Customer Reviews

Skeleton Key: A Gregor Demarkian Novel (Gregor Demarkian Novels)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the wealthiest section of affluent Litchfield County, Connecticut lives Kayla Anson, a debutante now worth billions with the recent death of her father. Visiting the posh Anson estate is Bennis Hannaford, who plans to stay only one night. When Bennis goes outside to smoke a cigarette, she notices the BMW in the garage seems to contain a person. Reluctantly, she looks inside only to find the dead body of Kayla.

Bennis asks her lover Gregor Demarkian to come up from Philadelphia to help the local police with the investigation. Already having trouble sleeping without his beloved Bennis near him, the former head of the FBI's Behavioral Science unit quickly heads to Connecticut. Two more deaths occur, including that of Kayla's arrogant, blue-blooded mother. Meanwhile, Gregor conducts his own investigation in an effort to determine the clues that belong to case, and those that the culprit has added to fool the police, before someone else dies.

Though SKELETON KEY starts a bit slow, once Gregor reaches the estates of the self-professed elite of Connecticut, the novel moves rapidly forward. The story line is an entertaining cozy highlighted by delightful characters. In his fifteenth appearance, Demarkian remarkably retains a vigor that allows Jane Haddam to even preach against the hazards of tobacco without slowing down a plot that will please her readers.

Harriet Klausner

I have been a fan of Gregor Demarkian since I first picked up one of Jane Haddam's books, and this is my all time, absolute favorite ~ number 15 in a series of delightful, classic mysteries that include the Armenian-American neighbors in Philadelphia.

I have come to know and love all of Gregor's neighbors, ache for him in his relationship with Bennis, laugh at his confusion, and delight their discovery of each other, although I think Bennis WAS the one in charge here. Perhaps no more.

I can also delight in being totally wrong about "who-done-it", because I never get it right, and Ms. Haddam's solutions are always better! Most of the series actually takes place away from Cavanaugh Street, and this trip is out into the wilds of Litchfield County, Connecticut. Roads with no names to frustrate poor Gregor. A killer on the loose. And with all the clues in front of me, I was STILL wrong again.

I devoured this book, having waited so long for it, and now that I've finished it once, I'm going to sit down with it again - it's too good NOT to read twice!

I've always thought Jane Haddam was one of the best mystery series writers, and have been impressed with how she has kept the quality high through so many installments.

In this one, though, she seeems to be trying to write a novel for which her series is not the appropriate vessel. As a result, it's one of her least successful outings.

On a bright note, her social satire on the inhabitants of Lichfield County, CT, is among her best and most pungent.

On the down side, the mystery (as another reader has pointed out) is pretty obvious, and her red herrings seem half hearted.

The real problem is that she wants to turn Gregor and Bennis into tragic star-crossed lovers or, alternatively, into poster children for the American Lung Association. The problem is that she cannot transcend how she has used those characters in the past.

As much as I have enjoyed reading about Gregor and Bennis, they remain two-and-a-quarter dimensional props to carry the mystery plot along. They can't bear the additional emotional weight she wants to pile on them here. It's like watching a semi-talented college theatrical troupe try to put on King Lear.

I suspect that Haddam probably could write a well-rounded novel about the sorts of people and issues she was dealing with here. (Every one of her novels proves that she can populate a fictional community with interesting and varigated character types.) But the Gregor Demarkian novels inhibit her amibitions. She can't be Ruth Rendell (let alone Anita Brookner ) while trying to continue to be Jill Churchill at the same time.

WOW!

I finished the book and realized two things. The first was that this gem of a series already has sixteen titles. The second? That I have never put down a Gregor Demarkian book with any feeling of dissatisfaction.

SKELETON KEY opens with Bennis Hanniford finding the body of a young heiress in Litchfield County, Conn. It continues when sleuth extrodinarre Gregor Demarkian arrives upon the scene to consult on the case and get his dear "friend" the heck out of there. This book has it all. Great characters, a wonderful setting and an old fashioned money plot. For certainly our young and wealthy heiress was murdered for money. This is Litchfield County. As Haddam quickly shows us money and/or the lack there of is what makes this county tick.

When Ms. Haddam sets out to write a mystery I know she plans on providing a great read. She'll touch base always with the "regulars" our Cavannaugh Street gang. She'll further the Gregor/Bennis relationship. She tosses a plot up in the air and what hits the page is a book, "never quite a cozy and never quite tough". On the page you'll find a classic mystery full of commentary on today's realities...

Always successful this outing is one of if not the best. Full of true slimebags and heroic individuals, you never know quite who's who. I will however never drive in Litchfield after dark. In Skeleton Key Jane Haddam is making the break. With a wink to pumpkins and graves she's leaving the Holiday mystery behind. It's a sad and yet wonderful thing. Sad because I'll miss the part of my holiday celebration and happy because no two books in this series have been cut from the mold and I know now that it won't happen. BUT if I have to wait 2 1/2 years for the next one... well, I'll read it anyway!

I usually enjoy Haddam's mysteries, so this one was not as satisfactory as usual. I enjoy her protagonists, Demarkian and Bennis. I also enjoy the view into the life of both the Armenian neighborhood in which Gregor and Bennis live, as well as the sarcastic analysis of those who are so class conscious. This book is just loaded with tidbits about Americans whose main purpose in life is to accumulate wealth and show off that wealth. This side story is probably the best thing about this book. I had no problem figuring out who the murderer was pretty much from the beginning. Haddam loads her story with plenty of possible suspects, but unfortunately most of the characters are not well-fleshed out. I actually thought the epilogue was written much better then the rest of the book, having to do with the reason why Bennis had to rush to the hospital. The dialogue between Gregor and Bennis, as well as those who live in their neighborhoods is more realistic and developed then the dialogue in the rest of the book. Again, it is difficult for any writer to maintain interest in characters after fifteen books. Karen Sadler, University of Pittsburgh

This is one of the best! It seems appropriate for the year 2000 that most of the characters are reviewing their lives. And Bennis will have a very big decision to make! Dear Jane, Keep those books coming!

The storyline to this book is good, however, too many characters and the ending wasn't the greatest.

Jane Haddam does her usual brilliant job weaving the personal story of Bennis and Gregor (amazingly, finally together), crime and puzzle, with her real life sharply observant eye on human acts, human motives. Like a Japanese brush painter, she captures an essence in a few strokes. Litchfield county debs and country club denizens and old money and old money wannabe's and a Litchfield county women who doesn't have any money to be sick. Murders happen that couldn't and in the midst of it, Bennis gets sick.... Read it.

Gregor and Bennis are bacK, and so is Jane Haddam's deft prose. No one fleshes out characters better than she - the twins in this novel are prime examples. They're so real they hurt. Story good, writing good - but I really prefer Gregor when he is in his element, on Cavanaugh St. with Tibor and George and Donna and the Ararat Restaurant. As an urban ethnic, I love that part of the books - the custom and ritual and general insanity that we eths bring to everyday life in the city.

I've just discovered the Gregor Demarkian series and SKELETON KEY is definitely the book that will make me go back and read the earlier ones. Vivid characters, an intricate yet coherent plot, and a totally likable hero are all the ingredients that make mystery lovers sigh with pleasure. Not to be missed by those who appreciate a crackling good story.