SCARLETT AND TARA IN VIRGINIA (SORT OF)

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992                   TAG: 9202160245
SECTION: HORIZON                    PAGE: E-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Reviewed by JANICE ZENNER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
SCARLETT AND TARA IN VIRGINIA (SORT OF)
THE WOMAN WHO FELL FROM GRACE. By David Handler. Doubleday. $15.
With "Scarlett" fevering the best seller lists, and sequel-mania the norm in literary inspiration, David Handler gives the whole affair a nifty little who-done-it twist and sets the locale in the Shenandoah Valley.
The fourth in his Stewart Hoag mystery series, "The Woman Who Fell From Grace" finds Hoag at Shenandoah, a Revolutionary War era plantation located outside Staunton. Not only is this unreal estate a national landmark, but it had been the primary location for "Oh, Shenandoah," the all-time American novel and film classic. Imagine a sort of Tara-Monticello-Graceland ambiance. Hoag, a writer of some fame and a born sleuth, is hired to ghost-write the sequel, fifty years later. And the fun begins.
Like all good murder mysteries, this one abounds in dead bodies and eccentric characters. The central figure is likable, despite trying hard not to be, and his trusty sidekick is a lovable Bassett, Lulu. There's even a sympathetic cat, which I always appreciate.
Handler seamlessly weaves real names and places with "Gone With the Wind" names and places with wholly fictional names and places. And he does it well. He also says some very nice things about our fair state.

Janice Zenner lives and writes in Montgomery County.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB