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The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
August 21, 2011 Sunday
Bodies, bombs and other mysterious adventures
Flowering Judas
Jane Haddam. Minotaur, 400 pages.
Gregor Demarkian is reluctant to leave his close-knit Armenian
community in Philadelphia for a consulting job in a small New York
town, especially because a good friend near his 100th birthday is in
the hospital. He's not as reluctant to leave an apartment in
midrenovation where every available surface is covered in carpet, tile
and wallpaper samples.
A body has been found hanging from a billboard that advertises the
search for a man who has been missing for the past 12 years. Since
this is a mystery novel, the body is that of the missing man, whose
mother has funded a campaign to keep the search alive in spite of the
common assumption that he is dead.
After the man turns up newly dead, Gregor is brought in but faces what
seems to be an odd conspiracy to keep him from actually solving the
crime. In this strangely insular community, the police department's
function seems to be sweeping things under rugs for the richest
citizens.
Jane Haddam turns in another engaging and readable story with
characters who could walk right off the page. I especially love the
99-year-old George, who's still sharp as a tack and upbraids Gregor:
"You're not on Facebook, Gregor. You should do something about it.
Social networking is a very good thing." The Killer is Dying
August 21, 2011 Sunday
Bodies, bombs and other mysterious adventures
Flowering Judas
Jane Haddam. Minotaur, 400 pages.
Gregor Demarkian is reluctant to leave his close-knit Armenian
community in Philadelphia for a consulting job in a small New York
town, especially because a good friend near his 100th birthday is in
the hospital. He's not as reluctant to leave an apartment in
midrenovation where every available surface is covered in carpet, tile
and wallpaper samples.
A body has been found hanging from a billboard that advertises the
search for a man who has been missing for the past 12 years. Since
this is a mystery novel, the body is that of the missing man, whose
mother has funded a campaign to keep the search alive in spite of the
common assumption that he is dead.
After the man turns up newly dead, Gregor is brought in but faces what
seems to be an odd conspiracy to keep him from actually solving the
crime. In this strangely insular community, the police department's
function seems to be sweeping things under rugs for the richest
citizens.
Jane Haddam turns in another engaging and readable story with
characters who could walk right off the page. I especially love the
99-year-old George, who's still sharp as a tack and upbraids Gregor:
"You're not on Facebook, Gregor. You should do something about it.
Social networking is a very good thing." The Killer is Dying