Malarkey - Hardcover

Simonson, Sheila

3.62

37 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312151683 ISBN 13: 9780312151683

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1997

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Having left her husband Jay to care for her ailing father in southern Ireland, Lark is hoping for some true rest and relaxation, but after stumbling over a dead body behind their rented cottage, Jay flies in, and the couple begins their detective work once again.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Bookseller Lark Dodge, now living in the Pacific Northwest (Meadowlark, 1996, etc.), has arrived in Dublin to meet her history professor father, George Dailey, who's recovering from a recent stroke. She's to be his driver while he explores the byways of his Irish-Quaker roots and the two of them live in Bedrock Cottage on the Stanyon Hall estate. George has rented the cottage from his onetime student Alex Stein, who, along with wife Barbara, has developed Stonewall Enterprises, a producer of innovative CDs. Alex and Barbara have moved to Ireland for tax purposes and are renovating the estate for business and residence. They've also taken on a manager-partner--Slade Wheeler, a moneyed American ex- Army man who likes to direct war games with the local lads on the estate's extensive woodlands. But Lark and George have scarcely arrived at the cottage when Lark finds Wheeler's body in a shed, a red circle of paint on his forehead. Sergeant Joe Kennedy suspects Tommy, ne'er-do-well son of contractor Toss Tierney (both have vanished), but Wheeler wasn't too popular with the Stonewall staff, either, or with the family of his pregnant girlfriend Grace Flynn. Meanwhile, Lark's calls home have brought her ex-police detective husband Jay to the cottage, hoping to help solve a mystery soon complicated by another killing and not resolved until Jay's life hangs in the balance. Most of the interest here lies in the Irish ambiance. Murders and motives barely impinge on a touchy Lark's emotional turmoil or on accounts of local roads, pubs, foods, etc. The bit of suspense in the end is, alas, too little too late. -- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Armchair detectives will share a seat with armchair tourists in Simonson's fifth in the series (after Meadowlark) as PacificNorthwest resident Lark Dodge and her father, a university professor, travel to Ireland. The change of scenery turns dangerous when Lark stumbles across the body of an American who was addicted to war games and recruited local high-school boys to participate. Lark learns that Slade Wheeler had been the business manager of her landlord's software company and had a local girlfriend who was pregnant. The police suspect his killer is a teenager who argued with Wheeler and is now missing, along with his father. Complicating Lark's life is the arrival of her husband, Jay, a college instructor and former cop. Since she went to Ireland to think about their relationship, she is annoyed when he turns up to protect her. But then Wheeler's nearest relative, a sister, is murdered, proving the teen innocent, and Jay is kidnapped after a newspaper article says he is helping with the investigation. Lark realizes she must act or lose her husband altogether. While Simonson's approach to Irish history and current politics is heavy-handed, her descriptions of the countryside and monuments, particularly as they relate to the old religions, lend a pleasantly spooky atmosphere to her tale.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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