Chain of Evidence (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ridley Pearson (Author) "Another one? he wondered, the sense of dread as great as anything he had ever experienced..." (more)
Key Phrases: Walter Zeller, Teddy Bragg, Wallace Sparco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Usually, a police procedural compromises some facet of storytelling. Character development must be sacrificed to pacing and plotting, or forensic detail must be displaced by rapid-fire action sequences. But Sergeant Joe Dartelli is a captivating personality enmeshed in a balanced, suspenseful, and intelligently scripted serial murder mystery.

What makes this mystery so different is that many of its secrets are held within Dartelli's mind. From the opening pages, Joe is haunted by a supposed suicide case, the mysterious "Ice Man," who he suspects could be linked to his old mentor. Afraid of the truth, Joe struggles to explain away a new suicide while we watch the facts unfold within him. As an added treat, Ridley Pearson displays remarkable computer savvy as Dartelli's old flame, Ginny, hacks her way through to some of the most crucial parts of the puzzle. The author is not afraid to linger on small details--a woman's earrings or the temperature of a corpse--but he rarely overindulges in such description. Rather, he has written an excellent piece of fiction that happens to be a police thriller. Pearson, author of such previous works as No Witnesses, has produced a minor suspense masterpiece in Chain of Evidence. --Patrick O'Kelley

From Publishers Weekly
Someone is apparently staging fake suicides in Hartford, Conn. The dead are lowlifes (a child molester, a wife beater, etc.), and, to HPD Detective Joe Dartelli, their fates are eerily reminiscent of a "suicide" he treated strictly by the book three years back in order to protect his mentor, forensic specialist Walter Zeller, who probably staged the death of the serial rapist who killed his wife. Though Zeller is retired and presumably out West, the cases mount, and Dartelli finds himself closing in on his old friend. Just as Dartelli tracks down his prey, however, Pearson's (No Witnesses) new novel takes a dizzying turn that sends it careening into Robin Cook territory. But believable plotting has never been Pearson's strongest suit. Wild plot turns are a predictable hallmark of his work, as are his generic, if appealing, characters, of whom Dartelli is typical: an angst-ridden cop brooding about urban and personal troubles (though his tentative affair with another middle-aged cop adds an appealing note). What Pearson does better than any other current thriller writer is forensic detail, and the plot line here is strewn with forensic clues and puzzles that are as fascinating as any he has created since his classic Undercurrents, with the latest in computer forensic analysis offering added flourish. Featuring bright local color, sound pacing, warm-blooded, if familiar, characters and those fabulous forensic deductions, this stands as one of the best novels yet by this author, the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler Fulbright at Oxford University. $250,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; First edition (January 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078688908X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786889082
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #435,914 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #32 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Pearson, Ridley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Forensic follies, February 20, 2001

By	AnnaKarenina (St Petersburg, of course) - See all my reviews

Ridley Pearson comes up with some of the more original serial murder plots - in Chain of Evidence, a legendary forensic scientist turns rogue - or does he? - against those he thinks are helping criminals like his wife's murderer.

Hero cop Joe Dartelli has everything a fiction hero needs - weirdly abusive childhood, the choice of beautiful and brilliant co-worker or beautiful and brilliant ex, ... and an annoying range of physical reactions. In just a couple of pages early on, he:

feels a worming sense of worry twist his gut, feels the constant din of his internal voice nagging, feels his words catch in his throat, his mind reels, the worry burns inside him again, he felt the need to spill his guts, his voice becomes too tight to answer... I kept hoping for someone to put him out of his misery.

The circumstances of the original cover-up aren't that clear, the computer hacking at the end is ludicrously fanciful, and seemingly every location in the book is

described as too dangerous for whites to go after dark, far more so than any book set in NY or LA. In between all this murk, there are also flashes of Mr Pearson's talent as a snappy crime writer. Still, you might want to skip this one, and read Beyond Recognition instead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good Ridley Pearson novel., July 4, 1997

By A Customer

Ridley Pearson really knows his stuff. What he writes is believable and well thought out. I found the book tightly plotted. I like all of his books. The only negative I found was the length. At times it dragged. Too many novels today are overly long and would really benefit from judious cutting. Other than that, good summer (or anytime for that matter) read

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, gladly recommended., April 22, 2005

By	Toni "Nothing Interesting" (NoPlace) - See all my reviews

I didn't like the prologue of this book.When I had first started reading it reminded me of a Jerry Springer show. So I dropped it to read something more interesting.
Two months later, when I was consumed by boredom, almost to the brink of insanity. I picked the book up.
The first part is, eh... kind of boring. The the investigation and the methods involved are real enough. His relationships are questionable and tad obscure; with his mentor, with his 'girlfriend'.
The main character isn't very dyanmic, but he has a very underplayed sentimentalism that will have 'the readers' sympathize with him.
The minor characters aren't very dynamic either, with the exception of his mentor walter Zeller, who might just be insane.
The book is comprised of mainly rising action, which is interesting, because after you get past all of the methodical investigating, relationships down played tension. It's just action, suprises, blood and glancing bullets all the way. The climax of this book is one of the best ever written and for just the climax alone I will rate the abook a five.
I highly recommend this Book.