Mark of the Lion
A Jade Del Cameron Novel
By Suzanne Arruda
The Mark of the Lion introduces us to Jade Del Cameron, a young woman with a strong sense of adventure. Jade grew up on a ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico where she learned to ride, shoot, and take care of herself. She is studying languages at Winsor College in England when WWI breaks out. She leaves school and joins the Hacket-Lowther ambulance unit.
When we first meet Jade it is 1918 and she is driving an army ambulance in France. She returns to the evacuation hospital from the front with a full load of wounded just in time to witness a dog fight between a German plane and her good friend David’s Sopwith Camel. David loses. As she holds his battered body he uses his last breath to ask her to find his brother. The problem is that as far as anyone knows he was an only child.
When the war ends Jade returns to England to finish her studies but the trauma of War and David’s request has left her unable to settle down. She takes a job with The Traveler magazine as a reporter and photographer and sets off for Africa where David‘s father died under suspicious circumstances while trying to find his illegitimate son.
Once in Nairobi Jade quickly learns that something very strange is happening. The natives are being terrorized by a witch doctor called a Laibon. There have been attacks by wild animals that have had strange patterns shaved into their fur, a sign of human control. The natives believe that this Laibon not only controls the animals but is capable of changing his own form from human to animal.
As Jade pursues her quest she meets a colorful assortment of people, some helpful, some not so helpful. In order to succeed in her quest and stay alive she will need to call upon all of her courage and ingenuity.
Mark of the Lion is an excellent read. Suzanne Arruda brings to life the beauty and magnificence of a land not yet “tamed” by man. She also brings to life the culture clash that existed between the native Africans who lived with nature and the British who conquered nature.
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Peter Shandy Series by Charlotte Macleod
Between 1978 and 1996 Charlotte MacLeod published ten Peter Shandy novels, all of them wild, wacky and witty. Her characters range from the straight laced to the totally demented. Her plots are frequently laugh out loud funny. If you like unconventional mysteries that are well written I suggest that you try this series.
In the first book “Rest you Merry” we meet Peter Shandy, a professor at Balaclava Agricultural College and co-propagator of the Balaclava Buster rutabaga. It is Christmas time which means that it is time for the college’s main fund raising event, The Grand Illumination. For years Peter’s neighbor Jemima Ames has badgered him to decorate his house on the crescent. This year he decides he has had enough. After all but burying his house under gaudy decorations he escapes Balaclava for a sea trip only to be shipwrecked. Slinking back home to face his irate neighbors he finds Jemima’s body behind his couch. Is it an accident or murder? Thorkjeld Svenson, college president, champion of the straight furrow and berserker Viking, assigns Peter to find out, without ruining the illumination.
The second book is “The Luck Runs Out”. Strange things are happening in Balaclava County. First some prankster turns all the horse shoes nailed up in the college barns upside down, letting the luck run out, figuratively speaking. Second, the silversmith’s vault is emptied in a daring robbery while the newly married Peter and Helen Shandy just happen to be there picking out their silverware. Third, Belinda of Balaclava, the college’s prize sow is pignapped and the local farrier is found dead in the sty’s mash feeder. Peter is once again assigned to sort out the mysteries.
Third is “Wrack and Rune”. Professor Timothy Ames is visiting the Horsefalls farm in Lumpkin Corners when their hired man dies in a very nasty way. After calling the police and doctor, his next call is to Peter Shandy. Now Peter must find out why someone has been harassing the Horsefalls. Is the death another prank that has gone wrong or cold blooded murder? How does the old Viking rune-stone on the property fit into the mystery? To find the answers, Peter must deal with pranksters, large crowds of sightseers, and the college president’s 102 year old uncle Sven’s pursuit of an older woman.
Number four on the list is “Something the Cat Dragged In”. Retired professor Ungley rents Mrs. Lomax’s downstairs apartment. When her cat Edmund shows up with his hairpiece in his mouth, her only thought is to return it before the professor misses it. When she finds him not home and his bed not slept in she goes looking for him and finds him impaled on a harrow peg behind the Balaclava Society’s clubhouse. Police Chief Ottermole calls the death an accident but Mrs. Lomax doesn’t believe it and when Edmund finds another clue it leads straight back to the college. Overnight Balaclava County is the scene of a power struggle between town and gown that could destroy Balaclava Agricultural College. Naturally President Svenson assigns Peter Shandy, the Hercule Poirot of the turnip fields, the job of uncovering the murderer.
“The Curse of the Giant Hogweed” is the fifth book in the series. In this book Professors Shandy, Ames, and Stott have traveled to England to assist with the problems being caused by the growth of giant hogweed. When they set out to do field work they cross the border into Wales and find a world they didn’t expect. Trapped in the hogweed and confronted by a giant looking for the King’s pet griffin, it doesn’t take them long to realize that life has become even more bizarre then usual.
Number six is “The Corpse in Oozak’s Pond”. It’s Ground Hog day and all of Balaclava has turned out to see if the College ground hog will see his shadow. They get more of a show then they expect when a corpse pops up through the ice on the pond. When two more deaths follow, it’s up to Peter to find some answers.
In the seventh book, Vane Pursuit, Peter’s wife Helen is photographing antique weather vanes for the historical society. It seems like no sooner does she her pictures then the weather vanes come up missing. When someone fire bombs the Lumpkin soap factory shortly after their weather vane is photographed and someone dies in the fire Peter starts to investigate. Before he finds the answers he will tangle with a motley group of survivalists, assist a heiress who’s hiding out, and fear for the life of his beloved Helen.
Eighth in the series is An Owl Too Many. When Emory Emmerick, a site engineer for the college’s new TV station gets stabbed to death during the annual owl count Peter Shandy is once again on the case. A dead man who isn’t who he said he was, a secretary who keeps getting herself tied to trees, and a wild ride down a raging river in a tug boat make this a rollicking adventure as well as a good mystery.
Number nine is Something in the Water. Peter has gone to check out reports of beautiful, lush, lupines growing where they shouldn’t be able to grow at all. Staying in an old inn, he is waiting for his desert when the town’s most disliked citizen keels over face first into his diner. Foul play is suspected but Peter is much more interested in the lupines. Interested or not Peter soon finds himself trying to solve three mysteries. Who killed Jaspar Flodge, how are such lush plants growing in such poor soil, and who is the unknown artist who refuses to admit to painting such beautiful canvasses.
Number ten, the last but not least in the series is Exit the Milkman. Professor Feldster, Balaclava’s dairy expert and the Shandy’s neighbor has disappeared. Last seen on his way to one of his many lodge meetings he is seen getting into a big car with tinted windows and then nothing. He never shows up at the lodge, doesn’t come home and doesn’t show up for his morning class. Before he is found his obnoxious wife dies in a bizarre manor. Once again Peter must leave his turnip fields and classroom to play Sherlock Holmes.
In the first book “Rest you Merry” we meet Peter Shandy, a professor at Balaclava Agricultural College and co-propagator of the Balaclava Buster rutabaga. It is Christmas time which means that it is time for the college’s main fund raising event, The Grand Illumination. For years Peter’s neighbor Jemima Ames has badgered him to decorate his house on the crescent. This year he decides he has had enough. After all but burying his house under gaudy decorations he escapes Balaclava for a sea trip only to be shipwrecked. Slinking back home to face his irate neighbors he finds Jemima’s body behind his couch. Is it an accident or murder? Thorkjeld Svenson, college president, champion of the straight furrow and berserker Viking, assigns Peter to find out, without ruining the illumination.
The second book is “The Luck Runs Out”. Strange things are happening in Balaclava County. First some prankster turns all the horse shoes nailed up in the college barns upside down, letting the luck run out, figuratively speaking. Second, the silversmith’s vault is emptied in a daring robbery while the newly married Peter and Helen Shandy just happen to be there picking out their silverware. Third, Belinda of Balaclava, the college’s prize sow is pignapped and the local farrier is found dead in the sty’s mash feeder. Peter is once again assigned to sort out the mysteries.
Third is “Wrack and Rune”. Professor Timothy Ames is visiting the Horsefalls farm in Lumpkin Corners when their hired man dies in a very nasty way. After calling the police and doctor, his next call is to Peter Shandy. Now Peter must find out why someone has been harassing the Horsefalls. Is the death another prank that has gone wrong or cold blooded murder? How does the old Viking rune-stone on the property fit into the mystery? To find the answers, Peter must deal with pranksters, large crowds of sightseers, and the college president’s 102 year old uncle Sven’s pursuit of an older woman.
Number four on the list is “Something the Cat Dragged In”. Retired professor Ungley rents Mrs. Lomax’s downstairs apartment. When her cat Edmund shows up with his hairpiece in his mouth, her only thought is to return it before the professor misses it. When she finds him not home and his bed not slept in she goes looking for him and finds him impaled on a harrow peg behind the Balaclava Society’s clubhouse. Police Chief Ottermole calls the death an accident but Mrs. Lomax doesn’t believe it and when Edmund finds another clue it leads straight back to the college. Overnight Balaclava County is the scene of a power struggle between town and gown that could destroy Balaclava Agricultural College. Naturally President Svenson assigns Peter Shandy, the Hercule Poirot of the turnip fields, the job of uncovering the murderer.
