Mortal Friends: A Novel

What a great away to get away from all your worries - so much fun - not great literature but never boring or draggy!

Just a suggestion, do NOT start this book thinking you'll just read a little here and there. I put off everything so I could finish this book! I absolutely loved Ms. Hitchcock's previous novels, and was a little bummed to see she didn't continue on with Jo Slater, but within the first couple chapters of this book, I was thinking 'Jo who?' I really liked the main character here, Reven Lynch, even if she was a little flighty at times (especially near the end). I thought numerous times I had everything figured out, only to be completely wrong! This is not at ALL a predictable, high society whodunit. There are a few mini-stories going on all at the same time, but it's never confusing or too much...who is Cynthia Rinehart, and how exactly does she spend her money? Is the Beltway Basher someone in the upper crust of society, and how does he choose his victims? Does Reven REALLY know the people who are closest to her? Overall, I DEFINITELY recommend this. Ms. Hitchcock has a real knack for portraying an image of high society without making it seem silly and unrealistic. If you're at all interested in reading this, I say go for it, and when you've finished, pick up 'Social Crimes' and 'One Dangerous Lady', also excellent Hitchcock novels.

If you're searching for some type of Louis Auchincloss novel of manners where dust settles gently on a leather bound book as the autumn sun slips beneath the horizon or a gauzy soft-focus novella in the manner of Marina Rust's "Gatherings" populated by characters full of patrician self-loathing and ennui look elsewhere. Jane Stanton Hitchcock presents us with a "murderers row" of personalities who are all stranded at the peculiar Washington intersection of income, intellect, and influence. From the outset it is clear that each and everyone of these people is capable of murder and in dispensing with the trivialities of their individual existences she allows each one of her characters to breath down the back of your neck, take you by the hand, and brush their lips along the nape of your neck. To be sure they have issues and the first order of business on any given day in DC is establishing and protecting their territory and murder really is one of the least offensive crimes that many of the denizens of the Capitol have committed. As has been widely reported many of the characters in this book are reputed to based upon current inhabitants but to simply dismiss this novel as a lightweight beach read is a mistake for in the same manner that Joyce understood the citizens of Dublin and presented them in a less than flattering light to make a point about religion Hitchcock employs the same ruse to make a point about naked political and personal ambition. According to Hitchcock, "A lot of serial killers have accomplices" and in Washington many people have assistants. They both serve the same purpose. So take some time this summer and spend a few hours with some "Big people, doing big things, in a big way and making no excuses for it." You'll never view the rich and powerful in the same light again. If Mick Jagger had written a song about Washington instead of warning the unsuspecting not to "Bite the Big Apple" lest they "bite the maggots" he might have told them to "Throw the lid back on the capitol dome because there's a lot of rot in that pot." Shattered indeed.

...and Mortal Friends is NOT War and Peace. But, she is a good writer and Mortal Friends, like her four previous novels, is a very good read. Hitchcock writes in the first person and the protagonist in her previous three books was a women "of a certain age", prominent in New York City society. Her adventures on the social scene in NYC were interestingly played out and Hitchcock is a master at defining the ins and outs of that segment of New York high society, ie. living on the UES and active on charity boards. In her new book, Hitchcock has moved the scene to Washington DC. Her protagonist is a youngish, single woman, an owner of a Georgetown antiques store, who is active on the Washington DC social scene. Here, the merely wealthy businessmen and bankers are joined by politicians, lobbyists, and other characters unique to Washington DC. The story has a murder, several, actually, and Hitchcock gives the reader a great, and varied, supporting cast to Reven Lynch, her main character. Hitchcock is a good writer - she really is - and Mortal Friends, like her four previous novels has an easy flow to it. You'll enjoy it.

I've always loved the intrigue of Washington, DC - but never knew the initials stood for Deliciously Criminal. Jane Stanton Hitchcock is one of my most favorite authors (and yes, one of my most favorite people on the planet). Who else could conjure up a completely compelling crime story, and weave it into the treacherous social fabric of our capital city - so true to life that the rich, elegant, brilliant movers and shakers are indeed suspects in all nefarious doings? Only Hitchcock. She aims her pen at the hearts and souls of these guys - and gals - and nails it each time. If you've enjoyed Hitchcock before, you'll devour MORTAL FRIENDS. Buy a copy - then buy one for your best friend - and maybe one for a mortal enemy. Did you see Jane on the TODAY SHOW? great interview....find it on line. This book is a five-star felony.