Challenge Complete: Wild Goose Chase

I actually completed  Bruce's Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017 a couple of books ago, but this month has been challenging in a completely different way--I've had the most difficult time keeping up with my reviews and blog postings. But I'm here to announce that I've finished this fun, category-based challenge. I really enjoyed his Title Fight Challenge last year and finding books to fulfill this one proved to be just as enjoyable. I hope he comes up with another nifty category for 2018.

Here are this year's categories and the titles (with reviews) which I read for each one:

1. A book with a word of phrase relating to wildness in the title – any interpretation of the word “wild” is acceptable (eg: The Call of the Wild, Angry Aztecs, Crazy for You; An Untamed State)

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hanson (2/18/17)

2. A book with a species of bird (or the word “bird”) in the title: (eg: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Thorn Birds, Turkey: A Modern History)

The Thursday Turkey Murders by Craig Rice (2/13/17)

 

3. A book with an exotic or far-flung location in the title – fantasy and mythical locations are acceptable (eg: Paradise Lost, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Atlantis Rising)

Battle on Venus by William F. Temple (1/7/17)

4.  A book with an object you might hunt for in the title (eg: Treasure Island, One for the Money, The History of Love, Dreams from my Father, A Monster Calls, All the Answers)

Zadok's Treasure by Margot Arnold (2/22/17)

5. A book with a synonym for chase in the title (or its derivatives: chasing, chased, etc) (eg: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Follow the River, Man’s Search for Meaning, The Night Stalker)

Search for a Scientist by Charles Leonard (2/24/17)

6.  A book with a means of transport in the title (eg: If I Built a Car, Walk Two Moons, The Girl on the Train) 
The Body Missed the Boat by Jack Iams (3/6/17)

7.  A book with an object you might take on a search or hunt in the title (eg: The Golden Compass, The Map to Everywhere, Water for Elephants, Team of Rivals )

Dread & Water by Douglas Clark (3/15/17)

 

 

Dread & Water: Review

Dread & Water (1976) is the seventh entry in Douglas Clark's police procedural series featuring Superintendent George Masters and Inspector Bill Green and their crack team of investigating officers. Each of these novels presents the team with unusual murders and/or circumstances to test their mettle. Death by diabetes, induced food poisoning, timed fires, gaseous arsenic poisoning and more are among the unusual cases Masters and company have tackled in my previous encounters with Clark's work. Clark worked full-time for a pharmaceutical company and he used knowledge gained in his work, both information about drugs themselves and medical conditions in general to inform his fictional crimes.

This case takes the team to the Pottersby Research Centre in Berkshire. Three young nuclear physicists--all from the same research team--have met their deaths while on weekend climbing trips. Each man was climbing what should have been relatively easy terrain for men of their experience, but all seemed to simply slip and fall. The first death was immediately ruled an accident. The second met a more intense scrutiny, but the doctor called in could find nothing suspicious. But when the third man falls and is taken to hospital--just barely hanging on to life, Master's team is sent to investigate what is most certainly going to be a third deadly accident. Their brief is to determine if these are just coincidences or if these accidents have been arranged.  

As they begin questioning scientists at the research facility, reviewing a home movie of one of the expeditions, and examining the equipment, they discover that each man used the same equipment pack--number six. There was also a fourth man (also from the same research team) who barely escaped a similar fall. Used to taking a quick nip of brandy when feeling out of sorts, he resorted to his flask when a bout of dizziness hit him and managed to settle himself enough to set his piton to hold him until the dizzy spell passed. That's too many coincidences for Masters and Green and they set out to hunt a murderer in earnest.

This is another excellent installment in this police procedural series. Clark gives us a good taste of the nitty-gritty of police routine (especially with interviews) without making the routine boring. It's always a pleasure to see Masters or Green interview a somewhat hostile or unconvinced witness and manage to put them in their place and/or maneuver them into revealing more than they planned. And, as I've mentioned before, I always enjoy the camaraderie and rapport of Masters' team. Even though younger member come and go (as they receive well-earned promotions), each new member fits in well without being a cookie-cutter underling just filling in a position. Each character is well-defined and brings something different to the mix. 

My one quibble with this case is that Masters comes upon the solution by accident. When he asks for information on a certain subject from the research librarian, she brings him an additional article just because she thinks it might be useful. Yes, of course that could happen in real life, but when a strong theme in the investigation has been "too many coincidences" it's interesting that "just by coincidence" the librarian brings Masters just the article he needs...which he didn't ask for. 

Beyond this minor point, the novel is highly enjoyable. I haven't tired of the Masters and Green team and it doesn't seem to matter that I'm reading these in an absolutely random manner (using them wherever they fit in the zillion challenges I do). For those who enjoy a good British police procedural and can manage to get their hands on any of the series, these come highly recommended.  ★★★★

[Finished reading 3/15/17--I'm playing catch-up on my reviews.]

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This fulfills the "Rope" category on the Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt card.

The Body Missed the Boat: Review

In 1947, when The Body Missed the Boat  by Jack Iams was published, the story was set in Brazzaville in French Equatorial Africa [now the Republic of the Congo]. It features the employees at the American Consulate in Brazzaville from the titular Body in the person of the American Consul, Warren Mallory, to our narrator Freddy Benson, the American vice-consul; from Jimmy Beach, the American cipher clerk, to Ma'amselle Yvette Armenois, the luscious Gallic secretary who much prefers taking dictation on Freddy's knees to doing so under the eye of the rigid Mallory. Also in the mix are Hilary Judd, a clever and attractive British woman who has worked for the BBC; Phillippa Darrow, professional big game huntress who is missing one large gorilla by the name of Mama Bu-Bu; Larry Brune, the voice of Radio Brazzaville and although American thinks nothing of making the U.S. State Department look like fools; Hilda Weissman, a harrassed German Jewish refugee, & her devoted boyfriend Boris Chor, a hot-headed young zealot; and Dr. Gailbraith, an elderly missionary with an unrepentant heart when it comes to long-simmering grudges.

Warren Mallory was pretty much universally hated and/or despised. He managed to irritate not only his staff, but the British Consul and British subjects in the area as well as the native inhabitants of French Equatorial Africa. Nobody is really dismayed when he winds up poisoned. They're not even really surprised. But they are surprised that his body has been found stuffed in the cage of Phillipa Darrow's beloved gorilla Mama Bu-Bu. If all had gone according the the murderer's plans, the covered cage would have been loaded onto a boat and been far out to sea by the time Mallory's body was discovered. But the best-laid plans so often go awry and Phillipa Darrow comes to Freddy Benson--breathing fire. She's not the least bit upset that she's got a dead Consul on her hands, but she is incensed that someone let her gorilla loose. And what is Freddy going to do about that?! She's not particularly delighted that Freddy seems more interested in his boss's death than her missing primate. 

The French authorities are called in--in the person of Commissaire Anatole Mauclerc, the "Maigret of Africa." And the hunt is on...for a murderer, not a gorilla. Meanwhile, Freddy has reported the death to his superiors and their answer is not to elevate him to Consul, but to send Ethelbert Stone, Consul to Luanda, to serve as Acting Consul until the matter is cleared up. An FBI man by the name of Flannagan is also rushed out from the States to help Mauclerc clear things up. Flannagan is a big help--ill-prepared for the African climate and soon laid out flat by a good ol' blunt object to the head. It begins to look like someone really doesn't want this murder solved. But everyone contributes a clue here and a tidbit there until Larry Brune provides a surprise radio broadcast to help make all things clear.

This is a fun, light-hearted mystery that is very good for an evening's entertainment. Iams is brilliant at dialogue, characterization, and comedy with a light touch. The setting is unusual and so is the crime. The mystery is intriguing and I might have given the book a full four stars, or possibly more, if there had been more fair play in the solution. If there are clues pointing to the particulars of the whys and wherefores, then I completely missed them. But I don't think so. ★★★ and a half.