“The Curse of the Giant Hogweed” is the fifth book in the series. In this book Professors Shandy, Ames, and Stott have traveled to England to assist with the problems being caused by the growth of giant hogweed. When they set out to do field work they cross the border into Wales and find a world they didn’t expect. Trapped in the hogweed and confronted by a giant looking for the King’s pet griffin, it doesn’t take them long to realize that life has become even more bizarre then usual.
Number six is “The Corpse in Oozak’s Pond”. It’s Ground Hog day and all of Balaclava has turned out to see if the College ground hog will see his shadow. They get more of a show then they expect when a corpse pops up through the ice on the pond. When two more deaths follow, it’s up to Peter to find some answers.
In the seventh book, Vane Pursuit, Peter’s wife Helen is photographing antique weather vanes for the historical society. It seems like no sooner does she her pictures then the weather vanes come up missing. When someone fire bombs the Lumpkin soap factory shortly after their weather vane is photographed and someone dies in the fire Peter starts to investigate. Before he finds the answers he will tangle with a motley group of survivalists, assist a heiress who’s hiding out, and fear for the life of his beloved Helen.
Eighth in the series is An Owl Too Many. When Emory Emmerick, a site engineer for the college’s new TV station gets stabbed to death during the annual owl count Peter Shandy is once again on the case. A dead man who isn’t who he said he was, a secretary who keeps getting herself tied to trees, and a wild ride down a raging river in a tug boat make this a rollicking adventure as well as a good mystery.
Number nine is Something in the Water. Peter has gone to check out reports of beautiful, lush, lupines growing where they shouldn’t be able to grow at all. Staying in an old inn, he is waiting for his desert when the town’s most disliked citizen keels over face first into his diner. Foul play is suspected but Peter is much more interested in the lupines. Interested or not Peter soon finds himself trying to solve three mysteries. Who killed Jaspar Flodge, how are such lush plants growing in such poor soil, and who is the unknown artist who refuses to admit to painting such beautiful canvasses.
Number ten, the last but not least in the series is Exit the Milkman. Professor Feldster, Balaclava’s dairy expert and the Shandy’s neighbor has disappeared. Last seen on his way to one of his many lodge meetings he is seen getting into a big car with tinted windows and then nothing. He never shows up at the lodge, doesn’t come home and doesn’t show up for his morning class. Before he is found his obnoxious wife dies in a bizarre manor. Once again Peter must leave his turnip fields and classroom to play Sherlock Holmes.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews
“Six Geese A-Slaying” is Donna Andrews’ tenth book in the Meg Langslow series. This time Meg has been talked into being Caerphilly County’s ‘Mistress of the Revels’ or in other words the person responsible for organizing the Christmas, excuse me, Holiday Parade. Ordinarily Meg would never have accepted the job but since the person who asked her to do it is the chairman of the committee that will decide whether or not her professor husband gets tenure, saying yes seemed like a good idea. As she stands in her front yard, clip board in hand, directing the arriving floats, bands, animals and handlers and other assorted participants to their staging areas her two biggest worries are the approaching snow storm and getting the Twelve Days of Christmas tableaus lined up in the right order. That is until her nephew, Eric, hands her an even bigger problem. It seems that someone has killed Santa.
As with all the books in this series, “Six Geese A-Slaying” will keep you snickering, giggling and laughing out loud from beginning to end. You may or may not figure out early on who the killer is, but that doesn’t matter. The fun of these books has always been watching Meg deal with the chaos around her while trying to catch the killer. On a scale of 1 to 10 this book is definitely a 8.
The series so far contains the following books. They are listed in the order written:
Murder with Peacocks
Murder with Puffins
Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
We'll Always Have Parrots
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
As with all the books in this series, “Six Geese A-Slaying” will keep you snickering, giggling and laughing out loud from beginning to end. You may or may not figure out early on who the killer is, but that doesn’t matter. The fun of these books has always been watching Meg deal with the chaos around her while trying to catch the killer. On a scale of 1 to 10 this book is definitely a 8.
The series so far contains the following books. They are listed in the order written:
Murder with Peacocks
Murder with Puffins
Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
We'll Always Have Parrots
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Case of the Roasted Onion & The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey by Claudia Bishop
Claudia Bishop, author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries, has started a new series
about a veterinarian who dabbles in murder on the side.
The Case of the Roasted Onion
The Case of the Roasted Onion introduces us to Dr. McKenzie and company. Dr. McKenzie has retired after a long and illustrious career at Cornell Veterinary College where he held the chair of the Bovine Science Department. He and his wife Madeline were looking forward to a quiet retirement when the good doctor made a serious financial error with his retirement fund, causing him to re-enter private practice.
When someone starts shooting equine vets he takes a personal interest in what everyone else thinks are random shooting. With the help of his wife Madeline, dog Lincoln, and two assistants, Joe Turnblad and Allegra Fulbright, he joins the ranks of amateur detectives.
What do these deaths have to do with a new portable coggins test that one of the victims were working on and several of the suspects have invested in? How does an injured puppy, the upcoming Earlsdown Three-day Event and the death of a horse at the event last year fit into the mystery? Will the obnoxious venture capitalist whom Dr. McKenzie would love to be the guilty party actually be guilty?
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey is the second mystery from The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie. In this one Dr. McKenzie (veterinarian and burgeoning sleuth) and crew set out to solve the murder of Lewis O’Leary, owner of one of the largest turkey farms in the Northeast. O’Leary is rude, abusive and as cantankerous as they come, hated by all including his three sons and two daughters-in-law. On the surface all the evidence points to Gil Finnegan the local feed salesman whom O’Leary has accused of shorting his feed orders. Dr. McKenzie however thinks that the evidence is too pat and starts looking at O’Leary’s many enemies. The list is a long one.
First of all there is the family who stand to inherit, three sons whom he has always kept on short leashes and treated as slave labor. Then there are his two daughter-in-laws who hate him for the way he treats both themselves and their husbands. There is the animal rights activist who is determined to shut him down and the post doctorate student who needs him to sign off on the data from a study that he has been doing on the farm.
I enjoyed these stories because of the characters. The mysteries are what I call “cheats”. The killers in both books are peripheral characters who are barely mentioned. At the very end Dr. McKenzie names the killer like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
The next book in the series is The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat, due out in June, 2008
Claudia Bishop is also the author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries.
about a veterinarian who dabbles in murder on the side.
The Case of the Roasted Onion
The Case of the Roasted Onion introduces us to Dr. McKenzie and company. Dr. McKenzie has retired after a long and illustrious career at Cornell Veterinary College where he held the chair of the Bovine Science Department. He and his wife Madeline were looking forward to a quiet retirement when the good doctor made a serious financial error with his retirement fund, causing him to re-enter private practice.
When someone starts shooting equine vets he takes a personal interest in what everyone else thinks are random shooting. With the help of his wife Madeline, dog Lincoln, and two assistants, Joe Turnblad and Allegra Fulbright, he joins the ranks of amateur detectives.
What do these deaths have to do with a new portable coggins test that one of the victims were working on and several of the suspects have invested in? How does an injured puppy, the upcoming Earlsdown Three-day Event and the death of a horse at the event last year fit into the mystery? Will the obnoxious venture capitalist whom Dr. McKenzie would love to be the guilty party actually be guilty?
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey is the second mystery from The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie. In this one Dr. McKenzie (veterinarian and burgeoning sleuth) and crew set out to solve the murder of Lewis O’Leary, owner of one of the largest turkey farms in the Northeast. O’Leary is rude, abusive and as cantankerous as they come, hated by all including his three sons and two daughters-in-law. On the surface all the evidence points to Gil Finnegan the local feed salesman whom O’Leary has accused of shorting his feed orders. Dr. McKenzie however thinks that the evidence is too pat and starts looking at O’Leary’s many enemies. The list is a long one.
First of all there is the family who stand to inherit, three sons whom he has always kept on short leashes and treated as slave labor. Then there are his two daughter-in-laws who hate him for the way he treats both themselves and their husbands. There is the animal rights activist who is determined to shut him down and the post doctorate student who needs him to sign off on the data from a study that he has been doing on the farm.
I enjoyed these stories because of the characters. The mysteries are what I call “cheats”. The killers in both books are peripheral characters who are barely mentioned. At the very end Dr. McKenzie names the killer like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
The next book in the series is The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat, due out in June, 2008
Claudia Bishop is also the author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saddled with Trouble by Michele Scott
Saddled with Trouble is the first book in the Horse Lover’s Mysteries. On the scale of one to ten I would rate it a three.
The story revolves around Michaela Bancroft, a woman in her early thirties who trains quarter horses and is going through a nasty divorce which is souring her whole life.
When she finds her uncle run through by a pitchfork and very dead her problems begin to multiply. What did her best friend, Ethan, have a fight with her uncle about? Why is her father acting so oddly? How did the wrong semen get shipped to customers who paid a $3500 stud fee? What does the real estate magnet who is dating her good friend and roommate, Camden, have to do with the murder? Who ran her off the road? Why is her soon to be ex-husband suddenly interested in her again?
Although the mystery part of the book isn’t too bad the characters leave a lot to be desired. Michaela is bitter, bitchy, and manipulative. Camden and Ethan‘s only function in the story seem to be as whipping boys for Michaela. The police officer is about as realistic as Michaela’s belief that a seven year old horse is too old for the show ring. Two of the characters, who worked for her uncle, are Hawian. They talk like they only recently learned English. Since Hawaii is a state and has a very good school system I found this insulting.
There are at least two more books it this series. If I can get it at the library I might try the second one to see if there is any improvement, but I won’t spend money on it.
The story revolves around Michaela Bancroft, a woman in her early thirties who trains quarter horses and is going through a nasty divorce which is souring her whole life.
When she finds her uncle run through by a pitchfork and very dead her problems begin to multiply. What did her best friend, Ethan, have a fight with her uncle about? Why is her father acting so oddly? How did the wrong semen get shipped to customers who paid a $3500 stud fee? What does the real estate magnet who is dating her good friend and roommate, Camden, have to do with the murder? Who ran her off the road? Why is her soon to be ex-husband suddenly interested in her again?
Although the mystery part of the book isn’t too bad the characters leave a lot to be desired. Michaela is bitter, bitchy, and manipulative. Camden and Ethan‘s only function in the story seem to be as whipping boys for Michaela. The police officer is about as realistic as Michaela’s belief that a seven year old horse is too old for the show ring. Two of the characters, who worked for her uncle, are Hawian. They talk like they only recently learned English. Since Hawaii is a state and has a very good school system I found this insulting.
There are at least two more books it this series. If I can get it at the library I might try the second one to see if there is any improvement, but I won’t spend money on it.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
"The Black Dove" by Steve Hockensmith
“The Black Dove” by Steve Hockensmith is his third book about the adventures of the Amlingmeyer bothers. Like “Holmes on the Range” and On the Wrong Track”, it is as both funny and a good mystery.
It is the summer of 1893 and Gustav and Otto, better known as Old Red and Big Red, are job hunting in San Francisco. The two cowboys turned detective aren’t having a lot of luck finding a job but they have no problem finding trouble.
It starts when they run into Dr. Chan, an acquaintance from their short time working for the Southern Pacific Rail Road (On the Wrong Track). When he is found dead the police say suicide, but Old Red says murder.
Teaming up with Diana Curvus, another (possibly) ex-agent of the Southern Pacific and prevaricator extraordinaire, they set out to find the truth. What follows is a wild romp through China Town and that denizen of vice, the Barbary Coast. Their only clue is the missing “Black Dove”, which everyone is looking for. Their search puts them up against the tongs, a Chinese detective working for the “Six Companies”, and a crooked cop. They pursue and are pursued through back allies, cat houses, opium dens and other healthful places until everything and everyone comes together in a final shocking clash.
I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first two, “Homes on the Range” and “On the Wrong Track”. Although well written and fast paced it is written in the style of the hard boiled detective fiction of the pulp fiction era, which doesn’t quite fit the 1893 background. However, it is still an excellent read and well worth the price of the hardcover edition.
It is the summer of 1893 and Gustav and Otto, better known as Old Red and Big Red, are job hunting in San Francisco. The two cowboys turned detective aren’t having a lot of luck finding a job but they have no problem finding trouble.
It starts when they run into Dr. Chan, an acquaintance from their short time working for the Southern Pacific Rail Road (On the Wrong Track). When he is found dead the police say suicide, but Old Red says murder.
Teaming up with Diana Curvus, another (possibly) ex-agent of the Southern Pacific and prevaricator extraordinaire, they set out to find the truth. What follows is a wild romp through China Town and that denizen of vice, the Barbary Coast. Their only clue is the missing “Black Dove”, which everyone is looking for. Their search puts them up against the tongs, a Chinese detective working for the “Six Companies”, and a crooked cop. They pursue and are pursued through back allies, cat houses, opium dens and other healthful places until everything and everyone comes together in a final shocking clash.
I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first two, “Homes on the Range” and “On the Wrong Track”. Although well written and fast paced it is written in the style of the hard boiled detective fiction of the pulp fiction era, which doesn’t quite fit the 1893 background. However, it is still an excellent read and well worth the price of the hardcover edition.
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