Books

Peter Wimsey investigates THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT THE BELLONA CLUB when an old soldier turns up dead in his regular chair—which wouldn’t be so unpleasant except that he’s been lying there for possibly hours and the timing of his death determines who in his family inherits half a million pounds. Not as tightly plotted as Unnatural Death or as memorable a villain but a good story nonetheless.
I love Richard Condon’s work on Manchurian Candidate and Winter Kills and no question the premise of MILE HIGH fits his kind of black humor: In the early 20th century, a corrupt, powerful lawyer single-handedly revitalizes the temperance movement to bring about Prohibition, with an eye to the inevitable gains from bootlegging. Unfortunately, this is written more in the manner of a biography, more an account of the protagonist’s life than an actual story; while Candidate had some of that, it was a strong enough story to make it work, but this one ain’t.
CONAN AND THE TEETH OF GWAILHUR is P. Craig Russell’s adaptation of a Conan story in which the Cimmerian is embroiled on both political intrigue and the quest for a chest of priceless gems. It’s a minor Howard story and while attractive, Russell doesn’t give the Hyborian Age the energy that Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema did at Marvel.