Sonnet of the Sphinx
A
Poetic Death Mystery with Grace Hollister
Diana Killian
Pocket Books (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-7434-6680-2 (0743466802)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-6680-6 (9780743466806)
Publication Date: March 2006
List Price: $6.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): For one of Innisdale's residents, a priceless sonnet
means poetic license to kill ...
Grace Hollister's stay in England's picturesque Lake District has proven doubly
fruitful -- the American literary scholar just sold her first book, and
her romance with charming antiques dealer and ex-jewel thief Peter Fox
has begun a new chapter. Sorting through a hoard of papers found in an
old farmhouse, Grace and Peter discover an old letter that refers to a
lost Shelley sonnet, "Sate the Sphinx." Before Grace can start tracking
down this poetic treasure, though, Peter's shady past rears its head --
a particularly ugly head, belonging to a menacing Turk who's eager to
see Peter dead.
But there's plenty more trouble in store. Suddenly Grace and Peter are
suspects in a murder investigation, and someone has tried his level
best to kill her -- not once, but twice. The hieroglyphics are on the
wall: unless Grace can unravel an inscrutable riddle and unearth the
villain amid a cache of likely suspects, her story might be at an end.
Review:
Diana Killian continues Grace Hollister's scholarly exploits in
England's Lake District in the highly entertaining Sonnet of the Sphinx,
the third book in the Poetic Death mystery series.
The possibility of recovering a lost Shelley sonnet is too compelling
for Grace even after she's suspected of murder, is run off the road and
nearly drowns, and barely escapes from her home as it burns to the
ground. Though there are a couple of murders along the way, the real
mystery of Sonnet of
the Sphinx remains the quest itself. Does the sonnet
exist, and if so, where is it, and is it authentic? Grace's research
and persistence pay off when she ultimately ascertains the answers to
these questions.
The back story in Sonnet
of the Sphinx is fascinating and illustrates Killian's
notable ability to interleave literary fact into a novel of fiction.
The ending comes as something of a surprise though in retrospect it
shouldn't have been since Killian cleverly interjects telling clues
throughout.
The epilogue serves as a cliffhanger of sorts. Will there be a fourth
Poetic Death mystery? If so, will it take place in Cumbria? And where
is Grace's increasingly complex relationship with the mysterious Peter
Fox heading? Another literary adventure with Grace Hollister would
certainly help resolve these undecided issues.
Special thanks to Diana Killian for providing an ARC of Sonnet of the Sphinx for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Sonnet of the Sphinx? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
High Rhymes and
Misdemeanors
Pocket Books (Hardcover), October 2003
ISBN-10: 0-743-46678-0 (0743466780)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46678-3 (9780743466783)
Verse of the
Vampyre
Pocket Books (Hardcover), September 2004
ISBN-10: 0-743-46679-9 (0743466799)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46679-0 (9780743466790)
Sonnet
of the Sphinx
Pocket Books (Hardcover), March 2006
ISBN-10: 0-743-46680-2 (0743466802)
ISBN-13: 978-0-743-46680-6 (9780743466806)
Docketful
of Poesy
Perseverance Press (Hardcover), April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-880284-97-9 (1880284979)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-97-1 (9781880284971)
Omnimystery keywords for Sonnet of the Sphinx
...
Location(s) referenced: England's Lake District.
