Tagline: He wrote about his own murder…
Back tagline: No one knew he was famous
Summary: Marvin was an eighteen-year-old senior in high school. He was also America’s bestselling author of teenage fiction. Millions of kids read his books. In fact his latest series – THE MYSTERY AT SILVER SPRING – was the craze at his high school. But Marvin wrote under a pen name, and no one knew who he was. He was rich and famous, but he couldn’t even get a date for Friday night. Yet Marvin wanted to remain unknown. He was worried that this incredible career was about to hit a brick wall. The final instalment of his famous series was overdue. His millions of fans were dying to know what was going to happen in his series, but so was Marvin. He had no idea how the story was supposed to end.
Then one night he opens a fan letter. It has come from his publisher – the usual way. But the letter says, ‘I know who you are,’ and the postmark is from his local town. At first Marvin is unconcerned about the letter, but then another arrives, saying more…
Soon Marvin is caught up in a web of mystery more complex and frightening than his own books. But too late he realises that the stories he has been spinning are true.
First impressions: Like most of the Pike books I’ve read so far, this seems a little more complex than the usual stuff I recap, which will be a nice change (although they tend to be lengthier recaps). I wonder if this story was inspired by Pike’s own experiences as a writer? This is a reissued cover, but we’re seeing part of a potential murder here, so what’s not to like?! As usual with Pike, I’m going in completely blind other than the blurb, so I have no idea what to expect. Chain Letter 2 has been the only disappointment so far, but even that wasn’t terrible, so I’m keen to read another one from Pike. Let’s see how it is! [And don’t forget to check out the Dustin Can Read podcast, where me and Dustin discussed this book!]
Recap
Meet the cast:
Marvin – Our secretly famous protagonist who lusts after Shelly.
Shelly – The mysterious love interest who recruits Marvin for an investigation.
Harry – Shelly’s ex-boyfriend who allegedly committed suicide last year.
Triad – The hunky jock and Harry’s best friend.
Ann – Marvin’s intelligent little sister who shares a name with the protagonist of his main series.
The book begins with our protagonist, Marvin Summer, in English class watching his crush, Shelly Quade, reading the latest book in the The Mystery at Silver Lake series [So not Silver Spring like the blurb says? The series name is literally on the first page, how did no-one pick up on this discrepancy?]. The series, as well as some other novels, is written by Marvin under his pen name, Mack Slate, but nobody knows he’s behind the incredibly popular books and that’s exactly how he likes it. The final instalment is overdue, but Marvin hasn’t figured out a way to end the series. That’s just one of Marvin’s problems, though; much like the heroine of his series, Ann McGaffer, Marvin has a violent father, who doesn’t live with the rest of the family. Marvin’s also got some romantic troubles– he’d gone out with Shelly a few times last year, but she’d also had an on-and-off relationship with Harry Paster around then. When Harry committed suicide by jumping off a cliff at the local lake the previous November, Marvin gave Shelly the space she needed to grieve, expecting her to come to him when she was ready, but she’s been avoiding him ever since, and it’s now a full year later. Much like most other people in the world, ‘Shelly had hair and she had skin,’ [Great to see realistic beauty standards in fiction] both of which are lovely, and Marvin can still remember what it felt like to make out with her. He’s planning to ask her out again today if his nerves don’t give him a heart attack first!
Mrs. Jackson, their teacher, calls on Marvin to read his short story assignment to the class, and his heart flutters a bit as Shelly closes her book and gives him a little smile, apparently keen to listen. Mrs. Jackson has never been fond of Marvin for whatever reason and picks apart the flaws in his story of a frog named Seymour who inflates himself with air so it can fly before bursting from the pressure. She gives him a B and suggests he could be writer someday if he learns to control himself [She’s not a fan of horror elements, it seems]. Shelly mutters some words of approval under her breath as Marvin passes her on his way back to his seat, and now he’s even more determined to ask her out; she’s apparently gone on a few dates with football star Triad Tyler [Triad???] recently, so she must be ready to start dating again.
Later, Marvin hurries to catch up with Shelly in the hall as they head to their next class together, but only manages to make small talk about her fondness of Mack Slate books before Triad Tyler appears. Shelly seems annoyed by his butting in; when Triad enquires about buying Marvin’s motorbike, apparently for the 12058468450645098689645th time, Shelly encourages the uninterested Marvin to make the sale:
‘Why?’ Marvin asked.
‘Because motorcycles are dangerous,’ she said seriously. ‘That bike could get you killed.’
Triad laughed. ‘So you don’t mind if I get killed, is that it?’
Shelly smiled slyly. She reached out and patted Triad on the top of his head. ‘You have a lot harder skull than Marvin. I bet even your brains would bounce off the pavement.’
[Hahahaha savage] In the next class, a discussion breaks out about the Silver Lake books, encouraged by the teacher. Everyone in class is reading the series and eager to find out who killed Ann McGaffer, the heroine who was murdered at the end of the very first book. She was a popular student who had it all, but her fairytale life was all an illusion – her classmates were jealous, her father was an abusive alcoholic, her jock boyfriend was screwing her bestie, and she was dieting constantly to fit into her super cool clothes. Her naked body had been found in Silver Lake, restrained with barbed wire and showing signs of sexual abuse. The book’s police weren’t revealing all the information, though, so no-one knows for sure whether Ann was raped, and it’s not known exactly when she died, but she’d been floating in the lake for at least one night before being found [I would read this series].
There are four main suspects in Ann’s murder: her abusive father, Bill; her sleazy, cheating boyfriend, Clyde Fountain; her disturbed younger brother, Harold; and Mike Madison, a nice guy who Ann had been having an affair with. There’s dozens of other suspects too thanks to Marvin’s talented writing, but he has no idea who the killer should be. Marvin doesn’t make up his plots, they just come to him, and this is the first time he’s struggled for an idea.
The conversation soon turns to what Mack Slate must be like and Marvin, who considers himself handsome but not exactly gorgeous, is amused by how sexy and awesome they all imagine him to be. Shelly reckons Mack Slate is a pen name and he’s ‘”probably an old fart who can’t get laid,”‘ which Marvin finds funny although it hurts a little, too; his books have sex scenes, but it’s true that he’s never experienced carnal pleasures himself. He catches up with Shelly in the hall after class and with a bit of prompting from her, he asks her out with a single word – ‘”Tonight?”‘ Shelly accepts and tells him not to wait so long next time, and Marvin couldn’t be happier.
Seniors only have four periods a day, so Marvin leaves school early and heads to the post office where his Mack Slate PO box is, since he hasn’t collected the mail that’s forwarded on from his agent and publisher for a few days. To his surprise, his 11-year-old sister, Ann, is there, collecting his mail already. She’s ‘the only one who knew Mack Slate’s true identity,’ [Although we find out a few pages later that Marvin’s agent also knows his real name for tax reasons] and the siblings are extremely close. She’s a beautiful, intelligent little girl and had pulled a sickie to stay home from school to watch an R-rated movie [Love that!]. She’s also the inspiration behind the name of Silver Lake‘s heroine, which she’s very pleased about [Even though she was raped and murdered?].
Ann tells Marvin that their mother’s having a bad day, and we learn that she’s an alcoholic who drinks away most of her child support payments and some of the money Marvin brings in, which she believes is from ghost-writing for local newspaper reporters [Is that even believable, though?]. She’s so out of it most of the time, she doesn’t even realise Marvin’s paying for 90% of everything. He has no doubt his parents would both squander his almost $2 million fortune if they knew about it, which is a big reason why he’s keeping Mack Slate’s identity a secret, at least until he’s 18 and can’t seize control of his money [Smart boy, Marvin].
Arriving home to find their mother on the couch with a cigarette, but no alcohol since she doesn’t actually drink in front of her kids, it’s clear that Mrs. Summer favours her son and neglects her daughter, which annoys both children. Marvin and Ann quickly head to his room to read his fan mail, some of which is very steamy, until eventually Marvin comes to one that had been sent from Sesa, the town he lives in, with no return address. The letter is only one typed sentence – ‘I KNOW WHO YOU ARE.’
It seems simple enough, but Marvin’s recognises it could be some kind of threat. He’s confident his agent, Ben Friar, wouldn’t have told anybody his real identity, especially considering they’ve never met in person and Ben doesn’t even know Marvin’s real age. His editor, Pat Winchell, believe his name really is Mack Slate, so information couldn’t have been leaked from her either. Marvin deduces someone at the post office must have seen him walking away with Mack Slate’s mail and while concerned, he’s not too worried because it’s probably just a fan who may not even know his actual identity.
The phone rings now and it’s his editor, Pat, who’s impatiently waiting for his now four month-overdue book – if they wait any longer, they’ll have to push back the publication date and notify the book stores and Marvin/Mack could lose the momentum he’s built for himself with the series. Marvin says that he’ll have it to her within 10 days, despite not having any idea where the story is actually heading, and quickly hangs up, lying that her call interrupted his writing. He tells Ann he’ll start writing tomorrow because he’s got a date with Shelly tonight, and Ann is not impressed. They’ve never met as far as he knows and he’s only ever talked about Shelly positively, so Marvin has no idea why Ann seems to have so much disdain for her.
That night, Marvin and Shelly have a wonderful time in the nearby town of Pella, enjoying dinner and a movie, and on the way back Shelly asks him to stop his bike as they’re crossing the old bridge that overlooks the Pella River. Marvin’s a bit concerned because it’s freezing and he knows how frail the bridge must be, but sits down next to her anyway after pushing aside a piece of rope that’s tied to the railing [This will be important later]. They have a few cute moments as they gaze out onto the water and then as if reading Marvin’s mind, Shelly suggests they go warm up in her jacuzzi, since her parents are away for the weekend [Hubba hubba!].
Back at Shelly’s place, there’s a lot of flirting before they add a lot of bubbles into the jacuzzi and jump in naked. The flirting continues as she makes it clear that she’s into him and Triad is just a friend [I still can’t get over that name]. They end up kissing passionately before she eventually pulls away, a sad smile on her face that he’d also noticed on the bridge earlier. They decide to get out of the jacuzzi and it’s pretty obvious that something is on Shelly’s mind. Marvin’s about to head home a short time later when Shelly gives him another passionate kiss and whispers that Harry didn’t commit suicide – he was murdered [That’s some sexy talk, Shelly!]. Marvin’s confused, and Shelly insists she just knows in her heart that he wouldn’t kill himself, and she wants Marvin’s help finding the murderer because she feels that he cares. The revelation hurts Marvin’s feelings a bit because while he’s living out his dreams of being with her right now, ‘she had been dreaming of holding a dead guy,’ but he agrees to help her anyway.
The next morning, Saturday, Marvin procrastinate from writing his book some more and visits his PO box again, bringing Ann along with him. There’s only one letter this time, again from Sesa, but this one has been sent directly to his mailbox rather than sent to his publisher and forwarded on. It’s a similar letter to the first mysterious one, only this one reads ‘SHE DOESN’T LOVE YOU THE WAY YOU THINK SHE DOES.’ It’s clear the letter is referring to Shelly and we find out two reasons Ann doesn’t like her – because she dumped Marvin last year, and because ‘”I just don’t like her.”‘ Marvin grows more concerned now as he realises someone must be watching him since he had to have read the other one first for this one to make sense [Not really, they just would have had to have known you were going on a date with Shelly].
