The Summer of the Danes - Ellis Peters

   1991; 269 pages.  Book 18 (out of 20) in the “Chronicles of Brother Cadfael” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Historical Fiction; Historical Mystery; Cozy.  Overall Rating: 8½*/10.

 

    It’s the summer of 1144 CE and the Church in England needs a favor from Brother Cadfael.  Two bishops have recently been appointed to Sees in Wales, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided to send gifts to both of them.

 

    Brother Mark has been dispatched by Canterbury to deliver the presents, but there’s one slight problem: he’s journeying to Wales but doesn’t speak a word of Welsh.  Would Brother Cadfael be so kind as to accompany Brother Mark and serve as his translator?

 

    Cadfael is delighted to accept!  He was born and raised in Wales, but now is stationed nearby at the Shrewsbury Abbey and rarely gets to visit his old homeland despite its proximity.  This trip will mean he’ll get to travel in Wales for more than a week, while doing the church’s business, and enjoying the local hospitality.  What could possibly go wrong?!

 

    Well, there’s a reason why the book is titled The Summer of the Danes.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Summer of the Danes is the eighteenth book the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series.  I’ve read twelve of the completed 20-book series so far, and not reading them in any particular order.

 

    This book is unique to the series in several ways.  First of all, it predominantly takes place in Wales, which I don’t recall being done before.  Secondly, this is not a murder-mystery, which is what all the other books I’ve read in this series were.  Yes, a murder takes place, but not until more than a quarter of the way through the tale, and Brother Cadfael isn’t involved in the sleuthing at all.  Indeed, Brother Cadfael is mostly relegated to being an observer of events here, dispensing sage advice and making keen observations.

 

    The book is primarily a work of Historical Fiction, and what a fine job Ellis Peters does in presenting it!  Owain, prince of Gwynedd, is engaged in an internecine struggle with his estranged brother, Cadwaladr, who has hired a company of Danish mercenary seamen (hence the title) to help him procure the throne.  Cadfael and his companions become involved in the dispute when they are captured by the Danes and held for ransom.

 

    The main theme of the story is the role that Honor played in medieval conflicts.  There are leaders and fighters in both the Welsh and Danish forces who strictly abide by their pledges.  That’s true of captives as well; they can be released for pressing reasons if they promise return to their incarceration in an agreed-upon amount of time, and which most of them faithfully do.  There is also some Romance, which is a component of all the books in this series, but it's a secondary plot thread and male readers shouldn't be scared off by this.   

 

    Edith Pargeter (“Ellis Peters” is a pen name) was an English author, so the book is written in English, not American, but this wasn’t distracting at all.  There’s a Glossary of Terms in the back, which was helpful, although it ought to be expanded a bit for us Yankee readers.

 

    The ending is pleasant; all ends well for most of the characters.  Love and Honor both emerge triumphant, and the aforementioned murder is solved without any investigation needed.  The conflict between the two brothers is resolved, albeit not in the way I expected.  The Romance resolution will probably surprise some, but veteran Cadfael readers will correctly guess its outcome long before it plays out.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Tref (n.) : in medieval times, a hamlet in Britain.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 1,380 ratings and 169 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.08*/5, based on 5,087 ratings and 324 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I had a younger brother, better content to sit on one strip of land lifelong.  I was for off, as far as the road would take me, and it took me half across the world before I understood.  Life goes not in a straight line, lad, but in a circle.  The first half we spend venturing as far as the world’s end from home and kin and stillness, and the latter half brings us back by roundabout ways but surely, to that state from which we set out.”  (loc. 898)

 

    “I am Turcaill, son of Turcaill, kinsman to Otir, who leads this venture.”

    “And you know what’s in dispute here?  Between two Welsh princes?  Why put your own breast between the blades?” Cadfael reasoned mildly.

    “For pay,” said Turcaill cheerfully.  “But even unpaid I would not stay behind when Otir puts to sea.  It grows dull ashore.  I’m no landsman, to squat on a farm year after year, and be content to watch crops grow.”  (loc. 1854)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Summer of the Danes sells for $12.99 right now at Amazon.  The other e-books in the series range in price from $9.99 to $14.99.  Ellis Peters is the pen name used by Edith Pargeter for the Brother Cadfael series, you can search under her real name for additional Historical Fiction books she wrote.

 

“There is no one who cannot be hated, against whatever odds.  Nor anyone who cannot be loved, against all reason.  (loc. 985)

    There’s not a trace of profanity in The Summer of the Danes, and I’m always in awe of any author who can do this while still writing a page-turner.  Neither are there any rolls-in-the-hay or other adult situations.  The closest we come to such things is some contemplation on the institution of arranged marriages and a bit of shed blood when someone gets stabbed with a dagger.

 

    I only spotted two typos: a capitalization (He/he) and though/through.  Kudos to the editor for a job well done.  There were a couple of “extras” in the back of the e-book that I didn't utilize.  One was a preview (the Prologue plus the first two chapters) of Book 19 in the series, The Holy Thief,  which I already have on my Kindle.  The other was a “Guide to Welsh Pronunciation”, which might come in handy for anyone who opts for the audiobook version.

 

    As with all the books I've read so far in this series, I enjoyed The Summer of the Danes.  Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael books tend to be formulaic, but it's a great formula, particularly since it involves well-researched 12^th-century medieval historical fiction.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last thing.  Knowing that Edith Pargeter was a meticulous historian, I was skeptical when I read that the base for the Danish seagoing raiding parties was Dublin, Ireland.  Really, Norsemen used to control of a portion of Ireland?!  But Wikipedia confirms this, even making the statement “The Vikings, or Ostmen (East-men) as they called themselves, ruled Dublin for almost three centuries”).  See the “History of Dublin” entry in Wikipedia.

Murphy's Luck - Benjamin Laskin

   2015; 250 pages.  Book 1 (out of 4) in the “Murphy’s Luck” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Clean Romance; Magical Realism; Cozy Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Murphy Drummer is the unluckiest man alive.  He’s a walking disaster magnet!  If there’s a banana peel near him, you can count on someone slipping on it.  If Murphy passes by a guy on a ladder painting a wall, someone’s about to have paint spilled all over him.

 

    Murphy Drummer is also the luckiest man alive.  Disasters may be happening on all sides of him, but they never happen to him personally.  The bad things always happen to those close by him; he always remains untouched.

 

    Murphy Drummer is therefore a very unpopular person.  And a very lonely one.  In school, kids made up jingles mocking his dubious “talent”.  Neighbors are openly hostile to him because their houses always suffer storm damage while Murphy’s remains miraculously untouched.  Maybe it’s time for Murphy to move.

 

    To a monastery, perhaps?

 

What’s To Like...

    The surrealistic cover image notwithstanding, Murphy’s Luck is actually best described as a “clean and wholesome romance”.  So says the Amazon blurb, and I agree. Our hero sets out from his home in Eureka, Kansas; in search of a sanctuary built sturdy enough to survive the slings and arrows of his ill fortune.  Somehow he ends up instead on the beaches of Los Angeles, where an innocent love interest pops up to do battle with those persistent jinxes hovering around Murphy.

 

    The storyline moves along at a brisk clip, with lots of down-home humor and “aww” moments to keep you reading “just one more” of the 34 chapters in the book.  A second romance also pops up with its own set of foibles and awkward moments to entertain the reader.

 

    I liked meeting Madame Freya, a tarot card reader whose prognostications are uncannily accurate.  This bothers the daylights out of several skeptical clients.  It’s worldly logic versus otherworldly magic, and may the more powerful force in the cosmos win.  I really hope that Freya will become a recurring character in this series.

 

    There were some clever chapter titles, such as “Catcher in the Wry” and “Zyzzyva”, plus a Japanese phrase that I’d never heard before. The “murphometer” was a handy resource that our hero uses quite often, and I loved that a didgeridoo was worked into the storyline.  I chuckled at a 7-Eleven store also showing up; are they even still around anymore?

 

    The ending is a heartwarming affair, closing with a peek at Murphy’s life one year later.  I wouldn’t call it twisty, and it’s not a spoiler to reveal that Murphy never makes it to a monastery.  Neither does he find many explanations about his “curse” but he does find peace and happiness, exactly what one expects from a “cozy” novel.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 1,421 ratings and 343 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.15*/5, based on 752 ratings and 133 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

    “Make fun of me, maybe?”

    “I’m Murphy Drummer all right, and, you see, you’re not as jaded as you think you are.”

    “I never said that,” Joy said.

    “You said coincidences dried up, didn’t you?”

    “Well, yeah.  So?”

    “They didn’t.  You just stopped believing that they were important.”

    Joy turned pensive.  “So, what are they—coincidences?”

    “I don’t know.  A little stardust caught.  A fallen feather from an angel’s wing.  A few notes from the cosmic, Aeolian harp . . . maybe.”  (loc. 916)

 

    “All I’m asking is that you drive over to Vine Street.  It’s not far from here—31 Vine Street.  There’s an art gallery there called Shooting Star Gallery—fake marble storefront with a sculpture of some tangled monstrosity outside.  You can’t miss it.”

    “I’ve seen the thing,” Sarich confirmed.  “What’s it supposed to be, anyway?”

    Parker shrugged.  “Whatever you want it to be, I guess.  You know—art.”

    “But it’s ugly.”

    Parker chuckled.  “Maybe that’s the point.”  (loc. 2519)

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Cynosure (n.) : a person or thing that’s the center of attraction.

 

Kindle Details…

    Murphy’s Luck sells for $4.99 right now at Amazon, as do the other three books in the series.  Benjamin Laskin has several other series in Kindle format; the e-books in those are usually in the $2.99 to $4.99. price range.

 

“He’s a tad eccentric, but he isn’t crazy.  He hears vibrations.”  (loc. 2372)

    There’s not much to gripe about in Murphy’s Luck.  There’s a small amount of cussing—just 7 instances in the first 25%—and I don't recall any “adult situations”.

 

    I noted only a couple of typos: eying/eyeing, which would be correct if you’re writing in English, not American; and a missing comma in direct dialogue.  That’s actually quite clean.  Kudos to the editor for an excellent job.  And if there was an answer to a riddle at 56%, “What is the Greatest Hobby of All?”, I didn’t catch it.

 

    All in all, I found Murphy’s Luck to be an enjoyable read, even though I’m not a big fan of cozy novels, especially not cozy romances.  It’s not epic by any means, but as a number of other reviewers have opined, it was cute and pleasant and makes an ideal beach or airport novel.

 

    8 Stars.  Murphy’s Luck is a standalone novel, as well as part of a 4-book series.  Although he’s achieved inner peace, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about Murphy’s curse.  I’m curious to know whether these “how come” issues are addressed in the sequels.  Inquiring minds want answers.

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare - Lilian Jackson Braun

    1988; 249 pages.  Book 7 (out of 29) in “The Cat Who” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Small Town and Rural Fiction; Cozy Mystery; Cat Fiction.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

 

    Welcome to Pickax City!  One hundred or so miles north of Minneapolis, and out in the middle of frozen nowhere.  Smack dab in wonderful Moose County.

 

    They have a saying up here and it’s certainly true: "Country folks is different and Moose County folks is more different.”

 

    Changes are coming to Moose County.  Senior Goodwinter, the owner and publisher of the local newspaper, The Pickax Picayune, still uses a printing press from the early 20^th century.  It’s inefficient but he likes it.  He’s getting old, though, and the locals are wondering if his son and publishing heir apparent, Junior Goodwinter, will modernize things.

 

    Some locals would love that, and some of them wouldn’t.  In any event, it would cost considerable money to upgrade the printing press.  And it’s a well-known secret (is that an oxymoron?) that The Pickax Picayune has been losing money for many years now.

 

    Hey, that newcomer Jim Qwilleran is rich.  Maybe we can talk him into funding the upgrade.  And he likes to talk to his cats, Koko and Yum Yum.  So perhaps we can convince them to suggest it to Qwill.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare is the fourth book I’ve read by this author.  My previous one was in 2019 and is reviewed here.  Amazon lists this as a “Small Town & Rural Fiction” novel, and I’m gradually coming around to seeing their logic in listing Lilian Jackson books in this genre.

 

    Amazon also puts this series in their “Amateur Sleuths” genre, but it’s not a spoiler to say our protagonist, Jim Qwilleran does absolutely no sleuthing here.  There are several deaths along the way, the circumstances of which Qwill occasionally muses upon, but he never does any investigating.

 

    That doesn’t mean the storyline is boring, though.  In addition to those fatalities and the uncertain future of The Pickax Picayune, the following plot threads arise: a.) who is the quiet out-of-towner masquerading as a historian?  b.) what is the purpose of Senior’s frequent trips to Minneapolis?  c.) who is Hixie covering up for?  d.) Will Qwill’s housekeeper, Mrs. Cobb, leave his employ for love?  e.) What’s in the metal box?, and perhaps most importantly,  f.) Why does Koko insist on repeatedly pushing books by Shakespeare off the shelves in Qwill’s library?

 

    The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare was published in 1988, and I chuckled a couple of times at the “signs of the times” that pop up.  Everybody carries a portable radio with them, to search for a book at the library, you make use of the card catalogue, cassettes are the most popular way to listen to music at home, and a portable tape recorder is essential when interviewing someone.  I enjoyed the usual smattering of French phrases, and both Qwill and I were leery of the pork liver cupcakes.

 

    The ending is so-so.  One of the fatalities is way too convenient, and the others are “solved” by someone simply explaining what happened, which means things don't build to an exciting conclusion.  Several plot threads remain dangling at the end.  Still, if you’re reading this book for its “coziness”, you’ll be content with how it wraps up.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 1,735 ratings and 224 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.96/5 based on 9,355 ratings and 374 reviews

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Propinquity (n.) : the state of being close to someone or something; proximity.

 

Excerpts...

    “Where are the cats?” Polly asked.

     “Shut up in the kitchen.  Koko has been pulling books off the shelf.  He thinks he’s a librarian.  Yum Yum, on the other hand, is just a cat who chases her tail and steals paper clips and hides things under the rug.  Every time my foot comes down on a bump in the rug, I wince.  Is it my wristwatch?  Or a mouse?  Or my reading glasses?  Or a crumpled envelope from the wastebasket?”

    “What titles has Koko recommended?”

    “He’s on a Shakespeare kick.”  (pg. 43)

 

    “I understand you’re president of the Old Timers Club,” he said.

    “Yes, I’m eighty-two.  The youngest member is automatically appointed president.”

    “I suspect you lied about your age.”

    Her pleased expression acknowledged the compliment.  “I intend to live to be a hundred and three.  I think a hundred and four would be excessive, don’t you?  Exercise is the secret, and breathing the most important factor.  Do you know how to breathe, Mr. Qwilleran?”

