Mortal Friends by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

From the Publisher

When the latest victim of the "Beltway Basher" is found in the woods of Montrose Park, Reven Lynch's favorite jogging spot, her crime-loving antenna goes up. The murder makes Reven and her best friend, Violet Bolton, reconsider their running routine, but it also introduces her to the smooth, enigmatic Detective Gunner.

Gunner is convinced the killer is a society big shot hiding in plain sight, but is out of his element in Reven's world of embassy dinners and symphony balls. When Reven agrees to feed Gunner the inside information he needs, throwing herself into her role as the detective's "ersatz Mata Hari," she discovers that the prominent skirt-chasing businessman for whom she's fallen tops Gunner's shortlist of suspects.

During the course of the investigation, the social world will unravel, an old friendship will be put to the test, scandalous secrets will be unleashed, and Reven will discover that nothing old or new, in high culture or low life, is what it appears.

Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Hitchcock's whirling and suspenseful comedy of manners, gauche, aggressive Cynthia Rinehart, a self-made millionairess, explodes onto the philanthropy scene and the grand dames of old money Washington collectively clutch their husbands. Meanwhile, the Beltway Basher, suspected to be a member of the D.C. elite, continues to bump off young brunettes. Reven Lynch, an unmarried antique-shop owner, is tapped to play society informant, perhaps because her love interest, notorious playboy (and the D.C. version of Sex and the City's "Mr. Big") Bob Poll, is also a person of interest in the case. Gossip, manipulation and infidelity all happen behind Washington's velvet curtain, and it's the stuff of high school, but with higher-nay, deadlier-stakes. And among the backbiting, Hitchcock (Social Crimes) manages to stew a convincing homicide plot, peppered with enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing, and guessing again, to the novel's neat finish. (Aug.)

Library Journal

New York Times best-selling author Hitchcock—whose Audie Award-nominated One Dangerous Lady (2006) is also available from Blackstone Audio—uses the Washington, DC, social scene as a backdrop for her fifth mystery, following The Witches' Hammer (2008). Hoping to track down a serial killer known as the Beltway Basher, Det. George Gunner enlists antiques dealer and society insider Reven Lynch to spy on guests at several key area events. The novel is well paced, with several believable twists. Driving it are Hitchcock's satiric tone and wit, ably conveyed by actress/narrator Jennifer Van Dyck (Dark Lover). Highly recommended for mystery audiences and high-society wannabes.—Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo

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