Die for Love

Die for Love (1984) Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby)

First, I love the reminders of a world past.

Jacqueline began to fear she would miss her plane. When she remonstrated, he said cheerfully, “Oh, there’s plenty of time,” and indeed they reached the gate several seconds before the loudspeaker announced the last call for Flight 576.

I mean… can you even imagine trying to arrive at the airport minutes before takeoff?

And this!

Jacqueline sat holding the telephone until a mechanical voice began to drone, “Please hang up. You have left the instrument off the hook. Please hang up.”

And despite her flaws (and there are many) I do like Jacqueline.

“I’m enjoying myself.”

“Then you must have a weakness for weirdos.”

“I do—if you mean people with unorthodox opinions about obscure subjects. They’re much more interesting than so-called normal people.”

And there is this bit:

Jacqueline switched to fluent if ungrammatical Spanish. “Where is the Laurie? I have the need to speak at her. It is of an important much urgent.”

“You are a teacher of Spanish, señora?” the maid asked doubtfully.

“I am the teacher of the English,” Jacqueline replied. “The young woman is not in the school for today and the week. At what hour is it the possibility that she returning to the house is?”

I love that we see the main character flubbing the foreign language, rather than seeing a secondary character struggle with English.

Publisher: William Morrow

Rating: 7/10

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