No Harm - Softcover

Hornsby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 037326030X ISBN 13: 9780373260300

Publisher: Worldwide Library, 1989

Synopsis

After Kate's wealthy mother dies from injuries sustained in an apparent mugging, Kate inherits her mother's fortune and valuable Southern California real estate, but when mysterious accidents threaten Kate's life, police lieutenant Roger Tejeda suspects foul play

About this title

About the Author:

Wendy Hornsby (1947 - ) is a native of Southern California, the setting for her nine mystery novels. Among the awards she has received for her work are the Edgar Allan Poe Award (the "Edgar") and its French equivalent le Grand Prix de litterature policiere, as well as nominations for the Anthony Award and the Prix Du Roman D'Adventures. While a NPR interviewer described the author as a "soft-spoken college professor," critics have described her work as "refreshing [and] real" (NY Times), "unusually poignant" (LA Times), and "powerful writing and... equally thought-provoking story" (Publisher's Weekly). The Cleveland Plain Dealer declared, "No mystery novelist since Raymond Chandler may have captured downtown Los Angeles as Hornsby does."

Hornsby lives in Long Beach CA, where she teaches history at a local college.

From Publishers Weekly:

This tightly controlled first mystery novel is set in the California oceanside town of Santa Angelica, where the mugging death of wealthy widow Margaret Byrd sets off shock waves that reach to the highest level of the city's bureaucracy. Part of Margaret's estate, an invaluable and as yet undeveloped stretch of beachfront, now reverts to her daughter Kate, an outspoken professor of history who feels that her mother's death was not a random killing but a pemeditated murder by a member of Kate's own eccentric family, who covet the highly desirable property. When an attempt is made on Kate's life, she intensifies her investigations (aided by charmingly protective Lieutenant Roger Tejeda) and reveals a whole closetful of family skeletons, including an imprisonment for stock market swindles, abortions ending in death and strong evidence of one or more illegitimate offspring who may now be trying to claim their inheritance. A rich jumble of well-defined relatives helps search for the killer, including elderly but stalwart Uncle Dolph and Aunt Mina, who reveal vital keys to elusive family history. Meanwhile, Esperanza, the staunchly loyal family maid, does her best to conceal everything. And Kate's ex-husband Carl, a shrewd attorney, lends an appropriately sinister note. Only the melodramatic ending mars this fine novel. Troll Book Club selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Worldwide Library
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 037326030X
• ISBN 13: 9780373260300
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 217