August 2003 Fiction and Mystery Reviews

The Dogs of Babel
by Carolyn Parkhurst

Little, Brown

ISBN# 0-316-16868-8
Suggested Retail Price: $21.95 or as low as $0.09 from Amazon.com!

The first part of this mystery is like beginning another ersatz-philosophical work about love meaning "you never have to say you're sorry." We meet Paul Iverson at the time of his wife's death. Her name was Lexy and she had climbed up a tree and either fallen or jumped to her death. The only witness was her dog, Lorilei. Paul is an expert in linguistics and has been working in the field. Now he decides that if he could teach the dog to talk he would learn the truth about Lexy's death. We are treated to Paul's memories of his marriage. He met Lexy and immediately knew she was special. Their first date was to Walt Disney World and it lasted for a couple of weeks. They never ate a full meal so that the date would not end.

Lexy is an artist who creates beautiful decorative masks. She is also somewhat emotionally unstable, but Paul loves her and tries to help her.

After spending a lyrical time reading about the marriage, we are launched into a horror story about a group who have been mutilating dogs to make them able to talk. What attracts Paul is their claim to actually have a talking dog.

As Paul experiences the terrible cruelty of these people and finally comes to a conclusion about Lexy's death I was are a bit breathless. This was a much more entertaining mystery than I thought it was going to be at first, and certainly worth a read.

Flynn's World
by Gregory Mcdonald

Pantheon

ISBN# 0-375-42236-6
Suggested Retail Price: $23.00 or as low as $1.50 from Amazon.com!

Gregory McDonald, the author of the Fletch series of mysteries takes us along on an adventure of another his engrossing characters, Boston Police Detective Flynn. Flynn is a special case. He has a perfect family where no television is allowed in the house and he has a serious sense of humor. He's smart and easy to like.

This time out, Flynn is faced with a young man who has had his ear nailed to a tree in the cemetery. The young man is his daughter's friend, and they had been meeting in the cemetery at night in the spot where she found him. The boy refuses to say who assaulted him.

At the same time, Flynn is trying to find out who is threatening one of his life-long idols, a teacher at Harvard. The teacher is older and has a wife with mental deterioration problems. Flynn must find out who is trying to ruin the professor's reputation as well as attempting to kill him.

Lots of complications turn up in this fine mystery, and lots very touching problems are solved. Most of the book concerns Flynn and his wonderful sense of humor and lifestyle. You can't possibly help admiring this man. This is a short and sweet mystery with a very satisfactory ending. Well, sort of.

Spiral
by Joseph Geary

Pantheon

ISBN# 0-375-42223-4
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $0.25 from Amazon.com!

This is an exciting and enjoyable mystery that tells the story of a writer's obsession and the complex world of the artist whose biography he is writing. Sometimes it has seemed to the writer that writing the book has taken over his life, and the more he learns the more he must find out. The artist was Frank Spira. The writer is Nick Greer. The artist is dead, and currently some of his devotees are dying and some mysteriously. Greer has discovered that there might be one painting that has not turned up as yet. Nick is in pursuit of this painting and where it might have gone, or if it even still exists.

I would not spoil a minute's reading pleasure for you by saying much more about it. The author writes short chapters and brings the reader right into the story of each place or time. His descriptive powers bring to life each of the characters and every scene. There is not a dull moment or a dull character to meet, and in the end, you'll find yourself breathing heavily and that you've been doing so throughout this absorbing tale.

Keep track of Joseph Geary. We're sure he's got more good mysteries for us coming someday.

The Killing Hour
by Lisa Gardner

Bantam

ISBN# 0-553-80252-6
Suggested Retail Price: $23.95 or as low as $0.01 from Amazon.com!

Following her usual reputation for mysteries that keep the reader gripped in suspense, Lisa Garner brings us a new thriller. This time we meet rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quinn. Being an FBI agent is the career that Kimberly has always aspired to. Now she is on the job and finds herself in the path of a serial killer. The killer has abducted two women each time he attacks. One of them he kills right away, and the second one he kills a while later. He leaves clues on the body of the first victim as to the location of the second. Kimberly discovers one of the bodies while she is still in training at Quantico. In order to follow the case, she must beak rules and fight politics in the FBI's upper echelon. Still she is trying to beat a deadline set by this viscious killer. She wants desparately to trap him. Exciting and well-plotted, as is usual with Lisa Gardener, this is a most satisfying mystery that keeps us in its grip to the very end.

