Poisoned Pins (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 8) [Hardcover]

Joan Hess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1993

Claire Malloy balances her duties as single mother and bookstore owner against her part-time sleuthing when she investigates the murder of a local sorority girl. By the author of Maggody in Manhattan. 20,000 first printing. National ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hess delivers another lighthearted but tartly told mystery. Bookstore owner/sleuth Claire Malloy (last encountered in Death by the Light of the Moon ) finds herself embroiled in the affairs of Farber College's sorority, Kappa Theta Eta, whose house is next door to Malloy's. Suspecting prowlers after she hears a scream emanating from the shabby premises, Claire gains the qualified (and condescending) tolerance of the house's summer occupants: four students and the divorcee housemother. The reappearance of Claire's nemesis, Arnie Riggles, and further prowler sightings culminate in the hit-and-run death of one of the sisters. Suspicion falls on the sorority misfit, whose car was involved, but Claire follows other leads (and her own instincts), identifying a major college administrator as one of the KTE prowlers, which gives rise to further questions. Among other complications in Claire's life is the sorry state of her love affair with Farberville police lieutenant Peter Rosen, who wants her to stay out of sleuthing, and the newest get-rich-quick scheme of her teenage daughter Caron.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Adventure #8 for Farberville's bookstore owner Claire Malloy (Death by the Light of the Moon, etc.), widowed mother of teenager- from-hell Caron and sometime lover of police lieutenant Peter Rosen. Claire lives next door to this college town's Kappa Theta Eta sorority house, only sparsely occupied in the summer. Here, Claire--nosier than ever--gets involved in a series of incidents there--from screams in the night to prowlers and unexplained lights, culminating in the death of much admired senior Jean Hall, apparently run down by vanished Debbie Anne Wray, a wimpy pledge. Claire's persistence, not to say chutzpah, gradually uncovers connections to Law School Dean John Vanderson, his sleekly efficient wife Eleanor, the local hot-sheets motel, and a range of house activities undreamed of by the sorority's rules committee. Claire grows less appealing and amusing as her foibles are archly exaggerated; the plotting is also sometimes murky and unconvincing. Amiable but often dull fare. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525935916
• ISBN-13: 978-0525935919
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623,447 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:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joan Hess is a delight to read and this is one of her best., December 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Poisoned Pins (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 8) (Paperback)

Joan Hess is loads of fun to read and this is one of my favorites. Her characters are delightful and the heroine is someond you can really identify with. Highly recommended

5.0 out of 5 stars joan hess, May 30, 2010

By 

B. Idle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Pins (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have all her books and will continue to buy them. Love the heroine.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Cozy Mystery, June 12, 2006

By 

Julie Norman "Julie" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Pins (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 8) (Paperback)

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. The story flowed, the characterizations were good, the mystery solvable. There was even some humor thrown in, along with teenage angst and naughty happenings at the sorority next door.

Claire's money problems were realistic so that I felt like I wanted to shop in her store and help her out. However, it was frustrating to read about the way she let her daughter do whatever she wanted and talk to her disrepectfully. I also couldn't believe that Claire was so nosy. But then I later realized that Claire and her daughter are very much alike.

Though not my favorite cozy mystery series, this one is enjoyable. I'll read the whole series eventually.