THE MARTINI EFFECT

by B.J. Morison ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 1992

Another maddening tale by the author of Port and a Star Boarder (1984), etc. Again, the detective is Elizabeth Lamb Worthington, a 13-year-old know-it-all. And the core mystery does not shimmer into being, as such, until at least the halfway point. Elizabeth Lamb, of Cambridge and foreign lands, where she joins her busy parents, is the new girl at St. Augustine's prep school on Mount Desert Island in Maine. Throughout the plunge into classes (she arrived late from Pakistan), the blur of new faces, work details, and the rue of rules, rules, rules, Elizabeth Lamb politely, sensibly, finds her way. As to the mystery: seems that before the opening of school, when the crew team arrived, a wildly wealthy, arrogant but accomplished student ""drowned"" while scuba-diving. In a flurry at the close, Elizabeth Lamb searches and makes a strike, nearly losing her life. Morison has worked out a plausible motive, but the sleuthing is diffuse and rushed. The prep-school experience filtered through an adult perspective, and a so-so mystery.

Pub Date: Nov. 11, 1992

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 250

Publisher: North Country

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1992

Categories: FICTION