Lathen, Emma. Accounting for Murder. New York: Pocket Books, 1974.
This seemed to go hand in hand with The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Both take place in New York on Wall Street. The big numbers game. I have to admit I was bored by this book. None of the characters interested me enough to care what happened to them (another similarity with The Bonfire of the Vanities). Each and every one of them seemed dull and flat. In addition the plot was slow moving and I kept asking myself “where and when is this murder? I know this guy dies so when does it happen?” Accounting for Murder is supposed to focus on amateur silver-haired detective John Putman Thatcher and yet for the first 60 pages he’s barely in the story. Initially, he is invited to a lunch with Mr. Fortinbras who late winds up dead.
Author Fact: Emma Lathen is actually two authors collaborating as one. Mary Jane Latis (1927 – 1997) and Martha Hennissart (b. 1929 – ). Both women were businesswomen in the field of economics.
Book Trivia: Accounting for Murder is actually part of a series with banker and amateur detective John Putnam Thatcher as the main reoccurring character.
BookLust Twist: From Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love a Mystery: (p 117).
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