From archive (archive)
Subject: ONCE UPON A MURDER by Randisi & Randle
From: ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Organization: AT&T, Middletown NJ
Date: 23 Jul 87 15:01:34 GMT




	 ONCE UPON A MURDER by Robert J. Randisi and Kevin D. Randle
		 Windwalker, 1987, ISBN 0-88038-450-6, $2.95.
		      A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		       Copyright 1987 Evelyn C. Leeper

     Miles Paladon is a private eye in 1939 Chicago.  Following a hot tip,
he takes a hot slug in the chest and falls to the ground at the edge of a
battlefield littered with armored corpses, the arrow protruding from his
chest.  Say what?!  Well, that was his reaction also.

     Miles has apparently been paired to his "twin," Prince Paladon of
Palandrum.  This pairing appears to consist of drawing Miles's consciousness
into Prince Paladon's body to share it with Paladon, while Miles's own body
lies comatose in his own world.  Prince Paladon knows that the arrow which
killed him was fired by one of his own household, but needs Miles's
additional psychic strength to keep himself alive long enough to figure out
who is was.

     There are the usual fantasy elements: wizards, magic, and all that
stuff.  There is an attempt to have strong female characters; it's not a
total success.  As a mystery, it's pretty ho-hum.  All in all, it's an
interesting blend of fantasy and mystery, and what I call an "airport book":
a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours, but not something you
should go out of your way to find.

					Evelyn C. Leeper
					(201) 957-2070
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