The Shadow of the Palms

Anna Peters #4

by Janice Law

A call from Henry Brammin, Anna Peters’s old mentor at New World Oil, sends the proprietor of Executive Security down to Florida’s Gulf Coast for a brief working vacation. Brammin wants to know why his nephew suddenly has money for an expensive sailboat and a fancy antiques shop. The answers involve Vlad Sebastian, a wealthy and reclusive art collector with a socially ambitious daughter, a questionable past, and some dubious employees. Anna’s efforts to discover if Brammin’s nephew is one of them brings danger both to her and another old friend, the newly sober and newly married John Hillary, the reporter last seen in The Big Payoff . Hillary, who has his own interests in the mysterious Mr. Sebastian, provides entree to the Sebastians’ glamorous social circle—and provokes a variety of domestic complications. Anna’s attempt at a vacation is soon in ruins, as she and John Hillary find there are plenty of reptiles in the lush and glamorous gardens of south Florida.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published January 11, 1980

About the author

Janice Law (b. 1941) is an acclaimed author of mystery fiction. The Watergate scandal inspired her to write her first novel, The Big Payoff (1977), which introduced Anna Peters, a street-smart young woman who blackmails her boss, a corrupt oil executive. The novel was a success, winning an Edgar nomination, and Law went on to write eight more in the series, including Death Under Par (1980) and Cross-Check (1997).

After Death Under Par, Law set aside the character for several years to write historical mysteries The Countess (1989) and All the King’s Ladies (1986). After concluding the Peters series, she wrote three stand-alone suspense novels: The Night Bus (2000), The Lost Diaries of Iris Weed (2002), and Voices (2003). Since then, Law has focused on writing short stories, many of which appear in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Fires of London (2012) is her most recent novel. She lives and writes in Connecticut.

Reviews

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Shadow of the Palms, in the midst of corrupt gangsters, smugglers, past loves and old friends, Anna Peters, Private Eye, struggles to find the truth about life’s perplexing questions. To wit, how is a dear nephew of Anna’s oldest friend making so much money. The result, a lot of things blow up, cars get wrecked, our heroine dodges bullets and criminal rich people, and friendships get wrecked.

But, dear reader, it is not for you to share in all this excitement. Because our author likes to spin her tale slowly, and spin it long past its natural end so that we all see that the loose ends remain loose. There was a good pulp story in the middle of all this. But it takes way too long to get there and way too long to leave it.

[Glen U · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Shadow of the Palms" is Janice Law's 4th story in the Anna Peters series. The protagonist, Anna Peters is the forerunner of the smart mouthed, independent, female detective with a slightly skewed sense of morality. First introduced in 1976, she predates Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski by 6 years, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone by 7 years and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum by 18 years. Why Janice Law's books were not more popular is a mystery as her writing is excellent, her story lines are exciting and her characters are engaging. This particular novel is the first where Anna is an actual detective, specializing in white collar crime. The previous stories, Anna was a woman executive troubleshooter who dabbled in some self justified blackmail. It is true that her blackmailing persona was a unique and interesting first, but later instances of Anna's adventures are just as entertaining and compelling. A very good series, that while dated for the 2000's, still hold value as good reads.