Customer Reviews

Fire and Fog: A Fremont Jones Mystery (Fremont Jones Mysteries)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's the Great Quake in San Francisco and there's our Fremont Jones with the mysterious Michael Archer in the midst of it all. Dianne Day instantly became one of my favorite mystery writers when I read "The Strange Files of Fremont Jones." (Start with that one, by all means!) This one is just as "can't put it down, can't turn the page fast enough" as that one was. I can't find proof, but I'm of the opinion that Dianne Day is Laurie King. (Start with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and see what I mean.) At any rate, they write in a similar manner, and both are excellent. TRY THEM!

Oh, yeah. ... She lives through the Quake. Hence, sequels abound! .

Having previously read Dianne Day's first book (The Strange Files of Fremont Jones) featuring the feisty sleuth/typist, I couldn't wait till I returned to San Francisco to find out what Ms. Jones was up to. And Dianne Day ceratinly amused this reader with her next tale set during the San Francisco Earthquake.

Because of severe damage to the boarding house where they lived, fremont and her friend Michael must find other living arrangements. Elusive Michael, who Fremont suspects is a spy retires to the Presidio where he has a room, while Fremont finds herself living with a new acquaintance with a rather strange story. As the city returns to its former vitality, Fremont discovers an assortment of valuable antiques in a storage area of her office builkding, is kidnapped by a Ninja, learns more about Michael and even manages to eke out a living as a typist.

Much as I enjoyed the first book, I found this read to be even better. As I read this book, I felt as though I was there in San Francisco and could not only feel the rumbling but see the fog and smell the smoke.

This book, a sequel to the debut "The Strange Files of Fremont Jones" was a true page-turner. I literally read it all in a single day, finding every opportunity and staying up MUCH too late in order to finish it. Day's sleuth, Fremont Jones, lives in San Francisco, CA, around the time of the Great Quake, which takes place during the setting of this book. Her recounting of the mysteries which unfold in the chaos resulting from the quake renders the events of that time and the reality of what it must have been like to live through the quake compelling and real. Her characters are likeable and frustratingly real -- all the more so because they react in ways we have all seen ourselves react. I can't wait to read her subsequent novels featuring the intrepid Fremont.

Diane Day has filled this book with accuracy about the time of the Big Earthquake. It was interesting to see what daily struggles were suffered by the people at the time. The heroine dealt with these as they put her in the path of a mystery. The mystery itself was a bit light or simplistic but still entertaining.

Fremont Jones is rudely awaken by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake at the beginning of Fire and Fog. It is only the beginning of the troubles San Francisco and Fremont face in this witty, engrossing book.

Somehow, Dianne Day manages to make Fremont's travails seem like adventures. Fremont is such a fearless, resourceful woman that she never seems like a victim. After all, this is a woman who defies conventions without apology, and accepts the challenges thrown her way without complaint.

It is 1906, and Fremont is a feminist, an atheist, and runs her own typewriting business. She also cares deeply -- about the welfare of her friends, about helping others, about justice. Her principles are not subject to negotiation, but she keeps an open mind about her views on less important subjects, like automobiles. Fremont isn't perfect (which would make her nauseating), but she is completely engaging and likable. San Francisco is the perfect setting to allow such an unconventional character to get some acceptance.

The setting (historically and geographically) is nicely drawn, without the author ever falling prey to "show-off" syndrome. That is, she does not lecture the reader, showing off the fruits of her research. The portrait of the time and place feel genuine, and the writing is elegant but never stuffy.

This is the first Fremont Jones book I've read, and I read it without knowing anything about the plot beyond the earthquakes and fire. I recommend reading it this way, so you can be as surprised by everything as Fremont is. I'm now reading the first book in the series, The Strange Files of Fremont Jones, and it is very good so far. There is some wonderful foreshadowing of events minor and major. The foreshadowing is yet another indication of the fine writing.

The author has obviously pondered the meanings and symbolism behind events like fire and earthquakes. These phenomena in a sense are more flagrant, larger-scale versions of the horrors of violence committed by people. People and ! nature may wreak havoc, and induce fear and suffering, but they cannot destroy hope.

Fremont encounters both natural and human-caused destruction -- and the latter is sometimes creepy. Yet it feels like Fremont is having an adventure, not being tortured. She's always brave, and even finds time to entertain thoughts of romance. I highly recommend Fire and Fog.

I loved this book even more than her first. Nothing has made the 1906 earthquake as real as this book. Dianne Day sets such a wonderful atmosphere that it feels too real to want to leave.

This is the second Fremont Jones mystery I've read. I ended up sitting in my bath after it got cold because I had to finish. The book starts out with the great earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco. In the uproar after the quake, Fremont has to track down all kinds of threads of several mysteries.

I like Day's ability to keep a multilevel plot going, and the realism of her characters. The only problem is at the very end she ties together all the plots and it just doesn't quite work. However, over all this book is wonderful I'd highly reccomend it.

This is the second Fremont Jones story I've read and I've found both books to be finely drawn character studies. Jones rebels against turn-of-the-century expectations for women, how they should dress, conduct themselves, subjugate their aspirations and rights to their husbands (Gawd! Are we twenty-first century husbands lucky or what?). As a result she never intends to marry, embarks on her own business, lives independently, all as a young twenty-something. In Fire and Fog, having to deal with the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake, along with sinister sub-plots that surround her, she is remarkably resilient and tough, qualities I admire in anyone, women and men. Nonetheless, she is not so tough as to be unreasonably fearless, longing from time-to-time for the help from women and men she has encountered, especially Meiling Li and Michael Archer, and to some extent, Nurse Bartlett. This makes her all the more human and sympathetic a character. If I had a teeny problem with the narrative, it was that, if she was going to make friends with a car, a Maxwell yet, I wanted to know more about the car! I am a man after all and we like cars, often imbuing them with human qualities ourselves, as she did. Also, I thought the denouement was inexplicably one paragraph long, not that tight editing is a bad thing. It just seemed that after such detail about the characters, the earthquake, the ensuing fire, (and less the car) it was surprising to find out the identity and motives of the villain or villainess in a few lines near the end of the book. A somewhat unsatisfying discovery. I guess it was like buying all the equipment for a mountain climb, carefully assembling it, studiously putting it on and checking all of the ties, and ropes, and straps, then climbing in a helicopter for a ride to the top.

No, I didn't guess who the evil doer was, but perhaps that's because I let myself be led by the identity of villain or villianess in her first book. I can see how someone else though might be able to ascertain the identity earlier than I did.

Consistently well-written, though periodically poorly edited (Spell-Check isn't good enough!)I read it quickly.

But you have to understand me: I get cranky if I don't have a book going.

This book was so intriguing and exciting that I read it all in one sitting! Ms Day make the earthquake and its after-effects fascinating and engrossing. Without Michael and with Mrs. O'Leary missing in action, Fremont sets out to help others while with searching for her MIA landlady. It's realistic and captivating. Her descriptions of San Francisco and the Presidio are right on the money.

It's my favorite of all the Fremont Jones novels. I recommend this book highly, along with the rest of the series.

This is my favorite of Dianne Day's books. I enjoy history and the experiences of Fremont Jones during the great earthquake makes that experience more real to me. The development of Fremont and Michael's relationship moves forward. The other characters that are introduced are interesting and well developed.

I recommend this book highly to everyone.