Customer Reviews

Once and Always Murder

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This book was my introduction to the Patience "Pay" McKenna series by Orania Papazoglou (who writes the Gregor Demarkian series as Jane Haddam). After I finished it, I had to get the earlier books: Sweet, Savage Death; Wicked, Loving Murder; Death's Savage Passion; and Rich, Radiant Slaughter.

Pay has gone home for her wedding, so aside from her best friend, Phoebe(of course), we don't get the usual serving of romance writers and publishing problems. That's all right. Pay's McKenna relatives are the kind of people who are fun in fiction, but... If your family makes them seem sweet and normal, you're probably going to be reading this book from a nice psychiatric ward. For example, Pay tells us that her Great-Aunt Felicia always reminded her of Queen Elizabeth I the day she ordered Essex executed. The section where the family argues about whether or not Uncle Ephram deserves to be buried in the McKenna graveyard is not to be missed, especially when Aunt Cordie goes into her act.

Tommy Dick the local policeman is sure that Damon Rask of the House That Looks Like a Hovering Flying Saucer is a killer. Is he right? Why is there an odd little strip of land between the old Chistleworth and Deverton properties? What does it have to do with the plot? Is Pay going to be able to keep from getting killed long enough to have her wedding? Is her mother going to be able to refrain from killing her in-laws? What about Phoebe's baby on the way, first met in Rich, Radiant Slaughter? Go ahead and find out. It's a short read and a merry one.

This is, sadly, the last of Papazoglou's "Pay McKenna" mysteries. The others are, in order, SWEET, SAVAGE DEATH, WICKED, LOVING MURDER, DEATH'S SAVAGE PASSION, and RICH, RADIANT SLAUGHTER. They can be read in any order, but there's a slight edge to reading them in order if you can.

The central character is a Manhattan-based writer from Old Money New England, so after three New York and one Baltimore story, Pay takes us home to meet the family. A pity Chas Addams didn't do the cover: they're his sort of people. The story takes place in the wilds of Connecticut--the part of Connecticut and the sort of people where and to whom the wear pattern on the oriental rug matters. (All the regular gang from Manhattan make appearances as well.) It's a good fair play mystery, with the same light-hearted tone I associate with Georgette Heyer's "Hanasyde and Hemingway" titles. Papazoglou's humor is laughter without mockery, and that's a rare thing these days. Buy the book.

Where to go from here: There are two other non-series Papazoglou titles, CHARISMA and SANCTITY, which I would rate a nearer suspense than mystery. More recently, under the pen name "Jane Haddam" the same author has done the "Gregor Demarkian" mysteries.

The heroine of the story is crime novelist and amateur sleuth Pay McKenna who is the product of dancing classes, boarding schools, coming-out parties and high tea. The plot centers around Pay's return home to get married. While there she encounters several eccentrics and a string of murders which promises to grow.

The author writes about an environment she obviously knows well and the mood throughout is light.

This is a very witty book set mostly in rural Connedticut. One of the best features of the novel is the description of old families and old money in Litchfield County. There are interesting bits of information on seventeenth century land grants, genealogy, family cemeteries and at least one hilarious ancestral history. The plot is tight and easy to follow with a surprise ending.