Fountain of Death

Gregor Demarkian #12

by Jane Haddam

At the Fountain of Youth Work-Out Studio, the work-out gets off to a rather unhealthy start when the naked and poisoned body of an aerobics instructor is found in the bushes behind the club. Why are the local police so unhelpful? Enter ex-FBI agent Gregor Demarkian.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Detective, Crime, Cozy Mystery

323 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

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

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fountain of Death (Gregor Demarkian, #12) by Jane Haddam.

I saved reading the holiday books in the Demarkian series for last. Last but not least. This was J.H.'s New Year's book and I loved it. I love this entire series and have grown attached to Demarkian and now Demarkian with Bennis.
This story centers around the The Fountain of Youth which is a center for getting into being the best of you for the new year. That was more or less the motto they were going by to bring in new clients to kick off the new year with healthy eating and exercise. And then a nude body was discovered on the ground just below the railing of their facility. Tony Bandero of the local police dept. calls in Demarkian to bring this case to a conclusion.
While reading the first few chapters explaining the characters and their relationship to each other...enters Demarkian. He's arrived and so have I. As far as I'm concerned this book and series can do no wrong. Love it. It has never let me down.
Highly recommended.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fountain of Death by Jane Haddam is the 19th book in the Gregor Demarkian mystery series. It's a nice series because you don't really have to read them in order. I'm sure that there are personal incidents, such as Demarkian's burgeoning relationship with Bennis Hannaford, that probably would be easier to track if you did read them in order, but it's definitely not critical to do so. With that preamble, Fountain of Death was, as all the others in the series I've read, an enjoyable, well-paced, interesting mystery. Demarkian, an ex-FBI profiler, goes to New Haven, Ct, at the behest of a police investigator there, to help work on the murder of a weight training instructor at a local health spa. His body is found naked, poisoned under a hedge at the spa. From the beginning, Demarkian feels that the police officer is ignoring him and just using him to show that all avenues are being explored in solving the murder. Demarkian basically goes off on his own, working with the local pathologist and getting assistance in travelling around from a friendly lady cabbie. There are other incidents and deaths that move the plot along nicely and the story also gets into the lives of those people who might be possible suspects or victims. It's an enjoyable story, Demarkian is fun to follow around and his instincts are always impressive. Most enjoyable. (4 stars).

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregor Demarkian is forced to work around Yale's news-hog police detective to solve a series of arsenic poisonings. I chose this as a Haddam reread because I remembered several loveable people at the Fountain of Youth Fitness Center. Even some of the less lovable characters stand out in my memory, especially the aging but determined leader of the Center.

[Pam Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregor Demarkian is the Armenian Hercule Poirot. This is a good, sometimes complicated read with interesting characters and exciting plot twists. This is Book 12.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really want to give this one 2 3/4 stars.

The books without Bennis or Tibor as major characters aren't as interesting to me. It lacks some personal touch that they give. At least there was a bit of that in the epilogue. Remind me never to eat dip when Tommy Moradanyan has been around it.

I had a hunch early one who the killer was. Like Gregor, I spent most of the book figuring out the "how" rather than the "who". Too many extraneous characters in the beginning made me a bit crazy, trying to place them all.

A couple of the subplots were truly crazy. Is the East Coast really full of these nuts?

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Gregor Demarkian series by Jane Haddam! This is the 12th book (out of 29) in the series...I am trying to catch up on all of the ones that I have missed! This one is a bit disappointing as there is not to much about Cavanaugh Street and the people that live there...but it is still a good read about murder at a fitness club in New Haven, Ct! I will admit, I was stumped who the killer was for a large part of the book...but well worth the read!

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian finds himself away from home and on a new investigation not much to his liking in Fountain of Death.

He has been called out to help the New Haven police with a mysterious death at a health club, the Fountain of Youth. The body of a weight-training instructor is found in the garden of the club, naked. But Demarkian quickly finds that the detective he is working with seems intent to get as much publicity as possible with doing very little with his consultant. Not that he isn't saying all the right things about working with Demarkian — he just isn't following through.

Other incidents, such as the collapse of a balcony force Demarkian to take the case in his own hands and do his investigation "unofficially," something that makes him tread very carefully. But he does succeed as he works behind the scenes and follows his gut.

Jane Haddam has created a wonderful protagonist in Gregor Demarkian, and in this book, takes him away from his neighborhood and his friends and supporters. It forces him to find new support. Other than that, this is a good solid Demarkian story — and a very good read.

[Brian Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Fountain of Youth Work-Out Studio didn't look like a place where anyone would get murdered, or arrested, or even confronted with a violent crime" (90%)

Despite the foregoing quote, the Fountain of Youth studio is a deadly place. Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian investigates a couple of poisonings at the Fountain of Youth at the request of the New Haven police department in a sometimes rambling murder mystery story. All works out well in the end, however with a surprising ending. The story has a full cast of quirky characters with several depressing backstories that resolve themselves by the end of the book. I was challenged at times to follow who's who but the plot was strong enough that it didn't really matter.

[Lizzytish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the setting up of the cast of characters. It was a little confusing at first. I did know who did it, but not the why. Gregor is called away to New Haven right before New Years to help solve a murder in a health club. I missed Bennis and the other regulars.
Also what was with the side stories? I didn’t mind them, but there was no conclusion, so what’s the point? Maybe to understand the characters better?

[DJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't like the writing style of introducing characters one at a time per chapter in the first 6 chapters or so. I almost lost interest and put the book down because it was very boring at first. Won't be looking to read any more of her books. Eventually plot became a bit more interesting and i finished the book.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book had an odd structure. There were individual chapters about various characters at the beginning. Once the plot got started it had lots of lectures on modern society, drugs, women and dieting. The mystery was thin too.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series but this one wasn’t the strongest - the absence of Bennis and Father Krekorian is glaring and there were a few too many side character POVs that just didn’t pan out satisfactorily.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many characters in Fountain of Death, I couldn't keep them straight. Despite that everyone's side story was very interesting!!

[F · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Jane Haddam mystery and at this point, it's debatable if I will seek to read another one. The first 40 percent of the novel was introduction of the various characters and getting the plot off the ground, so it was a definite slow starter. There were subplots (i.e., Dessa Carter's father with Alheimzer's, Magda Hale's aging body that she has neglected) that had absolutely nothing to do with the mainstream plot. Since this novel took place in New Haven,CT, the author struggled trying to involve the regular Gregor Demarkian series' characters back in Philadelphia (i.e., Bennis Hannaford, Father Tibor, Donna Moradanyan).

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this one just because I like the recurring characters and the authors writing style (and let's be honest I'll read just about any murder mystery). But as far as objective measures go, this one falls short. The plot, setting, and group of suspects are not terribly intersting and I figured out "whodunit" much to early. Plus the solution seemed pretty darn contrived, along the lines of this is the last person you would suspect (supposedly) so of course they did it. So, mind candy for Gregor Demarkian fans, but nothing special overall.

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's quite a lengthy prelude in this installment - it reminded me of watching a juggler start to throw balls up into the air as she kept introducing characters. The juggling kept happening as she had a lot of characters, some of whom I'd have to go back and re-read their intro to remember who they were. With so many balls in the air, some storylines were dropped without conclusions.
A nice entry into the series, although being set in Yale, Father Tibor and Bennis were in the background. The reveal was well done and oddly satisfying.

[Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't love Gregor Demarkian any less than I did at the beginning of our relationship. Can't wait for another date.

[Kathryn]

"New Year's Day"

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

good series bad cop