Despite the leads’ enjoyable banter and the engaging premise, McMillan (A Singular and Whimsical Problem, 2015, etc.) tries...
Two women form a detective agency and try to solve a murder in 1910 Toronto. Oh my!
Constable Jasper Forth knows he’s getting himself in trouble when he’s talked into showing a friend a murder scene, but when the friend is as persistent as Merinda Herringford, it’s hard to say no. Merinda, who’s always felt she has a bit of Sherlock Holmes in her, is keen to conduct her own inquiry into the murder, and she calls on her Watson, Jem Watts, to assist. Two women trying to solve crimes is a bit much for Toronto in 1910, and there’s an uproar when Merinda cajoles Jem into starting their own detective business. Luckily for the pair, some of the uproar is good. There are a surprising number of female clients who prefer a delicate touch in establishing whose husband has done what and investigating other private affairs. Though there’s precious little money in the agency, Merinda’s delighted with their work, and Jem’s happy enough to go along. Merinda remains fixated on roping Jasper into finding out more about the murder that encouraged her to start the business in the first place; Jem’s more interested in an informal and personal investigation of local writer Ray DeLuca, who hasn’t befriended the women nearly enough for Jem’s liking .
Despite the leads’ enjoyable banter and the engaging premise, McMillan (A Singular and Whimsical Problem, 2015, etc.) tries to shoehorn so many different kinds of material into a single adventure that some of her most promising ideas end up insufficiently or imperfectly realized.Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7369-6640-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harvest House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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