Out of the Ruins (Ben Reese Mysteries) [Paperback]

Sally S. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ben Reese Mysteries | Publication Date: January 10, 2003

Out of the Ruins bristles with fascinating characters caught in satisfying complications -- a masterpiece of suspense. Georgia's wild, romanticCumberland Island is steeped in family secrets. Hannah Hill, a widow patiently suffering from multiple sclerosis, dies in her large inherited mansion just days after telling her visitor Ben Reese about a disguised nighttime intruder. Treading carefully around questions about mercy and human suffering, Ben pursues a tangle of motives and old mysteries -- euthanasia, arson, poaching, and jealousy between two great island families.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her fourth Ben Reese mystery, Edgar nominee Wright takes Ben away from England and Scotland, the settings for the last two books, and deposits him on unspoiled Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia. It's 1960, and Cumberland faces an uncertain future as developers and park service scouts try to convince key families to sell their property. Ben stumbles on the murder of a bedridden MS patient-a murder that initially looks like a natural death by pneumonia. But Ben (who learned all about biological agents in the third book, Pursuit and Persuasion) is suspicious, since the victim left behind a surprising will deeding the island to her niece rather than her avaricious daughter. As Ben sifts through numerous red herrings, Wright tackles strong ethical issues such as euthanasia, ecological responsibility and vengeance, offering a religious message that's wonderfully subtle and thoughtful. She also reveals something more of Ben's character; we discover what he did in WWII that still gives him nightmares, and learn of the existence of a wartime nemesis whom Ben believes should be brought to justice. Wright's writing style can be abrupt, particularly when things get exciting. She leans heavily on choppy sentences and tends to begin far too many of them with conjunctions. However, this otherwise impeccable mystery manages to take conventional plot devices-an isolated island, a startling will, a generations-old family feud-and make them fresh.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Archivist and amateur detective Ben Reese is a wonderful character, as far off the beaten path of fictional detectives as Brother Cadfael. It is delightful to get in on the ground floor with a mystery writer who, God willing, will be keeping us instructed, entertained, puzzled, and moved for many years to come.”
—National Review

“Wright has given us intelligent, literate (and literary) adult . . . mysteries that follow in the tradition of G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, Flannery O’Conner, and Russell Kirk. . . . Wright succeeds well in avoiding the preachy and predictable, and—most of all—the trendy.”
—Chronicles --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books; 1ST edition (January 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590520319
• ISBN-13: 978-1590520314
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,399,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cerebral brainteaser, February 4, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Out of the Ruins (Ben Reese Mysteries) (Paperback)

In 1960, Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia is one of last barrier islands to be privately owned by an individual. Charlotte Hill MacKinnon, the owner of most of the land intends to keep it that way. When she dies, she leaves her holdings on Cumberland Island to Hannah Williams Hill, her sister in law. Hannah feels the same way about Cumberland as Charlotte did and she intends to fight off the developers and the Parks Department who want to take it by eminent domain.

Even though she is in the end stages of multiple sclerosis, her mind is clear and she asks her nephew, archivist Ben Reese to help her. Ben has one satisfying conversation with Hannah before she dies and he wants to help the new heir, Johanna Elliott, a shy retiring opera singer who intends to carry out her aunt's wishes. Ben isn't sure that Hannah died from natural causes so he starts his own investigation just to make sure that there isn't a killer on the loose ready to strike again.

Sally Wright is a very talented, very visual writer who describes Cumberland Island in such detail that readers will feel they have visited the place. The fourth Reese mystery is the best yet, primarily because the audience feels closer to the protagonist. OUT OF THE RUINS is a cerebral brainteaser that will appeal to fans of literary mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great mystery reading here!, January 28, 2003

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of the Ruins (Ben Reese Mysteries) (Paperback)

Cumberland Island had been in Charlotte Hill MacKinnon's family for over eighty years. She "suddenly" died from an aortic aneurysm, according to the reports. She willed the island to Hannah Hill, a widow suffering from MS, who would continue Charlotte's fight to keep the land from developers.

Ben Reese was Charlotte's nephew. He went to the island, visited Hannah, and listened to her tale about a disguised intruder who entered her room during the night to spray some sort of mist and wore a gas mask. Hannah had thought it a dream. Short days later, even though her own doctor thought Hannah doing better, she mysteriously died.

Ben suspected foul play and began asking questions. The killer knew of Ben's reputation for snooping whenever his curiosity became aroused. Ben would have to be watched closely.

**** Great mystery reading here. It was a bit hard to get into the story at the beginning. The characters kept dying after only being in the story for one or two chapters. However, when Ben Reese entered the story it became engrossing. A sharp man who not only copes with the Cumberland Island problem, but also a problem (sub-plot) at the Alderton University involving an old will and the new president. Recommended for true mystery fans! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks, January 17, 2012

By 

SparkleCamp - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Out of the Ruins (Ben Reese Mysteries) (Paperback)

I received the book in record time and am very pleased with the good customer service, the quality and the book itself. Thanks again. Will be sure to check out more of your offerings in the future.