Jack S. (jack1) reviewed Cheating at Solitaire: A Gregor Demarkian Novel (Gregor Demarkian Novels) on + 67 more book reviews
Cheating at Solitaire.interesting name for a book which has nothing to do with solitaire or card playing at all. Here is a mystery taking place at a fashionable retreat for the wealthy on Cape Cod. In the midst of a horrendous noreaster (snowstorm), a murder takes place.
The mainstay of the town are the wealthy, who summer there, leaving town when winter arrives. Not so this year, however, because a movie is being filmed there, and it is among the film people that the crime occurs. Because high profile celebrities are involved, crime-solver extraordinaire Gregor Demarkian is called in from Philadelphia to figure out who dunnit. Now it does not make a lot of sense as to why someone from Philadelphia is called to Massachusetts to solve a crime, but off he goes.
Demarkian is an ex-FBI agent who now is a consultant of some sort. He is very much an Americanized version of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple combinedwise, witty, and astute, as well as laid back. What I found very interesting was the ongoing commentary about the vapidity, the vacous, illiterate, non-talented personalities starring in the movie. There is good insight into society today and our insatiable thirst for scraps of information about the stars who are raised to near idol status by the media. Here we see all the weaknesses of these young people, unaccustomed to sudden wealth as well as the sage wisdom of a seasoned and professional actor.
If you want to find out more, you will want to read the book. And if you figure out what the title has to do with the story, please let me know.
The mainstay of the town are the wealthy, who summer there, leaving town when winter arrives. Not so this year, however, because a movie is being filmed there, and it is among the film people that the crime occurs. Because high profile celebrities are involved, crime-solver extraordinaire Gregor Demarkian is called in from Philadelphia to figure out who dunnit. Now it does not make a lot of sense as to why someone from Philadelphia is called to Massachusetts to solve a crime, but off he goes.
Demarkian is an ex-FBI agent who now is a consultant of some sort. He is very much an Americanized version of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple combinedwise, witty, and astute, as well as laid back. What I found very interesting was the ongoing commentary about the vapidity, the vacous, illiterate, non-talented personalities starring in the movie. There is good insight into society today and our insatiable thirst for scraps of information about the stars who are raised to near idol status by the media. Here we see all the weaknesses of these young people, unaccustomed to sudden wealth as well as the sage wisdom of a seasoned and professional actor.
If you want to find out more, you will want to read the book. And if you figure out what the title has to do with the story, please let me know.
