The Sweet Golden Parachute

by David Handler

Book Overview

A storm is brewing in Dorset. Poochie Vickers, the local aristocrat, is becoming even more eccentric in her old age. She's taken up shoplifting and reckless driving but refuses to see a doctor. Her worrisome daughter, Claudia, is angling to take over the family fortune, which makes some of the would-be beneficiaries uneasy. Two of Dorset's biggest troublemakers are being released from prison. And the bad blood between these two families, rich on the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031234211X
• ISBN13: 9780312342111
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Love the entire series

What can I say, this is one of my favorites. I recently finished reading all six books and love every one of them. Mitch and Des are the perfect team. I love how they know each other so well and is always there for each other. The entire town thinking they had broken up when they far from it was quite funny. I like that the book was not only a mystery but it also had its funny and light moments. Glad I found this series and I am looking forward to more adventures with Mitch and Des.

Consistently fabulous!

I promised myself I'd keep my review brief. So, I decided to describe the book (series) from my perspective: Well-balanced layering!! -Plot development and pace: perfect! -Dialogue: Real/brief/to-the-point! -Character development: just enough/just in time! -Mystery: inside of a mystery-under that mystery-wrapped around another mystery! -Romance: Refreshing/tasteful (I'm still looking for a feather) -Conclusion: Didn't see him coming! (Ready for the next installment)

I am totally Hooked on this series!........

I read backwards in this series, finally reading the first Berger/Mitry Mystery. From reading each of these was like watching the writer perfect his ideas. The writing is outstanding, the dialogue between the characters make you feel like your watching these people actually hold a conversation. The romance is very much there, but doesn't overtake the plot. I couldn't wait to read Mr. Handler's latest installment, I was not disappointed. Des and Mitch are at it again solving a murder of a homeless man. Des has her eyes on the teens that just got released from prison, but bodies continue to turn up and the culprit is the last person she would have suspected. In the mean time rumors of Des and Mitch's "break-up" are flying around. Des is forced to examine her feelings for the man she's fallen in love with. Just as she has decided and told Mitch, the unexpected happens and she is forced to come face to face with her past. A whodunnit and a romance cliffhanger all in one. I can't wait to see what this authors imagination can cook up next!

fantastic police investigation

In Dorset, Connecticut, police trooper Desirée "Des" Mitry struggles with the marriage proposal from her lover film critic Mitch Berger (see THE BURNT ORANGE SUNRISE). Even though she loves him she has doubts about tying the knot. While Des procrastinates, eccentric aristocratic renowned chef Poochie Vickers has been behaving odd even for her; at least that is what her daughter Caroline claims as she tries to take legal control of her mother's assets. However, her weird behavior, which may be a sign of aging, like Mitch's proposal, take a back seat to the discovery of the corpse of homeless Pete found on Poochie's property at about the same time she reported someone stole her Mercedes. The Dorset townsfolk immediately assume that sibling convicts Stevie and Donnie Kershaw, just freed from prison, committed both crimes as their family has an ongoing feud with the Vickers seemingly forever. Adding to the tension between the families is a Romeo and Juliet romance that except for the star-crossed pair everyone else objects to. Des uses the case to defer her response to Mitch as she is too busy investigating the homicide, which quickly turns into a second murder. The Mitry-Berger mysteries started off as some of the best police procedurals published and somehow keep getting better with each new fresh entry because they are entertaining and gripping. The fifth who-done-it, THE SWEET GOLDEN PARACHUTE, is a fantastic police investigation that is made trickier by the hatred between the Dorset equivalent of the Hatfields and McCoys. The marriage proposal is always at the edge of the gripping story line as Des wants to say yes because she loves Mitch, but the terrible things people do pushes her towards refusing. David Handler handles her personal woes perfectly as part of a strong mystery. Harriet Klausner