Hardware (A Carlotta Carlyle mystery) [Import] [Paperback]

Linda Barnes (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sceptre; New Ed edition (October 5, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340640219
• ISBN-13: 978-0340640210
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,741,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Detroit; I always say that's where I learned about crime, but I mean no disrespect to a great city. It's also where I learned to love Motown music and do the Stroll. Came to Boston to go to college, and like so many, stayed, awed by the Atlantic Ocean and accessible public transportation. I still love walking Boston's cobbled streets, riding the T, breathing the history.
I started writing while teaching high school theater. Required by my principal to enter a one-act play festival sponsored by the Boston Globe, I cast the play before I actually found it. I had such great students that year, and 12 of them certainly deserved to be in the festival cast. When I couldn't find a one-act with 12 roles (duh), I had to write one myself. The festival was a competition, and darned if we didn't keep on winning, right up to the state finals, where a man came up to me and asked whether he might publish that play. I said yes, wrote more plays, and then segued into crime fiction.
My first Carlotta Carlyle short story was nominated for just about every mystery award going, and the first Carlyle novel, A TROUBLE OF FOOLS, was nominated for an Edgar and a Shamus, and won the American Mystery Award. I've got a new book, the eleventh in the Carlyle series, coming out in May. It's called HEART OF THE WORLD. Check my website for upcoming tour details. For the rest, I'm married, mother of a teenage son, and currently proud to be president of Private Eye Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and Brooding, November 27, 2002

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardware: A Carlotta Carlyle Novel (Hardcover)

In keeping with the last few Carlotta Carlyle mysteries, "Hardware" is much less fun and much more serious than earlier outings. This story involves the Mob, a possible hit that targets someone near and dear to Carlotta, and a murder that affects the Green and White Cab Company, and its wonderful proprietor, Gloria.

Carlotta's on-again, off-again lover, Sam Gianelli, may not be able to escape his heritage this time around--his father is head of a major Mob Family. And Sam, like it or not, is trapped in some nefarious goings-on. Only Carlotta can save him, and she is facing the wrath of two Families, not to mention the usual cast of characters, from her pre-teen and increasingly difficult "little sister," Paolina, to her raunchy roommate, Roz, to a possible new lover.

All in all, the story is a good one, and Carlotta's solution to the puzzle that has threatened so many lives is brilliant. Carlotta still plays killer volleyball, still drives like a maniac (in and out of the cab), and still keeps her cool under pressure. But she has changed a great deal since the earlier books, and is a much more serious--and believeable--person than she ever was before.

A good read, and a strong key to what makes Carlotta tick.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars altough it was over 300 pages long, it was worth the reading, March 29, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardware: A Carlotta Carlyle Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

i have read previous linda barnes books and they were not that long, but i enjoyed this 6th novel in the carlotta carlyle series. carlotta is a very dedicated p.i it is a pity she does not take sam her on and off again boyfriend seriously. i also like the relationship she has with her little sister paolina. all the characters are well placed and it makes for interesting reading. linda barnes keep up the good work and i look forward to reading. for anyone out there that have never read a linda barnes novel please do so.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's family and then there is The Family, September 14, 2004

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hardware: A Carlotta Carlyle Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Carlotta Carlyle, part-time investigator and part-time cab driver, is asked to investigate some attacks on other drivers. At the same time she decides to update her "hardware" by buying a new gun and a new computer. Her old friend, police lieutenant Mooney helps her with the former and her sometime lover Sam's friend Frank helps her with the latter. Added to this is Carlotta's angst at receiving large sums of money for her Little Sister Paolina from Paolina's mobster father which she doesn't know what to do with before Paolina goes to college. Her tenant and sidekick Roz is tired of having the money stuffed into her mattress. The plot thickens when there is an attack on Green & White, the cab company owned by Sam whose family is also connected with the Mob. All of these elements are woven into a very complex plot which is a little hard to follow at times. However, the overall book is up to Barnes' usual standards for this series and is a good read.