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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good!, September 28, 2006
The daughter of Gardner Redstone hires Rachel Alexander to find the person who pushed her father into the path of an oncoming subway train. The police are stymied and the daughter wants answers. Of course there are a few witnesses and Rachel begins interviewing them all. Rachel must listen and study the varied stories told to her by a little boy, a ditsy lady, an ornery little store owner, and a grandmother.
Rachel does not seem to be doing any better than the police did, so she decides to go undercover as a homeless woman. Her disguise is not very good though, so she asks Eddie Perkins, a war veteran who is living on the New York streets, to help her.
**** Author Carol Lea Benjamin has another winner on her hands with this, the ninth novel in the Rachel Alexander mystery series. This book is aptly named too. I found myself more interested in the lives of the homeless and how they cope than anything else, especially during the winter. An extremely well written story that will open the eyes of many readers to the homeless situation, while challenging their intellect. ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Easy on the mind, March 19, 2007
This is number nine in this series featuring "Research Specialist" Rachel Alexander and her faithful pit-bull Dashiell. These books are a nice read. No blood and gore, no shoot- outs not even psychological thrills. Just good detecting work hitting the streets, working the clues from our heroine who just happens to "help" people. I've read all of the books in this series and I have yet to figure out how Rachel pays her bills. She refers to a previous life as a wife and a dog trainer, but I can't see how finding lost soles, or solving `cold cases" pays her bills.
Besides that there are plots to the stories and Rachel does keep the pace moving along.
This outing she is looking for the person who shoved a man onto the subway. She goes undercover as a homeless person in New York in the winter. She sees an entirely different side to the city she loves, even encountering her ex who doesn't recognize her. I thought that could have been left out, it seemed contrived.
Rachel follows the clues from the underground subways, to the ritzy shops to the homeless shelters and back to the why and who of the crime.
This is a soft mystery book, not a lot of action, but the pace does move along from clue to clue. The books are just long enough to while away a Sunday afternoon with a cup of cocoa. Any avid mystery reader can pick out the ending way before the last chapter; it just takes Rachel a little longer. There are moral issues involved and lots of commentary on the way of the world, so maybe this is Benjamin's soapbox.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good mystery!, October 12, 2006
In The Hard Way, Carol Lea Benjamin's ninth installment, Rachel must find a homeless man who is accused of murdering her prominent client's father. Gardner Redstone was waiting for the subway when someone pushed him into the oncoming train, tragically killing him. Gardner's daughter Eleanor has no idea who would want to kill her father, but several witnesses are claiming they saw a tall homeless man, with a tattoo on his hand, push Gardner.
Rachel decides the only way to find the killer, is to pose as a homeless person. While undercover, she meets a homeless man named Eddie, a soldier who fought in Iraq. Eddie can't remember his real name and is another lost soul on the street. Rachel forms an instant liking to this kind-hearted man and looks to him for help with her investigation. Together they roam the mean streets of New York looking for the suspect.
When Eddie becomes missing, Rachel's investigation takes a turn. She gives up her homeless persona, so she can work undercover in Eleanor's upscale leather store. Rachel investigates the people who worked closest with Gardner Redstone. In between working in the store, she questions the witnesses from the subway station. The witnesses' stories are all different. Something fishy is going on and Rachel needs to find out!
This was the first book that I've read by Carol Lea Benjamin and I loved it. Plenty of suspects kept me guessing whom the killer was. I loved the short chapters, which kept the story moving along at a fast pace.
I was surprised with the transition of taking Rachel from pretending to be homeless, to working in an upscale store with wealthy customers. I think the author was trying to compare the two different lifestyles of the rich versus the poor. Even though I understand the purpose for this transition, I would have preferred more of Rachel on the streets.
Overall, this was a great mystery that I would definitely recommend. I look forward to reading the other books in the series to get to know Rachel Alexander better.
Armchair Interviews says: Another good mystery worthy of your time.
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