Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times No. 7

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness. This time I am looking at an actual bookshelf. All of the books on this shelf are unread, and this is just a small portion of it.

The Robert Amiss Series by Ruth Dudley Edwards

Since there are two books on the shelf for Ruth Dudley Edwards, I will start there. I have read and reviewed two books in the Robert Amiss series: Corridors of Death and The St Valentine's Day Murders. I loved the first one; my reaction to the second one was tepid. But I still desire to continue the series, so I will be reading the books on this shelf eventually. The English School of Murder is the third book in the series. Amiss has left the Civil Service and finds a job at a language school teaching English to newcomers. Ten Lords A-Leaping is #6 in the series and I will probably read the intervening books before I move on to that one.

There is a good post about the series at Mystery Fanfare (written by the author).


The Jack Taylor Series by Ken Bruen

On the right end of this set of books are two by Ken Bruen, The Killing of the Tinkers (2002) and The Magdalen Martyrs (2003). These are books 2 and 3 in the Jack Taylor series and I read the first in the series, The Guards, back in May 2012. I liked that book a lot and have more in the series but never continued it. Jack Taylor, a member of the Garda Síochána (the police force of the Republic of Ireland), was thrown out because of serious problems with alcohol. He becomes a sort of private detective.This series is much more bleak and dark than the series by Ruth Dudley Edwards, which leans toward the cozy.

I actually liked Bruen's other series better, the Inspector Brant series. I read the first three books in that series (A White Arrest (1998), Taming the Alien (1999), and The McDead (2000) in 2013. That series is set in London and Brant is part of the Metropolitan police force. He is not the type of cop I usually prefer; he is amoral and does what he has to do, legal or not, to get things done. Still, I loved those books.

Both series include frequent mentions of books, especially mystery novels. Inspector Brant is a big Ed McBain fan.

I think I have gone on enough here. I might return to this portion of the shelf sometime, because there are other interesting books on it.

Reading Summary for February 2020

February was a strange reading month. It took me close to 3 weeks to read Bleak House. I also read a good number of short stories, most of them in the two short story books I have already reviewed. All of the books I read were published before 1990. One of the books from the 1980s featured a nun as the main character and was written by a nun.

Fiction

Bleak House (1853) by Charles Dickens

This is one of Dickens' longest novels. Some readers consider it his best novel. I have only read A Christmas Carol by this author, so I can make no comparison. I feel ambivalent about the novel. I enjoyed reading much of it, but it was a very difficult read, and seemed too long to me. It was first published in 20 monthly installments. 

Grand Hotel (1929) by Vicki Baum
Translated from the German by Basil Creighton with revisions by Margot Bettauer Dembo

Several disparate people stay in the Grand Hotel in Berlin over several days. For almost all of them, the people they meet and the things they do there effect changes in their lives. This was a remarkable book, thought-provoking and entertaining. 

Crime Fiction

The Saint Valentine's Day Murders (1984) by Ruth Dudley Edwards

This is book 2 in the Robert Amiss series. The first two books in the series feature office settings, and focus on bureaucracy and office politics. See my thoughts here.

Seven Days in May (1962) by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II

After Kirk Douglas died earlier this month, we watched Seven Days in May, a film he had starred in. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, and Burt Lancaster also had a major role. We have watched it many times but it had been a while. The book it was based on had been on my shelves since 2014, so I decided it was time to read it. It is a fast-paced thriller about the attempt by military leaders in the US to take over the government and remove the President from power. A very good read.

A Novena For Murder (1984) by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie

This is a very cozy mystery starring a nun as amateur sleuth. Sister Mary Helen has retired at 75 and is sent to Mt. Saint Francis College for Women in San Francisco. Shortly after she arrives the body of a professor at the school is found, following an earthquake. The police blame the wrong person, in Sister Mary Helen's opinion, so it is up to her to find out what happened. I liked the setting and the characters; it was the perfect read for me at the time.

Mr. Calder and Mr. Behrens (1982) by Michael Gilbert

This is one of two books of short stories about two middle-aged spies, working for a secret government group in the UK called the Joint Services Standing Intelligence Committee (JSSIC). See my thoughts here.

English Country House Murders (1988) ed. by Thomas Godfrey

A short story anthology edited by Thomas Godfrey. The volume begins with a charming introduction by Godfrey; he also introduces each story. See my thoughts here.

The Saint Valentine's Day Murders: Ruth Dudley Edwards

This is book 2 in the Robert Amiss series, following on Corridors of Death, which I read and reviewed earlier. The first two books in the series feature office settings, and focus on bureaucracy and office politics. We often complain about bureaucracy in the business world, but I have never experienced anything like these workplaces.

Robert Amiss is a British civil servant and has recently been transferred to the British Conservation Corporation. He had been expecting a secondment to a job in industry, and a position that would lead to a better position in the civil service in the future. What he gets is a job pushing papers and managing men who are more disgruntled than he is.

Based on the title of the book, the reader is expecting murders on Valentine's Day, but it takes quite a while to get to that point. And the characters and the interactions within the office setting are so innocuous that it is surprising when crimes do occur. There are some practical jokers in Robert's department, and the pranks initially seem harmless but gradually escalate. But, when the murders do take place, they are quite horrendous. Not so much in the way of violence, but because so many innocent victims are claimed.

And at that point the pace does pick up. Once Robert has been cleared of any connection to the murders, he again works closely with the police to try to uncover the villain. In the first book in the series, Amiss met Jim Milton, a Scotland Yard detective, and his wife, so they are already friends when this crime takes place. And Ellis Pooley, the young detective who is obsessed with fictional sleuths, makes his debut here.

My thoughts:

Initially I was disappointed with this book, because I had enjoyed the first book in the series tremendously. I rarely have any problem with the crime being delayed until later in the story yet in this case the initial part of the story dragged for me.

The author tells a humorous story with excellent dialog, and the recurring characters are well done, but in this second book I did not enjoy the secondary characters as much.  Nevertheless, I am still enthusiastic about the series, and I will continue reading these books.

Praise for this book:

"The Saint Valentine’s Day Murders is a witty, well-written mystery as well as a keenly observed and cynically funny view of modern bureaucracy and the people who work in it."
  --  Michael Foley, Irish Times

Kirkus Reviews was somewhat disappointed with the plot, as I was, but still said:
"a wry, smart, surprisingly warm-hearted diversion--with one choice vignette after another (even the subsidiary cops are amusingly sketched) and some of the best office-life comedy since Dorothy L. Sayers' Murder Must Advertise."

Also see reviews at Jillysheep and RogerBW's Blog.


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Publisher:  Poisoned Pen Press, 2007. (orig. publ. 1984)
Length:  225 pages
Format:  Trade Paperback
Series:   Robert Amiss #2
Setting:  London, UK
Genre:   Mystery
Source:  On my TBR pile for one year.

Corridors of Death: Ruth Dudley Edwards

The Robert Amiss series consists of twelve books published between 1982 and 2012. In this first novel in the series, Amiss is a civil servant, working under departmental head Sir Nicholas Clark. His boss is murdered and there are many suspects.

From the author's website:

Battered to death with a piece of abstract sculpture titled 'Reconciliation,' Whitehall departmental head Sir Nicholas Clark is claimed by his colleagues to have been a fine and respected public servant cut off in his prime. Bewildered by the labyrinthine bureaucracy of Whitehall, Scotland Yard's Superintendent Jim Milton recognizes a potential ally in Clark's young Private Secretary, Robert Amiss. 

Milton soon learns from Amiss how Whitehall works: that it can be Machiavellian and potentially homicidal, that Sir Nicholas was obnoxious and widely loathed, that he had spent the weeks before his murder upsetting and antagonizing family and associates, and that his last morning on earth had been spent gleefully observing the success of his plan to embarrass his minister and his department publicly. And they still need to discover who wielded the blunt instrument.

Even with the explanations Amiss gives of the complex relationships within the British Civil Service and goverment, I was hopeless confused. Fortunately, that did not matter much and the resulting story is very entertaining. Many of the characters were not terribly likable but were interesting. The protagonist and the policeman he works with are both good characters (and sympathetic). Amiss wants to solve the puzzle (and keep his job) and fortunately has an alibi for the time when the crime was committed. The policeman is committed to his job, a really nice guy, and has a happy home life.

I found this book fun, full of subtle humor. The ending was a surprise, and I always like that. Of course, I want to read more of the series, and have already ordered #2 in the series, The Saint Valentine's Day Murders.

Other resources:

• At The View from the Blue House, Rob Kitchin's review of Corridors of Death.

• At Confessions of a Mystery Novelist..., Margot puts the Spotlight on Corridors of Death. (blog no longer available)

• At Ruth Dudley Edwards' website, she has an interesting discourse on "Crime Fiction or Mystery?" in which she also describes her series. She says her books are on the cozy side (i.e., not "hard-boiled"). 

• Ruth Dudley Edwards gives an overview of the Robert Amiss series at Mystery Fanfare. Later on in the series, Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck becomes a regular character in the stories.

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Publisher:   St. Martin's Press, 1982 
Length:      186 pages
Format:      Hardcover
Series:       Robert Amiss, #1
Setting:      UK
Genre:       Mystery
Source:      I purchased my copy.

Reading summary, December 2018

I had another very good reading month in December. I enjoyed all the books I read, although some were more challenging than others. I finished up the year with 112 books, many more than I expected to read.

Classic Fiction in December

A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens

This was a wonderful read. Not only is the book a pleasant and humorous read, while giving us a beautiful story of redemption and finding new happiness, it also shows us today what life was like in the 1800's. See more on the book here.

Crime Fiction in December

Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry (1966) by Harry Kemelman

This is #2 in the Rabbi Small series and a re-read for me. I read the early books in the series back in the 1970s and 80s, and I remember liking them a lot. Today, the attitudes and behaviors in the book are surprising to me, but this is a good picture of those times. And a great way to learn more about the Jewish religion and laws. I will be reading more of them.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (1992) by Peter Høeg

A very young boy that Smilla has befriended is dead as the result of a fall off a building. The death is almost immediately declared to be accidental, but Smilla disagrees and pushes for an investigation. This was also a re-read and I appreciated it even more the second time. For my summary and thoughts, check here.

At Ease with the Dead (1990) by Walter Satterthwait

Joshua Croft is a Santa Fe private investigator working for the Mondragón Agency, owned by Rita Mondragón. He is hired by a Navajo man to find and return the remains of a Navajo leader who died 100 years earlier. He heads to El Paso, Texas, where the investigation stirs up a lot of trouble. This is the second in a series of five books. I love the books for the combination of a serious mystery with humor and local history.

Salamander (1994) by J. Robert Janes

This is #4 in the St-Cyr & Kohler series. Set in the days leading up to Christmas 1942, in Occupied France. For more on this book, see this post.

Corridors of Death (1981) by Ruth Dudley Edwards

This is the first book in a series of 12 books about Robert Amiss, a low level member of the British civil service. In this book, his boss, a devious and despicable man, is killed during a meeting of many government officials and businessmen.  Amiss offers to help the police inspector in charge of the murder case with some background on how the civil service works and provide his insider knowledge. The mystery is secondary to the humor and the picture of the civil service and government at the time. Another very good read.

A Time to Kill (1989) by John Grisham

I have watched the film based on this book several times, but I resisted reading the book for many years due to the length and the subject matter. This is a story of revenge, about a black man who kills two white men to avenge the rape of his ten-year-old daughter, and is tried for that crime in a small town in Mississippi. It is not an easy read, but I was very impressed with the book, especially since it was Grisham's first novel.