Customer Reviews

The Carbon Murder: A Periodic Table Mystery (Gloria Lamerino Mysteries)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoy Ms. Minichino's books. You can't help but learn a little about physics and she explains things quite well and in layman's terms.

This mystery involves "buckyballs", horses, research, computer ID chips and of course murder or murders. As if Gloria doesn't have enough to cope with, throw in cancer, friends in danger and a spiteful lover's sister. If you really like cozies, this is highly recommended!

After retiring from her job as a research professor at a California college, physicist Gloria Lamerino returns to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts. In her late fifties, she met the love of her life homicide detective Matt Geneva and after a two-year courtship, she moves into his home. Matt undergoes a physical that reveals he suffers from prostrate cancer.

Meanwhile Gloria, a police consultant, is forced to work with Matt's partner on a case that is very close to her heart. Her goddaughter M.C. Galigani, who left her teaching and research position in Houston, believes that her abusive ex-boyfriend Jake Powers is stalking her. Her former coworker Wayne Gallen is the one who shows up at her apartment warning of the danger she is in because of a misdirected email. When a private investigator posing as a student of M.C. is found murdered in Revere, Gloria really starts to worry. Between taking care of Matt and connecting the dots on an illegal medical experiment run by someone who doesn't hesitate to kill those who get in his way, Gloria is busier than when she worked two jobs on the Pacific coast.

Two of the reasons Camille Minichino's mysteries are popular is that they are intelligent and believable. The heroine is a police consultant who handles herself in a professional manner, which gives her legitimacy to readers who appreciate some realism in their novels. Superb plotting, likeable characters and enough romance to appeal to fans of that genre turn THE CARBON MURDER into a fabulous crime thriller

Harriet Klausner

Gloria Lamerino is now a police consultant. She is a retired research professor and physicist. Her goddaughter M. C. Galigani believes her ex-boyfriend Jake Powers is stalking her. Wayne Gallen, a former co-worker, shows up to warn her that she's in danger because of some misdirected e-mail.

Then a student of M.C.'s that was an undercover private investigator is murdered. Gloria is very concerned about the whole situation.

Gloria's boyfriend, Matt Geneva, is a police detective. He isn't very involved in this case as he has just been diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Gloria is torn between helping M. C. and taking care of Matt.

Gloria uncovers an illegal medical experiment run by someone who doesn't seem to stop at murder. Can she protect M. C. while bringing everything to light?

This was the first I've read in this series. I will definitely be reading more of this series. Gloria is such a likeable character. I was so worried that since this series is the periodic table series, there would be too much scientific talk. That wasn't the case. She uses her knowledge of science, but the book is very enjoyable to those who don't know science.

I highly recommend this book.

Buckyballs, show horses, and cancer treatments. This sounds like an unlikely combination, but it's exactly what's offered in "The Carbon Mystery." Retired physicist turned crime consultant returns to solving murders in Revere, Massachusetts in this sixth entry in Camille Minichino's "Periodic Table" mysteries. These great mysteries feature the intelligent, very likable retired physics reasearcher Dr. Gloria Lamerino, who works as a consultant to the Revere Police Department when her scientific expertise is needed.

In this story, Gloria's god-daughter Mary Catherine (M.C.) Galigani has just moved back to her hometown of Revere from Houston, Texas. M.C. is looking for a new job and is also trying to get away from a boyfriend who had been abusive in the past. M.C. is pursued relentlessly by a stalker in the story, and quickly several murder victims are found, all from the Houston area. Fearing that M.C. is in danger, Dr. Lamerino is anxious to find the murderer and put him or her behind bars.

I had my reservations about reading The Carbon Murder by Camille Minichino. After all, my last science classes were high school physics and chemistry (earning a C and B, respectively). But Gloria Lamerino is an affable, retired scientist who mixes her pleasure of physics with her P.I. nosiness in a clear, engaging storyline. Gloria has left California and returned to her native Revere, Massachusetts, after thirty years. Her god-daughter, Mary Catherine (MC), has moved back from Houston, Texas after quitting her job. Then a detective in one of MC's classes ends up murdered in a marsh. An old boyfriend follows MC to Revere and stalks her, ostensibly to warn her of some danger. While helping MC, Gloria runs into her own life crises, including her fiancé Matt diagnosed with prostate cancer. Gloria is a warm, tough lady who uses her wits to solve murders and to teach high school kids physics. This is one title in an original, well-plotted series adapting each element of the periodic table as its theme. Recommended.

Camille has done it again and this is one of the best installments! If any one reads this who knows where to buy a "pen with a tip that lights up upon touch", please tell me - or any of the other "physics pins" etc. mentioned in her books. Really, the publisher's should start a "line" of products mentioned in her mysteries! LOL!

Omg Gloria iz lyke my fav person and this iz my fav book eveRRrRRrrr. I was shocked in the end it wuz so kewl and stuff. i wish i was as kewl as Gloria but obvi that's not possible. so basically yeah; yeah. this buk deserves lyke a million starz!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111

I had high hopes for this mystery that features an amateur sleuth who is a physicist. But the plot of this story, presented in awkward fashion, is almost entirely predictable. I had figured out the the whodunit by halfway along. Added to this was a really clunky set of side-stories, not the least of which is the not-at-all believable story of the diagnosis and treatment of the cancer of Matt Gennaro, detective Gloria Lamerino's love interest. Dialog is creaky, characters mostly cardboard. I had to force myself to read to the very end, hoping futilely that I hadn't figured out the denouement, that there might be a surprise awaiting me. Alas, that was not to be.

I have not read the earlier Gloria Lamerino mysteries and I suspect I won't be looking forward to the next one.

Scott Morrison