The Best and the Wisest: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892-1893) Review

It may seem like I have reviewed this collection of Holmes stories before, but I assure you I have not. This second collection of Holmes "Adventures" is also published independently as "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes." In my complete fascimile 'Strand' edition, these twelve stories are numbered 13-24, as a continuation of the first twelve… Continue reading The Best and the Wisest: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892-1893) Review

Zodiac Killer: Ninth House Review

Apropos of nothing, I discovered this week that the Sagittarius' ruling house is the ninth, whatever that means. I happen to be a Sagittarius, through no fault of my own, so I thought that piece of trivia fit nicely with me finally getting to reviewing Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review

Blurb for The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye No one in 1840s New York likes fires, copper star Timothy Wilde least of all. After a blaze killed his parents and another left him with a terrible scar, he has avoided flames of all kinds. So when a seamstress turned arsonist threatens Robert Symmes, a corrupt… Continue reading Burning Ring of Fire: The Fatal Flame Review

City of Dark Magic: Book Review

Book blurb for City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is… Continue reading City of Dark Magic: Book Review

‘Imperturbably polite protest’

Mr. Grewgious in the meantime sat upright, with no expression in his face, and a hard kind of imperturbably polite protest all over him: as though he would have said, in reply to some invitation to discourse; ‘I couldn’t originate the faintest approach to an observation on any subject whatever, I thank you.’The Mystery of… Continue reading ‘Imperturbably polite protest’

Judging Spies by Their Covers: The Haunted Bookshop Review

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher MorleyMy rating: 4 of 5 starsI really loved this book on first read—the atmospheric bookshop, the eccentric proprietor, the silly love-story, and the espionage plot shoe-horned in throughout. What’s not to like? Recently when I was skimming through it in search of a quotation, I got caught on so many… Continue reading Judging Spies by Their Covers: The Haunted Bookshop Review

Don’t Sleep on Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep Book Review

The Big Sleep by Raymond ChandlerMy rating: 4 of 5 starsEver since I saw the murky, black-and-white film noir (a dizzying merry-go-round of murders and mayhem with a new character and a new accusation every five minutes that was Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in a classic gumshoe and siren routine), I've been wanting to… Continue reading Don’t Sleep on Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep Book Review

Fishing for Red Herrings: Moriarty Book Review

Moriarty by Anthony HorowitzMy rating: 3 of 5 stars2.5 stars.I really liked this book the first time I read it. I liked the ending—I appreciated how unapologetically villainous Moriarty was. It was a breath of fresh air—“and [I] shot him in the head.” Very in keeping with the pragmatism of a man calculating enough to… Continue reading Fishing for Red Herrings: Moriarty Book Review