A Conventional Corpse Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

A Conventional Corpse Book

When Farberville, Arkansas, plays host to its first-ever mystery convention--Murder Comes to Campus--local bookseller Claire Malloy finds herself in the midst of barely controlled mayhem. Bad enough that she is surrounded by peevishly capricious authors; bad enough that Roxanne Small, renowned (and feared) mystery editor, arrives unexpectedly, to the disgruntlement of said authors. But add in the news that Claire's amour, police detective Peter Rosen, has decided to do a little propagating of the species--with his ex-wife--well, all things considered, Claire would rather be in Philadelphia. Or just about anywhere without temperamental authors, irritable teenage daughters who have mastered the art of Speaking in Capital Letters, and sudden death. But when one of the convention attendees dies in a suspicious accident, and Roxanne Small turns up at the bottom of a cistern with a severe case of shattered skull, Claire decides that selling books to rabid fans takes second place to ferreting out the unlovely skeletons in the publishing world's closet. A Conventional Corpse finds Claire in typically acerbic form; Joan Hess is a master at presenting a decidedly cockeyed world in precise and amusing language. Claire's opinion of her glibly sarcastic daughter is typical: "Two years until I could pack her off to college, I reminded myself as I closed her door. Or perhaps I could surreptitiously sign her up for the Peace Corps and arrange an assignment to a country in which headhunting was still a popular sport. Or leave her in a basket at the door of a convent in a newly autonomized country such as Azerbaijan--sans passport." This is the tone that has won Hess many fans, but every character, unfortunately, sounds exactly alike: detectives, authors, innkeepers, vagrants--they all speak in the same voice. The overall effect is one of limited imagination. In addition, the denouement will leave many readers perplexed, renouncing as it does the constraints of logic, motive, and probability. Claire Malloy fans, though, will more than likely be pleased enough with the return of their favorite bookseller to read in a forgiving frame of mind. --Kelly Flynn Read More

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  • Product Description

    Farberville, Arkansas is playing to host to its first ever mystery convention with five major mystery writers - each representing a different sub-genre in the mystery world - making the trek to the local college for Murder Comes to Campus. Bookseller Claire Malloy is looking forward to meeting some of her favorite writers and, of course, selling books to the attendees. But her plans for a calm, profitable weekend are soon laid to waste when the original organizer is hospitalized and Claire is dragooned into running the show. Finding herself in the midst of barely controlled chaos, Claire has to deal with five writers, each with a distinct set of idiosyncrasies and difficulties (including one who arrives with Wimple, her crime-solving cat, in tow). To make matters worse, the feared, distrusted, and disliked mystery editor of Paradigm House, Roxanne Small, puts in a unscheduled appearance at the conference to the surprise of all and the delight of few. With Claire's own love-life woes with local police detective Peter Rosen added in, things have never been worse.

    Until things get worse. One of the conference attendees dies in a car accident, Wimple-the-cat disappears from Claire's home and now cannot be located, and Roxanne Small is no where to be found - making it evident that in Farberville the murder mystery is more than a literary genre.

  • 0312246625
  • 9780312246624
  • Joan Hess
  • 1 June 2000
  • Minotaur Books
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 288
  • First Edition
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