I was asked to review Marsali Taylor’s
Death on a Longship all the way back in August, but I still had a
summer job and school was around the corner, not to mention I had other review
requests to get out of the way. So I had to decline an opportunity to be part
of a book tour, although
our
good friend the Puzzle Doctor participated. The review was extremely
positive, and so it made me eager to get around to reading this book.
Unfortunately, with midterms, work, and unexpected stuff happening left and
right, it took me well over three weeks to read this book. However, I’m glad to
report that I easily kept track of everything. I never felt lost and when I
picked up the book to read some more, I never felt like I had to refresh my
memory on what I had read before. Marsali Taylor has written a very pleasant
read.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. The whole story
revolves around Cass Lynch, a native of the Shetland Isles who returns to her
homeland as part of a film crew, proudly skippering the replica Viking longship
Stormfugl. This is being used for Ted
Tarrant’s latest film, starring his beloved wife Favelle. They are Hollywood’s
Golden Couple—Ted directs, Favelle stars, and come Oscar season they sweep all
the awards out from under Steven Spielberg’s nose. (Seriously, how else do you
explain his being snubbed as Best Director for Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark,
or Munich? For that matter, how did
Martin Scorsese not win for Goodfellas?)
