The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

David Handler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2004 | Series: Berger and Mitry Mysteries

It's the peak of the tourist season on the beautiful Connecticut gold coast. But this is no ordinary July for the picture-perfect village of Dorset-or for transplanted New York film critic Mitch Berger and his alluring love, Resident State Trooper Desiree Mitry. When famous, and combustible, movie star Tito Molino plunges to his death from a cliff just outside town, Des's investigation-along with a ravenous celebrity press corps and gawkers by the thousands-threatens to reveal secrets too terrible to imagine. But just when things seem to be at their worst, Mitch and Des's close friends are suddenly implicated in the case, and suspicion falls even on Mitch himself...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Handler's delightful third outing (after 2002's Hot Pink Farmhouse) starring beautiful black state trooper Desiree "Des" Mitry and transplanted New Yorker and renowned film critic Mitch Berger, the unlikely but dynamic duo get mixed up with movie stars and murder in the picturesque village of Dorset, Conn. The arrival of "breathtakingly gorgeous Academy Award winner" Esme Crockett and her husband, "combustible blue-eyed Latino heartthrob" Tito Molina, promises a far more exciting summer than usual for Dorset residents with hordes of reporters and stargazers. When Tito falls to his death from a cliff, the authorities suspect suicide, but Des, a former homicide detective, thinks otherwise. She joins forces with Mitch in an investigation that in the end shatters forever the squeaky-clean image of Dorset's elite. While Mitch has finally become acclimated to simple village life, he returns in one of the novel's more affecting episodes to New York, where he tries to dispel some of the painful memories of his deceased wife and introduce Des to the energy and pulse of the city. With its vivid setting, quirky and unusual characters, and fast-paced plot skillfully interwoven with movie trivia, this cozy with attitude is sure to satisfy Handler's many committed fans and attract new ones.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Handler's Berger and Mitry series stands out from the crowd in a couple of ways. First, its romantically involved protagonists are a genuine odd couple: chubby Jewish film critic Mitch Berger and gorgeous African American state trooper Desiree Mitry. Second, the series' setting--Connecticut's Gold Coast shoreline--is hardly a common locale for crime fiction. Handler makes the most of these elements in this enjoyable third installment of the series. The tiny village of Dorset is besieged with paparazzi and tourists when hunky actor Tito Molina and his sexy actress wife, Esme, come to stay with Esme's family. When Tito plunges off a cliff to his death, Trooper Mitry suspects foul play. Berger's terrible review of Tito's latest movie--and his subsequent fistfight with the hot-tempered actor--catapult him directly into the prime-suspect position. And why was Tito wearing one of Mitch's shirts? Berger and Mitry make a great couple on many levels, and Handler does an outstanding job of describing the colorful townspeople and their various peccadilloes. Nick and Nora updated for modern times. 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

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312985789
• ISBN-13: 978-0312985783
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #694,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

These days, I live in a 200-year-old carriage house in a quaint, ultra-WASPY little historic New England village. Not surprisingly, I've taken to writing a series of five (and counting) retro-cozy murder mysteries set in a quaint, ultra-WASPY little historic New England village. I call it Dorset. It's a place where everyone knows everything about everyone ' or at least they think they do. Trust me, they don't. Dorset is a place full of secrets, many of them deadly. That's where my deliciously mismatched heroes come in, both of them strangers in a very strange land. Mitch Berger, a pudgy Jewish widower, is the lead film critic for the most prestigious and therefore lowest paying of New York's three daily newspapers. Desiree Mitry is an alluring beautiful Connecticut State Trooper who happens to be black, a gifted artist and strangely drawn to Mitch. Under normal circumstances, these are two people whose paths would never cross. But absolutely nothing about Dorset is normal.

I started the series in 2001 with The Cold Blue Blood , which was nominated for a Dilys Award. My most recent hardcover, The Sweet Golden Parachute came out in the spring of 2006. The latest paperback is The Burnt Orange Sunrise , which I'm happy to report made a few bestseller lists. You absolutely don't have to read the Berger-Mitry books in order, but you'll find it a kick to follow the unfolding romance if you do. Personally, I've found them to be a real treat. I get a chance to dissect the village and the people where I actually live. Absolutely everyone in town reads them. And I have fun bringing my own subversive contemporary edge to the classic old-school village murder mystery. The books feel real fresh to me. I hope you like them.

The Berger-Mitrys are my second crime series. My first foray, which you may remember, featured the dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart 'Hoagy' Hoag and his faithful, neurotic basset hound Lulu. I wrote eight novels about Hoagy, a fallen literary wunderkind turned pen for hire who travels the underbelly of show business helping famous stars tell their life stories, secrets and all. Generally, there are plenty of people who wanted those secrets to stay safely buried. Generally, our jaded hero knows how to dig them out. My first Hoagy, The Man Who Died Laughing , was nominated for an Anthony Award. My best known in the series, The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald , won an Edgar and an American Mystery Award. Sadly, several of the Hoagys are out of print right now -- so you may have to do a little on-line detective work to track them down. But go for it. You'll never find another wise-cracking hero quite like Hoagy.

Do you like political thrillers? If so, I took some time off between series a few years back to co-author an international bestselling page-turner called Gideon under the name Russell Andrews. I promise you it'll knock your socks off.

I've also taken the time to write some short fiction. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has published several of my short stories since 2001. Two have been included in anthologies ' Opening Shots Volume Two , edited by Lawrence Block, and A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime , edited by Jeffrey Deaver.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent continuation of a fun series, November 14, 2003

By 

T. M. Wheaton "tmwheato" (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mystery, 3) (Hardcover)

Tito Molina and Esme Crockett are the Bennifer of Dorset, CT. They're famous, impossibly gorgeous and married. They, their publicist, their fans and van loads of paparazzi have descended on the peaceful, posh village of Dorset for a few weeks of relaxation. However, after a midnight extra-marital tryst goes awry, Tito winds up at the bottom of a cliff very dead, the victim of an apparent suicide.

Mitch Berger, newly minted resident of Dorset and movie critic for the New York Times is devastated. Although he viciously drubbed Tito's most recent film, he had gotten close to the troubled young superstar. He felt that Tito was an outstanding actor who was simply wasting his talent on big budget dreck. And there was the little matter that Mitch was the last (well second to last if you count Tito's murderer) to actually speak to Tito.

Enter Des Mitry, Dorset's resident Trooper and Mitch's lady love. Des is called to the scene of Tito's death and is thus pulled into the investigation surrounding what turns out not to be suicide after all, but murder.

Once again Des and Mitch team up to help solve a crime in the elite little enclave known as Dorset.

This book is the third in a series following "Cold Blue Blood" and "Hot Pink Farmhouse." This was quite a fun little book which took me no time at all to read. I didn't really care very much about the characters of Tito or Esme since neither of them were at all sympathetic. But that really doesn't matter because this book, and the two others before it in the series, is really about Mitch's assimilation into the Dorset community and the evolution of his relationship with Des. Murder and Mayhem make for great plots, but the soul of this series is the three main characters: Mitch, Des and the village of Dorset.

The plot of the story is really a by-the-numbers murder mystery. Long time mystery readers or even people with twisty minds will figure out the whodunit (if not the why-dunnit) very quickly. There are the requisite red-herrings and even a secondary plot involving post 9/11 vandalism against a Muslim couple. Who was Tito meeting that night? What is the real nature of his relationship with his wife? Why does Esme's mother hate the snarky publicist so much? Are the Crockets trying to manipulate Des and Mitch by revealing so much so soon? These questions are answered in due time.

In the meantime, we get a picture of a closed and elite Dorset society willing to keep secrets and cover up scandals. We see the imperfections of a so called perfect family and many not so perfect "perfect" marriages. We are witness to the Peyton Place-esque bed-hopping of the residents and the murky tangled relationships that exist. In the midst of it all is Sexy Des, who tries to solve a mystery in her forthright, no-nonsense, take no prisoners manner. And Mitch, whose life-imitates-movies observations often bring the funny. Did I mention these books are quite humorous?

The biggest minus of this book is that I wanted to see more of the residents we'd met in the previous books. This one did bring back Bitsy and her troubled ballerina daughter, Becca. But I really didn't recognize any other Dorseteers from the previous books.

The biggest plus (other than the really cute relationship between Des & Mitch) is the continued evolution of Des' erstwhile partner, Soave. He was a jerk in the first book, by the second book he was actually human. And now in this third book you really actually like him.

I highly recommend.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read!, March 19, 2005

By 

Ashley Davis (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a fast-paced, edgy, mystery with just enough cynicism, wit and plot twists to entertain even the most well-read mystery fan. It will most appeal to fans of Margaret Truman and Nelson DeMille. It is a perfect plane read.

Bright Shining Star takes place in Dorset, a small New England town that would probably prefer an unlisted zip code. After several of the well-known town secrets are revealed, it is hard not to think of the town itself as a character. Unfortunately for Doset, but luckily for the reader, it's anonymity disappears first with the arrival of a troubled movie star couple and then with a suspicious "suicide." With the help of very engaging characters and edge-of-your seat action, Handler issues the reader a passport to the townspeople's inner lives and keeps you guessing at who may have really done it and why. Having myself grown up in Old Lyme, CT (where Handler lives and writes), I can imagine every aspect of this novel in full-color, real-life detail. His writing is both believable and enjoyable. I look forward to reading more of his mysteries!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old-fashioned whodunit, February 15, 2004

By 

A. Christie "bibliofiend508" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mystery, 3) (Hardcover)

Mitch Berger is a transported New York film critic in the Connecticut Gold Coast village of Dorset. He has recently been widowed. Now that the grief has eased he has fallen in love with a beautiful, black State Trooper, Desiree Mitrey who is also a gifted artist. They make somewhat of an odd couple, but prove that opposites do indeed attract.

Famous movie star Tito Molino comes back to Dorset for a visit with his actress wife, a Dorset native. Mitch has given Tito a horrendous review for his latest film. When they meet up at a local restaurant, punches are thrown and blood is drawn. Tito is volatile to say the least. When Tito is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, the focus of the investigation starts with Mitch. Things are never quite that simple especially in a community where bed hopping is a favorite pastime. Mitch is disheartened with his friends when truly ugly secrets surface.

David Handler has created a unique duo as protagonists for his series. It's not often we get a slightly overweight Jewish average joe kind of a guy hooked up with a exotic beauty who likes to rescue cats and create art as much as she likes to solve crime. This is the third in the series; the previous two are THE HOT PINK FARMHOUSE and THE COLD BLUE BLOOD. Each is atmospheric giving you a nice sense of a tiny seaside village. The plots are well crafted. I would recommend the whole series if you want easy readable books. They are a pretty fast read so you don't need a lot of time commitment. The one fault with THE BRIGHT SILVER STAR is that the secondary cast for the most part is not likable. I didn't care too much who ended up the culprit-all the characters were sort of slimy.