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Jane Lawless #10
The Merchant of Venus
A high profile celebrity Hollywood wedding--just the diversion Jane Lawless needs. Recovering from injuries, single again, with the dreaded holidays closing in, Jane happily agrees to attend the soiree with her best friend, Cordelia Thorn. It's not just any wedding. Cordelia's Broadway diva sister, Octavia, is tying the knot for the third time. Nobody knows how Octavia met octogenarian Roland Lester, a reclusive relic of Tinseltown's Golden Age, and the secret has brought out all the paparazzi. When bodies start to fall, it's clear to jane that the nuptials have brought out something far more sinister.
408 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2001
12 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Hart
72 books221 followersEllen Hart is the author of twenty-eight crime novels in two different series. She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award in several categories, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. In 2010, Ellen received the GCLS Trailblazer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of lesbian literature. For the past fourteen years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Ellen's latest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required (Ballantine). Rest for the Wicked, the twentieth Jane Lawless mystery, will be released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in October 2012. Bella Books has recently revived the out-of-print books by publishing them in both trade paperback and E-book. Ellen lives in the Minneapolis area with her partner of over 35 years.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 24, 2013
The blue cover on the shelf caught my attention. Merchant of Venus read the title. There was an old Avalon Hill board game of space trading with that title, very likely a sonorous pun on Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice.” But when I picked up the book, it was clear that this Merchant of Venus was a director of romantic comedies and romantic drama during a transitional era in Hollywood. Old Hollywood? Romance pictures? I was in. It didn’t matter to me that the blurb, “A Jane Lawless Mystery,” signified that I was picking up a novel in the midst of an ongoing series. I was in. The other blurb, that it was a Lambda award winner, didn’t register until I was well into the book.
As a mystery (or perhaps, one should say that as “mysteries” for there is more than one in this story), Merchant of Venus is strong enough that I chased two red herrings—one because I wanted this person to be guilty enough to be punished and one because I thought it would be fitting. As I have been told is often the case in “real life,” the obvious answer is the right one. But this tapestry is sewn together so neatly that there were times I was doubting myself and wondering if the equivalent of the butler didn’t do it. Naah! Hate to spoil it, but it’s not that easy. There are at least four, maybe five, really strong motives.
Even better, as a mystery, this isn’t one where the body count piles higher and higher like a child playing with blocks. There is more than one murder, but it makes sense and isn’t an overbearing distraction. I will confess that the novel does feature one of my least favorite plot devices. I believe you are over 100 pages (about a third of the way in) into the novel before the murder takes place. You know it’s coming and you’re pretty sure you know who it’s going to be, but there is a lot of maneuvering—almost a half a season’s worth of a soap opera—before it happens. And when it happens, it doesn’t happen in the way I would most likely have expected it to occur. Beware, though, the means of the murder comes across with a little baby of a red herring itself.
Merchant of Venus was a page-turner of a mystery and I would have rated it higher if it hadn’t been for what I used to call Quincy, M.D. syndrome. In that old television series, a medical examiner for a large city takes on mysteries. That seems logical. What was not always logical was that many of the mysteries were tied around social ills or problems and that, as Quincy investigated, the suspects and witnesses would unload mountains of data on the examiner which would highlight the problem (and, of course, the scriptwriter’s pet “cause”). These witnesses would have so much statistical data at the tip of their tongue to glibly unload on Quincy (ably portrayed by Jack Klugman) that it seemed, at least to me, to become “preachy” as opposed to being entertainment. It was as artificial as the early days of television when the medium was trying to justify itself as an educator. This “preachy” quality rather ruined the series for me.
Merchant of Venus suffers from the Quincy, M.D. syndrome with regard to gay rights. You might expect it with a lesbian detective protagonist, but it’s quite ironic in the light of an important conversation held between two characters, one a former Hollywood director and one a former Hollywood starlet—both firmly hidden in the closet. The director is defending his decision to stay ensconced in said closet and she says, “Well, the fact that you’re gay is at least part of the point. Certainly, it’s not the be all and end all of your life—“ to which the director responds: “But that’s just it. If I ‘come out of the closet,’ as they say now, my sexuality becomes the entire point. I become ‘that gay director.’ My life will have an adjective placed next to it on unto eternity. I don’t want that. I want my career to be judged on its merits. I don’t want to become—in the biographies that will undoubtedly be written—something I never was in my life.”
After some more back and forth, he says, “Heterosexual love stories are about individuals. Stories about homosexual love are stories about homosexuality. I don’t want my life to be looked at that way.” [all quotations from p. 153] Yet, there are plenty of points in this novel where it ceases to be about the mysteries and becomes a Quincy-esque sermon about the trials and tribulations of the homosexual community, complete with stories about gay celebrities in old Hollywood and lots of people seemingly judged on whether or not they were gay or not.
