Baby Mine: A Meg Halloran and Vince Gutierrez Mystery (Lapierre, Janet. Port Silva Mysteries.) [Paperback]

Janet LaPierre (Author)

Book Description

Series: Port Silva Mysteries | Publication Date: September 1, 1999

A Town in Trouble

Port Silva, California Elevation 100 feet Established 1885 Population 24,020

Now high school teacher Meg and her police chief husband are back, along with other memorable townspeople, in LaPierre's new novel of suspense. Baby Mine is the sixth in the series and the first to be published by Perseverance Press/John Daniel and Company. Told with LaPierre's characteristic subtlety and power, Baby Mine depicts a difficult time for the Northern California seaside town, as well as for Meg and Vince's marriage.

Drawn from the news stories of the nineties, Baby Mine brings to life the human consequences of such social forces as a depressed economy, an overstressed environment, and an influx of immigrants straining limited resources. These influences come together in the dramatic and mysterious events at a local fertility clinic. Port Silva's web of small-town relationships is fraying; unemployment, racism, and religious zealotry collide to produce an unprecedented crime wave; and Meg and Vince must help their town recover its interconnectedness and save itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The best thing about LaPierre's sixth Port Silva mystery (after Old Enemies) is how the novel quickly sneaks behind the picturesque facade of a fictional town on the Northern California coast to reveal the hard truths of modern life. "So gradually that a busy, self-absorbed person could fail to notice, the empty storefronts had begun to appear.... Meg counted among the missing a small food store, a shoe store. A store selling kitchenware...." Meg Halloran, a high-school teacher and single mother, has recently married Port Silva's police chief, Vincent Gutierrez. The novel begins with her getting badly beaten by a gang of ski-masked teenage thugs as she tries to stop an attack on a homeless man. It ends with Vincent getting even more badly beaten by a crazed villain. In between, there are two murdersAof young Hispanic women who live in a seedy motel called the Winner's Circle and are connected to a controversial local fertility clinicAand the suspicious death by fire of a crusty old doctor who was like a father to Vince. There are also more relatives and friends than in one of Marcia Muller's novels, so trying to figure out who's who can be daunting. LaPierre is one of those writers who describes virtually every bite of food or swallow of drink her characters consume. Her new novel is absorbing, but its colorful landscape would be a lot less cluttered if she left more to readers' imaginations. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

An apparent crime wave in Port Silva, an economically depressed coastal California town, results in the death of a young Hispanic woman with connections to a local fertility clinic. Schoolteacher Meg Halloran and her husband, police chief Vince Gutierrez, solve this one together. For series fans and others.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Daniel & Daniel Publishers (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880284324
• ISBN-13: 978-1880284322
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more than amystery, totally absorbing, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Mine: A Meg Halloran and Vince Gutierrez Mystery (Lapierre, Janet. Port Silva Mysteries.) (Paperback)

Small towns and villages feel the downswing of a depressed economy as much if not more so than the large urban centers. The small California seaside town of Port Silva is wracked with severe social and economic problems. Schoolteacher Meg Halloran, wife of Police Chief Vince Gutierrez, watches a group of teens attack a homeless person. She tries to intercede, but is beaten up by the gang.

Meg goes to the police station to file a report, but the officer, not recognizing her relationship to his boss, blames it on the Mexicans. With employment down, the Anglos resent the Mexicans who are taking away their jobs while draining the local resources. Things turn ugly when someone murders Mexican Esperanza Moreno. Soon a pregnant Mexican teenager disappears. Protests within the town have turned violent. Vince believes a link exists between the murders and the other incidents, that once uncovered, will lead to the culprit behind the brutality.

BABY MINE is filled with several well designed who-done-its and other mysteries that blend together into a coherent and entertaining story line that dazzles the audience. Readers will find it nearly impossible to ascertain what will happen from one moment to the next. Small town life in a mixed community is vividly described. The sixth Port Silva novel is pure pleasure as old friends return after a long absence. This reviewer does not believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder because Janet La Pierre is too good a writer for readers to persevere that long between books.

Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner!, October 30, 2008

By 

L. West (Martinez, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Baby Mine: A Meg Halloran and Vince Gutierrez Mystery (Lapierre, Janet. Port Silva Mysteries.) (Paperback)

Janet LaPierre's Port Silva series is terrific. You really get to know the characters as they blend together to form a picture of the community. I love the way each of the books develop different characters as well as deeper insights into the continuing characters. The generational and cultural aspects of the community add to the richness of the stories. The mysteries are original and suspenseful to the end. I highly recommend this series and I can't wait for the next one!
L. West, Martinez, CA.