A HABIT OF THE BLOOD

by Lois Battle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 1986

A divided family battles over control of a great Jamaican estate--another luxurious romantic melodrama from the author of War Brides, Southern Women, and Season of Change. Lovely, sophisticated Ceci Baron, sometime journalist and interior decorator, mainly restless world wanderer, returns on a visit to the Jamaican plantation where she was raised to find her evil half-brother, Marsden, attempting to wrest control of the place from kindly Aunt Vivian: he's claiming her delightful dottiness is actually senility, and has plans to turn the great old house into a kind of tourist trap. His scheme includes winning over the support of their father, Archie, a down-at-the-heels B-movie actor, by bribing him; Ceci rolls up her sleeves, wades in swinging, and discovers that Marsden (who has ties both to the CIA and Mafia) is planting thousands of acres of marijuana for sale in the States. A battle of wills ensues, with Ceci finally convincing old Archie of Marsden's perfidy, and Marsden's attempting to use Ceci's passionate affair with Paul Strangman, a prominent and very married leftist politican, against her. In the end, Marsden is murdered by his Mafia drug-lords, Paul is wounded during an assassination attempt, and Ceci leaves the island for good--but not before Aunt Vivian is restored to her proper station and Archie stays on in a supporting role. The story of the Barons runs on tropical time--it's a languid one--but this is, even so, a high-class soap with some wonderful Jamaican color.

Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION