A Record of Death [Paperback]

Kate Bryan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

When Maggie gets an invitation from an old carny friend to a resort on Cutthroat Island, she decides that she and her cousin/partner, Grady, are ready for a well-deserved vacation. But when they and eight other eccentric guests become trapped on the island, the detecting duo realize that this trip will be far from relaxing. And matters become worse when they play the cryptic message left on one of those new-fangled phonograph machines...a message promising death for each of them.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042516537X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425165379
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,387,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another fun mystery in the Old West, April 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Record of Death (Paperback)

Kate Bryan's plucky heroine, no doubt one of the few female private eyes in 1875 California, returns in an adventure only slightly less entertaining than her debut in Murder at Bent Elbow. This time around, Maggie Maguire and her cousin/partner Grady find themselves trapped with a group of apparent strangers on Cutthroat Island, an isolated resort. In typical murder mystery fashion, someone is picking off the characters, one by one . . .

Because the plot felt more like a conventional mystery, and because everything happened in an isolated setting that wasn't too different from resorts today, this installment lacked the distinctive historical feel of the first book. Ms. Bryan's colorful, entertaining characters made up for that, though. She creates vivid individuals that create strong impressions in the reader's mind. Maggie and Grady are fun to read about, and that's why I'm looking forward to their future adventures.

One quibble: it wouldn't break my heart to see the characters develop a little as the series progresses. In both books, Ms. Bryan drops hints about Maggie and Grady's lives when they aren't away solving crimes, but doesn't show us any more. I like Maggie and Grady, but I don't feel like I know enough about them to love them or be truly involved in their lives.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really fun read!, July 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Record of Death (Paperback)

The multi-talented Maggie Maguire and her pickpocket cousin, Grady, are back on the job (if only accidentally), and they're a stitch in this very entertaining spin on Ten Little Indians. Grady is snidely sarcastic, as always, while Maggie solves the crime. Loved the bit with the snake in Grady's "convenience"! A rollicking good read!

4.0 out of 5 stars short and sweet with very colorful characters, March 16, 2011

By 

adorian - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Record of Death (Paperback)

This is a short quick read, a murder mystery set on an island off the Pacific Northwest in 1883. It's an isolated locale, so the number of suspects is limited. The characters are extremely colorful. The mystery-solving heroine is plucky, spunky, and feisty. She has a male cousin who helps her out. The story is satisfyingly complex. As with so many paperbacks these days, there are too many typos. (I found it very bizarre that one of the characters is named Phoebe, but it also spelled Pheobe way too many times.) It didn't take long to read, but I appreciated the cast of characters and kept thinking what a cute movie it would make. (If the story involves an old Edison wax cylinder player, why does the cover art give us a much later shellac disk and Victrola?)