Dorsai!

 

By Gordon R. Dickson

Donal Graeme was an odd boy, a condition he never outgrew. But he graduated from military school and went on to a career as an officer, as was the tradition of both his family and the planet he lived on, Dorsai. 

Donal always seemed to know what was going to happen long before it became apparent to even the most experienced of people. He used his intuition to place himself where it would advantage his objectives the most. He made a lot of enemies, but he also won some devoted allies. 

Eventually he rose to the one of the highest positions in the galaxy which put him up against one of the master manipulators, a man he had first encountered straight out of military school. And in the middle of it all was Anea, a woman who stole Donal's heart at first glance but who despises him with all her might.

I found this book quite boring. It is mostly battles and politics with a very tiny bit of romance thrown in. I just skimmed most of the battles scenes and the political mumbo jumbo. And even though it is not a long story, just a little over 200 pages in paperback, I just wanted it to be over. Tedious read.

The Importance of Being Ernestine

 

By Dorothy Cannell

When Ellie finds out her housekeeper is moonlighting as an assistant to a private detective, of course, she has to get involved too. So the two women set out to solve the mystery of the vengeful maid while the private detective is out of town. 

Lady Krumley fired a maid she accused of stealing a valuable piece of jewelry. The maid, Flossie, denied it and died cursing the Krumley family. Over the years, various Krumleys have died in strange and peculiar ways. So Lady Krumley wants to track down Flossie's daughter, Ernestine, in hopes of doing right by the girl and lifting Flossie's curse on the family. 

So posing as decorators, Ellie and Roxie, infiltrate the Krumley family home, Moultty Towers, and attempt to figure out why so many members of the family have met untimely ends.

This was a fun silly murder mystery and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Review by Publishers Weekly.

Hard Eight

 

By Janet Evanovich

Stephanie is off on another adventure, this time to help out a neighbor who posted a bond for her daughter and now the daughter has gone missing and the neighbor is in danger of losing her home that she used as collateral for the bond. 

The missing woman, Evelyn, has a creepy landlord who suspects she stole a valuable artifact from him. And he thinks Stephanie knows where Evelyn is hiding and proceeds to threaten Stephanie with all kinds of dirty tricks, including leaving the body of Evelyn's estranged spouse in Stephanie's apartment. Of course Stephanie's car gets destroyed, a running gag in the Stephanie Plum novels.

Morelli and Stephanie are on the outs in this story and so she turns to the implacable Roger for help. She is going to have to pay a price for his help, but the price is one she had been rather looking forward to paying.

This was a fun and exciting story, if a bit gruesome at some points. Things get a bit rough, there's some torture and some dismemberment. But the wacky characters go a long ways to lighten up the story a lot.

Rogue Queen

 

By L. Sprague de Camp

The people of Ormazd live in a stratified society. The actual rulers are the members of the councils, the nominal rulers are the Queens, which are figureheads and also the only ones able to give birth. Then there are the workers, sterile females (or sterile males in some societies) who are the laborers and the soldiers. And finally, a few fertile males, the drones, whose only role is to service the Queen.

Come to this strange society are a group of offworlders, intent on tracking down the survivors of a previous expedition. Although the people of Ormazd are superficially similar to humans, they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live babies. All the eggs are laid by the queens only. 

Iroedh is a worker/soldier and a bit different. For one, she likes studying history and antiquities. For another, she has become close friends with one of the Queen's drones, Antis. She and another soldier are sent to liaison with the alien humans. The council is hoping the humans will use their offworld technology to help them overcome an aggressive neighboring community. But while she is a the human camp, Iroedh finds out that her dear friend, Antis, is due to executed and replaced by younger, more able drones. So she hatches a plot to rescue him by blackmailing one of the humans into using their helicopter to effect a jailbreak.

Her plan actually works and Antis is rescued and he and Ireodh later join the humans on an expedition to consult a local oracle. But the expedition finds themselves on the run when they are attacked by a gang of rebel drones, barely escaping with their lives. As Ireodh and Antis travel with the humans and learn more about their ways, they start to wonder about the very foundations of their own society. And the knowledge they gain reveals how they have all been abused and fooled by their selfish and cruel leaders.

Even though this story was written in the 1950s, it still makes for quite a good read. Some of the technology is a bit dated, but so what? It still was quite an adventure with lots going on in such a short novel. 

A Nun in the Closet

 

By Dorothy Gilman

A mysterious benefactor has left his 150 acre estate to the Sisters of St. Tabitha cloister. The abbess sent the two Sisters to take possession of the property that she felt were best equipped to cope with the outside world, Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe. 

When the two Sisters arrive at the property, they find a large Victorian house and barn that seem abandoned. But this is a house of secrets, the first of which is the wounded man hiding upstairs. 

He refuses to tell the two his name or how he came to be suffering from gunshot wounds but he asks for sanctuary before he collapses. The nuns decide to honor his request and set about patching him up and hiding him from nosey visitors, of which there is an unending stream. Some are obviously looking for the wounded man but others seem to be looking for something in the house, including the local sheriff. It isn't long before Sister John discovers a suitcase full of cash and Sister Hyacinthe 50 pounds of what she assumes is powdered sugar (it's not sugar). 

It's pretty apparent that the mysterious benefactor was either a gangster or an associate of gangsters. And those gangsters want their drugs and their money and the wounded man disguised as a nun hidden upstairs. But the Sisters can't call in the police because the sheriff is obviously not to be trusted. Good thing a camp of friendly hippies and their guru are willing to step in to help when the cops can't be trusted. 

This was a good story, even if a bit dated. Set in the early 1970s, with all the concerns of those days that haven't gotten any better in nearly 50 years, but the story is filled with an optimism that we could really use these days.