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Gregor Demarkian #10
Festival of Deaths
A killer stalks an outrageous talk show host and Gregor Demarkian agrees to appear on the show, but soon finds himself drawn into backstage politics and off-camera malice as he struggles to outbluff a murderer. Original.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
49 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Jane Haddam
55 books133 followersAka 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 24, 2013
Gregor Demarkian is such an interesting, opinionated, and eccentric character. I really enjoy him. Many people may find him to be a caricature, but I don’t. I truly enjoy him. There are also so many rich and quirky supporting characters in his Armenian neighborhood in Philadelphia that just enhance the enjoyment.
I also find these books well written and the mysteries complex. They are so much more interesting than many of the cozy mysteries out there today. There are elements of the cozies in these books. There’s humor; unusual, almost comic characters – but they haven’t dissolved into the vapid and trite characters and mysteries that seems so prevalent in the cozies today.
I am so glad I started to revisit this series again and start over. It’s been great.
I also find these books well written and the mysteries complex. They are so much more interesting than many of the cozy mysteries out there today. There are elements of the cozies in these books. There’s humor; unusual, almost comic characters – but they haven’t dissolved into the vapid and trite characters and mysteries that seems so prevalent in the cozies today.
I am so glad I started to revisit this series again and start over. It’s been great.
February 12, 2023
I love this series and am enjoying re-reading the books. Published in 1994, this is the tenth novel featuring Gregor Demarkian. These do feel slightly dated and they are different from crime books now as publishers obviously feel that readers now lack the concentration to be given too much information at once. Jane Haddam does introduce a whole host of characters in her first chapters, as each of the books are set in a different location or setting.
In this book, the setting is, 'The Lotte Goldman Show,' a sort of talk show where people discussed their problems in public - think Oprah Winfrey or, if you can recall, Ricki Lake. People pouring out their trauma and encouraged to heap embarrassment on themselves. Sex, scandal and celebrities. On the set of this show, the talent coordinator, Maria Gonzalez, is found dead. With the crime unsolved and suspicion abounding, the show goes on its yearly tour, setting out from New York to Philadelphia, where Gregor has been volunteered to be a guest. Obviously, he is very wary of such a suggestion but another death means that the show is cancelled.
Although this is not my favourite, it is a really enjoyable outing. Not only Gregor Demarkian today but so many of his friends and neighbours are involved, so this makes it even more fun. As always, there are a host of different suspects and motives, but it is the characters which really make this series work.
In this book, the setting is, 'The Lotte Goldman Show,' a sort of talk show where people discussed their problems in public - think Oprah Winfrey or, if you can recall, Ricki Lake. People pouring out their trauma and encouraged to heap embarrassment on themselves. Sex, scandal and celebrities. On the set of this show, the talent coordinator, Maria Gonzalez, is found dead. With the crime unsolved and suspicion abounding, the show goes on its yearly tour, setting out from New York to Philadelphia, where Gregor has been volunteered to be a guest. Obviously, he is very wary of such a suggestion but another death means that the show is cancelled.
Although this is not my favourite, it is a really enjoyable outing. Not only Gregor Demarkian today but so many of his friends and neighbours are involved, so this makes it even more fun. As always, there are a host of different suspects and motives, but it is the characters which really make this series work.
May 17, 2020
I have not read any of the other books in the series and don't feel that I needed to to get a good story from this book. Unfortunately, there really wasn't a good story here.
Lotte Goldman does a talk show that is really a bit of trash media. DeAnna Kroll is her assistant. There is Shelley, Maria, Carmencita, Sarah, and many others who work for her in some capacity. She has a couple of men, Prescott, Maximillian, Itzhak, etc.
Murders happen and a famous ex-FBI agent, Gregor Demarkian, becomes involved.
The case is ultimately solved.
Lotte Goldman does a talk show that is really a bit of trash media. DeAnna Kroll is her assistant. There is Shelley, Maria, Carmencita, Sarah, and many others who work for her in some capacity. She has a couple of men, Prescott, Maximillian, Itzhak, etc.
Murders happen and a famous ex-FBI agent, Gregor Demarkian, becomes involved.
The case is ultimately solved.
Read
June 16, 2020Anchorage, Alaska on Muldoon. About 4:30 P.M. June 15, 2020: I'm out for a walk. On the sidewalk, at my feet, are a few pages of a book, 135-222. I walk by giving it a think. Turned around, picked it up and put in my shirt pocket. On my way home, my wife drives by and gives me a lift. I tell her the story. She says more than likely the book was torn apart for a pop & squat. I should have left it where I found it. Someone may come looking for it. Takeaway: Paper backs are multipurpose.
February 20, 2023
Funny and witty in parts. Interesting backdrop of the Armenian immigrant experience.
Too many subplots, the synagogue vandalism, the Bennis boycott of Christmas, not pivotal or crucial to the main plot.
Too much description even for a simple act like serving someone coffee.
The suspense was an anticlimax; Gregor and the black cop literally walk into the crime scene and catch the guy red handed. Could have been a crisper mystery without all the background noise and distraction.
Too many subplots, the synagogue vandalism, the Bennis boycott of Christmas, not pivotal or crucial to the main plot.
Too much description even for a simple act like serving someone coffee.
The suspense was an anticlimax; Gregor and the black cop literally walk into the crime scene and catch the guy red handed. Could have been a crisper mystery without all the background noise and distraction.
December 5, 2022
Wow, the author got even trashier. A smutty talk show host, immigrants, and dreidels make up,this mystery. The mystery itself was intriguing, the writing is good. But really. At times I felt like the author was a little girl who,just learned a new dirty word and wanted to say it a hundred times. And, there were no nuns! I appreciated the talk show host’s view in immigrants.
April 27, 2025
I really need to stop leaping into series midway through. That being said, it felt like a nice balance between existing characters and ones just for this book. Demarkian's Cavanaugh Street neighbourhood feels like people I know and several of the "this mystery only" background characters, like DeAnna Kroll, feel like fleshed out people.
June 8, 2020
Festival of Deaths by Jane Haddam is a good entry in the Gregor Demarkian series. The mystery takes place during Hannukah & the characters are the employees of an Oprah Winfrey type talkshow. Demarkian figured out whodunnit, but I didn't!
January 4, 2009
Festival of Deaths is one of the Gregor Demarkian series of mysteries by Jane Haddam. I read it on the first half of our trip (before the stomach flu). Despite a clear had and the fact that I was reading it during Hanukkah, I still hated the book. No, hated it probably too strong. I didn't get into the book and didn't give a damn about Gregor Demarkian or the people he was trying to help.
Lotte Goldman, a host of a "controversial TV show" has a slight problem. Someone is killing off her staff. Demarkian is there originally as a guest to discuss: "Sex and the Serial Killer" but soon finds himself needed to solve the murders before he becomes a victim himself.
The book could have been fun but it was mired in a slow plot and populated with characters all trying to out stereotype each other. I actually only made it halfway in the book. First there is an incredibly long prologue. It's 63 pages of the 371 page book. There's also a ten page epilogue at the end, meaning that 20% of the book takes place outside of the actual plot. I would much prefer to either have the prologue labeled as the first chapter or have all that back story peppered into the book as tidbits of information than have to slog through 61 pages before I can start the actual book.
Festival of Deaths is one in a long series of mysteries, all themed around different holidays. Obviously the holiday hook was popular enough with a loyal core of readers to warrant so many books. I am just not part of that core. I will give the rest of the books in the series a pass.
Lotte Goldman, a host of a "controversial TV show" has a slight problem. Someone is killing off her staff. Demarkian is there originally as a guest to discuss: "Sex and the Serial Killer" but soon finds himself needed to solve the murders before he becomes a victim himself.
The book could have been fun but it was mired in a slow plot and populated with characters all trying to out stereotype each other. I actually only made it halfway in the book. First there is an incredibly long prologue. It's 63 pages of the 371 page book. There's also a ten page epilogue at the end, meaning that 20% of the book takes place outside of the actual plot. I would much prefer to either have the prologue labeled as the first chapter or have all that back story peppered into the book as tidbits of information than have to slog through 61 pages before I can start the actual book.
Festival of Deaths is one in a long series of mysteries, all themed around different holidays. Obviously the holiday hook was popular enough with a loyal core of readers to warrant so many books. I am just not part of that core. I will give the rest of the books in the series a pass.
December 17, 2024
Dreidels have different words depending on whether they're from Israel or not? Who knew? Besides Jane Haddam, I mean.
I liked the look behind the scenes at talk show TV (particularly a trashy one) and the bits about the relationship between Bennis and Gregor.
I also liked the odd sideline stories. Well, not "liked" but they were interesting.
Haddam weaves threads together in intriguing ways.
7/31/23 It was interesting rereading this one because I never got the "oh yeah, I remember this" feeling. It was not quite like reading for the first time, though.
Gregor is still denying how he feels about Bennis. The characters from the TV show were both fascinating and annoying. Yes, I had forgotten whodunnit.
12/16/24 Still a good story on the reread. This time I was more drawn to what makes Gregor tick. It was interesting seeing him frustrated, truly frustrated with Father Tibor, instead of the usual milder amused frustration. Wasn't a major part of the story, just a minor sidenote of mine.
I liked the look behind the scenes at talk show TV (particularly a trashy one) and the bits about the relationship between Bennis and Gregor.
I also liked the odd sideline stories. Well, not "liked" but they were interesting.
Haddam weaves threads together in intriguing ways.
7/31/23 It was interesting rereading this one because I never got the "oh yeah, I remember this" feeling. It was not quite like reading for the first time, though.
Gregor is still denying how he feels about Bennis. The characters from the TV show were both fascinating and annoying. Yes, I had forgotten whodunnit.
12/16/24 Still a good story on the reread. This time I was more drawn to what makes Gregor tick. It was interesting seeing him frustrated, truly frustrated with Father Tibor, instead of the usual milder amused frustration. Wasn't a major part of the story, just a minor sidenote of mine.
January 14, 2017
Festival of Deaths is the 10th book in the Gregor Demarkian s. Gregor is a retired FBA agent, sometimes called the Armenian American Hercules Poirot. After retirement, he has moved back to the old neighborhood, but is occasionally called upon to help solves crimes. During Channukkah, people that are involved with the Lotte Goldman talk show are being murdered, and an Israeli dreidle is left at the crime scene. As a favor to Father Tibors friend, the rabbi, who also happens to be Lotte's brother, Gregor agrees to see if he can determine who is committing the crimes.
Fast paced read...but if you have not read any of this series...start at the beginning...You will not be sorry!
Fast paced read...but if you have not read any of this series...start at the beginning...You will not be sorry!
December 10, 2016
Overall I enjoy Haddam's 'holidays' series of mysteries, but this one was not one of my favorites--too many stereotypical characters, too many different plot lines (some of them seeming to just drop without resolution or explanation), and the long prologue which wasn't really necessary to the plot. I have read several better stories in this series, and will definitely continue to read her, but cannot recommend this as a prime example of Haddam's writing skill.
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February 14, 2014I love this writer, all the way back to when she wrote under the name Orania Papazoglou.
wonderful character sketches. Unfortunately, the ending feels hurried, as if she had more or less lost interest. but she really draws you into the insular world of these people producing their daily TV show. I'll keep reading her.
wonderful character sketches. Unfortunately, the ending feels hurried, as if she had more or less lost interest. but she really draws you into the insular world of these people producing their daily TV show. I'll keep reading her.
January 23, 2009
The first part of the paperback edition I read had so many typos, it was driving me nuts. Luckily, the story was good enough to keep me going because the typos disappeared.
March 31, 2011
Demarkian vs serial killer and cast of loonies
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews