Fair Play's a Jewel

In the latest entry in Robert Bruce Stewart's Harry Reese Mystery series, Fair Play's A Jewel (#511) could the bloom be off Harry and Emmie Reese's marriage?  Harry certainly wonders when he accidentally finds out that his wife is planning to be away on a mysterious trip of her own while he is supposed to be investigating a missing persons insurance claim in Ohio.  When that trip is cancelled, Harry decides to accompany Emmie to Portland, Maine.  It's obvious she doesn't want him along, but for once, Emmie has outsmarted herself, and Harry picks up an arson case involving a newly constructed hotel near Portland.

None of the characters involved in this case appear to be who they claim to be.  Even Emmie has booked herself into the Sea Cliff Hotel under her nom de plume M.D. Meegs with a separate room from Harry's!  There's the pirate publisher of Portland whom she has persuaded to hide out at the Sea Cliff  under an assumed name after attempts have been made on his life.  (She's investigating these, of course!)  Or the noted British poet and his wife, the Fields.  Mr. Fields is a magnet for every female of a certain age in the vicinity, but his wife, Delia, is the one on the prowl here, and she doesn't much care who falls into her trap, as long as she has someone to fondle.  Luckily for most of the guests at the Sea Cliff, her extraordinary command of 17th century English cant goes right over her auditors' heads, sparing their blushes because they don't understand a word of it.  (Fortunately Mr. Stewart provides a glossary for readers who don't want to miss out on any of the naughty fun!)  Delia seems to be at odds with Fiona Macleod, another poetess staying at the hotel.  Then there's a Portland journalist who isn't above fleecing an unsuspecting victim, the local constable who's sweet on her and not the hayseed he first appears and finally, the Deputy Sheriff publicly enforcing the liquor ban, but privately enjoying the liquid hospitality at the Sea Cliff.  Ed Ketchum, with whom Harry has worked before, specially requested him on this arson case because he wants to consult Harry about his marital woes.  Can Harry help Ed reignite the spark of their marriage, and considering Annie's past, does Harry want to? 

When a young woman is found dead in the Field's sitting room, could it possibly have any connection to the case of the hotel under construction down the road which burned to the ground shortly before it was due to open?  Who would benefit?  And why did Emmie set off for Portland on her own?  Will Harry ever have a clue about what makes Emmie tick?  You'll find the answers to these and other questions you didn't even know you had in Fair Play's a Jewel.

I love it when a book I'm reading dangles a tantalizing fact, person, place or event in front of me.  Next thing you know, I'm off on a hunt for new information.  That happened to me twice with Fair Play's a Jewel.  (See my posts of Always a Cold Deck & Humbug on the Hudson 1/27/14, Crossings 10/28/13, Kalorama Shakedown 10/8/13, and A Charm of Powerful Trouble 5/17/14.)  When Harry and Emmie have an overnight stopover in Boston, they go to see the musical Peggy Goes to Paris, which had they but known, was a foreshadowing of what they would encounter in Portland.  I had to follow up on that musical, and through it was introduced to George Ade, a noted Indiana figure who made a fortune through his writing and endowed Purdue, his alma mater, with its football stadium.  I also discovered Lord Timothy Dexter, author of A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, and famous for being eccentric.  I suppose you could almost think of him as the Kardashian of his day.  The only thing that disappointed me in this list of dubious characters was Thomas Mosher, the pirate publisher of Portland (No book without an American copyright is safe from his presses!).  Not once does he appear in this novel with an eye patch or a peg leg.  Well, you can't have everything, I suppose.  Maybe next time...