Customer Reviews

Desert Summer: A Claire Gray Mystery (Claire Gray Mysteries)

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Those who are fans of Michael Craft's novels (and those who will make this their first read) will not be disappointed in this Claire Gray installment! As is his custom, the author makes us feel at home with familiar venues and characters. Who cannot admire Claire's keen sleuthful instincts? Who cannot cease to be entertained by the outrageous Kiki? Who cannot cheer the relationship between Grant and Kane?

Ah, but this is a mystery novel, after all! The list of potential who-done-it suspects is populated with typical Craft skill. My guess changed at least twice until the totally disarming surprise ending!

A most enjoyable and easy read! I look forward to Michael's next!

In the fourth (and, in my opinion, best) mystery in this series, Craft's Claire Gray again stumbles across a murder, this time of the vindictive ex-wife of her friend and employer at the Desert Arts College, billionaire D. Glen Yeats. Circumstances implicate Yeats as the murderer, a possibility Claire finds logical but hopes her intuition is correct as deeming it unlikely. Other possible suspects include Yeat's daughter Paige, who expressed open hostility toward her former step mother and was seen en route to see her shortly before she was found dead, as well as the decedent's own son, a spoiled playboy who had financial problems and would be the sole beneficiary of her will. As in the past, Claire teams unofficially with Larry Knohl, Palm Springs police detective and brother of her good friend Grant, in trying to sort out the facts of the case, ironically now urged on by Yeats, who discouraged his employee from becoming involved in police business ... that is until it was his rich behind that was on the line!

This installment in the series also fleshes out several of the supporting characters, including Claire's oldest friend Kiki (who also is Glenn update his wardrobe), Grant and his younger boyfriend Kane (who are planning a civil union ceremony), Thad Quatrain (theatre student of Claire's, who is the nephew of Mark Manning, the star of Craft's just-concluded other series of mystery novels), and Detective Knohl, who is going through some marital problems. The pace and suspense of the mystery is Hitchcock-ish, not surprising when Claire and other characters draw parallels between the murder and the play "Rebecca", which Hitchcock filmed and which her students are currently studying in their summer workshop. Though over 250 pages, I went through the book in a bit over a day, it is that much of a "page turner"!

There is only one word to describe this series - EXCELLENT!! Plot twists abound and when you think you have it solved you are right back to the beginning. I sure hope this series will continue. I'll be the 1st in line here at Amazon to buy it.

An easy read - finished in one day as I sat on the couch with a cat on my lap! I love the comparisons to "Rebecca" in the plot, and while I am only passingly familiar with that storyline, could understand completely how everything went together. As an acting teacher, I especially enjoyed all Claire's references to directing and theatre. Wonderful characterizations, and as this is the fourth in the series, felt like I was visiting old friends. Liked the descriptions of familiar haunts in Palm Springs - and how many adjectives can Craft come up with to describe "hot weather"?!! The plot kept me guessing until the end with an unusual twist. Looking forward to catching up on other series by this author.

The fourth Claire Grey murder mystery,Desert Summer, is the best so far in this superb series by Michael Craft. It's a richly mounted novel that glows on several levels:vivid descriptions of the Palm Springs desert,a razor sharp mystery solved by a clue in the play Rebecca,deft characterizations, and most importantly the promise of new love and fulfillment for Claire. This series is flat out excellent and I for one eagerly await the next installment.

Hello, Hollywood, somebody film this excellent book. Everything is here for a great film.

Michael Craft does it again creating another fun summer read. His two series, Mark Manning and Claire Gray, deftly combine entertaining mystery while furthering the adventures/lives of his main characters. Unlike a Jessica Fletcher, where anyone who visits the quiet sea side cove dies and no one really seems to be bothered by the fact week after week, his characters actually react to the number of bodies mounting up in the presence of the main character!

Craft surrounds his main characters, in this case Claire Gray adorned with a splash of red, with just as colorful friends and supporting cast. He also, having a theatrical background, introduces the reader to forgotten pieces of literature, in this case Du Maurier's REBECCA, which prompts further interest outside his novel.

A perfect book for the beach, backyard, or in this heat, a cozy chair!

Claire Gray, who used to direct on Broadway now heads up the theater department of the Desert Arts College in Palm Springs, California. One night she is invited to the house of Glenn Yates, the college president along with the head of costuming, Kiki Jasper-Plunkett, to help diffuse an argument he is about to have with his ex-wife Felicia over a home in Santa Barbara that she received in the divorce settlement. Felicia can live in the home, but she can't sell it and she's not happy with this arrangement.

The argument doesn't go too badly, but the next day Felicia is found dead in her motel. Someone, it seems, helped her to a dose of poison and not surprisingly Yeats is the prime suspect. However, the list of people who didn't like or would benefit from Felicia's demise isn't a short one and because Yeats knows about Claire's ability in the crime solving department, he asks her to help him.

This is an excellent mystery with a brilliant supporting cast and lots of suspects. I like the amateur sleuth type of mysteries from Miss Marpole to Jessica Fletcher and I believe those two women have a worthy competitor in Claire Gray. Also I like the kind of mystery that winds up with all of the suspects in a room together, as this one does. And I particularly like it when I guessed wrong, but I like when I guessed right too. Either way, I believe you'll like DESERT SUMMER.

Former Broadway director Claire Gray heads the Theater Department of the relatively new Desert Arts College in Palm Springs, California. She currently is hosting a summer workshop, which will culminate with the production of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, based on the play, not the movie.

Her boss, college president Glen Yeats asks Claire and the head of costuming Kiki Jasper-Plunkett to attend a party he is hosting so that he has friends with him when his second ex-wife Felicia arrives to cause havoc over a landmark Santa Barbara house she gain ed in the divorce settlement. Felicia can live in the home, but cannot sell the property though it lies on choice real estate. Not long after Felicia showed up in all nasty regalia, she is found dead from poison. Detective Laren Knoll strongly suspects Glen killed his ex; Glen turns to Claire, who recently solved the Lara case and two other mysteries, to prove his innocence (see the three previous seasonal Desert tales).

DESERT SUMMER is an enjoyable amateur sleuth mystery starring a likable protagonist and a strong support cast. The story line is fun to follow as all evidence points towards Glen as the killer so that even Claire and Kiki, who think highly of him, and the audience have no doubt Felicia pushed him over the edge. The tale develops the key players early on so that when the author pulls twists and red herrings the cast and the audience are fooled. This is one author who knows his craft.

Harriet Klausner

Part mystery and part life in an upscale college town in the southern California desert. More about relationships amongst the various inhabitants; not a lot of detecting. Fourth in an enjoyable series.