The Girl Who Remembered Snow [Paperback]

Charles Mathes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1997

San Francisco magician Emma Passant is puzzled by her grandfather's cryptic will. He writes that she is to "take her place at the helm and turn the wheel on the legacy that I have kept hidden from her". As Emma ponders these elusive words, a friend of hers is fatally shot--by the same gun that was used to kill her grandfather. The mystery begins to come together, however, upon the disappearance of a model boat--the replica of a boat her grandfather had sailed on years before. Emma departs in search of the real vessel, and finds herself in an adventure and into the shocking truth about her family's past.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's something lost and waiflike about Emma Passant, a professional magician who was orphaned as an infant and raised by Jacques Passant, aka Pepe, her beloved grandfather. When the story opens, Pepe has just been murdered in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Shortly thereafter, wealthy antiques dealer Henri-Pierre Caraignac, who has just befriended Emma, is found shot dead in his hotel room. The thickheaded S.F. police don't see any connection between the two crimes?even though the men were killed by the same gun. Then there's the disappearance of the model boat in whose secret compartment Pepe may have kept a treasure. Emma, unexpectedly well off from an inheritance, determines to find out the connection between the two dead men. Her search takes her to the Caribbean island of San Marcos, where she discovers that Pepe may have had an unsavory past; to New York, where she tracks down Henri-Pierre's last movements; and to Paris, where she discovers the truth about the two men?and herself. Though insecure, Emma lands some pretty sharp verbal blows. And her dance training, which enables her to kick like a mule, comes in handy. Mathes (The Girl with the Phony Name) employs too many red herrings, however, in dressing up this family melodrama as a complex mystery.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

San Francisco magician Emma Passant is at a loss following the death of her grandfather during a mugging. When an antiques dealer whom Emma had met is also killed with the same gun used to shoot her grandfather, Emma wonders if perhaps the murder was not a random one. The disappearance of a model boat, the Kaito Spirit, named after the Indians on the Caribbean island of San Marcos and a replica of an actual boat on which her grandfather had sailed many years before, only adds to the puzzle. A reference in the will, expressing a desire that her granddaughter will "take her place at the helm and turn the wheel on the legacy that I have kept hidden from her" puzzles Emma even more. Deciding that the key must be in San Marcos, Emma proceeds to the island, where the past reveals itself at last. Although the plot may have a few too many coincidences and overdrawn supporting characters to satisfy purists, Mathes' first novel is a real page-turner with a genuinely surprising ending. Stuart Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Worldwide Library (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373262574
• ISBN-13: 978-0373262571
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,736,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles Mathes has forged a unique career in publishing, theatre, and art. He formerly headed Rodgers & Hammerstein's international play publishing and licensing company. Currently, he is the director of a prominent art gallery in New York City and an appraiser of fine art.

Mathes's non-fiction works include THE SPIRIT OF AMERICA: A STATE BY STATE CELEBRATION (1990) and TREASURES OF AMERICAN MUSEUMS (1991). He is also the author of a series of art and antiques-related mystery novels: THE GIRL WITH THE PHONY NAME (1992), THE GIRL WHO REMEMBERED SNOW (1996), THE GIRL AT THE END OF THE LINE (1999), and THE GIRL IN THE FACE OF THE CLOCK (2001). He is married to Arlene Graston, an artist and writer. Their 2003 collaboration, IN EVERY MOON THERE IS A FACE, was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Children's Picture Book of the Year by Foreword Magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll Remember This Novel, May 23, 2006

By 

John T. Farrell (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Remembered Snow (Hardcover)

I picked up "The Girl Who Remembered Snow" at a secondhand book sale and am glad I did. Charles Mathes is a talented writer and I found his second novel to be touching and engaging. It's written in literate prose, is filled with empathetic characters, has flashes of quirky humor and whimsy, and contains enough interesting plot twists to remind you this is a mystery, not only a bildungsroman.

Struggling professional magician Emma Passant is the girl who remembers snow. Her first real memory is of having her hand held in a snowstorm, although the grandfather who raised her chides her for speaking of it. When Emma's grandfather is murdered, she embarks on a journey of discovery, not only of who committed the crime, but who she is. Along the way, she meets a cast of colorful and wonderful characters, from Big Ed Garalachek, the Chevy King, to Tomoteo, her ten-year tour guide in the benighted island of San Marcos, to Bernal Zuberan, a courtly drug dealer. All of them offer her aid as she wends her way through a psychological terrain of uncertainty and a landscape that begins in San Francisco and ends in Paris.

This is the kind of novel you wish you could keep reading for a while longer!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn good, June 8, 2003

By 

K. OBRIEN "kayobee" (New Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Girl Who Remembered Snow (Paperback)

My only quibble with this book is that the plot verges on something out of Ludlum or (yikes!) Sheldon. But the narrative is wonderful -- smooth and well-paced -- and the characters are interesting and well-drawn. In a field crowded with wooden and poorly-edited clunkers, this was a refreshing find. I hope Mr. Mathes gets noticed by the paperback majors soon -- he deserves it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My second best book of the year!, March 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Girl Who Remembered Snow (Paperback)

There is something so genuine in Mathes' books. The relationship between Emma and her grandfather is revealed as the mystery unwinds. Emma's magic tricks add an element of fun to this already delightful book.