Graustark thrills in storybook setting

George Barr McCutcheon’s Graustark begins as a mystery, but quickly turns into a romance before accelerating into a thriller climaxed by a story-book ending. On an east-bound train from Denver, Grenfall Lorry meets the lovely Miss Guggenslocker heading back to the Graustark capital, Edelweiss, accompanied by her aunt and uncle. With help from the Paris [...]

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The Puppet Crown thrills and shocks

After a slow opening,  Harold MacGrath’s The Puppet Crown turns a  geeky  sovereign bond situation into a complex tale of political intrigue. King Leopold of Osia, cousin of the late king, came to throne because a confederation disposed the king’s brother, Josef, and “placed him on [a] puppet throne, surrounded by enemies, menaced by his adopted [...]

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The Prodigal Judge refuses to be a failure

Thrilling adventure, tender romance, pathos and humor combine to give The Prodigal Judge the sweep and cinemagraphic qualities of Gone with the Wind without that novel’s sexiness. But what it lacks in sexiness, The Prodigal Judge more than makes up for its humanity. In the opening pages, Vaughan Kester hooks readers with a mystery: why [...]

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Romantic thriller will leave you thinking

Mary Roberts Rinehart, noted for her mysteries, hit the bestseller list in 1921 with a romantic thriller. A Poor Wise Man is an exciting read that leaves readers with plenty to think about. Lily Cardew, heir to the Cardew steel fortune, is home after a year of war work in Ohio. Labor trouble is brewing [...]

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A lovely place for an absurd novel

On his death bed, James Grenfell Kent, 36, sergeant in the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, confesses to a murder he didn’t commit. From his deathbed, he also  falls in love with the mysterious raven-haired beauty, Maretta, who tells him she knows who really committed the murder. Instead of dying, Kent recovers, which means he’ll be [...]

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Winter of Our Discontent Is a Joy

As The Winter of Our Discontent opens, Ethan Allen Hawley is clerking for an Italian immigrant who bought Hawley’s grocery after Ethan’s father went broke and lost it. Ethan has a wife and two kids to support; some extra cash wouldn’t come amiss. Sweet and funny, educated and articulate, Ethan escapes from the routine of [...]

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Impersonation is great mystery

The Great Impersonation is a mystery set in duplicity and compounded by international espionage. In German West Africa around 1910, Everard Dominey, a gone-to-seed Englishman whose only asset is fluent German, runs into a school mate, now a German commander. The two had always looked remarkably alike. Von Ragastein has been exiled by the Kaiser [...]

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What a difference a day makes

In Twenty-Four Hours, Louis Bromfield takes a plot that appears to be plodding off in one direction, gives it more twists than a bag of pretzels, and turns out a story that seems perfectly plausible. As the curtain rises, old Hector Champion is giving a dreary dinner to distract himself from worry over the results [...]

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Arrow of Gold too heavy to fly

Readers must pay close attention or read Joseph Conrad’s The Arrow of Gold twice to figure out what is happening. Sadly, what’s happening isn’t worth the effort.

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Escape Is Impossible to Put Down

In the opening scene of Escape, a doctor tells actress Emmy Ritter she’ll be able to walk in a week. “Just in time for my execution,” she replies. Ethel Vance  hooked me with that line, and she didn’t let go until I’d read the rest of her novel that evening. Authorities refuse to allow Emmy’s [...]

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