Mystery Crime Books

I have no credentials as a reviewer of mysteries, as I seldom read them. I picked this one up because I knew Sayers had translated Dante. "Gaudy Night" was awful. I hated the class snobbery, the bickerings of the academics, Lord Wimsey's monocle, and Harriet Vane's ditherings about love. I felt sorry for the perpetrator; in the same shoes, if I had to deal with these people, I might have done the same! As a snapshot of pre- World War II Oxford and of the anxieties that attended women who sought out a university education and independent lives, it is, I guess, of some interest. Why is it that Austen, a writer I love, doesn't seem dated at all, while this book is frozen in amber?

It's rare that one wishes to read mysteries over and over; the purpose is to solve the puzzle before it pops up in the text, right? This book never disappoints. Sayers' use of language, insight into a different place and time, attractiveness of the characters large and small, all make this more than a mystery novel.

Dorothy L. Sayers' "Gaudy Night" was a fun and intelligent read. The author's writing was exceptional, she creates strong descriptive atmosphere, and her character images are on par excellence. Nevertheless, many of the clues did not lead up to what I believe would classify this book as a mystery; even a quasi mystery.

Overall, I liked being introduced to Lord Peter Wimsey, even though he did not show up until I was three thirds through the novel. Moreover, each of the plethora of characters had a story in their own right. The book remained me of the mysteries on PBS that I love so much.

So why did I rate this four stars instead of five. Even though I found "Gaudy Night," something I could not put down, it did meander a bit. I believe the author could have cut some of the superficial dialogue which would have pruned the book by 100 pages. In addition, the conclusion to the supposed mystery was presented too quickly and was quite unsatisfying. However, if you like well-written novels, read this book. You may be lost on why it has been classified as a mystery but Sayers writing will make you one of her fans. I look forward to reading her "Busman's Honeymoon."

About her book "Gaudy Night," Dorothy L. Sayers had this to say:

"It would be idle to deny that the city and University of Oxford (in aeternum floreant) do actually exist...." But, "Shrewsbury College, with its dons, students and scouts, is entirely imaginary; nor are the distressing events described as taking place within its wall founded upon any events that have ever occurred anywhere. Detective-story writers are obliged by their disagreeable profession to invent startling and unpleasant incidents and people, and are (I presume) at liberty to imagine what might happen if such incidents and people were to intrude upon the life of an innocent and well-ordered community.... Certain apologies are, however, due from me: first to the University of Oxford, for having presented it ... with a college of 150 women students, in excess of the limit ordained by statute. Next, and with deep humility, to Balliol College--not only for having saddled it with so wayward an alumnus as Peter Wimsey, but also for my monstrous impertinence in having erected Shrewsbury College upon its spacious and sacred cricket-ground."

That passage will give you a feeling for Sayers' rather grand, even lofty (by detective story standards, anyway) prose style, as well as the tongue-in-cheek, in-your-eye amusement that lurks behind her formal persona.

When I first encountered Sayers and fell into a binge of reading her works, I was a teenager. With the breezy assurance of that age, I confidently ranked "Gaudy Night" as her feeblest work and "The Nine Tailors"--or maybe "Murder Must Advertise" as her best. If anyone at the time had asked me why I had done so, I would have pointed out that the mystery element was only a strand among many in "Gaudy Night," and far from the most important one. Moreover, I'd have said, it's a Lord Peter Wimsey novel and Wimsey doesn't even turn up until Chapter IV, after which he promptly disappears for a couple of hundred pages.

And yet, over the years when, for whatever reason, one of these books came to mind, I might think, "Murder Must Advertise," yes, very clever, Lord Peter writing ad copy and all that, or "The Nine Tailors," yes, very clever, those bells and all that. But for "Gaudy Night," my thoughts would more likely take this sort of turn: that Harriet Vane has some very odd ideas and notions. We certainly are beyond that sort of thing today--but I know some people who share most or all of those very some ideas and notions. They are walking anachronisms and yet, here they are, unquestionably my contemporaries. On some days, I even find myself agreeing with her and concluding that the lunatics have taken over our Twenty-first Century asylum.

Or consider Harriet Vane as a fictional character--amusing, humorless, witty, ponderous, brilliant, too often plodding Harriet. She is, of course, Dorothy L. Sayers (in every aspect that Sayers, herself, would regard as significant), pinned on the pages of the book like some strange sort of moth, a speciment preserved and displayed for the examination of the ages.

I recently encountered a 1944, wartime edition of "Gaudy Night" in a bookshop window. On its copyright page, it proudly bore the motto, "Books are weapons in the war of ideas." The book was published in an era of tight paper rationing and extreme austerity, but what a wonderfully sensuous volume it was with its thick, creamy paper, exquisite printing, wide margins and excellent commercial binding in dark blue book cloth. I snapped it up (how could I not?), and read it that evening. It was, I suppose, my fifth or sixth journey through the book.

I am no longer a teenager (alas), and I no longer consider "Gaudy Night" to be Sayers' feeblest work. It might very well be her best: better than "Murder Must Advertise," better than "The Nine Tailors" and certainly much better than the workmanlike (but no more) translation of Dante for which she abandoned her true literary vocation in her final years.

Some mystery fans downgrade "Gaudy Night" because it is a weak mystery novel. A couple of such fans are to be found right here among the Amazon reviewers of the book. They are quite right. It is a weak mystery novel. It is, in fact, just a novel, but a very good one.

The true peers of "Gaudy Night" are not such classic mysteries as Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" or Marsh's "A Man Lay Dying," but English academic novels, the likes of Amis' "Lucky Jim" or Snow's "The Masters." If the literary arena is widened to include plays, then "Gaudy Night" shares space with "The Browning Version" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Here is Dorothy L. Sayers again, this time as Sayers the novelist:

"Harriet Vane sat at her writing-table and stared out into Mecklenburg Square.... A letter lay open on the blotting-pad before her, but its image had faded from her mind to make way for another picture. She saw a stone quadrangle, built by a modern architect in a style neither new or old, stretching out reconciling hands to past and present. Folded within its walls lay a trim grass plot, with flower-beds splashed at the angles, and surrounded by a stone plinth. Behind the level roofs of Cotswold slate rose the brick chimneys of an older and less formal pile of buildings--a quadrangle also of a kind, but still keeping a domestic remembrance of the original Victorian dwelling-houses that had sheltered the first shy students of Shrewsbury College....

"Memory peopled the quad with moving figures. Students sauntering in pairs. Students dashing to lectures, their gowns hitched hurriedly over light summer frocks, the wind jerking their flat caps into the absurd likeness of so many jesters' coxcombs. Bicycles stacked in the porters' lodge, their carriers piled with books and gowns twisted about their handle-bars. A grizzled woman don crossing the turf with vague eyes.... Tall spikes of delphiniums against the grey, quiveringly blue like flames. The college cat, preoccupied and remote, stalking with tail erect in the direction of the buttery."

Five stars (with flower-beds splashed at the angles, of course.)

Dorothy L. Sayers created perhaps one of the most whimsical and enigmatic detectives when she created Lord Peter Whimsy. While many of her tales may seem a little archaic nowadays, her writing is extremely intelligent, full of allusions and quotations that demonstrate the depth of her knowledge. "Gaudy Night" while definitely light in the appearances of Peter Whimsy, is a standout in Sayers' novels, well worth its length and wandering plot.

The story centers around Harriet Vane, the infamous detective writer who was accused of killing her lover, only to be cleared by Lord Peter. For the five years after that case, Lord Peter has been pursuing Harriet only to have her spurn him at every turn, yet they remainin companions. Harriet is invited to her Oxford reunion, and returns uncertain of what to expect. But once she is reunited with her old college, her desire for the days of old is magnified, especially when a disturbing mystery begins to unfold within the college. Harriet moves in, under the pretense of doing research, to investigate the person responsible for poison-pen letters and embarassing pranks. When the prankster proves too much for her, she asks for Peter's assistance, certain that he will uncover the culprit before anything fatal happens.

"Gaudy Night" is a lengthy meandering story for a mystery, but that is most likely due to the fact that the mystery is the subplot to the story. For this novel truly is focused on Harriet Vane and the discovery she must go through in order to understand who she is and what she wants out of life. Sayers is a gifted writer who can make even the most stuffiest characters come to life. Truth be told, the solution to the mystery is nothing fantastic, but the journey that Harriet embarks upon comes full circle to a sweet and fitting conclusion.

I picked this novel up without a lot of thought being as I collect vampire and other supernatural books. Boy was I surprised when I opened the cover and found a fun story with great characters that kept me glued to the pages. If you are looking for something interesting to read where the main character is a smart-a$$ at every opportunity, look no further.

I loved this book!! It's definitely more realistic in a far fetch way than your normal Anne Rice novel. Joe Pitt is no hero but he's not exactly a bad guy either. I love how it's to the point and there's an actual story and not just some vamps running around. You can relate to characters. And being a female, Charlie Huston incorporated women in his story without being a sex object. To me it has that pulp fiction and fight club pizazz. Thats right I said pizazz!! It's gritty and gruesome and funny and sentimental all in the same breath. Edge of your seat. I finished the third book and I am patiently waiting on the next.

Great book. Joe Pitt is a fantastic character. The writing is first rate. The plot moves along nicely. My only complaint (and its not big enough to knock the book off the five star rating) is that it is too short! Still, the author seems to put out sequels on such a regular basis that it doesn't really matter.
If you like your vampire stories to be relevant and contemporary, then look no further.

