by
Jane Haddam
ISBN: 0-553-09946-9 Order from: Amazon.com
A pleasant continuation of a mystery series, with good characters; however, the lack of development in the protagonists and padded plot make this book less enjoyable than some of the earlier novels.
Reviewed by David on July 31, 1998
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Sleuth)
Synopsis: Gregor Demarkian, a retired FBI investigator, is called in by the police when a woman from an exclusive Philadelphia community murders her husband and disappears. As explosions kill possible witnesses, Gregor slowly unravels the motivation of the murder, while suffering from monumental wedding preparations of his young neighbor.
Full Review: This is another novel in the series about Gregor, his wealthy, talented and beautiful, if a bit scatter-brained, friend Bennis, and a cast of friends from the Armenian neighborhood in Philadelphia. In this adventure, the murderer starts by using a gun, and continues wirth explosives. The main motif of the book seems to be marriage: its triumphs, and its terrifying failures. As in the past novels, the permanent characters are a major and best part of the novel: Gregor himself, brilliant and cranky, Bennis, Father Tibor, as well as the bride-to-be Donna. Their interactions, quirky traditions, passionate and sometimes silly arguments, add charm to the book.
A lot of the book is spent describing failing marriages in an exclusive suburb community of Philadelphia. The descriptions of the community is dreary, and adds little to the main plot line. The main mystery is somewhat straightforward, with Gregor appearing somewhat supercilious in the latter part of the book, as he is making enigmatic statements about the nature of the killer. The continued sexual tension between Gregor and Bennis is cranked up another notch, but the lack of resolution (now for 8 books or so) makes this relationship less of a delight and more of an annoyance. In addition, Bennis has a very minimal role in the book, serving (even more obviously than in previous books) as a framing device for Gregor and not really a friend or companion in investigation.
This series is still enjoyable, but one could wish for a more focused and deeper mystery, as well as some resolution of the Gregor/Bennis relationship.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5.5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; Originality: 5;
Copyright date 1997, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (Bantam), September 1997, Cloth, 281 pages
ISBN: 0-553-09946-9 Order from: Amazon.com