Reading in Reykjavík

Series detective: Claire Malloy No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 1986 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Amateur, aided and thwarted by police Setting & time: Arkansas, USA; mid 1980's I recently found this review which I wrote ages ago, but then put aside as I wasn't certain I should publish, as it may seem a bit too much like a rant. I decided that I would publish it, as it illustrates something that really nags me, not only about the occasional mystery, but also about some romances. It concerns behaviour that is designed to really make me lose all sympathy for characters guilty of it. Story: Claire Malloy, in spite of her unflattering opinions of romance novels, agrees to host the publication party of her friend Mildred's (aka Azalea Twilight) latest offering, Professor of Passion , a torrid story about amorous goings-on at a university. A militant feminist member of the faculty invades the party and reads passages from the book that ...

Title: Shades of Earl Grey Series detective: Theodosia ‘Theo’ Browning No. in series: 3 Year of publication: 2003 Type of mystery: Theft, possible manslaughter Type of investigator: Amateur Setting & time: Charleston, SC, USA; modern timeless Story: When a number of valuable antiques are stolen and a young groom is tragically killed in a possibly theft-related incident, Theodosia seems to be the only one who thinks there might be a cat burglar specialising in antiques at work in Charleston. Some speculation and a little investigation reveals three possible suspects, and she and her sidekick, Drayton, plan a trap to capture the thief. SPOILER WARNING: Review: I love cozy mysteries and I had expectations of this book, but unfortunately it fell a long way from those expectations. It’s cozy all right, but the plotting is weak and the sleuthing consists mostly of conjecture and asking a friendly police officer some questions. Additionally, the sleuth commits what to me amount...

Author: Joan Hess Series detective: Claire Malloy No. in series: 4 Year of publication: 1988 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Amateur Setting & time: Arkansas, USA, 1980’s Number of corpses: 2 Some themes: Beauty pageants, politics (and politicians), the American Dream Story: When Claire Malloy’s friend is hurt while showing a bunch of beauty pageant contestants their moves, she ropes Claire into helping her to get the pageant going. Someone seems to be trying to injure and/or scare the reigning Miss Thurberfest, who is in town to crown her successor. Some suspect the girl is just trying to attract attention, but when she is found dead in her dressing room no-one is sure what is going on any more. A local politician and his assistant may be involved and the owner of the theatre where the pageant is to take place has been behaving suspiciously. But Claire’s biggest worry is that her friend seems to be harbouring a secret she is unwilling to share. Review: I f...