Customer Reviews

Murder at Bent Elbow (Discreet Inquiries)

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

 

 

I liked this book although it is rather unbeliev- able. We have a heroine who knows martial arts, knife throwing, trick horse riding and is an accomplished mesmerist; but, hey, it's all in fun. I though I caught a glimmer of Louis L'Amour in some of her characters and while I'd like some real characters, this was an entertaining read. I hope to read more.

Maggie Maquire, daughter of a carnival owner, as a youth learned all the various tricks of this profession - from knife throwing to bare-back riding. When she finally settles down, in a manner of speaking, in San Francisco, she puts her skills to use by creating her own detective agency. Her first big assignment sets her off to a wild Nevada mining town on the trail of a former female Indian captive, Harriet Hogg. She is to let Harriet know that she has inherited a sizable fortune. Harriet, however, turns out to be a difficult, drink-sodden prostitute. And murders, double dealings, and pure nasty acts, force Maggie to rely on the many carnival tricks she learned as a child in order to safely reunite Harriet with her inheritance back in San Francisco.

This book contains little history, and Maggie's modern sounding speech and demeanor seem out of place in the late 19th century West. Rather, read it for its wild west atmosphere and lively action scenes.

Kate Bryan is Ellen Recknor, who writes western books featuring strong heroines under other names as well. This is the first of the Maggie Maguire series.

I loved this new female sleuth series. It's funny, has a good mystery, and even a little romance. Since the sleuth grew up in a circus atmosphere she has skills that the rest of us mortal women don't possess but hey, it's different! I can't wait to read the next one!

Someone gave me this book to read on a trip, and, expecting no more than the mild diversion I had found in other recent mysteries I had been given, I was thrilled to find that I loved this one from the first page. The writing is fresh and masterful, never dull and ordinary. The characters are interesting and fun -- "types" in the best literary way. The mystery is well-plotted with no gaping holes. I'm surprised no one has made a movie of this yet.

I applaud the author's attempt to create a fresh, interesting character like Maggie Maguire.

But reading this book was like reading a cartoon. I could handle unbelievable and clever, but unbelievable and boring and juvenile is a whole 'nother thing. The plot twisted and turned and basically led to nowhere of interest and there were so many characters--thrown in to add to the twists and turns--but really just mucking up the storyline, which was weak to begin with.

I can't think of a book that I've read in my adult years that was more stupid than this one. If it were a movie, it would be in a dead heat with The Three Amigos, which I walked out on. If it were a TV show, it would be a dumbed down version of the Wild, Wild West, transformed into a Saturday morning cartoon.

To say that Maggie Maguire's upbringing was unusual may be the understatement of the decade. Her father, the owner of a traveling circus, toured the Wild West, entertaining the frontiers men and women with his performance. As a child, Maggie learned everything she could from all the performers. When she was old enough, Maggie joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency, but she found her work a bit too tame.

Maggie moves to San Francisco to join her cousin, who has started a detective agency. Normally, Maggie volunteered for the most dangerous assignments, constantly seeking a rush. However, Maggie accepts an assignment to locate a missing heiress even though the case has dull stamped all over it. She agrees to find the former Indian captive turned prostitute because she doesn't want a slimy relative to inherit. As she tracks down her quarry, Maggie quickly realizes that the case is extremely dangerous as various parties try to kill her. Maggie knows that there is more to this than just an inheritance and she plans to live long enough to find out what it is.

MURDER AT BENT ELBOW is the opening gamut of what appears to be a fascinating, quirky, and entertaining historical mystery series set in the 1880s Wild West. The heroine is a peerless character who marches to her own drum. Kate Bryan brings to life the waning days of a bygone era in such a panoramic perspective that readers will see the good, the bad, and the ugly as if they are paying a visit. Ms. Bryan is a new talent, who exhibits the promise of one day being a star as she provides readers with a pleasurable debut novel.

Harriet Klausner

This book speeds along at the galloping pace of a runaway horse from which our entrepid heroine jumps and, with a quick judo chop to the neck, dispatches the evil villian while dodging arrows from a horde of scalping Indians and locating the cache of buried treasure left by the alcoholic dance-hall girl while her cousin looks on in amazement. Really.