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Night Vision: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Jane Lawless Mysteries Series Book 14) Kindle Edition
Ellen Hart was named the 2017 MWA Grand Master, the most distinguished lifetime achievement award offered in the mystery community.
Joanna Kasimir, an old friend of Jane Lawless, left Minneapolis years ago to make it big in Hollywood and, unlike so many others, she succeeded. Unfortunately, her stardom came at a price. Early in her career, Joanna was involved with a man who quickly went from being an idle interest to a dangerous stalker. Nearly a decade has passed since she sent him to prison, but just as she is about to leave for her hometown to star in her friend Cordelia Thorn's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she receives one of his ominous calling cards.
Joanna refuses to let him control her life—she can't. Not again. Tired after ten years of fear, ten years of hiding, she calls on Jane, restaurateur and amateur sleuth, and former homicide detective A. J. Nolan, but they may not be able to protect her from a man who refuses to be anyone's one-night stand.
And when they find out that Joanna may not be the only one on the run, their investigation quickly spins Jane into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Night Vision promises to be one of Ellen Hart's best mysteries yet.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMinotaur Books
- Publication dateNovember 27, 2007
- File size423 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Praise for Ellen Hart
“Jane Lawless and her trusty sidekick, Cordelia Thorn, are the most refreshing, entertaining, and cerebrally stimulating duo since Rex Stout’s unbeatable combo of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.”
---Baltimore Alternative
“Pitting sib against sib in a deadly game, the fourteenth Lawless mystery gets highly dramatic.”
---Booklist on Night Vision
“Hart masterfully whips these intrigues together with her sleuths’ interesting nonmystery lives . . . to add a fine sauce to a hearty, Minneapolis-flavored mystery dish.”
---Rocky Mountain News on The Iron Girl
“Incorporating societal ills torn from the headlines, Hart bares the weaknesses in her well-realized characters as well as their strengths. . . . [A] spunky page-turner.”
---Publishers Weekly on An Intimate Ghost
From the Inside Flap
Joanna Kasimir, an old friend of Jane Lawless’s, left town years ago to make it big in Hollywood. She succeeded, but stardom had a price. Early on, Joanna met a man who quickly went from being a dalliance to a stalker. A decade has passed since she sent him to prison, but just as she has returned to Minneapolis to perform at Jane’s friend Cordelia Thorn’s theater, Joanna receives one of his ominous calling cards.
Joanna refuses to let fear control her life---she can’t. Not again. So she goes to Jane, restauranteur and amateur sleuth, for help. But can Jane protect her from a man who refuses to be anyone’s one-night stand?
A deadly game of cat and mouse, Night Vision proves to be one of Ellen Hart’s best mysteries yet.
From the Back Cover
Praise for Ellen Hart
“Jane Lawless and her trusty sidekick, Cordelia Thorn, are the most refreshing, entertaining, and cerebrally stimulating duo since Rex Stout’s unbeatable combo of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.”
---Baltimore Alternative
“Pitting sib against sib in a deadly game, the fourteenth Lawless mystery gets highly dramatic.”
---Booklist on Night Vision
“Hart masterfully whips these intrigues together with her sleuths’ interesting nonmystery lives . . . to add a fine sauce to a hearty, Minneapolis-flavored mystery dish.”
---Rocky Mountain News on The Iron Girl
“Incorporating societal ills torn from the headlines, Hart bares the weaknesses in her well-realized characters as well as their strengths. . . . [A] spunky page-turner.”
---Publishers Weekly on An Intimate Ghost
About the Author
Ellen Hart, “a top novelist in the cultishly popular gay mystery genre” (Entertainment Weekly) and a Lambda Award winner, is the author of thirteen Jane Lawless mysteries and a series featuring food critic Sophie Greenway. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1When it came to leaving, Joanna always had to work her way through alternating layers of anxiety and fear and an ever-present hungry itch, one that whispered in her ear that it was time to go back out into the world again and prove she was a survivor. In the past fourteen years, her house overlooking Lake Pend Oreille had become not just a home but a safe haven. She'd never felt comfortable on display in Hollywood. She'd always looked upon her life there as a necessary evil.Sandpoint was a town of some seven thousand people, situated at the tip of the Idaho Panhandle, just fifty miles from the Canadian border. When Joanna had first come here after the trial, it had seemed like the middle of nowhere, and that's just where she wanted to be.Even before the trial, Joanna had been looking to get out of L.A. She hated the phoniness, the professional promises so easily made and broken, the casual lies, and the ignorant arrogance that came with power and privilege. Every morning she'd wake in her home in Bel Air with the same sense that something was breaking inside her. She was surrounded by friends, fans, business associates, and an adoring public, and yet she was hugely--cavernously--lonely.For a time, she toyed with the idea of moving back to the TwinCities, back to her hometown of St. Paul, but that felt too much like failure. She wasn't the young, eager, innocent Jo Carlson any longer--theater major at the U of M, aspiring actress, starry-eyed wannabe. She was Joanna Kasimir, an internationally known film star with dozens of movie credits--and an Academy Award and two Golden Globes resting on her mantel. She could still remember the dreams she'd had as a young woman. She'd lived on little else for years. How could she have known what the flip side of those dreams would be? When she finally left L.A., she knew without a doubt that she was running for her life.But life had a habit of never traveling in straight lines. It turned out that she wasn't running away so much as she was running toward something better. She'd found her mountain hideaway near Sandpoint two months after leaving L.A., bought it on the spot. She was as much seduced by the cathedral feeling of the big log house as by the tall timbers surrounding it, the view of the lake below, the fresh air, and the sense of peace all around her. She could make a stand here. She would dig in and see what life was really about. Amazing as it seemed, she'd come to love this place with the same passion she felt for acting. She'd never felt lonely here, not even for a day.Afternoon sunlight flooded the living room as Joanna turned from the deck and walked back inside. She stroked her blond hair behind her ears, glancing down at her grubby jeans and T-shirt. She'd have to get used to wearing presentable clothing again while she was in Minnesota. The limo was scheduled for ten tomorrow morning. It would take her to the airfield where she'd board a private jet. She was pretty much packed, although she wanted to look through her closet one more time.Heading up to her bedroom, she cringed when she saw the four extralarge suitcases spread open on her bed. Joanna Kasimir, the actress, adored beautiful clothing. It was all part of the split personality thing Joanna had been living with ever since she'd moved to Sandpoint. She was part small-town resident and general recluse, and part actress, a woman who could still command an audience and who still had the fire in her gut to act.Cordelia Thorn, an old friend and the current creative director atthe Allen Grimby Repertory Theater in St. Paul, had offered her a part she'd been wanting to play for years--Martha in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The AGRT was one of the finest regional theaters in the nation, so it was an honor to be asked to join the company for a limited engagement. Joanna relished the challenge of bringing something new and definitive to the role. If nothing else, shrews were fabulous characters to play. At forty-seven, Joanna had long ago faced the fact that the film scripts she was being offered were, to put it bluntly, crap. The legitimate stage had become the refuge of the aging actress.As she started to close the suitcases, the phone rang. Stepping over to the nightstand, she picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she said, standing with a hand on her hip."Joanna? It's Diego Veras."Diego was her brother's boyfriend. She hadn't heard from either of them in more than a year. She felt a pang of guilt for not keeping in better touch but pushed it away. "Hi," she said. Her first instinct was to assume that something was wrong, but she felt it was best to go with a neutral question. "How are you?""Fine. Well, not so fine, actually." Diego had a heavy Spanish accent. He and his family had moved to California from Buenos Aires when Diego was fifteen. Diego and Joanna's brother, David, had met when David was in L.A. visiting her--must have been back in the early eighties. Diego was Joanna's age, a few years older than David, already an established architect at the time. "What's going on?""Have you heard