I loved the Thin Woman, and was excited to read this book, but never bothered finishing. I found Ellie irritating, not someone I liked very much. I read about 50 pages, and hadn't laughed once.

Ellie Haskell is back and pregnant. All she wants to do is stay in bed, eat and be pampered but a warning of danger gives her the push to go to America with her husband Bentley T. Haskell. Bentley wants to become a member of a select group of chefs along with several other unusual candidates. The selection of the one new member of the food society, takes place in a rural area in a strange house on an island. To make matters worse, the house is occupied by a woman who has written a bestseller book about her aging actress mother entitled Monster Mommie. And who shows up? None other than Monster Mommie herself.

Ellie is still an interesting character and the book does have some funny parts, but it was not nearly as good a read as the Thin Woman. I felt that the book had a lot of potential but failed to live up to it. I would not recommend Mum's the Word unless you are a die hard Ellie fan.

Oh to have Ellie's wit and narrative powers! Dorothy Cannell does a superb job with another Ellie Haskell mystery, this one every bit as fun as the ones before, if not more! It was delicious having Ellie visit the States and reading her reactions to its vastness and people. The clever little plot was devious and interesting, a mystery revolving around the expose of a famous actress in best-seller Monster Mommy. More delightful characters! I don't know how Mrs. Cannell does it, but her creations are an ongoing pleasure! I mean, here's a sample of who you'll meet (they're all contestants for some cookery Mange): Kid Prodigy named Bingo and his fashion-less mother, French countess and magician husband, goodhearted cooking witch who makes love potions, and a nice, warm housewife with a broody and paranoid husband. Then there are noncontestants, such as Valicia X, and the infamous, scandalous Theola Faith, and wretched daughter Mary. Then you've got the setting of a Gothic atrocity used in a movie called Melancholy Mansion (which, yes, had starred Theola Faith) and a narrow-minded town called Mud Creek with more eccentric characters, including a Diethologic reverend. This mystery is cunningly appropriate for a pregnant woman (Ellie) and is a successful farce. Do read it!

The journal of a monk, Matthew Perry, was preserved, translated,and chopped up. Some pieces were then placed in a book for publication. Disjointed, obscure in many instances and almost impossible to read without a reference library close at hand, The Illustrated Chronicles.., is a chore to comprehend with little reward for your effort. Advertised as some kind of entertaining historical memoir, it is anything but. Not for most and definetely not for me.