Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8) 4Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Guards! Guards!
Series: Discworld #8
Author: Terry Pratchett
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 259
Words: 98K

One hundred percent better than when I read this back in 2007 (link at the bottom of the review). A lot of that is that I’ve read enough of Discworld to know now that it’s not all madcap silliness, like I was expecting back then. It also helps that I’m reading these in publication order and keeps me from getting tunnel vision on one set of characters (Rincewind, the Witches, Death, etc) and hitting a wall when a book is about a different set. I am really liking reading these this way because it feels more well rounded and Discworld as a setting is fleshed out more by the various characters instead of being seen from just one perspective.

I had forgotten just how broken Vimes is at the beginning. In many ways this is a redemption story and yet, it’s not. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, but part of it is more about Vimes himself pulling himself up by the bootstraps than any redemption. Vimes (for some reason I always want to say “Grimes”) is a very humanistic literary character and I can see why Pratchett chose to create him and why many readers of Discworld identify with him. There’s nothing of the supernatural intruding into Vime’s life to make him question life’s basic questions. There’s just crime and grime and apathy. He can overcome those things on his own with no help (as thus enable the reader to feel that they can too). I have a feeling that is one of the reasons I didn’t care for The Watch sub-series as much before.

I still don’t like that direction, but having interacted a lot more with people of no faith in the last 17 years has given me a broader and hopefully more sympathetic feeling towards those who would feel like Vimes does. They are wrong, but I’m not so likely to shake my finger at them and lecture them for 30 min. I cut that down to just 10 minutes now ;-)

The story was fun. Rogue magic user politician wannabe takes over the city and gets in WAY over his head. Vimes and the Night Watch help figure things out while the Patrician sits back and lets things play out. It was a relatively light story with only Ankh-Morpork at stake and not the whole of Discworld. Grimes, blast it, Vimes, has enough Everyman Banal Thoughts to make those not used to thinking for themselves feel like they are reading something deep while the rest of us can safely roll our eyes and think about kicking Vimes in the pants to get him out of his funk.

Now that I’ve read the first of The Watch books again and enjoyed it so much, I am looking forward to the rest of them. I really wasn’t before, but I think that reading the books in publication order is going to continue to make a night and day difference for me.

Cheers to that!

★★★★☆

From Wikipedia.org

A secret monastic order plots to overthrow the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork and install a puppet monarch under the control of the Order. They summon a dragon to terrorise the city and plan to have the puppet "slay" the dragon and claim to be the lost heir of the defunct royal house.

The Night Watch, which is generally seen as both corrupt and incompetent, starts to change with the arrival of idealistic new recruit Carrot Ironfoundersson, a human orphan raised by dwarfish parents. When the Librarian of the Unseen University (an orangutan) reports a book of magic stolen, Vimes links the theft to the dragon's appearances. The Watch's investigation makes the acquaintance of Lady Sybil Ramkin, who breeds small swamp dragons, and gives an underdeveloped dragon named Errol to the Watch as a mascot.

At first, the plot works flawlessly. The Patrician is ousted in favor of the new king, but the banished dragon returns and makes itself king, demanding gold and virgin sacrifices, and prepares to wage war against Ankh-Morpork's neighbours for the further acquisition of both (which the citizenry generally seem to approve of).

Vimes confronts his old childhood friend, the Patrician's Secretary Lupine Wonse, having figured out that he is the Supreme Grand Master, and responsible for the dragon's appearance. Vimes is imprisoned in the same cell as the Patrician. Vimes escapes with the help of the Librarian and runs to rescue Sybil, chosen as the first sacrificed maiden. After the remaining Watch fail to kill the king through a 'million-to-one chance' arrowshot, Errol fights it, and knocks it from the sky. The assembled crowd closes in to kill the king, and Sybil pleads for the dragon's life. Carrot arrests it, but Errol lets it escape. The dragon is in fact female, and the battle between them was a courtship ritual.

Vimes arrests Wonse, as he tries to summon another dragon, telling Carrot to "throw the book at him". Wonse falls to his death after the very literal Carrot hits him with a thrown copy of Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork.

