Rating: 
Summary: I LOVE this book
Review: I actually picked up the second book first, not realizing it was a series. I liked that one very muxh, but I loved this one. I might have said the same about the other had I read it second. It's a fine read without being read in sequence, but the literary quotes were more obtrusive in the second.
In this book, however, they flow easily and are always "spot on." Grace and Peter are wonderful characters; in this one you really get inside their heads, and yet Peter remains rather mysterious. The attraction between them is much more obvious here.
The mystery is delightful with just the right twists and turns, and Killian's writing is superb. Chapter 1 opens, for example, with an idyllic scene featuring a lovely chattering brook -- and a dead body. Delicious! and vastly entertaining. Killian has a wry way of turning a phrase.
The pace is lively, and the story never flags. Add in such captivating characters, and this is a book to be REread -- and I don't often do that. Definitely a keeper!! I just wish I had about 50 more like it.
Rating:
Summary: DIANA KILLIAN HITS THE COZY MYSTERY SPOT
Review: I was not expecting a dissertation of the poets, but rather an entertaining, page turner cozy mystery, with enough poetic references thrown in to please mystery reading poetic fans. Diana Killian delivers on that expectation.The story takes place in England's Lake District. Those who like the cozy British influence in mysteries will not be disappointed with the British country side and old stately homes falling into disrepair, complete with secret passageways and family crypts. The main characters are Grace Hollister, an usually sensible American schoolteacher and literary scholar and Peter Fox, handsome, dashing local antique dealer with a questionable past. They meet when Grace runs upon Peter's "body" face down in a stream and by all appearances dead. Grace winds up saving Peter and thus their adventure and unlikely relationship begins. Normally, cautious Grace and adventurous Peter could seem like an unlikely sleuthing team. Their relationship lights an adventurous fire in Grace's normally all too predictable life and brings an element of "routine" to Peter's not so predictable life. It's a case of seemingly opposites attract, but with an entertaining freshness. I found the characters well written and developed enough to be real people in an interesting, yet vague and not clearly defined relationship. I won't tell you what happens between Grace and Peter, but enough happens that there is already a next book in the series to come out in October 2004. This book has a tease chapter for the next book "Verse of the Vampyre, A Poetic Death Mystery". After reading the chapter, I'm looking forward to reading the next one too. Our online cozy forum had not schecduled this as a regular group read this year, but I have certainly recommended it to every one in the group. moderator, Mystery Most Cozy
Rating:
Summary: DIANA KILLIAN HITS THE COZY MYSTERY SPOT
Review: I was not expecting a dissertation of the poets, but rather an entertaining, page turner cozy mystery, with enough poetic references thrown in to please mystery reading poetic fans. Diana Killian delivers on that expectation. The story takes place in England's Lake District. Those who like the cozy British influence in mysteries will not be disappointed with the British country side and old stately homes falling into disrepair, complete with secret passageways and family crypts. The main characters are Grace Hollister, an usually sensible American schoolteacher and literary scholar and Peter Fox, handsome, dashing local antique dealer with a questionable past. They meet when Grace runs upon Peter's "body" face down in a stream and by all appearances dead. Grace winds up saving Peter and thus their adventure and unlikely relationship begins. Normally, cautious Grace and adventurous Peter could seem like an unlikely sleuthing team. Their relationship lights an adventurous fire in Grace's normally all too predictable life and brings an element of "routine" to Peter's not so predictable life. It's a case of seemingly opposites attract, but with an entertaining freshness. I found the characters well written and developed enough to be real people in an interesting, yet vague and not clearly defined relationship. I won't tell you what happens between Grace and Peter, but enough happens that there is already a next book in the series to come out in October 2004. This book has a tease chapter for the next book "Verse of the Vampyre, A Poetic Death Mystery". After reading the chapter, I'm looking forward to reading the next one too. Our online cozy forum had not schecduled this as a regular group read this year, but I have certainly recommended it to every one in the group. moderator, Mystery Most Cozy
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun!
Review: I was ready for something light-hearted and entertaining when I came across this book. I won't recap the story for you, since I don't want to spoil the surprises, and surprises there are! I identified with the main character, Grace, and enjoyed her sense of humor. As a former romance addict I enjoyed this part as much or more than the action. Grace seemed to be laughing at herself and her attitudes towards this handsome, but somewhat dubious man who has entered her life. It was almost like sharing a few giggles with an old friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly entertaining cozy Gothic caper!
Review: I'm not sure what genre I'd put this in. It's sort of a cozy-caper-Gothic, and I mean that in a good way. It incorporates some of the classic elements of the Gothic novel, but offers entertaining updates on them. The central plot is this: Grace Hollister, American schoolteacher, PhD candidate, and devotee of the "bad boys" of Romantic poetry, is on a sort of research trip/vacation in the Lakes district of England when she stumbles over a body in a stream. The body turns out to be only mostly dead, and Grace is able to revive what turns out to be one Peter Fox, antiques dealer and a bit of a bad boy himself. It's clear from the circumstances that someone whacked Peter over the head and dumped him face-down in the water, and if Grace hadn't appeared in the nick of time the murder attempt would have succeeded. Unfortunately for Grace, after she's seen with Peter the people who tried to kill him, apparently to get some sort of treasure, conclude that she's in league with him. The treasure appears to have something to do with the poet Lord Byron, and Grace soon learns that there are scarier things in life than trying to teach English to teenagers... If the plot sounds far-fetched, that's because it is. What Gothic caper novel isn't? The thing is, this is internally-consistent, well-plotted, disbelief-suspending far-fetched, the kind that makes you hope for a rainy day so you can drink hot chocolate while reading it and really get the full experience. The main characters are a major reason this story works as well as it does. Grace is lively and funny and deeply dubious about the wisdom of what she's involved in. She's also an update of the classic Gothic heroine--she gets in trouble more because of circumstances than because she goes wandering around in a diaphanous nightie with a guttering candle--actually, being a sensible California girl, I suspect she wears flannel pajamas and wooly socks to bed in Merrie, Chillie, Olde England. I particularly liked the way the author handles Grace, who is occasionally wrong, sometimes downright silly, and not indulged by her author. You know the type of protagonist who is allowed to make ridiculous pronouncements and is never pulled up short, so you can't tell whether the author is having us on or really believes the words coming out of the character's mouth? Not here. Told that someone involved in the plot is a man in a turban, Grace immediately decides that turban equals cult. Oh, Grace, I thought. Shortly thereafter, Grace meets a local restaurateur, who is Indian and wears a turban. Grace feverishly wonders how thin the line is between stealing recipes and committing murder... Stuff like the above is funny because the author recognizes that a schoolteacher in a mess like this isn't going to be Emma Peel right off the bat. There's a fine illogic to the proceedings, but as I say, there's also internal consistency. Characters do not behave conveniently to advance the plot, they're created and put in place on purpose to do so, if you see the distinction. This is fun and light-hearted fare, but when you look closely it's clear how much work went into getting the balance right. Peter Fox is an important part of the balance. Let me say right here that I'm generally annoyed by Gothic heroes, who all-too-often strike me as pale imitations of Heathcliff (who I didn't like, either.) Peter Fox is more Mr. Rochester, sardonic but human--he's even funny. In fact, by the middle of the story I had stopped picturing him as looking like Rochester, or rather my mental image of Rochester, and was able to see the character described in the story, even to the blond hair. He has A Past, which influences his actions, but he doesn't endlessly angst about it so I almost never felt like cracking him over the head and dumping him back into the stream. No book is perfect, and in this case I could have used a bit more exposition on the subject of Lord Byron's love life, which is important to the treasure angle. I know one generally avoids the expository dump, but as it was I had to keep flipping backward to remind myself who was who among the ex-lovers and wives and illegitimate children. A less serious problem is the fact that all the plotters appear to be...well, inept. They're far too prone to leave Grace with the tools she needs to engineer her hair's-breadth escapes. However, again, the story is set up so that this ineptitude is logical within the plot. I know some of the old noir writers claimed they were giving crime back to those who commit it, but most of us know that the vast majority of crimes are committed by clumsy amateurs. The final confrontation strikes the right balance (there's that word again) between the suspenseful and the grotesque. And the wrapup feels satisfactorily real--again, within the confines of the artificial but believable world Killian has created.
Rating:
Summary: A cross between James Bond and Romancing the Stone
Review: She's a very straight-laced English literature teacher at St Anne's Academy for Girls on vacation in England's Lake District studying the Romantic Poets. When she stumbles across a man lying faced down in a stream, she resuscitates him and as a thank you he buys her a drink before disappearing. The next morning she obtains his address and starts driving to his home when two men wearing masks stop her and take to a deserted house. Grace Hollister escapes and makes her way to Peter Fox's home but he isn't there. She finds a dead body in a hidden passageway and confronts Peter with that when he comes home. He denies having killed anyone, but admits knowing he was a petty thief. She tells him about the two men who kidnapped her and explains that they were holding her hostage in exchange for Peter handing over the "geegaws". They figure out at least two sets of criminals want what the thief was trying to sell to Peter but neither knows what it is. Unfortunately, nobody believes them. HIGH RHYMES AND MISDEMEANORS is a cross between James Bond and Romancing the Stone only the hero is an ex jewel thief who cannot convince people he has gone straight. There is action, action, and more action in this light-hearted tongue-in-cheek thriller. Diana Killian is an excellent storyteller with a fine sense of timing who has created an adorable heroine who detours from her nineteenth century heroes to take a walk on the wild side against Mutt and Jeff and finding she likes it. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: This flat-footed Frankenstein's Monster of a book is pieced together from bits and pieces of other long and deservedly interred novels. Killian gives us a character from here and plot twist from there, stirs it up in a swift-reading witless stew and serves it up on rewarmed dishes. Self-conscious and desperately eager to please, the book is half half-baked whodunnit and half tepid romance. Presumably about a gift of cameos Byron assembled for the 10th birthday of his daughter by his half-sister, the book seems to think "gewgaws" is a word no one has ever heard of, although the characters can quote Byron and others at will. This book is about as satisfying as a stale potato chip when you're famished for a steak dinner. Not for the discriminating or those who value real intelligence.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, a joy to read.
Review: This is an excellent mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed. The writing itself is refreshing, in a world full of rapid-fire schlock. The premise is believable, the characters are believable, and the story is exciting as well as interesting.
Rating:
Summary: what a romp!
Review: this is the perfect mystery for a cold or rainy afternoon, with hot chocolate and, to fit the mood, bonbons. or tea, of course. with cucumber sandwiches. the avid mystery fan will particularly enjoy this. the author has freely borrowed from and/or referred to practically every literary convention, especially those of the mysteries of the 1920s and '30s. but there are delightful modern, aware-of-the-unlikelihood, affectionately mocking twists that add to the humor. and there's a lot of humor, verbal and otherwise. the characters are well drawn and very attractive or suitably dastardly (loved the librarian). the dialogue does indeed sparkle. the author's tongue is firmly in cheek, but she manages to make some pertinent observations and tell a good mystery at the same time. i can't wait to read her second, _verse of the vampyre_ (with the letter 'y' figure in all of her titles?). thank you to the reviewer, zoya, who dosen't want to spoil the fun for other readers. just in passing, i'd like to say that these are reviews, and not book reports. there are books i haven't ordered because a 'reviewer' revealed the plot twists or the ending or enough of the story that reading the book seemed pointless. i've learned to skip the obvious book reports, but its a sore point with me. the reviews can certainly help in choosing a book, or avoiding one, and thanks to reviews i have discovered many new-to-me-authors. i just wish so many people wouldn't tell all.
Rating:
Summary: what a romp!
Review: this is the perfect mystery for a cold or rainy afternoon, with hot chocolate and, to fit the mood, bonbons. or tea, of course. with cucumber sandwiches. the avid mystery fan will particularly enjoy this. the author has freely borrowed from and/or referred to practically every literary convention, especially those of the mysteries of the 1920s and '30s. but there are delightful modern, aware-of-the-unlikelihood, affectionately mocking twists that add to the humor. and there's a lot of humor, verbal and otherwise. the characters are well drawn and very attractive or suitably dastardly (loved the librarian). the dialogue does indeed sparkle. the author's tongue is firmly in cheek, but she manages to make some pertinent observations and tell a good mystery at the same time. i can't wait to read her second, _verse of the vampyre_ (with the letter 'y' figure in all of her titles?). thank you to the reviewer, zoya, who dosen't want to spoil the fun for other readers. just in passing, i'd like to say that these are reviews, and not book reports. there are books i haven't ordered because a 'reviewer' revealed the plot twists or the ending or enough of the story that reading the book seemed pointless. i've learned to skip the obvious book reports, but its a sore point with me. the reviews can certainly help in choosing a book, or avoiding one, and thanks to reviews i have discovered many new-to-me-authors. i just wish so many people wouldn't tell all.
| 