I discovered Charlie Huston recently and quickly devoured the Caught Stealing trilogy and The Shotgun Rule. I liked them all. Huston has an uncanny way of building likeable elements into the most reprehensible characters. I find myself identifying with all his protagonists, and love the pace of his work. I actually sent him an e-mail on his website after reading his first book and he replied within a day with a "thank you". Very cool.

Now to Already Dead. I have never been a fan of the vampire genre, so this was a stretch for me; but as usual with Huston, I ended up flying through the book. It is a great read. This one is more of a mystery than his other books, with a good number of twists and turns before reaching its conclusion. Huston also introduces a lot of different variants of the traditional vampire through factions and gangs, which was great. And although Already Dead is the first in a series, I didn't feel like I was left hanging by its conclusion.

I can't say anything negative about Huston, because he is unapologetic in his violence, I just need a break. His books are extremely raw and visceral, and Already Dead is no exception. His protagonists tend to get beaten almost to death, and it can be emotionally draining. I will finish this series, but after I read some lighter stuff, like some Christopher Moore or something.

The idea of organized groups of vampires, living only for the sake of being vampire struck me as problematic. No doubt Charlie Huston is a fine and accomplished writer, but this left me a little flat. I liked the main character, his outsider status even amongst the outsiders themselves, these Manhatten clans. Plausible plausibility: the ability to get the reader to believe that in the right combinations of circumstances what they are reading CAN happen.....just couldn't see it.PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale

Long ago, a friend who raved about "The Invisibles" loaned me this first book. I don't have very clear memories of it, but I remembered it as being very hard to read, and I remember not getting very far in it before I lost interest.

Recently, due specifically to the influence of Warren Ellis's awesome series "Planetary", I've gotten interested in comics again, and decided to give "The Invisibles" a second try. I got a little further this time, but still didn't even make it past the first volume.

The story seems promising; "Big Brother is Watching, So Make Yourself Invisible". The eponymous team are a gang of reality-bending Crowley-style sorcerors, fighting the mundane system of everyday life, and the sinister otherworldly monsters who control the mundane system of everyday life. The execution, however, is less than ideal. MOST of the pages are very jarringly non-sequential; on one page, the characters will be in a park, listening in on a conversation, and then on the next page, where you expect to find a continuation of the conversation they were listening to, they'll suddenly be walking along a riverbank, in the middle of their own completely different and unrelated conversation. On almost every single page I had to turn back, and check the page numbering to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped something or pages hadn't fallen out of the book; if it weren't for the sequential page numbering, I would have assumed I was reading a bad printing. This could be a clever technique if used sparingly; in a comic book about "hacking reality", throwing in a sudden and unexpected "jump cut" between two pages can contribute greatly to the reader's immersion in the "reality hacking", but when it's done on every other page it loses that hook and just feels sloppy, like the author and artist didn't know how to structure a comic.

One of the "page cuts" jumps from the beginnings of a fairly realistic fight scene to a super-bright, psychedelic scene in which a character is tripping out and talking to the ghost of John Lennon, which looks like a completely different comic, has completely different pacing and artwork, and is FILLED with meaningless text, which brings us to my next problem with "The Invisibles": there's WAY too much meaningless text. If you want to present a radical, reality-altering concept in your comic, that's great; try to do it with action as much as possible and with as few words as possible -- this is a visual medium, after all. If you need to throw in a few wordy bits, that's OK too ("Planetary", again, does a perfect job of this). If, however, you are filling ENTIRE PAGES with text so small that you have to go below standard comic font size and it becomes illegible, then you might want to re-think your medium and perhaps just write a book, or a really wordy animation, instead. It was after the third ENTIRE page of nothing but hard-to-read, handwritten, meaningless text that I gave up on "The Invisibles". And by "meaningless" I don't mean "fluff dialogue that pertains to the action" or "cryptic dialogue that might make sense later", I mean actually meaningless, gigantic word-bubbles of insane characters singing entire songs and babbling incoherently about things that have nothing to do with the plot, or meaningless stream of consciousness droning from characters who are tripping. All of this text feels like nothing but filler, and coupled with the jarring transitions between pages it makes "The Invisibles" look like VERY amateur work.

One last niggling detail is that I couldn't really identify with any of the characters. The main character, a teenage boy named "Dane", is basically a carbon-copy of Alex from "A Clockwork Orange", but without the interest in Beethoven. He wanders around London with his monosyllable-named "droogs", indiscriminately stealing cars, smashing windows, beating people up, and blowing up buildings. It's suggested that he's very smart, but this doesn't make him any more likeable. The "hook" is that he "sees dead people", which might've been clever when this series was first printed, but after "The 6th Sense", "Bleach", and a dozen other stories with "I see dead people" protagonists, it just seems clichéd.

I really wanted to get the same sort of "reality warping" experience out of "The Invisibles" that some of my friends have, but I've seen it done better a dozen times before, and the whole execution just seems amateur. When I stopped reading it, I was hungry for some REAL reality warping, so I sat down and read some stories out of the collected fictions of Jorge Luis Borges and felt MUCH better. I suggest you skip "The Invisibles" and do the same.

Addendum: The friend who last loaned it to me told me that the first two story arcs were, indeed, horrible, but that it got significantly better after them. I tried reading it again, skipping over those first two story arcs and starting from the third, and it was indeed a much better read, and nothing was lost in having not read that first part. So, I'm upgrading my review to "a fun read overall, but not something I'd be interested in owning".

I'm not really a big of Grant Morrison's work. I find a lot of his work to be the kind of stuff I thought up and then decided does have enough depth to carry it in a story. With that said, Invisibles takes the cake when it comes to that. While it may be different, that doesn't mean it has any depth. If you're a fan of Morrison's, go do yourself a favor and read the Seven Soldiers trades or his Arkham Asylum stuff but stay away from the Invisibles.

I just read the review bad mouthing this and wanted to cancel him out by giving this 5. It's a great book, one of the most imaginative comics of all time and it's easy to grasp and understand if you pay attention. Also, try and read more than 3 issues sometime, eh?

Let me start by saying that The Invisibles is by far my favorite comic book of all time. It is such a demanding and rewarding experience. I read the entire series at least once a year and not once have I grown tired or bored by a single page or panel.
Grant Morrison is the finest talent working in the comic medium, bar none. His imagination knows no bounds, be it writing super hero fare like New X-Men or his current All-Star Superman, or more intelligent, cerebral stuff like The Filth or The Invisibles. All of his comic work shines like a diamond in a dark mine, lighting one's way to an eternal salvation of enlightenment and bliss. In short, GM Rocks!
Volume 1 of The Invisibles is a good introduction to the main characters and concepts of the series, but rest assured, this is only the first section of a further 6 volumes that need to be read in order to fully understand and appreciate the significance of what Grant Morrison is attempting to convey.
A lot of people seem to have disliked the second half of this first volume, ARCADIA, dismissing it almost outright as incomprehensible and far too strange and disorientating to be worthwhile, but make no mistake, ARCADIA is a key storyline in the overall narrative of the Invisibles. It defines a lot of the core philosophical concepts of the Invisible saga.
The inclusion of the Marquis de Sade into the mix is a particularly inspired choice. In particular, when he is transported forward to our time only to be faced with a world whose standards and choices mirror his own beliefs and writings. Not that I side with de Sade; I simply find it an interesting insight that what was once considered damnable and deplorable is now embraced as cool and thrilling. Down and Out in Heaven and Hell, indeed!
On the art side, I favour Steve Yeowell over Jill Thompson, however, Thompson's art is still quite impressive and suits the seedy nature of the overall ARCADIA story. I particularly like her depiction of Ragged Robin.
And while a lot has been said about the Invisibles/Matrix connection, I'll just let the fact of the Matrix films' declining quality and narrative inventiveness/cohesiveness speak for themselves. Besides, Neo is no Dane McGowan and Morpheus is certainly no King Mob!
Viva la Invisibles!

I won't take the time to review each TPB of this series separately because really it's a continuous story that I think should be taken as a whole. The invisibles is very entertaining and highly thought provoking. Being that I've never read anything else by Morrison I don't know if he believes in the ideas expressed in spiritual science fiction style books, or whether this whole series was his type of satire. But it's a clever series, and worth it for fans of comic books, liberal politics, spirituality, conspiracy, punk rock, science fiction, and literature alike.
Still, I can't truly give it five stars, and that flaw is due more to the comic industry than to the books themselves. Comic books are laughed at as a "trash medium" and the idea that the words "comic book" spark in the minds of most people is that "dudes who read comics don't really do well with chicks, and proably live in their parent's basement." Also there are no libraries or Blockbuster type places that specialize in comics, so most of the time if you want to read them you have to pay through your nose. Since every comic book published has to try to appeal to the widest demographic possible in order to keep its publisher afloat, every series, no matter who its intended audience is, has to cater to the average idiot expecting a shwarzenegger flick, or disney channel original movie in book form.
Because of this limitation morrison's heroes are a slightly stereotypical action hero type squad who could easily be marketed as action figures. In the first trade, the second part, we see a rich literate time travel piece which includes a portrait of the roots of mob psychology, and a charming dialogue between Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelly, this was too brainy for most and sales flagged, see the problem?
If The Invisibles was a novel, the acessibility of that medium would give morrison free reign for his ample creative faculties, but the restrictions of the industry sort of kept him back. The series does, however, use that to it's advantage and begins to parody itself and it's audience in a clever way, but it just couldn't fully compensate. Plus being scottish morrison's take on African American culture is a bit laughable at times. Still overall I enjoyed the heck out of this series, and the characters were likeable in spite of themselves. Read it alongside the Illuminatus! trilogy or Phillip K. Dick's Vallis for maximum enjoyment.

I ordered a book that was supposed to be in good condition. I was very disappointed when it arrived. It was soiled, some of the pages stuck together, the spine broken and pages loose. It even smelled bad. I sent it back within a week in April. I hadn't heard from them by the middle of June so emailed them and they finally credited my account. Bad experience all around.

This is a great series. The writer has a wonderful sense of humor. One of the few times I've ever laughed out loud while reading a book. I had to read the funny parts to my husband.

The Stephanie Plum series is a riot to read - If you like to laugh you'll love these books!!

No one can make you laugh like Janet Evanovich! What a hoot! Love her Plum novels...

IT is exactly as they said and exactly what I expected. It arrived in a timely manner and I am very pleased.

I just found this series (2006) and I love it.The stories are very real.
The only problem I had with the series, is book 2 is out of print.I did mange to get a copy from the libary, but it took two weeks for them to find it! Ebay had a copy for $99.00. Didn't want to read it that bad.

Lily Bard cleans the homes of some local residents in her Shakespeare, Arkansas town. Part of her success as a house cleaner is the fact that she keeps to herself and doesn't interfere with the private goings on she may be privy to cleaning private residences.

When the town trollop and one of Lily's clients, Deedra, is found murdered in her car on a remote road, the town of Shakespeare is once again turned upside down. With so many men that had been in and out of Deedra's bed, the list of suspects is lengthy. And for some reason Lily can't get this murder out of her head, no matter how hard she tries.

I was bothered a little by the insensitivity Lily shows towards the death of this woman. Yes she was 'easy', to put it nicely, but she didn't deserve her death and I thought Lily could have shown a tad more compassion for the woman.

I can honestly say the ending took me by complete and total surprise. I had an idea, a hunch, towards the end, but the way the mystery played out... while my suspect was correct, the reason behind it was a total fricken shock.

I was feeling a little under the weather today so I grabbed this book, curled up on the sofa with my favorite afghan and a couple hours later, here I am. I was so completely absorbed and engrossed in this book that the day just kind of slipped by me. Charlaine Harris in a very short time has cemented herself as a favorite author in my life and an automatic buy. I have yet to be disappointed by one of her books; instead with each book I am newly delighted.

Shakespeare's Landlord
Shakespeare's Champion (The Second Lily Bard Mystery)
Shakespeare's Christmas (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 3)

Cherise Everhard, March 2008

Oops, this is the first Lily Bard mystery I have read and I realized when I was almost half-way through it (it's a quick read!) that I really should have waited until I had them all. Oh, well - I'm sure that will be easy enough to correct, and definitely pleasurable to have a new batch of Charlaine Harris books to enjoy. Wonderful mystery, great characters and I can't wait to learn more about them.

I was unable to obtain the previous three copies of the Lily Bard series and had to settle with starting with Shakespeare's Trollop. I don't like to read series books out of order, but I love Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series and wanted to give one of her mystery books a whirl. Shakespeare's Trollop was a fun, engrossing novel that kept me guessing until its final pages. Lily Bard is a thirty-something cleaning lady and karate expert who has discovered the dead body of a woman whose reputation was not the greatest one in Shakespeare, Arkansas. The townspeople are disturbed, albeit unsurprised about Deedra's awful demise. Lily has to find the man who raped and killed one of her employers. She hadn't anticipated opening an unexpected can of worms...

The mystery was well done and nicely presented. Charlaine Harris kept me guessing. I liked the southern town backdrop of the story. Harris has brought out the same southern charm she had done with the Sookie Stackhouse book. I only regret not having gotten reacquainted with the colorful characters with the earlier books. It seems that there has been a lot of history between Lily and various characters in the series. I hope to be able to read the first three parts at some stage in the future. Lily is a great character. I like the whole reluctant sleuth thing. She is someone I want to read more of. The overall story was well executed despite its shortness (only 194 pages). All in all, I enjoyed Shakespeare's Trollop and I only hope to be able to read all of the books so that I could get a better feel of this promising mystery series.

Poor Deedra Dean is Shakespeares latest victim in this 4th Lily Bard. And who better to find the body than Miss Lily herself?
Shakespeares Trollop was an entertaining read, but compared to the previous books in this series,I thought ST was a little predictable and not as gripping, but it did have some rather juicy moments such as a riveting little tidbit involving Bobo. I just love Bobo. I know hes just a college boy ,but wowee what a cutie. Anyways, back to the story...a quick enjoyable read, but nothing that got me wild. I of course plan on finishing the series, but for now, I think Im going to take a break from Shakespeare.

Heather Wells, former teen pop star, is doing ok. The probation period is over at her new job as assistant resident director for New York College's Fischer Hall, she has a great new boss, and she can now enroll for free classes and get the education she never received as a pop star on the road. The pay is lousy and they are making her take remedial math before she can take any real classes, and they are calling Fischer Hall Death Dorm but hey all that is just water under the bridge. At least until another student is found dead at Fischer Hall and if that wasn't enough her father (recently released from prison) shows up at her door step. What is a girl to do. Now she has to solve another murder deal with the mixed feelings towards her father. Oh yes and the man of her dreams Cooper aka the brother of her ex-finance, still doesn't notice her or so she thinks. What is a former pop star to do.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either is was an interesting sequel. The basic premise of the book former pop star turn detective is exactly the same as the first book. It could almost be the same book. However, Heather Wells detective is just the back drop for the book. What we do find in the sequel is Heather learning more about herself, becoming more comfortable with self even as her waist line expands and connecting with her expanding, unorthodox extended family. We see how Heather has created a new life after stardom consisting of a crazy cast of character even a few from her old life. Heather Wells with her wit and spunk keep you reading and fans of romance will continue to route for her growing relationship with Cooper.

I will definitely read the third installment to this series Big Boned. I see series potential for the Heather Wells series.

Meg Cabot does it again!

This mystery was fun, flirty, suspenseful and downright excellent. This follow-up to Size 12 Isn't Fat, continues the tale of Heather Wells as she tries to get her life on track while managing a huge crush on her landlord, re-connecting with her ex-jailbird dad, and solving a heinous murder to boot.

You don't need to be size 12 or 14 to identify with her quirky character and mental ramblings. Heather appeals to any woman who's ever been underestimated and tossed a few bad cards in the game of life.

Meg Cabot is always good for a fun and entertaining read. In this second book in the series, Heather Wells, ex-pop-tart a la Debbie Gibson, is still suffering with unrequited love with her landlord, is still being stalked by her ex-fiance, and is still discovering dead bodies in the New York College residence hall where she's assistant director.

While not quite as entertaining as the first book in the series, this mystery is still a fun, fast read with plenty of quirky characters and crazy mishaps, including the appearance of Heather's ex-con dad.

I kind of felt like this book was written on autopilot without the usual depth Cabot brings to her characters, but I still enjoyed it

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

Heather Wells is a former teen pop star turned assistant dorm director. Ooops. I mean assistant residence hall director. While this could be considered an unlikely career change, Heather likes her job and the people she works with. Just one little problem. People keep ending up getting killed and her residence hall is aptly dubbed "Death Dorm".

In this second Heather Wells mystery, a well liked cheerleader is found with her head in a pot on the stove in the cafeteria. Fortunately, the police have Heather around to ask the right people the right questions because Chris Noth isn't around when you need him.

It's not really necessary to read SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT to enjoy SIZE 14 IS NOT FAT EITHER, but there's a nice foundation of the characters if you do.

You've heard of eye candy? Well to me, this series is brain candy. It's a fun mystery that you have to divorce yourself from a certain degree of believability, but that's what makes it so enjoyable. This isn't Agatha Christie, but it isn't meant to be.

I really enjoy having a protagonist who is real. Whether you're a size 12 or a size 2, you can relate well to Heather. She's a modern day Nancy Drew who likes cream cheese and bacon on her morning bagel and has a crush on the barista boy at her local Starbucks. She also has to occasionally lie down on her bed in order to zip her jeans. My kind of girl! Heather is someone I would like to hang out with, and that's part of what makes this series so good. Well thought out characters.

Now you aren't going to over-exert your gray matter reading this book but you aren't going to lose any brain cells either. The mystery aspect is a little thin. Your hand is held along the way. But you will be entertained by Heather as she stumbles along solving the mystery of the be-headed cheerleader.

I am going to be running down to buy BIG BONED, the third Heather Wells mystery as soon as possible because I can always use a book that makes me laugh out loud. I just love getting those funny looks from people in waiting rooms, don't you?

I find Meg Cabot rather irresistible. I imagine her to be the sort of sunny girlfriend who always has a great story to tell and who has a knack for making you laugh, no matter how lousy of a day you've had. The style translates to her work and that is what makes it so enjoyable to me. Cabot's novels are pure fun, just like an afternoon spent gossiping and laughing with a close female friends.

The engaging Heather Wells is back in this novel. The premise of her being a former pop princess who is now broke courtesy of her mother running off with her money in probably the most original back story I've heard for a character in some time. Still, though her background is rather dramatic, Heather is not bitter. If there's one criticism I have of the character it would be that she perhaps lacks a bit of nuance. I don't think I'd be as forgiving as she is but Cabot portrays her as a woman who's satisfied enough with her lot in life. This makes her a bit unrealistic but Cabot does save her from being too perfect, which would kill the character all together. At any rate, Heather is fun and funny and the kind of person with whom I would get along famously in real life.

As with the previous novel, Size 12 Is Not Fat, Heather stumbles her way into the midst of a mystery. Given that she aspires to a major in criminal justice, it's not entirely surprising. Still, Heather's no Nancy Drew. She's so inept at times that she bears more resemblance to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and her ineptitude is used to great effect. Though Heather eventually triumphs, she hits many obstacles and makes many mistakes along the way--small wonder her roommate and would-be-love Cooper doesn't want to clue her in to his activities.

Along with the mystery, there is the added tension of Heather's father's reappearance in her life and while she deals with his return fairly calmly, she is also wary of him. There is also the continued romantic tension between Cooper and Heather. Cooper is determined to believe that Heather is not yet over his brother Jordan, though I found this to be a bit debatable. I get the impression that Cooper's conflict may be more to do with the fact that perhaps he's not quite ready to get into a relationship with Heather which would, admittedly, be quite complex. Cabot is a master of orchestrating that kind of frustration that keeps readers eager to experience that sweet moment of vicarious bliss in which their well-loved heroine finally gets the man she wants and deserves.

I think one of the things I like most about this series is the frank way in which Cabot treats the issue of Heather's weight. It makes me wonder if Cabot has some first-hand experience. Though Heather is aware of her size and knows that her eating habits have a great deal to do with it, she remains a confident and centered person. Cabot strikes a very nice balance here and steers clear of making the books all about Heather's size. The fact that she wears a 12 and then probably a 14 is just one part of who she is. Perhaps others underestimate her because of it but it makes me happy to see that Heather is as well-adjusted as she is and that she likes herself even though society likes to tell women her size that they should despise themselves.

Cabot has left a lot of room for this character to grow, which is good. While Heather is a lot of fun, I don't think she'd make much of a private eye--at least not at this point. I'm glad about that, though, because it hints that Cabot may treat us to more Heather Wells novels for some time to come.

The plot is fab, and for the first 3/4 of the book, I couldn't put it down. The ending wasn't a disappointment, but the translation was just so wacky at some points, it really detracted from the story. An outbuilding, for example, is not the same as an outhouse, and while the explanation for the mysterious journal entry works fine in Swedish, in English it was completely ineffective. I think that the use of footnotes would be appropriate in pun-like things. But the book is a very good read regardless.

The small-town setting of Sweden, with occasional side-trips to Copenhagen and Jim Jones's Guyana, together with quirky characters and a relentless plot, make this a unique and surprising thriller.

Mankell has a firm grip on the psychology of religious mania, and a sly way of linking small, everyday events with large, shocking social shifts.

I have read everything that Mankell has written.
The plot is very very suspensful. Wallandar and his daughter are portrayed as two of the most unlikeable, revolting people I have have come across as detectives. Everything about them is distasteful and their disfunctional relationship totally took away from my enjoyment of what is a fascinating mystery.

Henning Mankell uses a compelling technique in some of his novels in which he modifies historical events in a plausible but unverifiable way and then weaves a tale that incorporates that thread of historical difference. For example, consider if during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979, one of the captives was a Swedish-American who stayed behind in Iran, converted to Islam, and then became peripherally involved in terrorism. 25 years later, he returns to Sweden when he learns of a plot against his prominent family. Happily, this clumsy and hackneyed example doesn't appear in this or any other of Mankell's books, but it is illustrative of the literary device.

Mankell is also good at illustrating how some of the world's horrors, e.g., the AIDS crisis in Africa, are linked through a long chain of events and practices to what is widely viewed as acceptable conduct by individuals and institutions. The lesson is that what seems proper and decent on the surface may be hiding something much more sinister underneath.

Finally, Kurt Wallander is the flawed, demon-plagued detective whose life always seems on the verge of ruin. We respect and admire him while we pity and sympathize with him. He is forever "shocked" at changes (prices, clothing styles, attitudes of young people, etc.) as if he is somehow the last to find out. But this is part of his makeup. He is an overworked detective who is single-minded when he is on a case. And because of rising crime rates and budget cuts, he is working nearly all the time. He ignores everything else. And he pays a dear price for this in his personal life. It's a bit tragic in that the very qualities that make him an admirable person and a highly effective policeman are the very same that make him a lonely and unhappy man who fears he may, in the end, not have made a difference. And he may be right. In terms of complex, compelling, believable characters, Wallander is up there with Michael Connolly's Harry Bosch and Ian Rankin's John Rebus.

Henning Mankell's Before the Frost combines the sleuthing skills of its main protagonist, Kurt Wallender and his daughter, Linda, who has now joined the force. Mankell takes us on his usual gripping journey as Kurt and Linda try to discover the identity of a murderer before he can kill again. This time, however, the murderer is fueled by religious mania, thus making Wallender's job more frustrating and dangerous as he attempts to decode a series of strange clues. Along the way, we are entertained by Kurt's evolving relationship with his grown up daughter as well as his insightful commentary on the demise of Sweden's social democratic society.
Over and over, Mankell proves himself as one of the best crime novelists in the world. As always, he has written another gem.

Donald Gallinger is the author ofThe Master Planets

Identity Crisis (DC Comics)
this comic makes you fundementally change the way you view the characters and their lives.
it shows their complete flaws and humanity in a disturbingly real light.
what people do for love and to protect those they love.
and the 'true' villian of this story will shock you.

I rather enjoyed this, in spite of an ending which I found to be a little weak. This particular focuses mainly on some of the JLA's secondary characters. Though I knew who they were I had never really read any stores that had focused on them, and enjoyed this one (I particularly enjoyed the Green Arrow who I never really cared about before). Though this is hardly the deconstruction of the superhero mythos on the level of something like Watchmen, but it does (in my opinion) show some of the DC characters in a different light than you've seen them in in the past. This isn't for everyone though some people might find it too dark or violent. But then again some people are wusses. A highlight for me was the fight against Deathstroke. I also really liked the art work

There were two things I didn't like, be warned they are spoilers. The first one is Dr. Light. I mean really? Dr. Light? He's lame and we all know it. Reconning and saying the tried to change his personality and that is why he is `stupid' now? I'm sorry that just isn't good enough for me. You can do better guys. Secondly, and more seriously the real villain of the story (Jean Loring) is kind of lame. On the one hand it is a surprise and certainly is nice to have it be someone unexpected. But the reasoning behind it was, well stupid. To be fair people who are insane don't always do things that make sense. However, it's reviled she did all this to get back with her ex-husband Ray Palmer, except that she is the one of left him. So I'm not really sure why she went to all this trouble. This doesn't even account for how she was able to navigate through the human body to get to a spot to cut off blood flow to the brain, or how she could breathe in the blood stream. But other wise I found this very enjoyable.

My problem with Identity Crisis is that Brad Meltzer doesn't have much experience with comics, and it shows. While the story is commendable, the execution wasn't. The strength of Identity Crisis is the writing, with the art having to make major adjustments.

To me, comics is about the balance between text and image. If the writing is the star, why have a comic book in the first place? Sure, it's about DC's properties, but superhero stories aren't limited to comics.

Brad Meltzer has taken one of the oldest story universes in the world, the DCU, and lets us see it as if for the first time.

The challenge given by DC for this series was to write an emotional, quiet, touching story set in the DCU. Not an easy task at all, but Brad pulled it off in style. And the guy's only prior comic work was a monthly stint on Green Arrow.

To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a mainstream superhero series written with such emotional honesty besides Alan Moore's critically acclaimed Watchmen. From the ground up, Brad established an emotional tone in this book. The characters weren't afraid to speak from their hearts in this one and the dialogue showed that. Everything seemed very real, the superheroes reacted very realistically, dealt with struggles that even we face on a daily basis. I don't think there's another superhero comic that has touched the emotional depths that this comic series has.

Identity Crisis is a real triumph in that regard, making us see the flesh and blood beneath even the toughest of skins, making us realize that even superheroes are human, flawed. And that's not all, it also makes us see how depraved a human heart can be, how often we take the easy way out by compromising our beliefs and how sometimes we can do nothing to help the brother beside us. The book moves from emotional height to depth constantly, never giving us even a moment's pause to catch our breaths. And that's a testament to Brad's brilliant pacing.

When it comes to plotting, Brad's a genius. The book rarely got out of point, the story stayed very focused throughout, and I don't think I ever hit a point in that book where it got stale. The story's vibrant and the characters driving that story, the DCU heroes, were captivating and larger than life, as they should be. Needless to say, I think comic fanboys, even those who aren't very much into the DCU, will welcome the affection Brad has showered over the DCU characters. Which was why this book turned out so well; every page was created with love and respect for the heroes that have enthralled us so much during our younger days.

But you know what's the most interesting thing about this book? It was that DC chose Identity Crisis to be a 'stepping board' for many of their future stories. Till now, we still see the effects of this book being felt in the current books, and that amazing. Brad wrote this book to be a quiet, standalone story.

I haven't even begun to touch on the beauty of Rag Morales' art. To draw such a realistic and vibrant book isn't easy by any means, which speaks of just how much in tune both Rags and Brad were during the creative process of this book.

So, go get this book now if you haven't. You would be crazy not to.

I'm not hugely into comic books. Oh, I read them from time-to-time, but usually only in collections like this one, Kingdom Come and similar. So when I do read them, I have pretty high expectations which, thankfully, this book lives up to.

The story centers around various members of the Justice League being very worried someone knows their secret identities. This someone has already killed the wife of Elongated Man, and several other family members may be targeted.

There's some surprising depth to this story, and a very satisfactory resolution. I had no idea who the killer was going to be and was quite surprised to find out. I was also very impressed by the ethical discussions that went on centering around events up on the Justice League space station.

The art and writting were both top-notch. I gave it four stars overrall cause parts did feel a little rushed and there were some side characters that were really just distractions. That said, it's a great book, and I really enjoyed reading it!