Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910420 times)

JoanK · « **Reply #6600 on:** July 24, 2014, 03:43:16 PM »

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Discussion Leader: JoanK

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They all look interesting, although as a birder, I'm disappointed that the night heron is a person, not a bird. I enjoy the black-crowned night herons that hang out at our local docks.

Steph · « **Reply #6601 on:** July 26, 2014, 09:07:10 PM »

doing a short story book of female mysteries.. All about housewives. OK, but not great.

JoanK · « **Reply #6602 on:** July 27, 2014, 02:47:47 PM »

Started the latest Rosenfelt "Hounded". I like him, but wish he would get away from devious plots and hired killers.

Steph · « **Reply #6603 on:** July 28, 2014, 08:53:31 AM »

Found a wonderful new book for me. it is Dorothy Sayers ( who I love) and Jill Paton Waalsh.. It is about Harriet Vane , who is married to Peter. He is off on a mission of some type , it is 1940 and she and her two sons and three children of Peters Sister are down in the country. There is a murder and the local police have asked Harriet for assistance, they want Peter, but he is away.. Great fun and very evocative of Britain at the beginning of the war.Oh.. the name A Presumptiion of Death

Dana · « **Reply #6604 on:** July 28, 2014, 02:01:30 PM »

Did you ever see the tv series of Strong Poison, Have his Carcase and Gaudy Night with the best Lord Peter ever,( can't remember who plays Harriet)...Edmund Petherige , I think his name. We watched them again recently as we have them all (for the VCR, still have one that works fortunately.) I would hope they're still available because they are simply marvellous.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #6605 on:** July 29, 2014, 04:19:07 AM »

I remember watching the versions with Ian Carmichael - he is still Lord Peter to me. And lately I have been watching re-runs of The Royal - a drama series set in a 1960s hospital in a Yorkshire seaside town, which I love despite it being totally predictable - and who should appear as the hospital administrator? Ian Carmichael himself. Wonderful

Rosemary

MaryPage · « **Reply #6606 on:** July 29, 2014, 07:14:23 AM »

Ian Carmichael was, is, and always will be MY Lord Peter, as well and all. I still have the video tapes of him, albeit I have finally gone through and thrown out most of those old shows on tape, I could not bear to toss my Dorothy Sayers set. Oh my! The man and Lord Peter are one and the same, and you will never convince me otherwise!

Steph · « **Reply #6607 on:** July 29, 2014, 08:16:27 AM »

You are braver than I am. Lord Peter is so very clear in my mind, that I cannot bear to watch anything with an actor.. Sigh.

Dana · « **Reply #6608 on:** July 29, 2014, 11:17:39 AM »

Oh no, the Petheridge guy is the perfect Lord Peter and the series of the 3 Harriet Vane stories is BBC at its impeccable best. She is an irritating twit of a person and Lord Peter is too perfect to be true, BUT blame these things on Dorothy Sayer's own psyche which comes across rather too clearly in these stories.... no matter, Lord Peter as played by Petheridge is to die for, as is said....!

Steph · « **Reply #6609 on:** July 30, 2014, 08:48:23 AM »

Actually the book written by Jill Paton etc is using the characters by permission, she was the author who was given permission to finish the partly finished book. It is interesting because Harriet is a real person, not some sort of mocked up permission. I know Sayers was making a point, but this Harriet is nice and funny.

MaryPage · « **Reply #6610 on:** July 30, 2014, 01:38:57 PM »

I found Murder At The Gardner at Thriftbooks this afternoon, and ordered it. Thanks for mentioning it! Was it in here, or somewhere else that someone told me about that one?

JoanK · « **Reply #6611 on:** July 30, 2014, 05:25:08 PM »

MARY: it could have been me: I really like that book. It's unusual, not everyone likes it -- I recommended it to my FtoF book club, and they didn't like it.

Jane Langdon has a very unusual style: all of her books are based on a work of art: a piece of music, a classic book, or (as in this case) a painting. The characters in the book somehow "act out" the work of art. Her writing has an almost musical quality: you have to just accept it and "go with the flow."

I hope the copy you got has good pictures of her drawings -- they are definitely part of the story.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/jane-langton/

Another favorite is "the Memorial Hall Murders", based on Handel's Massiah. I'm not musically sophisticated enough to follow how the plot mimics the music (except at the end, which is spectacular!) but I'm sure a musicologist could have a lot of fun with it.

Like many writers, the ones she wrote at the end of her life are not good. I'd skip anything after about "Death of a Dodo".

Steph · « **Reply #6612 on:** July 31, 2014, 09:06:05 AM »

For some reason I thought that Langdon wrote about a crusty newenglander named Homer?? sounds as if no is the answer

MaryPage · « **Reply #6613 on:** July 31, 2014, 09:23:11 AM »

Joan, actually that book sounds just my cup of tea. I love, love, love a teaching book. I loved the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum. And, interestingly, I did not love it because it is anywhere close to what I would have done with her money. I would never in this life choose to build a Venetian palace for my HOME! Oh yes, I can and do admire them, their beauty and their place in history. And in Venice. But given a plot of ground in Boston, that is probably one of the last things I would come up with. Neither would I build one to house my collection (and, oh yes, I WOULD have a collection) of art. The rooms are too small and dark. Nor would I make the choices Mrs. Jack did. She was very into religious stuff. I am not. She actually disliked the Impressionists, and I would have had Van Goghs all over the place! No, I loved the daring grand splash of the place, its uniqueness, the whole vivid sense of her and her life and purpose. I admired the works of art. I enjoyed reading everything I could find about her (and oh, DO read Mrs. Jack, if you never have!) and appreciate the memory that I went to school with the granddaughter of one of her best friends. I have no doubt I will enjoy Murder At The Gardner, and I thank you.

Steph · « **Reply #6614 on:** August 01, 2014, 08:59:53 AM »

Mrs. Jack was a wonderful book. Actually my introduction to her before I lived near Boston. She was the type of woman that I always wanted to be..

MaryPage · « **Reply #6615 on:** August 01, 2014, 11:03:25 AM »

Well, me too, Steph, and all. Since I am the elder here, I get first dibs at being Belle!
Thrift books has emailed me that Murder At The Gardner is on its way!

pedln · « **Reply #6616 on:** August 01, 2014, 12:15:43 PM »

Quote

For some reason I thought that Langdon wrote about a crusty newenglander named Homer?? sounds as if no is the answer

She did, Steph -- Homer Kelly - a philosophy professor at Harvard. There are several in the series and several that include Homer's wife Mary. They were a favorite series for me until Langton pulled an Elizabeth George. She didn't kill anyone off, but really made the character disappoint me.

JoanK · « **Reply #6617 on:** August 01, 2014, 03:28:51 PM »

Mary: "I did not love it because it is anywhere close to what I would have done with her money. I would never in this life choose to build a Venetian palace for my HOME!"

That's discussed in the book. You may not like it -- Langdon is not quite as admiring of Mrs. Jack as you are. She loves having the collection but also presents the European point of view that some of these pieces should have stayed in Europe.

After you finish the book, let me know. I have another comment to make which would be a spoiler now.

JoanK · « **Reply #6618 on:** August 01, 2014, 03:35:51 PM »

Pedlin: I agree -- "the Thief of Venice" was a disappointment. But you didn't miss anything: all the books after that are badly written and not worth reading (except "The Deserter". Like Agatha Christie, she kept writing too long. I was particularly disappointed in the one based on Escher's drawings, since I'm an Escher fan.

PatH · « **Reply #6619 on:** August 01, 2014, 09:02:16 PM »

Jill Paton Walsh has written four Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.

The first, Thrones, Dominations, is a completion of a partial manuscript left unfinished when Sayers turned to translating Dante and other interests. It deals with the very early married life of Harriet and Peter, the time just before WWII, the brief reign of Edward VIII, and murder amid the fashionable theatrical and social scene.

The second, A Presumption of Death, is a wartime mystery; Harriet and the children are staying at Talboys to get out of the London dangers, and it's full of the wartime atmosphere. Walsh used some wartime pamphlets Sayers wrote to get some of the atmosphere, but did not, I think, get any of the plot from Sayers.

The third, The Attenbury Emeralds, combines a reprise of Peter's early case (never described in full by Sayers) with a current mystery involving the same gems. It takes place shortly post-war.

The fourth, The Late Scholar, is new to me; I just saw it in Fantastic Fiction. It takes place in Oxford.

Any Sayers fan will want to read them. They're a pretty good job, keeping the spirit of the Sayers stories, and reasonable mysteries. Of course a Sayers fan has quibbles, but they are still very good reads.

I won't give spoilers by saying how the personal life of the characters develops, but I think you'll be interested.

PatH · « **Reply #6620 on:** August 01, 2014, 09:13:00 PM »

Who is the best screen Lord Peter? Ian Carmichael and Edward Petherbridge are both very good, and neither one is perfect. Maybe if we averaged them together? Carmichael's Nine Tailors is a masterpiece; I own it, and have watched it many times.

By the way, does anyone remember Carmichael from the 1959 movie I'm All Right, Jack?

MaryPage · « **Reply #6621 on:** August 02, 2014, 08:28:01 AM »

I fully and completely agree with you about Nine Tailors, Pat! That is the one that is downright wallpapered inside of my brain. And I own it, as well. No, I do not remember that 1959 movie at all.

Steph · « **Reply #6622 on:** August 02, 2014, 09:50:28 AM »

Oh three books I have not read and I did like the one I did read, so I am off on a hunt for the others.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6623 on:** August 03, 2014, 12:46:16 PM »

I always enjoyed Dorothy Sayers! Thanks PatH for listing those four books. I'm hoping my library will have them. If not I'll try one of the book dealers.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6624 on:** August 03, 2014, 01:08:27 PM »

Oh, good. The library has the first two checked in. I've requested Attenbury Emeralds from one of the branches and The Late Scholar is listed as newly required so I put a request in for that also. I haven't been doing much reading lately and need to get away from some of this mindless TV.

Steph · « **Reply #6625 on:** August 04, 2014, 08:54:12 AM »

I got the three books of this I have not read on my Kindle. That way they are safe and I know they are there when I get time..

JoanK · « **Reply #6626 on:** August 04, 2014, 04:14:00 PM »

Finished the almost-last Laurien Berenson mystery "Gone with the Woof."

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/laurien-berenson/

I like her, but not everyone would. She talks a lot about dogs and the dog-show world, and her plots are kind of slight. In her early ones, her narrator was just being introduced to the dog-show world, so she gave you an outsider's view which was a good introduction. I like mysteries that take me to places I would never go. I've even watched a few dog shows on TV.

(Hmmmm. How come her heroine has standard poodles and she breeds miniature poodles?)

Steph · « **Reply #6627 on:** August 05, 2014, 08:09:03 AM »

Standard poodles are wonderful.. Smart, lively always thinking sort of dogs. Miniature are pretty little toys.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6628 on:** August 05, 2014, 12:05:15 PM »

Am really enjoying the Dorothy Sayers/Jill Walsh "Thrones and Dominations".

We had a smart and mischievous miniature poodle for many years. A little too smart when she unzipped my visiting sister's overnight bag. My sister was quite sure she had it zipped, but we had to buy her a new toothbrush.

MaryPage · « **Reply #6629 on:** August 05, 2014, 02:16:02 PM »

Today's mail brought me Jane Langton's MURDER AT THE GARDNER from Thriftbooks. I got the large print version, and it looks great. No pictures, though. Possibly they were only to be found in the regular hardback editions. Anyway, it goes on the top of the heap to be next read. Hurrah!

