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| Plot Summary of The Deadly Ackee and Other Stories |
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Five Star, Dec 2003, 25.95, 294 pp.
ISBN: 1594140790
“The Deadly Ackee”. Nadine calls up her brother Theo, a retired florist, to chaperone his niece, her fiancé and four other college students on their Jamaican vacation. Fun and sun in the Caribbean proves tedious for Theo as the sextet drives him crazy with their antics. However, Theo soon finds himself in a deadly situation as someone poisons the pool boy with rum spiked with deadly unripe ackee and one of his charges has been kidnapped. The adolescent humor is amusing at first, but like Theo becomes a bit tedious until the homicide and the abduction take center stage. Theo, in his second appearance (see The Night-Blooming Cereus) is a fine amateur sleuth who would prefer to find exotic flora, but acts responsible even if it is dangerous. Tongue in cheek, this is an amusing reprint of a late 1980s tale that is fun to read.
The Other Stories. The four accompanying short stories blend humor with murder and mayhem to include a return to Maggody, Arkansas for one tale. The four contributions are amusing, contain a twist or two, and enhance the fine lead title in providing readers a taste of Joan Hess' properly cooked ripened ackee mysteries.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Deadly Ackee and Other Stories |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- searching for missing person
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- retiree
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- The Caribbean
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Click here for more information about this book
Joan Hess Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Sarah Bryson
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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