Synopsis
After her obnoxious mother-in-law moves in permanently, Ellie Haskell falls in with three other local women also living with tyrannical mothers-in-law, and their imaginary scheme to solve their problems suddenly turns lethal. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.
Reviews
A plague of mothers-in-law descends upon the small English village of Chitterton Fells with toxic, and hilarious, results. Ellie Haskell, seen last in Femmes Fatal , plans the perfect dinner party to celebrate the 38th anniversary of her in-laws, Magdalene and Elijah. But an evening full of domestic mishaps is capped with the elder Haskells's announcement that they had never officially been wed. After an escalating quarrel, Elijah retires to a hotel, leaving the glacial, pampered and extremely hostile Mag in residence with Ellie and her nonplussed husband Ben. On a visit to a local pub to retrieve Elijah, Ellie meets three other women with raging mother-in-law problems; the foursome, under the influence of gin and tonic, devise wickedly clever ways to murder each live-in meddler. But after a spate of accidents, one of them fatal, befalls the unfortunate older women, Ellie and friends must marshall their resources to find the murderer and a blackmailer. This droll story lurches haphazardly from one crisis to the next, sometimes revealing a lunatic edge. But Chitterton Fells, its full quota of likable, loquacious eccentrics and Cannell's frazzled, overweight heroine are rendered with zest and affection.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Another jumpy chapter in the life of Ellie Haskell (Femmes Fatal, etc.)--now thin, married to restaurateur Ben, mother of twins, and mistress of Merlin's Court in Chitterdon Fells. Her in- laws--dour, prissy Magdalene, devoutly Roman Catholic, and Elijah, non-observantly Jewish--have been invited to spend a few days in honor of their anniversary. But it's soon revealed that the two were never officially married, and subsequent recriminations lead to Elijah stomping off to the nearest hotel while Ellie tries to cope with the loss of faithful charwoman Roxie Malloy (fired by mamma-in-law)--as well as with the mother-in-law woes of deacon Eudora Spike and friends Pamela and Frizzy. A spot of blackmail, a wild assortment of eccentrics, the de rigueur antics of cat Tobias and dog Sweetie, and an annual fete--at which the awards are truly to kill for--are other elements in this near plotless, frenetic exercise. Amiable, sometimes funny, sometimes tedious nonsense. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Dorothy Cannell is a master at creating wildly ludicrous characters and hilarious plots where murder is often highly justified, even if it does tend to make a mess of the house. Her latest Ellie Haskell adventure only enhances Cannell's reputation. After insisting that husband Ben's parents celebrate their anniversary with them at Merlin's Court, Ellie is dismayed when her in-laws reveal that their religious differences (she's Catholic, he's Jewish) prevented their legal marriage. The cathedral-versus-temple controversy still rages, interfering with the idea of celebrating the anniversary with a real wedding. Then Ellie's father-in-law is caught skinny-dipping with a female friend, prompting mother-in-law Magdalene to leave him. Ellie seeks solace from friends in the village and discovers that everyone is suffering from a surfeit of mothers-in-law. A commiseration session among the afflicted daughters-in-law results in several vividly imagined murder scenarios--which, unfortunately, begin to happen. As one might guess, murder and mayhem run amok with Ellie frantically chasing after both. Vintage Cannell. Stuart Miller
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
