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Freeze Frame: The Fourth of the Enzo Files

by Peter May

Poisoned Pen Press, March 2010

ISBN13: 978-

1590587171

ebook available? Not currently

Freeze Frame is the fourth in a series of mysteries by Peter May known as “The Enzo Files.” The series follows Enzo McLeod, a Scottish expat with a background in crime scene analysis who currently teaches in Paris. On a bet, he sets out to prove that he can solve each of an assortment of cold cases detailed in a book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin by applying modern scientific techniques to each. He’s 3 for 3 at the outset of Freeze Frame, but he begins with the unsettling feeling that this may be his first failure….

The Description (from IndieBound.org): A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod… to the study which the man’s heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer’s identity to the man’s son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. [Freeze Frame] takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder–but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo’s most difficult cases.

The Review: I must confess that this was the first of the ‘Enzo Files’ that I had read, so I was a little worried at the outset that I may be lost without the previous three installments already under my belt. Happily, that wasn’t the case, though I might have understood Enzo’s relationship woes better had I read the others first. At any rate, I was attracted to the whole forensic science aspect of the description, expecting detailed crime scene investigation and a peek at modern scientific techniques utilized in criminal justice.   Based on the above description, you would expect something similar, wouldn’t you?

Actually, very little science or forensic technique played a role in this book. In fact, checking fingerprints on a wine glass is about the only forensic science that got applied within its pages. So you think I’m disappointed, right? Not at all! While my first ‘Enzo file’ turned out to be completely different than I expected, what it did turn out to be was a fun little puzzle mystery full of twists and turns and hidden clues that kept me interested right up to the tidy (if not entirely unexpected) ending. Sure, it’s unusual to have actual forensics play so little a role in a mystery centered around a forensics expert. But what Freeze Frame lacked in scientific detail, it more than made up for in intrigue, believable characters, and a setting drenched in well-crafted Channel Island charm. Peter May clearly did a lot of research for this book, both regional and historical. The result is a very enjoyable modern mystery.

The Bottom Line: The kind of mystery that I would describe as a “fun” read. Nothing overly gritty, no deep science, but an intriguing puzzle with a likable lead character: a cozy, lazy-Sunday kind of book. I’ll be adding the first three to my TBR list, for sure.

[My sincere thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book for review.]

]]> http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/book-review-freeze-frame-by-peter-may/feed/ 0 litwitch Good http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/author-interview-tina-rosenberg/ http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/author-interview-tina-rosenberg/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:22:59 +0000 litwitch http://thelitwitch.com/?p=548 ]]>

Tina Rosenberg

Last week, I reviewed Tina Rosenberg’s first novel, Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue.  In addition to being a good book, there’s a good story behind it!  Tina was inspired to write the book after a visit to the real Glenapp Castle in Scotland.  Her daughter collaborated with her on the project by drawing the illustrations that appear at the start of each chapter.  Tina Rosenberg graciously agreed to an email interview as a follow-up to my review.  But first, here’s a little more about Tina (from her website and book jacket):

“Tina was born in Washington D. C. and lived in New Canaan, CT. and New York City until she attended the Purnell School in Pottersville, New Jersey for high school. From Bradford College she transferred to Miami University in Ohio earning degrees in Public Administration and Nursing.  After raising her two children, and leaving behind careers in nursing, art historical research, and parent education, award-winning author Tina Rosenberg has turned to her love of writing fiction. Her debut novel was inspired by a visit to Scotland’s Glenapp Castle Hotel in 2004.  Tina lives with her husband in Columbus, Ohio, and Mount Desert, Maine.”

Q: I understand that you paid a visit to the real Glenapp Castle in Scotland.  Did the idea for Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue come to you during your stay, or did Glenapp simply strike you as the perfect setting for a story that you already had started to form in your mind?

