โ Scribed by Mills, Mark
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
In the small town of Amagansett, perched on Long Island's windswept coast, generations have followed the same calling as their forefathers, fishing the dangerous Atlantic waters. Little has changed in the three centuries since white settlers drove the Montaukett Indians from the land. But for Conrad Labarde, a second-generation Basque immigrant recently returned from the Second World War, and his fellow fisherman Rollo Kemp, this stability is shattered when a beautiful New York socialite turns up dead in their nets.
On the face of it, her death was accidental, but deputy police chief Tom Hollis - an incomer from New York - is convinced the truth lies in the intricate histories and family secrets of Amagansett's inhabitants. Meanwhile the enigmatic Labarde is pursuing his own investigation.
A mysterious drowning rekindles a conflict between a Basque-American fisherman and a powerful Long Island family in screenwriter Mills's smart, complex debut novel, a fascinating murder mystery that begins in the post-WWII years when Conrad Labarde hauls up the body of Lillian Wallace in his net while earning his livelihood in the waters off the Hamptons. At first the drowning looks like a tragic accident, but when the autopsy report raises the possibility of murder and Labarde's history with the Wallaces is uncovered, police chief Tom Hollis suspects Labarde of playing a central role in Lillian's death. Further investigation, however, casts suspicion on the powerful Wallace family, specifically Lillian's former boyfriend, Justin Penrose, and her ambitious brother Manfred, the latter of whom may have been involved in a deadly hit-and-run accident. As Mills weaves together the various plot threads, he ably paints the Hamptons as a social battleground for the local fisherman, the Jewish residents and the wealthier sport fishermen. Mills saves his trump card for the climax, in which Labarde baits Manfred Wallace into a final confrontation while cleverly forcing Hollis to play a pivotal role in their face-off. Probing, morally nuanced and rich with period detail, this is a fine first novel. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Foreign rights sold in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Adult/High School - In 1947, two fishermen find the body of a beautiful woman tangled in their net off Amagansett, Long Island. Both deny recognizing her, but Conrad Labarde is lying. The murder reveals the discord between the privileged who summer at beachfront houses and the men who live and work at the shore. Both Deputy Police Chief Tom Hollis and Conrad are determined to find the killer - Tom to salvage his reputation after a scandal drove him from the New York police force, and Conrad because he and Lillian had been having an affair. But since her family was one of the wealthiest of the "summer people," she could never marry him. Each man conducts his own investigation, but it is Conrad who links Lillian's death and the earlier death of a town girl by a hit-and-run driver. This is a gripping story, with characters powerfully drawn against a tapestry of time and place. Conrad is the most memorable: he becomes a manipulator of men and events but is left with his loss; his only love, the sea; and his work, fishing. - Molly Connally, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
In the small town of Amagansett, perched on Long Island's windswept coast, generations have followed the same calling as their forefathers, fishing the dangerous Atlantic waters. Little has changed in the three centuries since white settlers drove the Montaukett Indians from the land. But for Conrad
SUMMARY: When a first-generation Basque fisherman pulls in the body of a beautiful young woman, his close-knit Long Island community will be irrevocably changed. As sweeping and haunting as its backdrop, Amagansett is an unforgettable evocation of life's epic forces.
### From Publishers Weekly A mysterious drowning rekindles a conflict between a Basque-American fisherman and a powerful Long Island family in screenwriter Mills's smart, complex debut novel, a fascinating murder mystery that begins in the post-WWII years when Conrad Labarde hauls up the body of Li
In the small town of Amagansett, perched on Long Island's windswept coast, generations have followed the same calling as their forefathers, fishing the dangerous Atlantic waters. Little has changed in the three centuries since white settlers drove the Montaukett Indians from the land. But for Conrad
SUMMARY: When a first-generation Basque fisherman pulls in the body of a beautiful young woman, his close-knit Long Island community will be irrevocably changed. As sweeping and haunting as its backdrop, Amagansett is an unforgettable evocation of life's epic forces.