The second in a series by the pseudonymous Beaufort (—an acclaimed mystery writer—). It’s the 11th century, and back to England comes Sir Geoffrey de Mappestone, done with the Crusades. He’s been gone 20 years, having left when he was 12. If you ask him, though, 20 years isn’t long enough, since hearth and home have never signified more than casual abuse, general neglect, and dismal memories. Only the fact of a dying father could have drawn him away from civilized France, his country of choice. Not that Geoffrey has much feeling for this harsh, intemperate parent who had always paid him so little attention. It’s duty that matters. And in this, he is certainly an atypical Mappestone. None of his five siblings cares a hoot about duty. What they all care about is the vast family estate and how it’s to be sliced up once the old man succumbs. Now, Geoffrey’s siblings (of surpassing nastiness) plus spouses are gathered to await the last breath. But to Geoffrey—a warrior, a scholar, and, most importantly, a sleuth (Murder in the Holy City, 1998)—it’s clear that at least one Mappestone is champing at the bit. Mappestone päre, he’s convinced, is being steadily, skillfully poisoned. Is it the same poison that Geoffrey himself was tricked into imbibing? Accusations, protestations, universal detestation among this cheerless, charmless, wearying brood follow—and long before it all gets straightened out you may find yourself rooting for the poisoner to widen his field. Okay period detail overwhelmed by endless repetition. Who would have thought the old 11th century had so much talk in it?
Pub Date: June 18, 1999
ISBN: 0-312-20549-X
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
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