Days of the Dead
by Barbara Hambly

Bantam

ISBN# 0-553-10954-5
Suggested Retail Price: $23.95 or as low as $0.05 from Amazon.com!

If you haven't run into detective Benjamin January as yet, you will want to. He has just married his longtime companion Rose Vitrac. He is also a surgeon, a musician and a free man of color living in New Orleans. The newlyweds take off on their honeymoon to Mexico. Their friend there, Hannibal Sefton, has been accused of murdering the son of a powerful Mexican. The whole trip is difficult and very dangerous at times. They arrive at their friend's house during the Day Of The Dead holidays. Benjamin and his wife must track down the real killer and save their friend.

Benjamin is an unusually brilliant character, and along with his clever wife, we move along with them, back into a time before the Civil War. The hero is interesting and the setting he and his bride find themselves in is refreshingly new territory for this fine mystery.

Tropic of Night
by Michael Gruber

William Morrow

ISBN# 0-06-050954-6
Suggested Retail Price: $24.95 or as low as $0.35 from Amazon.com!

Michael Gruber, a new author, tells us that the book had begun for him with his being bitten by an octopus in Bimini lagoon. That in itself is an interesting tale. He studied to be a marine biologist and fell into the field of ethology. The author explains that the ethnologist's main task is to understand the world of the animal. In this case, an octopus.

Jane Doe is an anthropologist and she is on the run. She has spent years researching shamanism in Africa. Now her sister's murder forces Jane to fake her own suicide and hide in Miami. It's not safe there as well when a series of ritualistic murders begins, and has frightened the citizens. When Jane hears about these murders, she recognizes the black magic that she witnessed during her time in Africa, and that it has returned to haunt her.

The police detective on the case is Jimmy Paz. There are eyewitnesses to the murders, but they can recall almost nothing. The only thing they do remember is that the killer looks like Paz.

There's never a dull moment in Gruber's exciting debut mystery. Don't miss it!

Fluke : Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
by Christopher Moore

William Morrow & Company

ISBN# 0-3809-7841-5
Suggested Retail Price: $23.95 or as low as $2.49 from Amazon.com!

We should thank Christopher Moore for giving us a refreshing and fun novel in "Fluke." The story is filled with information about whales as we join Nate Quinn who is a marine biologist. He is studying the singing of whales. He also hopes to learn why they sing and what their songs mean. Every winter Nate and his friend, Clay Demodocuis, work as partners in the main Whale Research Foundation, spending their days on the water recording and filming the humpbacks who plow the waters of Hawaii.

The characters in this amusing mystery are delightful. There is a pretty girl who has been hired as an assistant and a blond surfer prending to be a Rastifarian who also joins the crew. All eminently likable.

One day while recording and diving, Nate is startled to see some writing on the tail (ie. the "fluke") of a whale. It reads "Bite Me."

If that isn't enough to lure you into this delightful novel, let me assure you that first half of the book is educational as well as fun. The book slips a little in the second half into a tale of fantasy that is beyond the imagination, but very readable and in the end, I was glad I read the whole silly thing. I enjoyed it enormously nevertheless.

A Fistful of Rain
by Greg Rucka

Bantam

ISBN# 0-553-80135-X
Suggested Retail Price: $23.95 or as low as $0.15 from Amazon.com!

Mim Braccas is the lead guitarist of the popular band called Tailhook. She has fame, money, and lots of fans. She also is an alcoholic. The band sends her home where she is trying to forget about her ruined career. She lives alone in a house she loves. Just Mim and her dog. One day she comes home to find that place has been trashed, but the police don't pay a lot attention to her claim. She is sure that someone is watching her every step. She is kidnapped and returned. Her father (and that's another story) is kidnapped and a lot of money is demanded as ransom. The kidnappers are ruthless. Mim gets man-handled a lot, and beaten up several times by a very scary hooded man. The police begin to follow her as she is trying to get the kidnap money together and rescue her dad.

I have to say that the side issue of the lesbian police officer who is attracted to Min is a tad boring. Mim is finding out that this is the kind of lover she wants, but she is drenched in booze and not very attractive.

All's well in the end, but the reader may have trouble feeling sorry for the rock singer who seems to constantly do dumb things that endanger herself and anyone near her.