Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page One of ThreeBig Trouble by Dave Barry
Putnam, Sept., 1999.Hardcover, 255 pages.
ISBN: 0399145672.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
In Coconut Grove, Florida, ex-journalist and struggling adman
Eliot Arnold thinks that things can hardly
get worse. He is wrong. After a truly
dreadful meeting with the Client From Hell,
he loans his son the car so he can "kill" his
classmate Jenny Herk with a Squirtmaster 9000, as part of
a mock-murder game played by all the teenagers
at school. Matt and his friend have the worst timing in the
world. They sneak through the backyard of the Herk household,
not realizing that a pair of professional hitmen are also
out to kill a member of the Herk family -- with real bullets.
It seems that Herk, Sr., (a real jerk) has been embezzling
from the money he is supposed to be using as bribes for the
construction firm he works for. It gets considerably more
complicated after that, with Russian thugs, nuclear weapons, local cops,
and a friendly dog all getting into the action.
Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry tries his hand at writing a comic mystery novel -- and succeeds admirably. Farce is extraordinarily difficult to write, but Barry pulls it off with his usual aplomb. His style of writing and humor translate very well into novel form; this one will have you laughing out loud in parts. Don't miss it, if you love a good caper. Highly recommended.
Black Coffee by Agatha Christie, Adapted by Charles Osborne
St. Martin's Press, Sept., 1999.Paperback, 290 pages.
ISBN: 0312970072.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
Nearly twenty-five years after her death, Agatha
Christie remains one of the most popular authors
the world has ever known. Charles Osborne was
given permission by Dame Agatha's estate to
convert a three act play written in 1930 into
book form. Black Coffee is the result.
Hercule Poirot is called to the country estate of
Sir Claud Amory, a noted physicist. Sir Claud
is concerned that a member of his household
has plans to steal a secret formula he developed for the
Ministry of Defense. But by the time Poirot
gets there, Sir Claud is dead of poison.
The secret formula is missing, and the country home
is filled with suspects. It is up to Poirot to find the
murderer, recover the formula and prevent any more
deaths.
Charles Osborne made very few changes to the manuscript, other than to turn stage instructions into narrative. The result is a story which really does read like a play -- certainly it's easy to picture the characters onstage saying their lines. But gradually the atmosphere of the country home, the parade of suspects and the delightful working of Poirot's "little grey cells" take over, and you're transported into a true mystery lover's favorite place to be: the England of Agatha Christie. Kudos to Osborne for a job well-done.
Mystery Reviews
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