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robinwalter's reviews
1772 reviews
What the Widow Knew: A Kali O'Brien mini-mystery by Jonnie Jacobs
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
An action packed novella and a satisfying end to the series
The Next Victim by Jonnie Jacobs
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Another fast paced murder mystery, but the real strength of this story was Kali's own personal growth. A shame it all happened in what turned out to be the penultimate book of the series.
When I Was Old by Georges Simenon
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
An interesting and basically random collection of musings. Here are some of my favourite lines
Only I’m not a writer. I’m a novelist. And the novelist does not know the joy of writing.
I couldn’t have written a hundred-volume work with a hundred characters. But perhaps a work in a hundred volumes with one character.
In Le Fils I took an actuary as a character. These are unquestionably the people who cast the coldest eye on human life,
isn’t silence sometimes the more difficult option?
I wonder if the essential characteristic of crime isn’t its illogic, which would explain why in the Middle Ages it was attributed to demons taking possession of a human being, and why today the psychiatrist is more and more often called in.
Won’t we always end by believing in what suits us best personally? It’s for this reason that I can never convince myself that any man is wholly insincere, even a politician.
Only I’m not a writer. I’m a novelist. And the novelist does not know the joy of writing.
I couldn’t have written a hundred-volume work with a hundred characters. But perhaps a work in a hundred volumes with one character.
In Le Fils I took an actuary as a character. These are unquestionably the people who cast the coldest eye on human life,
isn’t silence sometimes the more difficult option?
I wonder if the essential characteristic of crime isn’t its illogic, which would explain why in the Middle Ages it was attributed to demons taking possession of a human being, and why today the psychiatrist is more and more often called in.
Won’t we always end by believing in what suits us best personally? It’s for this reason that I can never convince myself that any man is wholly insincere, even a politician.
Iceland's 1100 Years: The History of a Marginal Society by Gunnar Karlsson
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.5
A very informative look at the history of country I knew little about beyond the linguistic heritage it preserves
The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
It is clear that another similarity between Ms Sharp's writing in this book and PGW's work is that like him, Ms Sharp here set out to do nothing more than entertain and amuse. Unlike, for example, Jane Austen.
My two favourite works of Jane Austen are, in order, Persuasion and Mansfield Park. Both feature lots of wryly amusing lines but in both, and especially in Mansfield Park, the witticisms and humour have an acidic edge to them – "it's funny because it's true, and I'm not actually happy that it is". In contrast, in this book it did not feel to me as if Ms Sharp was presenting any subtle social commentary or venting anger through humour. I got the impression she was writing with the sole aim of making her readers laugh. In that, for me, she succeeded admirably. This paragraph from the bottom of the first page set the tone for me, signalling a lighthearted laughfest was incoming
A lengthy passage of more than a page in which a politician's lecture on the superiority of decimal coinage descends into a near riot after his audience thinks he is impugning their chastity had me laughing out loud for the duration of the passage, especially near its end:
While there was much about the humour in this book that reminded me of Wodehouse, Ms Sharp was definitely her own person as a writer. The skewering of social and (especially) religious hypocrisy was more direct and less euphemised than anything PGW wrote, and I'm sure that much of the book's strength comes from its author being female - important when "the male gaze" is very relevant to the story.
She also gifted me a real keeper of a one-liner for conveying the idea of someone being VERY old
In summary you're looking for uncomplicated fun delivered through very clever, droll writing, I strongly recommend Stone of Chastity.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In the opening paragraph of her introduction to the Dean Street Press edition of Marjorie Sharp's Harlequin House historian Elizabeth Crawford mentions that the Manchester Guardian described sharp as this "second only to Woodhouse". I really, really enjoyed Harlequin house and found it hugely entertaining, but strong similarities to Woodhouse in tone and style were comparatively few. In this one, the flavour and aroma of Plum was very strong.
Right from the basic premise of the book, a comedy of errors with a self-absorbed academic (tautology?) wreaking havoc in an implausibly bucolic backwater village, this story had a PGW feel. That is of course, not a bad thing as long as the writer is sufficiently talented. In this book it became very clear to me why the Manchester Guardian said what it did. I laughed out loud many, many times throughout this book, often after reading passages reminiscent of Wodehouse. Here are two examples:
Right from the basic premise of the book, a comedy of errors with a self-absorbed academic (tautology?) wreaking havoc in an implausibly bucolic backwater village, this story had a PGW feel. That is of course, not a bad thing as long as the writer is sufficiently talented. In this book it became very clear to me why the Manchester Guardian said what it did. I laughed out loud many, many times throughout this book, often after reading passages reminiscent of Wodehouse. Here are two examples:
He could not bring himself publicly to confess that his most poignant erotic memory was of a broken spring which twanged—oddly enough—on the note of B flat. The observation said much for his ear, but too little for his powers of concentration.
At Vander’s Farm they were teetotal and Nonconformist, within reasonable limits. That is to say, Mr. Pye drank whisky medicinally, and during a prolonged drought sent his wife to pray with the Anglicans. He needed physicking, however, considerably more often than his land needed rain.
It is clear that another similarity between Ms Sharp's writing in this book and PGW's work is that like him, Ms Sharp here set out to do nothing more than entertain and amuse. Unlike, for example, Jane Austen.
