Death's Savage Passion

Patience McKenna #3

by Jane Haddam, Orania Papazoglou (Pseudonym)

Midlist mystery and romance writers are outraged when quite a few romance authors, in a declining market for their own genre, turn to the new hybrid of Romantic Suspense-a move that takes the New York literary world by storm and sends mystery and romance sales plummeting. Is this grounds for murder? When the newly minted romantic suspense writer Verna Train lands on the subway tracks just ahead of the Lexington Avenue Local, Patience McKenna, romance novelist-turned-true crime writer, is in the ideal field to investigate.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1986

About the author

Aka Orania Papazoglou

Jane Haddam (b. 1951) is an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. This mystery introduced Patience McKenna, a sleuthing scribe who would go on to appear in four more books, including Wicked, Loving Murder (1985) and Rich, Radiant Slaughter (1988).

Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. The series spans more than twenty novels, many of them holiday-themed, including Murder Superior (1993), Fountain of Death (1995), and Wanting Sheila Dead (2005). Haddam’s most recent novels are Blood in the Water (2012) and Hearts of Sand (2013). Wife of William L DeAndrea.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pay McKenna wants to be nice to Sarah English, a beginning author who has just sold her romantic suspense novel. But Sarah becomes the second dead person who attended a party of romance writers, and now her body has disappeared--so Pay says. The police and a lot of others think Pay is imagining things and that Sarah has gone back to the industrial slum she came from, so Pay and bestie Phoebe take the train to Connecticut to visit. Instead of Sarah, they find her young daughter Adrienne. Meeting the girl gives Pay even more incentive to find out what happened to Sarah. Pay is tall (strike one!), a chain smoker (strike two!), and forgets to eat (and you're out!), but she's also brave, witty, and strangely loveable.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The publishing world of books must have been a cesspool in the 80's! I have no idea if it still is the same but this book made me smile and made me shake my head. Enjoyed it.

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am surprised, although I shouldn't be...this really was a fun book to read! McKenna takes a fledgling writer under her wing to guide her through the maze of being published in New York...but somehow, Sarah English ends up disappearing, and then reappearing as a corpse! Who could have wanted her dead...and why? ANd what will happen to the 7 year old daughter that no one knew existed? Lots of fun to read!

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story wasn't too hard to follow, although there were too many romantic suspense authors to keep straight. Tbe part about Adrienne was a bit hard to believe, although now I want to know what happens between Pay and Nick.

[Dogsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reliable fun really enjoy snarky asides about publishing-the real story!!

[Colleen Jefferies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I got this series from the library when it first came out in the early to mid-80's. It's fun to read now as a kind of time machine.