Short Story Review: Next Stop, Foggy Bottom, Karen Cantwell (USA)

Title:           Next Stop, Foggy Bottom
Author:       Karen Cantwell
Anthology: Chesapeake Crimes “This Job is Murder”
Published: 2012/Wildside Press, LLC, USA
Discovered the anthology from Stop, You’re Killing Me newsletter http://stopyourekillingme.com/
Read as an e-book
Also available in paper format
Link to author’s website: http://www.karencantwell.com/

Okay, let’s be honest, who hasn’t had one of those days where you just wanted to kill your boss? The narrator of this short story has given it a lot of thought: strangle, shoot, poison?  She finally comes up with the perfect and simplest solution. Her boss, Athena Pappas, has been the perpetrator of much misery in the narrator’s life and now Pappas will get her comeuppance.

This short story really keeps you guessing and wanting to know more. Athena’s character is well developed, despite the brevity of the tale. Just what has Athena done to attract such an extreme reaction? Will the narrator get away with the murder? There is even a nice little twist in the story. Since it is short, you can then go back easily and see what clues you missed. And the clues are there.

The author Karen Cantwell not only writes short stories and plays, but also a humorous mystery series, featuring suburban mom Barbara Marr. The two titles so far, “Take the Monkey and Run” and “Citizen Insane” are now added to the reading list!

 

 

Short Story Review: One Ashore in Singapore, Andrew Nettle (Australia)

Title:                                One Ashore in Singapore
Author:                            Andrew Nettle
Date/Place Published: 2013/e-zine “Beat to a Pulp”
Discovered from a book review at Mysteries in Paradise http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/review-ghost-money-andrew-nette.html
Read online at http://www.beattoapulp.com/stor/2013/0127_an_OneAshoreInSingapore.shtm
Link to author’s website: www.pulpcurry.com

A few days in Singapore to pick up a package for his Australian boss Mister Long becomes more of a challenge than Gary Chance expected. Jimmy Tan is lunching over his computer but brusquely tells him the package is not ready. The next day, Tan is more accommodating: could Chance perhaps help him out while he is waiting? It will take all his criminal wiles to get Chance out of a difficult situation.

This is a tightly written story, with crisp sentences and short paragraphs that still manage to convey the environment so well, the reader feels they are standing with Chance, smelling and hearing the same things. It is a modern plot with a fast pace. Definitely an e-zine worth following.

 
(Many thanks to the Criminal Plots III Reading Challenge http://criminalplots.blogspot.in/2013/01/criminal-plots-iii.html for having a category for short stories!)

 

 

 

Review: An Expert in Murder, Nicola Upson, (England)

Title:                                            An Expert in Murder

Author:                                        Nicola Upson

Date/Place of Publication:             2009/HarperCollins, New York

Original Date/Place of Publication: 2008/Faber and Faber Ltd, UK

ISBN #:                                       978-0-06-145153-9

# pages:                                      288

Discovered by chance at the library

Read in paper format

Also available in e-book format

Link to author’s website: http://www.nicolaupson.com

Josephine Tey, noted mystery writer in real life, is now part of a murder mystery herself. Comfortably settled into her train seat, she is heading to London for the closing week of her successful play when a young passenger in her compartment recognizes her. Elspeth Simmons is on her way to see the play for the umpteenth time and is thrilled to meet the author. They have a wonderful chat for the rest of the trip. As they arrive at King’s Cross station, they make plans to meet later so that Elspeth can be introduced to her favourite actor and Josephine is then whisked off by her friends. Unbeknownst to her, a few minutes later, Elspeth is murdered before she leaves the train. Josephine and her compatriots, including close friend Detective Inspector Archie Penrose, become drawn into a chain of events that has more than a few twists and turns.

The historical setting of this book (1934 England) is wonderfully threaded throughout the story by the author. She has captured the sense of people caught between two wars, World War I which still leaves a huge sense of loss, and the impending feeling of a war soon to come. Other historical facts are used effectively to set the time: be it the book Josephine tried to read (“Mr. Munt Carries on”, printed 1934), May Gaskell’s war library for soldiers overseas, the snippets of what the soldiers experienced (particularly the tunnelling companies) or the appearance of noted British pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. Even the play around which the book revolves, “Richard of Bordeaux”, is a play actually written by Josephine Tey, using her other pseudonym, Gordon Daviot.

The early part of the book did bog down as many pages were devoted to sketching out the numerous characters and their backgrounds but the action picks up with the next murder. A hint as to the murderer’s motivation is set out on page one but it only becomes apparent upon rereading. An enjoyable book.

It was interesting to learn from the Author’s Note at the end of the book that neither Tey nor Daviot was the writer’s true name. It was in fact Elizabeth Mackintosh. Also of note, apparently the play, “Richard of Bordeaux” launched the career of British actor Sir John Gielgud. Ironically, it is the play which is given the most attention in obituaries for Miss Tey in 1952, with her mysteries, for which she is now best known, being relegated briefly to the closing sentences.

 

Review: Burial, Neil Cross (New Zealand)

Title:                                Burial
Author:                            Neil Cross
Date/Place of Publication: 2009/Great Britain: Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
ISBN #:                           978-0-7432-3141-1
# pages:                          291
Discovered by....I can't remember! my apologies to the blogger who "found" this author for me
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book format
Link to author's website: http://www.neil-cross.com/

"The doorbell rang." and Nathan's bad dreams turned back into a nightmare.

After fifteen years, Nathan believed, indeed hoped he had seen the last of Bob. Their first meeting only occurred because the house in which Nathan rented a room at the time had no communal gathering area. The residents drifted into each other's room and in Pete the musician's room, Nathan met Bob, a Psychology student doing his PhD thesis on ghosts. After that brief encounter, Nathan didn't see Bob again for four and a half years. The next time they met would be at a party where Nathan's life would be changed forever and the nightmares would begin.

At first, the squalid and dreary life Nathan led was a turnoff which almost resulted in this book being left unread. However, it was a quick book to read and worth continuing to the ending that makes one go "wow". It is hard to comment too much without giving away some plot twists. There are several moments where you think "is the author really going there?" and sure enough, he is.

This is one of eight books, plus a memoir, that Neil Cross has written. He is also a very active screenwriter for shows in the UK and the USA, while living with his family in New Zealand.

Review: Love Lies Bleeding, Edmund Crispin (England)

Title:                                            Love Lies Bleeding
Author:                                         Edmund Crispin
Date/Place of Publication:             1984/Great Britain: Hamlyn Paperbacks
Original Date/Place of Publication: 1948/Great Britain: Victor Gollancz
ISBN #:                                        0-600-20663-7
# pages:                                       200
Discovered in my own home library
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book format

Dr. Stanford, Headmaster at Castrevenford School, is preoccupied with the school's upcoming Speech Day and the heat. Learning from the local girls' school head mistress, Miss Parry, that something untoward has happened to one of her students at his school only serves to increase his gloomy and unhappy mood. Fortunately, his friend Gervase Fen, Oxford Professor of English and amateur detective, is coming as a last minute substitute to hand out prizes and he will be given the task of ferreting out the truth. Truth-seeking quickly involves multiple murders and a disappearance, all of which are miraculously resolved by the end of the weekend.

This is a fairly traditional English murder mystery, set in the 1940's, with all the boarding school hierarchies, politics and idiosyncrasies on display. Fen is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, with his ability to notice minor details and deduce the correct solution out of a multitude of options. Fortunately for the reader, the last 30 pages of the book outline how he did this, through a conversation he has with Dr. Stanford.

The author's Oxford education clearly comes through, in his language as well as his knowledge of prep schools. The reader may wonder if they need to have a dictionary at their side, to deal with "palliating circumstances" and "inchoate daydream(s)", as well as a basic knowledge of Latin (for instance, the first chapter is entitled "Lasciva Puella"). Although this may seem annoying, it helps to establish the time frame of events and set the atmosphere of a 1940's prep school. Interestingly, the young female characters are refreshingly spirited and independent for the era in question.

Even the avid mystery reader will likely find it challenging to determine the final solution but Fen's recap confirms all the clues are there. Worth tackling. I would love to hear your comments on whether you were able to puzzle out the answer.

About the author:

Edmund Crispin is the pseudonym for (Robert) Bruce Montgomery, a British writer who died in 1978 at the age of 56. Not only did he write nine detective stories and two short story collections, he also composed film, concert and church music under his real name. This particular book is dedicated to "The Carr Club". According to David Whittle in "Bruce Montgomery/Edmund Crispin: A Life in Music and Books", this informal society of four friends was inspired by John Dickinson Carr radio plays. They would meet in a public house or rented cottage "...to tell detective stories for which solutions had to be proposed by the members."

Review: The Reluctant Detective, Finley Martin (Canada: PEI)

Title:                                The Reluctant Detective
Author:                             Finley Martin
Date/Place of Publication: 2012: Acornpress, PEI, Canada
ISBN:                              978-1-894838-78-8
# Pages:                          241
Discovered at                   www.crimewriterscanada.com
Read in paper format.
Also available as an ebook.
Author's website:             www.finleymartin.ca

A new Anne for Prince Edward Island but this one, (Wilhelmina) Anne Brown, is a detective. Over the last few years, she has experienced a number of tragedies: the death of her foreign correspondent husband before their daughter Jacqui was born, the deaths of both parents in a car accident and now the death of Bill Darby, her uncle and employer. And as the book opens, it appears that Anne herself is about to find out what dying feels like. We soon learn she has inherited her uncle's detective agency and quickly garnered two customers, a mysterious package and a motorcycle gang bent on revenge.

The reader gets a good feel of what Charlottetown and Summerside are like. In particular, the drive through Summerside brought back memories of the area. Details about the main characters are revealed over time, a more enjoyable process than having everyone described fully when first introduced.

However, the setup for a key part of the story doesn't ring true. Anne is remarkably calm about a major loss. Her casual approach leading up to the event seems unrealistic. Initially, this may throw the reader off but the author successfully draws the reader back into the story, with some cliff hanging chapter endings that are not immediately resolved. The last third of the book picks up, with a good series of twists and turns. An enjoyable book.