The Oxygen Murder: A Periodic Table Mystery [Hardcover]

Mrs. Camille Minichino (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 2006

New York City welcomes Gloria Lamerino and her husband, homicide detective Matt Gennaro, in The Oxygen Murder, the eighth installment in Camille Minichino's acclaimed Periodic Table Mystery series.

Gloria and her best friends, Rose and Frank Galigani, are on vacation in the Big Apple. They plan to visit Matt's niece Lori Pizzano, a documentary filmmaker, and enjoy the holiday sights together: shopping on Fifth Avenue, dining in Little Italy, and honoring ancestors at Ellis Island, while Matt attends a conference with the NYPD.

Unfortunately, Lori's documentary on ozone and environmental issues has deadly fallout. Gloria stumbles over the body of Lori's scheming camerawoman in a Times Square loft, and, once again, she is thrust into some dangerous sleuthing.
With suspects ranging from a disapproving brother to a smooth-talking PR administrator to a self-protecting private eye, Gloria tracks a killer through an intricate landscape of colorful neighborhoods and famous landmarks.

Taking us on a trip from the city's tallest building to its grand park, from its crowded ice rinks to a lonely corner of its two-million-square-foot museum, The Oxygen Murder is as exciting as a ride over New York City in a helium balloon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Minichino's eighth chemistry-themed mystery (after 2005's The Nitrogen Murder), Gloria Lamerino, a physicist, and her new husband, homicide detective Matt Gennaro, head to New York City for a much-anticipated Christmas holiday. But Gloria gets sidetracked from shopping and sightseeing when she discovers a murdered woman in the apartment of Matt's niece, Lori Pizzano, a documentary filmmaker. The victim is Lori's camerawoman, Amber Keenan, whose ambition and schemes could have provoked a number of suspects. Lori and Amber had been working on an environmental sciences documentary film about the ozone layer, and had encountered corporations that could be ignoring governmental safety regulations and using strong-arm tactics. Is Lori in danger, too? But Amber's other gig was as a photographer for a PI, and she may have aggravated more than a few questionable characters with her snooping. Cozy fans will find this a breezy summer read. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In this eighth in the Periodic Table series, newly married physicist Gloria Lamerino and her homicide-detective husband, Matt Gennaro, have left Revere, Massachusetts, to travel to New York City. With Matt at a law-enforcement convention, Gloria is free to enjoy New York with friends Rose and Frank Galigani. Then a colleague of Matt's niece, documentary filmmaker Lori Pizzano, is found dead in Lori's loft, and Lori is a possible suspect. Gloria, naturally, can't resist investigating. Facts about ozone and its effects on industrial workers are woven seamlessly into the story, as Lori shares her research on her upcoming documentary with Gloria, and Gloria reflects further on oxygen and the environment. Sympathetic characters, the examination of the close friendship between Gloria and Rose, and plenty of humor enliven an engrossing story framed by interesting information on the science of ozone. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312347863
• ISBN-13: 978-0312347864
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Big Apple Vacation Combines Work, Pleasure, and Murder, September 26, 2006

By 

L. Kelly (Lakewood, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Oxygen Murder: A Periodic Table Mystery (Hardcover)

The eighth installment of Minichino's Periodic Table mysteries finds retired physicist and part-time sleuth Gloria Lamerino on a pre-Christmas trip to New York City with her new husband Matt Gennaro and their best friends Rose and Frank Galigani. The trip was supposed to be a pre-holiday shopping and sight-seeing getaway, combined with a police conference for Revere Police detective Matt. However, when Gloria pays a visit to Matt's niece Lori Pizzano, a documentary film maker, and discovers Lori's dying camerawoman Amber Keenan in Lori's studio/loft, Gloria and Matt suddenly find themselves searching for Amber's murderer. It turns out that there are lots of reasons why Amber could have been murdered, which range from the corporate secrets regarding ozone emissions which Lori and Amber were investigating in their latest documentary, to victims of Amber's blackmailing schemes which she was running on the side. Matt's niece Lori finds herself as a murder suspect, so of course Matt and Gloria want to find the real murderer. The mystery in this story is a good one and very enjoyable, with a soltuion which took me by surprise. As usual in this series, author Minichino mixes in quite a bit of scientific information in the plot, with the subject this time being ozone emissions from welding.

Set against a festive pre-Christmas New York setting, this latest entry in the series is one of the best of the series so far. Whether you are an old friend of Dr. Gloria Lamerino or new to the series, this is a story that all mystery fans are sure to enjoy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Gas, October 17, 2006

By 

Robert A. Olson "Opera Nut" (Jupiter FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Oxygen Murder: A Periodic Table Mystery (Hardcover)

Gloria Lamarino is glorious again as the physicist turned slueth in her newest science-based adventure. While a somewhat unlikely "heroine," Gloria, in her latest adventure, is becoming as unforgettable a character as Miss Marple. Once again, she has moved beyond her upper room roost above a Revere, Massachusetts funeral home. Now, instead of visiting friends in California, she and her new husband, Matt, find themselves in New York City. While Matt attends a conference, Gloria discovers a murder amidst old friends. Naturally, an element is involved -- oxygen. There are many twists and turns before the case is solved and the miscreant is brought to justice. But the real fun is in the wonderful characters that Minichino has created. To enter their world is a delight.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Oxygen Murder, September 27, 2007

By 

Linda G. Lunsford "cat lover" (Chatsworth, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Oxygen Murder: A Periodic Table Mystery (Hardcover)

I absolutely love Camille Minichino's books, and The Oxygen Murders is no exception. The heroine is so much like me--older, a teacher, unsure about men--until Gennaro--I just think she's great. Not only are but books entertaining but also a good learning experience. The most amazing things is that she can write entire books without using sex and profanity. They are there, but she has enough vocabulary available to her that she knows how to express the feeling without the "explicit sex and language," as so many other writers do. I read their books, too, but I can't wait for the next Gloria Lamerino adventure. Linda Lunsford