Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Mystery Movie Review - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Review - The Hollywood Spy
I'm behind in this series and starting to catch up. I'm glad I didn't skip any of the books because this is a powerful addition to the series. I began with the debut novel and have read and reviewed all these:
#1 Mr. Churchill's Secretary (click here)
#2 Princess Elizabeth's Spy (click here)
#3 His Majesty's Hope (click here)
#4 The Prime Minister's Secret Agent (click here)
#5 Mrs Roosevelt's Confidante (click here)
#6 The Queen's Accomplice (click here)
#7 The Paris Spy (click here),
#8 The Prisoner in the Castle (click here)
#9 The King's Justice (click here)
Plus a wonderful interview with Ms. MacNeal (click here).
Let's join Maggie as she leaves England and travels to Los Angeles to help her former fiancee with a murder investigation.
Author: Susan Elia MacNeal
Copyright: July 2021 (Bantum) 369 pgs
Series: 10th in Maggie Hope Mysteries
Sensuality: Mild
Mystery Sub-genre: Historical mystery
Main Character: Maggie Hope, American now British Secret Service Fund
Setting: 1943, Los Angeles/Hollywood
Obtained Through: Library
Cover Blurb: "Los Angeles, 1943. As the Allies beat back the Nazis in the Mediterranean and the United States military slowly closes in on Tokyo, Walt Disney cranks out wartime propaganda and the Cocoanut Grove is alive with jazz and swing every night. But behind this sunny façade lies a darker reality. Up in the lush foothills of Hollywood, a woman floats lifeless in the pool of one of California’s trendiest hotels.
When American-born secret agent and British spy Maggie Hope learns that this woman was engaged to her former fiancée, John Sterling, and that he suspects her death was no accident, intuition tells her he’s right. Leaving London under siege is a lot to ask—but John was once the love of Maggie’s life . . . and she can’t say no.
Maggie struggles with seeing her lost love again, but more shocking is the realization that her country is as divided and convulsed with hatred as Europe. The Zoot Suit Riots loom large in Los Angeles, and the Ku Klux Klan casts a long shadow everywhere. But there is little time to dwell on memories once she starts digging into the case. As she traces a web of deception from the infamous Garden of Allah to the iconic Carthay Circle Theater, she discovers things aren’t always the way things appear in the movies—and the political situation in America is more complicated, and dangerous, than the newsreels would have them all believe."
My Thoughts: Maggie Hope is doing better emotionally in this addition to the series. But she is now challenged with seeing her ex-fiance and working alongside him to investigate the death of his romantic interest. She has come such a long way since the first book and this really shows the new Maggie. The amazing and talented ballerina, Sarah Sanderson, is Maggie's closest friend and features prominently in this outing. We see how she is lovely on the inside as well as the out. RAF Flight Commander John Sterling, Maggie's ex-fiancée, is back after many books without him. This is a changed John as well and he has some issues to face as they investigate the death of his girlfriend, socialite Gloria Hutton.
As always, the plots are based in solid facts and this is no exception. Rampant prejudice was spreading like a California wild fire in Los Angeles while we fought the same in Germany and Maggie comes face-to-face with the ugliness as she digs into the death of Miss Hutton. The investigation uncovers so much with twists and turns.
The climax is gut-wrenching and tense, a real nail biter. Excellent job all around. This sets up for the further adventures of Maggie Hope as well.
A stellar addition to the series, in my opinion. I couldn't put it down and devoured it. This is not only an excellently crafted book but it is a look at the times showing the glitz and the ugliness. Bravo. I would love an autographed copy, which is rare for me.
Rating: Near Perfect - Loved it! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list. Buy a copy for everyone you know, it's that good.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Mystery Movie Review - Pretend You Don't See Her
This movie is based on the book of the same name by Mary Higgins Clark (Queen of Suspense) first published in 1997. I include this movie because there are many tolerably well done movies that, although not stellar, provide entertainment.
Monday, March 13, 2023
Review - A Botanists Guide to Flowers & Fatality
“A cleverly plotted puzzle” (Ashley Weaver) in the vein of Opium and Absinthe, this second installment is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Sujata Massey.
1) A Botanist's Guide to Parties And Poisons (click here)
Author: Kate Khavari
Copyright: June 2023 (Crooked Lane Books) 352 pgs
Series: 2nd in Saffron Everleigh Mysteries
Sensuality: Mild
Mystery Sub-genre: Historical Cozy, Historical amateur sleuth
Main Characters: Saffron Everleigh, Botanist and college researcher
Setting: 1920s, London, England
Obtained Through: Publisher (Netgalley) for honest review
Book Blurb: "1920s London isn’t the ideal place for a brilliant woman with lofty ambitions. But research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to beat the odds in a male-dominated field at the University College of London. Saffron embarks on her first research study alongside the insufferably charming Dr. Michael Lee, traveling the countryside with him in response to reports of poisonings. But when Detective Inspector Green is given a case with a set of unusual clues, he asks for Saffron’s assistance.
