Secret Sins (Callie Anson Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Kate Charles (Author)

Book Description

Series: Callie Anson Mysteries | Publication Date: March 9, 2007

Life may not be getting any easier for curate Callie Anson, but it is definitely getting more interesting. Her relationship with policeman Marco Lombardi grows ever warmer, even though he seems to be keeping her away from his close Italian family. Then her own brother Peter, beloved and engaging as he is, gets a bit too close for comfort when he moves in with Callie.

Professionally, things are challenging as well. Callie has become involved with the problems of a new parishioner. Morag Hamilton is worried about her granddaughter Alex--a lonely and isolated twelve-year-old with a work-obsessed father and a self-absorbed step-mother. If Morag knew how much time Alex spends on the internet, she would have even more cause for worry.

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Neville Stewart tries to put his personal problems on hold as he deals with Rachel Norton, a pregnant young woman with a missing husband. With the birth of their first baby only a few days away, why would Trevor Norton go out jogging and not return?

Trevor's disappearance may not be what it seems. Just when Neville thinks he's solved it, someone else goes missing: young Alex Hamilton.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

St. Valentine's arrows rain over London in the engaging second installment of Charles's ecclesiastical mysteries (after 2005's Evil Intent) starring newly ordained Anglican cleric Callie Anson, who's mooning over charming cop Mark Lombardi. When not distracted by romance, Callie tends to the needs of parishioner Morag Hamilton, who, in short order, receives bad medical news and learns that her granddaughter has gone missing. The wife of Callie's boss has a bad case of empty-nest syndrome and frets about her son's serious girlfriend. Mark's police buddy Neville Stewart has, after nearly a decade, gotten back together with the love of his life, but she's sending mixed signals. Neville must also solve the murder of a successful young computer whiz, who has left behind a seemingly grief-stricken and very pregnant wife. All the characters are well drawn, and the multiple story lines make for a page-turner. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Multiple characters and plotlines intertwine in this fast-paced second in a series featuring All Saints' Church curate Callie Anson; her boyfriend, Mark Lombardi; and Detective Inspector Neville Stewart. A man disappears while jogging and is later found murdered, leaving a pregnant wife. A lonely, unhappy 12-year-old girl, Alex Hamilton, the granddaughter of a new parishioner, disappears while going to meet someone she has been corresponding with on the Internet. On the personal side, Mark is unsure how to introduce Callie to his close Italian family because she is not Italian. Callie must also deal with her abrasive mother and her brother, who is temporarily living with her. The professional and personal lives of the many interrelated characters are followed in the compelling story. Numerous full-bodied, well-developed characters--except for Alex's stepmother, who is straight out of Cinderella--add to the appeal in this blend of police procedural and amateur-detective mystery. Fans of Julia Spencer-Fleming will appreciate the backdrop of a female member of the clergy trying to fit in a male-dominated profession. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 343 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (March 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590583566
• ISBN-13: 978-1590583562
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,133,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best I've read in a long, long time, March 24, 2007

By 

Dr Cathy Goodwin (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret Sins (Callie Anson Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It's been so long since I read a truly great mystery: absorbing, suspenseful, well-written, cleverly plotted, three-dimensional characters worth following. I hear publishers are pushing the more contemporary suspense novels, but give me a good detective read anytime.

Author Kate Charles masterfully controls a handful of parallel plots. Some characters are common to all, but thankfully we don't have a contrived ending where everything nicely dovetails. In fact, at least one plot ends with a revelation of a cruel tragedy.

This series inevitably gets compared to other clerical mysteries (such as Spencer-Fleming) and English mysteries (such as Veronica Stallwood). But I think anyone who appreciates great detective fiction will be delighted to stumble across Kate Charles. I'd compare her to Nevada Barr, Sarah Stewart Taylor, and even some of Sharyn McCrumb.

An author, in my mind, can be called great when we readers commit the secret sins of reading their work when we should be working. A rare and highly pleasurable experience. Secret Sins qualifies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a quality of story that is too few and far between, September 30, 2007

By 

HCJL "crowpal" (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret Sins (Callie Anson Mysteries) (Paperback)

I agree with Dr Cathy Goodwin's assessment of the book, except I would say the quality is right up there with Deborah Crombie and Jill Mcgown (and that IS high praise). Lots of characters, but depicted so well and concisley that they are easy to keep track of. This is the type of writing I long for, and the paperback looks so blah on the cover--just goes to show once again about not judging by a cover! I started the book this morning and couldn't stop till I was through, not so much because the mystery is so suspenseful as that the characters and their lives really draw you in. Will definitely check out her other books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting London investigative tale, March 10, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret Sins (Callie Anson Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In London recently ordained Anglican cleric Callie Anson is happy with her relationship with police officer Marco "Mark" Lombardi though he seems to avoid having her meet his Italian family. Callie tries to provide solace to new parishioner Morag Hamilton, who is worried about her beloved preadolescent granddaughter Alex who never goes outside unless she has to; her father Alex is to busy with work and her stepmother Jilly is too busy with her own needs to care that Alex lives on the Internet.

While Callie worries about Morag and Alex, Detective Inspector Neville Stewart investigates a missing jogger, computer guru Trevor Norton whose wife is about to give birth. Though he hopes the runner is found okay, Neville fears the worst while welcoming the respite from his personal problems of a maybe romance with the woman he has always loved who dumped him a decade ago. Now Neville has a second vanishing to investigate; that twelve years old Alex whose grandmother reported her missing.

The key to this exciting London investigative tale is the extended cast are fully developed three dimensional people who make the several plots merge into a terrific one sitting thriller. Alex is the link that ties the multitude of plots into one superior story line. Readers will want to obtain Kate Charles' fine character driven tale SECRET SINS and the previous novel with much of the same lead players EVIL INTENT.

Harriet Klausner