{"id":4359,"date":"2022-02-24T05:08:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T13:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=4359"},"modified":"2022-02-24T05:08:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T13:08:45","slug":"vicki-delany-deadly-directors-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/vicki-delany-deadly-directors-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"Vicki Delany: Deadly Director’s Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This is the second book in Delany\u2019s series set in the Catskills in the 50\u2019s.\u00a0 While the Catskill resorts that served so many families back in the 50\u2019s and beyond are now gone \u2013 even the great Grossinger\u2019s<\/a> is a ghostly version of itself \u2013 Delany nevertheless manages to make the area come alive for the reader.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t dip into the pure historical novel category.\u00a0 Instead, she provides period details that set the reader where she wants them to be, and she somehow manages to invoke the feel and atmosphere of a very specific place and time.\u00a0 The fact that a Canadian writer who, I am thinking, did not spend her childhood summers in the Catskills, is able to do this with such virtuosity is one of those mysteries of the writer\u2019s art.\u00a0 The time period is close enough that with a little bit of yearning and nostalgia you are right back there with her.<\/p>\n

Her main series character, Elizabeth Grady, runs the resort her mother owns, Haggerman\u2019s.\u00a0 It\u2019s not one of the bigger ones, like Grossinger\u2019s, but it\u2019s a nice, respectable place that draws high level entertainers and regular guests.\u00a0\u00a0 Her mother, a retired actress, provides front of the house glamor while Elizbeth does the hard work of running the resort.\u00a0 This summer, there\u2019s a movie being filmed on her property, and one of the stars is an old buddy of her mother\u2019s, Gloria.<\/p>\n

The director is extremely unpleasant and dictatorial, making sure his chauffeur is ready at a moment\u2019s notice, treating the staff as they don\u2019t deserve to be treated, and laying into and sometimes humiliating the actors and actresses in his film.\u00a0 Because he\u2019s a very successful director with several Oscars under his belt, everyone tends to jump when he says so.\u00a0 Of course, in a mystery novel, this is the very kind of person who is going to be murdered at the first opportunity.<\/p>\n

While the movie is being shot at Haggerman\u2019s, most of the crew and the actors aren\u2019t staying there, they are staying at the slightly nicer and bigger resort owned by Elizabeth\u2019s friend and possible love interest, Richard.\u00a0 One night, however, the director decides to host a dinner at Elizabeth\u2019s place, demanding that she attend.\u00a0 This of course ends horribly \u2013 he collapses and is taken to the hospital, where he later dies.\u00a0 This also gives Elizabeth a chance to observe all the players in the drama firsthand.<\/p>\n

Delany is a pro at setting up a story and telling one clearly and with precision.\u00a0 This book is no exception.\u00a0 She\u2019s drawn into the investigation in order to save her business \u2013 if some one was poisoned by food at Haggerman\u2019s there\u2019s a danger her kitchen will be shut down at the height of her summer season.\u00a0 She and Richard work together as his hotel is also implicated.\u00a0 It\u2019s not known for a time where exactly the poison ingested by the dead director came from.<\/p>\n

For some reason, this is completely believable, and Elizabeth\u2019s investigation seems totally natural under the circumstances.\u00a0 (Of course, the reader will hope that Haggerman\u2019s doesn\u2019t continue to be the setting for murders.\u00a0 It will be terrible for business).\u00a0 Delany also continues to fill out Elizabeth\u2019s backstory.\u00a0 She was raised by her Aunt Tatiana (now the head housekeeper at Haggerman\u2019s) while her mother pursued her career.\u00a0 Later in life, the two women are getting to know each other better, and share a cabin on the property.<\/p>\n

This is a well thought out, well paced, and captivating mystery.\u00a0 For this particular reader, who grew up in her parent\u2019s northern Michigan resort, it\u2019s almost a forcefully nostalgic read.\u00a0 One of my favorite memories is being in the hotel\u2019s ballroom, sipping a Shirley Temple, watching the ballroom captain sprinkle the dance floor with a bit of wax for easier and smoother dancing.\u00a0 Delaney\u2019s book brings it all back in a whoosh.\u00a0 This is a truly delightful series and I can\u2019t recommend it more highly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second book in Delany\u2019s series set in the Catskills in the 50\u2019s.\u00a0 While the Catskill resorts that served so many families back in the 50\u2019s and beyond are now gone \u2013 even the great Grossinger\u2019s is a ghostly version of itself \u2013 Delany nevertheless manages to make the area come alive for … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[790,789,788,791,10,792,707],"class_list":["post-4359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-1950s","tag-catskills","tag-deadly-directors-cut","tag-grossingers","tag-historical","tag-summer-resort","tag-vicki-delany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4360,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4359\/revisions\/4360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}