Cold Case [Paperback]

Linda Barnes (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: SAINT MARTINS PRESS (March 1, 2006)
• ASIN: B000K4T1ZQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

I was born in Detroit; I always say that's where I learned about crime, but I mean no disrespect to a great city. It's also where I learned to love Motown music and do the Stroll. Came to Boston to go to college, and like so many, stayed, awed by the Atlantic Ocean and accessible public transportation. I still love walking Boston's cobbled streets, riding the T, breathing the history.
I started writing while teaching high school theater. Required by my principal to enter a one-act play festival sponsored by the Boston Globe, I cast the play before I actually found it. I had such great students that year, and 12 of them certainly deserved to be in the festival cast. When I couldn't find a one-act with 12 roles (duh), I had to write one myself. The festival was a competition, and darned if we didn't keep on winning, right up to the state finals, where a man came up to me and asked whether he might publish that play. I said yes, wrote more plays, and then segued into crime fiction.
My first Carlotta Carlyle short story was nominated for just about every mystery award going, and the first Carlyle novel, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, was nominated for an Edgar and a Shamus, and won the American Mystery Award. I've got a new book, the eleventh in the Carlyle series, coming out in May. It's called HEART OF THE WORLD. Check my website for upcoming tour details. For the rest, I'm married, mother of a teenage son, and currently proud to be president of Private Eye Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting plot, October 22, 2004

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Case (Mass Market Paperback)

Intrepid private investigator Carlotta Carlyle is approached by a man who claims that he has received a manuscript written by a girl who disappeared as a young teenager some 24 years ago. The girl, Thea Janis, wrote a brilliant and successful book at a very early age and then disappeared. When Carlotta begins to investigate, she finds that Thea was reported dead many years ago. She begins to investigate Thea's wealthy and politically-active family and begins to uncover some skeletons in the closet. She works with her old police buddy, Mooney, and after several red herrings, begins to unravel a tangled web of lies and deceit that run very deep in Thea's family. Some of the familiar elements of this series are missing in this book. Carlotta plays nary a game of volleyball and her little sister Paolina is absent until the very end of the book. A parting of the ways occurs between Carlotta and her current lover with suddenness and fury over a seemingly minor matter. Also, the presence of Paolina's father lurks furtively in the shadows, but never really makes an impact on the story. Other than this, readers should enjoy this entry in the series.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Girl, October 30, 2002

By 

Rajheet Sandoz (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Case (Mass Market Paperback)

Having worked with numerous investigators over the past 16 years, I am sure I would have lost my license to practice law if Carlotta was working on my cases. I don't expect mysteries to be "true", but at least they should not border on science fiction. I was tempted to start a count of how many criminal laws the ex cop turned investigator broke but gave up. Don't even mention ethics.

I know that lawyers, especially criminal defense lawyers, are supposed to be the slime of the earth. Maybe so, but Carlotta was way slimier than any attorney I have ever known.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great mystery writer, June 25, 2011

By 

Maria S. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cold Case (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is another great Linda Barnes mystery. I enjoy her books - plots are well-done, characters are developed, plus the stories take place in Boston, where I lived for many years. Fun reading!