Taut,
utterly compelling –
Amagansett commands your total
attention from first page to
last.
July
1947; Fisherman Conrad Labarde
(from home from world war II)
and his business partner Rollo
Kemp discover a dead body in
their fishing nets, the quiet
town of Amagansett,
off the coast of Long
Island
will never be the same again.
The body turns out to be that of
a New
York
socialite and it looks like a
case of accidental drowning.
Amagansett,
for centuries unchanged, is starting to feel the air of change as people
from the city arrive in search of a new playground. Deputy Police Chief
Tom Hollis, who is from New York
, refuses to let the case drop convinced there is more to it, the people
of Amagansett have things to hide, meanwhile Labarde is also taking an
active interest in the woman’s death.
Mills,
who is a Hollywood
script writer, has fashioned a
wonderfully atmospheric tale,
Amagansett does have a certain
filmic quality to it (yes it
would make a great movie and no
doubt will). Whilst workingas a straight whodunit
Mills also has something to say
about changing times, Amagansett
the town is built on a
disappearing way of life, its
inhabitants struggling to come
to terms with change.
Certainly
a cut above your average page
turning thriller with its
literate tone and study of a
town in transition. Amagansett
is very much recommended.
