Perdition House

May 5, 2003
Perhaps only a Southerner would credit the claim of kinship from a "half fifth cousin," especially one whose introductory phone call comes from the county jail where she's charged with vagrancy. But Lydia Baynard Simpson Tanner, better known as "Bay," does, with serious consequences, in Wall's third Low Country (South Carolina) mystery (after 2002's And Not a Penny More). With a rich family history and some wealth to go with it, Bay is still coming to terms with her husband's murder. Bay and her father, retired judge Talbot Simpson, and Erik Whiteside, a young computer whiz, operate Simpson & Tanner Inquiry Agents, a kind of quasi-detective agency. Bay's "shirttail" cousin, Mercer Mary Prescott, comes with a lot of baggage, baggage that will endanger them all. Abandoned by her mother, raised by foster parents, married (maybe) at a young age to a violent man, Mercer is a powder keg. Bay will make some surprising discoveries about the family tree and find some unexpected strengths in some of its members. Wall nicely blends the manners and mores of the aristocratic Southern tradition with more modern sensibilities, creating in Bay Tanner a woman who's equally at home in the tea room or out jogging. Despite a somewhat sprawling plot and less than scintillating prose, fans of cozier regional mysteries will be well pleased.

June 1, 2003
Widowed series sleuth Lydia "Bay" Tanner, who comes from an old Southern family, is surprised when distant cousin Mercer Mary Prescott lands in the local jail. Bay's father, the Judge, arranges for Mercer's release, but she winds up in jail again and then escapes. Meanwhile, someone batters Bay's housekeeper, and Mercer's angry husband threatens Bay. Armed with few clues, Bay tracks Mercer as she passes the Savannah River site (where Mercer's protests first got her in trouble) and the nearby police with an ominous body bag. Deeply rooted sense of place, memorable characters, increasingly complicated plot, and fine prose recommend this highly.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2003
In her third adventure, widowed former accountant Bay Tanner bails her unknown distant cousin Mercer Mary Prescott out of jail and brings her to her father's coastal South Carolina mansion. Later, Mercer is rearrested for trespassing and destruction of federal property stemming from an antinuclear demonstration she attended. While being returned to Columbia, South Carolina, Mercer ingeniously escapes, leading Bay on a chase to find her wayward cousin. Bay realizes Mercer is involved in something far more serious than participating in a peaceful demonstration when her housekeeper is brutally attacked and Bay herself is almost assaulted. Molded by her privileged background, the uncomfortable relationship she had with her now-deceased mother, and her husband's recent murder, Bay is a strong, likable character, and the first-person point of view lends immediacy to a fast-paced story filled with fascinating plot twists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)