Customer Reviews

A Very Proper Death

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Alex Juniper's A VERY PROPER DEATH is quite literally a page-turner. Marni Verstak is a successful Boston real estate professional. She has married into money but has also divorced the source of that money and, because of her own background, has a keen interest in helping Boston's blighted ghettos. She is scared out of her wits by half a dozen events that happen in rapid succession in this really suspensesful crime novel.

Without revealing much about the serpentine plot, I had difficulty with the author's portrayal of some minority characters, specifically , Geraint Finnbar. The writer also takes on drug dealers, psychoanalysts and old Boston money as well, so perhaps I'm being too sensitive in his treatment of this sinister, diabolical character. Alex Juniper is a pseudonym of one of my favorite writers who would not appear to have a prejudiced bone in her body. Any writer who dares to write about minorities runs a risk of being perceived as biased, however. I read with total surprise recently an article in the NEW YORK TIMES that another favorite author of mine, J. M. Coetzee, has been accused of racism because of his depiction of blacks in his novel DISGRACE, which won the Booker Prize in 1999, and that he may have moved from his native South Africa because of that accusation. That DISGRACE is racist never crossed my mind when I read this dark but compelling novel. Perhaps if I were black, I would have a different opinion.

One final comment: since this novel was published in 1990, some of the information we now know about the illness of one of the characters in this novel was not available to the medical community and therefore to the author then and raises the possibility of a totally different and sad twist to the story.

A quick light mystery by a superb author. Most of her novels are much deeper/harder to get into. This one has a rather unrealistic plot with somewhat stereotyped characters (Hannibal Lecter for one) but is enjoyable. Good for a 3 hour plane flight. MUCH better than alot of the best selling mysteries such as those by James Patterson.

Loved the story of Marni and Jake. Am a n avid reader of mysteries. Author supposedly writing next book in series. What happened to it?