No Love Lost, by Margery Allingham

No Love Lost consists of 2 short novellas -- The Patient at Peacocks Hall and Safer than Love. Of the two, the former is undoubtedly the best, and after I finished reading it, I thought that it would make a splendid movie. A young woman doctor, jilted earlier by the love of her life (and not very happy about it) is called upon by the mysterious tenant of Peacocks Hall to arrange for an ambulance to be brought down to London to pick up a friend of his & return her to Peacock Hall. She makes the arrangements, then when she is asked to go up and take care of the patient one night, who has some mysterious ailment that needs the doctor's immediate attention, she realizes that it is one Francia Forde, an actress for whom her fiance had broken off their engagement during the war. The doctor at first refuses, but the tenant (a Mr. Gastineau) leaves her with no choice but to do as he asks. I can't give away the story, but it is really an amazing little novella and a fine mystery. The second story is "Safer Than Love," which seemed a bit muddled to me so I didn't enjoy it as much. A young woman marries the headmaster of a small school in a rural area of England. It seems that the entire town knows her business and that of her husband, and the woman is finding that she's a bit tired of the whole thing -- the marriage, the provincial town, her husband's unwillingness to change. After he is found dead, guess who becomes the most obvious suspect?
The first story was wonderful, with enough tension to keep me reading; the second seemed a bit confusing and by the time the end came, I was ready to be done with it.
I'd recommend the book to those who enjoy Allingham, and to people who enjoy British mysteries in general.

*Lake of Sorrows, by Erin Hart

Second in a series featuring Nora Gavin, who is called in with a museum team to examine a body found in a bog west of Dublin. The area is called Illaunafulla (Island of Blood) and it is on the shore of Loughnabrone (Lake of Sorrows). As it turns out, both are aptly named. As Nora's investigation is proceeding out at the bog site, a young archaeologist finds another body in another bog hole. Although the manner of death of both bodies is pretty much the same, the original bog body was about 500 years old; the other one had only died within the last 30 years. Nora and Cormac Maguire, her romantic interest, get involved in helping police solve the case, but at great risk to both of them. Lake of Sorrows was an afternoon of reading and did manage to hold my interest because of the complicated plot. I happen to like mysteries set in Ireland, and there were enough characters and enough red herrings to keep the pages turning. I'm not a huge fan of romance in novels, but the action between Nora & her honey wasn't so over the top that it made me lose interest in the main mystery. I think any mystery reader would enjoy this book, and if you like mysteries set in Ireland with a bit of historical component, then you may enjoy this one as well. I don't necessarily think you have to read the first one, Haunted Ground, to follow this one -- it can pretty much stand alone. I read Haunted Ground some 4 years ago and had pretty much forgotten it until finding an old review on bookcrossing that I'd written -- I didn't feel as if I'd missed anything in this book. Overall, not too bad -- not as gritty say as the novels by Ken Bruen or Benjamin Black's Quirke series, also set in Ireland, but a bit more on the mainstream side than either of those. Still, it was a fun read.

*The Four Courts Murder, by Andrew Nugent

I've seen this called a "compelling" read and most people who have reviewed it are nearly ga-ga over this book. I was a bit underwhelmed, actually. If I see any of the rest of this author's books at a used bookstore, I would pick them up, but I'm not going to go out of my way to buy one from my usual online sources. It's not that it was bad, but it seemed like the only person to take himself seriously in this entire novel was a twit chairman of the Bar Council. So when the police don't take themselves too seriously in a crime novel based on the police, I don't either. I didn't find the writing to be all that great, either. But judge for yourself...a lot of people seriously enjoyed this book. here's a brief look without spoilers: A judge of the high courts named Sidney Piggott is found dead by his crier (I don't believe we have those here in the US). The only lead is a gold earring and a sighting of a young man with blond hair in the public gallery of the Judge's courtroom. In investigating this murder, the police discover that the judge may have been up to his ears in shady dealings. They uncover some of the judge's secrets as well -- secrets that may have gotten him killed. I will admit that some of the twists in the story were good ones, but all in all, I just plain didn't like this book. I hate to say that, but there it is. Perhaps someone looking for something different may enjoy this one, or someone who wants to read as much Irish crime fiction as they can. It's very rare that I don't enjoy a mystery set in the UK, especially in Ireland, but this one just didn't do it for me.

*The Killing of the Tinkers, by Ken Bruen

Talk about a great series:


"Killing of the Tinkers" starts with the return of Jack Taylor from London. If you've read The Guards (the first novel in the series), then you're aware that at the end of that book, Taylor had sworn off drinking and had gone to London for a change. Well, now he's back, and has fallen off the wagon. He is commissioned by the head of the clans (the tinkers), a guy named Sweeper, to find out who is killing off other tinkers, then mutilating the bodies. As in the case of The Guards, the mystery is not the central focus here ... it is definitely the hard-drinking, now coke-snorting Jack. He is a very paradoxical individual; self-destructive yet erudite and extremely literate, even as he's knocking back shot after shot of Jameson to chase down his Guiness. Basically, he's a human train wreck waiting to happen, and I think Bruen's a master at getting into Taylor's soul and psyche. His characterizations of the other people that surround Jack are also realistic. In Taylor's novels there seem to be no tidy endings, so if that's what you want, then don't read this series. I'm fascinated with and can't get enough of the character of Jack Taylor, or of Bruen's writing. There were a couple of spots in this book that were laugh out loud funny, which seems incongruous given the dark and gloomy atmosphere of Jack Taylor's life. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for something good in the way of Irish crime fiction, and to anyone who started with Bruen's The Guards and is wondering whether or not to continue the series. Highly recommended.

The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-Walker of the Icy Wastes, Robert M. Price, ed.

No matter how many of these Call of Cthulhu collections I read, there are always some stories that are much better than others, the case in any anthology. In this collection there are a total of 14 stories (plus an introduction by the editor and comments by the editor prior to every story). Overall, it was an okay book, and by far, the best story in the entire collection was the first one, "The Wendigo," by Algernon Blackwood. After that, readers of Cthulhu mythos stories in their various forms will recognize many of the authors who have made contributions to this volume, but Blackwood's work is far superior.


Here's the contents list (a * denotes my favorites)

