The Love Talker

The Love Talker Elizabeth Peters Date: 1980   —   $6.29   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Mystery

Laurie is five feet nine inches tall and weighs 127 pounds. And, naturally, she is worried about her weight. This sort of opening bothers me deeply, knowing what I do about the cult of thin, and especially because I weigh more than that and still have people tell me I'm a stick. I supposed it's where you carry it, though.

Anyway, Laurie receives a distressing message from one of her aunts, and decides to go back for a visit to see if she can clear up the trouble. Once she arrives, with her obnoxious older half-brother, everybody clams up, including her credulous other great-aunt, who is normally willing to talk about her latest magical hobbies. Once she shows Laurie the pictures of fairies in the woods, however, Laurie doesn't know what to think, because the pictures are fantastic and believeable. And it's beginning to look a lot as if somebody wants Great-Aunt Lizzie dead. And maybe Laurie as well.

Peters doesn't give very many hints as to her solutions; one can often get to the end of the novel without having any idea of what is going to be the resolution. This one's a bit strange, but then, so are the people, and Laurie is fairly likeable.