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5.0 out of 5 stars
An invitation . . ., Jul 4 2000
Embarking on a new Gregor Demarkian story by Jane Haddam is like going back home to the neighborhood you left all those years ago. Cavanaugh Street in Philadelphia is still an Armenian-American enclave, but more Armenian now than it was all those years ago when Gregor was a small boy living there with his parents. Even though it's been gentrified, many of the same people are still there, or if not, their children and/or grandchildren. Oh, there's a few new faces, such as Gregor's friend, Bennis Hannaford, the best-selling author of fantasy novels, and Father Tibor, who escaped the Soviet menace -- finally -- but it's still a family. Of course, in any family setting, there are always unpleasant aspects, but Gregor --a widower of 60 -- has lost the impatience of youth, and is content to think his way through the puzzles he is so frequently presented with. DEADLY BELOVED is the story of marriage; Donna Moradanyan is about to marry Russ Donahue, finally, while in another suburb of Philadelphia, another marriage unwinds, surrounded by several others in precarious condition. In the gated community of Fox Run Hill, a husband is discovered shot to death in his bed. The most puzzling thing, however, is that the huge house has been stripped of everything that belonged to his wife, Patsy MacLaren Willis. A pipe bomb destroys her car, but she was not in it. Another bomb destroys the punchbowl at a political gathering, injuring Bennis and a woman who went to college with Patsy. The politician is yet another classmate. There are too many women, here. Like a well-maintained and classic Rolls-Royce, Gregor moves in stately fashion through the labyrinth of deaths and injuries, sorting out the clues and non-clues with the help of Homicide detective John Jackman. Just in the nick of time, too, so Donna's wedding can proceed without a hitch. An invitation by Jane Haddam is one you shouldn't turn down - you'll miss a marvelous adventure. Characters, plot, and the writing are all first-class!
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