Mortal
Friends
Non-series
Jane Stanton Hitchcock
Harper
(Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-117370-3 (0061173703)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-117370-7 (9780061173707)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $25.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): When the latest victim of the "Beltway Basher" is found
in the woods of Montrose Park, Reven Lynch's favorite jogging spot, her
crime-loving antenna goes up. The murder makes Reven and her best
friend, Violet Bolton, reconsider their running route—but
that's not the only change in Reven's routine. Her chic Georgetown
neighborhood isn't accustomed to brutal slayings, and when the smooth,
enigmatic Detective Gunner shows up in her antique shop, asking pointed
questions, Reven's left wondering how close to home the killings are.
Gunner is convinced the murderer is a society bigshot hiding in plain
sight. But he is out of his element in the rarefied world of embassy
dinners and symphony balls, and Reven is perfectly positioned to feed
him the inside information he needs. She throws herself into her role
as the detective's "ersatz Mata Hari," only to discover that the
prominent skirt-chasing businessman for whom she's fallen tops Gunner's
shortlist of suspects. And that's not the half of it: a philanthropic
bombshell named Cynthia Rinehart has taken the city by storm, and
Violet's steady marriage is suddenly encountering some major turbulence.
During the course of the investigation, the social world will unravel,
an old friendship will be put to the test, scandalous secrets will be
unleashed, and Reven will discover that nothing old or new, in high
culture or low life, is what it appears.
Review:
Jane Stanton Hitchcock crafts a tale of high society and murder in the
stand-alone thriller Mortal Friends.
The story is told from the perspective of Reven Lynch, an antiques
dealer in Washington DC and best friends with Violet Bolten, who, with
her husband Grant, is one of the city's most connected power couples.
Reven and Violet are jogging when the latest victim of the Beltway
Basher is found. The serial killings have the police stumped as there
is little to connect the women other than they had all attended a
society function at one point or another. But in a city where these
events take place frequently, that's hardly a solid lead. Still, DC
Detective Gunner asks Reven to be his eyes and ears at the dinners and
gala events she attends.
While there is a murder, a suspect or two, a detective, and an amateur
sleuth, there's no sense of urgency in dealing with the crime and the
resolution, when it occurs, almost seems like an afterthought. Mortal Friends
proceeds along at what can best be called a leisurely pace. Written
almost in the style of a personal diary, Reven notes what functions
she's attending and with whom, what happens before, during, and
afterwards, and the secrets and lies that unfold as a consequence.
Presumably the reader takes on the role of Detective Gunner here,
sifting through all the information to extract the one or two details
that will lead to the identity of the killer. But Reven's narrative is
almost clinical in its approach, with little emotion ever shown, and no
suspense is ever generated.
In the end, the cover is the most intriguing part of the book with Mortal Friends
being more an insider's guide to Washington DC society than a mystery.
And that's something of a disappointment, especially given the rich
material the author had to work with.
Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing an ARC of Mortal Friends for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Mortal Friends? How would you rate it?
Non-series books by this author ...
Trick
of the Eye
Dutton (Hardcover), September 1992
ISBN-10: 0-525-93529-0 (0525935290)
ISBN-13: 978-0-525-93529-2 (9780525935292)
The
Witches' Hammer
Dutton (Hardcover), October 1994
ISBN-10: 0-525-93641-6 (0525936416)
ISBN-13: 978-0-525-93641-1 (9780525936411)
Mortal Friends
Harper (Hardcover), June 2009
ISBN-10: 0-06-117370-3 (0061173703)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-117370-7 (9780061173707)
Omnimystery
keywords for Mortal Friends
...
Location(s) referenced: Washington DC.
