Rating: 
Summary: The Lone Reader Reviews "To Play The Fool".
Review: "Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing: here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool." (King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2)One supposes, after reading (and rereading) this superb example of a mystery, that Laurie R. King would be just as formidable an academic as mystery novelist. Her scholarship is profoundly relevant, accurate, and, most impressively, INTERESTING. This is a book that pities neither wise man nor fool, whether the fool be wooden-headed or more delicately balanced, as in King's story. This book, second in the "Kate Martinelli" series of mysteries by Laurie R. King, presents the reader with two challenges: the complexity of the narrative and the complexity of the intellectual challenges in the narrative. I admire King's risk-taking with this novel; she neither condescends to nor makes allowance for any laziness on the part of the reader. Simply put, you'll either make the effort to keep up with her, or just bobble along in the wake of her prodigious imagination, wishing you spoke Latin and weren't so lazy. Either action is rewarding. As in "A Grave Talent", King establishes characters as the driving force behind her narrative. Her protagonists return, slightly more careworn in the intervening time but just as fiesty, and she introduces new characters of towering believability. Anyone who has spent any time aimlessly wandering the streets of San Francisco has encountered the street denizens she describes. Brother Erasmus, on the other lapel...Brother Erasmus is a quintessential distillation of what we might hope to be, but are gladly not. Tormented, suffering both spiritual and emotional turbulence, fallen from grace in the classical manner, undeniably brilliant in the same way as the actinic flash of magnesium underwater. With characters such as Erasmus, a narrative writes itself. Or so it's convenient to believe. In reality, King must have worked extraordinarily hard on this narrative, to judge by the esoteric depth of her data. And still, even in the labors she goes through to present her story, it reads effortlessly. "To Play The Fool" surpasses "A Grave Talent" simply by dint of possessing one of the most memorable characters in recent mystery (Erasmus), and, for that reason, I evaluate it as a four-and-a-half star novel. Very nearly but not entirely an example of perfection in its genre. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, and believe that it reads best in small coffeeshops in San Francisco. And I still envy the house. Thanks for reading, Ashton
Rating:
Summary: The Lone Reader Reviews "To Play The Fool".
Review: "Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing: here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool." (King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2) One supposes, after reading (and rereading) this superb example of a mystery, that Laurie R. King would be just as formidable an academic as mystery novelist. Her scholarship is profoundly relevant, accurate, and, most impressively, INTERESTING. This is a book that pities neither wise man nor fool, whether the fool be wooden-headed or more delicately balanced, as in King's story. This book, second in the "Kate Martinelli" series of mysteries by Laurie R. King, presents the reader with two challenges: the complexity of the narrative and the complexity of the intellectual challenges in the narrative. I admire King's risk-taking with this novel; she neither condescends to nor makes allowance for any laziness on the part of the reader. Simply put, you'll either make the effort to keep up with her, or just bobble along in the wake of her prodigious imagination, wishing you spoke Latin and weren't so lazy. Either action is rewarding. As in "A Grave Talent", King establishes characters as the driving force behind her narrative. Her protagonists return, slightly more careworn in the intervening time but just as fiesty, and she introduces new characters of towering believability. Anyone who has spent any time aimlessly wandering the streets of San Francisco has encountered the street denizens she describes. Brother Erasmus, on the other lapel...Brother Erasmus is a quintessential distillation of what we might hope to be, but are gladly not. Tormented, suffering both spiritual and emotional turbulence, fallen from grace in the classical manner, undeniably brilliant in the same way as the actinic flash of magnesium underwater. With characters such as Erasmus, a narrative writes itself. Or so it's convenient to believe. In reality, King must have worked extraordinarily hard on this narrative, to judge by the esoteric depth of her data. And still, even in the labors she goes through to present her story, it reads effortlessly. "To Play The Fool" surpasses "A Grave Talent" simply by dint of possessing one of the most memorable characters in recent mystery (Erasmus), and, for that reason, I evaluate it as a four-and-a-half star novel. Very nearly but not entirely an example of perfection in its genre. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, and believe that it reads best in small coffeeshops in San Francisco. And I still envy the house. Thanks for reading, Ashton
Rating:
Summary: The Lone Reader Reviews "To Play The Fool".
Review: "Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing: here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool." (King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2) One supposes, after reading (and rereading) this superb example of a mystery, that Laurie R. King would be just as formidable an academic as mystery novelist. Her scholarship is profoundly relevant, accurate, and, most impressively, INTERESTING. This is a book that pities neither wise man nor fool, whether the fool be wooden-headed or more delicately balanced, as in King's story. This book, second in the "Kate Martinelli" series of mysteries by Laurie R. King, presents the reader with two challenges: the complexity of the narrative and the complexity of the intellectual challenges in the narrative. I admire King's risk-taking with this novel; she neither condescends to nor makes allowance for any laziness on the part of the reader. Simply put, you'll either make the effort to keep up with her, or just bobble along in the wake of her prodigious imagination, wishing you spoke Latin and weren't so lazy. Either action is rewarding. As in "A Grave Talent", King establishes characters as the driving force behind her narrative. Her protagonists return, slightly more careworn in the intervening time but just as fiesty, and she introduces new characters of towering believability. Anyone who has spent any time aimlessly wandering the streets of San Francisco has encountered the street denizens she describes. Brother Erasmus, on the other lapel...Brother Erasmus is a quintessential distillation of what we might hope to be, but are gladly not. Tormented, suffering both spiritual and emotional turbulence, fallen from grace in the classical manner, undeniably brilliant in the same way as the actinic flash of magnesium underwater. With characters such as Erasmus, a narrative writes itself. Or so it's convenient to believe. In reality, King must have worked extraordinarily hard on this narrative, to judge by the esoteric depth of her data. And still, even in the labors she goes through to present her story, it reads effortlessly. "To Play The Fool" surpasses "A Grave Talent" simply by dint of possessing one of the most memorable characters in recent mystery (Erasmus), and, for that reason, I evaluate it as a four-and-a-half star novel. Very nearly but not entirely an example of perfection in its genre. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, and believe that it reads best in small coffeeshops in San Francisco. And I still envy the house. Thanks for reading, Ashton
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, but someone's missing...
Review: As a fan of the author's Russell/Holmes series, I was very happy to discover that King also has written a contemporary mystery series. The first book introduced us to homicide detective Al Hawkin and his new partner, Kate Martinelli, exploring their new relationship amid a series of murders. In this second book, though, Al is pretty much absent, showing up every now and then for an interogation. It was very frustrating to have an interesting main character from the first book relegated to now-you-see-him-now-you-don't status. Also missing is a case in between this one and the first that Kate & Al investigated. Perhaps King will return to this story at a later date; she's done something similar in her other series.
Despite Al's glaring absence, I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be more of a character-driven story than one centered on the plot, concentrating more on developing the many personalities involved. Erasmus is a wonderful, vibrant character, and several of the other homeless people are quite vivid themselves. A great read.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent read, more of a novel than a mystery
Review: For those of you who have read all of the Mary Russell books by King, you might be pleasantly surprised that she writes other, more modern books. For those of you who live in the SF Bay area, you will also be excited by the locations that are described in this book. I had read many of Laurie King's other books before reading this one and I will say that it was one of the most interesting and best written. The novel is based on the mystery surrounding the murder of a homeless man, but the story actually told is of Brother Erasmus, a Fool, who only speaks in quotes from Shakespeare and the Bible. The real mystery is who Brother Erasmus really is, what he is hiding, and why he speaks only in quotes. There are some other homeless characters in the book who are also well characterized. This book has a lot of metaphysical discussion on those who live outside society in this way. And there is a lot of suspense and mystery involved in finding Brother Erasmus's secrets. Eventually the detective Kate Martinelli founds out who the murderer was, but she is more interested in the life of the characters she meets. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes your mysteries to be a bit more literary. King has been compared a lot to PD James, and I think that comparison holds true.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read, more of a novel than a mystery
Review: For those of you who have read all of the Mary Russell books by King, you might be pleasantly surprised that she writes other, more modern books. For those of you who live in the SF Bay area, you will also be excited by the locations that are described in this book. I had read many of Laurie King's other books before reading this one and I will say that it was one of the most interesting and best written. The novel is based on the mystery surrounding the murder of a homeless man, but the story actually told is of Brother Erasmus, a Fool, who only speaks in quotes from Shakespeare and the Bible. The real mystery is who Brother Erasmus really is, what he is hiding, and why he speaks only in quotes. There are some other homeless characters in the book who are also well characterized. This book has a lot of metaphysical discussion on those who live outside society in this way. And there is a lot of suspense and mystery involved in finding Brother Erasmus's secrets. Eventually the detective Kate Martinelli founds out who the murderer was, but she is more interested in the life of the characters she meets. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes your mysteries to be a bit more literary. King has been compared a lot to PD James, and I think that comparison holds true.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging story
Review: I am increasingly becoming a fan of this author. However, I am not sure what the point was in the long and involved examination of the Fool movement in this installment of the Kate Martinelli series. It was not particularly interesting and, as a sub-theme, actually took over the story rather than assist the reader in any way to deal with the main plot. Also, there is unnecessary repetition in the description and exchanges in the Kate/Lee relationship. We seem to be told several times, and in a variety of different ways, that Lee is disabled and Kate blames herself for it. Nevertheless, this book was worth three stars as the talent of the author to spin an engaging story is well evident.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging story
Review: I am increasingly becoming a fan of this author. However, I am not sure what the point was in the long and involved examination of the Fool movement in this installment of the Kate Martinelli series. It was not particularly interesting and, as a sub-theme, actually took over the story rather than assist the reader in any way to deal with the main plot. Also, there is unnecessary repetition in the description and exchanges in the Kate/Lee relationship. We seem to be told several times, and in a variety of different ways, that Lee is disabled and Kate blames herself for it. Nevertheless, this book was worth three stars as the talent of the author to spin an engaging story is well evident.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Captivating
Review: I picked up this book on a whim, never having reading Laurie King before, and after reading it over and over again have now bought every other book she has written. And I eagerly await more! Style, intelligence, humor -- this book has it all! Write us more, Laurie!
Rating:
Summary: Her Best Kate Martinelli
Review: I've enjoyed all of her Kate Martinelli books, but this is by far the best of them. It ranks up there with some of my favorite mysteries! It's a highly original creative book -- one that builds on the typical "woman sleuth solves mystery" but adds interesting complexity and fascinating characters to the mix. I highly recommend this book.
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