Desert Autumn: A Claire Gray Mystery

by Michael Craft

Claire Gray is a much traveled, highly regarded and very successful theatrical director who, in the prime of her career, accepts an offer to head the Theatre Department at Desert Arts College near Palm Springs, California. Funded by enigmatic billionaire, Desert Arts College is a new college with a state of the art facility and a prestigious faculty recruited for its inaugural year. But Claire's start is not particularly auspicious - newly arrived...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312280343
• ISBN13: 9780312280345
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This is an Excellent book! I can't wait for more!

Claire is a very well known and respected theater director from New York. After a lot of pressure from a billionaire developer, she agreed to head the theater department at a new theatrical college near Palm Springs. Then, after only two weeks in the desert, a colleague's wife is found murdered. Claire, having directed murder scenes in theater, now has an urge to help solve this murder.Along the way, Claire meets Tanner, who was initially a suspect, and convinces him to enroll in the new college. Tanner, who is less than half her age, is very anxious to do just that. For an audition, Tanner recited a monologue from a play that Claire wrote. She was very moved. Then they took their relationship to a new level, with a little bump and grind.Claire works her way through several suspects, and does indeed finally solve the murders. Yes, there was a second murder. There was one person who could have put the pieces together and nailed the murderer sooner, but the murderer searched him out and killed him as well. I was shocked at who the murderer was. I had some suspicions, but was blinded by other possibilities. This was an excellent first book of a new series. I cannot wait for the next books to come out. I hope to hear more about Tanner, and look forward to hearing about Thad Quatrain as the school opens and classes begin.

I just wasn't sure...

I've been a fan of the Mark Manning series for a while now. When it was announced that Mr. Craft's next work was not going to center on Manning, I was heartbroken, skeptical, worried that we'd never hear from him again.Then I read 'Desert Autumn.' Quickly. I had a hard time putting it down. Nancy Drew to Mark and Neil's Hardy Boys? I'm not sure it's even legal to put it that way, but there it is.And I'll say it again if you like.Bottom line: If you enjoy Craft's other works, you WILL enjoy this book.

A STANDING OVATION FOR CLAIRE GREY'S DEBUT!

In DESERT AUTUMN Michael Craft finally gives voice (and a new mystery series) to Claire Grey, his first lady of the American theater who had been previously introduced as a minor character in his successful Mark Manning series. Now as she begins her own series, Claire's reputation as a leading theatrical director and playwright has brought her to the attention of computer software maven, D.Glenn Yeats. Yeats is personally supplying the cash and drive needed to build and staff his own Desert Arts College near Palm Springs, California. His goal is to create the ultimate educational facility dedicated to the arts staffed by the leading practitioners in each of its many fields. Naturally he sees Claire as the crowning jewel of his illustrious faculty, and after repeated attempts he finally persuades in her to head the drama department of the school. The novel begins with Claire's arrival in the desert shortly before the opening of the school year where she is quickly introduced to not just the other members of the faculty, but also the body of the wife of one of her fellow professors. Naturally, the woman has been murdered; and Claire (noting that in the theater the two motives for murder are either greed or passion) decides that the motive for this murder had to be passion as she sets out to (unofficially) aid the police in uncovering the murderer. The book is fast-paced and well-endowed with plot twists. Just when you think you've discovered the identity of the murderer, another potential suspect is revealed. Actually, the characters keep auditioning for the part of the murderer right up to the concluding chapter, which naturally ends with a traditionally theatrical flair. DESERT AUTUMN is a well-written and entertaining novel with the cast of extremely interesting characters needed to populate a continuing series. Although, I felt at times the key characters of Grant and Kiki just didn't ring true. But based on the author's previous work, this minor detail will be resolved as the series progresses. Overall, I was particularly attracted to this book because it combines two of my interests - mystery fiction and the world of the theater. Claire Grey is a welcome addition to the ranks of fiction's amateur sleuths and I not only look forward to her continuing adventures, I also encourage you to add her toyour reading list, too.

A fantstic new mystey series is born

Not that many people start life anew at fifty-four, but Claire Gray is one person who did. Claire was once the toast of Broadway as an award winning director and playwright, but relocates to Palm Desert to manage the Desert Arts College Theater. Mega-millionaire Glenn Yeats recruited the most talented people including Claire to chair the departments at the school. At a welcoming party hosted by Glenn, Claire meets and hits it off with fellow chair Paul Huron and his wife Jodie. When Paul needs a ride from airport, Claire volunteers to take him. Upon arriving at his home, they find Jodie dead with her valuable wedding ring missing. Claire becomes obsessed with the case and soon proves quite competent at finding clues; She is so good the lead investigator officially adds her to his team. While it seems implausible for a police officer to allow a civilian to help in a homicide case, the heroine's mindset and actions will make believers out of readers. Michael Craft provides an intense tale with appealing characters that the audience will want back in future novels. DESERT AUTUMN appears to be the first novel on what has the potential of being a great series.Harriet Klausner

A wonderful new direction

As a devoted reader of Michael Craft's past books in the Mark Manning series, I must admit, I was skeptical of his intentions to go for a mainstream (straight) audience with this new one. Now, having read "Desert Autumn," I'm completely won over. Claire Gray is a delightful heroine, with depth and drive. Her sense of longing and search for self identity provide the perfect counterpoint to Craft's other hero. (And Claire's taste in men will be found appealing by readers on both sides of the fence!) The story itself is as good as any Craft has written, a little long maybe, but the author seems to be feeling his way in new terrain. Highly recommended. Let's hope this one brings Mr. Craft the much larger readership he deserves -- just so long as it doesn't spell the end of Mark Manning!