Customer Reviews

Singularity: A Mystery (Sarah Armstrong)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In his Galveston beach house, someone murders affluent Houston businessman Edward Travis Lucas III and his apparent lover attorney Annmarie Knowles; the killer placed the bodies in ritualistic way to maximize the scandal; thius pointing elsewhere. Galveston and Houston Police Departments claim pieces of the investigation; the Texas Rangers and the FBI also insist they have jurisdiction. In front of the media everyone is cooperative, but at the crime scene and elsewhere away from the spotlight, squabbling her begun.

Recently widowed and single mom Texas Ranger profiler Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong works the case along side FBI profiler David Garrity; neither accept the local department's theory that Lucas' wife, Priscilla killed both of them. Instead the two profilers believe a serial killer with a track record in Texas committed the homicides and disguised them to look like a crime of passion. They plan to prove their theory.

This is a terrific Texas police procedural with the jurisdictional war kept in the background rising just enough to make for a strong investigation by the profilers. However, the key to this fine yet standard murder mystery is the grieving mother and daughter as each struggles with the recent death of the man in their lives and that in turn deepens the audience's understanding of the caring mother who uses work as a psychological defense mechanism because she cannot mourn her loss too openly at home; her daughter needs her emotionally strong. Fans will enjoy Kathryn Casey's fine insightful tale.

Harriet Klausner

This is one of the most exciting, fascinating, and satisfying police procedurals I've read in a long, long time. The book is very well written, and the complexities of the characters are convincingly developed, from the Texas Ranger heroine herself, through her co-workers and competitors, to her family, and to the serial killer. Along the way are revealed interesting details about police procedures, railroad operations, Houston high society, and even astronomy. The climax, the encounter between the police and the criminal, could be called overdone, but after I decided just to "go with the flow", I enjoyed the suspenseful working out of the perilous situation. I'm looking forward eagerly to the next book in the series.

Kathryn Casey is perhaps best known for her non-fiction, true crime writings, here she tries her hand at fiction in the account of Sarah Armstrong, a single mother, profiler and member of Texas' most elite group of law men, the Texas Rangers.

The murder of a megawealthy businessman and his mistress leads local police to the man's wife, Sarah sees the work of a serial killer. As other similar murders occur, it appears she is right but she finds herself the object of the killer's obsession. As she gets close to solving the case, the madmen closes in on her and those close to her.

Singularity features a feisty, funny, and tough heroine and a truly creepy killer, as it races along to a chilling and unexpected climax.

I have been a fan of Kathryn Casey's true crime books and was interested in see how she did with a fictional account. Her solid writing skills shine through, and while I cannot say I loved it, I did like it and would recommend it to others. Characters are well drawn and the plot is believable, no wild twists but the increasing depravity of the killer becomes apparent before a pulse raising conclusion. A conclusion that hints there will be more Sarah Armstrong novels. We can only hope and pray and beg.

Singularity is one rivetting read! Sarah Armstrong is a believable character...she makes women want to step up and show what we're made of.
All I can say is, "move over, Patricia Cornwell, there's a new lady sheriff in town, and her name is Kathryn Casey!

If you like well written mysteries you will enjoy this book. It is so nice to read a book that is well written and easy to read and interesting. This is the perfect book for summer reading when you want to spend a lazy afternoon getting lost in a good book.

Katheryn Casey is the best when it comes to true crime stories. Cannot say the same for her novels.

True-crime author Kathryn Casey has magnificently written a truly captivating fiction mystery. This is the first book of a series starring Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong, the only criminal profiler and one of only two women in the elite Texas Rangers law enforcement agency. Working out of her hometown, Houston, Texas, she is also a recently widowed, single mother of a young daughter. This engaging story begins with Sarah en route to a Galveston beach house to investigate the heinous murders of a wealthy real estate developer and his mistress. Teamed up with a FBI profiler, the two set out to nab the killer. Clues at this and other crime scenes suggest a serial killer is at large. Other mysteries are unearthed as they relentlessly follow the killer's trail. Meanwhile, Sarah is struggling to balance her investigative duties with comforting and caring for her grieving daughter. A violent confrontation ends this thrilling story. Ms. Casey has brilliantly crafted a complex, intriguing cast of characters who engaged me from start to finish. Sarah Armstrong is the perfect heroine...astute, strong, determined, yet vulnerable. She is a character we can relate to. Her sweet, loving relationship with her grieving little girl is heartwarming. In addition, this well researched book is rich in fascinating details about law enforcement procedures. I absolutely loved this suspenseful novel and I highly recommend it! "Blood Lines" is the second book in the Sarah Armstrong series.

For Texas Ranger Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong the summons to Galveston to investigate the death of some big shot didn't seem that important at first. The only criminal profiler in the Texas Rangers, she works out of Ranger Company A, based in Houston. It took her an hour to get from her Houston office to the multimillion dollar beach homes that signify a far different lifestyle than her own of a single mother raising a young daughter.

Almost from the start, the investigation is problematic as she has a history with the lead detective of the Galveston P. D. The fact that the two dead bodies are posed on the bed in the master bedroom under a bloody cross means only one thing to Detective O. L. Nelson. He is convinced that the wife of Edward Travis Lucas the Third, Priscilla Lucas, arranged to have him and his mistress, Annmarie Knowles, killed. Nelson's theory is that Priscilla got mad he was cheating, maybe he wanted a divorce, maybe there is a prenup, and so she hires herself a killer. The cross on the ceiling, the posing of the bodies using fishing line to orchestrate the tableau, and other details are camouflage to throw Law Enforcement off track.

Detective Nelson has been horrendously wrong before and as he makes the case for his theory, she is absolutely convinced he is very wrong again. She is convinced that a pro killer didn't do this for money. Instead, she believes it to be the work of a serial killer who targeted the lovers for some other reason. She believes from the details at the scene that he took his time to clean up after himself because he has done this many times before and enjoys doing what he does.

Unfortunately, Sarah Armstrong's opinion is a minority point of view with the case quickly becoming a media circus and Priscilla Lucas the target. Despite being able to possibly link other cases to the serial killer, Sara Armstrong's career becomes threatened by political pressures due to the prominence of the families involved and media hysteria forcing consequences on every one involved.

Known for her published work in non fiction true crime books, this is author Kathryn Casey's first fiction novel and it frequently shows for readers familiar with the mystery genre. Somewhat clichéd in terms of character development (Sarah Armstrong is a recent widow raising an eleven-year-old daughter with the help of her own strong willed Mom), the novel soon turns into the classic deal of the taunting killer and Sarah engaged in a battle of wits. One expects the mailed notes quoting scripture and isn't surprised that they show up. What is surprising is how long it takes for them to arrive.

Long on legend and lore regarding to Texas Rangers, readers never get the sense Sarah Armstrong really is one. Despite the fact that she works on facial reconstructions with clay in the dark of night when she can't sleep, there is no depth to the character in the law enforcement arena or any real specific unique details that make the Texas Ranger angle of the novel come across as real to readers. Instead, this material comes across as generic and the same basic character type stuff seen in many books in the genre despite the acknowledgements page. It also isn't surprising and rather clichéd when two FBI agents become involved in the case with one being a negative influence and siding with Detective Nelson and the other siding with Sarah Armstrong and becoming a romantic interest. Such conflict is a classic stereotype within the mystery genre.

Yet, such classic stereotypes exist because when the human element is added well the resulting novel can and usually does work. Such is the case here as the novel builds at a steady pace while adding in the human factor making the main character and her family come alive for readers. While Sarah as a Texas Ranger is never totally believable, Sarah as a parent dealing with the tragic loss of her husband, Bill a year earlier comes across extremely well to readers. Not only the impact on her but the impact on her young daughter Maggie rings all too true to readers who are parents. The relationship between Sarah and her own mother also comes across well to readers making the family dynamic one of the strongest plot points in the novel. The human element is what drives this novel forward and when Author Kathryn Casey concentrates on that the book is at its best.

While readers expect the showdown between crimminal and avenging Sarah Armstrong at the end of the novel, the setup to get there and the resulting outcome contains a few surprises. That fact, along with a strong character that frequently pushes at the boundaries of stereotype, plenty of action and depth to the mystery, make this a good novel that will keep readers entertained and turning pages.

Another novel featuring Sarah Armstrong titled "Blood Lines" is currently scheduled to come out some time this summer.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009

Kathryn Casey is well-known for her true-crime novels and the Sarah Armstrong series finds her extending her reach into fiction writing. Few writers do true-crime better than Casey, but the same cannot be said about her foray into mystery writing.

Casey's heroine is Sarah Armstrong who, she repeatedly reminds us, is a proud Texas Ranger and one of the few women on the force. Armstrong further distinguishes herself by taking on the role of criminal profiler, a job that many of the more "old school" Rangers find somewhat dubious. Armstrong's skills are put to the test when she begins to investigate a particularly brutal double homicide. Her search for the killer leads her all across the backwoods of Texas before bringing her frighteningly close to her own backyard.

There are some facets of this book that are worth appreciating. Sarah Armstrong is overcoming the loss of her husband and the reader will find her current relationships with her pie-baking mother and young daughter both believable and endearing. Indeed, I found these secondary characters of Maggie and Mom to be the most interesting in the story, more interesting than even the supposedly complex and creepy killer Armstrong is hunting.

The plot, however, seems like something lifted right out of an episode of CSI or a made-for-TV movie. The murders, while depicted as startling and gruesome, are actually not that new or surprising to the seasoned mystery reader or the casual TV viewer. Casey helps the reader develop some sympathy for the victims, but yet they still seem something of an afterthought to Armstrong. The killer, his motivations and actions, and even his forced malevolent demeanor seemed underdeveloped and almost cliché. By the time the climax rolled - which was melodramatic in its own way - I was not caught up in the sense of foreboding or even danger that Casey was trying to create with this hunt for a serial killer.

I never write off a series with just one book so I will be trying Casey's next Sarah Armstrong mystery. Here's to hoping it has a little more depth and a little more suspense. If not, there is always Mom with her pies!

I just finished reading Singularity and can't wait to begin Blood Lines. Ms. Casey does a magnificent job creating her characters and making the story compeling. I would suggest this series to anyone. I read the book in three days...I couldn't put it down.