m.c. beaton, g.m. maillet & other whodunits

Society for the Dissolution of Learning

by Angela Ball

A nonscientist, I see the creation of life
As a kind of bulk mailing,
Much of which arrived
At the wrong address.

i start with the above poem by angela ball. it has nothing to do with whodunits or mystery writers (perhaps the mystery of the universe), but i like it, and this is my blog, so i can stretch its limits. ms. ball isn't the only one to propose such a society. as i remember, in his foucault's pendulum, umberto eco proposes a similar system of education. but maybe not. his writing is often obtuse and obscure. i (yes, even i) might have missed his point.

i don't quite know what to say about m.c. beaton's there goes the bride. the idea of having a 50-something divorced female, who is not a beauty (though we are constantly reminded of her good legs) and who is a real woman who likes to smoke, drink, and have sex is super. but the writing is so pedestrian. i open the novel now as i write and quote at random,  'the vicar took his place. the organ played softly...the organ played on. the congregation shifted restlessly.'

i continue by opening iain banks's the crow road, also at random and, though the description are apples and oranges, a place and a person, read on: 'i rather liked it. i liked the idea of other people feeling sorry for me, even though i also despised them for it, because i wasn't worth their sympathy and that made them fools.' we have two obvious differences--variety in length of sentences and thought expressed, all to banks's advantage.

there goes the bride is published by minotaur books and is 277 pages.

i've started death of a cozy writer. i don't like to think of myself as a cozy mystery writer, more of a writer of traditional whodunits. after all, i never include cats or recipes. but what mystery writer could resist a book with such a grand title? malliet's writing style falls between banks's and beaton's. death of a cozy writer looks like it will be a whodunit anyone would enjoy.

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