Twilight

Jenny Cain #10

by Nancy Pickard

Fast-paced, suspenseful, and emotionally involving, "TWILIGHT" is Nancy Pickard at her popular and groundbreaking best; once again she weaves her renowned fictional spell around the mysteries of the human heart.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Cozy Mystery, Halloween, Murder Mystery

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1996

About the author

Nancy Pickard is an American crime novelist. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35.

She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[Nancy I · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Jenny Cain mystery and the first Nancy Pickard book I've read. Found this to be light in the mystery category but good in some other aspects. I liked the Jenny character and didn't have to go back to the first in the series in order to get absorbed in the story, as well as understand likes and dislikes of certain characters. Pickard gave enough "background" information, or at least I found it so, that I understood how we got to where we were in this, the tenth in the series. A few things, on the other hand, were noticeable to me from a first encounter with one character, but it was not until near the very end of the book when Jenny realized what the issue was. You would have thought that someone as attuned to others as Jenny is purported to be would have picked up on this . . . or think of Cleo, who, based on her job, knows just about everyone in Port Frederick, that she would have suggested something to Jenny. Oh well. . . Additionally, although there was final resolution to a couple of issues central to the novel, a couple were left hanging, and as this is supposed to be the last in the Jenny Cain series the holes will remain.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few chapters into this novel, I Googled the author to find other books in this series thinking I'd found a new, interesting author, but as the story continued, I found it trite and with too many coincidences to be satisfying. I found it a bit cheesy with no real interest-grabbing dialogue or scenes.

[Lisa Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast read… good story… I didn’t quite appreciate or understand the passages concerning what I would consider the occult. It just didn’t fit in and I probably won’t search out a book by this author again.

[Mary Cornwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read.

[Nancy J Gumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery, I needed to start the series before number 10.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks like this is the fist time I've read this book. How did that happen? I remember really liking Ms Pickard's book, and am amazed I missed this one. In any case, she just doesn't disappoint.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another good one! I really enjoyed this series!

[Nancy Nash Keefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice mystery; not too cozy, not too gruesome. Good character development.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for an engaging but simple story with well developed characters. I am interested in reading previous books in this series.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny Cain has her hands full as she organizes Port Frederick’s Fall Festival and attempts to deal with issues surrounding the controversial “God’s Highway” bike/hiking trail that environmentalists and others don’t want to see go. It seems a lot of people have an ax to grind in this town. Christians strongly oppose the festival’s Halloween component and someone has set fire to a local landmark, killing an environmental protester. Death and violence escalate, including an assault on Jenny, prompting her and her police officer husband, Geof, to find the killer.

Twilight is an intricately plotted novel with a lot of depth as author Nancy Pickard incorporates Jenny’s personal life into the story. This is the type of amateur sleuth novel I like to read. The plot and subplots blend well to make an intriguing story with a strong psychological and even compassionate component. For me, good novels create multi-layered complex characters caught in horrible conflict. The story has heart and compassion, aspects that Nancy Pickard portrays so well that I plan to read all of her Jenny Cain mysteries.

Debra

[Lisa Rathbun · Rating 3 out of 5]

For quite a while, I found the book annoying, mostly because I couldn't relate at ALL to the primary issue around which the book was built: townspeople divided over a dangerous spot on the road where a hiking trail crosses a road and TWO people have been hit by cars and killed. One group wants the trail closed; another group wants NOTHING done at all. That just seemed so completely unbelievable to me when the solution seems so obvious: cut back the trees from the road so hikers aren't precipitously thrust onto the pavement and put up warning signs for drivers. Duh. I know the book was published nearly 20 years ago, but even then I'm sure there were plenty of regulations and requirements governing such things, especially in Massachusetts. There is a rail trail near my in-laws' house, and every time it crosses a road, it is very well marked for both hikers/bikers and cars. I do buy that people can be irrational and unreasonable and stubborn, but this issue just didn't ring true to me.

However, I did like the small town feel and many of the characters grew on me until I did care about them and their intertwined issues. (Content warning: language)

[Vivisection · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to be an avid reader of the Sisters in Crime authors. I still would be if they would write more prolifically. Sara Paretsky and Nancy Pickard had glutted the market, publishing frequently and I would devour all their work avidly.

Sara Paretsky slowed down to a book every three or four years. Nancy Pickard has all but quit the Jenny Cain series. I was able to find this last installment in a second hand store.

I miss Jenny Cain and the cozy little town of Portsmouth and their very waspy, Puritanical do-gooding. I had forgotten what a smarmy baddie old Pete Falwell was along with his scheming political ally Ardyth Kennedy. It was a bittersweet visit, knowing there are no more books but it was nice to see the townfolk again.

