Feast of Murder

The story opens with "The Death of Donald MacAdam", familiar with readers of NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING through his involvement with Bobby Hannaford's ill-planned financial shenanigans. MacAdam's now famous as the man who'll send most of the rest of his generation of Main Line financiers to jail after agreeing to testify. Now a pariah in the financial community, he's just had his contract bought out by Baird Financial (although it's being run from the inside by Bobby's soon-to-be-released cellmate, Jonathan Baird). Then somebody decided to be rid of MacAdam permanently, by way of a little strychnine - not in his cocaine, which would've passed for stupidity on his part, but by means unknown. MacAdam's death is one of two murders in the story, and is introduced with a lot of emphasis, but then fades from view for an extended period, which gives the story a lumpy feel. The main story doesn't pursue any investigation of the death of Donald MacAdam, in fact, but a subsequent coming-home/Thanksgiving celebration by Baird after his release: a little trip on the PILGRIMAGE GREEN, Baird's personal replica of the MAYFLOWER, complete with dysfunctional family, business partners, and one Gregor Demarkian and his sidekick Bennis. Thanksgiving, a time for families to get together with an emphasis on the dinner table, seems tailor-made for Cavanaugh Street, with its family atmosphere and deeply held belief in feeding widowers like Gregor and Tibor who can't be trusted with coffeemakers. Unfortunately, whenever the good ladies of Cavanaugh Street get together they try to matchmake as well as cook, so Gregor and Bennis opt out this year by accepting Baird's invitation to spend Thanksgiving aboard the PILGRIMAGE GREEN, supposedly to investigate leaks at Baird Financial. The firm's security isn't the only thing with weaknesses in it. Baird's also invited: - his son Tony (about to switch from "finding himself" to working at Baird Financial, if he can pass scrutiny in a tough regulatory atmosphere) - his brother Calvin, business partner (too detail-oriented to succeed professionally) - Charlie Shay, business partner (whose capacity for details is confined to crosswords) - Jon's trophy wife Sheila - Jon's ex-wife Fritzie (amazing what a woman will agree to when her ex controls her income) - Jon's nephew Mark Anderwahl, whose success depends on his wife's professional contributions - Julie Anderwahl, head of PR, coping with an unexpected complication to the life of the dual career couple Baird says early on, "What is it about me, my wives aren't unfaithful with other men, they're unfaithful with credit cards and diet programs". Most of this dysfunctional family are emotionally barren and obsessed with image, just in different ways. Sheila is a typical Haddam-style trophy wife, concentrating on material possessions, emotionally uninvolved with her husband except as he affects her public image. Fritzie, suffering from an eating disorder, doesn't have enough energy