She's Not There: A Poppy Rice Novel - Hardcover

Smith, Mary-Anne Tirone

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805072233 ISBN 13: 9780805072235

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2003

Synopsis

In Poppy Rice's second venture, the smart, outspoken FBI agent's vacation is rudely interrupted by a sinister murder
FBI agent Poppy Rice is, rather unwillingly, taking time off to recuperate from injuries sustained on the job. A few days into her ill-conceived vacation on Block Island with Joe, her sometime-lover and soul mate, she happens upon a corpse dumped in the middle of the road.
The body of the victim, a young girl from a summer camp for overweight teenagers, is painfully contorted, her face frozen in a death scream. There are no visible wounds and the cause of death is a mystery. Although Poppy is no stranger to gruesome scenes, she is so disturbed by the murder that she can't help but defy her orders to rest. Then, just as she begins poking around, another body is found in the same condition as the first; this time, the pathologist reveals another similarity-the eardrums of both girls were ruptured.
Now Poppy must get to the killer before the killer gets to any more girls. With no clue as to the murderer's method or motive, she's going to need all the help she can get. But in the close-knit, tight-lipped Block Island community, secrets are kept-even deadly ones.

About this title

About the Author

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith is the author of six previous novels, including Love Her Madly (0-8050-6648-9), the first of the Poppy Rice Mysteries, which was chosen as a People Page-Turner of the Week. She has lived all her life in Connecticut, except for the two years she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon.

Reviews

FBI agent Poppy and her ATF field adviser boyfriend, Joe Barnow, encounter murder where they least expect it-on tranquil Block Island, where they've come for a much-deserved and long-awaited respite-in Smith's unsettling second Poppy Rice whodunit (after 2002's Love Her Madly). The strangely convulsed bodies of first one, then a second camper from the island's isolated camp for overweight teenage girls turn up, and a shockingly different view of paradise emerges-that of a tight community of old families whose legacy includes shipwrecks, slaves, hard times and buried secrets. Smith vividly illustrates that victims can come in all sizes and ages and that individual prejudices and inability to deal with the tough stuff of life can lead to devastating consequences.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Recuperating from her brush with death in Love Her Madly [BKL N 15 01], FBI agent Poppy Rice is taking some time off with boyfriend Joe at his vacation home on Block Island, a sort of low-rent Martha's Vineyard. Her enforced relaxation falls by the wayside after only a few days when she stumbles across the body of a teenage girl from the island's summer weight-loss camp. The prevailing opinion among the locals, including the semi-incompetent local policeman, is that the girl died of a drug overdose. Poppy is not so quick to classify the death as accidental, however; and when another body surfaces, it becomes clear to her that someone is targeting the overweight campers. Can she pry information from the close-mouthed islanders and the sleazy camp director in time to protect the remaining girls? The sense of place is the strength of this second entry in a series that is way smarter and grittier than its breezy titles and covers suggest. Carrie Bissey
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Praise for Love Her Madly:
"You won't anticipate any of the surprise plot twists in this smart, sassy, good thriller." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805072233
• ISBN 13: 9780805072235
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336