Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

I think I’ve read a lot of books: hundreds, definitely; thousands, perhaps.  However, I have never (not that I can recall, anyway) read a book with such crazy characters.  And I’m talking about bat poop, where’s the straightjacket, have to pronounce ‘crazy’ with more than two syllables kind of crazy (if you’re not from the south and this seems unclear, that would be craa-aaa-zy).

Nick and Amy are in love.  Or are they?  On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary Amy goes missing, and, as is the case with these types of crimes, Nick is a suspect.  Isn’t it always the husband?  Delivered via alternating points of view, we get to know Nick, Amy, their personalities and their marriage. Flynn masterfully delivers a suspenseful story with intricate details that had me constantly second guessing what I thought was happening.

What’s strange about this book is I liked it in spite of not liking the characters.  Liking at least one character is usually important to me. But in this novel I really could care less about Nick or Amy.  More correctly, they frustrated me to no end and I wanted to toss the book across the room more than once.  I think they are shallow, reactive, manipulative and, well, crazy. I suppose with those things in common, they are the perfect couple.

For me to keep reading when I really didn’t like the characters means there has to be something else there.   So here are what I consider the good points: the plot moves quickly, there is always some new development (even if it is a small detail that really speaks volumes), and Flynn kept me guessing at the end of each chapter about what could be happening next.  This is not the type of mystery a reader figures out after just a few chapters.  Well, let me correct that.  If you’re reading this book and figure it all out after just reading a few chapters, remind me never to cross you because I’m afraid.  Very afraid.

This book had me shaking my head in dismay, dropping my jaw in shock and widening my eyes at the creepiness of it all. Yes, it’s that kind of weird.  But it’s an engrossing weird because I couldn’t put it down.  So if you get your thrills from wacky, crazy, you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me kinds of stories, you need to get your hands on Gone Girl.

The Path of the Wicked by Caro Peacock

Review by Jerelyn H. (I-F-Letty)

Liberty Lane is back but traveling out of London for her next case.  Fed up with Disraeli and the skullduggery which he thrives on, she refuses to be drawn into his new machinations.  To distance herself, Liberty takes a case in the west of England.  A timid magistrate has come to her for help, fearing an innocent man is about to be hung, and at a lost as how to stop this injustice.

For those who have read the Liberty Lane series, this is a worthy addition to the ongoing tale of our Miss Lane.  Ms. Peacock has set this story in the West Country where she resides, and the flavor of the region permeates the story line. Farm labor unrest, the ruling classes getting away with murder, and the working class taking it on the chin as usual.

In the mid 19^th century, justice was not for the poor or the working class, and if you were a poor working class woman, there was no such thing as justice, not under the law nor in society.   Amos Legg and Lizzy are with Liberty on this case, and we get to know a bit more about Amos. Lizzy is as always her curmudgeonly self, a fish out of water in the country but invaluable to Liberty as she struggles to unravel the complicated tale which lead to the murder of an admired governess, and finally to the murderer.

Caro Peacock aka Gillian Linscott’s writing career has been based on the struggles of women, the poor and the working class in the Victorian and Edwardian periods.  She eloquently shows the beginnings of the social revolution in the 19^th century, a revolution that was the only recourse against social injustice first for workers then onto women rights.  Sadly the problems she addresses are as relevant today as they were 140 years ago.

These books are not a preachy socialist, or feminist manifesto, but an entertaining way for us to be reminded that we didn’t always enjoy the freedoms we have now, and if we aren’t very careful we may wake up one day to find those rights so many fought for,  eroded and perhaps gone.

4 Stars!

The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith

Review by Thomas F. (hardtack)

This is book three in a send-off of the great ‘consulting detective.’ However, in this series Holmes and Watson are portrayed by two brothers: Gustav ‘Old Red’ and Otto ‘Big Red’ Amlingmeyer. It is the latter part of the 19^th century and Gustav and Otto were enjoying themselves as real American cowboys, when Otto, who is literate, started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories in Harper’s magazine to his brother Gustav, who isn’t literate. It doesn’t help that Gustav, the more serious of the brothers, believes that Holmes is a real person.

Gustav catches the detecting bug and tries to convince Otto to give up just being a cowboy and start investigating crimes in the first novel—Holmes on the Range. This gets them into one royal mess after another, as Gustav just doesn’t know when to quit when the going gets really tough and dangerous. Fortunately, being an expert on reading trail sign helps Gustav unravel crime clues.

The Black Dove has our two retired cowboys trying to make their few dollars last in San Francisco after losing their jobs as railroad detectives in the  second novel—On the Wrong Track. While Gustav mopes, Otto keeps hoping he will once again meet the lovely, female railroad detective he fell for.  As the saying goes… be careful what you wish for.

While taking a short cut through Chinatown, the brothers see an old friend, a Chinese herbal doctor, they met on a train in the second novel. Imagine their surprise when the first thing the Chinese doctor tries to do is kill Otto. However, it was all a mistake, but this is just the beginning of their third adventure, a trail of bodies and numerous narrow escapes for our heroes.

Solving the mystery in this novel requires the brothers to go places they never imagined in a foreign culture—Chinatown— that bewilders them with its customs. Opium dens, herbal medicine shops, slavery, Tongs, hatchetmen and white racists are among the stumbling blocks the brothers and their female companion must overcome before Gustav finally reasons out the motive for the several crimes they uncover.

As with Watson, Otto is the foil for his brother Gustav. Otto does the narration for their adventures and it helps that he has a well developed sense of humor that his brother lacks. Otto does a marvelous job keeping the story light-hearted with his numerous asides, even in the face of sometimes certain death.

Even if you are not a fan of the numerous non-Arthur Conan Doyle tales of Holmes, by various authors, you should still read this fun series featuring Big Red and Old Red. There are five novels in the series, followed by a collection of short stories explaining how the cowboy brothers got stampeded into the detecting business in the first place.

Holmes on the Range Series

1. Holmes on the Range

2. On the Wrong Track

3. The Black Dove

4. The Crack in the Lens

5. World’s Greatest Slueth