the hills and pools of Crete are beckoning and fair, all the better to entice an American abroad into perhaps unwise exploration. the island is full othe hills and pools of Crete are beckoning and fair, all the better to entice an American abroad into perhaps unwise exploration. the island is full of flowers, growing out of packed dirt and blanketing the countryside, dazzling the eye; the island is also full of women, shy, eyes downcast, clad in black, working from dawn to dusk. the village, the homes, the mill, the church... all eager to be opened for inspection, for those tourists armed with both camera and money. the villagers are likewise armed, with pride and gossip, knives and rifles, quick to stab and to shoot, to turn friend into foe. fishing spears and crab buckets can be used in surprising ways! Mary Stewart writes like an enlightened traveler, ready to stay on a while, as careful to withhold judgment as her heroine is quick to judge. happily, that judgment is often sound, encouraging her to help a man in need, to search for a boy that has vanished, to render sympathy towards a downtrodden woman. even in a place as lovely and open as a Cretan village in the spring, a life can be made small, if that life is ruled by a small and closed mind. in Crete, and elsewhere, sometimes it is better for a husband to be dead; perhaps then his wife can finally live....more
breathless gothic set in the darkest, deadliest, most dangerous place on earth: France! probably the least of the Coffmans I've read so far, but stillbreathless gothic set in the darkest, deadliest, most dangerous place on earth: France! probably the least of the Coffmans I've read so far, but still fairly fun. as always, I come to her looking for atmosphere and she has yet to disappoint me. tons of creepy castle atmosphere (doors that close with no one touching them! rooms opening on rooms instead of a sensible hallway! vivid painting of a sexy-evil vampire-witch king!) and tons of creepy country atmosphere (rose bushes but all the roses are dying! overgrown foliage because Le Compte is apparently too cheap to hire gardeners! a poisoned spring plus an unlucky mouse proving that it's poisoned!) the heroine is obstinate and annoying. the hero is - is there even a hero? there is a mysterious, foppish gent who is described by our heroine as weak-looking and there's a big, dull French cop roaming around with some kind of club-cane; neither are particularly compelling or charismatic. the plot: our young heroine, a newly-orphaned and newly-rich bourgeois-but-sympathetic-to-the-French-Revolution up & buys an isolated mansion that belonged to her slain fiancé's family; sinister, maybe-satanic shenanigans ensue. moral of the tale: never up & buy a castle that is literally called "Witches' Coven Castle"?...more
M.M. Kaye's last of the Death in... mysteries is somewhat messy compared to the prior (standalone) novels. at this point in her career, I think she waM.M. Kaye's last of the Death in... mysteries is somewhat messy compared to the prior (standalone) novels. at this point in her career, I think she wanted to do sprawl, and although this is not a long book, the feeling is a lot more loose and sprawling than its more tightly structured predecessors. despite the story taking place over the course of a weekend. the writing also has a certain sloppiness at times, at least when it comes to the sometimes tin-eared dialogue that favors archness over psychological realism. ok enough of the complaints, this was still an enjoyable read.
the tropical setting of the Andaman Islands was beautifully evoked, per usual for the author. pure pleasure to read about, especially after a typhoon hits the islands. hysterics ensue for some of the characters - and that's prior to the multiple murders. most of the cast are stuck in or near the official English Residence. despite its ocean views, high ceilings, and an expansive amount of space, this is not a very nice manor house. happily for the reader, all the bats flying about and the rain pouring in from the ceilings and the mysterious footsteps pacing just outside the bedrooms make for some fantastic atmosphere. two couples soon form a kind of Young Detectives Club as they roam around the island trying to solve mysteries while flirting and arguing with each other, discussing and updating lists of clues and suspects. this is in some ways a (lightly) decadent novel, due to its uncritical focus on the colonial lifestyle and privileged attitudes of these usually well-dressed and fairly well-off ladies and gents. I love these sorts of murder mysteries and I don't even feel guilty about it - if anyone has suggestions for more in this vein, let me know! Death in the Andamans was like a lengthy prix fixe dinner at an expensive fine dining establishment. not all of the courses were as technically accomplished as the chef assumed them to be, but the entire experience was memorable and full of flavor. delicious novel.
M.M. Kaye could conjure atmosphere out anywhere, just give her a setting where she had some personal experience. it really was a gift, that ability toM.M. Kaye could conjure atmosphere out anywhere, just give her a setting where she had some personal experience. it really was a gift, that ability to channel her memories and experiences into creating a totally real and immersive setting, while also making sure that that setting is, at different times, intriguingly foreign or weird, unnerving. one would think that post-war Berlin would be bereft of "atmosphere" and instead come across as gray, dull, depressing. not the case here! the military housing where our protagonist is lodged is made supernaturally eerie. Kaye transforms this house - and much of Berlin - into a place of disturbing ambiguity. mysterious motivations, shadowy spaces where who knows who could be watching you, windows that should be locked somehow not, soft footsteps heard where they shouldn't be. perhaps that shadow falling across the lawn at dusk is not a shadow after all.
the mystery itself is aces. I was pretty surprised at who turned out to be the killer, even though the author played fair when setting up their motivations; I should have studied this character even more closely. even in this early novel, Kaye's facility with characterization nearly rivaled her skill with establishing then exploring an evocative setting....more
what's a sophisticated, highly attractive, highly strung divorcée recovering from a nervous breakdown to do with all of her new-found free
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what's a sophisticated, highly attractive, highly strung divorcée recovering from a nervous breakdown to do with all of her new-found free time? why, visit a satanic spa, of course! such is the advice given to Christie Deeth by a similarly highly-strung friend. of course the "friend" "forgot" to mention the "satanic" part, but in this book that's par for the course because everyone is hiding something and everyone is playing the long game. and so off our intrepid and anxious heroine goes to Lucifer Cove (the spa's name is a bit of a giveaway). It's south of San Francisco, cozied away in a valley village that appears to have no roads in and no roads out, but also has lots of cute Tudor buildings and sulfurous hot springs and a very erotic dining establishment and a cozy temple devoted to the worship of the Son of the Morning Star... who also just may be the landlord of the charming sanitarium. Lucifer Cove's owner and its sexy staff are devoted to their clientele, encouraging them to find their true selves while fucking everyone in sight. this all sounds like a pleasant week away. but unfortunately for Christie, Lucifer himself has a very personal eye trained on our attractive young divorcée. an eye that gazes at her through mirrors, the tv set, through the assertive cat that follows her about. but could it possibly be... just maybe... that she is perhaps... falling for Satan too??
I got some Hiram Keller vibes from the author's description of "Marc Meridon" who basically spends all of his time staring and smoldering satanically at our agitated heroine. who's Hiram Keller? well, see the eyes above and/or click the spoiler below. but only at the risk of your eternal soul!
Virginia Coffman appears to be a craftsman at heart, well at least in the three books I've read by her so far. so expect no writerly flourishes or dreamy prose or interesting themes. oh well! I would have liked those things. but despite those lacks, she is a very competent writer who knows how to create atmosphere and construct a narrative that keeps the reader turning the pages. she also has a deft hand with description and so it was very easy to visualize everything in this hidden valley, its mountain pathways, the landscape, and especially the ornate design of the spa's various rooms.
favorite part was the casual relay of a satanic threat to poor Christie Deeth: oh, Mr. Meridon thinks your children should come and spend some time with you here... I gasped at that one. children in a satanic spa! heaven forbid! I can't imagine a bigger buzzkill to a week (or eternity) of orgies, drugs, and devil worship than some kids running around underfoot....more
I just love these chic "women's mysteries" written from the 50s through the 70s. they have become a comfort food-type pleasure and for that I can thanI just love these chic "women's mysteries" written from the 50s through the 70s. they have become a comfort food-type pleasure and for that I can thank my gateway drugs, Mary Stewart & M.M. Kaye. this one is about a woman fallen on hard times in 1880s America who flees to relatives in decadent Venice. there she finds a job as caregiver to an elderly battle axe and governess to a precocious child + monkey. also present in this decayed mansion on the Grand Canal is her old flame, a new rival, secrets in the attic, footsteps in the fog, screams in the dark, and murder during a masquerade. I mean really, all the good things. "evocative" is, yet again, the perfect description for this. so much good Venice in here! felt like I was there. Johnston is a smart and elegant writer, careful to make her newly-poor and also rather uptight heroine a realistic woman of her time period, and just as keen to score the occasional sociopolitical point. e.g. the power of money to establish class and to allow entry into a community underlies more than one plotline. this suspenseful story had me turning the pages quickly....more
shortly after the Civil War, a "feministic" young woman finds herself stranded with a range of other travelers at the Plantation Inn, waiting for the shortly after the Civil War, a "feministic" young woman finds herself stranded with a range of other travelers at the Plantation Inn, waiting for the rains to pass and the river nearby to become passable. also nearby: the vicious scion of a robber clan, on the run with his paramour, and notoriously okay with slashing the throat of any man, woman, child, or cat that gets in his way. but perhaps that villain and his lady are already members of the party, in disguise and ready to slash more throats... cue dramatic music!
there are a couple reviewers that found this to be "excruciatingly boring" and I just have to say that if such reviewers find the recounting of 3 tense days & nights filled with anxiety, paranoia, murdered animals, an intruder dressed as a spectral klansman, a dummy dressed as a murder victim, a lady's finery shredded and smeared with excrement, women screaming in the night, blood smeared throughout the hallway, tales of bayoneted babies (yep), someone at the locked door trying to get in while whispering spring has come, oh and some light flirting... well, if they find a 160-page book full of those sorts of things to be boring, then what exactly do they find to be exciting??
for the most part, this was a fun, page-turning experience and I just had to finish it in one sitting. the writing is mainly pretty good and the setting is ripe with rainy gothic atmosphere. unfortunately, the denouement is the worst kind of corny infodump, the various romances are eyerolling and unconvincing, and when the writing isn't pretty good, it is completely horrible, with some headscratchingly obtuse dialogue and bizarre misuse of words that occasionally gave me the impression that the author wasn't too comfortable with using things like words. and so 1 star docked, despite this being an exciting experience overall....more
atmosphere to die for; and so she did, poor Annabel. off to Turkey followed her sister, investigating, in disguise, but barely. there are many illusioatmosphere to die for; and so she did, poor Annabel. off to Turkey followed her sister, investigating, in disguise, but barely. there are many illusions in Istanbul; and so the aloof Turks and the jaded Europeans who populate this city are well-acquainted with double meanings and new personas. a sheltered young American abroad will have little chance to fool anyone at all, including the cat. except herself, of course, because one can always fool oneself. both sisters do that well, fooling themselves about the other's nature, about their true goals, and about their own buried pain.
the air is warm and spiced in Turkey, the breezes cool and lulling; calls to prayer and the sounds of angry conversations may pass through walls but motivations remain hidden. the strange sounds of the Bosphorus murmur and ripple out into the night and into the subconscious, turning everything fluid, even identity. ruins are explored, both physical and intangible, both full of secrets. the author, like her players, keeps those secrets to herself, until at last they finally erupt, in violence, in a painful but suddenly freeing catharsis......more
Twice lost and never to be found again, the poor little dear aggravating little twerp. I love how Phyllis Paul is clearly unafraid to paint a portraitTwice lost and never to be found again, the poor little dear aggravating little twerp. I love how Phyllis Paul is clearly unafraid to paint a portrait of a child who is both tragic and utterly annoying.
This is deeply buried treasure but well worth the dig if you like ambiguous, slowly simmering mysteries that never actually come to a boil. No heat and much that chills. Twice Lost has potential madness and definite gaslighting, dreamy yet decidedly unromantic prose, and two astonishing leap forwards in time that take place across two short pages and that upend everything that came before - it felt like the author reached from the book to throw a glass of cold water on my face, and then quickly followed that up with a sharp slap. How rude - but how exciting!
synopsis: the child is gone, the girl who lost her is broken, the parents are uncaring, the insular village... moves on.
An eccentric author and his avaricious, talentless son play key roles in the mystery. Unfortunately the latter is such a mustache-twirling villain that he became rather unbearable, so farewell 4th star. The solution to the puzzle and what became of the child... quite cruel. Cold-blooded Phyllis Paul!
Favorite bit: a villainous mother and son take a stroll through a city, carefully listening and making pungent but no doubt droll comments regarding all who cross their path. Reminded me of similar strolls taken by me and my own dear mother. Nothing is quite so bonding!...more
A tense and moody affair. A body in the swimming pool. A heroine who knows little but steps up bravely, each and every time. An atmospheric setting. TA tense and moody affair. A body in the swimming pool. A heroine who knows little but steps up bravely, each and every time. An atmospheric setting. The glamorous past revisited, deconstructed, glossed over, forgotten and remembered and reevaluated, memories like yellowing photos in an album crumbling when you pull them out for a closer look. A beautiful woman, a woman defined by her beauty, a woman of much ugliness within, a woman much like her mother, trained carefully by that mother for a life of perfect shallow uselessness. An intrepid teen, smoking at the dinner table with his relatives, this was definitely a different era. A hot cop whose swim trunk-clad body causes our heroine to drool time and time again. Get a grip sis!
