Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters

I had listened to this audio book before, but it had been so long ago that I didn’t remember the outcome, so I gave it another go.

Stats: Published in 2006, print is 317 pages, audio is 12 discs, 13.75′ narrated by Barbara Rosenblat. It is book #18 of the Angela Peabody Mysteries.

Blurb: Convinced that the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon lies somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and his intrepid wife, Amelia Peabody, seem to have hit a wall. Having been banned forever from the East Valley, Emerson, against Amelia’s advice, has tried desperately to persuade Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter to relinquish their digging rights. But Emerson’s trickery has backfired, and his insistent interest in the site has made his rivals all the more determined to keep the Emerson clan away.

Powerless to intervene but determined to stay close to the unattainable tomb, the family returns to Luxor and prepares to continue their dig in the less promising West Valley—and to watch from the sidelines as Carter and Carnarvon “discover” the greatest Egyptian treasure of all time: King Tut’s tomb. But before their own excavation can get underway, Emerson and his son, Ramses, find themselves lured into a trap by a strange group of villains ominously demanding “Where is he?” Driven by distress—and, of course, Amelia’s insatiable curiosity—the Emersons embark on a quest to uncover who “he” is and why “he” must be found, only to discover that the answer is uncomfortably close to home. Now Amelia must find a way to protect her family—and perhaps even her would-be nemesis—from the sinister forces that will stop at nothing to succeed in the nefarious plot that threatens the peace of the entire region.

What I liked: I particularly like listening to Barbara Rosenblat. Listening to her you can understand why Barbara has so many acolades. She is great at doing different voices, men included. Since I am a history buff, I enjoyed the historical info around the uncovering of the tomb of Tutankhamon. I assume with Peters background, much of this information was accurate. This is the only Amelia Peabody Mystery I’ve read, even though it’s #18 in the series. Peabody is an interesting character and I like her husband, Emerson, but she seems to know an awful lot or is a really good guesser.

What I didn’t like: Peters takes a lot of time talking about the uncovering the tomb of King Tut so I thought something was going to happen (a murder, of course) around this part of the story (spoiler alert) but nothing does, instead the subplot becomes the main plot at the end and was something the reader had no way to even guess at. Maybe if I knew the history of the people and the time I might have thought it was an option, but it kind of felt like it was pulled out of thin air. Not a satisfying end for me.

Rating: 3.5/5

At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie

I’m on an Agatha Christie kick so I picked this up at the library.

 Stats: The books was first published in January, 1965 (she died in 1971). In print it’s 223 pages. In audio form it’s only 2 discs – 2’20”. I listened to the BBC version, which is a dramatization, so there are multiple people involved, all playing their own character and sound effects – like a radion drama. Always enjoyable to listen to.

Blurb: An old-fashioned London Hotel is not quite as reputable as it makes out! When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she’s looking for at Bertram’s Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer. Yet, not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day!

What I like: Mostly I liked the presentation of the story in drama form. I didn’t figure out who was the mastermind behind the chain of robberies, but Christie makes it easy to see who is at least partially involved. She has her usual trick of having many people involved in the story itself to keep you guessing on how they all fit in.

What I didn’t like: Miss Marple is hardly part of the story. I read another of Christie’s Miss Marple stories that was the same way. I suppose an old lady can only be in the center of so many murders, but when she isn’t, the stories just aren’t as enjoyable to me. You don’t get a feel for the other characters in a way that you care enough what is going on. And this was very short too.

Rating: 3/5  Not one of her better stories. I would rate the drama a 4/5.

The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

This was another one of my library guesses that really paid off. In fact, it’s really gotten me thinking about what I can do for my next book(s). I’m excited!

Stats: 307 pages, audio (which a did and recommend) 7 discs or 8 hours.

Genre: Flavia de Luce mystery series #6

Blurb:  (Goodreads) On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train’s arrival in the English village of Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear.
Moments later, he is dead, mysteriously pushed under the train by someone in the crowd…
Who was this man, what did his words mean, and why were they intended for Flavia? Back home at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ crumbling estate, Flavia puts her sleuthing skills to the test.
Following a trail of clues sparked by the discovery of a reel of film stashed away in the attic, she unravels the deepest secrets of the de Luce clan, involving none other than Winston Churchill himself.
Surrounded by family, friends, and a famous pathologist from the Home Office – and making spectacular use of Harriet’s beloved Gypsy Moth plane, Blithe Spirit – Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.

What I liked: One of the best things of this book (but just one) was the narrator, Jayne Entwistle. The CD back says she is based in LA, but from her wonderful accent, I can’t believe she didn’t grow up in England. She was a wonderful Flavia. The book itself is worth picking up. The story was good, with a few exceptions, but the writing was wonderful. I’m a new Alan Bradley fan. I was constantly wondering how he knew so much of the lingo of the English, especially since this is set in 1950 or 51 depending on what you read. The bio on goodreads of Bradley says he’s from Canada. Again, I can’t believe it. He’s got the so much English lingo and slang in the book it’s hard to believe he’s not from across the pond. I really enjoyed the visualization of Flavia going up in the Gipsy Moth – an old English plane.  Through the whole book he’s got the 11 year old girl character down pat. Anyway, it’s a very entertaining read and I’d recommend it.

What I didn’t like: I don’t want to give too much away but Flavia has a scheme to bring her dead mother back to life. She is thwarted (thankfully) but I think it’s unreal that she isn’t upset or doesn’t try to try it a second time when she has to stop. If she really thought she could do this (and it seemed like she did) she would not stop until she was pulled, fingers digging in the casket’s side, away from her mother. But the author just has her give up without a fight. And what’s with that title. I imagine there is a reason for it, but I must be too ignorant to get it.  I understand that the author (or publisher my guess) likes long titles but relative to the story, I don’t get it. Also, she hands her father a will her mother wrote, which she found in the sealed casket.”How did you find this? Where did it come from?” Flavia’s father doesn’t run after her when she gives the long lost will to him and leaves the room. Again – unbelievable for a mourning husband not to want answers to these questions.

Rate: 4/5 . I’ll be reading book one of the Flavia de Luce series (The Sweetness of the Bottom of the Pie) for sure!

Don’t Blink by James Patterson

Picked this one up at random – audio version – and I knew James Patterson was “a name” so I thought I’d give it a try.

Genre: Murder Mystery/thriller

Blurb: (Amazon) The good
New York’s Lombardo’s Steak House is famous for three reasons–the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police’s fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.

The bad
Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. In the chaos, he accidentally captures a key piece of evidence that lands him in the middle of an all-out war between Italian and Russian mafia forces. NYPD captains, district attorneys, mayoral candidates, media kingpins, and one shockingly beautiful magazine editor are all pushing their own agendas–on both sides of the law.

And the dead
Back off–or die–is the clear message Nick receives as he investigates for a story of his own. Heedless, and perhaps in love with his beautiful editor, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.

What I liked: There were lots of plot twists that kept you on your toes. It’s seemed a bit too coincidental that the main protagonist, Nick, is able to get out of all the scraps he  gets in, especially with people dropping around him like flies, but for whatever reason, it’s not too hard to suspend disbelief and go with the unlikeliness of that.  Patterson does well with characterizing the bad guys – the main hit man is really a nasty one. I have never read James Patterson before but this was good enough that I would read another of his books.  David Patrick Kelly read the audio version of this book that I listened to and a mostly good job.

What I didn’t like: Maybe too many plot twists – it seemed a bit unreal at times, but not so much so that it spoiled the story. Kelly’s narration faltered only in his attempt to voice an Italian mob hit man – he hardly sounded Italian and he sounded like he had marbles in his mouth – it was hard to understand his words at times.

I read a few other review on this book and apparently die-hard Patterson fans don’t think this was one of his better books.  If that is the case, I am looking forward to reading some of his other stuff, maybe earlier versions (those are usually best for long winded writers).

Rating: 3.5/5

Dead Man’s Chest by Kerry Greenwood

Genre: Murder mystery, a Phryne Fisher mystery (narrated by Stephanie Daniel)

Blurb: (from Goodreads) Phryne Fisher needs a rest. It’s summer. She packs up her family and moves to Queenscliff, a quiet watering place on the coast. Where she meets with smugglers, pirate treasure and some very interesting surrealists, including a parrot called Pussykins. What is the mysterious Madame Selavey hiding? Where are the Johnsons, who were supposed to be in the holiday house?

What I liked: I liked the narrator of this story, Stephanie Daniel, did a nice job with the large number of characters. I like Greenwood’s characterization, the characters are very real and enjoyable and the main character – Phryne Fisher – is a woman to be admired, more notable because this story was supposed to take place, I’m thinking, in the 1920s but the rest…

What I didn’t like: The rest seemed all over the place. I really had a hard time keeping the characters straight, even the main ones until well into the book. Part of the issue might be that this is book 18 in the Fisher mystery series (I was unaware of this when I picked it up), but maybe it’s also because Greenwood is Australian and maybe the book style of that country is different from mine. I have noticed a difference, at times, reading from someone from the UK so perhaps it is similar with the country down under. And the story was very difficult to follow. Greenwood moved from one scene and set of characters to another with minimal to no transition and at times it was difficult to know what the characters were talking about until a page or so into the scene. I kept reading because I liked the characters, but the story itself was uninteresting and odd at times. Perhaps if I tried an earlier work, it would have been better. Sometimes writers or editors become lazy after so many books in a series.

Rating: 2/5

P is for Peril by Sue Grafton

Genre:  Mystery

Blurb: (from Goodreads) When Dowan Purcell, a respected physician who operates a nursing home, disappears, his ex-wife hires Santa Teresa PI Kinsey Millhone to look into it. Fiona Purcell is still seething over Dow’s affair and subsequent marriage to Crystal, a former stripper, yet they’re still friends, and she seems worried. But when his body is discovered, she’s among the suspects. Both of Dow’s wives, at least one of his business partners, and perhaps even Crystal’s teenage daughter had motives to kill.

What I liked: I’m glad I didn’t read the Goodreads review of this book or I would never have picked it up. I considered this book a considerable step up from Grafton’s first novel (see pervious post) which was the first book of hers I read, thinking I should start at the beginning. I jumped to the Ps hoping it would be better. It was, but according to the Goodreads reviews, it wasn’t one of her best. The author gives us a little more information about Kinsey – the detective – about her life and the people in her life – the nice landlord, the funny old lady tenant .. and the detective work is easier to follow in this story – not as disjointed as in the first one. It’s a decent read – entertaining, good ending… but from the reviews, I will definitely try another letter.

Things I didn’t like: The subplot with Kinsey and a couple of men whom she wants to rent a new working space from seems to be kind of thrown in to add excitement. It does, but it just seems a bit disjointed because of how serious this subplot becomes .(I won’t spoil anything here for those who want to read it.)

Rating: 3.5/5

Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis:From the #1 “New York Times”-bestselling author of “Malice, Lost Souls,” and “Shiver” comes a riveting thriller–her most intense to date–that goes behind the doors of an exclusive academy where members of the student body are disappearing, one by one. (Goodreads)

Things I liked: The ending.

Things I didn’t like: Oh my. All I could think when I was listening to this book was “Bad ‘B’ movie.” And it wasn’t because the narration was poor, the dialogue was. It wasn’t a bad book other than that, but that is a lot of the book, and it was a long audio book at 13 discs. If this is “her most intense to date” then I’m sorry to say, I will be skipping her earlier books.

This is also not a YA read. Adult content present.

Rating: 2/5

Death of a Poison Pen by M.C. Beaton

I was on a trip south recently – yes, it’s really hot at home so I took a vacation further south! – and on the trip the family was willing to listen to a book I blindly picked up at the library. Luckily it was a good book.

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis: When the residents of Lochdubh begin receiving poison pen letters, no one takes them seriously. But Constable Hamish Macbeth fears them, and his instincts prove correct when the postmistress is found hanging from a rope with a vicious poison pen letter at her feet.

Things I liked: First off – we listened to this book and it was fun to listen to Graeme Malcolm who is a Brit, so he can do all the Scottish accents very well, and that is always fun to listen to. The book was well written: it was funny, flowed, made sense, and it was not easy to figure out “who done it.”

Things I didn’t like: The end was a bit weird – everyone in the car agreed on this point. I understand that Beaton had to close out the subplot but it was just done in a slightly odd manner.

rating: 4/5 (and I’d recommend listening to this)

The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith

I picked up this audio book because I had listened to another of Alexander McCall Smith’s books: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
I have to say her first book was better than the The Miracle at Speedy Motors (TMASM). As in the No. 1 LDA, TMASM as various plot lines, the mystery plot in this story being a woman who thinks she was adopted and want to find out if she has any family. Then there are sup-plots of the buying antics of the main detective – Precious Ramotswe, her husband’s attempt at curing their adopted daughters incurable illness, and threatening letters that are showing up for Ramotswe. It wasn’t a bad story, just didn’t have the interesting plot lines that the No. 1 LDA had.
I do enjoy listening the Lisette Lecat, who narrated both stories, and TMASM is written well, it was just not something I couldn’t wait to get in the car and listen to again.
I’ll probably try Ms McCall Smith again, though. I think he stories are enjoyable overall.

4:50 from Paddionton

I must say, as big a fan as I am of Agatha Christie, this wasn’t one of her better stories. This is a Miss Marple mystery, and I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t have the lovely old lady in much of the story but it just didn’t keep my interest as most of her stories do.

This story  starts with one of Miss M’s friends seeing a murder on train, as she it is moving next to her own train, so she can’t do anything about it. She tells the authorites when she gets off the train but no one believe the old woman – a body is never found. Well, her friend, Miss M believes her, of course.

Miss Marple feels she is too old for this adventure so she enlists the help of a very smart and industrious young woman, who does find the body. Then it slows up at this point as the inspector gathers clues w/o Miss Marple’s help.

He can’t figure out the answer himself, so in the end Miss M shows up again and, in her usual interesting style, saves the day. This isn’t the first Agatha mystry I’d pick up if I were you.