He tells Ann they just have to wait for the letter writer to make it clear what they want, but as soon as they get home, Marvin calls his agent, Ben. Ben had been the only one out of four potential agents who wrote him back about his first manuscript, The Wishing Web, which then kept getting rejected by publishers for being too sophisticated for teens [Is this art imitating life? Pike’s books are very sophisticated, I think, which is a good thing – they’re like adult books for teen audiences]. Eventually it wound up in Pat’s hands, who loved it, and it went on to be a huge bestseller.
Anyway, Ben’s curious how the latest novel is going, and Marvin truthfully tells him he hasn’t started it yet [He hasn’t even started?!?! I thought he was just struggling with the last few chapters, not the whole damn thing]. He insists he can pull it off, like he’s done before, and then Ben tells him the good news – Universal Studios has agreed to let Marvin write the screenplay for The Wishing Web, which is exciting because it’s very rare in Hollywood that an author is allowed to pen the screenplay. Marvin then explains the situation with the letters and asks if Ben had given his real name or address to anybody, which Ben denies it. Ben points out that if the letters are coming from Sesa, the leak must be on Marvin’s end, but it’s probably just some teenager who followed him to his PO box [Ben thinks Marvin’s in his late 20s, btw].
Marvin heads over to Shelly’s at noon, as requested, to discuss Harry’s death some more. Marvin doubts she’ll have anything to really add to the case; ‘for an author of mysteries, Marvin was remarkably cynical when it came to believing in hidden plots and secret agendas.’ Shelly’s in a very serious mood when he arrives and quickly hands him the police and autopsy reports on Harry’s alleged suicide. Harry’s mother had requested them some time ago when Shelly told her she thought Harry was murdered, but his mother believes it really was suicide.
Shelly hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary in the files but wants Marvin to study them anyway. Not wanting to get her hopes up, Marvin bluntly tells her he might not be as helpful as she seems to think, and in response she asks how well he knew Harry. We learn Harry was a star player on both the football and basketball teams and was ‘unusually smart for a popular athlete,’ but seemed like a nice guy, and his introspective nature could have explained his suicidal tendencies. Marvin again reiterates he probably won’t be much help, this time pointing out the police would have investigated everything already, but Shelly refutes this – they’d found Harry floating facedown in the lake with no murder weapon or suspect nearby and closed the case, just like that. Shelly has no suspects or potential motives for Harry’s murder either, though; her whole case is based on the belief Harry wouldn’t have killed himself.
He promises to look at the reports and she tells him she’d like to see him again soon [I can’t tell if she’s manipulating him for the Harry case or if she’s genuinely into him, it really seems like it’s going back and forth haha]. She can sense how uneasy he is and clarifies she really does care for him and she knows this is all super weird, but he’s the only one she feels can help her, and they agree to go out again Monday night.
Marvin goes straight to the library and digs up some articles about Harry’s death, and after reading those and the two reports from Shelly, we learn some key information. Harry was last seen alive on Friday, November 12, by his best friend Triad Tyler, who’d reported they’d drunk some six packs at Sesa Park by the lake before he dropped Harry off at home close to midnight. Harry’s body was found in the lake the following Monday morning, November 15, by a fisherman. The officer who’d responded reported nothing unusual about the body, but the coroner’s report certainly did:
1. Harry had a broken neck and a fractured skull.
2. Harry’s palms were blistered.
3. Harry had oil stains on his fingers.
4. Harry had an unusual number of broken blood capillaries in his lower extremities.
[What, those last three points weren’t suspicious to Shelly?] It’s the coroner’s opinion that Harry dove headfirst off the cliff and landed in the 15ft-deep water at the base of the cliff, dying instantly when his head hit the bottom, and the other three points were considered unusual but unimportant in the report. Harry’s time of death is estimated to be at midnight on the Sunday evening, six hours before the body was found, although because cold water delays the decomposition process, he could have died as much as six hours earlier than that; he wasn’t even showing any signs of rigor mortis when he was pulled from the lake [Seems suspicious to me!].
Marvin understands that the police and coroner provided the simplest explanation in lieu of any evidence towards something else, but something smells fishy to him. The oil stains could have come from anywhere so aren’t worth figuring out right now, and he’ll have to do some research about capillaries to understand that part better, but the blistered palms are something to think about now! The reports ruled there were no signs of a struggle, but Marvin wonders if maybe Harry was kept somewhere during the two days he was missing before his death, like a well or something, and the blisters were caused by trying to climb out. Wondering where Harry could have been during the time he was missing causes Marvin to recall some important information about Friday, November 12 – that’s Shelly’s birthday, and Marvin had taken her out to Pella to celebrate.
More little details come trickling in to Marvin’s brain, like the fact that Triad can’t be a suspect because he’d been another town with the football team for an away game, and the players didn’t return to Sesa until Monday morning due to heavy rain. The only other suspect Marvin can think of is Shelly, who wouldn’t kill Harry, and as far as he can tell the only person with motivation to kill Harry is and Marvin himself ‘for the love of Shelly Quade,’ but that obviously didn’t happen either.
Marvin finds the contact information of the elderly fisherman who found Harry’s body, Sid Green, and heads over to visit him. Sid recalls that he’d found Harry ‘dead as a firefly in a snowstorm’ but doesn’t recall blisters on the boy’s palms. He does remember some marks on the leather jacket Harry was wearing, though; burns on the leather, like it had been rubbed raw. This gets Marvin’s attention and after a few more queries, he learns the marks wrapped around the chest under the armpits and were also on the back of the jacket. Marvin concludes the burns were caused by a rope that was possibly ‘scraped across the leather again and again,’ and thanks the man for his help [I am very much absorbed by this mystery].
Marvin visits Harry’s mother next to discuss Harry’s whereabouts over that fateful weekend. Mrs. Paster had been expecting him thanks to a call from Shelly, and Marvin realises Shelly must be anticipating his moves in the investigation. What he can’t work out is why she was being so vague about the reports if she read the materials just as closely as he had [Very strange, Shelly!].
