EDITORIAL REVIEWS: WASHED-UP
"Washed Up is a book for anyone who has ever bent down on a beach, hopeful that the small object at hand might just be a treasure. It is for anyone who has wondered how far an object has traveled or just what else might be out there, floating on the high seas." Oregonian
"Part memoir, part encyclopedia, Washed Up is geeky and obsessed, but also playful and informative." San Diego Union-Tribune
EDITORIAL REVIEWS: MEDUSA
From BOOKLIST
Venus Diamond's life as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent has left her body and psyche bruised, as has her life as the daughter of famed actress Bella Diamond. She's called back from a very slow healing by her young adopted brother, Tim, who has been accused of pulling a playmate overboard to drown. No one believes Tim's story about a monster jellyfish until the girl's body is recovered, and jellyfish venom appears in the autopsy report. This page-turner has it all of the darkest variety: an incredible number of corpses, including several children; opulence masking deeply dysfunctional families; sexy cops who get blown up; and boat chases, the Russian Mafia, and child porn. Venus herself sustains so much damage it's hard to imagine how she has survived through six books. Things don't come to a neat end, but most of the bad guys get what they deserve. Series fans will relish the action, but don't recommend this one to those who prefer gentle mysteries. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All Rights Reserved.
Seattle Post Intelligencer Book Review
Friday, August 8, 2003
Moody's latest Seattle mystery is crackling with action
By JOHN MARSHALL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER BOOK CRITIC
Think Seattle mystery and what comes to mind? Rain-slick streets, a brisk wind off the water, shady doings in the alleys of Pioneer Square ?
Or how about the menacing Russian mafia, stolen Mercedes being shipped overseas, child porno flicks, political shenanigans, biotech hazardry and giant poisonous jellyfish that may be responsible for the drowning death of a little girl in Elliott Bay and the wounding of a startled female patron on the deck of a tony waterfront restaurant?
Say this for Skye Kathleen Moody, she has certainly expanded the usual fictional world of the Seattle mystery. Moody's "Medusa" (St. Martin's Minotaur, 324 pages, $24.95) includes all the second paragraph's disparate plot elements in a snappy page-turner with more twists and turns than the new Timber Hawk roller coaster. And she thereby demonstrates the adroit wizardry of a plot juggler par excellence.
"Medusa" is Moody's sixth entry in her Northwest mystery series featuring Venus Diamond, a spunky dynamo who demonstrates utter fearlessness as an agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This redoutable hero has allowed Moody to roam widely over the Northwest landscape and its enviro concerns, a creative use of popular mystery to examine regional issues and ethos.
This time, Venus is in no mood to investigate anything. She is recuperating in Hawaii after being shot in the jaw during a poacher bust on the Olympic Peninsula, her mental state so precarious that she is confined to a hospital for post-traumatic stress.
Then comes an urgent call from Seattle , when her brother informs her that their young stepbrother is suspected of the drowning murder in Elliott Bay of a 9-year-old girl, the daughter of one of Seattle 's most prominent businessmen. The 12-year-old's defense? That his sometime playmate was dragged underwater by a giant jellyfish.
Venus rushes home and is soon hip-deep in the murder investigation, tagging along with a delicious, just-divorced Italian detective in the Seattle Police Department who goes only by his first name of Rocco. That chemistry bubbles up between these two intrepid investigators is one of the few predictable spins in "Medusa's" devilish web of plots.
Dead bodies are soon littering the Emerald Cityscape, and the citizenry is transfixed as a media frenzy turns who-killed-little-Pearl into the prime-time topic of debate, rumor and innuendo. Suffice it to say that stones unturned by Venus and Rocco soon reveal that things are definitely not as they seem and that the killer jellyfish defense may not be the sci-fi fairy tale that initially prompted guffaws.
"Medusa" snaps, crackles and pops along, with one dramatic development after another, including even a container ship that explodes in Elliott Bay in the midst of the Fourth of July fireworks show. This is a plot-driven express train of a mystery, with little time for much character development, although Moody does paint a fine portrait of personal grief amid a media maelstrom that draws on her own experience as one who lost a close relation during the highly publicized Seattle shipyard shootings a few years back.
Moody has expanded the plot world of the Seattle mystery, but "Medusa" is also hampered by a rash of little inconsistencies that are nagging, especially to a knowledgeable Seattle reader. This is a surprise since the writer grew up in this city and has spent much of her life here.
Case in point: Pearl 's body washes ashore at the north end of Myrtle Edwards Park, yet it is discovered by a jogger who smells its "horrid ordor" at the park's south end, which happens to be at least a mile away. Another: Much of "Medusa's" action takes place in July amid frequent rainstorms, great atmosphere for a mystery, but a meteorological leap for Seattle 's summer weather. Another: Venus falls off a dock at Shilshoe into what's described as a "lake," certainly a misnomer for Puget Sound.
"Medusa's" breakneck pace sweeps the reader right past such muffs, but they are still unfortunate bug-splots on its accomplishment. Moody is a pro who can do better.
P-I book critic John Marshall can be reached at 206-448-8170 or johnmarshall@seattlepi.com.
ALLREADERS.COM
REVIEW BY HARRIET KLAUSNER
"Medusa Skye Kathleen Moody St. Martin's August 2003, $24.95, 336 pp. ISBN 0312 266782 In Elliot Bay, twelve-year old Tim Diamond and his two friends and next door neighbors, Henry and Pearl are playing pirates on the family yacht, the Caprice. The next thing anyone knows is nine-year-old Pearl is missing and presumed drowned. Henry swears that he saw Tim tie her up, push her in, jump into the water and hold her head under until she was dead. On the basis of Henry's testimony, Tim is arrested and though he is out of jail, he is wearing an electronic bracelet. Tim's brother Bart calls Venus in Hawaii and begs her to come home to figure out what is happening. Venus, an undercover agent with the United States Fish and Wildlife agency, uses her police powers to horn in on the local investigation. The further she digs, the more she learns that her brother's story about a giant jelly fish taking Pearl away is true and the players in the game are some of her old enemies in the Russian Mafia. Much blood will be shed and many lives will be lost when the authorities try to bring all the guilty parties to justice. MEDUSA is a fascinating crime thriller with plenty of action, a touch of romance and some family humor to keep the tension levels at a certain level. The heroine risks her own life and freedom to make certain the guilty parties pay for what they did to her family. She is feisty and courageous protagonist and readers will adore. There are many sub-plots that tie back to the central theme of innocent children who trust the wrong people and pay the price. Harriet Klausner "
Harriet Klausner, Resident Skye Kathleen Moody Scholar
JUNGLEBLURBS.com/Book Review
Medusa
Monitoring animal research activities in Seattle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services agent Venus Diamond investigates rumors of a killer sea monster in Elliott Bay and wonders if there is a connection between the attacks and the lab she is overseeing.
United States Fish and Wildlife agent Venus Diamond rushes home to her family when her teenage brother Tim is accused of murder. He and two friends were yachting in beautiful Elliott Bay , and one of the kids fell overboard. Witnesses report a huge, tentacled arm in the water, but police think Tim pushed her. Then, rumors fly when the girl's body washes ashore, apparently the victim of some strange sea creature. A "monster" in Elliott Bay ? Venus suspects there is a logical explanation, and sets out to find it so she can prove Tim's innocence. When another child goes missing, however, the stakes escalate, and she'll need all her investigative expertise to stop a killer on the loose. Medusa is another intriguing, quirky Pacific Northwest mystery full of the environmental relevance and appealing characters Skye Moody's fans love.
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