LIZ EVANS – JFK Is Missing! Orion Books, UK, 1998. Distributed in the US by Trafalgar Square, circa 2002.

   Grace Smith isn’t exactly the most promising private eye you will ever meet. To begin with she works the mean streets of Seatoun, a unprepossessing town on England’s South Coast, and she isn’t the greatest at her job. But as her friend Annie tells her:

   And she even has a client, Henry Summerstone, and all he wants is for her to find someone — save he doesn’t know her name — and he can’t tell Grace what she looks like because he’s blind. But aside from that it’s a perfect case for Grace, a girl named K something that Henry met on the beach during his daily walk with his seeing eye dog:

   Anyway, Henry loaned K a recording of David Copperfield and now she hasn’t shown up for a while, and since she seemed a nice young woman he’s worried. Grace agrees to take the case expecting to find very little.

   What she finds is a young woman named Kristen — Julie-Frances Kreble aka Kristin Keats, who has gone missing. There’s also a teenage girl called Bone who just wants to be loved; a skateboarder called Figgy; a pair of pot bellied Vietnamese pigs that have outlived their cute stage; Bertram who used to be married to Kristen; and Bone’s family: brother Patrick who hates boarding school, father Stephen who is something of a player and up and coming rather nicely in the world in their nice upper middle class home, and mother, Amelia, a social climbing self involved air head.

   And something else — Stephen, Daddy, and Kristen were friends. Close friends.

   And what she begins to suspect — even though there is no body — is that Kristen is dead. Murdered. Stephen Bridgerman, her primary suspect, is on to her:

   A trip to Jersey to visit Kristen’s parents and a missing workman add to the mystery as well as who ran over the skateboarding Figgy, son of one of Amelia’s chums, and a government cover up involving her not so innocent blind client who knows more about the missing Kristen than he’s been saying.

   Which leads to Grace chained up in a wine cellar with a nasty blow to the head and a very full bladder waiting for a very confused but totally ruthless killer to decide what to do with her.

   Before it’s over Grace will end up in the boot of her own car, sloshed with gasoline and with a belly full of vodka being driven to a convenient place for another little murder — her own.

   Grace may get it all wrong but she also solves a murder and brings down a murderer — even if she nearly gets killed along the way — and ends up answering to the RSPCA for a pair of Vietnamese pot bellied pigs …

   JFK is Missing! is exactly what it sets out to be, a solid funny private eye novel with an attractive, if less than brilliant, heroine, a set of quirky characters, a well realized setting, and the kinds of crimes that you see on the nightly news.

   It’s a sprightly series, other entries including Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? and Don’t Mess With Mrs. In-Between. The lines are snappy, the pace fast, the cliff hangers nerve wracking and dripping with irony, and you could easily find Grace Smith one of your favorite sleuths of the modern era. With this single book she has moved well up on my list.

       The Grace Smith series —

1. Who Killed Marilyn Monroe? (1997)
2. JFK Is Missing! (1998)
3. Don’t Mess with Mrs In-Between (2000)
4. Barking! (2001)
5. Sick as a Parrot (2004)

6. Cue the Easter Bunny (2005)

   As Patricia Grey, Liz Evans has also written a series of four books with Detective Chief Inspector Jack Stamford and Sergeant Sarah McNeill taking place during World War II —

1. Junction Cut (1994)
2. Balaclava Row (1994)
3. Good Hope Station (1997)
4. Cutter’s Wharf (1998)

LORNA BARRETT – Bookplate Special. Berkley, paperback original; 1st printing, November 2009.

   Tricia Miles, proprietor of the mystery bookstore Haven’t Got a Clue in Stoneham, New Hampshire, is probably the least appealing protagonist of any recent mystery series I’ve been sampling.

   She’s confrontational, irascible, and downright unpleasant, particularly in her dealings with local police and her current boyfriend, Russ, publisher of the local weekly newspaper. The series also includes recipes, which I are generally a turnoff for me, but the bookstore setting brought me back, after I’d read and reported on the second in the series (Bookmarked for Death, reviewed here ) for this follow-up novel.

