By Hook or by Crook

John Putnam Thatcher #16

by Emma Lathen

The Parajian family owns the largest oriental rug company in the US. They are having a generational battle for stock control of the company. John Putnam Thatcher, SVP of the Sloan, solves the 2 murders by following the money

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Aka R.B. Dominic

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American businesswomen: an attorney Mary Jane Latsis (July 12, 1927 -October 29, 1997) and an economic analyst Martha Henissart (b. 1929),who received her B.A. in physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1950.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/31/boo...

Reviews

[Susan]

I recently realized that I had not re-read Emma Lathen's books for quite a while. Although I was very aware of the differences modern technology has made in the financial industry, on the whole this book, written in the 1970's, held up remarkably well, and I'm looking forward to going through some of the other titles. The Sloan, one of the country's largest banks, has held a trust for an elderly woman living in Russia, who has now come to New York. But is she an imposter? All chances of finding out seem lost when she mysteriously dies of poison. Her brother and nephews and their families have a financial interest in her life, and her death--but so does the Sloan, and John Putnam Thatcher intends to find out just what happened.

[Joy]

The Parajian family is famous for its Oriental rugs. The company was built up by its patriarch, but now the next generation is anxious to take over from him. In the midst of the battle, it is far too convenient that Dad Parajian's sister arrives out of the Middle East - and promptly dies. In a family whose members had been torn apart by war and reunited many years later, the accusation of fake identity arises, and nothing in the family business can be predicted any longer.

I had great fun once I managed to remember who all the family members were. The climactic rug auction was especially enjoyable. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes their mysteries to be based on plot instead of bloody mayhem.

Read 3 times

[Jennifer Heise]

I really enjoyed this mystery, in which a financial organization's officer solves some murders because they are related to the business of the company's trusts division. Certainly the setting is dated, but it's fun to see how people viewed financial organizations and their structure in the 1970s. The complex story of challenged identities, importing and specialty sales, was just my cup of tea. Knowing a bit about the background of finance from some of the writings of Michael Lewis was helpful, but the (somewhat sanitized) version of the doings of a rare/specialist rug importer and sales family firm was intriguing.

[Lynda]

I read the Emma Lathen books long ago and loved them. Glad to see that they're still fun. Avoid the most recent ones, which appear to be written by someone else.

[Lyn Dale]

The Persian carpet business is the focus of this book featuring my favourite banker, John Putnam Thatcher. As always with Emma Latham - totally enjoyable read with a real twist in the tail.

[Rog Harrison]

Emma Lathen was the pen name of Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Hennisart who wrote twenty four books featuring the detective skills of a Wall Street banker and I have read eighteen of them. (Under the name of RB Dominic they also wrote seven books featuring the detective skills of a Congressman and I have read six of them.) So I suppose that makes me a fan.

I first came across their books in 1981 and this is the third time which I have read this one which was first published in 1975. This story features a business selling expensive rugs. It's a great story involving two murders. The authors not only manage to draw the reader right into the story but also tell the story with a lot of wit.

[Vicki Cline]

The Sloan (and Thatcher) gets involved with an Oriental rug business. The elderly sister of the owner comes to the US after having lived in the USSR and recuperating in Tehran from an illness. This book was written in 1975, 4 years before the overthrow of the Shah and the hostage-taking there. It's a bit jarring reading about previously normal relations with a current enemy. Another interesting thing about this book is that it's the only one so far where I've had some sympathy for the murderer.

[Emmanuel Gustin]

A rather fun story that confronts the banker-sleuth with a dysfunctional family in which speculation is rife that no-one is what he is thought to be. In that light, the outcome of the plot is highly ironic. Special marks to Bradford Withers for putting in an even more clueless performance than usual!

[Jean Bonilla]

As always, Emma Latham gives a terrific description of how banks operate, together with a plausible reason for their involvement in the arcana of a murder investigation. Great twist at the end. Also the political and financial events are very much of the 1970’s - I remember those days!

[Lisa Kucharski]

Very tricky mystery.