Just a quick update on the next few reviews...
I'm going to try and make at least one post a week for the blog, so any given month should get about 4-5 reviews. I'll make the next post some time in this coming week.
The next post will be an Author Introduction post (first one!) for Agatha Christie (which I really should have done earlier). It will combine a biography, (brief!) bibliography, some reviewer recommendations, plus the review for The Secret Adversary. I'm about halfway through my stack of "questionable" mystery novels (books that I've never read before and don't know if I'll like), and I'll start the first March review with one of them, and try to alternate between those reviews and other books.
Also, expect a movie/TV review sometime next month. I'm going to try and do at least one of those per month, as well. Lots of good stuff is forthcoming, I promise!
Good sleuthing!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Case of the Murdered Mackenzie: A Masao Masuto Mystery
Two reviews in as many weeks? What could be going on? What diabolical scheme could Miss Scarlett being cooking, you ask? Frankly put, my area has been hit with heavy snow and I've been given a few days off from work. What better time could there be than to read through a few novels?
The next book on my stack is The Murdered Mackenzie, the last novel in the Masao Masuto Mystery series. The series was authored by E.V. Cunningham, a pen name of the novelist Howard Fast. This is one of those few instances where the author is far more interesting than the book; Fast was a prolific novelist who specialized in historical fiction. However, for a good portion of his writing career, he was blacklisted (for Communist activities and a criminal record!) and forced to write under a psuedonym.
The detective in this series is Sargeant Masao Masuto, a second-generation Japanese-American, or nisei police detective from Beverly Hills. Masuto, a practioner of Zen Buddhism, uses his extensive mental and physical training to crack even the most puzzling of cases.
I think the Masuto Mysteries are be interesting primarily because of the time the novels take place. The series began in the late sixties, but the majority of the books were written in the seventies. This is the time period where many authors began to experiment with the detective genre, and began moving it away from the stereotypical white, male, hardboiled detective figure and tropes. So the Masuto novels were among the first to feature a non-white detective.
The plot begins with Masuto and his family away on vacation; while he's gone, a high-profile murder occurs. An engineer is found dead in a bathtub, and his beautiful ex-actress wife accused of the crime. She claims that the corpse is not her husband's, but four other witnesses disagree. But before the trial reaches a verdict, she dies in a mysterious accident, which Masuto thinks might not have been so accidental...
Now, I found the book itself to be average at best. The plot was quite tricky in some areas, involving an interesting bit with a disappearing body and several characters who technically don't exist. But quite early on, Fast/Cunningham starts smacking the reader in the face with "hints" that there's some sort of conspiracy going on, and eventually pulls in the F.B.I and a few other
big organizations
To be honest, I find the whole "conspiracy theory"/"secret agent" theme to be rather silly and very out of place in a detective novel. It's really more at home in a thriller novel--which may have mystery elements, but is not a detective novel!
The dialogue felt very stilted and unnatural--especially anything spoken by Masuto or his wife. They are native English speakers, for crying out loud! Why are their speech patterns completely different from the Anglo characters?
I felt rather disengaged with this book. Although the blurbs on the back cover praise Masuto as "fresh and likeable," I just found it hard to "bond" with Masuto. But that's my personal take on it; there have been many books where I liked it overall but just didn't find the characters interesting.
I appreciated the hardboiled elements in the book very much. There are a few heart-pounding, almost cinematic moments of serious danger (trying to prevent a car with tampered brakes from crashing, for example) that punch up the otherwise monotonous investigation.
Overall, the book is fairly balanced between elements that I enjoyed and areas where I was so bored I had to skim through. I'll skip this series, though, since I wasn't too engaged. Hard-boiled fans may enjoy this one, but beware that the plot starts to lean heavily on the "secret spy agency conspiracy" trope towards the end.
In one sentence: A later-generation hard-boiled detective novel that lags in some areas, starting well but ending on a flat note.
Good sleuthing!
The next book on my stack is The Murdered Mackenzie, the last novel in the Masao Masuto Mystery series. The series was authored by E.V. Cunningham, a pen name of the novelist Howard Fast. This is one of those few instances where the author is far more interesting than the book; Fast was a prolific novelist who specialized in historical fiction. However, for a good portion of his writing career, he was blacklisted (for Communist activities and a criminal record!) and forced to write under a psuedonym.
The detective in this series is Sargeant Masao Masuto, a second-generation Japanese-American, or nisei police detective from Beverly Hills. Masuto, a practioner of Zen Buddhism, uses his extensive mental and physical training to crack even the most puzzling of cases.
I think the Masuto Mysteries are be interesting primarily because of the time the novels take place. The series began in the late sixties, but the majority of the books were written in the seventies. This is the time period where many authors began to experiment with the detective genre, and began moving it away from the stereotypical white, male, hardboiled detective figure and tropes. So the Masuto novels were among the first to feature a non-white detective.
The plot begins with Masuto and his family away on vacation; while he's gone, a high-profile murder occurs. An engineer is found dead in a bathtub, and his beautiful ex-actress wife accused of the crime. She claims that the corpse is not her husband's, but four other witnesses disagree. But before the trial reaches a verdict, she dies in a mysterious accident, which Masuto thinks might not have been so accidental...
Now, I found the book itself to be average at best. The plot was quite tricky in some areas, involving an interesting bit with a disappearing body and several characters who technically don't exist. But quite early on, Fast/Cunningham starts smacking the reader in the face with "hints" that there's some sort of conspiracy going on, and eventually pulls in the F.B.I and a few other
big organizations
like the C.I.A and the KGB of all things; I guess when you want to make the incarnate bad guy, you throw in Communists?
To be honest, I find the whole "conspiracy theory"/"secret agent" theme to be rather silly and very out of place in a detective novel. It's really more at home in a thriller novel--which may have mystery elements, but is not a detective novel!
The dialogue felt very stilted and unnatural--especially anything spoken by Masuto or his wife. They are native English speakers, for crying out loud! Why are their speech patterns completely different from the Anglo characters?
I felt rather disengaged with this book. Although the blurbs on the back cover praise Masuto as "fresh and likeable," I just found it hard to "bond" with Masuto. But that's my personal take on it; there have been many books where I liked it overall but just didn't find the characters interesting.
I appreciated the hardboiled elements in the book very much. There are a few heart-pounding, almost cinematic moments of serious danger (trying to prevent a car with tampered brakes from crashing, for example) that punch up the otherwise monotonous investigation.
Overall, the book is fairly balanced between elements that I enjoyed and areas where I was so bored I had to skim through. I'll skip this series, though, since I wasn't too engaged. Hard-boiled fans may enjoy this one, but beware that the plot starts to lean heavily on the "secret spy agency conspiracy" trope towards the end.
In one sentence: A later-generation hard-boiled detective novel that lags in some areas, starting well but ending on a flat note.
Good sleuthing!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball: A Victorian Mystery
I finally decided that I needed to do something about the stack of books I bought at the last library book sale (It is, indeed, a stack, tucked away in front of a fully stocked bookcase. I seem to need another bookcase!). That being said, on my last day off I picked up the book on the top of the stack (Mrs. Jeffries), and sat down to while away an hour or two.
I must say, I was less than impressed. But I'll cover that in a moment.
This book is part of The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries series, written by Emily Brightwell. It's a traditional "cozy" style mystery series set in Victorian London--in the 1880s, to be precise. Our protagonists are an unusual duo: a humble and mild-mannered Scotland Yard inspector named Mr. Witherspoon, and his housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries. While it is Inspector Witherspoon who does the official sleuthing, it is Mrs. Jeffries who helps him along clandestinely. The widow of a police officer, Mrs. Jeffries has considerable knowledge of murder investigations, and along with the other servants in the Witherspoon household, searches for information that she can push into the Inspector's way.
Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball is the fifth book in the series, and is set specifically during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, placing the book in late June of 1887. The plot revolves around the inner scandals and gossip of the Hyde Park Literary Society, which culminates in the death of one of its members at the Jubilee Ball. Suspicion falls on the victim's fellow club members as it is revealed that several had very good motives to wish her ill. Of course, it is up to the Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries to deduce the truth and prevent another murder from occuring.
Now, as I said earlier, there was a lot about this book that I didn't like. For one, I felt that the characters simply did not stand out. There is a fairly large cast of characters in this book, not including the murder suspects, and they were not memorable or well-characterized. At one point, I found myself flipping backwards because I couldn't tell the servants apart. For a book this far in to the series, that's not a good sign. I honestly felt that the members of the Literary Club were more well-developed, even though they were not recurring characters who would be showing up later.
The setting also felt completely incidental. The author claims to set the book in Victorian London, but there is honestly nothing to show that. I have always felt that the hallmark of ANY book is to treat the setting like a character; it must be developed, mentioned, and appear often. This is especially true for a historical novel. I feel it's important to at the very least mention a little background, or describe the places the characters visit. The book felt like it could have taken place virtually anywhere, with nothing really to anchor it in that time period.
There are also a fair number of unresolved side plots. Now, I understand that for books in a series, there are going to be ongoing elements that are addressed in later books. But what's also important is to make sure that the book can stand on its own. This means that a plot thread that will be finished in a later book at least *feels* like it either has some resolution, or that the characters will resolve it in the near future. For example, the servants have acquired a mysterious benefactor who leaves presents in their quarters. It is strongly hinted to be Smythe (who engages in numerous internal monologues about keeping secrets), who also has a myserious connection to Inspector Witherspoon's deceased aunt. This plotline remains unresolved at the conclusion of the novel, and shows little relevance to any of the novel's events. It just seems to take up space.
Now, I will say in the book's favor that the murder plot was nicely complicated, and the shifting finger of blame progressed in a very natural fashion. I thought the unraveling of the suspects' motives was well-plotted overall.
I'm not really inclined to read the rest of the books in the series to see if the earlier books had focused more on developing the characters. Overall, while the mystery portion was good, the rest of the supporting elements were too poorly developed, in my opinion, to make the book a worthwhile read.
I'll pass on this series, but if you like the cozy genre and are looking for a quick read, you might be interested.
In one sentence: A decently plotted "cozy" historical mystery that suffers from lackluster characterization and setting.
Good sleuthing!
I must say, I was less than impressed. But I'll cover that in a moment.
This book is part of The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries series, written by Emily Brightwell. It's a traditional "cozy" style mystery series set in Victorian London--in the 1880s, to be precise. Our protagonists are an unusual duo: a humble and mild-mannered Scotland Yard inspector named Mr. Witherspoon, and his housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries. While it is Inspector Witherspoon who does the official sleuthing, it is Mrs. Jeffries who helps him along clandestinely. The widow of a police officer, Mrs. Jeffries has considerable knowledge of murder investigations, and along with the other servants in the Witherspoon household, searches for information that she can push into the Inspector's way.
Mrs. Jeffries on the Ball is the fifth book in the series, and is set specifically during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, placing the book in late June of 1887. The plot revolves around the inner scandals and gossip of the Hyde Park Literary Society, which culminates in the death of one of its members at the Jubilee Ball. Suspicion falls on the victim's fellow club members as it is revealed that several had very good motives to wish her ill. Of course, it is up to the Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries to deduce the truth and prevent another murder from occuring.
Now, as I said earlier, there was a lot about this book that I didn't like. For one, I felt that the characters simply did not stand out. There is a fairly large cast of characters in this book, not including the murder suspects, and they were not memorable or well-characterized. At one point, I found myself flipping backwards because I couldn't tell the servants apart. For a book this far in to the series, that's not a good sign. I honestly felt that the members of the Literary Club were more well-developed, even though they were not recurring characters who would be showing up later.
The setting also felt completely incidental. The author claims to set the book in Victorian London, but there is honestly nothing to show that. I have always felt that the hallmark of ANY book is to treat the setting like a character; it must be developed, mentioned, and appear often. This is especially true for a historical novel. I feel it's important to at the very least mention a little background, or describe the places the characters visit. The book felt like it could have taken place virtually anywhere, with nothing really to anchor it in that time period.
There are also a fair number of unresolved side plots. Now, I understand that for books in a series, there are going to be ongoing elements that are addressed in later books. But what's also important is to make sure that the book can stand on its own. This means that a plot thread that will be finished in a later book at least *feels* like it either has some resolution, or that the characters will resolve it in the near future. For example, the servants have acquired a mysterious benefactor who leaves presents in their quarters. It is strongly hinted to be Smythe (who engages in numerous internal monologues about keeping secrets), who also has a myserious connection to Inspector Witherspoon's deceased aunt. This plotline remains unresolved at the conclusion of the novel, and shows little relevance to any of the novel's events. It just seems to take up space.
Now, I will say in the book's favor that the murder plot was nicely complicated, and the shifting finger of blame progressed in a very natural fashion. I thought the unraveling of the suspects' motives was well-plotted overall.
I'm not really inclined to read the rest of the books in the series to see if the earlier books had focused more on developing the characters. Overall, while the mystery portion was good, the rest of the supporting elements were too poorly developed, in my opinion, to make the book a worthwhile read.
I'll pass on this series, but if you like the cozy genre and are looking for a quick read, you might be interested.
In one sentence: A decently plotted "cozy" historical mystery that suffers from lackluster characterization and setting.
Good sleuthing!
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