Red, White & Dead (Izzy McNeil Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Laura Caldwell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Izzy McNeil Mysteries | Publication Date: August 1, 2009

Izzy McNeil is hot on the trail of one of Chicago's most notorious gangsters. Not that he realizes the crimson-tressed enchantress, a self-proclaimed "lapsed lawyer," is moonlighting as a private investigator. But when an unexpected run-in trashes Izzy's cover, she's swept into an evil underworld where she is definitely not safe.

That is until Izzy receives help from an unlikely source: the ultimate guardian angel. And the last person she ever dreamed she'd see again. Now Izzy is racing from Chicago to Rome, all the while battling personal demons, Mafiosi killers and red hot emergency desires….

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fresh, intelligent, and emotional thriller served up with a snappy repartee and sassy dialogue. Laura Caldwell writes with an assured ease, showing a true sense of style and story, delivering a brilliant and complicated heroine. Red White and Dead can be read quickly, but I'd recommend it be savored slowly. Great book. --New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry

About the Author

Laura Caldwell, a former civil litigator, is a a Scholar in Residence at Loyola Law School where she is also an award-winning law professor. Caldwell's first book, Burning the Map, was selected by Barnes & Noble.com as one of The Best of 2002. Following that, A Clean Slate received a starred review from Booklist. Caldwell began publishing thrillers and suspense novels in 2005. Both her debut mystery, Look Closely, and The Rome Affair, the novel that pulled her into the Mosley case, received critical acclaim. Laura's newest, an international thriller called The Good Liar, has been heralded as "a massive achievement." She is published in ten languages and over twenty countries.

Before beginning her writing career, Laura was a trial attorney, specializing in medical malpractice defense and entertainment law. She is published in the legal field and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at her alma mater, Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches litigation writing and international criminal law. Laura is also freelance magazine writer and has contributed to several anthologies.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Mira Books; Original edition (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778326667
• ISBN-13: 978-0778326663
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Caldwell: Former civil trial lawyer, now Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Director of Life After Innocence, published author of 10 novels, 1 nonfiction book, public speaker, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend.

Caldwell, lawyer, turned author who left the law behind, or so she thought. With 10 novels published in over 22 countries and translated into more than 13 languages, research on her 6th novel led her to the criminal case of Jovan Mosley, a young man sitting in a Cook County holding cell without a trial. After hearing about his case, Caldwell joined a renowned criminal defense attorney to defend him, ultimately proving his innocence and inspiring her first nonfiction book, Long Way Home: A Young Man Lost in the System and the Two Women Who Found Him (Free Press, Simon & Schuster).

Due to the Mosley case, she founded 'Life After Innocence' at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a innovative program which aids exonerees--people who have been wrongful convicted and later found completely innocent--to start their lives over.

Her fictional works, began as chick-lit now turned mystery, includes a returning character, Izzy McNeil. Izzy a Chicago lawyer finds her way into a myriad of situations she must use her wit and legal skill to work through. Three books published the fourth due out March 2011, with at least three more on the horizon. Pick up an Izzy book now and travel through the streets of Chicago while solving crimes with her.

Laura is also a freelance magazine writer and has been published in Chicago Magazine, Woman's Own, The Young Lawyer, Lake Magazine, Australia Woman's Weekly, Shore Magazine and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red, White & Dead, September 12, 2009

By 

Deborah A. Matthews "Deb" (Troy, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red, White & Dead (Izzy McNeil Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading the first two books in the series, I couldn't wait to start this one. I read it over Labor Day weekend, and I couldn't put it down. Izzy once again finds herself in hot water, this time with the mob. In addition to that, she finds herself wondering about the death of her father, and if he really is dead. In her quest for answers, the mob trouble and the search for her father become entangled. She also begins to understand herself better and her romance heats up. I can't wait for more Izzy adventures!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Not Great, September 9, 2009

By 

A Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red, White & Dead (Izzy McNeil Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved the first two books of the "Red" trilogy, but while I was glad to finally be finished with the Sam stuff, I found this one somewhat disappointing.

The storyline really stretched credibility, but worse, there were too many loose ends left hanging. While this is good for future adventures of Izzy, it wasn't good for the final book of a trilogy. What happens now to Izzy's mother and her husband? What happened to the guy Maggie met in Italy? Was he part of the Camorra? What happened with Mayburn and Lucy? Did Elena go back home? What was up with the explosion? Nothing was wrapped up as it should have been to send off what was packaged as a trilogy.

Looking forward to more books by this author, but hope she doesn't make this mistake again.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable mystery, August 2, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: Red, White & Dead (Izzy McNeil Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

In Chicago, since losing her job as an entertainment lawyer, Izzy McNeil works for private investigator John Mayburn. After her undercover work exposed Michael DeSanto as a crook (with the help of his wife), she is working on his associate Dez Romano, head of the family business. However, her identity as Suzanne is exposed when Michael sees her with Dez. They chase after her into a garage when a man calls out to "Boo" enabling her to escape.

Mayburn, who loves Michael's wife, tells Izzy to leave town. She decides to head to Rome to talk to her paternal Aunt Elena because only her mom and her late dad called her "Boo". Mayburn agrees to conduct research in the States. In Italy, Izzy is joined by her best friend Maggie and two hunks as she learns of her family connection to the Camorra mob, but remains ignorant to how deep and that they are aware of her presence in Rome and Naples.

The third Izzy "Red" thriller (See RED HOT LIES and RED BLOOD MURDER) takes a family spins on both sides of the Atlantic. The story line is fast-paced as the Italian mobsters try to scare the heroine back to Chicago so the American side of the family can quietly silence her; a killing of a red headed Yank in Italy would be international headline news as opposed to just local in the Windy City. Although lacking the humor and anti-noir feel of the previous two story lines, RED, WHITE AND DEAD is an enjoyable mystery with a few terrific twists as fans and Izzy try to figure out what is going on.

Harriet Klausner