Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Cat Marsala Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Barbara D'Amato (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cat Marsala Mysteries | Publication Date: August 7, 2001

The Harry Potter of its time, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and the forty or so other books in the Oz series have become perennial sellers. There are Oz festivals, Oz fan clubs, Oz newsletters, and, of course, Oz Web sites and chat rooms. And now there's "Hard Road," a Cat Marsala mystery in which author Barbara D'Amato shares her own love of Oz.

D'Amato's father knew Oz author L. Frank Baum and as a child played with Baum's children. Five generations of D'Amato's family have been Oz aficionados, including her novelist son, Brian D'Amato, who in his essay gives us special insight into Baum's world.

The story begins at a big centennial Oz festival in Chicago's Grant Park. Investigative reporter Cat Marsala rediscovers the wonderful world of Oz when she takes her six-year-old nephew Jeremy to meet Dorothy and the Tin Man and to explore the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City, and all the other Oz-inspired creations to be found at the summer festival celebrating a century of Oz books.

It's opening day, and Cat is babysitting her brother Barry's young son while Barry, a professional events organizer, confers with dignitaries. But suddenly a day of pure delight turns into a scene of horror. Cat and Jeremy witness a murder, and the chief suspect is a man they both love -- Barry. He can't be the killer, but Cat also can't deny what she saw with her own eyes.

Cat's first priority is to get Jeremy away from the devastation. They run to the merry-go-round, but as they circle on the brightly painted animals, a shot rings out. Someone is aiming at Cat, or perhaps at the boy. Could Barry be desperate enough to shoot at his own sister and child, the only witnesses to thekilling?

Desperate to save Jeremy, Cat grabs him and ducks into one of the tunnels that lead out to Michigan Avenue. As she and her nephew crawl for their lives, they know they are not in Kansas anymore. Someone far more evil than the Wicked Witch is in pursuit, and the magical world of Oz seems very far away.

Anthony Award-winning author Barbara D'Amato combines a fine mystery plot with engaging insights into the ongoing appeal of the Oz books in this memorable addition to her acclaimed series. For mystery and Oz fans alike, "Hard Road" is a special treat.

Includes:

Twenty Questions in Oz: An Oz Quiz

"The Wooden Gargoyles: Evil in Oz" by Brian D'Amato

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Cat Marsala, the hard-working Chicago reporter, returns in this ninth entry in D'Amato's series. This time she's got plenty of company--what seems like the entire cast of characters from the magical world of Oz created by L. Frank Baum. In a pleasant diversion that reads more like an homage to Baum than a mystery novel, Cat tracks down the unknown assailant who disrupted the annual Grant Park Oz Festival by killing its security chief and attempting to murder the reporter herself. Or is it Cat's young nephew, whose father (Cat's brother Barry) is the director of the event, who is the target of the killer? Torn between family loyalty and her duty to tell the police exactly what she witnessed between the dead man and her brother, Cat unwittingly lands Barry right in the prime suspect seat. So it's up to her to get him out of it by finding the real killer and, not so incidentally, treating the reader to a guided tour of the marvelous mind of one of the most beloved children's authors of all time. Oz fans will have a field day; others may be drawn to the world of the Emerald City for the first time and discover that as long as Baum's books endure, it will never be too late to have a happy childhood. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

You're off to see the wizard in this delightful Oz-themed mystery, the ninth in the Cat Marsala series (Hard Evidence, etc.) from Anthony and Agatha award-winner D'Amato. As freelance journalist Cat is squiring her young nephew, Jeremy, around a mythical Oz festival in Chicago's Grant Park (would that such a festival actually existed!), two people die before her eyes, one a stabbing victim. When bullets start to fly, Cat and Jeremy flee through a system of dark and dank tunnels. The pair's creeping along underground, in enforced silence, shows off the author's knack for building suspense. To make matters uglier, Cat's brother and Jeremy's father, Barry, is accused of the first murder by the police and initially by Cat herself. Thanks to Cat's dogged detective work, the real killer ultimately receives due justice through highly unusual means; let's just say the process involves a vacuum cleaner. The Oz festival's activities pay tribute to the imagination of L. Frank Baum, whose books D'Amato learned to love at an early age, while the detailed Chicagoland setting, as usual, rings true. Some "pure" mystery fans may want to skip the lengthy epilogue, an appreciation of the world of Oz by D'Amato's son, Brian, but they'll be missing a fascinating account. Follow the yellow brick road to your favorite bookseller for this one. It's worth the trek. (Aug. 21)Forecast: With proper hand-selling, sales will get a boost from the large and devoted following of the Oz books, while the Emerald City cover art will certainly draw fans of the MGM movie.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (August 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743200950
• ISBN-13: 978-0743200950
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,836,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If I Only had a Cat, October 25, 2001

By 

Lisa Chau (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Cat Marsala Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Barbara D'Amato's Hard
Luck several years ago, & was pleased to find that she
had published another installment to her Cat Marsala
series, Hard Road. Set in Chicago, the mystery
revolves around a Wizard of Oz festival. The story is
full of suspense, color & drama. As usual, the author
has gone to great lengths to research & provide a
plethora of factually accurate details. This book
also features a substantial epilogue, The Wooden
Gargoyles: Evil in Oz by Brian D'Amato, & Twenty
Questions in Oz: An Oz Quiz. Oz fans will not go
wrong with the purchase of this stunning book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oz in Chicago--but watch out for the Tin Woodsman, September 29, 2001

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Cat Marsala Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Cat Marsala thinks she's just entertaining her young nephew with a visit to the Chicago Oz festival but before the night is through, she witnesses two murders, gets herself and her nephew shot at, and escapes through the tunnels that run underneath Chicago.

When her evidence gets the police convinced that her brother is the killer, Cat decides to investigate herself. Yet if it isn't her brother, who could it be. She saw the victim run toward her brother with no evidence of blood anywhere.

The strength of Hard Road is in its descriptions of Chicago and its little peeks into the Oz legend (I also enjoyed the Oz essay at the end although it had nothing to do with the mystery). Its weaknesses are in the lack of character development and fairly linear plot.

HARD ROAD is well written--I certainly kept turning the pages and enjoyed the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A whimsical mystery, August 8, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Hard Road: A Cat Marsala Mystery (Cat Marsala Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In Chicago's Grant Park an OZ festival is being held to celebrate the centennial publication of The Wizard of Oz. Frank Baum wrote the book while living in the area and the city wants to honor their celebrity. It promises to be a great event with high tech displays of Oz locales, Oz rides, and food that could have come straight from the fantasy land. Free lance reporter Cat Marsala's brother Barry is in charge of the event so Cat is escorting her nephew Jeremy around the festival until it is time to return him to his father.

When Jeremy and Cat go to meet Barry, a person breaks away from the crowd and rushes over to them. The next thing everybody sees is that individual bleeding to death and Barry holding a knife. Eager to get Jeremy away from the gruesome sight, Cat takes him to a different part of the festival. They have no time to relax because someone starts shooting at them, forcing them to run into the tunnels that lead under the city. The officer makes it clear that Barry is their number one suspect so Cat begins sleuthing, but that leads to her becoming the target of a killer.

Cat Marsala is at the top of her game as she rescues her nephew, tries to clear her brother's name, and finds a major story to sell. Barbara D'Amato does not make her into a superwoman. Instead she is an average female striving to be the best she can be both as a person and as a reporter. Fans of amateur sleuth novels and Oz fans will absolutely love running down this yellow brick road.

Harriet Klausner