Well Read and Dead (High Society Mysteries) [Kindle Edition]

Catherine O'Connell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The perils of Pauline Cook, society widow extraordinaire, include some decidedly dark twists in O'Connell's otherwise lighthearted second mystery (after 2007's Well Bred and Dead). After a long, decadent European vacation, Pauline returns to a post-9/11 America to learn she's lost nearly $20 million in bad investments. Adding insult to injury, Air France loses her Louis Vuitton luggage, plus her best friend, Whitney Armstrong, who's been taking care of her precious cat, Fleur, has vanished, along with Fleur and Whitney's dogs. Whitney's grief-stricken husband, scion of the nation's largest lingerie empire, offers Pauline a multimillion-dollar reward to find Whitney. Pauline decides she could use the money to pay for unfinished renovations on her Chicago penthouse. Brimming with witty observations about the well-heeled and the machinations of greedy businessmen, this sophisticated romp takes the daring amateur sleuth all the way to Thailand and Vietnam. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

This is the second adventure for Chicago’s Golden Mile socialite widow Pauline Cook (following 2007’s Well Bred and Dead). Initially, it seems difficult to have much sympathy for a slightly ditzy, superficial multimillionaire who seems to regularly float into irresponsible relationships and lose 20 million dollars or so through her own carelessness. But Pauline does have a strong sense of loyalty and a surprising amount of common sense. While she is not at all computer or technically savvy, she doesn’t hesitate to try to solve the disappearance of her friend Whitney Armstrong. (Of course, the promise of a multimillion-dollar reward by Whitney’s husband helps to strengthen her resolve.) Thanks to her jet-set connections and uncontrollable spending habits (she spent her way through her first fortune and lost her second with the help of Enron), Pauline knows how to globe-trot and easily travels from Chicago to Aspen to Southeast Asia in search of Whitney. Readers will find themselves warming to this improbable high-society sleuth who challenges our assumptions about what a mystery heroine should be like. --Judy Coon

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 346 KB
• Print Length: 305 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001VA1PO8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,528 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine thriller, March 28, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Well Read and Dead: A High Society Mystery (High Society Mysteries) (Paperback)

While her penthouse is being renovated, socialite Pauline Cook is on Gianfranco's yacht cruising the Mediterranean. It was when the cruise for two ended she realized he was married. It is in Paris she learns that her stock portfolio mostly invested in Enron is worthless. She rushes home to Chicago to find contractor Tag McKay overseeing the renovation. She is attracted to him though he is not in her social class and besides she needs to marry a rich man right away that hopefully she can love while he keeps her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to.

Before she goes husband hunting, Pauline visits her closest friend Whitney Armstrong to pick up her cat Fleur. Whitney's husband Jack says his wife is missing and offers Pauline five million dollars to find her; he later raises the reward to ten million. With bills mounting and no income to pay them, though way out of her element Pauline begins a search that leads her to Thailand, from there to Cambodia where Jack's factory is located and back to Thailand where she begins getting answers. When she returns to the States, a woman she does not know tries to kill Pauline.

Pauline is a member of the hoi polloi jet setters in which olde money is everything and those without are not worthy of their attention except as servants. However, her inquiry takes her into worlds she never imagined; this changes her. Her husband hunting amidst the Fortune Five Hundred is amusing and ironic when she falls in love with a middle class blue collar working stiff. As Pauline matures from spoiled snobbish socialite to valuing all types of people, she makes Catherine O'Connell's fine thriller WELL READ AND DEAD an engaging read.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminds me of the late Dominick Dunne, January 15, 2011

By 

Readsalot - See all my reviews

This review is from: Well Read and Dead: A High Society Mystery (High Society Mysteries) (Paperback)

Well Read and Dead is one of the best written books about the rich that I've read. O'Connell takes amusing jabs at the noblesse oblige while unfolding a complex mystery that takes the reader from the Gold Coast of Chicago to the exotic locales of the Far East. Her style reminds me of Dominick Dunne. Recommended for people who want a page turning mystery with some underlying satire. Highly entertaining and a great sequel on the heels of Well Bred and Dead!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liked it better than the first!, November 30, 2010

By 

Samantha J "Chick Lit Plus" (Des Moines, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Well Read and Dead: A High Society Mystery (High Society Mysteries) (Paperback)

One of my favorite heroines Pauline Cook is back and better than ever in Well Read and Dead, the second novel in the high society mysteries by Catherine O'Connell. This time, Pauline returns to America after an extended European vacation, only to come back after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Her once exceptional stock portfolio has now crumbled, leaving her without much money to go of off- again. To make it worse, her beautiful Chicago penthouse that was highly damaged in a fire still isn't in a livable condition yet, one of her closest friends Whitney has gone missing, and Whitney took Pauline's precious cat, Fleur, with her! Pauline becomes determined to find Whitney, so she can get her cat back and score a cool multimillion dollar reward promised to her by Whitney's husband if Pauline can find her. What Pauline doesn't know is that Whitney has stumbled upon a very disturbing secret regarding her husband's lingerie business, and Pauline finding Whitney and discovering the truth could cost the woman both their lives.

Again, I was highly entertained by the antics of Pauline. Losing 20 million dollars when her Enron stock collapsed? A missing best friend and no place to live? Pauline doesn't let these obstacles bring her down, she continues her shopping, luncheons, and staying in the best room at one of Chicago's finest hotels. There was something different about Pauline in this novel compared to the first, Well Bred and Dead, and those occurrences happen when two very devastating occurrences happen. I won't say what they are because I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but I was shocked more than once in this book. I thought O'Connell's writing was once again exceptional for the character and her story, and I highly look forward to the third novel, Well Wed and Dead.