Shallow Graves [Hardcover]

Jeremiah Healy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

When nineteen-year-old Amerasian model Mau Tim is found dead after a bungled burglary, private eye John Cuddy investigates and discovers that Tim's agency had taken out a hefty insurance policy on the cover girl prior to her death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Boston PI John Cuddy doesn't know that he'll be working under the eagle eye of mob boss Tommy "the Temper" Danucci when he agrees to look into the death of fashion model Mau Tim Dani for his former employer, Empire Insurance. He learns soon enough that Mau Tim was Danucci's granddaughter and that the mob family remains as puzzled about her death as the police and the insurance company that carried a large policy on her life for the modeling agency. The young woman was strangled in her apartment, which was owned and run by the family; the only other tenant in the building was another model. With only Mau Tim's missing iolite necklace to work from, Cuddy methodically interviews each of her relatives, co-workers and lovers, gradually building a picture of the girl and ultimately determining who killed her. As in past books, Healy gives his readers an array of distinctive characters while engaging them in a deftly plotted and satisfying story.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Boston's low-keyed, unflappable p.i. John Cuddy (Right to Die, 1991, etc.) is hired by his despised insurance-company ex-boss to investigate the murder of young model Mau Tim Dani, whose agency had insured her life for half a million. Soon after, a henchman escorts Cuddy to a meeting with notorious mobster Tommy the Temper Danucci, who, it turns out, was Mau Tim's grandfather--a fact known to her best friend Sinead Fagan, an ex-boyfriend; photographer Oscar Puriefoy, and a few others. The murder, in Mau Tim's apartment, appears to be robbery-connected, but as Cuddy rehashes at length details of times, exits, and entries, puzzling questions arise. The answers are shocking and not totally convincing. Cuddy's bloodless romance with assistant D.A. Nancy Meagher; her cat's medical problems; a parade of characters who'd be mute without their all-purpose four-letter words; and a tortoiselike pace--all add up to torpid, under-par fare from an old hand who usually satisfies. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Atria; First Edition edition (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671708112
• ISBN-13: 978-0671708115
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,571,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeremiah Healy, a former Sheriff's Officer and Military Police Lieutenant, is a graduate of Rutgers College and the Harvard Law School. Healy is also the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and (under the pseudonym "Terry Devane") the Mairead O'Clare legal-thriller series, both set primarily in Boston. Healy has written eighteen novels and over sixty short stories, sixteen of which works have won or been nominated for the Shamus Award. He served as the President of the International Association of Crime Writers ("IACW") from 2000-2004, and he was the International Guest of Honour at the 34th World Mystery Convention in Toronto during October, 2004. Three years ago, Healy concluded his term as a member of the Mystery Writers of America's National Board of Directors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great series, February 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: SHALLOW GRAVES (Paperback)

For all you P.I. readers who haven't discovered Healy, give him a chance. Read one, want them all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Member of this Series, November 7, 2011

By 

Jay Diamond - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SHALLOW GRAVES (Paperback)

Another great read in the John Cuddy P.I. Series.
The main problem is that there are so few of them!