Murder at San Simeon [Mass Market Paperback]

Patricia Hearst (Author), Cordelia Frances Biddle (Author)

Book Description

Series: First Love No. 102 | Publication Date: December 1, 1997

Entwining past and present in a gripping novel, Patricia Hearst and Cordelia Frances Biddle unravel a real-life, decades-old mystery that has become Hollywood lore. Featured in "A Pocket Full of Crime" mystery newsletter.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The death, under mysterious circumstances, of a prominent Hollywood producer at William Randolph Hearst's legendary California estate, San Simeon, in the 1920s was never solved and quickly disappeared from public view. But not apparently from the mind of the newspaper mogul's granddaughter, who, with coauthor Biddle (Beneath the Wind), pens this tale based on that murder. Described with brio is the relationship between Hearst and his silent screen-star mistress, Marion Davies, whom the publisher kept a virtual prisoner at the castle where she took revenge by throwing wild parties and having assorted, barely concealed affairs. At their best when cataloguing the beauties and excesses of San Simeon, the authors are less successful with fictional character, Catha Kinsolving Burke. The story opens at the funeral of Catha's estranged mother. Catha is astonished to learn that her mother wished to have her ashes sprinkled at San Simeon. After honoring the request, Catha tours the estate and overhears a conversation that implicates her grandmother, personal assistant to Marion Davies, in a murder. The rest of the story alternates between Catha's search for information about her grandmother's real role in the murder and a recreation of life at San Simeon in the '20s. Catha's present-day angst just can't compete against the passions and other extravagances of Hearst's heyday: her mystery merely provides pallid packaging for the still lurid and juicy true-life one.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Legendary Hollywood producer Thomas Ince's 1924 death aboard news magnate William Randolph Hearst's yacht Oneida has long been listed officially as accidental--a heart attack brought on by acute indigestion--but dark rumors have circulated for just as long. Now along comes Hearst's granddaughter, partnered by historical yachting fantasist Biddle (Beneath the Wind, 1993), to clear the air. Or rather to muddy it more than ever, since Prof. Catha Kinsolving Burke, visiting Hearst's palatial San Simeon to scatter her late mother's ashes, gets wind of a rumor that her grandmother shot Ince--and sets out to clear her of charges no historian's ever made, since Abigail Kinsolving, secretary to Hearst inamorata Marion Davies, is as fictional as Catha herself. And she's a whole lot more fictional than the other suspects- -Hearst, Davies, Charlie Chaplin, Lita Grey, Pola Negri, John Barrymore, Louella Parsons, and Elinor Glyn--aboard the Oneida. Though the cast is glittering, the plotting isn't; Catha has to spend well over half the novel figuring out why anybody would've suspected Abigail of murder before she can team up with an eligible L.A. lawyer to vindicate her. Still, there's a certain charm in watching Patricia Hearst's demure fictional counterpart working like a beaver to get the lowdown on a crime 70 years away from her own sweet self. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; 1ST edition (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671534025
• ISBN-13: 978-0671534028
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,702,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment, February 17, 2003

By 

Monica B. Davis (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder at San Simeon (Mass Market Paperback)

I began this book believing that William Randolph Hearst's granddaughter Patricia Hearst would be able to provide some insight into her grandfather's life and character, as well as her family's idea of what happened to Thomas Ince. However, Ms. Hearst opened the book with a disclaimer that her grandfather was not much discussed by her family, and that with his having died before her birth, she could only speculate along with everyone else about what Mr. Hearst was like, and about what happened to Tom Ince.

In addition to having boring fictional characters and an uninteresting, unresolved plot line, this poorly-written book was filled with fictional, inaccurate stereotypes of actual people that are no longer alive to defend themselves. Were any of the real people Ms. Hearst wrote about still living today, she would have been liable to lawsuits for slander. Hearst and her co-author paint Marion Davies as a mean, conniving, stupid, ill-mannered floozy who was with Hearst strictly for his money. Every other reference I have ever read about Miss Davies spoke of her generosity and kindness, her fun-loving nature, and her deep admiration for Hearst. None of that appears in this novel. Ms. Hearst doesn't spare her grandfather an ugly treatment either; nor is she at all kind in describing the movie stars that filled San Simeon with gaiety, laughter, and good-natured hijinks. In addition to gratuitously trashing the reputations of the well-known people in this novel, Ms. Hearst and her co-author also get wrong the few well-established facts concerning Tom Ince's death.

Read Marion Davies' own book, "The Times We Had," or any of the numerous biographies of stars of the early motion picture days to get a picture of what Hearst and Davies were really like, and the facts and rumors that circulated after Tom Ince's death. Even the speculative movie "The Cat's Meow" will provide a somewhat more accurate view of the people and circumstances involved.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars could have been great, November 2, 2003

By 

"truthandjustice" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder at San Simeon (Mass Market Paperback)

The book could have been great if the writers had put it together in a smoother manner and had done a little more work on their characters and their backgrounds. Now, it has peaked my interest enough that I find myself looking up stories on the people described in the book. It was very educational in describing the San Simeon estate and made me hope that some day I will get to see it myself. The authors description of the wealth and power that Hearst had established and how corrupt and manipulative the very wealthy could be was fascinating. One of the authors is Hearst's granddaughter so that is an added interest.

The story is of a young woman who has come to California to attend the funeral of her mother, a woman she has never felt close to during her lifetime. As a last act of respect, Catha Kinsolving Burke, goes to San Simeon as those were her mother's deathbed words. On the bus tour she runs into a couple who mentions a murder involving an Abigail Kinsolving that happened in connection to the San Simeon Hearst estate in the 1920s. She gets them to tell her part of the story, and finds out that Abigail Kingsolving was her grandmother. She ends up following various clues to see if she can figure out what actually happened seventy years ago and how the events influenced her mother's and her life. The end of the book was frustrating. While it did peak my interest it was only enough to give it three stars.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pure garbage that trivializes the great silent stars, October 18, 1999

By 

moviefan "moviefan" (Murray Hill, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder at San Simeon (Mass Market Paperback)

As a speculative story on the alleged events surrounding film producer Thomas Ince's death in 1924, it greatly disappoints, offering no clear or conclusive hypothesis and relying heavily on sleazy innuendo. It is rather sloppy on historical detail (e.g. Greta Garbo did not arrive in the U.S. until 1925, John Barrymore was in London rehearsing for Hamlet at the time of the alleged events.) What makes MURDER AT SAN SIMEON truly reprehensible, however, is its trivialization of the silent film era. Fascinating performers like Charlie Chaplin and John Gilbert are reduced to tabloid fodder. Poor Marion Davies comes off the worst here; Hearst and Biddle's hatchet job of her almost makes Welles's mockery of her in CITIZEN KANE seem complimentary. In order to fully appreciate and understand silent movies, watch films like THE GOLD RUSH and SHOW PEOPLE instead.