from David?""No. Why? Is he okay?""To be honest, Joanna, I don't know. He ... well, he left me. I thought he'd go off for a few days, think about it, and come back. He's done it before. But he's been gone a long time and I'm worried.""How long?""Almost a month."Joanna sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you saying you have no idea where he is?""Yeah. No idea.""Was he angry when he left?""Not exactly. I was. I told him things had to change or ..." His voice trailed off."Or what? Tell me!""Or I was leaving him. Look, I blame myself, okay? I shouldn't have lost it like I did, but you don't know what it's been like living with him this last year. You haven't exactly been the world's greatest sister, Jo, so I don't think you're entitled to a lecture."If he wanted to make her feel like a total shit, he'd succeeded. "He didn't say anything about where he was headed?""After I left for work one morning, he just took off. When I got home that night, his car was gone, and so were a bunch of his clothes. He took maybe five thousand from the wall safe. I had a guy run a check of his credit cards. He's not using them. He obviously doesn't want me to know where he is. I've talked to our friends all over the country, but nobody's seen him. I'm scared, Joanna. In the shape he was in, anything could've happened.""What's that mean?""He's not well. Don't ask me what's wrong, because I don't know. I'm not even sure David knows.""That doesn't make any sense.""Welcome to my life."She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes. "Call the police, Diego.""I did. He's officially listed as a missing person, but so what? It's not like they go looking for him.""Then hire someone private."He sighed. "I thought about that. But I keep hoping he'll come back.""If you don't hire someone--and I mean today--I will.""Okay, okay. You're right. But I wanted to check with you first, just in case he headed your way. I didn't really think he had."Score another point for Joanna. She was a lousy sister."Can you think of anyone he might contact?" asked Diego. "I've called all our friends. Nobody's seen or heard from him."Downstairs, the doorbell rang.Joanna put her hand over the mouthpiece and shouted, "Annie, will you get that?" Annie Thompson was her live-in housekeeper and cook. Returning to Diego, she said, "I don't know. I'll have to think about it.""Well, think fast, okay? I'm going crazy here. If you hear from him, you'll call me, yes?""Of course I will. You do the same." She explained that she was leaving for Minneapolis in the morning. She gave him the phone number of the loft where she would be staying. He already had her cell.As she hung up, Annie sailed through the bedroom door carrying a large package wrapped in bright pink paper."Flowers, Joanna. I can smell them right through the wrapping." Annie was an energetic, sentimental, soft-bodied woman. Her mother was from Mexico, an illegal until her father, a rancher from Utah, had married her. She set the package on the dresser and stood back, waiting for Joanna to open it.Joanna's stomach still contracted with dread at the sight of a flower delivery.Ripping off the paper, her breath caught in her throat. It wasn't precisely like the flowers Gordon used to send, but it was close enough."Something wrong?" asked Annie. "Here, you should read the card." She removed a small pink envelope from the center of the arrangement.With shaking hands, Joanna opened it and read:Roses are the flowers of love. Can't wait to see you! Did you miss me?There was no signature, but then, it wasn't necessary."Who brought these?" demanded Joanna.Annie seemed startled. "A delivery guy.""What did he look like?""Tall, I think. Yes, tall. White. Middle-aged.""Was it a delivery truck or a private car?""I didn't notice."Joanna rushed to a window overlooking the front of the house. In the distance, she could see an SUV kicking up dust as it sped away down the hill."Did I do something wrong, Joanna? Please tell me! Are you upset?"Panicked was more like it. Joanna grabbed the cordless phone off the bed and punched in the number of her lawyer in L.A. She was amazed to realize she still knew it by heart.When the secretary answered, Joanna announced who she was and demanded to talk to Gershen Blumenthal."He's in a meeting. If you give me your number--""Get...
Product details
- ASIN : B007IVQUDA
- Publisher : Minotaur Books; 1st edition (November 27, 2007)
- Publication date : November 27, 2007
- Language : English
- File size : 423 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 333 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,234,134 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,519 in LGBTQ+ Mystery (Kindle Store)
- #5,341 in Gay & Lesbian (Kindle Store)
- #6,049 in Lesbian Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Ellen Hart is the author of thirty-two crime novels in two different series. She is a six-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. Entertainment Weekly named her one of the "101 Movers and Shakers in the Gay Entertainment Industry." For the past sixteen years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Her newest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required, (Ballantine, June 2005). Fever in the Dark, the newest Jane Lawless mystery, will be released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in October 2016. Ellen lives in Minneapolis with her partner of 37 years.
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I loved all the characters in this book and boy they had issues but some got solved safely.
I find' t sleep much while reading this book, it had a lot going on in many directions. I felt bad for David and Diego. There also was some wild people running around in this book. I like the chapters of Joanna to explain why things were happening the way they were. There was so much going on I had to read along time to find a spot to stop for the night. Let me tell you that is a hard thing to do when you get into the story. Boy if you are disappointed with this book you are a lost person. And you do not know and good mystery writer when you read one.
There was not one part I did not like. It was the best twister of a mystery book I have read in a very long time.
Great work Ellen Hart!
"Night Vision" demonstrates that Ellen's story-telling is only getting better with each book. There is an element of tension in this tale that makes it hard to put down. There are three or four story lines that are skillfully juggled and a surprise or two that ... well .. came as a surprise. Usually, I've got things figured out, but not this time.
I can't wait for December to get here, so I can purchase her newest work.
The relationship between these two women, long time friends, is unusual in that they are quite different. Lawless is bright, quiet, introspective, protective of her personal space and many of her beliefs. One could be in a room for a good while with several people and not even be aware that she was present. Her good friend, Cordelia Thorn is another matter. Thorn is mostly over the top and that's where she lives. Loud, flamboyant, caustic and sometimes thoughtless, she dresses with flair and you'd know when she entered a room, even with fifty people already present. Thorn plays an important part in the novels as a sounding board for Lawless as she puzzles out the mystery, but sometimes you want to throttle her.
As is the case with all Hart's books, characters and their relationships, kind, warm, angry, distorted and dangerous, are at the heart of this novel. They drive the characters to and fro with passion, with cold calculation, sometimes to disastrous ends. This novel is darker, more convoluted and more complicated than Hart's earlier books. The back story alone could be an entire novel, yet such is Hart's skill as a writer, the back story of celebrity stalking is the trunk that supports the rest of the novel.
The novel is not without its problems. I wanted more examination of parasomnia and its effects on one of the characters, and I was troubled by a few of Cordelia's more caustic quips. Still, as with all her later novels, readers will be drawn to the characters and will live out this story with them. The swirling tensions and suspicious motivations of these well-drawn characters are compelling. This is a strong, novel, with a logical and complete resolution that will keep readers going and waiting eagerly for Jane's next adventure.
I remind readers of this review that the author is a friend of mine and we frequently tour together. Nonetheless, when you read Night Vision, I'm confident that you'll agree with my assessment.
If you are looking for a real page-turner, you should read something else. The plot of "Night Vision" is fairly predictable. Joanna Kasimir, a Hollywood celebrity, is faced with a violent stalker whom she had sent to prison a decade ago. I like the way the author combines the past and the present, and I appreciate how well-structured and logical the book is, but there aren't that many surprises.
What I love about "Night Vision" are the characters. Cordelia Thorn, a friend of Joanna Kasimir, is funny, entertaining and warm-hearted. You can't help liking her. Her friend Jane, restaurateur and amateur sleuth, is sometimes a bit too "perfect", but she is a loyal friend with a lot of energy and courage. I like the way their friendship is described.
In my opinion, it is David Carlson, Joanna's brother and Jane's old friend, who makes "Night Vision" worth reading. Although you guess early what's "wrong" with him, it is interesting to see how he deals with his problem, and you hope with all your heart that he'll get the help he needs.
If you enjoy getting "close" to the characters of a book and like to identify with them, I can recommend "Night Vision". The mystery is also suitable for people who are not native speakers of English, since it is not too difficult to read. I would not recommend "Night Vision" if you are looking for a book that prevents you from sleeping at night.
"Night Vision" is a perfect book for trains, subways and bus stops. It helps to pass the time and is entertaining, but it is definitely not one of those books you can't forget and it is not a real page-turner either. It's a good book, but if you haven't read it, you haven't missed that much.