The Mirror and the Mask (Jane Lawless Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Ellen Hart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane Lawless Mysteries | Publication Date: November 10, 2009

Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless is at crossroads. The rough economy has put her plans for a third restaurant on hold, and her long distance romance is on the rocks and quite possibly unsalvageable. Unsure of what to do next, she takes her good friend A. J. Nolan up on his standing offer to take her on as a private investigator.

While still in training, her first job seems simple enough. All she had to do is find Annie Archer’s stepfather. Jane tracks down a likely match—a man who has made a small fortune in real estate. While she’s happy to close her first case, she finds it hard to reconcile the difference between PI work—finding what people pay you to find—and uncovering the truth, the whole truth, especially when clues in this seemingly simple case point to more threatening family secrets than where Annie’s father has been hiding out.

Ellen Hart’s The Mirror and the Mask is another engrossing mystery filled with the deceit and psychological intrigue that fans have come to expect from this Lambda and Minnesota Book Award--winning author.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lonely Jane Lawless never seems to catch a break in the love department, as shown by Hart's twisty 17th whodunit to feature the Minneapolis restaurateur and part-time PI (after 2008's Sweet Poison). Jane gives a temporary job to bartender Annie Andrews, who's come from Colorado in search of her stepfather, John Archer, whom Annie blames for her mother's death years before. Jane, who's attracted to the bisexual Annie, discovers that John has changed his name to Jack Bowman, who owns DreamScape Builders in the Twin Cities. The mystery deepens after Susan, Jack's second wife, is found murdered by a blow to the head by Susan's depressed son, Curt, who's also attracted to Annie. Jane and her best friend, Cordelia Thorne, begin investigating Annie's troubled past. As Annie's search for answers hurtles to a close, the tragic deceptions concocted by John/Jack explode in a grand finale with disturbing consequences. (Nov.)
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Review

Praise for Ellen Hart

 “Ellen Hart, one of Minnesota’s bestselling mystery writers, weaves a net of complex relationships.… Sweet Poison is as much a psychological thriller about unrequited love as a mystery.”
---St. Paul Pioneer Press on Sweet Poison

“Juicy…Hart fans will enjoy the many twists, both personal and criminal.”
---Publishers Weekly on Sweet Poison

“A solidly satisfying sixteenth title in this popular lesbian murder-mystery series…as she plumbs deeper into the convoluted hearts and minds of her fascinating characters.”
---Booklist on Sweet Poison

“Hart is at the top of her game.”
---Curve Magazine on The Mortal Groove

“Hart masterfully whips these intrigues together with her sleuths’ interesting nonmystery lives…to add a fine sauce to a hearty, Minneapolis-flavored mystery dish.”
---Rocky Mountain News on The Iron Girl

“Jane Lawless and her trusty sidekick, Cordelia Thorn, are the most refreshing, entertaining, and cerebrally stimulating duo since Rex Stout’s unbeatable combo of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.”
---Baltimore Alternative

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375271
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375270
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-five crime novels in two different series.?? She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. ?? Entertainment Weekly??named her one of the "101 Movers and Shakers in the Gay Entertainment Industry." For the past twelve years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Ellen's newest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required, (Ballantine, June 2005). The Mirror and the Mask, the seventeenth Jane Lawless mystery, was released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in November 2009.?? Ellen lives in Minneapolis with her partner of 32 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MYSTERY AND MAYHEM IN MINNEAPOLIS, November 22, 2009

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mirror and the Mask (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

With this, the 17th in Ellen Hart's highly successful Jane Lawless mystery series, we first meet 13-year-old Annie Andrews who lives in Traverse City, Michigan with her resort manager mom. Annie was happy, loved her school, and thought she and her mom were all that was needed after Annie's dad died. Apparently, mom didn't feel quite the same way because she's been corresponding with Johnny Archer, a prisoner who has just been released and is about to knock on their apartment door.

Flash forward to the present where we find our heroine/sleuth Jane in one of her Minneapolis restaurants, the Xanadu Club, where a pipe had burst causing a minor but nonetheless wet flood. Further, she's on the brink of 45 and there had been "a messy romantic breakup last November that had left her feeling uncharacteristically confused, sluggish, and depressed." Need we mention that she put opening another restaurant on hold due to the current economy?

Jane really doesn't need any more challenges but then in walks a full grown Annie Andrews looking for work, she was "tall, blond, and fashion model pretty." Jane puts Annie to work and soon agrees to help Annie find her stepfather, yep, the same Johnny Archer. Annie hasn't seen him since her mom's funeral some 12 years before.

For help in tracking down Archer Jane had turned to ex-cop Nolan which caused her overly dramatic best friend, Cordelia, to have a hissy fit. (Hart wisely often uses Cordelia for comic relief.) Nonetheless, it's not long before a hunt for a person turns into a murder.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun Minneapolis mystery, November 11, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: The Mirror and the Mask (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In Minneapolis, restaurateur Jane Lawless, owner of the Lyme House restaurant and the Xanadu Club, delays her plans for opening a third establishment due to the economy. Instead she accepts a job as a professional private investor working for her friend and sleuth A.J. Nolan. She also hires bartender Annie Archer to work at her Xanadu Club.

Annie explains to her new boss that she left Steamboat Springs, Colorado in search of her stepfather who vanished soon after her mom died in 1990 in Traverse City, Michigan. She asks Jane to find him, which Jane agrees to do, but becomes a tad upset to realize her client-employee omitted key facts and she wonders why. Meanwhile, Northland Realty VP Susan Bowman is murdered at the home she shares with her spouse Jack and her two children medical school student Curt and high school senior Sunny. As Jane digs, she increasingly fears for Annie's life and anyone in her sphere especially Curt because she connects the two points Annie and Susan.

With Cordelia Thorn on a semi hiatus re her niece Hattie, Jane goes it alone as she investigates the almost two-decade old cold case of the disappearing stepfather. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Annie meets Jane while the two prime romantic relationships, Annie with Jane and Annie with Curt complicate a relatively simple plot. Although the prime investigation is somewhat limited, fans will enjoy the interactions between a strong cast who make for a fun Minneapolis mystery.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-crafted mystery, July 25, 2010

By 

Booklover "LA" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mirror and the Mask (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is the first book I've read by Ellen Hart. I heard her interviewed on a radio show, and she read an excerpt from this book. I was impressed so I got the book.

I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I liked it more than I thought I would. Unfortunately, there are many lesbian-themed books that simply are not very well crafted. Ellen Hart is an excellent writer. She's particularly good at story telling, dialogue, and characterization.

This one is definitely a page turner and had several surprises. The only thing that put me off was Jane's comic sidekick, Cordelia. The tone dramatically changes when Cordelia's in the picture, and sometimes it's jarring. Still, this is an excellent mystery, and one I highly recommend, especially to those who think Sarah Waters is the only lesbian who can write.