Customer Reviews

Fall Guy: A Rachel Alexander Mystery (Rachel Alexander & Dash Mysteries)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Susan Conant and Carol Lea Benjamin have created strong female detectives who use dog training to solve mysteries. But the resemblance ends there. Rachel Alexander is a tough New York licensed PI, not an amateur. She lives alone, without a steady boyfriend, and has a loving but realistic relationship with her dog, a pit bull named Dashiell.

Conant's Holly Winter is warm and fuzzy; Benjamin's Rachel Alexander is street-smart and tough. And while Holly Winter is unabashedly a dog fanatic, Rachel Alexander doesn't go into rhapsodies over Dashiell. He's a good dog. She's a good trainer. What else would you expect? Or put another way, you don't have to like dogs to enjoy this mystery, while enjoyment Susan Conant's books will be deepened by dog ownership. I learned that first-hand!

And as a result, Benjamin's plots tend to be edgier. Here Rachel discovers she has been named executor of a will for Timothy O'Fallon, a man she met briefly in a pet-therapy group. She agrees, suspecting that the dead man had a reason for asking her to do the job. And of course she's getting paid the customary executor's fee.

Rachel learns Tim was a cop from a family with tragedies to rival the more famous Irish family, the Kennedys. She also begins to wonder if his death really was a suicide, especially since she discovers a note from a family member, "I saw what you did." A tragic event from Tim's childhood seems to be haunting him today.

Up to the very last chapter, I was riveted by the characters, writing and plot. I loved Rachel's discussion of therapy dogs. I enjoyed her interactions with the off-beat Village people. Her encounter with Detective Michael Brody seems headed for a longer romance.

Experienced mystery readers will look for villains close to home. Trying not to spoil the plot, I'd have to say that Benjamin doesn't play by the usual detective rules of when to introduce the villain. The climactic scene -- de rigeur for modern mysteries -- seems a little forced.

If you like to go back and say, "Ah, I see where I could have guessed the ending," you'll be disappointed. But if you want a fast-paced absorbing read, and a chance to spend time in the Village with some interesting people and a delightful dog, this novel is for you. I awarded five stars because I wish I'd had this book on my last airplane ride!

Ms. Benjamin is a gifted writer and this book is up to her always high standards. In addition to being a well written mystery, this book is the most touching account I've read about the impact of September 11th. While never overt, the devastation wrought that day, the pain and loss and change to us all are there in the background, part of the characters just as they are part of the reader. I can't recommend this book highly enough, even if mysteries are not your standard fare I urge you to make an exception for this truly exceptional work.

This is a terrific book. The characters are compelling, the plot complex, the pace swift. Rachel's evident professionalism is in evidence throughout, while her dog, Dash, adds another dimension to her activities. Beware, though, if you're expecting Dash to solve the crime. Fall Guy is surpringly Hard-boiled, a lot closer to Sue Grafton, then to Lillian Jackson Braun. I heartily recommend it.

I have read most of Ms. Benjamin books and I have to say this was one of the best. It was not the normal who-done-it. Bringing all the pieces of the puzzle together at the end in an unexpected twist. I had not drawn the same conclusion until the last moment and then it made perfect sense. Being a dog lover myself, I always enjoy the unique manner that "Dash" is worked into the storyline.

This is an excellent mystery by Carol Lea Benjamin. I had read some of her earlier books, but this is her best to date. She weaves an interesting mystery -- it's not cookie-cutter like so many of them out there.

PI Rachel Alexander is chosen by an NYPD detective as the executor for his estate who tragically dies in a fatal gun-cleaning "accident." Rachel barely knew the cop, which adds to the overall mystery as to why he chose her.

I found that they mystery became more and more intriguing and the ending was quite a surprise. A good read!

Rachel Alexander barely knew Timothy O'Fallon and certainly has no idea why a man she briefly counseled after 9/11 would name her as executor of his will. But now O'Fallon is dead--another cop suicide by all appearances--and Rachel attempts to understand what could have happened, what it means, and why O'Fallon might ask a private investigator he hardly knew to take this job when he had the entire police department available to him.

Rachel finally decides that O'Fallon wanted her to investigate something, but what? She starts with O'Fallon's roommate, a young man O'Fallon had offered a home to after catching him shoplifting. Parker is a piece of work--always chasing an angle, wanting something more from the world, but just how evil is he? For many readers, certainly including myself, Rachel's ongoing training of her pit bull, Dashiell, to be a cadaver dog adds interest to the story.

Author Carol Lea Benjamin starts this story slowly. Rachel remains an enigma with no clear motivation other than a compulsive need to live up to O'Fallon's unclear desires for the first half of the book. But as evidence about O'Fallon's death mounts, and as Rachel learns more about Parker and O'Fallon's disfunctional family, I found myself pulled more and more into the story. Benjamin's writing is smooth and kept me involved even in the slow-going early section.

Give the book a chance--the payoff is certainly worth it.

I love Fall Guy, but I still miss her boyfriend and his wonderful German shepherd. Wish they'd get back together. The books had more sparkle and Rachel was less depressed.

I found the first half of this book a bit slow but interesting. The interesting characters, particularly Brody, the investigating policeman, Irving, O'Connor's neighbor upstairs, and Dashiell, Rachael's dog, kept me going. The story picked up in the second half picked up considerably and it became an interesting story of family secrets and guilt. At the end, I did quite enjoy it, but more for the characters than the plot.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. I like to guess who did it from the get go when I read a mystery but this one kept me guessing. I think that Ms. Benjamin did a fantastic job and I highly recommend the book. As a fellow dog trainer and lover, one of the many great things about this book is that you do not have to be a dog lover to enjoy the book.

Detective Michael Brody informs private investigator Rachel Alexander that she is the executor of Timothy O'Fallon's will which perplexes her because she doesn't know anyone by that name. By the time she meets with Detective Brody, she remembers that Timothy attended a post-traumatic stress group. She and her therapy dog Dashiell provided assistance to the attendees. What puzzles Rachel is that he only spoke one sentence to her and she never thought Timothy was the type who would have committed suicide.

Brody warns her that Parker Bowling, a man Timothy took into his home to help him out and make a new start in life will contact her to get his things out of the sealed apartment. He's a liar, a con man and a thief according to Brody so Rachael should watch him at all times. When they finally meet, he tells Rachel he is staying at his aunt's house, the same relative the police later find floating in the river. When Rachel and Dashiell pass a dumpster, the dog's training kicks in and Rachel knows she's going to find a dead baby in it. She's right; the dead person is one of Timothy's siblings. Rachel now believes Timothy was murdered by a ruthless person who set Parker up to be the fall guy.

It's been a long time since a Rachel Alexander mystery was published but she's back and better than ever. The heroine never understands why she was made the executor of Timothy's will but she's glad he did it to because she was able to prove he didn't commit suicide. FALL GUY is a well written cerebral mystery where characterization is more important than the action scenes of this complex and multi-layered crime thriller.

Harriet Klausner