Jim Williams (5) (1947–)

Received from Librarything's April 2013 Early Reviewer's batch

Michael Pinfold has returned to Maderia after an unsuccessful trip to England to sell some of his wins stock. It's post WWI, Pinfold is an ex-soldier and the family business is on it's last legs. His father is a flamboyant old stage entertainer, who spends most of his time in bed, being looked after by a very tolerant Goan man-servant.

On the boat back to Maderia, Pinfold falls in with two other ex-soldiers, and being rather british finds it difficult to extract himself from the two, even though none of them have much money between them. Also on the boat is a Mrs Christie, a writer of "children's stories" (she's rumoured to have written a novel called "Mysterious Fairy Styles" - netter known as The Mysterious Affair at Styles). Staying at one of the posher hotels on the island is one George Bernard Shaw, who in an attempt at a little privacy, has taken to introducing himself as Sonny, and has started taking Tango lessons. Meanwhile there is correspondance between GBS and various writers and fans, and a short play GBS has written at the request of one of his publishers

Meanwhile, an Englishman called Robinson is found dead, with a knife wound in the back. He is believed to have just come off the boat with the others, and only one passenger seems to know who he is. One of Michael's friends, Johnny, who introduces himself as "a diplomat" but who everyone suspects to be secret service, is back in Maderia to look after Emperor Karl (the next in line to ArchDuke Ferdinand) pulls Michael into the investigations.

Slightly farcical, in that much of what happens is based on gossip and assumptions and some outright lies. People do not accept that Michael does not know Robinson basing much on what is reported in the paper - the journalist is known to be an outright liar. Meanwhile, Michael is manipulated by Circumstance, Johnny, and a host of other characters to become involved in the investigation of Robinson's death and the attempted kidnapping of the Emperor off the island. The story ends sharply, with plenty of loose ends left behind of what happened to many of the characters

Michael is also somewhat of a unreliable narrator. He is sleeping with Johnny's wife (getting her pregnant in the process), he steals from all and sundry, but generally returns all but the money he steals to the original owner. More than one person dies in the story, some he has known for years, but is somewhat emotionally disconnected from the deaths. There is plenty of references to the Tango and how some of the characters dance it. The last part of the play, which finished the book went on too long, and I have to admit I skimmed it. I possibly missed a couple of metaphor, but to be honest, it was beginning to drag by this point and I lost interest.… (altro)

I usually like long books but this was way too long. Too much in this book that detracted from the overall plot. I got lost several times and put it down so many times I forgot about what this was supposed to be about. It seriously needs another edit to make this a great book. Didn't like the gratuitous vulgarities but it seems authors aren't able to write without them. The dark psychology of the Russian characters were spot on and added overall to the plot. Very ironic this was written before Chernobyl.… (altro)

First, I would like to thank the publisher for allowing me the opportunaty to read this book. It's a complex and convoluted tale in some respects. It doesn't neatly fall into any one mystery genre. I thought by the book description that it was going to be an English village cozy. Yes, there is an English village (Dartcross in beautiful Devonshire) and yes, there is a murder that a bunch of ladies of senior years sets out to solve, led by one brilliant novelist. But there is also something much darker in this story. The Russian mafia makes it's way into the book in a completely unique way. We find out about that and financial fraud and murder through the ramblings of a woman as she is trying to put down her thoughts in a computer diary before they leave her. She fears she's going senile and will forget everything about her former life. The woman is not identified until near the end of the book, but we do get the whole brutal story eventually as we read the diary entries interspersed throughout the book. There are two main storylines, and it gets a bit confusing following them at times and, most of all, understanding them. It does make sense at the end though, but there are still some unanswered questions. This is a dandy mystery novel. It's dark and funny at the same time. It's complex as well as simple at different times throughout, and the characters within the book are realistic and believable.… (altro)