Something Wicked: A Horotio Wilkes Mystery

"How are you, Horatio?" he asked.
"Swell.  If things get any better I'm going to have to hire someone to help me enjoy it." p.102

"No, I forget -- your parents read you bedtime stories from Raymond Chandler."  p.222

After reading Something Rotten, I just had to read the next book, Something Wicked.  I really love Horatio Wilkes.  And Something Wicked really stood up to Something Rotten and solidified the character.  Horatio is very funny and sarcastic, friendly and loyal.  And he is a great detective.

Wicked is, of course, based on Macbeth, a play that I'm not terribly familiar with.  I'm mean I know the basic plot but I've never actually read it or saw the play or anything.  But even give that, it wasn't really necessary to know Macbeth to understand this book.  I really enjoyed this book though I probably missed some inside jokes.  It reads just like a regular murder mystery but, if you are familiar with Macbeth, then you know who did it.  There are no major plot changes here, but the dialogue just crackles.  It is a fun retelling of the Macbeth story.  This would be a great way of introducing teens to Shakespeare and maybe get them to read the original afterward (as pointed out as well at What Was I Reading).  My only complaint is that there aren't currently any more Horatio Wilkes books out.  I can't wait for the next one.

Something Rotten: A Horotio Wilkes Mystery

Horatio Wilkes is spending a few weeks at his friend Hamilton Prince's house.  Hamilton's father died recently and, with his mother marrying his uncle right after the funeral, Hamilton isn't doing too well.  But when a mysterious message from Hamilton's father arrives claiming to have been murdered, it's up to Horatio to solve the mystery and save Hamilton.  But whodunit? Was it Rex Prince's younger brother or his wife, Trudy, or Hamilton's ex-girlfriend, Olivia, who was after the elder Prince to clean up the family's paper factory?  Or was it Ford N. Branff, the multi-millionaire trying to take over Elsinore Paper?  All Horatio knows is that there is something rotten in Denmark, Tennessee and he's going to get to the bottom of it.

I knew the Princes were rich, but until it was staring me in the face I didn't realize they were super-villain rich. p.18

I wasn't too sure about this book before I started.  The premise was cool, a modern day take on Hamlet with Horatio as the detective.  Horatio was always one of my favorite Shakespearean characters.  He is so loyal and good, albeit a bit of an enabler for Hamlet (less so in this book).  But I have to say that I really enjoyed it.  I mean, the murderer was a bit of a no brainer if you've ever read Hamlet or seen the play, but the fun part was seeing how the characters are transformed to modern day characters.  With players named Hamilton Prince(Hamlet, Prince of Denmark), Rex Prince, Olivia Mendelsohn (Ophelia), and my favorites Ford N. Branff (Fortinbras), Roscoe Grant (Rosencrantz ), and Gilbert Stern (Guildenstern ), I knew this was going to be fun.  It read like a young adult version of a hard boiled detective novel and has some really great lines.  The dialogue was spot-on for that genre and it even had a touch of romance.  And, of course, a much happier ending than the real thing.