Rating: 
Summary: Watch out San Francisco-here comes Fremont Jones!
Review: After her last adventure, Fremont Jones concentrates on making her typing business a success so
that she never has to return to her father's Boston home and follow society's dictates on a
woman's behavior. Time would have turned her into a prosperous entrepreneur, but Mother
Nature interceded when the fires from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake aftermath destroyed
her business and home. Before the fire consumes her place of business, Fremont discovers a
cache of stolen artifacts and treasures hidden in a supposedly empty storage room.
With no means to earn a living and no place to reside, Fremont fears that she will have to return
to her Boston home. However, Fremont helps an injured acquaintance, Alice Raisely, who offers
her a place to stay. Fremont accepts the kind offer and moves into Alice's mini-mansion. She
soon finds herself in the middle of mysterious events that include a missing spouse and Alice's
paranoiac ramblings about people trying to break into the house. Although Fremont does not
take her house-mate's rantings seriously, she feels guilty when she returns home to find Alice
dead.
By the time Fremont goes to the police and returns, the corpse is missing and there is no evidence
that a murder even occurred. The police dismiss Fremont as a flake, which makes her even more
determined to discover what really happened. This rash decision places her life in jeopardy as she
tangles with intruders, death threats, and some ferocious Ninjas seeking their missing treasure.
Dianne Day's sequel to The Strange Files of Fremont Jones, the exciting first mystery in the
Fremont Jones series, is another winner that is sure to gain the author prominent recognition and
acclaim. Fire and Fog is a fast moving action packed who-done-it filled with a cast of colorful
characters to include friends from the first book. The back drop of the infamous earthquake and
the events immediately following the disaster give an added dimension to this colorful novel. This
authentic feeling allows people to feel as if they are eye witnesses to the calamity. A fun to read,
first rate tale that belongs on everybody's keeper shelf.
...Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining light mystery during the '06 Earthquake
Review: Diane Day has filled this book with accuracy about the time of the Big Earthquake. It was interesting to see what daily struggles were suffered by the people at the time. The heroine dealt with these as they put her in the path of a mystery. The mystery itself was a bit light or simplistic but still entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful, Fun Mystery
Review: Fremont Jones is rudely awaken by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake at the beginning of Fire and Fog. It is only the beginning of the troubles San Francisco and Fremont face in this witty, engrossing book. Somehow, Dianne Day manages to make Fremont's travails seem like adventures. Fremont is such a fearless, resourceful woman that she never seems like a victim. After all, this is a woman who defies conventions without apology, and accepts the challenges thrown her way without complaint. It is 1906, and Fremont is a feminist, an atheist, and runs her own typewriting business. She also cares deeply -- about the welfare of her friends, about helping others, about justice. Her principles are not subject to negotiation, but she keeps an open mind about her views on less important subjects, like automobiles. Fremont isn't perfect (which would make her nauseating), but she is completely engaging and likable. San Francisco is the perfect setting to allow such an unconventional character to get some acceptance. The setting (historically and geographically) is nicely drawn, without the author ever falling prey to "show-off" syndrome. That is, she does not lecture the reader, showing off the fruits of her research. The portrait of the time and place feel genuine, and the writing is elegant but never stuffy. This is the first Fremont Jones book I've read, and I read it without knowing anything about the plot beyond the earthquakes and fire. I recommend reading it this way, so you can be as surprised by everything as Fremont is. I'm now reading the first book in the series, The Strange Files of Fremont Jones, and it is very good so far. There is some wonderful foreshadowing of events minor and major. The foreshadowing is yet another indication of the fine writing. The author has obviously pondered the meanings and symbolism behind events like fire and earthquakes. These phenomena in a sense are more flagrant, larger-scale versions of the horrors of violence committed by people. People and ! nature may wreak havoc, and induce fear and suffering, but they cannot destroy hope. Fremont encounters both natural and human-caused destruction -- and the latter is sometimes creepy. Yet it feels like Fremont is having an adventure, not being tortured. She's always brave, and even finds time to entertain thoughts of romance. I highly recommend Fire and Fog.
Rating:
Summary: A+++
Review: Fremont's life is turned upside down by the Great Earthquake. Mrs. O'Leary's house is evacuated, Fremont's office destroyed and all that had become familiar no longer was. Michael is called out of town on business and leaves his room at the Presidio and his automobile in Fremont's care. Fremont works for the Red Cross Disaster Relief team. An acquaintance offers her a place to stay and she is glad to accept, but Alice Lashley seems odder than previously and various dead things keep appearing on the front steps. With Michael away and Mrs O'Leary missing, she has noone to consult, and the situation becomes more and more dangerous. The author paints a vivid picture of post earthquake San Francisco, and the problems the inhabitants faced and combines it with a very good mystery. A fast and engrossing read!!!
Rating:
Summary: Fremont and Company following the 1906 earthquake
Review: Fremont's life is turned upside down by the Great Earthquake. Mrs. O'Leary's house is evacuated, Fremont's office destroyed and all that had become familiar no longer was. Michael is called out of town on business and leaves his room at the Presidio and his automobile in Fremont's care. Fremont works for the Red Cross Disaster Relief team. An acquaintance offers her a place to stay and she is glad to accept, but Alice Lashley seems odder than previously and various dead things keep appearing on the front steps. With Michael away and Mrs O'Leary missing, she has noone to consult, and the situation becomes more and more dangerous. The author paints a vivid picture of post earthquake San Francisco, and the problems the inhabitants faced and combines it with a very good mystery. A fast and engrossing read!!!
Rating:
Summary: Good follow up to the first book!
Review: Having previously read Dianne Day's first book (The Strange Files of Fremont Jones) featuring the feisty sleuth/typist, I couldn't wait till I returned to San Francisco to find out what Ms. Jones was up to. And Dianne Day ceratinly amused this reader with her next tale set during the San Francisco Earthquake. Because of severe damage to the boarding house where they lived, fremont and her friend Michael must find other living arrangements. Elusive Michael, who Fremont suspects is a spy retires to the Presidio where he has a room, while Fremont finds herself living with a new acquaintance with a rather strange story. As the city returns to its former vitality, Fremont discovers an assortment of valuable antiques in a storage area of her office builkding, is kidnapped by a Ninja, learns more about Michael and even manages to eke out a living as a typist. Much as I enjoyed the first book, I found this read to be even better. As I read this book, I felt as though I was there in San Francisco and could not only feel the rumbling but see the fog and smell the smoke.
Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first!
Review: I loved this book even more than her first. Nothing has made the 1906 earthquake as real as this book. Dianne Day sets such a wonderful atmosphere that it feels too real to want to leave.
Rating:
Summary: Even better than the first!
Review: I loved this book even more than her first. Nothing has made the 1906 earthquake as real as this book. Dianne Day sets such a wonderful atmosphere that it feels too real to want to leave.
Rating:
Summary: Whole lotta shakin' goin' on!
Review: It's the Great Quake in San Francisco and there's our Fremont Jones with the mysterious Michael Archer in the midst of it all. Dianne Day instantly became one of my favorite mystery writers when I read "The Strange Files of Fremont Jones." (Start with that one, by all means!) This one is just as "can't put it down, can't turn the page fast enough" as that one was. I can't find proof, but I'm of the opinion that Dianne Day is Laurie King. (Start with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and see what I mean.) At any rate, they write in a similar manner, and both are excellent. TRY THEM! Oh, yeah. ... She lives through the Quake. Hence, sequels abound! .
Rating:
Summary: Whole lotta shakin' goin' on!
Review: It's the Great Quake in San Francisco and there's our Fremont Jones with the mysterious Michael Archer in the midst of it all. Dianne Day instantly became one of my favorite mystery writers when I read "The Strange Files of Fremont Jones." (Start with that one, by all means!) This one is just as "can't put it down, can't turn the page fast enough" as that one was. I can't find proof, but I'm of the opinion that Dianne Day is Laurie King. (Start with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and see what I mean.) At any rate, they write in a similar manner, and both are excellent. TRY THEM! Oh, yeah. ... She lives through the Quake. Hence, sequels abound! .
| 
