Janice Law The Shadow of the Palms

About Writing This Book: My father lived for many years in a small town on Florida's Gulf Coast, and I thought it would be fun to send Anna Peters there. But like Annašs other attempts at a relaxation, The Shadow of the Palms soon finds her embroiled with sinister characters and up to the irregular proceedings that have marked her adventures.

Brief Synopsis: A call from Henry Brammin, Anna Peters's old mentor at New World Oil, sends the proprietor of Executive Security down to Floridašs Gulf Coast for a brief working vacation. Brammin wants to know why his nephew suddenly has money for an expensive sailboat and a fancy antiques shop.

The answers involve Vlad Sebastian, a wealthy and reclusive art collector with a socially ambitious daughter, a questionable past, and some dubious employees. Anna's efforts to discover if Brammin's nephew's is one of them brings danger both to her and another old friend, the newly sober and newly married John Hillary, the reporter last seen in The Big Payoff. Hillary, who has his own interests in the mysterious Mr. Sebastian, provides entree to the Sebastians' glamorous social circle _ and provokes a variety of domestic complications.

Anna's attempt at a vacation is soon in ruins, as she and John Hillary find there are plenty of reptiles in the lush and glamorous gardens of south Florida.

The Shadow of the Palmshas been issued in a British edition.

Contemporary quotes and reviews:

"Law's gritty sleuth, Anna Peters, shows again, in the author's fourth, fast, stylish thriller, that she can compete with macho male private eyes."Publisher's Weekly, January 1979.

"This is a tightly constructed book written with an understated style and a dry wit that keeps the story moving well."Houston Chronicle July 1980.

"Fast-moving suspense and vivid descriptions of Florida scenery make The Shadow of the Palms a good novel for escape from the everyday humdrum."The Augusta Chronicle, June 1980. ( Anne Osborne)

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