With Halloween lurking in the mist, I mustered up my courage to finally read Stephen King's It. Oh, but then I watched the first episode of "American Horror Story: Freaks" and the plan changed. (Thanks for the recommendation Rick Oswald and Ray Pritchard. I haven't slept much since the big toothed clown entered my life last Wednesday. Nice joke, guys. You knew this show would freak me out and I am sure that you are both still laughing your fannies off thinking about how you duped me into watching. But yet, I grin. You know what they say about Karma.)
Luckily, the book pictured above arrived in time for me to avoid cracking open the King tome despite its obvious scary clown theme. How could I resist with this tempting blurb on the back cover, "If David Sedaris and Agatha Christie had a child, it would have been Julie Berry!". You know my fondness for Sedaris and so those words sealed my fate and filled my Sunday.
Intended for YA audience? Yes, but the storytelling blended with some cleverly turned phrases give this novel lots of universal appeal. If you're looking to be frightened to the nth degree, this won't work. But, neither is this a sweet little cozy mystery. The students at St. Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies face a bothersome dilemma. Mrs, Plackett and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at their Sunday dinner. Now the school will almost certainly be closed and the girls sent home unless the students - all seven of them - can hide the murders and convince the neighbors that nothing is wrong. "Nunsense" and "Weekend at Bernie's" come to mind.
Burying two corpses in the garden, faking their way through a surprise party for one of the deceased (with whom an injured neighbor must share a bed!) and muddling through the horrors of Victorian housework unsupervised are easy enough. But getting to the bottom of the murders in another task altogether especially since the girls fear the killer may strike again.
If you want a lighthearted, seasonally themed book, join Dear Roberta Pratley, Disgraceful Mary Jane Marshall, Dull Martha Boyle, Pocked Louise Dudley, Dour Elinor Siever, Smoothe Kitty Heaton and Stout Alice Brooks in this farcical mystery.
Thanks for stopping by.
I saw "Gone Girl" this weekend and still don't understand how this book and movie are getting such rave reviews. I stand by my earlier comment that the most interesting characters are the cat and the ottoman. Too many logic gaps. If the director was trying to channel some film noir techniques, that just didn't work. ... and Amy got away with murder, for crying out loud. Of course, that opens the door for a sequel, doesn't it? I can't wait.
While we're speaking of clowns....check this out.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmCJEehYtU
While we're speaking of clowns....check this out.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmCJEehYtU
