Living Witness (Gregor Demarkian, Book 24) [Hardcover]

Jane Haddam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2009

In her 91 years, Ann-Victoria Hadley has often been the most hated person in Snow Hill, Pennsylvania. But now, it’s worse than ever. After a new school board inserted “intelligent design” into the curriculum, they were sued by a coalition including Hadley, the one member of the board who wouldn’t go along with the rest. With the trial about to start and the town a national laughing stock, Annie-Vic is found clubbed into unconsciousness and not expected to survive. The local police chief, one of the school board members, can’t investigate it himself and doesn’t trust the state police. So he brings in Gregor Demarkian.

Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent, is happy to help—his wedding is coming up and he’s desperate for a bit of time away from his too-involved neighbors on Cavanaugh Street in Philadelphia. Even if it is to investigate a brutal crime in a powder-keg of a small town.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Edgar-finalist Haddam's excellent 24th Gregor Demarkian novel (after 2008's Cheating at Solitaire) takes a nuanced look at the debate over teaching evolution in public schools. Demarkian, who's about to marry his longtime significant other, Bennis Hannaford, gains a welcome distraction from the last-minute preparations. In Snow Hill, Pa., someone bludgeons 91-year-old Ann-Victoria Hadley, leaving her in a coma. The detective soon learns that Hadley, a recent addition to the school board, was the focus of a heated local controversy for her role in a lawsuit aimed at preventing intelligent design from being taught at the town's schools. While the victim remains unconscious, her assailant strikes again, killing two women who were also plaintiffs in the civil action. Haddam makes characters on both sides of the issue sympathetic, explores the inner life of her detective hero without cluttering up the plot—and offers an ingenious fair-play puzzle. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* The Gregor Demarkian series, nearing the 25-volume mark, shows no signs of slowing down. How the author consistently manages to use the traditional mystery format to tackle some of contemporary society’s most volatile issues is itself something of a mystery, but it’s undeniably true that Haddam does what so many other writers fail to do: tell a story that challenges its readers to consider subjects of great social, political, and ethical importance. Here, a 91-year-old woman is beaten nearly to death. Anne Victoria Hadley is part of a group of small-town citizens who are suing the school board for adding “intelligent design” (that is, creationism) to the school curriculum. The local police chief, who is the first to admit he’s one of the prime suspects, asks Demarkian, the former FBI agent, to lead the investigation. The author offers her typically razor-sharp mystery concerning a highly contentious issue, but also does so without taking sides, treating all of her characters, from devout Christians to agnostics (and all points in between), with respect and understanding. Haddam is a fine writer, exhibiting skills rarely glimpsed in the mystery genre. The Demarkian series deserves a much wider audience. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 391 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312380860
• ISBN-13: 978-0312380861
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars stereotyping run amock, May 11, 2009

By 

Janet Lewis (Huntingdon, PA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Living Witness (Gregor Demarkian, Book 24) (Hardcover)

I've always been a Gregor Demarkian fan but lately it seems to me Ms Haddam is less interesteed in telling a story and character development than she is in her current 'controversy of the month'. This time it's the evolutionists versus the creationists and while the mystery has little to do with either, the majority of the book and the characters therein are devoted to one side or the other. But regardless of the side, these characters are irrational to the highest degree. They are paranoid characatures of advocates either of intelligent design or secular humanism. t
Other than Gregor, it appears that there is not even one sane person who lives in Snow Hill. No wonder Gregor is perpetually bemused by what is going on. Dialogue, or soliquies, which often ramble on for pages are nothing but extended 'rants' against the 'other side'. Advocates of creationism repeat ad nauseam the anti sec - humanist mantra 'If there is no God, then there can be no morals'. while the Darwinists chant that all religion is evil and religious folks are bastions of willful ignorance. Haddam also manages the somehow hold small towns accountable for this kind of narrow minded intellectual insanity.

Everything is extreme in this novel. People speak in shouts, dialogue becomes diatribe. it's just way over the top. Haddams's novels didn't used to be this way, but lately she seems to have let the topic run away with the story and the topic run away with itself.

We don't have Tibor in this book (really the only link Haddam has left with reason and empathy) and the book reads like one long shout about how stupid, narrow minded, angry, or confused people living in a small town are. Sorry, Jane, but this just ain't true and the horses need to be reined in.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as good as it gets, May 16, 2009

By 

C. Marshall "bookscat" (York, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living Witness (Gregor Demarkian, Book 24) (Hardcover)

I always await Jane Haddam's books eagerly, because they contain an interesting puzzle, delightful characters, and a theme that moves the book a bit deeper than run-of-the mill mysteries. Living Witness is a take on the evolution vs. creationism controversy, reminiscent of the Dover Area School Board court case of recent memory. Jane's takes on such issues are always fascinating, and, as usual, her research is exemplary; readers can access her sources and make up their own minds on the issue. The puzzle is set in motion by a murderous attack on an older woman who is a member of the school board in a small Pennsylvania town; the whodunnit and why are well disguised throughout the book (the clues are fair). Gregor Demarkian, Bennis Hannaford, Father Tibor and the usual characters of this long-running series are present and their stories are moving along. The small town characters are not sentimentalized, not portrayed as thoughtless hicks, but given personalities and opinions on many different aspects of the main issue.

Nevertheless, Jane Haddam has written better books. The issue overpowers the story to an extent that is rare in her work, and sometimes the dialogue comes across as little didactic speeches. Fans of her work (and I am one) will find much to enjoy, but if I were asked by someone who hadn't read her before, I would not recommend starting with this book; I'd recommend Somebody Else's Music or Cheating at Solitaire as a better introduction.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Did Jane Haddam Lose Her Temper?, June 9, 2009

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Reader in Matawan - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Living Witness (Gregor Demarkian, Book 24) (Hardcover)

First the good part: this is a reasonably strong Gregor Demarkian mystery.

Next the question: Since Gregor and Bennis are finally married, will the series continue? Their marriage received less attention than I would have liked, although there was some ingenuity and it was linked into Gregor's reason for taking this case.

Now the problem: Jane Haddam's mysteries include characters of whom she clearly disapproves. This is usually pretty good; she illustrates various popular character faults and disorders in a way that is usually enlightening. Here she tries and fails. Perhaps she just disapproves too much. Perhaps she failed to separate one flaw (incivility) from another (unreason) and so did not nail the characters cleanly. It would be a shame if this were the last of the Demarkian stories because the characters are not so much uninspired as uncrafted. Perhaps she was rushed; this seems to come on the heels of the last book. Perhaps she was so disgusted that she didn't want to put any more of herself into it (she admits her bias in the acknowledgements). Or perhaps she only half understands what she's attempting to portray. She is closer at heart to Bennis than to the coal miners and moonshiners.

I still recommend the book, but it is not Haddam's top tier. And she has not, to my mind, bested Precious Blood or A Stillness in Bethlehem. Still, it is far above Murder Superior (which might be better forgotten) and it is worth an evening.