Like an imperfectly cut, bargain-basement gemstone.
Bestselling U.K. author Bagshawe (The Devil You Know, 2003, etc.) visits the world of high-end jewelry in her latest tale of ambition, scandal and romance.
Sophie Roberts traded a middle-class English life for one of luxury when she married the charismatic jewelry entrepreneur Pierre Massot. Judy Dean scrabbled her way from Oklahoma to the Paris offices of House Massot—and into Pierre’s bed. Hugh Montfort abandoned all pretense of a personal life after a romantic tragedy and channeled all of his energy into transforming a fusty jewelry company into a hot purveyor of gems. These intersecting lives take an unexpected turn when Pierre leaves his chateau and disappears into the Paris night. Will Sophie successfully transform herself from meek—if couture-clad—housewife to triumphant businesswoman? Will the rivalry between Sophie and Hugh turn into passion? Will Judy do whatever it takes to get rich? Will all Pierre’s terrible secrets be revealed? The answers to these questions should be obvious to anyone familiar with the author’s retro glitz-and-glamour style. Indeed, Bagshawe displays an almost fetishistic interest in the material culture of extreme wealth, describing every Chanel jacket and pair of Christian Louboutin pumps. She also lavishes attention on rubies, emeralds and colored diamonds, as well as meals and home furnishings. She gives far less attention to describing the characters: Again and again, she reminds us that Sophie is elegant, Hugh is well-muscled and Judy is trim and athletic. The plot offers plenty of business intrigue and romantic thrills, and the easy fun of clearly delineated heroes and bad guys, but the writing is overstuffed.
Like an imperfectly cut, bargain-basement gemstone.Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-452-28814-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Plume
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
The relaxed and reigning king of beach music, who most recently told Tales From Margaritaville (1989), tries his hand at a relaxed and rambling novel. It's about seaplanes, a pretty girl, a vanished rock star, the curse of jet skis, a magic scepter, disrupters of paradise, and conch burgers. Joe Merchant, of the title, is the missing, presumed dead rock star whose sister Trevor Kane has returned to Florida to enlist her old lover Frank Bama to check out rumors of Merchant's survival. Trevor left Frank, a Vietnam vet who would rather fly than get serious, years ago because he seemed to love his ancient seaplane more than he loved her. Frank's doughty seaplane, however, is just what she needs to go in search of someone named Desdemona, who might be somewhere in the Caribbean. There is a Desdemona, and she does have a psychic link to the missing musician. She's been getting extrasensory messages for months. Also on the trail of Mr. Merchant and Desdemona are trash journalist Rudy Breno and one- armed, archvillainous soldier-of-fortune Colonel Cairo. Colonel Cairo is obsessed with the restoration of his missing arm, a task requiring a missing crystal. Desdemona might know something about that. The searches are Florida-intense, which is to say that there is plenty of time for subplots about Frank's chum who has been blowing up the jet skis that make paradise too noisy, and about a coldblooded killer with eyeballs tattooed on his eyelids who's not, after all, a subplot. So laid-back and rambling it's perilously close to sloppy, but Buffett's considerable charms as a performer and goof-off artist keep things afloat. The uninitiated may be baffled; his fans will be enchanted.
Pub Date: Aug. 10, 1992
ISBN: 0-15-196296-0
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced mystery that provides a chilling look at how difficult it is to get rid of a stalker.
A librarian and her friends must solve a murder to ensure that she’ll live long enough to get married.
Lindsey Norris and her fiance, Capt. Mike Sullivan, are planning a small wedding on one of the Thumb Islands near the town of Briar Creek, Connecticut, where Lindsey is the library director and Sully runs a charter boat business (Hitting the Books, 2018, etc.). All Lindsey’s plans are jeopardized by an innocuous middle-aged man who turns up at the library seeking information on roses. New to the area, Aaron Grady fears that his rose garden won’t survive the drought that’s searing the area. In response to Lindsey’s assistance, Grady sends her a thank-you note. Then he turns up with a bunch of roses, waiting two hours and quizzing the staff, who all agree that he seems unnaturally fixated on her. When Grady turns up at her house with more roses, she firmly tells him their relationship is limited to that of a librarian and a library patron. Apparently shocked, he leaves her, her friend Beth, and Beth’s husband, Aidan, whom she called before opening the door, to explain to an annoyed Sully what’s been going on. Grady continues to stalk Lindsey, even watching her try on wedding dresses. Sully and Robbie Vine, an actor who knows a thing or two about stalkers, teach the library staff some self-defense moves, and Robbie’s girlfriend, police chief Emma Plewicki, adds a few tips, but nobody can stop Grady from making Lindsey’s life hell. The stalking ends only when Grady turns up dead outside the library, leaving Lindsey and Sully prime suspects. Grady’s wife, Sylvia, accuses Lindsey of trying to steal her husband and Sully of murdering him. It will take all the research skills of Lindsey and her staff to uncover the real motive for the murder.
A fast-paced mystery that provides a chilling look at how difficult it is to get rid of a stalker.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-10003-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