Steph · « **Reply #6630 on:** August 06, 2014, 08:52:44 AM »

It is always interesting the number of dogs who master zippers and buttons and often door knobs.

FlaJean · « **Reply #6631 on:** August 07, 2014, 09:47:56 AM »

Finished Thrones and Dominations and am on to the next Lord Peter Wimsey A Presumption of Death. Thanks again PatH for listing those books. Jill Paton Walsh also has a series of her own which sounds interesting, an Imogene Quy mystery. I checked out The Bad Quarto from the library.

Steph · « **Reply #6632 on:** August 08, 2014, 08:54:23 AM »

I loved Presumption of Death.. Harriet is so very sensible and missing Peter so much

ANNIE · « **Reply #6633 on:** August 08, 2014, 09:40:22 AM »

I have requested three or four of the Peter Whimsey books by Walsh. I noticed that the Emeralds title is actually the first one? Is that correct? Would you believe that "Presumption of Death" has a short waiting line? We aren't the only readers discovering these new titles. I noticed the Imogene Quy titles also but deferred from ordering any.

JoanK · « **Reply #6634 on:** August 08, 2014, 04:19:52 PM »

Here she is. She's written a lot of books!

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/jill-paton-walsh/

JoanK · « **Reply #6635 on:** August 08, 2014, 04:32:57 PM »

I was delighted when the new Rhys Bowen "Royal Spyness" book showed up on my kindle, "Queen of Hearts." Usually I eat up these stories of the thirty ninth in line for the throne, trying to get along with no money. But this one didn't hold my interest as much. Maybe it was because she goes to Hollywood, with all the usual clichés. (Never mind that she got the weather wrong -- there was always fog. She must have thought she was in San Francisco, not LA.)

Steph · « **Reply #6636 on:** August 09, 2014, 08:43:14 AM »

I am thinking of the Imogene Quy series to see what it is about.

MaryPage · « **Reply #6637 on:** August 09, 2014, 11:21:12 AM »

Well, I am more than half way through MURDER AT THE GARDNER by Jane Langton. I DID find some pen drawings by her very own hand in it. In looking for pictures, and denying there were any, when I first received the book in the mail from Thriftbooks, I had been expecting glossy pages with photos or painting reproductions; I had not thought about sketches on the regular book paper.
I find her delightfully funny in the subdued manner I love. She is of the genre of P.G. Wodehouse, Heron Carvic, Mary Lasswell, and so forth. The NAMES she gives her characters are enough in themselves to crack me up, let alone her ability to let you in on their thoughts and motivations with just a few descriptive words. Best of all is her perfect timing. She owns the ability to bring many threads of the tale together in one place and one moment in a stunning climax with seemingly no effort at all, and with absolutely no telegraphing the reader to be ready for this. Great fun!

JoanK · « **Reply #6638 on:** August 09, 2014, 04:30:44 PM »

MARY: I'm so glad you like her. If you think she's good at drawing threads together now, wait til you get to the end!

marjifay · « **Reply #6639 on:** August 10, 2014, 07:39:52 AM »

I'm almost finished with an interesting mystery: UNTIL THY WRATH BE PAST by Asa Larsson (a Swedish author). Set in the far north of Sweden. A young girl and her boyfriend have cut a hole in the ice in the lake and have dived to find the wreckage of a German supply plane that has been rumored to have mysteriously disappeared in 1943. Shame and secrecy shroud the locals' memories of the war, with Sweden's early collaboration with the Nazis still a raw wound. And on the windswept shore of the frozen lake a faceless killer is determined the two will not return to the surface so that the past will remain buried forever beneath half a century's silent ice and snow.

Marj

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Author Topic: Mystery Corner ~ 2 (Read 910420 times)