Customer Reviews

Who Killed Dorian Gray? (Claire Rawlings)

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This is the most tea-drinking-est mystery I've ever read!

I'm not being flippant with that remark though: what the problem is with this novel is that it's predictable,un-exciting, and filled with artifice. The central device is the characters-in-a-box setting: in this case, it's an artists' colony in Woodstock. But so what? The characters are all types, not personalities: they could be anywhere, isolated and unable to leave. The murder is of a beautiful young authoress, who had the secret lowdown on the murderer, of course. Untangling the past is up to Claire, the heroine and visiting writing instructor. Claire has a Greek-chorus-friend in the audacious child Meredith and a potential lover in the spiritual, wise Indian guide named Two Joe. It takes countless cups of tea, insights from Meridith and solace from Two Joe before mystery is resolved in this mildly amusing but all-too-predictable novel.

Mystery editor Claire Rawlings looks forward to a peaceful summer's week teaching at a writers' workshop in Woodstock. The retreat turns out to be anything but tranquil, however, when she's confronted with a quirky, contentious group of artists and writers. Then there are two murders, one of the victims a female reporter who uses the byline Dorian Gray. Also on the scene is Claire's 13-year-old friend, Meredith, who is determined to emulate Sherlock Holmes and discover whodunit. What do Stephen Hawking, quantum theory, Einstein, and shape-shifters have to do with the solution? Read this deftly written, cleverly plotted, colorfully characterized and wonderfully entertaining mystery and find out. Warning: Be sure to read the first book in the series, "Who Killed Blanche DuBois?," before this one, which contains many references to the earlier case and numerous spoilers.

"Who Killed Dorian Gray" continues the remarkable new series of literate, deftly-plotted mysteries by Carole Bugge, including both the Claire/Meredith series, of which this is Number 2, and her Sherlock Holmes pastiches, "The Star of India" and "The Haunting of Torre Abbey" .. two of the best Holmes novels since Conan Doyle put down his pen.

"Who Killed Dorian Gray" is rich in atmosphere, idiosyncratic characters, and a lovable and touching "Holmes-Watson" dynamic in the central relationship of Claire Rawlings and her doppelganger daughter, Meredith Lawrence. It is also an eminently fair mystery puzzle .. all the clues are there, but Oh! they are tough to spot!