Customer Reviews

Missing Marlene

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Shady Hills, New Jersey, the school secretary calls literary agent Jane Stuart to pick up her son Nick when his nanny Marlene Benson failed to do so. After they get home, Jane calls her best friend Ivy, who happens to be Marlene's mother, to complain about her daughter.

Jane wonders how her beloved, deceased spouse would handle rejecting a work by one of her top writer's, Roger Haines. She tries to persuade Roger to rewrite the novel, but the egotistical author refuses. Instead he demands she sells his work. Before she can draw a conclusion on what to do next, Jane, with the help of Nick's cat Winky, looks into the disappearance of the MISSING MARLENE. She soon uncovers a secret life that places her and her son's cat in danger.

The debut of the Jane-Winky amateur sleuth series is an entertaining amateur sleuth tale. At first look, the story line seems simple, but actually have several interesting twists. Fans will enjoy Jane's exploits and Winky's assistance, while the support cast makes suburban New Jersey appear real. However, though Evan Marshall provides the sub-genre with a fine mystery, his talent shines when he uses current scenarios for Jane seeking a solution to flashbacks into her past. This provides readers with much character insight and motivation while propelling the plot forward. Fans will want more novels starring this new amateur duo.

Harriet Klausner

I don't read a lot of mystery books, but this one was a keeper! This book is fast paced, fun, and full of exciting twists. I recommend it to anyone who likes the suspense of mystery, but doesn't enjoy the darkness of most mysteries.

I loved this book! The story is engaging from the beginning and doesn't take you in a hundred different directions just to throw you off. Very well written, and I look forward to many more great books from this author!

What a delight it is to read a mystery that focuses on plot and characters instead of gore and violence! I admit that I was stumped at guessing the villain. Now I look forward to the next one and the next one and the next one--I hope there are many! This is one author who will be on my list of favorites.

Jane Stuart is trying to juggle running her literary agency and raising her son Nick since her husband died. The last things she needs is her nanny to leave with no warning. But Marlene and all her stuff are gone and there's no clue where she might be. Since Marlene is the daughter of Jane's oldest friend, she feels some responsibility to find out what happened. As she begins poking around, she begins to find out that Marlene had a secret nightlife that could have put her in danger. Can Jane find the girl in time?

This book had come highly recommended to me, and I couldn't wait to get to it. It was a little rough at the beginning, but I soon got into the story. The characters grew on me, especially Jane. The plot moved forward quickly, and the book itself was a very fast read. My only real complaint was one particular plot development. Some of the language and sexual topics surprised me since the book seemed so cozy from the cover.

Shady Hills is a wonderful little town, and I enjoyed my visit. I plan to visit it again soon.

MISSING MARLENE introduces Jane Stuart, Nick, and Winky in their debut mystery. Jane is Nick's mother. She is also a literary agent. Winky is their feline cohort. Marlene is the nanny that Nick and Jane felt they could live without but hadn't expected it to happen so suddenly and suspiciously. Jane hired Marlene because she was the daughter of a friend, and when the nanny comes up missing, it's Jane who risks it all trying to find her.

What an impressive debut and cast of characters created by Evan Marshall. Through the mystery, we will meet those around Jane and her small family. Their stories are remarkably interwoven through the mystery without distracting from it. The plot is great, although one part of the storyline (the colorful part) has been touched on many times in other stories, the way Mr. Marshall uses it is just as attention-grabbing. Through the mystery and mayhem, Jane leads her readers to and fro to meet some interesting and unsavory characters and puts herself in some interesting situations. The rough and tumble showdown will leave you hanging until the end.

As somebody who's reading taste leans more towards thrillers and harder-edged mysteries, (Thomas Harris, Jeffery Deaver) I didn't think I would be that interested in a book about a woman and her cat. I was pretty surprised to find myself a few hours later, halfway through the book, and completely immersed in the storyline. Mr. Marshall has a way of describing the characters' personalities in a way that makes you feel like you know them. This book was a pleasant surprise from this first time author, and I looked forward to reading further work of his.

...I stayed up late to finish MISSING MARLENE!

Although I'm not an avid mystery reader, I found myself finishing the book in one sitting. Marshall kept the suspense building right to the end. I won't give anything away, but I guarantee you'll be left guessing right up to the last page.

For all you aspiring mystery writers out there--both the author and hero of MISSING MARLENE are literary agents. Keep a look out for tips on the ins and outs of agenting and how to and how NOT to deal with your agent.

Also, you may want to take a look at his nonfiction title, THE MARSHALL PLAN FOR NOVEL WRITING. It clearly lays out the novel-writing process from start to finish--helping you avoid beginner pitfalls.

I have a pretty high tolerance for bad mystery books, but not this high. Missing Marlene was just plain dopey. Jane Stuart is an incredibly unsympathetic character, who, although she loves her son more than anything in the world, seems perfectly ok leaving him with anyone who happens to turn up. Her relationships run hot and cold; she gets really angry and behaves in a way no one would tolerate. There's no gray in this book, the characters are either saints or devils, and they switch from one to the other with amazing speed. Evidently, wishing to cash in on the rash of "cat mysteries", there's a cat in this book, who plays no conceivable part that I can see. "Winky" is mentioned about three times and his contribution to the solution is a real stretch of the imagination. I see this as the start of a series...count me out!

It's not a bad book, it was readable and fairly interesting. But it was not at all believable. Most of the characters are a little too good or too bad, they lack some human middleness (Jane, the main character, is the exception and was pretty well done). The activities were a bit too lurid. But what really bothered me was that when anyone who was covering up something was confronted, they immediately give a complete, clear explanation of everything that happened including all the details.