Mystery

Review: Tamarack County

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Cover image of "Tamarack County" by William Kent Krueger

Tamarack County (Cork O’Connor, 13), William Kent Krueger. Atria Books (ISBN: 9781451645774) 2014,

Summary: A judge’s wife is missing, a dog is beheaded, and Stephen is nearly killed and Cork must connect the dots.

Evelyn Carter’s car has been found abandoned on a back road in the middle of a blizzard. She is the wife of a retired judge who is increasingly dependent upon her. As part of the county’s Search and Rescue volunteer team, Cork joins the search to look for her. But they find no trace.

Then, while Stephen is visiting his girlfriend Marlee, someone beheads the dog she and her mother are keeping for a relative in prison. Someone is stalking Marlee’s family, it appears. A guy in a green pickup followed her mom home from work until she eluded him. The same truck subsequently follows Marlee and Stephen, running them off the road.

While Marlee recovers in the hospital, Cork stays with her mother, ostensibly to offer protection. Rainy is away and told Cork he was free, although they keep in touch. You can probably guess what happens.

This isn’t Cork’s only problem. Annie is home. She has left the religious order into which she had hoped to join as a nun. She won’t talk about it and the rest of the family gives her space. It is clear there is something troubling that she is trying to sort out.

But that’s not Cork’s only problem. Only when Stephen is nearly killed does it become apparent that the driver of the truck that ran Marlee and Stephen off the road was really after Stephen. Stephen lies between life and death when Henry Meloux comes to his hospital bed.

It is apparent to Cork and Sheriff Marsha Dross that there is a connection behind all these events and that he must find that connection before more harm comes to those he loves. And as so often in these stories, Cork’s own life is on the line in an edge-of-the seat climax.

This was probably less mystery than suspense-thriller with a dash of family drama. I’m not sure why Krueger threw in the plotline of Marlee’s mother and Cork. One could say it humanized him but it also diminished him for me. On the other hand, Stephen continues to emerge as a truly interesting character and we wonder if someday he will succeed Henry as a mide. For the time, Jenny is happy as a mom to her adopted son. We discover that Annie is far more complicated than we knew.

It will be interesting to see how Krueger develops Cork as the series progresses. He seems to be in a liminal space, even while he continues to be the one who interposes himself between others and danger. One senses he would choose a different life if he could. As he ages, one wonders if Krueger will find a way for that to happen for Cork and how that will take shape.

__________

Thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Black Knight in Red Square

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Cover image of "Black knight in Red Square" by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Black Knight in Red Square, (Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov, 2), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Mysterious Press/Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781453269589) 2012 (first published in 1984).

Summary: Rostnikov’s team races to stop a terrorist organization from causing mayhem at an international film festival.

An International Film Festival is about to open in Moscow. Journalists and filmmakers from all over the world are gathering. And four men, an American, a Japanese, and two Russians who ate together are dead in their rooms, all killed by a deadly poison. Rostnikov and his team get the case. Results are expected swiftly, both from within his own bureaucracy and from the KGB. His nemesis there, Colonel Drozhkin is looking for a way to bring Rostnikov down. In sum, the potential for career-ending failure is great.

Rostnikov and Karpo meet with the widow of the American, who doesn’t seem especially bereaved. They later learn that the real widow is in Australia. They realize that they likely had met the person behind the killings, who was taking their measure. And that signals that the poisonings were a mere prelude. Karpo, in his methodical way, devotes himself to tracking her down.

They figure out she has recruited a German journalist and a British filmmaker to help her. Tkach and Rostnikov track them while the team tries to unravel her ultimate scheme, which is to bomb key Moscow sites, including Lenin’s tomb.

Amid this, Rostnikov pursues a strategy to counter Drozhkin and get something he deeply desires. And he squeezes in a personal goal–to compete in a weightlifting competition, despite an injured leg. To the surprise of judges, he wins, wowing them by a humorous but impressive mistake.

There is an element of suspense in the effort to prevent acts in which the terrorists have the initiative. At the same time, we get to watch a subtler form of intrigue play out between Rostnikov and Drozhkin. It all makes for an exciting conclusion to a well plotted mystery. Meanwhile, we find ourselves caring for each of those on Rostnikov’s team, any who may be the target of a woman who will not hesitate to kill any in her way.

Review: Black Coffee

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Cover image of "Black Coffee" by Agatha Christie and Charles Osborne

Black Coffee, (Hercule Poirot 7.5), Agatha Christie (stage play), Charles Osborne (novelization). William Morrow (ISBN: 9780061739323) 2004 (Stage play, 1930; Novelization, 1998).

Summary: Poirot is too late to help Sir Claud, who has been fatally poisoned and his secret formula stolen by someone in his household.

I like my coffee black. But I think I would pass were I visiting the home of Sir Claud Amory.

Black Coffee was actually Agatha Christie’s first stage play, overshadowed by the widely staged The Mousetrap. The play was moderately successful, playing in several theatres from December 1930 through June 1931. It also appeared as a film version in 1931. Among those over the years who played the suspicious Italian Dr. Carelli was Charles Osborne. Forty years later he approached the Christie Estate with a proposal to novelize the stage play. This book, published in 1998, was the result.

Sir Claud Amory reaches out to Poirot for help. He is working on an atomic formula that would create a powerful weapon. He suspects someone in his house wants to steal it. Before Poirot arrives, he finds the formula missing. He stages an elaborate effort to recover the formula at a dinner party with members of the household and guests. He locks them into the library. After coffee is served, he tells them the lights will be turned off, the thief can return the formula, and life will go on. Then he drinks his coffee, the lights go out and come on just as Poirot arrives.

An envelope is by his side. But Sir Claud is very dead. And the envelope is empty.

The authorities ask the guest to remain. Beside servants, there is Sir Claud’s sister Caroline, his spirited niece Barbara, his son Richard, who is in financial straits, Richard’s wife, Lucia, who he recently married in Italy, Sir Claud’s efficient secretary Edward Raynor, and Dr. Carelli, ostensibly Lucia’s friend. Instead, he is blackmailing her, threatening to reveal her past.

Poirot is accompanied by Captain Hastings. Soon they learn that someone used hyoscine to poison Sir Claud’s coffee, explaining the bitterness he complained of when drinking it. Suspicion focuses on Lucia, who had been seen taking some tablets from a medicine box they had been looking at earlier in the evening. She had served the coffee. And there was her past. She was the daughter Selma Goetz, an international spy. She had tried to keep this secret from the family but Dr. Carelli knew and Sir Claud had received a cryptic warning about her as well.

Poirot knows she isn’t the murderer, nor her husband, who confesses to protect her. Eventually he sets a trap to catch the thief and murderer. But the murderer turns the tables, using the same poison in Poirot’s drink.

This is a short piece, and while a bit formulaic, makes for a diverting read. It makes sense that this was a stage play. All the action takes place in the library. The character of Poirot is consistent with the other novels. Although the stage play preceded the nuclear age, the story also raises the question about the morality of such super weapons. Although this is not up to the standard of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None, any Christie and Poirot lovers will want to read this, particularly to learn the plot of Christie’s first stage play.

Review: Honeybath’s Haven

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Cover image of "Honeybath's Haven" by Michael Innes

Honeybath’s Haven, Michael Innes. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9780140048858) 1979 (out of print).

Summary: Little does artist Charles Honeybath think that yielding his place in a senior home will lead to an artist friend’s death.

I’ve long been a fan of Michael Innes Appleby mysteries. I did not look too closely when I picked up several Innes paperbacks with the green Penguin crime fiction spines. Therefore, I did not realize I had found an Innes book in which Appleby was not the protagonist. Instead, this is one of several featuring artist Charles Honeybath.

In this book, we learn that Honeybath had reserved a place at Hanwell Court, what today we might call a retirement community. But a visit leads to second thoughts. And then he learns of the hapless state of his artist friend Edwin Lightfoot. He’s taken to episodes in which he pretends to be a long-dead petty criminal, Flannel Foot. His art, apart from a few sketches, has taken a turn to the mediocre. It’s driving his wife, Melissa, crazy, and in the end she leaves him.

Honeybath learns of his miserable state from Melissa’s brother, Ambrose Prout. Edwin has lost their flat and lives miserably in his studio. Honeybath remembers his place at Hanwell Court and offers it to Edwin. He accepts.

Hanwell Court is a stately old estate divided into apartments, in a park-like setting. There is a resident psychiatrist, Dr. Michaelis, to attend to the mental health needs of the eccentric individuals who make their home there. Richard Gaunt has a fascination with lethal weapons like stilettoes. Colonel Dacre loves his rifles, and spending time at the rifle range (and occasionally stalking other prey). Mr. Brown, the man in the panama hat, seems to be the resident snoop, aware of everyone’s doings. Lady Munden, recently widowed, grows seaweed in the community pond, her pet project.

At first Edwin appears to do well. His paintings are mediocre but his sketches show a flair of his old genius. Most are caricatures of the residents, seemingly well-received by all but Lady Munden. However, Honeybath is uneasy about the “care” his friend is receiving from Dr. Michaelis. Then he discovers that Ambrose Prout is conspiring with Dr. Michelis to find missing works from Lightfoot’s zenith as an artist.

Honeybath gets his friend away on an artist’s excursion to Italy. While in Pisa, they run into Melissa, and Honeybath reveals Ambrose’s doings. When Edwin hears of this, he decides to immediately return to set things straight. A few days later, Hanwell Court employees find his body tangled in Lady Munden’s seaweed.

Honeybath doesn’t think it was an accident. Nor does Adamson, a Scotland Yard investigator. Yet, while several people might have motive against Lightfoot, was it enough for murder? Only the invasion of a criminal gang onto Hanwell Court’s grounds will expose the murderer and contribute to that person’s demise.

While this plot certainly had enough twists and turns to keep the reader wondering, this didn’t seem to have the elegance and flow of the Appleby stories. Honeybath seems more storyteller than sleuth. I like Innes as a writer for style and plotting. However, this was not one of my favorites.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books.  I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]

Review: Curtain

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Cover image for "Curtain" by Agatha Christie

Curtain, (Hercule Poirot, 44) Agatha Christie. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780062074096) 2011 (first published in 1975).

Summary: In Poirot’s last case, he and Captain Hastings reunite at Styles to catch a murderer involved in but unsuspected in five murders.

It all began with The Mysterious Affair at Styles when Poirot and Arthur Hastings team up to solve a murder. Now they are back at the country manor of Styles once more. But this time, the matter is far more urgent. Poirot believes that their is a mysterious figure identified as X in the party. X has committed at least five murders and gotten off unsuspected in each case. Poirot believes he is out to murder again. He has asked for Hastings help.

Poirot is a dying man. He has a heart that is failing, arthritic joints that confine him to a wheel chair, and he is a shadow of his former self. Only his hair and moustache are still black. Hastings is there to be his eyes and ears. But this is hard for Hastings. He wants to know who the murderer is and spends most of the story trying to figure that out. Yet Poirot won’t reveal what he knows. It could be deadly for his old friend, who has a hard time with secrets.

Colonel and Mrs. Luttrell now own and run Styles. The guests all know each other. Sir William Boyd-Carrington has invited Dr. John Franklin and his wife Barbara, often needy of bedrest. Hastings daughter Judith is a research assistant with Dr. Franklin. Major Allerton is a ladies man. Hastings fears he will try to make Judith his next conquest, so much so that he makes a failed attempt to murder him. Elizabeth Cole is the sister of the accused in one of the murders. And Norton is a quiet, retiring type who spends his time watching birds, as well as the other guests.

A certain sense of foreboding rests over the party. At one point, Mrs. Luttrell is accidentally wounded when Colonel fires at what he thinks a rabbit. Paradoxically, the accident draws them closer. Then, after a busy day with Boyd-Carrington in town, Barbara Franklin dies under suspicious circumstances. Even Judith is a suspect. Is this once again the work of X? And why did Poirot not stop him?

In the end Poirot does stop the killer in a most unusual ending that I will not spoil. It will be his last time working with Hastings and as some editions note, his last case. What is fascinating is that this was actually written in the 1940’s and locked up until late in the author’s life, along with Miss Marple’s last case. Certainly, in terms of plotting, it reflects Christie at her peak rather than in her later works. It reflects an interesting decision to plan the denouement of her detective before her own. And Styles and Hastings provide the ideal bookends to Poirot’s illustrious career.

Review: Trickster’s Point

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Cover image of "Trickster's Point" by William Kent Krueger

Trickster’s Point (Cork O’Connor, 12), William Kent Krueger. Atria Books (ISBN: 9781451645712) 2013.

Summary: When Jubal Little, candidate for governor is killed by an arrow while bowhunting with Cork, Cork becomes a murder suspect.

Three hours. That’s how long it took Jubal Little to die. He had an arrow through his heart. By the fledge pattern, it appears to be one of Cork’s arrows. Cork is with him. He wants to get help. But Little insists he stay. Perhaps he knows he is dying and doesn’t want to be left alone. They are at Trickster’s Point, a rock formation that carries memories for both of them.

All this makes Cork prime suspect. Why didn’t he get help? How else can his arrow fledge pattern, distinct among bowhunters, be explained? And whoever did it hunted in an old Ojibwe hunting way–one Cork used. While local officials choose not to believe it is him, this is not so for an FBI investigator.

All this takes Cork back to his youth. Jubal was a Montana Blackfoot who had moved to Aurora. They became fast friends. They played football together. Jubal was always faster, stronger, better. They were rivals for the affections of Winona Crane. Cork lost that one, especially after Jubal defended Winona from assault by Donner Bigby. In fact, it was conflict with Donner Bigby that connected Cork and Jubal to Trickster’s Point. Bigby climbed the formation to get away from Jubal. Jubal went after him while Cork waited below. Bigby plummeted from the top, killing him. But did he fall, as both Jubal and Cork told the authorities. or was he pushed?

The two had drifted apart after that. Jubal married into a powerful Minnesota family. Cork had gone to Chicago, met Jo, then returned home. They reconnected and occasionally went hunting when Jubal was in town. Jubal’s visits also signified that he’d never given up Winona. Now, he appeared to be a shoo-in for Minnesota governor, perhaps a stepstone to higher office. He and Cork differed on some political positions, which would hurt the Ojibwe and the natural beauty of the region. Of course, Cork wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

Cork finds evidence that he wasn’t the only one at Trickster’s Point. One is in the form of a dead body, shot through the eye by another of corks arrows. But there were also footprints and tire tracks of another. It confirms it was someone else who hunted in the native way. But how had they gotten his arrows, or ones like them? There are multiple suspects, including Donner Bigby’s brother and Winona Crane herself, who had learned to hunt in the old way. There are even political enemies to consider.

He also tries to make sense of Jubal’s dying word: Rhiannon. A few inquiries lead to threats against Cork’s family. Winona is in hiding. Only Winona’s brother Willie is in touch with her. He’s a nature photographer, who, despite cerebral palsy, is able to capture shots amazing enough that National Geographic purchases them

The question is, will Cork be able to find the real killer and make sense of his childhood friend’s murder before he becomes more than a “person of interest”?

Krueger continues to develop characters we’ve previously met. Stephen is growing in learning the ways of the healer in native tradition. Rainy and Cork are a couple. Jenny has embraced her calling as Waboo’s mom and he is flourishing. Cork also continues to wrestle with his own calling, which seems to be to stand in the way of trouble. Even though he’s shed the badge, trouble seems to have a way of seeking him out. It’s an uncomfortable reality we see both him and those he loves struggling to accept.

Finally, thanks for visiting Bob on Books. People aren’t reading blogs like they used to, so I appreciate that you spent time here. Feel to “look around” – see the tabs at the top of the website, and the right hand column. And use the buttons below to share this post. Blessings! [Adapted from Enough Light, a blog I follow.]