Growing up in Manhattan and attending Groton and Harvard, I learned to tolerate many frightful people. But you have to draw the line somewhere. I drew the line at Mildred Silk. Thus are we introduced to Jason Arnold, occasional writer, bon vivant, and acerbic observer of life on Martha's Vineyard - the exclusive preserve of the rich, the privileged, and the famous. And few of the island's denizens are more determinedly rich, privileged, and famous than Millie Silk. Famous most of all for her acid tongue and general mean-spiritedness, Millie is about to publish her most extravagant no-holds-barred celebrity expose ever. But the presses may never roll once she is murdered at her own party, in plain sight of nearly two dozen witnesses. All the island - enemies and admirers alike - is aghast. Rounding up the suspects is easy; the killer must have been present at the party, and every last one of the guests seems to have had an excellent motive. But as the police begin to investigate, the most likely suspects also begin to die, one by one, and all by cyanide. Champagne Kisses, Cyanide Dreams is a frequently sarcastic, often hilarious, and unflaggingly thrilling tour through the celebrity mansions and gardens of a Vineyard most tourists never see. Ralph Graves is a suave and civilized writer who manages to by very funny, very suspenseful, and very entertaining.
A series of brazen poisonings on Martha's Vineyard should keep readers guessing in this clever mystery from former Time and Life editor Graves. While unlikely to stem the island's tourist influx, the novel's dastardly deeds may give the celebrity population pause: the perpetrator, well masked for most of the book, uses cyanide-laced libations to douse a succession of stars. The Vineyard, though, emerges unscathed. Indeed, narrator Jason Arnold, a lifelong summer resident, as often rhapsodizes about the island's beaches, bistros and bookstores as he laments overcrowding or tweaks his Waspy compatriots. A sometime writer with a busy libido and a warped sense of humor, the 30-ish Jason professes to "love murder... especially when the victim is someone I dislike." One such is author Millie Silk, the deliciously wicked witch of the West Chop colony. After penning a "venomous" expos‚ of her rich and famous friends, she becomes the first murder victim. Jason revels in being a suspect. His cool bravado ingratiates him to the reader as well as to homicide detectives the better to follow their efforts to obtain Millie's elusive manuscript. While some may grow impatient with the killer's belabored confession, those who enjoy celeb bashing should delight as Graves lays waste to media moguls, skirt-chasing pols, preening stars, New Age gurus and other narcissists, who provide ready fodder for the Vineyard's paparazzi. Likewise, the game of matching fictional figures to their real-life counterparts should spark lively debate on the cocktail party circuit in Edgartown and other toney enclaves.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
