Customer Reviews

Burning Water (Diana Tregarde Investigation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I took this book and it's sequel, 'Children of the Night,' down off my shelves while doing some research and decided it would be interesting to reread them. There is a third book, 'Jinx High.' in the Diana Tregarde series, but I have never read it. While these books are very representative of Mercedes Lackey's early, and not quite polished, writing style, the are interesting, and the heroine is a strong independent woman in a time where this was still a bit exceptional. Since these were originally billed as young adult reading material, their influence is more significant than one might initially guess.

The plot turns around the Aztec theme of the return of a god, in this case Tezcatlipoca, the god of war, and a very unpleasant character. He has possessed a local resident and plans to keep killing until his power has returned. Mark Valdez, a Fort Worth detective is involved in a the murder investigation where one gruesome killing follows another. Mark is a sensitive who used to work with Diana when they were in college, and can feel that there is more to the killings than just a serial killer. He manages to convince his boss to bring in Diana as a consultant.

Diana is a Wiccan practitioner who has taken to heart the role of warrior/protector. A powerful witch, she is dedicated to exposing the false and undoing the evil. An intelligent and beautiful woman, she makes her living writing romances (when there are no wrongs to be righted). In this case, there is plenty of wrong, victims are drowned, skinned and de-hearted with depressing regularity, and Diana and Mike are unable to trace the crimes to a probable perpetrator. Diana is completely stymied for most of the book, unable to even identify the tradition behind the murderous sacrifices.

If Diana is stuck, we are not. Lackey introduces us to the evildoers quite early, and keeps us well apprised of the workings of Diana's enemies. Tezcatlipoca dreams of vengeance against those that destroyed the culture of his people, and fully intends to work the end the world as we know it. Far from being a hare-brained scheme he and his cohorts are well on the way to re-establishing the god's dominion, and Mike and Diana will need considerable help before they can mount an effective defense.

One of the interesting side themes of this novel is that Diana and Mike are not destined to become lovers. Instead, each has their own emotional life and problems. This helps to keep the plot focused, and actually gives Lackey a chance to develop her leads as independent characters. Unfortunately, while the plot work and characters are well done, the dialogue is flawed. People just don't seem to talk to each other in a normal fashion. A little too much bluster and stereotypical communication for my taste. And a cardboard-like stiffness at times when an open and relaxed style would accomplish more. Despite this weakness, 'Burning Mirror' is a good read with some interesting twists and turns. I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

I found this book really entertaining, and have read this book so much that the cover has fallen apart on me. It had chills running up and down my spine the first time I read it, to think something that old and evil could be lurking underneath our noses! I wish there would be more Diana Tregarde books, but, due to certain misguided actions taken by some individuals(According to an article published on the internet called 'The Last Straw', written by Ms. Lackey), Mercedes Lackey has decided not to write any more novels with this character. I think that's a darned shame because this is a very good series.

Overactive imagination, beware! While "Burning Water" _was_ predictable, it's easy to forget what's going to happen if you can lose yourself in the book. Be careful, though ... you start seeing things in the shadows after a while.
It's not as terrifying as a horror novel, I suppose, but there's something about the book that is even more chilling than carefully calculated horror, somehow ....
On the whole, the Tregarde books are good -- I especially like Lackey's take on witchcraft (it seems to be a good deal more open-minded than most authors) -- but I'd really like to see more of them. You know what they say about Lackey and trilogies, though, and she _has_ done three Tregardes ....

A few flaws cause some problems in this book, but on the whole it is very good.

Diana Tregarde is a great character, and so is Mark Valdez. Both are fleshed out well in various vignettes unrelated to the investigation of the crime.

The problems I mentioned are problems of competency. Nobody seems to realize that pulling a heart from a body, in the southwest, could possibly be related to well known Aztec ceremonies where that happened. I studied that ceremony in grade 6. Ok, Diana was kept off the trail by spellcraft, but surely somebody else would have figured it out. The villains as well are not overly competent, luckily for Diana and Mark. When told to send a warning to Diana by taking down someone close to her, a minor character she saw once before and didn't like was taken down. As if the author didn't even want a peripheral friend of Diana's to be hurt.

Those problems aside, the plot flows well and it keeps your interest despite the fact that as the reader you know who is doing what. Mark and Diana are both wonderfully sympathetic, attractive characters and the fact that they have to struggle to figure this out is a small plus. The shadowy world of psychics, mediums, wiccans and pagans is also shown well, and the supporting cast is reasonably well defined, though somewhat cliched.

Diana had great potential, I look forward to the next two books and it is a shame she quit writing them.

Mercedes Lackey really outdid herself here. This book is about detective Mark Valdez, in Texas, who comes across a dangerous criminal that the papers are calling the "Texas Ripper". He calls in Di Tregarde for help. She arrives and stays at his aunt's house. After many trials and dead ends, and not a few dead bodies, Di and Mark discover that the so-called "ripper" is an ancient Aztec god inhabiting the body of Mark's best friend, Robert Fernandez. They arrive at Rob's apartment just in time to save Robert's wife, Sherry, from a gruesome sacrifice to the god (Tezcatlipoca). Fortunately, Mark is unusually receptive to outside forces taking over his body, so when Di calls in Tezcatlipoca's ancient enemy, Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl has a place to go. Psychic shootout scene, Tezcatlipoca flees, Sherry breaks down, the police find Rob sacrificed, the killing ceases, practically everyone goes home happy. Oh, but don't I wish Misty had written more Di Tregardes! These are her best books! Unfortunately, she's not writing any more, and the first book in the trilogy is out of print, so we can only get our hands on the second two. Too bad!

Burning Water was my introduction to Mercedes Lackey - I regret that no more books will be written in this series(according to some sources). I found the heroine and her cohorts quite entertaining and engrossing - I definitely appreciate characters that possess a sense of humor and humanity. If you enjoy reading fantasy that doesn't take itself TOO seriously (spare me), and don't particularly care for the knights-in-armor scenario, try this mystery and the other two in the series.

I found this book to be pretty good. It is the first Horror novel that I've read. It took me a few pages to get into it. But, once it got going it was a fast entertaining read. The plot was predicatble, and it was just a matter of time before what I expected to happen to unfold. The ending however was a little bitter-sweet (perhaps to set up a sequel). I generally like happy endings, so it was a disapointment.

The characters were generally likeable and decent enough.

A couple of things that just bugged me were the author's use of "ack emma" and her pet name for American Airlines. I got hung up every time I saw them.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and would read another by Mercedes Lackey.

Burning Water (1989) is the first Fantasy novel in the Diana Tregarde series. It is set in the contemporary period within Dallas-Fort Worth. The area had suffered from a series of cattle mutilations and ritual human killings.

In this novel, Diana Tregarde is a consultant on occult affairs. She has worked for the Hartford Police Department. While not advertising the fact, Di is also a witch.

Mark Valdez is a Detective in the Dallas Police Department. He had worked on her Spook Squad while in college. He has recommended Di as a consultant on the series of killings.

Juanita Valdez is Marks's aunt. Nita comes from a Haciendas family that has been rich since before the Republic. But they had lost most of the wealth during the Depression. Now she takes in young female boarders in her mansion.

Samuel Clemens Grimes is Chief of Detectives in the Dallas Police Department. He maintains a good old country boy image, but is the sharpest detective in the DPD.

In this story, Mark is waiting at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport for Diana's flight to arrive.

Mark remembers when he and three college buddies tried to raise a ghost. They were thoroughly drunk, but the ritual worked. Diana had saved him from being possessed by the spirit. Then she insisted on putting shields on him to protect his mind from possession.

They have already changed the flight number once and he is not really sure of which plane she will be on. He checks with the desk and learns that Diana is listed on the flight, but he still isn't certain until Di does arrive on the proper plane.

Mark takes Diana to luggage claim to pick up her bags. He has arranged for her to stay with his aunt Nita. Di agrees to the arangements.

On the way to the house, Mark briefs Di on the strange happenings in the county. He also tells her that most of the talented in the area have fled to other cities. Insofar as he knows, there is not a single Rom left in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Then Diana senses violence, but has trouble lining up on the location. She has Mark drive around and steers him closer to the scene. When they arrive at the site, a squad car has just arrived.

A hated DP manager has been sacrificed on a boulder in a park. He is lying naked and spread-eagled on the rock. He was mutilated and the heart has been cut out of his chest.

Diana meets Chief Grimes at the park. He is very impressed by her knowledge and methodical approach. He assigns Mark to work together with her as an independent team. He has the proper identification and permits issued to her, assigns her a handgun, and has Mark introduce her to the various DPD personnel.

Diana recognizes the ritual nature of the death, but it does not match anything the she knows. It has elements of several types of blood sacrifice, but nothing fits the current pattern. Then the killers take three children and drown them in a cattle tank.

This tale has Diana believing that she knows something about the ritual, but she just can't pin down the memory. This leads her to suspect that the killers have set magical traps to confuses her memory. So Di and Mark follow every lead and also search out others with psychic talents.

The identity of the killers is obvious to the readers, but Diana has to work for the answer. The next installment is Children of the Night. Read and enjoy!

This series was very popular among Fantasy readers. But then the author was stalked by a confused fan. So the author quit writing in the series. She wrote a similar book a few years later -- Sacred Ground -- but nothing featuring Diana Tregarde.

Highly recommended for Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of psychic talents, angry gods, and determined private investigators of the occult.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book wasn't bad as far as plot goes. I know some Wicca practictioners roll their eyes at the idea of psi-bolts and empathic healers who remove bruises with a touch, but come on--this is a BOOK. It's supposed to offer something above reality. I enjoyed "Charmed" too, and didn't worry about the Hollywood effects, nor was I offended by its portrayal of Wicca.
The only thing I wish Lackey had done in this book was a little more research into real brujeria/curanderismo. It's clear she took the scene with the Bruja straight from M.L. Devine's Llewellyn book (originally titled "Brujeria", subsequently released as "Magic from Mexico".) There were already books on curanderismo out there...I'd read them years before this book was published. Would have been nice to have a touch of reality here; although Devine's book was good, it was not what a majority of Brujas practice.

Diana Tregarde is a witch, and she's consulted by a friend in Texas to come help with a peculiar series of murders that have occult overtones. It's an exciting, engrossing story that fits right in with the contemporary fantasy genre that's very popular now--unfortunately, it appears that Lackey was ahead of her time, and in the late 80s, early 90s, the series just didn't sell very well. I'd suspect it would sell now, but maybe not--it ends up feeling a little... unsophisticated, when compared with current offerings in the same niche.

And maybe that was always the problem. Burning Water is a straightforward paranormal mystery/adventure story, with no romance muddying the waters, and very little change in the characters. Not much emotional turmoil, either. It's Agatha Christie in a J. D. Robb world.

I'm quite fond of that analogy, as it describes my feelings about the book very well. It's urban fantasy's version of the cozy mystery. In fact, my complaints about the book have very little to do with the plot, and mostly to do with the writing.

My one plot-related complaint is that, while Diana's missing the Aztec connection was very well explained (and a plot point that I enjoyed very much), it doesn't explain why nobody else caught it. Perhaps that's due to the times, too, though I have trouble believing that. I'm pretty sure that in 1989 the Aztecs would have been familiar to most people.

So the plot was mostly fine, but the writing tics kept throwing me out of the book time after time. Italics were overused to the point where it made the book physically hard to read. Some internal thoughts were italicized, some weren't, adding to the confusion. Then there was the use of dialect. Rule of thumb for writing accents: write it out phonetically for one or two sentences, then trust the reader to remember that the character speaks with an accent. Don't put it in every line of dialogue and all the character's thoughts as well. It's hard to read. You'll lose your readers.

And then there was the itty-bitty thing that made me lose my patience, and ended up overshadowing the entire story--the one thing I didn't have to refresh my memory about even though it's been 3 weeks since I read this: "ack-emma." Every single character in the entire book refers to morning as "ack-emma." It drove me up the freaking wall, to the point where I had to look it up. Thank-you, Wikipedia, for explaining that it's... get this... WWI (that's ONE) British Army phonetic-alphabet slang. Bashing my head on the desk here. I can understand one character using this slang, as part of their personality. I can even stretch that to including someone who's a close friend or coworker who's picked it up. But people they've never met before? ARRRRGGGHHH.

I swear, without the darn "ack-emma," it would have been 4.5 stars, it irritated me that badly. I know, I know. Let it go. I'm trying.