Allison Books

This mystery is different from Kearsley's other novels. It doesn't have a supernatural element. It's a quick-paced story that is well-developed. The plot takes place in modern day with flashbacks to WWII. The mystery will keep you interested and guessing.
Reading the book has made me rethink how I treat the elderly and people who don't perform as quickly as I think they should. I see wrinkled faces as former beauty queens, fabulous parents, war heroes, and unsung heroes.

From the moment I opened this book I was transported to a different place and different time. Every page is filled with evocative descriptions and every character beautifully developed. I learned from this book and was entertained as well. What a perfect combination! I look forward to this author's next book under Emma Cole or Susanna Kearsly!

Whether or not she writes as Susanna Kearsley or Emma Cole, this Canadian author recounts a well-crafted tale that combines suspense and romance in a true raconteur's style that out of all the many contenders vying for the best approximation to a Mary Stewart for the 21st century, she clearly has positioned herself in the number one slot. Cole/Kearsley accomplishes this minor miracle not just by cloning Stewart's style--she has Stewart's same gift for description and the ability to make place an actual character that impacts her plot--but by updating Stewart's beloved formula that those of us who awaited each and every Stewart offering with bated breath--and were never disappointed--came to depend upon when it came to wanting suspense literature interjected with intelligence and subtle not bodice-ripping romance.

Fashioned from the same mold as Stewart's heroines, Kearsley/Cole's capable yet likeable modern day women cope with whatever life throws at them in a positive, no-nonsense albeit feminine way. In `Every Secret Thing," Cole utilizes a next generation of Stewart's familiar first person voice. Like Stewart's post WWII independent woman, Cole's character is pleased with herself and her accomplishments. However, in terms of personal strength with regard to self-identity, Kearsley/Cole's women bask in a newly found financial stability greater than that of the waitresses, secretaries, teachers and clerks of Stewart's day.

Here, protagonist, Kate Murray, is a journalist. That she has a relatively good life is self-evident; her inbred optimism is reflected in how she handles herself. However, like the typical Stewart heroine, she stumbles upon a sensitive situation of which she cannot help but become involved. In this case, like Stewart's first incomparable thriller, Madam, Will You Talk? the plotline involves a murder from the past that impacts people adversely in the present. As with Stewart, the ethical principle rules supreme.

In "Every Secret Thing" Kearsley/Cole almost reverses the Stewart formula. Whereas Stewart's work, all now period pieces that are indicative of a brave new world shining with hope and moving forward after the onslaught of the Second World War, this novel revolves around looking backwards at what we of today take for granted. On a larger level, it is a tribute to that `greatest generation's' ability to do what they had to do for the greater good with much pluckiness, personal sacrifice and little, if no, bemoaning of what could have, should have, and would have been. Kearsley/Cole nuances these small acts of unselfishness with the before and after insights of her younger protagonist - a young woman less than 30 years of age who at first has little tolerance for the elderly but grows to understand that people like her seemingly benign grandmother enabled her to have the wherewithal to explore her options while presenting her with the societal climate in which to live out her ambitions.

While the plotline lacks the clockwork smoothness of some of Kearsley/Cole's other works, it nevertheless keeps the reader wanting to turn the page. The modern story eclipses in the face of the older narrative--one involving espionage and murder in the exciting and sometimes exotic venues of New York, Lisbon, London and Washington DC. The heroine fails to enjoy any real romantic entanglements of her own, although the author does suggest one and as "Every Secret Thing" begins a series starring this protagonist there obviously will be more involvements or a continuation of the one started to come. Although the real beauty revealed in this story resides only in the memories of the older generation, the evocative yearning emoted by the two key characters elevates the reader to that special place of dreams and sentiment that once experienced cannot be duplicated. Kearsley/Cole manages this with a master's stroke and we want more. The love she depicts sparkles with that mélange of the bittersweet and precious. Quite simply she does a marvelous job and makes "Every Little Thing" one not to be missed by fans of this literary genre.

Bottom line? As the first installment of Emma Cole/Susanna Kearsley's Kate Murray series, "Every Secret Thing" offers the classic romantic suspense reader just what they desire in terms of that winning formula of likeable main character, desperate situation and exotic locale as instituted by master of the game, Mary Stewart. While Kearsley's usual tale involves a touch of the supernatural, Cole's story delves into the past and involves a murder, all of which are firmly banked in solid if not ruthless reality. Deduct a star for a chronological hodgepodge of a plotline and add one for the intensely sweet secondary story of real love in overwhelmingly perilous times. Recommended highly to all those who love intelligent romantic suspense and are not offended by sometimes incongruous happenstance and poetry-spewing characters.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

If you enjoy Susanna Kearsley's books then you will not want to miss her newest. Although written by Kearsley "Every Secret Thing" has been published under the name Emma Cole as, unlike her other novels, there is no supernatural presence. Other than that, this book is in the same style as her other novels, a "historical" mystey, this one relating to WWII, combined with a modern thriller that takes you from England to North America and then to Portugal. Readers of Kearsley's other novels will enjoy the cameo appearance of a character from one of her earlier books and, as always, her prose is beautifully written - a joy to read and re-read.

Edward Marston is just one of the pseudonyms of author Keith Miles. He has been a university lecturer, radio, television, and theatre dramatist, and in addition to writing has worked as an actor, director, and dramatist. He has written a large number of books with historical themes, perhaps the most well known being his Domesday series. These revolve around the census of 1086 and a series of mysteries featuring the Elizabethan theatre as their background.

Once you have become familiar with an author's work, his character's and style of writing it is sometimes difficult to become attuned to a new character and storyline, but in this case the author seems to have come up with yet another winner, although his Domesday books will always be my own particular favourites..

This is a new venture for the author published in 2005 and following on from The Railway Detective and featuring a new character in the redoubtable Inspector Robert Colbeck. The book is set in a period when the railways were still in their infancy and not everybody liked traveling on them, and in some cases still preferred the horse., treating the railways with a great deal of suspicion.

One thing that the railways was eminently capable of was getting a great deal of people to a destination far quicker than any other form of transport and this is what takes place when a large crowd of people bound for an illegal prize fight in the country board the Great Western Railway train. So boisterous is the crowd that the train guard fears for the safety of his carriages. However, even he does not expect the brutal murder of one of his passengers.

Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck and his assistant, Sergeant Victor Leeming, who himself has more than a little trepidation of train travel, are called to the scene and initially are baffled by what appears to be a murder without motive. When another man is murdered on a train by the same method, Inspector Colbeck knows that he will have to move swiftly to apprehend the killer before further lives are lost.

This book is not about a train or an excursion, as the title emplies; it's about a painting of a famous locomotive, 'Lord of the Isles,' in 1852 London. It concerns two related murders on different trains, and the involved 'detecting' to find the persons responsible and reason for the senseless killings. "When the excursion train pulled out of Paddington in a riot of hissing steam and clanking wheels, it was packed to capacity with eager boxing fans."

This town I live is in a one-train hub of activity. No matter where you live or travel, you will hear that incessant blowing of the whistle. It is a nuisance and sometimes keeps me awake, as they work around the clock. We do have a real 'excursion train' here called the Rambler, which goes about the same distance as the British one did (eleven miles) to show tourists the mouth of the Tennessee River. I rode it several times as it takes me home to the place where I was born, just up the road from the train trestle.

Oak Ridge has a real excursion train to show people the 'secret' place where the bomb was developed. Now, you can ride it on weekends and holidays throughout the layout of this government facility. Up in the mountains, on the North Carolina side, there is a longer excursion train. The first murder victim was a hated man because of his profession. Even his wife was glad he was gone, as they had to live under assumed names. He was the executioner at the prison, and the second victim was the chaplain there. So, it goes without saying that the presumed killers were out for revenge and vengeance.

The daring 'railway dectective' with some help receives the praise and publicity when they solve the crimes. I was disappointed that more was not written about this murder train, and less about the victims. I was attracted to the book because of the painting on the cover.

Edward Marston has four quite successful historical fiction mysteries. In his newest of these (the Inspector Robert Colbeck Series), Marston explores yet another era in British history, the Victorian Age, and more specificially, his protagonist Colbeck is a Scotland Yard detective who not only specializes but thrives on railway cases.

In this the second of the series, "The Excursion Train," Colbeck and his assistant Sergeant Leeming are called in to investigate a bizarre murder on an excursion train
(where the passengers were specifically headed for a prize fight, illegal, of course, as it's Victorian England). The victim is found garrotted on board the train. Soon, the detectives discover the identity of the body--a former hangman for the Queen's Court, a much loathed man, who, from some accounts, deserved the killing as he'd been the executioner of a man many considered to be innocent. And before we've completed the journey, another body is found murdered in the same fashion. And it turns out, the victim is also related, in a fashion, to the original execution.

Thus, Marston is now on the right tracks, bound for glory. The first man's death, his occupation, the execution, and a nearby village all come into play as Colbeck and Leeming are all aboard for another exciting mystery ride, with all "issues" cleared up by the end. This series seems to show Marston at his writing best, as the books move at a fast pace, seem more historically researched, and capture the setting quite well.

And it's not all "Hamlet, Act V" with all those bodies piling up. Colbeck's romantic interest, Madeline Andrews, from the first episode is also featured, to help in a change of pace. Marston skillfully incorporates her into the hunt and the reader finds her a welcome addition, the love interest not being too syrupy (it's all quite proper and Victorian), melodramtic, or distracting.

"The Excursion Train" leaves on time and reaches its destination with few hitches or stopovers, and the reader can settle back and let the author do all the driving. It's a good, enjoyable read.

Before there was Sherlock Holmes, there was Detective Robert Colbeck of Scotland Yard, proto-railfan and serious investigator. In 1852, he embarks on his second adventure, once again aided by his loyal sergeant and harassed by his martinent boss.

You needn't have read the first book (THE RAILWAY DETECTIVE) to enjoy this mystery. A cobbler is brutally murdered on an excursion train to a prizefight. It turns out that the 'cobbler' is also a hangman, and not a very good one. Who killed him and why? Will other murders follow? It's a good yarn and the time and place of early-mid victorian London and England are brought to life with nice, crisp descriptive prose.

This isn't a profound or profoundly complex book, but it is fun, diverting, and has some good historical fiction worked in. Mystery buffs and train spotters alike will enjoy it!

Barnard scores again with his depiction of human folly leading to murder. Charlie Peace and his wife are in a small English village where they have been pressed into bringing the self-absorbed pater who they wisely move into a nearby house rather than with them. As they wend their way into village life and its locals they find some rather unsettling characters whose motives and behavior are not easily determined. Ultimate motive for the crime (if it is a crime) is a bit facile, and the reward or punishment for selfishness, or for selflessness is ambiguous at the end. Don't know who fell from grace but this is still a good and entertaining read with very appealing main characters.

This is the thirty-ninth entry for prolific British crime novelist Robert Barnard. In this outing his protagonist is Inspector Charlie Peace. In most of his books he has avoided a series detective, but he has used Charlie and his wife Felicity before. The wife's father is a real ogre, a writer who exploits everyone around him. Now he wants to buy Felicity a house and move in with them. Instead they buy a bungalow near them for him.
A gang of kids, privileged because they are in the drama stream of the local school, are terrorizing newcomers to the village. Their leader, Anne, is a loathsome bit of work, vicious and felonious. Barnard, perhaps with a touch of misanthropy and cynicism, is particularly good at delineating nasty characters. He's great at presenting British village life; his pub scenes are fun; and he creates vivid characters.
This is not one of his best efforts, but as usual it is fast-paced, witty, and an easy read. You won't get bogged down in a Barnard novel. The ending is slightly disappointing. For me, his best book to date has been "A Scandal in Belgravia."

The Daemon in Our Dreams
Nine Lives Too Many
The Rice Queen Spy
Clawed Back from the Dead

Inspector Charlie Peace and his pregnant wife Felicity leave London for nearby Slepton Edge so that their children can be raised in a safe harmonies atmosphere. To Felicity's chagrin, her narcissistic romance writer Rupert Coggenhoe joins them allegedly to be near his future grandchild; though his daughter doubts his seemingly pure motive. She and her spouse soon learn the truth why Rupert chose to rusticate in suburbia as rumors abound of an illicit relationship from his hedonistic past that is about to explode back in London.

Though wary of her dad, Felicity believes he would never harm her, her unborn or her husband; his sin is that of a selfish egomaniac. Rupert needs diversion and finds it with sexy, scheming teenage Anne Michaels, who enjoys blackmail and aggravating outsiders of her drama club of teen felons. Murder shakes up the new and old townsfolk; Charlie unofficially investigates since his father-in-law who teamed up with his "Lolita" is a prime suspect.

In his eighth police procedural (though FALL FROM GRACE is not an official police procedural), Charlie seeks peace at home as his wife struggles with her father moving into suburbia with them. The story line is fast-paced with a fascinating look at the not so innocence of children who can prove quite destructive. Although the key bus scene puts somewhat a brake on this fine thriller Charlie's investigation into uncovering a killer while he learns more (probably than he wants) about his wife and father-in-law and that makes for a delightful caper.

Harriet Klausner

Robert Barnard's "A Fall from Grace" is a stylish and subtle psychological murder mystery with several clever twists and turns and an ending that will catch most readers by surprise. Detective Inspector Charlie Peace and his pregnant wife, Felicity, are more than a little chagrined when Felicity's father, writer Rupert Coggenhoe, announces that he is moving to their Yorkshire village, Slepton Edge. Felicity makes no secret of the fact that she dislikes her "self-obsessed, manipulative, and unfeeling" father intensely and she would prefer that he stay away from her and her four-year-old daughter, Carola. However, since he is offering to partially finance a new house for Felicity's growing family, the Peaces can scarcely turn Rupert down. They purchase a new house for themselves and a nearby bungalow for Rupert.

Rupert settles in and becomes a minor celebrity, but all is not peaceful in Slepton Edge. A sadistic, clever, and worldly fifteen-year old named Anne Michaels has become the village instigator and she is stirring up all kinds of trouble. First, she induces a younger group of children to chant threateningly outside the homes of newcomers; later, she curries favor with Rupert and insinuates herself into his life, with unforeseen and horrifying consequences.

"A Fall from Grace" is a breath of fresh air, since it deviates from the formulaic fiction that is churned out by lesser writers. Barnard's characters are original and intriguing: Desmond Pinkhurst is a sardonic actor who was known for lightweight roles in his youth. He is now both exhilarated and terrified, since he is about to make his comeback in Ibsen's "The Wild Duck." Dr. Chris Carlson is a warm and sympathetic physician and artist, who has given up the practice of medicine. He acts as a sounding board or "agony aunt" for the townspeople who rely on his sound judgment; he also aspires to run for mayor as an independent so that he can fight for needed reforms. Inspector Ben Costello is a local policeman who takes charge of an investigation into a man's death that could possibility be a homicide, but might just as easily be ruled accidental. Although this case is outside Charlie's jurisdiction, he and Felicity decide to make discreet inquiries of their own.

The lives of these and other people ultimately intersect in unexpected ways, and although there is some closure at the end, some key questions remain unanswered. In his understated way, Barnard shows that evil, selfishness, and altruism can and do exist side by side, and the search for justice often proves to be elusive. Fortunately, good and decent men and women like Charlie and Felicity Peace are willing to stick their necks out to dig underneath the surface and uncover the truth.

This is a very good book, with an interesting premise: An empire that exists in time, not just space. The empire is under attack, and the method of battle is to go back in time and outflank the opponent by changing what happened in the past, hence changing the present.

The book is not long, but really packs a lot of great sci-fi ideas regarding time travel and society. It is a nice combination of action and ideas, you won't be bored.

I read the book quite some years ago, but as I recollect, I really did care about the characters, otherwise I wouldn't give the book a good rating.

Definitely worth a read.

Two fleets of ships war through time. The Captain of one vessel falls prey to one of his staff, a member of a secret cult. They both survive, and the Captain, exposed to the timestream and amnesiac is convicted when court-martialled. A capital crime, he will be used as a time courier.

Exposure to the 'strat' twice affects him differently, and he discovers that the conflict is definitely not as it seems, and there is a much greater battle raging.

This is, in all probability, the best time travel-related book I have read - surpassing even Asimov's END OF TIME.

The Story:
Captain Aton of the 3rd Time Fleet of the Chronotic Empire is engaged in conflict with the Hegemony from the future. Betrayed and court-martialed, he is about to embark on an unexpected and arduous task.

Time is uncannily like an ocean. The Chronotic Empire controls one part of the surface while the Hegemony occupies another (the future). The surface of time is a wave-function with the crests, or nodes, separated by 170 years from those in front and behind. Only at these nodes can someone travel from the past or future and remain without any continuous expenditure of chronotic energy. The Chronotic Empire controls seven nodes and the non-nodal historical time that surrounds them. The Empire continues to stretch its control over more and more nodes and the Hegemony, in fear that it's time frame will be overwhelmed by the temporally expanding Empire gets control of a device, a time distorter, which completely removes any object, person or place from existence anywhere in time - so that it or he/she never existed!

