Dead Letter [Hardcover]

Jane Waterhouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 1998

Fame and fortune are part of life as a bestselling author, but you can have too much of a good thing. The "irrepressible, hard to resist" (San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle) Garner Quinn returns in a new thriller, where her life in the public eye puts her directly in harm's way. Jane Waterhouse has been called "first-rate" (Chicago Tribune), "a bona fide talent"(Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel) who weaves a tale with such "breathtaking velocity" (Kirkus Reviews) "readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough" (Publishers Weekly). True-crime writer Garner Quinn is getting letters from an obsessed fan. They arrive by the sackful in the daily mail, addressed to her remote, unlisted Jersey-shore estate, where she lives with her daughter and their elderly housekeeper--three women, alone. The fan has read all of her books; he's taped every one of her television appearances; and, what's worst, he seems to know her every move. In over her head, Garner hires Corbin, Inc., a prestigious security firm whose client list includes everyone from movie stars to government leaders. Reed Corbin, the firm's dynamic founder, takes a personal interest in the case--and in Garner. It's been a long time since she's felt this safe and cared for. But her chance for happiness is cut short when Corbin--the so-called security expert--is killed by a letter bomb. Garner immediately goes on the offensive, embarking on a quest for the truth that takes her from the Garden State to the City of Light. As the terror widens, she is drawn back to home shores, where she struggles to learn whether the threats are personal, or more far-reaching than she could ever have imagined. Filled with the edge-of-your-seat suspense that has won her so many fans, Dead Letter is a stunner from Jane Waterhouse.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There's no record of Jane Waterhouse ever writing a romance novel, but she certainly knows enough about the subject to pull it off. In Dead Letter, true crime writer Garner Quinn tells us about the last time she saw the strange and possibly dangerous sculptor Dane Blackmoor a year ago: "If I closed my eyes and held my breath, I could still remember the slow, soft progression of his mouth along the underside of my jaw, upward to my ear, how he'd whispered his parting shots in a hoarse, raspy voice."

In fact, what makes Waterhouse's books about Quinn so much fun to read is that neither the author nor her main character seem to know when to quit. You'd think that after being subjected to so much terror and personal humiliation in Graven Images and Shadow Walk, Quinn would listen to all those people who constantly urge her to (1) rethink her dangerous line of work, wherein every new book proposal turns into a death-defying situation and (2) give up on Blackmoor, who dumped her in her first outing. But, no--Dead Letter begins with Garner desperately scanning the mail in her New Jersey coastal home for word from Blackmoor and finding instead the first of a series of nasty threats from an obsessed fan. Things get so dangerous that a top security expert named Reed Corbin is called in, and for a while it appears that this fascinating hunk will solve both of Quinn's problems. The wily Waterhouse, however, has other surprising and satisfying solutions up her well-knit sleeve. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

What sets true-crime writer Garner Quinn apart from mere mortals or even other fictional sleuths are her intelligent, down-to-earth observations. She's larger than life with her wealth and celebrity and tendency to get punched and her habit of falling in love with guys with names like Dane Blackmoor. But she also has a teenage daughter and a highly skeptical housekeeper, Cilda Fields, whose main job seems to be keeping Quinn in line. Cilda has her work cut out for her in this latest escapade (after Graven Images and Shadow Walk). The trouble begins with some creepy and vaguely threatening fan mail. Since Quinn lives in an isolated part of the New Jersey shore (the house conjures up visions of a contemporary Manderley), she is wise to be concerned. She hires a high-profile security agency to track down the letter-writer, and suddenly the woman who keeps the world at arm's length finds herself burdened with bodyguards who follow her every move. The head of the agency, an endearingly nerdy type who takes a very personal interest in Quinn's case, is murdered in a particularly spectacular way. Was his death somehow linked to the threats Quinn has received? The search for an answer leads Quinn farther afield than she had expected to go. On the home front, meanwhile, Quinn must cope with Cilda's high-powered and jealous daughter. Waterhouse explores Quinn's varied relationships with sensitivity and devises an involving plot. The novel's finale is somewhat overblown, as Quinn fights for truth and justice and, presumably, the American way, but overall this mystery satisfies nicely.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 289 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First edition (December 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399144366
• ISBN-13: 978-0399144363
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,238,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A subtle suspense book that is absolutely terrific, November 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Dead Letter (Hardcover)

Garner Quinn has taken a hiatus from her famous career as a true crime writer. However, this is one time in which out of sight does not mean out of mind as the public still endows her with much acclaim. However, one of her fans is making her life a living hell by sending her letters, breaking into her car and leaving threatening notes. Garner takes the threats very seriously and hires Corbin, Inc, a security firm to the rich and famous, to safeguard her. Reed Corbin sets up a trap to capture Garner's nemesis even as he makes sure his client knows that he is very attracted to her. She reciprocates his feelings even though he is not Dane Blakemore.

When the stalker is apprehended, Garner concludes that Dane is never returning from Europe to her and is prepared to pursue a relationship with Reed. However, tragedy strikes, causing Garner to flee to the arms of Dane in Paris. However, Garner is called home because some unknown has posted bond for the stalker. The stalker is killed by the security agent but for Garner the terrot has only just begun.

Jane Waterhouse can always be counted on to give her readers the unexpected and her third Quinn novel is no exception. DEAD LETTER is a roller coaster ride of thrills, chills, and unrelenting suspense. There are so many twists and turns coupled with unexpected but believable surprises that the reader will be unable to put the book down until the last page has been turned. Anyone who has tasted a Quinn book will want to read the other two stories as well as future books because they will become addicted to the series.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life-Styles of the Rich and Paranoid, February 20, 2003

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Letter (Hardcover)

Garner Quinn, true crime writer, is a wonderful neurotic. Her background includes a dead alcoholic mother; rich, neglectful and dead father who had been a successful attorney and sued her over her first book; a Jamaican housekeeper who raised her; a teenaged daughter; an attorney ex-husband; and the Jamaican housekeeper's jealous daughter. There is also the ex-lover, who might have been her mother's ex-lover, who abandoned her.

Then Quinn develops a stalker. It begins with one creepy letter and escalates from there. She hires a high priced security firm to keep her little family safe. But it's not that easy, as circumstances drag in Dane Blackmoor, her expatriated ex-lover.

The really developed relationships in this book though are between Quinn, her daughter, her housekeeper and her housekeeper's daughter. Garner Quinn's life is not just threatened, it's badly in need of being shaken up and set right. Maybe this is the book to do it.