Customer Reviews

One Murder at a Time: The Casebook of Lindsey & Plum

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I don't often open a book that I'm looking forward to reading and swear; I did this time because I was afraid the stories in this collection were too familiar. My dismay didn't last long; I hadn't read the familiar stories in a long time, and there were a number of unfamiliar ones as well.

Dick Lupoff's one helluva writer and I've always liked the stories of Marvia Plum and Hobart Lindsay, and as a former Berkeley resident, I appreciate the settings of these stories. Several appeared in Mysterious Intent magazine (where yours truly was a regular writer) and Dick contributed some of these stories for the first time. It's about time they were collected too.

One standout story that was new to me was "News from New Providence", a story set in the Bahamas, where Marvia's father Marcus appears. It's a story featuring a, well, an unnamed Duke and Duchess, who are shown to be as self-absorbed and snobby as I always thought from what I read. The familiar themes of collecting and the odd folks who often collect rare objects appear in several of the stories, and Lupoff's sure hand and sure knowledge of history show up everywhere; especially in two stories created for this collection: "Golden Glory" which has to do with a favorite topic of radio, and "Old Folks at Home", which revisits memories of Nazi Germany.

Alas, the "bonus story" was not to my taste, but that's not that it is a bad story. It's that, sorry folks, but I am not in any way a Nero Wolfe fan and it really helps to read this story featuring agoraphobic rose mavin Caligula Foxx. That hardly matters overall in this collection. Timmy in "Chinese Gunboats" - a sensitive an fascinating story that deals with an autistic man who knows whodunnit and tells Marvia about it in his own way.

One final note: I know that the author is truly pleased with this publisher. They've done a pretty good job, but I can't get excited about the interior illustrations. I think they're that combination of art and computer and they didn't work for me. However, the cover is truly wonderful. I think it shows off well Lindsey's slightly nebbishy qualities and Marvia's forthright cop nature. A welcome book in our household....

It was wonderful to see that Mr. Lupoff hasn't forgotten about Bert and Marvia. I really enjoyed these stories, separate though they were, I kept hoping these two guys would cross paths. When they eventually did, in "Old folks at Home," I was surprised, and intrigued, at how cleverly the reader was manipulated into expecting (and not getting of course) to see a more personal glimpse into their first encounter since the split up. I was disappointed, but it definitely made me anxious for their next mystery together. If you haven't read the series, you're really missing something. I'm holding my breath, Mr. Lupoff