tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post223538445468349088..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Escape from the TowerTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-42143676116085248572017-08-31T18:08:34.889+02:002017-08-31T18:08:34.889+02:00No idea. I only read two of Ormerod's books, b...No idea. I only read two of Ormerod's books, but the other one was not narrated by Elsa Mallin. So maybe this was as a one-off because the case involved one of her old school friends. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-68579711534323780202017-08-31T13:58:33.872+02:002017-08-31T13:58:33.872+02:00This has most certainly piqued my interest. The na...This has most certainly piqued my interest. The narration from the point of the wife is interesting as well, is there a different narrator in each work? Dan @ The Reader is Warnedhttp://thereaderiswarned.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-45818088429221210452017-08-30T08:28:07.143+02:002017-08-30T08:28:07.143+02:00It has no groaning, whatsoever, on the part of the...It has no groaning, whatsoever, on the part of the detectives. So I hope you'll enjoy the book, Anon. <br />TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-62214365878712629102017-08-30T08:23:42.760+02:002017-08-30T08:23:42.760+02:00Yeah, this one has very little to offer to an apos...Yeah, this one has very little to offer to an apostle of Scandinavian noir, like yourself. ;) TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-49343949725129450082017-08-30T02:35:46.405+02:002017-08-30T02:35:46.405+02:00This sounds like a pretty good book to me. I just ...This sounds like a pretty good book to me. I just ordered my copy. At least the book is about detectives detecting and not groaning about their personal lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-69614614238856034652017-08-29T22:00:31.614+02:002017-08-29T22:00:31.614+02:00Well, this sounds absolutely nothing like the kind...Well, this sounds absolutely nothing like the kind of thing that would interest me...JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-4012177338516654982017-08-29T15:58:27.913+02:002017-08-29T15:58:27.913+02:00I suppose you can compare the book to some of Paul...I suppose you can compare the book to some of Paul Halter's work, but the plot felt closer to the stories Renwick wrote for <i>Jonathan Creek</i> than the locked room novels by Halter. <br /><br />Never heard of the series before. But one particular, standalone, novel I remember liking very much, which mixes magic and mystery, is <i>Elephants in the Distance</i> by Daniel Stashower. I was really charmed at the time by background and characters of the story, but the plot, as far as I remember, was not bad either. Somewhat on the light side perhaps. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-47840454762265466222017-08-29T15:55:41.713+02:002017-08-29T15:55:41.713+02:00My observation was not meant to imply such blasphe...My observation was not meant to imply such blasphemy, Christian. I loved it as a pure, plot-oriented locked room mystery, but also know that not everyone is wildly enthusiastic about this approach. Just look at the criticism leveled against Jonathan Creek and Paul Halter. And <i>The Maze</i> by Philip MacDonald taught me there's something to be said for having some characterization in a detective story. <br /><br />So it was merely an observation, and a warning, that readers should not expect anything more than a howdunit with a string of false solutions attached to it. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-46674887697455440182017-08-29T14:27:50.026+02:002017-08-29T14:27:50.026+02:00The emphasis on plot and puzzle, at the expense of...The emphasis on plot and puzzle, at the expense of characterisation, makes this novel sound like one of Paul Halter's weaker offerings... I do like Halter's novels, even when plot and puzzle overshadow characterisation and setting/ atmosphere - so maybe I might like this one? <br /><br />Incidentally, I was thinking of what other mystery novels weave magic with mystery... I just discovered a new mystery series featuring a magician called Eli Marks as the sleuth on my local Kindle store - a series by John Gaspard. Have you encountered any of his works? Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03389512470283015279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-26522992270449371272017-08-29T11:48:30.565+02:002017-08-29T11:48:30.565+02:00"The book is purely concerned with the how of..."The book is purely concerned with the how of the crime, which the who-and why hinges upon, while the characters populating the plot are (even by my standards) paper thin."<br /><br />You say that as if it's a bad thing... :(Christian_Henrikssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13013383718388416698noreply@blogger.com