Saturday, January 29, 2011

Review: Talking Rain, and Steeped in Murder, by Linda French

Talking Rain by Linda French:

Next noon, under the campus bus shelter, a tiny flutist played a melancholy phrase. She was having trouble with the grace notes and couldn't master their time. Teddy turned up the collar of her brown velvet trenchcoat and stared at the sumptuous purple lining of the flute case. She thought about grace notes, and rainy November days.


Synopsis: A college professor, a knee surgeon, a professional wrestler and a madwoman walk into a bar...

The first of a pair of genuinely intriguing mysteries: first-person POV done well, lots of lovely Seattle-environs placeporn, and scuba diving. If you like mysteries, this does not suck. It's a well-written and enjoyable, very much above-par entrant into the field, of a college professor and her tangled love and family life. Very nice. I think I read it in an hour and a half. Good scuba decription, though.

Steeped in Murder by Linda French:

Teddy glanced up at the sun-kissed Californian. Herb Patchett had the most amazing head of hair for a middle-aged man she had ever seen. Still blond as a beach boy's, the hair was wavy and gorgeous, gleaming with champagne highlights in the sunset. Herb had important hair, executive hair.


Synopsis: Academic politics are lame.

Same series as above, only much less successful. The worries of the lady academic trying to make tenure, when someone offs the chair. Oof, if I had a nickel for every time I found myself in that situation...

Although to be fair, I did not see the murderer's identity coming at all. I'd definitely read another in the series, but I can't say either of these would be a reread.

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