I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Alam's first book, Dive Deep and Deadly, but Deep Water Death is even better! The plot of this second offering in the series is well developed and fresh and involves illegal midwifery. Once again, Ms. Alam has transported the reader deep into the bowels of the humid Florida swamps with beautiful writing and descriptions. As you read, you find yourself listening for the tell tale critter sounds and feel the closeness of the steamy air. Her main character, Luanne Fogarty, is smart, witty, competent and extremely likable, without the overbearing cockiness of some mystery heroines. I look forward to the next book in the series!

Just finished "Deep Water Death" and enjoyed every page of it just as much as "Diving Deep and Deadly"! The new characters in "Deep Water Death" are just as intriguing to meet for the first time as the characters in the first of Glynn Alam's novels. And I have a hunch that we haven't seen the end of Nick Summers yet!

"Deep Water Death" by Glynn Marsh Alam, has all the elements that I love most about mysteries -- distinctive, quirky, interesting, and live characters; a setting (in the Florida swamps)that the reader can feel, see, hear, and smell; and a plot that keeps twisting and turning and finally resolves itself in an entirely satisfactory manner. Luanne Fogarty, Alam's protagonist, is bright, competent, and witty. Her sex scenes are some of the funniest I've ever read. Alam writes about cave diving in a sensitive and knowledgeable way that makes even us claustrophobics recognize the beauty of it. I was equally captivated by Alam's first book, and look forward to reading her next.

I purchased this book and Alfred Portale's 12 Seasons Cookbook at the same time. Both are gorgeous to look at and flip through, but I find myself going to this one time and time again for recipes I actually plan to try. Clearly, Gordon Ramsay is a man in love with food and his craft. Don't let what you may have heard about him (e.g., he does not roam through the dining area of his top rated restaurant to glad-hand patrons and solicit their thoughts, believing that anything leaving his kitchen is perfect and beyond criticism) deter you from picking this up!

I found the one theme, intended or not, that makes this a favourite is that many components of the various recipes are interchangeable. For example, there is a great recipe for a lobster and mango/baby spinach salad. I was shopping for ingredients and found the lobster sub-par, so I managed to substitute his marinated tuna recipe in with great success. Same goes with recipes for various pureed sauces and soups. And particularly useful are discussions on the best of seasonal ingredients (notwithstanding that many may not be available to the average cook due to cost, or geographical limitations)

Overall, a top notch book and highly recommended.

With a talent for the simple and elegant, Gordon has produced a book with class. Typical of Ramseys attention to detail a multi-tude of simple and surprisingly easy recipes. No poncy overblown recipes here just class. And to think he played for Glasgow Rangers Soccer team. what he lacked in finesse on the field he more than makes up with finesse in the kitchen and nice to here him singing the praises of the quality of Scots ingredients.

These are the words Charlie Trotter described Ramsey's cooking. I bought this based upon a recommendation about new, hot cookbooks coming out. Sometimes one is really disappointed with the final product.

By first inspection, I imagined this was another of those letdowns. Beautiful photos, seasonal recipe organization,and what appeared to be bland style recipes.

But upon trying several, this book delivers Trotter's assessment: purity and elegance. Although tried only Cauliflower and Sorrel Soup, Tomato And Parmesan Gratinee Tarts and Duck Breasts with Endive Tarts, this food is elegant and tastes are clean, distinct and so, so satisfying.

Anxious to explore this hot London cook even more.

This is a review of "De Oratore" books I-II and "De Oratore" book III in the Loeb Classical Library.

Marcus Tullius Cicero may not have been the greatest trial lawyer of ancient Rome, but he is the best remembered. He wrote much on many subjects, and some of his private correspondence also survives. He did his best writing in the field of rhetoric. Although he was not an original thinker on the subject of rhetoric, "De Oratore" shows him to have had an encyclopedic practical knowledge of oratory in general and criminal trial advocacy in particular.

Cicero wrote "De Oratore" as a dialog among some of the preeminent orators of the era immediately preceding Cicero's time. The occasion is a holiday at a country villa, and the characters discuss all facets of oratory, ceremonial, judicial, and deliberative. They devote most of the discussion to judicial oratory, and their discussion reveals the trial of a Roman lawsuit to be somewhat analogous to the trial of a modern lawsuit. You have to piece it together from stray references to procedure scattered throughout the work, but it appears that a Roman trial consisted of opening statements, the taking of evidence, and final arguments. Modern trial advocacy manuals devote most of their attention to the taking of evidence, but Cicero dismisses the mechanics of presenting evidence as relatively unimportant compared to the mechanics of presenting argument.

"De Oratore" is divided into three books. The first speaks of the qualities of the orator; the second of judicial oratory, and the third of ceremonial and deliberative oratory. The modern trial lawyer would find the second book most interesting and most enlightening. A lot about trial advocacy has changed since Cicero's day (e.g. no more testimony taken under torture), but a lot hasn't.. Much of what Cicero says holds true even in the modern courtroom.

Trial lawyers cannot congregate without swapping "war stories," and Cicero's characters are no exception. They pepper their discussion with references to courtroom incidents which have such verisimilitude that they could have happened last week instead of 2,000 years ago. I have no doubt that Cicero, had he lived today, would have made a formidable trial lawyer.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of "De Oratore" consists of two volumes. Volume one contains Books I and II of "De Oratore," and volume two contains Book III along with two shorter philosphical works and "De Partitione Oratoria." "De Partitione" purports to be a discussion between Cicero and his son on oratory. "De Partitione" differs so much from "De Oratore," that many (myself included) doubt Cicero wrote it.

When I was in law school at the University of Florida back in the 70's, our student bar association raised money by selling "looms" on the law courses. Looms were the typed up notes of the students who made the highest grades in each of the classes. Looms were clear, concise statements of the essentials of a course without all the extraneous verbiage that creeps into didactic presentation.

"Rhetorica ad Herennium" reads like a loom. It states its points in clear, concise language without elaboration. The points are well made and highly relevant to the subject of persuasive oratory.

You might well describe "Rhetorica" as an ancient handbook on the subject of arguing a criminal case to a jury. At some trial advocacy school I attended sometime during my career as a lawyer, I learned a basic outline for delivering a final argument. You can imagine my amusement when I learned that this basic outline came from a 2,000 year old book. That isn't the only part of the book applicable to the modern courtroom.

The ancient rhetorician was to be skilled in five areas: 1. Invention: Deciding what to say. 2. Arrangment: Deciding what order to say it in. 3. Style: Saying it well. 4. Memory: Remembering what to say. 5. Delivery: The nonverbals that accompany speech.

"Rhetorica" consists of four books arranged as follows:

Books I & II cover Invention, especially as it relates to Judicial or Forensic Rhetoric, giving an analysis as timely as an article from last week's law journal. Although the technology of rhetoric has changed markedly since the days of Cicero, the general principles of rhetoric haven't changed much at all.

Book III takes up Ceremonial and Deliberative Rhetoric and also deals with Arrangement, Delivery, and Memory.

Book IV, which proves the most tedious, deals with Style.

I think this is one of the best books on public speaking I have ever read. It is clear and concise. The author lays out what you are to know and do very well. I would recommend Ad Herennium to anyone. I am really glad my 10th grade Rhetoric teacher made me read this!!!

This review concerns the new (revised) Doubleday edition of the book, published in 1999.

Here is a book that is quite unique in my experience. I don't think I have ever read a book that has offered so much initial frustration, which has ended up turning out quite so well. In the first couple of chapters I was sure I was not going to be able to finish it. I put this down largely to poor editing, but I think there may be the added factor that this edition involved a major revision of an earlier work and that the two were not married very happily together. Yet the book soon strikes out on a new path, and on another level, as we leave the Manx and Cumbrian origins of Fletcher Christian behind, and begin to learn some of the details of that murky event known to history as the "Mutiny on the Bounty." One thing is obvious and it is to the author's credit, as he is a direct descendent of Fletcher Christian (and, something which will appear obvious given the nature of life on Pitcairn at the time of the first settlement, of several of the other mutineers): he makes a very bold attempt not to hoist Bligh on too high a yardarm, in spite of the man's obvious and well-established shortcomings. Indeed, he allows Bligh to hang himself in the book, which is something he seems to have tried very hard to accomplish in real life.

The book's last section of three concerns the personal odyssey by author Glynn Christian back to Pitcairn in search of traces of Fletcher and a greater understanding of some of the legend which grew up around him and his fellow conspirators of over 200 years ago. It is well done, and if we are a bit frustrated by the results, it's not because the author didn't try hard enough. In fact, this is a very successful project from every point of view, even if I did think at first that it was going to be "another island book," like the one on St-Kilda I read many years ago and still haven't digested to this day. Anyone interested in the Bounty story must read this and all those interested in the history of the Pacific, or even just plain family history, will probably enjoy this very much. After initially wanting to almost burn it, I now find myself giving it my highest recommendation. It's quite unique. By the by, it's interesting to reflect on the book's title. Ordinarily, one would think it referred to Pitcairn, the ancestral home as it were; but I rather fancy it refers to Tahiti instead, that fabled place from which some of Glynn Christian's other ancestors sprang.

A new edition, by the same author, is due out in 2000. New research gives a clearer picture of the tension aboard BOUNTY after sailing from Tahiti, there is more evidence about Bligh's method of captaincy and, for the first time, a full chapter on the Tahitian women, who they were, how they thought and how, even though overlooked for two centuries, they are crucial to the survival of Christian's remote settlement on Pitcairn Island.

I found FRAGILE PARADISE to be one of the best biographies I have ever read. The amount of research GLYNN CHIRSTIAN gathered about his famous descendent was just mind blowing. I often wonderd about FLETCHER CHIRSTIAN'S life before his days on the bounty. Having seen all of the movies based on the mutiny I never really felt that hollywood told his story with any accuracy at all. We never really get to know who CHIRSTIAN was and why he did what he did and the price he had to pay for his actions. Also I discoverd while I was reading this book the information about his family in ENGLAND and thier roots which hollywood often chooses to forget about when telling the story about the bounty muntiny. All in all if you like the story of the mutiny on the bounty you'll love this book.

When Dr. Sam Ryan is introduced, the strong female pathologist, one is stuck by her coldness. But as the story unwinds so does the inadvertent chill surrounding Dr. Ryan. Her character is the driving force for this mystery, becoming the heroine because she thrives on getting things done the right way.

This novel is well written and hauntingly addicting. The ending clenches the true meaning of the word: surprise.

My sincere hope is that this will be the first of a series of Dr. Sam books. It was intelligent, well paced and was exciting to the very end. I haven't enjoyed a new author so much as when I 'discovered' Patricia Cornwell. This book is absolutely excellent. I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys good writing as well as murder mysteries.

Northwick, England is stunned when the corpses of Mark James and Frances Purves, containing upside down crosses carved onto the bodies, are found. The police fear that this is only the beginning. East Anglia forensic pathologist Samantha Ryan is added to the investigative team in order to assist the police into what appears to have been ritual killings.

The preliminary evidence points towards nightclub owner, Bird, a dabbler in witchcraft. Bird's fingerprints are found inside the car of one of the victims. Worse yet is the fact that the cord from the doorbell to his club is the murder weapon. The police feel that the case is closed and that they have captured the killer. Samantha is the remaining holdout, who thinks that this was too easy for a clever killer like the one they are trying to apprehend.

SILENT WITNESS is a well-written British police procedural that will please fans of Patricia Cornwell since Samantha seems to be the English Scarpetta. The story line is fun and refreshing even though it is derived from the A & E Mystery Movie series. Nigel McCrery has scribed an engrossing tale that will be devoured by those sub-genre readers who enjoy a novel starring a fabulous forensic pathologist.

