Come to Dust

by Emma Lathen

For years now, Emma Lathen has been writing her crisp & entertaining mysteries centering around John Putnam Thatcher, the formidable vice-president of Sloan Guaranty Trust. Miss Lathen is something of a financial wizard herself, & her talent for making the world of high finance believable & exciting is always an added dividend to her intricate ticker-tape plots. In 'Come to Dust', Thatcher is torn, grudgingly, from his Wall Street eyrie to search for a stolen $50,000 bearer bond & to track down the puzzling Elliot Patterson, model suburban husband, father & thief. The bond was slated for the coffers of Brunswick College, Patterson's alma mater, & it is to Brunswick that Thatcher goes, where he is sure both bond & Patterson will emerge. Instead, he is confronted by a callous cover-up murder & the alarming knowledge that Patterson is still on the loose. As Thatcher becomes deeply enmeshed in a grand larceny & murder among the well-heeled alumni of an Ivy League school, Miss Lathen takes wonderfully biting potshots of some of our most sacred well-heeled traditions & the & the perpetuators thereof. No one, including Thatcher, escapes unscathed as she alternately sympathizes with and mocks the very people she has created. But, in a triumph of solid suspense writing, she never lets Thatcher forget that murder is the most unforgivable of human follies. And Thatcher, for all his wry, detached view of the madness inherent in the groves of academe, is after a murderer. The killer's identity, of course, comes as a surprise, even to our august Wall Street samurai. But Thatcher has the last word-a final conclusion that is stunning for its irony: there are, it seems, some actions that are worse than murder.

Genres: Mystery

251 pages, Hardcover

Published September 13, 1968

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

[Teri-K · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of only a couple of books in the series that I don't like. The mystery is all intellectual, as there's no one for the reader to care about. We don't get to know the missing man and his wife is a blank as well. Then when the ending arrives it's pretty unsatisfactory. Feel free to skip this book and move on to When in Greece, which is one of my favorites. In fact the 4-6 books after this one may be the best in the series. But don't bother with this one.

[Cynthia Grove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another re-read from my shelves. Not the best of the Thatcher series but still solidly readable. A bit hilarious in parts as four young men in their teens play an important part and reading in 2020 about teen behaviour in 1968 is side-splitting. (Yes, I do remember that time.)
Don't look for a traditional mystery; look for the mores of the day, and the characters and allow the mystery to unfold.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma Lathen is the nom de plume of two women friends who write alternate chapters of each mystery they publish. Unfortunately, this mystery was much like the first book I read by these two talented ladies. Heavy on build up but light on genuine action to make this story truly interesting and fun to read.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A long time since I last read this (13 January 2005) but I still found it charming." was what I wrote on 30 June 2012 when I gave it three stars.

Emma Lathen was the pen name of Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Hennisart who wrote a series of books featuring the detective skills of a Wall Street banker. (Under the name of RB Dominic they also wrote a series of books featuring the detective skills of a Congressman.) I first came across their books in the late 1970s but this novel, first published in 1968, is the only one I own.

This is a witty and amusing book which I have probably read about five times and actually deserves four stars. I wish their books were still in print as I would like to read them all again.

[Emmanuel Gustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most readers seem to find this one of the less satisfactory books in the series, and on reflection I agree, but it is hard to say why. I suspect the reason is that in most of Emma Lathen's puzzles, the reader is handed a steady series of clues and facts to help identify the murderer, but in this book, some big red herrings are strewn around, setting up houses of cards, then making them collapse. So you feel slightly cheated. The plot is not without originality, and the attentive reader will not be too surprised by the end.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fund-raiser disappears, along with a donated bearer bond. His associates start behaving oddly. John Thatcher sorts through distractions and points an ironic finger at the true cause of all the troubles. I especially enjoyed the satirical look at Dartmouth University and its rituals. I highly recommend the civilized John Thatcher and his Wall Street mysteries.

I have to say, the current Kindle file could do with a proofreading.

Read 3 times

[Vicki Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is perhaps the least satisfying of the Thatcher mysteries so far. A college trustee disappears and so does a $50,000 bond. Much later a student is murdered. Of course, the mystery is solved and the missing man (and money) is found, but overall the story just didn't jell. Still, it was a fun read.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some mystery with a lot more focus on characters. More time outside of the Sloan and running about a campus. There's less humor here in this book that previous, but the characters are also more edgy.

Somehow this book, while enjoyable to read, wasn't as riveting as others.

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually this is one of my favorite series but I found this entry to be a bit lacking. Though well written I just could not get engaged in the plot and thought the main character, Wall Street banker John Putnam Thatcher, was too much of a supporting player.

[Lyn Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Putman Thatcher is my very favourite banker. I love this series of books. No horror or car chases, no maniacs on the loose - just a "dry as dust" banker with great intellect. Wonderful read (number 8 in the series).

[Cws]

M Lat

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The John Putnam Thatcher books are always witty.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just didn't like the main non-banking character or the solution.

[Jo Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma lathen is a classic, but i find that I have already forgotten this particular plot. Easy reading before bedtime.

[Sue Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best in the series, but still an enjoyable "cherchez le cash" murder mystery.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of the stronger entries, but it fit my mood. I did laugh a lot.