DEATH ON THE MISSISSIPPI

by Richard Forrest ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 20, 1989

Connecticut Senator Bea Wentworth and writer husband Lyon return--in the most bizarre of their adventures to date (Death Under the Lilacs, etc.). The source of their troubles now is Lyon's one-time war buddy Dalton Turman, who'd saved his life in combat. A gross and insensitive practical joker whose riches make elaborate ruses possible, Dalton--with difficult and demanding new wife Pandora--is showing off a super houseboat manned by ex-tennis star Bobby Doublas, as well as a condo complex he's building with partners Sam Idleweise and Randy Dice: his voluptuous part time bed partner Katrina Loops is head saleswoman. There's plenty of trouble in Dalton's paradise, however, most of it financial, with mob moneylenders in the wings. There will be shock and chagrin, then, when Dalton, Douglas, and the houseboat disappear, along with most of the construction company's assets. Lyon, together with Police Chief and old friend Rocco Herbert, makes it his business to find the well-hidden houseboat and with it evidence that Dalton is truly dead--a boxed, severed finger, and a bloody corpse. Would it were so! Still to come are narrow escapes from death by Lyon and a rapidly escalating body count by stabbing, drowning, gun shots, and electrocution before this absurd mishmash skids to an end. The usually urbane and attractive Wentworths seem ditsy here, as do most of the story's characters. Fey and frenetic bus far from compelling.

Pub Date: Nov. 20, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1989

Categories: FICTION