Official Review: Ghost Dog by Helen Currie Foster

[bookowlie]

My older son has the Zelda video games, so I'll have to ask him about the music.
Milton sounds like more of a dog, rather than cat, name. I still love the name....it reminds me of Milton Bradley board games or a very formal English butler!

[zeldas_lullaby]

I like the name Jeeves for a butler. Or Clive. HA HA.

[ALynnPowers]

Thanks for the review. You mentioned a mysterious dog. Is that the dog from the title? Does it play a large role in the story?

I don't want to answer that, since it would be giving spoilers.
Suffice it to say that there is a twist toward the end of the story.

Well now I am even more curious!

[TammyO]

Great review! I love your descriptive imagery, bookowlie. This sounds like one I could really curl up with. I think I will add this to my TBR list. The only thing that concerns me is the slower paced sections of this mystery. Like you, I enjoy faster paced mysteries as well. Overall, would you say it was more of a faster or slower paced novel? I especially love when a mystery has lots of twists and keeps me guessing.

[bookowlie]

Great review! I love your descriptive imagery, bookowlie. This sounds like one I could really curl up with. I think I will add this to my TBR list. The only thing that concerns me is the slower paced sections of this mystery. Like you, I enjoy faster paced mysteries as well. Overall, would you say it was more of a faster or slower paced novel? I especially love when a mystery has lots of twists and keeps me guessing.

Thanks Tammy! As with many books, parts of the book are faster paced. Although some parts of the story are slower paced, the book doesn't drag and I kept wanting to keeping reading. The book did keep me guessing, so that's always a good thing. It's a trade-off since many faster paced mysteries don't have as much character development; instead, the books tend to be completely plot-driven.

-- 01 Mar 2015, 09:46 --

I like the name Jeeves for a butler. Or Clive. HA HA.

Jeeves? Wasn't that the butler's name from a TV show?

-- 01 Mar 2015, 14:53 --

Meant to say "keep reading", not "keeping reading". Typing on my tablet is always challenging, between the spelling overrides and just hard to type in general

[zeldas_lullaby]

I don't know of a show with a Jeeves, but it sounds likely!
I do know that there was an episode of Frasier in which one of Daphne's ex-boyfriends calls.
Fraiser says, "Daphne, a 'Clive' called for you."
Daphne gets all anxious and says, "Clive... did he sound British?"
And Frasier's like, "No. He was one of those fiery Mexican Clives."
That always makes me laugh.

Anyway, congrats to HCF on your 4-star review!

[bookowlie]

I don't know of a show with a Jeeves, but it sounds likely!
I do know that there was an episode of Frasier in which one of Daphne's ex-boyfriends calls.
Fraiser says, "Daphne, a 'Clive' called for you."
Daphne gets all anxious and says, "Clive... did he sound British?"
And Frasier's like, "No. He was one of those fiery Mexican Clives."
That always makes me laugh.

Anyway, congrats to HCF on your 4-star review!

Well, here's some a few tidbits about "Jeeves", from Wikipedia:

"Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in a series of humorous short stories and novels by P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), being the highly-competent valet of a wealthy, idle, and rather foolish young Londoner named Bertie Wooster. Created in 1915, Jeeves continued to appear in Wodehouse's work until his last completed novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, a span of 59 years. The name "Jeeves" comes from Percy Jeeves (1888–1916), a Warwickshire cricketer killed in the First World War.[1]

Both the name "Jeeves" and the character of Jeeves have come to be thought of as the quintessential name and nature of a valet or butler, inspiring many similar characters (as well as the name of the Internet search engine Ask Jeeves). A "Jeeves" is now a generic term in references such as the Oxford English Dictionary."

I guess I was wrong about it being a character on a TV show, but I was on the right track.

-- 01 Mar 2015, 15:51 --

Here's hoping Helen Currie Foster quickly writes another book in this series! I miss reading about Texas Hill Country.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Well, you learn something new every day! I guess my mind was tapped into the collective unconscious when I said I'd like a butler named Jeeves. Eerie how we pick up on stuff and never realize that it's from the group dynamic. (If that makes any sense.) Yep, you were on the right track, all right!

[MHaswell15]

LOL! What a laid back thread this is~all the better to get to know everyone! Great book review! A good description of the locale, introduction of main characters and plot. I think this is going to have to go over to my To Read shelf. The title was a good
hook for me too, ghosts fascinate me- actually, anything paranormal fascinates me.

[bookowlie]

LOL! What a laid back thread this is~all the better to get to know everyone! Great book review! A good description of the locale, introduction of main characters and plot. I think this is going to have to go over to my To Read shelf. The title was a good
hook for me too, ghosts fascinate me- actually, anything paranormal fascinates me.

Thanks for the compliment. For me, the word "dog" was the hook for me. I am a dog lover, so I always like it when there is a dog in the story. Cats....

[zeldas_lullaby]

Cats....

Hey, them's fightin' words.

[nitesh]

The dog seems to hold a lot of secrets of the hill. And there are very few stories where animals take the centre stage.The review makes the book quite tempting. Will definitely give it a shot.
Cheers

[bookowlie]

The dog seems to hold a lot of secrets of the hill. And there are very few stories where animals take the centre stage.The review makes the book quite tempting. Will definitely give it a shot.
Cheers

You will have to read the book to find out.

[maryjacqueline]

I think Helen Currie Foster is quickly picking up the pace to being a mystery series writer that one looks forward to reading the next in the series. The beauty of the hill county is lovely. The dialogues are full of life. The characters are unconventional.

[bookowlie]

I think Helen Currie Foster is quickly picking up the pace to being a mystery series writer that one looks forward to reading the next in the series. The beauty of the hill county is lovely. The dialogues are full of life. The characters are unconventional.

I completely agree! The author has picked a setting and cast of characters that are unique and interesting.