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Jul. 31st, 2010 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaTHE SKY TOOK HIM, by Donis Casey.
Cover copy: It's a sad duty that brings Alafair Tucker to Enid, Oklahoma, in the fall of 1915. Her sister Ruth Ann's husband, Lester, is not long for this world, and the family is gathering to send him to his reward. Alafair's eldest daughter Martha has volunteered to come along and care for toddler Grace, freeing Alafair to comfort the soon-to-be-bereaved.
But where is Kenneth, her niece's irresponsible husband? When it comes to light that Kenneth has been involved in some shady dealing with Buck Collins, the most ruthless businessman in town, everyone is convinced that Collins has done him in. In fact, no other possibility is considered. But Alafair suspects that things are not so simple, and with help from Martha, Grace, and her sister's cat, she sets about to discover the truth about Kenneth's fate.
Over the next few days, Alafair and Martha come face to face with blackmail, intimidation, murder, and family secrets that stretch back over twenty years. And in the process, they discover things about each other that will change their relationship forever.
Gender of detective: female
The cat, incidentally, is not of any help. This isn't one of those sorts of mysteries.
It is, however, the sort of mystery wherein both Alafair and Grace are sorta kinda psychic - not enough to figure out that Kenneth is dead until well after the reader has, but enough to find the body (...well after the reader has, or at least this reader had), and enough to figure out a few key hints regarding the big secret, although that was somewhat predictable as well. Granted, including any aspect of the supernatural in a mystery is a chancy thing: it's all too easy for it to come across as a plot coupon generator. This is neither a shining example nor a total dud.
The part where this novel really shines is in the feeling of a snapshot of time and place. These people had different upbringings and different expectations than I did, and the author conveyed that without lapsing into modernization. World War One is a vague murmur in the background, oil drilling is a matter of firm debate, and Native Americans have no problem taking part in Founders' Day Celebrations of a frontier settlement. ...ye-eah. Um. Okay, so it's not perfect. But that issue was sufficiently low-key that I was willing to forgive it and enjoy the rest for what it was.
*
Ian has headed out to do non-Blogathon things. He has promised to come back with all sorts of ideas for late-night posts. Then again, given him, maybe that was a threat...
Team Mariposa, Blogathon 2010. Sponsor me!
Cover copy: It's a sad duty that brings Alafair Tucker to Enid, Oklahoma, in the fall of 1915. Her sister Ruth Ann's husband, Lester, is not long for this world, and the family is gathering to send him to his reward. Alafair's eldest daughter Martha has volunteered to come along and care for toddler Grace, freeing Alafair to comfort the soon-to-be-bereaved.
But where is Kenneth, her niece's irresponsible husband? When it comes to light that Kenneth has been involved in some shady dealing with Buck Collins, the most ruthless businessman in town, everyone is convinced that Collins has done him in. In fact, no other possibility is considered. But Alafair suspects that things are not so simple, and with help from Martha, Grace, and her sister's cat, she sets about to discover the truth about Kenneth's fate.
Over the next few days, Alafair and Martha come face to face with blackmail, intimidation, murder, and family secrets that stretch back over twenty years. And in the process, they discover things about each other that will change their relationship forever.
Gender of detective: female
The cat, incidentally, is not of any help. This isn't one of those sorts of mysteries.
It is, however, the sort of mystery wherein both Alafair and Grace are sorta kinda psychic - not enough to figure out that Kenneth is dead until well after the reader has, but enough to find the body (...well after the reader has, or at least this reader had), and enough to figure out a few key hints regarding the big secret, although that was somewhat predictable as well. Granted, including any aspect of the supernatural in a mystery is a chancy thing: it's all too easy for it to come across as a plot coupon generator. This is neither a shining example nor a total dud.
The part where this novel really shines is in the feeling of a snapshot of time and place. These people had different upbringings and different expectations than I did, and the author conveyed that without lapsing into modernization. World War One is a vague murmur in the background, oil drilling is a matter of firm debate, and Native Americans have no problem taking part in Founders' Day Celebrations of a frontier settlement. ...ye-eah. Um. Okay, so it's not perfect. But that issue was sufficiently low-key that I was willing to forgive it and enjoy the rest for what it was.
*
Ian has headed out to do non-Blogathon things. He has promised to come back with all sorts of ideas for late-night posts. Then again, given him, maybe that was a threat...
Team Mariposa, Blogathon 2010. Sponsor me!