Evil Eclairs (A Donut Shop Mystery #4)

Author:  Jessica Beck
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780312541071
Minotaur Books
304 Pages
Various Prices; $7.99 Amazon
April 26, 2011

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Donut shop owner Suzanne Hart admits her sweet treats don't exactly qualify as health food.  But does she really deserve to be labeled a "killer" by local radio jockey Lester Moorefield?  The annoying host is urging citizens to boycott Suzanne's "deadly dough" factory -- until he's found dead himself, stuffed with one of Suzanne's éclairs...

Everyone in April Springs knows about the feud between Lester and Suzanne, which makes her the number-one suspect.  She tries to use the donut defense -- donuts don't kill people, people kill people -- but that cream-filled éclair at the scene of the crime has the whole town filled with suspicion.  If Suzanne can't figure out who killed the radio star, she'll soon be filling a prison cell instead of a pastry...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Suzanne Hart owns Donut Hearts in small town April Springs, North Carolina.  She's not getting rich, but she's managing to make a decent living doing what she loves.  While listening to the radio one night while she's in bed, she hears radio jockey Lester Moorefield -- a thorn in her side -- tell everyone to stay away from her business because she's feeding everyone poison with her donuts.  Angry, she dresses and goes to the station to confront him.  They have words, and Suzanne leaves, determined to make him regret targeting her.

Later on the next morning, police chief Martin comes to the shop and asks her to come with him to the radio station, where he tells her that Lester is dead, and one of her éclairs was found stuffed in his mouth.  While he doesn't believe she committed the murder, he wants to know where she was at the time of the murder, and then if she knows anything.  Of course she doesn't, but when her business starts to suffer because of Lester's final broadcast, Suzanne can't just sit back and wait for the police.

With the help of her friends Grace and George, she's determined to investigate.  But then her boyfriend, state investigator Jake Bishop, is assigned to the case, and there's an accident that puts her in the forefront of knowing it shouldn't have happened, and Suzanne is bound and determined to get the murderer...that is, if the murderer doesn't get her first...

This is the fourth book in the series, and I must say that it's been improving along the way.  I do like Suzanne as a person; she doesn't rush headlong into accusing everyone she meets of murder; she asks questions and then eliminates that suspect, which is much nicer and more believable.

She loves her donut shop and the people around her, and it's apparent that they love her, too.  I do like the fact that she has a mother who's not hounding her about grandkids and is a good part of Suzanne's life.  I'm beginning to enjoy Dorothy's presence in these books; and I do like the fact that Suzanne's relationship with Jake is beginning to take shape and grow.

As far as the murder goes, it was done very nicely, with just enough suspects who may or may not have had solid alibis, and sifting through them with Suzanne was tons of fun.  While the murderer wasn't totally unexpected, my dislike of another character really wanted that person to be guilty.  Oh, well.  In the end, it came together seamlessly, and I spent a good evening with Suzanne and her friends, and look forward to seeing them again in the next book.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Eclairs-Donut-Mystery-Mysteries/dp/0312541074/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3397101964

More on Jessica Beck's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/jessica-beck/

Murder in a Scottish Shire (A Scottish Shire Mystery, Book 1)

Author:  Traci Hall

Genre:   Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9781496725998

Kensington Publishing

304 Pages

$10.89; $9.99 Amazon

June 30, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

For a twenty-eight year old single mum, Paislee has knit together a sensible life for herself, her ten-year-old son, Brody, and Wallace, their black Scottish terrier.  Having inherited a knack for knitting from her dear departed grandmother, Paislee also owns a specialty shop called Cashmere Crush, where devoted local crafters gather weekly for her Knit and Sip.

Lately, though, Paislee feels as if her life is unraveling.  She's been served an eviction notice, and her estranged and homeless grandfather has just been brought to her door by a disconcertingly handsome detective named Mack Zeffer.  As if that wasn't enough, Paislee discovers a young woman who she recently rehired to help in the shop dead in her flat, possibly from an overdose of her heart medicine.  But as details of the death and the woman's life begin to raise suspicions for Detective Inspector Zeffer, it's Paislee who must untangle a murderous yarn...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Paislee Shaw is a twenty-eight-year-old single mum with a ten-year-old son, Brody.  She owns her own business and lives in the home that was left to her by her grandmother.  Her life might not be completely wonderful, but she's doing the best she can.

