Deadman's Switch [Hardcover]

Barbara Seranella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

From the author of the acclaimed Munch Mancini crime novels comes a new mystery series featuring an appealing and resourceful sleuth.

 

Charlotte Lyon is a woman who can handle a crisis.  She's turned that talent into a lucrative business in crisis management, in which she supplies excellent, and often unusual, advice to suddenly troubled company heads about how to handle the press, shareholders, and the public.  When necessary, she goes beyond the basic job description to discover the cause of the crisis itself, and whether it was an accident or not.

The job she has now is one of the latter.  The mysterious derailment of a train has killed both the engineer and a famous movie actress. The disaster gets international attention and Charlotte is brought in to manage the heated situation. But Charlotte has her own demons to contend with---the recent death of her husband and a dangerously narcissistic mother. And the more she investigates, the more danger surrounds her. But no matter the threat, she will get to the bottom of this tragedy, or die trying.

Barbara Seranella, a unique and beloved voice in crime fiction, delivers a crafty puzzle and vivid, unforgettable characters in this first book of an exciting new series.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this fresh first of a new series from Seranella, crisis management expert Charlotte Lyon—who channels her obsessive-compulsive disorder into more productive, professional hypervigilance—works to exonerate the owners of the Sunliner Express train that derailed en route to Palm Springs, Calif. A recent widow, Charlotte teams up with sexy, motorcycle-riding investigator Todd Hannigan from the National Transportation Safety Board, and the two suspect possible sabotage. Several witnesses saw a mysterious, helmeted Samaritan pulling survivors to safety before zooming off on his motorcycle. Why didn't he stick around for kudos? While Charlotte finds herself increasingly attracted to Todd, she wonders where he was at the time of the train wreck. To complicate matters, one of the two fatalities was movie-star-turned-philanthropist Rachel Priest, whose spoiled son, Sherwood, shows up and threatens a lawsuit. Then up pops Charlotte's dysfunctional mother, who competes with demands for her attention. Fans of Seranella's Munch Mancini series (An Unacceptable Death, etc.) will find much to like. (Apr.)
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About the Author

Barbara Seranella grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. After a restless childhood that included running away from home at the age of fourteen, joining a hippie commune in the Haight, and riding with outlaw motorcycle clubs, she decided to settle down and do something normal---she became an auto mechanic, and that was the occupation she chose for her heroine when she switched from fixing cars to writing about them.

Deadman's Switch was to be the first of a planned new series, but sadly, after a long and brave fight against liver disease, Seranella died in January 2007, at the age of fifty. She was a talented woman of unbelievable bravery with an unbeatable sense of humor, and everyone who knew her, whether in person or through her books, will join us in mourning her. 
 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031236170X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361709
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #470,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First and last, April 19, 2007

By 

ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deadman's Switch (Hardcover)

I have been a big fan of Barbara Seranella. Her Munch Mancini series was loosely based on her life, and although it was a good series, it had run its course. Seranella was starting this new series featuring Charlotte Lyon, a crisis management expert, getting over her own crisis, her husband's death. Charlotte is another strong woman in Seranella's heroines. And it is unfortunate there will not be further sequels, as Ms. Seranella died of liver disease at age 50 - way too young to die. This death hit me like Anne George's did in the early 2000's - (George wrote the hilarious Southern Sisters mysteries).
Seranella will be remembered with her strong working ladies, with a heart and the toughness to get any job done.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you love strong, take-charge women ..., May 18, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadman's Switch (Hardcover)

Seranella is the author of eight Munch Mancini mysteries. Mancini is a woman auto mechanic. This is the first in the Charlotte Lyons series.

Charlotte Lyons is a well-known consultant who is called when a company faces a horrible crisis such as a disaster, an accident, or thefts. She counsels them on how to deal with the public, the media, their shareholders, and their employees.

Charlotte even investigates, on occasion. A terrible train derailment in California calls her out to work for Sun Rail. There were only two deaths, but one was the experienced engineer. Many unanswered questions remain. Still recovering from her husband's death in an accident, she welcomes the distraction of intense work.

Charlotte is perfect for such a job--she has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and is always worrying about worse case scenarios. Along with strikingly handsome Todd Hannigan, an investigator for the Nation Transportation and Safety Board, she rummages around until she finds the truth to those unanswered questions.

Despite her home being invaded, being shot at by a sniper, dealing with a complaining hypochondriac mother (who actually seems to be sick this time when she is suddenly hospitalized), and dealing with her every-day fears, Charlotte manages to triumph.

This is a stellar first in a series with a fascinating and enjoyable character that has great promise. However, the author died in January of 2007, from liver disease while waiting for a liver transplant. Seranella grew up in California and had a wild youth, riding with a motorcycle club, running away from home, and when she decided to settle down, she became an auto mechanic.

Armchair Interviews says: Charlotte is one resilient woman.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately, kind of disappointing, June 5, 2007

By 

Book Enthusiast (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deadman's Switch (Hardcover)

I've read a couple of the Mancini novels, and thought they were solidly good mysteries with interesting, appealing characters and compelling plotlines. This new book about Charlotte Lyon has, at least in theory, all the elements of another winner-- smart, quirky heroine you want to root for, urgent mystery, etc. But it falls short and turns out to be predictable, formulaic, and lacking in depth. A character's OCD turning into a career asset is a great hook-- but Seranella never takes it beyond that sound-byte. The attempts at psychological exploration of the characters, which could be really interesting (as Charlotte seems to have had a very dysfunctional childhood) are only one-dimensional. These characters just never came to life for me. Seranella also belabors a romance between Charlotte and a railroad guy, dropping anvil-heavy hints about the man's possible involvement in the case she's investigating--is he good? Is he bad? Who cares? I hate to write such a negative review of this late author's last book, but it is honestly nowhere near her best. Perhaps she intended to do more work on it before passing away.