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Piège de soie [Relié] by Parsons, Julie, Maillet, Isabelle
Julie Parsons exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, Mary, Mary, which, according to The New York Times, "takes the psychological suspense thriller to places it rarely dares to go." Now, in The Courtship Gift, a shy female entomologist is pitted against a murderous maniac. Dublin on a cold April night. Anna Neale arrives home late and discovers her husband, David, dead in his study, his face a rictus mask of agony. Anna gazes with disbelief at the telltale marks on his skin. It seems David died from anaphylactic shock induced by a bee sting. But it is not bee season, and he has known all his life that he is allergic to the bee's poison. Anna finds a peculiar package addressed to David and begins to suspect that he was murdered. As the weeks pass, Anna learns that nothing in her life with David had been as it seemed. In death, her husband is an utter stranger to her. She is now alone, defenseless, and feels herself falling apart. This is just what attracts the handsome and sympathetic man who calls himself Matthew Makepiece. Matthew has been watching for months, waiting for his opportunity, orbiting her quiet world in increasingly constricting circles. As she gets to know him, Anna senses danger. Ultimately, she realizes her own life is in jeopardy and has no choice but to do what no one believed her capable of. Julie Parsons has created another female protagonist of extraordinary strength and psychological resources.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 9, 2023
I actually didn't finish this. It's a DNF for me. I got to about 200 pages, but I was just so bored! The 4+ different point of views, the slow story...it just wasn't doing it for me at all.
October 16, 2017
A good suspense thriller of love, betrayal, deviancy & murder...with a few twists & turns thrown in for good measure. The killer gets his idea from The Wonder Book of What & Why ...probably not how the publishers intended the book to be used!
While I enjoyed the book, it did leave me a little unsatisfied as I felt there were still a few loose ends, especially regarding David, which I'd have liked tidying up.
While I enjoyed the book, it did leave me a little unsatisfied as I felt there were still a few loose ends, especially regarding David, which I'd have liked tidying up.
December 3, 2022
L'ho letto a più riprese tra un libro e l'altro perché non riusciva a prendermi. E così è stato fino alla fine. Sconclusionato. Sembra alzarsi un po' nel finale ma anche lì poi, si chiude senza chiudersi del tutto. Non è tanto non avere un finale (perché c'è) è proprio come è scritto: inizia un percorso e non lo chiude e non si sa bene perché lo ha iniziato, se era inerente alla trama e cosa voleva dirti.
December 29, 2022
Umm this thriller was not very thrilling. It was just soooo predictable. That being said I don’t think it was intended as a murder mystery, so I suppose it’s predictability isn’t the worst. The premise of the book was pretty haunting, but she didn’t make it as creepy and scary as I think she could have/ should have. Overall didn’t hate it but didn’t love it.
December 11, 2024
Non mi è proprio piaciuto per niente!
Nemmeno il tipo di scrittura non mi ha convinta.
L'ho trovata troppo intricata.
Non ho nemmeno capito il perché di tutto quello che è successo.
Decisamente bocciato!
Nemmeno il tipo di scrittura non mi ha convinta.
L'ho trovata troppo intricata.
Non ho nemmeno capito il perché di tutto quello che è successo.
Decisamente bocciato!
June 7, 2024
Heel saai. Dertig pagina's voor het einde gestopt want zeer voorspelbaar.
July 15, 2022
The Courtship Gift isn’t much of a mystery. We find out early on who is responsible for the death of David Neale. But as we learn more about Michael Mullen, we learn to be very afraid, because this is a man who has already killed more than once. At first, it seemed to be mostly opportunistic killings, things that could easily be mistaken for accidents. But there were disturbing patterns to them, especially the early ones. In addition to the financial benefits or the revenge that seem to be the primary motives, these early victims all had beautiful girlfriends. Girlfriends that Michael moved in on and took over for himself. And then left when the next opportunity came along. Except that some of them appear to remain on friendly terms with him.
Anna Neale, David’s wife, is devastated by his death. Devastated by the manner of it; he was killed by bee stings due to an allergy to honeybee stings. And Anna, an entomologist, knows more about honeybees than most people. But she is also devastated by what his brother tells her about other women in his life, and about how he suddenly owes so much money that she will be forced to sell his house and all the fine furniture and art he had collected.
At the beginning of the story, Anna appears to be something of a space cadet. She lives in a kind of imaginary world, and her main wish is to be protected and curl up in front of a fire to read or sleep. She has been like this at least since her parents’ deaths in a boating accident that may not have been an accident.
