Book: Deadly Harvest

Genre: Mystery/Murder Mystery

Julia Rating: 7

Comments: This is the story of a female police detective moving to a small town where “nothing ever happens”, only to find murder, deceit and deadly intentions.  At first, it reminded me of Hot Fuzz, with a hot-shot British cop moving to a tiny little town and leaving her significant other behind.  The tone of the book changes when the first murder occurs and the hot-shot cop begins to take control.

I liked the book, found it entertaining, but there were too many coincidences that made what was happening too obvious.  There is a significant part of the book where the main character is watching tv and there is an ENORMOUS coincidence there that allows the reader to solve the case, yet have to slough through the last third of the book to find out if they are right (which of course they are).  I don’t know if I’ve read too many mysteries and therefore am jaded, but that’s what happened to me.

All in all I did enjoy the book, I love anything British, so this certainly qualified as some fun and interesting reading.  If you are a mystery buff and like to be able to easily work out what’s going on – read it.  If you are more of a Sherlock Holmes type and want the author to conceal everything until the detective tells you what’s actually going on with an “Elementary Watson”, don’t.

Author: Lawrence Block

Genre: Mystery

Julia Rating: 10

Comments: This is a Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery. It’s about a professional burglar who has given up a life of crime for a nice used book store. He is comissioned to burgle a particularly easy home and does so, but when he’s trying to hand over the goods, his contact is murdered and Bernie is framed for the murder! Now he must discover who killed the lady and why before the cops get on his tail.

I really loved this book and when I bought it, I swore I would buy more Lawrence Block because he’s funny and really pulls you into the story. I haven’t yet… but I will!

The Author: Agatha Christie

Julia Rating: 8 out of 10

My Comments:
I am a huge Agatha Christie fan, and I love that this one isn’t a Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot book – I like to shake things up every once in a while. This book was fantastic. I don’t really like the info on the back of the book, so I’ll do my own blurb:
In a strange set of coincidences the mysterious Anthony Cade is commissioned by his friend to return to Jolly Old England to deliver a package of letters and a scandalous manuscript. Once there, he runs into all sorts of trouble with the manuscript and finds out that everything is connected to the elusive King Victor – a master criminal that the English Scotland Yard and French Surete are trying to catch. Becoming a suspect himself, Anthony becomes embroiled in the police search for King Victor. His only way out is to prove his innocence by finding the real King Victor.
I really enjoyed the book. It was compelling, with many twists and turns. The only reason I give it an eight is that the chain of coincidences Agatha Christie depicts are too good to be true for any fiction writer. It makes the story rather unbelievable, which is a shame, because I’d really like to believe it.