That is, at least, unless the new detective inspector in town shows up with her estranged grandfather, Angus Shaw, in tow.  Telling her that he has nowhere else to go, she reluctantly takes him in.  Then she receives a letter from her landlord giving her thirty days to move since he's sold the building.  With her business on the line and a new presence in her life, Paislee thinks things can't get worse.  Until she goes to see an ex-employee she's decided to hire back, and finds the young woman dead on the floor of her flat.  Now Paislee's sure that Isla was murdered, and is determined to find the killer...even if it puts her in danger of being the next victim...

This is the first book in a new series, and it takes place in Scotland.  It took a bit to get used to the speech, but after that I fell right into it, and found myself speaking in a Scottish accent in my head (others probably will, too).  While the author definitely got the workings of a small town right, I would have loved to have descriptions of the surrounding areas, but perhaps in the next book.

So let's get the things that bothered me out of the way, and then on to the good of the book.  After Paislee discovers the type of person that Isla was, she has a conversation with DI Zeffer and tells him that Isla was her protege and that she "discovered her."  Paislee is not a world-class knitter known for her sweaters and making exorbitant amounts of money from them, so how was Isla her protege when the girl couldn't even knit?  And how did she 'discover' her?  All Isla really learned to do was blackmail people, and Paislee wasn't a blackmailer.  So perhaps a bad choice of statement on her part.  Ah, well...

Then, Paislee goes from one suspect to the next accusing them (to her friend Lydia) of being the murderer, until it's ruled out that they can't be.  I would like to see in the next book that she puts more thought into this and doesn't go around accusing everyone in sight.  (Although since she's new to sleuthing, it all makes sense, so I would never think of dinging the author for this).

Aside from this, I did think that this is a very good start to a new series.  I do like Angus the best, since he speaks his mind, even if there are subjects that are taboo between himself and Paislee.  He's lived a long life, and he's set in his ways, but it does seem that there's affection from him toward her, and that goes a long way.  Brody is an intelligent kid, who acts like any ten-year-old (being the mother of boys, I can attest to this); and his interactions with Paislee are spot-on.  I also like the possible love interest, and the fact it wasn't just thrown into the series immediately.  Paislee seems to be the type of person who lives her life carefully, and it wouldn't have made sense. 

I like the fact that we get to see Paislee, who might not be the most animated of people; but for the life she lives - which is to earn an honest living and raise her son the best she can.  Then her life is disrupted both at home and at work,and she's trying to cope with it.  While I felt there were a few questions I would have liked answered, I am hopeful that this will be so in the next installment.

The mystery was solid, with few clues leading to the murderer until the end, when we figure it out just before Paislee does.  I do like the fact that she didn't knowingly put herself in the arms of a killer, and was just as well able to figure out how to keep herself alive without help. At the end, everything about the murder was tied up nicely with the reasons why, and that is what you look forward to in a decent mystery.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Scottish-Shire-Paislee-Mysteries/dp/1496725999/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3395382937

More on Traci Hall's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/traci-hall/

Clairvoyant and Present Danger (A Bay Island Psychic Mystery #3)

Author:  Lena Gregory

Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book

ISBN #:  9780425282779

Berkley Publishing

293 Pages

$7.99; $7.99 Amazon

February 6, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cass has always relied on her abilities to guide her, but after communications with a ghost land her in the middle of a murder investigation, she has to wonder if her gift is really more of a curse.

Cass knows she is meant to help track down the killer -- much to the chagrin of local law enforcement -- when the apparition leads her to a dead body on the beach near her psychic shop, Mystical Musings.  But the police are not the only ones who wish Cass would stick to reading palms.  Someone is trying to scare her off, and it will take all her powers of premonition to catch the killer before Cass herself becomes the next victim...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Cass Donovan left her psychiatry practice in Manhattan after one of her patients committed suicide, and she found her husband cheating with her best friend -- a double whammy.  She's since used her powerful intuition and the fact that she notices small details to open a psychic shop, where she sells items to help people, and also gives group and private readings to people.

But Cass is also discovering that her psychic power is growing -- she's been able to see ghosts - or a form thereof - starting recently, and now she's beginning to have nightmares of a young woman who's asking for her help.  When an angry man shows up wanting her help, she does her best, but she's knows there's more to his story.

While walking on the beach with her dog Beast, he brings her a bone that appears to be human.  After finding the rest of the skeleton, she calls her police detective friend Tank, and he tells her to forget it and go home.  But then the news crews and lookie-loos start arriving; and a second body is found buried in the sand.  Things are escalating, and while Cass is really trying to stay out of it, she sees a portrait of a young woman in the window of a new art shop, and knows it's the woman from her dreams.  But when she returns to the shop, the owner says the portrait isn't for sale and has removed it.  Bringing her best friends Bee and Stephanie into the equation should bring her calm, but it doesn't.  After her shop is is searched and she's injured, Cass is determined to find out what's going on...if she doesn't get killed first...

This is the third book in the series and I have to say that they keep getting better.  While I wasn't impressed with the first, I definitely like the direction the stories are going.  Cass is learning that she really does have a bit of psychic abilities, and ghosts are appearing to her; but she's not sure what she's supposed to do with that information yet.  She's finding her way, much as the ghosts are finding theirs.  I love the fact that these are not poltergeists, but spirits that need help or are there to help her. 

She also has the eternal friendship of Bee, whom, while he doesn't believe in ghosts and doesn't want to hear anything about them (but I think he's just a tad afraid of them) still stands by her side no matter what's happening.  He's a true friend, and I think that he's one of my favorite characters in the books.  Stephanie, for her part, is a bit sad in this book and won't open up to Cass, although she really should have done so; yet it all becomes understandable.

The plot is nicely done, with the police trying to figure out who the two - one skeleton and one body - on the beach belong to, and Cass is becoming more positive she knows who at least one of the people that were found is a young woman who went missing not too long ago.  But being asked not to say anything to anyone is harder than she imagines, and Cass is wondering what is going on, but trying to get on with her life, as much as she can.  Interwoven into the story is Cass doing what she does best -- helping people who are in need of it.  These small side journeys show us the type of person she is, and one can't help wonder how her ex-husband could have been such a dolt in doing what he did (sorry; I had to throw that in).

When the story starts to come to a close, we figure it out close to the time that Cass does herself; even though the clues are there, they are hidden well enough that we don't really put it together until then, and I enjoyed that very much.  At the end, it all comes together nicely, with hints of what is to come in the next story in this series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Clairvoyant-Present-Danger-Psychic-Mystery/dp/0425282775/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3393305347

More on Lena Gregory's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/lena-gregory/

Final Fondue (A Five-Ingredient Mystery #3)

Author:  Maya Corrigan
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book (LP Also Available)
ISBN #:  9781617731426
Kensington Publishing
300 Pages
$7.99; $6.99 Amazon
August 17, 2016

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Val Deniston certainly has her plate full running a café, dabbling with recipes, and helping her grandfather prepare for the town's upcoming tri-centennial celebration, but she's grown fond of her new life in the Chesapeake Bay town of Bayport...

So when Val is asked to reclaim her old position as a cookbook publicist in New York City, she puts off her decision in order to help her grandfather perfect his chocolate fondue for the weekend festivity's dessert cook-off.  But after the opening ceremonies, Val finds a houseguest strangled to death in her grandfather's backyard.  She suspects a classic case of mistaken identity, especially when another guest nearly bids her life a fondue farewell.  Now it's up to Val to keep the killer from making another stab at murder...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Val Deniston lost her job in New York as a cookbook publicist, and also her fiancé when she caught him cheating.  Now she's created a new life for herself in Bayport, living with her grandfather in his old Victorian and running the café at the local tennis and racket club.  She also has a new boyfriend in Gunnar Swenson, and everything seems to be going her way.

She's also helping her grandfather create recipes as The Codger Cook -- writing for the local newspaper, but if truth were told, it's her recipes and he's "borrowed" them so everyone thinks he can cook and he'll get local recognition.  After Val has helped solve a couple of local murders, her grandfather also wants to become a PI and is taking online courses to do so.  But now he's planning on a recipe of his own - a chocolate fondue - that he wants no help with and intends to enter in the local cook-off for the town's tricentennial celebration.

Val has also convinced him as a way to make money would be to take in temporary boarders during the festival.  Her grandfather, unfortunately, has also rented out Val's room and insists she stay with her cousin Monique.  As if that weren't bad enough, Val's mother calls and says she's coming for a visit, and Val's ex, Tony, shows up unexpected and unannounced, causing problems between her and Gunnar.

But Val's determined to make it work.  With cooking breakfasts for the four people in a wedding party that are staying with them, driving to her cousin's, working at the festival and the café, trying to avoid Tony and see her mother and Gunnar, you'd think that would be enough.  But it isn't:  on the first night at the Victorian, one of the wedding party is murdered.  Now Val's drawn into another investigation -- and since the bride-to-be is obviously being threatened, she needs to decide who's trying to kill the people in the wedding party, and why...

This is the third book in the series, and it's starting to grow on me.  While I enjoy the writing style and I do like Val, since she has what I call grit in sticking to her obligations, she allows people to walk all over her, and that gets to me.  I still haven't been able to warm up to her grandfather.  Yes, he has moments of care for her and it shows, but I still think he's taking advantage of her in more ways than one.  It's almost as if he expects her to do what he wants, but I see him give nothing in return.  It's difficult to care for someone who's so selfish as a person.  One moment of kindness does not make up for hours of grief.

I also haven't been able to warm up to Gunnar.  He supposedly is her boyfriend, but he never makes any time for her.  He makes excuses why he can't spend time with her; what kind of relationship is that?  I'd rather see her with someone who appreciates her; but if she allows her grandfather to walk all over her, then I guess she'll let Gunnar walk all over her, too.  Even her mother nags her, and she listens to it.  Val also mentions as how Bethany is just a kid at twenty-five; Val is thirty-two.  She's seven years older but apparently thinks that's much older than Bethany.  Hmmm...

Anyway, the mystery is done nicely, and while the clues are there, it was a little difficult to figure out who the murderer was and why; but when I did, I enjoyed watching Val put all the pieces together as she always does; even though in this book she was never in danger, it was still a lot of fun to see everyone's reactions as she went through the clues one by one until the killer was figured out.

When the ending comes and everything is said and done, it was for the most part an easy read that can be done in one evening, and worth the venture into Val's world.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Final-Fondue-Five-Ingredient-Mystery-Corrigan/dp/1410490963/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3391654513

More on Maya Corrigan's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/maya-corrigan/

Killing Time (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery Book 6)

Author:  Suzanne Trauth
Genre:   Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781516107261
Lyrical Underground
218 Pages
$15.95; $7.49 Amazon
June 2, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

With Halloween just around the corner, Dodie O'Dell is making preparations to transform the Windjammer Restaurant on the Jersey Shore into a haunted house, while the Etonville Little Theatre is staging Dracula.  But casting the titular Transylvanian is proving challenging.  The amateur actors in the company are not shy about chewing the scenery, but who among them can convincingly sink their fangs into a victim's neck?  When a mysterious newcomer with a transfixing Eastern European accent lands the part, rumors that he might be an actual vampire start to take flight -- not unlike the bat who's recently been spotted in the town park.

But everyone's blood really runs cold when a stranger is found in the cemetery with a real stake in his heart.  Dodie decides to put her Halloween theme menu on the back burner and stick her neck out to bring the killer into the light of day.  She'd better keep her wits about her, though -- or Dodie may be the next one to go down for the Count...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Dodie O'Dell is manager of the Windjammer Restaurant in Etonville, New Jersey.  Their restaurant is near by the Etonville Little Theatre, and each time the ELT puts on a play, the Windjammer coordinates their menus to fit.  Right now they're planning on running Dracula, and Dodie is looking forward to it, visiting the theatre and her friends.  She's as surprised as everyone that the man chosen to play the famous count is from out of town and living with his wife in what the locals consider a haunted house.  When Dodie meets Carlos Villiarios, she's not sure what to make of him.  He's mysterious, tall, dark, and fits the role perfectly.

She's also looking forward to Halloween, when she can wear her specially chosen costume for her fiancé, Bill, who also happens to be police chief in their little town.  The costume's a hit, and Dodie can start planning her wedding, but something inside her is keeping her from making the plans with her wedding planner, her best friend Lola.

But the theatre has problems of its own, with accidents and lights failing, and her friend Lola is worried that the show won't go on.  But it does; and things seem to settle down.  Then there's a costume party at Carlos's home, with his wife Bella reading fortunes to keep the fun going, and during the party Dodie notices a man dressed as the Grim Reaper standing in a corner.  He meets eyes with Carlos, and then seems to disappear from sight.

When a body is found in the cemetery later that night, it turns out to be the man in the Grim Reaper costume.  Now Dodie has questions about what's going on.  She knows that Carlos knew the man even if he denies it; she saw him but it seems no one else did; and why doesn't anyone know anything about Carlos's past?  Dodie has a mystery on her hands, and even when Bill tells her to leave it alone, she can't.  But will looking into the mystery put her in danger?...

I know it's not even near Halloween, but I do so like Ms. Trauth's books that I wanted to read this latest one, and I wasn't disappointed.  I began this book in the dentist's office (I was there for a cleaning, but my husband was getting a crown, so...) and it was so enjoyable that I hated to put it down until I got home.  Oh, well...

I love the characters in this town.  They're like a family to each other, watching each other's backs and even the Banger sisters are a hoot, hearing a snippet of something and running with it like they're running with the bulls in Pamplona.  These are people you'd like to spend time with, given the chance.

Dodie is an intelligent woman who likes the puzzle of a mystery, and even though she's the manager of a restaurant, she'd rather be taking those pieces and putting them together.  The problem she has is trying to keep everything she's doing from Bill; but she doesn't hide information that she gleans.  She gives every bit of it to him when she discovers it, which shows they're more or less a team, and I like that.

As to the mystery, it was done nicely; and even though I figured out what was going on a lot earlier than Dodie (I read a lot of mysteries) I relished watching her take each little thread she found and weave it slowly together, along with the others, to give her a tapestry of what she was looking for.

And what she discovered wasn't what she expected to find -- nor me.  There was an intriguing twist toward the end that even I didn't expect, and I found it fascinating.  When everything came together and the murderer was discovered, it was definitely a surprise; and then there was even one more surprise that was given to the reader that leaves us looking forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Time-Dodie-ODell-Mystery/dp/1516107268/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3389907316

More on Suzanne Trauth's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/suzanne-trauth/

The Azalea Assault (A Garden Society Mystery #1)

Author:  Alyse Carlson
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425251300
Berkley Prime Crime
304 Pages
$1.99; $2.99 Amazon
June 5, 2012

⭐

Camellia Harris has achieved a coup in the PR world.  The premier national magazine for garden lovers has agreed to feature one of Roanoke's most spectacular gardens in its pages -- and world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges is going to shoot the spread.  But at the welcoming party, Jean-Jacques insults several guests, complains that flowers are boring, and gooses almost every woman in the room.  When a body is found the next morning, sprawled across the azaleas, it's almost no surprise that the victim is Jean-Jacques.

With Cam's brother-in-law blamed for the crime - and her reporter boyfriend, Rob, wanting the scoop - Cam decides to use her skills to solve the murder.  Luckily a PR pro like Cam knows how to be nosy...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Camellia Harris is great at PR for her company, and she's achieved a major coup in being able to photograph Neil Harris's garden done by a famous photographer, Jean-Jacques Georges.  But during a party the night before a photo shoot, she overhears a conversation between him and a friend, and she discovers that he's about as French as she is. 

She's also disgusted by his rude behavior, when she sees him goosing her sister Petunia and several other women.  But before she can make her feelings known to anyone, the next morning she arrives at the home of Mr. Harris and sees that there's a dead man in the main garden -- and he's dead.  Finding out it's Jean-Jacques, and that her brother-in-law Nick is the main suspect, Cam is determined to find the killer before he's convicted for a crime he didn't commit.  Now if she can just keep her wits about her and out of the eye of the killer she just might find the truth and make it out alive...

This is the first in the series, and unfortunately, it was one of those that was thrown over by Berkley Publishing when they decided to cut their cozy mystery line.  Since I haven't seen more than the three that were written, I still decided to read the book to see if the rest were worth my time.

The book started out slow for me.  For some reason, it just couldn't grab my attention and it took longer to "get going," as it were.  Perhaps it was the fact that Cam seems to have no personality; I think Annie would have been a better choice as the protagonist of the book, but oh well.

First off, who forgets to eat for ten hours?  You'd get woozy, and maybe even nauseous.  The body is a giant computer that tells you things important.  Sorry, but I'm not buying into this one.  She's 5'8" and only 117 and gets offended when her boyfriend Rob tells her she's skinny.  Eat a sandwich.  I'm 5'8" and if I weighed that little my husband would think I was anorexic.

The plot was decent enough, with the man being killed in the garden, and when Cam started investigating, she found a plethora of suspects, who all might have had a reason to want him dead.  So when she starts digging, she discovers that many of them had secrets - including her brother-in-law and her best friend, Annie.  Secrets that could have led to either one of them being the murderer. 

I did think it was rather small of Jake to keep mentioning Annie's "record."  She smashed a car window because she found out the guy she was dating wasn't who she thought he was.  She didn't rob a bank or get arrested for drugs or an illegal gun.  Geez.  What a tool.  Jake even thought Annie was guilty of murder because of this.  Seriously?  It also irritated me that the characters needed to get drunk every time they got upset.  Drinking doesn't solve problems and it only brings more - like hangovers, liver issues, etc.  But these characters found a reason to drink every chance they got.  Sheesh. 

Aside from this there were plenty of red herrings, and plenty of distractions.  Every time you got led down one rabbit hole, another appeared.  While you're thinking it's one person, another appears.  So you never quite get the answers to the questions, because once you do, more questions pop up.  The only person you know didn't commit the crimes is Cam's father, Nelson.  It was all completely confusing, all through the entirety of the book.  A lot of chaos with everyone running around and then comparing notes about who was doing what.

I got the feeling that the author couldn't decide who to make the murderer, so made nearly everyone a suspect while she continued to write the story and figure out who she didn't like most.  The characters weren't developed at all, they just kept investigating - clumsily - and drinking to think things through.  Because everyone knows that booze helps you think clearer.  Honestly?  And Annie didn't have anyone to help her at her bakery, so depended on Cam and Rob when she needed to make a few dozen brownies.  (And, of course, they needed to drink so they could bake).  Okay, then...not to mention Cam's sister Petunia needed Cam's help when she was catering for her restaurant.  Do these people know what the word 'employees' mean?  When Annie was in jail, did her bakery fold up while she was gone?  Wouldn't that be bad for business?  How were either women making any money?

In the end, when everything is revealed, and the police have the right murderer - you think - Cam comes up with other questions and then there's more questions and the end of the book gives you the right answers.  I think.  It sort of just leaves you hanging, with the murderer about to be caught but never gives you complete closure and finishes up, so how did they get everything closed with the murderer caught and how?  So will I read the other two in this series?  That's a big NO.  Sorry.  I like my mysteries tied up nicely with a feeling of satisfaction, not wondering 'what happened here?'

https://www.amazon.com/Azalea-Assault-Garden-Society-Mystery/dp/0425251306/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3388418594

More on Alyse Carlson:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/alyse-carlson/

Celeste Holm Syndrome: On Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age

Author:  David Lazar
Genre:  Film/History

Paperback
ISBN #:  9781496200457
University of Nebraska Press
186 Pages
$19.95 Amazon
October 1, 2020

⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this essay collection David Lazar looks to our intimate relationships with characters, both well-known and lesser-known, from Hollywood's Golden Age.  Veering through considerations of melancholy and wit, sexuality and gender, and the surrealism of comedies of the self in an uncanny world, mixed with his own autobiographical reflections of cinephilia, Lazar creates an alluring hybrid of essay forms as he moves through the movies in his mind.  Character actors from the classical era of the 1930s through the 1950s including Thelma Ritter, Oscar Levant, Martin Balsam, Nina Foch, Elizabeth Wilson, Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton, and the eponymous Celeste Holm all make appearances in these considerations of how essential character actors were, and remain, to cinema.'''

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In this book, the author has taken a trip back to the Golden Age of Hollywood to revisit some of its secondary players; those deemed "character actors," the ones who never received top billing, but in their own way made the films they were in memorable, by their very performances within those films.  I have long been an enormous fan of classic film, and own thousands of them in every genre.  So when I saw this book I naturally had to read it so that I could return to those actors I love so much.  I must also tell you that I haven't been to the cinema in years, since the actors and films of today do not interest me at all.  I will live in my world of Golden Age actors and be very happy there, thank you very much.

It is obvious that the author is a fan of director Preston Sturges (as am I), and he uses his films as a sounding board for many of the actors here.  Possibly because Sturges insisted on using the same actors in his films, to the dismay of the studio heads.  But when he found something - or someone - that worked, he was pleased with it.  And for Sturges himself, he was a rather strange man, so this was to be expected.  Therefore, for anyone venturing into the new world of character actors, Sturges is a safe bet to start your journey.

The book is filled with character actors that everyone should see in a film at least once - but more, if they have the opportunity.  Of these, I do love Jack Carson and have often wondered why no one has taken the time to write a biography of this intriguing actor, who brings life to every role he takes.  Who can forget his turn as the befuddled police officer in Arsenic and Old Lace when he walks into a room where Raymond Massey has tied Cary Grant to a chair and gagged him, with the intent to torture and kill him?  Jack Carson, who knows Cary Grant is a play critic, sees it as an opportunity to offer up a synopsis on his own play - ignoring Cary's humorous pleas for help?  Then, to top it off, the wonderful James Gleason arrives - for the one scene only - as his superior, and starts putting everything together.  It's worth the entire film to watch this scene alone.

But Mr. Lazar interweaves stories of his own childhood and his parents along with stories of these actors, giving us his reason for liking them so much and enjoying their films.  I do disagree with him that one can only take so much S. Z. Sakall (not in those words, of course); watching him in full force in Christmas in Connecticut is a pure delight.  Unfortunately, his own biography is out of print and difficult to locate (how I would love a copy).

As for the other actors, I agree that Celeste Holm has been largely overlooked as an actress.  She brings life to all her roles, not only the ones mentioned, but also the ones unseen - she was the voice of Addie Ross in A Letter to Three Wives.  In my opinion, they couldn't have chosen a better actress to voice that role.

He also gives mini-biographies of the actors he talks about, which gives us a bit of their upbringing and what they brought to the roles they played.  The wonderful Oscar Levant, who always seems as if he's bored in the persona he has on screen but is still fascinating to watch; William Demarest, the type of person you'd be wary of if you had to interact with him; Eric Blore and Franklin Pangborn, two underrated comedic actors; and many others; among them Eve Arden and Eleanor Parker.

This is also an homage to his parents, especially his mother, whom he lost at a young age (as I did my own mother, leaving me to figure out my life without her; luckily, I had the love of a marvelous father, with whom I spent many years speaking to and/or visiting with daily, and missing daily now that he's gone from me).  The stories he tells are sometimes painful, sometimes poignant; but gives us an insight also into the person Mr. Lazar has become.

In the end, his essays are an interesting insight into his thoughts on these actors, and while I might not reference the book often, it's worth reading just for this alone.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Celeste-Holm-Syndrome-Character-Hollywoods/dp/1496200454/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3384831534

More on David Lazar's Books:  https://www.amazon.com/David-Lazar/e/B001JRX4JW/ref