Wanting Sheila Dead

Starred review from June 14, 2010
Edgar-finalist Haddam craftily leaves major clues in plain sight in her outstanding 25th mystery featuring Armenian-American detective Gregor Demarkian (after 2009's Living Witness). Demarkian, who's recently returned home to Philadelphia from his honeymoon, gets involved in two cases: the possible poisoning of a reclusive elderly neighbor and the attempted murder of repellent Sheila Dunham, the moving force behind a top-rated TV reality show, America's Next Superstar. When an unknown young woman, who's not a show contestant, tries to shoot Dunham as Dunham prepares to choose finalists for a contest from a pool of 30, Dunham's personal assistant calls in Demarkian. The puzzle deepens when a murder occurs on the very spot where Demarkian's father-in-law was killed years earlier. Haddam has few peers at misdirection, and she cleverly satirizes the reality show industry while continuing to add depth to the relationship between her lead and his wife, Bennis. Fair-play fans will be delighted by Demarkian's insights into Agatha Christie's work.

June 1, 2010

The battles on reality television lead to murder, just as you always knew they would.

Ex–FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, the Armenian-American Hercule Poirot, is back in Philadelphia from his honeymoon with longtime love Bennis. He's feeling so lackadaisical about crime-solving that he has to force himself to respond to the Very Old Ladies of Cavanaugh Street, who insist that Sophie Mgrdchian has been laid low by some strange woman who has moved into her house. Even Bennis has to prod Demarkian to investigate what's happening at the Bryn Mawr estate she hasn't set foot in since her father was murdered there ten years ago, a place her brother has rented out to a TV-reality show, America's Next Superstar, for filming. Unfortunately, one of the eliminated hopefuls has taken a pot shot at vicious, nasty-mouthed Superstar judge Sheila Dunham. While Sophie lies in a coma, the strange woman claims to be her dead brother's sister-in-law. Someone takes another shot at Sheila. That uninvited contestant is murdered. And the 13 girls vying for superstardom bicker, bicker, bicker. Using every one of the little gray cells he evidently shares with Poirot, Demarkian rouses himself from the doldrums to assign blame to a practiced scam artist and a jilted lover.

Haddam (Living Witness, 2009, etc.) gleefully satirizes reality TV and offers a well-thought-out appreciation of Agatha Christie's novels, which she lets Demarkian savor for the first time.

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July 1, 2010
The Gregor Demarkian series, well past its twentieth volume, shows no signs of lethargy or a paucity of ideas. This time the former FBI agent is asked to consult on a case involving an assault on a widely disliked reality-TV host, the murder of a young girl with the host at the time of the assault, and a cast of potential killers that would rival an Agatha Christie novel. (In fact, the book is modeled after a Christie novel, which Haddam acknowledges with the occasional allusion to Dame Agatha.) Setting a mystery in the world of reality TV is not a brand new idea, either: Ben Elton did it in 2001s Dead Famous, to name but one. But, as fans of the Demarkian novels know, Haddam isnt interested in retracing someone elses steps. Her take on reality TV, its egos and backstage battles, is fresh and entertaining, and (as usual) the mystery is sharply plotted. Eventually Haddam may have to deal with the fact that Demarkians age will prevent him from continuing to solve crimes, but lets hope thats not for a while yet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)