Free Love

New York: The Mysterious Press published by Warner Books, 1999. Advance Reading Copy. Trade paperback. [12], 240, [2] pages. Inscribed by the author on the title page: To Lynne and Mark--A touch of 1920 New York--Thanks Lynne, for your gracious care-- Annette. Nice inscription for a scarce Advance Reading Copy. This is an Olivia Brown Mystery. Includes Acknowledgments, as well as 55 chapters. Mysterious Press is thrilled to introduce the first book in a new historical series by Annette Meyers (author of the Smith and Wetzon books), featuring Olivia Brown, a heroine inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Includes 55 chapters, as well as the History behind Free Love. The setting of this book is the Village in 1920, with its bars, and saloons, and coffeehouses. The places the author has used existed, as did Prohibition, which only served to enhance the romance of alcohol. This was represented as the first book in a new historical series by Annette Meyers (author of the Smith and Wetzon books), featuring Olivia Brown, a heroine inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Annette Meyers is the author of 8 Smith and Wetzon Wall Street mysteries, 2 Olivia Brown 1920s mysteries, a suspense novel: Repentances,and short stories in many anthologies. She and her late husband Martin wrote 7 history-mysteries known as The Dutchman Chronicles and numerous short stories set in New York in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. One of her short stories was included in Best American Mystery Stories, 2002. She was the 10th president of Sisters in Crime and serves on the board of the International Association of Crime Writers, NA. Derived from a Kirkus review: Aspiring poet Olivia Brown is the new heroine from the creator of Xenia Smith and Leslie Wetzon. The time is 1920, the place Greenwich Village, where Olivia, along with her best friend and housekeeper Mattie, had moved two years ago after losing her fiancee in the war. A house had been left to Olivia by her great-aunt Evangeline, with the proviso that the ground-floor tenant remain as long as he chose. He turns out to be Harry Melville, a private detective whose services are badly needed in Olivia’s new life. Her poems are being bought by Vanity Fair; she has minor roles in the productions of the Provincetown Playhouse and has become a familiar face at speakeasies like Chumley’s. But all is not well. It’s in Chumley’s courtyard that she and boyfriend of the moment Whit Sawyer stumble over the body of a woman wrapped in a bloody blanket. The woman is a man named MacKey made up to look like Olivia. After our heroine is subjected to a series of ominous, anonymous threats, Harry uses a clutch of his tough street pals to watch over her and gets badly beaten for his trouble. There’s more to come before the murderer is revealed. The picture of Village life in the —20s rings true, and the poems are an unexpected bonus. If she survives her ever-present cigarettes and gin, Olivia will surely return. Condition: Very good.

Keywords: Olivia Brown, Poet, Greenwich Village, Private Detective, Harry Melville, Provincetown Playhouse, Mackey, Whit Sawyer, Mystery, Murder, Threats, Chumley's

ISBN: 0892966947

[Book #82385]

Price: $65.00

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