Like the best work of James Lee Burke and Barbara Vine, O’Connell’s character-driven procedural transcends genre...
Sparrow, a middle-aged prostitute, is found hanging in the living room of her Greenwich Village apartment, the centerpiece of a ritualistic arrangement. Lit candles surround her; pieces of her hair are chopped off and stuffed in her mouth. The apartment has been set afire in select places, and dead insects surround the woman who, miraculously, survives in a coma. There’s a double jolt for the NYPD’s Kathleen Mallory (Shell Game, 1999, etc.): The crime scene reminds her of an unsolved murder of a generation ago, and Sparrow is a significant figure from Mallory’s childhood. The closest thing to the adopted girl’s big sister, Sparrow represented glamour, street smarts, and danger. Mallory’s connection to the victim makes her colleagues privately question her judgment and doubt her conviction that they’re looking for a serial killer. And sloppy police work in that earlier case, the murder of a young woman named Natalie Homer, obscures the connection to Sparrow’s attempted murder. Though Mallory is the story’s linchpin, O’Connell cuts among a handful of Special Crimes cops, sharply delineated, as they follow old leads and new evidence. Mallory’s scruffy partner Riker arouses her suspicion by pocketing and concealing key evidence that leads him to unexpected corners of Sparrow’s world. Mallory’s mentor, methodical Charles Butler, uncovers eye-opening details about her past. And cocky younger detective Deluthe stumbles into dangerous situations and valuable witnesses as the anonymous killer closes in on struggling actress Stella Small.
Like the best work of James Lee Burke and Barbara Vine, O’Connell’s character-driven procedural transcends genre pigeonholing. The juxtaposition of grisly detail and elegantly elliptical writing creates suspense that builds and resonates.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2002
ISBN: 0-399-14928-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
This is secondhand tough-guy stuff, memorable only in that it feels like you've read it all before.
A former mob enforcer–turned–private eye is called in to investigate the savage murder of a Mafia leg-breaker in New York's Hudson Valley and finds himself on the trail of corporate espionage and a serial killer long believed dead.
The second book in Barron's series featuring Isaiah Coleridge (Blood Standard, 2018) seems, more than the debut, an obvious attempt to establish Coleridge as a strongman smartass in the Jack Reacher mold. The fight scenes are the written equivalent of action-movie choreography but without suspense, because the setup—Isaiah being constantly outnumbered—is so clearly a prelude for the no-sweat beat downs he doles out to the various thugs who get in his way. There's nary a memorable wisecrack in the entire book. What does stick in the mind are the sections that go out of their way to be writerly. It's not enough to say that it was a starry night in the Alaskan wilderness. Coleridge (the name is a clue to the series' literary aspirations) says, "I could've read a book by the cascading illumination of the stars." A later flash of insight is conveyed by "The scalpel of grim epiphany sliced into my consciousness." What with the narrative that spreads like spider cracks in glass and the far-too-frequent flashbacks to the man who was Coleridge's mentor, you might wish another scalpel had made its way through the manuscript.
This is secondhand tough-guy stuff, memorable only in that it feels like you've read it all before.Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-1289-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not exactly groundbreaking, but fans will enjoy this cozy Christmas addition to a long-running series.
Christmas is nigh, and there’s a murder to solve.
Inspector Nivens may have ambitions far beyond his local posting, but he’s so hapless as a detective that it’s no surprise when he loses a sensitive case involving the murder of well-to-do Margaret Starling in her yard to Inspector Gerald Witherspoon of the Metropolitan Police. Witherspoon, whose record is stellar, is independently wealthy, good-natured, and unaware that for years his staff and friends, especially his clever housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries, have fed him the clues that have been indispensable in closing his murder cases (Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods, 2019, etc.). Determined to solve the puzzle of Margaret’s murder before Christmas, Witherspoon’s staff scatter throughout the neighborhood of the Starling residence, each of them searching for clues using their questioning methods tailored to every social stratum of Victorian London, from the housemaid to the well-heeled neighbors. Margaret’s recent odd behavior seems to have something to do with the Angel Alms Society of Fulham and Putney, where she was a generous donor who served on the advisory board. She was also suing Mrs. Huxton, her next-door neighbor, whom she accused of trying to ruin her reputation. Alibis are tested and possible enemies questioned. The suspects range from that neighbor to Margaret’s deceased niece’s husband to the vicar of St. Andrew’s Church, all of whom have reason to be angry with her. Mrs. Jeffries struggles to get on the right track as other members of the amateur detective group pass information to Witherspoon’s constable, who’s in on their scheme. It all comes down to love or money.
Not exactly groundbreaking, but fans will enjoy this cozy Christmas addition to a long-running series.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-49224-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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