All the creme rinse in the world couldn’t untangle this shaggy dog.
Overeating isn’t the only danger when a Florida hairdresser and her fiancé take a Caribbean cruise.
Unlike his in-laws, who are critical from the start, Dalton Vail’s parents seem disposed to like Marla Shore (Dead Roots, 2005, etc.), the salon owner he plans to wed as soon as they set a date. They’ve even sprung for a cruise with the couple and the prospective groom’s teenage daughter, Brianna, in hopes of doing some serious family bonding. But the bonding will have to wait till after dinner, since instead of sitting with John and Kate Vail, the lovebirds find themselves assigned to a table filled with staff from the Camden Palms Museum of Art. They also receive an invitation to the nightly art auction hosted by ex-curator Eric Rand, who lost his post after painter Alden Tusk’s fatal fall from the museum balcony. Rumor has it that Tusk’s triptych, stolen from the museum the night of his death, has found its way to the auction room. While Vail hits the midnight buffet, Marla, intrigued, sits alongside museum director Oliver Smernoff and his boozy wife Irene, business manager Thurston Stark and his trophy wife, Heidi, and special events coordinator Betsy Marsh, looking at modern masters. But when passengers start to disappear, Marla suspects lobster Thermidor isn’t the only thing aboard that’s not kosher.
All the creme rinse in the world couldn’t untangle this shaggy dog.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7582-1225-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick, expertly handled.
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1939
ISBN: 0062073478
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1939
SEEN & HEARD
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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