Death in Blue Folders [Hardcover]

Margaret Maron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1985

NYPD Detective Sigrid Harald investigates the death of a prominent lawyer whose apparently respectable law practice was a front for greed and caprice. By the author of Corpus Christmas and Death of a Butterfly. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (April 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385198086
• ISBN-13: 978-0385198080
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sigrid Harald, #3 of 8, well done!, March 29, 2002

By 

Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death in Blue Folders (Hardcover)

...This follows the basic form of most of her titles -- a murder occurs fairly early in the tale, as here, often in chapter one, and we work the clues and the successor crimes with Sigrid and her police colleagues until she nabs her crook. Usually the character descriptions and set changes are what I've heretofore referred to as "minimalist", yet make no mistake that Maron is a fine writer who conveys anything she really wishes to with little difficulty.

The plot provides an immediate abundance of suspects, as the blue folders in question are the "private" files set aside without even the knowledge of his staff by a killed-before-he-could-retire lawyer. It seems clear from the outset from a quick look at his bank account that he was blackmailing these special clients; while Maron chips away at first one then the other of the half dozen or more targets, she solves in an interesting way the mini-mysteries of why each person was being blackmailed. So we get some ongoing resolutions while working the main case to a conclusion, a very entertaining technique.

The familiar cast members from previous and subsequent stories are just about all here, so this is a most representative member of the set. Highly recommend!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Character Gem, February 22, 2011

By 

Karen in OR (Oregon City, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: DEATH IN BLUE FOLDERS (Mass Market Paperback)

As a preface to any review of the Sigrid Harald series, I think it only right to include the author's note from the final book "Fugitive Colors".

"Lieutenant Sigrid Harald, NYPD first appeared in... "One Coffee With" in 1981. "Fugitive Colors" is her eighth adventure, with each book set in what was - and is - the current "now."
"One Coffee With" began on a blue-sky sunny April day. Spring gave way to summer, then autumn in New York, followed by Christmas and one of the worst Februarys in the city's memory (in Sigrid's memory, too, unfortunately)
For the author, fourteen years have passed. For Sigrid Harald herself, no matter how much internal evidence alert readers may cite to the contrary, it has been only one short tumultuous year.
And now it is spring again. . . "

As mentioned, this jewel of a character study spans the course of eight full length novels plus two short stories, one, "Lieutenant Harald And the `Treasure Island' Treasure" was originally published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and the other, "Lieutenant Harald And The Impossible Gun" first appeared in Marilyn Wallace's fourth anthology. Both can be found in Margaret Maron's short story anthology "Shoveling Smoke".

As other reviewers have noted, these stories must be read in the correct order to fully understand the amazing transformation Sigrid goes through in the span of a short year, both internally and externally. And yet, all of the books can stand alone as well-plotted mysteries. This is the mark of Maron's true genius.

"Death in Blue Folders" (1985) - In mid-July, NYPD Lieutenant Sigrid Harald investigates the death of a prominent lawyer whose apparently respectable law practice was a front for greed and caprice. Who did murder this morally corrupt lawyer?

On the personal front, Nauman and Sigrid are still seeing each other. Nauman takes her to a MOMA fundraiser where her personal and professional lives overlap unexpectedly. Sigrid has finally found a new apartment to rent. The only catch is that it is that her `temporary' roommate has to move in with her. The building is owned by his godmother's sister and since the apartment has some antiques left in it, the family will only rent it if he is part of the deal. With only a few weeks left before she needs to be out of her old apartment, Sigrid agrees to acquire a permanent roommate.

As happens in many of the other books of this series, the plot revolves around the murder of an unsympathetic character. There is very little doubt who the murderer is, but for all that, it is emotionally gripping. I found that I wanted to go back and read the book again as soon as I had finished it the first time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blackmail is the Cause of Death, October 25, 2011

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: DEATH IN BLUE FOLDERS (Mass Market Paperback)

Margaret Maron's DEATH IN BLUE FOLDERS is the third in her series with Lt. Sigrid Harald.
Clayton Gladwell is winding up his law office and returning private files to his clients for a price, which gets him murdered. His office is a disaster area and some files have been burned in a trash can.
This is a tight police procedural with a fascinating cast of characters. Each of whom has a secret they wish to hide from the public or the authorities.
Excellent reading.
Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH.