Killing Critics [Hardcover]

Carol O'Connell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Putnam (1998)
• ASIN: B000WCVGV8
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,584,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery with meat..., June 15, 2005

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Critics (Kathleen Mallory Novels) (Paperback)

Carol O'Connell's Killing Critics is her third Kathleen Mallory mystery, and they just continue to get better. This book has it all: complex plot, memorable characters and some brilliant detective work.

An artist, Dean Starr, is discovered murdered in the middle of an art gallery exhibition. His death is made to look like performance art. NYPD Special Crimes Unit detectives Mallory and Ricker are called in to investigate. Twelve years previous, there was a brutal double homicide in an art gallery owned by the same man, and the circumstances are very similar. Mallory's late father, Markowitz, was on that case and although he got a confession and a conviction, he never for a minute believed that he had the right man. As Mallory and Riker find out more about this new murder, the more parallels there are to the old one. Yet, the NYPD considers the old case closed, and will not allow them to "officially" investigate. The list of suspects is very long, and there are also a good number of people who would like to see the murders remain unsolved. Those in high ranking office are vulnerable including the police commission and a state senator.

In Killing Critics, O'Connell gives us a crash course on the New York City art world, including artists, works of art, galleries, gallery owners, art shows, art critics, art patrons and art investors. It truly is fascinating. She also opens the door wider into Mallory's troubled childhood, and we better understand why she remains so scarred. All the major characters (Mallory, Riker and Butler) are fleshed out in greater detail.

Two things kept me from giving this book five stars. First, I thought it was a bit slow at the beginning, although it quickly picked up speed and the ending will blow you away. Second, I thought it stretched O'Connell's credibility to have Mallory challenge a former Olympic gold medalist to a fencing duel (she only had one semester of fencing in college). Still, these criticisms aside, this is an awesome story and O'Connell is one of the few writers who gives us mysteries with meat.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mallory Grabs You and Won't Let Go, May 14, 1998

By 

Debra Thomson ([e-mail]) (Fall River, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killing Critics (Kathleen Mallory Novels) (Paperback)

In Killing Critics, Carol O'Connell's lead character Kathy Mallory continues to evolve into one of the most fascinating heroines in the genre. In each of her three appearances, (Mallory's Oracle, The Man Who Cast Two Shadows, and Killing Critics), Mallory reveals slivers of her past, intriguing insights into her missing childhood, even as she regains the memories that torment her. The mystery of Mallory is as compelling as any of the murders found in these tales, and will be the reason I will keep reading O'Connell's new works. Kathy Mallory isn't finished yet, and I look forward to seeing her deal with her demons.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move over Scarpetta, here comes Mallory!, May 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Killing Critics (Kathleen Mallory Novels) (Hardcover)

This book did not disappoint. After reading her previous books I couldn't wait to read Mallory's latest adventure. O'Connell gives us more background into why Mallory has turned into the detective she is. Some of the characters I Idid not care for(Bliss for instance, and Emma Sue Halloran) but I like Charles,Riker, and Coffey. These people are true to life.
Sometimes O'Connell is hard to follow as she brings in caharacters and events in The Big Apple that don't seem to tie in with the story. Here's hoping her next novel The Stone Angel is a continuation of Sgt. Mallory.I would like to know more about the elusive Carol O'Connell