Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery [Paperback]

Ellen Hart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane Lawless Mysteries | Publication Date: July 9, 2003

Ray Lawless, prominent defense attorney and father of Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless, tries his biggest case yet defending an accused serial murderer and arsonist whom the media has dubbed "The Fireman." Ray's client is eventually convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, though he proclaims his innocence to the end, and a few days later, he kills himself in his cell.

But someone in The Fireman's life can't let go, and, blaming Ray for the man's death, plots a meticulous revenge. Both Jane and her brother Peter, who is already under terrible stress because of a troubled marriage, feel the heat of the avenger's plan.

But Jane is intimately familiar with danger, and she's never been one to shrink from a fight. With the help of her best friend Cordelia, Jane sets out to discover why this person is so determined to undo her family. When she begins to dig into The Fireman's life, the puzzle unravels, leading Jane to a final confrontation with someone bent on making the Lawlesses pay, perhaps with their lives.

Immaculate Midnight is a taught, dynamic installment in an award-winning series.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When suspected arsonist and serial killer Bobby Alto commits suicide in his cell and it doesn't end the Twin Cities murders, Jane Lawless begins to wonder whether a "psycho [has] declared open season" on everyone involved in the case or if the dreaded Midnight Man is still on the loose. Jane's father, who was Bobby's defense attorney, is in danger, and so is Jane herself, as it seems the Alto family contains more than one seriously disturbed member in Immaculate Midnight, Ellen Hart's 11th mystery starring the lesbian restaurateur and amateur detective.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Prominent Minneapolis defense attorney Ray Lawless, father of restaurant owner/ lesbian sleuth Jan (The Merchant of Venus), defends a serial arsonist/murderer who commits suicide in jail. The suicide's father then plots revenge on Ray and Jane. Great plotting and fine characterization.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (July 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312313659
• ISBN-13: 978-0312313654
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,281,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Hart is the author of twenty-five crime novels in two different series.?? She is a five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and was made an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. ?? Entertainment Weekly??named her one of the "101 Movers and Shakers in the Gay Entertainment Industry." For the past twelve years, Ellen has taught "An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery" through the The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. Ellen's newest Sophie Greenway mystery is No Reservations Required, (Ballantine, June 2005). The Mirror and the Mask, the seventeenth Jane Lawless mystery, was released by St. Martin's/Minotaur in November 2009.?? Ellen lives in Minneapolis with her partner of 32 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Closer to form of earlier books in the series, October 31, 2002

By 

sonytoao (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I was a little tentative about reading this book only because Hart had begun highlighting Jane's weaknesses and depression so much in the last two books that the series itself was becoming depressing to read. Although Jane's character isn't a ray of sunshine in this book, the suspense is tighter than it has been for a while. There is also greater attention paid to Jane's father, brother, and sister-in-law so that the family relationship and dysfunctions (and yes, Jane's family has them) are fleshed out. Cordelia is returned to her larger-than-life dramatic self and Jane does manage some self-relevations such that some progress for personal improvement is made. All-in-all, a solid effort to a very good series.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting amateur sleuth mystery, July 8, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Midnight Man is an arsonist, who drugs his victims and then sets fires to their homes, making it look like it was an accidental death. All told there were five victims but the police linked Bobby Alto to two of them. Defense attorney Raymond Lawless thought he could get his client off but the jury found him guilty and he lost on appeal.

Alto's father Conrad blames Raymond for his son's conviction and swears to get even. Raymond, his son Peter and his daughter Jane receive in the mail tarot cards. When the Lawless family compare notes, they believe somebody in the Alto family has targeted them. Jane, who hates to feel helpless investigates the family, a move that saves her and her sister in law from a sociopath killer.

The Jane Lawless mysteries just keep on getting better and better. In IMMACULATE MIDNIGHT, readers are given a glimpse into the lives of Jane's immediate family and this makes the audience fail a connection to the protagonists. As a counterpoint to the caring Lawless family, the Alto's are a dysfunctional disunity that readers will pity and detest. Ellen Hart has written another exciting amateur sleuth mystery.

Harriet Klausner

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where's the Mystery?, August 3, 2004

By 

D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Immaculate Midnight: A Jane Lawless Mystery (Jane Lawless Mysteries) (Hardcover)

"Immaculate Midnight" by Ellen Hunt is the first, and probably the last, novel I've read in the Jane Lawless Mystery Series. Hunt weaves a good story, one that is relaxed and attenuated by a meandering plot, one that ultimately satisfies only superficially. One can read the notes from above for information about the plot if they are interested, and it is a good story as far as a story can go. But it isn't much of a "mystery" -- even in the end. There's no point in guessing who the culprit is, because there isn't enough information on which to base any speculation. In the end there is no surprise, because there is no suspense leading up to who it might suddenly be. There was a glaring typo "alter" for "altar" and numerous run-on sentences, but otherwise the book is well edited.