Book Review: Belle Mer

Title: Belle Mer
Author: Luanne Rice
Genre: Short Stories, Fiction, Thriller

What It’s About: Clea McAllister returns to her late grandmother’s mansion of Belle Mer in Newport. She had grown up there as a child when her parents passed away in a tragic accident, and the mansion should have been willed to her by her Grandmother. But over time, her grandmother’s memory deteriorated due to dementia, and the home was willed to the estate lawyer, Stephen Pierce, who had helped put together Grandmother’s will and estate. Clea had fought in court to prove that Stephen had taken advantage of her grandmother, but lost the case.

So she was surprised when the mansion was placed on the rental market, and had her assistant book her for the stay. She was further surprised when the mansion is exactly the same way that her grandmother had it even though Stephen supposedly had moved in and was living primarily out of the mansion. Mary, the housekeeper who lived in the mansion during her grandmother’s time, and stayed on after the mansion went to Stephen Pierce, asks Clea if she changed her name because the booking wasn’t under her own name, to which Clea clarifies that it was her assistant that booked it. Both ladies agree that Stephen wouldn’t have accepted the booking if he knew it was Clea who booked it, but when Clea asks why he rented it out, Mary tells her it’s because he’s left for the time and won’t be needing it.

Clea stops by the local pub and runs into her childhood friend there, who confirms that Stephen was living out of the Belle Mer Mansion, so it didn’t make sense that he’d left, but Clea doesn’t push her luck further. It is Jack, Mary’s brother and the Belle Mer groundskeeper, who finally admits to Clea that the reason that both of them stayed on under Stephen was because Stephen had dirt on Mary. Apparently Mary had gotten pregnant out of wedlock and she made an agreement to give up the baby, but then lost it. If people had found out, considering the conservative reputation and how they frowned upon children out of wedlock, Mary’s reputation would have been destroyed as well as Clea’s grandmother. Jack tells her that she shouldn’t say anything to Mary because that is really Mary’s story to tell, and Clea agrees. He also tells her that Stephen is staying at his girlfriend’s place at a nearby resort that also has condominiums.

Not too long after, Clea makes the decision to go visit Stephen and confront him for stealing her family home. She gets Jack to drive her over to the location, and asks to see Virginie Marceau, Stephen’s girlfriend, when the receptionist tells her that Jack isn’t there. Virginie comes from a well off family from France, and at first denies Clea’s visit request, until Clea tells the reception to tell Virginie that she’s the owner of Belle Mer. She goes up, talks to Virginie who tells her that Mary and Jack would lie for Stephen because he is charming, and reminds Clea that they are living there by his grace. Clea notices his briefcase–one that used to belong to her grandfather, and tells Virginie that clearly he’s coming back. Clea heads back to the car with Jack, believing Virginie when she tells her that she doesn’t know where Stephen is, and tells Jack that.

As they drive, Clea thinks about the one night a year before her grandmother’s died. She had returned to Belle Mer for a visit from Malibu, and Stephen had come to the house to have her grandmother sign some papers. He’d stayed for dinner, during which her grandmother, Elizabeth, had gone down to the wine cellar and got lost there. After 20 minutes, Clea had gone down and Elizabeth asked for Malcom, who was Clea’s grandfather, stating that he asked her to meet him downstairs. The two ladies returned once Elizabeth chose the wine, and while pouring the wine for Stephen to taste, Elizabeth called him Malcom by mistake. During the dinner, Elizabeth made both Clea and Stephen promise that Belle Mer will never be sold. After dinner, Stephen and Clea headed own to the beach, and talked about Elizabeth’s condition. Stephen ended up kissing her, they undressed and ran to the water, and came back to lay on the beach. Clea fell in love with him, and when they returned to the house, he snuck into her room, took a shower together, and then he left for the night. The next time they saw each other was at Elizabeth’s funeral, though Stephen did call her with updates.

When they return to Belle Mer, Jack asks her to come join him and Mary in the kitchen to talk. When Mary walks in, Clea notices that she’s wearing a hairstyle that she’s never worn before, but one that fills her with emotion for an unknown reason. Mary tells Clea that she tried her best to make up the situation with the baby, by taking good care of Elizabeth, and loved her as her own. She then hands Clea a date planner that belonged to Stephen, telling her that it has everything in it that Clea would need to take Stephen back to court and win. Mary tells her that it has all of the notes about meeting with Elizabeth, details of bank deposits from before Elizabeth’s death, showing that Stephen was withdrawing from her accounts. Jack says that he wants to kill Stephen, but Mary waves him off, and then says that they’ll have dinner together–she’s made Clea’s favorite.

Clea chooses to take some time to herself, to think, and rest. She heads up to her room, and finds a pitcher of water infused with herbs from the wild garden, which is typical of Belle Mer. She made herself a glass of water from the pitcher, and had the feeling that this would be the last time she’s in her mansion, because Stephen had won–nothing that Mary and Jack do now would turn the case in her favor. She takes a drink of water, lays down on the bed and falls asleep.

When she wakes up, it’s in the pitch-black, and feels drunk. She gags, smells her own vomit and realizes that she had swallowed sand; she was choking on it. She feels additional weight coming onto her, and hears the rhythmic thud of the shovel, realizing that she’s being buried alive and that she must have been drugged. In the moments before, the life of her grandmother flashes through her eyes, and she also remembers her fear of losing her family. Her mom had told her that they would be okay because they know what to do if there’s an avalanche. At the time, Clea had asked, and her mom responded that you need to create an air pocket by cupping your hands around your mouths and breathe in gently, without sucking the snow into your throat. Then you have to hypnotize yourself, think beautiful thoughts and lay still without panic, then once the avalanche stops, you swim through it until you are free.

So that is what Clea does, and seems to pass out again. She then finds herself underneath the overhang at the edge of the beach path where they used to store beach toys. She feels around, and grabs what she thinks is an oar, only to find out that it’s an arm with a Cartier Tank watch, and then realizes that this was Stephen Pierce–she had been buried next to him. She manages to get out of the beach, and make her way towards Belle Mer, where she hears the Moonlight Sonata drifting down from the upstairs. She makes her way into the house, picks up the house phone, dials 911 and when the operator asks for her emergency, she doesn’t respond, putting the phone down, hoping that they would send someone anyway. As she’s about to turn away, she finds a notebook opened to a page of columns tidily printed in Mary’s handwriting, in which it’s written that the Vacation Rental was $10,000.00 per week in July and August, as well as $6,000.00 off-season–the exact amount that she had paid for her stay at Belle Mer.

As she makes her way up the stairs, she realizes why Mary’s hair had made an emotional pull on her heart–it was the same style that her grandmother had worn, making it seem like Mary was trying to transform herself into Elizabeth. At the top of the stairs, she went to check the servant’s quarters, but the rooms previously occupied by Mary and Jack were empty, so she follows the music further up into the house into the family’s quarters that were used by her grandmother, her parents and her. She walks up to her grandmother’s room, which is opened and stands silently in the hall and sees Mary and Jack laying tangled in each other’s arms. She waits until she hears and sees the headlights and flashing lights of the police car coming up the drive, and then steps into her grandmother’s bedroom, saying “hello” to Mary and Jack.

My Thoughts: Another well written short story that takes you through twists and turns. I really enjoyed this thriller and the mysteries around it, plus the horrors of finding out that Stephen was killed by the siblings, though he is a complete jerk and we’re rooting for Clea to give a piece of her mind. My only issue with the story was the whole pregnancy thing on Mary’s part–it’s never quite clear how come Stephen could or would use that as blackmail against her. While it could affect her reputation, it doesn’t seem to be a strong enough reason for her to be blackmailed by it–unless it was totally fake and made up because they needed something to hide why they didn’t leave the mansion in order to then kill Stephen. Part of me of course wonders if they poisoned Elizabeth at some point causing her to lose her memory, and also whether or not the baby (if it’s real) was a result of the incestuous sexual relationship that Mary and Jack seem to be having. I also would love to know if Clea was able to get the home in her name eventually once the police arrived.

I really did enjoy this short story in the collection so far.