My two favourite works of Jane Austen are, in order, Persuasion and Mansfield Park. Both feature lots of wryly amusing lines but in both, and especially in Mansfield Park, the witticisms and humour have an acidic edge to them – "it's funny because it's true, and I'm not actually happy that it is". In contrast, in this book it did not feel to me as if Ms Sharp was presenting any subtle social commentary or venting anger through humour. I got the impression she was writing with the sole aim of making her readers laugh. In that, for me, she succeeded admirably. This paragraph from the bottom of the first page set the tone for me, signalling a lighthearted laughfest was incoming
She had appeared at lunch wearing a very nice necklace of scarabs and enamel, and the Professor, cocking an interested eye, had remarked that it was just such trifles—the sight of an English gentlewoman ornamented with seven phallic symbols—that made life so perennially interesting to the folklorist. Mrs. Pounce did not know what a phallic symbol was, and instinct (or possibly a look in her son’s eye) prevented her asking; but after coffee she quietly sought out a dictionary and took it upstairs. At the moment she was feeling she could never come down again.
A lengthy passage of more than a page in which a politician's lecture on the superiority of decimal coinage descends into a near riot after his audience thinks he is impugning their chastity had me laughing out loud for the duration of the passage, especially near its end:
“He don’t know nothing ’bout chastity,” observed another voice wearily. “He’s from London.”
He had never before abandoned a meeting in mid-speech, not even when the eggs flew, but he had begun to think that his reason was even more important than his principles.
While there was much about the humour in this book that reminded me of Wodehouse, Ms Sharp was definitely her own person as a writer. The skewering of social and (especially) religious hypocrisy was more direct and less euphemised than anything PGW wrote, and I'm sure that much of the book's strength comes from its author being female - important when "the male gaze" is very relevant to the story.
She also gifted me a real keeper of a one-liner for conveying the idea of someone being VERY old
“Such a powerful fine memory has Uncle Thirkettle, there’s naught he’s forgot since s’s were f’s.”
In summary you're looking for uncomplicated fun delivered through very clever, droll writing, I strongly recommend Stone of Chastity.
Intent to Harm by Jonnie Jacobs
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Really fast-moving and with the hidden mastermind very well hidden, at least from me.
Cold Justice by Jonnie Jacobs
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A nice taut story, even if the culprit was made rather too obvious very early on
Death at the Pavilion by Cecilia Peartree
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
This was one of the most fun stories in the series recently. As Amaryllis in particular continues to adjust to aging, the way several younger characters who previously were often in minor supporting roles grew both as people and story participants bodes well for the future of the series. Th overall effect was that it's a great promo for the concept of a long-running series that happens 'in real time' over the duration of the series, with all that means for the characters. It could have got 4.5/5 at least if it had had more Clementine.
Error of the Moon by Sara Woods
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
This was the second Antony Maitland mystery in a row that had a setting involving espionage and drawing Antony back into his military intelligence past. The moral ambiguities and nuances of that kind of story were very prominent in The Third Encounter, the book preceding this one in the series, and for that reason it was not my favourite. I enjoyed this one considerably more because it was a simpler, more straightforward murder mystery. The espionage/intelligence setting was really just that - the setting of the mystery. Antony had no real interaction with the shadowy intelligence chiefs who had dragged him back into their world in The Third Encounter, and there was no moral ambiguity nor any ethically uncomfortable concessions to Realpolitik in the resolution of this story. In short, a good old-fashioned murder mystery of exactly the kind that I enjoy delivered with the deft touch that I have come to expect from Ms Woods.
Once again, that deft touch was especially in evidence when it came to the relationship between Antony and his wife Jenny. After just four books they are now a firm favourite mystery couple for me. They've overtaken Troy and Alleyn in my affection (not that difficult since in that couple Troy was easily my favourite) and now sit close behind Albert and Amanda Campion, still my number one "detective duet". The Maitlands though, are a very different couple. For one thing they are childless, and the reason for that situation has played a big part in the dynamics of their relationship. Another difference is that Woods writes with quiet thoughtful insight about the nature of Antony and Jenny's relationship, as this line shows:
Jenny herself, who had realised and accepted long ago the fact that no companionship could be complete that did not recognise weakness as well as strength,
Jenny is a very interesting character. She is neither an active "sidekick" in Antony's investigations, as Amanda Campion sometimes is for Albert, nor is she simply a passive "supportive wife". Theirs is a sweetly subtle symbiosis, and having a protagonist pairing portrayed as deeply, unashamedly and yet realistically in love with each other has cemented the series in my affection.
The mutual understanding and trust between the two of them played a big part in the outworking of the climax of this mystery, and Jenny's comments on how she felt about Antony's assignment, and the risks and challenges it posed to him and to them added a nice human touch to the mystery, making sure that it wasn't simply about the unravelling of the plot.
Another thing I enjoy about a lot of mystery novels from Dean Street Press is what I learn from them.
At the start of the book, Antony makes a reference to a character in the story called Thomas Overbury and alludes to an historical character of the same name. Until I googled him, I'd never heard of the unfortunate poet to whom Antony alluded, but reading the Wikipedia article about him raised a smile when I saw that in this story Ms Woods includes a villainous character with exactly the same name as a key villain in the real Thomas Overbury story. I love it when authors do this kind of thing - referencing real history in their mysteries, and shaving a nanometre or two off my ignorance in the process. Four books into the series, there hasn't been one that I disliked, and this is the third that I have very much liked. That's the kind of success rate that makes me eager to read more.
Vincent van Gogh: A Life in Letters by Nienke Bakker, Hans Luijten, Leo Jansen
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
A fascinating glimpse into his life in his own words, and a powerful testament to the skill and dedication of the translators and curators of this compilation.