FMAM MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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February 2010
Mr. Monk in Trouble
Lee Goldberg
Obsidian, 2009, 273 pages
ISBN: 978-0451229052
The much loved television series MONK came to a close recently, but with books by Lee Goldberg, those of us who love this wonderfully flawed character he lives on! In MR. MONK IN TROUBLE, Monk and his assistant Natalie travel to the tourist town of Trouble to solve the murder of a museum guard. Trouble is a small town where another Monk, Artemis Monk was not just an assayer but also solved crimes in 1855. And like Adrian, he too, had an assistant who helped him with his many quirks, for like Adrian he wanted the town to symmetrical, for there to be no spitting, and so much more. Artemis’s assistant was Mrs. Guthrie who chronicled not only those quirks but his crime solving as well.
The town of Trouble gained some notoriety in the 1962 when there was a daring gold train robbery. The gold was never found. When Natalie and Monk arrive in Trouble, he immediately wants to go home but he is intrigued by the train robbery. Natalie tells Chief Kelton that the missing gold has him hooked so he will solve both crimes. Kelton is a flirting heavily with Natalie doubts it, saying that no one has found the gold in fifty years, no way.
Monk and Natalie first go to the Museum – the scene of the crime where Monk seems more fascinated with the train engine of the notorious train that had been robbed than the murder. They move on to the Box House, which has Monk thrilled. It is a perfect square. It turns out Artemis built and lived in it. But Monk does not see any resemblance between him and Artemis yet everyone else does. The “curator” of the box house allows Natalie to borrow the book Mrs. Guthrie wrote about the crime solving of Mr. Monk.
As we progress through Monk working out who stole the gold and where it is as well as who killed Manny the museum guard we are treated to an 1800’s version of a Monk relative who solved crimes in exactly the same manner of modern day Monk. It is a delightful romp between two centuries, two types of crimes, and two Monks. Double the fun!
Like all his other MONK books, once again Mr. Goldberg has captured not only the essence of Adrian Monk but the nuances, the flavor, the MONK. Mr. Goldberg’s Monk is every bit as flawed, as OCD, as wacky as the television Monk has been. He is true to the character while bringing story locations and plots that are fun and so believable for Monk. To capture a character that comes into your home week after week is no easy task, yet Mr. Goldberg does it seamlessly. Another excellent book. If you love MONK or of you want to escape into a fun read, you will love MONK IN TROUBLE.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D., MHt
Eggsecutive Orders
Julie Hyzy
Berkley Prime Crime, January 2010, $7.99, 310 pages
ISBN: 978-0-425-23203-3
Olivia Paras is the White House chef who seems to find trouble. In EGGSECUTIVE ORDERS, Olivia isn’t looking for trouble and is shocked to discover that the previous night at a state dinner, one of the government officials, Carl Minkus died after eating. Before he died he complained about lip tingling. Could Ollie’s kitchen have done something wrong? Did they ignore any health issues such as allergies?
Ollie and her crew are banned from the executive kitchen while they are being investigated. And the timing couldn’t be worse with the White House Easter Egg House looming. Tom, a secret service agent as well as Ollie’s boyfriend is assigned to keep her in line. In Ollie’s case this means making sure she doesn’t investigate on her own, which of course she tries to do to honor Tom but of course she cannot. When she is vilified by a reporter as being the reason the man is dead, she feels she must find out what really happened. Did he have an allergy no one knew about? What about enemies? And to make matters more complicated Ollie’s mother and grandmother come to town, initially to visit, tour the White House, and the Easter Egg hunt and now, well the good news is with the time off Ollie has time to show them around Washington. But that isn’t as smooth either. When she takes her mom and Nana to Arlington to visit her father’s grave they run smack into the murder man’s widow and she blasts Ollie. The widow is accompanied by her son and an older gentleman who is/was a friend of her late husband (Kap). Kap takes an immediate liking to Ollie’s mom and asks her out. Ollie does not like this at all. Nana tells Ollie it’s time your mother moves on. Ollie knows, but….
And then Ollie begins to search for the why and who and the race is on. Everything is turned upside down.
EGGSECUTIVE ORDERS is the third book in the Olivia Paras series. Julie Hyzy writes with a charm and a wit that has you not wanting to put the book down. She not only paints beautiful pictures with her words but she makes you see, smell and even taste the food she occasionally refers to. You are in the kitchen with Ollie, right there with her as she is preparing food, investigating, or talking with her cohorts Bucky and Cyan. Ms. Hyzy’s secondary characters are as well written and as fun as her main characters. EGGSECUTIVE ORDERS is a fun, charming cozy. And excellent read.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5.
Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D., MHt
Grave Sight
Charlaine Harris
Berkley Prime Crime Books, 2005, $7.99, 310 pages
ISBN: 978-0-425-21289-9
Harper was struck by lightning when she was younger and ever since she was able to find dead people. Sounds easy right? Just go to any cemetery. Not exactly, she can find those not found yet. Those who wondered off, those murdered, those recently dead. She has the gift of seeing how they died from their eyes. Not who killed them, just how it happened. Her half brother, Tolliver travels with her as she goes from place to place to find missing loved ones.
In GRAVE SIGHT, the town council of Sarne has requested her to find a missing teenage girl. The young man she was last with had been found from a self inflected gunshot wound. Now the town wants to know where the girl is. After negotiations, Harper and Tolliver are brought to the spot they request – where the teenage boy was found. On the way she finds a “freebie” for the town, an elderly gentleman who had wondered away and had an aneurysm. When they arrive at the spot where Drew was found, Harper sees that something is not right with the town’s version of the suicide. It is mostly defiantly not a suicide. Before much time the humming of a body is calling and in no time they find their quest – Teenie. She is a little ways from Drew’s body but why wasn’t she found when Drew was wonders Harper.
Hollis, one of the deputies asks Harper how much she charges to read a dead person. She is without Tolliver and not sure what is up to so she quotes him $3000 and tells him cash since they are leaving. He goes to the bank and withdraws the money and takes her to a cemetery where he tests her. How did this one die, that one, etc. Finally he comes to rest on the one grave Harper feels is the one he wants the answer to. As she concentrates she sees a woman in a tub, then someone grabs her ankles and pulls her under – murder. She tells him and then he says something to the effect of I knew it had to be but why not fight? And Harper explains the shock of someone doing this can immobilize someone and then it is too late. He tells Harper that this was his wife and Teenie’s sister. When Harper leaves his truck she leaves the money on the seat.
Teenie’s mother calls and asks Harper and Tolliver to come over and tell her about the last moments of both of her daughter’s lives. Teenie had been shot in the back twice. She was grateful for the honesty. But barely any time passes when she too is murdered. And the sheriff tells Harper and Tolliver that they must stay in town. This leads to Tolliver going to jail, attacks on Harper and a murderer circling on more kills.
What a clever idea! Someone who is led to the body to bring it home so to speak. Great idea. The relationship between Harper and Tolliver is intense and co-dependent but the story and the overall interactions more than make up for it. GRAVE SIGHT is an easy read, one that keeps you intrigued such that you do not want to put the book down. This was the first book I have read by Charlaine Harris but it won’t be the last! I really enjoyed it and look forward to not only the Harper and Tolliver series but her other series as well.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.9.
Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D., MHt
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