Never Sleep With Strangers (Mira) [Mass Market Paperback]

Heather Graham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mira | Publication Date: January 1, 2005

"She almost looked as if she slept, except. . .The trident had pierced through her. And the snow-white gown was turning ever more crimson."

Four years ago, while vacationing at their country estate in Scotland, Jon Stuart watched his wife plummet from the balcony to a horrific death. Although cleared of any involvement, he's endured years of public suspicion--losing friends and his good standing in the community. But this was no accident, and now he's determined to prove it was murder.

Orchestrating a dangerous plan, Jon has gathered the prime suspects at the scene of the crime. The stage is set as past and present collide, old lovers reunite. . .and a killer plots another perfect crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An exceptionally dexterous mystery-cum-romance assembles a group of mystery writers for a charity Mystery Week Game held in Jon Stuart's Scottish castle. Sabrina Holloway had missed the previous event four years earlier when Jon's beautiful, shrewish wife fell to her death. Deemed an accident, many still suspect murder, and Jon cannot be ruled out. The narrative wanders a bit as it hops between characters' beds and heads, though both perambulations are elements in stirring the suspense. Sabrina continually fends off a randy ex-husband while falling again for the dark mystery man, Jon, who she once loved. Pozzessere (If Looks Could Kill) designs an exceptional setting that includes a crypt, secret passages and a dungeon filled with realistic tableaux of wax figuresAall historical murderers, sadists, torturers and the tortured who resemble the lively bickering writers in attendance. A few mysterious diversions lack impact but the final who of this whodunit is delightfully unexpected.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

". . .once again displays a mastery for the mysterious. . ." -- Romantic Times

"An incredible storyteller!" -- Los Angeles Daily News

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778321339
• ISBN-13: 978-0778321330
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham was born somewhere in Europe and kidnapped by gypsies when she was a small child. She went on to join the Romanian circus as a trapeze artist and lion tamer. When the circus came to South Florida, she stayed, discovering that she preferred to be a shark and gator trainer.

Not really.

Heather is the child of Scottish and Irish immigrants who met and married in Chicago, and moved to South Florida, where she has spent her life. (She has, at least, been to the Russian circus in Moscow, where she wished she was one of the incredibly talented and coordinated trapeze artists.) She majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred and fifty novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, horror, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages, and has had over seventy-five million books in print. She has been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf region. She is also the founder of "The Slush Pile Players", presenting something that's almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Gothic Setting, Convoluted Cast, May 2, 2000

By 

Anne M. Marble "Anne" (MD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never Sleep With Strangers (Paperback)

This book has it all in terms of Gothic atmosphere -- an old castle, secret passageways, and even a dungeon that is now used for a wax museum.

So what's wrong with it? Uhm, the characters, that's what. First, there are way too many suspects, and I had a hard time keeping track of each character's secondary identity, which type of book they wrote, personality, etc. As if that weren't enough, the main characters are caught up in "ye olde big misunderstanding loop."

The plot is full of twists, turns, and surprises -- so there's lots of suspense, but believability is sometimes at a premium.

I gave this book a C at All About Romance.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very predictable., July 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Never Sleep With Strangers (Paperback)

I love Heather Graham's work, but "Never Sleep With Strangers" was a big disappointment. I surmised "who did it?" by page 35. The characters in the book spent too much time running around looking for one another, similar to a live Clue game. This is not your typical Heather Graham book. I felt let down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You'll Need a Character Roster!, April 27, 2005

By 

Susie Morris "Book Junkie" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Never Sleep With Strangers (Mira) (Mass Market Paperback)

Several times throughout this book, I thought the title gave away the identity of the killer. Then I wondered why an author would do that... and I continued wondering until the identity was revealed.

This tale begins with Cassandra (Jon's wife) being tossed over a balcony, but who did the tossing? Since Jon is hosting a Mystery Week for charity at his castle in Scotland, it could have been any of the guests in attendance.

Heather Graham has a great premise for a mystery but convolutes it with too many characters all of which could be the murderer. Cassandra was the murder victim and Sabrina hadn't attended the charity function, so those are the only two in the book who didn't have the author's finger pointing directly at them at one time or another. But Graham does point the finger at the remaining cast: Camy (Jon's assistant), Joshua (artist), Susan (writer's critic), and the mystery writers - Jon (the host), VJ, Tom, Joe, Brett, Reggie, Anna Lee, Dianne, and Thayer.

The mystery game takes place several years after Cassandra's death, and Jon is determined to have everyone return and finally figure out whom the real killer could be. It's a dangerous game but necessary for his peace of mind.

Joshua has created a tableau of famous villains in Jon's dungeon that is part of the mystery game. Each villain or victim is modeled after one of the guests and it gives all of them goose bumps when they see themselves immortalized in wax. And so the intrigue begins...

The story drags a bit as it jumps from one character to another without a smooth transition. Sabrina repetitively battles with her ex-husband, Brett, who wants to reconcile. She tries to ignore the feelings she still has for Jon. It seems as if all of these guests continue to argue and not get along which made me wonder why in the world they would be invited to a mystery week on a continuous basis. Why not have people who can get along - that would make for a more enjoyable time. But that wasn't Graham's intentions.

The villain and accomplice are very predictable but Graham continues to try to mislead the reader. Some of the scenes are so blatantly nonsense, it is easily seen as a chance for misguidance. But there are other times she makes you wonder if your villain choice is accurate.

With no real intrigue, Graham uses a passel of characters to baffle the reader. In my opinion, it would have been better to use fewer people and delve into the story line a bit more. There was no reason as to why Jon hosts these Mystery Weeks, no reason as to why this group of people is always invited, etc. These facts are tossed out and the reader is not to question why. A few of these would be ok, but there are too many loose ends from beginning to end that are not tied up.

NEVER SLEEP WITH STRANGERS is a decent story and average at best. I much preferred HAUNTED than this one.