|
|
nj-classifieds.net - Death Vows (Donald Strachey Mystery)
nj-classifieds.net is the where to go for the great discount prices on hundreds of
leading worldwide brands. Our catalog is large and updated frequently with products that you want.
With thousands of products, you are sure to find what you are looking for.
Why pay regular prices when you can buy discount items
online from nj-classifieds.net? To start browsing our catalog, click on one of our categories on the menu
on the left under the section marked "Products", or use our search utility on the top menu to search using keywords.
|
List Price: $14.99
Our Price: $12.14
Your Save: $ 2.85 ( 19% )
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
Manufacturer: mlr press
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781934531334
ISBN: 1934531332
Label: mlr press
Manufacturer: mlr press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 212
Publication Date: 2008-08-01
Publisher: mlr press
Studio: mlr press
|
|
Buy this item today
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Strachey is Back
Comment: Stevenson, Richard. "Death Vows: A Donald Strachey Mystery", MLR, 2008.
Strachey is Back
Amos Lassen
Richard Stevenson takes on the issue of gay marriage in the new Donald Strachey mystery, "Death Vows". Set in 2008 in western Massachusetts, a thriving GLBT community now embraces the state's legal endorsement of gay marriage. However the rest of the population is not so happy about it and some of the old guard is even willing to use violence against the gay community.
Strachey who is based in Albany, New York is taken to the Berkshires where his friend Bill Moore us set to marry his lover, Barry Fields. Some of Bill's friends hire Strachey to do a background check on Fields to see if he is honest. It happens that neither Bill nor Barry have a past--at least before six years prior. It was Jim and Steven who brought Strachey to the area and it turns out that they were not friends of Bill. The opposite is the truth. Strachey was ready to call the whole thing off when Jim turns up dead, a day after he had been assaulted by Barry in the local grocery store. Quite naturally, Barry is the chief suspect in the death and the district attorney sees the entire business as an open and shut case. It is election time soon and he wants to keep his job so he does not want anyone messing with the facts.
Now Bill hires Strachey to prove that Barry is innocent but neither Bill nor Barry are willing to talk about their past lives. As Strachey investigates, things get very complicated and messy and Jim's death appears to be a hit from the mob. Quite expectedly, violence ensues.
This reads like a novel of secrets and Strachey has to use creativity to find a motive and a suspect for the murder. To say any more would spoil the read. This is Stevenson's ninth in the Donald Strachey series and this is first after a five year hiatus. I hope we don't have to wait another five years for the next.
Stevenson knows how to write and he does so well and this book is another one that is a must read.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: An unexpected but welcome updated addition to the series, but seems a bit rushed.
Comment: The Berkshire Mountain resort area in Massachusetts is the temporary workplace for Albany Private Investigator Donald Strachey, who is hired by the older boyfriend of a young gay man who has been arrested for murdering an older gay man, who previously had hired Strachey to dig up some "dirt" on the young man to discourage their impending wedding. With much of the life of the deceased and the alleged killer, as well as man who hired him, all seeming to be among the many secrets kept in this small town, Donald has to get very creative to try to find another suspect or any motive for the killing. Standing in his way is the tough, local District Attorney, running for re-election, who is relying on a previous altercation between the two men at a grocery store (The young man threw a wheel of cheese) as all he needs for a conviction. The investigation brings out an apparent Mob connection, the past from which the young man has been trying to distance himself, and questions about the possible involvement of a former federal agent.
This is the ninth in the series of Donald Strachey books by the author (I have read them all), and the first in five long years. In the interim, Here!TV had made several of the earlier titles into made-for-gay-cable films, and my guess is that this unexpected addition to the series is to provide a more modern storyline (featuring gay marriages) that is tailor-made for such a screenplay. Unfortunately, it seems more like an embellished outline for such a story, coming in just under 200 pages, lacking the meticulous story and character development I remember in earlier books. Like a welcome, but all too brief, visit from old friends you would have liked to have stayed longer. With hopes that any future installments are written for your readers, not just the screenwriter, I'll still call it four stars out of five.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must for dectective mystery readers
Comment: As always stevenson keeps you on the edge of your seat and a good laugh every so often. Its got murder, mayhem, love, and controversy. All in all a great read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sloppy Presentation of Solid Entertaining Mystery
Comment: This review is of the Kindle version of Richard Stevenson's DEATH VOWS that seems to be no longer available in anything but paperback.
Which is all for the better. I hope, not having read the paperback version.
The version of the book that I downloaded in early November 2008 is hopelessly incompetent. It appears that some type script was scanned and then NOT proof read leaving many places where the text is garbled, filled with nonsense, and even omitting key words thus destroying sense. It was only because I enjoyed Stevenson's work as much as I did that I got through the mess.
My point here is that Kindle is newish technology and one expects glitches. But. A big but. There is no damned reason why the publisher of the book can't do the kind of work that the audience has come to expect in the printed versions. No self-respecting publisher would ever present to the public the kind of mess in which this edition is presented for sale and enjoyment. There is no excuse for Amazon or the publisher or whoever is responsible for this situation to avoid its (their) basic editorial responsibility.
This is after all literature. The kind of of condition this version of DEATH VOWS is displayed in is unacceptable no matter what price is charged.
I think that Amazon needs to take a look at the quality of editorial work in many of the books they are selling via Kindle. Don't misundertand, pleease. I love the Kindle technology -- it means I can read more easily despite significant vision problems. But almost all the books I have purchased have some sort of scanning jibberish or other editorial malfunctions that get in the way of enjoyment of the work being read. This is not necessary. If those responsible can do a proper job of editing in hard copy, they damned well can do it electronically.
This is my first review and I am sorry it is a negative one but hopefully Amazon and its partners will get its act together.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Death Vows
Comment: Gay PI Donald Strachey is reluctant when two men want to hire him to investigate the fiancée of a friend of theirs, but he agrees to take the case. He soon discovers no one is who they seem to be, not even his clients. Although he tries to extracat himself from the situation, Donald finds himself drawn back in when one of his former clients is murdered, and the man he was investigating is implicated. Can Donald figure out who really murdered the victim before it's too late?
Death Vows is the second Donald Strachey mystery I've read, and I really enjoyed it. Strachey is a fascinating character. In Death Vows, he seems to have settled into his life somewhat, especially when it comes to his lover Timothy Callahan. Fortunately, he still has the same sarcastic sense of humor and strong yet ambiguous convictions. Sometimes his desire to make a living conflicts with his desire to do what's right, but he always makes the right decision--eventually. Secondary characters, including Timothy, various clients and suspects, and contacts of Strachey's are colorful and interesting. The mystery itself kept me guessing and turning pages. While I would have liked to have seen more of Timothy in Death Vows, it's an entertaining installment to the Donald Strachey series. Readers who enjoy quirky characters and interesting, unusual mystery plots should not hesitate to pick up Death Vows.
Cassie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
|
Gay marriage in Massachusetts is a fine institution------except when it leads to murder, as it does in this taut, suspenseful Don Strachey private eye novel, the ninth in the classic series. Strachey and his loving foil, Timothy Callahan, are back in perfect form in this witty, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
