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Fool Errant: A Benbow Smith Mystery: 1 (The Benbow Smith Mysteries)

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Cover versions of What Am I Gonna Do written by Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com . Retrieved 2021-08-27.

Ambrose Minstrel, the inventor, is undoubtedly eccentric. But even his oddities cannot account for the strange events at Meade House. Young Hugo Ross, Minstrel’s new secretary, feels that all the dark happenings centre somehow on himself – cryptic remarks and veiled glances between Minstrel and his assistant, stealthy footsteps in the dead of night, the offer of a small fortune for the worthless field glasses. And then there is the unknown girl who had called from the dark, the rest of her statement swallowed by the night? But in spite of all his caution, Hugo Ross is drawn into a despicable plot involving government intrigue and espionage. With his own life on the line, how much is he willing to risk for his country? In this 1920s mystery/thriller, Hugo Ross is so desperate for a job that he skulks around the foreboding house of an eccentric inventor, hoping to be hired on as assistant. And he is! But a warning from a mysterious woman who was running away has left him suspicious. The renowned inventor, Ambrose Minstrel, and his snarky secretary aren’t exactly on the up-and-up. The tantrums, the strange requests, and the bizarre men who are now following Hugo lead him to suspect that he is the unwitting fool in an elaborate set-up. He can’t get the warning and the deliciously strange woman out of his mind. When she calls again, Hugo decides to use his family connections to talk to Benbow Smith, a shadowy spy figure who sheds light on the real treacheries Minstrel is setting into action. Will Hugo take the high road and risk himself for truth and justice or will he chose to leave behind the dark mystery before it overtakes and destroys him? In retrospect I found this to be quite a surprising Wentworth novel, as it made me rethink what I thought I knew to be her way of writing. That’s not to say this novel didn’t include some of the things I expected. We have the love interest, though thankfully the woman although a bit of twerp is bearable. Ultimately she redeems herself at the end, as during the middle of the book I think both me and Ross wanted to slap her, as she finds him too dictatorial when he advises sensible decisions e.g. Let’s not make lots of noise to attract the bad guys’ attentions. Moreover, there are a number of familiar thriller tropes, including the vamp Madame de Lara (who is anything but French). However, there were also some unexpected elements. The introductory setup at the beginning was first rate in my opinion and there were setting descriptions which I felt had a slight modernist feel (which is also captured in the dreams Ross has): To our surprise and arrant disbelief, this is how you spend every afternoon in Ventura.[ Punk News]

ar·rant

From Middle English erraunt [ and other forms ] , [1] from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer ( “ to walk (to); to wander (to); ( figuratively) to travel, voyage ” ), and then: [2] This may be a Golden Age book, but the book itself is perhaps bronze, or tin. Successive illogical happenings, the flightiest girl ever, a hero cast in the bumbling-but-ultimately-triumphant Brit mold, a fake femme fatale, and an untenable plot leave you with the impression that what you're reading is more a comic book than anything else. Arrant means complete or absolute. Errant means (1) roving, or (2) straying from the proper course. Arrant was originally a variant of errant,but it long ago developed a meaning of its own. It has negative connotations, usually modifyingnegative nouns (e.g., arrant fool, arrant nonsense).

a b "Billy Fury | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com . Retrieved 2022-10-02. from Latin errantem, the accusative feminine or masculine singular of errāns ( “ straying, errant; wandering ” ), the present active participle of errō ( “ to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth ” ), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- ( “ to flow ” ).

Suddenly out of the darkness there sprang to view one lighted window… the window looked at Hugo with a square, bright eye; and then down came a blind like the dropping of a lid.’ The villains come from Central Casting. Someone phoned Baddies R Us and requested one evil scientist, one dark and dangerous brute, and a red-headed Bolshie. Fantastic! errant, adj. (and n.)”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “ errant, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. There is one fantastic quote I will put in here '...unrecalled technologies might be mined as if they were newfound discoveries....the outmoded only remains so until it becomes unremembered, after which it may justly return as the avante garde.'

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