cover image Diamond Head

Diamond Head

Marian J. A. Jackson. Walker & Company, $18.95 (167pp) ISBN 978-0-8027-1247-9

Written in stilted prose reminiscent of the turn-of-the-century setting, this fourth in a series (following Arabian Pearl ) is the hardcover debut of consulting detective Abigail Danforth. Miss Abigail has traveled to the Hawaiian islands with her companion and former client Maude Cunningham, her maid Jacqueline and her father's valet Kinkade. There an acquaintance, Penelope Tarkington, confides her suspicions that her brother Matthew, heir to the family's sugar fortune, is being poisoned by their father's disinherited first son, Luke, whose whereabouts are unknown. But before Abigail can track down Luke, Kinkade is arrested in the drowning death of Princess Lilliana, who had agreed to meet him in the park where the smitten valet discovered her body floating in a pond. Juggling both cases, Abigail struggles against rigid social strictures as she tries to question the Tarkington family and learn more about Lilliana's native life. Only after she is attacked herself can Abigail reach the solution. Before then, however, readers may despair of this sleuth, whose concerns with social mores and fashion detract from the development of the plot and main character. (Dec.)