8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Enjoy Taking a Bite out of This Book, October 5, 2004
This review is from: Verse of the Vampyre: A Poetic Death Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
American schoolteacher Grace Hollister is still on sabbatical in England. But things are not all roses. Peter Fox, the reason she stayed, is withdrawing. He especially clams up when the subject of the recent burglaries in the area come up. Could he have returned to his former life of crime?
Meanwhile, Grace has joined the local theater company's version of "The Vampyre" as a technical consultant. The rehearsals don't seem to be progressing too smoothly, and the accidents happening to the cast don't help. Couple that with the rumor of a real vampire in the area, and this will be an October few will forget.
Having enjoyed the first in the series, I was looking forward to reading this one as well. While it didn't start with quite the bang the first one did, it gained momentum quickly and by the end, I was staying up way to late to read "just a little more." Grace and Peter are great lead characters. They are sufficiently complex and likable, making it easy to root for them to solve the current problems.
This series is wonderful for anyone looking for a puzzling adventure. You really should read the first book first (High Rhymes and Misdemeanors) to get the complete background on the characters. Personally, I'm already counting the days until the third comes out.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AN ENTERTAINING FAST PACED COZY CAPER, October 13, 2004
This review is from: Verse of the Vampyre: A Poetic Death Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
Once again, we find American schoolteacher and literary scholar, Grace Hollister, in a beautiful picturesque village in the English Lake District. She has extended her stay and is on sabbatical leave to write a doctoral dissertation-turned book on Lord Byron.
That's what she is supposed to be doing, but Grace finds herself pulled into mysterious happenings when she acts as an advisor to a local theatrical production of "The Vampyre" a play written by Lord Byron's doctor.
Dangerous accidents are plaguing the cast in the theater itself, as well as outside the theater. The same member of the cast who almost fell through a stage trap door also has a spill when her saddle comes lose while riding in Grace's first ever fox hunt. Some think that incident could just be an accident or possibly saboteurs of the hunt, but Grace isn't so sure, especially since the trap door incident had already occurred.
Grace, herself, feels danger lurking too close for comfort as she is stalked by a local "witch" who makes it all too clear she doesn't like the fox hunts.
As if this wasn't enough on Grace's plate, robberies seem to be happening in frequency among some of the wealthiest residents of the quaint small English village of Innisdale. Grace doesn't like to think it, but wonders if her inscrutable love interest ex- jewel thief, Peter Fox, could be involved.
Grace works along side Peter in his posh antique store, The Rogue's Gallery, but he's been acting oddly distant and behaving more than a little suspiciously since the robberies began. Why was he lurking in a graveyard late at night? Now some folks have been killed, as well.
Rumor has it that a guard killed during one of the robberies had puncture wounds like a vampire mark on his neck and now another member of the production has been found with vampire like puncture wounds on her neck, murdered at a masquerade ball Peter and Grace are attending. A robbery has occurred at the same ball around the time Peter mysteriously disappeared with cast member, Catriona, a married woman who has no love for Grace and appears to have more than a passing interest in Peter, or so Grace thinks.
Grace sets out to ease her mind that handsome urbane Peter isn't involved in the village looting. She finds herself reluctantly sleuthing with ex boy friend Chaz, who has come for an unwelcomed, uninvited and unexpected visit. Chaz is totally the opposite of dashing adventurous Peter and reminds Grace of her more practical days-days when Grace wouldn't have dreamed of getting involved in sleuthing and murder.
Those who enjoyed the first book in the series, High Rhymes and Misdemeanors, will find this book just as entertaining and enjoyable-a fast paced romp.
Once again Diana Killian offers skillful and vivid descriptions of the English countryside which is complete with castles and secret passageways.
Included in this book is a preview of "Sonnet of the Sphinx" which is the third book in the series. I eagerly await its publication to see what adventure Grace and Peter are up to now.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A witty & engrossing read, December 23, 2004
This review is from: Verse of the Vampyre: A Poetic Death Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
I stumbled upon this book without realizing either the genre or that it is second in a series. I rarely read mysteries, but thoroughly enjoyed this one. Although the background from the first book would have been helpful, readers can enjoy this entry without that knowledge. But, romantic that I am, I'd love to see more of Grace and Peter's relationship.
Killian is a terrific writer, making dialogue (including internal dialogue) sparkle and presenting the English setting with crisp, evocative description. The characters are intriguing, and the mystery remains taut. In fact, the mystery lingers in preparation for the next book--one I'll definitely read, after I catch up on the first one.
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