Book Review: The Merchant of Venus

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Merchant of Venus     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Ellen Hart
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Jane Lawless # 10
St. Martin's, Feb 2001, $24.95, 384 pp.

Sisters Octavia and Cornelia Thom have not spoken to each other in eight years ever since their mother died in a car accident when the former drove drunk. Out of the blue Octavia calls Cornelia asking her to be a witness at her wedding to Roland Lester, a former Hollywood movie star. Unable to resist her sibling's pleadings, Cornelia agrees and drags her best friend, Jane Lawless, chef extraordinaire along to keep her company. Jane feels leaving Minnesota for Connecticut will do her some good since she still suffers from post trauma syndrome, the aftermath of being attacked in her own home.

When Jane and Cornelia arrive at the Connecticut mansion, they immediately sense a lot of undercurrents and tension coming from all directions, but nowhere one can pinpoint. On the day of the wedding, the groom collapses at the altar. Later the doctor pronounces Roland dead, a victim of poisoning. Someone inside his home killed the victim and Jane will not easily rest until she uncovers the identity of the culprit.

Ellen Hart is a genius when it comes to plotting a complex multi-layered story line in which each of the many subplots effortlessly tie back to the main theme. This leads to numerous suspects with clear motives for wanting Roland dead and allows the author to feed her audience a steady diet of misdirection. THE MERCHANT OF VENUS is a great mystery that rereading this and the other tales in this fabulous amateur sleuth series will ease the wait for the next book in this series.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner