Category: Books & Novels

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Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

CLAIRE MALLOY: DEADER HOME & GARDENS

Written by Joan Hess

SUMMARY:

Released in 2012 by St. Martin’s Press, the 291-page Deader Home & Gardens presents Joan Hess’ eighteenth entry in her “Claire Malloy” murder-mystery series.  After returning from their Egyptian honeymoon in Mummy Dearest, newlyweds Claire Malloy and Farberville’s Deputy Police Chief, Pete Rosen, are now actively house-hunting.  Per Claire’s first-person perspective, increasingly tight quarters inside their cramped duplex while raising a self-involved teenage daughter, Caron, means finding the home of her dreams far sooner than later. 

Discovering her ideal mini-mansion in secluded Hollow Valley, Claire is perturbed that her realtor, Angela Delmond, inexplicably vanishes during their walkthrough tour.  Mirroring what Angela had said, the home Claire so badly desires isn’t exactly what it seems, given her odd potential neighbors.  In addition to a missing realtor, Claire’s amateur sleuthing determines other ominous incidents are linked to this same home. What’s even more unnerving is its connection to the odd descendants of the neighborhood’s namesake family and their prosperous tree farm.

Several months before, the home’s prior owner, Winston Hollow, had perished in an apparent fishing mishap.  Once contacted by Claire, Winston’s boyfriend and heir, Terry Kennedy, arrives from Key West to discuss the house’s potential sale with her.  Yet, Terry soon becomes another fatality.  Claire suspiciously realizes he probably won’t be the last to fall, either, as someone is willing to kill to preserve family secrets. 

With a horde of conniving Hollow relatives stonewalling her, Claire must ferret a foul scent emanating somewhere in  Hollow Valley’s quaint countryside.  No matter where the sordid truth leads Claire, she reckons there is at least one homicidal maniac waiting for her.

Note: This title is also available in paperback and digital formats.

REVIEW:

For Joan Hess fans, this routine “Claire Malloy” whodunnit isn’t likely to disappoint anyone.  Unlike Claire’s ultra-clichéd Southern in-laws depicted in Death by the Light of the Moon, Hess wisely grounds the Hollow clan’s shades of zaniness to a slightly more grounded ‘it-only-happens-in-fiction’ level.  Bolstered by the protagonist’s down-to-earth spunk and congenial humor, Deader Homes & Gardens makes for a delightfully satisfying read. 

Though it isn’t a must-have, Claire Malloy’s latest caper makes a fine cozy mystery option at the library.     

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The author dedicates Deader Home & Gardens to her young grandchildren.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                       6 Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense

EMMA DJAN INVESTIGATION # 3: LAST SEEN IN LAPAZ

Written by Kwei Quartey

SUMMARY:

In 2023, Soho Press, Inc. released the third Emma Djan mystery: the 342-page Last Seen in Lapaz.  Working full-time at Sowah Private Investigators Agency in Ghana, twenty-something Emma Djan is presently navigating perceived strife between her boyfriend, Courage (a police SWAT team member), and her visiting/semi-meddling mother.  Emma is also embracing some adult growth, as far as resisting how religion and her mother dictate choices in her personal life. 

At the behest of her boss, Emma and colleague Jojo are assigned to search for a missing college student, who is the daughter of his influential old friend from Nigeria.  Initially, it is unknown if 18-year-old Ngozi Ojukwu willingly participated in her disappearance from the Ojukwu family home.  Through Courage’s tip, Emma finds out that Ngozi’s sleazy boyfriend, Femi, has been found brutally murdered at a local high-end brothel dubbed ‘The White House.’

Co-mingling their investigations, Emma and the police’s Detective Inspector Boateng team up to probe potential suspects.  With Femi’s cell phone missing, it likely contains crucial evidence as to Ngozi’s fate.  Before Emma goes undercover into a Ghanaian sex trafficking ring, flashbacks reveal how pivotal players (including Femi, Ngozi, and others) ultimately converged in this murder-mystery. 

Desperately saving one witness from a sexual predator, Emma finds that this repellant case involves international human trafficking extending from Africa to Europe. As revealed in flashbacks, the ruse pertains to a ‘travel agency’ offering migrants safe transportation and supposed freedom in starting new lives far away from African poverty.   

Trying to save Ngozi and, by extension, resolve Femi’s chilling homicide becomes Emma’s dual focus.  Conflicting shades of gray emerge amongst Femi’s inner circle, as the case’s true monsters begin revealing themselves. 

REVIEW:

Kwei Quarety’s Last Seen in Lapaz is a bleak literary paradox: a very likable protagonist treads into Africa’s ugly subculture of prostitution and human trafficking to save two innocent lives.  As Quartey’s note acknowledges, the plot’s degradation of human beings makes some sequences sickening. 

The author, at least, keeps most of the grisliest violence ‘off-screen,’ so to speak.  Wincing at the nasty aftermath he depicts, however, becomes a given.  To his credit, Quartey isn’t exploiting icky subject matter; rather, he is drawing his audience to its harsh realities via Emma’s storyline. 

As for Quartey’s cast, they present an intriguing pendulum.  On one side is a personable Emma Djan and her trustworthy allies.  Her family and friends, hence, are all very conventional for the detective genre, with only Emma’s personality being explored among them. 

Yet, the other side consisting of roguish ex-convict Femi, Ngozi, and a horde of illicit associates is loaded with depth.  Primarily through flashbacks, readers will witness how seemingly innocent pawns corrupted by greed, power, and lust may invariably become vipers double-crossing one another with a vengeance. 

With few exceptions, Last Seen at Lapaz’s villains convey realistic personality flaws vs. serving as genre caricatures.  Quartey’s impressive writing talent is apparent when Femi’s sordid employers finally express compassion, let alone a shocked conscience.  It makes their horrified reaction in a late scene seem plausible.  The same applies to the self-involved Femi and how his complicated personality infects others, like Ngozi.  More so, flashbacks depict Femi as caring and seemingly benevolent while his flashy present-day incarnation is shallow and often despicable towards others. 

Along with the protagonist’s appeal, the other best asset of Last Seen at Lapaz are richly-constructed guest characters supplying the plot’s mystery, along with some unpredictable twists.  Though not as slickly-produced as Veronica Mars, this novel should make one want to read more of Emma Djan’s casework – preferably in a less repulsive whodunnit. 

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Quartey provides the following (in chronological order):

  1. A map displaying West African migratory routes into Europe through Niger and Libya;
  2. His author’s note readily warns readers that scenes in this fictional story are bleak.  Quartey states that sequences are based on accounts from West African migrants and sex workers in Nigeria, Niger, and Ghana.
  3. The cast of characters alphabetized by first name;
  4. A glossary for translating Ghanaian terminology/slang used by the characters;
  5. A second glossary for Nigerian Pidgin (slang) terminology; and
  6. The book concludes with the author’s acknowledgements and gratitude.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:              7½ Stars

Categories
Digital Movies & TV International/Foreign-Language Films Movies & Television (Videos) Mystery & Suspense Online Videos Sherlock Holmes-Related

THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

SUMMARY:                RUNNING TIME: 2 Hrs., 5 Min.

Released in 1970, through United Artists (later MGM), director/producer Billy Wilder, with collaborator I.A.L. Diamond, also co-wrote the period mystery, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. 

In the present-day, two London bank employees fulfill the late Dr. John H. Watson’s written instructions retrieving a locked strongbox from its vault fifty years after his death.  Amongst his treasured mementos examined are several props relevant to the film’s storyline, along with Watson’s handwritten account of a case he has long suppressed.  That is where the flashback begins.

Shifting to April 1887, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson return home to 221B Baker Street after resolving a homicide in Yorkshire. Quickly bored, a restless Holmes begrudgingly agree to accompany Watson to a ballet performance of Swan Lake.  Invited backstage, Holmes is propositioned by a Russian ballerina’s handler to become an illustrious sperm donor. Much to Watson’s shock and horror, Holmes tactfully concocts a phony excuse declining the proposed trade for an exquisite Stradivarius violin. 

Barely escaping a watery grave, an amnesiac Belgian wife, Gabrielle Valladon, is subsequently brought to their notice.  Her enigmatic plight compels Holmes and Watson to search for her missing husband.  Despite Mycroft Holmes’ insistence that his brother drop the matter, Sherlock’s determined curiosity fatefully leads him, along with Watson and effervescent Gabrielle, to Inverness, Scotland. 

As the case approaches its potentially heartbreaking end, romance, shadowy espionage, and even the Loch Ness Monster await the legendary British sleuth. 

Sherlock Holmes: Robert Stephens

Dr. John H. Watson/Narrator: Colin Blakely

Gabrielle Valladon / Ilse von Hoffmanstal: Geneviève Page

Mycroft Holmes: Christopher Lee

Mrs. Hudson: Irene Handl

Rogozhin: Clive Revill

Madame Petrova: Tamara Toumanova

Woman in Wheelchair: Catherine Lacey

Scottish Gravedigger: Stanley Holloway

Scottish Guide: James Copeland

Queen Victoria: Mollie Maureen

Von Tirpitz: Peter Madden

Cabbie: Michael Balfour

First Carter: John Garrie

Second Carter: Godfrey James

Hotel Manager: Robert Cawdron

Baggage Handler: Alex McCrindle

Scientists: John Scott Martin & Martin Carroll

Monk: Paul Hansard

Other Monks: Uncredited

Other Scientists: Uncredited

Other Gravediggers: Uncredited

Submersible Crew: Uncredited

20th Century Bank Employees: Uncredited

Emille Valladon: Uncredited

Additional Spies: Uncredited

Notes: The theatrical release is severely truncated from Wilder’s far more episodic, 200-minute initial cut.  Among the deleted segments left incomplete, and in some instances, completely lost, are: a present-day prologue, with Colin Blakely playing Watson’s descendant; the Yorkshire case (which is instead mentioned); the entire “Curious Case of the Upside Down Room,” where a bizarre homicide involves furniture literally up on the ceiling; the entire “Adventure of the Dumbfounded Detective,” which is a flashback spelling out Holmes’ sexuality (or perhaps lack thereof); a comedic cruise ship interlude entitled “The Dreadful Business of the Naked Honeymooners;” and two alternate epilogues – one of which references Jack the Ripper.  Predictably, the studio insisted upon a streamlined running time to maximize movie screenings per day. 

In 2016, the 30-foot Loch Ness Monster model lost underwater nearly a half-century before during on-location filming was finally located.  

REVIEW:

Utilizing Panavision cinematography, Billy Wilder devises a gorgeous-looking Sherlock Holmes adventure that echoes the Hollywood epics of the 1930’s through the early 1960’s.  More so, this production’s sets were evidently built either to or even beyond actual scale – think of it as the set designer fabricating an entire house when only a room would have been sufficient. 

Such elaboration also meant necessary decorations and props being more extensive than most other period films.  Taking closer looks at the construction overkill for 221B Baker Street and Mycroft’s swanky Diogenes Club will bear this observation out.  Between these enormous sets and authentic location shooting in Scotland, Wilder consequently produced the most expansive Sherlock Holmes project up to that time.

As much as Wilder’s 200-minute version would be fascinating viewing (in practicality, a TV mini-series would have made more sense), his two-hour incarnation doesn’t overstay its welcome.  Wilder’s storyline briskly blends mystery, light-hearted suspense, semi-risqué humor, historical spy games, the Loch Ness Monster, and timeless poignancy into a cinematic adult cocktail.  The best asset of which fulfilling Wilder’s vivid aspirations can be found in his casting.    

Despite the impossible task of surpassing Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the chemistry emanating between Robert Stephens and Colin Blakely is highly underrated – that is, given a century of competition from other productions.  Stephens (primarily a stage performer) is an inspired choice for a semi-effeminate Holmes.  Even more impressive is a hilarious Blakely (especially at the ballet) making a convincing case that he is the next-best blustery Watson after Nigel Bruce. 

Completing this trio is a wonderful contribution from French actress Geneviève Page, who projects a surprisingly complex successor to Irene Adler.  Adding welcome support are Irene Handl as the long-suffering ‘Mrs. Hudson,’ and Clive Revill’s amusing rendition of the ballerina’s handler, ‘Rogozhin.’ 

Yet, hiding in plain sight amongst a roster of non-descript British character actors is a near-unrecognizable Christopher Lee.  Unmistakably, he is spot-on in a pivotal turn as the condescending ‘Mycroft Holmes.’  Given he himself has portrayed Holmes multiple times, Lee lends further credibility to Wilder’s unique depiction of Conan Doyle’s mythology. 

‘Originality’ is perhaps the operative description of Wilder’s take on Sherlock Holmes.  Rejecting Hollywood’s decades of either loosely adapting Conan Doyle’s stories with mixed results or blandly conjuring up new Holmes escapades, Wilder strives for a classy middle ground celebrating fiction’s greatest detective.  Admirably, such creative effort is worth it as far as faithfully presenting Conan Doyle’s ensemble within a fresh big-screen mystery worthy of vintage Hollywood. 

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, in that sense, is not meant as either gothic mystery or a period spoof of Conan Doyle.  Ultimately, Private Life is a Sherlock Holmes caper that even non-fans can appreciate as first-class entertainment.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                        8½ Stars

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Categories
Animals & Nature Books & Novels General Non-Fiction Reference & Science

CATS IN THEIR GARDENS

Written by Page Dickey

SUMMARY:

The New York publishing firm of Stewart, Tabori, & Chang released this 96-page hardcover in 2002.  The author herself is a gardening design writer for magazines, such as House Beautiful, Victoria, and House & Garden. 

First revealing imagery from her own backyard, writer/photographer and gardening enthusiast Page Dickey introduces two of her ‘assistants,’ tuxedo cat Felix and Cleo the calico.  Dickey subsequently explores other private home gardens, with their resident felines appearing as models.  The book’s U.S. locales consist of New York, Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Connecticut, along with an overseas trek to the English countryside. 

There are also photographic interludes depicting supplemental montages of cats enjoying their gardens, among them are extra glimpses of Felix and Cleo.  

REVIEW:

Given the book’s apt title, it is a welcome love letter from the author to cats and their pet humans sharing a passion for gardens. Page Dickey’s descriptive text nicely mirrors her photography, in terms of style and elegance.  While one might have preferred a more impressive page count, Dickey ensures that readers will get their money’s worth. 

For fans of the subject, Cats in Their Gardens is an ideal addition to the bookshelf or coffee table.     

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The author includes a table of contents followed by her introduction.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                      9 Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Children's Books DC Comics DC-Related

DC COMICS BACKSTORIES: BATMAN – GOTHAM CITY’S GUARDIAN

Written by Matthew K. Manning & Illustrated by Steven Gordon

SUMMARY:

Released in 2016 through Scholastic, Inc., this 128-page DC Comics Backstories paperback explores the New 52’s Batman.  After a short foreword from the Dark Knight himself, a cast of characters section introduces of Batman’s inner circle and his most well-known villains.  Starting with Bruce Wayne’s tragic childhood, Batman’s origin is revealed, along with details of his weaponry/vehicles/Batcave. 

Subsequent chapters discuss his current rosters of villains and notable Bat-allies (including Batgirl and multiple Robins), and the New 52’s Justice League. Also included in black-and-white are original artwork, sketches, and assorted vehicle blueprints.

Note: The New 52’s Wonder Woman has her own DC Comics Backstories book.

REVIEW:

Well-written for his target audience, writer Matthew K. Manning’s text delivers everything necessary for a good read.  Specifically, by avoiding detailed storylines and omitting grisly details, Manning still provides an accurate overview of Gotham’s Dark Knight and his supporting cast.  While Steve Gordon’s sketch-like illustrations may vary (i.e. one portrait of the Joker is superb while a Two-Face pose is amateurish by comparison), the above-average visuals are frankly a bonus for Manning’s terrific narrative. 

For the elementary school (and early middle school) crowd, DC Comics Backstories – Batman: Gotham City’s Guardian should delight young Bat-fans.  

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The four-page “Fast Facts” adds supplemental trivia to Batman’s chronology.  A glossary and a single-page appendix then conclude the book.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                 7½ Stars

Categories
Digital Movies & TV Movies & Television (Videos) Mystery & Suspense Online Videos

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A STUDY IN SCARLET (1933 Film)

SUMMARY:               RUNNING TIME: 1 Hr., 12 Min.

Released in 1933, this black-and-white Sherlock Holmes murder-mystery lifts its title from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 original Holmes novel.  Hence, the plot is officially credited as being only “suggested” by Doyle’s work, but the story is otherwise an original creation.  Directed by Edwin L. Marin, this film was made in California as a KBS Production.

Set in the present-day, a corpse is discovered aboard a train at London’s Victoria Station.  Yet, this supposed suicide victim is the only latest homicide befalling an enigmatic clique linked to China known as ‘The Scarlet Ring.’  With another victim’s daughter, young Eileen Forrester (Clyde), reluctantly joining the ‘Ring,’ she finds that her father’s attorney, Thaddeus Merrydew (Dinehart), is its unscrupulous and ever-evasive mastermind. 

Sensing that a crime cartel’s members are being systematically eliminated, Sherlock Holmes (Owen) pursues leads pertaining to Merrydew’s other suspicious clients.  Among them is the sultry and recently widowed Mrs. Pyke (Wong).  Each of the Ring’s dead pawns is revealed to possess a written note ominously reciting a familiar nursery rhyme counting down ten doomed ‘children.’ 

Pursuing a shadowy serial killer, Holmes knows an innocent woman’s life is at stake, as is a sizable inheritance.  It’s up to Holmes and Scotland Yard’s Inspector Lestrade (Dinehart) to thwart a murderous conspiracy banking on greed. 

Sherlock Holmes: Reginald Owen

Dr. John H. Watson: Warburton Gamble

Thaddeus Merrydew: Allan Dinehart (aka Alan Dinehart)

Mrs. Pyke: Anna May Wong

Eileen Forrester: June Clyde

John Stanford: John Warburton

Inspector Lestrade (misspelled as ‘Lastrade’): Allan Mowbray

Jobez Wilson: J.M. Kerrigan

Mrs. Hudson: Tempe Pigott

Will Swallow: Billy Bevan

Mrs. Murphy: Doris Lloyd

Daffy Dolly: Leila Bennett

Dearing: Halliwell Hobbs

Capt. Pyke: Wyndham Standing

Ah Yet: Tetsu Komai

Merrydew’s Butler: Olaf Hytten

Thompson: Hobart Cavanaugh

Baker: Cecil Reynolds

James Murphy: Uncredited

Train Housekeeper # 1: Uncredited

Train Housekeeper # 2: Uncredited

Partridge (Train Steward): Uncredited

Rumfeld (Train Maintenance Worker): Uncredited

Lestrade’s Plainclothes Cops: Uncredited

Notes: Owen is among the few actors to have portrayed both Holmes and Dr. Watson on film.  Hobbs and Mowbray (though separately) later appeared in the Sherlock Holmes film series co-starring Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce.  Late in this film is an extraordinary gaffe: a newspaper advertisement’s close-up depicts Holmes’ address as “221A Baker Street” rather than Doyle’s “221b Baker Street.”  An actor subsequently verbalizes the same mistake in dialogue.

REVIEW:

One should first keep in mind the film’s historical relevancy among Hollywood’s earliest (and best-known) surviving adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, no matter how faithful it isn’t to Conan Doyle.  Interestingly, this film’s smoke-and-mirrors twists predate the film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes: The House of Fear by twelve years. 

Perhaps less surprising is that both these 1945 films easily surpass Reginald Owen’s Sherlock Holmes whodunnit.  Despite its neat premise (one that Owen himself wrote the dialogue), the script’s execution is exceedingly bland.  Trying to instead visualize Rathbone’s Holmes and Nigel Bruce’s Watson might help somewhat relieve the tedium.

It is also ironic how Anna May Wong’s intriguing femme fatale in limited screen time is far more watchable than observing Owen and Warburton Gamble tread their ultra-wooden paces as Holmes & Watson.

1933’s A Study in Scarlet, if anything, is worthwhile just to see a Golden Age star like Wong on screen.  Getting a decent resolution to this storyline’s mystery is something of a bonus, too.  Otherwise, The House of Fear and the original And Then There Were None are recommended as more satisfying viewing options.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                     4 Stars

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Categories
Animals & Nature Books & Novels Humor (Books) Sports (Books)

A FINE AND PLEASANT MISERY

Written by Patrick F. McManus. Cover Illustration by Bob Jones.

SUMMARY:

Released by Owl Books (an imprint of Holt, Rinehart & Winston) in 1981, this 209-page paperback is a reprint of the publisher’s original 1978 hardcover edition.  Taken from Field & Stream Magazine, the gamut of these Patrick “Pat” McManus” short stories first appeared from 1968 through 1978. 

Bouncing back and forth between his post-World War II youth growing up in Northern Idaho and his present-day experiences, McManus shares his Pacific Northwest anecdotes about:

  • Camping, fishing, and hunting, now and way back then;
  • Proper methods for panicking in the great outdoors;
  • How to get yourself lost on a hunting trip with your buddies;
  • His less-than-prototypical family dog, Stranger, growing up; 
  • Dubious life lessons taken from his crochety pre-teen mentor and local mountain man, Rancid Crabtree;
  • A wild rafting trip with his old crony, Retch;
  • His youthful ‘Big Safari’ capers (aka camping overnight in the backyard), and later his teenage ‘Big Trip,’ where a week’s cross-country hiking trip with a friend becomes a full-blown survival course; 
  • Ever in search of cheap and practical camping gear, the ‘treasures’ McManus finds at his local army surplus store;
  • A makeshift bicycle (“death on two wheels”) from the author’s childhood;
  • Taking one’s family to explore a national park;
  • Perpetually feuding with cows for his favorite fishing hole;
  • and several other related tales.  

McManus views outdoor misadventure as not only a hobby, but as a lifelong passion – no matter how much reality gets in the way.

REVIEW:

For outdoor die-hards and fans of TV parodies like The Red Green Show, the guy humor McManus exudes is timeless.  The kicker is this book’s surprising appeal to non-outdoor enthusiasts.  Given some patience, skeptics will likely find themselves chuckling as McManus repetitively treads topics like youthful fantasies gone awry, repercussions of childhood poverty, ornery relatives and neighbors, wacky friends, or the local scam artist posing as a reputable retail businessman.  Embellishments are a given, but McManus knows exactly how to land an anecdote’s punchline.

If anything, this collection of McManus musings offers some welcome fresh air for anyone justifiably exasperated with the tech-savvy 21st Century.  This kid-friendly title may also be an ideal alternative for today’s generation to tune out television and the internet long enough to give his book a fair chance.  Getting back to some hilarious aspects of down-to-earth nature makes A Fine and Pleasant Misery well worth discovery, if not re-discovery.  

Note: No matter his emphasis on the supposed glories (let alone the necessities) of fishing and hunting, McManus doesn’t depict grisly details. On second thought … one tale does mention his wife’s horror upon unexpectedly finding one of his ‘catches’ stuffed in his hunting jacket. 

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

McManus briefly offers his acknowledgements.  Jack Samson, then-Editor of Field & Stream, presents a six-page introduction offering insight re: why this assortment of McManus stories was compiled as a book.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:           7½ Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Children's Books DC-Related

BATMAN: SUPER-VILLAINS STRIKE (A CHOOSE-YOUR-FATE ADVENTURE BOOK)

Written by Michael Teitelbaum. Cover Art by Ron Zalme.

SUMMARY:

In 2012, DC Comics and Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (through its Starscape imprint) released this 144-page Bat-caper for elementary school students.  With black-and-white illustrations echoing the fourth season of Batman: The Animated Series, Gotham City’s Dark Knight takes on a solo mission pursuing four escaped villains from Arkham Asylum: Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler. 

Aside from deducing the shadowy mastermind behind this jailbreak, Batman may find himself outnumbered by his elusive foes.  Helped by solving enigmatic puzzles, readers make the risky decisions as to what Batman should do next.  With one ideal ending in sight, readers must tread cautiously to avoid leading the Dark Knight to failure, if not imminent doom.   

REVIEW:

Author Michael Teitelbaum devises a fun storyline where young readers can fairly navigate the plot twists.  Unlike most other titles in the choose-your-own-story genre, only a single path leads to victory.  More specifically, the option of at least partial success (i.e., capturing one villain) isn’t available.  Teitelbaum, in that sense, applies plausible realism to Batman’s mortality, so some younger readers might become frustrated thinking victory ought to be easier.  Still, this storyline’s simplistic entertainment value holds up relatively well.

Batman: Super-Villains Strike isn’t a remarkable find, but its target audience won’t likely be disappointed.    

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The first page is an introduction for readers new to the choose-your-own-adventure concept.  Included throughout the story are a series of word searches, word scrambles, mazes, and hidden/coded messages.  At the back of the book is the answer key, which includes an exact reading path to nab all four Bat-villains.    

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    5½ Stars

Categories
Books & Novels Mystery & Suspense Sherlock Holmes-Related

THE DAUGHTER OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (BOOK # 1)

Written by Leonard Goldberg

SUMMARY:

Minotaur Books released this 305-page paperback in 2017.  Set in early spring of 1914, Dr.  John H. Watson, Jr. (both a medical school assistant professor and an expert pathologist) acknowledges that, with Sherlock Holmes’ passing, he now resides with his widowed father at 221b Baker Street. 

Pressed into service by a grieving sister, a revitalized Dr. Watson, Sr. and his son probe whether or not the aristocratic Charles Harrelston rashly committed suicide by plunging out a third-story window … or was he actually thrown from the roof to his death?  Their primary eyewitnesses are young widow (and ex-nurse), Joanna Blalock, and her precocious son, Johnnie.

Recruiting Joanna’s cooperation as a third sleuth, Watson, Sr. confides in his son the incredible secret of their new ally’s incredible deductive powers.  With the help of a second-generation Inspector Lestrade and a hound worthy of the name, ‘Toby’ the trio finds that Harrelston’s ill-fated gambling party with Dr. Christopher Moran is the first ugly tragedy befalling a quartet of old war buddies. 

Despite unraveling multiple homicides, a courageous Joanna must take the ultimate risk in order to snare a vindictive serial killer.  

Notes: This title is also available digitally. 

REVIEW:

Leonard Goldberg’s slick legacy template for Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts is not as intriguing as it might have been. 

For instance, this novel is not some revisionist caper about Moriarty’s love child with Irene Adler posing as Holmes’ long-lost daughter, ingeniously humiliating the Watsons, and then leaving the bewildered father-son duo to rot in prison. As different as that wicked comedy scenario might sound, Goldberg devises a far more conventional, pre-wartime sequel imagining a world after Holmes’ passing. Still, for as much potential The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes conveys, Joanna Blalock’s first murder-mystery case errs in four significant ways. 

First, as a formulaic whodunnit, Goldberg’s storyline treads closer to Columbo than to Conan Doyle.  By revealing the culprit’s identity from practically the get-go, Joanna’s deductions of how each murder is committed then leaves readers with essentially a ‘why-dunnit,’ with too few surprises.  With Sherlock Holmes’ heir and the Watsons too quickly deducing their quarry and a presumed motive, Goldberg has them repetitively deem their accumulated evidence as insufficient for prosecution. 

Yet, why shouldn’t Scotland Yard’s best forensic experts concur with their expert deductive assessments?  From the way Goldberg presents their medical analysis, even semi-competent law enforcement officials wouldn’t blow off such circumstantial evidence as pure conjecture. By playing off familiar genre clichés, Goldberg insists on stringing his audience along as to what ‘red-handed’ proof will inevitably snare the all-too-obvious culprit.  Many mystery fans won’t mind such a ride, but that leads to the novel’s second major flaw. 

Goldberg repeatedly pushes visual autopsy sequences that are unnecessarily too technically-detailed and, even worse, provoke disgusting imagery to readers.  Rather dubiously, Goldberg can invoke squeamishness without a corpse necessitating a scalpel for any internal dissection.  One wonders if, as a real-life physician, Goldberg is flaunting his medical knowledge through the detective trio as a means of padding his page count. 

Goldberg’s unimaginative storyline also suffers from pushing far too many second-generation clones (i.e., Watson, Jr; Mrs. Hudson; Lestrade; Moran; Toby Two, etc.) of Conan Doyle’s cast.  The author’s writing style is strong enough that such blatant name dropping should not be necessary.  Though these legacy characters better fit Goldberg’s sequel titles, their introductions all crammed within The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes come off as an eye-rolling gimmick for glorified fan fiction. Instead, Goldberg would have been better off phasing in his next generation throughout the series as welcome surprises.

Lastly, the murky continuity Goldberg deploys in setting up this batch of namesake heirs makes little sense, especially if his Holmes is already dead, as of 1914.  For instance, the introduction states Holmes died in 1914 – the same year as Joanna’s introduction.  Yet, this book (not to mention, future books) subsequently reference Holmes as being ‘long dead,’ as if several years have lapsed rather than mere months.  Another element to remember is that Holmes’ romantic liaison with Joanna’s mother would have occurred nearly forty years before.  Yet, Goldberg’s likable ‘Joanna’ appears to be, at most, in her early thirties.     

The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes, accordingly, should be treated as more of a reference guide for the ongoing series.  Subsequent espionage-flavored mysteries, such as A Study in Treason and The Disappearance of Alistair Ainsworth, supply more satisfying reads exploring Joanna Blalock’s destiny as her father’s sleuthing successor.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Goldberg’s ‘Watson, Jr.’ supplies both an introduction and his closing notes.  It is conveyed that, like his father before him, Watson, Jr. now chronicles Joanna’s ongoing adventures. Simultaneously, this epilogue could be deemed as a satisfying end to Goldberg’s premise, had he opted not to produce further books.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                   5½ Stars

Categories
Books & Novels General Fiction Mystery & Suspense Romance Westerns

SUNDANCE

Written by David Fuller

SUMMARY:

The historical novel, Sundance, was released by Riverhead Books as a 338-page hardcover in 2014.  In the late spring of 1913, Harry Alonzo Longbaugh (the Sundance Kid, now in his mid-forties) is quietly released from a Wyoming state penitentiary after a twelve-year prison sentence he willingly chose to endure. 

Without his familiar moustache and hiding behind a flimsy alias, Longbaugh has staved off most curiosity seekers while intensely defending his wife’s honor, as necessary. All that has kept him sane surviving prison and perpetual loneliness are his wife’s letters, despite his continued pleas for her to explore a new life without him. At Longbaugh’s behest, she has left the West for a fresh start in New York City.

During his incarceration, the world learned of his violent demise with best friend Robert Leroy Parker (aka Butch Cassidy) in a Bolivian shootout.  Long out of touch with modern society, Longbaugh wisely opts to let the world believe this falsehood.  All he wants to do now is find his beloved wife: Etta Place, whom he has not heard from in two years.

Forced to kill an ex-sheriff’s vengeful son, Longbaugh finds himself on the run again – from both the law and ghosts from his past.  Dodging a posse’s efforts, Longbaugh is told by his estranged sister-in-law that answers most likely await him in New York City.  Moving East, the former outlaw finds how New York embodies modern life in a rapidly-changing 20th Century.  Inevitably, he is now an often-bewildered relic struggling to catch up. 

Clues to Etta’s socially progressive activities bring an ever-savvy Longbaugh into conflict with the New York mob and others associated with his elusive wife.  Worse yet, the Kid’s old nemesis, manhunter Charlie Siringo, is doggedly pursuing his world-weary quarry from the remnants of the Western frontier to the shadowy back alleys of New York.  All Longbaugh wants is Etta back, but his obsession may cost him everything.      

Notes: This title is also available in digital, audiobook, and paperback formats. The cover incorporates an image of Etta Place from her only verified photo – a studio portrait with her fugitive husband taken in New York City, circa 1901. As a matter of trivia, novelist/screenwriter William Goldman (who wrote “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”) once used ‘Harry Longbaugh’ as a pen name.

REVIEW:

Including his own take on the ‘Butch & Sundance’ Bolivian mystery, author David Fuller’s poignant what-if isn’t merely a Western gone East.  For historical fiction enthusiasts, the ambitious Sundance succeeds as both a romantic mystery and an action-thriller.  Readers must sit tight to learn Etta’s enigmatic fate, but the anticipation proves worth it.  Still, Longbaugh’s unrelenting personal quest is counter-balanced by sequences depicting bleak and occasionally violent realism. 

Though some events are totally fictitious and others historically-tinged, such scenes creeping upon readers are well-played, no matter how dark their outcome.  Case in point: the haunting impact upon Longbaugh’s mind imagining the horrific 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire where Etta may have been best spells out his humanity. 

Despite retaining his fearsome fast-draw, Longbaugh’s conscience is similarly felt when he fails to discourage an inept ‘Butch & Sundance’ impersonator duo early on.  Such detail reveals a mostly reformed rogue witnessing the ugly fallout of his legend now romanticized in dime novels.  One can appreciate Longbaugh’s maturity recognizing why he does not just as easily resume his old crime spree.

Further, Fuller capably devises a revisionist Western where redemption is far harder earned than escaping with the loot from any brazen train heist.  Transplanting an aging Sundance Kid (and, by extension, Etta Place) as anachronisms into a complex, pre-World War I metropolis of skyscrapers, motorcars, subways, and turbulent social reforms is a challenge that Fuller impressively lives up to.  

Both poignantly written and faithfully researched, Fuller’s Sundance makes it almost easy to visualize Robert Redford reprising perhaps his most iconic role.  For instance, a catch-me-if-you-can rooftop exchange between Longbaugh (with a gleam in his eye) and the cool-tempered Siringo is one of several scenes worthy of Redford’s cinematic persona.

Though plot contrivances are a given, Fuller takes some excessive gambles that diminish his novel’s momentum.  One is an ultra-convenient reunion that ridiculously comes out of nowhere – twice! Though the first sequence’s banter is wonderfully written, Fuller overplays his storytelling hand, as far as pushing what-if romanticism.  He really should have left the tantalizing fate of Sundance’s favorite buddy solely to the audience’s imagination.

Note: Curiously, one thing that Fuller does not divulge is any post-prison re-assessments his enlightened ‘Longbaugh ‘ has made of his ruthless ex-Wild Bunch cronies, like Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan.  

Far more critical to the climax is a wartime sub-plot that links too many of that era’s historical events.  Unfortunately, Fuller’s war profiteering angle again appears taken from the ‘this only happens in fiction’ playbook.  While neither of these plot angles are a dealbreaker, they are other reasons this reviewer’s rating is not even higher.      

Ultimately, Sundance delivers high-caliber fiction entertainingly rooted in familiar American history.  Clearly, unlike the incorrigible desperado the real Harry Alonzo Longabaugh was, his fictional counterpart risks a far greater endgame.  Regardless whether one is an Old West buff or not, Sundance concocts a satisfying and surprisingly powerful read.    

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The author briefly notes the real Sundance Kid’s historical fate, even though his Bolivian grave still has not been located.  Fuller’s acknowledgements section confirms he has slightly altered the spelling of Longabaugh to make ‘Harry Longbaugh’ more his own creation.     

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:               8½ Stars