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Chiffon Scarf
A woman finds herself caught at the terrible intersection of love and business
Averill Blaine should have been married years ago, but Eden Shore stole her fiancé Noel’s heart. Eden, a fashion model, needed only a few weeks with Noel before he broke his engagement and proposed to her instead, but she never went through with the marriage. Years later, Averill has found a new fiancé, and nothing—not Eden, not even murder—will get in her way. Eden goes to Averill’s wedding in hopes of seducing Noel once more. As the two couples circle warily, death intrudes—in the shape of a suspicious airplane crash that kills Averill’s uncle. He is an expert pilot, but no amount of skill can stop the flames that leap from his engine as he crests 15,000 feet. Still, Averill and Eden are determined to say “I do,” no matter how many die on their way to the altar.
Averill Blaine should have been married years ago, but Eden Shore stole her fiancé Noel’s heart. Eden, a fashion model, needed only a few weeks with Noel before he broke his engagement and proposed to her instead, but she never went through with the marriage. Years later, Averill has found a new fiancé, and nothing—not Eden, not even murder—will get in her way. Eden goes to Averill’s wedding in hopes of seducing Noel once more. As the two couples circle warily, death intrudes—in the shape of a suspicious airplane crash that kills Averill’s uncle. He is an expert pilot, but no amount of skill can stop the flames that leap from his engine as he crests 15,000 feet. Still, Averill and Eden are determined to say “I do,” no matter how many die on their way to the altar.
301 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1939
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50 people want to read
About the author
Mignon G. Eberhart
152 books74 followersMignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. She studied at Nebraska Wesleyan University from 1917 to 1920. In 1923 she married Alanson C. Eberhart, a civil engineer. After working as a freelance journalist, she decided to become a full-time writer. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. In the Forties, she and her husband divorced. She married John Hazen Perry in 1946 but two years later she divorced him and remarried her first husband. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. She also wrote many short stories featuring banker/amateur sleuth James Wickwire (who could be considered a precursor to Emma Lathen's John Putnam Thatcher) and mystery writer/amateur sleuth Susan Dare.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2023
1939
Actually has some good, exciting scenes involving airplanes.
Actually has some good, exciting scenes involving airplanes.
May 21, 2018
Oh boy, what a book! That damn chiffon scarf...
Eden was a bit of an annoying character, men just falling all over her, and the instalove thing definitely threw me. But I loved the mystery, loved the intrigue and suspense and conflict, and the characters were good too. This was a pretty good mystery.
Eden was a bit of an annoying character, men just falling all over her, and the instalove thing definitely threw me. But I loved the mystery, loved the intrigue and suspense and conflict, and the characters were good too. This was a pretty good mystery.
March 12, 2021
Major characters:
Eden Shore, protagonist
Averill Blaine, Eden's friend and rival
Jim Cady, Averill's fiancée, developer of the new engine
Bill Blaine, Averill's uncle
Creda Blaine, Bill's wife
Noel Carreaux, Averill's and Eden's former lover
Major Pace, foreign government agent, buyer of the new engine
Dorothy Woolen, Jim's secretary
Mike Strevsky, aircraft mechanic
Lud Strevsky, aircraft pilot, brother of Mike
P. H. Sloane, Colorado rancher
Locale: New York City, St. Louis, Colorado
Synopsis: New Yorker Eden Shore has been invited by old friend Averill Blaine to her wedding. They have not seen each other in years. They were friends, but became rivals for the affections of Noel Carreaux, and Eden had stolen him away from Averill. Noel had then proposed to Eden, but she turned him down (after all that!) Now, faced with the prospect of seeing him again, Eden has reconsidered and hopes to rekindle their romance by teasing Noel into proposing (again). Relations between Eden and Averill are still touchy - and Averill's motive in inviting Eden is really just to show off her fiancée, Jim Cady.
Averill invites Eden to fly to St. Louis, then the entire wedding party will take a chartered plane to Lousiana for the ceremony.
Jim works for the Blaines and is the developer of a new aircraft engine. War seems on the horizon (this is 1939) and an agent of a foreign government, Major Pace, is here to purchase rights to the engine after observing a test flight.
Eden finds herself alone with Jim Cady, and they realize it is love at first sight.
The test flight gets underway, the plane piloted by Averill's uncle Bill Blaine, accompanied by mechanic Mike Strevsky. The plane catches fire and crashes, killing both men, leaving a widow of Bill's wife, Creda Blaine.
Despite the tragedy, the plan is for the wedding to go an scheduled. Averill feels pressured, as she sees Jim slipping away to Eden already.
The wedding party departs for Lousiana on the chartered plane, piloted by Lud Strevsky and Jim. It gets diverted, and lands on the desert in remote southern Colorado; with everyone wondering where they are. They take shelter in a dude ranch owned by P. H. Sloane. Eden and Averill share a cabin. Eden finds Creda murdered in her cabin, while wearing Averill's coat, with Eden's chiffon scarf tied around her neck. It appears Eden wanted to do away with Averill to stop her wedding - so she could have Jim all to herself - and mistook Creda for Averill.
Review: Mignon Eberhart does the woman-in-love-wrongly-accused so well. You just know there is going to be a girl-next-door and a trashy vixen in the story. The first part of the book - up until Sloane's Ranch - is more a romance than a mystery. But that's OK.
Midway (at Sloane's ranch) it turns into the typical closed group marooned in isolation murder case. The desert/ranch setting is done well, and reminds me of Erle Stanley Gardner's stories set in the desert.
The location of Sloane's ranch was a puzzle - it was not clearly stated. I consulted my atlas and the references in the text indicate it is southernmost Colorado, near the New Mexico border.
The other puzzle was: how does a flight from St. Louis to Louisiana wind up in Colorado with no one the wiser? (Try that today!) It was diverted intentionally, but the overnight flight sure took a long time to get there!
One thing that surprised me: Usually I can pick out the victim in advance, not but necessarily the murderer. This time around I was able to pick out the murderer right away (before the deed even happened) but I was sure wrong on the victim!
This would be an especially good read if you are staying in an isolated desert cabin.
Eden Shore, protagonist
Averill Blaine, Eden's friend and rival
Jim Cady, Averill's fiancée, developer of the new engine
Bill Blaine, Averill's uncle
Creda Blaine, Bill's wife
Noel Carreaux, Averill's and Eden's former lover
Major Pace, foreign government agent, buyer of the new engine
Dorothy Woolen, Jim's secretary
Mike Strevsky, aircraft mechanic
Lud Strevsky, aircraft pilot, brother of Mike
P. H. Sloane, Colorado rancher
Locale: New York City, St. Louis, Colorado
Synopsis: New Yorker Eden Shore has been invited by old friend Averill Blaine to her wedding. They have not seen each other in years. They were friends, but became rivals for the affections of Noel Carreaux, and Eden had stolen him away from Averill. Noel had then proposed to Eden, but she turned him down (after all that!) Now, faced with the prospect of seeing him again, Eden has reconsidered and hopes to rekindle their romance by teasing Noel into proposing (again). Relations between Eden and Averill are still touchy - and Averill's motive in inviting Eden is really just to show off her fiancée, Jim Cady.
Averill invites Eden to fly to St. Louis, then the entire wedding party will take a chartered plane to Lousiana for the ceremony.
Jim works for the Blaines and is the developer of a new aircraft engine. War seems on the horizon (this is 1939) and an agent of a foreign government, Major Pace, is here to purchase rights to the engine after observing a test flight.
Eden finds herself alone with Jim Cady, and they realize it is love at first sight.
The test flight gets underway, the plane piloted by Averill's uncle Bill Blaine, accompanied by mechanic Mike Strevsky. The plane catches fire and crashes, killing both men, leaving a widow of Bill's wife, Creda Blaine.
Despite the tragedy, the plan is for the wedding to go an scheduled. Averill feels pressured, as she sees Jim slipping away to Eden already.
The wedding party departs for Lousiana on the chartered plane, piloted by Lud Strevsky and Jim. It gets diverted, and lands on the desert in remote southern Colorado; with everyone wondering where they are. They take shelter in a dude ranch owned by P. H. Sloane. Eden and Averill share a cabin. Eden finds Creda murdered in her cabin, while wearing Averill's coat, with Eden's chiffon scarf tied around her neck. It appears Eden wanted to do away with Averill to stop her wedding - so she could have Jim all to herself - and mistook Creda for Averill.
Review: Mignon Eberhart does the woman-in-love-wrongly-accused so well. You just know there is going to be a girl-next-door and a trashy vixen in the story. The first part of the book - up until Sloane's Ranch - is more a romance than a mystery. But that's OK.
Midway (at Sloane's ranch) it turns into the typical closed group marooned in isolation murder case. The desert/ranch setting is done well, and reminds me of Erle Stanley Gardner's stories set in the desert.
The location of Sloane's ranch was a puzzle - it was not clearly stated. I consulted my atlas and the references in the text indicate it is southernmost Colorado, near the New Mexico border.
The other puzzle was: how does a flight from St. Louis to Louisiana wind up in Colorado with no one the wiser? (Try that today!) It was diverted intentionally, but the overnight flight sure took a long time to get there!
One thing that surprised me: Usually I can pick out the victim in advance, not but necessarily the murderer. This time around I was able to pick out the murderer right away (before the deed even happened) but I was sure wrong on the victim!
This would be an especially good read if you are staying in an isolated desert cabin.
June 24, 2018
I’m sure this was written so long ago that the author never meant any reader to be laughing at what is clearly a serious murder mystery. But as I read it, it felt like I was watching an old black and white movie( despite the pains she took to describe the characters and what they wore or the beautiful mountain scenery.).
November 27, 2018
Disappointing, poorly edited, not her best
This reads like a rough draft, jumps all over the place, drags in many spots...repeats itself, and was entirely predictable. I read two of the Sarah Keate books and found them fascinating..my advice, skip this and read The Patient in Room 18 instead.
This reads like a rough draft, jumps all over the place, drags in many spots...repeats itself, and was entirely predictable. I read two of the Sarah Keate books and found them fascinating..my advice, skip this and read The Patient in Room 18 instead.
July 25, 2023
This mystery is improbable and, at times, silly, with a case of love-at-first-sight, a remote and cut-off location, and overdone drama. It's not Eberhart's best, but is still undeniably entertaining for those who enjoy the light suspense novels of this era.
October 1, 2018
The characters were annoying and I just cpouldn't enjoy the book.
July 6, 2023
Her books are very entertaining.
August 29, 2021
For florid and overwrought romantic suspense, I really enjoyed this novel. The murder was gruesome and an isolated dude ranch in the Sangre de Cristo mountains limited the number of viable suspects. I admit I did roll my eyes at the “love at first sight” plot twist, but it did add to Eden’s increasing desperation. And wow, if you look up “frenemy” in the dictionary, I have no doubt Averill’s picture would be there.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews