The Gatsby Gambit

Anderson-Wheeler debuts with a tepid murder mystery featuring characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Greta Gatsby, Jay’s naive 21-year-old sister, has come to stay at his Long Island estate in West Egg for the summer. As usual, the country house is filled to the brim with Jay’s glamorous friends, including wealthy brothers Tom and Edgar Buchanan, and Tom’s ethereal wife, Daisy. Greta is initially enchanted by the lavish parties and sumptuous fashion, but she gradually senses unease beneath the shiny surface. When Tom is found dead on Jay’s boat, the police rule it a suicide, allowing Jay and his guests to return to their amusements; Greta, however, is horrified and decides to delve deeper into the matter. After an excursion to the seedy side of town, she concludes that Tom was murdered and sets out to nail the culprit. Anderson-Wheeler is too deep in thrall to her famous characters to cast them in a new light, and the mystery takes too long to heat up. This disappoints. Agent: Grainne Fox, UTA. (Apr.)