Docketful of Poesy
A Poetic
Death Mystery with Grace Hollister
Diana
Killian
Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-880284-97-9 (1880284979)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-97-1 (9781880284971)
Publication Date: April 2009
List Price: $14.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): "Theater of the Absurd" takes on a whole new meaning when former high school teacher and literary scholar Grace Hollister is hired as a script doctor for a straight-to-cable film production of her own academic exploits. Although the film's budget seems boundless, almost no one in the cast or crew seems to have any experience making movies. It would almost be comical in a Woody Allen sort of way ... until history repeats itself for real, and it's curtains for one of the cast.
Review:
Former school teacher and English poet scholar Grace Hollister returns
to England as screenwriter where the filming of her own book is taking
place in Docketful of Poesy,
the fourth mystery in this series by Diana Killian.
Grace had left England for California after doing research on the poets
of the Romantic Era. Her research also included various adventures
including meeting a mysterious former jewel thief named Peter Fox
(essentially the first three books of this series). She's combined all
this information into a book, a memoir if you will, that her publisher
has titled Dangerous to Know, not her first choice for an academic
tome. An unknown film company, Kismet Productions, has purchased the
rights to the book and plans a direct-to-cable movie. Grace had assumed
the film would be a documentary, but instead it seems to be developed
as a sexy, action movie. Filming begins in Hollywood before moving to
England's Lake District where Grace had lived while doing her research.
When the screenwriter adapting the book accidentally dies by a
hit-and-run driver, Grace is asked to step in. But she finds the death
suspicious and "once Grace gets her teeth into a puzzle she never lets
go."
To mix metaphors here, reading Docketful
of Poesy
is like walking in on the middle of what seems to be a very good movie.
It's really a wonderful story, with everything a mystery fan would
want: a suspicious death, a beautiful setting, endearing characters,
witty banter, an unexpected link between disparate events, a tentative
(or maybe not so tentative) romance. And yet there's a sense that the
reader has missed something, that the book would have been so much more
meaningful, more enjoyable, had the first three books, or any of the
previous books, been read before this one. It's not that enough
background material wasn't presented; it's just that there seems to be
inside information simmering beneath the surface that first time
readers aren't cognizant of. On balance, Docketful of Poesy is a terrific
mystery, but readers familiar with the earlier exploits of Grace
Hollister will probably like it even more.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Docketful of Poesy and to Perseverance Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Docketful of Poesy? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
High
Rhymes and
Misdemeanors
Pocket Books (Hardcover), October 2003
ISBN-10: 0-743-46678-0 (0743466780)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46678-3 (9780743466783)
Verse
of the
Vampyre
Pocket Books (Hardcover), September 2004
ISBN-10: 0-743-46679-9 (0743466799)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46679-0 (9780743466790)
Sonnet
of the Sphinx
Pocket Books (Hardcover), March 2006
ISBN-10: 0-743-46680-2 (0743466802)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46680-6 (9780743466806)
Docketful
of Poesy
Perseverance Press (Hardcover), April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-880284-97-9 (1880284979)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-97-1 (9781880284971)
Omnimystery keywords for Docketful of Poesy
...
Location(s) referenced: Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, England's
Lake District.
