A Field of Darkness

Madeline Dare #1

by Cornelia Read

Madeline Dare would be the first to tell you her money is so old there's none left. A former socialite from an aristocratic family in decline, Maddie is a tough-talking, would-be journalist exiled to the rust belt of upstate New York. Her prospects for changing her dreary lifestyle seem dim--until a set of dog tags found at a decades-old murder site is linked to her family. Shocked into action, Maddie embarks on a search that takes her from the derelict smokestacks of Syracuse to the posh mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast. But instead of the warm refuge of home, this prodigal daughter soon uncovers dark, sinister secrets that will violently challenge everything she believes in and holds dear.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Crime, New York

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

I have circumnavigated the globe, throwing up in many of the world's airports as I hate to fly. I was born in Manhattan, and spent my childhood racketing around from New York to California to Oahu.

I know old-school WASP culture firsthand, having been born into the tenth (and last) generation of my mother's family to live on Oyster Bay's Centre Island. I was subsequently raised near Big Sur by divorced hippie-renegade parents. My childhood mentors included Sufis, surfers, single moms, Black Panthers, Ansel Adams, draft dodgers, striking farmworkers, and Henry Miller's toughest ping-pong rival.

I am now at home molding the characters (evil laugh here) of my twin daughters, the younger of whom has severe autism. I am the world's worst housewife, nicknamed by my intrepid spouse "a lighting rod for entropy in the universe."

I like to read a lot, being especially fond of the backs of cereal boxes and badly garbled assembly instructions written by persons for whom English is not the language of choice (although my all-time favorite bit of writing was contained in the song list on a bootleg Dylan tape in Hong Kong, which claimed "Bowling in the Wind" was the first cut on side A).

For the last several generations, my family's motto has been "Never a Dull Moment." None of us know how you would say this in Latin. I subscribe to my sister's gustatory philosophy, which is that "there are two kinds of food in the world: food that's good, and food that needs more salt."

My two favorite songs are Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" and that little bit of Bach Glenn Gould plays right when the Tralfamadorians are coming out of the stars to kidnap Billy Pilgrim and his old dog Spot in the movie version of Slaughterhouse Five. The Rolling Stones doing "King Bee" gets an honorable mention.

I have now published two novels, A Field of Darkness and The Crazy School. Field was nominated for seven awards, including the Edgar for best first novel. I am also the grateful recipient of a 2008 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship.

I would like to be Winston Churchill when I grow up.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Voice" seems to be the quality that writers most strive for these days, to the point of going way over the top. Cornelia Read's amateur detective Madeline Dare is exhibit A in this regard -- her first-person voice in "Field of Darkness" is sometimes clever and even lyrical, but this constant straining for a bon-mot or scintillating simile is ultimately irritating and exhausting for the reader, at least this one. Instead of being carried away by the flow, I was constantly stopping to either admire or grind my teeth over the latest masterpiece of a sentence, to the detriment of forgetting myself in characters and plot. As Gertrude said to Polonius, "More matter, with less art."

The frustrating thing is that by pulling back just a tad, Read could've pulled it off. I might try another one of her books to see if she's gotten over her "I want to prove I'm the smartest girl in the class" complex, because she definitely has a gift for dialogue and characterization. I did suspect the outcome, but she will probably improve on that front as well.

Back to the issue of uber-cuteness in language, my review is probably affected by the fact that I just read "The Condition" by Jennifer Haigh, which is written so beautifully and simply that you're carried along without any awareness of the talent behind the curtain; and that I am listening to another book with a hyper narrator, "Special topics in calamity physics" by Marissa Pessl. Like Read, Pessl is a first-time author, so it may be that this is simply a novice's way of trying to impress. Once they stop trying to wow the reader with every syllable, they could write very enjoyable books.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very serious and atmospheric mystery. Set in white trash Syracuse and snooty Berkshires, it follows a poor, down-on-her-luck ex-debutante whose family has lost all its money but not its sense of superiority.

I really enjoyed the lead character Maddie and her family and friends. The mystery was good too. But really, the major strength of this book is its characters.

Can't wait to read more.

[Mo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting for this story is in my neck of the woods, Upstate New York. It quickly becomes obvious that the author considers the entire area to be nothing more than a hell hole. The less I liked the book, the more my anger grew over the constant bashing of Syracuse NY, and the people who live there.

Here are just a couple quotes:

“The summer of 1988 finds her in the rust belt of upstate New York, pining for her often-absent, farmboy-genius-inventor husband and desperate to escape dreary Syracuse.”

“… I felt like if I just squinted hard enough, all that frosted and overpermed mall hair would become Aqua Net-lacquered beehives…”

“I am just so sick of this town,” I said. “It’s like some mental dust bowl filled with people who didn’t have the gumption to get in the goddamn truck with Granny and the chicken coop strapped up top so they could drive the hell away.”

“I was in Utica…. I mean, what’s another hour on the thruway once you’re in this godforsaken neck of the woods?”

It was one dig after another (I suppose in the guise of being “witty”) and it got old very quickly. However, I didn’t dislike the book becaue of all the bashing… I disliked it because it wasn’t a well written book, nor was it an interesting story.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I raced to the end so I wouldn't have to hear any more of the shallow, disdainful narrator or of the author's utter contempt for Syracuse.

[MB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have so much bias about this book it isn't even funny. But that doesn't stop it from being well written and gripping.

First, it's set in Syracuse, NY. Not quite my home town, but close enough. And this book made me see Syracuse through very different eyes. That Madeline Dare both hates and it doesn't want to leave it--yes, I get that, in spades.

Second is the main character herself. She reads like a LOT of girls I knew in my very preppy college, only grown up and married and "trapped" somewhere she never thought she'd end up.

Above all, it's a convoluted mystery linking two sisters murdered in 1969 with Madeline's family history, something she doesn't know until a casual remark by her father-in-law sets her on a path to learn the truth. Is her family implicated? Or is someone just trying to make it look that way?

Will happily seek out more by this author.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Reader, I decked the bitch."

[Bridgette Redman · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for an easy summer read, Cornelia Read’s debut novel, A Field of Darkness is NOT the book for you.

If, however, you’re interested in a thriller with substance, a dark yet compelling story that is intelligent and intense, then this may be the novel for you. It’s by no means an easy read, but it is smart and even its harshness enriches the themes found within its pages.

A Field of Darkness is a mystery thriller set in 1988 written in what the author calls WASP noir. The protagonist, Madeline Dare, is from money “so old that it’s gone.” Her family has deep roots and looks upon itself almost as aristocracy, replete with the privileges of having occupied the same space for a long time.

Madeline is someone who both wants to break from her family and its behaviors and who still has an intense loyalty and fierce protectiveness toward it. It is this conflict that opens the mystery of the novel. She is told about the grisly murder of two girls that took place in 1969. One of her in-laws tosses her dog tags that he found at the scene of the murder, but never turned in. She immediately recognizes the name on them—that of her favorite cousin, Lapthorne.

She sets out to prove that he is innocent, but her investigations lead invariably to more murders as she gets a little too close to the truth.

It’s a book that explores such themes as isolation, loyalty, and finding one’s individuality apart from one’s family and upbringing. Read also explores place and how it affects us as people. Madeline tells us in the opening lines of the book that she is not one of those people who can be happy anywhere. Place matters to her, much as it matters to her blue-blooded family.

Madeline is an interesting heroine—one who is deeply flawed yet very likable and very appealing. She has few illusions about herself and what ones she does have end up getting stripped away during the course of the novel. While she is trying to solve the murder, she isn’t exactly the most law-abiding person.

A fledgling journalist who has yet to get a big assignment, she blurs the lines between legality and illegality. She withholds information from the police—information that might have helped prevent at least one murder, possibly more. She has been a casual drug user in the past and is present during a fair amount of cocaine use—use that resonates with the 80s and the brat pack culture.

There are times when it felt like her withholding of information was less about protecting her cousin and family and more about protecting the progression of the plot. After all, if you hand too much information to the police, the story leaves the pages and falls into the hands of people whom we haven't met and ties the hands of the protagonist. However, it's not something that can be sustained for very long while maintaining credibility. Madeline's actions stretched the suspension of disbelief, but didn't break it.

Perhaps Read’s greatest strength is in her use of the language. She delights in making her words dance as they perform the ballet of storytelling. Her pages are rich with imagery and every sentence performs multiple roles in mood setting, plot pushing, and character revelation.

But while her greatest strength is in the way she makes her words sing, she also has a knack for creating interesting characters who each have their own voice and motivation. They’re characters who are deeply developed and have detailed pasts which influence their present-day behaviors. Read weaves complex relationships between all of her characters—not just between the protagonist and everyone else.

Many of the characters are distasteful. There were times when I found it difficult to sympathize with some of their characters because they behaved in ways I thought was foolish or despicable. However, this is something that contributed to the suspense of the novel as there were many potential suspects, all of whom presented a very real and immediate danger to Madeline and those around her.

A Field of Darkness is Read’s first novel. Published in hardcover by Mysterious Press, it has met with immediate critical acclaim. Kirkus Reviews and the New York Times both gave it favorable reviews. Kirkus said it was one of the top ten thrillers to be published in 2006. Author Lee Child called it “one of the best debuts I’ve ever seen” and invited her to tour with him after the book came out.

Such warm reception bodes well for the possibility of seeing more Madeline Dare books in the future.

Disclosure: Cornelia Read is a former member of Epinions and in the acknowledgements page, she gives credit to “Everyone at Epinions.com, who saw me through the darkest hours and gave me my writing chops back.” She lists 40 Epinions members who were on her trust list, including myself. I also interviewed her about this book for Book Help Web.

[Beppie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wooooheee! Tip back your brewsky, put on your Debutante gown over your Levis and pour me a martini...a veddy, veddy dry Martini, darling! This is going to be a bumpy review!

Take one old, old money high society gal who's been disowned by almost everyone in her dysfunctional extended family. Give her a hardworking, farm-grown hunk of a husband who adores her and for whom she lustily returns the adoration. Add on a job as a lowly beat reporter who has the distinct misfortune to work with the motliest crew of co-workers imaginable at a bottom-of-the-food chain newspaper, and you have met Madeline Dare!

Now throw into the mix an almost 20 year old cold case of murder most Grimm and the scene is set for a thoroughly delightful romp of a mystery that has absolutely nothing "cozy" about it!

[Jodi Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed reading this first book of Cornelia Read's. Her writing style is packed with vivid description. Once the mystery started, it kept going until the end. I was thoroughly satisfied by the wrapping up of all the details. I am not at all biased, as one kid who grew up with the author in Carmel Highlands and laughed out loud quite a bit with the tidbits about her Mom and the references to California. I am very excited to read the next book, Crazy School.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A debut mystery from a writer I will now be following. This was not perfect - the killer was easy to spot, early on and some of the characters were a bit two-dimensional - but I love the style and the main character's voice. Some of the phrases were just perfect, like the description of super rich, thin, tan Aunt Binty as a piece of "blonde beef jerky." "Bitch needs to eat a cheeseburger."

[KJP JACKSON-PETERSEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good murder mystery--cold case catching up with the present.

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, every once in a while I like a mystery thriller type of book with a female protagonist and this one had promise. I did like some of it and did finish reading it, but felt it was uneven in several respects. For starters, this book is set in the 80s in Syracuse. No issues with either of those elements, except I lived through the 80s as a young adult and found too many inconsistencies with dialogue to have it be believable. For example, I can guarantee no one was saying "neener neener neener" in the 80s. Just a little thing, but enough to tarnish the scene. And then I felt the protagonist, Madeline, was too smart to be doing some of the dumb things the author ascribed to her--like not going to the police when her life was repeatedly and obviously threatened, etc. On the one hand, the author has her puking with fear, but continuing to place herself (and others) in harms way and taking stupid risks that made no sense. It was just too implausible. And finally, the conclusion was abrupt and muddled, with Madeline and Ellis blowing away the evil cousin in an Indiana Jones type of scene, then the author took a couple of paragraphs to haphazardly wrap up the remaining loose ends, leaving the reader more confused than satisfied. The other element that caused this book to be less than stellar for me would be the constant references to the social stratus Madeline supposedly comes from. The label and name-dropping just got real old, real fast. I probably won't be reading more of these.
,

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Mostly, this is an well-written, engaging mystery. The premise was compelling and continued to be so throughout the story, and Read's sly observations on wealth, poverty, and those who form the odd group which simultaneously experiences both at once, are bang-on.

There were some flaws in the narrative that began to unravel in the end, but mostly, Read does a good job of keeping you guessing and keeping you interested as the story unfolds. I think the book would have been better had Read chosen a different killer (for reasons I won't specify here for fear of spoiling the end), but to her credit, the details all do add up to point to the story's villain, though the author definitely had to jigger a few of them in a way that felt just a small touch misleading to make it work.

Heroine Madeline Dare though, is exceptional. Read has created a likable, smart, endearingly flawed protagonist whose bon mots had me laughing aloud. I look forward to reading more about Madeline Dare in Read's next offering.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book (thank you Seattle Mystery Bookshop for the recommendation!). This is the debut by Cornelia Read and you can be sure that I will be reading more from this author. Her phrasing strikes a cord with me -- so much that I actually wrote down phrases as I read. Here are some of my favorites:

"Nothing undercuts a good flu story like the sound of an eighteen-wheeler downshifing in the rain."

"I was wallowing in the mood pool's deep end."

"The wipers left a widow's peak on my windshield."

"Everything was soft and wobbly around the edges like God was hitting the wa-wa pedal."

"The rest of the morning crawled by like knees over broken glass."

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this for the most part, simply because I enjoyed the voice of the main character. I didn't like the fairly two-dimensional supporting characters or the anti-Jewish crap spewed by many of them; that got old pretty quickly. This was also another one of those books that feel like it was directed by one of those filmmakers who don't like lightbulbs.

Contains the random barking dogs AND one particularly jarring part in which the main character uses her last quarter to call 911. Even in 1988, 911 calls were free for emergency calls - it took me about 15 minutes before I stopped mentally ranting about this. I tend to latch onto the little things.....

[Jamie Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning, I thought that I would hate this book. I almost stopped reading it. I decided to get to at least page 100. I'm today I did. It for much better. The main character is intelligent and funny, emilee her best friends is probably the main character. Ether is a murder that hat taken place many years before and it was never solved. New clues turn up...and the killer enjoys creating scenes from fairytales with the dead bodies. I liked this book so much that I ended up reading it in one day. I wuldn't say that this book was one of my favorites, but I defi
nitely could not put it down.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

What do you do when you suspect your favorite cousin of being a murderer? Well, if you’re journalist, you follow the clues to the truth and that’s exactly what Madeline Dare does, she follows the clues and the clues lead her down a path that nearly costs her life.

Though A Field of Darkness was well written it just didn’t have the ump to make it more than a than a three star read. Hillary Huber did an okay job in telling the story.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suppose it is worth buying because her style is so readable - she could make a shopping list entertaining. So from that angle, it's enjoyable - but the plot is as thin and predictable as Murder She Wrote - so much so I did wonder whether or not it was actually trying to be ironic. That said, the dialogue is great, it moves at a good pace, and the characterisation is witty and memorable.

[Ladiibbug]

Loved the ferris wheel on the cover, and I was so happy to see author Ken Bruen's praise on the back cover. He's a huge favorite (gritty Irish mysteries) of mine.

