Paul

Paul wrote on February 18, 2005 at 1:24 PM:

Thanks for introducing me to Julian Kestrel; and it's a pity there will be no more. I would have liked to see what Kestrel was going to do in England - run for Parliament, like Disraeli? It's plain that Ross was not willing to repeat herself, and have him dwindle into the Famous Gentleman Detective, like Philo Vance. I was more interested in them as novels than as mysteries, so I thought Cut to the Quick was much the weakest. She began writing a "classic English" country-house murder, and the characters are clue-bearing cardboard until halfway through (I would say until the scene in which Sir Robert thinks about manipulative women). It also shows a curious gap in her imaginative sympathies, which otherwise stretch from an Austrianizing nobleman to a prostitute. But she was plainly Catholic, and her pictures of the Church of England (and the dissenting conscience) are caricatures. Is the list of songs she offers (in the note to Devil in Music) online anywhere?

Kate

Kate wrote on February 20, 2005 at 9:25 PM:

Paul, did you start reading them because of this entry? Cool! I'm afraid that I no longer recall the characters of _Cut to the Quick_ that well, so I don't feel qualified to comment on the religious aspects. But if I re-read, I will keep that in mind. I don't know what long-term plans Ross had for Kestrel. I strongly suspect that an adult Phillipa would figure prominently (because of resonances with Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond series that *had* to be intentional), and seeing him interact with a police force would have been interesting. I would worry that Parliament would interfere with mystery plots, though--he certainly wouldn't be able to move between classes as easily, for starters.

Outside of a Dog: Ross, Kate: Cut to the Quick; A Broken Vessel; Whom the Gods Love; The Devil in Music

Paul

Kate