Customer Reviews

Sweet, Savage Death

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In this Papazoglou novel Patience McKenna is a romance writer attending The Third Annual Conference of the American Writers of Romance. A series of murders begins and Patience has to solve them in order to prove her own innocence. The mystery is a puzzle which includes a locked door and several clues to put together. The latter are mentioned as the story unfolds and then the solution is fully explained at the end.

Papazoglou's strong suits are her descriptions of wacky characters and authentic local scenes. Among the idiosyncratic people we meet in this story are a fifty-five year old tattoed, coccaine-addicted ex-prostitute and a thirty year old virgin famous for writing the sexiest books in the romance field. There is also one very kleptomaniacal cat. The best New York descriptions include a special Greek restaurant and a trip through parts of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue.

Papazoglou's strong suits are her descriptions of wacky characters and authentic local scenes. Among the idiosyncratic people we meet in this story are a fifty-five year old tattoed, coccaine-addicted ex-prostitute and a thirty year old virgin famous for writing the sexiest books in the romance field. There is also one very kleptomaniacal cat. The best New York descriptions include a special Greek restaurant and a trip through parts of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue.

This is a really fun book to read. It has a nice complex plot and lots of interesting characters.

This is the first of Papazoglou's "Pay McKenna" mysteries. The others are, in order, WICKED, LOVING MURDER, DEATH'S SAVAGE PASSION, RICH, RADIANT SLAUGHTER and ONCE AND ALWAYS MURDER. They can be read in any order, but there's a slight edge to reading them in order if you can.

The central character is a Manhattan-based writer from Old Money New England, so the story takes place in Manhattan, and most of the characters are romance writers or allied trades, with a meeting of the "American Writers of Romance" as the centerpiece. It's a good locked-room mystery, and funny to the point of being hysterical in places. I first read this one about 20 years ago, and not a week goes by even yet that I don't think of Pay's best friend and smile a little. Just buy it. If you're any sort of mystery--or romance--fan, you won't regret it.

Where to go from here: There are two other non-series Papazoglou titles, CHARISMA and SANCTITY, which I would rate a nearer suspense than mystery. More recently, under the pen name "Jane Haddam" the same author has done the "Gregor Demarkian" mysteries.

Papazoglou's strong suits are her descriptions of wacky characters and authentic local scenes. Among the idiosyncratic people we meet in this story are a fifty-five year old tattoed, coccaine-addict ex-prostitute and a thirty year old virgin famous for writing the sexiest books in the romance field. I should also mention the kleptomaniacal cat. The best New York descriotions include a special Greek restaurant and a trip through parts of 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue.