Review: The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley

The Dead Key 
By D.M. Pulley 
Published by Thomas and Mercer (an Amazon imprint), 2015
Free as part of Amazon Kindle First for Prime members 
Link: Amazon 
Rating: Four Stars (out of five)

I enjoyed the The Dead Key more than any Kindle First book I’ve read since joining Prime a year or so ago (I should note that they tend to sit unread on my Kindle for longer than other books, since they’re free).  It had a lot going for it, in my, erm, book: it’s a mystery, it centers on two female protagonists, and it moves back and forth between two connected stories set twenty years apart.  In spite of a slow start, I was drawn into the story and by halfway through, I had trouble putting the book down.

The more recent (1998) story focuses on Iris, a young engineer assigned to draw plans of the defunct First Bank of Cleveland (FBoC).  Iris discovers that the bank had suddenly shut down twenty years before and that the vault is full of unclaimed safety deposit boxes.  Why?  And what does the FBoC’s closure have to do with Iris’s engineering firm?  This is what Iris wants to find out.  We also follow the adventures of Beatrice Baker, who in 1978 goes to work at the FBoC and uncovers a web of intrigue, fraud, and corruption, some of which concerns her personally.  By the novel’s end, both women face serious danger.  Will they survive?

Overall, I found myself drawn more to Beatrice than to Iris.  Beatrice is very young—only sixteen—and has to lie about her age to get her job at the bank.  While we eventually find out why she did this, I’d like to have learned more about her background.  She’s vulnerable and sweet but not stupid, and I found her interesting.  Iris, on the other hand, is harder to root for.  She drinks a lot and, while she recognizes that it’s a problem, she doesn’t seek help and even drives drunk.  Because her drinking seemed like a plot device and an afterthought more than a trait that drives her character, this got in the way of her likability for me.  I still found her story interesting, but that was more because of the situation in which she found herself than because I cared about her personally.

I’m a big fan of books that combine a present-day story with a historical story (though it’s hard to call 1998 “present-day” and I’m sure my parents would object to the labeling of 1978 as “historical”).  It’s easy to do this badly, but Pulley handles the dual plots quite well, keeping up the tension in both and making it clear from the beginning how they relate.  The plotting and storytelling are excellent, and overall I enjoyed this book very much and would read more of the author’s work.

TV Review: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Episode 3.2

“Murder and the Maiden”

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Episode 3.2

Available on: Netflix (DVDs will be released on October 27, 2015)

Rating: Three Stars (out of five) 

This episode could have been really fun.  It involves airplanes, crossdressing, White Russians, and a substantial helping of the witty banter this show is known for.  However, it fell a bit flat for me.  For one thing, the plot is very convoluted.  For another thing, the Phryne/Jack will they/won’t they plot has been dialed up even from episode 3.1, and as I said in my review of that episode, I’m not a fan.  Some romantic comedy fuels the banter that makes this show great, but too much takes away from the mystery plots, and that’s what happened in this case.

The setting: an Air Force base.  Before the episode’s opening credits, we see a young woman die in the arms of a man.  Who is he?  Did he kill her?  That’s what Jack, Hugh, and the rest of the police force are trying to figure out.  Phryne, Dot, and company come on the scene because Phryne’s old friend Group Captain Compton has asked her to investigate both the disappearance of Flight Lieutenant James Manning and the attempted sabotage of his plane.  Of course, we soon learn that the two cases are linked, so Phryne collaborates with the police force to solve both of them. 

Phryne’s relationship with Compton, who once saved her life, fuels the tension between her and Jack in this episode.  He’s jealous, and she has to convince him he has no reason to be.  If this continues, it’s going to get very annoying (more annoying than it already is).  Phryne and Jack are not in a relationship.  Occasionally they’ll have dinner together, but it’s certainly not official, and I’m not sure why Jack would expect her to be “faithful.”  Also, the jealousy is irrational; Phryne hasn’t had one of her trademark casual liaisons since sometime in Season Two.  If we have to put up with his jealousy, I’d rather Phryne have some fun.  And I’ll go further: Show writers, either get your leads together for real or get rid of the romance.  Will they or won’t they?  Make a decision. 

 Also standing between this episode and higher rating for me is the resolution of the mystery itself.  There are a lot of moving parts, including a romance between Bert and a woman who works for the Communist Party and some random homophobia.  At several points, I was confused, and instead of being surprised and delighted by the resolution, I had to work backwards to figure out how it made sense.  In other words, watching this episode took work, which watching this show didn’t use to (and shouldn’t) do.

TV Review: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Episode 3.1

“Death Defying Feats”

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Episode 3.1

Available on: Netflix (DVDs will be released on October 27, 2015)

Rating: Four Stars (out of five)

I love Phryne Fisher.  She runs around 1920s Melbourne catching killers, sexing up [innocent] suspects, fighting for social justice, and generally being awesome, all while wearing fabulous clothes.  I found the TV series on Netflix in, I think, February of 2014.  By June, I’d read all twenty novels and seen every available episode of the TV show.  I even bought an Acorn TV subscription so I could watch Season Two before it came to Netflix.  So imagine my surprise and delight when I found Season Three on Netflix last week (the DVD doesn’t come out until October 27, and the show isn't on Acorn yet). 

Of course, this show is also perfect blog fodder, and the rest of this post reviews episode 3.1.  Expect reviews of the other seven episodes in Season 3 in the coming weeks.  I’ll avoid spoilers for Season 3, but I’m going to write as if readers know the show’s characters and basic premise.  To catch up, go to Netflix or Acorn TV (you won’t regret it!).  Anyway, here we go!

In the opening sequence of “Death Defying Feats,” a magic trick goes horribly wrong when a guillotine decapitates Pearl, a magician’s assistant.  Phryne, Jack, Dot, Hugh, and the rest of the gang soon arrive on the scene, and we follow them on their quest to discover who tampered with the guillotine and killed Pearl.  The magic show, Mackenzie’s Cavalcade of Mysteries, employs a bunch of sketchy characters including an ex-con handyman, a clairvoyant with an identical twin sister, the victim’s fiancé and show-owner Mr. Mackenzie (who may have murdered his first wife), and a contortionist who was also the victim’s lesbian lover.  Which of these people killed Pearl, and why?  Phryne and company find out, of course, but not without trouble and danger along the way.

For Phryne, “trouble” includes her Father, the Baron of Richland, who has arrived in Australia for a surprise visit.  The Baron, it turns out, is the new financial backer for Mackenzie’s Cavalcade, so he’s also involved in the mystery.  Phryne isn’t thrilled to see him, and frankly, neither was I.  I found him irritating, and I wasn’t sure why he was there, except to add unnecessary drama.

Some of that unnecessary drama involves Phryne and Jack.  When Jack learns that Phryne has a “gentleman visitor,” he gets upset and gives her little chance to explain who the visitor is.  She doesn’t try very hard, though, and in fact seems to be toying with him.  I’ll be honest: I don’t love the romantic element the TV show introduces into the Jack/Phryne relationship (it's not in the books), and I really hope the show never focuses too much on that.  I love that Phryne has a lot of lovers, and I love that while the TV show downplays them a little bit from the books, she still has her sexual romps.  I hope they don’t completely change that aspect of Phryne’s behavior because her sexual freedom is part of what makes her unique among female sleuths.

In other news, there’s also some tension between Dot and Hugh, because Hugh isn’t terribly comfortable with his wife-to-be’s involvement in murder cases.  Dot likes solving mysteries and she helps out a lot in this episode, and Hugh was being kind of obnoxious, so I hope this isn't an ongoing plot thread in Season 3.  Mac is back, and she’s now a medical examiner (did I miss this happening at the end of season 2?  I haven’t had time to go back and check).  Aunt Prudence was present, and she and I are on the same page with regards to Phryne’s father.  Jane, however, was MIA with nary a mention.  She’s not in all episodes of the previous seasons, so maybe she’ll be back soon, but surely Phryne would have noticed that her ward was missing and some explanation seems warranted.

Overall, this was a good episode, and not just because I was so glad to have my show back.  The solution to the murder was not obvious, but it made sense and as usual, there was a lot of witty banter between characters and Phryne's clothes were gorgeous.  Four stars.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis, the Academic Body Count, Season 1

The Oxford University of ITV/PBS's Inspector Lewis is a dangerous world for academics, and in this series I bring you the lowdown on who in the academic community is most likely to kill be or be killed.  This post gives the details for Season (series, if you're British) One.  Here's the Intro post, if you missed it.

In the first season of Lewis, the university remains fairly safe.  Of eight murder victims, only one is a faculty member, and one is an undergrad.  No staff, administrators, or grad students are murdered.  However, the community of Oxford is not necessarily safe from the university; taking into account the past murder in “Whom the Gods Would Destroy,” we have a grand total of five undergraduate murderers (out of eight murderers total; the past murder in “Whom the Gods…” was a team effort).  Both “Whom the Gods Would Destroy” and “Expiation” feature professors who assist Lewis and Hathaway in their investigations, so the university isn’t a complete drain on the surrounding community, but (as you may know if you’ve ever lived in a university town), it’s wise to be wary of the undergrads. 

If you haven’t seen the season, here’s the Amazon link.  It’s included with Prime, if you have it.

Episode-by-episode details below the cut.  Contains spoilers.

Special Feature: Inspector Lewis: The Academic Body Count, Intro

If you’re a fan of mysteries, you might well watch PBS’s Mystery (does anyone who’s not a fan of mysteries watch that show?  If so, why?).  If you watch Mystery, there’s a good chance you’ve seen at least some of Inspector Lewis, which chronicles the crime-solving adventures of DI Robert Lewis.  Lewis might be my favorite British TV mystery franchise, and the title character is certainly my favorite British TV police inspector.  This blog series won’t review Lewis, exactly.  Rather, it will analyze a particular aspect of the show: its relationship to academia.

Of course, Lewis is set in Oxford, England, home of the one of the world’s most famous and prestigious universities, so the crimes Lewis and his “dishy sergeant” Hathaway solve often involve students, faculty, and staff.  In fact, according to Lewis, Oxford is a very dangerous place to study or teach. 

But how dangerous, exactly, and for whom?  Should you give up all hope of that most prestigious of degrees or jobs if you wish to remain alive?  Are students or faculty more likely to be killed?  And what about staff and administrators?  And who among your university acquaintances is most likely to kill you?  Clearly, there are a lot of questions to be answered, here, and in the coming weeks, The Mysterious Scholar will break down the numbers and let you know who, in Lewis’s world, is most likely to be murdered and, even more importantly, whom to watch out for.

Note: This series of posts will contain spoilers for Inspector Lewis.  I’ll tell you who died and reveal the identity of the killer.  If you haven’t seen the show or a particular season/episode and plan to, I recommend watching it before you read.  The whole show is available with Amazon Prime streaming.  If you’re not a Prime member, you can get it electronically or on DVD at Amazon or from your preferred video source.  Also, I’ll be using the American series breaks and numbering, which are for some reason different from the original British ones.

Review: The Angel of Losses by Stephanie Feldman

The Angel of Losses

By Stephanie Feldman
Published by Ecco, and distributed by HarperCollins  (2014)
Purchased and read on Amazon Kindle
Links: Amazon, B&N, Powell's
Rating: Four Stars (out of five)

I very much enjoyed this book, even though it isn’t the kind of thing I normally read (it was another Amazon sale book—an August monthly deal, I believe).  It’s not the kind of thing I’ll normally review here, either, but I’m doing so because there’s an academic connection.  The Angel of Losses is a Jewish magical realist narrative about family, faith, and the enduring power of stories.  It is very well written and compelling, but the narrative style might not be for everyone; Feldman intersperses her first-person narration set in the present day with folk tales as written down in the main character’s grandfather’s notebooks, and some readers might find this cumbersome or confusing.

The main story in The Angel of Losses follows Marjorie, a grad student in English who is writing her dissertation on the Wandering Jew.  Marjorie’s sister, Holly/Chava, to whom she used to be very close, converted to Orthodox Judaism when she married a man from the obscure Berukhim sect, and there has been a rift between the sisters ever since.  Marjorie desperately wants to feel close to Holly/Chava again, but she doesn’t like her sister’s husband, Nathan.  When she discovers that their grandfather concealed important parts of his past, Marjorie embarks on a quest to discover the truth, hoping that the information she finds will help her reconcile with her sister.

This isn’t really an academic novel.  Marjorie’s status as a grad student is important because her personal quest connects to her academic work, but the story centers on family and folk tales.  I really appreciated how positive the novel was about literary study, though.  At one point, Marjorie thinks, “Theory was killing literature, people said, but it had allowed me to see a whole subterranean world: every text meant something profound, if you would only follow it into the dark” (63).  The texts she follows into the dark aren’t literary classics but her grandfather’s notebooks, which contain stories of a magical White Rebbe, but Marjorie nonetheless uses her analytical skills to discover the stories’ meaning.  She also meets and dates a librarian who is working on a digital map of the Jewish diaspora, and digital humanities wind up being crucial to the plot.

For the most part, this is a very good story about family, especially the relationship between sisters.  There are some elements of fantasy; Feldman writes squarely in the magical realist tradition.  In some books, this bugs me, but I was able to accept the fantastic elements of The Angel of Losses without much difficulty.  The novel also deals with some fairly obscure aspects of Judaism, but Feldman handles these pretty well.  Marjorie isn’t Jewish, and since we follow the story mostly from her perspective, we discover what she discovers and learn alongside her.  Overall, this is an accessible, enjoyable novel, and I recommend it.

Review: The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

The Surgeon (Rizzoli and Isles Book #1)

By Tess Gerritsen 

Published by Ballantine and distributed by Random House (2001)

Purchased and read on Amazon Kindle
Links: Amazon, B&N, Powell's
Rating: Three Stars (out of five)

Gerritsen is a great storyteller, and this book kept me hooked in spite of the fact that it has a couple of traits I don’t usually enjoy.  I read it because I like the TNT series Rizzoli and Isles and the book happened to be on sale for $2.99 for Kindle (sadly, the sale is over now).  If both of those things hadn’t been true, I probably wouldn’t have read it because it’s a serial killer book with a healthy medical component (pardon the... humor) and I don’t particularly enjoy serial killer stories or do well with gross things.  I don’t at all regret picking this up, though.

The novel follows Detectives Jane Rizzoli and Thomas Moore as they track a serial killer dubbed “The Surgeon” who is preying on vulnerable women in Boston.  Because the killer appears to be a copycat of a killer who went on a spree in Georgia a few years earlier, they enlist the help of Dr. Catherine Cordell, the last victim and apparent slayer of the Georgia killer.  As the Surgeon terrorizes Boston women in general and Dr. Cordell in particular, the detectives realize that there may be some unanswered questions about the Georgia killings.  Dr. Cordell has the answers, but they have to keep her safe from the Surgeon if she is to help catch him.

The book is suspenseful and gripping, and if you're a fan of the serial killer subgenre I suspect it’s an excellent read.  There are a lot of blood and guts, both plot-related and not; Gerritsen is a former doctor, Cordell is a surgeon, and the killer is a pseudo-surgeon, so the author has the expertise to describe the inner workings of the human body in detail and her story gives her ample opportunity to do so.  If you’re easily grossed out (I’m not ashamed to admit I am) you’ll want to skim some sections.

It’s important not to go into this book expecting it to be much like Rizzoli and Isles the TV show.  Maura Isles is not in the book, and while Jane Rizzoli is a central character, she’s not the only one—Moore and Cordell also play significant roles.  The TV show’s warm depiction of female friendship is completely absent here (maybe it shows up in later books?) and Rizzoli’s family is hardly the quirky, lovable crew we see on TV.  On its own merits The Surgeon is a good book, though unnecessarily frequent and graphic descriptions of violence, including sexual violence, and surgery undermined my enjoyment somewhat.