The Diplomatic Corpse

by Anne Zwack

When Maggie's husband, smooth, silver-haired, patrician Jeremy, the British Ambassador to Vienna, drops dead unexpectedly of a heart attack, she is stunned. But her shock soon turns to fury when she discovers that he died in the arms of a beautiful blonde Viennese hostess.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[toxictomatosoup · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sort of aged badly. I think getting revenge on your late husband's mistresses is just wrong, they did nothing to you. There are some interesting topics mentioned in the book like submissive wife roles, self blaming, selfdiscovery and class difference but its overshadowed by the bad writing, inconsistent plot and underdeveloped characters. The main character doesn't appear to be a bad natured person so this personal warfare against towards these strangers feels very out of character to me. Sometimes she is dumb or incompetent just for the sake of other charaters can explain something. I think that's quite a harmful stereotype considering she was a trophy wife. The ending felt like a fairy tale ending. The good characters come together work at the same place and the protagonist gets everything she wanted from life. It isn't satisfying because she just caused trauma and hurt to others during the whole book. Also why is Zoltán obsessed with telling us about the weather?

[R. R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a lovely surprise. I haven't read any of Zwack's books before. To be honest I chose the title and the cover. It was an easy ride from there.
The book touches upon many of our inner worries in life. We could associate with some of them. She dealt with them in a fluffy, funny and easygoing manner.
The 'firm' towards the end seemed a little farfetched, but all in all it was a fun read. Looking forward to reading more of this author's books.

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maggie's husband is a British Ambassador to Vienna dies from a heart attck in the arms of his mistress. Quite a surprise for Maggie. This book is bent on revenge, with a slight humorous twist. It was an ok read, with a great cover.

[Kathy Chung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed at Mama Kucing Books & Ravings: The Diplomatic Corpse by Anne Marshall Zwack

a hillarious story of a woman on the war path! Revenge is sweet.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutly loved this story of revenge and love. Some of the methods used to extract revenge for infidelity are ingenious, and the whole story is both hilarious, and yet also rather poignant as we discover more about the marriage which underpinned the whole tale.