| Mysteries in Hollywood and in Minnesota: You Betcha |
December 17, 2010
Two mysteries
allowed me to get away, for just a moment, from the crush of shopping
for gifts, writing cards, baking cookies, and wrapping presents. I love
getting ready for Christmas and I am fairly low-key about shopping and
decorating, but there have been some evenings of late when all I wanted
to do was sit down with my glass of wine and escape. Two publishers
were kind enough to oblige, sending me The Midnight Show Murders (from Random House) Al Roker's latest foray into mystery writing (he gets help from author Dick Lochte) and The Cruel Ever After
by Ellen Hart, the latest in the Jane Lawless mysteries (from
Minotaur). I can recommend both for a good read, providing escape and
intrigue, and I endorse the Roker for fun and gossip, and the Hart for
no-holds-barred suspense.
If you like Al Roker (and who doesn't?), The Midnight Show Murders
offers a glimpse into his psyche. By channeling narrator Billy
Blessing, professional chef and TV morning show commentator (sound
familiar?), author Roker lets us know what TV personality Roker thinks
is cool and what repels him, as well giving us a good sense of who and
what Roker/Blessing wants from life in terms of food, family, females,
and foundation. New York City is the foundation, no doubt about it:
Blessing has been forced from his NYC home base out to Los Angeles to
assist in the launch of a new late late night comedy show. The proposed
host is an Irishman with a past; the welcoming Angelenos are angling
for their own power play, and are gorgeously two-faced; and even old
friends become new enemies, while old enemies sink their teeth in all
over again. Roker and Lochte had me guessing to the very end as to
whodunit, and allowed me some good laughs over bi-coastal dysfunction,
as well as generous peeks into the world of entertainment broadcasting.
There is little to laugh about in The Cruel Ever After,
Hart's grimmest installment yet in the Jane Lawless series. Everyone
and everything is for sale and the price is deceit, except for our hero
Jane, her cohort Cordelia, and a few of their nearest and dearest. When
a very big and surprising secret from Jane's past surfaces in the form
of a scheming antiques dealer, those nearest and dearest become
threatened, the violence is real, and the motives are as deeply
delusional as they are powerful. This mystery also had me guessing until
the end and a twist in the final chapters had me reeling. Big thumbs
up to Hart for continuing to entertain and provoke with her Jane Lawless
mysteries (see below).
|
| Food, Desire, and Murder in Minneapolis |
November 2, 2009
I liked The Mirror and the Mask by Ellen Hart. Hart has constructed a solid mystery around fascinating recurring characters (this is her seventeenth Jane Lawless mystery) and variously miserable victims and/or perpetrators of planned, aborted, and executed murders. Set in a landscape of the cold, hard early winter of Minneapolis, Hart warms up her mystery with multiple scams, bitching wives, and lying husbands. She turns the heat up when Jane, an openly and actively gay restaurateur and amateur sleuth, finds herself attracted to a younger, gorgeous, (and maybe even dangerous) woman on the hunt for her missing father. Can Jane save the day and get the girl? Hart turns the tired formula on its head and makes it work, all over again. Add in a subplot about a child's rightful home, and we have a mystery all about what makes a parent, what makes a friend, and what happens when blood fails but love steps in.
Jane's friend Cordelia has a larger-than-life personality matched by her ego (and heart) but it is thanks to her ferreting that Jane gets her first lucky break in tracking down Annie's father. From that point on, the book chugs along picking up steam and suspects. No one is as they seem, hidden desires abound, and neurotic complexes multiply. Jane keeps her feet on the ground, but allows her heart to sing, a little. She keeps up her real job of managing her restaurants while pursuing her investigation, offering a shoulder and good food when necessary, and taking up an unexpected offer. Is Jane being used or is Jane being useful? I won't give away the story but I can promise the ending is satisfying, surprising, and warm (not hot).
This was my first Jane Lawless mystery but it won't be my last. Jane's a keeper. I intend to go all the way back to the first mystery starring this smart, sexy, and gay sleuth, and work my way through her cases, one by one. I just can't promise that I will ever cozy up to the very large (in every way) Cordelia or get used to the appalling names of Jane's restaurants, Xanadu Club and The Lyme House. Maybe in the next book Jane will re-name her watering holes and settle down for good.
Per FTC rules, the book I reviewed here was a review copy supplied by the publisher.
|
|