Midnight Baby: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery [Paperback]

Wendy Hornsby (Author)

Book Description

Series: Maggie MacGowen Mystery | Publication Date: August 1, 1994

As Maggie MacGowen searches for the killer of a fourteen-year-old prostitute named Pisces, her investigation into the crime takes her from the mean streets of Los Angeles to one of its posh suburbs. Reprint. K. PW. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In L.A. to film a documentary about children, San Franciscan Maggie MacGowen (introduced in Edgar-winning Hornsby's Telling Lies ) meets a 14-year-old hooker who calls herself Pisces. Reminded of her own teenaged daughter, Maggie feeds Pisces and her young watchdog friend Sly and finds them beds for the night with a friend who's a social worker. When Maggie's lover, L.A. homicide detective Mike Flint, tells her that Pisces has been murdered, she promises to stay out of the police investigation but determines to find out who the girl was and how her family had lost track of her. The parents of a little girl who disappeared on a family outing 10 years earlier claim Pisces was their missing child, but Maggie and Mike identify the dead girl as the daughter of a wealthy Long Beach playboy. More murders occur while the police search for the killer and Maggie investigates possible connections between the two families. Hornsby gives the readers plenty of action and adult sex in this well-plotted tale that deftly mines suspense from the fears and vulnerabilities of single parents Maggie and Mike--and of her readers.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Documentary filmmaker Maggie MacGowen, intrigued by a 14-year-old hooker's cultured manners, calls upon her L.A. resources for help after someone slits the girl's throat. Struck by similarities to her own daughter, Maggie and lover/detective Mike Flint search for the girl's true identity and possible connections to an old missing-persons case. Slick L.A. scenery (pleasant and otherwise), graphic sex (mostly pleasant), fast-moving plot, and the lurid but spicy theme of runaway children and prostitution will appeal to many readers. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/93.
Copyright 1993 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: 304 pages
• Publisher: Signet (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451181360
• ISBN-13: 978-0451181367
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wendy Hornsby (1947 - ) is a native of Southern California, the setting for her nine mystery novels. Among the awards she has received for her work are the Edgar Allan Poe Award (the "Edgar") and its French equivalent le Grand Prix de litterature policiere, as well as nominations for the Anthony Award and the Prix Du Roman D'Adventures. While a NPR interviewer described the author as a "soft-spoken college professor," critics have described her work as "refreshing [and] real" (NY Times), "unusually poignant" (LA Times), and "powerful writing and... equally thought-provoking story" (Publisher's Weekly). The Cleveland Plain Dealer declared, "No mystery novelist since Raymond Chandler may have captured downtown Los Angeles as Hornsby does."

Hornsby lives in Long Beach CA, where she teaches history at a local college.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and Romance, April 2, 2009

By 

Bonnie Brody "Book Lover and Knitter" (Port St. Lucie, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Midnight Baby: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery (Paperback)

This mystery is a good page-turner about Maggie, a California film-maker who sidelines as a
sleuth, especially when she is in the company of her paramour, Mike, an L.A. homicide detective.
The book is filled with quick and clever dialogue with lots of fun interactions between Maggie and
Mike.

The story line revolves around the murder of a 14 year-old hooker names Pisces. Who Pisces is,
why she hit the streets, and the motivation for her murder is the backdrop for this mystery, ro-
mance and all-around fun read.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Step into the Mind of Maggie MacGowan, June 3, 2000

By 

Marti Auner (Cleveland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Baby: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery (Paperback)

From the very first sentence of this fast reading novel, the reader sees everything taking place directly in front of them through independent filmmaker, and single mother, Maggie. She is a passionate narrator, describing events as if she were projecting them directly to the reader through her camera.

While on location on a project she encounters a teen prostitute who isn't at all who she seems and has many secrets she is trying to hide on LA's seedy streets. But before Maggie can dig deeper, the girl, simply called Pices, is found dead in the park, her throat slit.

Enter Maggie's on-again/off-again lover Det. Mike Flint LAPD, and the story takes off. Sparks fly between the two characters as they try to uncover the mystery of Pices, and try to patch up their own stormy relationship, without getting in over their heads.

Wendy Hornsby writes at a fast pace and the book is a fairly simple read. Like ourselves, Maggie interjects bits of herself in the re-telling of shocking events, her concern for her own teenage daughter, her difficult divorce, and her fear of living with and without Mike.

Overall, the story loses it's way only once and then it rights itself and finishes beautifully. I only hope that Miss Hornsby keeps the stories coming.