Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Silverplate [Hardcover]

Don D'Ammassa (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery | Publication Date: November 2, 2004

Vicki Sanders, recently promoted Quality Control Manager at Standard Silver, reports to work one day only to discover the Production Manager murdered. A few days later, the company president is found dead. Detective Walter Henderson, Vicki's father, begins his investigation. The interviews reveal a number of personality conflicts, but nothing that offers any possible solution. Vicki conducts a private investigation of her own, following leads that end up getting her nowhere. While it appears that everyone who could possibly have killed either man has an ironclad alibi, Henderson reluctantly considers the possibility that there might be two different killers. But it is Vicki who still has to work with the employees at Standard Silver, one of them possibly the killer.

Don D'Ammassa lives in Providence, Rhode Island. (20041101)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"If everyone who disliked his or her boss committed murder, the entire economy would grind to a halt." That's the conclusion exasperated police detective Walter Henderson comes to when confronted by an abundance of suspects with neither good motives nor solid alibis in D'Ammassa's sluggish tale of homicide in the workplace. Employees at Standard Silver, a specialty manufacturer of silver-plated tchotchkes, arrive at work one morning to find manager Frank Antonelli crushed to death in a press "accident" that screams murder. Interrogations reveal that virtually everyone has some gripes with Frank and Standard, including quality control manager Vicki Sanders, who just happens to be Henderson's spunky daughter. A chip off the old block, Vicki decides to do some sleuthing of her own, but her investigations are hampered by still more employee killings. Frank's gruesome death starts the story off with a visceral jolt, but the narrative bogs down shortly after as detectives go about the tedious chore of grilling the suspects about their jobs. The numbing minutiae they relate grounds the story in realistic detail, but it makes everyone sound drably indistinguishable and keeps the narrative from developing any momentum. To his credit, D'Ammassa (Scarab) paints a credible portrait of a work force either demoralized or Machiavellian enough to treat murder as a labor-saving device for climbing the corporate ladder.
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Review

"D'Ammassa has written a well plotted police procedural that is well thought out and interesting...will appeal to a wide range of readers. Keep up the good work. Recommended."
-- Baryon 97 (http://www.baryon-online.com) (September 2004) (Baryon-Online.com )

"To his credit, D?Ammassa (Scarab) paints a credible portrait of a work force either demoralized or Machiavellian enough to treat murder as a labor-saving device for climbing the corporate ladder."
--Publisher's Weekly (November 2004) (Publisher's Weekly )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Five Star; 1 edition (November 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594142602
• ISBN-13: 978-1594142604
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,812,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don D'Ammassa was born in 1946 and was reading adult fiction by age six. He has been accumulating books ever since and his library is now approaching 60,000 volumes. He began reviewing science fiction and fantasy in the 1960s and sold his first novel, Blood Beast, in 1988. Since then he has sold well over one hundred stories, six more novels, and three reference books. He currrently lives in Rhode Island.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A strange solution to work stress, June 23, 2006

By 

Jonathan Maberry "Multiple Bram Stoker Award-... (Bucks County, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Silverplate (Hardcover)

Don D'Ammassa has a strange and wonderfully twisted imagination. Murder in Silverplate is like no other novel -it takes turns you won't expect, and then circles around to jab with a hot poker. Weird and terrific.

4.0 out of 5 stars engaging who-done-it, October 31, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Star First Edition Mystery - Murder In Silverplate (Hardcover)

Standard Silver manufacturing firm is shook when Production Manager Frank Antonelli is found dead amongst the equipment. Murder occurred because it is impossible to have either an accident or commit suicide due to safety features. Detective Walter Henderson heads the initial official investigation, but knows he will be removed from the case because his estrange daughter Vicki Sanders is the Quality Control Manager at the plant.

As Walter interviews everyone who could have had the opportunity to kill Frank, no one stands out with a motive though the old time manager was crusty and opinionated. Not long after Frank's death, someone murders company President Ed Cantrell, who was modernizing the business at a rapid rate. Over the objections of her father, Vicki makes inquiries with the help of another manager Mark Ross even as the police wonder if the homicides are the work of two different killers with the second indirectly encouraged by the seeming success of the first.

This engaging who-done-it starts as a fabulous police procedural in which Henderson leads the questioning of several folks including his daughter, but after the second homicide turns more into a wonderful amateur sleuth. Fans of both sub-genres will enjoy the investigations as Walter cannot hide his impatience with several of those he questions and with his beloved daughter for leaving her husband. Vicki is also a fantastic individual as she investigates the crimes along side Mark. Though the final twist comes from out of nowhere, readers will gain immense pleasure with this solid murder investigative tale.

Harriet Klausner