Murder in the Air (Sophie Greenway Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ellen Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 1997 | Series: Sophie Greenway Mystery

SERIAL MURDER

The yuletide revival of a vintage Twin Cities radio serial isn't just for fun--dealing as it does with the scandalous unsolved 1950s murder of beautiful Kay Collins. But an even deeper mystery intrigues radio personality Bram Baldric and his sleuthing wife, Sophie Greenway: Why has the station's owner insisted on airing this particular case when her son--Kay Collins's two-timing lover--happened to have been the prime suspect in it? Merriment and mistletoe are out this Christmas; menace and murder are in.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Ellen Hart's food critic Sophie Greenway is a kick. I love mysteries and I love to cook. Thank God this gifted author had the sense to incorporate two fun themes. Anybody who enjoys Diane Mott Davidson's mysteries will love Ellen Hart and her delicious heroine.

--Nanci Andersen, Ballantine Sales

From the Inside Flap

SERIAL MURDER

The yuletide revival of a vintage Twin Cities radio serial isn't just for fun--dealing as it does with the scandalous unsolved 1950s murder of beautiful Kay Collins. But an even deeper mystery intrigues radio personality Bram Baldric and his sleuthing wife, Sophie Greenway: Why has the station's owner insisted on airing this particular case when her son--Kay Collins's two-timing lover--happened to have been the prime suspect in it? Merriment and mistletoe are out this Christmas; menace and murder are in.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett (October 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345402030
• ISBN-13: 978-0345402035
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,230,164 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

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and thought-provoking, November 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder in the Air (Sophie Greenway Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1958, Justin Bloom supposedly killed his girl friend and fled the area. This led to a public scandal and outrage towards the prominent family. Most people believed what they read in the papers since the eye witness to the shooting was a well respected police officer. Forty years have passed and Justin has never been found. Most people believe that he is dead. His mother Heda has just bought a Minnesota radio station where Bram Baldric is a talk show host. Brian is married to Sophie Greenway, owner of the plush Maxfield Plaza Hotel.

Heda is reviving the old radio serial, Dallas Lane, Private Eye. The show airs weekly, but in actuality is a thinly disguised version of the Bloom case. All the participants from four decades ago are living in the area and many star in the show. It is obvious that the more information that is presented, the more agitated the players become. Bram and Sophie begin to realize that Heda is trying to prove that her son is innocent by providing his account of what happened all those years ago. This is one show that is making someone very edgy, enough so that someone else connected to the case is murdered.

Ellen Hart is a great mystery writer who creates innovative stories. In this case, every few chapters, a letter is sent from Justin to his mother that gradually explains how the chief suspect sees that fatal day. Readers receive a brilliantly developed historical perspective with a contemporary resolution. There are plenty of red herrings, double identities, and sleight of the hand incidents to keep readers fully absorbed in MURDER IN THE AIR, a who-done-it that should earn Ms. Hart another award.

Harriet Klausner