DYING FOR MERCY

Author: Mary Jane Clark ISBN: 9780061286124 9/2010 THRILLER Publisher: AVON

When death shatters the serenity of the exclusive moneyed enclave of Tuxedo Park, New York, Eliza Blake, co-host of KEY to America, is on the scene. While attending a lavish gala at her friends' newly renovated estate, Pentimento, Eliza's host is found dead a grotesque suicide that is the first act in a macabre and intricately conceived plan to expose sins of the past involving some of the town's most revered citizens. Determined to find the truth, Eliza and her KEY News colleagues discover that Pentimento holds the key. The glorious mansion is actually a giant "puzzle house", filled with ingenious clues that lead them, one by one, to the victims of a fiendish killer. As Pentimento gives up its secrets it becomes clear that no amount of wealth or privilege will keep the residents of Tuxedo Park safe. But just when she unearths one final surprise, Eliza comes face to face with a murderer who believes that some puzzles should never be solved.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Mary Jane Clark returns with another staccato thriller featuring journalist Eliza Blake. This one echoes the popularity of Dan Brown with its focus on religious imagery as a basis for the mystery.

Innis Wheelock is a powerful man, the strength behind his wife’s successful history as former governor of New York and ambassador to Italy. But in Italy, he becomes obsessed with St. Francis of Assisi and the stigmata the saint carried in his last years of life.  He goes to great lengths to create a puzzle that will reveal the darkest secret of his past, then commits suicide by stigmata.

As usual, the story is missing some psychological depth that would allow us to understand the characters and their actions, but also as usual, Clark’s story is a riveting, satisfying read nonetheless. I wish the mansion Pentimento had a larger role in the story, but Tuxedo Park, the neighborhood featured, is definitely a character in its own right.

Clark’s novels can be read as standalones, though this is the fifth or so featuring Eliza Blake and relationships have developed out of previous stories featuring her. If you need an engrossing and fast-paced set of novels to engage you this fall, I do recommend her backlist, as well as this novel.

Heather Hiestand