Sat 25 Sep 2010
Reviewed by Allen J. Hubin: RICHARD BARTH – Deadly Climate.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[3] Comments
Allen J. Hubin
RICHARD BARTH – Deadly Climate. St. Martin’s, hardcover, 1988. Reprint paperback: Fawcett Crest, 1989.
The fifth caper for septuagenarian New Yorker Margaret Binton is Deadly Climate, by Richard Barth. Here Margaret wins a $40,000 RV in a raffle, and she and three friends of comparable vintage head for Miami, where they plan to vacation a bit and sell the vehicle.
On arrival they are rousted from street parking by one of Police Capt. Diamond’s minions. Complaints fall on deaf Diamond ears; he’s more concerned with the cocaine importation industry, flourishing of late. So Margaret and friends turn to good works, giving rides to housebound retirees.
Curiously, the management of Forstman’s Rest Home won’t let its inhabitants out for a ride. Strangely, those inhabitants seem more prisoners than anything else. But of course none of this could put Margaret and cohorts in deadly danger, none of this could have anything to do with cocaine… Of course not.
Very enjoyable fun and games.
The Margaret Binton series:
The Rag Bag Clan (n.) Dial 1978.
A Ragged Plot (n.) Dial 1981.
One Dollar Death (n.) Dial 1982.
The Condo Kill (n.) Scribner 1985.
Deadly Climate (n.) St. Martin’s 1988.
Blood Doesn’t Tell (n.) St. Martin’s 1989.
Deathics (n.) St. Martin’s 1993.
September 25th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Hmm, an awful lot of girls in bikini’s on the covers for a series about a seventy year old lady sleuth.
September 25th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
David
You have a good eye for what makes a cover a good selling point.
It’s difficult to make out in these smaller than life size cover images, but most of them also quote a NEW YORKER review as saying something like “Margaret Binton is the American reincarnation of Miss Marple.”
I wonder how true that is (was). I never thought there was much detection going on in her books, but I could easily be wrong about that.
September 26th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
The only one of these I read was CONDO KILL, and all I recall is that things happened to her, I don’t seem to remember much (any really) detection. She just seemed to be at the wrong/right place at the wrong/right time more often than not.
Nothing wrong with that of course, but not really Miss Marple.