The writing is fine and the characterization is sharp and often subtle. The mystery was nifty. I would have liked this so much more though if (1) the author didn't constantly try to ramp up the tension with strenuously ominous foreshadowing i.e. later she was to learn how wrong she was.. she pulls that in each chapter, sometimes multiple times, ugh so irritating; and (2) every other character besides the heroine knows something super important about the mystery and just point blank refuses to tell her. Every. single. other. character. I wanted to wring the neck of every single other character - and the heroine as well, for not wringing the necks of every single other character. There's a body in the damn swimming pool, you need to get these jokers to cough up some info!...more
I came to see Venice but I stayed for the revolution!
this great gothic had everything I needed to bring me back to one of my favorite cities: the canI came to see Venice but I stayed for the revolution!
this great gothic had everything I needed to bring me back to one of my favorite cities: the canals and gondolas, the dark often abandoned palazzos, the campos, the bridges, the decay, mordant commentary on the various tourist traps, the hot crowded days and the eerie sound of water everywhere in the foggy dark, the sudden bursts of laughter coming from revelers on their way home, that entrancing feeling when wandering at night of being entirely alone in someone else's strange dream. atmosphere to die for.
Dark Palazzo has a surprisingly complex heroine. one would expect that a wealthy protagonist in a mystery set in Napoleonic Europe, who has fled France and her memories of The Terror, memories of past boyfriends sent to the guillotine, would be right at home amid the decadent Venetian set. but not so much. apparently you can take the girl out of Revolutionary France but you can't take the revolution out of the girl. she may have suffered during her time there, but she learned a few things about a clueless and parasitical upper class that only live for themselves, about why it's not right that a woman can't walk the streets unchaperoned, about free thinking and criticizing the secretive powers that be, about why people have revolutions in the first place. this was all very unexpected and delightful.
I also quite enjoyed how the sneaky hero of the piece disguises his good looks by wearing oversized spectacles that give him a buggy, goggle-eyed appearance. even the open-minded heroine is understandably turned off....more
the ruins of Delphi are a melancholy tribute to past glories, and to past atrocities. the Englishman's brother Michael is likewise dead and gone but nthe ruins of Delphi are a melancholy tribute to past glories, and to past atrocities. the Englishman's brother Michael is likewise dead and gone but not forgotten; the mystery of his death lingers on, a lure for the curious and mournful, bait for the greedy and murderous. Greece is a hot and dusty place, stark and beautiful, a place to get lost and found in. passionate Greece, inspiring Greeks and English alike. the English woman is moving past her own past in this heated place, finding adventure and danger and of course love. Mary Stewart writes a tale that is both sprightly and foreboding, brisk and brooding, steeped in Grecian culture both modern and archaic. her artistry is as strong as ever: she paints a picture of a place that is easily felt, smelt, heard, tasted, seen. Seen and Unseen both hold court in this novel; some come to their court for guidance and a way forward, some to bury the past and honor it, and others to unbury that past, and its treasures. the book is a tense affair, much like its nervous heroine. the sun burns on, despite the darkness: the reader can feel its heat and see its glare, as the characters in this parched landscape feel their own blood turn hot, see their secret selves suddenly exposed to blazing light of day....more
the Northumberland countryside is windswept and stark, beautiful and craggy and treacherous, trees ready to fall, paths to get lost on, cliffs to be tthe Northumberland countryside is windswept and stark, beautiful and craggy and treacherous, trees ready to fall, paths to get lost on, cliffs to be tossed from. the heroine is frustrating: her mind moves back and forth, in the plan and then out of it, untrustworthy, uttering apologies of the "I'm just being womanish" sort. the handsome young Irishman is a violent boor, easily capable of laying hands on a woman, bending people and the world to his rigid, greedy plans. the mystery overlaps with other mysteries - mysteries of identity, acceptance, running away from problems and returning to step back into them. the romance is nonexistent, until suddenly it is not. Stewart writes a tricky narrative where past is present, one that's hard to untangle, characters hard to trust, until suddenly there is no tangle and characters are completely understandable. the arrival of clarity, following an exciting morning horse ride (Stewart loves her horses!) made for a breathtaking scene. I didn't find this book or its characters to be particularly likable, but the story compels and of course drips with atmosphere. I heard the wind moaning, I woke up to the too-bright sunlight, I inhaled the sweat dripping off of horse and man, I gazed at the world from cliffside along with the heroine, wondering where all of these lies would lead....more
