Do You Promise Not to Tell?

KEY News #2

by Mary Jane Clark

A fake FabergT egg stands at the center of mystery that will end in murder and uncovered secrets, and TV producer Farrell Slater finds herself caught in the middle of a murderous scam. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Audiobook, Thriller

307 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Mary Jane Elizabeth Behrends Clark (1954-) is the author of thirteen novels, including 12 in the KEY News media thriller series, and one in her new Wedding Cake mystery series. A veteran writer and producer for CBS News, Clark worked for almost three decades at the network’s New York City headquarters. Her books are published in twenty-three languages. She lives in New Jersey and Florida.

Clark's former mother-in-law and sister-in-law are the authors Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, respectively.

Reviews

[Jerry B]

Mary Jane's Second Outing -- Much Better !!

In her first novel, Mary Jane Clark gave us a fine plot with plenty of suspense til right near the end, some characters to like (albeit the leading lady was a bit "squeaky clean"), and a different venue from most mysteries -- the busy newsroom of a major broadcast studio. Our gripe was that there was too much clutter, from almost unnecessary sub-plots to discussions about diseases and so on, that distracted from our story. Yet, we wanted to move to this book (her second novel) and see if we might find some improvement.

Indeed, the elements we liked are back: an excellent plot, with another late reasonably surprising "whodunit" at the end; the broadcast news venue; and characters we could relate to -- not so squeaky clean this time! Our leading lady, Farrell Slater, whose producing job is on the line throughout (actually, "given notice" by her boss, Range Bullock, whose minor role was reprised from book 1) discovers a probable art fraud of a six-million-dollars-at-auction Faberge Egg leftover from Imperialist Russia. So in addition to a couple of attacks and murders to solve, the true whereabouts and story of the egg form an entertaining tale throughout.

I think Mary Jane is on to something; to us, this is clearly a better effort than her first, although maybe not quite the "Stunner!" claimed by none other than [the real:] Dan Rather on the dust jacket. The distractions are gone except for one remaining peeve -- our 260 pages of story are divided into 139 chapters. Maybe our author, a TV Newswoman in real life, just can't get away from a sound byte mentality. Keep the good stuff, give us a little more time per scene, and we'll be looking for five stars in her ensuing work. Good reading!

[Helen]

This is a fascinating thriller! The pages just flew!

[Readaholic Jenn]

An excellent book with wonderful characters and an intriguing mystery.

[Debbie]

Mary Jane Clark writes a twisted tale. I don't know how I ever missed this author until now, but I'm sure glad I found her. This book was very hard to put down. If you are looking for a good fast read, look no further.

[Celia Weekes]

I didn’t like the first book in this series so I’m not sure why I thought the second book would be any better. I just don’t like the authors choppy style of writing. There are over 100 chapters with none of them being more than a few pages long and some less than a page. As a mystery goes, the culprit is someone that gets hardly any mention. I should have said one and done. For sure it’s two and no more.

[Brigitte]

Ok als Urlaubslektüre.

[Donna]

I'm reading back-to-back Mary Jane Clark mysteries and this one is #2 in the KEY News series. It published in 1999. Farrell Slater is a TV producer at KEY and her boss has just told her that her contract will not be renewed. As an idea for her last story, she investigates a six million dollar Russian Faberge egg. Farrell believes a fake egg sold at auction and she finds an elderly woman with the real one. People involved with the egg are being killed.

It's funny to me that people swore not to tell secrets, but then they tell! I like that the author doesn't give the killer away too soon. I think there's a lot to be said for reading all the way to the end to find out who the killer is. I had a list of suspects, but honestly, the person behind it all wasn't in my top 5. That just made the book more enjoyable for me!

[Kim]

Good and fast paced. This is the second book but they are stand alone stories so far, with the mention a a few overlapping characters in a very minor role. Both books kept me guessing as to "who done it." At first I was disappointed the series was not going to be an ongoing story about Eliza Blake doing her job as a news anchor. But, now I think this is a better approach. You get to see more of what goes on in the news studio, and it might get unbelievable for Eliza's life never to go back to her "normal" job duties, with endless intrigue swirling around only her. She wouldn't have time to do her job if she had mystery after mystery and had to dodge endless foul play. I will probably end up reading or listening to some more of the series since it has kept me well entertained so far.

[Linda Rawlins]

I started reading one of Mary Jane Clark's earlier books and couldn't put it down. Do You Promise Not To Tell is an easy fast paced mystery about Farrell Slater, A TV news producer, who at the crossroads of her career happens upon a story about a NY auction house and fraudulent Faberge eggs. As Farrell and her coworkers are pulled deeper into the mystery, bodies begin to pile up. Farrell does not realize that she may be the next target as she tries to balance her career, life and what may the biggest and most dangerous story of her career. An early Mary Jane Clark mystery full of drama and intrigue.

[Marca]

The book title is a misnomer. Everyone in this story promised not to tell, but they told...everyone! TV producer Farrell Slater stumbles onto a hot tip related to a story she worked about the record sale of a Faberge egg. The original story was tabled by the director, but Farrell follows the tip that the egg may be a fake and soon finds herself in deep kimchi. All the characters made one idiot move after another, starting with not keeping secrets, thereby jeopardizing themselves and others. Really did not like these characters much because they were so stupid.

[Kathy Sandlin]

I've read most of the Mary Jane Clark. Kind of found her by accident since she was right with the Mary Higgins and Carol Higgins in the bookstore. Good reads....probably better than the Carol Higgins but not as good as the Mary Higgins books. They are nice fast reads. I'll just add a few to the list

[Debbie J]

This was my second attempt to listen to the Do You Promise Not to Tell audiobook and I just can't do it. The story meanders all over the place and the endless chapters with only two or three paragraphs are ridiculous. I tried to give this writer another chance but I guess I'm just not into her.

[Julie]

Sometimes promising not to tell is not a good thing. I believe this is the first of Mary Jane Clark's Key News books. Her heroine is a reporter/producer for a popular news television show. The subject of this book is Faberge jewelry and, of course, the eggs. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Stayed up late last night to finish it.

[Wesley]

I enjoyed the story
I felt it was a bit cheesy at times, especially some of the lines. The version I listened to said unabridged, but I felt that it may have been abridged. If it was truly unabridged, a bit more detail and development, especially involving characters and conversations, would make the book more absorbing.

[Armida Nicely]

It took a while for the story to get going because of the introduction of so many characters. Sometimes the detailed descriptions and over use of adjectives distracted from the story line. Beyond that, the who-done-it was clever.

[Sandi Williams]

Great 2nd novel - does not disappoint!

[Brenda]

I was totally engaged in following the clues to figure out the murderer. Several in the cast of characters and all were well fleshed out and multi-dimensional.

[Karen]

Reading for fun; so many people that one almost has to keep notes.

[Lisa]

Just a pleasant little mystery centered around a New York newsroom. A pleasant distraction.

[Julie]

Good story

[Katrina Sharp]

As always, Mary Jane Clark does not disappoint.
Suspense, Murder, Scandal, even Romance.
Will be reading more in this series!

[Linda]

Good twist. Enjoyed reading.

[Cheryl Armstrong]

Interesting book, clever ending

[Lynn]

I love all the twist and turns

[Alice]

Very similar style to Mary Higgins Clark, whom I love.

[Kaiti Laughlin]

Hooks you from the first page. I love the intricacy of the plot and the multiple perspectives. Lots of misdirection-- I love it! I think it counts as cozy? Main sleuth is a reporter.

[Harisa- EsquiredToRead]

3.5 stars

[Rita]

Another light and fun mystery.

[Michelle Dunlap]

good series

[Sherry]

I'm just getting into this series and will continue