Closed in Silence

Joan M. Drury

When Tyler is invited to join her five college pals for a reunion on an isolated island in Puget Sound, she jumps at the chance to reminisce about those heady days at the University of Minnesota at the height of the 1970s feminist movement, when anything seemed possible to six young women–Teddie, Grace, Julie, Mary Sharon, Rachel, and Tyler herself.

The weekend, however, proves to be more than simply a nostalgic occasion. When a storm cuts the six off from the rest of the world, Tyler once again discovers a body. In pursuit of a murderer that could be one of them, the six women share their stories of struggle, triumph, accomplishment, and pain–thus opening the circle that keeps women mute, separate from one another, “closed in silence.”

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From Publishers Weekly

Although the mystery genre has stretched its boundaries during the last 20 years, certain requirements pertaining to plot and motivation, e.g., who committed the crime and why, still obtain. Drury, in this disappointing third Tyler Jones tale (following Silent Words, 1996), skirts those demands as she focuses almost exclusively on portraying the relationships among her characters. Tyler, a San Francisco journalist, attends a 20th reunion with five college friends on an isolated island in Puget Sound. Tyler, Mary Sharon, Rachel and Teddie are lesbians; Grace has remained asexual; Julie has married. Their fond memories of participation in a burgeoning feminist movement, and their subsequent successes and struggles reveal six smart, accomplished women, articulate in feminist and lesbian polemics. Then a storm cuts telephone service with the mainland. Tyler and Mary Sharon discover a dead man they don’t recognize; the others confess they each had a connection to him. With all mutually suspicious of one another, the tension mounts, forcing secrets into the open that eventually draw the six women closer. In an anticlimax, they’re rescued by the Coast Guard and plan their next get-together and readers are left, unforgivably, to guess at the murderer’s identity and motive.

From Library Journal

Traditional mystery situations and fascinating characters make this an easy title to recommend?despite the realistic but somewhat disappointing denouement. Six feminist friends celebrate their 20th college reunion by gathering on an isolated, privately owned Puget Sound Island. During a frightening but spectacular storm their first night there, someone murders a man on the rocky shore. Journalist/lesbian sleuth Tyler Jones discovers the body, then begins investigating motive and opportunity. A fine addition to the series (Silent Words, LJ 10/1/96).

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Details

ISBN	188352329X
Genre	Mystery
Copyright Date	1998
Publication Date	Oct-98
Publisher	Spinsters Ink Books
Format	Trade Paperback
No. of Pages	195
Series	Tyler Jones Mystery
# in Series	3
Language	English
Rating	NotRated
BookID	2169

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Closed in Silence by Joan M. Drury