Mrs. Paster was in bed when Triad dropped Harry home so didn’t see her son, but she believes Triad’s telling the truth. Marvin asks to see the jacket Harry was wearing when he died, and sure enough the marks Sid had mentioned are there. It presents more questions than answers for Marvin, who’d suspected the marks were caused by Harry’s struggles against his binds – surely that single line of rope wasn’t enough to keep Harry restrained? Mrs. Paster had asked the police about the marks, but they’d told her they weren’t important. She agrees to let Marvin take the jacket for a few days, but wants to know why he’s checking into the details surrounding her son’s death. He explains Shelly had asked him to, possibly because he knew Harry and is good at figuring things out. Mrs. Paster also confirms that as difficult as it is, she agrees with the police that Harry committed suicide, but she doesn’t know why Harry had been so unhappy.
Later that night as Marvin and Ann are eating dinner while their mother’s passed out drunk in the living room, Ann asks if he’s thought of any ideas for the book yet. Marvin blurts out that his protagonist, Ann, wasn’t killed in or near the lake [Very art imitating life here, Marvin!], but that’s all he’s got so far and doesn’t even seem to realise the obvious inspiration. Ann also asks about Shelly, again expressing her dislike and reminding Marvin what the second note said about her.
Afterwards, Marvin procrastinates from writing this book by calling Shelly to see if she’s free tonight to go over what he found today. She’s very interested in hearing his news, but she’s busy tonight and is looking forward to their date on Monday. Marvin thinks he can hear water in the background and wonders if she’s having a jacuzzi date with someone else tonight. Marvin takes a nap instead of working on the novel and dreams about being in the minds of the different characters from his Silver Lake series, with the dream ending with book Ann hanging off a bridge from a rope tied around her waist.
Marvin’s shaken awake by his sister because their father’s came to visit, which is not a good thing. Marvin races downstairs to find his parents arguing about his mother’s TV habits. Dad shoves her out of the way and smashes the tv with a lamp, showering poor Ann with glass that cuts her hands as she tries to get the shards out of her hair. Marvin’s pissed off now and charges at his father for a game of punch the drunk, but he’s quickly pulled off by his mother and Ann, who’s scared by Marvin’s outburst. Marvin then races upstairs to get his helmet, wallet, chequebook and Harry’s jacket before taking off on his bike, driving ‘as though he were fleeing the scene of a murder he had committed.’
Marvin drives around for a while, wondering if he would have killed his father if his mother and Ann weren’t in the room, which is a scary thought. On impulse, he decides to swing past the post office, accessible thanks to a broken door lock that no-one’s bothered to fix, and checks his PO box again, wanting to know if there’s another letter in there since this morning. There is a note waiting for him, and this is the most sinister one yet – ‘THEY ARE PLOTTING TO KILL YOU AS YOU READ THIS.’ [Terrifying. What would be really frustrating in this situation is that whoever’s leaving these notes is being annoyingly cryptic instead of outright saying whatever the hell is going on. Also, ‘they?’ Is there a conspiracy against Marvin?]
Marvin considers going to the police but isn’t keen on spilling Mack Slate’s true identity, and wonders if there’s any validity to these notes. The first one was definitely true, and the second one could be; did Shelly turn him down tonight because she has eyes for someone else, and only had a jacuzzi date with Marvin ‘because she wanted him chasing after Harry’s ghost’ when he should be ‘getting ready to defend himself?’ The idea that Shelly is plotting to kill him is absurd, but it can’t hurt to swing by her place for a quick look anyway, right?
So off he goes, cutting the engine as he reaches her block so she won’t hear his arrival, and as he approaches her house, he notices the lights on and loud music playing. He knocks and calls out quietly but there’s no answer, so he opens the door a few inches and peers inside. The music is coming from the empty living room, and Marvin hears running water and voices outside. Knowing what he’ll find, Marvin enters the house [Oop] and creeps over to the doorway leading to the porch, taking a quick peek out before pulling back with tears trickling down his face [Poor Marvin].
Shelly’s in the jacuzzi with Triad and there’s lots of bubbles, so they’re probably naked. The two are kissing and Shelly’s moaning, and Marvin wonders if there’ll be a new boy in the jacuzzi tomorrow night because Shelly clearly gets around [I’ll allow this slut-shaming]. Marvin just stands there behind the wall, unsure of what to even do, but eventually the moaning stops and Shelly and Triad start to talk:
‘This is good,’ Shelly said.
‘It doesn’t get much better,’ Triad agreed.
‘How long has it been? she asked.
‘Two days.’
‘Two days too long.’
‘Where were you last night?’ Triad asked.
‘Out with Marvin.’
Triad chuckled. ‘That worm? Why?’
‘For fun and profit.’
‘Huh?’
Soft splashed. It sounded as if Shelly were rearranging herself in the tub so that she could be of more service to her man. Marvin simply would not let himself look.
‘Do you like that?’ She asked in a sly voice.
‘Hmm. I’d like it more if I knew I was the only one you did it to.’
Shelly gave a short laugh. ‘God. You think I had sex with Marvin? Gimme a break. I just went out with him to get him to do a few things for me.’
‘Like what?’ Triad asked.
‘None of your business,’ Shelly said.
[Woooooooow, Shelly. I wonder if she’s telling the truth or just telling Triad what he wants to hear? But then why is she even sleeping with Triad if that’s the case? She’s a complicated girl with some kind of agenda] Slutty Shelly tells Triad she’s supposed to see Marvin Monday night, but agrees to cancel on him to hang out with Triad instead so they can, in her words, screw.
Marvin’s heard enough and goes back to his bike feeling mad at Shelly and sorry for himself. He’s not ready to go home so cruises around for a bit, and 3o minutes later finds himself sitting on the bridge over the river in the same spot he’d sat with Shelly the night before. He knows it’s the same spot because that random piece of rope is still here. Marvin doesn’t believe in coincidences and tries to decipher the connection between him chasing after length of rope all day and Shelly manipulating him into sitting by a rope just like it last night [Maybe Harry fell over the railing and was caught by some of the rope, and then whoever he was with somehow made him fall into the river instead of helping him?! Have I cracked the case?!]. Apparently this dislike for coincidences is one of the reasons why Marvin can’t just choose anybody in his book to be the Ann’s murderer – ‘he would have to invent one or two coincidences to substantiate their actions.’
Anyway, Marvin realises it’s likely that Harry died here and was carried by the river into the lake where his body was found, and the key to what happened is to figure out how Harry ended up hanging from the bridge. Time to look at the physical evidence.
- The blisters on Harry’s palms could be from Harry trying to pull himself back up onto the bridge while hanging.
- While Harry was hanging, the blood would have pooled into his lower extremities, and if he was hanging long enough, surely some blood vessels would burst, explaining the ruptured capillaries in his legs.
- The burn marks on Harry’s jacket indicate he was hanging for a long time, but why had the rope been around his chest? ‘It was almost as if his arms had been trapped, made useless, by the rope round him.’
- Harry’s broken neck and fractured skull could be explained by crashing into boulders once he fell into the raging river.
- There’s oil on the rope, which explains why Harry had some on his fingers.
But why is their oil on the rope? Well, behind Marvin is a large, round oil stain in the centre on the bridge, ‘directly out from where the remainder of the rope was tied under the bridge.’ [I cannot work out what the hell that sentence means lol] The oil puddle had obviously been absorbed into the wood by now, and Marvin realises there’s no reason why there’d be a puddle and length of rope here ‘unless you wanted to make someone on a motorcycle go down.’ [Ooooooooh] Marvin’s positive he’s cracked the case now, with a scenario that fits all the facts:
Harry Paster had learned the infamous Marvin Summer was going out with the pure and virginal Shelly Quaid Friday night, November 12. He had also learned where they were going. Upset about the matter, possibly drunk as well, he had decided to rig a little surprise for the two lovebirds to run into on their way home. A rope stretched across a bridge at waist level in front of a motorcycle doing in excess of sixty miles an hour would play havoc with the driver of the bike, not to mention any passenger on the back.
Why would Harry pour out the oil when he had the rope to do the trick? The reason was clever. The police would find the oil when they found the bodies. They would not find the rope. It would be removed. The oil would be identified as the reason for their spill. Hit a slick at high speed and went down, the police report would say. It happened all the time on roads across the country.
But a portion of the rope is still here, and Marvin and Shelly are alive while Harry is dead, so something’s obviously gone wrong. Luckily, Marvin’s got an explanation for that too. To make sure the oil and rope met its intended victims, Harry could only have raised the rope when Marvin’s bike was approaching. Instead of relying on the railing alone to support him while he waited, Harry had tied the rope around his waist to support his weight, but somehow slipped and hung himself. But going by the marks on the jacket, this wasn’t any ordinary hanging; ‘the rope probably yanked up round his armpits and stuck there, unable to get past his shoulders. Harry would have slowly suffocated.’ [I am loving this book! I never would have figured this out ahaha]
The bridge is wide and the river is loud, so Harry easily could have hung there for days without being seen or heard before finally dropping into the river and being washed away into the lake. It likely would have taken him a few days to die, which would explain how the coroner determined his time of death was early Monday morning rather than Friday when he went missing. Harry hadn’t been murdered or committed suicide; he’d simply caused his own death by accident while waiting to kill Marvin and Shelly.
Marvin’s convinced his conclusion is correct and suspects Shelly already knew what he’s just figured out, but what was her goal here? What did she want with Marvin? He’s not super concerned about these unanswered questions, though, because after what he saw tonight, Marvin just wants revenge:
He glanced once more at the ragged end of rope, the old oil stain in the centre of the bridge. Harry’s plan had been a good one, even if it had cost him his life.
Marvin figured he could be more careful than Harry.
He smiled as he climbed on to his bike.
Those two were not going to be screwing Monday night.
[Oop, wasn’t expecting that little twist!] Marvin spends the night at a cheap, shabby motel in Pella which matches his frame of mind right now. In the morning, he decides to give Shelly one last chance before setting his plan in motion and calls her from a phone booth to invite her for breakfast. She’s busy today, and when he asks what she wants to do for their date tomorrow night, she lies that she’s got a cousin coming in from out of town that she forgot about. Marvin is completely understanding and mentions wanting to talk to her about what he learned while investigating Harry’s death, but Shelly just says ‘”Sure”” unenthusiastically, which makes him wonder if she’s currently in bed with Triad. This thought also causes him to realise the similarities between her and the protagonist of his book series – ‘The way Shelly got around made Ann McGaffer look like a nun.’ [Shelly seems worse, tbh. Ann cheated on her sleazy boyfriend who was cheating on her already, so that’s more understandable]
He remarks that he’s currently wearing Harry’s jacket before hurriedly finishing the conversation and hanging up, then heads over to the front desk of the motel. He slides the manager $20 and leaves his bike helmet with the man, explaining a friend named Triad will come by tonight to collect it. Next, Marvin goes to a car dealership and buys a special edition red Corvette for $72,000. He draws the salesman, Ed, a map and instructs him to deliver the car to a certain spot by 4pm, unlocked with the keys hidden in the exhaust.
Marvin heads to the mall next for a bite to eat, feeling reckless and nervous about tonight’s plan. He’d feel guilty if he didn’t feel so good about the end result; Triad dead and unable to screw Shelly Monday night [Why is Triad your main target???? Shelly is the problem]. Marvin wanders over to one of the bookshops and notices two girls, about 16 years old, picking through Mack Slate’s books and gushing about how great an author he is. Marvin ends up butting into the conversation to tell them knows Mack Slate, and answers their questions – Mack Slate is great guy who’s single, young, and gets his ideas from the horrors of the world – ‘”He doesn’t want to hurt anybody. But if he has to, if the story makes him do it, he doesn’t hesitate.”‘
The girls want to write to the author so Marvin offers to give them his address, taking the copy of his fifth Silver Lake book from the Marjorie, the blonde one’s hands. He writes ‘For Marjorie. You are beautiful. Best Wishes. Mack Slate’ on the title page and hands it back. The girls are confused as they read the message, so Marvin confirms that he‘s Mack Slate. They think he’s weird and try to walk away, but Marvin blocks their exit and insists he’s telling the truth [Marvin, you’re being creepy]. Marjorie puts the book back on the shelf and is dragged away by her friend, but she quickly returns without her pal and asks if he’s really was being honest. Marvin confirms it, so she asks who killed Ann McGaffer. Marvin truthfully tells her he’s not sure, that it’s possible it was just an accident, but there’s one thing that’s certain – Ann didn’t die at the lake; she died on the bridge across the river that flows into the lake [More art imitates life!]. Satisfied he’s the real deal, takes the book back and thanks him for writing such great books before leaving:
It was only as he walked back to his motorcycle that he understood what he had told Marjorie. The mystery of Silver Lake was the mystery of his home town. But he had already solved that mystery, he thought.
He could start writing the last book as soon as he killed Triad.
[Again, Shelly is the issue, not Triad!] Later, Marvin calls Triad to offer him his bike, agreeing to swing by in an hour. Then he heads into Sears to buy some rope, oil and a knife, and surprisingly doesn’t see his plan an evil one; to Marvin, it’s almost like he’s just doing his duty [OK, Marvin], but he does recognise the joy he’ll get from his plan stems from the fact that Triad’s sleeping with the love of Marvin’s life [The love of your life? After what she’s done? Marvin, plz]. Marvin goes to where his red Corvette was delivered and dumps his tools before finally heading over to Triad’s. Marvin explains to the big lug that he left his helmet at the motel in Pella, and Triad needs to get it tonight or else the manager is gonna throw it away. Marvin agrees to take $800 [About $1,689.39 today, apparently, which still seems very cheap], and before leaving warns ‘”Don’t kill yourself on the bike.”‘ [Cheeky cheeky!]
Marvin walks back to the Corvette and sits in the car for a while, thinking about everything. His theory about Harry’s death is the only thing that makes sense, but he feels like there’s a missing piece of the puzzle in regards to why Shelly got him involved, especially with the mysterious letters he’s receiving. He also realises now that his Silver Lake series may have been subconsciously inspired by Harry’s death; he’d started writing it a few weeks after Harry’s death, after all [So he’s written five novels in the space of a year? I mean, RL Stine was cranking out about 45904668 books a month, but for a normal novelist this seems like a lot?].
A few hours later, once night has fallen, Marvin waits by the bridge in his car for Triad to drive past. He plans to set up the rope and oil to be hit on Triad’s way back, since he has no idea what time Triad planned to fetch the helmet other than it would be after dinner, and it’s way too cold to wait off the side of the bridge like Harry had. Triad still hasn’t come past by 9pm, but abandoning the murder plot isn’t even a consideration, so Marvin kills time by reminiscing about his date with Shelly last November, before Harry died.
It had been a magical night and Marvin had been tempted to ask Shelly to marry him during the date; he was already a successful author before the Silver Lake series and would have supported her and done anything for her [This is too much lol]. Her parents had been away that weekend so after dinner and a show, they’d spent hours kissing on her bed, and not once did she mention Harry. In fact, she even told Marvin as he was leaving that he was what she wanted, and no-one else! But by the following Monday, when Harry’s body had been discovered, she’d turned a cold shoulder to Marvin and he had no idea why, especially if he truly was who she wanted to be with. But of course, after last night, he knows Shelly would say or do anything. Still, there’s something about her that he’s seeing but not understanding, but he can’t figure out the missing piece.
Soon Marvin hears a motorbike approaching the bridge, and the bike speeds past on its way to Pella. He’s too far back from the road in the Corvette to see Triad, but Marvin knows the sound of his own motorbike! There’s not much time before Triad will be on his way back, so Marvin hurries to the bridge and sets up, closer to the Pella side than where Harry had placed his rope and oil to avoid a connection between Harry’s evidence and Triad’s accident. Once the oil is poured and the rope is tied to one side, Harry winds it around the opposite rail with a bit of slack so he can pull it taut later, then around his waist, before climbing over the rail to wait on the lower level of the bridge.
A short while later, Marvin hears the bike coming back and begins pulling the rope taut. As the bike is about to hit the bridge, Marvin notices that there’s a passenger on the bike – Shelly, without a helmet [Good]! Marvin’s worried about hurting her [I thought he was planning on killing her after Triad, but I guess he just wanted to axe the competition] and screams her name as he quickly starts to loosen the rope as Triad slams on the breaks, successfully bringing the motorbike to a stop before anything bad can happen [Lame].
Triad is fuming and immediately confronts Marvin, grabbing him by the front of Harry’s jacket that Marvin’s still wearing and throwing a punch. Marvin manages to avoid it, but Triad lets go as he loses his balance and Marvin begins to fall. The rope around his waist saves him, but Marvin had been cautious not to tie it to tight so he wouldn’t end up like Harry if he made a wrong move, so it won’t be long before he slips out!
Marvin begins pulling himself up to the lower part of the bridge while Triad gets to work untying the rope from the rail so Marvin will fall into the river. Triad wants Marvin dead, but Shelly tells him to stop because she wants Marvin in jail instead – she believes he killed Harry, and his actions tonight just prove it further. She also reveals that she knows he’s Mack Slate [Which I think means she was the one leaving the notes?], but I have no idea how.
Triad’s determination to let Marvin die sparks the recognition of another similarity between real life and the Silver Lake series; much like Ann McGaffer’s boyfriend’s best friend, Terry, wanted Ann for himself, Triad has wanted Shelly all along. Triad’s got a maniacal grin plastered on his face as Marvin realises Triad likely helped Harry with his plan, ‘helped him so well that it backfired in Harry’s face,’ and insists to Shelly that Triad killed Harry.
Marvin explain he’s only out here because Shelly manipulated him into it, and now Shelly’s not so sure what to think. She tells Triad to stop undoing the knot in the rope at the railing; Marvin acted exactly as she thought he would, which is the proof they need to clear Harry’s name. Triad blows up and admits he killed Harry for taking Shelly and not giving a damn what Triad thought about it. Shelly starts backing away but Triad lunges forward and grabs her by the neck before smashing her forehead into the railing, knocking her out cold [Wow, he really must be in love with her].
By this time, Marvin’s managed to get a good grip on the lower planks of the bridge. Unfortunately Triad’s noticed, and he lowers a foot down to stomp on Marvin’s fingers. Marvin instinctively jerks back, and the momentum allows him to swing beneath the bridge and grab onto a board. A few seconds later, the tension on the rope disappears and he feels what had been tied to the railing fo falling into the water. Marvin fakes a scream that trails off in order to trick Triad into believing he’d fallen, but Triad doesn’t fall for it and stupidly gets on his stomach to poke his head over the bridge to see if Marvin’s beneath it. This puts him in the prime position for a few kicks to the face, which Marvin is more than happy to provide.
While Triad’s briefly dazed, Marvin quickly climbs back up to the top of the bridge and stomps on Triad’s left knee, which had had surgery on it last season due to an injury. Shelly regains consciousness now, next to Triad, who quickly grabs her by the hair and yanks her closer to him. He tries to use her as a crutch to climb to his feet, but he crumples as soon as he puts weight on his bad leg. The knife Marvin had bought from Sears is also right by Triad, who’s quick to scoop it up and press it against Shelly’s throat.
He orders Marvin to wheel the motorbike over to him or else he’ll slit Shelly’s throat, but Marvin hilariously doesn’t care about Shelly’s fate and casually tells them he’s going home to take a bath [Omg hahaha]. Shelly and Triad are both shocked as he climbs onto the motorbike and tells them what Mack Slate would say about this situation:
‘He would say that it was BS. The heroine sets the hero up, but now she wants him to rescue her. But he doesn’t have the motivation, you see. He doesn’t care if the villain kills her. Then there’s the villain himself. He’s as bad off as the heroine. He doesn’t know that he’s already blown it. He can’t kill the heroine because the hero will tell the police. He can’t kill the hero because he can’t get to him. The villain may as well kill himself. Or here’s a better idea. The heroine should try to kill the villain. The guy’s rotten to the core and it would give the heroine a chance to redeem herself – if that’s possible.’
[Hahaha I love Marvin again] Shelly’s crying as she asks how the heroine can do that, and although he almost gives in, Marvin remains strong as he tells her ”There’s always a way.”‘ Then he rides off into the darkness, leaving the pair on the bridge – ‘His conscience was clear. He hadn’t hurt anybody. He couldn’t worry about everything. He had things to do. He had a book to write.’
Instead of going home, Marvin drives through the night to a seaside town called Forest and rents a cottage, a computer and a printer. He calls his sister to let her know he’s safe, Pat to confirm she’ll have a manuscript by Saturday, and Ed, the car salesman, to offer a few hundred bucks to pick up the Corvette and store it at the dealership til he returns on Friday. Then Marvin spends the next few days writing his book, which is basically what he’s just experienced with Shelly and Triad over the past few days, but with his fictional characters.
The book is almost complete by the early hours of Friday morning, but Marvin can’t go any further until he returns to Sesa to learn what happened to Shelly and Triad. He prints out what he’s got so far and calls his agent to set up a meeting with the movie people about the screenplay. Then he calls Pat and instructs her to contact the media so they can come to a reading of excerpts from the new book, to be held at Sesa High this afternoon:
‘I feel it’s time I came out of the closet. It’s getting stuffy in here. I agree – I deserve more personal recognition. The reading’s got to be this afternoon. The principal at the high school must be contacted promptly. He’s to notify the student body that I will do a signing after the reading so that all the kids can bring their books. I realise I might have to sign a thousand books. I don’t care, it’ll be fun. The principal and the media must be told that my real name is Marvin Summer. That must come from you, not me. That is very important. That’s my real name. Really. Monday will be too late. Why? Because, Pat, this story is not just any story.’
[But one of the reasons he didn’t want to reveal his identity yet was so his parents couldn’t make a claim over his money! Does he not care about that anymore?] Later that morning, after swapping his bike for the Corvette at the dealership and tipping Ed to deliver the bike to his house later, Marvin returns home to find Ann waiting on the porch for him. She’s got good news; not only was Dad arrested and sent to jail for 90 days for breaking the TV, which will hopefully sober him up [It also means Marvin will be 18 and a legal adult by the time he’s out, so Dad can’t try to claim Marvin’s money!], but Mum hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol since that night! Mum soon appears and she’s almost unrecognisable, looking healthy for the first time in years. Marvin and Ann break the news about Mack Slate’s identity, which she is naturally shocked about.
That afternoon, Marvin arrives at school and subtly enquires about Shelly and Triad, who apparently haven’t been in class all week. Still, no bodies have turned up either, Marvin’s hopeful Shelly is alive. Then it’s time for the assembly, where hundreds of students wait for the big reveal, along with several camera crews. The room is completely stunned silent as the principal introduces Marvin Summer as the writer of the Mack Slate books, and Marvin gives a little speech before answering some audience questions. While signing books afterwards, there’s a touching moment between him and Mrs. Jackson, who’d read his first ever novel while waiting in line and grades it an A+++. Marvin is a good sport about it and remarks ‘”Wait till you read my Seymour the Frog series.”‘ [Look at that banter!]
