Review: Lay on, MacDuff...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2014
All in all I liked it, refreshing to be in a retro time period although I felt more might have been done to make that era live for me, and of course there could easily be more character development, which I'm sure will come in successive efforts. The involvement in a professional stage play production was novel and the intimacy inherent in a pre-performance theatre was evocative and true from my own memory.As the step-mother of four daughters (the shortest of which is 6') who have always been encouraged to stand tall and proud and project confidence in who they are and what they know and can do, it was a pleasure to see those values encouraged in a character and particularly so in the 1940s.Have no complaints about character inconsistencies, all human beings are inconsistent by nature and I was glad to see that extreme quirkiness in an effort to lure readers wasn't employed.There were a couple of plot inconsistencies which I noted but I almost hesitate to mention them, since I may have missed something, and it's difficult without creating spoilers. The first was the name of a key character, generally undisclosed and which I don't believe was known by the protagonist who, toward the end, all of a sudden mentions it as though it were known all along. The second was in an area where the protagonist is in a locked environment and being pursued, and there didn't seem to be any logical resolution of the pursuit; the scene just shifts slightly with no conclusion. The third was what seemed to me to be the secrecy surrounding the protagonist and her "partner" in their undercover positions. Both had been operating under the radar, and then toward the end, all of a sudden it seemed as though everybody in the murder field knew who they were.Perhaps not the most sophisticated effort and much of the reveal didn't require any guesswork but all I need to enjoy a book is a decent plot, reasonably-strung-together words that move it along, a few twists, and the feeling when it's over that I wish it wasn't. I rarely acquire any novel less than 300 pages, this was a pleasant surprise and I will look for more.I guess the Nitpick Police are hard at work giving their lives meaning. One low-star reviewer complained about the mention of W-4 forms which weren't in use until 1943. First, it was a W-2 form, not a W-4, and second, although no specific year was stated in the book, it is made clear that it was at least 1941 or later, so what's the problem? Another one complained of over-emphasizing the origin of the protagonist's nickname, Percy (short for Persephone). I didn't find that overdone whatsoever, and of course if it's being explained to a new character it would make more sense than not to explain.For those who are keeping score, here are the standings: (1) Zero paranormal/supernatural/magic components; (2) No profanity; (3) No gooey romance; (4) No explicit sex; (5) No explicitly gory or protracted violence; (5) Mild bodily injury but pretty clean; (6) No religious/alternative lifestyle agenda or promotion; (9) Grammar and punctuation police, come ahead on: I know you'll find something.