The Mango Opera [Hardcover]

Tom Corcoran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998 | Series: Mango Opera (Book 1)

Although he prefers magazine work, freelance photographer Alex Rutledge won't turn down an occasional crime scene shoot for the City of Key West Police Department. But when a string of murders takes his viewfinder into strangely familiar territory, Alex's mellow island lifestyle shatters. One after another, someone is killing women who have intimately crossed Alex Rutledge's path. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe it's a conspiracy. Or maybe he's crazy. But the connection marks Alex as the prime suspect in a case so hot it's drawn in the county sheriff, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. In a desperate race to save his name and his life, Alex dives into a one-man search for the dark, sweltering truth beneath a case that's pounding toward meltdown.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Key West has been a geographical muse for a gamut of writers from Wallace Stevens to Jimmy Buffett. Cast almost adrift, the last pearl on the string of islands that make up the end of America's East Coast, Key West endures in our imaginations as an expatriate paradise, a pirate hideaway, and a perpetual party. In his debut novel, The Mango Opera, Tom Corcoran does little to shatter these illusions. Indeed, he does quite a bit to fill out the uninitiated reader's understanding of the secretive and steamy history of Cayo Hueso.

Corcoran's hero, Alex Rutledge is a freelance photographer whose island life has taken a turn for the worse with the recent departure of his girlfriend, Annie Minnette. When he isn't shooting magazine glossies and menu food, Rutledge does a bit of forensic work for local law enforcement agencies. It's easy money until the morning he finds Annie's look-alike roommate posed for some gruesome portraits on the other side of his lens. Police begin to suspect a serial killer as the list of victims grows, and Rutledge suspects something more sinister when he realizes the list of victims reads like a page or two from his own little black book.

Like a tropical chef, Corcoran flavors The Mango Opera with colorful characters, crisp dialogue, island history, and quite a bit of dark but highly appropriate humor. He serves it all up in tasty bites that promise to satisfy almost any mystery lover.

From Publishers Weekly

Southern Florida keeps turning out mystery writers. Corcoran's colorful Key West debut shows that there's room for at least one more. Alex Rutledge, longtime Key West resident, earns a precarious living as a photographer whose work includes some crime-site picture taking for the police. Rutledge's laid-back routine is disrupted when estranged girlfriend Annie Minnette shows up with some hastily gathered belongings after her roommate has been found murdered. Rutledge's involvement becomes more direct when additional murders and attempted murders occurAall aimed at women who are part of his somewhat promiscuous past. Rutledge's familiarity with the victims seems to be at the center of a mystery as snarled as a mangrove clump. Untangling the twists proves dangerous and exacting as a parade of memorable characters send Rutledge on a trip down memory lane that includes flashbacks to the Cuban boatlift and dubious characters on both sides of the law. With its sure feel for the Key West that resides beneath the tourist facade and a quirky, hard-edged rhythm pulsing beneath the surface calm, this debut deserves a wide and welcoming audience.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312186282
• ISBN-13: 978-0312186289
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ahhhhh South Florida Mysteries......., July 29, 2002

By 

Denise Eaden (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mango Opera (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Corcoran is right up there with the best in the genre. The Mango Opera is a good mystery set in Key West with a little Miami thrown in and one good trip to Georgia. While the character development can be confusing - as none are well developed except Alex Rutledge - half the fun is created by your not knowing who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. The string of suspects is as long as some of the bridges connecting the Keys to the South Florida peninsula.

Alex Rutledge is our hero, and, like most of his buddies, is a true native to the Key West - a "bubba", all of whose lives are intricately woven in and out of each other's. There are dark secrets, grudges and camaraderie all in one friendship. When Alex's ex-lovers start turning up dead it is hard to believe that it isn't personal.

The story will have you guessing until the bitter end. This is a quick, witty, wonderfully colorful, south Florida tale packed with a punch.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'The Mango Opera' Sure To Please Parrot Heads., August 30, 1998

By 

JB Thomas ([e-mail]) (Winter Park, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mango Opera (Hardcover)

If you're a Jimmy Buffett fan and like whodunnits, you're about to become a Tom Corcoran fan. This debut novel by the long time Key Wester and Buffett pal instantly transports the reader "down island", leading them through the streets and alleyways of Old Town.

Like the unlikely heroes of Carl Hiaasen, freelance photographer Alex Rutledge finds himself embroiled in murder and mystery as several former girlfriends are found dead in gruesome circumstances.

Corcoran skillfully leads the reader through a plot that twists and turns as often as the Florida weather changes. As the hero becomes the suspect, he also becomes detective as he tries to cope with the deaths of his former lovers and how to warn those who are still alive that someone may be after them.

An engrossing tale complete with good and bad cops, Cuban expatriates, various thugs and a few good friends, 'The Mango Opera' delivers an excellent whodunnit experience.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read., March 24, 2000

By 

Jim McGee (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mango Opera (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Looking for a book for the plane ride home, I found Mango Opera on the last day of a recent stay in Key West. It hooks you early, moves fast, and it's difficult to put down.

Tom Corcoran does a great job of capturing the offbeat flavor of Key West and the people who live there. If you don't know Key West it's a great read, if you do then Corcoran's descriptions will make you feel as if you're back there again. It's a great book with some unique twists and turns where the characters act like real people. I'm looking forward to his next book.