Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to San Antonio to see their cousin, Arnold Harmony, who's made his fortune in the chocolate business. Harmony, an eccentric millionaire, wants his will read publicly before he dies; since everyone wants a piece of the pie, this announcement causes quite a stir. When Harmony's son is murdered just before the reading, Jenny's mother decides to spring into action as a real-life detective. But Jenny's mother doesn't have a clue about solving a real crime, so it's up to Jenny to use her wits, not only to save her mother's reputation, but also to keep herself from being killed.
From the Paperback edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10. Not one of Nixon's better productions. Jenny, 15, accompanies her mystery-writer mother, Madeline Jakes, to San Antonio for a distant relative's birthday party. When the elderly man's son is murdered, Madeline and Jenny spring into action. To the delight of her fans, including the homicide division's Detective Sergeant Sam Donovan, Madeline takes on the persona of her fictional female detective. However, it's her bright, capable daughter who really solves the case, feeding her flaky mother ideas and possibilities in a desperate attempt to protect the writer's reputation. While the famous-writer-mother scenario has distinct potential, it's overdone. Madeline's ineptness and Jenny's insight and intelligence are carried to ridiculous extremes. Detective Donovan; Jenny's love interest, Carlos; and the suspects are all stock characters. The whole complicated setup reads like a poor episode of Murder, She Wrote. This is less than adequate fare for an author of Nixon's caliber. Follow Jenny's advice: refer mystery-loving teens to Sue Grafton or Mary Higgins Clark.?Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
Jenny Jakes and her mother, a famous mystery writer, travel to San Antonio to see their cousin, Arnold Harmony, who's made his fortune in the chocolate business. Harmony, an eccentric millionaire, wants his will read publicly before he dies; since everyone wants a piece of the pie, this announcement causes quite a stir. When Harmony's son is murdered just before the reading, Jenny's mother decides to spring into action as a real-life detective. But Jenny's mother doesn't have a clue about solving a real crime, so it's up to Jenny to use her wits, not only to save her mother's reputation, but also to keep herself from being killed.
From the Paperback edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10. Not one of Nixon's better productions. Jenny, 15, accompanies her mystery-writer mother, Madeline Jakes, to San Antonio for a distant relative's birthday party. When the elderly man's son is murdered, Madeline and Jenny spring into action. To the delight of her fans, including the homicide division's Detective Sergeant Sam Donovan, Madeline takes on the persona of her fictional female detective. However, it's her bright, capable daughter who really solves the case, feeding her flaky mother ideas and possibilities in a desperate attempt to protect the writer's reputation. While the famous-writer-mother scenario has distinct potential, it's overdone. Madeline's ineptness and Jenny's insight and intelligence are carried to ridiculous extremes. Detective Donovan; Jenny's love interest, Carlos; and the suspects are all stock characters. The whole complicated setup reads like a poor episode of Murder, She Wrote. This is less than adequate fare for an author of Nixon's caliber. Follow Jenny's advice: refer mystery-loving teens to Sue Grafton or Mary Higgins Clark.?Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
An overweening mother who's meant to be scatterbrained and a murder that never matters are at the center of this clich‚-filled mystery from Nixon (Search for the Shadowman, 1996, etc.). Jenny Jakes and her mother, the famous mystery writer Madeline Jakes, are in San Antonio for a visit: A distant cousin, billionaire Arnold Harmony, plans to celebrate his birthday by having his will read aloud to the beneficiaries. His plans are interrupted when his son, Porter, is murdered at the hotel. Madeline's fans believe she can crack the case, but Jenny knows better: Her dithery mother considers herself an expert on the criminal mind, but can't figure out a mystery she didn't create. Instead, Jenny solves the murder, always careful to credit Madeline as the sleuth. The premise of Jenny's covering for her mother is funny, but it goes so smoothly that it becomes boring; when the murder is reported in the newspaper, Jenny's bell-hop romantic interest, Carlos, also ensures that the story spins Madeline's way. Nixon treats the San Antonio setting as a place readers know, dropping names without describing the place; meanwhile, the characters simply chase around inside the hotel. For savvy mystery-lovers, the detective work is sloppy: The murder scene isn't sealed off, the real detective puts up with contemptuous witnesses, and he allows Madeline (and Jenny and Carlos) in on his investigation. That no one thinks to protect Logan, a character who announces that he knows all and is then murdered, is irresponsible. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.