Books

  1. Murder in Perspective (Merlin Richards Mystery)
    Murder in Perspective (Merlin Richards Mystery)

  2. The Bum's Rush (Leo Waterman Mysteries (Hardcover))
    The Bum's Rush (Leo Waterman Mysteries (Hardcover))

  3. A Wasteland of Strangers
    A Wasteland of Strangers

  4. Triple Play (Jake Hines Mysteries (Hardcover))
    Triple Play (Jake Hines Mysteries (Hardcover))

  5. Perilous Relations (Barbara Simons Mystery)
    Perilous Relations (Barbara Simons Mystery)

  6. Holy Terror in the Hebrides: A Dorothy Martin Mystery
    Holy Terror in the Hebrides: A Dorothy Martin Mystery

  7. The Dog Who Knew Too Much (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries (Hardcover))
    The Dog Who Knew Too Much (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries (Hardcover))

  8. Eye of the Cricket: A Lew Griffin Novel (Lew Griffin Mysteries)
    Eye of the Cricket: A Lew Griffin Novel (Lew Griffin Mysteries)

  9. Sweet Poison (Jack Donne Mystery)
    Sweet Poison (Jack Donne Mystery)

  10. Come to Dust (Keith Moody Mystery)
    Come to Dust (Keith Moody Mystery)

  11. No Escape (Masey Baldridge/Luke Williamson Mystery)
    No Escape (Masey Baldridge/Luke Williamson Mystery)

  12. Coffin's Got the Dead Guy on the Inside
    Coffin's Got the Dead Guy on the Inside

  13. No Badge, No Gun (Carl Wilcox Mysteries (Hardcover))
    No Badge, No Gun (Carl Wilcox Mysteries (Hardcover))

  14. Brigham's Day
    Brigham's Day

  15. Shirker
    Shirker

  16. In an Evil Time
    In an Evil Time

  17. Sister Wife (Brigham Bybee Mysteries)
    Sister Wife (Brigham Bybee Mysteries)

  18. Dead Ball (Harvey Bliss Mysteries (Hardcover))
    Dead Ball (Harvey Bliss Mysteries (Hardcover))

  19. To Perish in Penzance (Dorothy Martin Mysteries (Hardcover))
    To Perish in Penzance (Dorothy Martin Mysteries (Hardcover))

  20. Looking for Chet Baker (Evan Horne Mysteries (Hardcover))
    Looking for Chet Baker (Evan Horne Mysteries (Hardcover))

  21. Glare Ice (Claire Watkins Mysteries (Hardcover))
    Glare Ice (Claire Watkins Mysteries (Hardcover))

  22. Sasso
    Sasso

  23. Seventh Inning Stretch (Jake Hines Mysteries (Hardcover))
    Seventh Inning Stretch (Jake Hines Mysteries (Hardcover))

  24. Owly
    Owly

  25. The Ditched Blonde (Carl Wilcox Mysteries (Paperback))
    The Ditched Blonde (Carl Wilcox Mysteries (Paperback))

Murder In Perspective. A Merlin Richards mystery.
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Murder In Perspective. A Merlin Richards mystery.
    Keith Miles
    Manufacturer: Walker
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover
    ASIN: B000NUMJ3S
    Murder in Perspective: An Architectural Mystery (Merlin Richards Mystery)
    Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
    • Disappointing - it should be 2½ stars -
    • Adolescent, poor ear for dialogue, trite attempt to bring up 20's slang
    • Intriguing concept with so-so execution
    Murder in Perspective: An Architectural Mystery (Merlin Richards Mystery)
    Keith Miles
    Manufacturer: Walker & Company
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    BritishBritish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
    GeneralGeneral | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
    ASIN: 0802732984

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Disappointing - it should be 2½ stars -.......2007-02-04

    When I recently discovered the existence of this book, I was overjoyed! In addition to being a creation of a master at historical mysteries, it appeared at first glance, to be wrapped around four of my major loves: mystery, history, architecture and music. Unhappily, it doesn't really deliver on any of them.

    There is a bit of everything in the original promise, but what's there is rather weak. The dialogue tends to be stilted much of the time, and is remarkably similar, no matter who is speaking. It does little to develop any character other than the Navajo, Yazzie, who is only present for perhaps 20 pages.

    Set in Arizona in the late 1920s, when the famed Arizona Biltmore Resort was being built, there is somewhat of an aura of history here. However, other than the occasional mention of a Saguaro or the sand in the desert, it could just as easily have been set anywhere. To me, it read very much like a contemporary novel. Clothing, cars, accessories--everything could have come from the pages of a novel set last year. Thankfully, there was no television or computers to intrude, but not enough was made of the few historical elements that were there.

    Frank Lloyd Wright is a presence, although seldom in actuality. Mostly, he's referred to as being `somewhere' in the vicinity. He is at the heart of the mystery--as is his architecture--and it's no doubt a valid point, but is it serious enough to have caused two deaths, and so many vicious beatings? May be, I don't know. I didn't figure it out, and I doubt anyone else would either, as it was so esoteric in nature.

    Merlin Richards is a young architect from Wales who idolizes Wright, and leaves behind his known world and family to come to America on the off-chance he'll be able to meet and perhaps work with the master architect. He brings with him a Welsh harp that's been in his family for generations, but after his pocket was picked in New York, he's compelled to pawn the harp in Wisconsin, for money to continue his trip to Arizona. So much for the music element! We never hear it or see it again, although in the final pages he admits to missing it.

    Finally, I must admit to cringing frequently at the crudeness of many of the male characters presented here. It's hard to believe they'd come on so strong and so coarsely to total strangers, especially those who were representatives of law and order. Maybe they did.

    The architectural elements that are here are wonderful, however. If you have even a remote knowledge of Wright's work, it's very easy to conjure up mental images to accompany the words on these pages. It's also enough to prompt you to want to visit those buildings of his that we still have in this country.

    I really wanted to like this book more than I did. However, I will definitely read the next book in the series - Saint's Rest. After that? Who knows?

    1 out of 5 stars Adolescent, poor ear for dialogue, trite attempt to bring up 20's slang.......2006-12-11

    Don't read this book either, its worse than Saint's Rest. With writing like -- "Emboldened by her candid admiration, Merlin was able to take a fuller inventory of her charms. Rosa Lustig had a kind of natural, unforced beauty that crept up quietly on a man... but it was her sophisticated pertness that really hooked him." Very few readers will be hooked.

    3 out of 5 stars Intriguing concept with so-so execution.......1999-05-27

    Here's an intriguing pseudo-historical mystery involving the irrepressible character and speech of Frank Lloyd Wright, "America's Greatest Architect" (although, typically, he would dispute the necessity for "America" in the sobriquet--and may have been right!). FLLW doesn't appear often enough, more's the pity, because he struts through his scenes in all his arrogant super-perceptive glory, putting Our Hero, Merlin--a randomly wimpish/aggressive budding architect come to worship Wright--quite in the shade. Wright seems authentic in speech and attitude, the architectural passages are perceptive and accurate (although I missed having a good picture of the innovative and glamorous Biltmore Hotel [an actual resort]). The characters are fairly well-differentiated, particularly Tom Vernon, Wright's unctuous chief apprentice, and mysterious Rosa of the ambiguous virtue who befriends Merlin. Merlin's character wanders a bit, his motivation is clear but not psychologically convincing; maybe the intended point is he's just a confused young man. Then again, this author makes more attempt at humor than at profundity. Setting a mystery among architects is fascinating, but how a greenhorn foreigner (Merlin) can do better policing than a pair of veteran Arizona cops is not made believable. The plot is well-constructed, and vital coincidences are not glaring, although Merlin's oft-mentioned (but absent) Welsh harp seems to be a loose end, set up for the second novel in this new, quick-reading series by an average author. I'll read the next one, too.

    Books:

    1. Surface Tension (Thorndike Core)
    2. Transfer of Power
    3. Killing of the Tinkers
    4. Run Man Run
    5. Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra
    6. The More Deceived (Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne Murder Mystery Series)
    7. Act of Betrayal
    8. Minus Man
    9. Murder in Perspective (Merlin Richards Mystery)
    10. Wasteland of Strangers

    Books