The Last Refuge

May 14, 2012
In Talley’s lively 11th Hannah Ives mystery (after 2011’s A Quiet Death), Hannah agrees to participate in a new reality show, Patriot House, 1774, which recreates 18th-century colonial life in Annapolis, Md. While Hannah adjusts to living without iPhones, electricity, or toothpaste, her on-set lady’s maid, Amy Cornell, confronts a more serious issue: a text message from her Navy SEAL husband, Drew, who supposedly died in a mission 10 months earlier. Drew is very much alive, as Hannah learns when he shows up at the house. After Amy’s new romantic interest, Alex Mueller, is murdered, Hannah must act fast to protect herself and Amy from a killer, possibly Drew, whose schemes go beyond mere murder. Talley makes the most of a large supporting cast, all of whom come across as distinct individuals. The clever setup and appealing lead more than compensate for the lack of genuine thrills and a rushed denouement. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency.

July 15, 2012
Hannah Ives (A Quiet Death, 2011, etc.) agrees to wear a wig and a farthingale for three months. LynxE TV is in a bind. Patriot House, 1774, a reality show they're about to start filming, has lost its leading lady to illness. Would Hannah, who lives just two blocks away from the William Paca colonial mansion, where the show is shot, agree to act as the other lead's sister-in-law for the three months of shooting? The perks include no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no contact with anyone but cast members and 24/7 cameras following every move. The sweetener would be a $15,000 stipend and a $75,000 donation to the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Leaving her husband Paul to his own devices, Hannah moves into the Paca house, where she cavorts with people playing a wealthy merchant, his children, a tutor, a dance master, indentured servants, and her lady's maid. That would be Amy, the young widow of a Navy SEAL who died in a government-sanctioned raid. Or did he? Now romancing the dancing master, Amy is none too pleased when her husband returns from the dead and wants her to collect his life insurance, then run off to Argentina with him using disguises and aliases. The problem of how to deal with the dancing master is settled when Hannah finds him dead in the springhouse where the family provisions are stored. Hannah sneaks messages past the production crew to Paul asking for help, which arrives punctually just as she's being throttled at the show's big finale at the State House ball. The crimes are definitely secondary to the tidbits about colonial Annapolis. Most readers will feel Hannah's pain at the era's lack of shampoo and toothpaste.

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July 1, 2012

Hannah (A Quiet Death) jumps into a history-based reality TV gig but gets involved in a decidedly contemporary investigation when a cast member is murdered on the closed set. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/12.]

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
When Hannah Ives joins the reality show Patriot House, 1774, as a last-minute replacement for a sick cast member, she agrees to live as those who lived in colonial timesno electricity, cell phones, etc. The cast will reside at the William Paca House for three months, being filmed the entire time. When her lady's maid on the show, Amy Cornell, receives a message from her husband, Drew, a Navy SEAL who died months ago during a mission, Hannah becomes involved in the mystery. Then Hannah finds dancing master Alex Mueller dead in the spring house, and the show takes on a new level of reality. While the killer is never in doubt, Talley builds plenty of suspense along the way. The story is rich in the details of daily life in colonial times as well as at the present-day Naval Academy, where Hannah's husband teaches. Likable Hannah is a sympathetic character who holds the cast of Patriot House and this premise-driven tale together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)