RMR Project: Page's "Body in the Fjord"

The Body in the Fjord by Katherine Hall Page

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Faith's friend Pix is suddenly summoned to Norway, along with her mother, to track down a family friend that has disappeared. Pix, equipped with a few supplies from Faith, and her mother joined the cruise that the missing family friend had been working on. With the missing girl's boyfriend dead, they are desperate to find any news and hope to save her in time.

The only thing that really bothered me about this book is that it opens with a prologue showing an accident. I realize that this is a common technique in mysteries to add tension and hook the reader. But I still find myself wishing the author could have found another way to do that.

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Tense: past.

POV: prologue in unidentified male third limited omniscient. Must be omniscient from chapter 1. Instant head hopping. Later limited to Pix and her mother, it becomes quite comfortable.

Deaths: page 4. Young man in falls.
Page 5. Eric, Kari's boyfriend. In offscreen accident. (Prologue?).
Page 7. Kari is missing.
Page 25. Kari's mother killed herself on Kari's second birthday
page 136. A member of the tour group.

Suspects: the tour group

Other: irrelevant thought. Page 16. Ursula guesses the pilot Einar Magnussen is Danish, because Dane's "sound like they have a potato in their mouths." Einar is not a common Danish name and the potato line is what Danes say about Americans.

RMR Project: Hart's "Resort to Murder"

Resort to Murder by Carolyn Hart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Henrietta Collins reluctantly agrees to accompany her grandchildren to Bermuda for their father's wedding. She hopes to spend much of the time recovering from pneumonia. Unfortunately strange happenings bring back tragic events from a year earlier, upsetting the bride-to-be. Henrie worries that her granddaughter is involved and sets out to find out what is happening.

I really enjoyed this mystery. It is filled with tension and well-written.

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Tense: past

POV: first person. 70+ Henrie Collins. Former reporter.

Deaths: page 37. Earlier suicide of husband of woman who runs hotel year before.
Page 62. Waiter claims it was murder.
Page 103. A staff member dies.
Page 236. A member of the wedding party is killed.

Suspects: the wedding party, the hotel manager.

Other: first chapter has granddaughter wishing her future stepmother dead.

RMR Project: Feddersen's "Dead in the Melon Patch"

WARNING: Some of my comments here could be considered spoilers. Just so you are warned.


Dead In The Melon Patch by Connie Fedderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


There are a couple things that bugged me with this one.



1) The POV is pretty unstable with lots of head-hopping primarily between Amanda and Nick. But also to Jenny. I think this could be cleaned up a good bit and that that would improve the story.

2) Amanda's motivation for researching the murder. Ego and being better than her BF. Is that really enough?

3) This is the spoiler bit. One of the clues to the murder is supposed the green car that forces Nick off the road when he is heading to Amanda's after the bombing (only he doesn't know abotu the bomb yet). But how can this car be speeding away after leaving the bomb for Amanda? Amanda arrives home to find a package on her porch. It explodes. She attempts to bandage the wound in her hand then calls and talks to Jenny at the office. Jenny misunderstands, but drives out to Nick to tell him about the call, expecting it to take her half an hour to get there. Nick then has to drive from the field to Amanda's, meaning his encounter with the green car was at least well over half an hour after the bomb was left on the porch. This makes no sense. Even if the bomber hung around to make sure Amanda got the package, she'd have been long gone by the time Nick heads over and wouldn't have any need to be speeding away!

4) The love affair between Nick and Amanda seems like it is a bit too much for a cozy mystery.


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Tense: Past
POV: 3rd limited. CPA dating sheriff. Nope. Found out on p. 26 that isn't right. Omniscient? Head jumping crazy between Amanda and Nick Thorn.
Pretty close to limited with 2 simultaneous POVs but then it breaks again with more heads. Some of this is probably avoidable.

Deaths: p. 18. Sheila MacAdo. Lazy granddaughter of Miz Lulu MacAdo

Suspects: 3 ex-husbands. plenty of lovers. The women she stole the lovers from. An escaped con.


Other: escaped con adds excitement and tension.
love affair between Hazard and Thorn a little too much??
Would be good except POV annoyances. Reader probably wouldn't notice. But then there is that timing bug mentioned in point 3 in the Goodreads review.

RMR Project: Myer's "Play it Again, Spam"

Play It Again, Spam by Tamar Myers

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I didn't really like it. I think partly I am suspicious of the presentations and attitudes shown by Amish, Mennonite, and other Pennsylvania Dutch. It seems more stereotypical than realistic to me.


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Tense: Past

POV: First. Magdalena, a mennonite inn-keeper

Deaths: No one dies until late in the book. There are missing people for earlier tension.

