Customer Reviews

Third Deadly Sin

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A strange choice for a comfort readI know, but every now and then I come back to read this book again. The familiarity of Edward X Delaney and his delicious sandwiches. The developement of a killer who you grow to like and feel sorry for, even as she continues her murderous adventures. It does not matter that you know she is a killer, it is not even that important how Delaney catches her, I just the style of Sanders writing in this book. It is not similar in any way to his later McNally series, but the one thing Sanders does fantastically is to create characters you believe in.

Even though you find out whodunit in the opening pages, this nvel is riveting. Not only do you get Edward X. Delaney and his sandwiches, you also get a couple of hundred pages from the killer's perspective. Some of Sanders's later works were kind of weak, but this one is superb!

Maybe Sanders's best book (other choice is First Deadly Sin). Same detective in all the Sin books, but each has a slightly different feel. This is Ed McBain-ish, but (much) better.

This is an interesting serial-killer novel, except for the parts involving sandwiches and Zoe Kohler's suitor, Ernest Mittle. The sandwich stuff makes you feel like you're reading transcripts from The Food Channel, and poor little Ernest Mittle is simply too prim and proper for words. By the time you've known him for about five paragraphs, you yearn for him to meet Irene in a hotel bar very soon, and join the ranks of her victims.

The Third Deadly Sin had a lot of factors that i found resembled the first novel a LITTLE bit too closely, such as the suspect dying of physical deterioration towards the end, the suspect's pathological relation to the act of sex...things like that. Also, the relationship between Monica and Edward Delaney (the detective) really does not clash well with the rest of the story. Who cares what Monica thinks- i think she is a pathetic and dull character- thats also what made the First Deadly Sin much better- it focused more on the detective, not his wife. Otherwise it was a good book. Lawrence Sanders is GOOD, but he was best in "THe Tenth Commandment." If anyone is wondering what one person thinks is his best work, thats it.

I read this book so many, many years ago but have never forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Decided to see if I could locate one so I could read it again. I remember loving the detective and being intrigued with the killer!

I've read this book a long time ago and loved it then and still love it now. The author tracks his two main protagonists that is the female serial killer, a rarity in literature as well as in life, and his cop, with great skill. We simpathize with her even while she butchers her victims, slipping down a slippery slope that she seems to be able to recognize, but not to stop. We also seem to feel that she is not particularly smart or bright, no superwoman at all. A mousy woman that transforms at night not with the help of a cat suit or a mask but simple flashy dress and makeup. Delaney comes back to us loyal readers of the first and second deadly sins, dripping his wet sandwiches over the sink, trampling in his heavy boots all through Manhattan, solving the crime as always through patient police work and sheer doggedness. A treat to lovers of crime fiction and still holds its own after all those years.

It was a disappointment that with so many detectives on the case, and on the Prime Suspect, they missed obtaining the obvious from one piece of evidence they picked up at a murder scene. Otherwise it was a great book.

This one may be one of Sanders better books over all, but it isn't quite as good as "The First Deadly Sin" or "The Second Deadly Sin". It is unfortunate Sanders didn't see fit to write about the deadly sins 5, 6 and 7. This shows a lack of foresight on his part. Of the four we do have "The Second Deadly Sin" is probably the best. "The Third Deadly Sin" is a bit tiring but still holds one's interest. And lets face it, Delaney will never be a gourmet cook, but he is wild about sandwiches. Amen brother!

One has to have a stalwart stomach to really enjoy the Delaney series. If you aren't particularly bothered by the rather pathetic attempts at psycoanalysis (which Sanders would have done better to have left out) you will probably really like this novel.

Unlike in "The First Deadly Sin" (pride) and in "The Second Deadly Sin" (covetousness), it is difficult to figure out in "The Third Deadly Sin" exactly which sin Sanders is talking about. I figure it is either envy or anger. My choice would be anger.

This is the third in the Sin series. It is the only one I read. It was so bad I didn't want to read the others. The first two might be good. The first one was made into a fairly good movie.

The series is about Detective Delaney who hunts down serial killers. In this book, you meet the killer right off. She is a semi-sympathetic character who is killing bad men, such as cheating husbands. But, the author makes sure she should be caught and punished by having her kill one victim who turns out to be good and has second thoughts about cheating on his wife.

Most of the book deals with how the killer does in her victims or how the detective makes a sandwich. Instead getting details on how the crime is solved, we get details about sloppy, gross sandwiches that are eaten over a sink. In the end the crime really isn't solved and the killer is discovered mostly by accident.