“Heathcliff Lennox Mysteries.” Karen Baugh Menuhin, author. I continue to report on my binge-reading (I’m binge-writing too, and the manuscripts are piling up—more on that elsewhere in these pages). Most mystery series I’ve OD’d on are more or less modern-day, although the books are often “evergreen” (2019 or earlier, but as fresh and entertaining as the day they were written). Others, whether evergreen or not, are purposely set in earlier times—early 20^th or 19^th century (T. E. Kinsey’s “Lady Hardcastle Mysteries” and Carole Lawrence’s “Edinburgh Crime Mysteries” are fine examples).

Here the author has written five entertaining and authentic period stories (probably more to come?)—the last was just published, so not exactly evergreen. There’s humor, and there’s murder. The first book reminded me of Hiaasen and Moliere, and subsequent novels haven’t changed that opinion (the farce at the beginning of Death in Damascus is classic). The time is the early 1920s after the Great War, but the settings vary from merry olde England to Dmasccus and Scotland, and from mansions and castles to Syrian bazaars. The Damascus story is farcical; the one that takes place on a Scottish laird’s island is the spookiest. All are concerned with murder most fowl.

The stories are told in first person by the main character, Major Heathcliff Lennox. Readers will discover events and clues along with him. He doesn’t like his name Heathcliff, though; he prefers Major Lennox, or just Lennox. He’s a bit of an ingenuous gadfly, a dapper James Bond-like character who’s shy around the ladies! After sleuthing around to prove he’s innocent of murdering his uncle’s girlfriend in the first book, he fancies himself a detective. Swift, the Scotland Yard DCI, who pursues Lennox relentlessly in that first book to put him in the hangman’s noose, teams up with him in subsequent novels. Which one is Holmes and which one is Watson? Swift, a reformed socialist after marrying the laird’s daughter, adheres to police protocol, even after he retires from the Yard. Lennox is more intuitive. Together they get the job done.

These books aren’t cozies. Far from it. Some are dark, peering beneath the veneer of civilization at the darkness in women and men’s souls, and this makes the humor dark as well (and necessary to lighten things up a bit). The portrayal of class friction in 1920’s Britain is also serious if readers move beyond the humor found among the servants to the rich, all with their own problems and often perceptive takes on the foibles of their masters.

No, these books are solid mysteries that provided me with hours of quality entertainment. And yes, the author’s father-in-law is my beloved Yehudi, who continues to provide me hours of fantastic musical entertainment to accompany my reading. And yes, the mention of Jameson Irish whiskey in some books seems like an acknowledgement of that other essential component of my reading: Major Lennox, plus Yehudi’s music and Jameson whiskey—that’s the perfect trio for binge-reading!

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Comments are always welcome!

“Esther Brookstone Art Detective.” This series, at times very much in the style of British mysteries, might be binge-worthy too. Esther begins her adventures as a Scotland Yard inspector with an MI6 background as an ex-spy during the Cold War. Interpol agent Bastiann van Coevorden enters as her paramour. The wags at the Yard have nicknamed them Miss Marple and Hecule Poirot, but those adventures are very 21^st century, with mystery, suspense, and thriller elements. In the first two novels, Rembrandt’s Angel and Son of Thunder, poor Bastiann has to deal with Esther’s obsessions. In the first, she’s obsessed with recovering a painting stolen by the Nazis in World War II. In the second, she’s obsessed with finding St. John’s tomb using written directions left by the Renaissance painter Botticelli. In the third, Death on the Danube (soon to be published), Esther and Bastiann’s honeymoon is interrupted by a murder on their riverboat. Available wherever quality books are sold.

Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!

 

 

 

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