Interesting book and premise. The quote at the beginning "The social ramble ain't restful. - Satchel PaigeYou've got to like a book that begins thusly:"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a widow in possession f a good fortune must be in want of a husband. Or so all my friends constantly tell me."Jo Slater is a queen of New York society. Her best friend Betty's daughter is getting married in Barbados and Jo has been invited to stay with her for the festivities and the wedding. Betty wants Jo to meet Lord Vermillion, a much-married wealthy Englishman. Jo does meet him and enjoys his company, but is not sure just how to take him. She finally decides that he's not really her type. She'll be friends, but that's all.A whole other problem is Russell Cole's widow? (Russell has disappeared from his yacht the day of the wedding and it's not known if he's alive or not.) The exotic Carla seems determined to make a friend of Jo, but Jo isn't falling for it and KNOWS she doesn't want to be a friend to Carla. Carla is very much an enigma and her past is quite shrouded. Jo is convinced that Carla killed her first husband (or had him killed), but she didn't inherit his estate and so married Russell with the intent to inherit his. Russell Cole bought a yacht that they lived on year-round. Carla wanted to move to New York and get an apartment - Russell hated New York and the apartment she wanted. Jo finds out these bits and pieces from various people Carla has gathered around her. She keeps trying to gather Jo in as an ally. But shows Jo that if she doesn't cooperate, she might not like the results. Jo is scared, but determined to stop Carla. Then a very good friend of Jo's, Larry Locket, who writes novels; and articles that expose the misdeeds of the wealthy and evil begins to research Carla. He dies in a burglary. Jo is devastated over the loss of such an old friend, but is more determined than ever that Carla will not get away with it. Carla knows Jo is being blackmailed, but Jo calls her bluff that she hasn't found out why.It gets very exciting with each twist and turn revealing a new clue of Carla's background and her intentions. The ending is a bit of a surprise.
This story starts out with 2 filthy rich 50-something women nursing hangovers on the balcony of a villa in Barbados. The BFF's daughter is getting married and we hear the friend griping about the pain of destination weddings, visiting other filthy stinking rich people in their mansions, etc. Kind of an annoying story and I almost quit reading it. Instead I flipped open to a random page where a woman was confiding to a journalist-friend of her past involvement in someone's death, details of blackmailing, etc. That was interesting. : ) So, I flipped back to the beginning and slogged through the first couple chapters until I got involved and interested in what would happen next. Billionare Russell Cole disappears off his yacht and his wife and friends are stumped as to where or why. Is he dead? Accident or murdered? Just missing? Run away? There are lots of questions that take a good while to get answered. This book isn't so much of a "who-dunnit" as it is a "why-dunnit" and "How are you going to get away with it" type story. A lot of stuff can happen in almost 400 pages of story. The back biting, snootiness, and cliques of New York high society got a little old, although I don't doubt the reality of it. It was not a complimentary view into the lives of the stinking rich. The BFF's swearing was crass and offensive, but as long as she wasn't in a scene you were safe. I wouldn't read the book again, but if you like suspense or mystery type stories, this was a clever story.
Do You like book One Dangerous Lady (2005)?
I listened to the unabridged audiobook. After slogging through many chapters mostly devoted to a supposedly funny portrayal of NYC "high" society, I skipped chapters 22-34 and didn't feel as if I missed a thing. The only mystery in the novel was how long it would take the author to reveal the obvious. The only character I found interesting was unfortunately killed off. The reader, Barbara Rosenblat, however, was excellent, one of a very few I've heard who can do voices of the opposite gender credibly.
—Samantha
otSynopsis: Jo Slater is in Barbados, preoccupied by the notion of a new romance with a dashing English lord, when Russell Cole, a fabulously wealthy art collector, disappears from his yacht. Jo suspects that Russell's wife knows a great deal more about her husband's disappearance than she is letting on. Back in New York, Jo discovers that a figure from her own past continues to put her at great risk and that neither the urbane lord nor her missing friend's wife is what they appear to be.Another set of secrets from the gilded world of New York society is revealed in a unique blend of wicked social satire combined with a page-turning mystery. ot1/4/09 – 5- This was recommended in a magazine simply as a good ‘Beach Read’. It was actually a kind of hokie murder mystery. I finished it.
—Carol
