edting
Homo Sapiens
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Amherst, NH
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 Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:28 am Post subject: 1. The Devil's Cook by Ellery Queen |
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My first book of '05 was supposed to be the first volume of Shelby Foote's classic 3 tome set on the Civil War. These are huge books, and the going is slow so far, and I needed a break from it, so here we are.
Back in college Doug and I would engage in all sorts of contests and bets and one overriding rule is that you had to win like a gentleman. So it is with a measure of embarrassment that my first book is a short potboiler mystery written in the 1960s. It took me longer to read the prologue of Foote's "Civil War" than this entire book.
"Ellery Queen" was a pseudonym for any number of staff writers, and this one takes place in college. I liked the sense of being back in college, particularly the parts about the unending search for good food. Right on the overleaf there is a cast of characters, which sets the tone right away. To wit:
"Terry Miles - She was five feet four of scenic stuff, and she wasn't very particular who explored the scenery."
Hey, how can you resist???
It's easy to make fun of stuff like this, but the truth is it's well-written enough, the characters are just memorable enough to move the plot along, and the solution makes sense.
OK, enough of this. Going back to Foote's Civil War now...
-Ed |
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