Reseñas
CALLGIRL : Confessions of a Double Life por Jeanette Angell
This is the second book I've read in the Provincetown Mystery series, but it could easily be read as a stand-alone. Impetuous Sydney Riley is the wedding and events planner for the Race Point Inn, one of Provincetown, MA’s most prestigious hotels. Additionally, she is an amateur detective who has solved several murders, which have been chronicled in the 8-book series. This novel finds Sydney's parents visiting her for a few days, so in addition to preparing for an upcoming wedding and making sure her parents (including her overbearing mother) are entertained, she is trying to solve the kidnapping and murder of the wealthy owner of a local whale watching fleet.
The killer was a surprise to me, even though in hindsight I realized the author sprinkled clues throughout the book. What makes this so entertaining and a notch above the typical cozy is Sydney's internal sarcastic monologue - the humorous conversations and one-liners she wishes she would actually say to her mother. She has a great relationship with her boyfriend Ali, who is in law enforcement, and her close friendship with her girlfriend, Mirella, demonstrates Sydney's personality and intelligence.
As the book jacket says, this is a novel of irony and intrigue that often humorously converges between family and fatality.
A fun, exciting and entertaining read with likable amateur sleuth and wedding planner Sydney Riley solving two murders at the Provincetown International Film Festival. This was the sixth in the series but my first, and I had no trouble keeping up with it. The mystery was well-thought out, with several possible suspects that kept me guessing up to the end. I especially liked the exciting climax where Sydney finds herself trapped with the killer. This book deserves 4 stars because Sydney didn't need her boyfriend to rescue her - she was able to save herself and cleverly capture the murderer. Kudos to the author for a very readable novel with an intelligent heroine.
One thing that really stood out to me was the mention of the Covid-19 virus (although not specifically named) on page 214. I know this book comes out on June 1st, but I wonder when de Beauvoir had put it in the story, and if she had to do a bit of a rewrite. But having received an ARC in paperback form I can’t see it being reprinted to include that bit. Just something interesting I noticed…
The mystery was written well and I didn’t know the killer until towards the end and de Beauvoir included lots of suspects and some red herrings. After the killer was caught there was a second incident that happened, and while it was fine, I also thought it was a bit weird and felt like it could have been left out of the story. It felt like it came out of almost nowhere and was rushed.
Since I haven’t read the mystery series from the beginning I admit I’m not as invested in the characters, but they were still written very well. Even though Mirela is only in the book a small amount, I wanted to get to know her more and I could see her being someone I would be friends with. Ari, the boyfriend, annoyed me a bit. It’s book six and if you’re not supporting your girlfriend 100% percent by now it’s just something that annoys me in any cozy mystery series, but this wouldn’t deter me from reading more books in the series. And another character in the book was Provincetown itself. The descriptions of the tourist town made me feel as if I was there, and reminded me a lot of a mashup of my hometown, Eagle River, and of another town in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dells.
I would suggest you start the Sydney Riley Mysteries from the beginning with Death of a Bear.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
They allow us to explore avenues or ideas that we wouldn't have access to otherwise.
I remember liking this book and finding it interesting (even though it's been so many years ago since I read it, wow) although I feel like the main narrator was rather pretentious at parts. I remember a lot of pseudonyms and all-knowingness that really affected the way that I read the book. For so much of it I felt like I was being talked at rather than shown so much of her world.
I feel like if I were to reread it I would be much, much more critical of the author and the book itself but at the time it was an interesting diversion and something that really satisfied me.
But, in future I will definitely be looking for books that are more sex-positive, more critical and more inclusive and intersectional. c:
It wasn’t terrible, just very implausible. Martine is such a neophyte that most of her deductions or breakthroughs come from outside her control and some are fantastic and silly. It wasn’t hard to peg the real killer either and so what I’m sure was supposed to be a surprising and tense chase through the streets of Montreal was tedious and so I skipped most of it. I really didn’t need the killer’s insane cackling in my head. Not unless you’re Sideshow Bob.
Interspersed with Martine’s narrative is a bunch of diary-type sections from the POV of one of the inmates of the titular asylum. I wasn’t sure where the writer was going with this, but surely it would figure large. And large it did. I remember vaguely hearing about the Duplesseis Orphans and the heinous outrages committed by the Canadian government and the Catholic church, but didn't remember much about them. The writer manages to bring the right amount of pathos and suffering, but the MK Ultra connection seemed like pure imagination until I got to her notes at the end. Seems there was something to suspect there all along.
That Annie’s removal and placement into a nice home was just another sick experiment was really sad. You wanted one of these kids to catch a break, but that’s now how it went. Not at all. Gruesome from start to finish. Effective, too.
And I couldn’t help but laugh at all the English v. French crap. It’s so funny considering they’re all Canadians and that the French they speak there is barely coherent to some residents of France. And shit, aren’t both populations just descendents of invaders anyway? None of them have a claim on what is and isn’t the “real” Canada or whatever they’re arguing about. Idiots. Martine’s moaning about “her city” really drove me crazy, too. She was so proud to be ignorant of the most glaring and obnoxious Americanism. That got old. And her Catholic apologies. Ugh. Go put your head back in the sand, sister.
1 
Bookmarque | 6 reseñas más. | Feb 13, 2017 |
Bookmarque | 6 reseñas más. | Feb 13, 2017 | 
The main character, Martine LeDuc, publicity director for the city, is sympathetic and likeable, but I have to admit I’m developing a bit of a literary crush on her side-kick, the suave détective-lieutenant Julian Fletcher. As with her earlier novel, the city of Montreal actually becomes a living, breathing character, with the author's colourful and clear descriptions of the city and its bilingual culture.
Rating: This was a fun, interesting read. Although characters from de Beauvoir’s first novel return, you can read Deadly Jewels without having to read Asylum first. 4.5 stars.
Recommended for: mystery lovers, readers who like books set in Montreal
Asylum is a compelling mystery with a great pace. The real-life story of the Duplessis Orphans is heartbreaking, and the author pays them a beautiful tribute with this book. From the 1950s to the 1970s, single mothers or poor families were forced to abandon their children in orphanages. The kids were then transferred to asylums because the government provided more funding to these institutions. At the same time, the CIA was running a mind-control research program called MK-Ultra in Quebec and was testing drug-induced mind-control techniques on children in the asylums. As a result, these poor kids were abused and tortured, and many of them died. This dark part of Quebec’s history should not be ignored, and I admire Jeannette de Beauvoir for writing about it.
I was also drawn to Asylum because of where it is taking place. I live a couple hours’ drive from Montreal and I have been there many times, so I enjoyed the references to the Old City and other landmarks. However, I thought it was a bit of a stretch that a publicity director for the city of Montreal would help the police in a murder case. But once you accept this premise, the story is entertaining and the book hard to put down. I must say though that I did figure out who the killer was half-way through the book. But I think it was only by chance when I looked at the notes I was taking for this review. In the end, it was well worth my time to keep reading to know how Martine and Julian solved the case. I highly recommend this book.
Asylum was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.
To read the full review, please go to my blog (Cecile Sune - Book Obsessed).
Fast forward to current day Montreal, were in a short time, four women have been found raped, murdered, and posed on park benches. Concerned about Montreal's reputation as a tourist destination, the mayor appoints his director of public relations, Martine LeDuc, to liaise with the police to report on progress and pressure a resolution. Martine goes beyond these instructions and discovers the link between the four murder victims is the Duplessis Orphans. Woven in with Martine's efforts to solve the mystery is a back story of an orphan named Gabrielle who is trying to survived the asylum.
The strength of this novel is in those scenes at the asylum. I also loved all the rich detail about Montreal and its bilingual culture. And of course I was fascinated to learn about this dark period of Quebec history.
2 Nickelini | 6 reseñas más. | Mar 30, 2015 |
Nickelini | 6 reseñas más. | Mar 30, 2015 | ASYLUM is a shocking, disturbing, and harrowing, yet absorbing mystery by Jeannette de Beauvoir, of innocent children, orphans— being transported to insane asylums in the middle of the night, subjected to torture, harsh treatment, appalling and inhuman experiments, mind control, medical experimentation, and sexual abuse at the hands of psychiatrists, priests, nuns and administrators.
Montreal had been experiencing random killings.Women all over the city were being advised to take precautions not to take the bus or the Metro alone, purchase extra locks, and tone up the security. Now the body count is up to four women, in the middle of prime tourist season; found brutally murdered and posed on park benches, throughout the city over several months.
Martine LeDuc is the director of public relations the mayor's office in Montreal and she becomes involved in helping police detective Julian Fletcher, after her boss becomes concerned they are rapidly becoming the murder capital of North America --concerned about the city’s image.
Being she is in public relations it is her duty to help smooth over this situation. She is not the police and not qualified; however, she is to act as a liaison between the parties. What connects these four women? Appears they may have a connection to the Cité de Saint-Jean-de-Dieu Asylum.
We hear from a desperate child (diary) being transported from an orphanage to a strange, scary, and chilling place of screams, offering no protection where the only lesson that mattered, was how to survive--to a disturbing investigation (Watson/Holmes), uncovering dark political secrets dating back to the 1950s.
From an orphanage scandal in the 1950s and sixties with churches running orphanages or asylums where at the time it was a sin to have baby out of wedlock—a social sin, or families who could not afford their children, or one parent – they were left at the orphanage.
However, some discovered federal grants and support money offered from Canadian government for kids in asylums more than orphanages. Suddenly a number of orphans became mentally ill, sane turned to insane and they were all locked up together.
Quebec soon labeled these children, either crazy or mentally deficient and locked them away (Duplessis orphans) and after he died, they kept taking orphans thru the sixties. From straitjackets, electroshock therapy, hydrotherapy, excessive medication, lobotomies, where humans became guinea pigs for pharmaceutical companies.
Martine finds herself imprisoned underneath the old asylum, tunnels, drugged, thinking she may be in purgatory or dead--as a race against time for a chilling and complex suspense mystery.
The author delivers a heartbreaking tale— yet informative account surrounding political tensions, and controversial issues during this shocking time—much of what fictional protagonist Martine LeDuc learned about Montreal’s past, is unfortunately true.
As the author mentions, yet today, evidence reveals the Duplessis Orphans, railroaded into psychiatric hospitals as retarded and mentally ill, were being administered the powerful drug of chlorpromazine as early as 1947 with debilitating effects.
An alarming reality, the federal government offered more monetary support for asylums than it did for orphanages—a financial incentive, plus the medical experimentation reward, as these institutions continued the scheme developed from the 1940s-1960s, obtaining additional federal funding for thousands of children.
Appears there still remains controversy over the old cemetery at the Cite de St-Jean De-Dieu asylum with nameless children. The author offers a partial list of those identified, as a list of minors under the age of 21 buried in Saint Jean de Dieu Asylum Cemetery, between the years 1933– 1958.
From the chilling front cover, to the detailed descriptions, extensive research, vivid settings of Montreal, political tensions, and real-life events; Jeannette de Beauvoir, delivers an absorbing mystery suspense; an intense page-turner thriller.
One of the problems with the book is Martine as investigator. She is charged with being a liaison; the mayor tells her that her task is to “’make sure that there’s a report on my desk every morning, recounting the previous day’s activities and what progress is being made’” because he undervalues her job and thinks she has sufficient free time. She agrees that she is “’a sort of glorified go-between’” but then she says, “’I think maybe [the mayor’s] hoping that someone outside the establishment might see something that everybody else is too close to the investigation to see.” Really? The next thing we know she is off investigating and conducting interviews. She initially thinks she is inadequate even for the role of liaison: “’isn’t there someone else who is better qualified – who has more experience with police work?’” Shortly after, however, she sees herself as eminently capable and able to criticize the police investigation: “’There might be something there [Julian’s] colleagues didn’t see, or think was important’” and “’[Julian’s]people didn’t seem to want anything from there; they left her apartment pretty fast.’”
There is the same type of problem with Julian, Martine’s partner. Julian tells her, “’I’m not an investigator. I’m here strictly in the capacity of nanny, because your boss pisses the hell out of my boss.” Later, however, he contradicts himself and says that, “’My boss has taken me off the case.’” He even muddies the waters further: “’Why do you think I was put on the case? I’m the resident bad boy. And when you decided to investigate, they probably thought you were harmless, you’ve never solved a crime in your life.’”
Incompetent police detectives are a staple of mysteries, but in this book, they are made to be so inadequate as to be laughable. They knowingly allow someone who has no real knowledge of police work to conduct a private investigation? In her first interview, Martine is unable to uncover “information that the police didn’t have.” The police department apparently has no computer experts, and the fact that a murder victim had drugs in her system is dismissed as irrelevant? And they send in a 70-year-old woman to carry out a rescue? Is it fear of police incompetence or Martine’s stupidity that has her not calling 911 when her life is in danger?
Martine’s discoveries come so easily; she has incredible luck. She receives information from an “anonymous e-mail correspondent” and assistance from someone who is “really high up” in government circles, someone “’willing to talk, but only if [Martine doesn’t] know who he is.’” But, conveniently for the addition of suspense, she has no luck contacting her partner when she most needs him.
A mystery must have suspense, of course, but some of the scenes added for suspense just do not work. There is a mysterious night time visitor to Martine’s office. Considering who the visitor is, his behaviour makes no sense whatsoever, and there is no explanation as to how he got into a secured building. The final scene, which is supposed to be a life-threatening confrontation, turns into a side show with the perpetrator cackling and confessing.
Having said all this, there is one aspect of the book that is commendable. It is very informative about the Duplessis orphans and the CIA experiments conducted in Montreal. The author gives the perspective of one of the orphans through a series of diary entries. These historical events described are not well known, but are something about which Canadians should be more knowledgeable. The Author’s Note at the end will surely send many a reader searching for further information.
I think this book has potential, but it requires honing. It is too melodramatic and implausible, though it does offer insight into a dark chapter in Canadian history.
Note: I received an ARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.
A well written light read. A proffessor by day becomes a high class $200 a night call girl - the desciption itself is enough to make many women buy through sheer curiosity. The author delves into a different world and makes it plausible. Not too much drama here, no literary feats, but good fun
Jeannette Angell's books cover a wide range of topics and settings, from historical novels to the high-drama The Illusionist bringing us to her two memoirs about the sex trade. Like most writers, she states her interest in the gray areas, those that lurk between the caricatures of "good" and "bad."
Callgirl was a fun book with a happy tone that told of Angell's own double life as a struggling professor by day and a call girl by night. Perhaps a bit too happy to be completely believable, but this was easily chalked up to the author, who espouses legalized prostitution.
In Madam Angell has put herself into the first person shoes of Peach, the southern belle owner of the outcall agency for which Angell worked. These two real life women were and are quite close. Angell wants nothing but the best for Peach and Peach wants nothing but the best from her girls. Perhaps it's the very fact that a real "Peach" exists somewhere that makes this book feel so downright cautious and just plain sugarcoated at times. Angell could do with her own character whatever she needed, but with someone she cares about, the writing feels less candid and immediate.
That is my main gripe with Madam. While never insincere or contrived, it is far from honest in tone. It feels forced. More than once, I found myself so distanced from the characters that I put it down and read other books. Only after being urged to review it did I pick it up again.
There's also the obvious fact that Callgirl did very well commercially. Surely there was pressure to continue the momentum, which may be why the book feels downright wooden in spots.
I would only recommend this book to people who read Callgirl, loved it and must have more about this subject from this particular author. Piles of similar books are available, and while I haven't read them all, I am certain there must be something less labored than this one.
---------------------
"The Duplessis Orphans were the victims of a scheme in which approximately 20,000 orphaned children were falsely certified as mentally ill by the government of the province of Quebec, Canada, and confined to psychiatric institutions.....
...The Quebec government received subsidies from the federal government for building hospitals, but hardly anything for having orphanages.
Lunatic Asylum Act of 1909 governed mental institution admissions until 1950.
The law stated the insane could be committed for three reasons: to care for them, to help them, or a security measure to maintain social order in public and home life.
However, the act did not define what a disruption of social order was, leaving the decision to admit patients up to the psychiatrists.
The doctors diagnosed the orphanage children with various mental illnesses while ignoring their actual mental state
Children in Quebec orphanages were therefore declared “mentally deficient.”
Schooling stopped, and the orphans became inmates in a mental institution where they were sexually, physically, and mentally abused.
Children who complained about the conditions were sent to local reform school.
A commission in the early 1960s investigating mental institutions revealed one-third of the 22,000 patients did not belong.
The Bédard report of 1962 put an end to the outdated concept of an “asylum,” while many of the orphans reached adulthood and could leave the facility."
The statement above is a Wikipedia explanation of the Duplessis orphan.
Este sitio utiliza cookies para ofrecer nuestros servicios, mejorar el rendimiento, análisis y (si no estás registrado) publicidad. Al usar LibraryThing reconoces que has leído y comprendido nuestros términos de servicio y política de privacidad. El uso del sitio y de los servicios está sujeto a estas políticas y términos.