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Jane Haddam
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A Great Day for the Deadly Paperback – February 1, 1992

by Jane Haddam (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 113 ratings
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On the eve of St. Patrick's Day in a small upstate New York town, a young nun in training is murdered, and former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian must investigate the crime. Original.
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Previous page
  1. Book 5 of 30
    The Gregor Demarkian Mysteries
  2. Print length
    288 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Crimeline
  5. Publication date
    February 1, 1992
  6. Dimensions
    4.25 x 1 x 7 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0553293885
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0553293883
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, last seen in Haddam's Halloween mystery, Quoth the Raven , takes on a new and engrossing murder case in time for St. Patrick's Day. Duty in the form of an anxious John Cardinal O'Bannion beckons Demarkian to Maryville, N.Y., where aspiring nun Brigit Ann Reilly has been found dead during a furious rainstorm, her corpse covered with water moccasins. Demarkian's expertise with poison is put to use as he determines that Brigit's death was caused by hemlock rather than snakebite and that the snakes were merely snuggling up to her body for warmth; however, he is perplexed because water moccasins are not indigenous to the North. Suspicion falls upon the owners of local menageries--Sam Harrigan, an actor who escapes media attention by living in Maryville, and Josh Malley, the restless 25-year-old kept man of 62-year-old bank owner Miriam Bailey. Josh's affair with a younger woman, a glitch in the bank's computer system, a threatening letter sent to the motherhouse of the Sisters of Divine Grace and the victim's melodramatic affection for secretive people all come into play in this lucid and enjoyable yarn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crimeline; 0 edition (February 1, 1992)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553293885
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553293883
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 1 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 113 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Jane Haddam

    Jane Haddam

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    Jane Haddam (b. 1951) is an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, a series that spans more than twenty novels.

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  2. Jane Haddam

    Jane Haddam

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
113 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Ellen Rappaport
5.0 out of 5 stars Happy Reading.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
A Great Day for the Deadly (Gregor Demarkian #5) by Jane Haddam. Kindle

It was such a welcoming home for me to be reading another Demarkian book after a too long an absence. I've read all the Demarkina books except for most of the holiday books. This story centers on St. Patrick's Day. It has Demarkian involved with the Catholic Church and the hierarchy including nuns in a convent. Characters I remember from prior books with the one exception that Demarkian was alone and out of his usual environment. Even Bennis the menace is out of reach and not included in any of the action until all is solved.
A novice/nun is found dead and covered in black snakes in a back room at the public library. The fun begins!
Loved it and love everything about this Demarkian series. Happy reading.
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moderatelymoderate
4.0 out of 5 stars when I thought about it later ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2011
Verified Purchase
I really liked this as I was reading it & right afterwards, but then I made the mistake of thinking about it later. Perhaps I missed something, but why were the murders felt necessary? The killer could have gotten away with the crime the murders were supposed to cover up if the murderder had just left the country for one with no extradition. Maybe hindsight is 20/20.
One person found this helpful
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Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars Love the entire series!
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2020
Verified Purchase
For me, there is nothing to dislike. I adore Gregor Demarkian and the whole group on Cavannaugh St.! They take care of each other in good times and bad. Bennis Hannaford is the best!

That said, I don’t know if Gregor is in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the other way round, but he nails it before anyone else has a clue! His skills are phenomenal, and he is the kind of person who can be trusted. Period. He’s a great guy who always gets the bad guy, or gal, in the end. He usually knows at the outset, and he and Bennis work together to get the job done.

I love this series and will read and reread! It’s great!
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megs_bookrack
3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best....
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016
Verified Purchase
I have read a few of the books in the Gregor Demarkian series and with that in mind, I must say, this is probably my least favorite of them thus far. I didn't feel that Gregor played as large a role in this one as the others. The character development was also not a strong as the others and the overall mystery itself really wasn't that urgent. I didn't feel connected in any real way. It was just okay for me. I will definitely still continue to read the series however because some of the others have been quite enjoyable.
One person found this helpful
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Susan Gainen
5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Jane Haddam!
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
Jane Haddam created Armenian-immigrant enclave Cavanaugh Street and and a world of consistent and wonderful characters who live there. That alone would be enough. But the "star" of this series of Gregor Demarkian, retired FBI agent, son of Armenian immigrants, finds himself consulting on a string of interesting, fascinating, sometimes creepy, always involved and convoluted murder mysteries. The murderers are never who you expect. The sentences are long and grammatical. The food descriptions have made me seek out Armenian recipes.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Typical of her books, great read
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book was fast moving and had a great twist to it. I don't know how he figured it out.
One person found this helpful
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PamB
5.0 out of 5 stars I really like her Gregor Demarkian series and have read all of ...
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
I really like her Gregor Demarkian series and have read all of them. I thought I might have missed this
One but I had read it. But I have introduced her to other friends so passed it on.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Snakes for St. Patrick's Day
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2009
Gregor Demarkian retired from the FBI after his wife's illness and death. Now he is solving murders for friends. And this one is bizarre.

Far upstate in New York, a nun-in-training is found dead during a storm, her body surrounded by poisonous snakes. Although she was poisoned, the snakes didn't do it; the poison was hemlock. And after Gregor arrives, another murder occurs, this time in her convent. But the victim is a man. Gregor must make sense of the reports of Sister Bridget Ann Reilly's movements before her death and find a motive for two inexplicable killings. While he does so, we are treated to the sudden blossoming of an unlikely romance, whose scenes are actually vital to the story's solution.

This was the first of Haddam's Gregor Demarkian stories that I read, many years ago. I still think it one of her better stories, just a little below the top tier (Precious Blood, A Stillness in Bethlehem). The puzzle is sound and first-rate. It was not until the third murder that I had even an inkling of where the trail of red herrings started--but the climax still came as a surprise. Had I trusted Haddam's character exposition, I might have got there ahead of her.

Of all Haddam's stories, this may have the least commentary on the nature of personal vice and virtue. When she does the commentary well, I find it enhances the story. (Others have disagreed in Amazon reviews). When she does it poorly, it drains much of the pleasure from the story. For this story, it is simply absent.
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