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| Plot Summary of Last Lessons of Summer |
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Mysterious, Sep 2003, 23.95, 320 pp.
ISBN: 0892967803
Manhattan based Pink and Blue and Max Enterprises executive Amy Steadman returns to her North Carolina home following the murder of her grandmother, Frances Barbour. Amy inherits a fortune with the death of her maternal relative. She and her half-sister Beth clean out Frances's summer home, a place where her mother committed suicide when Amy was three.
Amy struggles with her two immediate female ancestors dying violent deaths. She needs to know who killed her granny and what circumstances led her mother to kill herself. She begins asking questions of her gentle visiting kin (use the family tree page to keep track). Soon one of these kind relatives poisons a cousin and tries to do likewise to Amy. Who amongst her amiable family is a murderer?
LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER is a tremendous regional who done it that will provide much pleasure to sub-genre fans. The story line is brilliantly executed providing readers with a host of suspects, plenty of red herrings (and preserves) and a powerful climax. The dialect takes some getting used to for those not from the Piedmont, but worth the time as Margaret Maron writes a powerhouse of a tale that will provide the author with numerous award nominations.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"Amy Steadman is an executive of a family owned merchandising and publishing company, and has inherited her murdered grandmother's shares of the company which give her the controlling interest. She shows no interest in running the company, her concerns are with the unsolved murder of her grandmother, the suicide of her mother when Amy was three years old, her father's infidelities and the possibility that now her husband is straying also.
The property her grandmother lived on before her murder is also owned by two other family members of Amy's grandfather, and the money for its sale is more important to them. Her grandmother had been holding out, and Amy has decided to sell. She journeys south to NC to sign final papers and clean out the house. Here the details surrounding the murder of her grandmother lead to more disturbing questions about the validity of her mother having actually taken her own life. When certain facts about her grandmother's murder is revealed to a cousin, who is then murdered, Amy finds out that she may be next on the murderer's list."
Patg, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Last Lessons of Summer |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 35%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 35%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 70%
- 80%
Special suspect?
- relative
Murder of certain profession?
- "All in the family" murder
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- "All in the family" murder
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- feelings towards family/friends
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
- an organization
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- homemaker
- farmer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- jealousy
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 2
- 3-4
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Margaret Maron Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Patg
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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