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From Publishers Weekly
An amateur sleuth and daughter of a powerful criminal defense attorney, Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless survived her share of hard knocks in last year's Wicked Games, in which she was brutally attacked, hospitalized and nearly lost the love of her life. Now Jane is recuperating at her lover Julia's mountain cabin when she finds herself snared in the intrigue surrounding the murder of Jeffrey Chapel. Along with his tycoon father-in-law, Andrew Dove, Chapel is a board member of the exclusive Haymaker Club, a philanthropic venture that pools the resources of the city's most affluent citizens for large-scale charity projects. Before his murder, Chapel had loudly opposed the Club's plan to convert the classy but crumbling Winter Garden Hotel into an assisted-living community, much to Dove's chagrin. When Jane's friend Patricia Kastner, the flamboyantly gay entrepreneur who first proposed the project, finds Chapel's body at the bottom of the hotel's elevator shaft, she winds up first on the police roster of suspects. Patricia asks Jane to join on the Winter Garden project as a consultant, and, despite the fact that she is still in love with Julia, Jane's budding attraction to Patricia makes it hard to refuse. Meanwhile, her reputation for expert sleuthing lands Jane smack in the middle of the Chapel case when the deceased's widow, Brenna, hires her to find out if her husband was gay. Hart's work (which has received two Lambda awards) is notable for the characters' development from book to book. Here she integrates an exceptional subplot about Jane's ongoing attempts to patch up her relationship with Julia, who betrayed her trust in the previous book.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
While intrepid restaurateur and amateur sleuth Jane L Lawless slowly, painfully recovers from an accident, her on-again, off-again lover, physician Julia Martinson, lies like a lousy rug. Of course, that is only on the phone or when she is around, which is less and less since the siren song of booze is successfully calling Jane again. Is she becoming a bleak, mean, drinking machine? Could be, but true-blue pal Cordelia hangs in there, trying to talk sense and tough love, though with a lot less of the outrageous theatricality Lawless series fans have come to love in her. When a patient of Julia's is murdered, Jane enters the scene of the crime, though against her better judgment. Getting involved only sets her up for still more disappointments from the mysterious Julia, who manages to keep everyone in the dark and even pulls a series of disappearing acts. Hart plumbs new, dark depths in her regular heroine's psyche, leaving readers poised for some long-awaited resolutions. Whitney Scott
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
a success on every level --,
By kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hunting the Witch (Mass Market Paperback)
The books of Ellen Hart, especially those featuring restaurateur Jane Lawless, as does this one, are like a rich, multi-layered torte. Each layer has its own variety of satisfaction embedded in it. This does not mean that I think all her books are alike. Oh, no! Nothing could be further from the truth. Well, there is one common thread in all of them: gays and lesbians are treated like ordinary, normal people. Which, of course, they are. We get to know them, and love them and laugh with them, in all their human foibles, even as we learn more about ourselves in the process, and discover the ultimate secret: how much alike we all are. In the previous book, Jane was severely injured, and needs a lengthy recuperation period to regain her strength and stability. A former lover, Dr. Julia Martinson, wants back in Jane's life, and suggests a stay at her secluded cabin--a non-rustic year-around home, north of the Twin Cities. In spite of some little niggles of her own, and bigger ones from Cordelia (Jane's long-time best friend), Jane agrees to the rest period. At the same time, an enterprising young woman, Patricia Kastner, has launched a campaign to turn an old downtown hotel into a Senior Living complex. With the help of a group of local philanthropists, she is on the verge of locking up the financing when one of the group is found dead in the empty hotel, after a meeting with the architect. Patricia, who is hoping to bring Jane into the project to supervise the food service, is also interested in becoming more than just a friend to Jane, and asks her to please investigate the death. Very much a novel of today's world, mirroring the headlines in tomorrow's paper, Ms. Hart manages to blend her characters, her settings and her plot into a very believable, totally enthralling novel. This short review cannot begin to do justice to such a multi-textured book. Read it for yourself, and enjoy. You won't soon forget this one.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lyme House Meets Gay Scream,
By "airmanwatts" (Bloomington, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hunting the Witch (Mass Market Paperback)
I did enjoy Ellen Hart's recent offering. However, I was dissapointed. I see this novel as an attempt to mix campy drama with slasher movie action. I found the whole, "he's gay, is he gay? do they think I am gay? I was never gay before?" dialog tirering. Too much dialog switching back and forth from beleiveable suspence to childish horror. This novel does not know what it wants to be when it grows up. People in Jane's arms dieing and everyday folks shooting guys with guns? There also seems to be a lot of (gender) stereo typing going on. For a more beliveable read I would recommend, "The intersection of law and desire" by Redmann minus the wacky ending. I hope Ms Hart will continue the series with more intelligence and depth.
2.0 out of 5 stars
could Jane be any more depressing?,
By
This review is from: Hunting The Witch: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Hardcover)
This and the last book written by Ellen Hart have become progressively more depressing and irritating. I don't know whether Ms. Hart is suffering in her own personal life, but it is clouding her mysteries. What was once a well written series with entertaining characters has become a dark and gloomy series with characters you wish would just shut up and quit feeling sorry for themselves. Just be prepared not to enjoy this book if you've been a fan of her earlier works.
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