This short crime story begins with a well-heeled lady
sighing her way to death from an overdose of anti-anxiety
medication in the shoe department of a major New York
store. Both a CEO and active in a Long Island heritage
group, Vanessa Giddings leaves more questions than answers
in her wake. COMPLIMENTS OF A FRIEND is narrated by Judith
Singer, a widowed professor of history.
Vanessa was well liked and seemed to have it all. A year
previously however her husband had dumped her for a younger
model. Judith wonders if Vanessa had secretly been
depressed. Her girl friend has all the gossip, both
personal and financial, and Judith decides that something
just doesn't seem right. Is there anything for her to
learn by consulting records? When not much surfaces the
curious Judith talks to people... the ex-husband has
married an artist, the veggie burger firm Vanessa ran was
doing badly. And her husband's first wife - who got
dumped for Vanessa - still bears a grudge. Seems there's a
lot more going on under the surface of Long Island society
than can be seen at a glance.
This story is only about forty pages long, and there
follows a note from the author Susan Isaacs who wrote a
novel featuring this main character called 'Compromising
Positions' some years ago; she has extended this short
story into another novel, 'Long Time No See'. I found the
tale interesting but the ending a little rushed, so it
might work better in novel form, but COMPLIMENTS OF A
FRIEND is a good introduction to the author.
Compromising Positions’s Judith Singer is back in a story
that delivers plenty of Susan Isaacs’s renowned wit and
sharp-eyed observations of the contemporary scene—along with
a riveting mystery!
Chic Vanessa Giddings, founder and CEO of Panache, the
largest employment agency on Long Island, falls into a coma
in the designer shoe department of Bloomingdale’s . . . and
dies. It’s not long before Judith Singer, former housewife,
current widow, and local history professor, decides to
investigate. She cannot believe the official ruling: that
her wildly successful, confident, and iron-willed neighbor
committed suicide with a drug overdose. Vanessa was buying
shoes, and Judith knows accessorizing is a life-affirming
act. So was it foul play?
Tracking the gossip about the late Vanessa and trusting her
own acute instincts about human nature, Judith encounters
more than a few surprises (including a big romantic one) as
she investigates the death—and the life—of the misjudged
mogul who turned out to have been more vulnerable than
anyone guessed.
This ebook features an afterword by Susan Isaacs, as well as
an illustrated biography of the author including rare images
from her personal collection.
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