CLOSELY AKIN TO MURDER

by Joan Hess ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 1996

A shocking wakeup call for Farberville (Ark.) bookstore owner Claire Malloy (Busy Bodies, 1995, etc., etc.)--from her cousin Ronnie Landonwood, presumed dead for 30 years after she admitted killing Hollywood director Oliver Pickett in Acapulco, and now threatened by a blackmailer who's going to expose her all over again. The call sends Claire and her daughter Caron south of the border, where their benighted guide is attacked, Caron is kidnapped, a key witness is murdered, and nobody knows anything, especially since most of the principals in the Pickett case--Oliver's daughter Fran, his callow assistant Chad Warmeyer, starlet Debbie D'Avril, and Ronnie's parents--are long since dead or disappeared. Wait till Claire heads back stateside and the missing witnesses start popping up on every street corner. Formidably inventive, though told with a dispiriting air of mild inconsequence, as if, despite the high body count, clearing Ronnie's name were no big deal. Even Hess's trademark guffaws are only smiles this time.

Pub Date: May 13, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1996

Categories: FICTION