Saturday Review #12
Oct. 30th, 2010 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaBIGGIE AND THE QUINCY GHOST, by Nancy Bell.
Cover copy: In this delightful series full of quirky characters and rich Texas flavor, Biggie Weatherford and her friends travel to the neighboring town of Quincy to learn how to start a historical society in their own home of Job's Crossing. Young J.R., who once again narrates the adventures of his detective grandmother, is not thrilled with the trip, but soon finds that the town of Quincy isn't as quiet as he thought.
Their first night in Quincy, J.R. asks to hear about the inn's legendary ghost. The hostess happily tells them about a young woman known as Diamond Lucy who went on a picnic with her husband and was never seen alive again. The couple had been staying at the inn, and it is believed that her ghost came to settle there. The story leaves J.R. nervous, and after he goes to bed, he thinks he hears Diamond Lucy's ghost in the next room. He persuades his friend Rosebud to come with him to take a look, but the only thing they see is a secret passage that goes down to the lobby and out of the building.
The next morning, J.R. learns that life can be scarier than ghosts. Looking out of his second-story window, he sees the very real dead body of a very real young woman in the courtyard by the fountain.
The local sheriff is confined to the hospital with appendicitis, and he considers himself lucky that Biggie, whose reputation as a sleuth precedes her, is at hand to help with the murder investigation. He assures her that he trusts her to help out, so long as she keeps him informed. Biggie, of course, is only too happy to pitch in with her favorite hobby - detection. In fact, the entire household pitches in. Rosebud does the necessary legwork, Willie Mae arrives to help prepare proper food for a wedding reception scheduled at the inn, and Biggie assigns J.R. to comb the town records - which are plentiful. It's there he hits the jackpot, finding a crucial clue that not only leads them to the killer but lets them sort out the true story behind the legend of the Quincy Ghost.
As a further treat for the reader, Willie Mae generously shares her recipe for Lane cake.
The cover copy doesn't say whether this is a series intended for the YA market or for the adult market. I'm inclined toward the first, not only because of J.R.'s first person narration, but also because of what isn't in the text. There's no racism, no homophobia, despite the fact that both Rosebud and Willie Mae are black, and Butch (who doesn't rate a mention in the cover copy) is every swishy gay stereotype that can be crammed into a single character. The only prejudice on display is toward the local rednecks (who live near a swamp), with a little bit left over for the daughter of one of the suspects, who acts all meek and under her mother's thumb, but in fact may be buying a sort of popularity by sleeping with boys. Slut-shaming. Got to love the classics. [/sarcasm]
Regardless whether this was intended as adult or YA mystery, the whole thing feels almost too simple. I didn't guess the killer, no - it wasn't that simple - but of course there was no ghost, of course it was one of the very small list of suspects, of course it tied back in to one of the hardly larger list of secrets. At one point, someone sarcastically asks Biggie if she fancies herself Hercule Poirot, and it does seem like the author was aiming for that sort of puzzle-piece mystery, where everything slots together tidily. The problem is that it doesn't. A big deal is made about the Legend of the Quincy Ghost: the problem is that not only is there no ghost that we ever see, but the story behind the legend doesn't actually need any sorting. Diamond Lucy was killed by her husband. She may or may not have given birth, and the child may or may not have been rescued by a passing trapper. The story tries to make out a connection between that missing child and the rednecks, but this red herring stinks false almost immediately, with the result that you're left less with a tidy puzzle, and more with a few extra pieces and no place to put them.
On the bright side, it's a fast read, and I actually managed to get through it without getting so exasperated with the characters that I had to set it aside, which has happened with the past couple mysteries I tried to read. So there's that. Yay.
Cover copy: In this delightful series full of quirky characters and rich Texas flavor, Biggie Weatherford and her friends travel to the neighboring town of Quincy to learn how to start a historical society in their own home of Job's Crossing. Young J.R., who once again narrates the adventures of his detective grandmother, is not thrilled with the trip, but soon finds that the town of Quincy isn't as quiet as he thought.
Their first night in Quincy, J.R. asks to hear about the inn's legendary ghost. The hostess happily tells them about a young woman known as Diamond Lucy who went on a picnic with her husband and was never seen alive again. The couple had been staying at the inn, and it is believed that her ghost came to settle there. The story leaves J.R. nervous, and after he goes to bed, he thinks he hears Diamond Lucy's ghost in the next room. He persuades his friend Rosebud to come with him to take a look, but the only thing they see is a secret passage that goes down to the lobby and out of the building.
The next morning, J.R. learns that life can be scarier than ghosts. Looking out of his second-story window, he sees the very real dead body of a very real young woman in the courtyard by the fountain.
The local sheriff is confined to the hospital with appendicitis, and he considers himself lucky that Biggie, whose reputation as a sleuth precedes her, is at hand to help with the murder investigation. He assures her that he trusts her to help out, so long as she keeps him informed. Biggie, of course, is only too happy to pitch in with her favorite hobby - detection. In fact, the entire household pitches in. Rosebud does the necessary legwork, Willie Mae arrives to help prepare proper food for a wedding reception scheduled at the inn, and Biggie assigns J.R. to comb the town records - which are plentiful. It's there he hits the jackpot, finding a crucial clue that not only leads them to the killer but lets them sort out the true story behind the legend of the Quincy Ghost.
As a further treat for the reader, Willie Mae generously shares her recipe for Lane cake.
The cover copy doesn't say whether this is a series intended for the YA market or for the adult market. I'm inclined toward the first, not only because of J.R.'s first person narration, but also because of what isn't in the text. There's no racism, no homophobia, despite the fact that both Rosebud and Willie Mae are black, and Butch (who doesn't rate a mention in the cover copy) is every swishy gay stereotype that can be crammed into a single character. The only prejudice on display is toward the local rednecks (who live near a swamp), with a little bit left over for the daughter of one of the suspects, who acts all meek and under her mother's thumb, but in fact may be buying a sort of popularity by sleeping with boys. Slut-shaming. Got to love the classics. [/sarcasm]
Regardless whether this was intended as adult or YA mystery, the whole thing feels almost too simple. I didn't guess the killer, no - it wasn't that simple - but of course there was no ghost, of course it was one of the very small list of suspects, of course it tied back in to one of the hardly larger list of secrets. At one point, someone sarcastically asks Biggie if she fancies herself Hercule Poirot, and it does seem like the author was aiming for that sort of puzzle-piece mystery, where everything slots together tidily. The problem is that it doesn't. A big deal is made about the Legend of the Quincy Ghost: the problem is that not only is there no ghost that we ever see, but the story behind the legend doesn't actually need any sorting. Diamond Lucy was killed by her husband. She may or may not have given birth, and the child may or may not have been rescued by a passing trapper. The story tries to make out a connection between that missing child and the rednecks, but this red herring stinks false almost immediately, with the result that you're left less with a tidy puzzle, and more with a few extra pieces and no place to put them.
On the bright side, it's a fast read, and I actually managed to get through it without getting so exasperated with the characters that I had to set it aside, which has happened with the past couple mysteries I tried to read. So there's that. Yay.