Customer Reviews

Baked To Death (Simon Kirby-Jones Mystery)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Other readers have slammed this book for being rushed or too light or fake. Well we are not talking Shakespeare here. The book has a nice little plot and all the loose ends get tied up in the end. The characters are whimsical and it was nice to read. The murder was not too horrible and I think the vampire aspect was amusing. This is the sort of book to read before going to bed, to take your mind off your own personal problems and take you out of yourself for a short while, and I found the book relaxing and entertaining. I plan to read other novels by this author.

Gay vampire Simon Kirby-Jones is working on his latest historical romance novel and trying to decide whether to make a move on his hunky research assistant when his former lover, Tristan Lovelace moves back. Tristan claims he's decided he was wrong to dump Simon--and wants him back. All of which leaves Simon conflicted--it's hard to get those old feelings out, especially since Tristan was the vampire that converted Simon in the first place. The love triangle is disturbed by the arrival of a medieval reenactment next to research assistant Sir Gile's manor.

The medieval society is torn between rival claimants to the crown--and the animosities run deep. But when one of the claimants is poisoned, Simon has to wonder whether game-playing and reenacting really is significant enough for murder. Could there be some hidden motive behind the poison. For example, could Tristan be taking advantage of the animosity to hide his own involvement. Together with Giles, and with the backing of handsome and barely out of the closet police detective Robin, Simon investigates.

The idea of a gay vampire detective investigating medieval reenactors holds the promise of considerable humor. I was disappointed, therefore, that author Dean James chose to play this fairly straight. The humor is left in potential. Reviews of earlier Simon Kirby-Jones mysteries indicate that James is playing with the familiar mystery motifs. Here, I found any send-up to be too well hidden. We were left with a fairly standard mystery that just happened to involve a gay romance-writing vampire and a medieval faire.

BAKED TO DEATH is written with an approachable style and certainly hooks the reader with the mystery. A bit more emphasis on the characters would have let me care more about the romantic resolution as well.

I wasn't disappointed by BAKED and don't think many readers will be. I didn't think, though, that it lived up to its potential.

Ah, Mr. Dean James has done it yet again. With frightfully proper English means and manners, he has given us a wonderfully crafted murder mystery romp with all the trappings...and some vampires thrown in for good measure.

The story is an incredibly fast read; so much so, that you'll probably want to reread it as soon as you're done, just for the fun of it. (I know I did.) Honestly, with its spendid imagery and penchant for detail, I was hoping that it would take a lot longer to go through, but no matter what the length, the story satisfies most completely.

Will there be more adventures in store for our hero, Simon Kirby-Jones?

There had better be. The world needs more delightful characters like Simon. Are you listening Mr. James?

If you are, then 'thank you' for giving us Simon and all his cohorts and cronies.

To everyone out there reading this...do more reading. I suggest starting with every one of Mr. James' Simon Kirby-Jones Mysteries. Write-On Mr. James!

In this fourth episode of his series Mr James ties all the lose ends.

Simon faces both his former vampire lover and his new human one and has to make his decision. I will not spoil the fun for you of course by telling but I will reveal that Simon decides and his readers should now wonder what will happen in the next episode now that all the cards have been uncovered and all the tension released.

As far as this novel is concerned though, it is more somber than the previous ones.
There are fewer puns and witticisms, the general atmosphere is more doleful.
The victim is neither innocent nor evil but somewhere inbetween: likeable enough for us to grieve his death and bad enough to understand the reasons of the murderer too.

This approach is far more mature of course, but it could spoil the fun of those expecting a copy of the previous light hearted books.

The emotional climax at the end of the book -where Simon makes his choice- is not well written and I felt disappointed.
Neither was I thrilled by the author's judgemental attitude toward occasional sex.

I'm giving it three stars, although I'd do 3 1/2 if possible as it between 3 - 4. The plot is inane, even for this series; it might make a short story, but too drawn out a gimmick for a full book here. I really didn't care much about the characters. Tris was so cold that it was hard to see what Simon ever saw in him. I did come to like Giles a bit more than I had. His mother (who makes a cameo appearance), and all of the other locals, were pretty much absent. Robin Chase was detecting of course, but the author plays him so subtlely regarding any interest he may have in Simon that he seems to serve as the token metrosexual/closet case (your call) who throws a few sniping comments Simon's way upon appearance.
I would have given the book the full 4 stars until I read the preceding review about the language. Simon uses British slang way too much for only having lived there a year or so! The one time he uses a solid Americanism (I believe it was "buck-o" or somesuch regarding Giles' attack) I was slightly jolted. He isn't English; the reader should be more conscious that he's an [southern] American.

Taking the pill daily gives vampire Simon Kirby-Jones all the nourishment he needs so he doesn't drink human blood, is able to walks in the sunshine and has heightened senses. The only changes are that he is immortal and is stronger and faster than humans. After he broke up with Professor Tris Lovelace, the vampire that turned him, he moved to Laurel Cottage in the English village of Snupperton Mumsley.

He is attracted to his assistant Giles but fears disclosing his feelings in case his cherished one turns away in revulsion when Simon tells him he is a vampire. Tris arrives declaring that he wants Simon wants back. When a medieval fair comes to the village, Simon, Tris, and Giles are present in the tent of Luke de Montfort when the host suddenly dies. Tris believes he was poisoned; Simon throws himself into the investigation to stop thinking about Tris who might have caused Luke's death because he refuses to succumb to blackmail and change Luke into a vampire. There are other suspects who hated Luke; Simon hopes that one of them and not Tris will turn out to be the killer.

Dean James has written an upbeat amateur sleuth mystery with a vampire as the hero. Simon has many wonderful qualities and his fear that Giles will turn away from him in horror once he learns the truth about him endears him to the audience. BAKED TO DEATH shows readers what it is like behind the scenes at a medieval fair and how it mimics the real world. Readers will find this charming entertaining and delightful mystery a book to put on the keeper shelf.

Harriet Klausner

Fourth in the Dr. Simon Kirby-Jones series, James has kept his gay American-in-England vampire up to snuff! Simon & Giles are experiencing a week-long medieval festival on the land that Lady Prunella has sold to Murdo Milbank. Milbank has plans to build a medieval banquet hall and tourist attraction on the land, much to the dismay of the village inhabitants. When vampire Tristan Lovelace, Simon's maker and former lover, shows up on his doorstep to attend the festival, things heat up in the village of Snupperton-Mumsley. When a prominent festival re-enactor winds up dead, Simon and Giles make it their business to find the culprit. Another great cozy from James with his unusual protagonist. I look forward to the next.

In this fourth installment in Dean James' series of vampire cozies, undead author-cum-amateur sleuth Simon Kirby-Jones goes positively medieval. Simon dons period costume to blend in with the "natives" after a historical reenactment society, the Gesta Angliae Antiquae, sets up camp in Simon's adopted hometown, the quaint English village of Snupperton-Mumsley. When the inevitable murder occurs--Simon is Snupperton-Mumsley's answer to Jessica Fletcher--our protagonist annoys the local constabulary once again by endeavoring to solve the crime himself. The GAA, it turns out, is riven by political rivalries. But is any of the men who would be elected king of this self-important little group power hungry enough to murder for the throne?

More interesting than the mystery in Dean James' latest are the developments in Simon's personal life. Tristan Lovelace, Simon's former advisor and lover and the vampire who brought Simon into the undead fold, arrives eager to win back our hero's affections. But will Simon succumb to Tristan's occasional charms, or will he save himself for local aristocrat Giles Blitherington, Simon's devoted personal assistant?

The Simon Kirby-Jones mysteries are not great literature. James' secondary characters tend to be two-dimensional, and the upper-crusty English cattiness many of them display can become cloying. But the mysteries are decent, and, more importantly, the concept of the books is charming. Though I would that modern-day medical advances hadn't defanged our hero--pills taken twice daily render him nearly human in his appetites--I very much like the idea of a genteel vampire taking a bite out of crime somewhere in the English countryside. James' cozies make for enjoyable light reading.

Debra Hamel -- author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in ancient Greece (Yale University Press, 2003)

This is the second book in the series I've read, and while I love the concept of a romance writing, mystery solving gay vampire I don't believe I will continue. The dialogue is too forced and unvelievable for me (I'm not from small town England but doubt they speak like they're in a Christie novel or Mary Poppins). And, while I commend the introduction of gay characters (something not usually seen in cozy mainstream mysteries) does every one have to be a sterotypical catty queen?

This was my 4th read in this Simon Kirby-Jones series by Dean James. IF I've gotten to the 4th book in a series someone is doing something right and that someone must be Dean James. All I can say about Dean is that he most certainly is a gifted writer and developer of characters.

I really appreciate the relationship between Giles and Simon throughout the books in this series. There is always something or someone new popping up and creating an interesting variety of situations. This time it's Simon's old flame, Triston, meeting with Giles. How is Simon going to handle this?

I was disturbed to learn that Dean James' publisher had decided not to renew this fabulously fun series...and I'm sure by the other reviews many of his readers (Simon's fans) are also not too pleased with their decision. Hopefully they can read...and may come to their senses.
I highly recommend this entire series-you won't be disappointed.