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not crazy about this. Kept thinking I should just drop it, but continued to read till I finished it. I had read another book by this author that I liked, but can't remember the title just now. Hard to put my finger on it, but it just annoyed me quite a bit. I found some of the characters unrealistic, there was repetition, the style didn't grab me. The dime store owners' daughter was just ridiculous. Why didn't anyone suspect that the "villain", Peter Falwell, might have something to do with the insurance problem? I did, early on. Apparently this is the tenth, and final, installment of this series; hard to believe by this example.

[Laren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had read the author's book "The Virgin of Small Plains" and I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would seek out some of her earlier books. This wasn't a bad book, but I found myself disliking the main character quite a bit. She just seemed to be so petty about everything. Granted, a lot of the plot would have had to unfold very differently if she wasn't, but I like to root for the protagonist, and that's hard to do when I don't much like them. I think I might ignore the older catalog of this author's works and seek out the newer ones, as it is clear she has evolved a lot in her writing over the years since this book was written.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I selected this book from the library for a rather prosaic reason; the author was prolific. I figured if I liked it---there were many more to read. And, I did like it, but I don't know that I will be running back for another bookbag full of Pickard mystery novels. The strong point was that the book was as much a character study as a mystery. Characters were well drawn and the author created a very credible sense of "place." With those two strong points, I don't know why I didn't find it more interesting.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to try more of Nancy Pickard--I really liked her recent Virgin of Small Plains. This is the final entry in the popular "Jenny Cain" series, set in coastal Massachusetts. First person narrative--would work for Sue Grafton readers. True, she's an amateur detective--married to the police officer--- but she's not particularly "cozy." This is a autumnal/Halloween/protest group mash-up. P.J.Tracy readers would probably like also. Pickard is really a Kansas native, and this feels like a midwestern mystery to me.

[Luz C. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point –if you’ve read the past mystery series –you can actually vote in “Poor Fred”. And of course I’d be voting for Mary –the first black woman in town to hold that position –for mayor. Lew Riss has a drastic make-over and is back in town. The teenager who claimed to be Jenny’s husband’s son now lives with them, and Jenny is busy putting together her very own Judy Foundation. Pete Falawell reappears as the eternal and forever arch-enemy of Cain, for good reason. Addictive reading, as always.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

#10 in the Jenny Cain mystery series set in mythical small Massachusetts coastal town of Port Frederick. Jenny is in the middle of getting ready to put on a major fall festival sponsored by her new charitable foundation. She finds herself beset my a growing number of problems which threaten the festival which would ruin her reputation and end her foundation. She has to work her way through these threats to discover who is behind them and their motives.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

TWILIGHT - Good
Pickard, Nancy - 10th in Jenny Cain series

Agreeing to help when a grieving widow enlightens her about a dangerous intersections where multiple tragedies have occurred, Jenny Cain is drawn into a long-running controversy that threatens to destroy everything dear to her.

Light but not fluffy. Enjoyable.

[Maureen]

I did not realize that this was the final book in a series when I picked it up. There was nothing about this book that made me want to read the other nine. Everything from characters to basic plot seemed amateurish to me. A huge disappointment after discovering this author through the random selection of The Virgin of Small Plains, which I loved!

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book even though I found it simplistic. It is not a thriller by any means. It is however a good 'flowing along' kind of book. There is no grand surprises. No off your seat moments. But I found it took me along the saga like plots. Some character dialogue and actions were not realistic. A pet peeve for me. On the whole a good book!

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story much better after I was done than as I was reading it.

The main character was Jenny Cain. She was smart and sympathetic. She wasn’t a detective either. Nice switch. Her husband, Geof, was a peach.

The talk about spiritual matters was well-done and the character, Cleo T., added a lot to the story.

Alzheimer’s and how Nellie covered for her husband was touching and mystifying.

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give huge kudos to writer Nancy Pickard for ending the series (yep, this is the last entry) when she felt it had run its course. As a fan of the series, it was as bittersweet reading this as it had been reading Christie's Curtain.

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good summer read. Although a mystery and people were killed, it wasn't full of gory descriptions. It was often lighthearted and fun, plus contained some elements of mysticism.
I wish I could give it a 3.5 as 3 is too low but 4 is too high.

[Leslie Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older one of her mysteries that I somehow missed; her latest is which I recommend very highly.

[Jan C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this was the last of hers I read. Each time I picked up another one, I'd forget that it took me at least 50 pp to get used to her writing style.

[Madeline]

I didn't like it. Very disappointed.

[Marcus Devin]

Unknown hard

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten just how good these Jenny Cain books are. Now I'll have to dig out the old ones and reread them!

[M.L.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2