Fleeced! FROM OUR EDITORS
When Regan Reilly arrives in New York City to attend a conference organized by her celebrity-author mother, the last thing she expects is to be plunged into a headline-making case. But that's just what happens when an old friend calls on Regan to investigate the murder of two fellow Settler's Club members, whose deaths have left the club in a financial bind and Regan's friend in an awful fix. Now, unless Regan can clear his name, her old friend just might find himself behind bars -- if a ruthless killer doesn't get to him first.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Regan Reilly is back in New York to attend a crime conference organized by her celebrity-author mother. A friend, Thomas Pilsner - the frenetic president of the Settlers' Club on Gramercy Park - calls Regan, desperately pleading for help. Thomas is distraught over the sudden suspicious deaths of two members of the Settlers' Club. The men had promised to donate a cache of valuable diamonds to save the Club. But now the diamonds are gone, the men are dead, and Thomas is a mess. He fears the police will suspect he is at the heart of both mysteries, and worse yet, he'll lose his job." Enter Regan. Who better than the star of Decked, Snagged, Iced, and Twanged to solve the mystery of the missing diamonds and suspicious deaths? Who better to contend with the quirky characters around the Club, such as Lydia Sevatura, the self-styled "Princess of Love," who operates a dating service, and her butler, Maldwin Feckles, who has just opened the first school of butlering in New York City? And who better than Carol Higgins Clark, with her sparkling, canny prose, to keep the readers guessing to the end "who done it"?
SYNOPSIS
The smart, saucy sleuth Regan Reilly is in New York to attend a crime
conference. Thomas Pilsner -- the frenetic president of the Settlers'
Club on Gramercy Park -- calls Regan, distraught over the sudden deaths
of two members who had promised to donate diamonds to save the Club.
FROM THE CRITICS
Book Magazine
This fourth book in Clark's Regan Reilly mystery series will probably be a bestseller, but there's no denying it, it's a terrible, terrible book. Implausible and kitschy, it is rife with the kind of humor commonly found embroidered on dish towels. So that we will know whom to suspect, Clark has given potential culprits sophomoric names, of which the worst are Maldwin Feckles and Daphne Doody. It may be as well that Clark earmarks her characters in this childish way, since the usual pleasures of detective fiction are largely absent. Cunning clues, an intricate timetable and brilliant analysis of evidence are so largely absent that it is an agreeable change when a cleaning lady confides that she's surprised that the victim drowned in his bath, since he invariably took showers. The real mystery is that so many people are likely to think this is one. —Penelope Mesic
Publishers Weekly
Los Angeles PI Regan Reilly crosses the continent to visit Manhattan, her parents, and lover (New York cop Jack "no relation" Reilly), but ends up with almost all of her time consumed by a murder mystery. Clark's breezy, choppy style she crams 81 chapters into a page count achieved with generous amounts of white space and cavalcade of eccentric characters are the sum of the book. Dithering friend Thomas Pilsner, president of the Settlers' Club in Gramercy Park, calls Regan when two of the club's oldest and wealthiest members die just before they were to give the club four diamonds valued at more than $4 million. The money would have allowed Pilsner to save the venerable but deteriorating club but, alas, the diamonds have disappeared. Convinced that the "accidental" deaths were nothing of the sort, Pilsner wants Regan to prove it and recover the missing diamonds. A nascent butlering school, a dating service, a histrionic movie director, a pair of grasping con men and a couple of stuffed sheep figure prominently in the cast. A strange collection of oddballs and schemers have made the Settlers' Club the focus of their attentions, and the author rapidly switches her attentions from one to another till they collide in a climactic scene in which the killer stands revealed. Clark's light touch can be entertaining, but those expecting a real solution to the murder might be disappointed. (Oct. 23) Forecast: With a nine-city author tour and foreign rights already sold in France and Germany, plus the high name recognition, this title seems destined for generous sales. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
P.I. Regan Reilly is helping Thomas Pilsner, president of the Settlers' Club. It seems that two of the club's oldest and wealthiest members, who were about to give the club millions in diamonds, were murdered. The money would have saved the club, but now the diamonds have disappeared, and Pilsner wants Regan to investigate and recover the missing gems. A strange collection of eccentric oddballs reside at the Settlers' Club, and the focus of the book switches from one to another as Regan involves herself in their lives. Eventually, the killer stands revealed in this light-hearted tale. Laura Hicks provides an easy-listening experience for an at times sophomoric whodunit. Recommended for larger collections only. Denise A. Garofalo, Astor Home for Children, Rhinebeck, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
A couple of old card-playing buddies have just decided to donate four million dollars worth of diamonds to their gentlemen's club when both of them die the same day. Private detective Regan Reilly must find out whether they were murdered and by whom, and locate the precious gems. Laura Hicks's deft touch balances a light tale full of misadventure and malapropisms. Clark's skill at creating comedic characters with their own quirky souls gives Hicks plenty of material to work with. The club's beleaguered manager and his old-fashioned girlfriend; an aging, almost successful actress; the chatty club housekeeper; a smarmy movie producer; a ditzy dating service director; convincing con artists; and an aspiring builder of a butler academy all receive hilarious characterization. R.P.L. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
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