No Time to Die (Mali Anderson Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Grace F. Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mali Anderson Mystery | Publication Date: February 29, 2000

A serial killer stalks Harlem's Strivers' Row...

On a sweltering Harlem summer night, ex-cop Mali Anderson steps out to celebrate her friend Claudine's divorce from a handsome, cheating deadbeat who couldn't keep his fists out of her face. But Claudine doesn't show up for their dinner. Instead, she is found brutally murdered in her elegant home just off Strivers' Row, and Mali has no doubt Claudine's ex did it. Despite his threats, she can't keep out of the investigation. Especially when another woman meets the same savage, bizarre fate....

The two murders are just the start of a trail that leads street-smart Mali through the trash-talking and wise philosophizing of barbershops, beauty parlors, and bars...and toward a cunning killer whose homegrown hatred is zeroing in on Mali herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mali Anderson, formerly of the NYPD, finds herself investigating a murder close to home when a longtime friend is the victim of a brutal slaying in Harlem. Mali believes that her friend Claudine has been murdered by Claudine's abusive ex-husband, James Thomas, whom Mali has always mistrusted. Despite the doubts of Mali's police detective boyfriend, Tad Honeywell, Mali's suspicion is reinforced when a second victim, also linked to James, is killed in the same manner (strangulation with piano wire). Or is a sadistic serial killer on the loose in Harlem? When Mali is sent to the hospital after someone tries to run her down, she vows to solve the case. Edwards's supporting cast, which includes Mali's jazz musician father, fleshes out the story, which is told in a mixed first- and third-person narration, in the manner of James Patterson's Alex Cross novels. Many of the scenes are set in the restaurants and nightclubs of modern-day Harlem, brought vividly to life. Weakening the tale is the sad but stereotypical background of the murderer and an easily foreseen ending. The intriguing look offered inside its unusual locale makes this mystery, third in the series (after A Toast Before Dying), worth reading despite its predictability. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In Edwards' latest Mali Anderson mystery, set in a Harlem vibrant with music, shops, and colorful characters, an angry young man, mistreated all his life by an overweight, abusive mother, seeks revenge on successful women he thinks have somehow spurned him. His methods are grisly--garroting the women to death. Mali gets involved when Claudine, a good friend, is killed. Mali's involvement brings her into the killer's sphere when her gray eyes and offhand manner one day offend him, unwittingly putting her on his death list. She is distracted by a suspicion that Claudine's murderer is her abusive ex-husband, who has had a long-running feud with Mali and even runs her down with a stolen car. When she recovers, Mali learns that another woman, a close friend of her jazz musician father, has been murdered. The bodies pile up in this fast-paced mystery that has enough twists to engage the reader until the killer is brought to keel. Vanessa Bush --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (February 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553579568
• ISBN-13: 978-0553579567
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.5 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #564,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting, appealing great story. Read all three!!!, September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: No Time to Die (Hardcover)

In Grace Edwards' third installment of a Mali Anderson mystery, the writing was so compelling that I read it in a day. In a departure from her previous books, we know who the killer is from the very beginning. However, in keeping with the writer's style, the reader is treated to the grandeur that was once Harlem, and the greatness that it holds today.

The background/history of the killer's life, coupled with more info about Mali's personal life will intrigue the reader.

While I strongly suggest EVERYONE reads this book, I would be remiss if I didn't more strongly suggest that you treat yourself and read all of her books. Satisfaction guaranteed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Delighted, February 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: No Time to Die (Hardcover)

Once again, Grace Edwards has delighted her readers with the intelligence and tenacity of Mali Anderson. The characters are keenly developed and the "plot thickened" with every page. Unlike the other perpertrators, in the Mali Anderson series, we are introduced to this sinister evil, early on. As a person very interested in the social sciences, I found myself wanting to help "Ache" and hoped he would find redemption before destruction.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What Ills Ache, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: No Time to Die (Hardcover)

There is pain here. There is a pain so great that it almost grants understanding. Grace Edwards examines the life of a man driven to pitiful acts of violence and murder in her latest Mali Anderson mystery, No Time To Die. Rarely do we read stories of African American serial killers, Edwards' killer does not have the deadly charm of Ted Bundy or the connections of John Wayne Gacy. There is nothing news worthy, notable or remarkable about Ache. He doesn't fade into the crowd he is simply beneath the crowd's notice. He is beneath everyone's notice. Except for the reader. Edwards makes the reader deal with Ache. Feel for Ache.

I don't feel bad about given away the murderer's name. Edwards tell us who the killer is almost immediately. In this respect the story has less of the feel of a true mystery. There is no whodunitness to this story, it's all about when . When will Mali find out, when will she put it together, when will Ache slip up and stop the horrible and bloody killing. When? When? When?

Edwards, in addition to giving the reader anxiety and apprehensive fits with the plot, reintroduces many of the characters that make her Mali Anderson works so enjoyable. Chief among these characters is the village of Harlem. Few writers can write about Harlem as well as Ms. Edwards. Reading her books makes you want to walk uptown streets. Edwards' characters are reality based and her style is easy to read and doesn't get in the way of her fine storytelling.