Windsor Books

Getting more into this character- as she grows so do we. Mrs Pollifax is great.

There's some missing plutonium, and the CIA has a mission for Mrs Pollifax. She goes to Switzerland to a "clinic", which is really a mountain resort. While there, she befriends a young Arab boy and a British cat burglar... and discovers danger of course. Much of the first half of this book is slow, but once she finds a dead body, the action picks up.

(Based on the audiotape, no longer available (?) )
For once Carstairs sends Mrs. Pollifax into the thick of it, to a Swiss spa where some plutonium thieves are thought to lurk. Once again she meddles in side issues, in this case a child who seems strangely frightened, which turns out to be at the heart of the whole situation. This is also where she meets jewel thief Robin and helps turn him to the straight and narrow. Another entertaining outing, well-read by Rosenblat, as usual.

Mrs. Pollifax an intrepid senior citizen who works for the CIA, is sent to a Swiss medical clinic to investigate stolen Plutonium. Along the way, she gets involved with a mysterious jewel thief, a precocious child, and sunbathing diva. Can Mrs. Pollifax discover WHO is smuggling the plutonium, and WHY? Or is she destined to be just another casualty at the health spa?

I really enjoyed "A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax." Mrs. Pollifax, is a kind, engaging character whose outgoing personality and homey adivce, endear her to friends and enemies alike. In particular I enjoyed the character of Hafez and his grandmother.

This was a great edition to the Mrs. Pollifax series, sure to delight readers young AND old.

There is some plutonium missing and Mr. Carstairs of the CIA decides that Mrs. Pollifax is the one to find it. He dispatches her to an upscale clinic in Switzerland, where he suspects the
contraband has been hidden. She begins a careful investigation of the guests at the clinic and soon befriends a young man and woman, and a young boy and his grandmother. She soon discovers that very few of them are who they claim to be and she becomes involved in intrigue with men who plan to overthrow the government of a small country. She, of course, displays the courage and ingenuity which Mr. Carstairs has learned to depend on, and she leads her outnumbered friends into the adventure of their lives. This is a delightful series.

There's a saying among statisticians (a group I identify with from time to time): "You can always draw a straight line with two points." Loosely translated, this means that you should avoid drawing conclusions based on fewer than 3 observations. This being my third Brother Cadfael mystery (I obtained a random selection from a neighbor's giveaway bin), I feel I can now opine more confidently, knowing that my recommendations are probably not based on a coincidental selection of the best the author has to offer.

As always, the author provides us with a fascinating and unparalleled look into life in medieval England, with particular focus on monastery life. This installment, however, is less of a whodunit than the others. The principal crime was committed hundreds of miles away from Cadfael's home in Shrewsbury and all he has to go on are some second or third-hand accounts and some unusual visitors at the annual pilgrimage in honor of St. Winifred. In some ways, the mystery solves itself, with Cadfael simply providing a nudge here and there to bring the matter to conclusion.

For those interested in 12th century English history, there is an especially potent dose of it here, as the brewing civil war between Empress Maud and King Stephen comes to a head. Wading through these details makes this a bit more difficult of a read than usual. One interesting upshot of this part of the story is the implication that it is possible for political (if not military) enemies to be civil and gentlemanly with each other. What a novel concept!

The book also explores the nature of revenge, and the ultimate lack of fulfillment in it. This, too, is a concept that is mostly foreign in today's world.

Romance is again a significant feature, always a pleasant surprise given that the setting is a monastery. In this case, however, the romance is relatively conventional and only peripherally related to the crime. It does however, provide useful clues for resolving the mystery.

Another subplot relates to a mysterious visitor whose past is connected with Cadfael's, resulting in a surprise revelation at the end of the book. Cadfael also engages in a good deal of introspection regarding miraculous divine intervention, as befitting the occasion of the pilgrimage.

In summary, this book continues the tradition of solid storytelling and fascinating reading established by the author in the Brother Cadfael series. Both novitiates and long-time fans of the series will enjoy this book.

This is the 12th book that I've read in this series. I'm reading them in order, but I read a couple of the later ones before going back to start from the beginning. Like all the others, this one is nicely written. Peters' command of the English language is impressive. Her ability to portray life in 12th century England is also impressive. These stories are good period pieces. I have enjoyed all of the episodes I've read so far.

On the other hand, this particular installment is not the most mysterious of Brother cadfael's mysteries that I have read. It is clear from early on who the ordinary ruffians are. It is also clear who is troubled and has questionable motives. It only remains to clarify the relationship between two troubled young men to sort out the mystery. Further, the mystery doesn't have much immediacy for the reader, having taken place a considerable distance away and before the story opens. This story is also a bit "gushier" than most. The romantic angle is played up with a bit too much intensity and there is a "miraculous" healing during the story that fills a whole chapter and does little to further the plot.

I enjoyed this book. It was a pleasant and easy read. But, as a mystery, it was only mediocre. If you are a Cadfael fan, enjoy. But, if you're looking for a real whodunit, look elsewhere.

If you're interested in an audio edition, check that you're getting the unabridged recording narrated by Stephen Thorne.
Ideally, read all the preceding books in the series, in order, before reading this one. At a minimum, first read #1 (A Morbid Taste for Bones, the story of how the monastery came to have St. Winifred as its patroness) and The Virgin in the Ice, to avoid the biggest spoilers.

This June of 1141, the feast of the translation of St. Winifred dawns upon a time when the civil war between the Empress Maud and King Stephen for the throne of England may finally draw to a close: Stephen was captured at the battle of Lincoln, and even now Maud is negotiating with the city of London for her entry into Westminster for her coronation. The papal legate, Bishop Henry of Blois, brother to Stephen, has called a legatine council (including Abbot Radulfus from Shrewsbury) and is working on turning his allegiance to the empress, for the sake of peace. Hugh, sheriff of Shropshire for Stephen, broods on ways and means of getting a man into Bristol to free Stephen, and prays for a miracle, while using his friend Brother Cadfael as a sounding board.

Cadfael, too, is praying for a miracle - any miracle - at this feast of St. Winifred. Not from a desire for the abbey's glory, or from any faltering of his own faith, but as a sign that the saint took no offense from the events of _A Morbid Taste for Bones_, when he accompanied a delegation from the abbey to the saint's grave in Wales to bring back her mortal remains as holy relics. (Since that was before Hugh's arrival in Shrewsbury, Cadfael summarizes the story for him, so it's possible to follow the plot of _Pilgrim_ without reading _Bones_. But be warned that Cadfael reveals the ending of _Bones_ to Hugh.)

Abbot Radulfus returns in time for the festival, bearing word of a cowardly murder at the legatine council. The attempted murder of the envoy of Stephen's queen failed, but Ranulf Bossard, the brave man of the empress' party who foiled the attempt, was himself cut down in the street.

All the brothers are busily preparing for the huge influx of pilgrims at this time of year, many of whom are ill and seeking miraculous healing. Brother Cadfael, as herbalist, sees some of the more noteworthy cases: Rhun, a devout half-Welsh boy with a twisted leg that might respond to treatment; his sister, Melangell; a young Welsh clark, Ciaran, traveling barefoot and wearing a large iron cross, on his way to Wales to die; Matthew, Ciaran's faithful shadow. There are less savory characters, as well, petty (and not so petty) career criminals who prey on the credulous and the frail. (Credulous, as in, people who trust a stranger's dice.) Some may even have fled from a city too hot to hold them.

Into this festival atmosphere rides a young envoy of the empress' party, on a twofold mission: to sound out Hugh on the question of his fealty, and to seek Bossard's young heir, who disappeared in this direction after his lord's death. But even if he is among the pilgrims, how can he be identified by those who have never seen him? And was he involved in Bossard's death?

It is A.D. 1141, A year that brings a tide of pilgrims to the Addey.

This is the tenth mystery in the series. You may want to start from the first to let the interacting mysteries reveal themselves in chronological order. This is the second one for me after "The Morbid Taste for Bones." I do have to warn you that the synopsis to "A Morbid Taste for Bones" and "Virgin in the Ice" is played out again somewhat in the first two chapters of this book.

What can not be portrayed in the short Cadfael movies and would make marvelous reading on its own is the inter action between the forces and reasons behind the vacillating positions of Empress Maud and King Stephen. This is also a crucial part of the story; as the loyalties and logistics play a major part in the mystery and people's lives.

I will not compare and contrast the people in the story or the differences in the film adaptation as the fun is finding out for your self, all the actions and interaction of people. I will say that none of this would have been possible with out the grace of St. Winifred.

In this, the tenth of the Brother Cadfael series, the year is 1141, and with King Stephen of England a prisoner in Bristol, the Empress Maud is negotiating with the people of London to be crowned at Westminster. Stephen's queen has sent an envoy to the bishop to plead her husband's cause when he is attacked in the street. One of Maud's own men, Rainald Brossard, is appalled at this unfair attack and goes to his rescue. In the ensueing melee, Rainald is himself stabbed amd killed. In the Abbey of St.Peter and St.Paul in Shrewsbury, the monks are preparing for the annual pilgrimage which is held to celebrate the anniversary of the day when the bones of St.Winifred, a Welsh, virgin saint, were brought to the Abbey. Cadfael is especially praying for a miracle to occur, as he has a slightly uneasy conscience about the actual retrieving of the bones which is explained in the first book of the series, A Morbid Taste for Bones.A strange pair of young men arrive at the Abbey guest house, one of whom is walking with bare, bloodied feet and bearing a very heavy iron cross around his neck on a thin cord. The other man never leaves his side for a minute, even during sleep. The mystery of the story is easy to work out but the whys and wherefores are more complex. It's another wonderful slice of mediaeval history brought to vivid life by Ellis Peters.

The first Jacqueline Kirby novel, The Seventh Sinner, finds Jacqueline in Rome. She mets seven graduate students all studying various disciplines. At a party, another student bursts in and accuses someone of stealing his treasure. The next day, Jean (one of the students), finds the boy near death. It is up to Jake to find the killer and save Jean.

Jacqueline is a different character than Barbara Peters' other two heroines, Vicky Bliss and Amelia Peabody. Kirby is an older woman with grown children and is usually presented from other characters' point of view. It is an interesting take on a series, and one that is enjoyable. However, I find it hard to relate to Jackqueline as much as I do to Vicky or Amelia- she seems more removed.

I recommend this series- give it a try!

This, the first of the Jacqueline Kirby books, does a wonderful job introducing Ms. Kirby. Just as grown children leave home to start a new phase in their life, so does their middle-aged parents. Jacqueline does a fine job disregarding the past to open up a new and exciting phase in her life which includes helping a group of young graduate students solve a murder. Her intelligence and past experience leaves her prepared for every eventuality! A delightful romp!

Barbara Mertz, also known as Elizabeth Peters, also known as Barbara Michaels has written nonfiction Egyptology books under her own name. As Elizabeth Peters, she is the author of many mysteries, including series starring Amelia Peabody, Vicky Bliss, and Jacqueline Kirby. As Barbara Michaels she has written 29 gothic suspense novels.

"The Seventh Sinner" is one of Elizabeth Peters's Jacqueline Kirby mysteries, told in the 3rd person by Jean Suttman who is in Rome on an archeological fellowship, and who literally runs down Jacqueline Kirby in a library. Almost as soon as Jean makes friends with Jacqueline, the younger woman witnesses the last few moments of a murder victim, and becomes the next target for the murderer.

Other novels in the Jacqueline Kirby series are "Murders of Richard III," "Die for Love," and "Naked Once More." Truthfully---and I know I must belong to a small minority---I like the Jacqueline Kirby books better than those starring Amelia Peabody, which tend to run on a single, dusty Egyptian track. Far better to be in Rome in the spring, even though Jean and Jacqueline are underground in various catacombs too much of the time. At least, they didn't have to spend any subsurface hours in the Cloaca Maximus, which still carries somewhere around one million cubic meters of waste per day.

Anyway, this book is more focused on the early Christians, rather than the pagan Romans. There are some fascinating archeological inquiries into the burial sites of Saints Peter and Paul, and of course there is the brooding, claustrophobic atmosphere of underground Rome itself---an important part of this mystery.

'Sinner' moves right along and there's no point in warning the heroine to stay out of the catacombs. That's where the final clue to the murder might be found, and Jean is going to find it or die trying.

There is the usual, stylish Peters 'humoresque' decorating this mystery---Lots of snappy dialogue and interesting characters to entertain her dedicated readers who may not be all that interested in early Christian archeology.

The story centers on a group of graduate students studying art and history in Rome. Two of the group met middle aged librarian Jacqueline Kirby and introduce her to their group, the Seven Sinners. A hanger on of the group is found murdered, found by a member of the group and possibly also murdered by a member of the group. One of the group, Jean, begins to have a series of accidents that soon become more violent and appear less and less accidental. Jacqueline Kirby decides to investigate this matter and, of course, manages to uncover both murderer and motive.

This book was written in 1972 and does show it's age a bit, hence the 4 rather than 5 stars. Even though this is the first Jacqueline Kirby details about her are left vague. We learn there are grown children but nothing about a Mr. Kirby.

The book is enjoyable and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

I have been putting off reading the other two mystery series written by Elizabeth Peters as I enjoy the Amelia Peabody series so much that I thought I would be disappointed. And, surprisingly, I was not disappointed at all in this, the first of the Jacqueline Kirby mysteries, first published in 1972. Kirby is not an instanly likeable character but she grew on me as the book continued. The mystery is classic Peters in that it involves some rather arcane references which always end up tying into the mystery somehow. I was able to figure out how the main clue to the criminal works into the plot but was not able to figure out who that criminal was as Peters keeps a vital piece of information from the reader until the denouement. This is a quite enjoyable mystery, quicker to read than the Amelia Peabody mysteries, and I look forward to buying and reading the second in the series.

Dick Francis consistently writes books that people love to read -- again and again! I own all of his books and have had to replace some due to wear! I started in 1988 with The Edge and was hooked! Try any of his books and you will feel the same. Thank you, Dick Francis!

Smokescreen is set mostly in South Africa, where horse exercise boy turned film actor Edward Lincoln goes at the request of a dying friend. Her horses aren't winning races, and she'd like him to investigate. Despite Lincoln's protests that while he may play a detective in the movies, but he's just an actor in real life, she persuades him to go.

Dick Francis novels give the reader an immersion in some specialty, and Smokescreen is no exception. We learn about moviemaking, South Africa during apartheid, and gold mining. Edward Lincoln is happily married, so there's no love interest going on, but it's a good story, not grisly, with a mystery to be solved.

Smokescreen was written in 1972, and although the plot and characters hold up well, what the characters wear can be something out of Austin Powers: "He was wearing another pair of pasted-on trousers, and a blue ruffled close-fitting shirt with lacing instead of buttons...the rugged male in his sexual finery...She arrived...wearing an eye-stunning yellow catsuit, which flared widely from the knees in black-edged ruffles. She looked like a flamenco dancer split up the middle...". Somehow clothes seem timeless in Agatha Christie, but this period is too close for comfort.

I recommend Smokescreen to all who like a classic mystery thriller without a lot of psychopathology. It keeps the reader's interest without keeping her up at night.

Another one of Dick Francis' fine stories. I've always enjoyed his novels, and this is another one of his finest. I had lost (lent) my original, so it was time to replace it. The protagonist struggles but gets there in the end. If you've never read any of his novels, you should start immediately! There are a few "Britishisms" that American readers might find a little strange (but interesting). Enjoy...

Francis, in the Introduction to this book, tells the reader that he had recently been to South Africa when the idea to write this book came to him. Furthermore, once he decided his main character was going to be a celebrity - an actor - he decided to gain background by visiting the British film studios at Pinewood to see how movies are made. Apparently his wife used to work behind the scenes in the movie business, so they have a number of friends who are actors, giving him a good, solid understanding of the acting business.

All this preparation and knowledge paid off in a particularly solid book, where you really feel like you are there while reading the story. Edward Lincoln is a well-known actor who has just finished filming a movie called "Man in a Car" (or something similar) where the basic story is that he has been handcuffed in a car and left to die. After this particularly draining experience, he is looking forward to some time with his family, but when his godmother, Nerissa, calls he immediately goes to see her. Startled by her appearance - she had always been very robust - he discovers she is very ill with lymphoma and is probably not going to last very much longer. She asks him to go to South Africa and look into her horses there as they have been performing badly in the races; she wants to leave them to her nephew, but she doesn't want him to end up with duds. Link is happy to comply.

However, once he arrives in South Africa, the attempts on his life almost immediately begin and he is soon drawn into a desperate struggle to both understand the problem with Nerissa's horses, and to protect himself from harm.

Beautifully detailed descriptions of the African vistas visited by Link bring us into the book fully - Francis seems to be particularly good at this sort of thing. I have definitely enjoyed reading books by this author and I believe I'll look into getting a few more.

The book came within a week and was like brand new, binding was not cracked, very pleased, still have to read it.

If you appreciate an 'old fashioned' tale free of graphic intimacy and violence, if you appreciate vivid description, romance and intrigue this is for you. I read all but one of Mary Stewart's books in my early twenty's through late thirties. Now, nearing seventy, I am rereading them and cherishing the stories I read in my young years. I have divested myself of hundreds of books. Mary Stewart's remain a constant. Though I prefer some over others "This Rough Magic" is a favorite. It tells of a young woman needing employment with limited accomplishments. She becomes governess and, of course, falls in love with one of the family members who own an estate. "Jane Eyre" is actually used in comparison within the story. Fun reading...

Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic, published in 1962, tells the story of Lucy Waring, an out-of-work actress. Killing time after her last show abruptly closed, she decides to visit her pregnant sister on the beautiful island of Corfu. She soon learns that the island is swarming with mysterious characters - including a legendary actor, his composer son, a toff-stroke-photographer, a friendly dolphin and a host of naive natives.

Although I knew this was going to be a mystery (bloodshed - huzzah!), I approached the book with trepidation. As much as I like John Fowles, I'm certainly not up to re-reading The Magus during rush hour. Similarly, the cover hinted toward some sort of neo-Gothic monstrosity - dispossessed noblemen and philosopher-heiresses dash around quoting poetry and invariably becoming trapped in the bell-tower.

My worries grew - and I'm sorry to confess this, as it only reflects badly on me - when I discovered it was written in the first person. Not only, I worried, would I have to read about the insecurities of some vapid philosopher/poetry-quoter, I was actually being assigned to empathize with her. (Kind of like I've being doing with the post so far - get it?)

The book quickly put all my fears to rest. By the end of the first chapter, I was very happy seeing the world through Lucy Waring's eyes. I think the ultimate bonding occurred when she confessed that she really wasn't a very good actress - at that point I knew that this wasn't going to feature some sort of plot-swept, wind-swept Gothic heroine, but actually a very good yarn, with a very, enjoyable, human narrator.

As a thriller, the danger is small-scale and intimate, but no less suspenseful for it. Although a vague Communist threat is presented, explained and promptly ignored, Lucy and her friends' efforts to fight the forces of evil are much more personal. The murders, even of strangers, are acutely felt, and Lucy's reaction to them (no fainting, just steely resolve) helps make them more real.

There are a few notable concessions to genre conventions. All the members of the opposite sex on the island are, of course, very attractive. Corfu is swarming with handsome young men, all of whom find Lucy irresistible.

Also, as with any good internationally-placed thriller, the natives have very little to do with anything. The Greek people come across as generous and naive, but not very bright. Most of them are possessed with typical peasant mojo - they're able to repair a car, but not drive one. And, of course, they're completely incapable of solving a crime (or even noticing one). Thank god for the British, eh?

These concessions to conventions are balanced out by a few deliberate attempts at subversion as well. One exceptional moment has Lucy captured by the enemy. Although fiercely intelligent, she acts the stupid little ingenue in order to wiggle her way out of the situation (all the while looking for a serviceable weapon). It is especially entertaining given the immense vanity of the villain - who strikes me as a pretty good imitation of the typical Sixties pulp hero. As much as I like Shell Scott and Chester Drum (and James Bond, for that matter), it does raise the question, 'How many of those women would rather just be hitting you over the head right now?'.

After some commutes filled with truly horrific fiction, I was starting to dread the morning train. This Rough Magic, however, arrived just in time to restored my faith in cheap fiction. Fortunately, it isn't my place (or my goal) to do a deep and insightful analysis of gender roles. Instead, I'm just happy that I finally got a decent book to read on the tube.

Having read Stewart's Arthurian saga, and thoroughly enjoyed and admired them, I was a bit disappointed in this book. It is an adventure and mystery novel, with no real magic in it (as exists with Merlin and The Crystal Cave and the rest). I found her writing amateur and struggling, not the masterful work she put forth in the Arthurian saga books.

I could picture something of Corfu, and I substituted Ian McKellen for Sir Julian Gale (this was a good character). I liked her descriptions of the old houses and the hidden cellars and passages, the rich rose garden, the dolphin element, but for the most part it felt like a setting, and the characters worked to move the plot along.

However, I was touched by some bits of the romance, the tension of the mystery, and the fear of what-if towards the end.

As in other Mary Stewart classics, the action of "This Rough Magic" takes place in a mere matter of days. Lucy Waring, a twenty-something actress steps off the London stage and onto the idyllic Ionian island of Corfu. In a the course of a morning swim, paradise transforms to a place of sinister doings: someone shoots at a tamed dolphin, a young Greek drowns off the coast of Albania, and a smuggler washes up dead in a nearby cove. Stewart uses all her formidable skill, crafting a strong story that is both literary and fast moving. Told from Lucy's point-of-view, the reader's is kept as taut as a wire as the tension mounts not only while Lucy attempts to determine the identity of the wrongdoer and the reason for his misdemeanors but as she inadvertently puts herself in harm's way.

Playfully, Stewart pulls out all the stops, introducing one of her most cleverly contrived secondary characters, Sir Julian Gale, a Lawrence Olivier facsimile whose theory that the island setting of Shakespeare's "Tempest" and Corfu are one and the same adds much charm and ambiance to an already gloriously depicted exotic locale. Cleverer still, she employs the idea of the deus ex machina in a most enjoyable sequence, where the 'god' is a young Greek male and the 'machine', his improbable motorcycle.

As always, the Stewart heroine impeccably relates each event as it occurs with an astonishing literacy--the language employed borders on poetry; the reader actually smells every flower, is blinded by the lush colors of the foilage and stung by the salt of the Ionian Sea. In kind, Stewart characterizes her Greeks with an affectionate curiosity and love of the stranger; their traditions and rituals are reported with much respect and admiration.

As noted in some of my other reviews of Stewart's work, this author's masterly use of plot, character, language and style puts her in a genre all her own. She is quite definitely incomparable. 'This Rough Magic" is one of my favorite Stewart selections: one of a trio of novels set in Greece and the Greek Isles that uses the strained politics of the late 50s and early 60s as a backdrop to catapult a rather normal UK female protagonist into an abnormal situation where the British sense of responsibility is shown to positive advantage.

Recommended with the wish that all the Stewart suspense tales are reissued in trade paperback with Reader's Questions.

I love everything Mary Stewart has written. Her books are classics. This was the first book I read of her's, and to this day I think it is still her best. This Rough Magic is a truely charming story. When I think of the story I get a smile on my face. That's how good this book is. I highley recommend this book and all her others.

I've never read a Ruth Rendell novel before. I came to the Babes in the Woods hoping to find an author of British detective fiction with an approach similar to that of P.D. James. I was disappointed.

The characters, without exception, are completely one-dimensional. I understand that psychological depth and character complexity is not a concern of every author. However, flat characters become a problem when, as with the Babes in the Woods, the believability of (and reader's satisfaction with) the ending depends upon the depth and realism with which the author portrays the killer's psychology. This novel was a let-down.

Can any Rendell fans out there tell me if I happened to pick a sub-par example of her work?

Also, two nit-picks:

1) I'm not sure about the print edition, but the Kindle edition is rife with typographical errors.

2) I'm no expert--I guess I only have the exposure most kids get along with a college education--but Rendell describes marijuana as a brown powder, and that seems sort of odd to me. Am I way off base, or has Ruth Rendell never seen marijuana?

You've got to hand it to Ruth Rendell. While so many other mystery writers (P.D. James, Sue Grafton amongst others) have completely run out of steam, she's like the Energizer Bunny: she keeps going and going and going. And to push the battery metaphor to a ridiculous extreme, her books remain electrifying! (My apologies to Ms. Rendell, who would never stoop to such banal, cliche-ridden prose.) With "The Babes in the Wood," Rendell is in prime form, presenting a truly twist-filled, surprising novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. I must say, however, that it would have made more sense to me had the killing been revealed to be accidental; I found premeditated murder a little hard to swallow. But that's quibbling. If you're a Rendell/Wexford fan, you're likely to find "The Babes in the Wood" tremendously rewarding. And if you're not yet a fan, I bet you'll find it so as well.

After the messy nonsense of "The Blood Doctor", our capable writer, Ruth Rendell is somewhat returned to us in this somber mystery and in the character of the very dour-yet-knowable Inspector Wexford. I seem to remember that a few years ago, Europe endured a summer-long flood of biblical proportions. Rendell uses this as the backdrop for a mystery involving the disappearance of a house sitter who is minding two teenagers whilst their parents are away for the weekend. Wexford is serious, the surrounds are sodden, and there isn't a lot of action, but the story perks along pretty well and takes some inventive turns. You'll want to slap the parents of the teenagers silly before the book is through. As usual, we get to see a great deal of Wexford and wife Dora's personal life and in this book, Wexford's daughter Sylvia, whom we have come to know through her marriage, children, and divorce, has a desperately unlikable boyfriend who becomes a key part of the story. I think that maybe I had a real appreciation for the endless rain in this book, having just survived one of the wettest years in Maryland history. I think Rendell does drenched very well.

I am a huge Ruth Rendell fan, and this book did not disappoint me. In it we have a series of bizarre consequences stemming from the disappearance of two teenaged children and their minder on a rainy weekend. The book is set around a huge flood that hits Kingsmarkham, and we have Wexford watching the waters rising in his own yard as he gets drawn further and further into the strange disappearance, and the even stranger family that the children belong to. The book will keep you guessing until the end. Rendell uses the book to also air her views on sexual exploitation, fundamentalist religion and disfunctional families. You always get a lot more than just a mystery with a Ruth Rendell novel. This lady is a masterful writer. Most others pale in comparison.

I am a bit of a boring person when it comes to the style and topic of books I like to read. I thought I might go out on a limb and read something a little different. Well I sure am glad I did.

This book is great. The characters believable, the plot totally supported with no messy bits that don't make sense, lots of appropriate subplots, and suspense and teeth-grinding build up.

I won't describe the plot, you can read that in other people's wonderful reviews, but I will say if you like your mystery and suspense, then Ruth Rendell rocks.Not only that but her use of description is so right on, I pictured her characters with no problem-not always an easy thing for a forgetful Wiccan monkey :)

5 stars *****

Bluebeard's Egg / 0-385-49104-2

This collection of Atwood stories includes:

- Significant Moments in the Life of my Mother
- Hurricane Hazel
- Loulou
- Uglypuss
- Betty
- Bluebeard's Egg
- Spring Song of the Frogs
- Scarlet Ibis
- The Salt Garden
- The Sin Eater
- The Sunrise
- Unearthing Suite

Most of the stories revolve around the superb Atwood device of women in comfortable, "correct" lives, yet who are unbearably, incomprehensibly (to them) sad and alone. Many of these women have relationships outside of themselves - husbands, lovers, mothers, children - yet, they do not have anyone with whom they truly connect with. Though they devote much of their time, energy, and life to caring for the needs of others, no one else cares for their own needs, particularly their emotional needs.

However, Atwood does not limit herself purely to emotionally bereft women - "Uglypuss" tells the story of a disintegrating relationship from the male and female points of view, and manages to make the reader both sympathetic and non-sympathetic to both parties. This sort of literary skill (I identify with her, I identify with him) is highly rare and should be read to be believed. The trip is not always enjoyable (I often leave Atwood with a profound sense of loss and sadness), but it is meaningful and worthwhile.

I was a little disappointed to discover that Bluebeard's Egg was a collection of stories, because I was hoping for another impossible-to-put-down novel by Margaret Atwood. Still, her writing style is fantastic no matter what medium she writes in.

Upon reading the first few stories, in this collection, I tended to feel in keeping with some of the reviewers who intimated that the stories were lacking in complexity. However, as I began to probe further, and reread some of the stories, I realized just exactly what a genius Margaret Atwood is... Atwood's writing is a painful blend of the comical and horrific, much as life can be. These stories, some of them, made me cry with laughter. The recognition of some of my own inner demons was a little painful, but at least it was vicarious in nature. Such is the beauty of a story.

I found that the story "The Sunrise" was one of the most exquisite pieces of satire on the art process. As an artist bleeds themselves onto the page or the canvas, the public laps it up like starving vampires. Vicarioulsy. Sometimes the artist gives too much, more than they have to give, and then must seek out the inspiration, the muse, if you will, in someone else. Yvonne, the character here, states that she gave too much at one time. She used to be an artist's model. Now she has shut herself off, but she needs light and life, which she gets from painting unsuspecting humans, and basking in the sunlight. She's like a hothouse flower. She is an artificial creation which she presents to the world. Only she knows the real truth. If this is a collection of stories about the painful truths lurking behind people's hearts, here is the ultimate.

Atwood brilliantly satirizes the whole creative process when she says: "Though if art sucks and everything is only art, what has she done with her life?" The symbology throughout the story is one of blatant vampirism, which only the most obtuse could not see. The creation of art and the sordidness of the art world do suck life not only from the artist, but the viewer as well. Just as some of Yvonne's vitality goes into the young man's collage. Atwood says Yvonne will suck the blood of the tulip until it dies,and that she eats a portion of the souls of her sitters, i.e. her victims. Yes, as one reviewer says, the book is rife with symbology, or apparent symbology, symbols for the reader to do with as they will, instead of being spoon-fed.

She pokes fun at the reader and the critic,even before they would have had a chance to read this work, by making Yvonne the artist, a woman who paints phalluses. She pokes fun at how a phallus cannot be seen as a phallic symbol, because it IS phallic, in and of itself. Even the razor blade she calls a 'memento mori'.

The most exquisite satire comes early in the story, when she writes that it is boring to be characterized by what you paint. "There was one advantage though: people bought her paintings, though not for ultra-top prices, especially after magic realism came back in." If magic realism is the use of supernatural elements treated as if they were commonplace, and she is commenting on how boring it is to be taken so literally, to in essence, have no surprises for the audience, as well as making allusions to the whole vampire myth, then this is truly brilliant satire!

For those of us who get it, here is a treasure, a gem, that has to be dug for, not unlike buried treasure. The very thing which kills her artist's spirit, or cuts off her cash flow, is a renewed fascination on the part of the fickle audience with elements of the supernatural, the mythical, the mysterious, the inutitive. They want mystery and juxtaposed images that don't have meaning until you look under the surface. Like the young man's collages which drain her into them. It's too late for her to use that ploy herself, and she said so, earlier. For the ones who get it, Atwood seems to be slamming the critics right out of the starting gate. She's having the first laugh, and I think it is infinitely funny!

No one will mistake Margaret Atwood for Alice Munro when it comes to short stories. Most of these stories are trifles. Atwood's tendency to be elliptical really gets in the way of any development. Her narrators seem to just be skimming the surface of life with little or no consequence of that. Only the stories "Bluebeard's Egg" and "Scarlet Ibis" really rise above the level of craft, particularly the former. I love the preciseness with which Atwood details feminine rivalry over men! Overall, a hodge-podge of "short fiction pieces," not short stories.

In the car I always have an audiobook to listen to, and the last weeks I really have enjoyed Margareth Atwood's Bluebeard's Egg and other stories.

This is a collection of short stories written by a master of words, and a master of short stories. When Atwood writes she uses no extra words or sentences, she takes us right to the point, and the point in this collection is human beings. Common human beings fighting for their lives. No heros, just plain people like you and me. Every time a new story starts I think, this one cannot be better than the last, but it happend again and again, the story captivates me, and it is all mornings hard to stop the car and go to work - I want to hear just one more sentence, and then one more.

My favorite story though is the one that has given name to the collection, Bluebeard's Egg. A well known fairy tale, told and given it's own meaning by Atwood, or may be she just shows us the original meaning of the story. Sally, the main carachter of the story struggles with the puzzle of her life, to keep all the pieces together. The center of her life is her husband Ed, but how can she be sure that she is also the center in Ed's life? No one can write about this, invite us into and let us be in the feeling of the story like Atwood do.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

Excellent book!! This was the second Victoria Holt book I have read and I cannot wait until I read another one. It was romantic, no love scenes though physical love is mentioned by the narrator several times. My only criticism is that the plot isn't as fast moving it was in the first book I read of Holt. ('Mistress of Mellyn') Also, there are some parts of the book that are a little boring, but they all lead up to the end which totally takes you by surprise!!!

I am a great fan of Victoria Holt, and I gave this book 5 stars, cuz in my opinion it is ONE of her best. All her novels are very good,but this is one of my favorites. Very Very good book! Recommended!

Don't be fooled by the title! I was wary about this one until my cousin told me it wasn't satanic or have anything to do with the occult.

This book is about Minella, the daughter of a schoolteacher in England. One day, she meets the Comte, a meeting that will change her life. He is arrogant and mysterious, and instantly attracts her attention. Through a chain of events, she comes and lives with him in his chateau with his wife and daughter. After refusing to be his mistress the Comte's wife mysteriously dies. Did he kill her? Then, the French Revolution breaks out, and their love - and life - is in danger.

This Holt novel is different than her other ones because the "mystery" isn't the main issue. It is mostly about the revolution.

I found this book to be one of Victoria Holts slowest and most plodding, but appreciated the historic background of the French Revolution. The title is deceiving, but I liked it a lot better than Song for a Nightingale which was disappointing in the end. If this is your first Holt novel, do yourself a favor and read On the Night of the Seventh Moon--you will be addicted!--or read the long, but fascinating account of Marie Antoinette's life, The Queen's Confession. It's a much better book about the same time frame than this one.

It was very very very good. A romance novel. No sex scenes like I had been expecting (darn), but there was very good plot. Good use of characters. Very vivid and personal.

This is a novel, a story that carries the reader from page to page with the brilliance of an electric lightbulb. The author plays with the image of electricity from the interest of the main character in the new phenomenon to her infatuation with the engineer who comes to stay in her home and their ensuing marriage, to her affair with his boss and the historical fascination with spiritism at the time. The characters are so well drawn that you can feel the power between them - the electricity. I loved this book. Great for a day at the beach!

This book is powerful, intelligent and ultimately leaves you hanging. It would be great for a book club.

This book is powerful, intelligent and ultimately leaves you hanging. It would be great for a book club.

What I liked about this book is that I really felt immersed in Victorian life as I read it, yet I didn't feel like the author was trying to "tell" me about Victorian life. She simply portrayed a character who lived that life and "showed" what it was like. I thought Charlotte a very interesting character with some unusual insights into life.

This interesting novel contrasts strength and timidity, old and
new, happiness and pain, and of course darkness and light.

I was intrigued by Charlotte's strong, strange Aunt Susannah,
her creepy, reactive father, stoic, attractive Peter Fisher,
and the rich and appealing George Godwin.

Charlotte eagerly tastes life and love, and learns and is
taught all sorts of new, interesting ideas and considerations,
some quite ahead of their time.

The narration of this story is well-descibed and evocative,
and Charlotte was a believable character. Recommended.

Three friends and I searched for books by Elizabeth several years ago. Almost all our copies were found in used and/or antique bookstores. It was wonderful fun to find a rare book by Elizabeth, but even more wonderful was to have a chance to read each of her 22 books! They are all marvelous, but Elizabeth and Her German Garden, Solitary Summer, The Enchanted April, Vera, and Love are some of my favorites. There are two biographies of Elizabeth, and I encourage reading them if you want to know more about this highly intelligent and accomplished woman. One biography is 'Elizabeth' by Karen Usborne, the other Elizabeth of the German Garden by Leslie de Charms (one of Elizabeth's daughters). Two of her books have been made into movies, "Enchanted April" and "Mr. Skeffington". I am so pleased to see some of her books back in print! I own all 22 and plan to reread all of them in the near future. I hope that Elizabeth will be rediscovered by a whole new generation of women...and men too.

Great look at life for a monied, determined woman at the turn of the last century. With an Edith Wharton insight, the Countess shares innermost thoughts and treasured moments with the reader in a most enchanting novella.
No real gardening tips, but lovely narrative. I very much enjoyed reading it.

I found this book in a dusty box of old books I bought at a garage sale when I was in high school. After I read it I began to collect her other novels which at this time were all out of print and could only be found in antique stores. In a way Elizabeth became my role model of how to be a wife and mother. I could have done worse. She referred to her husband affectionately as T. M. O. W. (The Man of Wrath). And of course what man wouldn't be a man of wrath in Victorian times. It was a good lesson in the difference between male and female temperaments. Elizabeth enjoyed her "guilty pleasures." She said she enjoyed reading seed catalogs during long winter months and admitted that the pleasure was probably magnified by the fact that she should have been wrapping Christmas presents. Elizabeth became my life-long friend.

To me, this is much the best of Von Arnim's writing. Describing the joys and tribulations of a young English woman marrying a German aristocrat she centres on the haphazard creation of her garden and the activities of her children in an examination of European mores.

Her tone is anything but dusty. A top-selling author of her day she seems to have more in common with - the best - Sunday newspaper columnists of today than with her contemporaries. She battles both with chauvinism and the demands of running a country house which threaten to quell her free-wheeling attitude to life, in a style as fresh as it was at the turn of the century.

This is a most wonderful piece. I love the way Elizabeth always calls her husband the Man of Wrath; I love her wit; I love her descriptions of the forest silence and the Baltic Sea in winter; her children are always the April baby, the May baby, the June baby. Her writing is filled with phrases which could be lifted whole and put in a book of quotes full of wise words. Should be a classic, instead of moldering on a shelf. Thank god I own it! Probably written around 1900.