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This lovely Dell Mapback counts for the "Map/Chart" category on the Golden Vintage Scavenger Hunt card.

Search for a Scientist: Review

Search for a Scientist (1947) by Charles L. Leonard. Leonard was a pseudonym for M. (Mary) V. (Violet) Heberden who was also one of the few women mentioned in mystery critic James Sandoe's oft-reprinted and anthologized personal checklist of favorite hardboiled authors. Heberden's protagonist under the Leonard name is Paul Kerrigan, a private eye who spends a fair amount of work operating as a spy for the government. She was responsible for two other private eyes, Rick Vanner and Desmond Shannon. She was born in England and besides writing was known as a world traveler; office manager and timber importer.*

"Every time you lose a scientist do you have to send me chasing after him?" 

Search for a Scientist is the seventh in the Paul Kilgerrin series. The U.S. Army once again needs his particular brand of tough-guy spying--this time he is in search of a German scientist who has gone hiding in France. Dr. Fanz Neubrunn was one of three German scientists working on nuclear fission during the war. The Americans had managed to smuggle out two of them, but "lost" Neubrunn and it was rumored that he was dead. Now intelligence has suggested that Neubrunn is alive and well and hiding in Marseille. The Americans aren't the only ones after the scientists. Russian agents have been spotted in France as well and now the body of the government man who was on the job has just been pulled out of the Marseille harbor. Colonel Mathewson wants to send Paul in as an unknown.  

Another American agent--hard on the track of a counterfeiting ring passing particularly good fake U.S. bills--goes missing just shortly after making contact with Paul (to let him know what his colleague had shared on progress) and Paul will have to follow a convoluted trail through night-clubs, black marketeering, and a deserted house on the coast before he can find the answer to what has become of the American agent and the German scientist. But he'll have to use all his wits to escape the watery fate of his predecessor. As with all good spies, Paul has an eye for the ladies and makes a conquest or two along the way. 

Kilgerrin is a particularly personable private eye/spy. He has wry sense of humor and, even though he's in a ruthless and rather amoral game, he has some very human moments with those he comes in contact with. He sometimes questions the game he's participating, but never backs down from his commitment to the government. Not a true mystery--it's quite obvious who is behind the counterfeiting and how it connects to Kilgerrin's scientist. It's also fairly obvious who the scientist is once you meet all the characters--but there's plenty of action/adventure and it's definitely worth the read for the scenes where Kilgerrin hooks up with a master burglar for bit of late-night breaking and entering. At the end of the escapade, the expert expresses dismay that Kilgerring will not be staying much longer in France: "A pity. With training, I could make Monsieur into a really first-class professional." Good entertainment. ★★★ and a half.

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This was one novel in a three-in-one Detective Book Club edition. It had no cover photo--so I have used the cover above to claim the "Shadowy Figure" (dead) category on the Golden Vintage Scavenger Hunt card.


*Biographical information courtesy of Kevin Burton Smith posted at The Thrilling Detective Web Site. 

Zadok's Treasure: Review

When Sir Toby Glendower's long-time colleague and friend disappears from his archaeological dig near Jerusalem, Toby is persuaded by Bill Pearson's wife Valerie to travel to Israel and track down the missing archaeologist. He is especially intrigued when he learns that Bill was on the trail of the legendary treasure of Zadok, high priest to Solomon. The historical stakes are high--but the monetary stakes are even higher and there are rumors that a high-rolling collector may have been dogging Bill's heels. Toby is a prominent archaeologist himself and more than capable of following up any clues his friend might have left behind.

Toby convinces his partner in crime-solving, American anthropologist Penny Spring, to join him on his quest. Her job will be to conduct inquiries in Jerusalem and keep tabs on Valerie--who seems more interested in various other men connected to the dig than she does in her husband's fate. When Toby discovers the tortured and mutilated body of his friend hidden a cave far from camp, he also uncovers a cleverly concealed document that, if authentic, may be an even more valuable historic find than any legendary treasure. Penny's researches in Jerusalem mirror Toby's discoveries and she finds that this new artifact may have placed Toby in extreme danger. The normal course of their investigations generally find Penny in danger with Toby snatching her from a villain's clutches just in time. This time, the tables are turned, and it's up to Penny to race against time to save Toby from a murderer who has no problem killing anyone who stands between them and archaeological riches.

Zadok's Treasure (1979) provides the reader with a nearly complete package--high adventure and narrow escapes in the desert, a closed set of suspects, a classic investigation with our two amateur detectives following up clues to discover the culprit, and a dramatic wrap-up scene with Toby confronting the killer from his hospital bed. Arnold does a fair job of producing a fair play mystery although Toby does hold a couple of clues close to his chest in Holmesian fashion. For the most part, however, Arnold gives us an enjoyable academic cozy with well-developed characters--particularly her detectives Toby and Penny. For those of us who are well-acquainted with the pair, it was fun to see Penny riding to the rescue for once. ★★★★


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With the water from a cistern on the cover, this fulfills the "Body of Water" category on the Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt card.

All Challenges Fulfilled: Vintage Mystery Challenge, Mount TBR Challenge, How Many Books, Cruisin' Thru the Cozies, Charity Challenge, Craving for Cozies, A-Z Reading Challenge, Wild Goose Chase, Cloak & Dagger, My Kind of Mystery, Where Are You Reading

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion: Review

The 1927 trial of Ruth Snyder and her lover Judd Gray was a sensational story smack dab in the middle of the Jazz Age--the era of flappers, Prohibition, speakeasies, hot jazz, fast dancing, and fast-talkers. Ruth Snyder was a blue-eyed, blonde coquette who was married to a man she claimed was emotionally cruel to her and her daughter. Judd was a mild-mannered man who taught Sunday School and was (up till then) devoted to his rather plain and unexciting wife. Judd was also a salesman who dealt in ladies unmentionables who met Ruth through a mutual friend. He sold her one corset...for her mother (so she said) and before he knew it he had been swept up into a wild love affair. 

Ruth became determined to be free from her emotionally remote, hyper critical husband and insured his life with a double indemnity policy. She and Judd then murdered her husband--staging a break-in and having her lover leave her tied up for the police to find. These two amateurs did a spectacularly poor job of it and it didn't take the officials long to trace the crime to its source. The newspapers had a field day covering their trial and splashing lurid details of their affair across the front page. It was one of the biggest crimes of the early twentieth century. 

Hansen finds the historical details from the newspaper accounts, notes of the trial, memoirs by both Judd Gray and Ruth Snyder, and several historical books on the trial. He takes these materials and weaves a fictional backstory--fleshing out the disenchantment at home which drove Ruth and Judd into one another's arms and ultimately culminated in murder. He does a good job giving us a well-rounded look at our two lovers--though I was still left with a bit of a puzzle at the end. Why did such a nice guy as Judd allow himself to be maneuvered into a capitol crime? It also would have been nice if Hansen had been able to give the same attention to the victim as he did the lovers. We get a brief view of his sarcastic nature with Ruth--but we don't get a complete picture of him. It's difficult to tell if Ruth has built up the cruelty (to make Judd more willing to do the deed) or if her life really is as unbearable as she says. Having taken the poetic license as far as he did, it would not have been a stretch to give a bit more life to the husband. The other disappointment is that once the arrests have been made and the trial begins the story loses its fictional feel--becoming more of a factual account than fictional peek at how these two might have dealt with their plight.

Save for the final chapters, Hansen provides an interesting fictional account of what might have happened. The Roaring Twenties come alive and, like the period, the story moves at a fast, almost Charleston-type speed. Good solid story-telling. ★★★

[Finished on 2/18/17]

The Thursday Turkey Murders: Review

The Thursday Turkey Murders (1943) is the second in a trio of books by Craig Rice (with help on the third by Ed McBain). These are screwball mysteries starring Rice's photographers with a penchant for landing in the middle of murder, Bingo Riggs and Handsome Kuzak. Bingo and Handsome, late of New York, have decided to head west to seek fortune and fame in Hollywood. Handsome has the added talent of being able to remember everything he has ever read (especially in newspapers) which tends to help the duo get themselves out of more than one jam. 

On their journey west, they get sidetracked in the town of Thursday, Iowa when they accidentally run over a prize turkey. Bingo hops out the car to haggle with the farmer over how much the bird was worth and before you know it, he and Handsome seem to be the proud owners of 500 turkeys with hopes of turning their $1,200 investment into $5,000 with just a few weeks of work. The fact that he and Handsome are city boys who don't know one end of turkey from the other doesn't really bother him. 

But the boys really don't seem to have much time for tending turkeys what with being accused of murdering Gus (the fellow they bought the turkeys from) as well as there being five escaped convicts, a disappearance, a second murder, links to a 15-year-old bank robbery--with the money rumored to be hidden somewhere in Thursday, and a lovely dark-haired beauty who keeps popping in and out when you least expect it. Even though Bingo and Handsome don't know what's going on half the time, they still manage to help the local sheriff round up the bad guy and dig up the missing dough. Which results in the boys coming out about a thousand dollars ahead (even if those turkeys weren't Gus's to sell).

It's quite possible that I just wasn't prepared for Bingo and Handsome's particular brand of screwball this time around. Last February (almost exactly a year ago), I found these two unlikely detectives to be a lot more entertaining in The April Robin Murders. [Yes, I know I'm reading these in reverse order--I take 'em as I can get 'em.] It's also possible that Ed McBain's assistance with the unfinished work made Robin more appealing. Regardless of the reason, I wasn't quite as interested in the shenanigans going on in Thursday. The boys seem to be up to their usual tricks and innocently getting themselves in the middle of crime and murder. The sheriff is a pleasant fellow and makes and interesting foil for our two photographers. It's even clever how the turkeys get worked into everything...but all the turkey feathers in the plot just couldn't tickle my fancy quite enough. ★★ and 1/2. 

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This counts for the "Brunette" category on the Golden Vintage Scavenger Hunt card as well as another entry in Rich's 1943 edition of Crimes of the Century. If you've got a mystery from 1943 to share, come join us!

The Silent Invaders and Battle on Venus: Review

This is an Ace Double book--so dual novels and dual reviews. Each portion has also been published as a stand-alone book, so I am absolutely counting these as separate steps on Mount TBR and separate entries for my challenges.

Up first is Robert Silverberg's 1963 novella, The Silent Invaders. Welcome to 26th Century Earth! It's a hustling, bustling, over-crowded world where aliens can take on human form and get lost in the masses. And they do. Aar Khiilom is just such an alien. Spruced up as Major Abner Harris, this Daruuiian has been sent to Earth to meet up with fellow under-cover aliens and attempt to win Earthlings over to their side of an intergalactic war with the dreaded Medlins. Every Daruuiian knows what evil creatures Medlins are and it's imperative to have every race on the right side of the battle.

Except....is the Daruuiian side really the right side? When Harris (to make things simple) meets up with an undercover Medlin (who just happens to have taken on the form of a beautiful Earth woman), he begins to have his doubts. And what about the race of super-humans that the Medlins have been encouraging along? Are they set to team up with the Medlins to destroy the Daruuiians? Or is this race the hope of the universe?

This is very early Silverberg and a fairly decent story. Once upon a time I read everything I could my hands on by Silverberg. Then there was a long hiatus from science fiction in general and when I took the genre up again, I read his The Masks of Time--which was an absolute dud (click for review). This one is better. I bought the main story this time. The hook is a good one--aliens among us and all that. I do have a bit of an issue with the super-humans, though. They're supposedly so much better than your average, run-of-the-mill humans (or Medlins or Daruuiians). Beyond all that war and greed and whatnot. And yet...they still think in order to deal with their "enemies" that those enemies should be killed. I'm thinking super-advanced humans ought to be able to come up with a better solution than that. ★★★

Battle on Venus (1963) by William F. Temple gives us the first manned mission to Venus. When the crew of the Earth ship break through the thick, poisonous clouds surrounding the planet, they find themselves in the middle of a war that has been going on for years. The war machines are familiar--they look like Earth tanks, planes, and bombs of the past. But the machines are all on auto-pilot. There doesn't seem to be any Venusians running the show.

Their ship is damaged and they need to find a way to repair it before they become real casualties of war. George Starkey (our hero) goes off on an expedition to see if he can find anyone at all who might be in charge, listen to their peaceful pleas, and give them a chance to head back to Earth. What he finds is a beautiful Venusian girl named Mara, an ancient seer who seems to know everything, and a immortal with a nasty sense of humor. Luckily the beautiful Venusian takes a fancy to him and has fantastic thieving abilities which aid him in his cause. But will he be able to stop the war machines long enough get him, Mara, and the rest of the crew off the planet? Or will the immortal practical joker have the last laugh?

This one feels a little more dated than the Silverberg story, probably because we know that humanoid life forms wouldn't be able to survive on the surface of Venus--but it still has a good solid base. George is a good lead character, taking front and center away from the rather weak ship's captain. The most enjoyable portion of the novella is after he sets off on his mission to find those responsible for the war. It also reminds me of a couple of Star Trek episodes: "A Taste of Armageddon" (where two planets have been waging computer war on each other for ceturies) and "The Squire of Gothos" (where an alien child with incredible powers plays deadly games with the Enterprise crew). ★★★

Wild Goose Chase Challenge

Bruce @ The Bookshelf Gargoyle (he of the "Title Fight Reading Challenge of 2016) is offering up another "wild and crazy" reading challenge for 2017. As he says: "If running around like a headless chook trying to find your next read isn’t really your style, then why not try the Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017? This is a category-based challenge and is designed to be fun, frivolous and filled with feathers. Well, maybe not that last one."

For full details and to sign up, click on the link above. Here are the basics:

* The Challenge will run from January 1st to December 31, 2017.

* Challengees must read at least one book from each category (listed below).  Challengees must read a DIFFERENT book for each category – even if your book title might fit a number of categories, it will only count towards a single category.  Challengees are free to choose which category best suits.

Here are the categories and my proposed titles. Will update with actual reads, review links, and dates finished as I go:

1. A book with a word of phrase relating to wildness in the title – any interpretation of the word “wild” is acceptable (eg: The Call of the Wild, Angry Aztecs, Crazy for You; An Untamed State)

A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hanson (2/18/17)

2. A book with a species of bird (or the word “bird”) in the title: (eg: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Thorn Birds, Turkey: A Modern History)

The Thursday Turkey Murders by Craig Rice (2/13/17)

 

3. A book with an exotic or far-flung location in the title – fantasy and mythical locations are acceptable (eg: Paradise Lost, The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Atlantis Rising)

Battle on Venus by William F. Temple (1/7/17)

4.  A book with an object you might hunt for in the title (eg: Treasure Island, One for the Money, The History of Love, Dreams from my Father, A Monster Calls, All the Answers)

Zadok's Treasure by Margot Arnold (2/22/17)

5. A book with a synonym for chase in the title (or its derivatives: chasing, chased, etc) (eg: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Follow the River, Man’s Search for Meaning, The Night Stalker)

Search for a Scientist by Charles Leonard (2/24/17)

6.  A book with a means of transport in the title (eg: If I Built a Car, Walk Two Moons, The Girl on the Train) 
The Body Missed the Boat by Jack Iams (3/6/17)

7.  A book with an object you might take on a search or hunt in the title (eg: The Golden Compass, The Map to Everywhere, Water for Elephants, Team of Rivals )

Dread & Water by Douglas Clark (3/15/17)