EMERALD

by Phyllis A. Whitney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1982

Back in technicolor after the somewhat murky Vermilion, Whitney again trails red herrings and red-hot secrets through Palm Springs--as an innocent heroine tangles with a Garbo/Swanson-style ex-Queen of the Silver Screen who's holed up in a mountainside fortress. Divorced writer Carol Hamilton has rescued her five-year-old son Keith from her mob-connected ex-husband Owen (who's into spouse/child abuse)--and needs a hideaway. So off she goes to her only relative, whom she's never seen: her great-aunt, ex-film star Monica Arlen, dwelling in splendid seclusion. Carol is, however, welcomed tensely by Monica's secretary Linda. She's warily examined by the surly, handsome young chauffeur. And when finally introduced to the Presence, Carol finds Monica to be alternately regally gracious and tempestuously hostile. Could Monica's odd behavior, Carol wonders, De connected to old yet ever-juicy scandals in her past? After all, aging-but-handsome leading man Saxon Scott still hovers nearby--years after their fabled romance ended (with that last movie, Mirage), years after the ""suicide"" of Monica's faithful companion Peggy Smith. Furthermore: why does Monica freeze with fear when viewing a few takes from Mirage? (A public nostalgia-night is being planned.) Why, when Carol starts doing research for a Monica Arlen bio, does someone try to drown her in the pool (prying Monica's emerald ring from her linger)? And why does someone shoot Saxon on the night of Monica's return to a public stage? Well, Carol sorts it all out, of course, finding new romance along the way--but not before more skirmishes with ex-hubby Owen, the kidnap of son Keith, and a grand finale (involving an armful of cats in attack formation) at Monica's Sunset Boulevard-style manse. So: Whitney in top B-feature form again, with one of her most satisfying popcorn-gobblers in quite some time.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1982

Categories: FICTION