![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41FUzlK7BXL._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA278_PIkin4%2CBottomRight%2C-52%2C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg?w=474\"){kind=icon}
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 And I\u2019m really going to need for you to leave us now. Sitting at someone\u2019s table without being invited is rude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me tell you something,\u201d I said, helping myself to her toast, \u201cI\u2019ve been called rude many times and I\u2019ve never believed it. I\u2019m a lovely man. I think when someone calls me rude it\u2019s because they don\u2019t want to talk to me. And the only reason someone wouldn\u2019t want to talk with me is because they have something to hide.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ve expressed the opinion here before<\/strong> that a lot of the best series detective characters are wish-fulfillment figures. Hard-boiled private eyes tend to have lives their male readers dream of having. I assume female detective heroes (which I generally don\u2019t read) fulfill a similar function for women.<\/p>\n
William Doonan\u2019s Henry Grave, hero of Mediterranean Grave<\/a><\/i> (sequel to Grave Passage<\/i>, which I reviewed a couple days back), is a new kind of wish-fulfillment hero, in my experience. He\u2019s pretty much the guy I\u2019d love to be (but am sure I won\u2019t be) when I get old. Older.<\/p>\n
84-year-old Henry Grave works as an investigator for an organization of cruise ship owners. His professional technique is reminiscent of Peter Falk\u2019s Columbo character on TV, playing the clueless bumbler who disarms suspects to the point where they get sloppy and make mistakes. Harry takes that game up a notch by presenting himself as a semi-senile, deaf, nearsighted old codger. This method allows him to have a very good time while doing his job, drinking heavily, eating about every five minutes, and flirting with every pretty girl he meets. And yet, when it comes to a showdown, Henry Graves is Shiva, the avenger without mercy.<\/p>\n
In Mediterranean Grave<\/i>, Henry finds himself aboard the cruising yacht Vesper, an unusually small and elderly ship catering to New Agers. The ship is anchored in the Greek archipelago when the story begins. An Egyptian policeman, on board to guard a priceless archaeological artifact, has been found murdered in his cabin. The artifact, an inscribed cup that gives the promise of being a Rosetta Stone for the heretofore undeciphered Minoan language, has disappeared.<\/p>\n
Henry proceeds to investigate in his signature fashion, saying anything he darn well pleases and going anywhere he darn well likes, and when he gets in trouble either playing the age card or pulling rank. His shamelessness sometimes makes me laugh out loud, but his serious heart occasionally moves me deeply.<\/p>\n
Cautions for adult themes (one male character who abandoned his wife for another woman is described as a \u201cgood man,\u201d but I don\u2019t look to Henry for moral wisdom). At $2.99 for a Kindle download, I\u2019d say the Henry Grave mysteries are about as good an entertainment deal as any books you\u2019ll find. After mine, of course.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c\u2026 And I\u2019m really going to need for you to leave us now. Sitting at someone\u2019s table without being invited is rude.\u201d \u201cLet me tell you something,\u201d I said, helping myself to her toast, \u201cI\u2019ve been called rude many times and I\u2019ve never believed it. I\u2019m a lovely man. I think when someone calls me … Continue reading Mediterranean Grave, by William Doonan<\/span>