Mysteries Archives - Bob on Books

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The Weekly Wrap: September 20-26

Withdrawn From Publication

There is a first time for everything. One of the things I do with each review I write is link to the publisher’s description of the book. As I was setting up one of my reviews this week, I discovered the book was nowhere to be found on the publisher’s website. Wondering if it was a glitch, I searched the author’s name. Nada. So that was perplexing. The publisher had sent me a finished copy of the book, published in June, for review.

I found the book at commercial sites, I’d already read it, so I wrote the review. Before I began, I wrote the publicist for the book, noting when the review would go “live.” I heard nothing and so scheduled the review. The review went up the next morning and generated moderate interest. Then I heard back from the publicist. It turns out the publisher withdrew the book from publication. I received a basic explanation, but not specifics. So because of the lack of specifics and because I only had the publisher’s reasons and not an author response, I won’t say more than that.

But what do I do with the review? I decided to leave it up. You can’t really delete things from the internet and a number had already viewed it. And since the book dropped in June, I assume a number have read the book. But I also decided to add this note at the top of the review:

Editor’s Note (Date): This book has been pulled from publication by the publisher. The review, posted before this became known, remains for archival purposes.

I also raised the issue with the publicist of notifying those who have received review copies of the withdrawal of the book. Had I known this prior to reading/reviewing, I would have tossed the book. For this particular book, I’d invested about six hours in reading and reviewing it that I can’t get back. Longer books take even more time.

I also made a decision that I would I would check the publication status of new books proactively. If I can’t locate publication information with the publisher, I’d hold off, pending confirmation of the book’s status.

This was a rare occurrence for the publisher. And it’s the first time in over 2000 reviews that I ran into this problem. Hopefully, it will remain rare. But I wonder with the increased use of AI and the increasing temptation to cut corners…. But I have a better handle on how I’ll handle this as a reviewer.

Five Articles Worth Reading

I’ve written on AI a number of times. I don’t believe it belongs in publishing. I’ve been concerned about the shortcuts to real thinking by humans, the elimination of large numbers of jobs, and the huge sums of money connected to the tech industry. And I continue to be concerned about the energy, water, and land use involved in data centers. What I should have thought about is idolatry. “The Deep Spiritual History of AI” explores the chilling spiritual dimension of AI. Consider this pull quote from the article:

“Transcendence, liberation, immortality, singularity, the uploading of consciousness—these are religious structures that organize how the field talks about itself.”

Since the death of Annie Dillard, I’ve seen a number of articles about her life and work. “The Enduring Mystery of Annie Dillard” asks the intriguing question of why she left so much of her personal life out of her writing. For example, did you know that when she was spending time in the Roanoke Valley, she was living with her first husband?

Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections published eleven days before 9/11. It seems he sensed what was coming when he wrote in the second sentence “You could feel it: something terrible was going to happen.” In “The Last Great American Novel” Ed Simon considers what has happened to “The Great American Novel” in the twenty-five years since 9/11.

“T. S. Eliot and the Holy Grail” made me want to go back to Eliot’s “The Wasteland” to see if I could find the Fisher King of Arthurian legend in Eliot’s poem. I don’t remember that from college lit class.

I’m an Agatha Christie fan. But I’ve read most of what she wrote. Sadie Stein has me covered in “Love Agatha Christie? Read These Books Next.”

Quote of the Week

Kristin Hannah was born on September 25, 1960. She imparted this piece of wisdom:

“We can’t live other people’s lives for them. Even if we love them.”

Wise advice for couples, parents, and those who care for any community of people.

Miscellaneous Musings

The reason I link to publishers websites is to avoid directing people to a particular bookseller, including that big online seller. I realize I could make a token amount of money if I became an “associate.” But I support local booksellers including indie sellers. This seems the best way I can allow others to make their own book buying decisions.

The Cleveland Guardians just clinched their Division title and are in the playoffs. Maybe that explains the recent traffic to my review of Our Team by Luke Epplin, an account of the 1948 World Series Champion Indians, the last time this franchise won the World Series. Who knows…this could be the year.

I think I read mysteries to balance some of the dense theology books I read. Right now, I am delighting in J. Warren Smith’s Early Christian Theology. Dense but clear and delightful history of how the early church wrestled to understand things like the Trinity and the Incarnation. Richard Osman’s The Last Devil to Die is number four in the Thursday Murder Club mysteries–great good fun!

Next Week’s Reviews

Monday: George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life

Tuesday: Marilyn McIntyre, Start with a Word

Wednesday: Fritz Leiber, The Night of the Long Knives

Thursday: The Month in Review: September 2026

Friday: John Searle, The Rediscovery of the Mind

So, that’s The Weekly Wrap for September 20-26.

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.

Watson and Holmes, Sidney Paget, Public Domain

I am probably what you might call a middling mystery fan. A check of Goodreads shows that I’ve shelved 33 mysteries since 2011, which would suggest I read about four mysteries a year. Nevertheless, it is a genre I enjoy, and recently, I figured out one of the reasons why. The detectives.

This dawned on my while reviewing Fall of a Cosmonaut by Stuart M. Kaminsky. I realized that one of the reasons I was really enjoying the book was because of Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov. Rostnikov combines something of a mystic’s sensibilities with strong relationships, shrewd observations, and bureaucratic savvy.

From Sherlock Holmes on, mystery writers have created series around a distinctive character. In our childhoods, many of us were fascinated by the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. My son had a fascination for a time with Encyclopedia Brown. For some of us, our introduction as adults to mystery came through one of Agatha Christie’s many mysteries with Hercule Poirot or kindly but observant Miss Marple. Perhaps it was Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe or Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, inspirations for many Fifties TV detectives. Others of us were dawn to Lord Peter Wimsey, rich, something of a dilettante, the archetypal English gentleman, eventually joined by Harriet Vane.

We had a season of reading Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries. In this case you got a whole entourage of daring sleuths–Amelia, Emerson and Ramses at the head. I’ve enjoyed the cerebral, art-loving British sleuths: P. D. James’ Adam Dalgliesh and Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse. Dalgliesh writes poetry and Morse loves the opera. More recently, I’ve been discovered an entirely different character in James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux, troubled by memories of Vietnam, the loss of his wife, and ghosts of the Civil War. He breaks all the rules, and yet solves cases and brings people to book. Not entirely sure what I think of him but he is intriguing. Then at the other end is G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, whose spiritual insights into human nature combine with observational skills in solving crime. Then there are the gritty women like Kinsey Millhone and Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

I could go on and on and I’m sure I’ve omitted one of your favorites. I hope you will talk about him or her in your comments. Part of the delight in reading different mysteries is the sheer uniqueness of these very different characters. One of the things that hooks me into a good series is a character to whom I’m drawn. I especially enjoy writers whose characters grow in insight, self-understanding and depth over time. Lord Peter Wimsey and Adam Dalgliesh stand out to me as examples.

There is a common element that I think draws me as well. It is a quality of attentiveness. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes remarks at one point, “You see, but you do not observe.” It seems that all good detectives notice what others miss, perhaps because of prejudice, haste, or distraction. It also seems that another quality I would emulate is a persistent curiosity. They keep observing, asking questions, tracking down threads. Remember Columbo’s “Just one more thing!” Then there is patience, a comfort with ambiguity that doesn’t force a solution when all the pieces are in place. I value that all these are people who take time to think and reflect–and then act when the time is ripe. They neither act without thinking, nor think without acting. Above all, each of these qualities are focused toward righting wrongs and making the world a bit more just.

All of these seem good qualities not only for detectives, but for life. After all, perhaps the greatest mystery is found in each one of our lives. There are depths in our own being that we can spend a life understanding, as is the case with any other person close to us–parents, spouses or partners, friends, colleagues and children. There is the mystery of discerning the path before us. Even if we believe in a God who guides us, it often takes attentiveness, curiosity, patience, thought, reflection, and pursuing justice to discern that path. Perhaps this is what I appreciate in reading detective mysteries–they remind me how to live.