Susan Glickman

  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Poetry
    • On Finding a Copy of Pigeon in the Hospital Bookstore
    • Poem about your laugh
    • Punish your book
    • Summertime
  • Fiction
    • Background
    • Extract from The Violin Lover
  • Nonfiction
    • Klibansky Award Speech
  • Children’s Books
  • A Note on Teaching Poetry
  • Other Writing
    • Angels, Not Polarities
    • Dictionnaire des idées reçues
    • Found Money
    • Maiden or Crone
    • My Life with Northrop Frye
    • Obituary for Zitner
    • On the Line
    • Second Person Impersonal
    • The Better Mother
    • The Violin in History
  • Editing
  • News / Les Nouvelles
  • Bio
    • Stuff about me floating around the web
  • Cartoons
  • My Art
You are here: Home » Uncategorized » Blog post about Safe as Houses

Blog post about Safe as Houses

27 Oct 2015 / 0 Comments / in Uncategorized/by Susan Glickman

https://deborahserravalle.wordpress.com/tag/susan-glickman/

BOOK REVIEW: SAFE AS HOUSES BY SUSAN GLICKMAN

Safe_As_Houses_Glickman

A Brief Synopsis

While walking in her dog, Jasper, in Toronto’s Hillcrest Village, indie book store owner, Liz Ryerson, stumbles upon a corpse. Liz soon discovers the murdered man is, James Scott, a realtor who recently gave her an appraisal on the building she co-owns with her playboy ex-husband, Adam.

Liz’s complex but predictable life is suddenly in upheaval: Adam is leaving on an extended trip with his beautiful, young lover, Laura; her daughter, Samantha, has taken up with a “bad boy” and is exhibiting alarming signs of anorexia; and her son, Josh, is off doing his own thing. To complicate matters further, Adam is pressuring Liz to sell the property which also houses her book store, Inside of a Dog. Amidst this chaos, Liz abetted by her eccentric new friend, widowed retired classics professor, Maxime Bertrand, embarks on a quest to solve the murder of James Scott.

My Comments

In her recent novel,  Safe as Houses, Susan Glickman offers a convincing portrayal of a woman attempting to exert control over her world gone mad. Twists, turns and diversions in the story propel it forward at a satisfying pace. Liz is a likeable character and her relationship with Max is endearing but plausible. For book lovers, Liz’s store, Inside of a Dog, is a charming character unto itself. Still, the story has a dark side and it is in this underbelly, Safe as Houses, sets itself apart from your predictable, amateur sleuthing story.

Ms Glickman choses to unravel the underlying events in an unexpected and well-considered format: interspersed chapters are skillfully told from the point-of-view of the victim. In this way, Liz’s story and the victim’s unfold in tandem to a satisfying conclusion.

My Final Word

Safe as Houses is a well-paced mystery having all the usual “suspects” one expects in that genre. The twist is in the telling. And that, in my opinion, is what sets this book apart from other mysteries on my shelf.

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pages

  • A Note on Teaching Poetry
  • Angels, Not Polarities
  • Background
  • Dictionnaire des idées reçues
  • Extract from The Violin Lover
  • Found Money
  • Klibansky Award Speech
  • Maiden or Crone
  • My Art
  • My Life with Northrop Frye
  • News / Les Nouvelles
  • Obituary for Zitner
  • On Finding a Copy of Pigeon in the Hospital Bookstore
  • On the Line
  • Other Writing
  • Poem about your laugh
  • Punish your book
  • Sample Page
  • Second Person Impersonal
  • Stuff about me floating around the web
  • Summertime
  • The Better Mother
  • The Tale-Teller Now Available in French!
  • The Violin in History
  • EDITING
  • Poetry
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Children’s Books
  • Editing
  • Bio
  • Cartoons
  • Contact

Categories

  • Books
  • Reviews
  • The Blog
  • Uncategorized

Archive

  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • May 2021
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Categories

  • Books
  • Reviews
  • The Blog
  • Uncategorized

Recent Comments

  • Susan Glickman on Beautiful setting of one of my extinction sonnets by Ronald Beckett, performed by the Arcady Ensemble
  • Susan Glickman on Beautiful cover by David Drummond for my new book of poetry, due out April 2019.
  • Eva Bednar on Beautiful cover by David Drummond for my new book of poetry, due out April 2019.
  • Jenny Koster on Beautiful setting of one of my extinction sonnets by Ronald Beckett, performed by the Arcady Ensemble

Recent Posts

  • Montreal book launch coming up on November 25th!
  • BOOK LAUNCH FOR MY NEW BOOK OF POETRY, CATHEDRAL/GROVE!

Archives

  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • May 2021
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
© Copyright - Susan Glickman - Wordpress Theme by Kriesi.at
  • scroll to top
  • Send us Mail
  • Join our Facebook Group
  • Subscribe to our RSS Feed