Hardscrabble Road

Gregor Demarkian #21

by Jane Haddam

When Philadelphia's right-wing-ranting radio host Drew Harrigan is arrested for possession of illegal pain killers, he implicates a homeless man, Sherman Markey, in the drug buys, and is soon checked into a locked rehabilitation facility. While Harrigan is away, beyond the reach of the media and the court, Markey sues him for libel and slander. With the help of a legal advocacy group, Markey is due to have his day in court…until he disappears into the city streets. The nuns at the shelter haven't seen him. The civil lawyers can't find him. Now it's time for retired FBI agent Gregor Demarkian to step into the case―one that will lead Demarkian down a slippery slope of dark deeds and chilling revelation…with a killer lying in wait for anyone who dares to cross his path.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Cozy Mystery, Book Club

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

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]

Hardscrabble Road by Jane Haddam.

This story revolves around a hard core political radio activist. We all remember t least one of those who were known for ranting their political views on air. This radio personality, Drew Harrigan, brought out the best and the worst in both the right and the left in politics was addicted to drugs...prescription drugs illegally obtained. Harrigan had been stopped often enough for driving irregularly in traffic but never arrested until now. This arrest brought Harrigan's drug addiction to the public's attention and rather than serve jail time he elected to enter a drug rehab center. But that's not before he names a homeless man, Sherman Markey, as his supplier.

I love the way J.H. ties all the loose ends together bringing the solution to the mystery of who killed Drew Harrigan and who was really his supplier. An intriguing story with believable characters interwoven throughout.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I land on the positive side with this one. Hardscrabble Road satisfies several levels of what I need in a good book.

On a basic level, I enjoyed all the literary elements: the plot (I did NOT guess the ending!), the characters, the setting. The characters and setting are familiar, but not cookie-cutter, and the plot was interesting. I particularly noticed how Gregor Demarkian is able to look past the noise and clutter surrounding the mystery and cut to the heart of the matter. If only….

I have been involved for several years with an organization that serves the homeless population in our area. So I appreciated, and learned from, that aspect of the book. I like how Haddam seems to look into our minds and hearts to describe how people think and act. She may have a lot right on this particular subject.

Finally, in the fractious political climate of today, it’s easy to forget that we are not unique in our waywardness. I loved the political philosophizing of Father Tibor about the early 2000’s where it was hard to believe he wasn’t speaking about 2019. Here’s one of many quotes.
p. 64-65 “’It doesn’t matter. It will all be anger and craziness. When I first came to America, people weren’t angry like this all the time, Krekor. People were passionate about politics and, yes, there were some, idiots on the New Left, what they were thinking I don’t know, but most people were not angry like this. It is not one side or the other now. It is both of them. And it doesn’t matter what the issue is. If you don’t like the tax cuts, you are a traitor who wants to sell out the country to Islamic fundamentalists. If you don’t like abortion, you are a fascist murderer who wants to enslave women as breeding machines with no right to a life of their own. It’s not that there isn’t any center anymore. It’s that there isn’t any sense. First the Republicans accuse President Clinton of paying a hit man to murder his friend. Then the Democrats accuse the Republicans of allowing the 9/11 attacks to happen on purpose, if not causing them themselves. It doesn’t matter who gets elected in November, it will be the same thing all over again, and do you know why? It’s because it’s not about politics. It’s not about are we going to have a welfare state or a laissez-faire one. It’s not about should there be public schools or private schools that get vouchers. It’s not about politics. It’s about religion.’”
“’It is? Are the Democrats pushing religion?’”
“’Tcha,”Tibor said. ‘You’re too limited in your scholarship. There is real religion, which is about our relationship to God, which is important. But there is another kind of religion, and that is the religion that is about identity. It is about banding together in a group and defending ourselves against what we fear, when what we fear is each other. It is about not wanting to live in a world where we are in a minority, because it is uncomfortable to be a minority. That kind of religion talks about God sometimes, but it doesn’t have to. It can call itself Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Communist or Libertarian or Green. I like real religion, Krekor. It’s been of enormous importance and value in my life. This other stuff, I look at it and I fear for the survival of civilization.’”

It’s comforting, to me, to think of these quotes when I listen to the news or read comments on news stories or go through various comments on Facebook. Maybe it shouldn’t be comforting because…civilization! But it is in the same way as when reading history about horrible times. We’ve been here before. We survived. Maybe we forgot the lessons, but I have hope we will learn them again.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's intensely refreshing to return to Jane Haddam's intelligent Gregor Demarkian mysteries. Here a ranting right-wing radio personality is arrested for driving dangerously, and found with a bowl full of various illegal pills beside him on the seat. His reaction is to throw the blame on a defenseless homeless man, except that the homeless man finds defenders and the battle is on. So are the deaths.

Gregor Demarkian's community is Armenian-American and they always have their noses in everyone else's business. No one there knows why Gregor's fiancee Bennis has gone away, so they can't help him. Gregor decides to distract himself by clearing the homeless man of guilt, which means wading through Philadelphia politics.

Haddam's satire about Gregor's Cavanaugh Street is warm and loving. Her satire of the outside world is sharp and funny. Her exploration of the attitudes of every one of her characters goes remarkably deep. I have five more of her latest mysteries to catch up, and I'm looking forward to them eagerly.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

L

[Hester · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am continuing my project of reading books on my shelf so I can donate them. I am very glad to have learned Alex's method--take notes so I can get over my frustration. Jane Haddam is a talented writer and I am glad I wrote the book. She is much gentler in this book; I remember some of the others are mean-spirited. In this book, she manages to find the humanity is some unpleasant characters. I found myself liking a racist, xenophobic, antisemitic Wasp.

The book was generally a good ride, except for a couple things. She wrote the mathematician character without having done any research into the field. For starters, she said the guy won the Nobel Prize in mathematics! Also, that mathematicians tend to be uncultured. I used to usher in grad school and there were always lots of math professors at the chamber music concerts.

Secondly, I was disappointed with the ending. I didn't foresee it, because it didn't fit with what we had already seen about the supposed murderer.

I did appreciate the Terry Pratchett quotes, and how she tries to get us to pay more attention to the homeless, without giving any easy answers.

[Erin Sterling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder mystery with political intrigue and lots of characters--almost too many to keep track of, at least at first (although the one constant is Gregor Demarkian, the "Argentinian-American Hercule Poirot" who apparently carries over in other of Haddam's books as well) The plot--a Rush Limbaugh type radio show host in Philadelphia is arrested because of a pill addiction and blames a homeless man for supplying the pills. When people start to get murdered, there's obviously more to the story than meets the eye. A monastery, a non-profit on homelessness, University professors, and people on the right, left, and other politically are just some of the characters in this intriguing book.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I missed Bennis and other Cavanaugh Street folks since hardly any were included except Father Tibor. The Gregor-Bennis relationship definitely seems at a crisis point, and as a person who likes romances between people I like to work out - I don't like it. I also didn't care for the solution to the murder. But I did like a lot of Gregor's inner reflections. This one was heavy into politics again. I did think some of the discussions on politics were thought provoking. But they also left me a feeling even less optimistic about ever getting the US out of this quagmire that we seem to be in. So, all in all, I guess I had mixed feelings about the book.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't ever feel like I had an idea what was going on or why.

I still don't know what's up with Bennis and Gregor, but I'd like to shake both of them until they'd rather talk with each other than not.

I know who dunnit, but doggoned if I know why, and there were a lot of little side mysteries I never figured out.

Obviously, not my favorite Demarkian story.

[Irene Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Some of the dialog was belly laughs.

[Eliece · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists almost completely of conversations and interior monologues. There is very little action, although the plot is convoluted and simple at the same time. The best part of the book for me was the things people had to say about the state of the modern world, and I think the author was balanced in her depiction of liberals and conservatives, or as she had one character say, "The older I get, the more I think the distinctions are wrong. Left and right. Conservative and liberal. It's not that. It's libertarian and authoritarian. It's people who want freedom and people who want control."

