Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades; a mystery novel. [Paperback]

Oakley Hall (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkeley University of California Press 1998. (1998)
• ASIN: B002EO99CK
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Please don't compare this with The Alienist, April 11, 2002

By 

"excession" (Westfield, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades (Penguin Mysteries) (Paperback)

To start, I liked this book, but not as much as I hoped to like it. It is a nice historical mystery, but it is not in the league of The Alienist, a work to which it is often compared. The narrator, Tom Redmond, is a likeable character, but just as he is confused with the many characters in this mystery, so is the reader.

The story searches for the Morton Street Slasher, but the reader who wants a plot similar to the Alienist (which follows the trail of the killer) will be disappointed to learn that this book is more about mining and railroad politics than the search for a killer. If you are interested in the backroom politics of San Francisco in the 1870's or really love the wit of Ambrose Bierce, then you'll probably love this book ... if you're like me, and you like Ambrose Bierce's dark humor but could do without the smoke-filled rooms, then you'll just find it an interesting diversion.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, informative hystery\mistory, October 31, 2001

By 

Brian C. Taylor "smug feldspar magnate" (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades: A Mystery Novel (Hardcover)

This book tells the story of young Tom Redmond, apprentice to the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) Ambrose Bierce. Redmond and Bierce try to track down a Ripper-style killer of prostitutes and unravel a mystery that has ties to the California Gold Rush and the Railroad boom in California. All in all, the history is good (and you'll probably learn a good bit if you know nothing about mining or railroads) and the mysteries provide a nice little puzzle. Despite the title, Bierce is not the main character, Redmond is, and he's quite an interesting, well-developed and sympathetic one. Bierce is kind of a secondary character, although the book is peppered with his acerbic, sarcastic thinking (one of the things I enjoyed most of all, actually). This book is less Holmes-and-Watson than Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, which is a more satisfying arrangement, I think. I enjoyed it and I think most people who like historical mysteries will enjoy it also.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bierce In Form, April 1, 2000

By 

Mary J. Grimes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades (Penguin Mysteries) (Paperback)

Hall transports you into the life of both Bierce and Redmond in such a way that you walk with them throughout their adventure. The plot twists and turns, as does Bierce's mind and Redmond's reactions. Redmond's apprenticeship to Bierce and his learning the cynicism and wit of the master takes the reader on a trip into the mind and manner of Ambrose Bierce.....the American Sherlock Homes and Watson teaming up to battle injustice and murder.