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Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Master Of Seacliff
by
Max Pierce
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ISBN13:
9781560236368
ISBN10:
1560236361
Condition:
Standard
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Grady
, December 27, 2006
(view all comments by Grady)
A Finely Wrought Gothic Thriller with a Contemporary Twist Max Pierce seems to be a writer to watch. He understands the fine art of mystery storytelling, finding that magic of the past great writers who doted on dark old mansions that held their secrets of murder and mayhem much like an old spinster creaking in her attic rocking chair. But Pierce introduces a taboo subject of the time in which he sets this intriguing tale (1899 in America) and in doing so refreshes his story for a new audience of Romance aficionados. He populates his engrossing yarn with handsome men (yes, and women) most of whom appear connected by their closeted sexuality!Seacliff, the name of the elegant but darkly invested mansion somewhere along the coast above New York City, hides secrets of two significant murders that happened some eight years before the story begins. The narrator is a young artist Andrew who timidly accepts the role as tutor for the son of the wealthy Duncan Stewart, the virile and powerful scion of the estate whose wife has died without an heir for Duncan (a situation remedied by a quick trip to a gypsy in Paris), replacing a young pianist who left the estate under mysterious circumstances. Gossip and secrets suggest that the murders of Duncan's father and one Albert may have been at the hand of Duncan himself, but other mysteries cloud the mansion: the daughter of the housekeepers apparently committed suicide in a leap off the cliffs when she learned of her beloved's suspicious death; her mute son remains in the household tied to cemetery visits; the butler is inordinately dour and suspicious; the neighboring estate is owned by a brother and sister - the brother being gay and the sister a bit too compassionate. Pierce slowly unveils the fact that gay relationships existed between the murdered men, the neighbor and the pianist with Duncan, and that similar forces are at work to bring the new tutor Andrew into the murky trysts. And simultaneously the true stories of the many deaths that hang in the past gradually are uncovered. It is a lot of story to condense but Pierce writes with such uncanny attention to detail and to keeping the language and atmosphere of 1899 in place that he creates a page-turning thriller that keeps the reader guessing up to the final page.Gothic horror, interrelated murders and suicides, past and present gay relationships, and exploration of a time when a staff of servants underlined the intrigue of the old mansions all make THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF and absorbing new novel. Pierce's elegant prose puts it all into perspective, keeping the sensual aspects alive but related in the tenor of the times. By the end of the novel, closing the covers, the reader satisfyingly reflects on the forbidden love affairs the walls of Seacliff had seen and how those gay trysts opened such strange events that made the discoveries of perpetrators so fascinating. Grady Harp
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Product Details
ISBN:
9781560236368
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
12/01/2006
Publisher:
HAWORTH PRESS INC
Pages:
201
Height:
6.06 in.
Width:
8.38 in.
Thickness:
.55 in.
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2007
UPC Code:
2801560236360
Author:
Max Pierce
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Ships in 1 to 3 days
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