Walter Satterthwait (1946–2020)

I read this book nearly 20 years ago — so long ago that I read it on cassette tapes from my public library! I loved it then, but I had forgotten nearly all of the details, including who the murderer was.

It would be too easy to spoil this book, so I won’t go into the backstory at all. (You can read the book blurb.) But I loved this novel all over again: the humor, the knowledge of human nature and failings, the re-creation of a patrician world that was already disappearing in 1922, the show more depiction of two amazing, courageous, clever heroines, Lizzie Border and Amanda Burton. But more amazing is the lyrical prose that readers don’t expect from mystery novels. I wish I could give this book six stars on this second reading! show less

A few years back, I stumbled across a mystery, Miss Lizzie, in which Satterthwait made Lizzie Borden one half of a detective duo. I loved the story, and I loved Satterthwait's poetic writing style. I went looking for more written by him and came across his first Joshua Croft mystery, Wall of Glass. Since the series is set in Santa Fe and I'd fallen in love with the place after a visit, I read it and knew I'd be back for more. I really enjoy Satterthwait's descriptions of the New Mexican show more landscape, how he develops his characters, and his stories.

Croft works for (and loves) wheelchair-bound Rita Mondragon, an intelligent, beautiful, and stubborn woman who states, "I'll leave this house when I can walk out of it." Croft feels she's making a mistake, but he's willing to accept Rita on her own terms.

The mystery in At Ease With the Dead (the title taken from a quote by Geronimo) is filled with danger, archaeology, oil prospecting, and humor. It's a "buddy movie" in which Croft often finds himself paired with the elderly Navajo, Daniel Begay. The old man has so many tricks up his sleeve that one day Croft looks at him and asks, "Are you really Batman?" This pairing provides much-needed levity in what could have been a very dark story.

Croft has a smart-alecky wit that I really appreciate. Satterthwait has developed a strong cast of characters, and he certainly knows how to construct a mystery that keeps readers guessing as well as bringing his setting to life. He also has the knack of including sentences that can make you stop and think. "Guilt is sometimes a secret sort of self-esteem" or "If you see the world as an organism, a single entity, which of course it is, then you can't help but see the human race as a kind of virus on its surface, actively engaged in killing off the host."

Story, setting, language, characters, Satterthwait's Joshua Croft is an often thought-provoking mystery series that I will certainly be returning to. show less

This was a strange book based on wit and an odd portrayal of Oscar Wilde. There were a few parts (of dialogue) that made me laugh, but what I couldn't get past was the portrayal of Wilde as a heterosexual who fell head over heels in love with a beautiful woman on his American lecture tour. I don't know what Wilde knew or felt before he came out when his marriage fell apart. However, for me, he is one of the most famous of homosexuals who paid dearly for it. So it was a great leap for me to show more read about him lusting after the beautiful Doe. But then, the book is full of twists and turns (of plot and phrase) and surprises. Read it for yourself and find out. show less

As charming and pleasant as a weekend in the mountains. Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle are guests at a haunted castle. There are ghosts, a murder, a séance and a cast of English archtypes. Escapade is written to amuse and is wildly successful. It reads like one of those Christie ensemble cast movies from the late 70s and early 80s. I very much look forward to reading other books by Walter Satterthwait.