Harriet Klausner

An advertisement for Troubled Titan Peas hits us with the lines,"How Much Time Do You Have? YOU NEVER KNOW! In these TROUBLED TIMES, when it could be 'here today, gone tomorrow,' you need WHOLESOME food that you can 'heat 'n eat'! You need QUALITY...IN A JIFF!..." And then advertises bomb shelters. Nevertheless, the peas in this book are a gateway to a pubescent sexual fantasy come true. Kraft takes on all of the best parts of growing up in Babbington, NY (or any part of America in the late 50's) with this novel. It's smart, humorous, and as engaging a book as I've ever read.

Jump into the world of Peter Leroy. Kraft uses Peter Leroy to meditate beautifully on memory, imagination, longing, and loss while he spins a quirky and poignant tale which makes you wish you could remember every word, you wish you could create like Kraft, you long to spend more time with Peter and his friends, and mourn the loss of their company when the book ends. Read this book because you'll want to find out what the Glynns have Peter do with the peas.

Once again, Glynn Marsh Alam captivates the reader with her third mystery following Luanne Fogarty's continuing adventures in North Florida's swamps and sinkholes. Luanne juggles her "day job" of teaching linguistics at the local University with scuba diving for bodies and evidence in mysterious waters. This time, rather than the sticky heat of Florida summers, which Alam made palpably humid to the reader in previous books, Luanne contends with the cold of approaching winter - cold enough (so locals say) for lizards to crack. This is definitely not the Florida one typically reads about - in many ways.

The story unfolds during Fair week, as a ragtag carnival with a very odd assortment of performers and workers sets up for business. The patterns of a serial killer emerge, a seriously large snake is lurking about, and twists along the way hold the reader until the very end.

I especially enjoyed the way that Alam portrays Luanne's attempts to balance her professional, professorial duties and interactions with her University colleagues with her diving and detective work and interactions with the police and swamp people - some friendly and some not so friendly. All of this makes for another very entertaining time in swamp country.

Luanne and Pasquin are on their way to pick up alligator meat for the sheriff department’s booth at the local fair when they discover a woman’s body floating in the shallows. The coroner makes the connection with several other murders in various locations, including a skeleton that Luanne found while working another case two years earlier. Then a traveling carnival worker in the area for the fair is found murdered in the same manner. What was his connection with the women killed? Why did the killer change his or her pattern? Will Luanne figure out the answer before the fair leaves town?

This is the third Luanne Fogarty mystery, and it’s just as great as the others. The characters have grown and continue to develop in this story. I’m very interested to see where the author goes with a couple characters. And I loved watching Tony fight his pride whenever Luanne provided a good direction to go. The story moved along well with a couple sub-plots weaved expertly throughout. And the writing is still top notch. This book is set during the beginnings of winter, and Ms. Alam expertly brings the changing warm and cold weather and the changes to the swamps to life.

This series is wonderful. The mysteries are intriguing and the writing is outstanding. I just finished this book and already I can’t wait for the next. Don’t miss out.

Late at night, when the crickets suddenly stop chirping, your skin crawls and your scalp and neck tingle as you feel the silent terror of an unknown interloper intruding into the secluded, telephone-free ancestral home. Will the crickets start their chorus again?

Glynn Alam's writing is so rich and evocative that from page one, you are deep in the Florida swamp, sweating in the humidity, listening to crickets, driving down rutted roads, partaking of sumptuous southern feasts, dodging snakes of both the slithering and two-legged kind, warily avoiding gators of both the four- and two-legged kind, scuba diving in frosty cold spring water and stumbling upon dead bodies in the limestone caves of the cold swamp springs of the Florida Panhandle.

Alam has crafted lots of plot twists and surprise turns that keep you moving through the swamp-fest as elderly Cajun swamp neighbor Pasquin helps Luanne Fogarty use her intellect, diving skill and Mother Wit to help otherwise pedestrian, balky Joe Friday-style cops solve a set of mysterious and bewildering murders, robberies and some nautical weirdness on the Gulf.

Get the book, enjoy it, and hope that Alam hurries up with the sequel.

As a mystery writer with my first novel in its initial release, I am quite impressed by Glynn Marsh Alam's DIVE DEEP AND DEADLY. Set primarily in a Florida swamp, this debut mystery features some of the finest first-book writing that I have read in years. As Luanne Fogarty attempts to rebuild the family home, the vivid descriptions allow the reader to literally feel the swamp. As Luanne's project continues, complications arise. The plot twists and turns. The characters are well-drawn. DIVE DEEP AND DEADLY has recently been nominated for a Barry Award. It is most deserving of this award.

Luanne Fogarty is enjoying her time off from teaching by rebuilding her family home deep in the swamps of Florida when her occasional job diving for the police gets her involved in a mystery. She finds a body tied to an underwater cave, but the next morning, it's gone. Exploring a second cave, she finds a second body. Is there a connection? And if so, what is it? And who is the unidentified first woman and where is her body?

This is a wonderful debut book. The plot develops nicely, and the characters are interesting as well. The real star here is the setting. Ms. Alam is able to bring the swamp to life using all five senses in a way that places you right there without overshadowing the characters or story. I was completely drawn into this world, enjoying every minute of it.

I highly recommend this entertaining mystery and am looking forward to the second book in this series.

I bought this book because it was supposed to be one of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time. While it does have narrow escapes and Mary Kingsley was very brave, there is too much discussion of "the African mind". I found the constant reference to the superiority of the European colonists very offputting. Of course it was written in the 1890's!

Although some of her comments about "the African Mind" and her belief in the unassailable superiority of Europeans is off-putting, she was otherwise a fine writer and this book is a considerable pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

Single and independent, with a small allowance after the death of her parents, Mary Kingsley decides to explore Africa. She sets off to the Congo, with no entourage nor special clothing and with no knowledge of the local lingo, knowing that this area was renowned for cannibals. Considering that Richard Burton set off to find the centre of Africa with an entourage of 600 bearers puts Ms.Kingsley's trip into perspective.
This is not just a wishful fantasy, she has an agenda to research the fetish cults of the natives and collect animal specimens, as well as fulfil the wanderlust that she had bottled up while looking after her parents.
She takes everything in her stride, beating off crocodiles - 'he was only a pushing young creature', wading through fetid swamps, falling into a staked animal trap and attributing her salvation to the benefits of a good thick woollen skirt!
She has a wonderful way with words; that dry, laconic humour that starts one into fits of giggling; the page-long description of 'Hubbards' sent out by well-meaning, misguided women in Europe for the use of the natives is absolutely wonderful.
She has excellent communication skills, getting what she wants from any native by offering him exactly what he wants - tobacco (reminding us of Xabicheh in 'Dead Man') - and if he doesn't want that, then he must need a hairpin to clean out his pipe!
I am awed by the determination, bravery, guts and chutzpah of this young woman; even more awed by her writing skills - which are definitely not in the Victorian mold, would that there were more of her books than the two she wrote (the other is 'West African Studies'), sadly this was not to be, as she died of typhoid in Capetown in 1900.
A book to savour - highly recommended! *****

When Mae Pope's grandma died, Mae promises to scatter her ashes on the St. Margaret River. The journey becomes more then she bargained for when she begins to have run-ins with the Gruman family. Memories of time with her grandma mingle with the present happenings. But will she make sense of it all?

Once again, Glynn Marsh Alam has proven what an outstanding writer she is. The swamp, river creatures, and characters come boldly to life. It's hard not to get lost in this world. I had no trouble switching from the past to modern day happenings as the story unfolded. The only reason I gave this book four stars is because of two scenes that detracted from my over all enjoyment of the story.

With that warning out of the way, I recommend all of Ms. Alam's books. Her use of language to draw the reader in and make him feel a part of the surroundings makes her books stand out from many of her peers. I hope to enjoy her writing for many years to come.

In River Whispers, Glynn Alam takes us down to the river once more for a sweet mixture of childhood tales and intrigue. The humid swamps and alligator-infested river come alive in this slice of family life and relationships in northern Florida.

Ms. Alam has once again made the swamps and mystery of N. Florida come to life. We have all heard stories from our grandparents, but they seldom come back to haunt our sophisticated minds. In River Whispers, those stories haunt Mae as she carries out a promise. Ms. Alam has woven a tale of past and present that drew me into the story and made me want to know more. I wish the book had been longer!