RMR Project: Fluke's "Blueberry Muffin Murder"

It is so long ago that I actually did these, that I am rereading them because I otherwise wouldn't remember anything about them.


Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Lake Eden plans a winter carnival to add some excitement to the usually boring Minnesota Winter. Celebrity chef Connie Mac comes to town and tries to turn the carnival into an advertisement for herself and her new store. Hannah Swenson reluctantly agrees to allow Connie Mac to use the kitchen at her store, The Cookie Jar, to bake a replacement cake for the carnival after an accident destroys the original.

When Hannah finds Connie Mac dead the next morning, she realizes that she wasn't the only one who saw through the chef's pleasant facade to the cruel and manipulative woman underneath. The police shut down her store, forcing Hannah to sift through the suspects to find the killer and save her business.

I really enjoyed this cozy-style mystery. The story was interesting and well-written. The cookie recipes, some of which sound quite good, are an added bonus.

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Published by Kensington Books. Copyright 2002.

Tense: Past

POV: 3rd. Hannah, a cookie baker in a northern Minnesota town. Dates both a dentist and a cop.

Deaths: p. 66, Connie Mac, the Cooking Sweetheart
p. 233. a second body


Suspects: Everyone who knew the victim. She was mean. There are even rumors that a ghost might be involved.

Other: Cookie recipes. Some pretty good.

RMR Project: MacPherson's "A Veiled Antiquity"

Published by St. Martin's. Copyright 1998.

Genealogy and murder are entwined in this mystery by Rett MacPherson.


Tense

Past.

POV

First person. Woman. Victory, called Torie. Two daughters. Tour guide for historical buildings in town.

Deaths

Page 6. Marie Dijon. Appears to be a fall-down-the-steps accident.
Page 34. Newspaper accusations of a 70-year-old murder. Page 39. Accused was 19 at the time of the suicide, now alleged to be murder.
Page 99. Ambulance needed for someone known by the narrator.
Page 128. The truth about the death from page 34 is revealed.

Suspects

The out-of-town mourners.
Yvonne Mezalaine, who claim to be victims half-sister wasn't on family tree

Other

Feels like too much back story, but the narrator is into history/genealogy.

RMR Project: Freeman's "Bleeding Heart"

Published by Berkley Prime Crime. Copyright 2000.

In Mary Freeman's Bleeding Heart, Rachel receives a prime landscaping project to prepare a exciting property to become a nature Conservancy. When her employer Eloise is suddenly found dead, Rachel finds herself caught up in the search for the murderer.

Tense

Past.

POV

Third person limited omniscient. Rachel O'Connor, who runs a landscaping business.

Deaths

page 54. Eloise, an elderly lady, a botanist, is missing in stormy weather.
Page 57. Eloise found dead in the flooded creek.


Suspects

The young woman who helped in the house, the victims as sons, a politician.

Other

this mystery has an interesting twist.

RMR Project: Davidson's "Killer Pancake"

Killer Pancake by Diane Mott Davidson

Tense

past

POV

first person. Caterer. Goldilocks catering. Married to homicide detective.


Deaths

page 34. Claire -- girlfriend to Goldie's live-in assistant, Julian. Hit-and-run.
Page 65. Not a death, but Marla, best friend, has a heart attack.
Page 234. Another murder. Trying to avoid spoilers.

Suspects

I didn't write them down in my notes. If I remember correctly, part of the problem was figuring out who could be suspected of the crime.

Other

I've read ones by this author before and I generally enjoy them. So maybe the limits in my notes are partly due to having been really sucked into the book.

RMR Project: Hess's "The Murder at the Murder at the Mimosa Inn"

This and the next larger batch of RMR project entries will consist primarily of copies of my handwritten notes while reading. Because of my concussion, I have been severely delayed in making these entries. I don't longer have a clear memory of the specifics of each book or my impressions beyond what I can recollect from my notes.

This one left me extremely annoyed and dissatisfied! It didn't play "fair" according to the rules of cozies! The heroine solved the crime using clues that were kept hidden from us.

Putting my opinion into goodreads, I was quite surprised at the number of people that actually like this book.

Tense

past.

POV

first person. Bookseller. Widow. Has 14-year-old daughter. Claire Malloy

Deaths

fake murder on page 60.

Person found actually dead on page 88. Blow to the head.

Suspects

everyone at the inn. The inn was hosting a murder mystery weekend. So the suspects included staff, actors and the actual guests.

Other

supposed to be a fake murder--murder mystery weekend

there was a bit of a twist in terms of whodunit, but not enough to make me like the book.

RMR Project: Francis's "Longshot"

I remember reading a lot of Dick Francis mysteries when I was younger and lived in the states. I've always loved horses and the horse aspect of his books is what interested me then. I forget where I picked this one up. I found it on the back of the shelf one day digging for more to reread.

A well-known race horse trainer (steeplechase mostly) wants a ghostwriter for his memoirs. He expects the author to come live with him for a month or so to do the research and interviews.

When a starving author is kicked out of his attic apartment because of frozen pipes, he begs the agent to get him the job with horse trainer. The agent isn't happy about the idea, but does the job.

The author suddenly finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Longshot was published by Michael Joseph Ltd (a UK division of Penguin)and has a 1990 copyright.

This was filled with excitement and action. The equine aspect was interesting but not dominant.

Tense

Past.

POV

First person. Writer John Kendall, but he mentions things he couldn't know yet. That is kind of annoying even though it is written in past.

page 92 the POV breaks to a third person omniscient POV that talks about a body and the police reactions. This POV switch repeats several points in the book.

Deaths

p. 37. A girl died a year earlier at a party. Trial underway--a jockey who rides for the trainer and is related to one of the owners.

p. 71. The author reads a news clipping about 6 months old mentioning a missing female groom.

p. 87. A body is found in the woods. More details would be spoiling.

Suspects

The investigation searches pretty far for suspects, but focuses primarily on the jockeys, especially the one charged in the party death, and the husband of one of the horse owner's.

Other

An accident eliminates one of the suspects on p 167.

Mention of horse doping interesting to me--may be useful in my own book--caffeine and theobromine (both found in chocolate) are banned substances. So giving a horse chocolate can result in doping charges!

RMR Project: Crane's "Miss Seeton Cracks the Case"

Miss Seeton has a knack for finding and getting into trouble. She is quite unaware of this and very humble about the occasions when it puts her into a situation where she can help the police solve a crime or two.

The police call her in to help as a police artist when a gang of criminals target the elderly for home robbery. Her skills also come in handy with some highway robbery cases.

Miss Seeton Cracks the Case was published by Berkley Books and has a 1991 copyright. I think someone else created the Miss Seeton character because the top of the cover says "Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton."

This is much different than most of the mysteries I read. It does include a death, but the heroine doesn't even know about it. The man died as a result of the home robbery so Miss Seeton solves it when she locates the band that did that and other home robberies.

Despite this significant difference--or perhaps because of it--the book was a very fun read. Miss Seeton is an interesting character with a good blend of strengths and weaknesses.

Tense

Past.

POV

Third person omniscient. This is unusual. Most of the cozies I've read had either been first person or limited omniscient. It does tend to focus on one group of characters per scene, but there is also a clear narrator voice in several places. But I liked the narrator.

Deaths

p. 14. RSM Brent. An elderly man killed by the "Sherry Gang" in a home robbery gone wrong.

p. 76. No death exactly, but a great deal of focus on rumors of a possible dead body being hidden in an air raid shelter thirty years earlier.

Suspects

They don't identify any specific suspects until near the end. They believe two women and a man are involved in the two gangs, but the details aren't revealed until the end. The reader, like the police, has to wonder whether it is one gang doing two types of crimes or two separate gangs.

RMR Project: McKevett's "Just Desserts"

I haven't gotten behind on my reading, but I have gotten behind on posting them to the blog.

Savannah Reid is a police officer who takes her job seriously. When she gets a job, she cares about doing it right. But when the husband of a local politician is killer, Savannah's dedication to the truth costs her her badge but she still doesn't give up.

Just Desserts was published by Kensington Books and has a 1995 copyright. The author is using a pseudonym, but the real name isn't listed in the book. I couldn't find mention of others, so this must be the first in the Savannah Reid series and the first using this pseudonym.

I like Savannah. She has a great sense of humor, a love of chocolate and other small luxuries, and cares about her friends and family. The book is pretty well done, but the POV break I will mention later really bothered me.

Tense

Past.

POV

Most of the book is told in third person limited omniscient from the perspective of Savannah herself.

However, it switched from pages 281 to 282 to Ryan, I think. I remember really studying the switch. I really think the story could have been told without the break. Enough details could have come from Savannah's perspective. This single irregularity in POV really bothered me when I was reading it.

Deaths

p 17. a homicide by shotgun. Later determined to be Jonathan Winston, wife of a councilwoman.

p. 254. Another homicide. Don't like spoilers, so won't tell you who.

Suspects

• Beverly Winston, the victim's wife. She is the prime suspect
• Police Chief Norman Hillquist, who takes a very personal interest in the case
• Fiona, Jonathan's ex-wife
• Danielle Lamont, another ex-lover
• Eric Bowman, a scumbag
• Paul Connors, another designer

Other

Savannah's dialog has a southern flavor.

The start to the book is made exciting by having Savannah and her partner chasing down a fugitive.

Tension is increased with tips from an anonymous caller--a woman with a NY accent.

RMR Project: Andrews's "Owls Well That Ends Well"

Desperate to rid the house of clutter, Meg Langslow recruits friends and family to help with a giant yard sale. Along with the usual locals, Meg has to deal with a number of unusual junk dealers, her own extensive family (many of whom are meeting her boyfriend for the first time), and the heirs of the family from whom she and the boyfriend bought the house. A sales clause gives those heirs 10% of the profits from the sale of the items left on the property. It's enough to drive a woman crazy.

Then things get worse. Gordon, the worst of the junk dealers, turns up dead in a locked trunk. Her boyfriend's best friend Giles is arrested. But he wasn't the only one with motive and opportunity. Meg sets out to clear Giles's name.

Owls Well That Ends Well is copyrighted in 2005 and published by St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries.

This mystery is filled with humor thanks to Meg's unusual family. It was a great distraction from the pain I had while reading it. I wouldn't mind reading more in this series.

Tense

Past

POV

This is a first-person story, told from the perspective of the heroine, Meg Langslow. The POV is very effective for the story because the reader is led to believe what Meg believes, which isn't always true.

Deaths

p. 58--Gordon, a junk dealer, is found in a trunk.

Suspects

• Giles, a college professor who had argued with the victim over a book
• Schmidt, another professor who wanted to keep his problems with Gordon a secret
• Carol, Gordon's wife who was trying to divorce him
• Ralph, Gordon's former business partner
• The hummel lady, who competed with him for good items at sales

RMR Project: Black's "A Vow of Fidelity"

 

When she receives a photograph of her art college class, Sister Joan is reminded of her promise to meet her classmates for a 20 year reunion. She is allowed to go, provided she uses the opportunity to advertise for the convent's new retreat offers.

At the meeting in London, Sister Joan learns that two of her classmates are already dead. Her visit to a third's home reveals that he died a few months earlier. As if that weren't enough to make her suspicious, the woman she talked to at the home of the deceased is murdered a few hours after they spoke.

The remaining classmates decide to book a retreat at the convent to continue the reunion. Then Sister Joan receives another copy of the class photo--with a threat in it. Can she find out what is going on before more classmates die?

A Vow of Fidelity was published by St. Martin's Paperbacks and has a 1995 copyright.

Despite the foreignness of the main character (I am not religious so have no experience with nuns and convents), I was comfortable with her perspective and quickly drawn into the story. The characters are interesting and realistic and the entire story is exciting. A good read.

Tense

Past.

POV

Vow of Fidelity is told in third person limited omniscient from the perspective of Sister Joan. Despite careful study, I found no POV breaks. It is very well done and Sister Joan is an interesting character.

Deaths

There were plenty of deaths talked about in the book, but only one is in the present. On page 26, we find out that Sally, the wife of a classmate and a classmate herself, died a few years earlier after a fall from a car park. The car park was known to be dangerous and her death is considered an accident, but there is some question in the minds of the classmates.

Bryan Grimes, another former classmate, was killed in a hit-and-run. We find this out on page 29.

Sister Joan learns of the death of Serge, a third classmate, on page 47. He had died a month earlier of an overdose. But his girlfriend swears he didn't take drugs and was not suicidal.

The death of a gypsy child on page 138 is a reminder of a child who died several years earlier.

There is another death on page 162, but telling you about it would be too much of a spoiler.

Suspects

Sister Joan fears that one of her living classmates is behind the crimes. She focuses her attention there.

Other

There was plenty of back story but it wasn't intrusive.

The book is a fine read on its own, even without knowledge of the several earlier books in the series.

RMR Project: Carter's "Candy Apple Dead"

 

Candy Apple Dead by Sammi Carter revolves around Abby, a corporate lawyer who returned to her hometown after her marriage failed and took over her great aunt's candy shop. When a friend's store burns down and his body is found in the rubble, her brother is the townspeople's main suspect. Assuming, of course, that the man didn't burn the shop down himself and get caught in the blaze. Abby can't believe either could be thought guilty, but soon finds out many things about both of them that she didn't know.

The book was published by Berkley Prime Crime and has a 2005 copyright. For subgenre, it is probably somewhere between a regular cozy and the newer class "culinary," which seems to simply be a cozy with a food aspect. Candy recipes are included (not something that would make me buy a book, but who knows).

I really liked this one. Even better than the previously read one in the project. I may partly prefer it because the POV is more like my own work. The characters were real and I could relate to them easily. The woman's need to find the answers herself were very understandable. Even analyzing it closely, I didn't find any real problems with the book. Just one spot where it says she turns on the flame then half a page later starts the burner--for the same pot. Not a big deal and probably not very noticeably problematic if reading just for fun.

The play between what the narrator thought of characters versus what the town thought added to the enjoyment. Abby made you sympathize with the dead guy even when the rest of the town had a grudge. She had a great sense of humor and personality as well.

POV

First person. Abby herself narrates the story and I found nothing that even hinted at a possible POV break.

Tense

Past.

Deaths

The victim fails to turn up for a date with Abby already just a little way into the book. Then the fire happens soon after (p. 18). An unidentified body is found under the rubble of the fire on page 42, but is not identified as Brandon until page 62.

Suspects

Although Abby tries to suspect pretty much everyone, the police only appear to suspect Wyatt, her brother, and Brandon himself of starting the fire. Abby turns up hints of other possible suspects on her own.

Other

Page 9 foreshadows events to come as the end of chapter hook. This makes sense when it is written in past tense--as if Abby herself wrote the tale once it was completed. But I am not sure I like that as much--I think I prefer to believe the narrator is just as ignorant of what's going to happen as I am.

Chapter 1 has minimal back story but Ch. 2 has plenty of it.

In the earlier chapters, I played close attention to the EOC hooks and found them very effective. I forgot to pay as much attention later on. Also by that time you are so far into the book that you want to know what happens anyway, even if the EOCs had been a little weak (not saying they were--I didn't notice).

RMR Project: Page's "The Body in the Belfry"

 

The Body in the Belfry is, according to the back flap, Katherine Hall Page's first book and it earned her the Agatha Award for best first mystery novel. From a reader perspective, it captivated me easily and carried me happily along on its tale. No problems with suspension of disbelief or characterization. A pleasant read.

Copyright 1990. Published by Avon Books.

Now for the more clinical aspects.

POV

The book starts out with Faith, a minister's wife and new mom. My expectation after reading the first few pages was that it would be a third person limited omniscient POV. I was wrong.

Already within the first chapter I found hints of omniscient--no clear narrator, but obviously more than Faith should know.

As a short example of the most glaring breaks of Faith's POV:

• p. 73-74. Dave's POV
• p. 79. 1 para of Dunne, back to Faith, then a touch of Tom
• p. 82. Millicent
• p. 92. Pix.
• p. 106. Scott

By the time I'd gone through that headhopping section, I quit noting the shifts, declaring it some kind of third person omniscient perspective.

I think I need to study more on third person omniscient because of the questions I am left with.

Was Page trying to write third person omniscient or did she just break the limited POV without realizing it?

Perhaps she was not edited as firmly because of her Agatha prize? Is the prize awarded to a draft or to a published book? If the former, the award might result in less thorough editing in the haste to get it published.

Tense

Past. That was easy.

Deaths

There are two. Cindy Shepherd on page 12 with a knife and a second murder on page 168. I won't reveal the victim and method of the second here because it might be a bit of a spoiler.

Suspects

Pretty much the entire town and even beyond. The first victim was quite a troublemaker. The second narrows the suspect field in some directions and opens it in others.

Other

The first chapter is all back story. That continues up to the death on p. 12. Agents on Twitter recently have been talking a lot about the importance of limiting back story in the early chapter. I guess no one told this author or she did it so well that no one was disturbed?

Rereading Mysteries for Research: The Project

I always said this blog would be about whatever didn't fit in my dog blog. This may get boring for some people, but I don't really have a gumption to start a new blog right now. If it seems necessary at some point, advise me. I have a complicated brain and a complicated life and am not very good at compartmentalizing. But I will try to index intelligently to make the blog more useful for readers.

In case you don't know this already, I am trying to write a mystery. To help myself on this goal and occupy times when pain keeps me from writing, I've decided to go back through all the mysteries I have, which I have read at least once already for pleasure, and start trying to get more useful tidbits out of them.

The things I look at will probably vary with time based on whatever is worrying me most about writing, but so far I am working with a rough note scheme with the following categories.

• POV
• Tense
• Deaths (who, how, what page)
• Suspects
• Whodunit
• Other

I am going to post these on my blog as I do it in case the info is useful to anyone else. However, I suppose I must have the Whodunit part only in my notes. I refuse to put out total spoilers right now.

I guess you could say I'm not ready to share my work with the world, but I will share my research! The notes won't exactly be reviews, but may interest someone. Who knows.