The victims, all women, received bouquets filled with poisonous flowers. Digging deeper, Saffron discovers that the bouquets may be more than just unpleasant flowers— there may be a hidden message within them, revealed through the use of the old Victorian practice of floriography. A dire message, indeed, as each woman who received the flowers has turned up dead.
Alongside Dr. Lee and her best friend, Elizabeth, Saffron trails a group of suspects through a dark jazz club, a lavish country estate, and a glittering theatre, delving deeper into a part of society she thought she’d left behind forever.
Will Saffron be able to catch the killer before they send their next bouquet, or will she find herself with fatal flowers of her own in Kate Khavari’s second intoxicating installment."
My Thoughts:
Saffron Everleigh, a woman pioneering in Botany, continues to face challenges as her male colleagues spread rumors and don't support her. Her side kick in the first mystery, Alexander Ashton, is away on safari for the college and makes an appearance in the last chapters. Saffron is teamed with Dr. Michael Lee for her research work but they don't get along even when he helps her investigate the murders.
The plot is well conceived and presented and Saffron's investigation takes her into a seedy side of society's young party scene. The characters are yet again well developed. I flew through the pages, devouring them. It had a very tense and dramatic killer reveal like I love. This unique heroine and clever mysteries are my new favorite series.
Rating: Near Perfect - Buy two copies: one for you and one for a friend.
Monday, March 6, 2023
Musings-Where did "The Butler Did It" Come From?
"This plot formula has the unusual distinction of being a cliché of mystery writing without ever having been widely used.The concept of "the butler did it" is commonly attributed to Mary Roberts Rinehart. Her otherwise forgettable 1930 novel, The Door, is notable for (spoiler alert) the ending, in which the butler actually is the villain. (The actual phrase "the butler did it," however, never appears in the text.)While suspicion had fallen on butlers with some regularity in earlier mystery fiction, only one previous author placed the knife (or in this case the pistol) directly in the butler's hand: "The Strange Case of Mr Challoner" by Herbert Jenkins, published as part of the collection Malcolm Sage: Detective in 1921. It was The Door, however, that locked the cliché into the imagination of the reading public." Nate Pedersen "Why do we think the butler did it?" The Guardian, Dec 9, 2010
In 1867 the Civil War began in the United States, but before that the system of owning slaves had engendered a fear of slaves rising up against their owners, which occrured in only a few instances. This fear was particularly fed among the women to fear what would happen to them if slaves rebelled. This kept both women and slaves, who had similar non-legal status, to distrust one another. Apparently it wasn't only the Amreican south that may have spawned the "Butler Did It" concept. Although nobody specifically makes that specific connection.
"In Lady Audley’s Secret from 1862, too, the character Lady Audley “shares with her Victorian readers a mounting anxiety about the eyes and ears of servants in the home.” It makes a certain sense that the trope seemed more popular because it dug into the fears of the upper class at the time." Addison Rizer "When Did the Butler Dunnit? The History of 'The Butler Did It' Trope" Bookriot, Jan 19, 2023.
Whatever the specific reasons that caused us to blame the Stoic Butler stereotype, TVTropes.com suggests that "The butler is the avatar of the most unlikely suspect that turns out to be guilty because the author wasn't creative enough to come up with a better way to surprise the reader... except that you can see it coming a mile away."
Additionally, TVTropes.com also reveals that there is something similar which I'd not heard about. "It is the case that this is an English-language trope: crime novels popular in Germany in the same period were notorious for the cliche that "the gardener did it," thus transplanting the blame out of the house."
In the course of researching this post, I found there is a stage play titled "The Butler Did It" and a movie based on the play. Here is the description of the play:
"This comedy parodies every English mystery play ever written: but it has a decidedly American flair. Miss Maple, a dowager with a reputation for "clever" weekend parties, invites a group of detective writers to eerie Ravenswood Manor on Turkey Island where they are to impersonate their fictional characters. The hostess has arranged all sorts of amusing incidents: a mysterious voice on the radio, a menacing face at the window, a mad killer on the loose. Who is that body in the wine cellar anyway? Why do little figurines keep toppling from the mantle? Then a real murder takes place, and Miss Maple is outraged. She offers an immense reward to the "detective" who can bring the killer to justice. And what an assortment of zany would-be sleuths! When they're not busy tripping over clues, they trip over each other! Laughs collide with thrills, and the climax is a real seat-grabber as the true killer is unmasked, and almost everyone turns out to be someone else! Can be played as a pure farce, or as humorous satire."
I want to see this play, it sounds like a lot of fun. Have you seen it? If so, please share what you thought of it.
I hope you enjoyed our little exploration of this expression and its murky origins when it actually is a rarity. What else would you like to know? Leave in the comments if there is a mystery/thriller subject you would like me to tackle.