And One to Die On (A Gregor Demarkian Holiday Mystery) [Hardcover]

Jane Haddam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1996

Attending the hundredth birthday celebration of controversial silent film star Tasheba Kent, author Bennis Hannaford is shocked when the centenarian is murdered and all the guests are trapped in her house. 20,000 first printing. $20,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Described in the story as "Philadelphia's own Armenian-American Hercule Poirot," Gregor Demarkian tags along with his friend, fantasy novelist Bennis Hannaford, when she attends a distant relative's disastrous 100th birthday party. Tasheba Kent, once a silent screen star, caused a scandal in the 1930s when she ran off with her equally famous brother-in-law, Cavender Marsh, after her sister's mysterious death in France. The couple ensconced themselves in a gloomy mansion on an island off the coast of Maine and became recluses. For her birthday, however, they plan to auction off some of their possessions, an event drawing a motley assemblage of interested folk, including Cavender's daughter, whom he abandoned as an infant; a collector of Tasheba's memorabilia; a tabloid journalist; and an assortment of bankers and lawyers. When, during a fierce storm, Tasheba and the journalist are murdered, Gregor must call on his investigative skills, honed during his service with the FBI, and prevent another murder while he unmasks the killer. In this 10th in her holiday series after Bleeding Hearts, Haddam colors a transparent mystery plot with the traditions of gothic horror tales and silent film melodrama.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Haddam (Bleeding Hearts, 1994, etc.) must be running out of holidays: This time her homicidal tendencies are released by a birthday. But what a birthday it is--Tasheba Kent's centenary, designed to kick off an auction of memorabilia from her silent- film career. What actually kicks off, of course, is Tasheba herself, whose inaccessible private island off the Maine coast is awash in dead telephones, recorded screams, telltale cufflinks and feather boas, as well as suspects who wonder whether Tasheba's longtime companion Cavender Marsh really killed his wife, Lilith Brayne, back in 1938 in order to spend the rest of his life with her sister. Detection honors go to ex-FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, who spends an awful long time working up to the obvious solution. Minor Haddam, this cheerfully brazen homage to Ten Little Indians still has all the sparkle and complexity her fans have come to expect. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553099752
• ISBN-13: 978-0553099751
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,864,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a shallow grave candidate, March 15, 2004

By 

Carol Mello "marzeedoats" (San Jose,CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And One to Die On (Paperback)

The other reviewers have described the plot for this mystery novel with skill. My review consists only of comments to assist new Jane Haddam fans.

Do I think this novel is worth buying? No. Worth reading? Only for die-hard fans.

If you feel you must read all of her novels, check this one out of the public library. I feel it is her weakest effort. Except for Gregor & Bennis (who are the only decent parts of the novel), the characters are all shallow and two dimensional. The murderer is obvious & more of a caricature than a character. Gregor gets quite testy with the games that his fellow inhabitants of the island are playing -- who could blame him? Not me. They are a shrill and unappealing group.

Of all her titles that I have read, I like this one the least. My apologies to the author for this review! I generally like her work tremendously & have started buying her more recent work in hardback.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 100th. birthday of an aging screen star, February 1, 2004

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And One to Die On (Paperback)

Tasheba Kent has decided to celebrate her 100th. birthday by inviting people to her home for an auction of her memorabilia. She invites a diverse group which includes her lawyer, her accountant, a reporter, her daughter, and a collector of movie souvenirs. The auction seems strange because Tasheba and her husband Cavender have been recluses on a remote island off the coast of Maine for many years. Among the guests are writer Bennis Hannaford and her friend Gregor Demarkian, an ex-F.B.I. agent. The presence of Demarkian seems to make some of the guests nervous, and some of them appear to have secrets to hide. There is a severe storm which traps the guests on the island and soon dead bodies begin to appear. As in Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", the people on the island begin to fear one another. Demarkian, however, has the solution to the murders all figured out, and eventually he shares his findings with the guests. Haddam is a good writer, and she creates interesting characters in a foreboding setting. There are a few points of the plot which don't make much sense, but all in all, this is a a good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, August 12, 2002

By 

J. Kreuser (Green Bay, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: And One to Die On (A Gregor Demarkian Holiday Mystery) (Hardcover)

What a great read. I am so happy I tumbled onto author Jane Haddam. This is my second of her Gregor Demarkian novels and I am now going to go back to book one and read them in order.

What could be more intriguing? Bennis is invited to the 100th birthday of silver screen great, Tasheba Kent, who lives on a small secluded island off the coast of Maine with another silver screen legend, Cavender Marsh, a cousin of Bennis'. And, of course, when Bennis goes, Gregor goes along . . .

It seems Cavender was once married to Tasheba's sister (another screen legend from the 30s), and after her questionable death moved to the Maine island and isolation with Tasheba. The birthday party guests are a different lot (and include Cavender's estranged daughter from his marriage to Tasheba's sister)and once they are all on the island strange things start happening, starting with the first murder.

Who done it? A reviewer should never tell. In the case of this book, I was glad it was who it was--and I had a great time getting there.