Late-tape

Ms. Aird is a master storyteller! Her books are wonderful examples of the tight detective story. My only complaint is that they are too short. I can finish them in about an hour and I for one would like more time to savour her craftsmanship. In this book Cheif Inspector Sloane is taxed with finding the identity of a skeleton that had been shot 25 to 30 years ago. Murder was definitely the cause of death in this case, so Sloan is on the hunt again for a murderer. I think the best part of a Catherine Aird book is the wry humour, and of course, the inimitable Leeyes (Sloane's superior officer). While Sloane is trying to identify his 25-year-old corpse, and to determine whether or not it was indeed murder, another very recent body turns up. What is the connecting thread between the two murders? Catherine Aird is a true delight!

There's a strange familiarity I found with the characters of 'A Late Phoenix' which is only apparent in the greatest of writers (Crane, Zelazny, Fitzgerald, Tyler, and for the more 'mysterious' variety - Sayers, Stout, Tey, Christie, and Mortimer). Crosby is always great as the comic relief (always reminding me of friends I've had in school or more often than I'd care to think about, myself :P). Also of listening to the audio book, Bailey's performance is masterful and has a minimalist professonalism - he's no David Suchet...to his credit.
Aird is, in my opinion and rather arguably, one of the greatest mystery writers of all-time (Sayers, Stout, and Christie being the others).
I've read quite a few mysteries and this has to be one of my favorites because it doesn't just stick to the immediate mystery, there are countless other 'mini-mysteries' within it (like all good mysteries have). Also because the 'main mystery' behind this story is something to be solved on an incredibly difficult scale, because the protagonist must solve something that happened way way in the past (as it was Tey's 'A Daughter in Time').

I recommend Robin Bailey's unabridged narration. As always, he's the perfect reader for an English cozy mystery, and a fine actor. He can slip into and out of the voices of young constable Crosby, an old man whose lungs were damaged by poison gas in WWI, an overweight woman with a bad leg in a doctor's office, and many more, all without missing a beat.

The Battle of Britain, of course, didn't just involve the bombing of London; even thirty years later, Lamb Lane in Berebury is still a bomb site. (The council and the owners have been fighting for years about the building plans.) Now that everyone has their act together, the bomb rubble is being cleared - and the excavator hits just the wrong (or right) place: the skeleton of a pregnant woman was buried on the site, dating back to the war. Even before the autopsy, Dr. Dabbe doesn't buy the theory that a bomb would have laid her out so neatly with no visible crush injuries, so Sloan is stuck with an investigation that the superintendent would be just as happy to write off as 'historical' rather than 'possible murder', but there are suggestive points: the absence of any identification - or wedding ring - on the body, for one. Other missing pieces include a hue-and-cry for a missing person (there wasn't any) and the required notification of the local archeologists about the construction (the notice never arrived - if it was ever sent). And when the archaeologists had arrived in spite of everything, someone had moved their pegs out of the danger zone.

Inspector Sloan, beginning his digging while the contractors are banned from continuing theirs, turns up various interesting tidbits: the memories of the older members of the Berebury force and the firefighting and rescue teams of the time, as well as the receptionist of the doctor's office across from the site (the old doctor himself died a few months ago). The Waite brothers, sons of the old couple who used to live in the bombed house, both left after the war, but only Harold inherited it, and promptly sold the site; Leslie, a black sheep, was disinherited. Why? And why did the self-made buyer want it but let it get bogged down in planning fights for so many years - or did someone else engineer the delay? And how and why did the clearance plans finally get approved?

Apart from interesting sidelights on living through bombing, not once but over and over again, we have Miss Tyrell, breaking in the new Dr. Latimer as the late Dr. Tarde's successor, and William Latimer's own attempts to find his feet in Calleshire's medical community as a first-generation doctor.

"A Day Late and a Dollar Short" - at first, I thoughtsomeone was describing the striving, hungry days of my youth, tryingto exist and obtain a university education on a shoestring. ....

However, this book takes on an entirely different meaning. As youread through the pages, and if you are completely honest, you will bereminded of characters found in most families that you would prefer toleave well buried in the closet. Well, this family has "oodlesof noodles" in their closet, and somehow they all seem to emergein "A Day Late and A Dollar Short." There is Viola, acontrolling woman completely absorbed with the lives of her children;Cecil, the husband who made a lofty exit to the arms of a much youngerwoman; Paris, the judgemental child; Charlotte, emotionally unstableand deeply disturbed; Janelle, insecure and lacking in self-esteem;Lewis, brilliant but without an ounce of common sense. The list goeson, and the only downside of the book is the somewhat difficult taskof keeping track of all these characters, how they relate to oneanother and remembering "who is who, and who didwhat."

You will be attracted to the author's writing style andentertained by the bizzare but strong, well-developed characters foundin this book. Talk about your typical disfunctional family - this oneis as hilarious as a ... movie.

but I've read all of McMillan's other works, some with mixed emotions. I picked this one up in the airport in paperback, and was immediately engrossed in the story of a dysfunctional African-American family -- as told from the point of view of each of its six members.

McMillan truly captures the difficulty of sustaining a long marriage, sketches each of the adult children by using their own and their siblings and parents' points of views. Each character is richly textured; and although you have more difficulty rooting for Lewis and Charlotte to find happiness, you ultimately
become deeply supportive of every character. The book builds to a truly definitive high point when mother Viola's letters to her long-time husband and each of her four children are revealed and read aloud.

McMillan gives us a deeply moving, complicated story of love, joy and heartache in families - and describes the feel of living in Las Vegas with uncanny ability.

With this book, McMillan establishes herself, not as just a popular novelist, but perhaps as the voice of a generation of young African-Americans.

This is a great read. I tried to read it once and put it down. Why did I do that? This is a great family drama story. Read it, you won't be disappointed.

The only thing that I felt like "starting" after reading "It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now" was a suicide note. Being of sound mind and body I decided to kick this one to the curb.

Barbara Sher's alleged guide to the second half of life was truly the most depressing inspirational book that I have ever read. Hoping to find practical tips on how to set about jump-starting my career and pursuing a life-long dream, I found this book (particularly the first half) to be some twisted perspective on evolutionary theory. Sher's major premise seems to be that we are freed up in the second half of our lives to pursue the things we really love because we are no longer viable as attractive, sexually desirable human beings. Once we accept that prounouncement and stop trying to compete with 20-somethings, we can move on to create a fabulous life for our homely, undesirable selves. She goes so far as to criticize those who dye their hair or try to stay physically fit by going to the gym.

I would agree that our culture more than any other in the world is obsessed with youth and that aging gracefully by focusing on expanding one's mind and heart is most definately a worthwhile goal. However, there are far better, more positive ways to communicate that idea. Sher's book reads like very sour grapes from someone who didn't get asked to the prom and who is actually still angry about it.

As a 42-year-old woman who still turns heads and loves her 37 year old fiance both romantically and spiritually. I think one's time and money are much better spent elsewhere. I highly recommend (a solid five stars) Martha Beck's "Finding Your Own North Star Claiming the Life You Were Meant To Live".

I wish I would have had this book at 40, I knew the second half of my life could be very good, but I was going about trying to find it in the wrong way. Looking for that last romantic love, worrying every time I looked in the mirror and saw my mother, the creeping pounds, starting a search for that fulfilling career and the loneliness of being a single woman - again. This book has helped me to sit and review how I was looking in the wrong directions to achieve the happiness I want for the rest of my life. I have read many of Barbara Sher's books and I think this is the best one that she has written. It's insightful, honest and makes you search yourself to understand why we think and act the way we do. Quite honestly, it has changed my life and I can't wait to get started.

I've been through therapy and read a number of self-help books, and felt I had a pretty good handle on my life . . . except for some nagging career dreams that were going nowhere fast. This book helped me to see things from an entirely new perspective, gave me a new concept of "time", helped me recall my abandoned dreams, and ways to achieve them. It also helped me to identify the 8-year "midlife crisis" that I didn't know I'd been in, and just being able to understand that opened new horizons for me mentally and emotionally. While the age most often addressed in the book is 40, I found it absolutely applied to me at 49. This book has given me new motivation, energy and positive attitude to the second half of my life. I recommend it for anyone from 35 to 90!

I have admired Eartha Kitt for years and have always found her facinating when ever I've seen her performing or on a talk show.
She is truly an amazing woman who has lived an extraordinary life and looks absolutely wonderful at her age. Her philosophical ramblings in this book merit consideration and we may learn from them. Still, the book is a rather meager serving and I wish that Ms. Kitt had included more practical advice and better photos.

This is a tremendously motivational book. She will show you what she does to keep in good health and shape both in mind and body.

Very insightfull. Chock full of ideas implicable to everyday use. Enjoy life to it's fullest. The quality of your life is up to you. For those of us who have gotten out of the groove. Puts us on the road "To Get Your Groove Back". Believe it and you can achieve it...it's all up to you. A must read for all woman, and for those who love us enough to help us when, how and where we need it the most.

I have shelved this book beside my copies of "1984" and "Brave New World." Kelly weaves the facts of Y2K into a story that is nearly impossible to put down. While other reviewers have complained about his international espionage scenes, I find them astute. Few Y2K authors have dared to explore what our adversaries might try to accomplish during the dark days of Y2K. Kelly does so in a methodic, believable plot line. He establishes a Chinese connection early in the novel and then allows it to unfold in the background while the U.S. faces its own dire troubles. When all the pieces of this story come together in the final 50 pages, it is nothing short of brilliant.

The most impressive part about this novel is that it is a great read AND an accurate interpretation of Y2K evidence. Several parts of the story have come true and I'm beginning to see others on the horizon. The novel has already become something of a cult classic, but I believe it's aspiring to an even greater pinnacle. People will one day point to this book as the story that warned the world about the greatest technology problem we've ever faced. It might even become required reading in history courses. It is without a doubt one of the finest "predictive" novels I have read.

I have worked in the technology business since 1975. My firm has spent the past five years getting our clients ready for the Year 2000. As such, I know a lot about Y2K and was pleased to find much of what I know contained in this novel.

Contrary to the objections raised by other reviewers, Mr. Kelly is right. Maybe it's his own background at IBM, maybe it's the research he did. Either way, his insight into the problem and how it could affect everybody is quite accurate. The negative reviews of this novel that I've read all have one thing in common: ignorance of the subject. They do not like the story because it seems far-fetched to them. Let me assure you that it is not far-fetched. With National Guard Y2K training scheduled for May, you will see this issue attain the level of ubiquity that the OJ Simpson trial and the Clinton Impeachment both achieved -- exactly as Kelly describes in this book.

While I can't comment on China's intentions, I can report that Time Magazine just ran a story about China's growing military shortly after a story about the world's lack of preparation for Y2K. The China article pointed out that the country has been slowly building a military presence to rival that of the United States. Their intended eclipse date? Fourth quarter 1999. That's a heck of a coincidence, if not confirmation of the scenario in this novel.

Aside from that use of Y2K, Kelly explores banking difficulties, riots, food shortages, and shows how one prepared family gets through just fine. I have stacks of evidence to support every one of these scenarios. This is not far-fetched fiction, people. This is well-researched fiction that only seems far-fetched to people who don't understand the depth of the Y2K problem.

Read this book and recommend it to others. I agree with a previous reviewer who said that "Y2K: It's Already Too Late" is destined to be a classic. It certainly deserves to be.

Of course, Y2K didn't happen as badly as shown in this novel. I still thought this was a good story, lots of action, and such. Something that still might come true is the US/China conflict shown near the Spratly Islands. China may not have used Y2K to move on the US, but weird things are happening nonetheless. I think Kelly's story may turn out prophetic in a non-Y2K way. Keep watching China.

I used to REALLY enjoy the Amanda Quick books (Rendezvous, Surrender, Desire and Mystique come to mind), but the last 5 or so of her books have been almost non-romance books. The people in them seem to all just have personality issues or something, as opposed to having a romance - it seems like no one is willing to commit and that they aren't really too interested in each other anyway. I wish the author would get back to romance stories and leave the darkness behind. As it is, I'm forced to go back to the old Stephanie James/Jayne Castle books for reading fun.

I admit that her first two books of Lavinia and Tobias are a little bit on the dull side, especially "Don't Look Back" I read them so painstakingly in a span of one week. But this one, I thought Quick has finally grasped Lavinia and Tobias's character. The comedy has improved a lot and I found myself laughing a lot of times. The mystery is a lot funner but the suspect is so EASY to guess. Gosh, it's a no-brainer! Quick has no talent in writing these kind of mysteries. I was hoping I was wrong with my hunches, but I was really disappointed that I figured out the case faster than Lavinia and Tobias had: Im not showing off or anything, ha ha, no Im not...I wish I was, but there's no glory on this one indeed.
There are a lot of side stories in this novel: Vale and Joan, Dominic and Priscilla, Emeline and Anthony. I dont know about others, but, truthfully, I enjoyed reading their little scenes. I wish this is not a trilogy coz even though I have a low opinion of these 3 books, I have to say that Quick has a potential in improving the story line.

They may have attended the country party seeking the opportunity for a little lovemaking, but when an aging Lord falls to his death, Lavinia Lake and Tobias March believe they have a murder on their hands. Unfortunately, they are the only ones who believe this and are promptly sent back to London. But the clues point to an old link in Tobias's life--a friend had once become a professional assassin. While the friend is dead, someone seems to have followed in his footsteps. With the friend's ex-fiancee as client, Tobias and Lavinia use their investigative talents to search for a killer who leaves behind a ring with a death-head mask.

Set in regency England, LATE FOR THE WEDDING details the social structure of the day, an emerging tendency toward prudery in the younger generation (leading to the Victorian era?), and the difficulties and risks facing a woman who is contracted to the wrong marriage. Because marriage is firmly in the mind of Tobias, Lavinia, Ermeline and Anthony (Lavinia having abandoned the idea of a 'suitable' marriage for her niece). The mystery is well done, with dangerous moments and heroic rescues.

LATE FOR THE WEDDING is the third in a series of novels about Tobias and Lavinia. Talented author Amanda Quick makes the stories interesting, but the banter between Tobias and Lavinia is starting to run a little thin--perhaps in creating the title, Quick realized that this should be the end of a fine series and that she might even have been a little late resolving the romantic issues. But then again, perhaps we will see this couple again.

I only read up to page 125 and couldn't read another word. This book is so poorly written and the plot so juvenile that I'm surprised it was even published. Maybe Fern Michaels needs to go back to the time when she/they actually had to put some effort into it.

I liked the story well enough, but agree with a lot of the other reviewers in that it could have been written and edited a lot better. I wonder if they realized there's something called a thesaurus out there? Certain cliche phrases are used too often. I would probably read more from her, but my expectations are pretty low.

Easy read, kept my interest to the end. Great story!

First published over 65 years ago, this entry in Allingham's long-running Campion series didn't do much to enthuse me to investigate other of Campion's adventures. It starts with the detective attending the funeral of an old schoolmate, who was rather widely despised. Several months later, Campion is called to the country to investigate a suspicious death, and the victim appears to be the same schoolmate. Wacky antics and murky mystery ensue. A kind of unsatisfying blend of P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie which is unlikely to interest those who aren't already fans of the series. The one bright spot is Campion's valet, who is kind of a rough "anti-Jeeves".

The Case of the Late Pig was originally part of the Mr. Campion Criminologist collection. The novelette took on a life of it's own, however. Quite short, it is ideal for audiotapes, large print novels, and even the telly.

What is most unusual about the Late Pig is that it is told by Campion in the first person. If anything, Mr. Campion's version of the crime outdoes Margery Allingham, herself. The shift is viewpoint is refreshing, and it is a shame Allingham did not try this more often.

Invited via an anonymous letter Campion attends the funeral of Pig Peters, his school bully, only to find himself invited six months later to assist in a murder case - and the victim is the very same Pig Peters.

The dead Mr. Peters has shown up under another identity in a Suffolk Village. His efforts to turn a charming country house into the 30's version of a strip mall earns him the enmity of the owner, Poppy, and all the residents of the local village. So it is no surprise when someone siezes the opportunity and drops a 300 pound flowerpot on him. Campion is called in to assist the chief constable in saving the day (and to defend the innocent).

What follows is a classic Allingham comedy of manners, full of delightful characters and unpredictable events. We have two estranged lady friends (Campion's and Pig's), the overly amorous vicar, the bored physician, the mild mannered whippet, and the mysterious mole. And there is the inevitable climax, in which Campion hares over the fields of Suffolk in an effort to save the indomitable Lugg.

All of this action helps to distract us from the somewhat thinly disguised murderer. The relative shortness of the book prevents Allingham from throwing up enough confusing red herrings, so you should be able to make a good guess in the first forty or so pages. Don't let this stop you from reading the book, though. It certainly doesn't detract from the overall fun of the novel.

Albert Campion, Margery Allingham's gentleman detective, presents 'The Case of the Late Pig' in the first person, recounting his progress in the whimsical voice so accurately captured by Peter Davision in the BBC adapations of a decade ago.

Campion is invited to a most peculiar funeral, at which an old school-fellow, Roland Isidore 'Pig' Peters is the guest of honour, joined by a cast of extraordinary characters, whom Campion observes and, in his turn, dismisses. Several months pass uneventfully, then Campion is called upon by an old friend, Sir Leo Pursuivant, to investigate a death at the local country club. To his surprise, Campion finds not only that the corpse is none other than 'Pig' Peters, whom he had believed dead, but that the cast of the funeral from months before have returned to the stage, all with parts to play. As the death toll begins to climb, Campion must sort truth from fiction, not to mention determine the identity of a mysterious mole...

Some readers consider 'the Late Pig' to be one of Margery Allingham's least successful Campion novels. I cannot agree with this opinion. To my mind, this is one of the most amusing and clever of the Campion books, and well worth the time of anyone who has enjoyed any of the other pre-war stories.

I was dissapointed. I liked a lot of her other books but this one seemed to drag on and i kept waiting for something to happen. Not one of my favorites.

I've enjoyed other books by Olivia Goldsmith, but as a mother of an adorable son who happens to be adopted, I can't get past the negative adoption language that is peppered throughout the story (at least the first part of the book) and the negative stereotypes of adoption that are reinforced here. I imagine the language (e.g. "real mother" when referring to her birth mother) and stereotypes (e.g. the character's mother prefers her biological daughter over her adopted daughter) would be offensive to any adoptive parent.

It's a shame, because I chose to read this book because it's a fictional story that includes adoption as a part of it, but I just can't bring myself to finish it. For that reason, I can't recommend the book at all.

Karen Kahn, a fashion designer at the top of her field, should be on top of the world with happiness. So why isn't she? She's dealing with the knowledge that she's unable to have children, is searching for her biological mother, and is selling her successful business, reluctantly. Feeling pressured from all sides---husband, mother, sister---Karen slowly takes control of her unstable life. This book is written in typical Goldsmith style---stressed out female becomes a strong female able to take control of her life----fun to read, but very predictable.