Customer Reviews

FLASHPOINT

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

 

 

Having read the five previous unfavorable comments submitted by readers to Amazon, my enthusiasm about "Flashpoint" was dampened prior to beginning the book. I've always enjoyed Carlotta's exploits and novel detectival methods(ie. hiding her treasures in the cat box under the litter). However, in spite of my skepticism about this particular adventure, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

The narrative never falters as we wander through a tangle of new and established characters. Some of the regulars carve new edges and dimensions to their persona beyond, and often in defiance of, the roles established in earlier books. As the plot twists and turns, Carlotta herself is often baffled as she stumbles through quite a few misleading clues and potential suspects.

Although Paolina's drug-lord father has provided Carlotta with substantial funds for his daughter, Ms. C. has been determined to keep their existence a secret throughout this series. In "Flashpoint" she divulges their existence to both Paolina and her mother, Marta, with a pragmatic reluctance. Carlotta realizes that the money, though tainted, is most likely the only realistic way Paolina and Marta can attain a decent quality of life without resorting to crime and prostitution. This sad commentary on our society strikes a chord of verisimilitude. The exploration of the Jewish Reclamation Fund's activites likewise illustrates the realities of striving to achieve some justice for the many neglected, persecuted, but highly deserving segments of humanity.

I look forward to the next installment in Linda Barnes's ever evolving Carlotta Carlysle series.

Am I ever glad I read this book before I read most of these reviews! Different people have different tastes, which makes life more fun, but I just can't agree with the negative reviews this book has piled up. Flashpoint shows another level of depth for Carlotta, and masterfully weaves the "usual" characters in with the new ones. Maybe she didn't have quite as much "fun" as she usually does, but business hit her right up front and demanded her attention; can't argue with that. I eagerly await the next. Please keep at it, Ms. Barnes!

I am so glad that I read this book without first reading the negative reviews!

As a devotee of the Carlotta Caryle series, I consider "Flashpoint" to be one of the very best so far. As I mentioned in reviews of Barnes' earlier works in the series, she has attained maturity and depth, both in her characters and her plots, and it all comes together in this book.

As those who follow the series know, PI and part-time cab driver Carlotta is a volleyball fanatic as well, playing at the local Y whenever she can. So when one of her team members, a woman she knows only from the games and casually at that, asks for her professional help, Carlotta accepts. In no time, she is drawn into the cruel murder of Gwen's nursing charge: a seemingly harmless elderly woman. Carlotta being Carlotta, she cannot let the murder go, even though her police pals, notably her mentor Mooney, are on the case. And what she discovers leads into a labyrinth of the art world, the music industry and more.

Tied in with this interesting plot is the ongoing story of Paolina, Carlotta's Little Sister. For those reviewers who cannot understand Paolinia in her present highly obnoxious condition, I say go to the mall and take a look at the typical 14-year-old girl! Not the best age in any circumstances for the average female, and certainly not for one whose mother has suddenly abandoned her completely. Is she a rotten brat throughout the book? YES! Will Carlotta be able to get her through this phase and see her to adulthood? That's every mother's question and fear--and I found it completely believable. What was not so believable was the transformation of the mother, Marta, from a very sick woman disabled by arthritis to a sexy vamp on the prowl for men. This transformation was explained in a sentence or two, and sat badly with me throughout the rest of the book. But it did not ruin the story.

There is very little of the wonderful Gloria in this book, and not enough Mooney or Sam Gianelli (all regulars throughout the series), but there is more than enough of Roz, the impossibly erotic free spirit who inhabits Carlotta's rental roooms.

All in all, a simply great addition to the series. Don't believe everything you read in the negative reviews--try it for yourself! I think you'll be glad you did.

Carlotta Carlyle is a six-foot-tall, red-haired, half Irish-half Jewish, independent private investigator, who is a former Boston cop and she is currently without a client, a steady paycheck or any other visible means of support. She was briefly married a decade earlier and she isn't having much luck with the current crop of men in her life. She goes to the gym regularly, where she plays on a volleyball team, but doesn't know her teammates outside of the gym.

One particular teammate, however, a shy young woman named Gwen, asks Carlotta to have coffee with her. It turns out she's a home care volunteer and she's worried about an old woman, named Valentine Phipps, she has been taking care of in a seedy apartment building.

Valentine says someone has been trying to get into her apartment. Carlotta doesn't take her fears too seriously, but agrees to help burglar-proof her home. However Valentine dies, seemingly from natural causes, before she has a chance to install new locks. However her death is suspicious, because she appears to have been reaching for pills.

Carlotta learns that Valentine was the last tenant still under rent control and she starts to get suspicious. Then it looks like Gwen is being accused of the crime, she's black with priors, after all. So now Carlotta is on the job.

I found this book to be highly entertaining. I especially liked the way Ms. Barnes played all the multicultural characters off against each other, it really helped this interesting and exciting mystery come to life.

