Review: Mysteries unfold on nearly every page
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 9, 2013
Some books we read for information, instruction, inspiration, laughter, or health matters, yoga meditational teaching - as though every book we open must have a purpose. And then along comes MartaTandori who pleasures us with good old-fashioned suspense thrillers whose sole purpose is to provide and escape from the shackles of making it through another day of responsibilities. And escape is the proper word when considering Tandori's writing. She appears to have the plot line and the arch and dénouement down pat, but never for a moment does she allow the reader to lose concentration on the mystery she is painting.A bit about this author: Marta Tandori began her studies in theater with acting classes ate the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and despite the fact that she deserted that line of endeavor in favor of a career in writing  -  the influence of the anxiety of performance, the reaction of the audience, the building of a character all the way to curtain call seem to inform her style of writing today. She began her writing career in workshops and in classes though the Institute of Children's Literature in Connecticut, published a number of fine children's and young adult books, and finally followed her passion for adult mystery suspense novels. And that is where her fame rests today, writing about `strong female protagonists with closets full of nasty skeletons and the odd murder or two to complicate their already complicated lives.'Which brings us to her current novel TURN A BLIND EYE, that blends disparities in mental status with incidents in the past that have repercussions in the present. But one special trait that seems to hold sway in Tandori's writing is her choice of opening a book with a Prologue of a credible incident that seems too fascinating to just drop with the beginning of chapter one: a couple in a hotel room find a box and a letter that leads to an anaphylactic episode with the woman and a strange murder in the motel's office. We want to know more, but in the style of all fine mystery writers we must wait until the major story of the novel unfolds to understand the significance of this appealing and appalling opening. The triad interplay of retirees Jack and Beverly Donnelly (Beverly suffers from dementia) reuniting with one Libby Newton slowly unravels a string of events that mount to a double homicide that Libby must solve. It is that kind of story - turn one page and the story rushes forward with a momentum that makes the book a veritable page-turner. Tandori is smart, wise, secretive, and knows how to pounce details on the reader so that nothing is quite clear until the end. A terrific diversion of a story - lights on at night, please. Grady Harp, October 13