It’s time for an epilogue now and after dinner that night, Marvin drives to Sesa Lake for a leisurely stroll. He ends up sitting on the edge of the cliff there when Shelly appears and takes a seat next to him. She takes the time to explain everything from the very beginning, but the basics are that she’d realised he was Mack Slate on their third date because she recognised the similarities in the way Marvin told stories verbally and his tone of voice in his first published book. To confirm it, she snuck into his house when no-one was home and turned on his computer.
She’d ended up freezing Marvin out after Harry’s death because there was something about him that reminded her of Harry, so it was difficult to be around him. When the first book in the Silver Lake series came out, Shelly had immediately recognised how Ann McGaffer was a proxy for Harry, despite Marvin not knowing this himself [Really don’t get how he never recognised this himself]. As the series continued it became clear that Marvin was writing about Harry’s death, which is why Shelly began to believe Marvin killed him out of jealousy. This mirrors her theory as to who killed Ann in the books; Mike, who Ann had had an affair with and was the equivalent of Marvin himself.
Marvin impatiently reveals that Terry (the book version of Triad) killed Ann, to which Shelly points out that he wouldn’t have even known that until last week; he couldn’t have written the ending to the series if what happened on the bridge hadn’t occurred. Anyway, she goes onto explain how she was sending the letters as a way to help manipulate him into how she wanted him to act; the second one was to make him suspicious of her, and the third letter was to bait him into coming to her house that night, assuming there was a good chance he’d visit the post office to check for a new letter:
‘I staked out the place with Triad. once you had it in your hand we hurried back to my house and got in the Jacuzzi.’
‘The sacrifices you made in the line of duty.’
‘It was all staged. None of it meant anything to me.’
‘You are greening naked in his arms,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t naked. I had my bathing suit on. It was hidden by the bubbles. The only reason I was groaning was because I knew you were watching. I could see you in the mirror in the study. I was happy, at the time, that you stood there so long. That was when I really got to pull your strings.’
Shelly had approached Triad to help with the plan because he was Harry’s best friend, but in hindsight she realises the real reason he was so eager to help her. Anyway, her suspicions that Marvin killed Harry in a jealous rage where only strengthened when Marvin tried to kill Triad the exact same way she thought he’d used on Harry. She only knew Harry’s cause of death because Marvin had apparently written about it in the books, and Marvin remembers how he’d included a piece of rope hanging from the bridge earlier in the series [It seems like a big conclusion to jump to, but Shelly’s clearly a smart gal and had read the coroner’s report, after all].
Shelly goes on to explain that Harry somehow knew that Marvin and her were going out that fateful Friday last year and was getting drunk with Triad to avoid his misery. Triad had mentioned overhearing that Marvin was going to Pella that night and would be crossing the bridge on the way back if Harry was interested in setting up a little surprise. Triad hadn’t told Harry that Shelly would also be on the bike [Oooh, so he wanted to kill her too?], just like Marvin hadn’t known Shelly would be on the bike this time.
Triad was in control the whole time as he and a drunken Harry went out to the bridge with oil and rope – ‘”He thought he could kill two birds with one stone.”‘ [Imagine wanting to kill your best friend because you both liked the same girl lol]. It also seems that if Triad couldn’t have Shelly, no-one could; ‘”He would have made sure Harry took the rap for our deaths.”‘ So Harry went over the rail to wait for Marvin’s return, but when he saw Shelly on the bike he lowered the rope, and Marvin and Shelly rode past without incident.
Triad then shoved Harry over the bridge in anger and let him hang there all weekend wile he went to the football game [Oof]. Marvin was there for the rest, and Shelly reiterates that it was never part of her plan for Marvin to die last weekend; she wanted to tell the police he’d tried to kill her and Triad and likely killed Harry, but Triad clearly had other plans.
Marvin notices that Shelly has the knife he’d brought to the bridge last weekend, and wonders who’s blood is on it [Oooh, she killed Triad!]. Without it being said outright, it becomes clear that Shelly extracted the full story from Triad before murdering him. He’s also buried where she and Marvin are currently sitting on the cliff, a spot Marvin had chosen because the soil was soft, as if it had been dug up recently.
Shelly throws the knife into the lake and they end up kissing a lot before they both confess to being in love, and the book ends with Shelly driving the Corvette to the airport while Marvin handwrites the last few pages of his book, planning to drop the manuscript off to make the final flight to New York to reach the editor, Pat.
Final thoughts
Another great Pike book! As usual it was really well-written, and kept me turning the pages, wanting to know more and more. I even wanted to read the fictional Silver Lake series! The mystery of Harry’s death was super interesting too and was something I never would have guessed. It’s always refreshing when the book isn’t so predictable!
The characterisation was done really well and I like how Marvin, Shelly and Triad each had their own agenda. I didn’t particularly like Shelly, but I loved that she wasn’t a damsel in destress stereotype; she was incredibly intelligent and in control for a majority of the storyline. I also liked how the story slightly shifted unexpectedly when Marvin decided to get his revenge; it gave new life to the story before it ever got a chance to drag on, although how quickly Marvin went from being in love with Shelly to wanting to kill her then back to being in love was a bit messy.
As much as I’ve been loving Pike’s stories, I’m not sure how often I’ll read them for the blog; they take a lot longer to recap because they’re a lot more complex and lengthy, and it’s difficult to really do it justice. His books really are on another level compared to Point Horror, Fear Street and all those other series’. There’s so much I left out of this recap because I didn’t want it to be super, super long, so I would definitely recommend reading it for yourself!
47 mystery authors subconsciously writing about their lives out of 58!
