The Gregor Demarkian Mysteries Series
By Jane Haddam
3.5/5
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About this series
As a hurricane bears down on Bellerton, North Carolina, Zhondra Meyer opens her gates to the townsfolk. Her farm occupies the area’s highest ground, but the locals are wary of accepting her invitation. Zhondra says her camp is nothing more than a retreat for battered women, but the town’s evangelicals believe that her residents are lesbians, occultists, or, worst of all, satanists—a fear seemingly confirmed when an infant is found ritualistically slaughtered. Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian might have experience solving religious murders, but he’s never dealt with satanism. Invited by his friend David, one of America’s most prominent atheists, to investigate the murder, Gregor keeps an open mind. What he finds in Bellerton shows that even the most pious Christians are capable of hellish deeds.
Titles in the series (3)
- Deadly Beloved
A gated Philadelphia suburb is home to a shocking murder in this mystery featuring Armenian-American ex-FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. Fox Run Hill is the kind of place that men move to with their second wives, but Patsy MacLaren Willis has been married to Stephen, her first husband, for twenty-two years. Though outwardly happy, Patsy feels disconnected, hating their empty life. To wrench herself free, she shoots Stephen three times and leaves him dead in their bed. Calmly, she drives away and disappears. While investigating the case, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian finds that every wife in Fox Run Hill has good reason to kill her husband—except for Patsy. It’s well-known that suburbanites lead lives of quiet desperation, but the families in Fox Run Hill are more desperate than any Demarkian has ever seen.
- And One to Die On
A silent screen star dies at her 100th birthday party—and it’s not from natural causes—in this mystery from a multiple Edgar Award finalist. Actress Tasheba Kent was famous before movies could talk, and stayed that way well after the silent era died. When her sister took a mysterious plunge off a cliff, the silver-screen beauty turned tragedy into scandal by running off with her bereaved brother-in-law. To escape the outraged press, they retreated to a rocky island off the cost of Maine. Decades later, Tash remains a symbol of Golden Age beauty, but she is about to become a murder victim. To celebrate her hundredth birthday, Tash invites the press, some fans, and ex-FBI agent Gregor Demarkian to her island for a memorabilia auction. When their host dies from a brutal blow to the head, the group flies into a panic. Though cut off from the mainland, Demarkian will catch Tash’s killer with enough panache to make any screen siren proud.
- Baptism in Blood
An infant’s death draws a former FBI agent to a strange Southern town in this mystery by an Edgar Award–nominated author. As a hurricane bears down on Bellerton, North Carolina, Zhondra Meyer opens her gates to the townsfolk. Her farm occupies the area’s highest ground, but the locals are wary of accepting her invitation. Zhondra says her camp is nothing more than a retreat for battered women, but the town’s evangelicals believe that her residents are lesbians, occultists, or, worst of all, satanists—a fear seemingly confirmed when an infant is found ritualistically slaughtered. Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian might have experience solving religious murders, but he’s never dealt with satanism. Invited by his friend David, one of America’s most prominent atheists, to investigate the murder, Gregor keeps an open mind. What he finds in Bellerton shows that even the most pious Christians are capable of hellish deeds.
Jane Haddam
Jane Haddam (1951–2019) was an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. This mystery introduced Patience McKenna, a sleuthing scribe who would go on to appear in four more books, including Wicked, Loving Murder (1985) and Rich, Radiant Slaughter (1988). Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. The series spans more than twenty novels, many of them holiday-themed, including Murder Superior (1993), Fountain of Death (1995), and Wanting Sheila Dead (2005). Haddam’s later novels include Blood in the Water (2012) and Hearts of Sand (2013).
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