Manor House

by Paige Rense

Enter Pierpont Tree and China he's the devastatingly handsome and urbane scion of an old Santa Barbara family; she's a ravishingly beautiful flame-haired film star who retired at the peak of her career.  He minds the family ranch; she dabbles in writing.  Together, they investigate murders.

And the murder of Beau Paxton leaves Pier and China with quite a crowd of the twin brothers who own Manor House--and who held a multimillion-dollar insurance policy on Beau's life; the beautiful young managing editor, the real brains behind Beau's flashy, figurehead position; the society gossip columnist who coveted Beau's position for herself; Beau's roommate and "uncle," who argued with him publicly the night of the murder; and a whole world of designers and dealers, players and wanna-be's, high rollers and lowlifes, whose desires and ambitions make Manor House a magazine to die for.  

With the kind of knowledge and attention to detail only a seasoned insider can supply, Paige Rense takes us on an unflaggingly stylish journey to the heart of the mystery, and in the process offers a keyhole peep into some of the most private, rarefied chambers in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and New York--a world where people pay $750,000 for an antique desk, and a wealthy widow refits her barbecue pit with an eternal flame in memory of her late decorator.  Elegant, witty, and wise, Manor House is a boundingly readable novel from the pen of a compelling writer.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 1997

Reviews

[Rachel Wallace]

I work at architectural digest and was very curious about this book, which was written by the former EIC and inspired by the real life murder of the EIC before her. I enjoyed finally seeing what it was all about. It is fun and soapy and reminds me of a melodramatic but funny 90s tv show or movie. There’s a lack of racial sensitivity in this book, which is unfortunate but a nice reminder to me that in some ways, society has very much improved over the last few decades. It is easy to glamorize the past when you work in the world of magazines— but it wasn’t all better. Some other parts of the book, like the clout chasing the characters engage in, are more timeless.