Mysterious, March 2005, 22.95, 259 pp. ISBN 0892967854 Isabelle moved from Vermont to be with her fiancée but on their wedding day he jilted Isabelle and he too the maid of honor with him to the honeymoon in Fiji he was to share with Isabelle. A class act, Isabelle insists everyone enjoy the reception and even dances on the table. The newspaper prints a picture of Isabelle dancing to go along with her heartbreaking story and Becky Belden, a Martha Stewart clone, offers her a job in her empire. When she arrives Isabelle is assigned to work as Lisa Kinne's assistant in special projects. She learns that she is the replacement for Marcia who died when she was pushed in front of a train. A company friend warns Isabelle other deaths of employees have occurred and one worker Kenny remains missing. Becky dedicates a show to Kenny and places a life sized picture of him in the street level window of Becky Belden's Enterprises where everyone can see it. When Lisa drowns in her swimming pool and a man enters her house to kill Isabelle, she knows something sinister is going on at the company and all the deaths are related and intends to prove it. The heroine is a brave individual who refuses to ignore crimes being committed even when one of the suspects is her lover, a top executive in Becky's business. Harriet Klausner | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70% Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - big business leader(s) How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |