In this 15th book in the 'No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' series, Mma Ramotswe deals with several problems in her usual wise fashion. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
As the story opens Mma Precious Ramotswe has made her assistant, Mma Grace Makutsi - now happily married with a new baby - a partner in the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency." This makes little difference to Grace's job duties, however, since business is sparse.
Economic problems also make it necessary for Mma Ramotswe's husband, Mr. J.L.B. Mateconi - who owns a garage - to fire his lackadaisical apprentice Charlie. Feeling bad for Charlie, Mma Ramotswe offers him a position in her detective agency - a chancy proposition since Charlie would rather put on flashy outfits and chase ladies than do his work.
Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe is looking into the case of an Indian woman, called "Mrs." who apparently has lost her memory. Mrs. has been taken in by a kindly Indian brother and sister who hire Mma Ratowswe to find out who Mrs. is before the authorities deport her to South Africa.
Also on Mma Ramotswe's mind is a new project of Mma Makutski, who has decided to open a café and call it "The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café." Unfortunately Mma Makutski has little knowledge of the restaurant industry and makes some unfortunate hiring and menu decisions.
As always in this series the story meanders along, with many cups of tea and homey chit-chat among the characters. Mma Makutski, a strong-minded lady with definite opinions, is her usual abrasive - though amusing - self and Mma Ramotswe does her best to smooth things over as always.
As a heads up to mystery lovers I'll say there's little mystery or detective work in this book. It's more of an update about what the familiar, well-liked characters are up to. The author's relaxed method of story-telling is what makes these books charming and enjoyable and fans of the series will probably like this book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Ashley D. Polasek, who has a Ph.D in film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, is an internationally recognized expert on the fictional detective.
Ashley D. Polasek
Sherlock Holmes is one of literature's most recognizable characters, and - due to his vast popularity - has been depicted in a gamut of radio shows, stage plays, movies, and television series.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 short stories and 4 novellas make up the 'canon' of Sherlock Holmes, to which other writers have added their own stories, books, scripts, poems, songs, etc. Thus it seems like Sherlock Holmes will never go out of style.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sherlock Holmes canon consists of 60 stories
Many writers have added to the Sherlock Holmes canon
Almost two hundred actors have portrayed Sherlock Holmes over the years. One of the first was William Gillette who played Holmes in stage plays and silent films.
William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes
Two all time favorite depictions of Sherlock Holmes' are by Basil Rathbone in films and Jeremy Brett on television. More recent front-runners are Robert Downey Jr. in movies, and Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller on television.
Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes
Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes
Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes
Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes
More unconventional portrayals of Sherlock Holmes include Sir Ian McKellan as an aging sleuth in the movie 'Mr. Holmes' and Yûko Takeuchi as a female detective in the Japanese television series 'Miss Sherlock.' The author also notes that brilliant diagnostician Dr. Gregory House on 'House, M.D.' (played by Hugh Laurie) is a Sherlockian character. And the list could go on and on.
Sir Ian McKellan as Sherlock Holmes
Yûko Takeuchi as Miss Sherlock
Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House - a Sherlockian character
Though film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes are very popular, Polasek prefers the original stories. She writes, "For all the time I've spent immersed in the screen appearances of Sherlock Holmes, I always return to Conan Doyle's tales. They offer all the delights of the characters, the mysteries, and the atmosphere, and even after wearing the mystery out of them through endless rereading, they still utterly transport me."
In this book Polasek introduces the reader to "the very best the canon has to offer." Polasek shares the stories she loves most, the reasons she adores them, and all kinds of interesting minutiae related to the tales and their screen adaptations. The narrative is illustrated with photos, and it's fun to see Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in an assortment of incarnations.
Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson
Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke as Holmes and Watson
Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Watson
Polasek includes her favorite Sherlock Holmes stories in their entirety, and - though I've read the tales many times - I enjoyed this excursion into the cream of the canon.
A Scandal in Bohemia
Among other things, this story - about the consequences of an unwise romance - introduces the character of Irene Adler. Adler, whom Holmes calls "the woman", is one of Conan Doyle's most notable female protagonists. Over the decades Adler has morphed into a wide variety of guises on screen, including a romantic foil for Holmes.
The Red-Headed League
This yarn, which features a carrot-top man who's hired to copy out the Encyclopedia Britannica, not only stimulates Holme's intellectual curiosity, it also tickles his "blissful sense of the absurd."
The Speckled Band
This tale, about a woman who fears something is amiss in the home she shares with her stepfather, is a notable example of Conan Doyle's domestic trope. It features "a heavily veiled young woman, shaking from fear....who ignites the action by recounting the unexplained death of her sister, Julia."
The Man With the Twisted Lip
This narrative, about a man who disappears in a criminal London neighborhood, "draws on all of the anxieties that feed urban gothic works, beginning with the threat posed by the teeming London underworld to middle-class respectability."
The Solitary Cyclist
This story, about a young woman alarmed by a stalker, allows us to observe Holmes "knightly conduct as he stands toe to toe with one of the canon's most notorious scoundrels: Roaring Jack Woodley."
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
In this narrative about blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, Sherlock Holmes calls him "the worst man in London." We get a picture of the revolting rotter, including "details of his appearance, manner, speech, reputation, public and private behavior, and his effects on those around him."
The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans
This tale, about submarine plans that are stolen, is a harbinger of the popular spy fiction genre. "It's complete with advanced military technology, foreign agents, international intrigue, personal betrayal, and espionage."
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
This yarn, about a valuable gem found in the crop of a Christmas goose, is the only holiday themed story in the canon. "It offers everything one might want from a Victorian Christmas tale."
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
This mystery, about a woman threatened with notes written in code, helped cement the popularity of cyphers in detective fiction.
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
This story, about a murdered aristocrat in a VERY male-dominated culture, is "one of Conan Doyle's most moral stories."
The Hound of the Baskervilles
This novella, about a family cursed with a hound from hell, is "arguably the most popular and easily the most read of the sixty tales that make up the Sherlock Holmes canon and beyond that, is recognized as one of the most beloved novels in the English language." The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the most cinematic of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and has been adapted into numerous films and television episodes.
I strongly recommend this entertaining book to fans of Sherlock Holmes and to newbies who want to get acquainted with the famous sleuth.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Ashley D. Polasek), and the publisher (Lyons Press) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars
In this 7th book in the 'Bailey Ruth' series, the ghostly amateur sleuth investigates the murder of a lawyer. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Bailey Ruth Raeburn is deceased but still very active. She works for 'Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions', which sends emissaries to Earth to help people in trouble. Emissaries are supposed to be discrete and unnoticed, but - though she tries - Bailey Ruth can never remain inconspicuous.
On this occasion Bailey Ruth is sent to her home town of Adelaide, Oklahoma to help a departed soul named Jimmy climb the stairs to heaven.
At the time of his accidental death some time ago, Jimmy was a twentysomething journalist in love with a young lawyer named Megan. Jimmy can't bear to leave his soulmate, and refuses to ascend to paradise. Instead Jimmy hangs around Adelaide, watches Megan, leaves her gifts, and even speaks in her presence.
All this leaves Megan confused and distressed, and she wishes it would stop.
Jimmy is especially agitated right now because Megan's current boyfriend Blaine, also a lawyer, asked her to become a partner in his law firm. Moreover, Blaine seems about to propose marriage. Jimmy thinks Blaine is the wrong man for Megan and is determined to break up the couple.
Thus Bailey Ruth's heavenly boss, Wiggins, sends her down to have a word with Jimmy and send him on his way to paradise.
Meanwhile events on Earth take an alarming turn. When Megan tells her boss Doug that she's leaving for another job, he threatens to fire her assistant Anita.
Anita desperately needs the firm's medical insurance for a sick daughter, so Megan reluctantly agrees to stay.
Doug is a turd who divorced his wife to pursue a rich widow, for whom he's purchased a $100,000 diamond engagement ring. Doug keeps the ring in his desk drawer (how stupid is that?), and when a client loudly insists on seeing it, everyone in the firm - lawyers, secretaries, paralegals, etc. - learns where it is.
Long story short, Doug is shot dead in his home that night, and - due to a frame up - Megan becomes the prime suspect. The next day, the diamond ring is missing.
Jimmy is REALLY not leaving now that Megan's in trouble, so he and Bailey Ruth - who's solved murders before - investigate the crime themselves. Ghosts can become visible; teleport themselves from one location to another; manifest any outfit they'd like; conjure up ID badges; and so on. Thus Bailey Ruth pretends to be a police detective and Jimmy takes on the persona of a U.S envoy, so they can interview people who knew or worked with Doug.
When the ghosts uncover clues or evidence, Bailey Ruth conveys them to Police Chief Sam Cobb, who's aware she's a 'supernatural assistant' that helps him with cases.
It's fun to see the ghosts go about their business, flash in and out of visibility, eat at Bailey Ruth's favorite café (who knew ghosts could eat?), and uncover the solution to wrong-doing in Adelaide.
An annoying feature of the book is the detailed descriptions of everyone's clothing, and Bailey Ruth's regular wardrobe changes. Bailey Ruth switches her outfits constantly, and each getup is depicted in excruciating detail. This is too much (for me).
Overall this is an enjoyable cozy mystery, recommended to fans of the genre
Rating: 3 stars
In this first book in the 'Blue Ant' series, marketing consultant Cayce Pollard is hired to find people who upload mysterious film clips.
*****
New York resident Cayce Pollard is a marketing consultant who instinctively knows what the public will find 'cool'.
Cayce is also a follower of a website called 'Fetish Footage Forum' (FFF) where mysterious film clips - periodically published online - are discussed and analyzed by large numbers of people around the world.
As the story opens in August, 2002 Cayce is in London, having been hired by the 'Blue Ant' company to evaluate a proposed new shoe logo.
At a meeting with Hubertus Bigend - Blue Ant's boss, and Dorotea Benedetti - representative of the logo's designer, Cayce nixes the proposed logo. She also senses huge antagonism from Dorotea, a woman she's just met.
Soon afterward someone breaks into the London apartment where Cayce is staying, making her feel nervous and paranoid.
These unexplained occurrences remind Cayce of her missing father, Win Pollard, an intelligence agent who disappeared on September 11, 2001, when planes flew into the World Trade Center. Cayce and her mother have done all they can to find Win, with no success.
After Cayce okays a second proposed shoe logo, Hubertus hires her to find the makers of the inscrutable film footage on FFF. He apparently has a scheme to use the film clips to make money. Cayce reluctantly agrees to work with Hubertus, and during her search for the filmmaker Cayce meets an array of interesting people and travels between London, Japan and Russia.
Everywhere she goes, however, Cayce senses she's being followed, which seems to be proven when she's attacked in the street.
The book is chock full of engaging characters, starting with Cayce - who's 'allergic' to logos and cuts the labels off all her clothing and possessions. Other interesting characters include several FFF analysts, fetishists of old technology, a computer whiz who's supposed to help Cayce find the filmmaker, and more.
I enjoyed the book which essentially reads like a thriller, as Cayce rushes here and there to discover something that unknown (and hostile) 'others' also want to know. All this leads to an exciting and believable climax.
Very good book, highly recommended.
Rating: 4 stars
