The Other Lady Vanishes

Even better than the first one!

This was a quick-paced whirlwind of a mystery/romance, centered on a patient who escaped from an asylum where she was basically being experimented on with an LSD-prototype. Her escape does not go unnoticed, unfortunately - by her husband, by her doctor, or by some other very powerful people who want to flesh out the drug and use it for nefarious purposes.

She winds up in Burning Cove, CA, trying to rebuild her life around her knowledge as an herbalist. She blends specially-made teas to order for the Hollywood celebrity set, and has gained some unwanted attention from various folks around town. She herself is interested in Jake Truett, another recent arrival who is said to be there recovering from a case of show more "exhausted nerves," but Adelaide knows different - she was locked in the asylum for having a nervous breakdown.

When the folks after her target Jake as well, they throw in their lot together to find out just what the hell is going on. As with the first book, the story is told from multiple perspectives - good guys, bad guys, and the guys who lurk in the gray areas. Ultimately, some plot twists do stretch credulity, but not enough to break my suspension of disbelief. This was a wild and wonderful ride!

There are a few cameos by characters from the first book - Irene Ward is making her way through the world as a crime reporter, and Raina Kirk has set up a PI business in Burning Cove. She's contracted by the shady and efficient Luther Pell (friend of Oliver Ward, the hero of the first book) to look into some liquor thefts at his club, and the two of them start dancing around each other. It appears their romance will be in the background of this series, which is a shame because they'd make very interesting lead characters.

I can't wait for the third book in the series!! show less

Set right before World War II, this book is technically a sequel to The Lady Vanishes, but you don't have to read that book to read this book. Though characters from that book do show up in this book, you won't be lost. Adelaide Blake was being held in a mental hospital against her will. She was put there by a man that may have been her husband. She doesn't remember marrying him. While in the hospital she was experimented on with a drug called Daydream that was meant to make her suggestible but instead causes violent hallucinations. She was the second patient to be experimented on with the drug. No one knows what happened to the first person.

But Adelaide escapes from the hospital and heads to Burning Cove, California and gets a job at a show more tea shop as a waitress and tisane maker. The shop gets a variety of clientele including famous celebrities and the famous Madam Zolanda the psychic to the stars who insists she come to her show and offers her two free tickets. Not wanting to anger the customer she agrees. Mr. Jake Truett a man who has been coming in every day and has already made a bad fumble of an attempt to ask her out on a date that failed miserably insists that he come with her.

Truett's wife committed suicide supposedly and she was a client of Zolanda who pocketed her diary which contained some incriminating items in it. Zolanda has been blackmailing her family over it and they asked Jake to get it back for them. After predicting a bloody death at her show that night the next day she is discovered by Jake and Adelaide on the ground outside her home as though she had jumped or been pushed off of her roof. A piece of a blue glass bottle stopper was found at the scene by Adelaide who recognized it from the hospital as from a container that held the drug. Zolanda's partner Thelma Legget took off with all of the blackmail material from multiple clients.

Meanwhile, Conrad Massey, Adelaide's supposed husband is desperate to find her because he needs her money and he's pressuring Dr. Gill the head of the hospital to find her. Dr. Gill knows where she is, but he knows that Adelaide had many friends including a PI friend, Raina, who would go looking for her if she disappeared. Dr. Paxton, a "doctor" who invented a diet drink is the co-conspirator to Dr. Gill and he is staying in Burning Cove keeping an eye on things and looking for a way to get Adelaide.

When Thelma tries to sell the blackmail material she winds up dead, but was it a blackmailer or someone part of the Daydream drug ring that killed her? Her and Zolanda were supposed to deliver Adelaide to Dr. Gill. Jake's interest in her was making that even more difficult. This book is great. Just when you think you have it all figured out Quick pulls the rug out from under you. The characters are wonderfully created. I especially liked Raina and hope to see a book devoted to her in the future. She's a tough woman who's been through something pretty bad back east and been made better for it. She's also a very smart and savvy person who can really handle herself and looks after those she cares about. This book is a well-spun story that could have stepped out off the screen of a noir film but is not written in the noir style. I really liked this book and I highly recommend it. show less

Adelaide Blake escapes from a private sanitarium in 1930s California and finds herself in Burning Cove, California. She works in a tea shop dispensing herbal teas, often to the rich and famous but she's still wary of being found by her putative husband. When a psychic to the stars turns up dead many of the secrets and lies comes to the fore and things will never be the same again. Adelaide doesn't know who to trust, really, but Jake Truett seems to be making himself very useful.

It's an interesting read, gallops along nicely, sometimes the relationships are a bit sketchy but I enjoyed the read. Adelaide is an interesting character and her librarian past is used well. Her knowledge of herbs is also well done and she's resourceful but also show more knows her limits. Jake is a bit of a sketch but they make a good couple, using each others strengths to help where they're weak. It does come together a little easily but overall I enjoyed the read. show less

I like this series -- still enjoying the reflected Hollywood glam in Burning Cove, and the excellent depictions of the time period. Also, I really like the strong women. I have to admit, the dialogue in this one felt a little wooden, but I hope that there's more in this world to come.

Adelaide Blake is starting over in Burning Cove, California. She’s working in an herbal tea shop, living a more normal life that she was a couple of month ago. All seems good…

Burning Cove is a get-away for many big names from the Los Angeles scene, especially Hollywood. There are also those from elsewhere, such as Jake Truett, a good looking, recently widowed figure, in town to cure his exhaustion…or is he?

Before Burning Cove, Adelaide was known by a different name and had been confined to a private sanitarium for three months. Her “husband” had consigned her there and she was being used for testing a new halucinogen. This was information she didn’t want know for fear she would be sent back. She still wasn’t sure how and show more why she got there. That is one mystery.

Another is the sudden death of a well-known psychic who is visiting Burning Cove. Jake Truett also has a few secrets.

Secrets, narcotics, blackmail and romance can be found in this book set in a 1930s coastal town. Seems it isn’t the relaxing resort people think.

A smooth and moving style makes this an enjoyable read. show less

Quick returns to the 1930s with another romantic suspense set in Burning Cove, California.

Adelaide has escaped from a private sanitarium--where her maybe-husband had her committed--and started a new life in Burning Cove. But there are dark doings in Burning Cove, connected to the sanitarium and to the death of her parents. With the help of enigmatic ex-importer Jake Truett, Adelaide seeks to uncover the truth and to keep from being killed or returned to the sanitarium

Exciting and romantic. So far, I'm liking Quick's Burning Cove books (all two of them) even more than most of her Victorian ones.

Not bad for a Krentz book. There was a lot more emphasis on the "mystery" in this book than usual. The here, Jake, was only lightly sketched in. Both lead characters seemed paper thin, maybe because the emphasis was on the plot. But given that most of her main characters are pretty much paint-by-numbers, this might have made the book stronger if less gripping on an emotional level.