Death by Design

By Marjorie McCown

A detailed, descriptive insight into the history and ecology of the Herero, traditional cattle pastoralists of the northern Kalahari desert. Combining ethnographic detail and extensive data collection... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 088739244X
• ISBN13: 9780887392443
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Creative Arts Book Co
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Great read!!

I really enjoyed this insider's look at the motion picture industry. It has a tightly crafted plot and engaging characters. I hope that there's more to follow.

Add this new author to your list

Kinsey Millhone fans, are you wondering what to read between "O" and "P"? Meet Maggie McGrath, Los Angeles PI. In McCown's debut novel, McGrath, a former East Coast cop, is hired to investigate the harassment of Faye Symington, a costume designer just nominated for an Oscar. McGrath's friend Joyce, who runs a New Age shop, refers Symington's timid stepdaughter, Sara, to McGrath. Maggie begins investigating and discovers Symington didn't make friends easily, but she had a talent for making enemies. Shortly after Maggie is on the case, Faye is killed, and the stakes get higher as Maggie is threatened and harassed as well. The action escalates to a climax that has at least one twist (depending on the reader's detective ability) and an explosive ending.Maggie McGrath is a good character to build a series around - intelligent, independent, experienced, and occasionally a bit of a wiseass. She has a past only tantalizingly mentioned and an attitude that is distinctive but not overpowering. McCown gives her a few quirks, a potential future love interest, and a few acerbic lines that made me laugh out loud. All in all, Maggie is a solid, well-delineated character who is a real enough person that you might want to know her. McCown also gives her a couple of friends who will hold up well as continuing secondary characters with their own subplots (Joyce, the shop owner, and Chris, a caterer who lives next door to Maggie) and manages to make even the characters who pass briefly through the plot whole people with their own motivations, histories, and personalities. The action is reasonably paced, and McCown, a costume designer herself, throws in entertaining tidbits about Hollywood, celebrities and showbiz. The plot is good, neither simplistic nor overly convoluted, and the revelations don't seem formulaic or predictable. Reading the novel, I was pleasantly reminded of the early Sue Graftons, an impressive feat for a first book. That's not to say there is any copying going on, just that the main characters share some similarities, and I see potential for a solid series in this debut. So while you're waiting for your next big-name fave to publish, do yourself a favor and pick up this book - you'll add another author to your "must read" list.