Product Description

Madeline Dare would be the first to tell you her money is so old there's none left. A former socialite from an aristocratic family in decline, Maddie is a tough-talking, would-be journalist exiled to the rust belt of upstate New York. Her prospects for changing her dreary lifestyle seem dim--until a set of dog tags found at a decades-old murder site is linked to her family. Shocked into action, Maddie embarks on a search that takes her from the derelict smokestacks of Syracuse to the posh mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast. But instead of the warm refuge of home, this prodigal daughter soon uncovers dark, sinister secrets that will violently challenge everything she believes in and holds dear.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #267490 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Read's impressive debut stars the unusual Madeline Dare, a jumble of contradictions who comes from an old-money Long Island family but is married to Dean, a railroad worker, in Syracuse, N.Y., which our heroine likens in a moment of exasperation to "some mental dust bowl." Dean's job requires frequent travel, while Madeline writes fluff features for the local newspaper. Nothing in her background prepares her for trying to solve the bizarre 20-year-old murder of two young women, a crime that her cousin, Lapthorne Townsend, might have been involved in. Read writes with verve and passion as Madeline sets out to clear her cousin's name, an effort that develops into a much larger, life-changing struggle. Some readers may find Madeline's volatile character less than credible, but the fine supporting cast—notably husband Dean and flaky, flamboyant friend Ellis—consistently delights. The author's sharp social commentary on everything from the idle rich to the environment adds to the pleasure. 5-city author tour. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Madeline Dare, born into Long Island Society and raised amid the wealthy of California, is married to a Syracuse Railroad worker and writing for a small town newspaper. Dare dislikes Syracuse and her working-class in-laws while, at the same time, rejecting her upper-class upbringing. Upon learning of a twenty-year-old murder in the area, Dare investigates the crime, which is intertwined with her cousin Lapthorne Townsend. Hillary Huber reads this slow-moving mystery with a steady, even voice. Huber follows each shift in time and location as Dare daydreams about her life before Syracuse, remembering Lapthorne and all her adventures with him. As Dare seeks to uncover the truth about Lapthorne's life, she is forced to examine her own. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Every page is a pleasure in this mystery debut featuring barb-wielding, ex-debutante Madeline Dare. A newspaper reporter trapped among the white trash (or "garbage blanc") of Syracuse, New York, she becomes enmeshed in the 20-year-old unsolved murder of two young hippies. The case was dubbed "the Rose Girls," for the thorny crowns encircling the victims' heads. Madeline's preposterously preppy cousin, Lapthorne Townsend, is among the suspects; his army dog tags were found at the scene of the crime. But Madeline believes he's far too feckless to engage in foul play. Bent on exonerating him, she sets out to retrace the Rose Girls' final hours, reportedly spent in the company of two soldiers at the New York State Fair. Read's plot crackles and pops, but her characters steal the show. Among them: a shifty-eyed silhouettist, a lustful livestock auctioneer, and in-laws who make the cast of Deliverance seem urbane. Madeline's own parents are irrepressible, too. "Mealtime conversation," writes Read, "was like watching Fellini and Wodehouse drop acid." This is sure to be loved by fans of comic mysteries, but don't be surprised if Tom Wolfe readers are equally smitten by Read's venomously witty portrait of a fallen WASP. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Smart Stylish Mystery
Cornelia Read is a talented author with a knack for a clever turn of phrase. Her metaphors are dead on right. She shapes her heroine around her own background as a member of the social set has run out of money. Her history includes fashionable though untenable marriages, beautiful people, divorce, and a lack of genuine emotion in relationships. Married to a blue collor worker, she trades life in the moneyed fast lane for a warm loving relationship and life in Syracuse New York. Her husband, Dean is a muscular hunk but is not a style setter. She stumbles upon evidence of a 20 year old double murder case that appears to involve a beloved charming and deliciously attractive older cousin who has always fascinated her and who still has loads of money. With that set of facts as her jumping off place, Read gives insight into the lives of the rich and famous as she weaves her tale. Some of her metaphors like"The Long Dark Cocktail Party of the Soul" and "the Trust Bowl" are really edgy. I could not identify with this beautiful and stylish heroine because her mileiu was so foreign to me. However, I think this author is very talented and we can expect more from her in the future. I prefer to watch my mysteries so for me this was only a 3 star book. However, for mystery lovers it may garner 5 stars. Field of Darkness is good literature and worth reading.

Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness
Madeline Dare, the first-person narrator in Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness, experiences terror and entrapment in her attempt to solve the murder of two young women, nineteen years after the fact. A journalist, Madeline, whose last name reminds me of the ill-fated Virginia Dare of Roanoke Island, Lost Colony fame, is hung up on denying her traditional Long Island family heritage while constantly reminding readers of it. Set in 1988 in Syracuse, New York, the novel has many references to that period, which limit the universality of the story and its attractiveness to readers not familiar with the year or location.

Madeline delights in being sarcastic, demeaning, and judgmental, vulgar in speech, conversant with the drug scene, and obsessed with sex, not a particularly likable heroine. Her tale has its moments of intrigue, fascination, and insanity. It can be read fairly quickly. Its climactic fire scene is very reminiscent of other stories, with the ending somewhat predictable, but its final dialogue from the unpleasant character Briney, is very chilling, the most memorable remark in the book. Rosalie L'Ecuyer, Fairbanks, Alaska

A Different Sort of Mystery
I can't add a lot to the other positive comments here. I loved this book for a lot of reasons. I stayed up way too late reading it in two sittings. It's not a stereotypical mystery - it has a lot more going on in regard to character, and it doesn't get into all the technical science so many hard-boiled mysteries tend to cover these days. (Which some people LOVE, and I respect that, but I have trouble with it.) This was a great account of one woman who wanted to solve a hometown mystery. I was completely gripped and I loved it.