To be honest, I didn't get into this book :-( That's always so hard to say when a good friend recommends it.

I did notice the spare writing style, similar to Bruen's which I enjoyed.

[Sharonewoods · Rating 2 out of 5]

I take two stars to mean Goodread's "it was okay" rating literally, and that was all I could say about this book. Some of the expose of the class relations in America is spot on and authentic, but I just couldn't like this book. I found the writing very busy and distracting, and some of the scenes dragged out and pointless. i.e., just needed more editing.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very readable literary fiction type mystery, about a young woman whose family has old New York money (none of which she has), who lives in Syracuse and gets caught up in trying to solve a nearly 20 year old murder case. A-.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The first 50 or so pages were great - really fun writing. The middle got a bit sloggy with her family, and I got tired of hearing how much she loved Dean. But there was much to like and I'd read her next.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to sort of slog my way into this one, the writing took a little acclimating to, but I'm glad I did. Where it lacks slightly in character it makes up in story. It managed to be fun and creepy at the same time, a hard combination to pull off.

[bumblethunderbeast · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't force myself to finish this one. I just didn't like the narrator; she felt contrived...like she tried too hard. She is sort of a modern day, snobby, party girl who "settled" to live outside a city. I didn't want to follow her story or her rich cousin's.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME! super sharp wit and hilarious. Plus the great fun of a murder mystery.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totally creepy and satisfying murder mystery. I especially liked the fairy tale elements.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well deserving of its Edgar nomination - the finely crafted conversational tone and true-to-life characters set it apart.

[ELPL]

East Lansing Public Library
Mystery Book Discussion Group

Tuesday, Feburary 12, 7 p.m.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this story though it took a third of the book to really get into it.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book as part of my U3A Crime Fiction Readers group. I'll make no bones about it - I struggled, even considered abandoning it half way through - most unlike me. I'm now wondering what the rest of our group are going to say about it.

So part of my review is about why I had such a struggle.

The setting is Syracuse, New York State, 1988.

For me the book has 3 main themes:

what has happened to "old money" families in the United States. Madeline Dare's family is from old money, Long Island aristocracy, money made originally by unscrupulous means, land acquired by killing off the original occupants. Some of Maddy's extended family, like her cousin Lapthorne still have money and flaunt it, while Maddie's own family have sold off their wealth and land, so Maddie needs to work for a living. Maddie's extended family is quite dysfunctional.
the second theme is Maddie's own quest for satisfying work. She is a journalist at a Syracuse newspaper but basically writes "puff" pieces and would much rather get her teeth into much more serious stuff. Maddie is married and her husband Dean is away a lot, mainly in Canada where he is working on a railway contract
The third theme is a murder case, the central plot of the novel. Dean's father is a farmer and has recently discovered some dogtags in a field when he has ploughed it. The dogtags have been there for nearly 20 years and the story is that they relate to the "Rose Girls" case of two unnamed girls murdered at the New York State Fair. There is a whiff of police corruption attached to the case. One of the dog tags bears the name of Maddie's favourite cousin Lapthorne Townsend, golden boy of a still wealthy branch of Maddie's old-money family.
Maddie is hooked by the idea of investigating the case and proving Lapthorne's innocence.
The dogtags were never handed in to the police and so Lapthorne was not investigated at the time.

Ok. So I made it through the book to the end, and eventually found out the whole story.

So what was my problem?

I guess it was that I am an Australian reader with a smattering of American history knowledge, to be honest a bit more than most Australian readers.

I guess I felt that the author was trying to teach me a lot about what had happened to "old money" in the original 13 colonies. There were lots of references to American history, some fairly oblique, but also not really essential to the story. I thought there were some references that American readers would not "get". e.g. the reference to the "second gun on the grassy knoll". (the assassination of JFK, but its relevance here?}

Neither did I particularly warm to most of the characters, although I guess those who would crop up again in later books in this series, like Maddie's husband Dean are probably better fleshed out.