Keep Still (Marti Macalister Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Eleanor Taylor Bland (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marti Macalister Mysteries | Publication Date: February 15, 1998

Crime veteran Marti MacAlister has put her husband's killer in jail and her heart on hold while she juggles life with two teenagers and eighteen-hour days as the only black woman cop in a Chicago suburb.

In a summer of drugs, gangs, guns, and weirdos, two new homicides seem unrelated-a lonely old woman's fall down her basement steps casts suspicion on her bickering heirs and an ex-teacher drowns in a motel pool with no one to mourn her.

Then a collection of newspaper clippings and an eruption of brutal murders propel Marti back seven years to an abused child's disappearance-and into a fierce need to pull the threads together. Slowly, skillfully, she draws closer a killer out to bury a family horror only Marti can lay to rest.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unrelated murder cases plague Lincoln Prairie, Ill., police detective Marti MacAlister in her fifth outing (following Done Wrong, 1995). Elderly Sophie Admunds's demise looks accidental until the medical examiner's report finds oil on her shoes and a bruise more in keeping with a push than her fatal fall down the stairs. Her elder son, who had been pressuring her to sell her house, is the prime suspect. But as Marti and her acerbic partner, Vic Jessenovik, methodically investigate, another death echoes the first when the coroner assures them that the drowning of motel manager Liddy Fields was no accident. Treating the cases as separate, they are stunned when a link between the two victims emerges: both had been advocates of an abused child who had gone missing seven years earlier. Marti and Vic must follow up on the older case in order to solve the more recent murders. Bland pulls no punches in this tale as she bares the harrowing realities of child abuse for her readers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Bland's Lincoln Prairie, Illinois, police detective Marti McAlister appears in her fifth case, still wrestling with the demands of job, family, and boyfriend. This time, the seemingly unrelated murders of two women stump Marti and her partner, Jessenovik, until they discover that both victims had a connection to an eight-year-old unsolved case concerning the disappearance of a young girl, a victim of child abuse by her father and brothers. When a retired teacher and a social worker who were involved with the old case are also murdered, suspicion begins to fall on the missing girl's surviving family. This series has previously dealt with the grim histories of other highly dysfunctional families. While Bland pulls no punches in describing the appalling human capacity for cruelty, she counterbalances the world's evil with the character of Marti, a woman who seeks justice rather than retribution and who will not let herself be robbed of her own capacity for love and caring because so many others lack it. A stellar installment in an excellent series. Stuart Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312961723
• ISBN-13: 978-0312961725
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eleanor Taylor-Bland in "Keep Still" made me a mystery lover, October 2, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keep Still (Hardcover)

I had never thought much about mystery and mystery books, however, I love to read and I love to read book by female writers. I happened upon "Keep Still" among the bargain books at a local bookstore. I decided to give it a try and I fell in love. Eleanor Taylor-Bland is either a former detective or she is fabulous at research. She kept the pages turning for me and I have gone in search of other titles by her. Marti MacAlister is a dedicated police detective and single mom and she won my esteem in the way she approached her job. This book should be required reading for police departments with a side course in "manners" which sadly most police officer do not have. I loved the book and I'm looking forward to more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST MURDER MYSTRY, December 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Keep Still (Marti Macalister Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am not much of a book lover, but I couln't keep the book closed. Eleanor Taylor Blend kept me very interested. Every time I had a different idea who was causing all of these murders. It was so interesting that Marti (one of the detectives) had a full time Job and was a single mother, who doesn't get much sleep. Now that I had read this book I will read more of Eleanor Taylor Bland's books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, January 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Keep Still (Marti Macalister Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

In my search to find a great Murder Mystery to recommend for my book club I stumbled upon "Keep Still", I didn't recommend this book only because the first few pages didn't grip me. However, a few month later I picked the book up again and became entranced in the plot, the characters, and the setting. The book really picked up after the second murder. What seemed like two completely separate incidents began to weave together, until the end where the author developed a common thread which connected the two. Great writing, great ending! If you're looking for another excellent mystery, try "When Death Comes Stealing" by Valerie Wilson Wesley --- the book I did choose. You won't be disappointed.