A small, classic whodunit mystery with warm, feeling and often comical characters!

The only thing cozy about this book is the heat it will provide when burned in the fireplace after you get disgusted with the glacial pace, the two-dimensional characters, and the sheer dullness. I admit that I quit reading 3/4 of the way through, so maybe the excitement finally starts in the last quarter of the book. But I was so bored when I gave up that I didn't care who was murdered, who performed the murders, why the murders happened, or if the murderer was revealed. And I certainly didn't care what happened to the excessively shallow Mrs. Malory, her fellow lame instructors, or her perfectly unbelievable students. There's no one here with whom you can sympathize, nothing to catch you up, and very little to keep the pages turning. I only made it as far though the book as I did because I kept thinking there must be something worthwhile coming. If something worthwhile is in that last portion, it took far too long working its way into the story.

Much as I've enjoyed the Mrs Malory stories as a series, the quality has fallen off badly in the last two books.

"Fatal Legacy" was most definitely the best of the series, with the author steadily gaining in style, pace and interest up to that point.

Then came "Lilies that Fester". I've already reviewed that book so I'll not go into it in detail other than to say it was abyssmal.

The next book, "Delay of Execution", marks something of a comeback, but it still isn't anything much to write home about.

The problems are, basically, in the areas highlighted by the reviewer from Seattle. The characters are thoroughly two dimensional - even Mrs Malory - and the plot is totally sequential with not a diversion or red herring in sight.

This is not to say that the identity of the murder is ever obvious - it isn't, not even to Mrs Malory - and far from our heroine detecting the motive and identity of the "executioner" that person simply owns up on the spur of the moment, even though they clearly are no longer under suspicion.

As a light read about the kind of politiking that goes on in an English private school the story reads smoothly and is mildly interesting. As a murder mystery, however, it is pretty weak, not least because the author never really engages our sympathy for either of the two women who die.

In each case there is considerable ambiguity about whether the death was an accident or a murder, but the ambiguity is never developed upon so as to create any real tension. Still, having said that, at just 212 pages this isn't exactly a major tome, and I personally found the plotting substantial enough to hold my attention for the limited amount of time it took me to read the book through to the end.

In short, the quality of the story telling is still a long way off the author's earlier standard, and whilst it's a pleasant enough time filler, I'd be wary of recommending it to anyone who isn't already a DEDICATED fan of Mrs Malory's adventures, and maybe not even then.

When seventh level schoolteacher Margaret Hood died from diabetic coma, the English chair at Blakeney, Laura Wilson, asks former Oxford pal Sheila Malory to teach the class. Reluctantly the renowned literary critic and writer Sheila agrees to teach the five brilliant female eighteen-year-olds as they prepare for their exams.

The students are easy to work with as they turn out even more intelligent and motivated than advertised. However, Sheila begins to see a dark picture of Margaret emerge from a variety of sources. Learning further that Margaret perished by not taking her insulin, Sheila notices discrepancies in the account making her wonder if the perfect decorum of her pupils hide something more sinister.

Fans of cozies will enjoy the insightful look at life at the sheltered Birmingham school, sort of a modern day urbanized Miss Read tale. The story line is rich in detail and the key cast members including Margaret are fully developed so that the audience understands their motives. However, the mystery is slow in coming though once Sheila begins having doubts about her predecessor's death, her investigation takes off. Fans of an insular cozy in which the who-done-it begins in the latter half of the novel will relish Hazel Holt's MRS. MALORY AND THE DELAY OF EXECUTION.

Harriet Klausner

It all ends rather nicely, doesn't it? But do two wrongs really make a right, as is implied here?

Noelle, daughter of London musical theatre celebrity Desiree, narrates the story. The settings range from England's London, Kent & Cornell, to France's Paris and its countryside. Set in the 1860's, the story does capture the excitement of theatre first nights, discovery of past civilizations (Roman ruins in Kent), and heritage. Deceit and manipulation, and their motives, are woven throughout the plot without judgement by the author, or the narrator. In my opinion, the global theme is that every action, regardless of the decision behind it, impacts others. The characters never come alive for me, but the sounds of the cities, the haunting loneliness of areas outside large cities, and the excitement of discoveries sustained my interest. I found myself wanting to research London theatrical history, France under the Bonapartes, and Roman forays into England. Narrator Noelle, for all her innocence, does have a cynical component to her personality, which she tries to suppress. Characters gain depth (but not life) through Noelle's faithful recounting of conversations with the other characters; everyone she knows has something to say about someone else she knows. In addition to these filtered reports, Noelle adds her own impressions of each character. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, and found myself looking forward to reading it, although I would not classify it a page-turner. Setting and theme were more provocative than character and story.

Having read all other of JHG books, I must say I was very disappointed in this one. No wonder the publisher refused it and she later published under John Garth. Her readers would have been very disgusted at the theme she chose for the book.

Hill Man was written by Janice Holt Giles under the name of John Garth. A book about rural life, which was not in keeping with the other books JHG had written. I thoroughly enjoyed the book in the 60's, and I can hardly wait to get my copy.

Janice and Henry Giles were two outstanding people!

ok. it may be useful for beginners. but i expect much example in dynamic joins & wild card functions.

much more information/ solved example for date & time comaparisions are needed.

I want you to mail me any of your replies to narasu@wipsys.soft.net. thanking you.

This is a very useful book to have around. The author takes you through simple open query file syntax to some very complex examples. It has all I needed to know to get the most out of open query file.

Sweetwater and Gunslinger are the cllsigns of the crew of an F-14 fighter which was, when this book came out, the US Navy's top interceptor. While two-man aircews should be enough to generate the structure around which can be built a great aviation novel (like "Flight of the Intruder"), it's wasted here as we watch the two engage in the sort of antics popularized in Top Gun while the top brass watches powerless, and aged admirals watch wishing they could be young nuggets again. Much of the novel is episodic, and not written very well, following the boys as their aircraft carrier charts the expected hostile waters, but we never feel as is we are actually there. The airplanes aren't fully realized, nor are the struggles of becoming a proficient aviator made out well enough to describe the charachters and why their superiors tolerate them. Ditch this book for anything else by Coonts.

Althoug I enjoyed this book it was more of a collection of short stories with a connecting theme than a real novel. The main charachter "Sweetwater" is not featured quite as much as the title suggests and many of the other charachters are not described enough to give you a clear picture of them. I laughed at several spots an d at the end wasnt too dissapointed.....

Holt must be in serious debt. Reading "Ye Gods" was equivalent to being forced to watch an emergency crew pull bodies from a wreck. Bad plot (what little there was), bad writing, bad experience all around. I wouldn't recommend this to an enemy.

Not a book for someone wanting a deep, thought provoking read. In order to really enjoy this novel, you have to go into it not expecting something spectacularly brilliant. However, the book is light, and filled with dry humor and wit. I highly recomend it for someone who needs a bit more laughter in their reading.

Others have said it, and so will I; the series could have done with 1 less book...this one.

It is obvious Ross just wanted to be rid of his characters. "Nonchalantly killed" is understating it. Morosly killing off Toby and Alexandra was not needed. Plus, all 3 main characters ended up wasting their lives. Had Ross decided to give Frank Blake a chance to successfully impacted Panama, and left it there, it would have been a finer book. Instead, years pass by with no real impact, and this book is a travesty.

I too have read every book in all the series by Dana Fuller Ross. Cannot understand why in most cases each of the previous books only one or two years were covered and now all of a sudden there are decades covered in the one book (1901-1941). I thought that there would be at least an Awakenings 2-3-4 etc. which would lead right up to the present day.
I guess the reason that the quality of the writing may have changed in the books because according to information I got at the local library someone else was writing under the name of Dana Fuller Ross as the original man who used the name Dana Fuller Ross passed away in 1976.

This was my favorite book in the series. A must have for collectors.

I am a student and i happen to have a Holt Science Spectrum textbook and I do not find this book helpful to me at all. All this book does is confuse me and with this I believe that I speak for the whole class including the teacher. This book changes from one subject to the other randomly and insufficiently explains the topic, It tries to cover the lack of info with the pictures. We have even found grammatical errors.

I am a student and I do not find this book helpful to me at all. All this book does is confuse me and with this I believe that I speak for the whole class including the teacher. This book changes from one subject to the other randomly and insufficiently explains the topic, It tries to cover the lack of info with the pictures. We have even found grammatical errors.

This book is so useful and easy. If you are not getting it then your out of your mind. I'm 15 and I'm just finishing this book. It couldn't be any easier. IF you and your teacher dont get it then you should go back to the 1st grade and along with your teacher too. Please people try to read the book not just look at the pictures!

The recipes look good-but this book is for serious cooks only. Not only do you have to know what a Dutch oven is, but you have to own one in order to prepare several of the recipes. There are very few recipes that those of us with Pyrex and microwave ovens can adapt to use. It only covers a few antioxidents, also-just the obvious ones.