Detective Fiction, Women Detectives - Fiction

Seaside (Lily Pascale Series #3)

Name: Seaside (Lily Pascale Series #3)
Author: Scarlett Thomas
ISBN: 9781932112092

by Scarlett Thomas

Write a review

Overview

Smart, wilfull, incautious and nearly terminally curious, Lily Pascale-university lecturer and part-time sleuth-faces her most baffling case in Seaside, when one-half of a pair of identical twins turns up dead.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

British author Thomas's compelling third Lily Pascale mystery (after 2004's In Your Face) finds the young literature professor at home on a dark and stormy night when a celebrated crime writer, Emma Winter, knocks at the door of her remote Devon cottage and offers her an ungodly sum of money to investigate the recent suicide of an 18-year-old twin. Or was the apparent suicide really murder? And which twin is dead, anyway? The suicide note is signed Laura, but the surviving twin insists that she's Laura. And why does Emma, who refuses to explain why she's interested in these twins, care? Before Lily can figure out whodunit (and who was done in), a rock star is murdered and incest is uncovered. Meanwhile, Lily is increasingly tempted to chuck her university job and take up detecting full time. Then there's the handsome American screenwriter who's just moved in next door. This novel of mixed-up identities, murder and malice sizzles. Agent, Simon Trewin at Peters, Fraser & Dunlap (U.K.). (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

Which beautiful twin is dead, and was it murder or suicide? Bubbly Devon literary lecturer Lily Pascale gets an unexpected visit from famed mystery writer Emma Winter and an even more unexpected proposition. Emma offers Lily, who's gained a reputation of late as an amateur sleuth (In Your Face, 2004, etc.), a huge sum to investigate a local crime. Beautiful young Laura Carter has apparently committed suicide, leaving a note. But her surviving identical twin, who should be shy Alex, claims that she is actually Laura. Lily begins her probe by checking into the seaside hotel the twins inherited from their parents, killed in a car accident when Stan, a family enemy, cut their brake wires. Stan is in prison, but his wife Sylvia pops up from time to time to make trouble. Many people-Laura's wheelchair-bound elder brother Tim, her boyfriend Kurt and her dance teacher Cornelia, for starters-are certain of the surviving twin's identity, but they don't all agree. Then Kurt's murder raises the stakes and introduces creepy police detective Ian Nagy. The plot thickens when Lily learns that Emma is the twins' mother and Tim is arrested for Kurt's murder. On the personal front, the seriously mixed signals she's getting from an American screenwriter give Lily typically tumultuous love woes. This buoyant chick-lit mystery boasts crowds of droll characters and moves like lightning. Even traditionalists should smile.