Just For The Summer

by Laura Van Wormer

Mary Liz Scott, a former investment banker, agrees to help her godmother, the widow of Hollywood producer Alfred Hoffman, inventory his estate, only to realize that the information she has uncovered is responsible for a murder. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fiction

474 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Laura Van Wormer grew up in Darien, Connecticut, graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and has spent most of her adult life working in publishing. She is the author of eleven previous novels. The Kill Fee is the fifth in the Sally Harrington series, although some of the characters - most notably the group at DBS News - are in her earlier novels Riverside Drive, West End, Any Given Moment and Talk.

Laura divides her time between Manhattan and Meriden, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a new favorite by any means but I found it to be quite a pleasant read. Kind of a mindless reading time, in a good way. Didn't need a lot of brain power and was a good read in my down time

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't decided if I really enjoyed this book or not, but it was certainly entertaining. And it had a dog. What's not to line about that. The main character walked away from a lucrative financial analyst position, took a summer job to help an old friend of her mothers, was a closet sleuth, made a number of mistakes that any of us would under similar conditions, timidly fell in love with someone that could have been a bad boy, stuck her neck out, almost got killed, and helped solve a huge international money laundering ring. And, the Epilogue tied up every single loose end (yea!!!!). I think I really enjoyed it. Won't remember it tomorrow, but it entertained me today! Will try another book by this author. One book is not enough to sign on or off an author.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mary Liz is an investment banker who made her money and took an (very) early retirement. Her godmother asks her a favor - to come stay in the Hamptons and go through her late husband's financial affairs. The dead man was head of a movie studio, and his lawyer died in the same plane crash. Now his estate is being sued by two separate parties and Nancy isn't sure who to trust.

I wasn't completely crazy about this book. I just found this at the library and I realized I had never read any by this author. So I thought I'd give this one a try. I don't think I'll read anything else by this author. For one thing there was too much swearing. Then there was the long love scene I had to fast forward through. And then there was the stupid way the main character kept getting herself into trouble. It all ends with a big 'bring all the suspects together and accuse them until someone confesses' scene a la Hercule Poirot. But he did it better, and left a few clues along the way to confuse or enlighten you. This book didn't. It just said - 'bang - he's the bad guy.' And that was that. It could have been a lot better. Disappointing.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very complicated plot but a good read.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just for the summer by Van Wormer, Laura
Investor banker retires at 32 and she's secretly investigating her late aunts estate in the Hamptons on Long Island.
After installing an alarm system in the guest house she and others hear the sirens, someone had gone through the locked door...
Lots of charity events and dinners for good causes that Mary Liz is able to attend with others. Many celebrities and others want her expertise of financial advice...
Erotic journals she discovers among other personal papers that must be destroyed. Amazing who is the murderer and all the events leading from the clues.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Christine Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part mystery part romance this book doesn't follow the normal path of either but draws you in and keeps you reading

[Laura Chapotot-Bohner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a great book overall got a bit of time to get into it but once I was into it I couldn’t get enough of it. It was amazing. I really loved the characters and I’ve been under the suspense until the end. The characters were all different and that’s what I loved if there were a lot of diversity and there was a lot of like plot twists and I really really really loved it however I think it was like the type of writing was a bit too descriptive like it here was things that didn’t need to be say I think that’s my only thing to improve I would say

[Silvanaelle]

I learned more about the financial world, with regards especially to investors and intrigues connected to them.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. A quick easy read

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried but I so couldn't get into this.... I dont even know if I made it past the first chapter. Mostly it was the writing that was hard to follow.