Review of The Jekyl Island Club (Paperback)

Many Georgians and many tourists enjoy the recreation and relaxation ofJekyll Island, one of the jewels of Georgia's "Golden Isles." One of the attractions for visitors to the Island is staying at, orvisiting, the restored hotel, The Jekyll Island Club, and touring the"cottages" built by the millionaires who originally developed theisland more than one hundred years ago.In The Jekyl Island Club, BrentMonahan takes us back to the time when J. P. Morgan, Joseph Pulitzer, andother tycoons and robber barons vacationed in splendor, and ran theirlittle island as part of their fiefdoms.When one of the guests on theisland is found dead from a gunshot, however, they have to acknowledge thelocal authority, at least enough to have the Brunswick sheriff makeofficial their idea of what happened.Enter John Le Brun, highsheriff of Brunswick and a person with good reason to hold a grudge againstthe captains of industry who occupy what was formerly his home.Le Brunhas his own problems, including a brand new chief deputy who recentlyreturned home is disgrace from Philadelphia and is the son of the localjudge.The judge is not a fan of the sheriff's, and is totally in thepocket of the Jekyl Island Club membership.In launching his investigationLe Brun must face the disdain, if not enmity, of club members and some oftheir staff; concerns about the loyalty of his own deputy; his ownfeelings; and his sense of justice.The pressure is on, in part becausePresident McKinley is soon to visit the Island, traveling over fromThomasville where he is vacationing at the vacation home of his advisor,Ohio Senator Hanna, to meet with the some of the millionaires and HouseSpeaker Reed, a guest of Morgan's. President McKinley's visit actuallyhappened, and Monahan uses that historical fact and the residual glamor ofthe Jekyl Island Club, to fashion a neat little mystery.In an afterword Monahan also notes that before and after the millionaires' ownership,Jekyll was spelled with two "l's."While it was their privatepreserve, there was only one. While this book is not agreat mystery,it is a solid one.The greatest charm, however, is in its bringing to lifethe era of conspicuous opulence and filling out the pictures today'svisitors to Jekyll Island have in their imaginations.



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