1. "The Wendigo", by Algernon Blackwood * A party of hunters tracking moose up in the Canadian wilderness decides that perhaps they'd have better luck if they split up. Two of them, Defago (the guide) and Simpson (a young Scotsman in the hunting party) take off in a canoe for the other side of the lake. The first night out, the Wendigo makes its appearance known and leaves horror in its wake. Excellent story; perhaps tame after what's being written for horror these days, but I felt it was superb.
2. " The Thing from Outside", by George Allen England * Originally appearing in a magazine in 1923, it still has good creep potential today. A small group of people making their way south to leave Hudson Bay before the harsh winter sets in have their own encounter with evil in the form of " a Thing from outside." They find themselves in a race for survival and their own sanity. Good.
3. "The Thing That Walked on the Wind", by August Derleth * I must admit to having read this before, but I'm not sure exactly where since I have so many of these anthologies that the stories are all starting to blur together. Nevertheless, this is where he changes the name of the Wendigo to Ithaqua and links it (in his way) to the original Mythos of HPL. Good and creepy.
4. "The Snow-Thing (Ithaqua)", by August Derleth -- the sequel to The Thing That Walked on the Wind, and not as good as the original. I enjoyed the basic story (too bad he couldn't have done a series of just Dalhousie stories) but this one brings in other characters from the mythos that just don't seem to fit.
5. "Beyond the Threshold", by August Derleth Okay, this one was pretty decent, but not on list of top stories in the book. A young man from Arkham is summoned to go to the home of his grandfather in the northern wilds of Wisconsin. It seems that there have been some strange occurrences as of late. Of course, there's the typical "evil texts that should have been burned but weren't so they fell into the wrong hands" routine along with the "summoning of the evil power" thing going on here. Not much new or highly original in this particular story if you've read much of HPL or Derleth in the past.
6. "Born of the Winds", by Brian Lumley* This one I really enjoyed, but then again I'm a major fan of most of Lumley's work. An American meteorologist is visiting Navissa, Manitoba to recover after having suffered some type of "chest complaint." He's staying at the home of a friend, Judge Andrews. It seems that the Judge had a friend who had some years back disappeared into the cold wilds of the North, along the Olassie Trail. Belief in the Wendigo/Wind-Walker is strong here. Anyway, the meteorologist overhears a conversation between Bridgeman's widow and the judge, and it turns out that now Mrs. Bridgeman's son is missing along the Olassie trail, and she aims to get him back. The Meteorologist volunteers after having read some of Bridgeman's work on anthropology and strange cults of the north. Little do either of them know what's in store for them.... A very good story; one of the better ones in the collection.
7. "Spawn of the North", by George C. Diezel II and Gordon Linzner * A different look at the Wendigo/Wind-Walker/Ithaqua legend, set in days of yesteryear. Up in the far north of the Yukon is the Consolidated Mine, whose workers hang out in their off time in the Lucky Nugget Saloon. A new guy comes into town, and starts drawing attention to himself by telling tall tales from his home, Texas. Seems that anything that the Northwest has, well, it's bigger in Texas. As he's bragging about some "mighty worrisome creatures," one of the patrons, Old Jac, starts off in a semi-trance. He starts going on about the Wendigo and shows the new guy the mark left on him by the creature some fifty years earlier. Well, needless to say this is one of the homes of the Wendigo and no one is safe, not even a tough-talkin' Texan. I liked this one; it's a nice and different approach to the story.
8. "They Only Come Out at Night", by Randy Meloff - Think Wendigo = Yeti and move the scene to the Himalayas, add some Ia! Ia! Ithaqua and you've got the picture.
9. "Footsteps in the Sky", by Pierre Comtois* This one was also a resettlement of the Ithaqua/Wendigo/Wind-Walker legend, this time to the far northern forests of Russia during the time of the Russian Civil War just after the Bolsheviks had taken power. An American journalist joins a unit fighting against the reds and gets much more than he bargained for. Well written, suspenseful and just all around a fine story.
10. "Jendick's Swamp," by Joseph Payne Brennan A writer and a constable go to visit an abandoned, ramshackle home that sits in the middle of a swamp after a visitor from New York doing some hunting got lost and then came upon the old house from which he swore that two eyes were staring at him. he took off quickly, but the constable's curiousity was aroused. It turns out the family that had owned the house was a supplier of sacrifices to Ithaqua -- but supposedly they had all died off. So of course, off they go to look at the place; well, I won't spoil the rest. This one I enjoyed.
11. "The Wind Has Teeth", by G. Warlock Vance and Scott H. Urban* When harbingers of modern progress want to take over a sacred site and construct condos, it may be time for nature to strike back. Told in a not so orderly way, this was a good story; somewhat more modern than the others in this collection.
12. "Stalker of the Wild Wind", by Stephen Mark Rainey * A Most excellent story which starts out very normally, and just when you're wondering what could possibly come from this, or why this story is in this book, the abnormal reaches in and hooks you. The story is told in modern times, looking back to WWI, by a pilot of a German plane, and tells of a dogfight he once got into that changed his life forever. Very well told and creepy, too.
13. "The Country of the Wind", by Pierre Comtois -- In the Vermont hills, a young hunter comes across a thoroughly deserted town and all too late discovers why it is so. Good.
14. "Wrath of the Wind-Walker", by James Ambuehl *-- A reporter received an assignment to interview a reclusive professor who has suddenly decided to speak out and divulge a secret regarding an expedition which began in Cambodia during the time of the Khmer Rouge. His mission: to look for a mysterious cult that worshiped a god of snow and ice that was spoken of in the mysterious Eltdown Shards. What they find, and its aftermath is quite literally chilling. Fine story - very creepy.

Overall, a very fun read, with many familiar authors and some very good work. Recommended to those with an interest in the Lovecraftian mythos (although there is nothing here by HPL). I'd definitely start with some basic Lovecraft before going into these anthologies.

*Blood is Thicker, by Ann C. Fallon

Another Irish whodunit to help celebrate St. Patrick's day. James Fleming is an attorney with a Dublin law firm, and his presence is required at the farm of Violet Moore when her brother turns up dead at the doorstep. This is not just any death; a hearse drops off a coffin in front of the door, and when the Moore sisters open it, there's their brother Jack laying inside with a knife in his chest. Fleming has come to the small town of Kilmartin, a farming community, to help with funeral arrangements, but it seems that now he and his firm are needed for Violet Moore's defense. She is charged with the murder of her brother, and while trying to unearth the truth of what happened, Fleming comes upon some secrets that several people would have preferred to stay buried.
Lots of suspects, a very good plot and some good characterization make this a very readable first in series. I've seen this categorized as a "cozy" but I beg to differ. There are no cute little cats, no recipes, nor any gimmicky grabbers to get your attention.
I think anyone who enjoys a good, tame whodunit will like this one. I dont' think it is destined to become a mystery classic, but it's still quite good.

Mr. Campion's Farthing, by Youngman Carter

If you're read quite a lot of Allingham's work, you can definitely tell that this is not the way she would have written it.

"Mr. Campion's Farthing" is really a Kopeck -- one Vassily Kopeck who has seemingly defected from the USSR (let us not forget that this was written in 1969 originally and thus we're into the cold war years). Kopeck was last seen at a quaint house/hotel called The Turrets, which tries ever so hard to stay in Victorian character and is often used by those in the public eye that want to have a little unpublic fun. The owner of the Turrets is one Lottie Cambric, and she is possibly the last one to have seen Kopeck. Now everyone seems to be after him; Campion wants to know why this man is so important.
Just kind of a mediocre read; nothing at all like the earlier novels that I've enjoyed so much. With this book, I will probably say goodbye to Mr. Campion, whose exploits have provided me with hours upon hours of good reading time.
You may want to read it if you're involved with the rest of the series (but don't do them out of order, please), or if you want something dealing with UK-USSR tensions during the Cold War. Other than that, well,it's just not our good old Albert Campion here.

bye-bye, Bertie....I'll miss you.

Deadly Duo, by Margery Allingham (aka Take Two at Bedtime)

Deadly Duo / Take Two at Bedtime is a book of two short novellas. The first one is called "Wanted, Someone Innocent" while the second one is called "Last Act." Albert Campion appears in neither story -- Allingham had many stories that did not feature her famous detective.
In the first story, Gillian Brayton, who had become an orphan at a young age and then taken in by her uncle (who then dies leaving her alone once more), is at a reunion of girls with whom she once went to school. There she runs into one of the more popular girls, a Rita Fayre. The two had never really been good friends, so Gillian is quite surprised when suddenly Rita begins acting like her best bud. Rita makes her an offer to come work for her at her estate, and Gillian is quite dazzled by the Rolls Rita had come in and accepts the offer. She doesn't really know what the job is; she just takes it thinking that she would like to be back in more affluent surroundings than her job at the hat shop offers her. When she arrives at the house, she is treated very rudely by most of the staff and she doesn't understand why. However, as time goes on, she comes to meet Rita's husband and life eases up a bit...until Rita is killed. Oops. Guess who's the prime suspect?
In book #2, Last Act, a very pampered former star from the French stage has taken up residence in a British country home. With her are her servants, her two grandsons and a young woman she has taken on as her ward. It seems that she has the intention of disinheriting one of her grandsons, and he's not exactly happy about it. So when she turns up dead, he'sthe one who falls under suspicion. But in a country home murder, there's always more than one suspect. So who killed the eccentric actress?
Frankly, I rather enjoyed the first story more; the second one tended to get more bogged down in useless dialog and could have been edited down much more. The first story had some rather cheesy dialog, but the story itself was much more twisted and had it been developed into a full novel, may have actually been quite good.
If you like the old English country home murder mysteries, with houses filled with suspects and motives, then you'll like this one. Readers of British mystery in general may also like this book, although I don't think it's one of Allingham's best.

*The Silver Swan, by Benjamin Black

Back again to Dublin and to Quirke, the pathologist featured in Black's Christine Falls. The events of Silver Swan take place some two years after Christine Falls, and there are a lot of changes in Quirke's life and those of the other continuing supporting characters as well. Like Christine Falls, The Silver Swan remains a dark and broody type of novel, so if you're looking for warm fuzzies and a lilting tone, forget it. It's just not in Quirke's nature, and after the events that transpired in Christine Falls, not in the nature of any of the other characters either. The novel begins with a former school acquaintance (Billy Hunt) contacting Quirke about the death of his wife Deirdre. She had been found dead, drowned in a local beach, apparently of suicide. Hunt knows that there will be an autopsy, and comes to beg Quirke not to cut her open. Quirke agrees to the idea, but come the day when he gets the body, he notices a small puncture mark and thus has to break his promise. From there it's a ride into a seamy side of life and secrets -- all of which affect Quirke somewhat personally. He just can't let it go (as was the case in Christine Falls); he has to get to the bottom of what happened to Deirdre Hunt. The case takes a more personal turn when Quirke realizes that his thoroughly depressed daughter Phoebe is involved with one of the principals.Gloomy in tone, it seems that the events which have transpired over the last couple of years have left all of the continuing characters sunk in the quagmire of individual unhappiness and depression, to the point where you wonder how much worse it can possibly get. Black's incredibly well-drawn characters are what make the novel, and his descriptions of Dublin and its denizens make the reader feel as if he/she were there. The writing, of course, is superb, and it's uncanny how Black (aka John Banville) can get into the skin of each character he's created. The epilogue is a bit ambiguous, so if you expect everything to be tied up in a neat package with all problems resolved, you may not want to read this book. I look at it like this -- this is an ongoing story and there are loose ends in life in general, so ambiguity does not bother me. I HIGHLY recommend this book, but PLEASE start with Christine Falls or you will lose much needed detail for understanding the angst, turmoil and dark broodiness that seems to be the hallmark of this series. Readers of Irish crime fiction will love it and serious mystery readers will enjoy it as well. It may be awhile before the next one arrives, so I'll try to be patient.

*The Guards, by Ken Bruen

Rarely, if ever, do I give a series opener 5 stars, but I just couldn't help myself. I started this book last night, stayed up way too late and finished it and was totally blown away. What a great book; what a great author. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something different in the mystery field, but with a caution: the plot isn't the central focus here -- it is most definitely the characters, especially that of Jack Taylor, the main character.
Jack Taylor lives in Galway, Ireland, is a serious alcoholic and has lost his job with the Garda. He has set himself up as a private detective, knows his is prone to self-destruction, has issues with his mother, and may be one of the most darkly-tormented individuals in crime fiction. But on the other hand, he turns to reading and poetry for comfort and has a soft spot for people he truly cares about.
His office the pub of the day, he gets involved in the case of a suicidal teen whose mother hires him to prove that her daughter's death was murder rather than self-inflicted. The only real lead he has is that she worked in a place with other girls, a few of whom have also committed suicide.
But as I noted above, the plot is not the real story here, so this novel shouldn't be read for the mystery storyline. Jack Taylor stands out as an incredibly fascinating character, one for whom you can't help but feel sorry. The other characters surrounding him really help to draw out Jack's personality; they are also very well drawn. And the writing ...the book is divided into very short chapters that don't always have very much to say, but what's there is to the point and absolutely necessary. I love how the author is able to be very understated yet can get Jack's story out just as if Jack was a real-life, personal friend and the author's telling you all about him. The style is very original; sparse, but yet packs a punch.

I definitely, most highly recommend this book and plan to read all of the Jack Taylor series here shortly. A great read!

The Forgery of Venus, by Michael Gruber

I received this book as part of Librarything's Early Reviewer program, which, I might add, I feel absolutely privileged to be part of. I had already stuck this one on my Amazon wishlist just because of the author (whose work I really like in terms of a good suspense story), so it was fate when it came up as part of the LT program and fate when I received the note that I'd been selected to read it.

Having just finished this book, I searched around for reviews of this novel and observed that people either really liked this book or they really disliked it. I'm in the middle somewhere. On one hand, books that explore the boundaries between reality and unreality are my favorite genre of novels, and I do agree with the statement that the narrator makes at the end of this novel where he says " truth has left the building." Everything is manipulable now, even photography, and art is a lie to begin with...We all tell lies, even the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, even in the intimate depths of our private thoughts." If ever there was a statement one could consider true, this is it, accompanied by the one that says "if it can be believable, it can be real." I give you Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, living proof of this axiom. Or perhaps I'll stretch here and offer The Testament of Gideon Mack as another example. If that's not enough, try remembering an event on your own that someone told you about, say, when you were a child. All you have is someone else's word that x event occurred; your memories may have conformed to what was told to you. I'm really into books in which reality or truth is of the mediated variety, watching the protagonist trying to sort out reality from nonreality or trying to break free of the middle man. My shelves are full of this type of stuff and the more bizarre, the better. For this reason, I loved exploring Forgery of Venus. Right up to the end I was sucked in completely and when a book can do that, well, that's a good sign as far as keeping my reading interest alive. The book also has a bit of a feel of DuMaurier's House on the Strand, which I happened to enjoy, with the scenes going back in time to the painter Velazquez, then forward again with a jolt. I also have enjoyed pretty much whatever Michael Gruber has written, because I do enjoy the way he goes about setting up a very palpable sense of tension in his books. His characters (imho) are not always meant to be likeable and so you can't find fault there (I did not like the main character, Chaz Wilmot, but hey...if I didn't like him, then the author's done his job), but the main players, I thought, were drawn well, down to their respective psychoses.
On the flip side, though, I felt like the resolution to Chaz Wilmot's dilemma was way too pat and I was a bit disappointed. Also, imho, some of the scenes where he was lost in the world of Velazquez were at points tedious to read and I started skimming, a fate I generally reserve for romantic interludes in novels where I don't think they are appropriate.
I'll be buying this one when it comes out to add to my collection of Gruber's novels. I'd recommend it to people who are interested in art and art history, as well as people who enjoy a good suspense novel. And, if there are other people such as myself who enjoy reading about the elusiveness of truth and reality, this one will hold your interest for a while.

Overall, a good read and one I'd recommend, but not to the mainstream reading public.

Once again, my thanks to Librarything and HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book.

Cargo of Eagles, by Margery Allingham

Cargo of Eagles was finished after Margery Allingham's death by her husband Youngman Carter, who apparently completed it based on notes that Allingham left behind. Sadly, the last of the original series (if you count this one because Allingham started it) leaves a lot to be desired. I think it suffers from too many tangents leading to a bit of tedium for the reader. I found myself wanting to just get through it (which is really sad, if you think about it for a minute). The basic plot was good, but it took SO long to get to a resolution that at the end I actually didn't care about it.
Brief decription, no spoilers: The small village of Saltey captures the interest of quite a few characters: a doctor who has recently inherited a house from a near stranger; an American historian who is spending a year in Britain doing research on approaches to London in the 17th and 18th centuries; several motorcycle gangs, and some unsavory characters as well. Saltey used to be home to smugglers and pirates, and at one time was "visited by a demon." Now it seems it is also home to a murderer who has a secret to keep -- but it's one that Campion must figure out to help solve his own secret mission.
I would recommend it probably to people who are working on finishing the series, but likely not to others. It normally doesn't take me long to finish one of these novels, but this one was just not up to par with most of the other books in the series.

MARCH

Here it is, March already! This month, while I continue plowing through my tbr pile, I've added a few mysteries set in Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick's day. This should be fun, since I love fiction written by Irish authors. So feel free to browse at any time!