Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page Four of FiveRed, White, and Blue Murder by Jeanne M. Dams
Walker & Co., May 2000Hardcover, 256 pages.
ISBN: 0802733417.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
At the turn of the 19th century in South Bend Indiana,
families such as the Studebakers ruled society with
their grand estates and legions of servants, many of
whom were immigrants. Hilda Johansson, a Swedish
immigrant, is the head maid in the household. But Hilda does
much more than polish the silver and turn down the
beds: she is a very promising amateur sleuth
(See, Death in Red Lacquer). When President McKinley
is assassinated, the entire country is in an uproar over
the emergence of a group of anarchists who want to
overthrow the U.S. government. A friend of the Studebakers
is found dead in his own warehouse, and his body is
wrapped in an American flag. When the brother of
Hilda's friend seems implicated in the assassination attempt,
Hilda sets out to investigate the strange happenings in
her adopted city.
South Bend in the early 1900s was rife with prejudice against the influx of foreigners brought over to supplement the workforce. The class system was alive and well; servants and immigrants were definitely second or third-class citizens in that society. Jeanne M. Dams does an excellent job of illustrating the unfairness of those times, although those issues never overwhelm the truly entertaining mystery plot which is the heart of the story. Hilda pushes the boundaries of what a servant girl could do in those times; her intelligence, curiosity and caring make her an endearing character. The insights into the day to day life inside the famous Tippecanoe Palace where the real Studebaker family lived is also quite absorbing. Historical and cozy mystery fans should welcome Hilda with open arms.
--Claire E. White
Run Jane Run by Maureen Tan
Warner Books, March 2000Paperback, 292 pages.
ISBN: 0446609048.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
MI-5 agent Jane Nichols is back in action in this
second installment of the hot new spy series. Jane has
been living happily in Savannah, Georgia with her new love,
but leaves him to take a job in England
to rescue the kidnapped son of a prominent member of
Parliament. The raid seems to go well, but it soon
becomes clear that the son isn't the least bit interested
in being rescued. Furthermore, the case has triggered
memories of Jane's terrifying childhood trauma in which
her parents were brutally murdered right in front of
her eyes. Suddenly, she's on the run from her own
agency, as she desperately tries to remember the face of the
man that killed her mother and father. Violence is never
far away from Jane, and she soon finds herself back in Savannah
trying to help the man she loves -- and to escape her own
past.
Jane Nichols is a complex woman. She is a deadly killer when she needs to be, and has a chameleon-like personality which allows her to blend into any situation. But Jane has a soft side as well, and hides a world of pain from her childhood. She is a captivating character, and her latest adventure will have readers clamoring for more of this intriguing and immensely entertaining series.
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