In the meanwhile, Hulmu, Lord of the Depths, is stirring far below the surface in the Gulf of Lost Souls. Hulmu a potential creature of the depths, along with his Minion and the heretical sect of Traumatics want Hulmu to become real and they can only do so by making sure that the fabric of real time becomes so distorted that creatures such as himself could come into existence. To do that Mankind must be eliminated.

Aside from a great & original story, there are various metaphysical concepts running through the work. Brilliant and Original - and reading it is, indeed, time well spent.

It is Astounding! Amazing! Thrilling! But also Philosophical! Cosmological! Metaphysical!

THE FALL OF CHRONOPOLIS is possibly the most sustained single novel from Bayley's pen, juggling its numerous plots that thread through excitement and literariness with the assuredness of a zen master. The massive time-fleets, armadas of spaceships the size of cities patrol the universe and battle against their eternal enemy, The Hegemony, through the jungles of time and pastures of space. The novel is brief but packs a punch that makes you dizzy from invention. It rewards several reads for all the subtext hiding behind the obvious and exciting surface, dealing with issues like the cyclic nature of the universe, fascism and religion for the sake of high drama. It is a vivid, visceral ride through the universe that will knock your senses wide open if you're attuned to this brand of extravagance.

A most excellent insight. The author deals mainly with the period September 1939 to the Wannsee meeting in January 1942, making use of new material which has come to light. He illustrates with meticulous attention to detail how those entrusted with the grisly task - Himmler, Heydrich, Eichmann, Frank etc - moved inexorably to their final position of Jewish extermination. The problems they had to deal with en route, including opposition from those who wanted to keep the Jews alive for indefinite slave labor and the economic expectancy of those Germans recently moved from "liberated" territories back to the Reich, are recounted in all their complex detail. The final chapter gives a selection of pertinent remarks from the murderers themselves. I have never read a more incisive and readable account of the incremental steps leading up to the Final Solution.

This excellent book concisely documents the "Final Solution" as the end result of a failed and inept German population policy. Ethnic Germans from many different countries were imported to parts of the occupied East to create a Greater Reich. To make way Poles and other ethnic groups were deported further east. To make way for the Poles, Jews (at the very bottom of German racial categoies) were first deported and then ghettoized and then killed. The Germans' inability to physically remove the Jews out of German territory eventually led them to try to exterminate them literally. Although this books claims not to deny or qualify the "Holocaust" I think it shows that genocide was the result of an unobtainable ethnic cleansing and not an ad hoc master plan. Ironically some of the Germans' former victims have recently found themselves trying to enact similiar (albeit smaller-scale) policies and have found themselves goingdown the same road as the Germans.

A brilliant and innovative thesis about the origins of genocide in Nazi Germany, but it is unfortunately presented in a very undigested form and without a captivating narrative. I hope someone will use this material in a more user-friendly manner.

Learning about Nazis will help to understand the intentions behind aggressive war policy. German historian Goetz Aly a few years ago has written most remarkable books about economical and political interests behind Nazi warfare - "Final Solution" is one of them. Taking care of almost negliged documents he shows how well planned and designed German strategical considerations in World War II have been.

Rossett makes a very useful distinction in this book between performance analysis and training needs analysis. She recommends an action-oriented consulting approach that ensures the real problems and potential solutions are identified before selecting training as an intervention. Her approach is practical and recognizes the time and resource constraints that learning consultants, managers, and their companies operate within. I have ordered copies for all of my staff!

Overall, this book is a straightforward examination of performance analysis that explains why p.a. is more practial than traditional "training." It's a godsend for people who have to implement a plan right away because of the abundance of checklists and templates. I have some minor criticisms though since I have read several books in a similar category. 1 -- the author does not write as professionally as others (Rothwell, for example, who wrote Beyond training and Development) and spends too much time touting her earlier books 2 -- often the information borders on the extremely obvious 3 -- the book is overpriced as many textbooks are. P.A. boils down to the fact that it's really a "casing the joint" type of strategy -- get a general idea of the situation before diving in. All this fancy terminology for such a basic idea... still, it can definitely save a company a lot of time and money to do this common sense approach before spending money on training.

This book is a great help for anyone who is asked to analyze a performance problem. It provides a series of checklists and job aids to help someone figure out what's going on and how to fix it. It considers lots of problems and teaches you how to decide if the employee needs instruction, motivation or a changed environment. I really enjoyed this very practical and easy to read handbook; it avoids all the theory and jargon and puts the emphasis on analyzing human performance problems in a quick, efficient manner.

This book serves as the first course at a performance analysis dinner-it whets the appetite and entices the reader to look further and deeper. It provides the reader with tasty morsels of information without weighing the reader down in the heavier technicalities of performance analysis. First Things Fast is a quick and easy reference for the professional trainer and one that I will keep on hand for future use. It addresses the situation as it is-the way things are-and provides concrete examples and solutions for those involved with the process. Because of the quick and easy reading that characterizes the book, I would recommend this book to those who are seeking a basic understanding of performance analysis without wanting to invest a great deal of time. I would also recommend it to those who want a quick reference for use in their performance analysis work (the templates are an effective starting point for the line of questioning which needs to occur). First Things Fast has the potential to be an extremely useful tool for those individuals who are in the position to decide what needs to be done and why.

Good information, good overview. Would be good to be more detail.

I purchased this book as a research tool before incorporating my business as a California C corp without any outside assistance last year. This was all I needed and used.

I read the book cover-to-cover, which did not take more than about 6 hours, and I felt very comfortable with the entire process. Like most Nolo books, this has a very readable style, with plenty of important information organized in a sensible manner. Even though the topic may not be entertainment reading, Mancuso makes the process very reasonable and I can't imagine another book doing it meaningfully better than this.

This book hits its target audience very well - someone who wants to know about the practical and procedural issues related to incorporation. As part of the responsibility of operating a business, any incorporator needs to know most of what is covered in this book. Even if you get someone to do the filing, any incorporator needs to know this stuff. Don't worry - it's not rocket science.

For a broader understanding of business issues, I found Nolo's other titles to be similarly excellent (their guide to california business and their guide to business deductions). Both cover related but different and important areas for new business owners. Read all 3 and you'll be set for general business issues.

Good examples. Fairly comprehensive. Good discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of forming a California corporation. The Corporate Tax section has some good pointers. Good writing style! It flows. But the diskette has only a fraction of the business and corporation related forms compared to "Small Busines Kit for Dummies". Overall, I recommend this book for a new commer. Well worth the money.

I bought this book because I wanted to incorporate my single-person consulting company. It took me a few hours to read this book (some sections didn't apply, but I still wanted to review them), and I felt very confident I could incorporate without a lawyer. I followed the instructions for forming a C Corp in California and used the forms provided in the CD-Rom. I delivered my forms in person to the LA regional office. Within 2 weeks, I received confirmation that my articles had been filed with the SoS of CA -- all for under $250 including the cost of the book. This compares to almost $1500 that most lawyers quoted me. I recommend this book highly but recognize that the process may be more challenging if you have many shareholders.

Ed McBain's alter ego Evan Hunter often said the guiding principle behind his 87th Precinct series of police-procedural novels was developing a composite central character out of the squadroom itself. In few entries was he as successful in that regard as here, with one of his earliest stories.

Virginia Dodge's husband just died in the clink, and now she wants to kill the man who sent him up, Det. Steve Carella. Lucky for Carella, he's on a case when she shows up in the 87th Precinct squadroom with a loaded revolver and a bottle of something she claims is nitroglycerin. "Don't open that door, Lieutenant," she warns an officer about to run for help, "or I'll fire into this purse and we can all go to Hell!"

Published in 1959, "Killer's Wedge" feels like a wedge itself of sorts, as it marks out the beginning of McBain's harder narrative voice. There's sex talk, profanity, and a distinctly areligious tenor here, not to mention a lingering, detailed description of a lusty woman's bodily charms, all familiar to readers of McBain's later works.

It's a short, tense read, with remarkable twists and turns McBain throws up as deftly as a Vegas cardsharp. Various members of the 87th Precinct detective squad, who get more attention than usual here with McBain's favorite son Carella elsewhere, try various ploys to disarm Dodge, risking life and limb in gambits that often end unpleasantly. Carella, meanwhile, is kept busy working on a more traditional whodunit caper involving a dead man in a locked room, where events move more routinely, though not without suspense given what the reader knows about what's awaiting Carella back at the precinct house.

McBain really shines with his main story, giving Dodge a vaguely sympathetic character (her husband was her reason for living, even if he was a louse) at the same time he makes us hate her for the way she treats her hostages. As time passes, it becomes clearer how much she is enjoying herself trifling with people's lives. Like the detectives, you have both a desire to see her die and a strange guilty feeling about it, as McBain presents her less as evil than fatally limited, if dangerous all the same.

Not everything is resolved at the story's end, like the fate of a minor character McBain makes us care about, and some things like the presence of Carella's deaf-mute wife feel artificially tacked on, but this is a quality story, not just a quick page turner but a unique one you will chew on long after you put it down. McBain wrote better books, but this one shows why the series endured as long as it did, and is remembered with affection by so many: It's a showcase for a master.

Killer's Wedge opens on a bravura piece of writing ,one which establishes mood and atmosphere quite brilliantly as well as setting the period with deft economy .It details the sights ,sounds and atmosphere within the squadroom -aan ambience that is a compound of typewriter sounds, cursing and casual profanity and the ringing of a telephone clamouring for attention .The conversation is a mix of dirty stories and complaints --please note ,if you object to this sort of thing ,the stories are not related to the reader and neither is the profane language .The atmosphere is masculine and as this is a 1950's novel women police officers are not as prominant as they would be in a novel written now .
A woman does enter the squadroom -a woman clad wholly in black and resembling ,as one officer remarks ," death personified " .She demande to see Detective Steve Carella who sees blames for the death of her husband in prison ,where he was sent after Carella secured a conviction .She is Virginia Dodge and she has the means of backing up her demand -a container of nitro -glycerin that she threatens to detaonate if Carella is not brought before her .The problem is that he is out on a case -an alleged suicide at the home of the wealthy Scott family .The head of the family has allegedly killed himself by hanging but Carella is sceptical as there is no discernable motive and the man's children were not exactly noted for their displays of afection for their late father .
We cut back from his investigation to the scenes in the squadroom where Virginia holds the detectives under the gun and the nitro .Also present in the squadroom is a recently arrived Puerto Rican streetwalker accused of stabbing a gangleader .There are attempts to smuggle out a message to passers by of the situation in the squadroom and the author deftly builds up the suspense around these .Add the arrival of Carella's pregnant deaf-mute wife Teddy and the suspense intensifies .
This is a well characterised novel and the squadroom scenes are palm sweatingly tense .I was less taken by the scenes at the Scott mansion -that case is essentially a locked room mystery and McBain even invokes the classic writer of such tales John Dickson Carr .The strenght of this series is its sense of realism and the interaction of the various personalities in the squad .The intrusion of elements drawn from the classic cosy mysteries of an earlier age are intrusive

This is a minor quibble however and Killer's Wedge is a powerfrul and potent suspense tale that wears its age well

This is the 7th book I have read on the 87th Precinct. I think I have rated all of them a five. This one is great. Virginia Dodge holds the entire precinct as hostage waiting for Steve Carella to show up. She wants to kill him for arresting her husband, who then died in prison. She has a gun and a bottle of nitro or is it nitro???? She is mean, mad and means what she says. Meanwhile Carella is out investigating a suicide. Or is it a suicide? Was it murder??? He does not know anything is going on. Different officers try things to get the gun away from Dodge, and some pay for it. This is a quick read. It will hold you attention. You will not want to put it down. McBain has done another good one.

I've always loved McBain novels and Killer's Wedge definately didn't make me change my mindset. This novel epitomizes what the word "thriller" is all about. McBain's subtle writing style flows wonderfully from page to page. Virginia Dodge is the perfect femme-fatale: sexy, sultry, and oh so dangerous! I read the LARGE PRINT edition simply because I had forgeotten my glasses and bought this in an airport before a flight to Europe and I needed the large print so I could read it. But I'm positive you'll enjoy this book in any edition, it's solid, thrilling writing!!

Stuart Pawson had a career as a mining engineer, followed by a spell working for the probation service, before he became a full-time writer. He lives in the village of Fairburn, in Yorkshire only about four or five miles from where I live myself. A place I regularly visit to look at the bird sanctuary there with all the water birds and a welcome pint in the Bay Horse.

DI Charlie Priest is good at his job and he knows it. A typical Yorkshireman in his thinking. while things are quiet on the job fron the finally has time to concentrate on his love life. But his new girlfriend is keeping a secret from him . . .

Stuart Pawson writes a good detective story, straightforward down to earth, gritty and extremely readable. None of the frills or sensationalism that may crime writers like to employ in their books. Just a good, well thought out plot and believable characters.

Pawson gets better and better. For Inspector Morse and Inspector Frost fans....add this one to your list.

This is a fun read from start to finish. There are some difficult and sober elements in it that keep it from being an irritatingly glib romp, but this book is populated by humans who are witty and like to have fun and the one-liners do fly. The basic premise is that this is a series (which I haven't read - started with this one unawares) about a Yorkshire detective named Charlie Priest and his compatriots and environs. Life for these folks is pretty good and the crimes aren't too heinous, e.g., thefts of ladies' undergarments from the wash lines. But suddenly comes a food tampering case in the local grocery that threatens to get serious and sets the good constabulary of Heckley (of course!) on a collision course with the national press and unwanted official attention.

All of this is threaded through an awkward courtship for Charlie and Rosie, his geology teacher (if you haven't sussed it already, Charlie is a bit of a rural Renaissance Man - also paints and writes). She suddenly and apparently loses interest when she finds out that her student is a copper. What keeps this book from being a bit too twee for words is that it is written in a clean, breezy style and makes no attempt at heavy social commentary, yet succeeds by not trying.

These are likeable people and I look forward to recouping the series and figuring out where it all started.

Things are looking up for Yorkshire DI Charlie Priest. His last murder case has been solved and the main case on his menu now is a petty thief stealing underwear from the clotheslines of unsuspecting housewives. And Charlie has another reason to be cheerful, with everything fairly quiet at work, he can concentrate on his latest flame, Rosie, the geology teacher from his night school class.

But when someone starts tampering with food in the local supermarket and two people nearly die, Charlie has to act quickly to halt a media frenzy and to find the culprit before it becomes a murder investigation.

Then, when Rosie finds out he's a detective, her ardor toward him cools considerably. He wonders why, then discovers she has a dark secret. It turns out her father was hung for murder years ago and she is trying to prove he was innocent. A TV company wants to exhume her father's body and do her story. Rosie agrees and against his better judgment, Charlie promises to help her find out what she needs to know.

Charlie is a likable, loquacious character who is easy and fun to follow along with as he finds out there is not one person tampering with the food, but two, and as he seeks to discover the truth about the ancient murder. But when he does find out that truth, will he dare tell Rosie?

Stuart Pawson is a must read for mystery fans. His one liners are exceptional and his description of Yorkshire will put you right there. Five stars from me for the this one.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Haven't been to Spain as yet, but will try it out in Tulum this October. It's been helpful in translating emails from Spanish penpals.

When I went to Spain I had some Spanish training, but this book was still extremely helpful. It helped me remember and use parts of the language I had forgotten--for instance how to say Can I ___ and Can you ___? That is extremely important if you don't want to sound rude in a foreign country. More importantly, it was organized extremely well. If I needed vocabulary while I was shopping, I turned to the shopping section. When I wanted to prepare for asking a taxi driver how to get somewhere, I simply turned to the page about hailing a taxi and prepared.

My deepest regret was losing the book halfway through my trip, but I had used it so much already that those phrases and words stuck with me all the way until the end. I suggest the book for anyone traveling to Spain (because it is Spanish for Spain as opposed to Spanish for Latin America), who would like to blend in and take as much from the country as you can.

The book gives excellent advice about speaking a foreign language--just do it. It suggests you leave your inhibitions behind and try. You will get more comfortable with it as you go. That was absolutely true coming from someone who hadn't used the language in over 6 years.

THIS PHRASEBOOK IS EXTREMELY VALUBLE. IT IS CONCISE, EASY TO READ, AND VERY HELPFUL. THERE ARE HINTS AND TIPS THROUGH OUT. THE GRAMMAR SECTION IS VERY HELPFUL. THIS IS ONE USER-FRIENDLY PHRASEBOOK.

This phrasebook was very useful to me in my trip to Spain. It's got a grammar section, topic sections (eating out, the post office, etc.), and a 2-way dictionary. The topic sections were very useful and easy to look up. The "menu decoder" in particular surprised me with its completeness -- most everything I didn't understand on menus was in there. I found the grammar sections also extremely useful. I studied Spanish for a year about 6 years ago and remembered the basics, but was stuck in the present tense. The phrasebook gave me a straightforward refresher on the past and future tenses as well as conjugation tables of irregular verbs. Maybe not the best thing to learn Spanish from scratch from, but a solid resource for someone with introductory skills.

There are small English-Spanish and Spanish-English dictionaries in the end. In a book this size they're not very extensive, but they're still pretty useful. For a long trip (or if you're planning on having conversations that extend beyond a few sentences) a pocket dictionary would be helpful in addition.

The phrasebook also has chapters on speaking Catalan and Basque if you really want to impressive the native speakers.