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Loading... Masquerade (1998)by Walter Satterthwait
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In May 1923, Pinkerton agent Phil Beaumont and his newly-minted colleague Jane Turner are assigned to investigate the death of a man and his mistress in Paris. The police think it was a double suicide, and indeed the dilettante man, Richard Forsythe, was known to have often mused about wanting to commit suicide, and in fact the room in which the deaths occurred was locked at the time. But Beaumont and Turner think there’s something not quite right about that conclusion, and they look to others to find out the truth, including run-ins with Hemingway, Picasso, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, to name just a few….”Masquerade” is the second in the Pinkerton Pair trilogy; I read it some years ago and did not give it a very high rating, but now that I’ve read the first book I understand it more and like it better. Beaumont and Turner are shaping up into a good investigative team, and I’m fairly sure that it’s only a matter of time before they become a couple as well. I’m looking forward to the third and final book in the series! ( ) If you enjoyed the Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris, you'll probably enjoy this book as well, although it doesn't have the fantasy element. An American detective couple careen through the Paris of the Twenties -- they even meet Christie and Simenon! And, there's a locked-room mystery to solve. Very enjoyable. After I started this book, I realized it's actually the second in a series. But it read fine as a standalone - this book includes two Peterson Detectives and from what I can tell, book #1 describes how they joined the agency and met each other. Following a somewhat traditional mystery track, this book used a style which I find interesting (when done well) - the introduction of well known personalities into the thread. This one did some of them well (I now feel like I actually know a little about Gertrude Stein) but there were also superfluous and silly uses of the concept, with one line reading something like "Look, there's Henry James" and no other references to James. Still, it was a good and interesting read giving a very good "feel" of Paris in the 20's, with some action and character development which kept it moving. no reviews | add a review
Walter Satterthwait writes richly detailed historical mysteries about everyone from Oscar Wilde to Lizzie Borden. In the well-reviewed Escapade, he introduced us to Pinkerton detective Phil Beaumont and his partner, a sharp and seductive Brit named Jane Turner. Masquerade brings this fascinating couple to Paris in 1923, where wealthy American dilettante Richard Forsythe and his German mistress have been found dead. The French police are calling it a double suicide, but Forsythe's mother has hired Beaumont and Turner to dig deeper. In between having amorous alliances, spotting the likes of Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Ernest Hemingway on the street, and eating too many rich meals with a French policeman ("One can lead a horse to tournedos Rossini, but one cannot make him eat," this worthy sighs when Phil finally requests a steak, rare, with no sauces), Beaumont and Turner dip into a world of insidious aristocrats and dangerous drug dealers as they find out what really happened. Other Satterthwait pleasures in paperback: Accustomed to the Dark, At Ease with the Dead, Wall of Glass. --Dick Adler No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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