams in rural of magic-and about to be altered irrevocably by a magic more real than any he dared imagine. For with the Magic came the Bad Thing, and the Faerie, and then the cool. . .and the resurrection of a primordial war with a forgotten people-a war that not only the Hastings but the whole human race could lose.
Gabriel – Poor - I'm not much of a horror fan. Also the characters didn't have much depth or complexity. And the supernatural elements didn't seem to have much worldbuilding logic behind them. Helen – DNR – Packing was very slow, the characters flat and stereotypical. Didn’t feel there was anything original, and it didn’t move well. Nancy – VG - I’ve never read a book classified as fantasy or science fiction but because I’ve heard Gabriel and others in the group talk so enthusiastically about these genres, I decided to give “Faerie Tale” a go. My only criticism of the book was its pacing; the first half is quite slow and the second was almost too fast. But that being said, I really enjoyed it. The depictions of all the characters was wonderful-all the fairies, and all the little people etc., both good and evil-so clearly described and so realistic that I felt like I could really see them. I also really enjoyed the book’s accompanying stories about the lives of each of the family members living a house that hid so many secrets. Ron - Good—More fantasy and conspiracy theory than mystery, but well-written with interesting characters. A little too long.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: Okay
TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON (Thriller-Ariel Pryce-Lisbon, Peru-Contemp) – Standalone – Chris Pavone Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong. She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.
Ginny – Good - The premise hooked me right in, but I betrayed my gut belief was proved correct. Too many male authors cannot write a woman character. The women in some way victims, ineffectual, and overall limp just like Ophelia in Hamlet. It takes a woman to write about women. The author created such an interesting premise, and I was ready to follow Ariel on a life-threatening rollercoaster, but it didn’t happen. The story was too long, too populated with characters, too many cellphones tossed away, along with too many streets and places though normally that wouldn’t bother me because it’s an overseas location. Frankly hallway through the book I still had no concept of what her husband was like so at that point and cared less. I found the book’s constant negativity and cynicism annoying. I stayed up reading late at night still reading and wondering where exactly things are headed. However, never have I read an epilogue that shocked me. However, what was the purpose of the goat, and what did that maid find??? Helen – DNR – Read about 60% of it, but skipped a chunk in the middle. Men cannot write women properly. There were too many twists, and the author clearly had an agenda. The whole “me, too” agenda became too much. Found the last paragraph to be one, complex sentence. Pete - VG- An entertaining read, albeit perhaps a bit too long and with a few too many plot twists. Right from the get-go, the book does a good job of capturing the confusion and disorientation one must feel having a loved one kidnapped from a hotel, in a foreign country, in the middle of the night. Setting the story overseas, with language issues, and time-zone differences, and a Fourth of July holiday, all add to the stress level. The big take-away for me: women are quite often not listened to, not taken seriously. Past lives are exposed, hidden secrets revealed, tranquil lives upended. Would I read another book by this same author? Probably not, though. Ron – EX - I love this book. I count it in the top ten of all the mystery books I have ever read because it works on so many levels. It is extremely well written, with exceptional dialogue, and reads in a “can’t put it down” manner. The characters are well-drawn and the ending is one of the best over. After I first read the book, I thought the author cheated by misleading the reader as to what was in the protagonist’s mind, particularly early on. Upon reflection, though, I think this was actually a stoke of genius. He has the protagonist, who was an experienced actress, get into the mind-set of the character she is playing for the role of her life.
A woman is killed in a well-lit corridor, dying before the eyes of three witnesses who, impossibly, detect no foul play. For more than a century, this baffling murder lies cold in the files of Scotland Yard until it is discovered by Detective-Superintendent John Cheviot, who yearns to apply modern scientific policing to the grisly old case. He is about to get his chance. Taking a cab to Scotland Yard, Cheviot steps out in front of Old Scotland Yard and sees a beautiful woman beckoning him. Suddenly it is 1829 and Cheviot is a member of the newly organized London police force. He might now have an opportunity to solve the most puzzling murder in the Yard’s history, but in a time before fingerprints and ballistic analysis, he will find police work to be far more baffling and brutal than he is used to.
Gabriel – NR - The idea is interesting--the kind where the detective finds himself in the past, has to adapt in order to solve the mystery. I found it boring in execution. Maybe it was the characters. The appendix was also interesting in theory but not in practice.
Helen – DNR – The pacing was too slow, the characters flat and stereotypical. There was nothing original, and the story didn’t move well.
LJ – Good – The female character seemed vapid by today’s standard but Carr cleverly researched the language, social morays of the time, which I found fascinating.
Marcy – DNF – She was intrigued by the description of the book, and the idea of being able to use his current knowledge of forensics in the past, but the story didn’t really go there.
Nancy - Okay - Clearly, the objective of this historical crime novel was to be creative, not historically accurate. But it was still enjoyable to read Carr’s imaginary version of the very early days of Scotland Yard and how a bewildering murder came to be investigated and almost magically solved by a time traveling policeman in the 1800’s. I could envision most of the book’s very well drawn characters as well as all their detailed clothing and physical settings. The plot vehicle of time travel and vocabulary was fun and book’s simple and cliched ending felt almost secondary. “Fire, Burn!” kept me interested and reading, but really might have worked better as a shorter novella.
Ron –Good--Well written and researched time travel mystery with a good sense of time and place about the early days of Scotland Yard. I liked the sense of the protagonist actually slowly forgetting details of his previous life as he becomes accustomed to his new one. I also didn’t guess the real murderer as even a possible suspect, although this was clearly due to no discernible clues given by the author even in terms of his character. The main problem I had with the book was the illogic of much of it, even aside for the time travel aspect—Lady Cork’s going to the police about stolen birdseed when she knew Margaret Renfrew stole her jewelry yet never even confronted her, the fact that Hugo Hogben didn’t come forward earlier to accuse Cheviot and the he was believed by Mayne without ever questioning him about how he happened to be in the upstairs room or seeing him as a suspect himself, and the almost superhuman abilities of the protagonist.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: Poor
FAIRIE TALE: A NOVEL (Mys/Fantasy-Phil Hastings-Pennsylvania-Contemp) – Standalone – Raymond E. Feist
Phil Hastings was a lucky man-he had money, a growing reputation as a screenwriter, a happy, loving family with three kids, and he'd just moved into the house of his dreams in rural of magic-and about to be altered irrevocably by a magic more real than any he dared imagine. For with the Magic came the Bad Thing, and the Faerie, and then the cool. . .and the resurrection of a primordial war with a forgotten people-a war that not only the Hastings but the whole human race could lose.
Gabriel – Poor - I'm not much of a horror fan. Also the characters didn't have much depth or complexity. And the supernatural elements didn't seem to have much worldbuilding logic behind them.
Helen – DNR – Packing was very slow, the characters flat and stereotypical. Didn’t feel there was anything original, and it didn’t move well.
Nancy – VG - I’ve never read a book classified as fantasy or science fiction but because I’ve heard Gabriel and others in the group talk so enthusiastically about these genres, I decided to give “Faerie Tale” a go. My only criticism of the book was its pacing; the first half is quite slow and the second was almost too fast. But that being said, I really enjoyed it. The depictions of all the characters was wonderful-all the fairies, and all the little people etc., both good and evil-so clearly described and so realistic that I felt like I could really see them. I also really enjoyed the book’s accompanying stories about the lives of each of the family members living a house that hid so many secrets.
Ron - Good—More fantasy and conspiracy theory than mystery, but well-written with interesting characters. A little too long.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: Okay
TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON (Thriller-Ariel Pryce-Lisbon, Peru-Contemp) – Standalone – Chris Pavone
Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong. She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.
Ginny – Good - The premise hooked me right in, but I betrayed my gut belief was proved correct. Too many male authors cannot write a woman character. The women in some way victims, ineffectual, and overall limp just like Ophelia in Hamlet. It takes a woman to write about women. The author created such an interesting premise, and I was ready to follow Ariel on a life-threatening rollercoaster, but it didn’t happen. The story was too long, too populated with characters, too many cellphones tossed away, along with too many streets and places though normally that wouldn’t bother me because it’s an overseas location. Frankly hallway through the book I still had no concept of what her husband was like so at that point and cared less. I found the book’s constant negativity and cynicism annoying. I stayed up reading late at night still reading and wondering where exactly things are headed. However, never have I read an epilogue that shocked me. However, what was the purpose of the goat, and what did that maid find???
Helen – DNR – Read about 60% of it, but skipped a chunk in the middle. Men cannot write women properly. There were too many twists, and the author clearly had an agenda. The whole “me, too” agenda became too much. Found the last paragraph to be one, complex sentence.
Pete - VG- An entertaining read, albeit perhaps a bit too long and with a few too many plot twists. Right from the get-go, the book does a good job of capturing the confusion and disorientation one must feel having a loved one kidnapped from a hotel, in a foreign country, in the middle of the night. Setting the story overseas, with language issues, and time-zone differences, and a Fourth of July holiday, all add to the stress level. The big take-away for me: women are quite often not listened to, not taken seriously. Past lives are exposed, hidden secrets revealed, tranquil lives upended. Would I read another book by this same author? Probably not, though.
Ron – EX - I love this book. I count it in the top ten of all the mystery books I have ever read because it works on so many levels. It is extremely well written, with exceptional dialogue, and reads in a “can’t put it down” manner. The characters are well-drawn and the ending is one of the best over. After I first read the book, I thought the author cheated by misleading the reader as to what was in the protagonist’s mind, particularly early on. Upon reflection, though, I think this was actually a stoke of genius. He has the protagonist, who was an experienced actress, get into the mind-set of the character she is playing for the role of her life.
GROUP AVERAGE RATING: G+