Once again, we are pleased to have Kevin Tipple as our guest reviewer. An avid mystery reader, Kevin's blog keeps people up to date with information about mysteries, upcoming books, and more. Check it out at Kevin's Corner.
Reviewed by Kevin Tipple
It is late January of 1960 as Styx & Stone: An Ellie
Stone Mystery begins and Ellie Stone gets some bad news from the local
sheriff. Her father was found
unconscious in his New York City apartment and is now in the hospital in
critical condition. Eleonora “Ellie” Stone, a reporter and the only living
child of Professor Abraham Stone, is going to have to take some time off from
her job in New Holland and go back home to see about her dad. Their
relationship is not a good one as they are estranged and now she is faced with
dealing with their past issues as well as the current crisis.
Upon arrival she soon learns that it was not a stroke or a
heart attack that put her father in the hospital. He was violently assaulted
and his home office and library was ransacked. This occurred just days after
her brother’s grave was severely vandalized. While the police believe the
events are not related and the assault on her father, a renowned Dante scholar
and esteemed professor, was nothing more than a random burglary, Ellie has her
doubts. Especially since another professor, well known to her father and a
colleague, died in somewhat mystery circumstances in close proximity time wise
to the assault on her father.
That fact, what happened to her brother’s grave, the very
specific damage in her father’s apartment, and more makes Ellie question the
police investigation from the start. Ellie considers herself a “modern woman”
and has no problem with asking questions and pushing for answers when she isn’t
thinking about the past or enjoying the pleasures of the present. She drinks,
she smokes, she likes a good time with a man who strikes her fancy, and Ellie
won’t put up with nonsense from others.
Styx & Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery is the start of a
series and a good one. While all the characters are complicated in this tale to
some degree (no cookie cutter cardboard cutouts need apply), Ellie Stone is
exceedingly complicated. There is depth and nuance to this character that is
rarely found in the first novel of a series. She also has a subtle sarcastic
streak that appealed very much to this reader.
While historical mysteries are not my usual reading
material, I thoroughly enjoyed Styx & Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery. A
complicated tale with characters of depth and nuance, the mystery itself was a
difficult one to solve kept this reader engaged, and the read was flat out very
entertaining on all levels. Styx & Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery was a very
good book and is strongly recommended.
Styx & Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery
James W. Ziskin
http://www.jameseziskin.com
Seventh Street Books
http://www.seventhstreetbooks.com
October 2013
ISBN# 978-1-61614-819-5
Paperback (also available as an eBook)
270 Pages
$15.95
Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public
Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2019
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