Customer Reviews

The Body in the Bookcase

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

 

 

Until the end, this was an entertaining book -combining suburban break-ins, the antique business and the death of a good friend. KHP's descriptions of New England life are right on target, and Faith Fairchild is the kind of amateur sleuth who can use the little coincidences of life to find a killer.

Two things bothered me: the revelation of the 'master criminal' and the capture was just hollow, but more distressing was the fact that Faith really didn't get motivated to work on the burglaries until she was a victim- after her friend died. She seems to spend more time agonizing over the inordinate amount of silver and jewelry stolen from her than grieving for her friend.

In the latest Faith Fairchild adventure, her home is robbed along with several others in the area, including one where an old woman died. Faith spends the entire story obsessing over her lost treasures and trying to get them back. Her job and family take a back seat. While having a home robbed is not pleasant, at least no one was hurt. I felt like telling her to get over it already. This book lacks the cozy feeling the others in the series have, and the ending is not satisfying because no motive is presented. This was a disappointment.

THE BODY IN THE BOOKCASE is fun. It's very reminiscent of the Diana Mott Davidson culinary mysteries -- and not just because of the recipes. The style is very similar. I'm not sure which number this is in the Faith Fairchild series, but it's copyrighted 1998. And it's my first. It's about the theft of antiques, and one dead body leads to another as our protagonist tries to recover some of her stolen property. The characters are fun and believable. The author creates no sense of place at all, geographically, but does create a sense of community. Not the most satisfying mystery I've ever read, but entertaining.

I'm in possesion of two different versions of this book. To help you with your purchasing decision, here's a comparison: One has a green cover with a gold letter opener. This is an Avon Twilight book, first printed in 1999. At the end it has excerpts of about two pages each from five other mystery series. The other is an Avon Book, first printed March 2001. It has a gray cover with red and black letters. It has larger print (but not "large print"), so the book is thicker. It has excerpts of about two pages each from nine other books in this same series.

Fatith Fairchild from the fictional Aleford, Massachusetts is the kind of woman you'd like to have for a friend. Her habit of falling into mysteries and murders makes for fun, quick reading. This book explores the somewhat shady world of NE antiques, after Faith's house is broken into and a friend is killed when her house is burglarized. As other readers have noted, the ending is somewhat contrived but up till then, I really loved this book. Start with her earlier novels as Faith has grown from a new young wife, to mom, to mom of two. My only problem with these books? Faith's kids are SO good. Never fuss, whine, wet their pants at the wrong moment. Course if they were written as normal kids, Faith would never get anything done, like the rest of us moms!!

This book has a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. One of the plusses is that it features Faith Fairchild instead of her less interesting neighbor, Pix Miller. However, Pix is totally banished except for one or two brief appearances and this does not seem like a good thing to do to Faith's favorite sidekick. Another plus is the interesting mix of characters, especially Stephanie Bullock, the spoiled young girl whose mother has hired Faith to cater her rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. However, Faith does seem to obsess over the items which are stolen from her house and they seem to hold a more important place in her affections than do her own children who breeze in and out of her life and into the arms of their father, their babysitters and nursery schools. Most young mothers are way too busy with their offspring to spend hours skulking about the countryside investigating murders and robberies. Also the ending is not well conceived and seems too trite. Not the best of the series, but not a bad read for "cozy" fans.

I was excited to find that KHP decided to bring her story back to Aleford and center it around the wonderful character, Faith Sibley. I like the mix of everyday life and sleuthing, which gives the story a more "real" feeling. And, like "Body in the Fjord," where I got to glimpse into Norweigen life, "Body in the Bookcase" is filled with interesting tidbits about the inner workings of antique dealing. And you'll never guess who did it!

THE BODY IN THE BOOKCASE by Katherine Hall Page had a lot of pluses going for it, but never made it to the end.
The final pages read like "I've got to end this somehow, but how?" Too stiff and clumsy when considered against others in the series.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS.

The Epilogue stunk--not sure what that was about. I liked this one a lot though because there wasn't as much irrelevant info. and cooking nonsense, although the police were kind of stupid in this which was annoying. One of the better ones in the series though, which is sad and says a lot about the series considering I've still only given it 2 stars.

Note: I've read this entire series up to The Body in the Attic: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries), and the best rating I've given any of them is 2 stars, which is sad and says a lot about the series. I kept reading because it really has potential but it never lives up to it, so save yourself the trouble and agony and try a a different series, such as Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 1) series, most of which are fun and enjoyable, or stop after The Body in the Cast: A Faith Fairchild Mystery, which was probably the best of the series. That's my recommendation, anyway.

I have enjoyed the Faith Fairchild/Pix Miller series, which made this book a great disapointment. I only read about of half, before I gave it up.

I think, prehaps, making Faith a victim was too close to home. It is natural that she wanted her things back, but the book focused on her distress to the detriment of the more attractive, cozy atmosphere I found so pleasant in the rest of the series.

I'm about half-way through this book and I am very disappointed. First of all the title is misleading. The body is not in the bookcase, only the head is, sort of. The head is on the bottom shelf with the body on its side tied to a chair. There also is a lot of unnecessary information and people in the book. The characters are two dimensional and I got no feeling of suspense, thrill, or am I even interested in "who-done-it". I don't think it's a "who-done-it" plot.

I'm left to wonder if The Body in the Fjord is really in the Fjord or just has a hand trailing in the frigid water. Try, try again, but read some more mysteries, do, Ms. Katherine Hall Page. p.s. the british authors are the best!