Double Delight

9780452280410

0452280419

A summons to jury duty leads to psycho-sexual obsession in Rosamond Smith's most harrowing novel to date. Terence Greene, a privileged, upper middle-class man, is irresistibly drawn to the beautiful, slightly seedy, Ava-Rose Renfrew, the plaintiff in an assault case for which he is a juror. Almost against his will, Greene departs his comfortable suburban life-lured into Ava-Rose's world where nothing is as it appears & no one is to be trusted. Greene's transgressions are minor... at first. An "accidental" encounter with Ava-Rose - one he knows should disqualify him as a juror - leads him to use all his eloquence to turn the jury around so that it votes in her favor. Then he puts his fashionable wife & troublesome children out of his mind when he follows Ava-Rose home to her "family"-a bizarre, sinister collection of societal rejects. Soon, however, the Renfrews are draining his bank account as well as his emotions with their endless needs & expenses, & the little white lies he's been telling at home become the least of his problems. Rosamond Smith is a modern master of literature, intricately-plotted suspense fiction strong on atmosphere & character, & in Double Delight she is at the height of her skills.