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Belated: Nov 29 Reviews and HIDDEN AGENDA
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Mood:
Sad
November 29, 2004
There's an old favourite back on the scene this week. Many of us remember fondly John Mortimer's infamous barrister creation Rumpole. Well, the master is back -- and finally throwing light on his most famous case in RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS.
Barbara Franchi recommends it highly -- and also speculates on who could play the younger Rumpole on screen. The late Leo McKern, who made the role his own, is much missed.
Sharon Katz drew the short straw this week -- trying to make head or tail of an abridged audiobook version of Patricia Cornwell's TRACE. Some of us have given up on Cornwell as the plots got madder and madder. Sharon says, diplomatically, that maybe the full version would make more sense!
I had great fun this week with a brace of racing thrillers -- one of my guilty pleasures. It always seems harsh to compare these young pretenders to Dick Francis but hey, the master worked hard for his success, so we don't want to make it too easy for these up-and-coming blighters! Actually, both John Francome's INSIDE TRACK and Richard Pitman and Joe McNally's BET YOUR LIFE are good value reads.
Let's welcome a new reviewer from the UK. Playwright Rebecca Nesvet makes her RTE debut with a review of Italian writer Carlo Lucarelli's much-praised ALMOST BLUE. Rebecca teaches Creative Writing and a little Renaissance drama at the University of Gloucestershire. She has academic journal articles published and forthcoming in the fields of early modern literature, modern theatre, and women's writing. A multiple-award-winning playwright, her plays have been produced and stage-read in London, Cardiff, New York, Washington DC, Dallas, and Chicago, among other places. Her playwriting might have a wannabe-crime-writing agenda as characters tend to find themselves accused of treason (sometimes even accurately) at a frequency that almost rivals Renaissance history plays. Before moving to Gloucestershire, Rebecca was a regular staff reviewer for the UK daily broadsheet The Western Mail and for Theatre in Wales.
There's time, if you're quick, to enter the free draw for signed copies of Elaine Flinn's wonderful TAGGED FOR MURDER. Next up in the giveaway stakes later this week are copies of Carol Smith's twisty and turny HIDDEN AGENDA.
Oh, and if you'd like to keep in touch with RTE in between our weekly uploads, sign up at http://www.journalscape.com/rte/ to receive occasional notes, the weekly update list, and, in the future, random musings from both me and Barbara Franchi, our publisher.
Happy reading!
Sharon
Our mascot and masthead is Smokey the Cat. He's real and lives on a futon in my office in Boston. Click on his picture for his autobiography.
Recent Reviews:
RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS
by John Mortimer
TRACE
by Patricia Cornwell
TRIBECA BLUES
by Jim Fusilli
WINTER HOUSE
by Carol O'Connell
BET YOUR LIFE
by Richard Pitman with Joe McNally
ALMOST BLUE
by Carlo Lucarelli
TILL THE END OF TOM
by Gillian Roberts
JOSEPHINE AND HARRIET
by Betty Burton
LAST SEEN IN ABERDEEN
by M. G. Kincaid
DRAGON PRECINCT
by Keith R. A. DeCandido
THROUGH VIOLET EYES
by Stephen Wentworth
RED TIDE
by G. M. Ford
INSIDE TRACK
by John Francome
LAST RITES
by Joyce and Jim Lavene
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
by David Dun
THE RESORT
by Bentley Little
ALONE AT NIGHT
by K. J. Erickson
HEART OF THE HUNTER
by Deon Meyer
MISSING JUSTICE
by Alafair Burke
THE BAR WATCHER
by Dorien Grey
QUICK SEARCH:
COMPETITION #14 HIDDEN AGENDA BY CAROL SMITH.
“Devastated by the shocking news that an old school- friend, Suzy Palmer, faces execution in Louisiana for the murder of her children, London rabbi, Deborah Hirsch, enlists the aid of her former classmates in an attempt to get her off. She can't be anything but innocent; the Suzy they've known and loved all these years could never hurt a fly.
Aided by Miss Holbrook, Suzy's former art teacher, the friends unite to prove Suzy's innocence. Back and forth across thirty years they slowly piece together what happened. And even more shocking than Suzy's plight is the knowledge that one of their number has betrayed her.”
.
HIDDEN AGENDA by Carol Smith is a story of the friendship of a group of women over a period of years, and how they all band together to help when one is in trouble. This is the eighth thriller she has had published. Carol Smith livings in Kensington, West London.
In this drawing we are giving away 3 copies of HIDDEN AGENDA. They will be posted directly from the publisher in the UK. To win one, send an email to HREF="mailto:competition@reviewingtheevidence.com">competition@reviewingtheevidence.com. Please put the words COMPETITION #14 HIDDEN AGENDA as the subject and only your name and mailing address within the e-mail.
If you just can't wait for the contest to end and want to read the book immediately, click on the book cover.
. On or about December 16, I will place all your e-mails, which should contain nothing more than your name and mailing address, in Smokey's food bowl. The three names he rejects will be the winners at which time the winners will be notified and their e-mail and snail mail addresses will be sent to the publicist. The books will be sent directly from the publicist in the UK to the winner.
This competition is not open to RTE reviewers or their families.
The winners of competition #13 for an autographed cover copy TAGGED FOR MURDER by Elaine Flinn are: Trisha Newton, Durham, N.C, Jean Schramm,. Annapolis, MD, and Linda Edge, Auckland, New Zealand. . Thank you for entering, Your names and addresses have been sent to the Elaine Flinn and the books will be sent by her.. You should receive your copies within 2 weeks. Or longer if you live in New Zealand
If you haven't won one of the free copies of TAGGED FOR MURDER, then just click on the cover and buy
All names, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses of those who entered the previous competitions have been purged from my mailer. The same will be done for this drawing.
There's an old favourite back on the scene this week. Many of us remember fondly John Mortimer's infamous barrister creation Rumpole. Well, the master is back -- and finally throwing light on his most famous case in RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS.
Barbara Franchi recommends it highly -- and also speculates on who could play the younger Rumpole on screen. The late Leo McKern, who made the role his own, is much missed.
Sharon Katz drew the short straw this week -- trying to make head or tail of an abridged audiobook version of Patricia Cornwell's TRACE. Some of us have given up on Cornwell as the plots got madder and madder. Sharon says, diplomatically, that maybe the full version would make more sense!
I had great fun this week with a brace of racing thrillers -- one of my guilty pleasures. It always seems harsh to compare these young pretenders to Dick Francis but hey, the master worked hard for his success, so we don't want to make it too easy for these up-and-coming blighters! Actually, both John Francome's INSIDE TRACK and Richard Pitman and Joe McNally's BET YOUR LIFE are good value reads.
Let's welcome a new reviewer from the UK. Playwright Rebecca Nesvet makes her RTE debut with a review of Italian writer Carlo Lucarelli's much-praised ALMOST BLUE. Rebecca teaches Creative Writing and a little Renaissance drama at the University of Gloucestershire. She has academic journal articles published and forthcoming in the fields of early modern literature, modern theatre, and women's writing. A multiple-award-winning playwright, her plays have been produced and stage-read in London, Cardiff, New York, Washington DC, Dallas, and Chicago, among other places. Her playwriting might have a wannabe-crime-writing agenda as characters tend to find themselves accused of treason (sometimes even accurately) at a frequency that almost rivals Renaissance history plays. Before moving to Gloucestershire, Rebecca was a regular staff reviewer for the UK daily broadsheet The Western Mail and for Theatre in Wales.
There's time, if you're quick, to enter the free draw for signed copies of Elaine Flinn's wonderful TAGGED FOR MURDER. Next up in the giveaway stakes later this week are copies of Carol Smith's twisty and turny HIDDEN AGENDA.
Oh, and if you'd like to keep in touch with RTE in between our weekly uploads, sign up at http://www.journalscape.com/rte/ to receive occasional notes, the weekly update list, and, in the future, random musings from both me and Barbara Franchi, our publisher.
Happy reading!
Sharon
Our mascot and masthead is Smokey the Cat. He's real and lives on a futon in my office in Boston. Click on his picture for his autobiography.
Recent Reviews:
RUMPOLE AND THE PENGE BUNGALOW MURDERS
by John Mortimer
TRACE
by Patricia Cornwell
TRIBECA BLUES
by Jim Fusilli
WINTER HOUSE
by Carol O'Connell
BET YOUR LIFE
by Richard Pitman with Joe McNally
ALMOST BLUE
by Carlo Lucarelli
TILL THE END OF TOM
by Gillian Roberts
JOSEPHINE AND HARRIET
by Betty Burton
LAST SEEN IN ABERDEEN
by M. G. Kincaid
DRAGON PRECINCT
by Keith R. A. DeCandido
THROUGH VIOLET EYES
by Stephen Wentworth
RED TIDE
by G. M. Ford
INSIDE TRACK
by John Francome
LAST RITES
by Joyce and Jim Lavene
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
by David Dun
THE RESORT
by Bentley Little
ALONE AT NIGHT
by K. J. Erickson
HEART OF THE HUNTER
by Deon Meyer
MISSING JUSTICE
by Alafair Burke
THE BAR WATCHER
by Dorien Grey
QUICK SEARCH:
COMPETITION #14 HIDDEN AGENDA BY CAROL SMITH.
“Devastated by the shocking news that an old school- friend, Suzy Palmer, faces execution in Louisiana for the murder of her children, London rabbi, Deborah Hirsch, enlists the aid of her former classmates in an attempt to get her off. She can't be anything but innocent; the Suzy they've known and loved all these years could never hurt a fly.
Aided by Miss Holbrook, Suzy's former art teacher, the friends unite to prove Suzy's innocence. Back and forth across thirty years they slowly piece together what happened. And even more shocking than Suzy's plight is the knowledge that one of their number has betrayed her.”
.
HIDDEN AGENDA by Carol Smith is a story of the friendship of a group of women over a period of years, and how they all band together to help when one is in trouble. This is the eighth thriller she has had published. Carol Smith livings in Kensington, West London.
In this drawing we are giving away 3 copies of HIDDEN AGENDA. They will be posted directly from the publisher in the UK. To win one, send an email to HREF="mailto:competition@reviewingtheevidence.com">competition@reviewingtheevidence.com. Please put the words COMPETITION #14 HIDDEN AGENDA as the subject and only your name and mailing address within the e-mail.
If you just can't wait for the contest to end and want to read the book immediately, click on the book cover.
. On or about December 16, I will place all your e-mails, which should contain nothing more than your name and mailing address, in Smokey's food bowl. The three names he rejects will be the winners at which time the winners will be notified and their e-mail and snail mail addresses will be sent to the publicist. The books will be sent directly from the publicist in the UK to the winner.
This competition is not open to RTE reviewers or their families.
The winners of competition #13 for an autographed cover copy TAGGED FOR MURDER by Elaine Flinn are: Trisha Newton, Durham, N.C, Jean Schramm,. Annapolis, MD, and Linda Edge, Auckland, New Zealand. . Thank you for entering, Your names and addresses have been sent to the Elaine Flinn and the books will be sent by her.. You should receive your copies within 2 weeks. Or longer if you live in New Zealand
If you haven't won one of the free copies of TAGGED FOR MURDER, then just click on the cover and buy
All names, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses of those who entered the previous competitions have been purged from my mailer. The same will be done for this drawing.
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