Synopses & Reviews
Madeline Dare would be the first to tell you her money is so old there's none left. A former socialite from an aristocratic family in decline, Maddie is a tough-talking, would-be journalist exiled to the rust belt of upstate New York. Her prospects for changing her dreary lifestyle seem dim until a set of dog tags found at a decades-old murder site is linked to her family.
Shocked into action, Maddie embarks on a search that takes her from the derelict smokestacks of Syracuse to the posh mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast. But instead of the warm refuge of home, this prodigal daughter soon uncovers dark, sinister secrets that will violently challenge everything she believes in and holds dear.
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"This is sure to be loved by fans of comic mysteries, but don't be surprised if Tom Wolfe readers are equally smitten by Read's venomously witty portrait of a fallen WASP." Booklist (Starred Review)
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"Read's sensational debut features spot-on descriptions of upstate-downstate conflicts, strong characterizations and a fascinating plot." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
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"First-time novelist Cornelia Read makes a rousing foray into the genre....Readers will eagerly anticipate Read's next novel." South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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"Read is a natural, fluent storyteller....A Field of Darkness will please both mystery and literary fiction readers." Cleveland Plain Dealer
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"With her hysterically funny dialog and inspired views on life, Read is a delight." Library Journal
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"Sparks seem to fly off the pages of Cornelia Read's A Field of Darkness, a stylishly written debut novel...powered by a sensational narrator's voice and lively characterizations....Read is a big talent."
The Boston Globe
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"The mystery component is slender and too attenuated to be suspenseful, but the clipped accents of Madeline's sardonic voice keep calling us back..." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
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"[S]heer joy, complete with cutting prose and gleefully off-kilter pop culture references....Just like her book, Cornelia Read is starting out her career as a novelist like a house afire." BookReporter.com
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"Intense, creepy, and wonderfully erudite." Laura Lippman, author of To the Power of Three
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"Completely captivating wry, knowing, hip, intelligent, exciting. A brand new voice that's entirely convincing straight out of the gate. One of the best debuts I've ever seen." Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of One Shot and The Hard Way
Synopsis
A tough-talking, shotgun-toting debutante gets in over her head investigating a pair of cold case murders in this assured, thrilling first novel.
Synopsis
Madeline Dare isn't your average detective. Born into a blue-blood family, she followed her heart to marry ruggedly handsome Dean, a farmboy-genius investor who's as far from high society as humanly possible. Now Maddie's stuck in the post-industrial wasteland of Syracuse, New York, while her husband spends weeks on the road perfecting the railway equipment innovation that might be their only chance to escape. She can handle churning out lightweight features for the local paper--it's the Dean-less nights in their dingy, WASP-castoff-crammed apartment that Maddie can't stomach. Obsession trumps angst when a set of long-buried dog tags link her favorite cousin to the scene of a vicious double homicide. Drawn by the desire to clear her cousin's name, Maddie uncovers a startling web of intrigue and family secrets that could prove even more deadly.
About the Author
Cornelia Read lives in Berkeley, California.