A:  I never dreamed I’d write fiction. Truth be told, the idea terrified me. For 21 years my book club and I have voraciously dissected only the best (no fluff, please), for we pride ourselves in literary snobbism. While traveling through Scotland in 2004, I wrote in my journal daily, exploring non-fiction ideas for my first book. But then I saw Glenapp Castle Hotel and that magnanimous sea mountain that erupts from the Irish Sea like a newly-birthed planet and I knew my story would be right there. We extended our stay for three days and by the time I returned to the States, I knew Glenapp Castle and its thirty acre estate would be the setting for my first novel. I also knew that the main character would be the Head Gardener for the two-and-a-half acre walled garden took my breath away. In the end, I returned three times to do research, once for a month.

Q: Tell us a little about your collaboration with your daughter on this project.  Will she work with you on your next book as well?

A: My daughter Brooke, now 28 and a mom, was a Fine Arts/Photography major from Humboldt State University, CA. and I have always admired her ability to adapt her talents to multi mediums. The beauty of Glenapp Castle Hotel so inspired me, it seemed the perfect opportunity for us to work together. She came to Scotland with me for the first ten days of my research month there to take photos for the illustrations. Last April, we buried ourselves in our (unheated) cabin in Maine while I babysat and she drew the pen and ink illustrations day and night. I’m not sure that my second novel will adapt to illustrations, but if there are any, I would love her to do them. Working together has been fantastic and we would both welcome the opportunity. Frankly, I think she should write and illustrate her own books, but right now her photography business keeps her pretty busy. You can visit her site if you’d like: rosemountainphotography.com.

Q: I’ve already named my favorite character(s) in Glenapp Castle. Do you have a favorite? Who and why?

A:  The short answer is Tom Hutcheson, the Head Gardener. He was modeled after my son, Chase, who is an environmental biologist and one of the nicest human beings I know. He has taught me so much in life and I admire him greatly. He turns thirty today and is completing his Masters at Ohio University. But that’s too simple an answer because Eva and Andrew Campbell were modeled after the real owners of Glenapp Castle Hotel, Fay and Graham Cowan, and Nessie Brown was modeled after the true village librarian, Janette McCulloch, and Mary (your favorite) was fashioned after my late mom, who helped, I swear, write this novel with me. There are no short answers, I fear. But Tom Hutcheson…he is the best developed and the most accessible character in the book, don’t you think? [The Lit Witch:  Yes, I do!  In fact, Tom was the character I was thinking of when I wrote this question, though I did mention that Mary was my favorite member of the supporting cast!  Both are great.]

Q: What awards have you won as an author?

A:  I won an Emerging Writers Award in the literary journal, Our Stories, for my short story Lakeside Vigil. It was recently published in ‘Best of Our Stories- Volume 2’, Alexis F. Santi, Editor. (Warning: it’s creepy!)

Q: I see from your website that you are a book club member and huge proponent of book clubs in general. What do you think book clubs bring to the experience of reading?

A:  Endless growth and possibility! A good book club chooses their reads carefully, be they fiction or non-fiction, and a hearty group discussion forces the reader to delve deeper, to consider alternative points of view and to challenge long-held assumptions. One learns to read critically, to develop an appreciation for well-written works, and to discern those that are flawed, and why. Most importantly, one learns about themselves and how they might open their minds to the viewpoints of others.

Q: I hear you have another mystery in the works! Any teasers you can share from your upcoming book?

A:  My next novel is historical fiction, set in London in 1947 (post WWII) and in 1917 (WWI). The wars were only twenty-five years apart and my story covers two generations. This is an unforgettable and most unlikely love story that follows the life of Penelope Wares, the first woman to photograph the war front in France. When she returns to London, she tragically disappears and her son pledges to discover what happened to her, for although his father claims she died in childbirth, he remembers her vividly. It is the first of many lies his father told him, and under the floor board in the attic, the truth awaits, if only he has the nerve to lift it up. Thus the story begins…

Many thanks to Tina Rosenberg for taking the time to share her thoughts with all of us here at The Lit Witch.  For more information about Tina and her books, check out  her website.   Additionally, Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue is available for sale at:

Amazon: Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue

Barnes and Noble:  Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue

iUniverse:  Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue

And finally, good news for Kindle, Nook  and Sony Reader users!  Tina reports that the e-book version should be available from Amazon and B&N next month!

]]> http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/author-interview-tina-rosenberg/feed/ 0 litwitch Rosenberg http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/big-news-from-the-lit-witch/ http://thelitwitch.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/big-news-from-the-lit-witch/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:02:20 +0000 litwitch http://thelitwitch.com/?p=531 ]]> Stay tuned because the Lit Witch has some exciting posts coming up this weekend!

Tomorrow, I will post my interview with Tina Rosenberg, author of Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue.  You may recall that I recently reviewed her book here on The Lit Witch.  She very graciously consented to an interview and I’ll be posting our little question and answer session here tomorrow!  This is the first official Lit Witch Author Interview, so I’m very excited!

Secondly, this week’s book review will be on Freeze Frame by Peter May.  Mystery fans will definitely want to check it out.  This book is the fourth in his “Enzo Files” series and was just released 2 days ago.  The publisher sent me a last-minute review copy and my review will be posted on Saturday. Stop by and read my thoughts on this one and share your own thoughts in the comments!

And finally, I have recently partnered with Doubleday Books for occasional BOOK GIVEAWAYS here at The Lit Witch!  That’s right,  people: The Lit Witch will be giving away free books from Doubleday.  Check back often, as I’ll be posting reviews and occasional related book giveaways of Doubleday titles.

I think that about catches us up on recent news from The Lit Witch!  How’s your week going?

The video trailer has been released and you can watch it here.   And on that note, there seems to be a lot of web buzz today that Tim Burton already wants to do a movie version of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  Interesting!

This week for Teaser Tuesday (the only book meme that I follow) I am mixing things up a bit and posting a teaser from a book I just finished.  That’s partly because I love this book and partly because I really haven’t gotten started on this week’s galley of The Poacher’s Son.  Since I’m obviously not on any particular page right now, I just let it fall open and here’s our teaser:

“I could tell from her shallow breathing that she was alive, but my hands were trembling so, I couldn’t track her pulse.  Then, for a second, she opened her eyes.”

—from Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue by Tina Rosenberg

About Teaser Tuesday:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS

Post your teaser (or link to it) in the comments so we can all enjoy them!

Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue

Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue

by Tina Rosenberg

Published by iUniverse

ISBN-13: 978-1440197147

Hardcover, $26.95

ebook available? April 2010

Tina Rosenberg’s Glenapp Castle: A Scottish Intrigue originally caught my eye for local interest reasons.  The author lives in Columbus, Ohio so the press release stood out amongst the scores of PR materials that cross my desk.  Interestingly, Rosenberg undertook the writing of this book after a trip to Scotland – and a stay at the real Glenapp Castle.  The owners graciously agreed to let her use it as the setting for this book.  It is illustrated by her daughter, Brooke Rosenberg Marvin.

The Description (from the press release): Tina Rosenberg’s debut novel, “Glenapp Castle – A Scottish Intrigue,” published by iUniverse, brings the folklore and beauty of Scotland’s coastline to life in the midst of a couple’s struggle to discover the dark secrets haunting their newly purchased castle.  When Eva and Andrew Campbell buy the fire-ravaged Victorian castle and its thirty-acre estate on a whim with plans to create a world-class hotel-by-the-sea, they dismiss warnings of ghostly spirits inhabiting their new home. It soon becomes clear there is indeed something mysterious within the walls of Glenapp Castle, something they cannot explain but which holds the key to age-old rivalries and long-held secrets … and murder.

The Review: What better setting for a ghostly tale of love, loss and murder than a Victorian Castle on Scotland’s shore?  Glenapp Castle is told from several points of view, particularly those of Tom Hutcheson and Andrew and Eva Campbell.  As the story opens, Eva and Andrew have purchased the run-down, dilapidated, burned-out ruin of a castle with plans for refurbishing it and opening a hotel there.  They hire a reluctant Tom Hutcheson to revive the castle gardens with no knowledge of the history of Glenapp Castle… or Tom’s role in that history.  With each chapter, the story shifts between narrators… and between past and present… slowly unveiling the grim history of Glenapp as it relates to the present day and the ghosts therein.  In the hands of a lesser writer, this round-robin approach to the narrative would very likely have resulted in a choppy and disjointed story line.  But Rosenberg masterfully blends points of view with past and present so seamlessly that I barely noticed the transitions.

The best character in this novel by far is Tom Hutcheson.  The reader follows Tom as he grows up in the servant’s quarters at Glenapp (the son of a former maid), falls in love, wins a curling championship, endures tragedy, and witnesses the crimes of the castle’s utterly soulless previous owner, Sir John McPhee. (Readers who re-discover an interest in curling at each winter Olympic games will enjoy the timely occurrence of the sport here!)  Tom’s story is at once heartbreaking and enthralling… and it is through his eyes that we learn the history of evil at Glenapp: events that ultimately lead to murder.

In the present, Eva and Andrew Campbell renovate and revive Glenapp Castle in every way.  Unable to bear children of their own, they find themselves legal guardians of Issie, a vivacious little girl whose mother (Andrew’s cousin) is killed in a car crash.  Andrew, a skeptic, is shocked to learn that people in this modern day and age actually believe that Glenapp Castle is haunted.   Their story largely follows Andrew’s unwilling transition from skeptic to believer as well as Eva’s awkward transition from a life with no hope of children to that of unexpected motherhood.  All are startled to learn that even Issie’s biological father has shadowy ties to Glenapp’s past.  As the Campbell’s interest in their castle’s history grows, their story merges with Tom’s to paint a complete picture of Glenapp Castle and it’s inhabitants… both living and dead.  Toss in a colorful cast of supporting characters (my favorite amongst those being Andrew’s clairvoyant mother) and you’ve got one heck of a supernatural page-turner!  Rosenberg also does an admirable job of weaving traditional Scottish folklore into the story.  (Never, EVER build your home in the path of a fairy trail!)

For all of its extraordinary strengths, Glenapp Castle does have a few weaknesses.  Some of the characters who play large parts in the castle’s initial story of betrayal and murder just sort of get dropped from the ranks without much explanation for what becomes of them.  The resolution of the ghost story within the story is disappointingly anti-climactic.  The story’s villian, Sir John McPhee, is so completely depraved and disgusting a human being that he comes off a bit one-dimensional.  And for all my admiration of Tina Rosenberg and her efforts here, I must admit that she lost me a little when one of the later chapters was narrated by the family dog.  All of that aside, I can readily forgive those little flaws in exchange for a ripping good read.  I can unhesitatingly recommend this book to my friends and readers.

The Bottom Line: A great rainy-day read or local book club selection.   Grab yourself a copy, brew a pot of tea and enjoy!

[My sincere thanks to Vicki Bohlsen at Trandy Minds PR, Inc. for providing me a review copy of this book.]

The illustrations themselves are cute and brightly colored (lots of primary colors)… nice for any children’s book.  My kids had fun trying to figure out which bear was which and declared that they liked the pictures overall.  Unfortunately, the pages with the text on them are different colors carried over from those illustrations.  Some are very dark, which makes for some seriously low-contrast reading in places.  The black-on-brick-red page is the worst.  Definite negative.

While my review of the finished product doesn’t make me want to drop the rating below Good, it doesn’t boost it either. In fact, if I had such a system, I would probably downgrade the book to Good Minus based on it’s visual impact and low contrast in spots.  I still think that Make That a Table For Seven is a good read for small children… especially adopted children… and I commend the Davis’ on this first effort.

Cunard Line announces the return of their popular Literature and Liners series as part of Cunard Insights, the line’s award-winning onboard enrichment programme. Introduced in 2009, Literature and Liners provides guests sailing on select Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossings the opportunity to interact with some of the literary world’s most intriguing figures. Best-selling authors scheduled to sail as part of this year’s programme are Kate Atkinson, John Berendt, Bill Bryson and Joanne Harris. Guests can look forward to engaging Q&A discussions, lectures, book signings and readings with select titles to be featured in the Cunard Book Club.

A literary cruise theme?  Love it!  I wonder if I can think of a reason why I simply MUST take a transatlantic cruise this year….

Until Monday, the highest price ever commanded for a comic book was $317,000.  That record has now been blown away twice in one week.  ”I think this is ushering in a whole new ballgame,” the sales director at Heritage told the Washington Post. “This is going to give a boost to the . . . highest-grade of all comics.”

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A Dark Matter

by Peter Straub

Doubleday, February 2010

ISBN13: 978-0385516389

Hardcover, $26.95

I deviated a little from my typical genres to give Peter Straub’s A Dark Matter a try this week.  It earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly last month and the book description made it sound like a bit of a spine-tingler, so why not?

The Description (from Indie Bound): The charismatic and cunning Spencer Mallon is a campus guru in the 1960s, attracting the devotion of… his young acolytes.  After he invites his most fervent followers to attend a secret ritual in a local meadow, the only thing that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body—and the shattered souls of all who were present.

Years later, one man attempts to understand what happened to his wife and to his friends by writing a book about this horrible night, and it’s through this process that they begin to examine the unspeakable events that have bound them in ways they cannot fathom, but that have haunted every one of them through their lives.

The Review:  How do you take a fairly uninspired short story about a bunch of hippies who accidently open a portal to hell and turn it into a full length novel?  Tell it over and over again from 5 different points of view.  Throw in a cast of equally uninspired characters, a dash of gore (to offset the lack of scariness) and some big words like “obstreperous” and you’ve got the recipe for A Dark Matter.  Ta da.

Gosh, the premise of this one sounded SO good: a bunch of kids follow their guru into a meadow, something horrible happens, and the ones that don’t die or disappear emerge broken, blind or insane….  It’s grim, but it sounds interesting, doesn’t it?  Sadly, the reality doesn’t live up to the premise.  The story never really gets moving.  It just gets retold by each of the central characters with an extra detail here and there and with not so much as an “aha!” moment at the end.  I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what’s missing here.  It just isn’t good… or scary… or spine-tingling…

What I CAN put my finger on is how one-dimensional the characters are.  They are cut-and-pasted out of any nameless teen slasher movie:  the hopelessly beautiful girl who doesn’t do or contribute anything except being hopelessly beautiful, the menacing frat guy, the menacing frat guy’s side-kick, the tomboy who’s “just one of the guys,” the handsome natural-leader guy.  Blah blah blah.  And of course every one of them has “daddy issues,” which is why they fall for the spellbinding, father-replacing guru guy.  Why is he spellbinding?  Don’t know, really. Even he isn’t  developed much beyond the fact that he looks like Indiana Jones.

There is one exception in this cast of pancake-flat characters… and that exception is Howard “Hootie” Bly.  Driven insane by the events in the meadow, he spends his life in an asylum unable to communicate except in quotes from Nathaniel Hawthorne.  I was fascinated by Hootie Bly.  In fact, Hootie alone was the deciding factor between a “Poor” rating and the “Fair” that I actually give this book.  Loved Hootie!

The bottom line: A lackluster, largely uninteresting read with one notable character.  I noticed earlier today that on Amazon, A Dark Matter has a 3-star overall review.  And that’s because there is an almost 50/50 split between one- and five-star reviews amongst Straub fans.  So I’m guessing that you’re either going to love this book or hate it.  Personally, if I had it to do over and was still in the mood for some dark lit, I’d leave this book at the library and re-read Needful Things.

First Drood, now this.  Clearly, I’ve been putting too much faith in Publisher’s Weekly as of late.  The Lit Witch is displeased.  My cauldron for a page-turner!!