At some point, this novel quit being a story and became a homosexual story. I don’t mean to sound homophobic; I just mean to say that I think this author fell into her own trap. And it’s sad, too, because it’s a terrific mystery. I’m just not sure I’ll read another of hers because I don’t want to be reading a gay rights manifesto disguised as a mystery any more than I want to read some right-wing interpretation of the Book of Revelation disguised as a fantasy novel. But that just may be me. I just thought it would be wrong not to mention the weakness in the book that keeps jumping out at you and ironically, is actually opposed in the book by one of the major characters.
As a mystery (or perhaps, one should say that as “mysteries” for there is more than one in this story), Merchant of Venus is strong enough that I chased two red herrings—one because I wanted this person to be guilty enough to be punished and one because I thought it would be fitting. As I have been told is often the case in “real life,” the obvious answer is the right one. But this tapestry is sewn together so neatly that there were times I was doubting myself and wondering if the equivalent of the butler didn’t do it. Naah! Hate to spoil it, but it’s not that easy. There are at least four, maybe five, really strong motives.
Even better, as a mystery, this isn’t one where the body count piles higher and higher like a child playing with blocks. There is more than one murder, but it makes sense and isn’t an overbearing distraction. I will confess that the novel does feature one of my least favorite plot devices. I believe you are over 100 pages (about a third of the way in) into the novel before the murder takes place. You know it’s coming and you’re pretty sure you know who it’s going to be, but there is a lot of maneuvering—almost a half a season’s worth of a soap opera—before it happens. And when it happens, it doesn’t happen in the way I would most likely have expected it to occur. Beware, though, the means of the murder comes across with a little baby of a red herring itself.
Merchant of Venus was a page-turner of a mystery and I would have rated it higher if it hadn’t been for what I used to call Quincy, M.D. syndrome. In that old television series, a medical examiner for a large city takes on mysteries. That seems logical. What was not always logical was that many of the mysteries were tied around social ills or problems and that, as Quincy investigated, the suspects and witnesses would unload mountains of data on the examiner which would highlight the problem (and, of course, the scriptwriter’s pet “cause”). These witnesses would have so much statistical data at the tip of their tongue to glibly unload on Quincy (ably portrayed by Jack Klugman) that it seemed, at least to me, to become “preachy” as opposed to being entertainment. It was as artificial as the early days of television when the medium was trying to justify itself as an educator. This “preachy” quality rather ruined the series for me.
Merchant of Venus suffers from the Quincy, M.D. syndrome with regard to gay rights. You might expect it with a lesbian detective protagonist, but it’s quite ironic in the light of an important conversation held between two characters, one a former Hollywood director and one a former Hollywood starlet—both firmly hidden in the closet. The director is defending his decision to stay ensconced in said closet and she says, “Well, the fact that you’re gay is at least part of the point. Certainly, it’s not the be all and end all of your life—“ to which the director responds: “But that’s just it. If I ‘come out of the closet,’ as they say now, my sexuality becomes the entire point. I become ‘that gay director.’ My life will have an adjective placed next to it on unto eternity. I don’t want that. I want my career to be judged on its merits. I don’t want to become—in the biographies that will undoubtedly be written—something I never was in my life.”
After some more back and forth, he says, “Heterosexual love stories are about individuals. Stories about homosexual love are stories about homosexuality. I don’t want my life to be looked at that way.” [all quotations from p. 153] Yet, there are plenty of points in this novel where it ceases to be about the mysteries and becomes a Quincy-esque sermon about the trials and tribulations of the homosexual community, complete with stories about gay celebrities in old Hollywood and lots of people seemingly judged on whether or not they were gay or not.
At some point, this novel quit being a story and became a homosexual story. I don’t mean to sound homophobic; I just mean to say that I think this author fell into her own trap. And it’s sad, too, because it’s a terrific mystery. I’m just not sure I’ll read another of hers because I don’t want to be reading a gay rights manifesto disguised as a mystery any more than I want to read some right-wing interpretation of the Book of Revelation disguised as a fantasy novel. But that just may be me. I just thought it would be wrong not to mention the weakness in the book that keeps jumping out at you and ironically, is actually opposed in the book by one of the major characters.
April 1, 2018
Not my favorite
So far this is my least favorite book in the series. For me it was too long, too wordy and had too many characters. The only thing I enjoyed about the book was that I wasn't able to guess the murderer.
So far this is my least favorite book in the series. For me it was too long, too wordy and had too many characters. The only thing I enjoyed about the book was that I wasn't able to guess the murderer.
November 8, 2023
Decent representation of PTSD and disability, as well as the trials of the gay generations that came before. It feels a little like a time jump even though it's only 11 years after the first book, but that could be because technology advanced rapidly during that time.
August 4, 2024
The 10th Ellen Hart mystery is a stand alone with the main characters. It is full of old Hollywood twists and turns in the Tinseltown era. Apart from all the red herrings of murder and who done it, there is a love story
March 9, 2017
Interesting, well-developed characters and an interesting plot. I especially enjoyed all the 'golden age of Hollywood' references.
September 16, 2019
10 d9whl
Read
May 10, 2014The Merchant of Venus, by Ellen Hart, b-plus, Narrated by Aimee Jolson, Produced by Audible Inc., downloaded from audible.com.
This is the tenth in the Jane Lawless series, and the book begins very soon after the last one ended. Julia has gone to Paris, and Jane didn’t go with her believing that their relationship must end. She was at loose ends for Christmas and New Years as everyone else in her family had plans that would take them away from home. Thus, she agrees to accompany Cordelia in her latest crisis which will take her to Connecticut for the holidays. Cordelia's estranged sister, Broadway star Octavia Thorn, has asked them to attend her wedding. Octavia getting married is no surprise - she's done it
three times before - but her candidate for hubby #4 certainly is. Roland Lester is a reclusive 83-year-old retired Hollywood director, a relic from the
golden age of Tinseltown with a controversial past. No one can understand how the two met, much less fell in love. When the bodies start to drop, Jane
realizes it might not be love at all that brought the young diva and the aged director together, but something much deeper, and perhaps more sinister.
Delving deep into film history, Jane finds unsettling connections between Roland and a murder that was never solved. Finding out what happened 40 years
ago could be the key to unlock the mystery of Octavia's curious marriage, but laying bare such long-buried secrets also promises grave consequences for
everyone involved. Also, there are secret in Cordelia’s family that are laid bare, and a crisis which must be faced. Very good, but with too much time spent on movie trivia to suit me.
This is the tenth in the Jane Lawless series, and the book begins very soon after the last one ended. Julia has gone to Paris, and Jane didn’t go with her believing that their relationship must end. She was at loose ends for Christmas and New Years as everyone else in her family had plans that would take them away from home. Thus, she agrees to accompany Cordelia in her latest crisis which will take her to Connecticut for the holidays. Cordelia's estranged sister, Broadway star Octavia Thorn, has asked them to attend her wedding. Octavia getting married is no surprise - she's done it
three times before - but her candidate for hubby #4 certainly is. Roland Lester is a reclusive 83-year-old retired Hollywood director, a relic from the
golden age of Tinseltown with a controversial past. No one can understand how the two met, much less fell in love. When the bodies start to drop, Jane
realizes it might not be love at all that brought the young diva and the aged director together, but something much deeper, and perhaps more sinister.
Delving deep into film history, Jane finds unsettling connections between Roland and a murder that was never solved. Finding out what happened 40 years
ago could be the key to unlock the mystery of Octavia's curious marriage, but laying bare such long-buried secrets also promises grave consequences for
everyone involved. Also, there are secret in Cordelia’s family that are laid bare, and a crisis which must be faced. Very good, but with too much time spent on movie trivia to suit me.
September 1, 2015
This book takes place a few months after the last book as Jane is still recovering from the attack that left her weak and shattered the trust she had in her last relationship. She and her best friend Cordelia head off to the East Coast to attend the wedding of Cordelia's sister, Octavia. This book has it all - a really good story about the Golden Age of Hollywood, a murder or two, family intrigue, red herrings and a mystery to solve. These books get better and as you read them and match them up with current events they become more commentary on the changing times in the gay rights movement.
June 23, 2008
Not the best whodunnit I've ever read, but far from the worst. While I didn't feel drawn into the lives of the sleuthing heroines, they were well-developed and I could see fans enjoying the titles in series.
November 15, 2010
Really enjoyable mystery.
October 5, 2011
A change in setting made this book interesting, as did the film history aspect. I think this is one of those series where you should really start at the beginning.
April 15, 2012
Gotta love this one for its clever title alone!
Wish I could say more. I'm adding one of my fav author's books to my Goodreads shelves, but it's been a while since I've read some of them!
Wish I could say more. I'm adding one of my fav author's books to my Goodreads shelves, but it's been a while since I've read some of them!
December 13, 2016
I really enjoyed this traditional mystery book and highly recommend.
December 24, 2024
I am a fan of the Jane Lawless series, both for the quality of the mysteries and the fact that the books are set here in Minneapolis. Kristi & Abby Tabby Childless Cat Lady
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews