Customer Reviews

Murder at San Simeon

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I hate this book. The writing style and flow of thoughts the authors composed were fragmented. Annoying characters like Marion the dipstick, made reading torturous especially since she's on like every page - "OOhh daddy poo!", talking in her damn baby drivel. The heroine, Catha Burke was soo bland. She never affected me in any kind of way so having to read about her as she pursued the investigation was a bore. This book doesn't resolve some of the main reasons for reading the story, like who killed Thomas Ince, and is mostly flashbacks of boring snobbish parties with a lost heroine going nowhere.

This could have been a crackerjack story if it weren't for the writing. Both Ms Hearst and her co-author seem to have just graduated from a sophmore English class and are putting what they have learned to use. The characters are cutout figures with no depth and are the sum of all stereotypes in the early days of the film industry. I could only get through the first hundred pages, before it became unbearable to continue. I hope nobody wastes their money on this.

I too enjoyed this book right up to the last page. The authors built an engrossing story with many plot twists and then I couldn't believe that it ended or more precisely just stopped! I felt that the last pages must have gotten ripped out for there could be no other reason for such an abrupt halt to the story. I would be interested, however, in a sequeal in the hopes that the many questions posed in the last few pages are answered.

I just finished this book last night and was as disappointed by the ending as I was by the beginning. When I began the book, the juvenile writing, coupled with the descriptions demeaning Marion, which happened to contradict everything else I've read about Marion, were an affront to the intelligence. The middle of the book seemed a bit better, or maybe I just got used to the irritating style of writing. The story itself wasn't bad, but the descriptions of the stars at the party and the descriptions of Marion and WR still seemed malicious. I just can't buy that Marion, as shallow and vapid as she is made to look in this book, 1) would ever stay at San Simeon, no matter how good the money, and 2) could possibly attract WR Hearst. Then the ending, which seemed like the authors just got bored, ran out of ideas, or were afraid of a lawsuit by descendents of whoever they fingered, was a total disappointment! I had to go back and reread it several times to make sure I hadn't missed something. I hadn't missed anything; it's just not there. It does make sense though that Ms. Hearst would paint her grandfather's mistress in the most negative light; after all, she does have her own axe to grind in defending her family. This book was an immense disappointment. Usually I won't stick with something where the writing is so atrocious, but I'm fascinated by the subject matter so I stuck it out.

This book was reasonably entertaining, if not classic literature, until the end -- or, rather, the LACK thereof. After introducing all sorts of suspects and clues, the book doesn't even give a resolution. The main character, the story's sleuth, simply decides not to pursue her investigation any further. Thus we never find out who really murdered Tom Ince, or the identity of Mademoiselle X, or whether Abigail's death was really a suicide, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe this kind of ending is acceptable in an artsy, "slice of life" short story, but not in a whodunit. It left me feeling cheated

Ms. Hearst does not have the objectivity nor the literary skills to make this a compelling or even a quasi-accurate read. She has chosen to besmirch the character of Ms. Davies, in order to make a book sale. I was given the book by someone who knew I was interested in historical houses. If you are interested on reading more about Ms. Davie's life or the Thomas Ince death, I'd suggest reading Ms. Davie's autobiography The Times We Had : Life with William Randolph Hearst or purchasing the movie "The Cat's Meow". Both present different sides of the same story, but without the gratuitous pandering of "Murder at San Simeon". Ultimately, it is up to the reader to decide the truth.

I liked how this novel combined the past and the present, showing how there are things that we may never know about the past, no matter what evidence we may have. The plot was a little confusing at times, myself having no previous knowledge on the film stars of the Silent Era, so I was confused during some of the 1920's dialogue. But, once I did a little research and straightened out who everyone was, the story flowed more smoothly. I've always been interested in learning about what the the movie industry was like in the beginning, and so I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to acquire a better understanding of the social climate of the time. I think the authors did a really good job with their research and did their best in restoring the flavor of the era in this work. The book made me want to visit the famed Hearst Castle for a third time! I also enjoyed the little romantic flair that lead to Catha's realization about her life.