- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: Dutton; 1st edition (Jan 1 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0525248188
- ISBN-13: 978-0525248187
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 4.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 907 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,313,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
In a meaty tribute to mystery sub-genres, Straub ( Ghost Story ) serves up a coming-of-age tale, a country-manor murder mystery and a twisted knot of governmental corruption and cover-up. Ten-year-old Tom Pasmore, a rich resident of the Caribbean island of Mill Walk, is hit by a car and, in a near-death experience, sees visions of himself in the future. During his long recuperation, Tom reads mystery stories brought to him by Lamont von Heilitz, an eccentric neighbor, once a famous detective. Action resumes when Tom, now aged 17 and possessed of sharpened deductive skills, gives the police an anonymous tip to help them solve the murder of a government official's sister. Tom's tip backfires, motivating him to join Lamont in trying to solve a murder that took place 20 years earlier in the Wisconsin resort town where Mill Walk's privileged citizens spend their summers. That layered, complex case reveals a long history of corruption, leads to more murders, to realization of the meaning of Tom's early visions and his discovery of his true identity. While evocative of place and time (the early '60s) and peopled with memorable characters, the story tries to fit into too many subgenres to succeed completely at any one. $200,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
'Superb! immensely readable, genuinely intriguing.' Washington Post 'Tour-de-force whodunnit from a writer of majestic talent. Straub has made the difficult transition from horror to mainstream dark fiction with an effortless ease of which most other writers can barely dream.' Northern Echo 'A satisfyingly complex thriller.' Time Out
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blue Rose part 2,
By Vagabond77 (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mystery (Paperback)
Tom Pasmore is the central focus in Peter Straub's second Blue Rose book, "Mystery". It is just that; a very multi-layered intricate murder mystery surrounding a family on a small island in the Caribbean. During the middle 1960s, 17-year-old Tom is very curious about the murder of a woman who is rumored to be a local politcian's mistress. After that, he is approached by local excentric Lamont von Heilitz to help with the murder of Tom's own sister years before. Soon afterward Tom is sent to Wisconsin by his grandfather and begins investigating a murder up there many years before. Without giving too much away, all these murders are connected. This was a great book, even though I read "The Throat" first by mistake and already knew what the outcome was. But that hardly mattered; it was the details that was so fascinating. Tom Pasmore and Lamont von Heilitz (who is claimed to be the basis for 'The Shadow', the popular radio show at that time) seem very well drawn out, and I liked them both a lot. The only down point is the other characters, they are very one dimentional and shallow. But that is okay. The story and murders are very interesting, it will keep you turning the pages until the very end.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Best of the Trilogy,
By Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mystery (Paperback)
I've never understood why Straub is considered a horror writer. His books can be arcane, mystical, compelling, and mysterious, but gruesome or frightening I've never found them to be. "Mystery" is his best, IMHO. Tom and his grandfather Lamont experience an immediate, subliminal meeting of mind and spirit, though Tom does not become cognizant of their kinship for quite some time. I have to confess to some confusion in some sections of the plot, but it plays itself out with subtlety and holds one's interest to the end. Intriguing.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Quite Poor...,
By
This review is from: Mystery (Paperback)
I did not enjoy this book. The characters are weak, the story line is unfullfilling and never really resolves satisfactrorly. A number of issues are never completely explained. Very difficult to empaphise with the main character. The island of Mill Walk in the Caribbean is completely unlike any island that exists in the region. A very poor try at a mystery, unimaginative, uninspired, watse of time.
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