{"id":470,"date":"2007-10-27T21:44:16","date_gmt":"2007-10-28T04:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/470"},"modified":"2024-03-21T15:03:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T19:03:44","slug":"a-ghost-in-the-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/470","title":{"rendered":"A Ghost in the Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Ghost in the Machine<\/em> (2004) Caroline Graham<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Ghost in the Machine<\/em> may be my least favorite Inspector Barnaby mystery so far, because it takes us forever to actually get to Inspector Barnaby, and even once he becomes involved, we still spend a great deal of time with the characters involved in the murders.<\/p>\n

What Caroline Graham is very good at, is creating realistic characters with realistic foibles and true to life reactions to the events around them. The relationships between Kate, Mallory, and Polly Lawson was complex and realistic, from the parent-child relationships, to the reactions they have to the events that unfold around them. This relationship was probably the most fascinating part of the book.<\/p>\n

The other characters I particularly liked were Karen and Roy, their very complex relationship, and the solution to the problems that evolve around them.<\/p>\n

SPOILER<\/strong> (rot 13<\/a>)
\nOrpnhfr V ernq n ybg bs snagnfl, V jnf arvgure fubpxrq abe fhecevfrq ol gur snpg gung Xnera fnj tubfgf. Vg frrzrq dhvgr hafhecevfvat, nygubhtu V’z abg fher ubj rnfvyl bgure ernqref jvyy npprcg guvf vqrn.
\nEND SPOILER<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were also many unsavory characters, that were not particularly pleasant to read about, which tended to make this a rather difficult story to read in some ways. Both Andrew and Gilda were rather nasty, and having no sympathy for them, I found it difficult to read about them, wanting instead to skip onto a less horrific character. I realize that I earlier praised Caroline Grahams complex characters, but it is difficult to read about individuals that are so unremittingly unpleasant and deserving of each other.<\/p>\n

I don’t think I’ll run right out and pick up the rest of the Inspector Barnaby series just yet–for one thing I’ll see what my grandmother thinks of the books I have. I may want to spend my money on something she’s a little more likely to enjoy, and I am simply not sure how she is going to feel about this series.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Ghost in the Machine (2004) Caroline Graham Ghost in the Machine may be my least favorite Inspector Barnaby mystery so far, because it takes us forever to actually get to Inspector Barnaby, and even once he becomes involved, we still spend a great deal of time with the characters involved in the murders. What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,33,8,291,42],"tags":[61,62],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-paper","category-police","tag-caroline-graham","tag-chief-inspector-barnaby"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-7A","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":460,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/460","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":0},"title":"Faithful Unto Death","author":"Michelle","date":"October 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Faithful Unto Death (1996) Caroline Graham I picked up a later book in this series somewhere, and being the way I am, decided to go back and start at the beginning of the series. Too bad for me. This isn't the first book in the series, it's simply the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13919,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13919","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":1},"title":"The Killings at Badger’s Drift","author":"Michelle","date":"February 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Killings at Badger's Drift (1987) Caroline Graham (Chief Inspector Barnaby) I'd initially forgotten just how messed up this story is. Then once we were introduced to all the characters, I clearly remembered who did the murdering and why. The opening is actually sweet. An 80-year-old woman and her best\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Killings at Badgers Drift","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/The-Killings-at-Badgers-Drift.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":466,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/466","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":2},"title":"A Place of Safety","author":"Michelle","date":"October 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"A Place of Safety (1999) Caroline Graham I only meant to read a couple of chapters of A Place of Safety. Unfortunately, an interesting combined with difficulty getting to sleep after an afternoon nap meant that I read the entire book yesterday evening. A man witnesses what appears to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10023,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10023","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":3},"title":"The Killings at Badger’s Drift","author":"Michelle","date":"March 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Killings at Badger's Drift (1987) Caroline Graham Miss Emily Simpson was found dead in her home. An elderly woman, her death didn't seem suspicious, but her best friend, Miss Lucy Bellringer insists that something was wrong and the death should be investigated. I had very very vague memories of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Killing-Badgers-Drift.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":468,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/468","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":4},"title":"The Killings at Badger’s Drift","author":"Michelle","date":"October 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Killings at Badger's Drift (1987) Caroline Graham This is actually the first Inspector Barnaby mystery. How annoying when publishers only have part of a writer's catalog and one is deluded into thinking you've read the first book in a series, only to discover you were terrible wrong. So this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18431,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18431","url_meta":{"origin":470,"position":5},"title":"Death of a Hollow Man","author":"Michelle","date":"October 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Death of a Hollow Man (1989) Caroline Graham (Chief Inspector Barnaby) Inspector Barnaby's wife belongs to the local theater group, so we start during the early rehearsals, and interestingly (for a police procedural) the murder doesn't happen until opening night (about 40% into the book). So not only do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Death of a Hollow Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/deathhollowman.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}