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Three Days for Emeralds
Rushing to the side of her distraught friend, Lacy is horrified when Rose falls dead after consuming the drink Lacy poured for her, and when Lacy's missing fiancé is identified as the dead woman's husband, Lacy becomes the number one suspect.
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1988
27 people want to read
About the author
Mignon G. Eberhart
152 books73 followersMignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. She studied at Nebraska Wesleyan University from 1917 to 1920. In 1923 she married Alanson C. Eberhart, a civil engineer. After working as a freelance journalist, she decided to become a full-time writer. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. In the Forties, she and her husband divorced. She married John Hazen Perry in 1946 but two years later she divorced him and remarried her first husband. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. She also wrote many short stories featuring banker/amateur sleuth James Wickwire (who could be considered a precursor to Emma Lathen's John Putnam Thatcher) and mystery writer/amateur sleuth Susan Dare.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 20, 2019
Major characters:
Alicia "Lacy" Wales, our protagonist, legal secretary to Hiram Bascom
Hiram Bascom, attorney
Richard Blake, Lacy's fianceé, secret government agent
Rose Mendez, neé Murphy - appealed for help but didn't get it
Carlos Mendez - Rose's ex
Yolanda Mendez, Carlos' current wife
Inez Wales - Lacy's stepmother
Rafael - Inez' brother
Burden "Buddha" Smith, neighbor and confidante
Spook, Buddha's manservant
Hobie Fellows - a teen gas station attendant
Captain O'Leary - police
Locale: New York City and environs
Synopsis: Alicia "Lacy" Wales, legal secretary, receives a letter from old friend Rose Mendez, appealing for help. Lacy asks her boss, Hiram Bascom, for assistance, and he responds in a confusing manner, even kissing her. Lacy goes to see Rose, to find she has deteriorated into a fat, dirty, candy-eating slug. Lacy hands her a drink of whiskey, she downs it, and immediately falls dead. Lacy goes to look for a sheet to cover her up, and in her bedroom she finds that Rose has a framed photo of Richard Blake - her own fianceé - on her nightstand.
The Mendez family appears. There is a convoluted divorce/alimony decree between Carlos and Rose, specifying that her alimony will cease if she remarries. Then a marriage certificate is found between Rose and Richard Blake. Lacy is torn to find her fianceé may have married Rose behind her back.
Review: This is Eberhart's last novel. In 1988 she was 88 or 89, and it is sad that her writing is just not cohesive and magic any more. I considered not finishing it, but stuck with it as a sort of tribute to her career. The action is jerky and illogical, and uses way too many exclamation points, Nancy Drew style. It has the flavor of being dictated. After a rough beginning, it does smooth out somewhat to the end.
The action upon discovering Rose's death is especially hard to follow. Eberhart struggles to get someone to notify the authorities. There is an appearance by several "Spaniards" from the fictional country of Logonda who are stereotyped and two dimensional at best; their background and relationships are tangled and difficult to understand. Their main activity is standing around, drinking, and looking elegant. One, Rafael, carries his pet with him, which is described at various points as a small dog, a cat, or a ferret; which he claims to have found on an airplane (!). Rafael does turn out to be the most believable of the lot.
Various scenes are just not credible - for example, a family interview by the police breaks into a knock-down drag-out fight and the police just idly wait for it to be over. Lacy drinks a drugged martini, recovers and vows to not drink anything another has prepared - and on the same page accepts and drinks a cup of coffee from Inez - the vow didn't last long. Golden Age clichés remain in vogue - poisoned chocolates and spiked drinks abound.
Alicia "Lacy" Wales, our protagonist, legal secretary to Hiram Bascom
Hiram Bascom, attorney
Richard Blake, Lacy's fianceé, secret government agent
Rose Mendez, neé Murphy - appealed for help but didn't get it
Carlos Mendez - Rose's ex
Yolanda Mendez, Carlos' current wife
Inez Wales - Lacy's stepmother
Rafael - Inez' brother
Burden "Buddha" Smith, neighbor and confidante
Spook, Buddha's manservant
Hobie Fellows - a teen gas station attendant
Captain O'Leary - police
Locale: New York City and environs
Synopsis: Alicia "Lacy" Wales, legal secretary, receives a letter from old friend Rose Mendez, appealing for help. Lacy asks her boss, Hiram Bascom, for assistance, and he responds in a confusing manner, even kissing her. Lacy goes to see Rose, to find she has deteriorated into a fat, dirty, candy-eating slug. Lacy hands her a drink of whiskey, she downs it, and immediately falls dead. Lacy goes to look for a sheet to cover her up, and in her bedroom she finds that Rose has a framed photo of Richard Blake - her own fianceé - on her nightstand.
The Mendez family appears. There is a convoluted divorce/alimony decree between Carlos and Rose, specifying that her alimony will cease if she remarries. Then a marriage certificate is found between Rose and Richard Blake. Lacy is torn to find her fianceé may have married Rose behind her back.
Review: This is Eberhart's last novel. In 1988 she was 88 or 89, and it is sad that her writing is just not cohesive and magic any more. I considered not finishing it, but stuck with it as a sort of tribute to her career. The action is jerky and illogical, and uses way too many exclamation points, Nancy Drew style. It has the flavor of being dictated. After a rough beginning, it does smooth out somewhat to the end.
The action upon discovering Rose's death is especially hard to follow. Eberhart struggles to get someone to notify the authorities. There is an appearance by several "Spaniards" from the fictional country of Logonda who are stereotyped and two dimensional at best; their background and relationships are tangled and difficult to understand. Their main activity is standing around, drinking, and looking elegant. One, Rafael, carries his pet with him, which is described at various points as a small dog, a cat, or a ferret; which he claims to have found on an airplane (!). Rafael does turn out to be the most believable of the lot.
Various scenes are just not credible - for example, a family interview by the police breaks into a knock-down drag-out fight and the police just idly wait for it to be over. Lacy drinks a drugged martini, recovers and vows to not drink anything another has prepared - and on the same page accepts and drinks a cup of coffee from Inez - the vow didn't last long. Golden Age clichés remain in vogue - poisoned chocolates and spiked drinks abound.
July 18, 2022
Family life can be complicated particularly if one sibling manages to take all the family funds leaving brother & sister without any. When a father is overly cautious and loses his money, dies, and leaves his second wife & daughter needing to work.
Mix in the suspicious death of the daughter's school friend, suspicious accidents & attempted accidents and the plot thickens.
The language/attitudes is a bit dated but if that's factored in as a product of its time the story of whodunnit is still compelling
Mix in the suspicious death of the daughter's school friend, suspicious accidents & attempted accidents and the plot thickens.
The language/attitudes is a bit dated but if that's factored in as a product of its time the story of whodunnit is still compelling
January 17, 2018
3/10
Implausible mystery that contains too many ridiculous coincidences and leaves too many unanswered questions. Hobie from the gas station, Jessica the dog, and Jessie the wife were the best characters, and they were mostly window-dressing. Detective Captain O’Leary was solid.
Implausible mystery that contains too many ridiculous coincidences and leaves too many unanswered questions. Hobie from the gas station, Jessica the dog, and Jessie the wife were the best characters, and they were mostly window-dressing. Detective Captain O’Leary was solid.
July 31, 2024
Her books are always enjoyable!
September 7, 2025
Honestly, this book was all talk and no action. Boring!
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May 8, 2024THE HISTORY OF MYSTERY Book Club: Wednesday, May 8th
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews