Merchant of Venus

This is Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless's tenth mystery outing, and the novels keep getting increasingly complex, not to mention more intricately plotted. Jane is still recovering from injuries suffered the previous fall when she was nearly killed, and in this book, she is more vulnerable than she has ever been in any of the previous books. She and her best buddy, Cordelia, travel to upstate Connecticut to an old mansion, Innishannon, to attend the wedding of Cordelia's estranged sister, Octavia, a stage actress who caught the attention of the living legend, Roland Lester. He's an 82-year-old movie director, a millionaire, and a man with multiple secrets including one that goes all the way back to 1957 when his best friend and purported lover, Lew Wallace, was shot in a murder that was never solved. Is this the kind of man Octavia should be marrying? Can Cordelia and Octavia put aside eight years worth of differences and reconcile? And what about the zany cast of characters rattling around at Innishannon? Roland's brother, a grand-niece, Lew Wallace's son, the housekeeper, and a documentary filmmaker on site all have their own secrets to hide, too. Soon enough, there are more killings, and it is unclear whether they are connected to the past murders or not. I loved the references to the movies. Hart has taken the time to flesh out a mix of made up characters with the real-life stories about Hollywood legends such as Loretta Young, John Wayne, Clark Gable, George Cukor, and many more. Along with that, Cordelia's humor-and even Jane's occasional wry sense of humor-was entertaining. It didn't make for laugh-out-loud yucks, but Cordelia's exaggeration and her sparring with her sister had this reviewer grinning fairly regularly.For readers who have followed the Lawless mysteries since their 1989 inception, Hart continues to build upon the relationships and storylines from the previous nine books, but anyone could pick this novel up, read it out of order, and still be perfectly at home in the world that Hart creates. Highly recommended for all lovers of mystery, and especially for those who enjoy sub-plots of growth and change for the main character along the lines of fiction by Nevada Barr, Carolyn Wheat, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller. ~Lori L. Lake, reviewer for Midwest Book Review and author of Gun Shy, Under The Gun, Different Dress, Ricochet In Time, and Stepping Out: Short Stories.

There is not a book in the Jane Lawless series that I do not like and they keep getting better.

This may be the best mystery yet in the Jane Lawless series. The creepy setting, conflicted characters & dead-on summation of the 50's political witchhunts in Hollywood make for a great read. The only problem -- the book is thick with misspelled words, some of them so bad they're laughable. It's the worst case I've seen in 40 some years of reading. Here's hoping the publisher clears these up when the paperback version is issued.

When I walked into my local bookstore the other night, I found Merchant of Venus on the front table. I couldn't resist. Hart is a writer I always enjoy, but this book far exceeded my expectations. The old Hollywood setting was suberbly drawn. I devoured the book whole, relishing every gossipy detail. The business about Gone With the Wind was fascinating, and so was the sexual politics -- gay Hollywood, the Hollywood nobody ever talks about. Jane has become more real to me with each book, and Cordelia is, as always, priceless, especially when in the same room with her theatrical sister, Octavia. Innishannon, the huge old mansion in Connecticut where Jane and Cordelia spend Christmas, was as atmospheric to me as Manderlay. Simply put, this book was marvelous (unlike Hunting the Witch, which I thought was okay, but not up to Hart's usual standards.) I couldn't recommend The Merhcant of Venus more highly.

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 extraodinaire 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