    “I’ve been doing my best for fifty years.”  (pg. 112)

 

“Do you still have the cat that’s smarter than you are?”  (pg. 16)

    The quibbles are minor.  I counted eight cusswords in the entire book, seven hells and one damn.  Most of those came courtesy of one of the secondary characters, so I presume Lilian Jackson Braun used them to simply as part of his character development.  There were a couple of typos: of/or and rest room/restroom, but that’s actually pretty clean.

 

    The rest of my ticky-tacky issues have already been mentioned.  The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare is not a cozy mystery tale, let alone a murder-mystery.  OTOH, if you heed Amazon’s advice and read this as a “Small Town Fiction” novel, it is rather entertaining.

 

    6 Stars.  I have at least one more book from this series on my TBR shelf, namely, The Cat Who Sniffed Glue.  I’m willing to bet a very small amount of money that, despite its title, it in no way involves drug use.

The Virgin In The Ice - Ellis Peters

   1982; 200 pages.  Book 6 (out of 21) in the Brother Cadfael Chronicles series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Cozy Mystery; Historical Fiction; Murder-Mystery.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    It’s the winter of 1139 AD and civil war rages across England.  The Empress Maud controls sizable areas near the abbey in Shrewsbury, where Brother Cadfael dwells, but King Stephen is on his way with a huge army and a short temper.  Loyalties can change overnight and no one is safe from attacks by those on either side, or from the brigands roaming the countryside robbing, burning, looting and killing anyone they come across.

 

    Refugees fleeing from one town to another are particularly vulnerable, especially if they are young, female, highborn, or any combination thereof.  So when a brother and sister, both teenaged, flee the fighting around Worcester, people become worried about their safety, since he's the heir to a barony and she's...well... a headstrong sort.

 

    They were last seen headed in the general direction of Shrewsbury, accompanied by a nun in her twenties, presumably headed to Cadfael's abbey.  They should have arrived by now, but neither the abbey staff nor the local sheriff have seen or heard of them.

 

    Still, the authorities promise to ask around.  Hopefully the missing youths will be found holed up in someone's abode.  And it would be prudent for Brother Cadfael to be part of the search party; he is skilled in administering medicines and treating the wounded.

 

    Because bandits care little about royal loyalties when it comes to preying on poor, weak wayfarers, two of which are young and female.

 

What’s To Like...

    This is my eleventh Brother Cadfael book and, although admittedly Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter) always adheres to a formulaic plotline, The Virgin in the Ice is unusual in a couple ways.  First, almost the entire story takes place away from Shrewsbury, in and around the village of Bromfield, about twenty miles to the east.  Second, there’s a greater emphasis on armed conflict here, which means less attention is paid to Cadfael’s sleuthing.  Third, a 13-year-old boy plays a major part in the story here, getting almost as much attention as Brother Cadfael and deputy sheriff Hugh Beringar, the two main protagonists.

 

    But those who like the usual formula, and that includes me, need not worry.  There’s still the requisite “amor vincit omnia” romance, and Brother Cadfael does stumble across a  mystery to solve, involving the book's title.

 

    In addition to finding the three missing travelers, Cadfael and Hugh have other plot threads to investigate.  Someone beat another monk, Brother Elyas, to within an inch of his life, leaving him for dead, and Brother Cadfael has to nurse him back to health and find the dirty-deed-doer.  Meanwhile, Hugh’s top priority is to find and eliminate a marauding band of brigands that have been operating with impunity in the surrounding hills.

 

    Ellis Peters (1913-1995) was an English author, so British spellings are used here, including; sombrely, rumours, ageing, wilful, lustre, clangour, and languor, as well as a fair amount of  medieval terms, such as assart, castellan and croft.  A church relic being transported by Brother Eylas caught my eye: the finger-bone of Saint Eadburga, but when I consulted Wikipedia to learn more, no less than four Saint Eadburgas popped up.  I had to look up the meaning of the Latin phrase “nunc dimittis” and was thankflu that the author included a map of the Bromfield environs at the start of the book.  I referred to it often.

 

    The ending unfolds in a stepwise manner.  First the problem of the brigands is resolved, then Brother Elyas’s assailant is determined.  The fate of the three refugees comes next, and finally the romance thread is tied up.  But just when you think it's all over, Ellis Peters throws one last major plot twist into the mix that I guarantee you won’t see coming.

 

    The Virgin in the Ice is a standalone story, as well as part of a series.  All the plot threads get tied up neatly, and while the series has an overarching storyline, both personal (Brother Cadfael’s life at the Shrewsbury abbey) and historical (the series accurately complies with some astounding historical events of twelfth-century England), there is no need to read this series in chronological order.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Hale (v.) : to compel someone to go; to haul; to pull.

Others: Benighted (adj.); Thrapple (n.).

 

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 659 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.14/5 based on 8,195 ratings and 437 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “He must be son or nephew to one of my father’s friends.  I never paid him much attention, nor he never noticed me, I was too young.  But I do remember his face, and I think . . . I think he has been visiting Ermina now and then in Worcester.”  (…)

    “You think she sent him word to come and fetch her?” asked Hugh.  “This was no abduction?  She went willingly?”

    “She went gaily!” Yves asserted indignantly.  “I heard her laughing.”  (pg. 42)

 

    “Who are you?”

    He meant to know.  And for all his present easy mood, if he was baulked he would not mind by what means he got what he wanted.  Yves spent a few seconds too long considering what he had better say, and got an earnest of what might follow obduracy.  A long arm reached out, gripped him by the forearm, and with a casual twist dropped him wincing to his knees.  The other hand clenched in his hair and forced his head back to stare into a face still calmly smiling.

    “When I ask, wise men answer.  Who are you?”  (pg. 110)

 

 

“Truth is never a wrong answer.  We will find it.”  (pg. 177)

    There’s not much to gripe about in The Virgin in the Ice.  Reading books written in English instead of American is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I happen to enjoy it.  Ditto for wading through all those technical terms from the Middle Ages.

 

    There seemed to be a higher-than-expected number of typos in the book, given that this was the mass-market paperback edition published by Fawcett Crest, and including things like winderness/wilderness, stiarway/stairway, and even a misspelling of one of the characters’ last name: Durel/Druel.  Proofreaders apparently could get away with sloppy efforts back in 1982.

 

    Last of all, and by far the most serious, I am appalled that it was worthy to note that the main bad guy was left-handed.  Even his name (this is not a spoiler) alluded to this: Alain le Gaucher.  The fact that I also am left-handed is purely coincidental.  😉

 

    8 Stars.  I should note that The Virgin in the Ice is incredibly “clean”.  I didn’t note any cussing and most of the violence takes place off-screen.  There are a couple “adult situations” alluded to, but nothing that would perturb anyone looking for an entertaining cozy mystery set a millennium ago in England.

The Cat Who Played Brahms - Lilian Jackson Braun

   1987; 245 pages.  Book #5 (out of 29) in “The Cat Who” series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Cozy Mystery; Cat Fiction.  Laurels: Nominated for the 1988 Anthony Award for “Best Paperback Original” (the winner was Robert Crais’s “The Monkey’s Raincoat”) .  Overall Rating : 5½*/10.

    The hustle and bustle of city life is getting reporter Jim Qwilleran down.  So it’s quite timely that a distant acquaintance, Aunt Fanny has a cabin up in the sticks that she’d be happy to let him stay at for the summer.  Heck, even Jim’s two cats, Koko and Yum Yum, might enjoy the change in scenery.  It’s a perfect time for him to begin writing his novel.

    Being up in the mountains, close to the Canadian border, and away from where he works is not a problem.  His job for the Daily Fluxion is to write restaurant reviews, so if the place he’s going, some Podunk place called Mooseville, has any eating establishments, maybe Qwill can justify this as an extended and relaxing business trip.

    However, what if you find that the chirping crickets and other things that go bump in the night keep you awake in your cabin, Qwill?  What if there are some deep dark secrets that sleepy little Mooseville is anxious to keep hidden, so the tourists don’t get scared away?  Well, not to worry, the locals probably have ways to keep a clueless reporter from getting suspicious about anything.

    But Koko and Yum Yum might not be so easily fooled.

What’s To Like...

    If you’re in the mood for a cozy mystery, The Cat Who Played Brahms is tailor-made for you.  There are three deaths in the book, all of which occur offstage, with only one of those bodies being “seen” by our protagonists.  There are lots of people in Mooseville (and nearby Pickax) who act like they’re hiding something, so there’s no shortage of suspects.

    It’s fun to watch city-bred Jim Qwilleran try to adjust to life in a small, sleepy rural town.  In theory, he should have lots of time to work on his book, but Lilian Jackson Braun keeps the pacing brisk enough to where somehow he never quite gets around to starting on it.

    There aren’t a lot of settings – just the city where Qwill works for the Fluxion, and the great outdoors around Mooseville and Pickax.  There’s a huge lake by Qwill’s cabin, and it is mentioned that its far shore  is Canada.  But beyond that, it’s never made clear exactly what state this series is set in, just somewhere in the Midwest.

    The first murder, if indeed it is one, takes place on page 75.  In case you’re wondering, neither cat actually plays any Brahms on a musical instrument, but Koko keeps hitting the button on a tape player at the cabin, which has a cassette with a Brahms concerto (Opus 102) on it.  I’d never heard of this piece, so I looked it up on YouTube.  I don’t recognize it as anything well-known, but I love classical music, and anything by Brahms will appeal to me.

    There are a couple of mild cusswords, and the aforementioned corpse being discovered by our trio of heroes.  Qwill and Rosemary might eventually fall in love, but here it’s only a figment of their collective imaginations.  All in all, this is a very "cozy" cozy.

    The ending is okay, but don’t think you’re going to solve the case before Qwill and the cats do.  This is the third book I’ve read in this series, and I get the impression that its main allure is seeing how the cats are going to solve each mystery.  The feisty felines do not disappoint here

Kewlest New Word ...

    Halfhear (v.) : to hear something imperfectly or incompletely.  Yeah, that’s obvious, but I don’t recall seeing "halfhear" as an actual word before.

Excerpts...

    “Tell me all about Aunt Fanny after you meet her.”

    “She calls herself Francesca now.  She doesn’t like to be called Aunt Fanny.  She says it makes her feel like an old woman.”

    “How old is she?”

    “She’ll be ninety next month.”  (pg. 15)

    Koko was pacing restlessly from the porch to the kitchen to the guest room and back to the porch.

    “He’s disturbed,” Qwilleran explained, “by his instinctive savagery in attacking the burglar.  Koko is a civilized cat, and yet he’s haunted by an ancestral memory of days gone by and places far away, where his breed lurked on the walls of palaces and temples and sprang down on intruders to tear them to ribbons.”

    “Oh, Qwill,” Rosemary laughed.  “He smells the turkey in the oven, that’s all.”  (pg. 193)

“They say elephants can hear the footsteps of mice.”

“I hope you’re not implying that I have large ears.”  (pg. 90)

   Since it was nominated for a literary award, The Cat Who Played Brahms is apparently considered to be one of the better books in this series.  I enjoyed reading it, but I didn’t find it to be a well-constructed mystery novel.

    My main beef is with the story threads.  There are a slew of them, the majority of which never get tied up, despite Lilian Jackson Braun devoting the entire last chapter to doing just that.  Specifically:

    Why are the Mooseville police so gung-ho about setting up roadblocks?

    Why are the names of the crew of the Minnie K not given?

    Why do several places in Mooseville stink so much?

    What’s with the buried garbage pail?

    Was Aunt Fanny’s death an accident or a murder?

    What’s with those UFO’s?

    What’s with the dead-rabbit?

    Does everyone in Mooseville drive a blue pickup truck?

    This is a spoiler-free blog, so I’ll refrain from giving more details, but of those eight threads, ANAICT, only three get resolved.  But maybe I should think of them as red herrings.  And perhaps I should dwell more on how the cats are gonna catch the bad guys.

    5½ Stars.  Add 2 stars if you used to like the TV cozy-mystery show, Murder, She Wrote.  This series will probably charm the daylights out of you.

Monk's Hood - Ellis Peters

   1980; 222 pages.  New Author? : No.  Book 3 (out of 21) in the “Brother Cadfael” series.  Genre : Murder-Mystery; Cozy; Historical Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

    It’s December in 1138 AD, and somebody at the Shrewsbury Abbey is definitely not in the Christmas spirit.

    Certainly not Gervase Bonel who, along with his wife and servants, has recently moved into one of the guesthouses on the abbey grounds.  He now lies at Brother Cadfael’s feet, dead of poisoning after eating his evening supper.  Who would do such a foul deed this close to Christmas?

    The foremost suspect is his wife’s son, Edwin, who was present at Gervase’s final meal, and had a heated argument with him.  Edwin had access to the poison, identified as the titular Monk’s Hood, and knew of its deadly qualities.  He fled during the meal, and is now being hunted by the local authorities.

    Actually, there’s a second suspect, and an embarrassing one at that.  The Monk’s Hood was taken from Brother Cadfael’s workshop, which means he had access to it and of course knew of its lethal properties.

    Ordinarily, Brother Cadfael is above suspicion, but it turns out he knows Gervase’s widow from an earlier time.  They were sweethearts long ago, before he went off to the Crusades and she became betrothed to another.  But surely now that he’s taken his vows of the brotherhood, he’s no longer tempted by the ways of the flesh, right?

    Then why was he caught sneaking over to see the widow at the guesthouse, “after hours”, and in secret?

What’s To Like...

    I’ve been an avid reader of the Brother Cadfael series for quite some time, since I like both historical fiction and a good murder-mystery.  It’s always fun to watch how Brother Cadfael, limited by 12th-century crime-solving technology, conducts his investigation, since things like fingerprints, lie-detector tests, and DNA-analysis are obviously not options.  Cadfael is blessed with a strong working knowledge of herbs and potions, which here allows him here to quickly deduce the “how” of the crime.  But the “why” and the “who” are well-hidden.

    The book is written in English, not American.  So we are honoured to be here, can baulk in revulsion at the ageing process, and wilfully keep up a stout defence.  Spellchecker hates it when I write sentences like that.

    Monk’s Hood is unusual in that it’s the first book in the series that I’ve read where there is no Romance angle as a possible motive.  Brother Cadfael’s past relationship with Richildis (Gervase’s widow) doesn’t make him a suspect to the reader (he is, after all, the protagonist in this series), but his getting seen in her cottage at night gets him grounded, which naturally impedes his sleuthing.  Not all of Cadfael’s other plans go smoothly: the sheriff’s sergeant doesn’t like him meddling and one of his handpicked hiding places for a suspect gets discovered by chance.  Ellis Peters also throws some dead ends and red herrings into the mix, and all this adds up to there being no slow spots in the tale.

    From a historical fiction angle, I was intrigued by the medieval “retirement plan”.  Gervase owns an estate, but he’s getting up in years.  So in exchange for a small guest cottage on the abbey grounds, plus room and board for life, he agrees to deed his land and home to the abbey.  I always wondered how the medieval churches accrued such vast holdings of real estate over the centuries.  This “arrangement” is certainly a factor.

    Monk’s Hood is 222 pages long, divided into 11 chapters; so they average 20 pages each.  The murder occurs on page 44, so you don’t have to wait too long for the intrigue and excitement to begin.  In addition to all the goings-on in Shrewsbury, we get to accompany Brother Cadfael to nearby Wales.  Cadfael has his roots there, and as a history buff, I always find his trips there to be a delight.

Kewlest New Word ...

Stravaiging (v.) : wandering about aimlessly; strolling; sauntering (Scottish/Irish).

Others : Moiety (n.); Messuage (n.).

Excerpts...

    “You’re young,” said Brother Cadfael, “and need your sleep.”

    “I forbear,” said Brother Mark cautiously, “from making the obvious rejoinder.”

    “I think you’d better.  Very well, then, you have signs of a cold, and should go to your bed.”

    “I have not,” Brother Mark disagreed firmly.  “But if you mean that you have some work on hand that you’d rather I did not know about, very well, I’ll go to the warming-room like a sensible fellow, and then to bed.”

    “What you know nothing about can’t be charged against you,” said Brother Cadfael, conciliatory.  (pg. 75)

    “I feel ashamed now.  It was wicked of me to feel such pleasure in someone else’s downfall.”

    “Oh, come, now!” said Cadfael absently, busy unpacking his scrip and replacing the jars and bottles he had brought back with him.  “Don’t reach for the halo too soon.  You have plenty of time to enjoy yourself, even a little maliciously sometimes, before you settle down to being a saint.  It was beautiful, and almost every soul there rejoiced in it.  Let’s have no hypocrisy.”  (pg. 215)

“He!  (…)  The he whose something that was not a vial, we did not find?”  (pg. 119 )

     The ending is good, although not particularly complex or twisty.  I had the murderer pegged from almost the beginning, but whether this was due to improving my sleuthing skills or just getting lucky, I can’t say.  I especially liked the way Brother Cadfael handled the sentencing of the perpetrator.

    The case is solved at page 192, and the remaining 30 pages deal with tying up several side plots, including :

    Abbot Heribert being called to London and expecting to be fired,

    The villein Aelfric becoming a freeman,

    An ambitious member of the abbey getting his comeuppance, and

    Cadfael and Richildis catching up on old news.

    Because these plotlines don't get tied up all at the same time meant that the ending doesn't feel rushed, which I appreciated.

    8 Stars.  Monk’s Hood was an enjoyable read for me from start to finish.  Perhaps this is because there was no “disapproved romance” in it, which is normally an Ellis Peters staple.  Or perhaps it’s because it’s been about a year-and-a-half  I last read a Brother Cadfael book, and everything in Monk's Hood, from both the historical and mystery angles, seemed fresh and vibrant.  I've read about half the books in the series now, and my Kindle and my TBR shelf both contain a couple more of the tales.

A Dead Red Oleander by R.P. Dahlke

   2011; 310 pages.  Book 3 (out of 5) of the “Dead Red Mystery” series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Crime Mystery; Women Sleuths; Cozy.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

    It certainly wasn’t the best party Lalla Bains had ever attended.

    The first downer was the theme of it: a going-out-of-business get-together.  The family crop-dusting company that Lalla and her father have managed for years was to be sold at the end of the spraying season, and that wraps up next week sometime.

    The second downer was that Aunt Mae and Cousin Pearlie flew in from Texas for Lalla’s upcoming wedding, and were at the party as well.  Lalla’s dad refers to Aunt Mae as “that old bat”, and Cousin Pearlie is not above hitting on any eligible and hunky man for the possibility of matrimony, even if he's already spoken for.  Such as Lalla’s beau, Caleb.

    No, what made it the worst party ever was the presence of the newly-hired pilot, Dewey Treat, and his nice wife, Nancy.  Dewey will be out of a job as soon as the sale goes through.  He's a nice enough fellow, but he ruined the whole party atmosphere.  By falling over dead.

    The police think it might be foul play, although that won’t be confirmed until the autopsy is completed.  But the number one suspect has already been identified.

    His wife, Nancy.

What’s To Like...

    A Dead Red Oleander is the third installment in R.P. Dahlke’s 5-book Dead Red series.  I’m not sure if it is a completed series or not.  The setting is the Modesto Valley in California, where Lalla juggles being a crop-dusting pilot, keeping the business afloat, humoring her curmudgeon of a dad, trying not to get into too many prenuptial squabbles with her soon-to-be husband, and occasionally solving murder mysteries by not minding her own business.  Life’s been busy lately for Lalla.

    The story is told from a first-person POV (Lalla’s), with 25 chapters covering 248 pages.  There’s an abundance of wit, and I enjoyed tagging along with Lalla as she tries to cope with all the havoc in her life.

    I'm pretty sure Aunt Mae and Cousin Pearlie are both new and noteworthy characters.  Pearlie in particular plays a significant role in the investigation of Dewey’s death.  My favorite literary car, the Dead Red Cadillac from Book One is back.  And the titular Dead Red Oleander shows up at 27%.  It doesn’t impact the storyline much, which is not a spoiler, and I couldn’t help but think of it as a – (wait for it) – Dead Red Herring.

    R.P. Dahlke tips her hat to several of her contemporary authors, including two that have series in this same literary niche genre: amateur women sleuths.  One is well-known: Janet Evanovich, she of the hugely-popular Stephanie Plum series.   The other is perhaps lesser-known: Jinx Schwartz who pens a series starring Hetta Coffey, and I’ve had the pleasure of reading one of her books from this series (reviewed here.  R.P. Dahlke mentions a third author, one who I’m unfamiliar with: Beryl Markham, and her signature book West With The Night.  By coincidence, that book surfaced as an Amazon daily discount the day after I finished this book; it now resides on my Kindle.

    A Dead Red Oleander is an incredibly fast and easy read, as are all the books in this series.  It is a standalone novel, and you don’t need to read these books in order, although I am doing so.  There’s only a smidgen of cussing, and I don't hesitate to label this a Cozy Mystery.  I enjoyed meeting Pearlie, and here’s hoping that she gets promoted to “recurring character” status, and becomes – (wait for it again, as I also pay tribute to Janet Evanovich) – Lalla’s Lula.

Excerpts...

    “Will you please explain to your pig-headed father that goats are farm animals?”

    When Spike, my dad’s arthritic Chihuahua, passed away this last winter, my dad simply wasn’t ready to get another dog.  The goat was a gift from a neighbor.

    My dad held up his hand to stop the argument.  “Bruce is a pet, Aunt Mae.”

    “Bruce!”  Aunt Mae threw up her hands.  “Your father has Disneyfied a farm animal, and calling him Bruce isn’t going to change the fact that he’s part of the food chain and best served with chipotle sauce.”  (loc. 400)

   Bud’s Bar squatted on a dusty corner of a nearly abandoned strip mall in Turlock.  A neon biplane mounted on top of the building identified the bar as a place for pilots and wanna-be pilots.  I expected to be the only woman in the place at this time of day, since most women, the ones that loved to hang out with pilots for fun and profit, were more likely to show up at night.  By closing time, anyone still here would have divided their paychecks between drinks and something that passed for an hour’s worth of affection.  (loc. 1947)

Kindle Details...

    A Dead Red Oleander sells for $3.99 at Amazon.  The first book in the series, A Dead Red Cadillac, sells for $2.99, all the others go for $3.99 apiece.  The first three books in the series are also available in a bundle for only $4.99, which is quite a good deal.  R.P. Dahlke has two additional books to offer from another trilogy, titled “Pilgrim’s Progress”.  Those books go for $2.99 each, or you can get them bundled with the first three books in the Dead Red series for $7.99.

 “Aunt Mae does tend to find the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle.”  (loc. 1617)

    I had a couple quibbles, mostly with the “mystery” aspect of A Dead Red Oleander.  Note: the following comments are spoiler-free.

    First of all, t was never clear to me just how the Ultimate Evil (“UE”) carried out the dastardly deed of Dewey’s demise.  I kept waiting for a clever twist in this regard, but it never came.  I was also amazed that, however the crime was pulled off, Dewey’s wife was never aware of it until her hubby collapsed.

    Secondly, I’m not sure the local authorities, including Lalla’s boyfriend, Caleb, who happens to be the local sheriff, would approve of the way Lalla and Pearlie deal with the bad guys they encounter.  Their method of dealing with the UE particularly strained at my believability threshold, and the fact that the police were okay with it was even harder to swallow.

    Thirdly, the UE several times passes on the opportunity to eliminate pesky little Lalla from dogging his trail.  Yes, an explanation is given for this, but I didn’t buy it.  Watching the Austin Powers movies has made me jaded about bad guys delaying in killing heroes due to hubris.

     Lastly, I had a problem with how long it took Lalla to figure out who the UE was.  I found the key piece of evidence for solving this to be blatantly obvious.  Yet it takes Lalla the whole second half of the book to catch up to me. 

    7 Stars.  Don’t let my quibbles discourage you from reading A Dead Red Oleander.  It’s a fun, fast-paced, and entertaining book, and you’ll enjoy every minute of it.  It’s an ideal beach or airplane read.  Just remember to put your brain to sleep before opening up the book.  Add 1½ stars if you get a thrill solving a book's mystery before the title character does.