Review: Cheating at Solitaire

When Gregor Demarkian is asked to come to Martha's Harbor to investigate the murder of a young man attached to a film crew, nothing in Gregor's background prepares him for what he finds. The usually quiet private island has celebrities and media people everywhere. Whereas the locals have little use for the media and the rich summer people shun publicity of any kind, the film people crave media attention-often doing outrageous things just to generate news. Then a local photographer is attacked, and a summer resident, who was hanging around with the film people ends up dead as well. While there are many rivalries among the crew, there seems to be very few real motives for murder. Eventually Gregor realizes that in spite of the glitz and glamor the motives for murder remain the same regardless of class.

This is essentially a “country house” mystery. The key players are on an island cut off from the mainland by a storm when the first murder is committed, so the potential suspect list is limited.

It won't take readers long to mentally substitute Martha's Vineyard or Bar Harbor for Martha's Harbor, or celebrities such as Britney Spears or Paris Hilton for the main characters. The book is as much a commentary on our society's celebrity worship and celebrities' extravagant lifestyles as it is a mystery. While Haddam shows the lack of connection to real life of these celebrities (many are high school drop outs and don't wear underwear), she also reminds readers to the differences in Gregor and Bennis's backgrounds-how differently they view the world. Bennis Hannaford, is a member of a Philadelphia Mainline family-a family much like the summer rich on the island. Bennis's family is as removed from Gregor's background as the summer people are from the locals on the island.

Fans of Haddam's series should be pleased not only with this book as a mystery, but the with glimpse into Gregor's and Bennis's personal relationship. Readers unfamiliar with the series will have no trouble enjoying this book.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Caryn St. Clair

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: Cheating at Solitaire

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.