Although Anna has never met Michael, he knew her husband through his occupation as a solicitor. Michael is a drug dealer. He also fixes up and rents out apartments, I suppose as a legitimate cover for the dealing. He has been stalking Anna and David for a while. In his role as a landlord, he manages to get close to Anna by offering to buy her house and rent her a flat in one of his other buildings. They become a couple, and for a little while, she is very happy.
But things happen. Michael feels that he is losing control of Anna. And she begins to feel not safe with him. After her friend, the blind boy, Billy, is badly beaten by Michael’s friends – Billy has been working for Michael – Michael acts more and more crazy. He offers her an envelope of evidence of his past activities – the things that have ‘made him what he is.’ At first, she refuses to open it, but later she is overcome with curiosity, and she runs away. He tries to kill her, but she reveals that she is pregnant with his child.
The conclusion is a surprise, as the little girl who has lived most of her life in a dream world comes to life for just long enough…
Anna Neale, David’s wife, is devastated by his death. Devastated by the manner of it; he was killed by bee stings due to an allergy to honeybee stings. And Anna, an entomologist, knows more about honeybees than most people. But she is also devastated by what his brother tells her about other women in his life, and about how he suddenly owes so much money that she will be forced to sell his house and all the fine furniture and art he had collected.
At the beginning of the story, Anna appears to be something of a space cadet. She lives in a kind of imaginary world, and her main wish is to be protected and curl up in front of a fire to read or sleep. She has been like this at least since her parents’ deaths in a boating accident that may not have been an accident.
Although Anna has never met Michael, he knew her husband through his occupation as a solicitor. Michael is a drug dealer. He also fixes up and rents out apartments, I suppose as a legitimate cover for the dealing. He has been stalking Anna and David for a while. In his role as a landlord, he manages to get close to Anna by offering to buy her house and rent her a flat in one of his other buildings. They become a couple, and for a little while, she is very happy.
But things happen. Michael feels that he is losing control of Anna. And she begins to feel not safe with him. After her friend, the blind boy, Billy, is badly beaten by Michael’s friends – Billy has been working for Michael – Michael acts more and more crazy. He offers her an envelope of evidence of his past activities – the things that have ‘made him what he is.’ At first, she refuses to open it, but later she is overcome with curiosity, and she runs away. He tries to kill her, but she reveals that she is pregnant with his child.
The conclusion is a surprise, as the little girl who has lived most of her life in a dream world comes to life for just long enough…
March 15, 2017
I have given The Courtship Gift 2 stars even though I didn't actually finish it simply because there was nothing actually wrong with it - I just got bored. I don't know if it's me this year, or the books I'm picking up, because I seem to have abandoned a lot of books so far in 2017. It could be the fact that I am doing a lot of culling - especially with my books - and don't want to waste time reading something that isn't really holding my attention, and not a lot is lately. Out of 23 books so far I have only rated three at 4 stars, eight at 3 stars and the rest have been a waste of time. Not good. Hopefully things will improve :)
September 20, 2012
This is a low key thriller. I thought it was ok, but I hade some problems with the main character Anna. She seemed so young, so care free and so up in the blue. When her husband David dies, which happens in the beginning of the book, she finds out a lot of things about him that she didn't know of. How can a person be so naive, so uninterested or so ignorant about the person you spend your life with? It turns out that he had no money left, he was in big debt, cheated on her on a regular basis and had a lot of other secrets that Anna eventually finds out about. But the plot is interesting and it takes on when Anna meets the man who buys her house. Once I got over my antagonism against Anna I really started to like her more and more and hoped that she would come to see things and people for what they really were. All in all the book was definitely readable and worth the time I spent on it.
January 11, 2008
The blurbs for this book are impressive and in some ways more satisfying than the book itself. Its well written, which is always a plus for a mystery/thriller but I don't know that I'd call it a "literary" thriller as some do. Then again, I hate the use of the word "literary" to describe a well written genre book. But that's me...
January 6, 2008
Why this author only wrote two books is beyond me. Both this, her second novel, and 'Mary, Mary', her second, were brilliant reads and come highly recommended.
August 2, 2013
Quiet good.
May 7, 2014
Friargåvan
January 3, 2016
Couldn't finish it..
March 17, 2021
Unfassbar schlechte Übersetzung und schlecht verwebte Handlungsstränge.
June 10, 2023
It wasn't working for me. I found the writing style to be very strange and questionable which is why I DNF'ed this book after the first quarter of it.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews