MYSTERIOUS MONDAY: To review or not, by Marlyn Beebe

by Marlyn Beebe

When Istoria Books Editor Libby Sternberg asked me if I could discuss what I look for when I review a mystery, I initially thought there was no way for me to do that, because my decision depends on how I feel about a book.

So, let me try to take you through my process and see what happens.

When I receive a book (from a publisher/author/PR firm), the first thing I do is decide whether I want to read it.  If it’s a mystery, chances are good that I will. 

Of course it’s important that the book be well-written: if the book is filled with grammatical errors, I’m probably not going to get past the first chapter. 

Another thing that turns me off is a large number of characters, especially if they are similar.  Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile or Murder on the Orient Express each have a dozen or more passengers who figure in the story, but their names and occupations vary enough that there’s minimal confusion.  If a story requires a large number of characters that could be mixed up, a cast list at the beginning or end of the book helps a lot.  I have not reviewed (and sometimes not even finished) books in which I couldn’t keep track of who was whom.

Too much technical detail is another problem.  I’m a librarian, and if I don’t know something, I know how to find out about it.  But I’m not going to enjoy a book if I have to keep looking stuff up.  Medical and legal mysteries that focus on a complex procedure rather than how they affect characters, relationships or plot don’t hold my attention.

Some reviewers love writing scathing reviews, and I must admit that constructing these can be sort of fun and cathartic.  My thinking is that I’d rather not alienate those who provide me with the material I work with.  People send me books because they believe I’m skilled at what I do, and that my opinions might be helpful, and I certainly don’t want them to stop because they’re afraid I’ll rip them to shreds.

At the same time, I’m not a sycophant.  I do try to make my reviews positive, but if there’s a little thing that bothers me, I will mention it, along with the fact that it is just my opinion.

Because, in the end, a review is nothing more than one individual’s reaction.

My thanks to Libby and Istoria Books blog for having me as their guest.

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Marlyn Beebe grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where she graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in Library and Information Studies.   Not being a fan of frozen water falling from the sky, she now lives in Southern California, with her husband, Tod.  She works part-time at multiple libraries, and spends the rest of her time reading, reviewing, blogging, and watching hockey games.  Marlyn reviews books for VOYA magazine (www.voya.com) as well as Crime Fiction Collective (www.crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com) and her own blog Stuff and Nonsense (www.marlyn-stuff.blogspot.com).

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Istoria Books's "Mysterious Monday" program features posts about mystery writing, reading, bookselling and more by writers from beyond the Istoria stable. Stop back on Mondays for insightful posts on the mystery genre. Check out Istoria Books's mystery offerings here.


Mysterious Monday posts from the past:

• Whither the Hit Person by Gary Alexander
• A President's Day Mystery
• Mystery writers' and readers' mystery pet peeves, part deux
• Mystery writers and readers' mystery pet peeves, part one
• Carola Dunn writes about her experiences with a mysterious bookstore display: Downton Abbey, Barnes & Noble, and Carola Dunn
• JennyMilchman writes about "Putting the MIST in mystery: obscuring facts"

Coming up: Author Joyce Yarrow talks about favorite characters and favorite character types in mystery, and lawyer and novelist Leslie Budewitz talks about getting courtroom scenes right.
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ICYMI: New Acquisitions!

NEW ACQUISITIONS

Print and Digital:

Stephanie Gertler’s Jimmy’s Girl (originally published by Dutton)

Allie Duzett’s second YA: Surge Protector

Istoria Books, a boutique publisher of print and digital fiction, is proud to announce the acquisition of digital and print rights to Stephanie Gertler’s acclaimed women’s fiction book Jimmy’s Girl, and to the second young adult novel by Allie Duzett, Surge Protector.

Originally released by Dutton in hardcover in 2001, Gertler’s Jimmy’s Girl tells the poignant story of a Connecticut wife reconnecting with a lost love, now a Vietnam War veteran, 30 years after their teenage romance. “Gertler's first novel is a sweet response to one of life's constant what-if questions,” wrote Booklist of the novel’s original release. Publishers Weekly said: “…an assured debut, themed to situate its author alongside Waller and Sparks…Gertler weaves a winsome morality tale.” Istoria will release Jimmy’s Girl summer 2013.

This fall, Istoria will release Allie Duzett’s second young adult fantasy, Surge Protector, a continuation of her The Body Electric story. In Surge Protector, Colorado teen Lena (Helena) Clark must fight her attraction to new-guy-in-town Zach Zuson or face the wrath of the gods. Zach, meanwhile, confronts several tests of his strength, while both teens discover someone in their friends’ circle isn’t precisely who they thought he was.

Istoria Books is a boutique publisher formed in 2010 by Libby and Hannah Sternberg, both of whom are published authors, along with Matthew Sternberg. Previously a digital-only publisher, Istoria began producing print books in 2012. Istoria publishes only fiction and looks for “good stories, well told,” books where readers want to keep turning the pages and want to hear that author’s voice telling them the story.

Several of Istoria’s releases have appeared on Amazon’s “top 100” lists in the paid category of a particular genre, including Libby Sternberg’s inspirational romance Kit Austen’s Journey, several of Jerri Corgiat’s Love Finds a Home romances, and Gary Alexander’s literary novel Dragon Lady. The first volume of Istoria’s short story collection, Lunch Reads, has appeared in the “top 100” paid anthologies on Amazon.

Istoria Books releases are available on all major ebook e-tailers, most notably Amazon’s Kindle store, Smashwords.com and Bn.com, in addition to others. Print books are distributed through Ingrams.

A humorous piece by Libby Sternberg about the evolution to digital publishing (“From Papyrus to Gutenberg to Kindle”) was published by the Wall Street Journal on January 5, 2011.

Reviewers interested in Istoria Books offerings should contact Libby Sternberg at LibbyMalinSternberg@gmail.com or IstoriaBks@gmail.com.

MYSTERIOUS MONDAY: Whither the Hit Person by Gary Alexander

by Gary Alexander 

In this age of the fictional vampire and other writerly fads, is the classic hit man/woman/person in mystery fiction getting the hook?

Perhaps, perhaps not.

I’m not suggesting that they’re going the way of the Ivory-billed woodpecker, but their purity is in jeopardy. Hit persons are showing up as protagonists, for crying out loud.

Disappeared's new digital cover!

Whether they’re pathologically bad or are written with some, uh, redeeming qualities, they pretty much do the same thing. They kill somebody and get paid for it. This usually goes on until the end of the novel. Then the hit person is either dispatched by a civic-minded protagonist or retained for the next book in the series, whether he or she is the protagonist or not.

I’m sorry, but that’s just too neat and civilized for my taste.

In Disappeared, Ted Snowe turns the profession on its ear. Ted is an ersatz hit man. The Mafia pays him to “whack out” individuals with whom they have grievances. Ted takes their cash under false pretenses. Instead of giving value for payment received, he prepares new identities for the subjects, throws a net over them, charges them a hefty fee for their lives, and releases them into the wild, thus double-dipping.

Ted is bluffing them. He wouldn’t harm a soul, except opponents with his elbows when he played minor-league basketball in places like Rockford and La Crosse, as boos echoed throughout near-empty gyms.

Gary Alexander

This outrageous violation of business ethics eventually comes to the attention of his clients, who send a real hit man after Ted.

Leonardo (The Asp) Aspromonte loves his work and takes enormous pride in it. He idolizes Albert Anastasia, president and CEO of Murder Incorporated, an organization with an impressive body count. Albert, himself, was whacked out on Friday, October 25, 1957, while reclined in a barber chair at Manhattan’s Park Sheraton for his last shave, allegedly by the Gallo brothers, capable hit men in their own right.

The Asp does catch up to Ted, but he also receives a minor-league elbow to the noggin before he can do what he does. When The Asp awakens, Anastasia is inside his head, serving for the rest of the novel as a consultant.

So there it is, an untidy professional sequence, circular mayhem or the promise thereof. A hit man who isn’t is pursued by a hit man who is, aided by the mother of all hit men, who was ventilated over fifty-five years ago.

Further, Ted Snowe, the phony-baloney assassin, becomes romantically entangled with the ex-wife of one of his non-victims.

And late in Disappeared, yet another person arrives to practice the craft, providing a lollapalooza of an ending.

Details?

That would be telling.

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Gary Alexander's mystery caper, Disappeared, first appeared in hardcover through Five Star Cengage Press, and is now available digitally through Istoria Books. Order here on Amazon.

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Istoria Books's "Mysterious Monday" program features posts about mystery writing, reading, bookselling and more by writers from beyond the Istoria stable. Stop back on Mondays for insightful posts on the mystery genre. Check out Istoria Books's mystery offerings here.


Mysterious Monday posts from the past:

• A President's Day Mystery
  
• Mystery writers' and readers' mystery pet peeves, part deux 
• Mystery writers and readers' mystery pet peeves, part one
• Carola Dunn writes about her experiences with a mysterious bookstore display: Downton Abbey, Barnes & Noble, and Carola Dunn
• JennyMilchman writes about "Putting the MIST in mystery: obscuring facts"

Coming up: Author Joyce Yarrow talks about favorite characters and favorite character types in mystery, and book blogger and reviewer Marlyn Beebe shares her thoughts on what she likes in mysteries
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MYSTERIOUS MONDAY: A President's Day Mystery

by Libby Sternberg

Today is President's Day, an appropriate time to reflect on a real presidential mystery, one covered expertly in a nonfiction book released by Chicago Review Press in 2011. Here are just the facts, ma'am:

The president: Grover Cleveland
The year: 1893
The mystery: the president vanishes

For five days in the summer of 1893, President Grover Cleveland was incommunicado, out of sight and out of touch. In those days before instant communication, even this blackout of presidential contact was still unusual.

Where was the president? Why had he disappeared? When did the true story finally surface?

Author Matthew Algeo answers all these questions and more in his tightly written story of a secret medical emergency involving the country's CEO: The President Is a Sick Man.

When President Cleveland was diagnosed with a cancerous lesion on his soft palate, drastic action was recommended--surgery to remove the tumor. But in 1893, health issues of public figures were not publicly discussed, especially if the health issue was serious and could have an impact on the leader's ability to....lead. So the president and his doctors decided to keep his condition secret and to deal with the surgery where no one could find him to question what was going on.

The operating theater for this delicate procedure was none other than a friend's yacht, sailing the "calm, blue waters of Long Island Sound" as the president's physicians cut out the malignant growth in the summer of 1893.

Despite the concealment efforts, one intrepid reporter sniffed out the story. When he started reporting the tale, he was mocked and derided, called a "disgrace to journalism," only vindicated a quarter century later with the publication of a story in the Saturday Evening Post about the operation and the journalist's role in digging it up.

That journalist, by the way, ended up doing all right, despite his public condemnation. He went on to write for the Wall Street Journal in 1909 and became involved in a legal case that helped set the precedent for reporters' protecting anonymous sources.

These details and more set the stage for an intriguing little story. When I first picked up this book, I knew nothing about Grover Cleveland and was only vaguely aware of the issues of the day. But Matthew Algeo weaves in history about the gold vs. silver currency wars of the day, the Panic of 1893, railroad bankruptcies and more.  In a mere 228 pages, Algeo relates the mystery of Cleveland's "vanishing," and gives readers a neat little history lesson about fin de siecle America.

An informative read, a good mystery, and some great storytelling. Highly recommended for this President's Day!

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Libby Sternberg is an Edgar-nominated novelist and editor-in-chief of Istoria Books.

Istoria Books's "Mysterious Monday" program features posts about mystery writing, reading, bookselling and more by writers from beyond the Istoria stable. Stop back on Mondays for insightful posts on the mystery genre. Check out Istoria Books's mystery offerings here.


Mysterious Monday posts from the past:

• Mystery writers' and readers' mystery pet peeves, part deux 
• Mystery writers and readers' mystery pet peeves, part one
• Carola Dunn writes about her experiences with a mysterious bookstore display: Downton Abbey, Barnes & Noble, and Carola Dunn
• JennyMilchman writes about "Putting the MIST in mystery: obscuring facts"

Coming up: Authors Gary Alexander and Joyce Yarrow talk about favorite characters and favorite character types in mystery, and book blogger and reviewer Marlyn Beebe shares her thoughts on what she likes in mysteries
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MYSTERIOUS MONDAY: Pet Peeves in Mysteries, Part Deux

by Libby Sternberg

Last week, we featured comments from mystery writers and readers about their pet peeves in mystery stories. The post was very popular, and even after it was up, I was still receiving "peeves" in my email. So -- drum roll, please! -- here's Part Two of that post, with a few more comments on what gets mystery writers, in particular, riled up when reading or watching stories in their favorite genre. Enjoy....and know that some time in the coming months, I will feature a post on the opposite topic -- what do mystery writers and readers particularly like about mystery stories, and what kinds of storytelling help them look past their peeves and keep turning pages.

Convenient time-eating explanations
"An annoyance. The book is told in first person. At the end, the killer has the protagonist at knife/gun point and is planning to kill her/him, but goes into three of four pages describing how he/she executed the crime -- giving the protagonist just enough time to reach the paperweight with which to bash the criminal over the head.  (Also)...The protagonist receives a phone call from someone who says that he/she has an important clue but can't divulge it over the phone, so the protagonist must come over to her/his place AT ONCE.  When he/she arrives -- SURPRISE! -- the caller has been killed."--Mary Devine, from the DorothyL mystery readers/writers group

The discarded weapon
"I hate it when the protagonist throws away a weapon (usually a gun) and says, "EW!," generally carelessly leaving it where the perp (even if dying) will grab it and shoot the protagonist & kill a beloved secondary character who in a better novel or movie would have gone on to be an enjoyable secondary character."  Brenda from the DorothyL mystery readers/writers group

Confusion masquerading as complexity
"One thing that bugs me is when the author makes the set-up super complex, just to hide the fact that it doesn't make sense. I think this happens a lot in spy thriller/mystery movies -- often I have this moment where I realize that the reason I don't understand everything is not because I failed to follow the story correctly; it's because it really makes no sense." Hannah Sternberg is the author of the young adult novel, Queens of All the Earth

The day job with lots of time for sleuthing
"Amateur sleuths who have a job, or even run a business, but seem able to take unlimited unscheduled time off to sleuth." Carola Dunn is the author of the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries
 
The dead...phone
"Cell phones that go conveniently dead just as the bad guy is zooming in on the protagonist. Darn those cell phones, anyway. They make it a lot harder to get the sleuth out of the shop to investigate, and to get her into trouble she has to work her own way out of." -- Leslie Budewitz is an award-winning mystery author and a lawyer who blogs regularly about how to write accurately about criminal law and courtroom procedures at the Law and Fiction blog.

Pets and children who fade away
"Characters who have pets that are only seen for a comedic moment but never mentioned again, even when the character is home." Pat Brown is the author of a series of L.A.-based mysteries.

The unmistakable and villainous car
"My most irksome peeves involve cars. I lose all suspension of disbelief when our hero is on the run in an unmistakable car, the special-order British Morgan sport car in the case I'm thinking of, and doesn't think to DUMP THE CAR until it's too late. Also, I hate cases of The Sinister Car, where the glimpses of a certain make or model of vehicle provide the only tension for great lengths of narrative. But, most of all, I hate when women in danger carrying guns just FREEZE and can't use it before the villain disarms them. Please. I'm not buying mothers needing assault rifles to take down gangs of terrorists storming their housefuls of cowering children, but one woman and one gun can do a lot of self-defense if necessary." Carole Nelson Douglas has been published in several genres, including suspense.

Oh, baby..."My most hated (peeve) is when the female protag suddenly zeroes in on the magnificent pecs straining the cop or detective's shirt. OMG! You were just mugged or cheated, honey--this is not kissy time!" Star Lawrence is a member of DorothyL, a mystery readers/writers group


The cliched detective
"I personally am sick of the alcoholic, depressed detective. Yes, characters should be flawed, but I'm tired of this cliche. I also dislike the clever ending that is unbelievable but chosen because the author wants to come up with something that no one will guess. I have a couple of books in mind with that flaw." Susan Oleksiw is a member of DorothyL, a mystery readers/writers group

The cliched pantry...

"Add me to the list of those who are annoyed at protagonists who have refrigerators with moldy cheese and pantry shelves with crackers that have no snap left and--maybe--coffee. OR their cousins who eat junk food all day and gain nothing." -- Radine Trees Nehring, is a mystery author, and a 2011 Inductee: Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame

So much to do...except solve the mystery
"One of my pet peeves is 'the stall'-- when a character gets a promising clue but has to delay following up or else the mystery will be solved too soon. I know this happens in real life because I put off doing things I ought, but in a mystery I find it annoying. It usually goes something like this: sleuth is given phone number for pawn shop that deals in stolen
 goods, but can't call because she has a yoga class in fifteen minutes. Then after yoga class, she gets asked to go for ice cream by cute cop and by then it's too late to call, but she will the first thing next morning except that her dog has a vet appointment and then her cell phone battery dies. Three chapters later she finally calls the guy, who immediately gives her a name or Big Clue and case is solved. Or else she never calls, is in danger, but saved by cute cop who did follow up on the lead. On the other hand, there are authors who do 'the stall' so well that I only realize there was a stall in retrospect. I really admire them." Jeanne of the Bristol Public Library

The bridge to nowhere

"I read a lot of historicals, and it really irritates me when I come across something that I know is an anachronism or distortion of fact that isn't otherwise explained in an Author's Note. Example: going under the Veranzanno Narrows Bridge in 1936, when I know it wasn't built until the 1960s. Something like that destroys the entire 'suspension of disbelief,' and takes me right out of the story." -- Roberta Rogow (who has "fudged" a date or two, but nothing quite so horrendous as that!) is the author of several mysteries

Hacking away
"The super hacker buddy (mentioned in previous Pet Peeves post) was going to be mine, as well. And it's not just cops; it's P.I.s and reporters, etc. They all know someone who'll be able to hack into something and get them the exact piece of information they need. Happens on TV, too, though there it's usually just easily found computer information instead of hacking. Everything is found with a few clicks of the keys." Jane Joregenson is a member of the DorothyL mystery readers/writers group

But what about the mouse?
"Jane's peeve reminded me of one of mine that I see on television shows a lot -- when the crime-solving computer whiz starts clicking away at the keyboard to bring up pages of info. Usually those kinds of searches don't involve keystrokes as much as mouse clicks. Nobody uses the mouse. They type away as if they were Googling on an old Remington." Libby Sternberg is editor-in-chief of Istoria Books and an Edgar-nominated author

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Istoria Books's "Mysterious Monday" program features posts about mystery writing, reading, bookselling and more by writers from beyond the Istoria stable. Stop back on Mondays for insightful posts on the mystery genre. Check out Istoria Books's mystery offerings here.


Mysterious Monday posts from the past:

• The original pet peeves post
• Carola Dunn writes about her experiences with a mysterious bookstore display: Downton Abbey, Barnes & Noble, and Carola Dunn
• JennyMilchman writes about "Putting the MIST in mystery: obscuring facts"

Coming up: Authors Gary Alexander and Joyce Yarrow talk about favorite characters and favorite character types in mystery, and book blogger and reviewer Marlyn Beebe shares her thoughts on what she likes in mysteries
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