Blindman's Bluff: A Decker and Lazarus Novel (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In bestseller Kellerman's solid 18th novel to feature L.A. police detective Lt. Peter Decker and his wife, Rina (after The Mercedes Coffin), Rina finds that some jury duty should include hazardous duty pay. A shooting rampage at the 70-acre compound and mansion owned by shopping mall magnate Guy Kaffey leaves Kaffey, his wife and two guards dead. Kaffey's oldest son, Gil, apparently was left for dead and two other guards are missing. A plethora of suspects and motives has Decker and his colleagues looking at Guy's brother, Mace, and Guy's younger son, Grant, as well as the missing guards, other household staff, the remaining off-duty staff and possibly business rivals. Decker's cool professionalism is thoroughly tested when a chance courtroom encounter thrusts Rina into the case and puts her in harm's way. Kellerman expertly keeps interlocking investigations moving along with a minimum of confusion but plenty of doubt as to the guilty party or parties. (Aug.)
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Product Description

LAPD homicide detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, will be blindsided by a brutal multiple murder in this twisting tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman.

"They say dead men don't talk, but if you listen, they do."

As a lieutenant in the LAPD, homicide detective Peter Decker doesn't get many calls at 3 a.m. unless a case is nasty, sensational—or both. Someone has broken into the exclusive Coyote Ranch compound of billionaire developer Guy Kaffey and viciously gunned him down, along with his wife and four employees.

A well-known figure on both the business and society pages, Kaffey, with his sons and his younger brother, Mace, built most of the shopping malls in Southern California and earned a reputation for philanthropy, donating millions to worthy causes. It doesn't take long for Peter, his trusted detectives Scott Oliver and Marge Dunn, and the rest of his homicide team to figure out that the gruesome killings must be an inside job. Things become even more entangled when they discover that Kaffey's largesse had included organizations that extended second chances to delinquents, many of whom Kaffey had hired for his personal security. But was the job pure murder/robbery or something even more twisted? A developer of Kaffey's magnitude doesn't make billions without making more enemies with blood grudges.

With leads taking the team across L.A., up and down the Golden State, and into Mexico, Decker is plenty busy—and plenty thankful not to have to worry about his wife, Rina Lazarus, getting caught up in this deadly case. Rina is out of harm's way, serving on a jury at the courthouse.

But then a chance encounter with a court translator who needs her help leads Rina into the terrifying heart of her husband's murder investigations—and straight into the path of a gang of ruthless killers. To protect Rina, Decker must find his prey before death unites his two worlds.

A fast-paced tour through the urban landscape of L.A., Blindman's Bluff is a riveting mile-a-minute thrill ride from a formidable master of her craft.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition first Printing edition (August 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061702323
• ISBN-13: 978-0061702327
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,495 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blindman's Bluff, August 17, 2009

By	Bloomsbury (melbourne australia) - See all my reviews

Faye Kellerman has created a winning formula in her Lazarus & Decker series.

For me the attraction has always been the intelligently plotted & complex stories, where crimes are investigated in a classic procedural, with the fascinating Orthodox Jewish homelife of the two protagonists adding an extra layer to the mix.

Kellerman doesn't make the mistake of allowing the Orthodox lifestyle to seem effortless. Peter & Rina have faced many problems through the series as they attempt to raise their family within the guidelines of their religion. It's great to read of a lifestyle driven by religion that doesn't claim to be problem free, & also to see the importance of spirituality in everyday life addressed. The development of Peter as a character through his discovery of the Orthodox beliefs & lifestyle is a delight. For those like me who have only limited knowledge of Orthodox Judaism, the books are incredibly interesting.

It's also good to see Rina, the conservative Orthodox woman, portrayed as being a strong, intelligent partner who is often crucial to the story.

That said, unlike the previous reviewers, I was disappointed to see the family life taking a lesser role in this book. However the crime story was a winner, an intricate family murder that certainly kept me guessing. Kellerman is skilled at portraying characters that seem real, & she is shrewd enough to understand the basic shallowness of our culture, obsessed with celebrity, money & possessions.

For me this book was a very satisfying read, & I'd highly recommend it.

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, August 12, 2009

By	www.bookshipper.blogspot.com/ "www.bookshippe... (Montreal, Quebec) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I have been reading Faye and Jonathan Kellerman's books since the beginning so I am fairly use to their individual styles of writing.

Blindman's Bluff is the newest by Faye Kellerman. Decker and Rinna are back and so are most of Decker's crew, including Scott and Marge. I like that Kellerman has continuity in her books and I am thrilled that this book focuses mainly on Decker and his investigation of a very strange murder, which took place in a home that sounds as though it could compete with Neverland Ranch.

From the get go, Decker finds himself in the middle of a murdered family - with the exception of one son - still alive but badly wounded. What makes this so spectacular is that the murder husband and wife are rich, rich and that they had a ton of bodyguards taking care of them.

As Decker and his crew are called to investigate, we will find a maze of guilty parties, of people who may be innocent but are not and a family that has more secrets than the Manson family.

I love, love it when Kellerman features her book around Decker. I have always felt that the Rinna character should always be a background character as she always felt a little too "perfect" for me (not to mention high, high maintenance) and fortunately, in Blindman's Bluff, although Rinna is featured, she is NOT the main storyline.

Decker and his crew are wonderful together and we get to see them interact alot in this novel - particularly at the beginning of the story where there is a little bit of dark humour about them all needing maps to get around the gigantic house (I am sorry, but some of these exchanges had me laughing).

The murder itself was a tad confusing at times because there were soooo many characters involved in this storyline. You really had to be focusing on reading this book or you would end up getting lost. But the flip side of this is that I had no clue who the actualy murderer(s?) was/were? and when you get to the end you will end up going "okay".

There is alot of information about gangs and gang members (not to mention tats) in this story and I kind of found that interesting.

However, the big, big piece for me is that Kellerman has kept many of the religious aspects out of her book this time and this is sooooooooooo greatly appreciated by this reviewer. Although I have no problem with incorporating religion and various views in novels, they should NOT dominate the storyline and in many Kellerman books (especially her early ones) this was often, often the case. Not so in this one and I am grateful.

This book is a good read, but it is highly focused on the detective work - there are no huge car chases or other surprises that will make this book move at a quicker pace. If you like procedural looks at an investigation then this is a great book to read.

Overall I enjoyed it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faye is back., August 24, 2009

By	Barbara Kelly (Chatsworth, CA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading "Mercedes Coffin" I thought Faye Kellerman ran out of steam. I have to say I was wrong. I really enjoyed reading this book all the way to the end. At times I could not put it down. I agree with previous critics about Rina's role but appreciate Decker's family life being in the books. I'm a LAPD sergeants wife and I live in the San Fernando Valley. Faye's discription of this part of Los Angeles and it's problems with the gangs is very correct. I hope that readers from outside of LA realize that there are many nice areas in the Valley to live in.
I also appreciate her fair treatment of the Los Angeles Police Department.