Smoke Screen: A Dido Hoare Mystery [Hardcover]

Marianne MacDonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

When her majesty offers Dido Hoare, London's most intrepid antiquarian bookseller, the opportunity to buy her personal library in Oxford, Dido cannot believe her good fortune. It turns out to be her last bit of good luck for some time.

"Her Majesty" is in fact the aged and rather daunting Clare Templeton Forbes, ex-lover of the famous American modernist poet Orrin Forbes. Dido doesn't understand Clare's rush to sell the books, but she knows her shop could profit nicely from them, so she goes ahead with the deal. It's then that the trouble begins.

Things turn nasty when there is a fire at Clare's house the night she dies. Then Dido finds a valuable stolen manuscript in her car, and is arrested. Who would want Clare dead, and why? Who would want to frame Dido, and why?

Dido is determined to find out the answers to these questions. After all, she needs to stay out of jail long enough to sell her books to keep her cat, Mr. Spock, in Whiskas, and her baby, Ben, in Pampers.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While negotiating for a collection of old and rare books, London antiquarian bookseller Dido Hoare (Ghost Walk, 1998) runs afoul of a decidedly dysfunctional family. The potential seller, once lover to a noted (but second-rank) deceased poet, also owns a number of valuable manuscripts, but there is some doubt as to her right to sell them. When someone frames Dido for the seller's murder, Dido and her father race to prove her innocence. Wonderful British surroundings, details of single-motherhood and keeping shop, and the vagaries of a dead poet all add to this title's draw. Strongly recommended.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Dido Hoare, the owner of an antiquarian bookshop in London and the single mother of infant Ben, always seems a few steps behind as she lurches from crisis to crisis, relying on her unflappable father, Barnabas, and on her baby-sitter, Phyllis. On the other hand, she has let her shop assistant talk her into putting the catalog online, and the Internet supplies a crucial clue in this improbable but thoroughly enjoyable cozy. Like Dido, the story lurches from place to place, London to Oxford, where an odd family wants to sell a book collection and possibly a manuscript or two. The family's matriarch dies in a spectacular house fire, with Dido present; when it turns out to be murder, and a lost manuscript appears in Dido's possession, she is in deep trouble. This series is best when concentrating on the bewitching minutiae of the book trade--in this case, who would kill for an unpublished manuscript? A natural for bibliophile mystery fans who enjoy John Dunning's Cliff Janeway series. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 255 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First edition (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312242433
• ISBN-13: 978-0312242435
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,484,543 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 a thumping good read!, October 26, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoke Screen: A Dido Hoare Mystery (Hardcover)

I'm really enjoying myself working my way through the Dido Hoare books. What an absolute gem of a series! Dido, Barnabas (her retired Oxford don father) and Eddie (her assistant) are a wonderful team and great fun to read about.

Dido Hoare, antiquarian book dealer, can hardly believe her luck when she is offered the opportunity to buy Clare Templeton Forbes's (otherwise known as Her Majesty) book collection. And in spite of the warnings both from another book dealer and her father, Dido eagerly makes her way to Oxford to peruse the collection and make an offer. She is surprised and thrilled to find amongst the collection of 19th century books, a comprehensive collection of Orrin Forbes first editions. Orrin Forbes was a minor American modernist poet and Clare's ex-lover. Realising that she is out of her league here, Dido suggests that Clare get hold of one of the more prestigious auction houses to handle these rare books. But Clare refuses, claiming that she needs the money now so that she can move form her falling apart Oxford home into something more modern. (She also wants everyting done quietly and without her daughter's knowledge.) Dido is leery. There seems to be something suspicious afoot but she has no idea what. And Dido fears she's being manipulated by Clare but is not sure to what end. And then Clare shows her a manuscript of Forbes's missing canto, and wishes to know if Dido will buy it. Extracting from this rather sticky situation, Dido pays a few books and leaves. That very night, Clare dies apparently from having set her bed afire from a lighted cigarette. And the next morning, Dido finds the missing Forbes manuscript in a box of books she bought just as the police arrive to search her premises in search of said manuscript. It turns out that Clare was murdered. Dido feels as if she's being set up -- but is it for murder or theft? With her reputation as a legitimate dealer on the line, Dido plunges in to discover who planted the missing canto on her and who murderd Clare and uncovers quite abit more than she bargained for.

"Smoke Screen" was a roller-coaster of a read. I was fairly glued to the pages as I read along, following Dido's every move as she tried to work out what was happening to her and who was fitting her up and for what. The novel unfolded smoothly and briskly. And Marianne MacDonald's prose style made this book all the more enjoyable and fun. So, if you're lloking for a good biblio-mystery, look no further -- "Smoke Screen" is just the ticket, and is just the thing to curl up enjoy on a rainy day.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun but Predictable, November 19, 2000

By 

richard_t "richard_t" (Overseas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smoke Screen: A Dido Hoare Mystery (Hardcover)

Dido Hoare is an engaging heroine, with her protective retired father, her squalling baby, and her bookshop. The premise here is a fun one, pivoting on the provenance of a valuable book collection that includes original work by a modern American poet. But MacDonald does a poor job of setting up the mystery. Most readers should have it worked out by halfway through, yet Dido insists on ignoring red-flag clues that MacDonald dangles in front of her every few pages. It's a fun read, but a predictable one.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining!, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Smoke Screen: A Dido Hoare Mystery (Hardcover)

I have only read one other book in this series, but I really like the character of Dido. Coping with the day-to-day tribulations of single motherhood and running her own business, Dido is a believable, engaging heroine who can't resist getting involved in an intriguing mystery. I'm a big fan of Grafton and Paretsky, but it's refreshing to get immersed in the low-keyed world of an English bookseller who just happens to have adventures fall into her lap. And Kinsey and V.I. never have to worry about getting back in time for the babysitter. I did enjoy Ghostwalk a bit more, but while you might quickly figure out the mysteries behind the action here, Smoke Screen is still a fun ride.