There are also innumerable boardwalks through trees and over creeks to make one feel as though they were immersed in nature. Great places to go for a walk.
Today I am listening to my favorite tenor, Placido Domingo. He is singing one of the most beautiful arias in the opera world for tenors: di Provenza il Mar il Suol from the opera La Traviata.
Here was my fun read for the past weekend.
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund CrispinMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had never read Crispin but a short story of his in an anthology encouraged me to find more of his work. Hence I bought and read The Moving Toyshop.
Cadogan is a writer in need of a break and excitement. His publisher wants him to go on a tour across America promoting his poetry. Cadogan can think of nothing he'd rather do less. So asking for and begrudgingly receiving a 50 Pound advance on his book, Cadogan heads for Oxford. It is night when he finally arrives due to some train and transportation mishaps. As he walks through that city's streets he sees a Toy Shop. The door is open. This is strange. It is midnight. Should he investigate? He does.
Cadogan walks into the store but the place seems deserted. He climbs the stairs and walks into a dusty room. There he finds a middle-aged women lying dead and purple on the ground with a wire tied tightly around her neck.
He hears footsteps, feels a crash over the head and then nothing. Later he revives, escapes, and runs to the Police Station. After much persuading that he is not drunk nor crazy, the police follow Cadogan back to the Toy Store.
Only it's not there. It's a grocery store. And there is no dead lady anywhere to be seen. What happened?
Cadogan marches on, disgruntled, because he's done nothing to help convince anyone that he was not crazy nor drunk and meets his old friend Gervase Fen. Fen is a professor at Oxford and he and Cadogan were once students together.
Fen is delighted with Cadogan's story and immediately plunges into solving the mystery.
The rest of the story is a mixture of intrigue, mystery, a dash of suspense and several gallons of silliness with more than its share of chase scenes.
All in all, I enjoyed it and would not mind reading more adventures with Professor Fen.
View all my reviews
8 comments:
At least some aspects the premise of A Moving Toyshop sound like some old Twilight Zones. Most of those did not involve silliness or chases however.
Those are great pictures from Florida. I love boardwalks that snake through water and wetlands.
The boardwalk
tx so much for reading this: i've been recommending Edmund Crispin for years but you're the first blogger person i've ever seen try one of his... i think Gervase Fen and his exploits and ratiocinations are the very best mysteries i've ever read, although that's undoubtedly because i have madcap traits myself... all of the books are good, imo, some better than others, but not by much... very nice pictures: where are the alligators? and boa constrictors? Placido Domingo is wonderful, although Pavarotti is as good: either one's interpretation of "Un Bel Di" brings me close to tears whenever i hear it... i'm just an old softie...
Hi Brian. I had not thought about it before but I can see where something like a disappearing toyshop would be Rod Sterlingesque. I watched that show when I was a kid and I probably should not have because it could be pretty scary. Or was that Ghost Story?
Thanks for the compliment for my photos. I can't live in Florida so at least I can bring a little Florida back home.
Hi Mudpuddle. I remember you recommending Crispin and somehow I never got around to reading him. That mistake has now been rectified and I will be trying to read more from him.
I have never seen a boa constrictor in the wild, but I'll make a point of taking photos of some gators for you if I can catch sight of one. I'll probably have to go to Wakula Springs for that. They also have manatees.
I'm glad to know that you cry over music because I do as well. I cry over a lot of music. The middle movement of Dvorak's cello concerto...that part when the cello and flute "talk" to each other...it gets me every time.
that is overwhelmingly beautiful, i agree...
isn't it though...
Sharon, your fine posting has me on the trail again. I’ve tried but failed in the past to find a copy of The Moving Toyshop. I’ll try again. Thanks.
Hi R.T. There's some fairly cheap (and also some ridiculously expensive) ones on ebay. Good luck. Hope you'll enjoy it.
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