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2.0 out of 5 stars
A loud "Whisper", April 24 2004
They say to write about what you know, and CBS writer/producer Mary Jane Clark does just that. In her third mystery novel, "Let Me Whisper In Your Ear," she tackles the cutthroat biz of TV news. Unfortunately, the mystery is a lot less interesting than it sounds.Laura is a rising star at Key News, with her uncanny ability to create "obits" of people who are either going to die or have just died. Then there is a discovery made -- a young boy who disappeared at an amusement park thirty years before is found, dead, with all his bones broken. And at a party, star journalist Gwyneth Gilpatric is thrown from her rooftop. Who wanted her dead? A better question would be: who DIDN'T want her dead? Her plastic surgeon, her jilted lover, her lover's angry wife, the coworker whose job she destroyed, even her cleaning lady -- for envy, revenge, and salvaging their careers. Even Laura is under suspicion, having inherited most of Gwyneth's money and possessions. As she begins to unravel both unsolved mysteries, she finds that the murderers may be too close to her... "Let Me Whisper In Your Ear" falls under the shadow of Mary Higgins Clark. It has pretty much the same sort of elements -- glitzy glamour, a high-powered young professional woman as amateur detective, plenty of motives and suspects. It even has the same short chapters. But Clark can't bring quite the level of suspense and vibrancy to her mystery. "Whisper" just doesn't gel. Clark tries too hard to evoke a feeling of suspense, throwing out red herrings and clues by the dozen (although one of the deaths is ridiculously easy to solve). Her writing isn't that good; she spends more time describing designer clothes, furs and shoes than she does describing the characters. However, there are some scenes where she blossoms -- the scene where Gwyneth falls to her death is chilling. Clark's characters tend to be "types" rather than people. Even with Laura's tragic history, she's a pretty boring heroine. The nasty, ambitious Gwyneth is far more compelling. The rest of them -- traumatized guy, catty alcoholic wife of sexy adulterer, cheating lovers, sexy kept girl -- are pretty cliched, and Clark adds nothing to them. "Let Me Whisper In Your Ear" strains too much to be considered more than a very light mystery read. But Mary Jane Clark has some promise, even if it only pops up now and then. Flat and unengaging.
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