Customer Reviews

Dark Waters (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star First Edition Mystery)

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

 

 

Macy Adams is the heroine of this fabulous new mystery.

This is a character we can read a series of -- hope the next book comes out SOON!!!

Great plot, wonderful descriptions of Insider's Boston.

Thoroughly enjoyable!!!

Sibylle Barrasso has captured the essence of murder and mystery in her novel 'Dark Waters.' Macy, a newly independent female detective, strikes out on her own to solve the murder of a well known college professor. Will she solve the murder or end up a victim herself. Keeping the reader guessing until the end, Barrasso has succeeded in making the murderer's identity a surprise.

-Tenaya Jacob, author of "Seasonings of the Soul."

This is a fabulous addition to the female PI genre. As a huge fan of Sue Grafton, Linda Barnes, Sara Paretsky, Marcia Muller, Dana Stabenow, and Nevada Barr, I loved reading about Boston Brahmin Macy Adams. The writing's smooth, the setting's well drawn (I love Boston books!), the characters, especially Macy,are intriguing. The plot's nicely layered and intelligently written, with a double focus on family secrets and shenanigans in the medical biotech industry in Cambridge. Interesting all the way around. Plus, the book concludes with a lovely twist at the end when you find out who done it. This was a great read, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

They find the corpse of AIDS researcher and Wadsworth professor Mitchell Browne in the Charles River. The Boston police look at his petite widow Evelyn as the prime suspect. She hires attorney David Silverman; he in turns employs private investigator Macy Adams, juts fired by Investigative Enterprise as part of a management take over, to investigate.

Macy learns that Evelyn and Mitchell had dinner at the Hyatt before going home; his corpse was found later that night near the Hyatt although his car was in his driveway. When the autopsy shows he has valium in his blood, the police arrest Evelyn; two years ago when he was cheating on her she drugged him with valium. His mother insists her son was going to divorce Evelyn leaving her with nothing; so she killed him for the $2 million insurance police she paid premiums on. Evelyn's son Tommy and Mitchell's estranged brother insist Evelyn is innocent. Macy's inquiries take an odd spin into BioCorp Genetechnology firm, but though she believes her client is innocent the evidence continues to mount that Evelyn killed her husband who had plenty of enemies in the science business, and family.

This is an entertaining Massachusetts whodunit with plenty of people having motives to kill the victim, but the solid evidence keeps pointing at the indicted Evelyn, who is actually very popular with her in-laws except for Mitchell's mother. The investigation is superb, but Macy's asides fail to come across as either hardboiled or amusing; instead they seem off kilter for a professional working the Dirty Water of the Charles.

Harriet Klausner

Macy Adams is an intriguing new character in the Private Investigator mystery genre and I hope to be taking more exciting and twisting rides with Macy through Boston in the future! There are lots of surprises in Dark Waters and sometimes this story is very, very dark. But the biggest problem with this book for me was the suspense and intriguing characters kept me reading when I should have been doing other things! Even so, I want to see more of Macy, please!

As my plane landed I had two chapters left in Dark Waters. I read as it taxied to the gate and as it empty. Finally it was time for me to get off the plane.

I didn't even put the book into my back pack, but I carried it out into the terminal where I plunked myself down in an airport seat and finished it.

Dark Waters starts out quietly and then builds momentum and power throughout. I found myself really pulling for Macy and I needed to see what happened to her.

It was a great ride1

Macy Adams is a determined and bright PI who endears herself to the reader. Her tenacious approach to a complicated and fascinating murder scenario keeps us on the edge of our seats.

I found this story to be a page turner and commend Barrasso for a job well done on her first significant venture into the murder mystery genre.

A definite must for your collections of thrillers.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with Macy for her next adventure adventure.

Richard Whiteley

author, The Corporate Shaman