Redemption [Hardcover]

Nancy Geary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2003

The author of Misfortune once again exposes the dark side of privileged society in a riveting tale of murder, manners, and dark family secrets. After more than 10 years, Frances Pratt returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea, where she spent her childhood summers in the home of an aunt and uncle. A seasoned veteran of criminal investigation but still recovering from the shocking murder of her own stepmother, Frances is relieved to escape to this cozy enclave for her pampered cousin's wedding. This beloved childhood retreat is the last place Frances expects to find herself in the thick of another murder investigation. But on the very day of the wedding, Frances is thrust back into her role as sleuth when she must unravel the mystery surrounding the shocking death of a relative--in this bloodline that seems to have a legacy of murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Frances Pratt, formerly of the Suffolk County (New York) DA's office, returns for her cousin's wedding to the tony Massachusetts town where she spent childhood summers, she expects a somewhat stuffy weekend-but then Hope Lawrence, the beautiful, bulimic and troubled bride, doesn't show up at the altar. Frances, who's now the president of the Long Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, finds Hope hanging from a light fixture, an apparent suicide. Frances isn't convinced, however, so she teams up with the good-natured but tough cop Elvis Mallory to find out the truth. There are suspects aplenty: Hope's jealous half-sister, her violent ex-boyfriend (with whom Hope was still intimate) and her fiance's snooty parents, who opposed the marriage. Meanwhile, Hope's own parents harbor a long-buried secret, and the local minister, who was Hope's confidante, has mysterious connections to events as well. The story is a familiar one, competently if not elegantly told through multiple viewpoints. In her second gumshoe outing (after 2001's Misfortune), Frances once again plays the career woman exposing the dirty secrets of the moneyed classes, but Geary's evocations of buttoned-up privilege ("We're WASPs, remember? We don't talk about problems") fails to go beyond glancing and superficial. Fanny's affair with her sweet, potato-farming next-door neighbor offers a break from all the whodunit speculation, but these interludes are few and far between. Poor Hope may be the most interesting character here, in part for her troubles and in part for her necessary silence, which lends her a kind of dignity that many of the other characters lack.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"'A brilliant tale of privilege and pain, betrayal and murder... Entertainment of the highest order' Linda Fairstein" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books; First Printing edition (July 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446527548
• ISBN-13: 978-0446527545
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,428,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful story full of complex characters, July 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Redemption (Hardcover)

I read Nancy Geary's first novel (*Misfortune*) after friends from the Hamptons (Long Island, where it's set) told me about it. It was great and I've been waiting for this one. *Redemption* is even better, with a clever story, a whodunnit, evocative descriptions of another romantic location, and more of the complex characters Geary creates so well -- children of privilege who are damaged and attractive at the same time.

I REALLY loved it, stayed up late to get the answer, and recommend it as a fun-to-read page turner with characters you'll remember for a long time. Five stars!!!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Geary is gripping, October 30, 2003

By 

wayne glimcher (santa fe, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Redemption (Hardcover)

Dont want to spoil the mystery but detective Frances is back better than ever and Geary's writing is gripping and, as before with her last book Misfortune, completely accurate about a social group and a family gone amuck. Hard to put down, the story weaves a tale of horror that does not resort to the typical grizzly of some murder stories but rather relies on the complexities of human psychology. GREAT read, should be made into a movie.Miramax, check it out

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars redemption, August 28, 2003

By 

andrea dorrian (queens, new york) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Redemption (Hardcover)

i loved the second of nancy geary's books. it was even better than the first, misfortune. i read the book in a long weekend as i could not put it down. you feel for frances. death is sad but to have 2 people you know murdered in your lifetime is beyond what most of us could comprehend. memories we all have as a child are not all they seemed to be when you look back or, when you try to go back as an adult. all of us have had a happy memory smashed just like frances. the details in the book about the murder scene and suspects could only come from someone who has once worked in a profession that has dealt with the darker side of life. i loved redemption and canot wait for the third of nancy geary's books. thank you nancy geary for a wonderful book.