Death at High Tide: A Jersey Shore Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Beth Sherman (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Beth Shore mystery | Publication Date: June 8, 1999

Oceanside Heights Becomes Hollywood By The SeaIn the quaint New Jersey seaside town of Ocean Heights, freelance ghostwriter Anne hardaway is frustrated by her latest assignment: a tell-all autobiography of Mallory Loving, the former local sexpot who has made it big in movies. Even though Mallory's new film is being shot in twon, Anne finds that her high-profile subject is a first-class prima donna. And Anne isn't the only one having a hard time with the ego-driven star.But Murder Wasn't In The ScriptTreating the film's crew, cast, locals and her husband like personal minions, Mallory is a woman whose popularity, like her career, is on the wane. As severaly accidents delay shooting, a series of threatening letters from a deranged fan unsettle the star's fragile nerves. In the midst of the turmoil, the actress disappears-only to resurface as a corpse. Though the police rule the death as an accident, Anne suspects murder. Using the biography as her calling card, Anne begins an investigation into Mallory's murder to determine which suspect is only "acting" innocent.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fresh as an ocean breeze, this is a resourceful character and setting rich with menace and satisfying mystery twists." -- Mystery Lovers Bookshop

"Ghostwriter Anne Hardaway is a delightful mix of humor, pragmatism, and vulnerability." -- Margaret Maron

"Ghostwriter Anne Hardaway is a delightful mix of humor, pragmatism, and vulnerabilty." -- -- Margaret Maron

About the Author

Beth Sherman is a writer and editor based in New York City. She writes a bi-weekly column, "Design and Decor," for Newsday that gives decorating tips and home-related advice. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Post, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, Harper's Bazaar, Martha Stewart Living, Bride's, Fitness, Working Woman, House Beautiful, American Health, Parents, and many other publication. Dead Man's Float is her first mystery. She summers on the New Jersey shore.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Avon (June 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380731088
• ISBN-13: 978-0380731084
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #559,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great mystery that kept me totally entertained!, August 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Death at High Tide: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Really strong mystery from an author that I've just discovered...Recommend her first book also - "Dead Man's Float." "Death at High Tide" really brought the Jersey Shore to life -- and I've never even been there! It keeps you guessing right up to the last page -- the main character, Ann Hardaway is a wonderful heroine, and I couldn't even guess who done it. Terrific work!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Local Girl Gets Murdered, April 22, 2003

By 

Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death at High Tide: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Mallory Loving has already had her star rise and fall in the competitive world of Hollywood. She's returned to Oceanside Heights to film what will hopefully be her comeback picture. Meanwhile, Anne Hardaway is trying to get the information she needs to ghost Mallory's autobiography. The star promises information, but doesn't really deliver. Things aren't easy on the set, either, as accidents keep delaying the filming. Then Mallory vanishes, only to show up dead. None of her co-workers on the film seem upset at this turn of events, and Anne is sure that solving the murder will be just the ending her book needs. But will she be able to sift through the suspects and find the real killer?

This is the second Jersey shore mystery staring Anne Hardaway. The plot starts out a little slow, but quickly gains speed and doesn't slow down until the climax. There were enough twists to have me completely confused until the very last page. I love the resort town setting; the author makes it seem very inviting. The biggest problem is the little time returning characters get. Anne interacts almost exclusively with the suspects. While they're interesting, getting to see her with a few friends helps define her character better.

Anyone looking for a fun setting with complex plots need look no further. Time spent on the Jersey Shore with Anne is fun but certainly not relaxing.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sherman crafts entertaining novel on familiar plot, September 1, 2000

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death at High Tide: A Jersey Shore Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

The conventions of women-written mysteries can be every bit as restrictive and stereotypical of those that had been written by men for decades. Instead of the seedy detective in the rundown office with a bottle in his desk, there's the single working woman living in an attractive area, sometimes with a police officer boyfriend to help, with a job that brings her regularly in contact with corpses. Oh, and no kids.

"Death at High Tide" might serve as the perfect example on the genre. Free-lance writer Anne Hardaway lives by herself in a beautiful Victorian in a small ocean-side town in southern New Jersey. A movie crew has come to her town, which gives her the opportunity to help its star, Mallory Loving, ghost her memoirs. The one variation from the mystery template is that the cop boyfriend is replaced by an architect who's working in Europe and pleading with her to come visit.

Researching the life of this platinum blonde diva takes Hardaway among the usual suspects, including La Loving's handsome singer/actor husband who may be having a fling or two on the side, her ambitious assistant who's angling for something greater, the director with a shady past, the boyfriend Loving left behind who still holds a flame for her and Mallory's twin sister, who never left the shore and became a bingo-playing spinster teacher.

Beth Sherman is an experienced magazine and newspaper writer and "Death at Hide Tide" pops along with plenty of plot twists to satisfy the most committed mystery reader. While there's too much reliance on cliches -- Hardaway is threatened several times with vague unspecificied variations on "you'll be sorry" if she publishes some of the more risque factoids she uncovers, and her fear of losing her publishing contract seems doubtful to any writer aware that the tabloids would pay handsomely for what Hardaway uncovers -- such expectations for books like these are never high to begin with. Their purpose is to keep the reader entertained, and "Death at High Tide" does that. Besides