Tag: mystery

24 hours

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Iles, Greg. 24 Hours. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000.

A kidnapping mystery set in Mississippi…sort of an odd read for the holiday season, but December is the month Mississippi became a state.
Here’s the storyline: Basically, this guy, Joe, has set up the perfect kidnapping scheme. He targets a doctor who has a spouse and child, learns all he can about the doctor’s family and then while the doc is at an annual convention he kidnaps his/her child. His cousin (a hulking man with the IQ of a chipmunk) holds the child in a remote location while his “wife” entertains the male parent and Joe entertains the female parent for 24 hours. They call each other every 30 minutes and if a call is missed Cousin Chipmunk kills the kid. In the AM one parent wires the ransom to the other parent so the kidnapper doesn’t have any connection to the withdrawal. The money is always an amount the doctor can afford and the kidnapping always works because the child is worth more than getting the money back or calling the police. The detail that makes the whole thing work are the every 30 minutes phone calls. Everything hinges on those calls and the convention – because the convention is the guarantee the doctor will be separated from the rest of the family for at least 24 hours.
Despite the brilliant plot I have two problems with detail. In the beginning both parents are told their family has been scrutinized and studied in great detail. The kidnappers claim to know everything about the family. If that is true then why did they not know their latest kidnapping victim was diabetic? If they knew everything how did they miss such a large piece of a child’s life? The second problem with detail is on page 164 – one of the kidnappers says “You have to chill, Will!” and is delighted by the rhyme of the doctor’s name, yet two pages later Iles writes, “Why don’t you at least face the truth about something, Will.” It was the first time she [the kidnapper] had used his Christian name” (p 166). No, actually it wasn’t. She told Will to chill two pages earlier. Ugh.
All in all, this moved fast and was a constant page turner. Every time I had to put it down I was at “the good part” and hated to stop reading. The end is a little over-the-top dramatic and there are loose ends, but well worth the read.

BookLust Twist: In More Book Lust in the “Southern Fried Fiction (Mississippi)” chapter (p 208).

Above Suspicion

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Above SuspicionMacInnes, Helen. Above Suspicion. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, Inc., 1969.

This book smells of stale cigarette smoke when it got to me, like it had been hanging out in a 1980’s bar until closing time. The library issued plastic cover is falling off, the tape is yellowing, too. This is not a book that feels good to hold and that really matters to me. I don’t know how many other readers feel this way, but a book has to look a certain way, feel a certain way… in addition to read a certain way.
Nevertheless, the story was intriguing. It’s the story of a young couple recruited to check out a chain of spies (suspected nazi sympathizers) during World War II. The plan is elaborate and dashing. As the story picked up pace I could barely turn the pages fast enough to keep up with my growing interest. Here are some of my favorite quotes (as usual):

“The party in Frame’s rooms had just reached the right temperature when Frances and Richard Myles arrived” (p 17).

“It was strange how her mind, as well as her stomach, rebelled when the choice was sausage or sausage or sausage” (p. 86).

“At first, Richard would only take her on a short ten-mile walk” (p.111). Yikes! I’m lucky if I get in five miles a day!

One of the things I loved about this novel was the interaction between Frances and Richard as man and wife (only married four years). They took cues from each other, nonverbal signs, and acted accordingly. Their intimate knowledge of one another bordered on parapsychology.

BookLust Twist: Nancy Pearl has some great things to say about Above Suspicion in her second Book Lust book, More Book Lust. She calls it “pure fun” something she “rereads regularly” (p 162). For a person who reads a lot that’s a pretty big compliment.

A is for Alibi

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Grafton, Sue. A is for Alibi. New York: Henry Holt & Co., Inc. 1982.

My mother-in-law was surprised to see me reading a Sue Grafton mystery. Mysteries have never been my thing. I don’t think she was convinced even when I explained that it was a Book Lust recommendation. I kept saying things like “I have to…” and “it’s on my list…” and still I got the skeptical stare. I’ve decided to loan her my “lists” in other words, my Lust books because I also have to read the F & Q books from Grafton.

I was struck by how much I have in common with Kinsey Millhone, Grafton’s main character. She dedicates Sundays to herself. I used to dedicate Friday with the same to do list: “laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping. I even shaved my legs to show that I still had some class.” (p82) Kinsey runs even though she’s not good at it. She has conversations with her body when she runs. Me, too – although I could call mine arguments and not conversations. She’s big on breakfast. She drives fast. She even feels the same way I do about dogs if not plants. “I don’t know a lot about houseplants, but when all the green things turn brown, I’d take that as a hint.” (p. 33) Me, I’m a plant person. I may kill one or two along the way but if one dies I consider it suicide, taking one for the team.

Seriously, similarities aside I liked Sue Grafton’s first “alphabet” mystery. Kinsey is cool, as she should be. The mystery she was trying to solve had all the important gun on the table elements: murders, clues, infidelities, suspicions, low lifes, and more sex. My only disappointment? I had the culprit picked out before the end. Why? He was too good to be true.

BookLust Twist: Pearl has a huge mystery list in Book Lust. A is for Alibi comes from the chapter called, I Love a Mystery” (p 117).

An Unofficial Rose

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Murdoch, Iris. An Unofficial Rose. New York: Viking Press, 1962.

I read this book in practically one night. I have mixed feelings about Murdoch’s Unofficial Rose. For starters, I never felt like I got to know the characters well enough to care about what happened to them. To be honest I was disgusted by them, all of them. The relationships could be broken at a whim. Marriages meant nothing. It reminded me of a throw of the dice. Partnerships came and went, were formed and were broken again. Nothing was permanent or sacred.
The thing I liked the most was the suspense. No one knew who was really being honest with anyone else. I didn’t know where anyone’s true heart was laid. Okay – here’s a spoiler: son wants to run off with his young mistress. He demands money from his father in the form of the sale of a beloved painting just so he can run away with said mistress. Father sells painting, even though it was his prized possession (and the very item he thinks he married his wife for). Son’s wife has a chance at divorce and a new relationship with someone who might love her and she admits loving back. She declines just in case cheating hubby changes his mind and comes back to her. I was irritated with her but I did not know the character enough to care.

Booklust Twist: Nancy Pearl recommends anything and everything by Iris Murdoch (Book Lust, p.162).