   Shortly after Tricia tells a lingering house-guest to pack up and move out, the woman is murdered, and Tricia, not one to let the local authorities handle the investigation, is almost immediately very much. involved, withholding vital evidence and, in general, acting without regard for her own safety or for a reasonable outcome for a very thorny investigation.

   The author thanks friends who “pointed out the places” where she tripped up. Frankly, I think she needs a new group of friends who would point out to her that amateur sleuthing doesn’t mean you shouldn’t observe a modicum of common sense.

   However, in spite of her unattractive side, she’s still able to come out of the labyrinth of missteps and bad decisions with two potential boyfriends and only minor collateral damage.

   So what you have is a potentially attractive series, with a strong protagonist who may turn off some readers but please anti-establishment, feminist readers who will be urging Tricia on from the sideline.

       The Booktown Mystery series —

1. Murder Is Binding (2008)

2. Bookmarked For Death (2009)
3. Bookplate Special (2009)
4. Chapter and Hearse (2010)

   Coming in 2011 is A Crafty Killing, the author’s first “Victoria Square Mystery.” Lorna Barrett, the pen name of Lorraine Bartlett, has also written two suspense thrillers as by L. L. Bartlett.

BARBARA CLEVERLY – Strange Images of Death. Constable, UK, hardcover, March 2010. Soho Constable, US, hardcover, April 2010.

Genre:   Police procedural. Leading character:   Commander Joe Sandilands, 8th in series. Setting:   France; 1926.

First Sentence:   He studied her sleeping face for the last time.

   Scotland Yard Commander Joe Sandilands is taking Dorcas, his friend’s 14-year-old daughter, to meet her artist father at an old castle in Provence. On the way, she asks Joe to find the mother who abandoned her when she was 2 years old.

   Upon arrival, there is a second mystery to solve. It begins with the destruction of a tomb figure, escalates to the death of a rabbit and culminates in the murder of a beautiful woman. Forced to work with French Commissaire Francis Jacquemin, known for arresting first, then forcing confessions, Joe must ensure he catches the proper killer and prevents any more deaths.

   Characters. It is they who bring a story to life and Cleverly’s characters do not disappoint. They are fully developed with their backgrounds established and their personalities distinct. We not only learn about Joe, for those who’ve not read previous books in the series, but are told of his appearance in an unforced manner.

   A predominant young character can be awkward, but not here. Dorcas, his 14 year old “niece” is someone who holds her own. She is someone I want to see remain part of the series, if not in every book but certainly in the future. There was a character I felt wasn’t as strong an element as I thought might be, but I was okay with that.

   Cleverly is a very visual writer, whether in panorama or in detail. You have a real sense of their surroundings at all times. I appreciate dialogue that has a natural ear and flow with a touch of humor, and she satisfies on all aspects.

   This book’s opening hook is very strong; suspenseful, dramatic and ultimately brutal without the reader having to witness the act. It is also, we soon learn, the first of many excellent twists within the plot, this first so subtle you don’t realize it until later.

   Cleverly skillfully interweaves interesting historical information into the story as well as providing an adept explanation of French and English police ranks and an amazing assessment of Van Gogh’s self portrait.

   These are only a few examples of the deftness with which Ms. Cleverly writes, with none of these causing a break in the flow of the story. Add to that an emotional secondary mystery, and just the right touch of suspense and you have a well thought out and well executed traditional mystery.

   Each year I plan for the release of the newest Sandilands book and order it as soon as it is available. If you’ve not read them, do start at the beginning of the series and set aside uninterrupted time to enjoy each one. I know why they rank so high on my “must read” list; they are excellent.

Rating: Excellent.

      The Detective Joe Sandilands series —

1. The Last Kashmiri Rose (2001)

2. Ragtime In Simla (2002)
3. The Damascened Blade (2003)
4. The Palace Tiger (2004)

5. The Bee’s Kiss (2005)
6. Tug of War (2006)
7. Folly Du Jour (2007)

8. Strange Images of Death (2010)

   Barbara Cleverly has also written three books about aspiring archaeologist Leatitia Talbot, a series that also takes place in the late 1920s and various exotic places around the world.

ROB KANTNER – The Red, White, and Blues. Harper, paperback original, 1993. Ben Perkins #8.

   As I’ve said before, I don’t understand why Kantner’s stories of the Detroit PI, Ben Perkins, haven’t made it into hard covers. Perkins, a cigar-smoking ex-union enforcer who is now a part-time PI, part-time maintenance manager for an apartment complex, is no threat to the memory of Marlowe or Archer, but there are certainly those around who are less so.

   Ben is trying to adjust to being a father, and to reinvent his relationship with the child’s mother, a lawyer who was once his lover and is still his occasional employer. Now she wants him to look into the disappearance of a child from one of Detroit’s major hospitals.

   The problems from Ben’s point of view are two: it happened a year ago, and the mother is a thoroughly disreputable sort of person whom he neither likes or believes. He agrees to look into it, though he warns his ex-lover not to expect a happy ending.

   He meets with deception or indifference everywhere he looks, but gradually accumulates enough facts to make him believe that something shady is going on. He’s “assisted” in his investigation by a recovering alcoholic from his apartment complex, a lady who presents him with a few problems on her own.

   I like the way Kantner writes, and I like the character he’s created in Perkins. His knightly armor is far from unblemished, and the streets he walks are plenty mean enough. I think Kantner does as good a job as anyone when it comes to writing about Detroit.

   The first person narrative is straightforward and effective, and Kantner has an ear for dialogue and a deft hand at characterization. The plots are the weak link in the series. They tend to degenerate into unlikely cowboy action, and this one is no different. With that caveat, I enjoyed it.

       The Ben Perkins Series —

* The Back Door Man (paperback, 1986)

* The Harder They Hit (paperback, 1987)
* Dirty Work (paperback, 1988)
* Hell’s Only Half Full (paperback, 1989)

* Made in Detroit (paperback, 1990)
* The Thousand Yard Stare (paperback, 1991)
* The Quick and the Dead (paperback, 1992)

* The Red, White and Blues (paperback, 1993)
* Concrete Hero (paperback, 1994)
* Trouble Is What I Do (hardcover, collection, 2005)
* Final Fling (hardcover, 2008)

SIMON GREEN – Hawk and Fisher. Ace, paperback original; 1st printing, September 1990. Reprinted in Swords of Haven: The Adventures of Hawk & Fisher, an omnibus edition containing the first three books in the series; see below. Penguin/Roc, July 1999; trade ppbk, June 2006.

   It is quite remarkable how you can come across the most interesting sorts of things when you least expect them. No one looking for the best locked room mystery written in 1990 (I wager to say) would ever in their right mind pick this book up to read — looking as it does as the latest variation of the Conan-based fantasy-action series that clog the science fiction shelves in every Waldenbooks store in the country.

   Hawk and Fisher (male and female, and married to each other) are two captains of the guard in the dark city of Haven, on some unknown world at some unknown time, where magic works, and vampires, werewolves and succubi abound. (He has a patch over one eye, and she wears a shirt that exposes an ample amount of bosom, as well illustrated on the front cover.)

   They are both tough, and even more remarkably, they are both honest, a rarity in Haven.

   After disposing of a particularly bothersome vampire, they are asked to investigate the stabbing of an important reformist councilor in his locked bedroom. The crime could not have been committed by a magical spell, as first suspected, as the dead man wore an amulet about his neck designed especially to ward off such attacks.

   Being a reformist in local politics means that the victim had many enemies, but the only ones who could have killed him are trapped in the house with him. Thus what this resembles, in perverse but strangely believable fashion, is an exceptionally good isolated county manor caper, complete with false trails, red herrings, and fine old-fashioned detective work.

   The solution to the crime, reasonably intricate, is meticulously worked out as well. I can’t see any flaws in the story, which certainly triggered all the right responses in me. I don’t know how easy it will be for you to get your hands on a copy, but since several more in the series have appeared in the meantime, it’s possible Ace may have kept them all in print. Highly recommended.

   And from later on, from the same issue of Mystery*File:

SIMON GREEN – Winner Takes All. Ace, paperback original; 1st printing, January 1991.

   The second in Green’s “Hawk & Fisher” series. The first, Hawk & Fisher, was an extremely pleasant surprise — a well-written locked room mystery taking place in a world of pure fantasy.

   This new adventure of the two married members of the Guards is pure politics, however, as election time is nearing. Lots of swords, lots of evil sorcery, lots of action. Entertaining, but still a disappointment in not living up to expectations.

       The Hawk & Fisher series:

Hawk & Fisher. Ace, September 1990.
Hawk & Fisher: Winner Takes All. Ace, January 1991.
Hawk & Fisher: The God Killer. Ace, June 1991.

Hawk & Fisher: Wolf in the Fold. Ace, September 1991
Hawk & Fisher: Guard Against Dishonor. Ace, December 1991.
Hawk & Fisher: The Bones of Haven. Ace, March 1992.

   The six books were reprinted in two omnibus editions. The first is so mentioned above. The second grouping of three titles was entitled Guards of Haven, Penguin/Roc, ppbk, November 1999; trade ppbk, June 2007.

Editorial Comments:   The artwork is so finely detailed it does not show up well in normal-sized images; hence the blow-up, as you see!

   Also, George Kelley has just reviewed the two omnibus editions of Hawk & Fisher books on his blog. You can read his comments by following this link.

ALAN BRADLEY – The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag. Delacorte Press, hardcover, March 2010. Trade paperback: Bantam, December 2010.

Genre:   Traditional mystery. Leading character:   Flavia de Luce, 2nd in series. Setting:   England, 1950s.

First Sentence:   I was lying dead in the churchyard.

    Ten-year-old Flavia de Luce is ignored by her father, and continually set upon by her sisters. To compensate, she has her grandfather’s old laboratory, where she indulges her love of chemistry and skill with poisons, her bicycle, Gladys, and her skill at solving puzzles.

   In The Weed That Strings Flavia befriends a beloved BBC puppeteer, Rupert Porson, and his “assistant,” who are stranded with a broken-down fan. When Rupert is electrocuted during a performance of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Flavia knows it was no accident and finds that Rupert’s claims of not knowing anyone in the area were less than truthful.

   Flavia de Luce has quickly become one of my favorite characters. At ten years old, she is still a young girl, albeit a brilliant one, with no friends, a father who ignores all his children, and two sisters who continually abuse her, both physically and emotionally.

   I was very pleased by a wonderful scene with Flavia’s Aunt Felicity. Flavia has the logic and observation skill of Sherlock Holmes and thinks of everything in terms of their chemical composition.

   Flavia is not the only wonderful character, however. Bradley has a gift for creating an ensemble of quirky, yet believable, characters. I particularly enjoy Dogger, the shell-shocked ex-WWII soldier with pre-cognitive abilities; Dieter, the German who became a prisoner of war after being shot down due to the Brontës; and Inspector Hewitt, who takes Flavia seriously and realizes it is through her knowledge and access to people in the town that allowed the case to be solved.

   The story is a wonderful blend of science, music, art and literature, and is set at a very interesting time. World War II has ended, yet there are still issues of the aftermath. While television is coming into being, radio is still the prevalent household entertainment.

   It is the 1950s, yet the family feels more Victorian than modern. The story builds more slowly than the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and employs less humor, although it is still there.

   There is quite a long set-up to the murder, but it still has great impact when it happens. It reminds me a bit of Agatha Christie who liked to introduce all the characters in order to provide plenty of suspects prior to the murder.

   And, as often with Christie, I certainly did not identify the villain prior to it being revealed. This is not a “young adult” mystery, but a very good mystery whose protagonist happens to be a young adult. I am looking forward to Flavia’s next case.

Rating:   Very Good Plus.

The Flavia de Luce Series:

      The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009)
      The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag (2010)
      Seeds of Antiquity
      A Red Herring Without Mustard
      Death in Camera
      The Nasty Light of Day

Note:   Not all of these have publication dates; it is likely that most have not even been written yet.   Source: The Flavia de Luce website.

MEANS DAVIS – Murder Without Weapon. Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, hardcover, 1934.

   Memorial Hospital may be a fine place to visit. It is not a good idea to be one of its patients. One doctor thinks hot coffee and bromos induce sobriety. Another doctor also believes black coffee will straighten out a drunk, but he in addition employs a stomach pump that he just happens to have in his pocket while attending a funeral.

   (The stomach pump is an odd instrument, consisting of a long tube with an oval bulb at one end. The patient, or victim, swallows the end with the bulb. Shortly thereafter, by gravity or faith or something, the stomach contents gush forth through the tube.)

   The hospital’s physician-in-chief describes an aunt’s obsessive interest in her nephew as an Oedipus complex. Another doctor, an expatriate German, says, gutturally of course:

   He is preaching to the converted while holding on to the converted’s thighs, but it’s a good example of how a mystery author craftily contrives to subtly. convey information amid a somewhat mixed metaphor. The converted, by the way, is a nurse; when “she whispered, her nose, which was too long, and her lips, which were too full, contorted sensuously.”

   The author may mean “sensually”; then again, he may not. He may also know what he’s talking about; I don’t. Noses contorting sensuously or sensually are beyond my comprehension.

   This same doctor, something of a ladies’ or at least a nurses’ man, observes the heroine and, wouldn’t you know, mutters:

   Not satisfied with these M.D.’s, the author introduces, should any reader have unwisely reached this point, Timberlake Pitts, a lawyer so oleaginous that Uriah Heep would be forced to view him askance.

   And there is the heroine’s brother, a seldom-do-well whose “charm lay in the rapidity with which the pockets under his eyes could relax into silver-gray shadows.”

   Remember, I just report; don’t expect me to explain.

   Max Higgins, whom many of you will recall from The Hospital Murders (1934), a book I really want to read after I recover from this one, is in Memorial Hospital with a kidney problem. The hospital authorities ask him to investigate. Since he cannot leave the hospital, he calls in his assistant.

   The reason I bought Murder Without Weapon was the chapter titled “Snod Smooty Starts Snooping.” Snod is something of a Saul Panzer, only more talented:

   Actually, it is only when Snod is around that the novel becomes semi-interesting. When asked what he’s been doing recently, he replies that he has been involved in prison work. Asked what he discovered, he says: “Usual thing. Perversion and pellagra. Result: Riots.'”

   When I once read a mystery that had a shark as the murder weapon — no, nothing so mundane as the shark eating the victim — I thought I could no longer be surprised by any murderous device. Means Davis did astonish me here with a unique, I would hazard, method of inducing death, or possibly insanity, though it would seem to work only with elderly ladies who have weak hearts and with young ladies who are neurasthenic.

   Luckily it’s a weapon bloody difficult to find and employ.

   Plot? With all of the above, you want a plot, too? There’s just no satisfying some readers. Well, an elderly lady dies in the hospital after screaming three times and saying, “Vi’s eyes.” And then the heroine sees eyes and screams for 15 minutes and is put away in the same hospital. And then another elderly lady dies in the hospital with a look of awful horror on her face, a look that any sensible reader had long before she got the idea.

Bibliographic Notes:   As Bill pointed out in his review, Max Higgins appeared in one other detective novel by Means Davis, that being The Hospital Murders, 1934, also published by Smith & Haas. He did not mention a third mystery by the author, that being The Chess Murders (Random House, 1937).

   A fact that Bill did not know, or he would have used a different pronoun in referring to the author, is that Means Davis was the pen name of Augusta Tucker Townsend, 1904-1999.

   An online obituary notice for Mrs. Townsend tells us more about her:

[UPDATE] 06-16-10.   I’ve found copies of all three books for sale online, and the first has already arrived. I’ve just added the cover image of The Hospital Murders; the others will be included as soon as they get here.

[UPDATE #2] 06-25-10.   As you see, I now have cover images for all three books. All three that I ordered arrived in due course, and all three had jackets, even though I did not pay more than $20 for any one of them, including shipping. That the jackets are somewhat the worse for wear is not worth mentioning.

LORI ARMSTRONG – No Mercy. Pocket, hardcover, January 2010. Paperback reprint: November 2010.

Genre:   Suspense. Leading characters:   Mercy Gunderson, 1st in series. Setting:   South Dakota.

First Sentence: In the arid summer heat on prairie rangeland, a dead body doesn’t so much rot as it becomes petrified.

   Recovering from her wounds received in Iraq, Army sharpshooter Mercy Gunderson returns to the South Dakota ranch, left to her by her father. Her homecoming isn’t a restful one.

   Mercy’s sister and nephew have problems of their own, and she is being pressured to sell the ranch. The body of a young Indian boy is found on her property and his mother wants Mercy to find who killed him. Another death occurs and Mercy, feeling there is no one she can trust, sets out against escalating violence to find a killer.

   Reading a new-to-you author is a bit of a crapshoot; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Sadly, this was one of the latter.

   First, there is a portent on page 22: “…I doubted my life could get more complicated or out of my control. Famous last words.” It’s a mystery! Of course things will get out of control. The foreshadowing is completely unnecessary. I might not have even minded so much had the author left off the last three words “Famous last words.”

   Next we have the characters. There is very little character development in the true sense. We receive pieces of background information on some of the characters, but none of them ever feel real to me.

   Mercy is supposed to be a highly trained sniper who was good at her job because she can disassociate her emotions from the task. We never see that. She, and many of the characters, vacillate between being tough to being completely pliant.

   She is the daughter of a former sheriff and spent over 20 years in the military, but I never had a feeling of a code of honor with her, particularly when she did something completely illegal.

   The plot was a case study in “fabula interruptus.” Whether with the scenes of suspense or sex, Armstrong takes you to the point where the circumstances become intense and then backs away. It feels as though she doesn’t know how to follow through and complete those scenes so she doesn’t; she fades to black and picks the story back up later. This isn’t a regency romance, after all.

   I will give credit where it is due. Armstrong does establish a very good sense of place and, while elements of the climax were rather trite and predictable, the story still had some good suspense to it. While I did identify one villain very early in the story, there was a twist and second villain I didn’t see coming at all.

   In all, the problem comes down to the author’s overall writing style and voice. To say the author’s voice was erratic would be an understatement. Armstong employs humorous sarcasm, which I enjoyed to a point, but much of the dialogue is overly strident, and her writing, overall, lacks nuance; there are no shades of gray.

   I doubt I shall read more by Ms. Armstrong.

Rating:   Poor.

      Lori Armstrong’s PI Julie Collins series —

1. Blood Ties (2005)

2. Hallowed Ground (2006)    [profiled here ]
3. Shallow Grave (2007)
4. Snow Blind (2008)

      The Mercy Gunderson series —

1. No Mercy (2010)
2. Mercy Kill (2011)

QIU XIAOLONG – When Red Is Black. Soho Crime, hardcover, July 2004; trade paperback, August 2005.

Genre:   Police procedural. Leading characters:   Sergeant Yu & Inspector Chen Cao, 3rd in series. Setting:   Shanghai, China–Contemporary/1990s.

First Sentence: Detective Yu Guangming of the Shanghai Police Bureau stood alone, still reeling of the blow.

   Inspector Chen Cao is taking time off from his role with the police. He has been asked to translate a business proposal for a triad-related businessman. The proposal is for the construction of a new shopping/residential complex in Shanghai called the New World.

   Both the salary and the benefits are too good to resist, but Chen ultimately finds everything has strings.

   With Chen unavailable, Sgt. Yu must take charge of the newest investigation. Yin was a college teacher and novelist living in a tiny room in a multi-family house. While she wasn’t well liked, she kept to herself. With the house locked at night, was she murdered by a neighbor? If so, why did they ransack her room but not take her money?

   Qiu Xiaolong (pronounced “chew shao-long”) has become one of my favorite authors. He creates such a strong sense of place with wonderful descriptions, from the largest panorama to the smallest detail.

   The inclusion of both Chinese and western poetry is something I so appreciate and enjoy. Food plays such a significant role in China. Its inclusion is so well done and, even if some of the particular dishes may not appeal to my western palate, I always end up hungry while reading. There is one particular scene when Chen goes to a restaurant with 1930s European style serving supposedly western food which was very interesting.

   I learned so much about life during the Cultural Revolution; a period about which I know virtually nothing. It is interesting to read about the lasting impact on those who lived through it as well as the confusion of living in a rapidly changing China.

   I very much enjoy Qui’s characters. While I was glad Chen wasn’t completely absent from the scene, it was nice to have Yu and his wife, Peiqin, move to the forefront. Not only did I learn more about them and their lives, but saw all the major characters grow and develop as the book progressed.

   The plot is very effective. I find the difference in the style of questioning fascinating but the process of following the leads is the same in all cultures.

   My one criticism would be that the confession of the killer seemed abrupt, but that could be a cultural difference as well. I did think the ending was excellent. I highly recommend When Red is Black although, as always, I suggest starting the series at the beginning.

Rating:   Very Good.

The Inspector Chen series —

      1. Death of a Red Heroine (2000)

      2. A Loyal Character Dancer (2002)
      3. When Red Is Black (2004)
      4. A Case of Two Cities (2006)
      5. Red Mandarin Dress (2007)
      6. The Mao Case (2009)

      7. Years of Red Dust (forthcoming, 2010)

JOSEPH NATHENSON – The Library of Alex Brandt. Manor, paperback original, 1978.

   In spite of this cover blurb, angled above a devilish bloke in a stage magician’s outfit, gesturing at an open book and some skimpy laboratory paraphernalia, the novel owes almost nothing to Lovecraft and is another of those endless tales of a loony-bin psycho who has a hangup about the “woman-whore” and does something violent and bloody about it periodically.

   What gives this Manor cheapie some interest is that the psycho is also a book collector and there are splendid thrift shop book hunting sequences. The first-person narrator also has a sense of humor and introduces a brutish chap to mumble an unforgettable line when he is asked by the narrator if he is looking for an S. S. Van Dine thriller:

   I rather suspect Mr. Nathenson of throwing in the gore to ensure the publication of a highly subversive book that may lure some of the incipient psychos who drool over it to experience the even more sexually exciting pleasures of the Book Hunt.

Editorial & Bibliographic Comments:   I have no cover image to go with this book, alas. When Walter sent me this review, earlier today, he said he wrote it in 1979, and “I didn’t keep a copy of the book, but if I had I would be inclined to reread it.”

   I suspect that this is the only review that Joseph Nathenson received for any of the four books credited to him in the Revised Crime Fiction IV, by Allen J. Hubin:

   He also wrote one New Age or sci-fi novel Deep, Very Deep Space: A Journey to the Infinite (Manor, 1978). He’s also generally considered to have been the author of Land of Dreams, a historical romance for Harlequin in 1995 under the byline of Cheryl St. John. (Other books by Cheryl St. John do not appear to have been by him.)

   A brief obituary notice can be found here: http://www.jewishjournal.com/obituaries/article/obituaries_20061020/

[UPDATE] 06-17-10.   A comment left by Cheryl St. John states that the book Land of Dreams is definitely one she wrote, not Mr. Nathenson.