Charisma [Hardcover]

Jo Bannister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994

Chief Constable Frank Shapiro and Inspector Liz Graham return in their second mystery, which finds Liz seeking a serial killer at the same time that a charismatic revivalist minister is turning the town, and Liz's emotions, upside-down.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Against a lush and oppressive urban waterfront, Inspector Liz Graham of the Castlemere CID investigates the cases of two dead girls, both found with their throats slashed. The first was a young prostitute called Charisma, the next a girl riding her pony in the early morning. While the prostitute's death goes largely unlamented, the second becomes the subject of evangelical oratory dished out by a traveling preacher and provokes a riot and a lynching. Liz finds herself drawn to the wheelchair-bound preacher; her volatile Irish assistant, Cal Donovan, spots a famous terrorist among the itinerant evangelist's road crew. Liz's boss, Frank Shapiro, quietly comes to the aid of both his driven detectives as Liz lets her emotions get in the way of her detecting and Cal gets beaten to a pulp. This second in a series begun with A Bleeding of Innocents, is powered by Bannister's three diverse and forceful police characters, a strong supporting cast and the stark urban wasteland, which possesses a dark beauty all its own.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Famous Welsh revivalist Michael Davey brings his wheelchair and carnival tent to Castlemere just in time for a pair of throat- slittings--of a teenaged streetwalker and an even younger girl riding her pony in Belvedere Park at daybreak. Davey's deceptively quiet assistant, Jennifer Mills, insists that crime rates fall wherever the preacher sets up shop, but the unpersuaded local police, noting a consistent rise in drug use just after his troupe leaves their latest digs, are keen to tie them in to the killings, especially after Sgt. Cal Donovan recognizes one of Davey's tentslingers as IRA stalwart Liam Brady, reported dead years ago. Donovan's pas de deux with Brady, who keeps threatening him but not killing him, gets even more tangled when Brady tips him off about a mob that's going to lynch a suspect the police questioned and released--a prediction that comes horrifyingly true--and when Donovan's superior, Inspector Liz Graham (dazzled by Davey's charisma? responding to his obvious interest in her?), starts spending enough time with the revivalist to merit an official rebuke. Donovan and Graham aren't any more interesting than in their debut (A Bleeding of Innocents, 1993), but they make interesting things happen throughout this tangy, gritty tale, whose most banal supporting character can flare into unexpected life in a single impassioned moment. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st U.S. ed edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312112521
• ISBN-13: 978-0312112523
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,870,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Charisma" has it!, July 9, 2000

By 

MacGeezer (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charisma (Paperback)

This is my first look at Jo Bannister's "Castlemere" police procedural series and I was very impressed with the quality of the writing as well as the overall plot; the authors characterizations are excellent instead of being the usual caricatures; based on this one book I would rate the "Castlemere" series as "don't miss it!!" It's a distinct pleasure to be introduced to a new series by a book this good, one of the best of the 300 plus mysteries I read each year.