--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBI00004 Date: 07/13/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 07:41pm \/To: DELORES E ROWE (Read 3 times) Subj: Daughters Of Cain -=> While in the White Hart, Delores E Rowe insisted to Fred Runk that <=- DER> Hi, Fred....Toasty down there in Tucson? They are saying it might DER> get to 105 here this weekend!!! YUK!! The only saving grace here, it DER> will get down into the 60's when the sun goes down! That sounds great--on cool nights, it drops to the mid 70s, otherwise it's around 80 or more. Some nights, it's 90 at 10 or 11 PM around here. Too much concrete and tar to cool off in town. FR>Finished reading DAUGHTERS OF CAIN, the latest "Morse" mystery by FR>Colin Dexter. DER> Thank heavens! Definately couldn't handle a reformed, smarmy DER> Morse! You mean as he is beginning to become in the TV scripts? I really don't like the new writer's characterization of him--the first one had a better feel for Dexter's treatment. DER> Bet he retires and Morse gets a woman boss! Now THAT will be interesting!! Maybe they will hire Muir? from PRIME SUSPECT? DER> hehehe! Poor, long-suffering Lewis. I often wonder if Lewis puts in DER> expense chits for all the brews and pub lunches he has to cough up for DER> Morse? I think Morse got really scared this time--he did buy a round once--but only once. FR>Overall, I would rate it a good Morse mystery, not quite as strong as the FR>last one, THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS, but definitely readable. DER> DER> Great! Another one to add to the list! I would definitely give it try. ... Theatre is Life - Film is Art - Television is Furniture ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBI00005 Date: 07/13/96 From: HELEN FLEISCHER Time: 10:18pm \/To: DEBBIE SHANKER (Read 3 times) Subj: Summer reading DS> Summer time is the best reading time. Even the few shows I watch DS> are into reruns so the TV never gets turned on. Almost the same story here, though Eric time-shifts David Letterman and we catch up on things we missed on Cable, like the show about forensic science on TLC that even had a forensic entymologist. Nothing like establishing the time of death by the size and type of maggots, eh? Not that I see that very often in mysteries. Wonder why? ;) DS> > Current bedtime read is _Slow Dancing With the Angel_ of Death by DS> > Helen Chappell. It has what must be the worst first chapter DS> That would have stopped me cold. Very rarely will I continue with a DS> book that gets off to a crumby start. As the old saying goes..so DS> many books, so little time. My sister loaned it to me with a recommendation, or I never would have waded through all that purple prose. Sure was a relief when it finally settled down to telling the story. It really had me wondering about her taste in writing for a while, I tell you. Now I'm reading Shattered Moon by Kate Green. It's another loaner, this time from my friend the mystery-loving knitshop owner. I'm really zipping through this one. DS> I just finished Julie Smith's New Orleans Mourning. Her Skip Sounds like one worth trying. Well, enjoy Killing Critics! DS> Steve just walked by and said to be sure to tell you that he DS> expects to see you on Sat. As it is Saturday now, and I am home, dosed up on Motrin, his expectations are not to be fulfilled. Sorry. Hope Bertha doesn't soak you too much! Who invited her, anyway? ... Never let a knitting machine know you're in a hurry. * Q-Blue 1.0 * Helen Fleischer is helen@mbbs.com in Fairland, MD --- GEcho/2-PCB/2 * Origin: * MetroNet * Columbia, MD * (410) 720-5506 * (1:261/1137) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBJ00000 Date: 07/13/96 From: DELORES E ROWE Time: 04:02pm \/To: MAUREEN GOLDMAN (Read 3 times) Subj: Criteria for a Mystery Maureen Goldman had der puzzled... MG> DE> I think that the key element to a good mystery is suspense. MG> DE> [...] MG> MG> What sort of suspense? I mean, the person has already been MG> MG> killed. The detective does this sort of thing for a living. MG> MG> Offhand, I don't see much to hold one's breath about. This MG> MG> sounds more like the definition of a thriller. MG> DE> Did you ever watch the Columbo series on TV with Peter Falk? Each MG> DE> episode opened with the murder being committed, sometimes you even knew MG> DE> who the killer was. Yet the beauty of the series was in see how Columb MG> DE> worked with a few clues and managed to overcome tremendous odds, and ye MG> DE> use cunning and logic to get his man. MG> I had no interest whatever in that show because of the way it MG> was set out, although of course I liked the Columbo character MG> and watched occasionally. I didn't want to know whodunnit - MG> that's for me to try to figure out. MG> DE> The same was true with the Perry Mason stories. You knew the defendant MG> DE> was innocent. The suspense was in watching how Mason was able to fit MG> DE> together the pieces of the puzzle, eventually revealing the real killer MG> The Perry Mason mysteries were genuine whodunnits. MG> DE> Neither of them could possibly be considered "thrillers", and yet oth MG> DE> managed to draw huge audiences, because of the suspense. MG> I wouldn't call that suspense. They both qualified as puzzles. MG> With Columbo, it's a matter of figuring out where the murderer MG> messed up. With Mason, a straightforward whodunnit, sometimes MG> with aspects of proving the client innocent as well as finding MG> the perp. Well, you certainly have me stumped, Maureen. How, exactly, do you define suspense? * SLMR 2.1a * * So many .QWK packets; so little time --- TriToss (tm) Professional 10.0 - #189 * Origin: TMK BBS - 509.886.7607 - mystique@nwinternet.com (1:344/115.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBJ00001 Date: 07/10/96 From: RUSS JERNIGAN Time: 04:31pm \/To: PATRICIA FERRARA (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Kat Colorado Hi, Patsy! PF> DS> I started the Kat Colorado books in the middle of the series and it PF> DS> didn't make much of a difference. In fact just recently I found one f PF> DS> the earlier ones in the series, didn't like it and I don't think I PF> DS> even finished it. Honky Tonk was excellent though. I loved the idea f PF> DS> her interacting with someone from her childhood. This one was one of PF> DS> the best. PF> The earlier one you recently found wasn't the first one, was it? PF> At a Friends of The Library sale last month, I bought KATWALK. PF> According to the book jacket, it's Karen Kijewski's first PF> published book. I haven't started it yet. I'm just beginning PF> a Carolyn Hart mystery. Speaking personally, I've enjoyed all of the Kat Colorado stories - some more than others but all were worth while. Go for it. RussJ * SLMR 2.1a * Crap Shoot: when you use cow patties for skeet -bj --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.11 * Origin: Rams' Island BBS (1:104/333.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBJ00002 Date: 07/14/96 From: MAUREEN GOLDMAN Time: 10:46am \/To: DELORES E ROWE (Read 3 times) Subj: Criteria for a Mystery On (13 Jul 96) Delores E Rowe wrote to Maureen Goldman... DE> I think that the key element to a good mystery is suspense. DE> [...] MG> I had no interest whatever in [Columbo] because of the way it MG> was set out, although of course I liked the Columbo character MG> and watched occasionally. I didn't want to know whodunnit - MG> that's for me to try to figure out. DE> The same was true with the Perry Mason stories. You knew the DE> defendant was innocent. The suspense was in watching how DE> Mason was able to fit together the pieces of the puzzle, DE> eventually revealing the real killer MG> I wouldn't call that suspense. They both qualified as puzzles. MG> With Columbo, it's a matter of figuring out where the murderer MG> messed up. With Mason, a straightforward whodunnit, sometimes MG> with aspects of proving the client innocent as well as finding MG> the perp. DE> Well, you certainly have me stumped, Maureen. How, exactly, do you DE> define suspense? Let me think .. okay. Something important must be at stake for a character about whom we care, with a successful outcome in doubt. The "important something" can either be defined by the character (woman wants unworthy man), or it can be outside his/her knowledge (a drunk is about to get into his car, nearby). With too many Columbos, both murderer and victim are unlikeable. My recollection of most Mason defendants is that most seemed trotted out to act as pieces in a game. These are puzzles. ... "You, you, and you - PANIC! The rest of you come with me." --- PPoint 1.88 * Origin: Point of No Deposit, No Return (1:153/404.11) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBK00000 Date: 07/14/96 From: PATRICIA FERRARA Time: 06:58pm \/To: SAM WARING (Read 3 times) Subj: Wish List -=> Quoting Sam Waring to Jan Murphy <=- SW> list rather'n my "GOTTA have it" list. Lots of stuff has been bumped SW> down to my "someday" list for a while, since money's rather tight at SW> the moment. I know that feeling only too well! For almost a year now, I've had to depend on the library for reading material. This means that I haven't been able to keep up with some of my favorite authors' new releases. But on the plus side, I've made some discoveries that I might not have made if I hadn't been in this situation. Silver lining. SW> ObOnTopic: I read THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE last week, and liked SW> it a lot better then THE CAT WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE. It seemed to me to SW> be a more "cozy" cozy than she's managed in her past two or three SW> outings. I'll have to look for TCW SAID CHEESE... or is that a new release? I like the TCW series. SW> I've also been digging some of my Rex Stout titles back out I'm thinking of hitting some of the other library branches because I've exhausted the closest branch's stock of both Stout and Goldsborough. Patsy ... A taste of honey's worse than none at all. --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 * Origin: Orion's Sword | Bush, LA | (504) 867-9701 | V.* (1:3828/1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBK00001 Date: 07/14/96 From: PATRICIA FERRARA Time: 07:05pm \/To: DOROTHY REYNOLDS (Read 3 times) Subj: Private Library -=> Quoting DOROTHY REYNOLDS to PATRICIA FERRARA <=- DR> It is exciting to find your favorite authors. I attend a lot DR> of the Friends of the Library sales. Mostly looking for books DR> for our private library. I'm the librarian in our building and DR> know what people are looking for. Also for my own personal DR> reading pleasure. Amazing the treasures one finds. Well, I'm searching mostly for myself, but since I got my sister hooked on a couple of my favorites, and am always on the lookout for potential "victims" I guess you could say I'm supplying a private library, too. :) DR> I just finished my first Lawrence Block book, titled "The Burglar DR> Who Studied Spinoza. A fast and very good read. He is so funny. DR> Have you ever read him? No, I've never tried his books. I'll have to add him to my list. I love humorous mysteries, which is why I was addicted to Joan Hess' books after the first one. DR> Am starting my very first (but certainly not the last), James Lee DR> Burke. Black Cherry Blues. He is so highly recommended by DR> everyone in this Conference. What little I've read so far is DR> wonderful. And my list grows bigger! Thanks for the recommendation. As you surely know, it helps to have a long list of recommendations when your resources are limited. I can only find about 50% of what I've put on my list, since I'm presently dependent on the library (or the FoL sales). DR> Amen to that statement. Lots of redheads in my family on both DR> sides. I'm the only one in my family. My brother and sister both have dark hair and like to tease me by saying I am the milkman's child. My mother's hair was brown, though I once heard that it was red when she was younger. I've also been told that my maternal grandmother's hair was red, though it was silver all the years that I knew her. I used to wish for green eyes, but mine are brown. DR> sister and I both have hazel eyes. But sometimes they do look DR> green. Close enough. Yep, close enough. I had a high school teacher who told us that it didn't matter what color your eyes were, as long as you knew how to use them... mirrors to the soul... that kind of thing. DR> As for growing up, well . . . who wants to? :}. Some of us older DR> folks say they're reaching their "second" childhood. I never got DR> over the "first" one. Good for you, Dorothy! Give 'em hell! :) Patsy ... The older you are the more like yourself you become. --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 * Origin: Orion's Sword | Bush, LA | (504) 867-9701 | V.* (1:3828/1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBK00002 Date: 07/15/96 From: FRED RUNK Time: 03:14pm \/To: DELORES E ROWE (Read 3 times) Subj: Daughters Of Cain -=> While in the White Hart, Delores E Rowe insisted to Fred Runk that <=- DER> I used to live in Phoenix, remember?????? Ah, I forgot. Yes, telling you about heat doesn't make much sense, does it? DER> Come to think of it, he has mellowed a bit in the series. I think he is really becoming a bland, innocuous Morse, definitely less interesting than either the book Morse or the early TV Morse. Too bad Dexter isn't doing the scripting. DER> Bet he retires and Morse gets a woman boss! FR> Now THAT will be interesting!! Maybe they will hire Muir? from PRIME FR> SUSPECT? DER> DER> Now that WOULD be interesting! I'll bet Morse gets interested in her. She also seems to have a problem finding and holding on to a companion. Of course, that might be dangerous for her, as the women Morse gets interested in frequently turn out to be either the villainess or a victim. DER> Oh, I will! I will! Right now I am reading a Len Deighton...Faith. I am going to start Ellis Peter's BROTHER CADFAEL'S PENANCE, the Twentieth Chronicle, and, I believe, the latest one out. ... Are YOU the Solipsist who started all this? ___ X Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 X --- Maximus 2.02 * Origin: Fred's Place (1:300/6.2) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBL00000 Date: 07/16/96 From: DEBBIE SHANKER Time: 08:44am \/To: FRED RUNK (Read 3 times) Subj: Brett' > s=> While in the White Hart, Debbie Shanker insisted to Phil Pocock that <=- > DS> The A&E TV series of Sherlock Holmes, staring Jeremy > DS> Brett. I had always visualized Basil Rathbone as Sherlock, > DS> but Brett has become THE Holmes as far as I'm concerned. > Yep, my reaction also. I had trouble accepting Brett at first > because his > presentation was so different from Rathbone--who also was my > picture of > Holmes--but now I've come to see Brett instead of Rathbone. > I've also reread a number of the Holmes' tales and have come to > the > conclusion that Brett's is closer to Doyle's description. I did find the switching of actors who played Watson a bit confusing at first. Then one night I caught the credits and realized they changed the actors midstream. <<< Debbie >>> --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE: Roch, NY (1:2613/321.1) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 244 MYSTERY Ref: DBL00001 Date: 07/16/96 From: DEBBIE SHANKER Time: 08:53am \/To: PATRICIA FERRARA (Read 3 times) Subj: Carolyn Hart > -=> Quoting Debbie Shanker to Patricia Ferrara <=- > DS> Which Carolyn Hart are you reading? Dead Man's Island was great. > DS> It's the first of the Henry O' series. They did a made-for-TV movie > DS> of it but as usual, the book was much better. > This one is called "A Settling Of Accounts". I'm starting > to wonder if it's the same Carolyn Hart... I'll have to > go read the jackets on the others I have in own little > library and see if I can verify that it's the same person. > I had never heard this title before. Never heard of this title > I read Dead Man's Island, but I didn't enjoy it all that > much. I like her other series, though. The other series (Death on demand?) had some very good stories and some not so good ones. It didn't seem to be consistent. > DS> Finally started Killing Critics...it's just as good as I expected. > DS> O'Connell's Mallory is incredible. > Okay, I'm adding it to my library list! :) Stayed up til one in the morning finishing it last week. The ending is incredible. For those who are following the series in order, get ready for a real surpise on the last two pages! But again I must warn you...the series is one that people either love or hate. There seems to be no middle ground with Mallory. <<< Debbie >>> --- GEcho 1.00 * Origin: chocolate, Chocolate, CHOCOLATE: Roch, NY (1:2613/321.1)