Right on the Money

John Putnam Thatcher #20

by Emma Lathen

The planned merger of a large corporation with a small, family-owned company proves to be more of a partnership in crime in this latest mystery from Emma Lathen, "Wall Street's Agatha Christie," featuring intrepid banking whiz and amateur sleuth John Putnam Thatcher. ASI is a large, impersonal, kitchen water-fixture manufacturer looking for a merger partner to break into the more lucrative retail market. Their choice is Ecker, a small but profitable family-owned-and-operated kitchen appliance company. But merger leads to murder as mayhem erupts from both parties and those who view this supposed "golden" merger as a potential disaster:. Victor Hunnicut: ASI's overly ambitious assistant division manager fears there won't be any room for him once Ecker comes aboard. Hunnicut's badmouthing and scandal-mongering result in his being literally skewered to death at a trade show. Phil Pepitone: Rumor has it ASI's Executive Vice President was paid off to bring in Ecker. And worse, some bad decisions of the past are returning to haunt him. Sam Bradley: ASI's research scientist's ideas have been running dry lately, or has he been running to the competition? Bob Laverdiere: Ecker's production manager would prefer that things remain in the family, and worries about the power Hunnicut threatens to wield over his nice, secure niche. Tina Laverdiere: Bob's wife and Ecker's financial watchdog. Was a fire in her offices just before an ASI audit conveniently set in order to hide secrets Tina didn't want discovered? With suspected arson and a possible murder, John Putnam Thatcher finds himself once again drawn into an ever-widening web of corporate chaos and mystery.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

273 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Aka R.B. Dominic

Emma Lathen is the pen name of two American businesswomen: an attorney Mary Jane Latsis (July 12, 1927 -October 29, 1997) and an economic analyst Martha Henissart (b. 1929),who received her B.A. in physics from Mount Holyoke College in 1950.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/31/boo...

Reviews

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conrad Ecker, powerhouse appliance inventor, and his son Douglas, powerhouse businessman, have taken the small Ecker Company to the heights of reputation and reliability. Now, with age and ill health impinging on them, Conrad announces he is going to sell the company to Aqua Systems, Inc. This does not sit well with the family who work for them company. It also sits poorly with a significant portion of ASI. Amid the convulsions on both sides, one nasty little assistant manager ends up murdered. John Thatcher of the Sloan, the bank financing ASI, is in for some surprises before he sorts out who among the main parties has been misbehaving.

I loved the author's zingers. I do have a caveat: I think the corporate cultures at the two companies are going to be incompatible. The Ecker employees have been treated right, and ASI has too much backbiting and corporate infighting. Personally, if I were at Ecker, I would start job hunting.

Read 2 times

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah the humor returns, and Ken Nichols is back in the picture... he's a fave character of mine from the Sloan. Thatcher and team work hard to watch the world of business and help a merger form, however...in this case merge begets murder.

Fun story, I like the fact that absolutely no one was upset or even concerned about the murder victim.. "he was lucky he made it to 32."

A great deal of the humor I saw in the earlier mysteries is back in high form here in this story. Interesting as there are only two more in this series to go.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably only Emma Lathen could write a mystery about two kitchen appliance companies merging and make it exciting, puzzling, and satisfying. Business may be murder, but when a larger company offers to buy out Ecker, a family owned business whose success is based solely on the inventive genius of it's aging founder, no one really expects anybody to die. Still, through murder, infighting, arson and audits, John Thatcher continues to use his intelligence to solve the case. It's a excellent entry in a series that rarely disappoints.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the Thatcher mystery series because it feels like I learn something about a different kind of business with each one. This is one of the last in the series, and Thatcher himself isn't much in evidence, but the auxiliary characters are interesting, as are the machinations for and against the merger that is the center of the plot.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

standard stuff, no sizzle

[Katherine Spivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always something to learn in the John Putnam Thatcher series.

[Jean Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun. Reminds me a lot of work!