31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Highly entertaining cozy Gothic caper!, November 4, 2003
This review is from: High Rhymes and Misdemeanors: A Poetic Death Mystery (Poetic Death Mysteries) (Paperback)
I'm not sure what genre I'd put this in. It's sort of a cozy-caper-Gothic, and I mean that in a good way. It incorporates some of the classic elements of the Gothic novel, but offers entertaining updates on them.
The central plot is this: Grace Hollister, American schoolteacher, PhD candidate, and devotee of the "bad boys" of Romantic poetry, is on a sort of research trip/vacation in the Lakes district of England when she stumbles over a body in a stream. The body turns out to be only mostly dead, and Grace is able to revive what turns out to be one Peter Fox, antiques dealer and a bit of a bad boy himself. It's clear from the circumstances that someone whacked Peter over the head and dumped him face-down in the water, and if Grace hadn't appeared in the nick of time the murder attempt would have succeeded.
Unfortunately for Grace, after she's seen with Peter the people who tried to kill him, apparently to get some sort of treasure, conclude that she's in league with him. The treasure appears to have something to do with the poet Lord Byron, and Grace soon learns that there are scarier things in life than trying to teach English to teenagers...
If the plot sounds far-fetched, that's because it is. What Gothic caper novel isn't? The thing is, this is internally-consistent, well-plotted, disbelief-suspending far-fetched, the kind that makes you hope for a rainy day so you can drink hot chocolate while reading it and really get the full experience.
The main characters are a major reason this story works as well as it does. Grace is lively and funny and deeply dubious about the wisdom of what she's involved in. She's also an update of the classic Gothic heroine--she gets in trouble more because of circumstances than because she goes wandering around in a diaphanous nightie with a guttering candle--actually, being a sensible California girl, I suspect she wears flannel pajamas and wooly socks to bed in Merrie, Chillie, Olde England.
I particularly liked the way the author handles Grace, who is occasionally wrong, sometimes downright silly, and not indulged by her author. You know the type of protagonist who is allowed to make ridiculous pronouncements and is never pulled up short, so you can't tell whether the author is having us on or really believes the words coming out of the character's mouth? Not here. Told that someone involved in the plot is a man in a turban, Grace immediately decides that turban equals cult. Oh, Grace, I thought. Shortly thereafter, Grace meets a local restaurateur, who is Indian and wears a turban. Grace feverishly wonders how thin the line is between stealing recipes and committing murder...
Stuff like the above is funny because the author recognizes that a schoolteacher in a mess like this isn't going to be Emma Peel right off the bat. There's a fine illogic to the proceedings, but as I say, there's also internal consistency. Characters do not behave conveniently to advance the plot, they're created and put in place on purpose to do so, if you see the distinction. This is fun and light-hearted fare, but when you look closely it's clear how much work went into getting the balance right.
Peter Fox is an important part of the balance. Let me say right here that I'm generally annoyed by Gothic heroes, who all-too-often strike me as pale imitations of Heathcliff (who I didn't like, either.) Peter Fox is more Mr. Rochester, sardonic but human--he's even funny. In fact, by the middle of the story I had stopped picturing him as looking like Rochester, or rather my mental image of Rochester, and was able to see the character described in the story, even to the blond hair. He has A Past, which influences his actions, but he doesn't endlessly angst about it so I almost never felt like cracking him over the head and dumping him back into the stream.
No book is perfect, and in this case I could have used a bit more exposition on the subject of Lord Byron's love life, which is important to the treasure angle. I know one generally avoids the expository dump, but as it was I had to keep flipping backward to remind myself who was who among the ex-lovers and wives and illegitimate children. A less serious problem is the fact that all the plotters appear to be...well, inept. They're far too prone to leave Grace with the tools she needs to engineer her hair's-breadth escapes. However, again, the story is set up so that this ineptitude is logical within the plot. I know some of the old noir writers claimed they were giving crime back to those who commit it, but most of us know that the vast majority of crimes are committed by clumsy amateurs. The final confrontation strikes the right balance (there's that word again) between the suspenseful and the grotesque. And the wrapup feels satisfactorily real--again, within the confines of the artificial but believable world Killian has created.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Romantic Mystery, April 1, 2004
This review is from: High Rhymes and Misdemeanors: A Poetic Death Mystery (Poetic Death Mysteries) (Paperback)
Grace Hollister is on a working vacation researching the Romantic poets in England for her doctorate. One night, she stumbles on a man face down in a stream. She manages to revive Peter Fox, and the two share drinks in the bar. But when she is kidnapped the next day to make Peter do something, she realizes there is much more going on then meets the eye. Now she must team up with Peter, who is hiding a past of his own, to solve this mystery before both of them are as dead as the poets she loves to study.
I really enjoyed this book. The plot gets a little convoluted at times, so you really need to pay attention. There is one major plot point that doesn't seem to be resolved. This really did bother me. The book is equal parts mystery and romance, and the romance aspect is more pronounced then I normally like, but I really enjoyed it. The two lead characters are interesting and entertaining. I especially loved Peter's sarcasm and Grace's resourcefulness.
While not as completely wrapped up as it seems like it should have been, this is still a worthwhile book. Pick it up and hang on for the wild ride ahead. I can't wait for the next in this fun series.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DIANA KILLIAN HITS THE COZY MYSTERY SPOT, January 4, 2004
This review is from: High Rhymes and Misdemeanors: A Poetic Death Mystery (Poetic Death Mysteries) (Paperback)
I was not expecting a dissertation of the poets, but rather an entertaining, page turner cozy mystery, with enough poetic references thrown in to please mystery reading poetic fans. Diana Killian delivers on that expectation.
The story takes place in England's Lake District. Those who like the cozy British influence in mysteries will not be disappointed with the British country side and old stately homes falling into disrepair, complete with secret passageways and family crypts.
The main characters are Grace Hollister, an usually sensible American schoolteacher and literary scholar and Peter Fox, handsome, dashing local antique dealer with a questionable past. They meet when Grace runs upon Peter's "body" face down in a stream and by all appearances dead. Grace winds up saving Peter and thus their adventure and unlikely relationship begins.
Normally, cautious Grace and adventurous Peter could seem like an unlikely sleuthing team. Their relationship lights an adventurous fire in Grace's normally all too predictable life and brings an element of "routine" to Peter's not so predictable life. It's a case of seemingly opposites attract, but with an entertaining freshness.
I found the characters well written and developed enough to be real people in an interesting, yet vague and not clearly defined relationship. I won't tell you what happens between Grace and Peter, but enough happens that there is already a next book in the series to come out in October 2004.
This book has a tease chapter for the next book "Verse of the Vampyre, A Poetic Death Mystery". After reading the chapter, I'm looking forward to reading the next one too.
Our online cozy forum had not schecduled this as a regular group read this year, but I have certainly recommended it to every one in the group.
moderator, Mystery Most Cozy
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