the island of Corfu is golden, blue skies overhead and sandy beaches underfoot, light playing on the sea's surface. its waters have strange moods and the island of Corfu is golden, blue skies overhead and sandy beaches underfoot, light playing on the sea's surface. its waters have strange moods and deliver surprising gifts: a playful dolphin, treasure of a sort, and a body swept to its shores, bashed and broken. the island of Corfu is a romantic place! where better to find adventure and mystery, espionage and murder, passionate embraces. Mary Stewart fully commits to this lovely location, her descriptions vivid and clear, her affection and respect for the Greek locals and their culture equally on display. and then there is the dolphin, that clever boy, a highlight of the book. best of all, her heroine: intelligent and resourceful, curious and dynamic, never a shrinking violet. this is only my second Stewart; I wonder, will I continue to see a lack of silly heroines in her romantic adventures? the author adds additional layers that make her tale even richer: acting and the theatre is one layer, the story of The Tempest another. was Corfu that strange isle where Prospero found his home? one can only guess....more
the Isle of Skye was rendered in pleasing browns and greys, fog and wind and rain ever present, the surrounding mountainscape stark and threatening. othe Isle of Skye was rendered in pleasing browns and greys, fog and wind and rain ever present, the surrounding mountainscape stark and threatening. our heroine was independent and poised, always retaining dignity and autonomy. the murder mystery was compelling; the murderer or murderess (no spoilers!) was revealed in all of their madness in a wonderfully fearful set piece - the highlight of the novel. the romance took center stage only at the very end, in a brief but passionate and rather charming scene. Mary Stewart is a calm and confident author; I particularly enjoyed her precise focus on certain body parts - the size and shape of one character's hands, the dancing eyes and throaty laugh of another, the deep tan matching the golden hair of a third, etc. - as a way of making each character vivid and real. overall this was a pleasant surprise for me, and an ideal introduction to this author. I plan on reading more by her....more
surprisingly, this was the least evocative of the Death in... novels by M.M. Kaye. and I had such high hopes for imagining myself in Zanzibar, which isurprisingly, this was the least evocative of the Death in... novels by M.M. Kaye. and I had such high hopes for imagining myself in Zanzibar, which is one of those places like Tangier and pre-war Beirut and pre-separation Cyprus that I would have loved to live in before various traumas changed those places utterly. Zanzibar! even just the name conjures up so much.
the reason that this novel is so different from its predecessors is that fully half of it takes place over the course of our cast of characters actually traveling to Zanzibar. so many scenes in hotels and waiting rooms and airplanes. fortunately this is not at all as boring as it may sound, and it was an interesting and unusual experience for me. murder across several continents, murder while the cast is constantly moving, murder as various randos are coming and going. it was fun.
unfortunately the heroine is the drippiest and dullest of all the heroines I've read so far in a Kaye novel. quite a bother. she's balanced out a bit by a great leading man - a drunken, brash American aristocrat with one of those amusingly insulting styles that appeared to get a pass mid-20th century - but still. she's on every. single. page. she sucks.
once they get to Zanzibar, Kaye does her usual job at creating wonderful atmosphere full of foreboding moments and plummy dialogue.
(view spoiler)[I was at first mortally offended by the murderer's reveal: a queeny, gossipy secretary, full of bitchy bon mots. it was incredibly irritating that this character - already detested by our rigorously straight leading man - was of course also a vicious killer. I am a thensitive queer and so always on the look-out for homophobic offenses aimed at my fellow queers. but happily, the last few pages took all of my concerns away; the scene where the mask of his affectations dropped and the cold-blooded revolutionary came out was rather spine-tingling. that reveal sorta made it okay. but now I'd like to read a murder mystery featuring a queeny secretary who is actually heroic, to balance things out. please! (hide spoiler)]
so far: Death in Cyprus > Death in Kashmir > Death in Kenya > Death in Zanzibar....more
a splendid murder mystery set in colonial Kenya, although perhaps one of the author's lesser works. as always, Kaye makes atmosphere a palpable part oa splendid murder mystery set in colonial Kenya, although perhaps one of the author's lesser works. as always, Kaye makes atmosphere a palpable part of the novel's appeal. she gives less care to several of her characters, but she does succeed in providing an excellent murderer, a sympathetic murder victim, and an appealing leading man. unfortunately the heroine is barely even there. Kaye's prose is elegant and her dialogue sharp and the mystery itself quite cunning. (although I did guess the murderer's identity within the first couple chapters.) besides the atmosphere, perhaps the best parts of the book are its tantalizing references to Masai culture and to the Mau Mau Uprising. the novel takes places during the latter's aftermath, which casts a disturbing shadow over its proceedings.
but really it's the atmosphere that is the book's strength. over 50 years later, I was in Kenya, and the details provided by Kaye still rang perfectly true. I felt oddly nostalgic reading about Lake Naivasha and the beautiful manses within a stone's throw from its waters. I especially enjoyed the brief, murderous interlude set on the wooded shore of unsettling Crater Lake Sonachi. the latter was my favorite part of my own trip; I could have stayed in my hut on the shore of that lake for much, much longer. such eerie nights: so silent one moment, so full of strange whispery water sounds and haunting bird cries the next. it's an unusual experience walking near that shore, on your own, after dark.
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