Customer Reviews

Night Work (Kate Martinelli Mysteries)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stop! If you haven't read the first three Kate Martinelli Mysteries. They MUST be read in order.

For those of you still with me, this mystery returns to the police procedural style of the first two Kate books: A Grave Talent and To Play the Fool. Yes, Lee and all of Kate's friends are still around, and some of them even get a lot of page time. However, this book doesn't have pages and pages of personal angst like With Child.

The mystery itself is wonderful and all the clues are given along the way. As the publisher provided summary suggests, this book focuses on political anti-violence against women activities and cyber hit lists. Very contemporary. Very detailed.

Kate's private life also gets some attention so all the lose ends from With Child are tied together.

Overall, this was a wonderfully fulfilling book. Don't plan on reading it in small chunks. You'll want to read straight through to the end.

Even though I love Laurie King's Sherlock & Mary series, I have long been looking forward to a new Kate Martinelli story from her. As a woman, I relate to many of the issues woven into her story, and she makes me think about Life, just as relationships and events in my own life do. Like all my favorite series, this one had me completely involved in Kate's life, as well as the lives of those around her; and I wanted to know, "What happened next! "

Night Work did not disappoint me at all. I am able to say to all Laurie King fans; "It's a good 'un from beginning to end!" And let's face it, she's one of the best writers of mystery novels ever. This new book is as excellently written as all her others, which is high praise indeed. King takes us deeper into the lives of Kate, her partner Lee, her work partner Al, their friends and family, and other interesting people along the way. These people interact believably, their characters become clearer to us, and some of them grow personally in ways that we can relate to and learn from.

For me a good novel is a good novel, and the genre chosen as its setting is largely irrelevant. I like books that interest, excite, and move me; as well as making me think about the important issues in life, both those which transcend the particular and those especially important to our lives today. Laurie King's books meet all my criteria for a good novel - actually, a very good novel, indeed - and I look forward to many more from her.

Like a lot of her fans, I have been waiting for Laurie King to even up the balance between her two detectives. Now that she's got the score back to 5-4 (Mary Russell leads by one), we can give her a free choice of which one she writes for next.

I have read all the books in both series, and this one does not fall short in any way. "Night Work" is exciting, emotionally involving, and intellectually stimulating. What more can you ask from a novel? With "Night Work", Laurie King retains her place on my top shelf of thriller writers alongside Elmore Leonard and Robert Parker. Reservations? Just a couple of minor ones. I did feel that outside of the inner circle of both Kate's partners and their households, the characters were not as vivid as in the earlier novels in this series. People like the Mehta family and Roz Hall were not given much space for development. And the ending was a bit pat for me as well. As with "A Darker Place", (published immediately prior to "Night Work"), I felt that the middle was more exciting than the end.

But Laurie King is such an overachiever. Not many writers would be able to produce two such different series, and she shows no sign yet of falling below her own high standards.

I read Night Work. Then I read it again. And then I re-read Ms. King's other Kate Martinelli books in order. Night Work was one of those books where I read each and every word. The plots held my interest... the murders, the LOPD, and Kate's home life. The characters were rich and full and the exploration of the Indian culture was very interesting. Nothing felt flat.

What I like about this series is nothing is given away freely. Kate and Al uncover one clue at a time, and sometimes not in time. This is what I imagine police work really is like. One thing I noticed is the vast amounts of coffee everyone consumes. My stomach aches just to think about it. And Night Work certainly did set off my craving for Indian food. In talking with others, some one suggested this was Ms. King's last Kate and Al book. I hope not, I really hope not.

I had been looking forward to this book, since I appreciate the dark ambience and complex issues King waves into this series. I was disappointed.

The prose is sparer, less elegant, than I remember in her previous books, and King indulges her passion in Old Testament theology to the point of tedium (and I consider myself a pretty big fan of the Old Testament).

King's creative genius and sense of fun is still there: the militant Ladies' terrorist acts made me laugh. But by the end of the book, I didn't particularly care who the murderer was.

With all this complaining, will I buy the next King book? Probably. She's the most interesting mystery/suspense writer out there right now. I'd like to see more depth and craft in the next book in the series.

I've read several of Laurie King's books and was so pleased to pick this one up ... but then disappointed in the lack of story, and somewhat frustrated by the prose style (at least one other reviewer here has pointed out how repetitive this one is-- for example, every time Detective Martinelli takes a swallow of coffee or beer or whatever, King provides a description of the big swallow and how much Martinelli *really* enjoys it).

The lesbian relationships seemed superficial-- the ties between women are much more compelling in the earlier Kate Martinelli books. Be forewarned that pages and pages are devoted to impersonal conversations about Biblical issues and an ancient, angry goddess.

It left me wondering if King really wants to write something scholarly about the evolution of assorted religious beliefs.

It's been a long wait for the next episode in the Kate Martinelli series. On the whole, Night Work was worth the wait though it is far from perfect (or even the wonder of "A Grave Talent").

After the vague mystery of "With Child", it is refreshing to return to the police procedural foundation and a healthy dose of Kate's police partner, Al. I also got a kick out of the early crimes of the Ladies of Perpetual Disgruntalment. The core of the murders reads well between the pure evidence and the abusive history of victims. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the marriage traditions of India when set in the US. The writing is good - if lacking a bit in the editing.

What didn't work for me in the book was the overwhelming sense of political correctness. I'm fine with the lesbian relationships but King got both preachy and redundant in this story. Likewise, this isn't the first time that she's explored religious themes. However, at times this book reads more like a piece of feminist religious propaganda trapped in a mystery. Sure, some of it figures into the plot but about 20% of the book seemed pretty irrelevant to either solving the crimes or growing the key characters. Likewise, the ending is pretty abrupt without clearly exploring the motivations of the killers (and not very many clues leading up to their identification).

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a series that is critical to read in order. This is the forth book in the series.

Though it may seem an appropriate measure, vigilante justice regardless of the outcome remains illegal. Unfortunately, many Americans are thrilled by the antics of the feminist vigilante group, Ladies of Perpetual Disgruntlement who use a taser to stun males who have committed crimes against females.

The courts cleared Barry Doyle of statutory rape charges. However, the LOPD abducted him, stripped him, tatooed him with "I screw children" and left him spread eagled on the side of the highway. However, justice turns even uglier when a second group kills two serial rapists. San Francisco police detectives Kate Martinelli and Al Hawkins begin to investigate these avenging angels or devils, depending on your outlook.

Award winning Laurie R. King will probably be the recipient of more honors for her latest Martinelli tale, NIGHT WORK. The numerous subplots converge into the powerful main story line to add much depth to a complex and thrilling novel. Ms. King provides insight into Kate's personal life, especially with her life mate and their friends. Those segments provide relief from a chilling, fast-paced story that is a memorable police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

I found King to be a talented writer-- this is the first book of hers that I've read and I'm relieved to see this described in the reviews as the weakest of her books.

There are many good ingredients in this book-- a humorous vigilante group that has captured the imaginination of a city, a very real relationship between two women, and a number of very touchy subjects which have a lot of potential for exploration.

The problem that I have with _Night Work_ is that none of it really seems to come together in an adequate way. The resolution felt a little like King had painted herself into a corner and didn't know quite how to get out without sacrificing the political point. It was a real let down given the masterly set-up in the early phases.

After a few dozen pages of this book, I realized that I had read it before or at least had started it in some bookstore. I certainly couldn't remember how it ended so the journey was not impaired. Much of Laurie King's work can be characterized in a feminist vein, but none so much as this book. And in Laurie King's hands, feminism is a not-always-pretty, but always-present element in the lives of the women who populate this pages. This had a powerful effect on me. I found myself cringing at things I should have been applauding and completely taken in because of my own personal stereotyping. This was not a comfortable read (so many of Laurie King's books are not) but it was a good and necessary journey. As with some of Thomas Perry's books, we find ourselves understanding the motivations of people who do things we absolutely cannot condone. Having said all that, it is good to be back in the same orbit with Kate Martinelli and Al Hawkin and their assorted cast of friends and lovers.