The Edith Wharton Murders

Raphael, Lev

ISBN 10: 0312155190 / ISBN 13: 9780312155193

Published by New York : St. Martin's Press, 1997., New York, 1997

About this Item

227 p. ; 22 cm. Location: Signed case.

Seller Inventory # 1008337

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Edith Wharton Murders
• Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Press, 1997., New York
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312155190
• ISBN 13: 9780312155193
• Binding: hardback
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Mystery Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

An academic conference on Edith Wharton is already in trouble due to warring Wharton factions when the murder of lesbian writer Chloe DeVore makes things even more complicated, and gay professor Nick Hoffman must discover who killed her before everything unravels.

Reviews

As if the State University of Michigan weren't already full enough of misfits and malcontents, a conference on Edith Wharton promises to pipe more in from across the country. Reluctant conference organizer Nick Hoffman is sure that the invited guests- -rival Wharton scholars Van Deegan Jones (of the offensively insular old guard) and Verity Gallup (of the offensively irresponsible new), trendy punk novelist Chloe DeVore and her current lover Vivianne Fresnel, bestselling trashy romancer/aspiring Wharton biographer Grace-Dawn Vaughan and her professor-baiting editor Devon Davenport--will mix so well with the home-grown cargo of covetous academics, spineless administrators, and born-again trustees that they'll all be delighted when the conference is history. But even Nick is surprised when Chloe DeVore is bashed to death with one of the attractive new granite tiles being installed at the conference site, and a throng of new suspects (a lesbian colleague hoping to break up Chloe's on-again affair with Vivianne! a novelist prostrated by Chloe's dismissive review! a fortuitous ex-husband!) come leaping into the spotlight with all the spontaneity and emotional expressiveness of the Rockettes. As in Nick's debut (Let's Get Criminal, 1996), criminal investigation takes a backseat to catty gossip as the narrator outdoes the characters by trashing authors as diverse as David Baldacci and Eve K. Sedgwick. Except for the murders, the conference turns out pretty well. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.