Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
In the first few years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, there were numerous plots and counter-plots to try to put Mary, Queen of the Scots, on the throne. Many powerful nobles, especially in the north, had strong Papist sympathies and ultimately many rebelled. Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Walter Pendennis is aghast to learn his wife is in league with the rebels.
Sir Walter travels to Hamburg to ask his good friend Susanna, Lady Appleton, to help him infiltrate the rebel leaders so that he can prevent a civil war. Susanna, loyal to Her Majesty and relishing a good adventure, agrees to help. She goes to the estate of the Earl of Northumberland with false messages and soon joins the Countess' entourage. She gathers evidence on rebel activity even as someone wants her dead.
Kathy Lynn Emerson brings vivid color to a tumultuous time during the early stages of the Elizabethan era. Readers learn that the intermingling of religious conflict with politics leads to thoughts of rebellion. The heroine is independent and morally righteous, but tempered with a pragmatic streak. FACE DOWN BEFORE THE REBEL HOOVES is an exciting historical mystery.
PALE SHADOW Robert Skinner Poisoned Pen, Aug 2001, $23.95, 227 pp. ISBN: 1890208663
In 1940 New Orleans, Dixie Ray Chavez informs his client Santiago "Spanish" Compasso that he killed Luis Martinez's girlfriend Linda Blanc without obtaining the information. Dixie feels that either Linda had no idea where her paramour is hiding and where he concealed the missing counterfeit plates, or she was one hell of a woman. Either way, Luis remains missing and Spanish remains upset because he wants the plates back now to print new twenty and fifty dollar bills.
Dixie sets in motion a whole new plan to force Luis to surface. Negro Detective Squad police officer Israel Duggett leads the investigation into Linda's brutal murder. The Treasury Department has interest in the case too because of the victim's connection to Luis and a flow of counterfeit money throughout much of the southeast.
Meanwhile Father Maldonar asks Luis' friend private investigator Wesley Farrell to find the missing man because back in El Paso Luis' mother is dying from cancer. Wesley begins to make inquiries into the whereabouts of his former mentor without knowing that Luis is the focus of a manhunt from both sides of the law.
The fourth Farrell historical mystery is an exciting investigative tale that brings to life 1940 New Orleans. The engaging story line makes the era seem very real with regional tidbits that intermingle quite effortlessly into the main plot. The cast is powerfully described while adding ambiance and depth to the authentic feel of Robert Skinner's superb story.