Marianne Macdonald (1)Besprekingen

Death’s Autograph. Marianne Macdonald. 1999. Dido Hoare is an antiquarian book dealer in London. On a rainy night coming back into town from a buying trip, a mysterious car follows her; a few days later her shop is turned upside down, and her ex-husband shows up, and thus begins a cozy mystery involving forged documents, I found this book on crimereads.com in list of books involving book shops. It is not as good as the John Dunning books, but it is a nice easy read with interesting tidbits about the business. The first of a series.

Great to see older mysteries still on my library's shelves. After reading, found my own copy at used book store. Well written; characters round and interesting; villains worthy and different. A "cozy" -- good night's read on a cold and dreary late autumn evening.

Dido Hoare runs an antiquarian bookstore in London. When her ex-husband Davey turns up suddenly and is soon murdered Dido becomes involved in the police investigation. I liked the characters of Dido and her father Barnabas, a retired Oxford professor. There's a twist at the end that makes me want to find more books in this series.

Dido Hoare goes to visit her friend Lizzie Waring in Somerset. The Warings live on a large estate called Monksdale, but Lizzie and her husband (one of the brothers) live in a cottage on the property. A son who confessed to the murder of a maid is being released from prison. He had a rather short sentence but Dido does not understand why his sentence was so long under the circumstances as related to her. When she talks to the investigating officer, she learns of several of his misgivings about the case from the start. She begins her own investigation into the matter. There is a missing rare edition of Peter Rabbit that is obviously related to the case. The setting of this installment reminds one of the old Gothic or romantic suspense novels. This book, however, definitely does not fit into the romance category. The fact that Dido had other females to turn to for help is also a departure from the usual plots in that field. The setting mainly served as a backdrop for the sinister misdeed that had occurred a few years ago. As with most cozies, the plot is not very plausible in several places. It was also pretty obvious from an early point in the novel what had happened. I did not really like the way the author ended the novel, leaving readers wishing that the threads had been more satisfactorily resolved.

I am a person who likes a good story. One of the things that I like about series books is that I can follow the characters and see how their story develops. That was the nice part of this book, but here wasn't enough character development, because the mystery part got in the way. I did enjoy the mystery and thought the hiding place was very clever!

This is one of those mysteries where nothing makes sense. All of the things that take place don't seem to relate to each other. This is probably the way it seems if you are inside the events in real life, so I guess in that respect it is a well written mystery book. From a reader's point of view, I want to know more than the characters do. Yes, I am one of those people that always reads the last page first.

The ending was a little confusing. I don't know if I was too tired or it was too complex, but I didn't understand how 1) the police didn't get the bad guys if they had all of the exits surrounded; 2) the bad guys got what they wanted and were searching for and 3) how Dido and Barnabus got to keep what they received. I may have been reading the book too quickly.

One thing that bugs me about this book is Dido's name, Dido Hoare. The reasoning behind her first name is explained in t his, the first installment of the series, but it just seems too precious to me. I think the book would have been just as effective with the main character being named Jenny Smith.

Antiquarian bookseller Dido Hoare finds one of her occasional customers somewhat ill. She takes him to a hospital. He checks himself out and is assisted by a man whom the nurses presume to be his son. Dido becomes concerned when she doesn't see him and mentions it to her police friend. The man shows back up in her shop, but it's only a short time later that he is found dead. Dido finds herself in an unusual position of being named his executor, even though she didn't know him well. The case is actually assigned to special branches in Scotland Yard because the man had once worked in intelligence. It's an interesting case with interesting turns of events, but I found myself disappointed in the resolution.½

Dido Hoare owns an antiquarian bookstore in London. Her ex-husband comes back into her life and soon ends up dead. It's apparent that the murderers are seeking something but haven't yet located. What are they after? Dido along with the police and other authorities must find out. I expected more of a cozy mystery, but this one is more of a thriller with a few cozy aspects mixed in. The plotting was not as strong as it could have been. I really did not like the ending.

I really enjoy this series of mysteries - the plotting is interesting and none too predictable; the characterisation is engaging and believable and it gives an insight into the world of antiquarian bookselling that is intriguing for an amateur bibliophile.. This book, dealing with murder in the present and dirty dealing in the middle east after the war is very readable and enjoyable.

#6 Dido Hoare antiquarian bookseller mystery set in London. A regular customer of Dido’s has committed suicide and a few days later, her bank contacts her to say that the cheque he used to make his last purchase from her has bounced. She contacts the solicitors handling his estate and is hired by them to do a valuation on his books, and in the process of doing so, Dido realizes that something is just not right about the whole situation, and she begins to think perhaps someone helped Tim Curwen over his balcony. Conversations with a small nearly-blind lad who lives next door and a couple of irate CID detectives who pop in to the flat to see what Dido is doing there begin to raise her suspicions even more. Dido, naturally, gets herself into investigating and helps unlock the mystery.

Once again I have to say that, much like the last book in this series that I read, I found most of the situations to be totally implausible. Why on earth would a woman with a young toddler to raise put herself in such jeopardy on a continual basis?? This was not a person she had any sort of deep relationship with so that her running hither and yon would be inspired by passion or a deep friendship of great longevity or something. Why would policemen willingly share details of ongoing investigations with her—a bookseller and rank amateur—and even invite her along on snooping expeditions? Why would she willingly withhold vital evidence from the investigating officers and still not be able to figure out the bad guy til the end of the book when I had figured it out about a third of the way through? LOL I just can’t see how any of this could have happened, really… my head was rattling continuously as I shook it incredulously.

Don’t get me wrong—I like Dido and her world a lot (what’s not to like about an antiquarian bookstore??) and I’m still wishing her father were a real person that I could call up and natter with. BUT… truly, I think the author needs to make situations that an amateur like Dido could reasonably get into or else make her a policewoman. Were I basing my grade strictly on the characters and settings, the book would get an A, but the continual stream of ludicrous actions by Dido just plain lowered it to mediocre status.

Another in the Dido series with Ben and her father. This time she gets involved in a fake ancient manuscript with mysterious characters wanting it back.

Latest Dido book, with dad and and son, Ben. Love this series but not her best book. Dido does some incredibly reckless things like hiding and protecting an illegal Russian drug addict from the pimp who is looking for her.

Dido Hoare, father barbnabus,son ben
'Her majesty' clare has a rare collection to sell but dies mysteriously first
ok not great

transferring reading records from spreadsheet

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