The Turquoise Mask

The Turquoise Mask
by Phyllis A. Whitney
Rating: ★★★½
isbn: 9780385085144
Publication Date: January 1, 1974
Pages: 250
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday

Wow, can Whitney be verbose. Her earlier work has always been better, in my opinion, but this one was an in-between – first published in 1974. Which makes the plotting excellent, and the abuse of the expository extreme. Unfortunately the expository gauntlet must be run for many chapters before a hint of the rewarding plot can be found.

I’m undecided on whether it’s worth the effort. The plotting was very well done. I was absolutely certain I knew who the villain was right up until almost the end, when she convinced me I was wrong, that it was really …. and then she blindsided me with the solution that was just unexpected. Whitney got huge bonus points for stunning me, but I’m not sure how I actually feel about it as a legitimate ending. It works, but it feels like it shouldn’t.

The characters, and the romance, were, as is typical with both Whitney’s writing and the time she wrote in, dramatic and overly simplified. Insta-love has nothing on romantic suspense from the 70’s; and characters’ personalities are never subtle or nuanced. If you accept this as the style of its time, it’s not an insurmountable problem.

The one thing Whitney never lost, no matter how many books she wrote, was her sense of place. I’m not sure I’ve ever read anybody better at putting the reader in whatever setting she wants them, and making them feel like they were there. Here the deserts of New Mexico are the backdrop, and though I’ve never in my life seen an adobe house, I feel like I’ve lived in one the last couple of days.

I’d neither recommend it nor deter anyone from this one; the exposition is a challenge, but if that slow build isn’t a deterrent, the story is one of her more complicated and compelling ones.

I read this for the Romantic Suspense square (which is on my card is the Psych square that’s been flipped), for Halloween Bingo 2020.

Halloween Bingo 2020: September 29 update

I’m shaking things up a bit. I’ve decided, after actually sitting down and looking at my card, to switch my Cozy Mystery read over to the Genre: Mystery square, as that gives me 4 called squares in a row in the 4th column. I’ve also switched my Spell Pack Wild Card Author from Conan Doyle to Patricia Briggs, because I should get something out of my recent re-read binge. So that takes care of A Grimm Tale. I have another author wild card I can use, but I’m going to hold that up my sleeve for now.

I’m currently reading Staked by Kevin Hearne for my Dead Lands square. If I had any sense of strategy, I’d hunker down and get Southern Gothic, Romantic Suspense (my Psych) and Trick or Tread read, as that would give me Bingo. Alas, mood reader. Perhaps after Staked I’ll make Phyllis Whitney’s Turquoise Mask next and knock off that Romantic Suspense/Psych square.

Calls made so far that are on my card:

*Note: I’ve removed Psych in favour of Romantic Suspense, as it’s the square I flipped, and American Horror Story has been transfigured into Spellbound

How it works:

If I read a square that hasn’t been called yet, a ghost of stickers-yet-to-come will appear; once the square has been called, the sticker will become fully corporeal. (Alas, this only works in regular browsers, but I’m in too deep to try to do something different now.) As the squares get ticked off, a fully formed image will appear. Previously, I posted the finished image, but this year I’m going to leave it a mystery.

Below is the table that will summarise the books I’ve read for each square, and note if I took advantage of one of the Spell Pack cards, and which one. Book Titles link to my review of the book here.

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories		The Sun Down Motel	Sept. 13
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic	Sept. 15
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery
X	Genre: Mystery	Sept. 3	Quick Study	Sept. 5
X	International Women of Mystery	Sept. 7	The Betel Nut Tree Mystery	Sept. 10
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard	Sept. 14
	Deadlands		Staked
	FREE SPACE	n/a
X	In the Dark, Dark Woods	Sept. 13	Imaginary Numbers	Sept. 12
	Psych / Romantic Suspense	Sept. 6	Turquoise Mask
Row #4
	American Horror Story/Spellbound		Ink & Sigil	Sept. 17
	A Grimm Tale		Burn Bright	Sept. 27
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
X	Monsters	Sept. 18	Half-off Ragnorok	Sept. 25
	Trick or Treat	Sept. 16
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
X	13	Sept. 1	The Thirteen Problems	Sept. 6
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
X	Murder Most Foul	Sept. 5	Extracurricular Activities	Sept. 3

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

Transfiguration Spell: Used to transform American Horror Story into Spellbound

Halloween Bingo 2020: September 19 update

After making progress on my bingo reads last week, I fell into another rabbit hole this week. I’ve been in the process of consolidating all my book data and reviews, and moving them into bookhype.com, a new site in beta at the moment that looks promising enough to make the effort. In doing so, I saw a couple of titles I had the sudden urge to re-read: Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs, and Angelfall, by Susan Ee. Neither are in my Bingo plans, and neither fit any of my remaining squares. Oops.

I did finish Ink & Sigil for my transfigured American Horror Story square (Spellbound), but I’m not sure if I can mark it yet, or if I have to wait for Spellbound to be called first.

Calls made so far that are on my card – as you can see, I really have no excuse to be so far behind:

*Note: I’ve removed Psych in favour of Romantic Suspense, as it’s the square I flipped, and American Horror Story has been transfigured into Spellbound

How it works:

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories		The Sun Down Motel	Sept. 13
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic	Sept. 15
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery		Quick Study	Sept. 5
	Genre: Mystery	Sept. 3
X	International Women of Mystery	Sept. 7	The Betel Nut Tree Mystery	Sept. 10
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard	Sept. 14
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE	n/a
X	In the Dark, Dark Woods	Sept. 13	Imaginary Numbers	Sept. 12
	Psych / Romantic Suspense	Sept. 6
Row #4
	American Horror Story/Spellbound	Sept. 10	Ink & Sigil	Sept. 17
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters	Sept. 18
	Trick or Treat	Sept. 16
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
X	13	Sept. 1	The Thirteen Problems	Sept. 6
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
X	Murder Most Foul	Sept. 5	Extracurricular Activities	Sept. 3

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

Transfiguration Spell: Used to transform American Horror Story into Spellbound

Halloween Bingo 2020: September 12 update

I’m currently going through a bingo-call dry spell, with only one call made in the last 5 that’s on my card, American Horror Story, which is going to get Spell-packed, because I don’t do horror. I’ll be using the Transfiguration Card to turn American Horror into Spellbound and plan on reading Kevin Hearne’s Ink and Sigil.

I’ve finished two squares since my last update, having read The Betel Nut Tree Mystery for International Women of Mystery, and Imaginary Numbers for In the Dark, Dark Woods. That gets me another square filled and another half-way there. As you can see, I’m strategy poor and am sort of reading all over the card as I choose books that strike my fancy.

What’s striking my fancy next is both my American Horror Story transfigured into Spellbound read, Ink and Sigil, and my Ghost Story read, The Sun Down Motel. I’ll likely start The Sun Down Motel first, so I can be reading it during daylight hours.

Calls made so far that are on my card:

*Note: I’ve removed Psych in favour of Romantic Suspense, as it’s the square I flipped.

How it works:

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery		Quick Study	Sept. 5
	Genre: Mystery	Sept. 3
X	International Women of Mystery	Sept. 7	The Betel Nut Tree Mystery	Sept. 10
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE	n/a
	In the Dark, Dark Woods		Imaginary Numbers	Sept. 12
	Psych / Romantic Suspense	Sept. 6
Row #4
	American Horror Story/Spellbound	Sept. 10
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters
	Trick or Treat
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
X	13	Sept. 1	The Thirteen Problems	Sept. 6
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
X	Murder Most Foul	Sept. 5	Extracurricular Activities	Sept. 3

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

Transfiguration Spell: Used to transform American Horror Story into Spellbound

Imaginary Numbers (InCryptid)

Imaginary Numbers
by Seanan McGuire
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 0756413788
Series: InCryptid #9
Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Pages: 431
Publisher: DAW Books

The InCryptid series is an outlier for me; it’s the only series I’ve ever read where I feel comfortable picking and choosing which books to read, and have no problem skipping those that don’t appeal to me. My favourites are the Verity novels, and in those novels one of the best characters in my opinion, was Sarah. So when this book came out, I was excited about seeing where the author would take this character when given her own space.

I went in with few expectations, but still, even though it was a good book I read in almost one sitting (I fell asleep with 10 pages to go), I was disappointed. It started off great but went pear shaped once Sarah was forced to work with the other cuckoos. Because at this point the story became more science fiction than urban fantasy, and I don’t like science fiction.

Still, I could have coped, but there were two biggies for me: 1. The all-or-nothing we have to save the world from annihilation trope drives me insane. Like nobody would notice this apocalyptic occurrence? It’s totally unreasonable and gets more unreasonable as the book comes to an end. 2. The end. It’s a damn cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers. Especially when the cliffhanger is in a book that’s just been released and how long am I going to have to wait until the resolution? Will I care by that point?

In spite of all this complaining, you’ll notice I still gave the book 4 stars. Because McGuire can write. She made me devour a story that was irritating me more and more from the mid-way point because her characters are awesome, and the dialog, oh, the dialog is a joy to read. So much sass and wit that’s perfectly balanced and never over-played. Also, the Aeslin mice – they’re always good for at least a 1/2 star bump.

I had planned to use this book for a Spell Pack card in Halloween Bingo, I think. But after reading it I realise it fits perfectly for the In the Dark, Dark Woods square, as most of the story takes place on the Price compound in the middle of the Oregon woods and Sarah is very descriptive about the drive through those woods to get to the compound. Also, 2 significant events to the plot take place in those woods.

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (Crown Colony, #2)

The Betel Nut Tree Mystery
by Ovidia Yu
Rating: ★★★½
Series: Crown Colony Mystery #2
Publication Date: June 12, 2018
Pages: 312
Publisher: Constable

What we came to think of as the betel nut affair began in the middle of a tropical thunderstorm in December 1937 . . .

Singapore is agog with the news of King Edward VIII's abdication to marry American heiress Wallis Simpson. Chen Su Lin, now Chief Inspector Le Froy's secretarial assistant in Singapore's newly formed detective unit, still dreams of becoming a journalist and hopes to cover the story when the Hon Victor Glossop announces he is marrying an American widow of his own, Mrs Nicole Covington, in the Colony. But things go horribly wrong when Victor Glossop is found dead, his body covered in bizarre symbols and soaked in betel nut juice.

The beautiful, highly-strung Nicole claims it's her fault he's dead . . . just like the others. And when investigations into her past reveal a dead lover, as well as a husband, the case against her appears to be stacking up. Begrudgingly on Le Froy's part, Su Lin agrees to chaperon Nicole at the Farquhar Hotel, intending to get the truth out of her somehow. But as she uncovers secrets and further deaths occur, Su Lin realises she may not be able to save Nicole's life - or even her own.

I’m not sure what to say about this book; it both is and isn’t the type of mystery I normally read. The plotting and setting is totally in my wheelhouse, but I don’t really connect with the characters, and it’s always easier to really get into books where you connect with the characters. The secondary characters are, for me, the most lively and fleshed out of the lot, and I enjoyed their short time on the pages.

The setting of pre-WWII Singapore is a rich setting about which I know nothing, so I find that part of the reading compellingly interesting. Yu does a spectacular job bringing the monsoon season to life, as well as the city itself.

There are two reveals in the plot of The Betel Nut Tree Mystery, and unfortunately, both were transparent. I knew the identity of the columnist after the first few chapters, and I guessed who the murderer was soon thereafter. This unfortunate transparency wasn’t enough to stop me reading the book, obviously, but it did ding my rating.

In spite of this post making it sound like I only found the book to be ‘meh’, I’m looking forward to reading the next book; even if the mysteries themselves aren’t perfect, their setting and time are, and I want to see what happens next.

I read this book off my TBR as part of Halloween Bingo 2020, for the International Women of Mystery square.

Halloween Bingo 2020: September 8 update

Calls made so far that are on my card:

*Note: I’ve removed Psych in favour of Romantic Suspense, as it’s the square I flipped.

I’ve looked at my recent re-reads of the Murder 101 Series and I can use two of them: one for my Cozy Mystery square and one for Murder Most Foul. Technically I could use all of them, but I’m unwilling to give up my plans for Genre: Mystery and the centre free space.

This means I get to ‘sticker’ two more squares! Squee! I think this is the first Halloween Bingo – EVER – that I’ve had most of the squares called right off the bat. I think I’ll either tackle International Women of Mystery, or the Free Space/Edgar Square next.

How it works:

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery		Quick Study	Sept. 5
	Genre: Mystery	Sept. 3
	International Women of Mystery	Sept. 7
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE	n/a
	In the Dark, Dark Woods
	Psych / Romantic Suspense	Sept. 6
Row #4
	American Horror Story
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters
	Trick or Treat
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
X	13	Sept. 1	The Thirteen Problems	Sept. 6
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
	Murder Most Foul	Sept. 5	Extracurricular Activities	Sept. 3

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

Halloween Bingo 2020: September 7 update

Calls made so far that are on my card:

I’ve finished Agatha Christie’s The Thirteen Problems going for the 13 square – my first sticker! I’ve been on a re-reading kick of an old series which has put me behind on planned Halloween reads. At least one of the re-reads I’ve recently done will qualify for Genre: Mystery though, so it’s not a total failure. I’ll update that when I’ve figured out which one I’ll use. I’ll also likely use another for the Raven/Free Space.

Below is the table that will summarise the books I’ve read for each square, and note if I took advantage of one of the Spell Pack cards, and which one. If all goes well, Book Titles will link to my review of the book here.

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery
	Genre: Mystery
	International Women of Mystery
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE
	In the Dark, Dark Woods
	Psych / Romantic Suspense
Row #4
	American Horror Story
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters
	Trick or Treat
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
X	13	Sept. 01	The Thirteen Problems	Sept. 6
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
	Murder Most Foul

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

I’m planning a follow up post with tentative titles for each square.

Halloween Bingo 2020: The Second Call

Second day, second call. For simplicity sake, I’m going to just post the calls in the order they’re made:

I’ve got Agatha Christie’s The Thirteen Problems going for the 13 square, and while I have Psych, it’s the square I traded with Lillelara for her Romantic Suspense square, so I have time to continue with 13 and start reading for another square yet to be called.

I finished my read for Dark Academia – Murder 101 – and enjoyed it thoroughly.

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories
	Dark Academia		Murder 101	Sept. 2
	Southern Gothic
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery
	Genre: Mystery
	International Women of Mystery
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE
	In the Dark, Dark Woods
	Psych / Romantic Suspense
Row #4
	American Horror Story
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters
	Trick or Treat
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
	13	Sept. 01	The Thirteen Problems
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
	Murder Most Foul

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

I’m planning a follow up post with tentative titles for each square.

Halloween Bingo 2020: The First Call

Let the games – Halloween Bingo – begin! Today, or yesterday – depending which side of the International Date Line you’re on – was the official start of our annual Halloween Bingo. Most of it is taking place on GoodReads this year, and I’m trying, but I really can’t stomach that place, so most of my updates and tracking will be done here.

The first call today was:

My original pick for this, as it is every year I’ve had this square, was Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon but I’m in another group reading Agatha Christie in order, and we’re currently reading … The Thirteen Problems, so it just makes sense to use this book for the square.

	Bingo Square	Date Called	Book Title	Date Read
Row #1
	Gothic
	Genre: Suspense
	Ghost Stories
	Dark Academia
	Southern Gothic
Row #2
	Darkest London
	Black Cat
	Cozy Mystery
	Genre: Mystery
	International Women of Mystery
Row #3
	Grave or Graveyard
	Deadlands
	FREE SPACE
	In the Dark, Dark Woods
	Psych / Romantic Suspense
Row #4
	American Horror Story
	A Grimm Tale
	It was a Dark and Stormy Night
	Monsters
	Trick or Treat
Row #5
	Country House Mystery
	13	Sept. 01	The Thirteen Problems
	Locked Room Mystery
	Halloween
	Murder Most Foul

The Spell Pack cards are below – I’ve used a border in the same color as the card to mark the squares where I’ve used one.

Cards used:
Bingo Flip: Lillelara has agreed to trade my Psych square for her Romantic Suspense square.

I’m planning a follow up post with tentative titles for each square.