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Damsels in Distress (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 16)
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Product Description
A Renaissance Fair is coming to the relatively quiet college town of Farberville Arkansas, which is not the sort of news that usually sets local bookseller Claire Malloy’s heart racing. But with Claire’s daughter, Caron, being the perpetually petulant teenager that she is, and her fiancé, Police Lieutenant Peter Rosen, away, she finds herself drawn into the strange inner workings of the group putting on the fair.
Stranger still: A Ren Fair volunteer has just been found burned in the wreckage of a rented home. Who is this woman, and why haven’t any of her associates ever met her in the flesh? When the fair is set to open, tensions expose the dark secrets and malevolent schemes that lurk beneath the surface. Now, with Claire’s dreams of a blissful wedding hanging in the balance, she has no choice but to fling herself into the battle and match wits with the killer…
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #388294 in Books
- Published on: 2008-03-04
- Released on: 2008-03-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Mass Market Paperback
- 336 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780312989934
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In bookseller Claire Malloy's sprightly 16th outing (after 2006's The Goodbye Body), a Renaissance fair descends on Farberville, Ark. Claire, nervously contemplating her imminent marriage to police detective Peter Rosen, finds plenty of distraction when Edward Cobbinwood, a member of the Renaissance fair group, confides that he has come to Farberville in search of his long-lost father. Fearing that her late, unlamented husband, Carlton, was Edward's father, Claire spends time with the fair's organizers, hoping to discover the truth. A house fire claims the life of a mysterious woman named Angie, and the subsequent murder of a talented artist complicates everything. Nimbly sidestepping official attempts to keep her out of the case, Claire, as always, fingers the culprit, this time in a denouement worthy of Dame Agatha herself. Though this installment isn't up to the high standard of The Goodbye Body, Hess fans will find much to entertain them while eagerly anticipating Claire's wedded bliss in upcoming episodes. Author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Arkansas bookseller Claire Molloy, who spends as much time solving crimes as she does selling books, finds herself in yet another tricky predicament. The organizers of a renaissance fair have enlisted Claire's help, but that's before she stumbles on a dead body, burned beyond recognition. It's hard to concentrate on fairs when you're trying to identify a dead woman and determine if she was murdered. The Molloy novels are plain Janes compared to the flamboyant plots and homespun humor in Hess' other series, starring Sheriff Arly Hanks. But for those who prefer the comforts of formula and a just-plain-nice heroine, Claire Malloy does just fine. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“If you’ve never spent time with Claire and her crew, I feel sorry for you. Stop reading this nonsense and hop to it. You’ll see wit and humanity all wrapped up in a nifty murder mystery.”—Harlan Coben, author of Promise Me
“Lively, sharp, irreverent.”—The New York Times Book Review on Poisoned Pins
Customer Reviews
A disappointing read 
I really had to work to stay with this to the end, and wasn't worth my time. The renaissance stuff was tedious, a really disappointing read.
Entertaining amusing mystery series set in college town 
This lastest clever mystery by Joan Hess moves you from your armchair to a college town coping with a medieval fair with a cast of characters funny but believable.
Laugh Out Loud Fun
The only problem I have with this series is waiting for the next installment! Claire is planning to become Mrs Peter Rosen, finally, but before she can say "I DO" - she unwittingly becomes "Lady Clarissa of Farberville" when the first annual Ren Fair gets underway. This has all the loveable, humorous characters from earlier books, daughter Caron and her friend Inez, the sci fi hippy, and the entire Farberville police department. There were pages that were laugh out loud funny, and the book is worthy of a second read.
