Alone at Night (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) [Paperback]

Kj Erickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2005 | Series: St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries

Reassigned with his partner, Nettie Frisch, to Minneapolis's Cold Case Unit, Mars Bahr misses the adrenaline rush of the homicide squad-until a look into a string of old convenience store murders turns up the file of Andrea Bergstad, a beautiful teen working alone at night in a desolate rural store when she disappeared.

Was Andrea abducted and killed? The evidence is scanty: a fuzzy surveillance video, her last call to a girlfriend, and an anonymous phone-in to the police that the store was empty. But it's enough for Mars to convince a crime-finders TV show to appeal to the public for new leads. And among the screwball responses is one sizzling hot tip.

With shocking information kept secret for nearly twenty years, Mars suddenly faces a real and terrifying threat to himself and those he loves-unless he drops the case. Or unless he can catch a killer before a .308 hard-point bullet shatters his world...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Anthony Award finalist Erickson’s compelling fourth mystery to feature Marshall "Mars" Bahr (after 2003’s The Last Witness), the former Minneapolis homicide detective has joined "the State of Minnesota’s Cold Case Unit." Bahr and his new partner, Nettie Frisch, begin their first investigation by looking at a series of convenience store murders. They end up focussing on a single case involving a young woman clerk who disappeared in 1987. With Nettie providing computer skills and Mars handling the legwork, they rework the case from multiple angles. Skillfully, the author merges the tale of a small-town police chief coping with an unexpectedly exacting crime and Mars’s follow-up. Erickson not only creates substantial individual portraits but credible and moving relationships between Mars and his teenage son Chris and between Mars and Nettie. By the end, Mars has a pretty good understanding of what happened but no proof. Facing a powerful and resourceful foe, he has to decide whether to pursue the killer and endanger himself and others with no guarantee of winning-or drop the case and still leave others in possible jeopardy. Erickson is in command all the way in this taut, suspenseful and cleverly conceived twister.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Erickson scores another winner in her series featuring Minneapolis homicide detective Mars Bahr. As a burned-out Mars and his dynamic (but not romantic) partner Nettie Frisch start new jobs as part of the Minneapolis PD's Cold Case Unit, each has a different goal: Mars hopes to get the adrenaline flowing again, while Nettie plans to test her crime-database systems. Their first case, involving convenience-store abductions, leads them to the town of Redstone, where a teenage clerk disappeared in 1984. Erickson handles the backstory expertly, switching viewpoints between Mars and former cop Sig Sampson, who originally investigated Andrea Bergstad's disappearance. As they learn more about the case, Mars and Nettie realize that they are opening Pandora's box--but there's no turning back. Among several things that make this series work is Erickson's ability to infuse a well-plotted police procedural with believable, emotionally charged characters. Readers respect Mars because he is a great cop but love him because of his warm relationships with son Chris and partner Nettie. A superb entry in an outstanding series. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312989865
• ISBN-13: 978-0312989866
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK TO IMMERSE YOURSELF IN, July 19, 2004

By 

Country girl (Harveys Lake, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone at Night (Hardcover)

If you haven't read KJ Erickson, you're in for a treat...if you have had the pleasure of reading Third Person Singular, The Last Witness, or The Dead Survivors, you won't be disappointed. A cold case leads Minneapolis Marshall Bahr to a plea on a show similar to America's Most Wanted--with chilling results. He begins following a trail that takes him from a beautiful young girl abducted from a convenience store in the 1980s back another two decades to the jungles of Vietnam...then right up to today's War in Iraq. A tough, intelligent police procedural, Alone at Night keeps you guessing...even when you think you know it all. The writing is edgy and smart. The commentary about what goes on at your local convenience store and what's going on in current politics (even a prediction about the capture of Bin Laden) is provocative...and on target. KJ Erickson is underrated; she's as good at the top male authors in the genre. And she doesn't pull any punches at the end of this one. It's real, gritty, and emotional. You'll keep reading all night till you turn the last page.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic police procedural, July 28, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone at Night (Hardcover)

One night in 1984 in Redstone, Minnesota, Sheriff Sigvald Sampson gets a call from his deputy that Andrea Bergstad was missing from her job at the One-Stop service station. Whoever called about the empty store left by the time the deputy sheriff went to investigate the scene. As the days pass, the sheriff believes that they will never find the couple who were on the security tape, people who might give them a clue about what happened to Andrea.

In the present, Mars Bahr and his partner Nettie Frinch transfer out of the Minneapolis Police Department and join the Minnesota's Cold Case Unit. They work the Andrea Bergstad case with the full cooperation of the current sheriff and former Sheriff Sampson. The case airs on the television true crime show, The Get List and a man calls in on the hotline claiming he represents the person who dialed 911 all those years ago. After Mars talk to him, he finds a clue that jumpstarts the investigation and puts everyone he holds dear in danger.

ALONE AT NIGHT is told two decades apart from the perspective of two dedicated police officers who believe that no murderer should walk free. Sampson does all he can to help Mars in the present and is more interested justice than in caring who solves the crime. K.J. Erickson has written a fantastic police procedural melding past and present in a way that seems effortless but is in reality a very tricky writing technique that only the best authors can do right.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific author of police procedurals, February 4, 2005

By 

Don M Howard "Don M. Howard" (Rimrock, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone at Night (Hardcover)

KJ Erickson is a relatively recent arrival on the scene, but she has certainly hit the ground running. Her writing is crisp and clear, and crackles with authenticity. The dialogue is believable and true-to-life, and her characters are so real you feel as if you'd recognize them if you met them on the street.

The novels, featuring Mars Bahr (Candy Man) are guaranteed to keep you up late at night and to provide a satisfactory, if not always happy, ending. I enjoyed "Alone at Night". Presented with a cold case, the murder of a convenience store clerk, that at first seemed absolutely unsolvable, Mars Bahr and his assistant, Nettie Frisch, grind it out and develop clues which eventually lead to a solution of the years-old murder involving some very important people, people who are willing to kill again and again to hide their involvement.

Don't miss this author. She deserves to be on the best seller lists, and if her publisher will promote her, I'm sure that's where she will eventually be.