Past Regret [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Marian Babson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993

When her daughter is reported missing from her English college campus, Dee Streets flies to Great Britain, where college authorities and British police prove to be dangerously uncooperative.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Babson, whose many works run the gamut from splendid to abysmal (Guilty Party, etc. etc.), produces a winner in this tidily plotted story that begins with the disappearance of Connie Sawyer, an American girl spending her junior year at a London university. Easter break is over, but Connie, along with several others, has not returned to her classes--and back in the US, Connie's mother, Dee, hasn't had a letter in weeks. In the meantime, Acting Dean Steadfast--on transatlantic phone--is cold and unresponsive. So: Dee flies to London, leaving behind her indifferent, philandering husband Hal, settles into a hotel, and starts asking questions. She's soon joined by American widower Stan Thatchpole, whose daughter Alison has also gone missing. The dean is concerned with making no waves; the police are no help; but Dee and Stan do find allies--or are they enemies? Meanwhile, Connie, a victim of amnesia, is trying to put together a new life, wondering why incoherent, fleeting glimpses of the past are so terrifying. The murderous thoughts of her pursuer are also part of a narrative whose separate strands move steadily to a dramatic resolution. Crisp, spare, and absorbing to the last page. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books; Lrg edition (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708928544
• ISBN-13: 978-0708928547
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,612,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Middling quality -marred by a weak ending, June 4, 2005

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Past Regret (Hardcover)

Dee is a worried woman -her marriage to the philandering Hal is in trouble ,but more disturbing still ,her 19 year old daughter,Connie ,is missing .Connie was in London ,on a junior exchange programme .Dee flies to London from her Connecticut home and begins looking for her daughter .,who we are told has amnesia ,and is wondering the London streets .Connie is blocking out some traumatic incident that has recently happened to her and we learn that it is connected to a thick wad of blood stained £ 50 notes that she is carrying around .

dee finds the College authorities at Connie's school unhelpful ,with Acting Dean Standfast refusing to acknowledge any problem exists .Copnnie's room-mates are clearly covering up for her and only the ebullient academic Connor, a messy bear of a man ,seems inclined to take Dee seriously until further help arrives in the form of Thatchpole ,A Midlands entrpreneur whose own daughter is missing and joins in the search.

Dee and Thatchpole are not alone in hunting Connie -so too are those whose ill gotten money Connie is holding onto and who are not well disposed towards the two missing girls .

The book works well until near the end when the climax relies too heavily on coincidence and lucky accidents thus negating its impact a tad

Good solid middleweight fare but a long way away from the top echelon of crime writing