Category Archives: Mystery

Flotsam and Jetsam

Posted on January 19, 2020 by

4 books reviewed here, and from them you’ll get a sense of my odd taste in reading these days. No particular reason for it — each one spurred by happenstance, satisfying a yen, or whatever. Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees (1926, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Fantasy, Mystery, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Ghoulish image

Posted on October 31, 2019 by

Because there can never be too much Poe available on this spooky day, here’s a little something I spotted at a recent art show (IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair) in NYC:   “Edgar Allen Poe”, Horst Janssen (1929 – 1995), color etching, 1988 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Gothic, Horror, Macabre, Mystery, Poetry, RIP | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fortean doings

Posted on October 25, 2019 by

A bonus post for R.I.P. XIV (Readers Imbibing Peril) — what more could anyone ask of this week before Halloween? Today, a YA trilogy drawn from Edison’s and Tesla’s rivalry that raises important questions about morality, mixed in with some … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Historical fiction, Humorous, Macabre, Mystery, RIP, Science fiction | Tagged , | Leave a comment

R.I.P. XIV, part 2

Posted on October 18, 2019 by

As promised, a second post for R(eaders) I(mbibing) P(eril) XIV, a celebration of any genre that raises the hairs on the back of your neck. Four books, 2 of which also fit into my celebration of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Biography, Fantasy, Gothic, Mystery, RIP, Seafaring | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

R.(eaders) I.(mbibing) P.(eril) XIV

Posted on September 2, 2019 by

Thanks to a new follower (that’s you, Juliana), I’ve discovered this perfect September-October reading project that makes a good run-up to WitchWeek2019: Readers Imbibing Peril XIV, aka RIP14, 2 months devoted to reading scary tales. Mystery, horror, dark fantasy, Gothic, … Continue reading →

Posted in Am reading, Fantasy, Mystery, RIP, Witch Week | 4 Comments

Brueghelian Obsession

Posted on September 14, 2018 by

The fourth and last in a series of novels involving the search for lost art. But a new slant here: this novel is for adults. Headlong, Michael Frayn (1999), Picador, 342 pp. Remember that Rod Serling story, where the Nazi … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Mystery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Borrowers Meet Don Marquis’ Archy

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

Third in a series reviewing novels about stolen paintings. Masterpiece (2008), Elise Broach (illus. Kelly Murphy), 288 pp. It’s a bit strange to read about “beetles” living under the sink of a NYC apartment, but I suspect Broach’s editors wouldn’t … Continue reading →

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Ars gratia artis

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

To keep with my most recent post’s art-mystery theme, I’ve resurrected this from my now defunct earlier blog, The Ineluctable Bookshelf. Two more will follow in the next few days. Chasing Vermeer (2004), Blue Balliett, 254 pp. (+ two sequels) … Continue reading →

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Art in peril

Posted on September 8, 2018 by

Laura Marx Fitzgerald, Under the Egg (2014) and The Gallery (2016) (both read as e-books from the NYPL) It’s no surprise that these two middle-grade novels by an art historian involve art: missing masterpieces, questions of ownership, and just plain how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Art, Mystery | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Bad Girls

Posted on June 9, 2018 by

E. Lockhart: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (2008), We Were Liars (2014), Genuine Fraud (2017) When Jane Austen created Emma Woodhouse, she noted that here was a character “whom no one but myself will much like”. Austen must have enjoyed making … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystery, Review, Violence in YA lit, YA Lit | Tagged | 5 Comments