One of PI Carlotta Carlyle's favorite pasttimes is playing volleyball. When her teammate Gwen asks for her help in beefing up the security at an elderly woman's apartment, Carlotta agrees to do what she can. The woman proves to be an interesting character who is full of stories about her wealthy past. Despite Carlotta's best efforts, the old woman dies and the chief suspect turns out to be Gwen. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot and red herrings abound in the form of unscrupulous developers and greedy heirs. In the middle of trying to solve the mystery, Carlotta becomes a surrogate mother to her rebellious Little Sister Paolina, whose mother has decided to run off with a man. Her tenant Roz also contributes to the investigation while she paints art-deco murals all over Carlotta's house and consorts with some interesting men. Carlotta's character continues to grow with each addition to the series, and the plots become more interesting and complex.

I read some of the other reviewers, and tend to agree with what they say concerning this particular mystery by Barnes. I've read several others of hers, and enjoyed them. This genre is starting to wear a bit thin, I think. There are too many hard-core women sleuths, who have backgrounds as cops, and most of them seem to reside in different urban areas in the United States. That is the major difference between the books, and that is unfortunate. All these women who write books of this type are good at what they do, but they have been doing it for so long their writing skills have deteriorated, as they churn out mystery after mystery. This is in response to the large body of avid mystery readers out there who I assume do not vary their reading much. this is another part of the problem. If readers do not vary their reading into other genres, they cannot know what they are missing when an author gets sloppy in her characterizations or in her plots.

This is not to say this type of book cannot be done well, or that this particular book is not of value. Barnes seems to keep up with current problems in society, one of which is abuse of the elderly and the tendency for property within inner cities to be allowed to deteriorate and then bought up by those predators who will stop at nothing to make a few bucks (with the blessings of many politicians). The premise is good, but not drawn out to a point where the reader cannot tell you what is going to happen next. AS soon as the reader meets the old lady (who is a great curmudgeon), we know she is going to meet her end, and soon!

Unfortunately, this mystery was a bit too easy to solve. And Barnes tried to connect the series by throwing in improbable meetings with previous friends and lovers of the protagonist. At the risk of sounding nitpicking, I felt that the title was not very appropriate either. Just because fires were involved does not explain the use of the word "Flashpoint" (which is the point at which a fire goes out of control, or a situation goes out of control as I understand it). Oh well...when I read a book of a series like this and I can see the author is no longer putting a lot of thought into her books or research effort, then I tend not to look for this particular author anymore. Don't want to waste my time.

Oh yeah, for those who care about such things, the language leaves a little to be desired!
Karen Sadler,
University of Pittsburgh

Although the book wasn't too bad, it didn't seem to flow very smoothly. The storyline seemed choppy and the characters didn't seem to mesh. The premise for the story was good, but the style of writing did not make for a real page turner. The series of events which led up to Valentine Phipps having possession of the 'item of value' was interesting, and gives us a glimpse into history of how people came to hide items of value during wartime.

First of all let me say this: How anyone could possibly give this book, or any other Carlotta Carlyle mystery a bad review is so entirely beyond me. I think these people must be aliens from a distant and uncultured, illiterate planet, where they read the trash of such authors as William Faulkner that are supposed to be out-of-this-world brilliance. I think not.
This Carlotta Carlyle is not, in any way, bad or under-written. Barnes consistenly slams us with an enormously entertaining Carlotta novel. And "Flashpoint" is no exception that literarily-gifted rule.
Whenever I mention Linda Barnes to my friends or family, bringing up her mysteries in a conversation with my best friend's mother, I refer to her as my "beloved" Linda Barnes, same as authors like Joan Hess (only in reference to her Claire Malloy books since I loathe Arly Hanks), Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, and Mary Higgins Clark.
"Flashpoint" is no way a bad novel. Read this book, and all other Carlyle mysteries by Barnes. I believe that "The Snake Tattoo" was the first in this series.

~Steven Harvey

This is the first of Linda Barnes' books I have read and I enjoyed it very much. I could not ignore some of the similarities to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone (single, female private eye, ex-cop, ex-wife, quirky landlord-tenant relationship, broken nose), but the plot was well paced and the mystery kept me guessing. I look forward to reading other Carlotta tales.

This is my first read of this author. I love the female PI series of Grafton, Evanovich and Kijewski so I was psyched to try Barnes.

Unfortunately I found the sidekicks most annoying. Paolina, a surly teen who seems to be heading to a life of prostitution, and Roz, the painter/boarder, focuses on the next sexual partner above all, both of these women I didn't want Carlotta to hang with but she was loyal and true to these two. Perhaps previous books would have given me a since of history and caring for these sidekicks.

Now the mystery didn't catch my interest either. Gwen, the volleyball buddy wasn't a good friend so I didn't care when she was arrested. The client that gets killed also didn't appeal.

Summing it up, I'd try another book by this author but I'd like to find one where annoying characters don't rule Carlotta's life!