Pretty Dead [Hardcover]

Gerry Boyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2005

Jack McMorrow is a stringer for the New York Times. His lover is social worker Roxanne Masterson and it's her newest case that's grabbed Jack's attention. The daughter of an obscenely wealthy Boston couple is the alleged victim of physical abuse. For Jack, it's just the kind of story the public loves and local celebrities David and Maddie Connelly are going to need more than money to bury this scandal. However, once inside the Connelly mansion, Jack and Roxanne find a couple genuinely concerned - yet genuinely guarded. Far more forthcoming is Angel Moretti, young and pretty enough to sink her hooks into any rich man. She's got an angle no one else has. But her secrets have been buried along with her body, just discovered in a shallow grave. Now Jack's story is on its way to becoming a front-page headline. And it will lead Jack and Roxanne to places far darker than Angel's grave...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Boyle is at the top of his form in his riveting seventh novel (after 2000's Cover Story) to feature Maine reporter Jack McMorrow. When Jack's significant other, social service worker Roxanne Masterson, investigates allegations of physical abuse concerning the young daughter of Boston bluebloods David and Maddie Connelly, Jack senses a shot at a story. And a story he gets, but not the one he'd figured on. Jack and Roxanne are invited to join staff members of the Sky Blue Foundation, an organization that distributes Connelly money to worthy causes, for a weekend retreat at the Connellys' Blue Harbor estate. There a beautiful young staff member steals the show, then winds up dead, leaving Jack and Roxanne to delve into all the unpleasant possibilities. Heavy muscle shows up to discourage Jack's search, while a phone message forces him to put his cards on the table and the Connellys to unveil a dark secret from the past that could destroy far more than the family image. In the end, Jack must decide just where to draw the line between his friendship with the Connellys and his responsibility as a journalist to write the truth. This whodunit is sure to win many new fans for Boyle, though it may take a nomination for a major mystery award to really put him on the map.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Kennedyesque shenanigans drive the latest entry in the long-running series featuring Jack McMorrow, the New York Times' even-keeled man in Maine. Jack stumbles onto a monster story when he gives his social-worker girlfriend, Roxanne, a ride to the coast. She's been called in to investigate the alleged physical abuse of a famous Boston couple's daughter. Even so, dashing David and Maddie Connelly soon suck Jack and Roxanne into their rarefied world with high-class hospitality, replete with yacht cruises and mansion stays. Unfortunately, a beautiful young employee of the Connelly charitable foundation soon turns up dead, perhaps murdered for rising too quickly from her working-class Beantown roots. Boyle deftly illustrates the nearly irresistible pull that wealth and power can have on us all, even as he keeps the conflicted Jack hard on the case. However, McMorrow is at least the second reporter in a crime novel this year to give away willingly a big scoop. That can make for a nice bittersweet finish to a book, but it happens in real life about as often as novelists throw away their advances. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Robert Hale (January 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0709077335
• ISBN-13: 978-0709077336
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Like many crime novelists I began my writing career in newspapers--the best training ground ever. After Colby College, I knocked around, including stints as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader at a big New York publisher (thumbs up for the roofer gig, thumbs down on the publishing job).

My first reporting job was with a weekly in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine. It was there that I left my sweaty mark on high-school wrestling coverage. But there was lots of small-town crime in Rumford. I would later mine my Rumford time for my first novel, DEADLINE.

After a few months it was on to the daily Waterville, Maine Morning Sentinel, where editors gave me a thrice-weekly column and I wrote about stuff I saw in police stations, courtrooms, in the towns and cities of Maine.

And all the while I was making up stories on the side, typing away on a Smith-Corona electric typewriter.

DEADLINE came out in 1993and the books came steadily after that. McMorrow and I grew up together, though at different rates.. I continue to live in a small village in central Maine, making regular trips for book research. My deal with Jack: I'll send him into some pretty dangerous places, but I'll scout them out first. I walk point; Jack has my back. Brandon Blake and I are still feeling each other out.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Character Thriller, December 18, 2003

By 

disABILITY LADY "Carolyn" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Dead (Jack McMorrow Mystery) (Hardcover)

This was my first Jack McMorrow book, and I am so hooked that I MUST get the rest! Boyle's attention to character development; his taking time to introduce all of the characters in a way that sets the hooks into the reader; the tantalizing options available for the story line to go; all make this book, Pretty Dead an excellent read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Secrets from the past don't stay buried, February 5, 2004

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Dead (Jack McMorrow Mystery) (Hardcover)

Jack McMorrow works as the Maine stringer for the New York Times. His girlfriend, Roxanne Masterson is a social worker. Roxanne's latest case is a daughter of wealthy, powerful couple who has been reported as having suspicious bruises. Jack goes along with Roxanne when she first goes to interview the parents, David and Maddie Connelly. After meeting the couple, liking them, and finding a genuine concern on behalf of their daughter, Jack and Roxanne are drawn in to the Connelly's inner circle. When young woman that they met at the Connelly's is later found murdered, Jack tries to track down the murderer. It's not an easy job and the deeper he digs the more question arise. He has a long list of suspects including David and Maddie.

Boyle populates his book with well-drawn, quirky characters highlighted with an excellent supporting cast. The plot is extremely well paced with the suspense building evenly throughout the book. Boyle hooks the reader in and does not let go until the last page.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Dead, January 22, 2004

By 

Martha B. Higgins "Ms Maineiac" (Maine. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty Dead (Jack McMorrow Mystery) (Hardcover)

Absolutely loved this book. Set in Maine, beautifully described Blue Hill, oops, Blue Harbor and surrounding area and people. Boyle really captured the flavor of the place. This praise from a native. Got this as a present and have now ordered all his others. Kept me guessing almost to the end.