Twilight (Jenny Cain Mysteries, No. 10) [Hardcover]

Pickard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

Jenny Cain is up to her ears in plans for the Port Frederick Autumn Festival when a young widow comes to her with a heart breaking story. Melissa Barney's husband was recently hit by a car at the intersection of a nature trail and a highway. Barney wants to close the trail, and Jenny is drawn into a long-running controversy that threatens disaster for all she holds dear.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As in her previous nine adventures (most recently, Confession), foundation director Jenny Cain combines can-do toughness and a tender heart. She needs both when trouble stalks a fall festival she's staging in her hometown of Port Frederick, Mass. An insurance company stalls on providing coverage; environmental activists accuse Jenny of trying to close their beloved nature trail, where three "accidental" deaths have occurred; and Christian fundamentalists picket the festival's Halloween theme. One protester dies when apparent arson destroys a local landmark. Villains abound, including a nasty drunk who assaults Jenny, a wealthy civic leader and a local reporter/environmental zealot. Jenny needs help from her police lieutenant husband, Geof, a troubled teenager and a delivery woman who reads rune stones. Readers have only their trust in Pickard and a prologue (in which an automobile accident occurs) as assurances that the disparate plot lines will converge?which they do, revealing surprising connections. Jenny's telling observations on love and marriage, family and friendships and small-town politics add texture to this well-wrought puzzle.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Pickard's latest features her popular heroine, Jenny Cain, whose skill at running small-town foundations is matched only by her abilities as an amateur sleuth. The ever-agile Jenny is currently juggling the first ever Port Frederick Fall Festival and the request of her friend Nellie Kennedy, who wants help in getting rid of "God's Highway," a controversial hiking/bike path. Lately, a series of fatal accidents on the path has caused the town to look at closing it, a move environmentalists, hikers, and bikers vehemently oppose. A mysterious fire, strange goings-on in the town, and murder prove almost too much for the intrepid Jenny--especially after she's assaulted, threatened, run down, and reviled--but with the help of her policeman husband, Geof, and his adopted son, David, she unravels the complicated, intertwined assortment of mysteries and makes sure the Port Frederick Fall Festival is a roaring success. A nicely paced, nicely plotted mystery that makes a perfect read for a chilly fall evening. Emily Melton

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671782711
• ISBN-13: 978-0671782719
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,979,493 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:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sadly Disappointing, March 22, 2004

By 

Jenny Hanniver "medieval_student" (Philadelphia, PA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twilight

I've really loved all the previous Jenny Cain mysteries by Nancy Pickard (with the exception of BUM STEER, which wandered all the way across the country from the New England setting). Nearly all are witty, wise and well-written, satisfying all three of the "Important W's" of popular fiction. In all the other Jenny Cain novels, even BUM STEER, the plotting is tight, the characters plausible, and although clues are dropped along the way, the conclusions aren't easy for a reader to figure out.

TWILIGHT's chief problem is that it's a clumsy mystery. Even the characterization seems weak in this book, and Jenny is by no means at her interesting, clever best. Even distracted by the Autumn Festival, how could she have misinterpreted Bill's odd behavior and remarks as "funny" when readers immediately know that something is wrong with his perception of reality?

And the main plot -- the hazards of an urban hiking trial crossing a road for vehicles -- makes a mountain out of a molehill. It's unworthy of Ms. Pickard's doubtless gifts as a writer, since the persons who should have been consulted on the issue of road safety apparently never were when the trail was created -- namely, state, county, and insurance safety engineers. My father was a safety engineer, who would have taken about one afternoon to recommend answers to the hazards of that fatal road crossing. There must be quite a few safety specialists in Massachusetts since, when I lived in New England back in the 60s, there were plenty of road signs.

There were also hiking trails, many of which crossed paved roads. Didn't Nancy Pickard ever hear of multiple signs warning of pedestrian crossings? Of blinking red lights? Ordinary stop signs at the bottom of the grade, on both sides of the trail, would have prevented every one of the fatalities caused by the carelessness of a person who seemed not to wander from his own yard and driveway.

Look, I live in Philadelphia. We have a long woodsy hiking trail winding along a scenic creek with urban neighborhoods on either side. Going from the Chestnut Hill neighbohood to the Andorra neighborhood, a heavily trafficked road crosses this trail -- and vice-versa. This crossing is protected by stop signs, and elswehere by traffic overpasses. Urban trails are, of course, inherently somewhat unsafe. The trails in Philly are sometimes stalked by muggers and rapists, but if any hiker has been killed by a vehicle in the seven years I've lived in Philly I've never heard of it.

I'm sorry that the Jenny Cain series is at an end, but perhaps Ms. Pickard realized that something went wrong with this book. I just wish Jenny had gone out like a lioness.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best mystery series I've read!!!, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Twilight (Jenny Cain Mysteries, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

I love the Jenny Cain series. I have read all of them and each one gets better as you go along. The only bad thing that I can say is that it looks as if Nancy Pickard is no longer writing books in this series. I'm hoping she will come out with a new Jenny Cain book. I can't say enough about these books. The plots are great. Please Nancy write more!!!!!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep me up all night!!, October 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Twilight (Jenny Cain Mysteries, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

Most mysteries are pretty dull, if you ignore the wrong piece of trivia you are lost. This multi-layered mystery is excellent as it blends Jenny Cain's personal and businesses affairs into a compelling mystery that kept me guessing to the end. I was more enthralled by the complex backgrounds for her small town characters, than the mystery itself