In Karen Bergreen's hilarious "who-dun-it", FOLLOWING POLLY,
she tells the story of the hapless Alice and her adventures
dodging the police and doing her best to find out who really
killed the golden actress with the tarnished secrets. Part
cozy mystery, part romance, and all parts outrageously
funny, this novel is one of the most unique tales I've run
across this year.
The day Alice Teakle loses her job as an assistant casting
director, life seems a little shaky. After all, the sudden
departure from her floundering career was abrupt and a bit
hard on her self-confidence. The combination of time on her
hands, nothing better to do, and a chance encounter with her
old schoolmate, result in Alice spending her time following
Polly Linley Dawson around New York City.
In retrospect, that probably wasn't Alice's best idea.
Especially when Alice happens to stumble across Polly's dead
body, and suddenly becomes the prime suspect in her murder.
Looking back, perhaps she should have taken up knitting, or
something.
Alice and Polly had been schoolmates at Harvard, but that's
not to say they were friends. Polly breathed the rarefied
air of the popular, while Alice just trudged along doing the
best she could (and lusting after an upperclassman she
dubbed "Charlie"). After graduation, Polly went on to become
a twinkling star -- the owner of a fabulous lingerie line,
and married to a top movie director. Alice followed Polly's
exploits as she herself worked a series of iffy jobs,
including a stint at the same law firm as her beloved
Charlie. She had always envied Polly. But, after shadowing
Polly for weeks as the golden girl went about her mysterious
daily errands, finding Polly lying in a pool of blood
suddenly puts an end to Alice's obsession and forces her
underground to avoid being imprisoned for a crime she didn't
commit. She finds herself contacting her old crush, Charlie,
who is now a lawyer, and enlisting his help in clearing her
name, but it might include doing a favor or two for him in
return. See, Charlie has an obsession of his own-- clearing
his father's name of false charges. Working together,
helping each other, the two find themselves slowly but
surely falling into something that looks a little bit like love.
"Following Polly" is one madcap adventure after another,
with scenes that will remind the reader of the escapades
of "I Love Lucy" one minute, and the cloak and dagger
intrigue of "Jessica Fletcher" the next. A stand up comedian
and former lawyer, author Karen Bergreen brings her bright
and sometimes biting humor to
the pages of this book, making for a completely enjoyable
reading experience.
Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker? Or just someone
with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly
Linley Dawson? No one much notices Alice: not her boss,
not the neighbors, not even her Mother.Besides, "everyone"
follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you
can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-
the-social-pages marriage to movie director Humphrey
Dawson, her chic looks, her wardrobe. Alice just follows
her a little more....closely.
And when she loses her job
and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn
afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention
sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique. Alice is forced
to become truly beneath anyone's notice. Invisible, in
fact. Because she's accused of murder.
But can another
obsession help save Alice with the fallout? Charlie is
Alice's longtime unattainable crush. He might be able to
help her out of the mess she's in...in return for a favor
or two, that is. And how will Alice find out if Charlie is
really the man Alice thinks he is?
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