READER & STAFF REVIEWS-Updated 2/8/12

In stock at Four-Eyed Frog Books

I am always surprised by someone taking on the tradition of Sherlock Holmes and keeping it alive.  I am surprised, but happy; because I have always loved Sherlock and all his quirky ways of investigation and there is no exception to his unorthodox rules of crime solving in this book.

As told by Dr. John Watson, The House of Silk represents a never before seen side of Holmesian detection.  The crime seems representative of today’s underworld criminal activity more than that of the 19^th century.  Nonetheless it needs to be told.

As usual there is an unexpected visitor to 221B Baker Street. Mrs. Hudson ushers in Mr. Carstairs who says that he is being followed and terrorized by an unsavory character from Boston who wears a flat cap.  Then he relates how he knows the man as Keelan O’Donaghue of Boston’s Flat Cap Gang.  This man, along with his brother and cohorts, robbed and destroyed a train containing valuable artworks from Mr. Carstairs’ gallery in London. They were intended for two clients in Boston.  When Carstairs heard what happened he went to Boston to see what he could do and made the acquaintance of his clients, Mr. Stillman and Mrs. Devoy, while the Pinkertons were hunting down the gang.  Apparently the Pinkertons were successful with one exception; Keelan O’Donaghue escaped. Later he was seen running from the dead body of Mr. Stillman. Mr. Carstairs now claims O’Donaghue has come to London to harass him and finish the job.

Holmes is not impressed by Mr. Carstairs story. After all, if O’Donaghue truly wanted to kill Carstairs he’d had plenty of opportunities to do so. Mr. Carstairs, upset, leaves.

It seems, though, that Holmes is not yet done with Carstairs. The next morning he receives a telegram which asks him to come at once, that he has been robbed.

This is where the plot thickens; “the game’s afoot”! Apparently O’Donoghue has broken into the Carstairs’ home and stolen 50 pounds as well as a sapphire necklace that once belonged to Carstairs mother. No one in the house feels safe anymore.

Holmes and Watson are introduced to the family which consists of Carstairs’ wife and sister.  And, of course, Holmes’ old friend, detective Lestrade of the CID, has already been there and reassured the family of his full attention. 

Upon returning to his home, Holmes enlists the assistance of the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of street urchins he sometimes enlists to help him out. He wants them to track down the American intruder by ‘casing’ several pawn shops.  Two of the Irregulars, Wiggins and Ross ,hit pay dirt. Wiggins reports to Holmes that they have followed the American to a low rent hotel where Ross is keeping watch.  By the time they arrive on the scene, though, their person of interest has been brutally stabbed in the neck. The only clue left behind is a cigarette case with the initials MW. 

Later, searching the point of entry in the alley for clues, Holmes realizes that Ross probably saw who stabbed O’Donaghue. He sends out a telegram to bring him in for a talk.  But Ross has disappeared.  Wiggins tells Holmes that he hasn’t known Ross for long.  He’d found him living with 8 other people in a tenement.  All Wiggins knows is that Ross has no parents and for a while lived at a charity school for Boys, Chorley Grange. But he hated the place and ran away. 

This information leads Holmes to Chorley Grange which consists of three handsome buildings on grounds that were once a formal estate. Interviews with staff there don’t help.  Nor does the receipt of an envelope with a single piece of silk ribbon.  Or the finding of Ross brutally murdered with a piece of silk tied around his wrist. Or visits to a popular, smoke-filled opium den. Not even Holmes’ near death experience provides a single clue.

However, all of these things taken together lead to a surprising discovery and conclusion to this unusual mystery…with the assistance of Lestrade of course.  

If you like Sherlock Holmes, you will love this book.***

Reviewed by Linda Crockett, Four-Eyed Frog Books

In stock at Four-Eyed Frog Books

A first novel.  I love it! 

Chris wakes up to be told that she has been in a car accident. It has left her unable to remember events and people beyond the current day. She goes to the bathroom and looks in the mirror and finds that she has aged, and she is frightened. Each day is new for her; every day is confusing. 

Twenty years are missing from her memory, from her life. Each morning she wakes up next to a man who says he is her husband.  He cooks her breakfast and patiently goes through photo albums. He explains people and places to her.  Then he goes to work and leaves her alone.  She feels lost and alone.  And scared. How can she cope with this kind of life?  How can this man, this stranger, tell her that every day he goes through the same rituals, tells her the same things?

One day, while this man who says he’s her husband is at work, a doctor contacts her.  He tells her he knows about her situation, he’s learned about it from a mutual friend.  He is sympathetic, he is understanding.  The doctor encourages her to start a journal into which she should write down each day’s events, conversations, people and thoughts so that she can refer to it the next day to “refresh her memory.” He instructs her to not tell her husband about him nor her journal.  She hides the journal in a shoebox in her closet.  Each day the doctor calls and tells her where to find it and to call him when she finishes reading it.  Eventually they begin meeting and talking about each day, about what she remembers.  He asks her questions about her past.

Slowly, as Chris continues her journaling and her regular meetings with the doctor, her daily entries start to concern her, especially those that contain conversations with the doctor. As she studies the photographs her husband constantly shows her, as she considers the ways he explains things, a gnawing feeling grows that something is just not right. What, for example, about the photos that are missing from the album supposedly lost in a fire along with a lot of other personal items?

Slowly, little by little, Chris begins to piece together certain aspects about her forgotten life. She finds out that she has, or at least had, a son.  With the doctor, she visits the hospital and convalescent home where she spent so much time recovering from her injuries. What she learns is shocking and emotionally overwhelming. The  visits expose more about her life and what had really happened to her. She also discovers that a dear friend whom she had been told moved to New Zealand is still living close by.  Other bits and pieces of information come out regarding her “accident”; and then the flashbacks start — frightening flashbacks that put her in a situation that seems unbelievable and horrifying. 

What happens to Chris as a result of her quest to understand and put meaning to her life is riveting. I’ll share no more for fear of giving away a most intriguing ending.

Hang on; this is not “50 First Dates!”  ***

Reviewed by Linda Crockett, Four-Eyed Frog Books

Fallen by Karin Slaughter
In stock at Four-Eyed Frog Books

Faith Mitchell arrives at her mother’s house to pick up her baby daughter only to find a dead body, a man tied to a chair in the bedroom, a second man running out the back door of the bedroom and her mother gone. Her daughter had been safely tucked in a secret place only her mom and she know about. Faith fires her gun at the escaping suspect and in doing so makes herself a suspect in the case. What’s happened? Faith is a police officer following in her mother, Evelyn’s, footsteps. Evelyn has been retired for four years. She was the head of a Narcotics Unit with 6 officers working with her. Faith wonders if her mother’s past has caught up with her. In the following hours and days, Faith finds that her mother has many friends, many secrets and many enemies. The story goes back and forth between Faith’s investigation and being hindered in her investigation by being a suspect herself, and Evelyn’s dilemma as a prisoner who is being tortured. In this process of laying out the story the reader meets all kinds of characters including Evelyn’s best friend, Amanda, who is definitely not retired and “ all over” this investigation. We’re also introduced to Faith’s partner, Will, and to Sara, a doctor at the local hospital. More importantly, there are interesting twists: a severed finger, good character development, insights into police protocol and police corruption. Karin Slaughter is one solid crime novelist.*** 1/2

Linda Crockett, Four-Eyed Frog Books

Marty McGuire by Kate Messner and Brian Floca
In stock @ Four-Eyed Frog Books

Marty is a self-proclaimed tomboy. She would much rather be out in the mud catching frogs than playing with other girls at recess. Then, to her dismay, she is chosen to be the princess in The Frog Princess. Could things get worse?

Marty McGuire is inventive and humorous. A fun read featuring a plucky heroine.***

AGES 8 and up

A Volunteer @ Four-Eyed Frog Books

Taking Care of Cleo by Bill Broder
In stock at Four-Eyed Frog Books

First of all I found it intriguing that I was reading a book about a Jewish teenage girl living in Michigan in the late 1920's. My Jewish mother lived in Detroit and was a senior in high school in 1928. Kind of ironic. I was trying to imagine her experiences as a Jewish teenager while I read the book.

I bought the book Saturday and finished it one night later. I found it to be wonderfully written and a great read. It fascinates me that a book about a Jewish teenage girl in the early 20th century could be so beautifully written by a man. It reminded me of how Arthur Golden was able to bring the reader into the world of a geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha. I was equally absorbed by that book. The story of Rebecca and Cleo and their family kept me captivated and anxious to find out what was going to happen next. I am so pleased that I took your advice and read this amazing book. Thank you.****