Playing God: A Joe Burgess Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Kate Clark Flora (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006 | Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery

Five Star Mysteries are standard print, first editions from award-winning authors as well as up-and-coming authors of the Mystery genre. These hardcover first editions will consist of new novels and short story collections plus novels that have been restored from original typescripts.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Flora's dazzling debut police procedural introduces Sgt. Joe Burgess, a crusty but bighearted Portland, Maine, cop. "This case has everything," Joe says of a murder he's investigating, "unhappy wife, angry ex. Hookers. Drugs. Money problems. Maybe blackmail." The distinctly unsympathetic victim, Dr. Stephen Pleasant, is found in his Mercedes with his pants down, a rod rammed down his throat and two shades of lipstick smeared on his chest. It turns out he had a three-hooker-a-week habit, and one of the suspects is Alana Black, a sexy young prostitute Burgess has been trying to help for years. But evidence suggests another woman at the scene and tracking her down proves difficult and dangerous for Alana and Joe, testing his tenacity, patience and faith—not only as he pursues justice but as he faces his personal demons. Flora (Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine) leaves some tantalizing loose ends at the conclusion, hinting at future entries in this promising new series. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Sergeant Joe Burgess, a Portland, Maine, homicide cop, has a reputation for being a bit mean. And surly. And unruly. And disrespectful to his superiors, not to mention witnesses and suspects. But he is also considered one of the best detectives on the force, which is a good thing, since his latest case is a toughie. A physician is found, murdered in his car. It looks like a simple case of a "romantic tryst" (the kind that involves money changing hands) gone bad, but Burgess is not one of those cops who settles for the easy answer. Instead, he proceeds to rattle a few cages and make a few enemies, digging deeper into the murdered man's life than anyone, least of all the killer, wants him to. Flora, author of the Thea Kozak mystery series, has veered off in a new direction and has created one of the more intriguing protagonists to come along in a few seasons. Presumably, there will be more Burgess novels, and that looks to be a very good thing. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 397 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME); 1st Printing edition (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594144613
• ISBN-13: 978-1594144615
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,237,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling police procedural, October 25, 2006

By 

Lesa Holstine (Glendale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing God: A Joe Burgess Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

Kate Flora introduces an intriguing new character in Joe Burgess, "Portland's meanest cop." He's also the best detective on the Portland, Maine police force so his supervisor allows him to work the murder case involving Dr. Stephen Pleasant, even though Burgess hated Pleasant. Burgess said "This case has everything - unhappy wife, angry ex. Hookers. Drugs. Money problems. Maybe blackmail, and a vic nobody liked, including his patients."

Flora's first mystery in a new series does have everything, including a likeable hero and an intriguing puzzle. The reader will avidly follow Burgess down the convoluted path to the conclusion. It's a compelling start to a new series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mature, thought provoking read, November 14, 2006

By 

Martin Church (Michigan, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing God: A Joe Burgess Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

"Playing God" was a visceral experience for me. The story was a mature, thought provoking, gut wrenching and satisfying read. When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it. It made me consider my life, values and relationships...that's good writing. I felt like I'd lived with the characters through a tough, real life investigation along with being mugged, pummeled and half starved. This was my first Kate Flora novel and I'll be looking for more. I especially want to read her latest, "Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine".

3.0 out of 5 stars Cop show cliches, June 11, 2011

By 

Rhiannon (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing God: A Joe Burgess Mystery (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

I listened to the audible audio version of this book, and I just don't see what the rave reviews are about. The main players, cops and victim were cliches done to death. A burned out cop who's worried about becoming like his alcoholic father, works too much, invests too much of himself in his cases, and keeps you reading mostly to see if he can drag this thing across the finish line without getting fired or getting himself killed, Joe Burgess could be any one of dozens of TV cops. Then we have our murder victim, the doctor who saw himself on a pedestal and his patients as numbers on his calender, murdered in his car, where he usually parks for his trists with various local hookers. I think I saw this on an episode of Law and Order (actually more than one).

But this book is set in Portland Maine, a unique place, not many people set books in, and you'd never know it if the characters didn't tell you. There is no sense of the unique place that is Maine, this could be Minnesota, Oregon, or Buffalo if not for the city and town names thrown out by the detectives occasionally. I realize a real sense of the enviornment is not crucial to a good mystery but if you are going to pick an unusual place, show us the details that make that place special and interesting, otherwise why not just use New York or LA like everyone else.

The mystery itself was alright, and progressed from point A to point B with a few twists and turns, but without engaging interesting characters or a unique backdrop to sell the story it was very bland and I thought about giving up on it more than once.