The characters are interesting and colorful. They include a Benedictine nun who's also a lawyer, a two-time Nobel winner, a Rush Limbaugh type, a young man who works with the homeless, and Gregor Demarkian (a retired FBI agent who's called the Armenian-American Hercule Poirot.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad mystery. But I got so sick of Haddam's ranting and raving. It wore on me. It wasn't subtle. She took a brick and brained the reader with it repeatedly. There was no respite, nowhere to run. And reading this in 2016 in the current political climate made it 100 times worse because she sounds like 100 angry voices you hear all day every day.

Go back to writing mysteries and leave the libertarian politics for the political books section please.

Also, the Bennis / Gregor relationship has never rung true to me and it seemed ridiculous in this book, like she couldn't figure out how to write Bennis in, so she sent her off with a basic explanation but then had Gregor angst over it. George was gone too and Tibor was used as the internet, which is a two-dimensional use of the character.

I am annoyed because many of her mysteries have been spectacular and this was one just was not anywhere near as good. It ranks up there with the one - I think Thanksgiving - that went out of print. I found a copy of that one and understood why it disappeared because it too was horribly subpar in the series.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't as well written as the other mysteries I've read, so I won't be reading the entire series. However, it did keep me interested and was hard to put down. I found the ranting of the characters monotonous and it made them all blend together, because their voices sounded so similar. Although homelessness is a serious issue, I found myself rolling my eyes towards the end of the book, because I felt like the author kept saying the same things. I also found it unbelievable that all the characters thought a lot about homelessness. It seemed kind of contrived.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mystery entwines people from different worlds together (left wing, right wing, religious, secular, homeless, wealthy). Unfortunately I found I didn't care about any of the characters. Maybe If I had read some of the 20 books that precede this one in the series, I would have enjoyed dipping into the lives of the Gregor Demarkian and his friends.

A main plot point is that the homeless are invisible and are not seen as individuals. There is a fair amount of truth in that, but a 400 pound man, homeless or not, would really stand out in my town and be memorable to everyone who saw him.

[Karen Gallimore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I miss the Cavanaugh Street characters, especially Bennis. There's not a lot of action in this book -- no car chases, shootouts etc. However, it is thought provoking with historical, philosophical, and sociological viewpoints without becoming pedantic. I like that Gregor Demarkian solves crimes through observation and thinking, not violences

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not read a book in the Gregor Demarkian ( the Armenian Hercule Poirot ) series for many years. The solution is very clever, but there was too much time devoted to suspects and witnesses and not enough to Gregor. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and well-plotted. Much backstory for all the characters, which in most cases is not strictly necessary, yet very readable, and part of what makes this mystery good. I will be looking for more mysteries featuring Gregor Demarkian, the "Armenian-American Hercule Poirot."

[Julia Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I jumped into the middle of this series after a recommendation from a fellow reader. Gregor Demarkian is a fine detective with almost complete access to the police department and interesting friends. The mystery was interesting enough that I will probably read a few more from the series.

[Lizzytish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haddam is a talented writer. However the constant barrage of politics get in the way of a goody mystery. I love Tabor. He is so down to earth. I guess the author couldn’t figure out what to do with Bennis so she sent her in a book tour.

[Sallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I too got a bit tired of the soul searching and political breast beating in this book. I loved her earlier Gregor Demarkian books, but the later ones are beginning to wear thin.

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read for enjoyment...this book in the Gregor Demarkian series had just a tad too much politics in it for me...but still some interesting perspectives.

[Irene Headley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea what this author had against the late Tony Benn, and I don't understand why the murderer did it.

[J.S. Nelson]

DNF

[June Hiza]

Sharon McCone Mystery

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story line and plot were good but the book was soooo drawn out and the ending was abrupt.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13410059

I read another in this series a while back and I remembered liking it. I liked this one too but I had some reservations.

Gregor Demarkian is the "Armenian-American Hercule Poirot", according to the Philadelphia newspapers. As often happens with fictional detectives, he appears in the papers from time to time. I can't remember seeing any detective featured in any newspaper article in real life, but I suppose it happens.

The case is confusing and there are many characters. The whole thing starts at a monastery that allows homeless people to spend the night in the barn on the property. The monastery is cloistered: its residents do not interact with the outside world, except for a few "extern sisters". We learn that there are monasteries that are for women, that these women may be nuns or simply "religious sisters". One extern sister in particular figures in the story. Sister Maria Beata is a lawyer and thus is called in to assist with a little legal problem. The head nun (I forget her title, just remember that she is not a "Mother Superior") is the sister of a prominent conservative talk show host. The host, Drew Harrigan, has given some of his property to the monastery. Unfortunately, he did so after being arrested on a drug charge and being sued by the man he claimed procured the drugs for him.

That's all very straightforward, yes?

It gets muddy fast. We meet the tough corporate lawyer. We meet the human rights lawyer (his former wife). We meet the head of an operation called Philadelphia Sleeps, a nonprofit that helps homeless persons to get into shelters during the bitter cold winter nights.

We also get to see Gregor's friend Tibor, an elderly soul with whom Gregor has breakfast every morning. Oh, and the media company that features Drew Harrigan on its radio station. There are so many characters who figure one way or another into the story that I had a bit of a time keeping them straight. And when the case was solved it felt a bit like real life in a way, in the way that not all loose ends are tied up, or at least not all motivations explained.

It's an entertaining and sometimes provocative bit of work. Many of the characters are in some way political, and those who say they are not still are. I felt a bit like the author was treating us to her own political philosophy at times and I wasn't entirely taken in by it. There are also characters who are more caricatures. Fortunately, these are in the minority but their presence was irritating to me. So I felt it was, for me, a qualified success.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This murder mystery was very hard to get into - politics, religion, and a huge cast of characters... The prologue was divided into 8 chapters/sections, which took you through almost 1/4 of the book. It was so confusing because each one was about a different character, and by the fifth one I knew they must be connected somehow, but since I couldn't remember them well, I had to flip back to the beginning and take notes on who was who. Once the book got going, and Gregor (the main detective) was the center focus, it was easier to follow. It was still very confusing thorughout with all the different characters, some that had nothing to do with the murders - were they just in there for fluff??? At this point, I would not be interested in reading another Jane Haddam novel.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find these stories interesting, and the Old Neighborhood aspect is appealing. But I find that I like Demarkian himself less all the time. I guess he is well written as a character from his age group and background. But I get tired of him complaining that he doesn't understand women. Just like Henry Higgins - why can't a woman be more like a man. It does interfere with the story. This one is a good background about homeless people and society, which plays into the main plot nicely. The ending was startling concerning his relationship with Bennis. Query to self - do I care enough to eat the next one? This ha dragged through 2 books, what I'd it is still dragging in the next one?

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian series never fails to please and Hardscrabble Road is no exception. This could almost be read as a stand alone because it primarily features Demarkian with a cameo appearance by my other personal favorite, Father Tibor Kasparian. I read this at the perfect time of year as Gregor Demarkian and the Philadelphia police (and homeless) battled below zero temperatures and I looked outside from my comfortable reading place onto a similar wintery scene. It gave the message behind the plot a frostier bite.

[Lorena Drapeau]

i honestly did not expect to like this book and--well.... i not only liked it but intend to read more of haddam's novels. i didn't figure it all out until literally the last chapter. i hope that that doesn't mean i'm slow but instead means that she has a very deft way of putting together a mystery like it would actually be in real life.

[Mary Newcomb]

Gregor Demarkian pulls together disparate pieces--the death of a drug addicted radio blowhard, random accusations made on said blowhard's programs, the appearance of lists and odd events at the monastery's barn to figure out the important parts of this mystery. The Philadelphia police are left to sort out the rest. This is a great mystery!