The Patrician is reinstated as ruler of Ankh-Morpork, and offers the Watch anything they want as a reward. They ask only for a modest pay raise, a new tea kettle, and a dartboard. However, since the Watch's original station house was destroyed by the dragon, Lady Ramkin donates her childhood home at Pseudopolis Yard to serve as the new one.

• Guards! Guards! (2007 Review)

• All of My “Discworld” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Rincewind” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Witches” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: Death” Reviews

• All of My “Discworld: The Watch” Reviews

The Beggar Queen (Westmark #3) 2Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Beggar Queen
Series: Westmark #3
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: MG Fantasy
Pages: 187
Words: 57K

A grungy, death filled finale to the Westmark trilogy.

I regret reading this trilogy.

Lloyd Alexander is now tainted in my mind by the writing of this. I will no longer see him as the great author of the Prydain Chronicles. I see that as a fluke. His name will forever be attached to this coming of age story in the midst of war where only bad things happen. That is a big step down and it is why I regret reading this.

★★☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

The peace between the new constitutional order in Westmark and the kingdom of Regia is fragile. Regia's king, Constantine, supports the liberal and representative reforms that Westmark is implementing. Reactionary elites, including his uncle, do not. Constantine's uncle cooperates with other opponents of the new Westmark regime to fund a coup supporting the return of Cabbarus and supply him with mercenaries. Constantine discovers his uncle's plot to assassinate him to stop the reformist movement and sentences him to a firing squad. Meanwhile, Cabbarus, styling himself as the Director, has set sail for Westmark with his troops.

In Westmark, Theo is wrestling with his duties as a consul. His two counterparts, Florian (the erstwhile revolutionary) and Justin (a radical and Theo's rival), prove difficult to coordinate with. The indefinite postponement of his marriage to Mickle, the reigning Queen of Westmark, does not help matters. For her part, Mickle has been seeking a path to transition to a more republican form of government and therefore freedom to marry Theo and rule her life as she pleases. Her research and politicking are interrupted when armed soldiers burst into her room. The ailing Queen Mother and other Mickle loyalists perish as a result of the coup. Theo and the other consuls manage to avoid arrest, with Justin fleeing the capital into the countryside and Florian getting into contact with Theo and Mickle. It is decided that Florian will attempt to solicit aid from Constantine in Regia while Mickle and Theo organize the citizenry in armed urban resistance to Cabbarus and his regime.

Cabbarus's Directorate begins public executions and utilizes agents, such as Theo's would-be assassin Skeit, to surveil the population. Justin makes contact with Theo, Las Bombas, and other leaders of the pro-Mickle faction and insists that the urban resistance begin to fight violently instead of passively smuggling arms and slowing down the occupation. Theo in particular is troubled by this and wishes to avoid reenacting his past as Colonel Kestrel. Mickle warns Theo against trying to impress Justin and then the raids begin. The violence of the resistance is met with reprisals at the gallows and in the streets. As the resistance intensifies, Mickle and Theo receive word that Florian is on his way back with supporters. After Theo informs Justin that Florian is about to return, he is informed that Justin's army is positioning itself for an invasion of the capital city. Justin also demands that Theo recognize his command authority.

While the resistance and revolutionaries are feuding, Cabbarus's government proceeds to shut down independent publications and seize printing presses. In response, anti-Cabbarus publications become more popular than ever. Even the constabulary sways against Cabbarus. When Theo is arrested, the leading anti-Cabbarus writer, a man named Keller, coordinates with Mickle and her coalition to spring him out of prison. As the raid to free Theo commences, the city bursts into an uprising unprompted by either Justin's army or the resistance led by Mickle and Theo. Everyday citizens set the Directorate's gallows ablaze. Barricades rise and the mercenaries and regime loyalists find themselves being fired upon from every angle. Justin's army chooses this as the moment to enter the city and Justin confronts Theo for refusing to cooperate with him. Theo informs Justin that the people have taken it upon themselves to revolt. Mickle and Theo are then seized by the men of Cabbarus while Justin is mortally wounded. Before Justin dies, Theo promises him to support Westmark's transformation into a republic.

As Mickle and Theo are brought before Cabbarus, Skeit (Cabbarus's secret agent) notices that Florian and his army have arrived. Skeit does not inform Cabbarus of this and disputes with the Director about his payment. Cabbarus initially refuses to pay Skeit and then strikes him in the head with a candlestick before bringing Mickle and Theo into his office. He attempts to negotiate Mickle's return to the throne, as well as Theo's marriage to her, in exchange for supporting his rule. Skeit interrupts the Director with a dagger to the heart and then falls dead to the floor. Mickle and Theo escape from the office using the same trapdoor that Cabbarus had used to try to kill her as a child. They are then found and rescued by some of the victorious citizenry.

Most of the resistance's leadership has fallen in the streets fighting, but the survivors have formed a provisional government headed by Count Las Bombas. Mickle, Theo, Las Bombas, Florian, and other leaders meet. Mickle announces that she is abdicating in favor of a republic and declares her official marriage to Theo. Florian warns her that for her safety and the stability of Westmark she must go into exile if she follows through with the abdication. She acknowledges this and plans to travel the world with Theo, Las Bombas, and Musket the dwarf (Las Bombas's loyal attendant). The story ends with Mickle honoring her loyalists and the citizens of Westmark as the four set sail to a new life.

• All of my “Lloyd Alexander” Reviews

Kings of Crime (The Shadow #20) 3.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPresss & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Kings of Crime
Series: The Shadow #20
Authors: Maxwell Grant
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 160
Words: 50K

The Shadow takes on another group of villainous masterminds of crime. This time we know that the Ace of Crime is somebody important in the town, we just don’t know exactly who until the end. There were some obvious red herrings, so I knew it wasn’t them. For me, I KNEW it had to be either the Police Chief or the Mayor. But almost up until the reveal, I was still guessing which. Which means the author did things write. I appreciate that tension.

Once again, speed of communication makes such a world of difference. Half this story could have not mattered if there had been faster ways to communicate. I feel like I am peeking into a completely different world when I read these stories and in some ways, I am. It’s good to be reminded that times were different and those differences drove innovation, etc in ways we can’t imagine today.

Once again, this was another tight little adventure story where The Shadow outthinks, outshoots and outpunches everyone. While I wouldn’t want a steady diet of that, a drip feed of it does wonders for my morale. While I know evil will be destroyed at the end of time, seeing it gets its butt kicked in the here and now is quite satisfying.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Four villains are called together by a mysterious Ace of Crime. Their goal? The total take over of a town so the money pours in continually. Facing off against them is the mayor of the town, the police chief and unbeknownst to anyone, The Shadow and his agents!

The Shadow shuts down each villain and their part of the plan, but not until the Mayor is revealed as the Ace of Crime can The Shadow reveal that HE is the Joker of the Deck and he trumps all the Kings and Aces.

• All of My “The Shadow” Reviews

My Week XVIII

 

Technically,  this will cover the last two weeks because January has been just as challenging as December,  unfortunately.

Sunday, two weeks ago, I and another guy from church helped an older couple finish their move into a condo. It only took 20-30 minutes and I was inside for about 15min. On my drive home from their place my car engine began overheating and I saw steam coming from under the hood. I made it home safely,  but when I lifted the hood, the engine block was just covered in what turned out to be coolant. I figured my radiator had blown, as this has happened before, one of those joys of owning used cars. One of the guys at work is a gear head and said he could install a new radiator. His rates were half those at a shop, so I dropped the Subaru off at his house Friday evening.

He contacted me Saturday letting me know the radiator was just fine. The problem is that the plastic overflow reservoir was missing. Someone had torn it out. He said he's seen this before. Meth heads like them to cook meth in and it takes all of 2 minutes to lift the car hood, rip it out and lower the car hood. So he just had to replace that. Less than half the price of a radiator.  Hurray!

But wait, the drama continues...

Saturday it snowed several inches. Since we don't transact business on the Sabbath, we picked up the Subaru Sunday morning.  There was a little stone retaining wall covered by snow that I didn't see and I backed into it. I was halfway home when I realized that had popped my tire. Pulled into someone's driveway to get off the road and jacked the car up with the little emergency jack. Only to find I was missing my tire iron to remove the lugnuts. Thankfully, Mrs B was parked next door, as she was following me home. I grabbed the tire iron from that car only to find it didn't fit. Oh, I was not a happy camper! Thankfully,  one of the men from church stopped by with a tire iron that fit, so we got the spare tire on and trundled home.

Work has been brutal the last 2 weeks as well. It's not only been cold, but the windchills have kept the temps feeling like -5 to 5F, which just drains me to be out in for hours on end. And next week is supposed to be in the teens too. I'm trying not to think about it too much to be honest.

Mrs B continues to heal up but won't be returning to work for another two weeks.

I had my latest round of eye injections on Wednesday.  That's always a good time, sigh. It's my new normal though so I have to get used to it.  A combination of Tylenol,  advil and a sleeping pill helped the recovery process. I hate sleeping pills because they always make me feel so groggy when I first wake up the next morning.  But sleeping a solid 10-11hrs really helps my eyes feel better.

Sadly, while I was hoping to get a new, positive start in 2025, it's been more of the same from the tail end of '24. So now I'm looking forward to the end of January and pinning my hopes on February,  hahaha!

♪Get in the Zone, the Judge Zone!♪

How has YOUR month gone so far? Feel free to unload in the comments. It is a Judge Zone, but I'm the only one doing any judging and since I read so much you know my judgements are classy.
*raises pinky finger

After Dark (Silver John #2) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: After Dark
Series: Silver John #2
Author: Manly Wade Wellman
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Folk Fantasy
Pages: 170
Words: 55K

Yeah, these are definitely slooooooow and not very full. It’s like Wellman is writing the story at the pace of life in which John lives, ie, day to day with no thought for the morrow. The conflict is more mental with just a little bit of the Occultic (when a character calls on the 5 Kings of the Whatever, from some tome of lore, that is the very definition of Occultic) thrown in. John doesn’t have magic battles. He simply tries to counteract what his opponents are doing.

And that works, as long as you expect it and are not thinking of modern urban fantasy with faux gods throwing it down with the main character ala the Iron Druid, etc. The pacing is also slow in terms of time. This whole story takes place in just one or two days, just like in the previous book, The Old Gods Waken. So you get a lot of small detail that is easily glossed over in a bigger confrontation, but here, it completely sets the atmosphere.

Thinking about that, I’d say these are more “atmospheric’ than anything, including the threat of the Shonokin. John visits their village and the descriptions of their houses and dwellings, while not uber-creepy, just give off that vibe of something being slightly wrong, and when we find out there are no female Shonokin, that too adds a frisson of off’ness.

Another character of Wellman’s is mentioned, John Thunstone. He apparently had fought the Shonokin before and driven them out and Silver John wonders if these are the survivors. I bring this up because I’ve had a picture of John Thunstone on the blog before and it’s awesome. Once I’m done with Silver John, I plan on investigating Thunstone.

And of course, I’m going to include a full sized version of this cover. Whoever scanned it must have had a very yellow light or their scanning settings were off, but this was the clearest version I could find.

★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge

John attends a music festival, run by some odd looking characters. He wins the guitar contest and is asked by the shady characters if he’d continue performing for them. He declines and goes home with an old man and his daughter. He finds out that the shady characters are a race called the Shonokin who claim to have been in the United States before even the Indians. They are trying to return to power and need a gemstone of the old man’s to complete they mystic path of power.

They also need his daughter, as all Shonokin are male. The Shonokin try to drive the old man off of his property, but with John’s help they are rebuffed and their leader killed. This forces the rest of the Shonokin to flee the area, as they are deathly afraid of their dead. A witch who had been helping the Shonokin repents of her evil ways and the book ends with her beginning on her path of self-redemption by doing good deeds.

A Close Fight (Demon Slayer #11) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: A Close Fight
Series: Demon Slayer #11
Author: Koyoharu Gotouge
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 183
Words: 8K

The finish up to the fight between the demon siblings, the Pillar and Tanjiro and Co. Lots of “oh noes, oh yays” moments and it wasn’t right up until the end where the demon siblings disintegrate into nothing that I was sure it was over.

It was kind of funny actually, not that it was meant to be. The brother and sister demon have their heads cut off and the heads are lying on the ground, facing each other. They start squabbling about whose fault it is that they lost. Tanjiro comes up to them and pretty much starts lecturing them about how they shouldn’t be squabbling, as they only have each other now. It was meant to be moving and everything, but come on, he IS lecturing a pair of decapitated heads lying on the ground.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

"A Close Fight"

"Grateful"

"A Change of Strategy"

"Worm, Simpleton, Stupid Coward"

"Never Give Up"

"Do Something"

"Final Moments"

"No Matter How Many Lives, Part 1"

"No Matter How Many Lives, Part 2"

After a long fight Daki and Gyutaro are defeated, but during the fight Nezuko almost loses control of herself and Tengen is forced to retire from his position as Hashira due to his wounds. Despite that, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayers, rejoice over their victory against the Upper Ranks, certain that the day of Muzan's defeat is at hand.

Monster Hunter Legion (MHI #4) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Monster Hunter Legion
Series: MHI #4
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 361
Words: 139K

Aaaaaaand we’re back to Owen Z Pitt, sigh. I’d really prefer somebody else be the main character, but I know that isn’t the case for the series over all and so I just need to accept it. But I won’t, because that’s how I roll.

I sure have forgotten a LOT of this story in the last 12-13 years. I vaguely remembered it taking place in Las Vegas, Special Task Force Unicorn manipulating everyone and the dragon. This time around, the references that are made about Project Nemesis make total sense instead of being a big fat mystery like on my original read. I actually found knowing to make for a more enriching read. Which is yet another reason why RE-READING is so important!

Thankfully, there is enough gun toting action to keep any MHI fan happy. And we get real good look at STFU and just how despicable they are. They make for a wonderful bad guy/s and are just despicable enough that they make even the Government MCB (Monster Control Bureau) people look like angels. It’s awesome!

I just had fun reading this, even with “Z” being front and center. We also get a good look at other Monster Hunter companies and how they operate and under what parameters. We’ve only seen monster hunting through the lens of MHI and it’s good to reminded that while they are considered some of the best, they are not the only game in town. It helps us as readers not to get tunnel vision.

If you like big guns, good good guys and evil evil monsters, then this is the series for you. I recommend it without hesitation with those caveats.

★★★★★

From MHI.Fandom.com

When hunters from around the world gather in Las Vegas for a conference, a creature left over from a World War Two weapons experiment wakes up and goes on a rampage across the desert. A not-so-friendly wager between the rival companies turns into a race to see who can bag the mysterious creature first.

Only there is far more to this particular case than meets the eye, and as Hunters fall prey to their worst nightmares, Owen Zastava Pitt and the staff of Monster Hunter International have to stop an ancient god from turning Sin City into a literal hell on earth.

Plot

When the International Conference of Monster Hunting Professionals is targeted by a nightmare demon, MHI and the other hunters at the ICMHP conference must work together to protect the innocents trapped in the Last Dragon Casino while Owen Pitt takes on the Nachtmar.

• Monster Hunter Legion (2012 Review)

• All of My “MHI” Reviews

A is for Alibi (Kinsey Milhone #1) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: A is for Alibi
Series: Kinsey Milhone #1
Author: Sue Grafton
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 224
Words: 77K

Hmmm, what to say about this? It wasn’t terrible, I didn’t hate it, but at the same time, I really didn’t care for the main character, one Kinsey Milhone. It’s not that she has a lot of hangups from her previous two marriages, or that she’s rather unlikeable as a person. It’s that she feels guilty about shooting someone to death who was trying to kill her with a knife. It was the “Emotions trump reality” aspect that bothered me. And I think what’s what bothered me about most of this. Milhone, for all her apparent toughness and smarts, does some REALLY stupid things in this story because of her feelings. I expected better of her.

She ends up sleeping with a guy and then picks fights with him so he’ll not try to get closer to her because she doesn’t want to deal with a relationship with him. As soon as she slept with him, I knew that he was either going to BE the killer she was chasing down or BE the killer’s next victim. You can read the synopsis hidden below to find out. But those were the only two options given Milhone’s character and it stank. She is an adult in her 30’s and she’s acting like she’s 18.

I enjoyed the mystery side of things quite a bit though. I am not one of those mystery fans who try to solve things before the main character does, so I’m just along for the ride. Makes reading an enjoyable activity and not a chore.

So reading this book was a real mixed bag. I enjoyed the mystery side of things but I did not care for the main character. I have the rest of Grafton’s Alphabet Mysteries on tap, so we’ll see if Milhone becomes any more likable or not.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Kinsey Millhone, a private detective, investigates the death of a prominent divorce lawyer Laurence Fife. His murder eight years earlier was blamed on his wife, Nikki Fife. Upon being released from prison, Nikki hires Kinsey to find the real murderer. In the course of the investigation, Kinsey becomes involved with Charlie Scorsoni, the late Mr. Fife's former law partner. She discovers Fife's death has been linked to that of a woman in Los Angeles, his law firm's accountant; both died after taking poisonous oleander capsules, which had been substituted for allergy pills. Kinsey tracks down the accountant's parents and former boyfriend. She then goes to Las Vegas to interview Fife's former secretary, Sharon Napier, who is killed minutes before Kinsey arrives. Back in California, Kinsey is mystified that Nikki's son, Colin, recognizes Laurence's first wife, Gwen, in a photograph. Kinsey surmises that Gwen was having an affair with her ex-husband at the time of his death. She accuses Gwen, who confesses. Shortly afterwards, she too is dead, killed in a hit-and-run crash.

Kinsey has solved the case she was hired to investigate; but in a plot twist, she discovers that her previous notions about the accountant's death were entirely wrong: in fact, it was Scorsoni who killed her when she discovered he was skimming dividend money from estate accounts under his management. Scorsoni used the same method that Gwen used to kill Fife, so it would be assumed the same person committed both murders. In a final confrontation, he chases Kinsey across the beach, armed with a knife. Kinsey hides in the shore line, and she is forced to remove her shoes and pants. Before Scorsoni can kill her, she shoots him dead.

A secondary storyline involves Millhone's surveillance of Marcia Threadgill, suspected of insurance fraud in a trip-and-fall case. Although Millhone believes she has successfully documented Threadgill's deception, the insurance firm that contracted Millhone to investigate Threadgill moves to pay her claim anyway, citing potential legal costs and complications, including the risk of reprisal.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (July/August 2012) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
Series: July/August 2012
Editor: Linda Landrigan
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 207
Words: 81K

With this being a double issue of the magazine, there were more stories, but there was a longer novella size story at the end, a story that won the Black Orchid novella award. Some award given by hoity toity gate keepers of Rex Stout’s stories, ooh lah lah. Whatever, I stick my thumb in their eyes and drag their pathetic brains out, as they writhe in agony while I watch them slowly die.

I was fully prepared to hate that novella, just for winning. But you know what? It was decent. “I” never would have given it an award, but it did help bring the quality of writing up for this magazine.

More stories helped though. Made me feel like I was reading one of Hitchcock’s old anthology books instead of a dodgy ezine.

This was interesting enough that I’ll try the next one.

★★★☆☆

Table of Contents:

Department: EDITOR'S NOTE: DETECTION ON THE DOUBLE by Linda Landrigan

Department: THE LINEUP

Fiction: THE BEST THING FOR THE LIVER by Janice Law

Fiction: AUTUMN CHILL by John H. Dirckx

Fiction: MARLEY'S RESCUE by John C. Boland

Department: MYSTERIOUS PHOTOGRAPH

Fiction: DEATH ON THE RANGE by Elaine Menge

Fiction: ASSIGNMENT IN CLAY by Donald Moffitt

Fiction: BURNING DAYLIGHT by David Edgerley Gates

Fiction: TIGHTENING OF THE BOND by R. T. Lawton

Fiction: GHOST NEGLIGENCE by John Shepphird

Department: BOOKED & PRINTED by Robert C. Hahn

Fiction: 364 DAYS by John R. Corrigan

Black Orchid Novella Award: INNER FIRE by Jolie McLarren Swann

Department: THE STORY THAT WON

Department: COMING IN SEPTEMBER 2012

• All of My “Alfred Hitchcock” Reviews

The Nursing Home Murder (Roderick Alleyn #3) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Nursing Home Murder
Series: Roderick Alleyn #3
Author: Ngaio Marsh
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 167
Words: 61K

Another satisfactory read. Lots of suspects and red herrings and people lying to the police to try to “protect” others, all the usual folderol in a mystery novel. I enjoyed it but must admit that I am not a big fan of how Inspector Alleyn has a “recreation” at the end each time and proves his solution during that time. I don’t know if it is because it strikes me as macabre, or ghoulish or just bad taste, but I don’t like reading it that way. At least Nero Wolfe has the decency to sit behind his desk and just verbalize what happened.

Which is being unfair, perhaps, to Roderick Alleyn. He’s no Wolfe and Ngaio Marsh is no Rex Stout. Which is why these aren’t venturing into even the 3.5star range. Something about these stories is just crude and while it doesn’t set my teeth on edge, it’s like having something pass over my arm and just ever so slightly brush it, annoying it.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

The British Home Secretary, Sir Derek O'Callaghan MP, has received several death threats from anarchists affiliated with Stalinist Communism – and a pleading letter threatening suicide from Jane Harden, a nurse with whom he had a short affair some months earlier. O'Callaghan's old friend and family physician, Sir John Phillips, visits to ask about O'Callaghan's relationship with Jane. She is Phillips's scrub nurse and Phillips has loved her from afar for years. O'Callaghan brutally informs Phillips that Jane is "easy" and not worth his regard; he and Phillips almost come to blows before Phillips threatens his life in front of a servant.

One week later, O'Callaghan is introducing a bill in the House of Commons to deal with anarchism when he doubles over, incapacitated by acute appendicitis. His wife, unaware of the fight or of Phillips's threats, has her husband moved to Phillips's private hospital ("nursing home" in contemporary usage) and begs Phillips to operate immediately. He does so against his own wishes, as assisted by Dr. Roberts, the anaesthetist; Dr. Thoms, the assistant surgeon; Sister Marigold, the matron; Nurse Banks, the circulating nurse; and Jane Harden, the scrub nurse. The operation goes well, but O'Callaghan weakens near the end of the operation and dies one hour later, apparently of peritonitis.

The next day, Lady O'Callaghan is going through her late husband's papers and finds both the death threats from anarchists and Jane Harden's letter. Convinced that her husband has been murdered, she calls in Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard. It turns out that O'Callaghan has died of an overdose of hyoscine, a drug used in anaesthesia. Suspicion falls not just on Phillips and Harden but also on Nurse Banks, an outspoken Communist whose constant vicious insults toward O'Callaghan during and after the operation have led to her dismissal.

Alleyn's digging reveals that it would have been possible for any member of the surgical team to have committed the crime. He learns that Harden loved O'Callaghan to the point that even after his death she was unable to return Phillips's feelings; that Banks is a member of an anarchist society almost completely controlled by the authorities (and which has more bark than bite, as Alleyn finds out when he attends a meeting in disguise with his amanuensis, Nigel Bathgate); that O'Callaghan's sister, an unbalanced, shrill, unintelligent hysteric, has been bullying her brother into taking quack medicine produced by an avowed Communist; and that Dr. Roberts the anaesthetist is a firm believer in eugenics to the point that he is unable to prevent himself from expounding on the topic for hours.

Frustrated, Alleyn finally arranges for a re-enactment of the operation; he is suspecting Roberts to be the killer but has no real evidence for this. During the re-enactment Sister Marigold brushes by Roberts's bulky anaesthetics cart during a weak moment and Dr. Thoms erupts in anger and nervousness, screaming that she could have blown up the entire room had the cart (which carries ether) fallen over. The incident makes Alleyn notice how keen Roberts is not to let anyone get too close to the cart. After the re-enactment has ended, the police see to it that Roberts (who tries to stay on the spot) is lured away from the room on a pretext, Alleyn quickly checks the cart and finds that one of the "bolts" holding the cart together is actually the top of a syringe. Hours later, he and Fox visit Roberts at his home and charge him with murder. Roberts admits to having injected O'Callaghan with hyoscine, but claims that he was justified: O'Callaghan's family had a "hereditary taint" (as shown by his sister), and it was his duty to remove such "tainted" persons from society. At the end, Alleyn points out that Roberts himself is insane and may have committed several similar murders, as suggested by the notches on his stethoscope.

In the epilogue Alleyn expresses doubt that Phillips and Harden will ever get together, and remarks that such things only happen in the "movie-mind".