Over the holidays, one of our major cleaning tasks was to pull all of our books off our various bookshelves, out from under our bed, in our dresser, in the closets, etc. and sort them. We sorted them into boxes to be donated to the library, boxes to put into storage, a pile to put into the “secondary” bookshelf, and then the honored books that would go into our living room bookshelf. These would be books that had importance to us—some child raising books, our scripts and monologue books, books written by friends of ours, and our favorite novels and nonfiction stories. While some of my favorite serial authors were relegated to the “secondary” bookshelf, there was one author who retained the place of honor in our living room: Laurie King. Her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books are some of my favorite novels. She’s an intelligent, courageous writer who manages to work surprising depth into stories that are fast-paced and exciting. Knowing how much I liked the Russell/Holmes books and her other book A Darker Place, I checked out of the library a couple of books from her other series: Kate Martinelli. The first one I read disappointed me so much that I returned them both to the library without ever reading the second one. The book lacked the intrigue and daring that characterized King’s other books. Nonetheless, I decided to give her another shot recently, and borrowed To Play a Fool from the library. I’m glad that I did. To Play a Fool is of the caliber I’ve come to expect from King. The characters are interesting and the story is unusual. It is set in San Francisco and the main character is a police officer, Kate Martinelli. The plot The book opens with the cremation of a dog by a group of homeless people. The police are called in as it breaks a few park regulations, but no one is overly concerned about it. They are more concerned the next week when the dog’s owner is cremated by the same group of homeless people. The presentation of these two events is presented in a rather humorous manner without sacrificing any of the serious overtones of a man’s demise and disposal. The police quickly learn that the dead man died not from natural causes, but from being coshed in the head. Kate Martinelli and her partner are sent to investigate and they quickly meet an unusual homeless man who calls himself Erasmus. The characters Laurie King’s characters are typically highly intelligent individuals with a great degree of perspicacity and education. Kate Martinelli is an exception. She is a tough street cop who is clever, but not highly educated or of genius intelligence. Her partner, a psychologist, balances her out in the education field, but she tends to play a background role in most of the book. The advantage to portraying Martinelli as a person with an average intelligence is that King is able to explain more to the readers. Martinelli has to ask questions of the people she meets so that she can understand what is happening, this gives the reader an opportunity to learn with her. Erasmus is by far the most fascinating character in the novel from the moment you meet him until long after you learn all of his past secrets. As is her wont, King takes a character that would be easy to stereotype and then manages to step back from each of those stereotypes to portray a real person with all the levels of complexity that human beings possess. Erasmus is a self-proclaimed Fool. Every word that he speaks is a quotation from great literature—the Bible, Shakespeare, philosophers, the Koran, and other works. He posses information important to Martinelli’s investigation, but she first must break the code of his language in order to extract the information. I would be giving King short shrift if I referred only to these two main characters. All of King’s characters in this book are well-drawn and memorable. She gives them each something to make them unique, something beyond a cardboard cutout that could be dropped into any setting. There is the flaming personal assistant that acts as chef, housekeeper, and aide to Kate and her domestic partner, Lee. There is the short, self-absorbed, and highly intense professor from England; the good-natured and generous Berkeley theology professor; and the flamboyant yet civilized homeless woman. In each case, no matter how small their part in the book, King is careful in their creation. She resists making anyone two-dimensional or totally predictable. Originality King’s writing, and To Play the Fool in particular, attracts me because of its originality. She’s not simply writing the same story that everyone has read 100 times already. She manages to break out of tired formulas even while remaining true to an already well-established genre. There are two elements about To Play the Fool that struck me with its freshness and originality. The first was all the material surrounding the Fool movement. Being a sometimes student of medieval history, I thought I knew what a Fool was and how it would be woven into the story. I was wrong. King explores the modern Fool movement and how its practitioners seek to combat real foolishness—selfishness, greed, violence, dishonesty—with their exaggerated, playful foolishness. Of course, it is always dangerous to hold up a mirror to another’s bad behavior and the Fools frequently suffered for their honesty. The information that King shares with us is fascinating—both from a historic and psychological point of view. I left the novel feeling that I had learned something of both interest and note. The other element of the novel that made it different from others in its genre was the relationship between Kate and her domestic partner, Lee. Although the book does not dwell overlong on it, it makes us aware that Kate doesn’t have it easy as a police officer in a lesbian relationship that has made the news one too many times. Yet, the relationship between the two women is both sweet and touching without getting sappy or overwrought. Lee was injured in the course of one of Kate’s investigations and she is now paralyzed and dependent on a wheelchair for transportation. The two of them are adjusting to this new life and having to heal both their bodies and their hearts. It is a relationship that is neither prurient nor sentimental and it makes for a fascinating read. Embracing Foolishness To Play a Fool captivated me. It engaged me on an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual level. There are few mystery/cop novels that can claim to do that. It isn’t great literature—if only because it dates itself with its setting and its issues. Don’t take that as a black mark against it though. The book is well worth reading, as is most of King’s writing. This review was originally published at Epinions.com http://www.epinions.com/review/To_Pla...
In this one, book two, detective inspector Martinelli and her partner Hawkins (San Francisco PD) are to solve a mystery about the death of a homeless man. Their main suspect happens to be a much beloved, and learned, other homeless man who happens to be a Fool. And who also happens to only speak in quotations (from the Bible and Shakespeare).I thought it was interesting because1. The book made you think along with the detective. Especially the quotations. What is he quoting? What is he trying to say by using that quotation? Is the quotation itself the answer, or is it’s origin important too? that kind of thing.2. I liked the fact that the mystery didn’t take place in one week. It was mentioned that she had other cases pending, and she worked on those. Made it seem more realistic, I guess.3. I LOVED that no one was trying to kill her. Although that looks like that’s what happened in book one, from what I can glean from context clues. But it seems like in most mystery series the main character, detective, medical examiner, forensic investigator, whathaveyou, is always a target of murder. So I really enjoy it when an author sticks with the detective/hero solving a mystery and managing to keep it interesting without making the protagonist(s) a constant target of attack. Do it in every other book if you must, just don’t… i mean… FORMULA is all I’m saying, Iris Johansen.I’m going to read a couple more and also give her Sherlock Holmes series a shot too.
Do You like book To Play The Fool (1996)?
Laurie King's modern day crime series is set in San Francisco where Kate Martinelli is the junior partner of Detective Inspector Al Hawkin. San Francisco has a large community of homeless people and they do watch out for each other to a certain extent. The community includes a man whom the others call Brother Erasmus, a man who speaks only in quotations but who acts as a mediator, a confidant and a teacher to anyone he meets. At the beginning one person's dog has been killed and the community cremates it in the park. Soon afterward there is an attempted cremation of the dog's owner. Kate and Al begin to unravel Erasmus' connection with these events as they investigate the unnamed man's suspicious death. Just who and what is Erasmus? He's obviously well read and at times presents himself as a member of the catholic clergy, while at other times he seems to be a classic Fool. Each chapter is headed with quotes referring to St. Francis and we learn a great deal about the profession and calling of Fool and its role in communities.Laurie King writes compelling, natural fiction. Her characters are beautifully drawn and the narration flows smoothly with a tension that keeps you reluctant to put down the book. I had forgotten the title but when I realized I had read this before I was already several pages in, shrugged and enjoyed the trip at least as much as the first time through.
—Helen
Kate Martinelli is back at work despite the reservations of her lover. She and Al Hawkin catch a case that began with the cremation of a beloved dog by the homeless community. Three weeks later the pair are investigating the murder of a homeless man.Erasmus, a respected monk in the homeless community, is sought as a witness. Even when they find him, interviewing him becomes almost impossible because he speaks only in quotes. Most often the quotes are from the bible or Shakespeare, but even when their origination is known, their meaning must be interpreted.The Holy Fool's Movement is an interesting concept to involve in a murder mystery. King does the job very well, but long explanations often bog down the story. Still, King is a good writer so I wasn't tempted to set the book aside.
—Lyn
A homeless man is murdered in a San Francisco park. Police Inspector Kate Martinelli heads the investigation. The chief suspect is the enigmatic Erasmus, a homeless preacher with a secret past, whose speech is a mix of quotations from the Bible, Shakespeare and other literary sources.An intriguing crime thriller with insight into the role of the Fool through the centuries from St Francis of Assisi, through medieval jesters to the modern day. This fellow is wise enough to play the fool,And to do that well craves a kind of wit.He must observe their mood on whom he jests,The quality of persons, and the time,And, like the haggard, check at every featherThat comes before his eye. This is a practiseAs full of labor as a wise man’s art,For folly that he wisely shows is fit.But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit. Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
—Jim
